March 2010 Presidents Newsletter
Things are pretty slow here in Luckey during the winter. The month of February this year we almost surpassed the all time record for the amount of snow in the month. It has been in the 50’s for the last 4 days and we still have snow that has not melted. Needless to say, not much gets done when you are battling the winter weather.
We only have two calendars remaining; all others are either sold or spoken for. We ordered a total of 95 calendars this year. This is quite an accomplishment.
Our township hall project is awaiting a bid for the exterior painting. As soon as we receive the bid we can begin seriously applying for donations.
Reconstruction, and identifica tion of historic south side of Main Street is an on going project. The south side of Main Street like Eddy Street was very mobile. On Main Street, not only were old buildings torn down and new ones built, but also buildings were moved from one place to another (thus, some of the confusion). It seems that here in town a gentleman named Leonard Miller was a building mover. At first he moved buildings by pulling them with a team of horses and later was able to use a tractor. The buildings were jacked up and moved on large rollers ever so slowly. Almost all of the homes on Eddy Street were moved in from some other location. Harley Jacobs, Shirley Davis and others have spent time with me trying to help me put the puzzle together. Allen Jacobs brought in old year books that have pictures of Luckey businesses in them. I am hoping that there are more pictures in the other yearbooks in the Library. I would like to scan them and put them together in a new collection, Photo’s of Luckey Businesses. Former Mayor Harley Jacob’s states that for the bicentennial there were 30 businesses in Luckey. Prior to 1960 Luckey was a very busy little town. Almost any merchandise one required could be purchased here. One could purchase shoes, clothing, food, lumber, seed, pots and pans, washer and drier, television and farming necessities. Harley who has watched the rise and fall of many small towns of northwest Ohio, believes that the closing of the Lime Plant in the early 1960’s was the beginning of the decline for downtown Luckey. There were 250 workers at the Lime Plant when it was in operation. These were people who spent money in town on goods and services. The rail service to Luckey also became unnecessary, as the 40 to 50 cars a day needed for the Lime Plant were no longer needed. Also by this time the rail service was not needed to move cattle out of Luckey to market, another large business adventure that had disappeared by this time.
Please be on the lookout for photographs of downtown or old advertisements for Luckey businesses. Actually, we always are looking for any photographs of Luckey that you can find. Remember, we don’t need to keep the pictures, we only wish to scan them.
The Landwehr booklet has been proofread, and revised and is ready to print final copies. Betty (Landwehr) Blevins has made corrections and additions. We also have received a better photograph of Betty.
Hope to see you there,
Over and out,
Sally
Next meeting – Thurs March 18th 2010 in the Luckey Library at 6:30 PM
April meeting will be April 15th (third Thurs.), same time, same place.
