Posts Tagged school

    In 1908 fifteen year old Carmine Troino left San Georgio, Italy with his older brother to try to make themselves a better life in America. The same customs broker that would not allow his brother into the country also changed Carmine’s name to Charles Turner. Mr. Turner, who could not speak English, followed other Italian immigrants to Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It was there that he came across a newspaper ad for a barber wanted at the National Tube Company in Ellwood City. Not only did he cut hair at the tube mill all day but he also would cut hair at his house on Hillside Avenue and eventually opened his own barbershop on Lawrence Avenue.

Everyday management personnel from National Tube stopped for their “shave and hair cut” (25¢ cash). These daily stops helped him get through the Great Depression and in turn he was able to help his neighbors in Little Italy. The Turners lived on the corner of Bell Avenue and Fourth Street and built several $3,000 houses on Hillside Avenue. Charles was able to send his second son Kenneth to college to pursue his desire to be a funeral director after his oldest son Gene joined Navy where he served as a radio man and as a barber. After the Navy, Gene the red headed Italian became second chair in his fathers shop.

At a time when it was common for men to get a haircut once a week, turners Barber Shop boasted six chairs and no waiting. Turners was reportedly the first barber shop in Ellwood to have a television for its customers. In 1960, Gene installed the television so his customers could watch the Pirates who were going to the World Series that year.

After developing Hodgkin’s disease in the mid-40’s, Charlie (along with some of the family) moved to California for his health. Gene stayed in Ellwood to manage the shop and his brother Kenneth also remained in the Ellwood to operate his funeral home. Not one to sit still, Turner looked around his new home in the Los Angeles area and decided the area needed a motel.

From time to time Charlie would visit Ellwood City and go into the shop, move now first chair Gene’s tools to the second chair and begin cutting hair – it was his shop. Gene would eventually own the barbershop at 405 Lawrence Avenue that he managed for his dad and where his family lived on the second floor. In 1963, Gene sold the barber shop and the former second chair moved to California to become a barber to the stars.

Gene became a barber/stylist at Cosmo Sardo’s Art Gallery, Hairstyling, and Barber Salon around the corner from the famous Schwab’s Drug Store in Hollywood. The salon/art studio was everything you can imagine complete with martinis and hors d’oeuvres for customers. Gene not only cut the movie stars hair, but he himself was in a number of Gillette commercials.

Gene’s daughter Linda Turner Tidemanson of Winnetka, California once shared that she had no choice but to be “good” during her time in Ellwood. In our small town, everyone knew her dad and everyone knew she was Gene Turners daughter so she had to behave. In 1963 Gene sold his shop to Joe DeLisio who had started working the sixth chair at the shop in 1953 while in the 10th grade at Lincoln High School.

One of the things I like to do when I get old scenic pictures is to track down the location of the original picture and see how different it looks today. Sometimes it is difficult to do in the case of comparing the business district of Hazel Dell from the layout with the old Veterans Bridge to today. However, in the case of these pictures of the men paving Line Avenue with bricks (by hand), it is very easy to compare.

       On the left of the older picture you can still see the bell tower of Bell Memorial Presbyterian Church. On the right side you can still see the bell tower of the old Hazel Dell School that sat on the corner of Line Avenue and College Street. There are a couple more houses in the new picture but the new picture is missing the line of maple (?) trees that lined the south side of the street.

   The City of Champions, Wampum Pennsylvania. In 1963, a banquet was held to honor a handful of the champions that have come out of Wampum including athletes and coaches. Seated in front from the left were Buzz Ridl, Basketball coach at Westminster College, and the famous basketball coach L. Butler Hennon who led Wampum to unimaginable success including numerous State Championships.

Standing from left to right were Major League Baseball player Harold Allen, basketball player/coach Ronald Galbreath, and one of Major League Baseball’s greats Dick Allen. All three athletes played for Coach Hennon at Wampum High School and Galbreath played for Ridl at Westminster College for perhaps one of the school’s greatest teams, the 1961-62 season.

In an earlier post on building the Shelby Clubhouse, I mentioned that I would post a zoomed in picture of the background of the picture taken August 30th, 1916. Well the wait is finally over.

    In this first picture, almost centralized, you can see the majesty that is the Hotel Lawrence. Even as the town grew around the hotel, it still dominated the skyline. On the left of the picture you can see that horse and buggy was the main mode of transportation still (besides walking). Right above those teams of horses on the dirt road that is Pittsburgh Circle is an interesting scene involving lumber. Lots of lumber. I am only guessing, but perhaps that is the construction of the Second Street overpass?

       Some of these houses are very large houses and I am curious as to how many of them are “company” homes and were used as boarding houses for tube mill employees. A good number of these homes are no longer standing, but some of them are still here today. The one that has thrown me for a loop is the dark colored house above the previously mentioned lumber. Does anybody know what that is on the side of the house?

The second picture also offers some interesting from Ellwood City in 1916. You can see the bell tower of the old Central Public School located on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Sixth Street. Between the hotel and the school you can clearly see the rounded dome of the United Presbyterian Church on Crescent Avenue. I do not know what the barns or industrial buildings are behind the building closest to photographer, do you? I think that would be the general location of the current Trinity Lutheran Church.

      Legendary baseball Coach Bill Spellman’s 1962 Lincoln High School squad won the WPIAL Championship. those pictured above were: first row, from the left, Bill Pratt, Randy Chesko, Toy Laitinen, Trippy Blythe, and John Pratt; Second row, Jim Bucac, Pat White, Bob Latino, Bob Poholsky, and Alex Herman; third row, Tom Webster, Gary Docchio, Bruce Smith, Jim Birtalan, and Ralph Bognosky; fourth row, Mike Tomeo, Bill Smeltz, Joe Listorti, Ernie Funari, and  Jim Filippone; back row, Coach Bill Spellman, manager Bill Lively, manager Bob Lordo, Charles Belonzi, and John Matrangol.

I was saddened to see the recent obituary for a long time equipment manager for Ellwood City football Mr. Joseph P. Ferruchie and it reminded me of an email Jim Hardie shared on August 22nd.

In Jim’s words…

     No one has talked about football equipment before the advent of plastic in 1961.  Prior to that time most of the padding was made of leather including the helmet.  1960 was my 9th grade year and the last with leather.  I loved the leather.  It was comfortable and had a great smell.  There were shoulder pads, hip pads and the helmet, all of leather.  You always see old time players with helmets that look like padded pilots helmets with a strap flying in the wind.  Our equipment was not like that and was a quality product.  I thought they were comfortable and preferred them to the plastic ones we received the next year.  The exception was the girdle which was foam hip pads in a cloth undergarment.  This replaced the hip pads which strapped to your waist. Years later when I played as a freshman in college I had to wear the old hip pads to my amazement!!!  Our equipment in high school was every bit as good as what was used in college which shows the backing of Lincoln and the football support group.
     One other thing that changed about 1962 was the practice jerseys.  They used to be a loose knit flexible ribbed material which was very comfortable but in my junior year they switched to a fine weave, with no give, cotton which had a shine to the fabric.  We loved the older ones and bought several to wear as street clothes.
     Our uniforms were state of the art and were worn with blue and white leggings.  If I remember correctly we wore one uniform for our sophomore and junior years and got a new one for or senior season – the fall of 1963.

    The Ellwood Opera House Hotel was built in 1893 on the 600 block of Lawrence Avenue. If you look closely at the picture, you can see that the first floor housed a bowling alley, barbershop, restaurant, and a pool hall. The Second floor was used as an auditorium where most of town’s public meetings were held. The auditorium was used as a theatre hosting Vaudeville, usually featuring Ray & Rini Grant.  In the late 1800′s and early 1900′s Vaudeville became one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America. Each evening’s bill of performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts. Types of acts included (among others) musicians (both classical and popular), dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female and male impersonators, acrobats, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and or short movies.

    The Ellwood Opera House later became home to the Loyal Order of the Moose until they sold the property to ESB bank and moved into their current building at 1400 Factory Ave. The Moose hosted many events for the community including Lincoln High School’s after-prom, and performances by various singers including Lawrence Welk, Guy Lombardo, & Vaughn Monroe.

   We know there were many other performances and other events held at the Moose but we need you help, could you please share your memories with us? Please either leave a reply below or email us by CLICKING HERE.

 Originally Published June 16, 2009

    Dr. Silas Stevenson built his home in 1891 on the Southeast corner of Park Avenue and Seventh Street. The former Roundhead was one of the fortunate men that was able to return home after serving his country in the Civil War but by the grace of God and a little luck he was able to. Silas was wounded near Petersburg, Virginia in 1864 and severely injured when a shell exploded by his head in 1865. After returning home, Dr. Stevenson continued to serve his country when he was elected to two terms in the State Legislature. Along with Captain A.C. Grove, Silas served on both the first Borough Council and the first School Board being named president of both.
    Silas’ widow, Mrs. Sarah Robinson Stevenson continued to live in the house on Park Avenue until she was 94 years old in 1940. The house was later sold to Frank & Elizabeth Bellissimo.
If you know anything else about this house or have any memories you would like to share about this post, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.
Information for this post was gathered from the book Ellwood City Houses and the People Who Lived in Them by Charles R. Moser available at the Ellwood City Historical Society.

    The 1949-50 school year at Park Gate School included the following sixth, seventh and eighth grade students. In the front row were, left to right, Ray Foley, Angelo Prestopine, Donald Hogue, Judy Robinson, Bud Hill and Joe Regna. In the second row were, left to right, JoAnne Kraynak, Joan Kirkham, Norma Tritt, Carl Campbell and Eugene LaRitz. In the third row were, left to right, Rose Marie Conforti, Marlene Volpe, Clarence Olinger, Shirley Kolitz and Albert Hogue. In the fourth row were, left to right, John LaRitz, Donna Swesey, unknown, John DeCaria and Joyce McMunn, In the back were, left to right, Fred Regna, Earl Snyder and Mrs. Edna Coulter, teacher. This picture once belonged to Laird Coulter, son of Mrs. Coulter but is now in the possession of the Ellwood City Historical Society.

         The Presbyterian Church of Ellwood City is older than our town itself, having originally organized in the “old brick school house” back on July 14, 1891. The church continued to gather at the brick school by the old white wooden covered bridge that crossed the creek until finally building their own building on the corner of Spring Avenue and Third Street. Yes, I said Third Street. The original Presbyterian Church was built on the corner of Spring Avenue and Third Street. The church met there from 1893 until 1925 when they sold the lot to the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church.
      The stone building specialist, Albert Dahl built the current First Presbyterian Church on the corner of Fourth Street and Spring Avenue. Mr. Dahl also built the original First National Bank (now home to the Ellwood City Ledger) and the First Baptist Church on Fountain Avenue.
      The building itself  has grown through the years and is now also home to Parent’s Preschool and continues to host the famous Boar’s Head Festival each Christmas.
If you have a story you would like to share about the Presbyterian Church of Ellwood City, please share your memories below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      I am always very appreciative to all those who have shared pictures with Ellwood City Memories. Sometimes I am unable to get the pictures onto the site right away as I have to make sure they are not copyrighted, but pictures like these that were donated by Scott Mackey make my task very easy.
I would like to thank Scott for these pictures he took of the construction of the current Veterans Memorial Bridge on Fifth Street. It is very easy to forget how much further west the old Fifth Street Bridge was located. I know it is mentioned a lot how the construction of the current bridge drastically changed the landscape to the Hazel Dell business district and also led to the destruction of the oldest building in Ellwood City. However, I for one do not miss driving around that island at the intersection where the end of the bridge ran into Wampum Avenue (west), Todd Avenue, North Street, and Wampum Avenue (east).
      In the one picture you can still see that under portion of the bridge closet to the bank where outside pillars are cement, there used to be a large arch like a road ran under the bridge. Does anyone know if there was a road or walkway that ran under the bridge?
Speaking of under the bridge, that pathway they built to get the cranes and cement trucks to the creek would have been a fantastic addition to Ellwood City. A pathway to the creek and a path wide enough to ride a bicycle to Ewing Park would have been a nice little side effect project. There is still a pathway up from the creek at the Ewing Park Bridge. A smaller foot bridge at the site of the old Harmony Line Bridge connecting the path to Ewing Park would have been nice and maybe someday might happen. You can see that the construction workers built a temporary bridge across the creek in one of these pictures so I guess I can hope.
      Back to the bridge, who remembers the 4′ x 4′ sheets of steel they used to cover up the holes on the sidewalk of the old bridge? I remember walking to school across that bridge and the cement would be crumbling away exposing the steel grid under the cement until one day you are walking to school (freezing) and then all of a sudden there was a hole. After a couple of days, they would just cover the hole with a steel plate and you would start watching the next spot wear away.
Speaking of the sidewalks, do you remember the large cement barriers separating the sidewalks from the roads? Those were not there when the bridge was originally built. The only thing separating the road and sidewalk originally was a normal six inch curb. I remember the way the bridge moved when the Forge trucks or Blanks trucks went across, who ever decided to add the barriers, thank you.

      I recently attended an engagement where the speaker spoke on Ellwood City Area Athletics. Most of the presentation centered on baseball and football but the topic of basketball stirred up some conversation. It was suggested that Joedy Gardner was the most valuable basketball player in Ellwood City history. The speaker conceited that he may not have been the greatest in Ellwood’s history, though he was great, but the most valuable. He credited Gardner with changing the way the other schools around the area viewed Ellwood City Basketball.
A number of people have shared with us how good Joedy was, so if he wasn’t the greatest in Ellwood City history, who was? I guess that comes down to how old the person you are asking is.
Ellwoodians that are around the century mark remember players like Dip McDaniel, Merit Book, and Sing MacDonald as phenomenal players. Dip has been credited with getting people in Ellwood interested in basketball during his games at the Shelby clubhouse as these men played before Ellwood City even had a high school team. As a matter of fact, for the first fifty years of Ellwood’s existence, Dip was widely regarded as the greatest athlete to come out of our tube making town.
      Then that was about the time Joedy Gardner hit the scene. As mentioned above Joedy turned the tide for Ellwood from consecutive losing seasons to an actual contender. He starred at Lincoln from 1951 to 54 before playing on nationally ranked teams at West Virginia University.
      Dan Aloi is probably the other great basketball player to be mentioned in this conversation. Having ended his career in Ellwood with a number of records including single game scoring record, single season scoring record, and the career scoring record. He was also named to the National High School Boys Basketball All-American team in 1987.
However, if the conversation is about the greatest basketball player in Ellwood City history, you have to include Anne Malkowiak who graduated as the all time leading scorer in Beaver County, all time leading scorer in Lawrence county, the first boy or girl to score 2,000 points for Ellwood, and the all time leading scorer for Lincoln High School.
It is a tricky conversation to have as there are a number of reasons why it is difficult to compare these great players to each other. Not to mention whenever the conversations start to get heated, someone throws in the legendary Don Hennon whose 2,376* career points at Wampum from 1951-55 stood as the WPIAL record for 38 years (I added the asterisks because Don earned his points without the benefit of a three point line). As many of you know, the Wampum school district closed and is now part of Ellwood City and Mohawk so he might deserve to be added to this conversation. How good was Don, consider this, the 1958 he was selected for the Associated Press All-American team, along with future NBA stars Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, and Guy Roger.
      By default, if you are going to include Dr. Hennon in this conversation, I guess I feel inclined to also add Sean Miller to the mix. True he played his high school ball for his dad’s teams at Blackhawk High School, but he was born and raised in Ellwood City before moving to Blackhawk for his varsity years.
Okay, there you have it, who did I forget? I am sure you will point out great players I forgot like Joe Dougherty but I assure you it was not intentional. I am just going off of previous conversations/arguments I have had or overheard. Please feel free to correct me below or email me at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com