October 2022 newsletter

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VOLUME 24, ISSUE 4 October–December 2022

Officers
President: Doug Allen
Vice–Pres: Craig Falknor
Recording Sec’y: Kay Dawson
Corres. Sec’y pro tem:
Kay Dawson
Treasurer: Doris West
Op. Dir.: Kristina Balside

Directors
Barb Eller (2022)
Mary Geiger (2022
Bill Gothard (2022
Ron Papp (2022)
Craig Falknor (2022–2023)
Jeffrey Harding (2022–2023)
Glynn Marsh (2022–2023)
PRESIDENT’S CORNER by Doug Allen
The Earl Heck Center is remodeling! We were recently blessed
here at the Randolph Township Historical Society with multiple acquisi-
tions from their walls and archives. Included with their donations are
several very large framed photos. One shows a car on the old D.C. & P.
traction line. Two photos are of the covered bridge over the Stillwater
River, another looks east from the Englewood Elevator (now the
Englewood Post Office) towards Dayton-Covington Pike.
Ryan Kruse, director of the Heck Center, also donated a quilt
sewn by Earl Heck Quilt Club with names of local citizens embroidered
on each square, including Earl Heck, Edgar Brasier, Osie Johnson, Bill
Denlinger, and Nellie Mains.
The Earl Heck Community Center building started out in 1867
as the second brick school in town. Later it was used as the Englewood
Municipal building housing the police department and offices. In 1978,
the building was remodeled and named after Earl Heck with a dedication
ceremony that Mr. Heck attended.
Mr. Heck held government offices in town, worked hard to
preserve the history of the area, and wrote a manuscript about the
History of Englewood. He appealed to local residents to form a local
Historical Society but sadly never succeeded. (Our founding members
have achieved your goal, sir!)
The most recent remodeling of the Earl Heck Center was com-
pleted in 1992 when the North Hall was added onto the original building.
Congratulations to the Heck Center on their brand-new renovations. We
are so excited to visit when it’s completed!
UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS
All functions are at the History Center unless otherwise noted.
Meetings on 2nd Wednesdays
Oct. 12, 7:00 p.m./ business meeting
Nov. 9, 1:00 p.m./ business meeting
(note time change)
Dec. 14, 1:00 p.m./ business meeting
Special Events
The Ohio Soldiers & Sailors Orphans Home
(no date yet; watch Facebook and local papers)

Office Phone: 937-832-8538
Email: info@rths.org
www.rths.org

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QUARTERLY SUMMARY
JULY 2022: The RTHS cash assets at the end of June totaled $29,206.88, a downturn of $1,989.11,
with a checking account balance ending June at $7,987.95. The retro T-shirts are now available. (See
P. 4.) The society scheduled a car show for July 17. Kris Balside reported that Cable Brothers had
mulched and trimmed around the building, but she said the expense for service on the front lot was
prohibitive and spraying weed-killer around the trees was sufficient. Glynn questioned whether the
board of directors had voted on the contract for trash pickup, as ongoing expenses need to be, and
Doug Allen agreed to call a board meeting. In addition to the work of the director producing more
trash, Kris explained she lost interest in taking the trash home when she found a dead mouse in the
wastebasket! Since the by-laws don’t seem to prohibit one member holding two positions, Kay Daw-
son agree to serve as corresponding/membership secretary on a temporary basis pending a volunteer.
Mary Geiger suggested Sunday, Sept. 11, as the date for the quilt show, and Kris said the talk about
the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home was being planned for late fall or winter.
AUGUST 2022: The RTHS took in an excess of $1,387.20 in July, and the month ended with cash
assets totaling $30,594.08. Record rains postponed the car show until Aug. 7, but 16 vehicles regis-
tered, people visited the Center, and the RTHS made $307.00. (See p. 5.) The commemorative T-
shirts Kris purchased sold well. Kris reported that areas sinking in the front lot will need attention
before the lot is used again. Doris suggested the RTHS might put future shows in Centennial Park,
but members agreed we wanted to attract people to the History Center. The Society also agreed to
send a thank-you note to Kevin Irwin, owner of the property next door, for loaning his sound system
for the show. By the meeting date, 15 of the retro T-shirts had been sold. (See p. 4.) The two excavat-
ing companies Kris called about installing a sump pump in the basement are busy through the win-
ter. Sept. 11 was confirmed for the quilt show, but Mary Geiger’s absence forestalled other plans.
Craig Falknor promised to look at the recalcitrant printer, and members authorized Kris to call a re-
pairman if he couldn’t solve the problem. The RTHS is welcome to any artifacts that will not be
used after the Earl Heck Center is remodeled, and management contacted the Center about photos
to display.
SEPTEMBER 2022: A board of directors meeting preceded the open meeting. Craig Falknor was
appointed vice president. Operations Director Kris Balside has asked that members bringing in items to
donate leave their names and a note about what the item is. Doug apologized for contracting for trash
pickup without consulting the board and said if members decided against it he would pay for the
months already billed. After some discussion, the board voted not to continue the contract. Sug-
gested alternatives were to pay the neighbor a small fee to add the Center’s trash to his, Glynn
offered to take it home, and Kris offered to pay the fee herself.
The total cash assets of the Society equaled $29,381.71 at the end of August. Many of the
people who came to the quilt show read about it on Facebook. Kris and Doug accepted items offered
by the Earl Heck Community Center, which is undergoing remodeling; Doug said they had taken
anything available that looked significant and the RTHS will decide later which items to keep and
display.

AREA NEWS AND NOTES

Correction

The last newsletter said the RTHS had been fighting the problem of water in the lower level for 20
years. A member with more mathematical ability than the editor pointed out the RTHS has only
occupied the Center for 14 years. (It just feels like we’ve been mopping up water for 20 years!)

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Randolph Ramblings
by Susan Weeks
Visit to the history center
How can so many unique items fit into this
small historical church building, now the museum
of the Randolph Township Historical Society?
My initial visit proved that a wide variety of
everyday household items and tools and implements
of early settlers to this area, as well as Randolph and
Northmont school yearbooks and other memorabilia,
were just a part of what I saw during a recent (my
first!) visit to the Randolph Township Historical
Society here in Englewood.
My cousins, Joyce Woolery Martin and her
sister Jane Woolery Schumacher, had often men-
tioned donating various family items to the RTHS,
but I’d never had the opportunity to visit. On a re-
cent trip to see Roger Martin (husband of Joyce) and
Tom Schumacher (Jane’s husband), the three of us
stopped by for an afternoon visit. Kristina Balside,
the operations director, was on hand to answer our
many questions about items currently on display.
This museum has a wide variety of interesting
exhibits including, but certainly not limited to:
• Children’s clothing and common household
items, such as everyday items used in kitchens
and clothing from bygone eras;
• Tools used in clearing the dense forests encoun-
tered by settlers in the early 1800s to make way
for homes, farmland, and businesses;
• A wagon seat manufactured by Elias F. Younce
and his father, David Younce, in the late 1800s;
• Three rifles made by the Sheets family of Union
(1805–1812);
• Uniforms and related wartime items commem-
orating the many men from this area who fought
and sacrificed for our country in the 19th and
20th centuries;
• Maps of historic interest.
Many photos of buildings and places that have
been replaced or repurposed will impress visitors.
For those interested in reconnecting with school
friends or simply reliving their own schooldays, the
museum has a nearly complete collection of
Randolph and Northmont school yearbooks and
other school memorabilia.
Another item from my family I’d had never
previously seen, but had heard about, was a Civil
War diary written by George W. Eby during his
service in the 131st Ohio National Guard. George
W. Eby (1837–1913) was the father of my grand-
mother Jennie May Eby, married to Elias F. Younce
of Union, Ohio. A transcript of the diary that
traces this soldier’s time of service in the Union
Army is available for visitors to view.
Families, school groups, and individuals
alike will gain real insight into how settlers and
residents lived from the initial settlement of the
area until more recent times by checking out the
exhibits here and comparing them to today’s
modern conveniences and electronics. What
a contrast!
The museum recently had a special exhibit
of antique quilts on display and sponsored a
popular car show event. Watch for notices of
other upcoming events and special exhibits at
the museum to get acquainted with Randolph
Township’s history.

Membership Report by Kay Dawson
This year, the RTHS has welcomed as new
members:
Jackie and Mark Allen,
Jason Antkoviak,
Tim Balside,
Bonnie Binkley Chima,
Gail Collins,
Susan Couch,
Bruce Dewey,
Craig Falknor,
Capt. David Gray,
Mike and Teresa Greer,
Teresa Guerra,
Scott Knowles,
JoAnne Taylor,
Carol and Doug Wagner,
James Walker,
Susan Weeks,
Tina Witters.
Memberships run from January through
December, and those added during the last
quarter of the year are good for the rest of this
year and all of the following year.
RTHS members are very loyal, with a high
rate of renewals. Many even remembered to re-
new during the pandemic shutdown.
Inevitably, we lose some of our valued older
members to death or relocation. In September,
we lost Larry Drusan, a longtime member whose
wife, Beverly, is still a member. All our lost
members are sorely missed.
If anyone has friends who would be inter-
ested in the RTHS, why not give a membership
as a gift? (See p. 7 for a membership form.)

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ACQUISTIONS
The RTHS is very grateful for the items that are donated to our collection. Our members
were very supportive during the pandemic shutdown, and between that and several changes of
leadership, we are still updating records, so if we have not yet acknowledged your contribution,
please be aware that we appreciate it and will get to you.
The RTHS wants to thank the following for recent donations.
Doug Allen,
Maxine Elliott,
Brad Herr,
Doug Kauffman,
Tim Kauffman,
Jill Kirby,
Galen Meeds,
Michelle Stoltz,
Jack West,
and Jenny Wood.
Some of the items contributed include school memorabilia from Northmont and Randolph
schools, items from and information about Englewood Hills Little League, photos and newspaper
articles about the Hoover and Rasor families, old tools, diaries and scrapbook form the 1860s, files
from the Bergman turkey farm, and a city of Englewood blanket throw. We also have received a
slide projector with slide reels, which can be put to good use in programs.
Names needed
On the subject of donations, while Operations Director Kris Balside is delighted that so many
members bring donations to the History Center, she asks that members bringing them when she is
not there please be sure the donor’s name and contact information and some information about the
item is left with the item. She’s a very good historian and is working very hard at organizing the do-
nations. But she is not a mind reader.

Fundraising
Like most such organizations, the RTHS needs to raise funds to support our projects. There
are two fundraising projects that are in time for the holiday season.
“Blast from the Past” shirts
Did you eat at Burgin’s Pizza, take a date bowling at Thunderbowl Lanes, or enjoy Flint’s
Hamburgers? Did your family shop at Imperial Foodtown or enjoy Empire Restaurant or Western
Pancake House?
The RTHS has available shirts with the logos of these past area businesses printed on them.
Ranging from $15.00 to $25.00, they come in a variety of sizes and styles. They can be ordered on-
line at https://stores.inksoft.com/blast_from_the_past. This link is also on www.rths.org, under the
“Events” tab, but do not order from the Historical Society. The Society gets a generous part of all the
money spent on the shirts.
Baby Boomer booklets
The RTHS will also reprint The Baby Boomer Years, the booklet of memories of this area by
those who grew up here between the end of World War II and the mid-1970s. This is available from
the Historical Society. It costs $5, and if you want the booklet shipped by the RTHS, the postage is
$5.00. There is an order form on page 7 of this newsletter. The Society gets the entire profit from the
booklets.
These items would make excellent holiday gifts for your friends or relatives who grew up in
this area. They certainly would be things they are unlikely to get in most places!
Allow about three weeks for delivery of the shirts, and if you are not picking up the booklet
at the History Center, allow delivery time for it, too.

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RECENT HAPPENINGS AT THE RTHS HISTORY CENTER
Car show a success
The car show was scheduled for July 17, but decided 2.65 inches, which would have caused
the cars and the food trucks to sink into the grass, required a postponement. Thanks to Facebook and
the Brookville Star, the word got out that the new date was Aug. 7. Sixteen exhibitors registered their
cars. Many of the visitors tore themselves away from the cars long enough to visit the History Cen-
ter, and not just for the restrooms. The food trucks had to
leave early due to other commitments on the new date, but
they were well patronized until then, and the T-shirts com-
memorating the show, which Kris Balside had supplied, sold
well. The raffle prizes donated by area merchants were all
awarded.
The only problem was the discovery of several sunk-
en places in the front lot, but Kris marked them with pails or
other items, and there were no injuries. (They’ll be filled in
before we use the lawn for anything else.)
The registration and the raffle of items donated by generous area merchants enabled the
RTHS to raise $307. Kevin Irwin, the owner of the property next door, was very helpful, loaning the
Society his sound system for the car show. A prospective future RTHS member, Konner Gore, also
helped by drawing the raffle tickets. The winner of one prize, a child's bicycle, donated it back to the
RTHS, which awarded it to young Konner for his help.
Quilt Show
The RTHS held a quilt show in September. Three of the quilts are the property of the RTHS
and will be displayed from time to time. One of these was made over the course of a year or so for
the Englewood Sesquicentennial in 1991, and the RTHS recently acquired a blanket throw from the
Earl Heck Center. Both of these show scenes significant to the area. Doug Wagner also donated to
the society a quilt made by his mother and grandmother. Several people also loaned the society their
quilts to display and over three weeks, many people visited to view them.

“History is, by and large, a record of what people did, not of what they failed to do.”
Carr, Edward, in What is history?

Jerry and Ellen Hogan’s 1950 Chevy Truck
won first prize.
Englewood Sesquicentennial quilt. (The paper on it is
a key to the sites pictured.)

Blanket throw showing scenes of Englewood

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VISITORS AT THE HISTORY CENTER
Open most Sundays
As you see from the schedule on the back page, the History Center is open on most Sundays except
holidays from April through October. “Most Sundays” means if anyone will volunteer to be host. So far,
we’ve managed to open pretty regularly, but we can always use more volunteers. Could some of the local
people find a few hours? The Center is open from 1 through 3 p.m., and it takes about 10 to 15 minutes before
and after to put out and bring in the flags and OPEN signs, fix the lights, and open and close the blinds. Occa-
sionally no one comes and you can read or get better acquainted with the displays, but lately we’ve had more
and more visitors. Please donate your time occasionally if you can. In addition to helping the RTHS, you get
to meet many interesting people.
Fox Dairy
One member who has volunteered as a host is Teresa Greer. In addition, she lives on property on Fox
Road that was once Crown Hill Dairy, owned and
operated by Webster J. Fox. Teresa has gotten to
meet Webster’s descendants, and she met with
them at the History Center. We not only have a
dairy display that includes pictures of Webster Fox
and his family, but the History Center has a Crown
Hill Dairy milk bottle, the only one the family has
seen.

First row, L to R: Don Fox, Larry Fox, Karen Fox-Black,
Sharon Fox-Miller, Roger Fox. Second row, L to R:
Brenda Fox, Melody Fox, Dave Black Emma Miller
(granddaughter), Richard Miller.
Class of 1972
Visits to the History Center are becoming
popular as class reunion activities, Last spring, the Northmont Class of 1971 held its 50th reunion, delayed
by COVID. On Sept. 23, about eight members of the class of 1972 came as part of their 50th reunion. Some
made donations and one became a member. RTHS member Ron Papp guided his classmates through the
Center, showing them Northmont memorabilia, including their yearbook.
A special member of the class was Doug Wagner. In the last newsletter, Ron’s explained how the two
of them had pushed the cannonballs off their perches on the retaining wall along Sam Gingrich’s driveway
and later salvaged them. They are now at the History Center. Doug also donated four cube-shaped planters
that Sam Gingrich had made, and he and Ron enjoyed reliving their youthful pranks while viewing the
cannonballs and the planters. Doug said later the Center was much more than he expected.

Members of the class look at a newspaper
from that time.

Doug Wagner with cannonball he and Ron
Papp recovered and with stonework by Sam
Gingrich on side lawn of Center.

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Membership Information

Name(s) _______________________________________________________________________
Address________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip ________________________ Phone_________________________________
Email address (optional) __________________________________________________________
Date _______________ New membership________ Renewal ___________ Gift____________
Membership Level (Check One)
____Individual @$15.00/year
_____Family @ $25.00/year
_____Sustaining @ $35.00/year
_____Sponsoring @$75.00/year
_____Individual Lifetime @ $250.00 (one-time)
_____Corporate @ $150/year
Extra Cash Donation: $_________ Enclosed is my check for _______________
Please send completed form with check to:

Randolph Township Historical Society
RTHS History Center
114 Valleyview Drive
Englewood, OH 45322-1324

COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM
One way to donate to the Historical Society without hurting your budget is to link your
KrogerPlus card to the Kroger Community Rewards program.
Each quarter, Kroger allots a certain amount of money for the Rewards budget and divides it
among participating organizations according to each organization’s percentage of the total spending
by members of all the organizations. Reports sent to RTHS only show the customer’s KrogerPlus
Card Number, name, and the donation amount.
To register your KrogerPlus Card, go to www.krogercommunityrewards.com and follow the
instructions. Link the card to RTHS (NPO #81403). Those without computers or email can set up
accounts at the public library or through another member. You can also register at 1‐800‐837‐4483,
with your KrogerPlus card and the RTHS number shown above. The bottom of each receipt should
show the organization.
Please send _____ copy(ies) of The Baby Boomers.

Name(s) _____________________________________________________________________
Address_____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip ________________________ Number of copies _________
Make checks payable to: X $5.00 each _________
Randolph Township Historical Society Postage $5.00 each _________
RTHS History Center
114 Valleyview Drive Total _________
Englewood, OH 45322-1324

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Dates to remember
All events are held at the RTHS History Center, 114
Valleyview Dr., Englewood, Ohio, unless otherwise noted.
Monthly Meetings: 2nd Wednesdays
Oct. 12, 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 9, 1:00 p.m. (Note time change.)
Dec. 14, 1:00 p.m.
Jan. 11, 1:00 p.m.
Feb. 8, 1:00 p.m.
Mar. 8, 1:00 p.m.
Apr. 12, 7:00 p.m. (Note time change.)

Open for visits from 1 through 3 p.m. on Sundays
April through November, when the OPEN sign is
out at Main Street, and other times by appoint-
ment. Call (937) 832-8538 and leave a message.

2022 Corporate Members
Carra Builders Commercial Construction, Inc.
City of Clayton
City of Englewood
City of Union
Kindred Funeral Home
King-Kold Meats
Landes Fresh Meats, Inc.
Thank you!
We list our valued sponsors on our website.

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