Contour Farming - 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

Contour Farming

The above photo was recently posted to the facebook page of the Shelby County Soil and Water Conservation District. Shown is Ferd Fleckenstein doing some contour plowing on his farm north of Ft. Loramie in 1951. It caught my eye because in the background behind the tractor is our family farm as well as my grandparent's barn on the far left. I was about 3 years old at the time. Contour farming was a new approach being encouraged to minimize the run-off of top soil during heavy rainstorms. Both the Loramie Creek and the Miami-Erie Canal ran through Ferd’s farm, which also is the site of Peter Loramie’s original trading post and General Anthony Wayne’s Ft. Loramie during the late 1700’s.

Because Ferd's entire farm generally slopped towards the water, plowing in a curve following the contour of the land, then planting in the same manner, tended to slow down the flow of rainwater towards the creek and canal, preventing soil erosion and allowing the water to infiltrate the soil.

In those days, the creek had to be dredged about every decade in order to clear out the silt that has washed into the creek from unrestricted rainwater runoff. Contour farming as well as laying drainage tile helped filter the rainwater before it ran into the creek and avoid the wash-outs during heavy rainfall.

As shown in the photo below of my sister Lucy with our family farm in the background, a wide grass covered buffer strip was formed along the creek bank to slow and further filter the flow of water into the creek. These actions also helped stabilize the bank and keep the creek in a healthy state that allowed fish and wildlife to thrive in and around the water. I can recall enjoying fishing, swimming and ice skating at the creek as a kid as documented in this previous blogpost.

Those steps were effective at restraining the silt build-up in the creek; however, in the 1970’s, soybean farming became prevalent, so farmers stopped rotating between 4 crops (corn, wheat, oats, then hay) and converted to alternating between the two cash crops of corn and beans. The four crop rotation tended to replenish the soil of nutrients, which meant the two crop rotation required much more fertilizer exacerbating the associated run-off issues described earlier because the water was contaminated with the fertilizer.

Then concurrently, large cattle and hog farms emerged, resulting in significantly more manure being spread on the land for fertilizer that also washed into the waterways contributing to the pollution. The creek unfortunately hasn’t been the same with the fish pollution essentially wiped out. Plus, the fertilizers caused significant algae blooms downstream in the summers, creating significant health and safety issues as well as problems with recreation, fishing and wildlife in and around the waterways.

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of organizations like the Shelby Soil and Water Conservation District, a watershed project has been created called the Loramie Valley Alliance, a collaboration among public and private stakeholders working together for the benefit of Loramie Creek and its tributaries. Back in 1994, the Ohio Environmental Protection agency rated the watershed fair or poor for water quality and now after years of steady efforts on behalf of the Alliance and adjacent property owners, portions of the creek downstream of Lake Loramie are rated good or exceptional. Work remains, but the progress is measurable and significant.

Jason Bruns, District Administrator

Ryan Evers, Technician

Justin Wagner, NRCS Resource Conservationist

Daniel Francis, Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologist

Sophie Nieport, Education Coordinator

Josh Ward, Technician 

The officers and staff of the SSWCD pictured above are to be commended for their work to improve the waterways in Shelby County. Check out their website at this link; and especially note this interesting educational video about rainwater.

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Golf Reunion - 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

Golf Reunion

The first Ft. Loramie high school golf team was formed in 1966, playing at Shelby Oaks in its inaugural year as described in this previous blogpost. We had a reunion of sorts last week when two members of the team, Doug Barhost and I had the privilege of playing a fun round with Shelby Oaks golf pro Rob Fridley down here in Florida. Rounding out the foursome was legendary, now retired, Ft. Loramie dentist, Dr. John Campbell. Doc was just coming off back surgery and played amazingly well.

Doug taught history in the Sidney school system, and in 1973, Rob was one of his students. We talked about the fact that long-time teachers tend to remember only their best and worst students, and none of the rest, so obviously Rob wasn’t in that forgotten group, but we couldn’t get it out of either Doug or Rob just how he remembered Rob. My guess is since Doug loved sports and with Rob being an athlete who’s has a very successful 44 year career at Shelby Oaks, he was grouped with the best.

Do the math as you’ll figure out that Rob started at Shelby Oaks at a teenager likely working on the maintenance crew for peanuts so he could play golf for free. It was well worth the effort as he’s a great golfer who ascended to the head pro position in 1982 before he had actually graduated from college at Tiffin University. He's held the position ever since. Here’s an interesting SDN article about how the course came to be.

The situation has reversed for Rob and Doug, as now Rob is the teacher, helping Doug’s game tremendously, as just a few years back, Doug was going to give up golf. Even though Doug’s a leftie, Rob has him somewhat copying the swing pattern of pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau with his mechanics and alignment. Everything is square to the ball and as a result, all aspects of his game have improved from driving to putting where he’s now playing several times a week. No doubt at the end of Rob’s career, Doug will be considered one of Rob’s more memorable students, likely on both extremes, cause Doug used to be a poor golfer and is now pretty good. You should have seen the old left hander play on that first high school team!

With a group like this, the conversation is bound to turn from golf to beer as the round goes on, not planning our next shot, but where we’re going for a brewski after golf! Doug didn’t disappoint, as he said there’s a sports pub with outdoor seating nearby named Johnny Malloys. So off we headed after golf to tell more stories.

With our beer in hand, we commented how the craft brews have rally taken ahold, with Malloy’s offering dozens of choices, while back in our day, Budweiser, Strohs and Pabst were the primary mainstay brands. And before that, our parents enjoyed the German brands from Cincinnati described in this previous blogpost. Speaking of German beers, check out this video. 

I shared the story about how my Dad has converted our old Frigidaire to a beer cooler placed in our summer kitchen on the farm. He had drilled a hole for the tapper right in the door and kept the temperature just above freezing, so that old frig provided the coldest beer around. After telling the story, Rob asked what a summer kitchen was, so Doug, the old history teacher, proceed to expound on the history of the summer kitchen. Rob was sorry he had asked! Once a history teacher, always a history teacher!

PS: You might ask why Doc Campbell is considered “legendary”. Just ask around Ft. Loramie and you’ll find out!

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Fraternity Prank - 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 1950’s & 60’s

Fraternity Prank

One of my college fraternity brothers named Doug unfortunately passed away recently in Dayton and after the funeral services, the brothers who attended were asked by the family to share some stories in his memory. The following passage written by Doug in 1998 about his fraternity pledge days in 1968 was read aloud:

“Fraternity Pledging Days"

"Any description of our pledge activities must include the nefarious rumors which circulated around the disappearance of a rather large wire spool from the construction area at GMI. All attempts to somehow associate the disappearance with our Pledge Class must go as unsupported coincidence. The fact that two distinct rolling marks led from the construction area to our fraternity driveway and then meandered across the street and through the golf course right into the Flint River are purely circumstantial and DNA testing clearly would have exonerated any complicity in the event (because the chemicals in the river would have killed any such evidence). However, there is a concern that there are lasting physiological effects on the troop of resourceful individuals who waded the soupy waters of the old Flint River to retrieve the aforementioned spool and return it to its rightful perch.”

Doug was characteristically clairvoyant, given that he wrote this 16 years ahead of when the Flint water quality crisis erupted.

The School song was also sung in three part harmony:

High above the old Flint River, factory whistles blow, toot, toot
Stands an ivy covered outhouse General Motors Institute (now Kettering University)
She's our mother, how we love her, raise her name on high, hi de hi de hi
To hell with Ford and Chrysler products, God bless GMI

Given the words highlighted in the song, rolling that huge spool downhill to the frat house and river was easy - getting it out of the river and rolling it uphill back to the college was a severe challenge - or so I would surmise since I too disavow any knowledge of the fabricated event.

If this occasion had happened, it surely would have turned out better than this video of a large spool being rolled downhill.

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Growing Up in the 50's - 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

Growing Up in the 50's

Source unknown but this sequence sure captures those memorable times for me.

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,

For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince, Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice..

We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe. 

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they were not grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never co-Ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

T-Birds came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That Made Me, Me.

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill

And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.

 

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say, 

And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A. 
They send us invitations to join AARP, 

We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.
And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

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