Learning the steps, Butch Clabaugh attempting to teach Pugs the proper steps. Did you know Butch Clabaugh? What was your pet’s name? Have you danced with your pet? If you have any information on this photo or a story to share, please contact North Berrien Historical Museum at 269-468-3330, info@northberrienhistory.org, or facebook.com/ NorthBerrienHistory/. The museum is closed until further notice. From the photo collection at the North Berrien Historical Museum 300 Coloma Avenue, Coloma

The Paw Paw River Journal

Remembering

Scotty

The last time I saw Theodore S. Scott, Ted or Scotty, was in the summer of 1942. We had both just been graduated from Hartford High School, and the draft board was surely to get us before very long. Our country was at war, and not exactly winning at that time. Gas rationing in effect, with every car displaying a letter on the lower right windshield… A for just the regular allotment, B for extra gas necessary to carry on a business, and C… I have no idea, except that it probably meant unlimited gas for who knows what reason. There was also a nationwide 35 mph speed limit. I can remember driving my dad’s car to deliver floral orders… he had a B sticker. I owned a little ’36 Ford coupe with nothing but an A stamp on the windshield. A lot of petroleum products went toward the war effort, but the real problem was getting tires. Rubber came from plantations in the South Pacific, and synthetic rubber was not yet available in large quantities. If people didn’t drive much, they would not wear out tires. If they drove slower, they would conserve tires also. Ted Scott came from a well-known Hartford family. His dad, Dr. Henry Scott, had a chiropractic office in their home on South Center Street. I remember going there with Ted as a kid. He had a bedroom in the back part of the house, which was quite a large old structure. They had a hot water system for heat, and in Ted’s room the temperature did not get up to a comfortable point. Having a scientific turn of mind, Ted rearranged the heating so hot water passed through a radiator mounted on the wall. Behind that radiator, a fan was connected to the clock with little metal plates a couple of places around the dial. When the minute hand brushed across the metal plates, it made a connection and turned on his fan. Thus, a couple of times an hour the fan came on and blew heat out into the room… it worked quite well. Doc Scott had been a fixture in Hartford for a long time. On the school playground, sometimes kids would gang up on one of their number, take him down and rub vigorously the back of his head. It was called a “Dutch rub.” That was also known as a “Doc Scott Treatment!” I believe it was Ted’s electrical interests that got us into trouble one time in the sixth grade. The fifth- and sixth-grade rooms were connected by a sort of work/supply room. Sometimes kids went in there to eat mint-flavored library paste. It was also used for working on various projects. One time several of us were in there conducting electrical experiments with a Ford coil and a magneto. Cranking the handle boosted the current to the point we could get a fat blue spark to jump across a gap in two wires. Someone, alas, then got the idea of hooking the whole contraption to the doorknob into our sixth-grade room. We did. And then we waited for an unsuspecting victim to grab the door knob… waited… waited… then we heard footsteps approaching. “Crank away,” someone said… and one of our group did. There was a scream, and we could hear heels stamping up and down. The door flew open… there stood our teacher, Miss Zielke, whom we dearly loved, with a horrified look on her face! I will, mercifully, draw the curtain over the rest of that unfortunate incident. The end result was, “NO MORE EXPERIMENTS IN THE WORK ROOM!” Ted was an odd-job man for an elderly lady in town. She had a brand new 1940 Plymouth Sedan, which he drove around on shopping errands. She also let him use the car on occasional evenings. Scotty was a most responsible driver. In that magnificent new car, he would pick us up for a ride… with many cautions not to get the upholstery dirty. Ah, that new car smell… we really rode around in style. Clark’s Drug Store was one of our favorite teen hangouts, and Scotty clerked there, along with Gordon Kime, Stu Elder, Bob Colman, Lucy Winslow, Irene Leach and others. One summer day I came into the drugstore, and Scotty met me with a horrified look on his face. “Bud,” he said, “did you hear about Frank Eagan?” (a well-known Hartford businessman) “No,” I said. “What happened to him?” “They found him this morning in the kitchen with the gas turned on!” “Was he dead?” I asked. Scotty slapped his leg, roared with laughter, “No… he was frying eggs!” Now it has been over 60 years [75 years now] since I last saw Ted. We all went our own way into the Belly of the War Beast. I heard that in the U.S. Navy he made all of the dog tags for sailors at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. He later married, had a daughter and grandchildren. We will not see him again in this life, because he recently slipped into the shadowed part of the Great Circle. Just yesterday we were all kids. I can still see his mischievous smile and hear his infectious laughter. In our Father’s house there are many mansions, Scripture tells us. To whichever one Scotty has gone, it is a better, sunnier place because he is there. (Reprint from the April 14, 2005 issue of the Tri-City Record.)

Coloma Library News Closure

The Coloma Public Library will remain closed until further notice. Patrons can access numerous resources online through the Coloma Public Library website: www.colomapubliclibrary.net. Want to learn your family history? Learn your family history with Ancestry.com. Patrons can now access this from home. From the Library’s website, select “Catalog” and then “Electronic Resources”. Audible Stories Right now, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages. All stories are free to stream on a desktop, laptop, phone or tablet. The link can be found through the Library’s catalog under “Electronic Resources”. TeenBookCloud For a great selection of teen reading materials, teens can find this resource through the Library’s catalog. Newspaper archives The Library has an extensive archive of local newspaper editions including the Coloma Courier, Watervliet Record, and Tri-City Record. A library card is not needed to access this wealth of historical knowledge.

Watervliet Library News

The Watervliet District Library staff is hard at work, sharing and creating lots of online activities for community members during these challenging days and weeks. Their facility is closed through April 30. Please check their Facebook page for weekly events, games, book talks and entertainment. Their schedule for the week will be: Make-It Monday @ Home; Trivia Tuesday; Celebrity Story Times, Wednesdays at 10:30; Foodie Friday; Saturday Surprise Also, the library is connected to a world of online books and audio books through Overdrive. A link is provided on their webpage: www.watervlietlibrary.net. Try mel.org, the state wide database resource. MEL includes a huge selection of articles, journals and ebooks, and contains a link for tools to help kids and parents, under Learning From Home. These are available to all Michigan residents.

NEWS FROM THE COLOMA COURIER

100 years ago – 1920 Prof. J.L. Adams, superintendent, received a letter from the University of Michigan. “We re-accredit the school and urge the following: 1. Provide a better school building. 2. Liberal additions to the library and laboratory.” Carl Johnson, the cobbler, purchased the Herman Hirsch business property on Paw Paw Street. This has been occupied by Milo B. Selter’s jewelry store. Lots 18 and 19 in Gilson’s addition have been sold to the Village of Coloma. 60 years ago – 1960 Cancer crusade officials attend a planning meeting at Reinhardt’s IGA store. Captains are: Mrs. Clifford Hanson, Mrs. Lillian Louzensky, Mrs. Ernest Wotowis and Mrs. Lawrence Eckoff. Residents appointed as Notaries Public: Lewis Dimiceli, Caroline Berk, Emma Clark, Lauretta Lingle, Earl Westfall and Edgar Brown. Billy Thurston, six-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Thurston, East Center Street has won first prize in a jingle contest with Post Cereals. His Toy Sweepstakes award is a Gilbert Rocket Launcher Erector Set. The Couples Club of the First Congregational Church held their regular meeting. Also, thirteen new members were received into the fellowship during the Palm Sunday service. 30 years ago – 1990 St. Joseph Monument Works puts the finishing touches to the stone for the Vietnam Memorial in Baker Park. Dedication and unveiling ceremonies are Saturday. Coloma inducts 13 members into the National Honor Society – Christi Sutton, Chris Albright, Jonelle Burlington, Kim Dodge, Pam Johnson, Wendy Murray, Kris Braford, Karri Carroll, Tammi Harper, Jay Jollay, Steve Kozup, Angie Rodell and Jennifer Turner. Middle School Science Olympiad team competed, placing fifth in the county. Placing first in their categories is: Ryan Noel, Jesse Hogue, Scott Bach and Jennifer Gagliardo. Mrs. Oderkirk and Mr. Cross are team coaches. Congratulations to the team for a job well done. Submitted by volunteer Sandi Musick Munchow at Coloma Public Library from the Coloma Courier newspapers donated by the Tri-City Record. Hours: Closed until further notice. Phone: 269-468-3431

NEWS FROM THE HARTFORD DAY SPRING

100 years ago – 1920 The first concert given by the Hartford Choral society, consisting of eighty voices from the high school and the seventh and eighth grades, at the opera house proved a success that reflected credit upon the young vocalists and upon Prof. E. Edwin Crerie, who has taken a personal interest in the chorus and has spent much time in making it a success. April 6 was the last regular meeting of the Hartford Woman’s Club. At the close, Mrs. Lobdell in behalf of the club presented the president, Mrs. Marie Wilson with a set of salad forks and a salad ladle, together with a bouquet of flowers. Mrs. Lobdell spoke very highly of the successful and efficient work that the president has done this year, and the esteem all held for her. Mrs. Wilson responded with words of appreciation and thanks. 75 years ago – 1945 Lt. Verl Taylor, son of Mrs. Dan Tuttle, Hartford, landed Saturday at Leach airport with a BT-13 army trainer plane. Taylor, a pilot in the army air corps flew an army official from Hagerstown, MD to Niagara Falls. He had a short layover there and flew home. He took off from the Hartford airport Sunday noon to Niagara Falls. Hartford Art Study class met Monday afternoon at the home of Mrs. George Shepard. Mrs. Marie C. Finley presented the first of a series of lessons on the National Art Gallery at Washington, D.C. Mrs. Finley displayed photos of the building and a chart of the floor plan, pointing out location of the various galleries and offices. She presented a sketch of the life of Andrew Mellon, who donated the money for erection of the gallery. Mellon died in 1937, three years before the building was completed. His son, Paul Mellon continued with the building. 50 years ago – 1970 Dr. Frederick Margolis, Kalamazoo pediatrician, will speak at the Hartford high school cafeteria Monday, April 20. A film, “Parent to Child” will be shown. The free adult meeting is sponsored by the Hartford Mother’s Club. The senior and junior bands will present a concert Thursday at the high school. They will play the selections for the state competition. The junior band will compete at 8:25 a.m. Saturday at Western Michigan University auditorium in Kalamazoo. The senior band will compete at 1:55 p.m., Saturday, April 25 at Atherton High School in Flint.

Submitted by Librarian Stephanie Daniels at Hartford Public Library from microfilm copies of the Hartford Day Spring. Hours: Closed until further notice. Phone: 269-621-3408

NEWS FROM THE WATERVLIET RECORD

90 years ago – 1930 On Apr. 25, 1930, a very impressive ceremony was staged by the local Boy Scouts of America, Troop 61. At this Court of Honor, the first Eagle Award to be granted since the present troop has been organized was granted to Harris Ware of Watervliet. On May 1, 1930, 11 Watervliet students and their chaperones started to Ann Arbor to prepare for the All-State Orchestra and All-State Chorus. These students have only two weeks for the individual try-outs. Out of these, six students will go to the Finals. Printed on May 2, 1930 – Shoe Cobbling Wanted. George Swain is anxious for some work to do repairing shoes. He says he would deeply appreciate a little patronage to keep the wolf from his door. 60 years ago – 1960 The WHS Senior Choir will participate along with 3,000 students in the 22nd Annual Southwestern High School Vocal Festival at Western Michigan University. Due to the large number of students, two different groups will present the same concert two different days under the direction of Dr. John D. Raymond, LaFayette College, Pennsylvania. On Apr. 8, 1960, 30 members of the Friday Club heard an educational and stimulating talk on Graphoanalysis by Mrs. Harry D. Jäger, a handwriting expert from Kalamazoo. She explains that in the hands of a qualified analyst, it is a respected science. Law officials have made use of its principles for years to identify forgers and business is now recognizing it as a tool for personal appraisal. It is particularly significant in the field of psychology, since subconscious feelings never evidently outwardly tend to reveal themselves in a person’s handwriting. The skeptic may reject graphology as a superstition, a mere form of fortune-telling, but many counselors find it a valuable tool in directing persons into the right vocation. By carefully studying a person’s handwriting, it is possible to determine the degree of certain characteristics. 30 years ago – 1990 Joel Sellis is North School’s ‘Student of the Week’ for Apr. 25, 1990. He is a sixth-grader who was chosen because of his ongoing enthusiasm, good nature, attitude, initiative and perseverance. Joel enjoys working with computers, science and reading. Because of his interest in drawing, he’d like to become an architect. On Apr. 18, 1990, 82 students were inducted into the Lake Michigan College Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, national junior college honor society. From Watervliet: Jeri L. Still. Submitted by Sally Q. Gonzalez from files at Watervliet District Library of the Watervliet Record newspapers donated by the Tri-City Record. Hours: Closed until further notice. Phone: 269-463-6382