Lost C - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Lost C

My cousin Glo had shared the following Facebook post by Gary Jones about his memories at the Lost “C” dance hall in Frenchtown where he was a DJ. Although I don’t personally know or remember Gary, it’s very likely I had heard him while attending the dance hall, which was previously named the Crystal Ballroom, memories of which had been documented in this previous blogpost. Related photos and links were added to Gary’s post to add interest.

Facebook post: Gary Jones
The Lost C Night Club, Frenchtown, Ohio.

The Lost C was truly a one of a kind Night Club as was it's owner's Ron and Judy Voisard who gave me the opportunity to DJ and live out my dream as a large Night Club DJ.

Ron & Judy

It was actually two bars Susie's Lounge was open on Wednesdays & Fridays with a large one of a kind lighted dance floor known as the place where the girls came to dance.

THE LOST C was originally THE CRYSTAL BALL ROOM with BIG BAND SOUNDS from the likes of Glenn Miller and many many other BIG BANDS from that era for years under the ownership / management of The Baltes family.

When Ron And Judy purchased it the transformation begin. As It evolved into one of the largest and best ROCK N ROLL/ COUNTRY BARS in the USA no kidding! It was right up there with Gilley's in Texas and yes we were one of the very first places to have a mechanical bull.

Folks actually said it had a better atmosphere. We had hundreds of kick ass local, regional and National recording artists from across the country such ROBIN TROWER, HEAD EAST, FOGHAT, B.T.O, THE GUESS WHO, HELIX, NAZARETH, MEATLOAF, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, HENRY LEE SUMMER, CHARLIE DANIELS, McGUFFEY LANE, BOX CAR WILLIE, WAYLON JENNINGS and hundreds of other rock and country stars every weekend.

We even had Caesar The Wrestling Bear. He would wrestle men and women and if someone could pin him for 3 seconds they could win a $1000.00. Needless to say many a man fell short. I won't tell you what he did to the girls. We had Caesar several times over the years and he always packed the house.

We also had the world famous male dancers The Chippendales, Hell at one point we even had a 9 hole Putt Putt Golf Course, Big Time Wrestling and many other novelty acts. The lost C most definitely was the place to go within a 100 mile radius. People would come by the car loads from all over Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.It attracted a faithful loyal following of real party people that helped create that one of a kind atmosphere along with its owners. Once people came they got hooked. At one point I actually became the manager and ran the entire operation until someone decided to torch it and that was the beginning of the end for the Lost C.

After 3 arson fires there is now a brand new house sitting in it's place. I wonder if the people that live there can still hear the music? Man if only that place could talk what some stories it could tell. Many a baby was conceived in that parking lot and many a girl lost her virginity and many a couple met their wife or husband there. Just Saying...

A very Special thank you to Denise Quinter. Had it not been for Denise being good friends with Ron Voisard I would probably never have gotten the opportunity to DJ at Susie's Lounge. I will forever be indebted to Denise for helping me get my foot in the door. It was without a doubt a life changing move that has lasted for 43 years and I'm still going...

Bob and Ann Stover from Ansonia for talking Ron Voisard into keeping me as a DJ. 

One shout out to .... all the bartenders for killing it at the bar and Mr Chris Lovett for DJing and getting everyone in the place to walk like me when WALK THIS WAY WAS PLAYED...GREAT MEMORIES...I WILL NEVER FORGET. 

 DJ Gary Jones

Lost “C: owner Ron Voisard also was the owner of the bar and restaurant named Apt “C” in Russia. Apparently a patron rode a horse into the bar one evening! Ron Voisard’s bachelor party was held at the place and my wife recalls (before my time) that her and a friend were asked by Ron to be cocktail waitresses at the event, but their mother's quickly put the kibosh to that idea! My brother-in-law was in Ron’s wedding and has absolutely no recollection of the party - must have been a helluva time! Maybe Ron lined up one of the Lost “C” acts to perform?

The bar is now named Cruisers, named by my brother after purchasing the bar from Ron. He’s since sold to the current owners who retained the name.

No doubt there is an interesting story or two behind the “C” connotation in the names of both establishments. If I ever run in to Ron around Russia, maybe he’ll divulge his secret.

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Summer Vacation - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Summer Vacation

This time of year brings back memories of summer vacations as a kid. Even though Mom & Dad never went on vacation together until 1966 due to the daily milking duties as outlined in this previous blogpost. As kids we would spend a week at our cousin’s place in Dayton. The timing was always late July once the last bale of straw was stacked away in the mow. What a treat to get away from the farm and enjoy city life. Plus no doubt it provided a nice respite for Mom & Dad as well!

Our cousins lived on the north end of Dayton in a big house several blocks off Main Street. Their younger kids matched up age wise almost perfectly with our family, especially my cousin Eddie who was my age. We had a blast doing all kinds of activities, especially riding our bikes to the establishments along that major thoroughfare, which we enjoyed immensely. I’d save my allowance money each summer specifically for that week.

There was the corner gas station, hardware store and general store that sold bubble gum baseball cards that we'd trade back and forth through the week until they were literally ragged. Plus we’d of course have to use the cards of least popular players (definitely not Mickey Mantle as pictured) as bike flappers to make a noise so we could pretend to be riding motorcycles.

Then about 1958, when I was 10, as Eddie’s Dad (my Mom’s younger brother) rose up the ladder at Dayton Tire and Rubber, the family moved out to the country near Clayton north of Dayton. They lived on a “gentleman’s farm” about 10 acres with a small barn and large house with a perfect yard for playing sports of all kinds.

The barn is now gone and the house is undergoing major renovations as indicated in these photos. If I recall, that was Eddie’s bedroom in the little dormer on the right. And down the street lived Eddie’s best friend, Matt, on a farm with a gigantic barn that was a blast to explore. His father, Matt, Sr. was the Montgomery County prosecuting attorney at the time, a position Matt, Jr. now holds while still residing on the family farm.

Eddie had several ponies, which we loved to ride around the field now overgrown with scrub. Probably our favorite pastime was playing home run derby with a wiffleball. Before those games, I could never throw or hit a curveball, but that ole wiffleball could really be maneuvered as it was pitched. Plus it also meant while batting to keep your eye on the ball and swing the bat where you thought the ball would go rather that where the ball was at the time. Great fun and safe as well for the younger kids to play. No, we never made the ESPN Top 10Sports Center like these guys!

Eddie played little league in nearby Trotwood, so we’d ride our bikes to the games. One year, they were short a player so his coach asked me to join in. What a treat, as by then I could hit a curve ball and vividly recall hitting a double to knock in a couple runs for his team. That was the best hit I ever had during my Little League career. We would also ride our bikes to the Trotwood swimming pool, which I swear to this day is the biggest pool I’ve ever seen. What fun!

Speaking of fun, I also recall playing spin the bottle with our "kissing cousins”.

Some years Eddie and his siblings would come out to the farm for their vacation, but those times weren’t as memorable for me, but likely so for our city slicker cousins!

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65 is the new 45! - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

65 is the New 45!

During the pandemic, my four siblings and I have been texting regularly about our daily activities Three of us are already retired and the two youngest will retire at the end of the month, with a family party planned including the appropriate masks and social distancing no doubt! Each were working from home during the pandemic, so had much more time to spend with their grandkids, taking them on all kinds of adventures.

For example, my youngest sibling road his motorcycle to Nashville to visit his daughter and her children, while also doing handyman work around her house, with the grandkids pitching in to “help”. All were duly recorded via text photos, like this photo showing the nicely redone patio. Good work, bro!

After Nashville, my brother and his wife rode to their cottage in northern Michigan to enjoy the 4th of July holiday weekend. He’s really getting an early start on retirement!

During the same time period, my sister took her grandchildren to the Splash Pad in New Bremen and the Cascades in West Milton.

From all the photos texted and the commentary, my two younger siblings were having the times of their lives with their grandkids while getting a nice taste of retirement. It’s great they are retiring at an age young enough to enjoy such activities. I posed the rhetorical question wondering if we could have imagined doing the same as young kids with our grandparents? My middle sister got into the conversation by asking how old our grandparents were at her age 4 when she first started to remember them.

Checking out the very informative Thieman Family Genealogy, I found our grandparents were all born around 1889, and since my middle sister was born in 1950, at her age of 4, our grandparents would have all been around 65 years old, which is the same age as my youngest sister who was having all the fun frolicking with her grandkids in the splash pad and cascade. None of us would have ever imagined doing such activities with our grandparents. So we naively concluded today’s age 65 is the new 45! Wishful thinking on our part; or not?

 Dad’s Family of 14 circa 1929

Mom’s Family of 11 circa 1938

Suddenly the texts got more thought provoking, such as posing the hypothetical question if my sister had given birth and cared/cooked for 11-14 kids (like our grandmothers), she would likely not have the energy to scamper in the water with her 50+ grandkids either! Then comments followed about the labor intensive housework without modern day appliances and the planting, growing, harvesting, canning and preparing the food for such a brood, all in old, uncomfortable grandma shoes, stockings, girdle and long dress, the common garb back then. Notice how nobody smiled in those old photos. Now you know why. Thankfully, those days are long gone.

My maternal great grandparents and their children circa 1936

Happy retirement, sister and brother! The last couple months have given you a taste of what you’ve been missing.

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Covid Scare - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Covid Scare

Last week one evening my temperature suddenly rose to 99.9, plus I had an earache and felt achy all over. So we immediately went into Covid protection mode, with me relegated to our lower level walkout nicknamed the “dungeon” where we have a spare bedroom, full bath and small kitchenette along with my home office, workshop and exercise area.

My wife got out the Clorox and started wiping down everything I had potentially touched, plus we immediately contacted our family physician’s office and was connected with the doctor-on-call for a telemedicine conference around 9:00pm that evening. Based on my symptoms, the doctor recommended a Covid test and emailed a prescription order on the spot. The doctor provided a website with local testing locations and also suggested acetaminophen, liquid Mucinex expectorant, deep breathing and plenty of water until the test results become available. She warned the standard nasal swab test is not perfect, so recommended a full 14 day quarantine as a precaution even if negative.

After a restless night, primarily thinking about where I might have contracted the Covid and also to whom I might have transmitted the virus over the prior 5 days. I had golfed, played tennis and ate only at outside restaurants. After waking the next morning, my wife left some yogurt and juice for breakfast outside the closed door to my “dungeon” room; and for sure no good morning kiss! After eating, I began searching on the website for a test site but ran into difficulties. Most would only take asymptomatic (no symptoms) customers and those that tested systematic patients were primarily hospitals via their emergency room, the last place I wanted to be. So I called a friend that had lost his son recently to a massive heart attack suspected to have been linked to the virus. My friend and his family all had to be tested as a precaution. He provided the contact info for the urgent care clinic where they were tested.

After calling the clinic, I made arrangements for a Covid test that afternoon. Once arriving, I was told to stay in my car, wear a mask and gloves, then call into the clinic. An attendant soon came directly to the car in full PPE garb and provided a clip board with several forms that I had to complete. After filling out all the forms, she returned to indicate they now offer three different Covid tests, all covered 100% by Medicare I asked her what she recommended and she indicated all three to provide the greatest accuracy.

The first was called the IgM test and involved a pin prick on my finger tip that gave result in 15 minutes. This test detects IgM antibodies, which are usually the first antibodies produced by the immune system when the coronavirus attacks. A positive IgM test indicates that you may have been infected and that your immune system has started responding to the virus. When IgM is detected you may still be infected, or you may have recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection.

The second was called the IgG test via a blood draw with the results available in 30 minutes. This test detects IgG antibodies that develop in most patients within seven to 10 days after symptoms of COVID-19 begin. IgG antibodies remain in the blood after an infection has passed. These antibodies indicate that you may have had COVID-19 in the recent past and have developed antibodies that may protect you from future infection. It is unknown at this point how much protection antibodies might provide against reinfection.

The third was the conventional nasal swab with the results available from an outside lab in two days. Any single test may only be 70% accurate; however, the nurse practitioner who administered the tests indicated the combination of the three has proven to be 97% accurate. Needless to say, I requested all three as recommended. The tests took all of 5 minutes and were administered literally in the vestibule of the clinic. Fortunately, the first two antibody tests came back negative, indicating an 80% certainty I did not have the virus. If the swab test also comes back negative, the certainty rises to 97%.

Our immune system apparently is somewhat analogous to how in the ships depicted in the Star Wars movie series the roamed the universe looking for trouble. The IgM antibodies are akin to the quick and nimble fighter ships while the IgG antibodies are like the larger star ships working together to search out and destroy the enemy death star Coronavirus! Sorry, it may be a stretch, but I like science fiction.

So with the first two tests negative, the nurse practitioner, confident I did not have the virus, invited me into the clinic so my earache could be checked out. She noticed inflammation and redness on the right ear lob and further diagnosed an outer ear infection (or swimmers ear even though I had not been swimming), which was the likely culprit for the low grade fever.

The achiness was probably from cardio tennis the day before. Usually I do cardio tennis with an older group, but that session was rained out, so I ventured onto the court with the younger players; a mistake! The drills are similar and held on two adjacent courts with 10 players following a path represented by the blue line opposite two pros who are hitting balls following the yellow path to our backhand then forehand. Unbeknownst to me until it was too late, only for the younger crowd, the players touch the net with their racket twice each cycle, which was exhausting!

So an antibiotic and ear drops were prescribed, and a ready-for-pick-up text from our pharmacist arrived literally before leaving the clinic. I picked up the scripts on my way home and immediately took the meds as directed, noticing improvement by the next day. And the day after that, the swab test results also came back negative. Now everything is thankfully back to "the new normal", good morning kisses and all!

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