Comments on: Greatest Ellwood City Sledding Hill

By: Tony Spielvogel

Tony Spielvogel — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 13:00:43 +0000

Bluff Ave is without a doubt the best sledriding in ellwood. You can start above the radio towere and make it all the way down to the north side school.

By: Chris Pavkovich

Chris Pavkovich — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:25:57 +0000

Yeah, reaching Line Avenue would be nearly impossible given the grade from Hazel to Line Avenue.

By: Dave Larson

Dave Larson — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:59:25 +0000

One of the side affects of being old is thinking you’re right, somebody who has to set the world straight, who isn’t smart enough to leave things well enough alone. So apologies in advance to Tracie Haswell’s (older) siblings. From the top of North Street to Line Avenue has a “valley” in the middle of that run called Hazel Avenue. The sled, or sledder, who can make that run owns one of those E.T. bicycles too. I don’t remember them closing the road, but do remember looking for cars once you reached North Side Elementary School and the intersection with Orchard Avenue, I believe it was. Those were death defying days, I swear.

By: Tracie Haswell

Tracie Haswell — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:23:11 +0000

The place that I went sledding as a kid was at the top of North Street…if you were to face East, with the tower behind you… THAT was where we went… we called it Hogue’s Hill.
I also heard stories of my (older) siblings sledding down North Street, from the very top, all the way to the blinker light on Line Ave. They would close the road.

By: Chris Pavkovich

Chris Pavkovich — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:57:40 +0000

Greg,

Was it the hil leading down to Merrit Book playground?

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:58:34 +0000

There was a hill on Todd Avenue which they called Butchelle’s hill for years. The borough would put baracades up for the kids to sled ride. Also at the bottom of the hill on the left Russ Butchelle had an Ice Skating pond behide his house where many of generations would skate there. He open his basement for everyone to keep warm and in the earlier days during the 50′s and 60′s there was plenty of dancing in the basement. There are alot of memories there. I skated there until about 1965 before he closed it just before he retired.

By: Don Anderson

Don Anderson — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 17:47:42 +0000

I remember sledding down 5th st from above Summit Ave down to Wayne Ave and there was a lady who lived on the corner who would bring out hot choclate for us but what I remember most was a hill off of 6th St betrween Division and Franklin, it was suppose to be an alley but was never paved, we would start way up in the woods and ride down to 6th St and would have to turn our sleds over before we got all the way down. What really makes me remember that hill (and if anyone remembers me they may recall this) I BROKE my leg on that hill must have been about 15 and Dennis
Barto wa with me, called the ambulance and Derrick Stevenson came with it (we were neighbors back then). Don Anderson

By: Jo Ann (Miller) Oxsen

Jo Ann (Miller) Oxsen — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:12:10 +0000

I rode my sled down the hill to the old power plant off Pittsburgh Circle back in the 1950′s and remember crashing into the metal fence more than once. It’s amazing I escaped sliding off the side of the hill on the way down, which could have resulted in a real catastrophe.

By: Chris Pavkovich

Chris Pavkovich — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:51:08 +0000

I located the hill I was talking about. I looked at Google maps. If you look at View Street on Google Maps, it is the property located near the end of View where it turns 90 degrees to intersect Hazel. And it was Cedar not College Street. If you followed the path of the hill, you would hit the end of Orchard Avenue.

By: Dave Larson

Dave Larson — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:02:01 +0000

Comments on the Comments:

1. Dale Brown…hiding cigarettes. Those are bad for you. See comment #6…Brown’s Hill named after your grandfather or great grandfather.
5. Ed Seiter…I remember the buses well. I lived on Hazel Ave. Bus stop was at the corner of Hazel Ave. and North St. at Charlie Ricardo’s store.
6. Lynn Coblenetz…sled riding on Brown’s Hill? To me that’s PA Route 65 coming into Ellwood City before reaching Ewing Park. Thinking of sledding on that hill would be “the last sled ride!”
14. Chris Pavkovich…I have vague memories. The name of the farm or of the hill escapes me. As with other North Siders, alumni of North Side Elementary, I do remember going all the way up North Street, then on to a hill on a farm. I vividly remember using an old car hood ( like a 1953 Chevy for example ) as a sled. Kenny Brown had to be with me. Nothing dangerous was done without Kenny. Greatest ride on earth, that car hood was, but you had to bail out before you reached the barbed wire fence at the bottom. Sounds like I am making this up, but I swear I did it.

New comment: does anyone remember Richard Palumbo (Polumbo?) who lived on North Street, above Orchard Avenue? He’d know all about sledding on that street and any farm field around it. I saw Richard last in December 1968 when he got out of the Army and I was on leave from Boot Camp at Ft. Dix. Would like to be in touch with him. Dave Larson mainelarson@yahoo.com

By: Chris Pavkovich

Chris Pavkovich — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 21:05:05 +0000

There is a hill on the North Side above Hazel (or Hazen). I could never remember the name. Anyway, the property was partly owned by Rick Rozzo’s family. The hill started way up in the woods (way up for kids those days, lol). You would come tearing out of the woods and if you did not steer properly you would go flying over the hill toward Rozzo’s home. Steer correctly and you could make it to the alley, if you did not go left and crash into the trash cans and garage (lol), down the alley and across the street (Hazen or Hazel) right next to College street. The best was using a saucer disk because you could never steer them properly. Shawn Conway, Robert DiBuono, my brother Damien, Ryan Kelly, Rick Rozzo and a host of others used to spend hours on that hill. We used to try and knock kids down coming up the hill. The best was going up in the afternoon when it was snowing and walking home at night. It would be quiet, no tracks and felt like you were the only one on earth. I miss those times. Ahhh the memories!!!

By: H R Wirth

H R Wirth — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 06:16:22 +0000

The kids called it Suidcide. It was It might not have been the longest but it was steepest I can recall. It was below Jamison Avenue and either 1st or 2nd street in Ellport. And you had to be quick on the stop because if you didn’t veer off to the side, you’d end up in the Connequenessing.