L. SMITH & SON Building
By: Stan Jordan
The above picture of the L. Smith & Son building is a lot of Antwerp’s late history. This was a big hardware store, electrical appliances, automotive dealer, farm machinery and garage work.
Lewis Smith and his son, Carl, moved to Antwerp from Defiance in 1908. There were two girls in the family, Abbie and Minnie.
They had this beautiful building built in 1928 and they had a good business for years. Before they went out of business they were the oldest Buick dealership in Ohio.
Carl had two boys and a girl. The boys, Max and Bud, were also in the business. The daughter, Dorothy, married Ray Jeffery.
Look to the right and that building is the gas station of Warren Seslar. I will tell you a little of what I know about him.
Warren Seslar had the first auto repair garage in Antwerp and that is now where the Masonic Lodge was, now I think it is the dance studio. He then built this new garage in 1912 and it was a going business for years and years. He also had a Texaco distributorship in Antwerp and he owned and built the Park Station about 1939 or 40. He was a hunter and a lot of the local fellows would stop and talk to Warren or Mr. Carl Smith. Both of those men would stand outside and talk to anyone going by. Both were good conversation people.
See ya!
POLITICS, POLITICS, POLITICS
By: Stan Jordan
I wish I lived in Canada, they only allow 30 days of politicking. Here it is politics to no end.
Ben Franklin once told me that if a politician’s mouth is moving, he’s lying.
No, Ben wasn’t a politician, but he was just about as loose. He, too, swung a wide loop.
I am interested in local and county wide politics, but that is all. I have lost all interest or care of the so called representatives.
Stories about men molesting women and other tales are coming out of the woodwork. You don’t know who to believe.
I hope the senior class of the area high schools do not take their trip to Washington. I am afraid those kids will get contaminated.
See ya!
THE NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL AND I
By: Stan Jordan
The other day over in Paris, the cathedral was practically destroyed. It was a terrible fire and burned out of control for a while.
The amount of loss of their shrine cannot be totaled in dollars, numbers don’t go high enough and dollars are not the only loss.
In my humble rhetoric, let me tell you about my visit to the Notre Dame Cathedral.
In the spring of 1945, I was a Corporal in the United States Army and a few of us received a two day pass to Paris. The United States had taken over a big hotel in downtown Paris and most boys got a visit of one night and two days.
I don’t remember much, but it seems that all you wanted to see was not too far apart in downtown Paris; the Louvre, the Champ De Lese, the Eiffel Tower, the Seine and the Notre Dame are all within walking distance, but then I was only 20 and in good shape.
It was a big stone edifice, built back in the 1200’s, a miracle of architecture and it was. When I was in it, a thing of beauty, in awe and wonder.
We walked door to aisle till we came to a wing going out to the right and left and the alter and other important parts were ahead but in a roped off area.
I was in awe, as Mary was practically in gold. So many statues of bright colors and more gold.
Then the bright stained glass windows. Even now, 75 years later, I am amazed going through my memory and to remember I was there once.
We were always in a roped off area but always there were people there to tell you about things.
Then we were back out on the street and I remember at one of those sidewalk cafes with some French bread and wine.
See ya!
A THANK YOU DINNER
By: Stan Jordan
A “thank you” dinner is planned for the active Antwerp first responders and their spouses. It will be held at the Essen House on Saturday, May 18, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.
I am pleased to write this article, because I am a backer of our first responders and I’m pleased to hear they are going to be recognized.
My family has depended on the EMS a few times and I was a member of the Antwerp Volunteer Fire Department for over 28 years.
See ya!
ALL HUSBANDS READ THIS
By: Stan Jordan
It will soon be Mother’s Day and I have an idea for you. Instead of buying your wife a new car for Mother’s Day (you probably can’t afford it anyways) why don’t you buy her a wren’s nest.
That’s right a wren’s nest. Put it up about 40-50 feet from the window that she generally has open all summer, a wren will soon take the nest over. The male wren makes a nice song or whistle. I’m not sure about it, but it’s a pretty sound anyhow. It is enjoyable just to watch those birds and hear their song.
Save yourself about forty thousand dollars by buying a wren nest instead of her a new car. The first time she sees and hears this little bird, she will bake you an apple pie.
See ya!
