Posts Tagged ewing park

Dave Larson who has shared his memories on a number of topics has shared with us his memories of Ewing Park as a child…
       “In the 1950′s the Ewing Park swimming pool and picnic grounds were a mainstay of a kid’s life during the summer months. Seems to me, although it may only be how my mind wants to retain it, that we got out of the North Side Elementary School for Memorial Day and did not go back to school until after Labor Day. The parade coming over the Fifth Street Bridge on Memorial Day signaled that summer had arrived.
     A typical day caught you on your bike riding over to the Ewing Park swimming pool after lunch and staying until you had to leave to get home in time to beat your dad getting home from work. I remember it costing twenty-five cents to get into the pool and with that you got a metal tag on elastic with a key to open and put your clothes in a locker. Shower up and out to the pool for an afternoon with your friends. Shower up, get dressed and get back on the road home with a stop over at the Dairy Queen.
      The other day I was in a CVS drug store spending my Bonus Bucks and the clerk told me I had money left and to find something “that cost twenty-three cents or less.” Try that the next time you are in a variety store. At the Dairy Queen in the 1950′s a quarter would buy you a large ice cream cone that I would guess today would put you back a good three bucks. So for fifty cents you could have one fine day at the park.
      My dad worked for the Bell Telephone Company and every summer they would have a company picnic at Ewing Park. There were always family reunions and company picnics going on in the park’s picnic shelters. Little known to me until years later did I learn that the stone buildings in the park were built by the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps. It would be nice to know more history about the building of the park and the role the CCC played.”
      Thank you Dave. We would love to hear your memories about the days you spent in Ewing Park. Please leave a reply below or you can email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

     Paul Weingartner owns this original picture from 1951 taken from the location of Paul’s Auto Body showing the intersection of East Line Avenue and Joffre Street. It is faint, but if you look close you can see the Ewing Park baseball field in the background.

     The former Ellwood City YMCA was located at the site of the former Hazel Dell School on the corner of the College Street and Line Avenue. Area residents enjoyed a number of organized activities that the “Y” offered including basketball leagues, volleyball leagues, soccer, hockey, and many others. The Ellwood City Ledger pictures here were advertisements for new leagues that were starting at the YMCA. The first was for a new floor hockey league for children in fourth grade through sixth grade (pictured from left to right are Erich Weyant, Jeff Boller, instructor Vic Rangel, and Adam Musse). The second picture was for pre-school soccer using a nerf ball. Pictured from left to right are Damien DeCaria, Michelle Rocco, Michael Rocco, Vic Rangel (instructor) and Paul Weingartner. 
     It was reported in the Beaver County Times in May of 1984 that the Ellwood City Council conducted a hearing to air public views on a YMCA request for the borough to create a municipal authority to handle financing of a proposed $1 million structure.
        “The new facility would have replaced the Ellwood YMCA at College Street and Line Avenue permitting it to expand programs with plans that included the installation of a health center with steam room, Nautilus, sauna, whirlpool, exercise room, and weight room that were not available at the old location. The new facility would also permit an Olympic size swimming pool to replace a 3 by 12 foot diameter children’s pool. Regulation size basketball and racquetball courts would have also been installed.
      The new authority would have been in charge of handling funds from private donations that were to be used to pay for the new facility.”
    It was later reported in August 1984, the Ellwood City Council announced approval of leasing land in Ewing Park to the Ellwood YMCA as a locale for the new YMCA. Building upon the site would cost about $500,000 less than previously planned sites including in the US Steel Industrial Park. Council granted the YMCA a ninety nine year lease on the property at a cost of one dollar a year. The double tennis courts would have to be removed to build the building, but would be replaced.

      Sept 25, 1910 the local Jewish community built a synagogue on the South East corner of Wayne Avenue and Seventh Street. As the Jewish community continued to grow, expansion became necessary. Towards the end of the 1940′s plans were put into motion and on October 19, 1952 the Tree of Life Synagogue opened its new facility in Ewing Park at the end of the bridge.
A large addition was added during the 1950′s, as Tree of Life built a new recreational hall and hosted open dances for Jews, Protestants & Catholics.
During the 70′s and 80′s as Ellwood City’s population dwindled, the Jewish population also saw their numbers shrinking. In 1988 the remaining local Jewish population joined Synagogues in Chippewa Township or New Castle and it was decided to turn over their building to the Ellwood Hospital for civic use.
The Jewish community played an important part to the development of Ellwood City and we would enjoy hearing more information. Please share below or email me at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    This small building at the five-point intersection in Ewing Park was torn down in the spring of 1967 and the site sat empty for many years before the gazebo that stands today was built. The building that was commonly mistaken for an old one room school house was built around 1922. It served many functions over the years including a place to store tools, as a voting place, to store the fire department’s hand cart, for clerical work in connection with driver’s tests and as a storage place for borough materials.
    In this picture, you can see the local “hangout” Dairy Queen in the background on Sims Street.
 

    Around the turn of the century, the Shelby Tube Mill team was one of the best in the area consisting of Judd Turner, Bid Gillespie, Bill Robbins, Paul Luther, Bill Bayers, Chip Bayers, Joe Havice, Danny Bookamer, Barney McKay, and former minor leaguer Connie Wardman (who mentored Major League Hall of Fame Hack Wilson).

      Paul Luther was the star pitcher of the team leading the 1909 team to a 19-1 record. Later he played an important role in building the Veterans Memorial swimming pool and the Helling Stadium football field in Ewing Park along with teammate William Bayers.

    The Shelby Tube Mill sponsored a baseball team from 1900 to 1910 and the area’s best players seemed to always find their way onto the team.

     There has been a recent effort to make the Connoquenessing Creek a usable waterway again with the addition of boat landings from Zelienople to Ellwood City. Those that have gone down the “Conny” know that West of Ellwood City Forge to the Wild Waterways Conservancy at the site of Ellwood City’s old Amusement Park, Rock Point Park, the rapids get a “little” rough. They also know that there are places in Ellwood City that the creek gets very shallow during the summer. 
     This was not always the case. The Slippery Rock Creek that feeds into the Connoquenessing Creek in Wurtemburg used to double the size of the Conny but has dwindled down in size since Moraine State Park was built. Also, another contributing factor to the depth of the creek was the large dam built by the old power plant just west of the Ewing Park Bridge. The two pictures here were taken when the dam was still intact and according to a 1903 map the area was referred to as “the pond”. This area was the site of Foley’s famous jump and from what we hear the site of pretty good fishing including some record size catfish.
     Of course the dam failed in the early 1900′s and was not rebuilt. The creek that once almost touched the Ellwood City Nature Trail in Ewing Park is now fifty feet away from the trail and canoeing is restricted in the hot months late in the summer. We would enjoy hearing any fond memories you may have of the Connoquenessing Creek. To share your memories, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    Do you recall those special signs in Ellwood City that fall was coming? The grass would start turning brown, Ames would start replacing their outdoor section with notebooks, pencils and other back to school supplies, and of course young boys would begin crossing the big blue Ewing Park Bridge carrying yellow football helmets on their way to practice. Of course I am talking about the Ellwood City Packers.
    The Packers were Ellwood City’s team in the Beaver County Youth Football League for many years until being re-named the Little Wolverines. The league was set up into four categories, each with its own age and weight restrictions. Players less than seven years old and weighing less than 85 pounds played in the Twerps (category). Once a player turned eight, he was moved up to the Termites, but he could not weigh more than one hundred pounds. Players ten and eleven played at least in the Mitey Mites until they weighed 125 pounds and players 12 and older played on the Midgets squad up until they weighed 145 pounds.
    It was not until recently that players were prohibited from moving up in class due to weight or ability level. I personally remember playing on the Midget squad when I was in Sixth grade and being seven and playing on the Termites. Please let me clarify, I was not moved up because of my ability level either. I was not alone, I recall other players wearing garbage bags under their pads trying to sweat out an extra pound or two so they could play on Saturday.
     In the second picture taken in the 1980′s, the roster included; Left to right – 1st Row – Jamie Yanssens, Josh Lobozzo, unknown, Andy Ingold, Zack Bieselt, B.J. Patterson, Derek Thompson – 2nd Row – Jason Maine, Tim Reed, unknown, Ryan Navolio, Charlie Vesceri, unknown, Erik Montozzi, Russ Rangel – 3rd Row – Brandon Hooker?, Alvin Jenkins, Nino Riccio, Gary Rozanski, Dave Sedgwick, Mark Hall, Dave Tyburski – 4th Row – Coach Bieselt, Coach Brendt, Coach Montozzi

    Thousands of Ellwood City youth played on the Packers over the years, so we can not wait until we hear all your memories and see the pictures you share. Please leave your comments below or you can email us by CLICKING HERE.

    Construction for the School in what is now Ewing Park began in 1925 when the area was still part of Wayne Township. The eight room school was officially dedicated January 1st 1926 as an independent school and not part of the Ellwood City School District. The park area continued to be a part of Wayne Township until 1931 when it became the fifth ward of Ellwood City at which time the school became part of the Ellwood City Area School District and became the Ewing Park Elementary School.
    The area was originally called Wayne Park before becoming more commonly known as the Shelby Land Company’s Plan. The mill decided to honor the Generals and Admirals of World War I with its street names in the park. The name of the plan was later changed to Ewing Park after Thomas Ewing. Mr. Ewing was the assistant to the Vice President of the National Tube Company and was also the tube mill attorney who did the legal work associated with the building of the community in the park.
    The last time the school was used for education purposes was during the construction of the new Hartman Elementary School on Fourth Street. This was however not the first time displaced students attended the school. After the Wurtemburg School burned down in 1933 grades first through third were bused to the Ewing Park School while fourth through sixth grade were bused to Hazel Dell to attend Northside Elementary. The temporary classrooms were setup in the basement of the school. School children from Wurtemburg and Perry would walk a mile to meet at the old school building and get on a modified bus that the students called the Chicken Coop.
    After the students were back at the current Perry Elementary School, the basement was reverted back to its previous state. I have never personally been inside the school building, but luckily Bob Burrows filled us in on the layout of the basement classrooms. The small room under the entry stairs that faced Wood Street was reserved as a shelter in-case of an emergency and some government supplies were stored in that room as well. The room was also used on occasions to house the visiting dental hygienist and other similar temporary uses. The room to the left (North towards Adams Avenue) was the music room and arts and crafts room. The room to the right (South towards Beatty Street) was used as the indoor dodge ball/gym class when the weather prohibited outdoor physical education.
    After the school closed, the yard was used for a number of years for football and cheerleader practice for the Ellwood City Packers and later the Ellwood City Little Wolverines. I remember running the triangle shaped field before and after each practice. We would love to hear your memories of the school, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

     One of the most mentioned business in Ellwood City we have heard about since we started this web site has to be Nick’s Snack Bar. It is amazing to us how many people have so many fond memories of Nick’s Snack Bar in Ewing Park this many years after Nick closed down and moved to Florida. Most people remember Nick’s as “THE” teenager hangout in Ellwood City. But those are not the only memories of Nick Calabria’s snackbar.
     Mac McAnallen remembers playing little league in Ewing Park and getting a free hot dog or slice of pizza at Nick’s if you hit a homerun. Mac is not the only one who shared with us about he free hot dogs, but the first thing both Nickie Weller & Bonnie Barnhart recalled when we mentioned Nick’s Snack Bar was the sausage sandwiches. Bonnie has great memories of her church group coming to Ellwood City just for the sausage sandwiches and said she hasn’t had one as good since Nick moved south.
    Others have shared with us about the multitude of kids that would hang out at Nick’s all wearing their baseball team’s hat as a badge of honor. Nick didn’t mind the kids loitering at his place all day but actually encouraged it and put a ping-pong table in the back (however he charged $0.25 for a ping-pong ball).
    If you have any memories of Nick’s you would like to share, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com.

    The picture here is of the Wurtemburg Combined School (late 1920′s) given to us by Mr. Thomas Gregg of Grove City College. The school is but a memory as the building was completely destroyed by fire in 1933. The current Perry Elementary School was built to replace the Wurtemburg School on the same grounds in 1936. 
    After the Wurtemburg School burned down in 1933, for the following three years, grades first through third went to Ewing Park Elementary School, while students in fourth through sixth grade went to Northside Elementary School. As you may recall, Ewing Park School was not very large so additional classrooms were setup in the basement of the building. Young children that lived in Wurtemburg and Perry would walk up to a mile to meet at the old school building and get on a bus unlike today when each child gets picked up at their own individual house. The bus was not actually a bus; rather it was an old Lorry that had chicken wire fence wrapped around to keep children from falling out. The students that we have talked to that recall the odd looking vehicle told us that they used to refer to it as the “Chicken Coop”. 
    If you have any memories of the old Wurtemburg Combined School you would like to share with everyone, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    Do you remember the Forge picnics in Ewing Park? In the Forty’s if you did not work at the Ellwood City Forge, you always made it a point to be friends with someone who did because of the highly anticipated company picnics. Employees of the Forge would get tickets for family members and if you were lucky a couple extra ones for you and your family.
    The picnics would have some of the areas best food, penny games for children, games for adults, clowns, and did we mention the great food? To those we have talked with about the picnics, it was one of the highlights of the summer in Ellwood City. They truly must have been to remember them so vividly a little over sixty years later.

     If you remember the Forge picnics in Ewing Park or elsewhere and would like to share your memories or pictures, please leave a comment below or you can email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com