Passing of a fellow Umpire

Sam and I headed for Bascom, Ohio, about 2:30 yesterday afternoon...getting to the Hopewell-Loudon baseball diamond in plenty of time for the 5PM Sectional Final between Fremont St. Joe and Tiffin Calvert. It was Sam's turn to do the plate and the well played, especially pitching, game went only about 1 hour and 25 minutes without incident, and we headed back the 98 miles to Celina.....Fremont won 6-0 to move on to the district, getting a no hit effort from their left handed starter until the final inning when he gave up an infield hit to deep short.

Getting home at the start of the 2nd peroid, for the Flyers-Pittsburgh game, I settled back hopeful of seeing Philly come from behind in both the game and the series...but that was not to be, the Pens take the game 4-1 and lead the best of 7 by 3 games to none, rendering it all but over...well the Flyers did make great leaps from the worst record in the NHL last season to the Eastern Finals this year....now they will play out the string, whether it's one game or more.

After the game...............

I walked over to the computer and flipped on the local website for the MAC(Midwest Athletic Conference), the area high school league, made up of multiple state champions, and probably the best small school conference in the U.S.....anyway, the "forum" section usually has some pretty good conversations...but last night one in particular caught my eye...the passing of a poster with the name "Gonemad"...I could have thrown up....Gonemad is the site name of a guy from Delphos named Dave....Dave was only 45 years old, had just joined our Van Wert Umpire association, and was a new grandpa about 2 weeks ago....Dave's wife found him dead in bed when he failed to wake up yesterday morning....I was just talking to him after a game last week, and had "talked" to him via E-mail on Monday....it appears to be heart related but they will do an autopsy to find out. Just another reminder, nobody knows when their number is going to be called...God rest your soul and be with your family Dave...I will miss our conversations...Dave was a sports nut and was going to be a good umpire, he was a good family man.

Despite the foul weather, our Mesick, Michigan, mushroom hunt remains on schedule...I topped off the Jeep's tank(now unleaded at $3.89 a gallon) and will begin packing for our, what looks to be wet and cool, weekend.

more later>>>>>>>>>>>

---------------

photos-You gotta wonder where the Hell this nation is heading? The more I hear and see the 3 Amigos that we have running for President, the more I lean towards voting 3rd party...done it before. What we need is a new Sheriff, or better yet, an old Sheriff like RR.

Fort Wayne Komets win Turner Cup!

My "other" favorite pro hockey team won the International Hockey League(IHL) championship last night. When the family moved from Venice, Florida, to Celina, Ohio, back in the fall of 1962 I had a small interest in ice hockey. Growing up in south Florida, I liked to roller skate, but even though I had not been on ice since before I was 4, I maintained a rooting interest in the sport of Ice Hockey....the old 6 team NHL and minor league IHL...I could pick up games on my AM radio back 50 years ago, and one team was the Fort Wayne Komets, out of that Indiana city. WOWO Radio 1190 was a 50,000 watt clear channel blow tourch back then, and you could pick up the Komets games late at night....and I would listen to them, on my transistor radio many evenings before falling asleep.

When the family moved to Ohio, some 50 miles from Fort Wayne, I became a big fan of the Komets and their on-air voice Bob Chase. Even though this minor league franchise has evolved both up and down the food chain of Hockey for the past 60 years, two things have remained constant. The team, year in and year out, sells the most tickets in the sub leagues(this season averaging almost 8000 fans a game, compared with the second most attended team in the IHL averaging around 3300), and Bob Chase....Chase has been the play-by-play announcer for the K's since they began....last night he was on the call again, Bob is now in his mid 80s, and I'm sure it was another thrill when he got the chance to lift the "Turner Cup" over his head for the Komets 6 championship in their history.

Down 3-1 in games, Fort Wayne, (who dominated the league in not only attendance, they defeated the second place team, Port Huron, by over 30 points during the regular season) was on the brink of seeing their record setting season end short of their goal. After winning at home, the K's pulled out a hard fought road win in Port Huron on Saturday to bring the series back home for a 7th and deciding game. Fort Wayne jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through peroid 2...PH got a quick goal back and the 2-1 score held until the Icehawks pulled their goalie with about a minute left in regulation. Port Huron worked their magic and tied the game with 52 seconds left....the game then went into 1, then through 2 overtimes....the score still tied at 2....Fort Wayne ended the series and seaon 23 seconds into OT #3.....a 19 year old rookie scores the winner, and at 1 o'clock this morning, the Komets had their Turner Cup(the IHL version of the Stanley Cup).

For more details on the Komets season and cup win here is the link to the team Web Site:

--

http://www.komets.com/

---

Great season for the K's and their fans...another sell out of 10, 468 fans celebrated a Monday night win.

------------------

On to the NHL Playoffs:

I will miss most of tonight's Philadelphia Flyers game...Philly, down 2 games to none vs Pittsburgh, face a must win situation...meanwhile Detroit, no doubt the best team remaining, went up 3-0 over Dallas with a 5-2 road win last night, in the Western Finals.

Sam and I have a Sectional Baseball Division 4 Tournament Championship game at the town of Bascom, Ohio, tonight....not even sure who is in the final which is being played at Hopewll-Loudon High School.....I do know we will be leaving about 2:30...Bascom is 100 miles north and east of Celina, could be a late night this evening, before we get home.

back later>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Monday, Monday,

Got the opening round of Sectional Tournament(Div 4) in on Saturday, the only good day of weather of late...miserable rain yesterday for Mother's Day....me and Anissa went over to mom's, Patricia stopped by after church as well, Sam went by later in the day with his gift.

This afternoon's non league game at Ft Recovery was cancelled due to wet fields...Sam had one at Wayne Trace against Parkway, that one has been moved to Rockford(Parkway) due to wet diamond at WT.....tomorrow looks like 70 degrees, and Sam and I have a Tournament game at Bascom(Hopewell-Loudon High School)...a nice little 98 mile trek.....but the mileage money will make it worthwhile....a couple of more after the mushroom weekend in Mesick, Michigan, then it's off til June 1st...when the summer ACME and American Legion seasons start....here we are at the end of spring baseball, and it doesn't feel much like spring yet.

The Philadelphia Flyers are on the ropes in the NHL East Finals...the defense has been rocked by injuries, and they trail the Pittsburgh Penqueens 2-0 in the best of 7...meanwhile the Fort Wayne Komets finish off the Turner Cup tonight(I thought it was last night) at home vs Port Huron...series tied 3-3 the Komets, who won the regulary season in the IHL in a walk, have had to battle back from a 3-1 series deficite to tie it up and now can win it at home.

Keeping in the theme of pro sports...How about them Redlegs? Cincinnati, with new management are still the same old stinking Reds.....dead last in the NL Central...and keeping their young guns down on the farm(system), way to go Bob and Company....you guys are clueless.

That is about it for this Mundane Monday....the mushroom weekend is upcoming, and it looks like rain gear and cold weather clothes will be needed....well, at least the beer will be cold and plenty of good cigars, shouldn't be all bad, hopefully some good mushrooms and good photos...time will tell.

back later>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

photo-The famous and tasty Morel Mushroom...and the long trek this Friday to Mesick to find them.

Sunday Morning Music Session

We got our tournament double header in yesterday at Convoy(Crestview High School)...the first round goes to Fort Jennings over Wayne Trace 5-3 and the 2nd to Ottoville's Big Green 6-2 over Lincolnview....Mosier and I had to have a record low time for a tourney double dip...3 hours 40 minutes, and that included the 25 minutes or so between games....gave me time to get home, fire up a torpedo, and down a couple of cold ones.....meanwhile this morning, the day dawns cold, windy, and wet....the tournaments and regular season finals games will be dodging rain for the next week it appears.

Picked out 5 little diddys with appropriate(or not) political comments enclosed:

(1) As a radio DJ back in the 70s and early 80s I always enjoyed most of Styx music...when Dennis DeYoung went out on his own this was his biggest video hit, 1985 or 86 was the year..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqjwt8qXjKc

That's Desert Moon................

(2) Bob Segar is still among my top 5 artists/groups of all time...this one, Against the Wind, came out when I was a Radio News Director at KGNO in Dodge City, Kansas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiuRdjESiC4

(3) The Number 1 group on my all time list is CCR...this is their Anti-War protest song Fortunate Son....Hell, I'm pro-war(against Islamic trash anyway), but I like this one anyway...let's face is some of these guys played to the mindless kiddie liberals even back then...John Fogerty was/is talented, he is just another tool when it comes to his political views.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBfjU3_XOaA

(4) The Eagles were 1A when it comes to all time groups on the PRH list....for the most part they kept politics out of their stuff...and when they did put political BS in, it was just to make a statement that nobody knew what the Hell they were saying.............this is their greatest ballad, Desperado

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MBorFLA9nQ


(5) And the #2 all time ass clown when it comes to mixing music and political views(next to Bruce Springsteen, who I wouldn't walk across the street to piss on to put him out, if he was on fire) is John "don't call me Courgar anymore" Mellenkamp, form Seymore, Indiana. Little John put out a few cute songs in the 80s, and now he thinks he has a vast knowledge of political wisdom....but like Springsteen and Bob Dylan, he's more like a fart in a hurricane....but this one, Small Town, hit pretty close to home.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eDkAG3R0h8


That's Music and Political Comment for a Sunday Morning...Mother's Day to be exact....

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL....Especially my Mom and Patricia, my wife.....

_______________

photos- Very early CCR and the Komets and Philly Flyers logos...Fort Wayne, now tied at 3-3 with Port Huron play at home tonight for the IHL Turner Cup....the Flyers meanwhile are back in Pittsburgh down 1-0 in the best of 7 Eastern Finals...Go Komets, Go Philly!

Friday/Hockey Night in America

I made the 60 mile north trip to Hicksville last night...it rained all the way, until I was 4 miles from the town...and it stopped. We ended up getting our GMC Varsity game in with visiting Ayresville coming out on top by a 12-3 score.....tonight's game for both Sam and I are already washed out by wet fields in Lima and Convoy....way too much rain for this time of year. Sectional Tournaments are slated to start tomorrow, although we may have another batch of rain overnight....I'm at Convoy for the Crestview Division 4 semi-finals, Sam meanwhile is down in Shelby County for a single game at Russia(pronounced Rue-She).

Tonight my Philly Flyers begin the Eastern Finals of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, on VS(TV) against Cindy Crosby and the Pittsburg Fem-Quens....old time hockey fans have to laugh at this team of whimps out of Pittsburgh, this is what modern day hockey has become...wonder what Dave "The Hammer" Schultz would think?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw9qDXgKXYg

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2n6hjH3Ze4

Great old time Hockey from the 70s where the Broad Street Bullies were kings and everybody else was just pretenders...just ask the Soviet Red Army team when they came to Philly in 1976 and tried to play Euro Hockey with the Flyers....final Flyers 4 Pinkos 1...and that after the Soviet coach pulled his team off the ice, until the Flyer GM told him.."No Play, No Pay" and they went back in for their butt kicking, before a World TV audience.

2 you tubes on the game are here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SweXHT8mCM0

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1_jFoB3RQM

I still love NHL hockey today...but without a doubt it is not the same game...the NHL has tried to tame it down...and not for the better of the "sport". Even the NHL has turned PC.....the likes of the Broad Street Bullies will not been seen again....and we all are much the poorer for it.

Think I'll drop in some music videos for the weekend sometime tomorrow...

Back Later>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Growing in Venice Florida-Epilogue

Got our game in somehow at USV in McGuffey...a few sprinkles, but for the most part the rain held off until last night, when another dumping hit the area. Although the games have not been cancelled for today...yet..I can predict that Sam's at Fort Recovery is done...mine up at Hicksville is probably the same, but it doesn't appear that they have had as much liquid as us, so far...but more is coming. We've been pretty lucky the past few weeks, even though we have had rain, it has only affected a few ball games.

-------------------

Venice, the final days

1962

-------------------{Note:  Since I penned this blog some 5 years ago, my cousin Gary Houseworth and his mother, my Aunt Marvel have passed away, I still am in contact with Gary's oldest son GW, and we vist via e-mail frequently}

After 4 years of living on School Street, I entered 8th grade at Venice Jr High....I'm not sure when I became aware of dad's plans to sell his half of the ESSO Station in South Venice to his brother John, and move the family back to Ohio. It was right before the Cuban Missile Crisis, I do remember that.

So here we were, a family of 6 getting ready to pack up and head north to the homeland. Had to be rough on Mike, he was in 11th grade, could not have been fun to pick up and leave...less so for sister Marty(5th grade) and me in Junior High. We headed out in early October, dad had purchased another gas station in Celina, Ohio....A Marathon station. We had visited Celina in 1960, so we knew a little about the town, our friends from Scott, Ohio, Jon and Sharon Swoveland, had moved there a few years before, and we had visited them that summer.

So, off we went to Ohio....Celina was not Venice, and unlike Venice, in the 45 years since our move, not a lot has changed in Celina...Venice, meanwhile, is not the same small innocent town that I grew up in.....I would not be inclined to move back there....way too much has changed.

Dad, mom, and youngest sister Kelly, returned to Venice on several occasions in the later 60s and early 70s, , until dad passed away in late 1972....for vacations and to check on the house, which they still owned. As for me, I did not return until the summer of 1975, when me, along with buddies, Mike Schilling and Jim Olson, spent a couple of weeks in Florida, including a few days camping at the Oscar Shere State Park, drinking beer and fishing off the Venice Jetties. I even got to visit my old best friend Mike Graff...by that time Mike was married and had a young son....it was not the same, in my mind, and I gathered his, we both had changed in those 13 years since we had last visited....it was a short get together, and we never saw each other again...Mike passed away in 2003 at the age of 54, his wife died 2 years later.

Starting in 1997 when the boys were old enough to make long trips via car, Patricia, Anissa, Sam and Hal headed south...after a couple of way side stops, we ended up in Venice....a few days at the Inn at the Beach at the end of Venice Avenue, made the entire family begin to love "the new Venice"....we made annual trips there for the next 5 years, until the boys were out of high school and off the "Vacation with the Folks" routine.

After I retired from the Health Department and started driving RVs for delivery, I made it to Venice on many occasions....hooking up with my cousin Gary Houseworth, who still runs a paint and body shop there, and his mom, my Aunt Marvel, who passed away a couple of years ago....I like the new Venice, a couple of good restaurants, the Inn at the Beach, is a great place to stay, but it's not my Venice. Condos now line the once pristine beach, the population has swelled, and the once 20 mile drive up US 41 to Sarasota through rural land, is now just houses and development....prices have sky rocketed, the fishing now stinks, but it still has brutal hot, humid, summers, and nice winters....There is a great cigar shop on the Tamiami Trail called "The Cigar Room", where I stop and fill up with good quality smokes every chance I get.

But, it's a different place, the new Venice. Mom sold the house in the early 1980s....and all we have left are the memories of growing up in south Sarasota County, when it was still wild and young.....a great place to have been a kid.

---------------------------------------

photos-Venice in more recent times....The South Jetties, the way it looks today, Condos line the once unspoiled sands of Venice Beach, a Venice sunset I shot a few years back while vacationing at the Inn at the Beach, The Inn at the Beach on the west end of Venice Avenue...100 feet and you are on the beach. And finally, my old hang out, Dick and Meadows Drug Store as it looked in 1988 on my first visit to the town in 13 years.....

Growing Up in Venice Florida(part 5)

\

---------------------------

Got another game in yesterday, finally one at St. Marys, after having 2 league games rained out....I'm sure the host Roughriders would have just as soon seen this one go the same way. Lima Shawnee(18-4) knocked off the home team in a 5 inning run rule by a 10-0 count. Sam and I are scheduled to make the 57 mile one way trip back to McGuffey this afternoon...but rain looks in the forecast for the next 3 days, so will see how that shakes out.

The Sectional Tournaments start this weekend....I'll be with Mosier at Convoy Crestview for a twin bill on Saturday.

-------------------------

Venice-The Final Years

1958-1962

-------------------------

We had moved to 328 School Street in the Edgewood Section for what was to be our final 4 years of living in Venice, Florida. Dad and mom had purchased a home on a half-acre east of town. As described in yesterday's post, there were still plenty of wildlife and adventure in that still being developed part of town.

We, brother Mike, my friend Mike Graff, and others in our Little League group would usually bike the 3 miles across town and US 41(The Tamiami Trail) to the diamonds, which were located near the Gulf and local Airport. When not playing baseball we would either hang out at Dick and Meadows Drug Store on Venice Avenue, a great place to get "Cherry Cokes" and read sports magazines....the place is still there today, and I even got to talk with Mr. Dick back in 1988...I had not seen him since 62 before then. When not at the drug store, playing ball, hunting wildlife, etc, I could usually be found at the Venice Beach, or fishing at the South Jetties.

I also took my first job while living on School Street....delivering the Sarasota Sun to my neighbors in and beyond the Edgewood section of town....I remember having more than a few "deadbeats" on my route, and what little money I made in those couple of years was spent on baseball cards and RC Cola in 12 oz bottles.

I finished up my years at Venice Elementary while living on the corner of Pineland and School, and begin my days at the new Venice Junior High...an open air school with open to the elements hallways, and our own book lockers that were located in those halls.....I don't remember my academic standing improving in those days....but it really never did, until my college days many years later....I had more important things to do than study or worry about grades....at least in my wandering mind.

One of the things I honed my skills at was Bowling...Early Wynn was one of the home town "stars" in Venice, Early was a baseball icon, who started in the majors in 1939 with the Washington Senators, he moved on with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, before finishing off his career with his 300th win(and a ticket to the Hall of Fame) back in Cleveland. Anyway Early built a Bowling Alley in South Venice, right across from Dad and John's gas station...Mike Graff and I spent many hours learning how to bowl at that alley. As 12 year olds, Graff was the best of the bunch, I was second...we were both pretty darn good for our ages, and we were allowed to join the Adult Leagues....I think Mike averaged about 145 his first year, I pretty well tanked it(intimadation?) and I still have a paper with my 112 average on it.....I would improve after I moved to Ohio....but it was an honor to be included in the adult teams and leagues.

While living at School Street, mom and dad "decided" to have another child....so some 10 years(minus 4 months) after Marty was born, the youngest Houseworth kid, Kelly was born at the Venice Hospital....the kid sister came along when dad was already 45 and mom 38....she was 4 months old when dad decided to sell his share of the station to Uncle John, pack up and after 8+ years living in paradise, move back to the flatlands of western Ohio.

The Epilogue of the Venice years coming up next.......back later>>>>>>>>

---------------------------

photos----Baseball Hall of Famer Early Wynn, with autograph, in addition to 5 Bowling Alley Autograph cards, I have a Early Wynn autograph baseball, but brother Mike has the Crown Jewell...a 1959 Chicago White Sox Autograph baseball, the entire AL Champion 59 team signed it, and Early gave it to Mike.--Venice Avenue in the days when I hung around the soda fountain at the Rexall Drug Store--and Mike and Marty in the yard, and me on the porch, in late 1958 soon after moving into our new house.

Venice, Florida-328 School Street 1958-62)

In the summer of 1958 Dad and Mom started looking for property to buy in Venice. I know from the stories mom tells, she wanted a little 3 bedroom house near the Gulf of Mexico, while dad had his sight set on a 2 bedroom house with an attached garage farther away from the water and sitting on a larger lot in the Edgewood Section of east Venice. Dad won, and I still don't think my 84 year old mother has forgiven him for it....even though dad passed away 35 years ago. I am only kidding about the forgiving part, but mom still mentions it....of course the property near the Gulf in those days was not nearly as "pricey" as today....try buying a house of any kind within 2 blocks of the Gulf these days....good luck!

Just after Halloween we made the move from the Venice By-Way to the corner of Pineland Avenue and School Street...it would be our last residence in Venice. My Uncle(dad's older brother) John would move within a block of us shortly after, my best friend Mike Graff lived 2 streets away, and all was right with the world as we knew it.

The Edgewood section was begun around the time of World War 2, and we were located on the newer extreme south and east parts of that subdivision...thus there still was plenty of wild land to explore back in those days....forget that in 2008, you have to go all the way east to I-75 to find much untouched land. During that time, we played baseball with Terry Haskins, Mike Graff, Barry Young(also from my class),Jackie Dye, and the other neighborhood kids...getting better as we went grew. There were a couple of baseball diamonds within stone throwing distance, and we played on them constantly....When not playing baseball, or getting into trouble setting off fireworks, Graff and I explored the woods, flatland, and creeks to the east and south of School and Pineland....one experience comes to mind clear as a bell. Mike Graff and I decided to explore a woods south of my house...it was about a mile away and across a 3 foot deep creek(today that "creek" is the inter-coastal waterway, but not back then)...crossing the creek seemed no big problem, it wasn't deep, but it was filled with other excitement. I crossed first, the muddy bottom encircled my feet, as I was about half way across the 6 foot wide ditch, water waist high, I looked and swimming towards me was a medium sized snake...not jut any snake....a damn water moccasin...a Cottonmouth....well my feet couldn't get out of that mud quick enough...I got across to the other side as quick as my short legs could go....Graff went down a few feet, and crossed in a quick fashion. "Problem #1 out of the way".

-

We managed our way into the woods, and found a few nice trees to climb, one in particular, with a nice overhanging thick branch seemed good climbing material, so up that tree we went. Out on the overhanging branch I went first....as I grabbed a smaller branch some 15 feet or so above the ground, the rotting piece of wood came off in my hand....and down I went, slow motion it seemed, before I landed face and chest first in the dead leaves below. I remember standing(or stooping up), taking a step and falling back first into the tree base. What seemed like hours, but was probably on a few minutes, I heard Graff calling in the distance..."Houseworth, Houseworth, hey Pat"....knocked out I was, but I soon got my breath...survived without any injuries that I could find....and lived to hunt adventure another day.

Edgewood even though tame by By-Way standards, had it's wildlife...we had brought one Red Bone mixed hound with us from the By-Way..."Brandy" was her name...she was smart, tough, and friendly...about a year or two after we moved into the new house, I woke up to hear mom yelling to dad...."Stan, my God, look at Brandy"...Brandy who slept on the front patio, had gotten into it with a Diamond Back...Brandy won the fight, but could do no better than tie the war. She killed the snake, but it had bitten her several times, including one in the neck....Dad took her to the Vets in South Venice near his gas station...but she was to far gone to save. A sad day indeed for the Houseworth family.

The Venice Theater was located on Venice Avenue near the shopping district...a good 2 mile walk from our house...but usually every Friday night, we would head west, with our allowance....usually enough to see a movie, buy a coke and large Dill Pickle.  I fully got into Little League baseball by this time....the local league was expanding, and I got drafted away from the Elks to the Venice-Nokomis Bank..., dad and his brother went into business together, buying the Gulf Gas Station in South Venice, it would become John and Stan's Phillips 66 then ESSO shortly thereafter, I also would enter my final year at Venice Elementary School, 6th grade would see me in the 2nd of my two favorite teacher's classes..Joe Duell's. It was for the most part, a fun time......we had 3 good years at Edgewood before moving back to Ohio...more on the Edgewood years, and a Epilogue coming up in the next 2 segments.

---------------------------------------

photos-Brother Mike with Brandy, whose demise was at the fangs of a Diamond Back, Me with Nick the Beagle and Dad's weapons of choice. Me and the new arrival Kelly born some 9 years after Marty and 13+ after me, don't I look happy(and she looks even more so)?, and Dad and Uncle John's 66 station in South Venice in 1961.

Monday Morning!

Got up early(for me on a non-Greenville day) around 6....Patricia and Anissa just left for their work places, and I sit here with the Airedale and cat sleeping on the throw rug.

Not a bad weekend, the Philly Flyers have moved on to face interstate rival Pittsburg in the Eastern Finals of the Stanley Cup NHL Playoffs....even though rained out Friday, I got my double header in Celina done on a windy Saturday, after the skies had cleared. Yesterday the family gathered at sister Marty's place on the other side of town...Mom and Mike were there, back from Florida on Thursday. Mike's treatments for throat cancer are done, he's lost about 20 lbs, and all seem to be doing well. 9 of us cooked out and a had good 3 hour BS session, and get together.

This afternoon I will head for Paulding and umpire a Northwest Conference game between the home town Panthers and visiting Allen East. This week between rain showers will be the beginning of the end of the Spring high school baseball season. Garry Mosier and I begin tournaments this weekend with the Division 4 Sectional at Convoy Crestview.....then next week, Sam and I have a Sectional Championship game at Hopewell-Louden High School, some 100 miles north and east of here.....thankfully they do pay mileage, so the profit won't be all that bad.

Mowed both lawns yesterday, I took care of mom's, while Patricia started on ours....I finished off that when I returned, so a pretty good workout....considering the beer I drank and the cake we had for Patricia's Birthday...I needed the workout.

Lots of "chores" today before I head north to Paulding.....so I'll resume the "Growing up in Venice, Florida" stories tomorrow.....

back later>>>>>>>>>>

photos-A couple of "Sun Shots"...the sunrise hitting our new mowed lawn, and a sunbeam hitting the corner of the 85 year old pine floor of the house, next to the computer center and desk.

Growing Up in Venice Florida(part 4)

After yesterday's sun and warm weather, the temps remained nice, but a nasty band of thunderstoms rolled through this AM....another batch, with possible hail and tornadoes is on our door step, over in the Hoosier State as I type. Our games at St. Marys have already been cancelled in anticipation of the storms, which should strike within the hour. Much of the same for tomorrow, then a brief cool down.

------------------

Venice By-Way Continued

1958-59

-----------------

In the previous Venice growing up post, I had mentioned our escapes from Diamond Back Rattlers and White Wild Bores....while on the By-Way we also had to keep an eye on Grandma Houseworth...Wilda Waldron Houseworth was born in 1893 in Scott, Ohio, she would winter with us in Florida. I always knew mom and Wilda had an uneasy alliance...mom being the Irish Catholic from the east coast, while Grandma Wilda was the Pentacostal from the heart land.

While living on the By-Way, I remember 2 examples of my getting my behind in trouble thanks to Wilda. We had an old shack or tool shed out back, and one time Mike and I were rooting through the place, we came across a old Army shell....cant' remember exactly what it was, but if I had to say today, it was shell from a bazooka or small rocket launcher...Hell, it's been 50 years, my mind is good, but not perfect. Anyway we decided to "take it apart", and just as we were going to do the dirty deed...Grandma caught us in the act...ass whippings all around when the folks(both off at work) got home. I guess for being stupid enough to try to blow ourselves up.

Another incident came about when my buddies from 4th grade(by this time), Mike Graff and Jackie Dye rode their bikes over...seems Jackie had a "plug" of chewing tobacco that we needed to try out.....so out to the banks of the Hatchet Creek we went, under the bridge we tried the gawd awful stuff....not sure if I puked, but if not it was a gagging experience...Grandma caught us in that act as well....any punishment I don't remember, but I do know, I never tried that crap again.....I think the taste is still in my mouth.

Grandma was usually accompied by our Uncle "Housie" aka Forrest Houseworth....Housie wasn't much for work, he was about 5 years dad's senior, but dad always seemed the older and more mature of the 2. Forrest was divorced and usually came to Venice in the winter...he was something else, and he loved 3 things...Women, Beer, and Fishing. He finally remarried around 1962, had a couple of more kids back in Ohio, and passed away in 1964 at the age of 54....Grandma Houseworth, like all the Houseworth women, lived a longer and more straight forward life, passing away at 91 in 1975, having outlived 2 of her 3 sons(dad died on Christmas Eve 1972 at 55).

The Venice By-Way is most of all where I learned to play organized baseball...something that has stayed with me for 50+ years now, as a player, coach, and now high school umpire. Brother Mike and I got drafted by the Venice Elks while living out in the sticks, Mike was a varsity Little Leaguer and I being 2 1/2 years his junior was put on the "farm team"...where, not being able to catch or judge a fly ball worth a damn in the outfield, the coaches decided to put me behind the plate. I was to remain a catcher, for the most part, for the rest of my playing days, which included stints in both fast pitch(Air Force) and slow pitch softball.

That's where it started, my love affair with baseball....the pro game no longer is my cup of tea, but I still love being around the game, especially the high school and youth games....I coached before I had sons, and then coached both sons until they entered High School....then it was joining the oldest, Sam, as a baseball umpire in the HS Varsity ranks. The By-Way is where I learned that part of life...that and a lot of other great things.....

In the late summer of 1959, dad and mom bought a house "in town"...the east side of Venice in a subdivision called Edgewood...328 School Street, Venice, Florida, was the address, don't know why it was called School Street, the place was no where near any school I knew of....but there were adventures a plenty there as well...the place we would call home for our final 3 years in Venice. That story is next.

Have a great weekend to all............Back Later>>>>>>>>>>>>>

--------------------------------------------------

The storms have begun......and the rain is coming down.--photos-Mike and Me with our Venice Elks hats and Mike in his varsity uniform.  Uncle Housie Houseworth with Mike, me and his boat...and the skies have opened up, me and brother Mike with dad's near 100 "Jewfish"...more rain is coming.

Sunshine, A Quick Trip & "The Graduate"

Got a call from Hoosier Transit yesterday, Shawn(Dispatcher) wanted to know if I could pick up a 24 foot BT Cruiser and take it to Piqua, Ohio. Piqua is only 45 miles east then south down I-75 from Celina, so what the heck? I pulled the Jeep out of dry dock and headed northwest to Nappanee, Indiana, to pick up the ride. Talking with Hoosier, things are a little slow in the RV business right now...spring usually is, but with the fuel prices($3.79 for unleaded in Indiana today, Ohio sets about $3.65), I'm sure things are a little "nervous" in the RV manufacturing land of Indiana.

Drove the BT home, and will drop if off early tomorrow morning, probably could have made it there and back and still got home for the game tonight, but didn't want to cut it that close to tonight's game at Spencerville, with Sam. Besides, what the Hell, I'm retired(sort of), and tomorrow is open until baseball time.

The sun is bright and 78 degrees today with a strong southwest wind...the temps have risen about 25-30 degrees in the past 2 days, which is good, but rain is in the forecast for tomorrow and the weekend(AGAIN!)...let's hope that is wrong.

Sent many of you the e-mail yesterday that the youngest son Hal received confirmation of his graduation winter quarter(March) at Wright State University in Dayton....been a long haul for Hal, but to his credit, he did most of it on his own....we paid his car insurance, the wife helped him out some with groceries and some early expenses...but for the most part, he paid for it on his own...which is the way to go. Unlike some of his counterparts, Hal is only a little "in debt" with student loans....he has friends that are as much as $80,000-$90,000 in the saddle with student loans....he has just a fraction of that. After transferring to the main Dayton Campus, Hal has worked at a carry out during the school year, and driven for Allied Moving-Celina Moving during the summer and vacation time....he will now work his tail off this summer at Celina Moving, and then head back Grad School back at WSU for 3 more quarters. If all goes well he will then have his Master's and be ready to begin his High School teaching gig, in the fall of 2009...somewhere. He would also like to coach baseball, eventually becoming a head coach, and would probably not mind doing a gig as an assistant football coach as well....time enough for that though, we are just celebrating his first hurdle. The ceremony will be June 14th, with a small family/friend get together to follow.

I still plan on 2 or maybe 3 more segments of my "Growing up in Venice, Florida" story and will pick up on that over the weekend and/or Monday...hopefully they have been enjoyable, I know they have to me, when I write that stuff, the old memories come flowing back, some that I have not thought about in years, many years.

Time to get ready to umpire........Back Later>>>>>>>>>>

---------------------------------------------------

photos-the 2008 BT Cruiser by Gulf Stream, sitting in our drive-way, I'll drop that off tomorrow. And Hal's "Sheep Skin from Wright State University...and yes the first 2 are of "The Graduate"...one about 20 years ago, nice and quite, and the other a few summers ago at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, the 6'4" 245 lb 21 year old(at that time) showing why he may have struggled just a little those first couple of years in college...but, all is well that end's well, and complete the job he did.