Spring cleaning brings back memories

I spent a few hours this weekend sorting through a few boxes of old newspaper clippings, files and photographs. The boxes have been stored for many years in my basement. Their contents have a certain mustiness related to such storage.

Many of these are small – but still significant – records of local history. A lot of the photos are of former local, state and national public officials over the past quarter of a century.

Shortly after I started working in newspaper journalism, I began using my own camera in order to maintain ownership of my photos – especially those taken on my own time. Besides, my (then) new Pentax PZ10 35 mm camera was far superior to the company’s old K-1000 models.

Through the years, I have saved a lot. Too much, in fact.

There are photos of local high school student-athletes who are now approaching their 40th birthdays. There are photos from ribbon-cutting ceremonies with former Sixth District congressman Bob McEwen, Ted Strickland and Frank Cremeans.

There are several photos of my former employer and former congressman Clarence J. “Bud” Brown, Jr., including one the night I received the annual award named for the chairman of the board at that time. (Members of the CJB-2 Award Club are few, and there won’t be any more of us, sadly. He was a good newspaperman.)

In sorting through the boxes, I found photos of current county officeholders who had a lot more hair “back in the day.” One of the first things I noticed in these photos from 25 years ago was the hair. There was more of it. And the eyeglasses. The lenses were much larger. And the suits. The lapels were wider. So were the ties.

Times change.

The dilemma, now as always, is this: What to save and what to pitch. (In baseball parlance.)

Since this was a spring cleaning mission, a lot was pitched. Two full boxes were eliminated. So that was good.

Among the items not pitched:

• A newspaper column entitled “Fear not the cat,” about my daughter, Meghan, receiving a pet kitten during the Festival of the Bells the last year it was held at the Highland County Fairgrounds. She brought the kitten home and while attempting to carry it downstairs, she slipped and fell. Her arm was broken, and we spent that night in the hospital.

The Festival of the Bells hasn’t been held at the fairgrounds since, and Meghan hasn’t broken her arm again.

• Two photos of Ernie Blankenship that I took at the 1994 Kroger Senior Classic at Kings Island. One photo is of Ernie and tournament director Burch Riber (who has Hillsboro roots). The other is of Ernie and tournament champion Jim Colbert.

I attended that tournament with Phil Roberts. We both played in the 18-hole media outing – as did Ernie and Jim Duckwall, on a press pass – prior to the PGA Senior Tour event. Phil, Ernie and I also stopped at Snow Hill Country Club for another round after the Senior Classic.

• Photos of well-known past and present public officials. This includes photos of Tom Horst, Ike Hodson, Rich Graves, Doug White, Russ Newman, Ann Fenner Williams, Peggy McClellan, Dinah Phillips, Betty Bishop, Rocky Coss, Dave Daniels, Dick Zink, R. Paul Pence, Clarence Thurman, Dean Otworth, ODOT's Vaughn Wilson with Gov. George Voinovich, and many others.

There’s the photo of Bob Hodson reading my editorial in support of a Hillsboro City Schools levy in the mid-1990s at Southern State Community College. The district passed that levy, too. Its first in decades.

I even found a swearing-in ceremony photo in which Judge Jim Hapner administered the oath of office to Rosemary Ryan. I am in the photo, too, holding the family flask. (No, my mother does not drink. But she does have a sense of humor.)

• There’s a photo of former Southern State Community College President Dr. Larry Dukes, which I set up outside the college. (I did not take the photo that day for fear of Larry not showing up. Just prior to that photo, I had scheduled a luncheon meeting at the Wooden Spoon Restaurant with Larry. I didn’t show. It’s been 21 years, and he hasn’t forgotten.)

• A photo of Ernie Banks standing behind home plate at Riverfront Stadium. The greatest Chicago Cub of them all saw me lining up the photo. Being a pro, he stared toward left-centerfield and smiled until I had my shot. Afterward, we shook hands. I was nervous. He was gracious. Ernie Banks was pure class. A great player and an even greater man.

• I found several photos of former coworkers and kept all of them. I’d almost forgotten about former City Editor John Cronin. He was a good writer, a good golfer, and loved to listen to WLW’s Gary Burbank when he had a Gilbert Gnarley (G-N-A-R-L-E-Y) episode on the radio. All work ceased until the Burbank episode was over.

• A photo of longtime newspaper publisher Clarence Graham of Wilmington caught my attention. Actually, there were two photos that I’d taken at Clarence’s retirement celebration. One of Clarence, and another of Clarence and Mark Policinski. It occurred to me that of all the many publishers of the former Brown Publishing Company, Clarence Graham was the last to leave with a farewell celebration. (The others left on less pleasant terms due in large part to the company’s insatiable appetite for mazuma.)

• One of the last photos almost took my breath away. Maybe, in time, I’ll share that one, too.

My spring cleaning is just beginning. I’ve learned that it’s not always an easy chore. But as it is with any task, it must be done.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.