Fur Trapping - 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

Fur Trapping

95 year old, Elmer Rutschilling, from Yorkshire, passed away recently and reading his obituary brought back some wonderful memories as a kid when I, along with my uncle Bob, would visit Elmer’s wild game fur pelt business each spring to sell the fur from the muskrats and raccoons we trapped and hunted over the winter. Uncle Bob was a much better wheeler-dealer than me (and a heck of a lot better hunter), so it was fun to watch Elmer and Bob going at it to bargain a better price, always with a little humor and a ton of sarcasm, especially since they knew I was watching their shenanigans!

Elmer's fur buying business was located on the same site as a sawmill he also ran, which as a budding engineer, always intrigued me to no end. The mechanisms feeding and sawing logs into boards were really interesting. Enjoy this video of an Ohio antique sawmill still operating in Athens County. Check the 1:30 & 11:40 minute marks for the sawmill as well as the other operating antique farm machinery shown in the video.

Dad always bought sawdust from Elmer to place around Mom’s strawberry patch for weed control each summer, which meant another fun visit to the sawmill, but spreading the itchy sawdust around the plants and later picking the strawberries, not so much! Eating them on the other hand was special and worth the effort! Strawberry shortcake was my favorite!

Ft. Loramie had a sawmill pictured above but it closed in the 1950’s, so the Rutschilling sawmill was the closest around. Ironically, the Loramie sawmill likely went into bankruptcy, as the land where the sawmill was located became a few years later the new site of the Loramie Bank; probably land acquired during the bankruptcy proceedings that the bank put to good use.

Trapping wild game was a challenge, because it meant checking all the traps early each winter morning before milking the cows and going to school. Any raccoon or muskrat that was trapped had to be skinned and the fur placed inside-out over a board to stretch and dry out the pelt. The boards were then hung in Bob's former smoke house to help preserve them during the winter until sold later in the spring. Although I never caught one, uncle Bob trapped several mink over the years, which were the most valuable skins. You could really tell a difference between the various pelts, with the muskrat fur courser and far less attractive color that the raccoon and especially mink furs.

The raccoons were typically hunted at night using coon dogs to catch the scent of a raccoon, chase it down and scare it up a tree. In order to see the treed raccoons, long flashlights with multiple batteries were used to spot and then shoot them. Occasionally a raccoon would get stuck in the tree, which meant someone had to climb it to retrieve the dead animal, usually me as the youngest and most agile. I can recall uncle Bob hoisting me up to the first branch then shining the light along the tree as I climbed up to the spot where the dead animal was lodged.

Rest in peace, Old Elmer, and thanks for the wonderful memories.

PS: What a game Saturday! It was like the Buckeyes were in Wolverine uniforms. because everything sure looked in reverse. Ditto for the Russia - Loramie Boys basketball game the night before. Congrats Wolverines and Raiders. The rivalries are alive!

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Your 2021-22 Russia boys basketball team

 Raiders Preview

Russia boys basketball fans will recognize a lot of familiar faces when the 2021-22 Raiders take the floor this season. Graduated from last year is one starter in Jonathan Bell, along with Austin Cordonnier and Nick Caldwell off the bench. Back are six Raiders that logged full-time varsity minutes last season, as well as some experienced junior varsity players. The 2020-21 team finished 11-14, which included a sectional tournament title before falling in the district semifinals. Head coach Dave Borchers and assistant Spencer Cordonnier begin their fourth season with new JV coach Cody Anthony. All three are Russia alumni and former players for the Raiders. Joining them will also be freshman coach Mick Leffel.

Three seniors top the roster in Patrick Bohman, Jordan Meyer and Sam York. Bohman will play his first season of high school basketball after last competing in junior high. The four-sport athlete has been a superstar on Russia's bowling team the past three winters and will split his talent handling both rocks his final year. Meyer returns after contributing in 24 of 25 games last season, averaging 3.5 points per contest with a high of 10 points at Houston. The durable veteran has a proven ability to get hot from behind the three-point line or bang under the basket when needed. York spent the bulk of his time last year on JV and will be used to compete with some of the more physical players in the area this season. Rumors from the Raiders weight room include Sam tossing up more iron than anyone, which will make him tough to keep off both the offensive and defensive boards.  

The junior class is stacked with a couple two-year starters, a single one-year starter, and one newcomer. Xavier Phlipot's first varsity assignment was opening night of his freshman year guarding eventual SCAL Player of the Year, Aidan Reichert of Jackson Center. Phlipot has been a staple in the lineup ever since and last season averaged 6.0 ppg with a high of 17 versus Newton in the first round of tournament. Zane Shappie also began his varsity career early as a freshman and quickly turned into a dynamo point guard that can pass, shoot and play defense. Shappie was the second leading scorer last year at 9.0 ppg and his high was 15 in the first game of the season against Ft. Loramie. Ben Bohman debuted with the varsity late in his freshman year and developed into a sophomore starter, exciting Raider fans with his beefy post presence. Bohman was the team's third leading scorer at 6.5 ppg with a high of 16 points twice, most notably in a big win at Versailles. The final junior, Ross Fiessinger, should find more minutes on varsity this year after developing his game last year primarily on JV. Fiessinger has an eye for the basket and is especially accurate when getting to the free throw line.

Two sophomores made a big splash last year as freshman and expectations have only grown coming into this season. Hayden Quinter used a farm boy's work ethic to play in all 25 games and lead the Raiders in scoring at 12.5 ppg. Quinter scored 22 points or more in four contests with a team-best 29 points at Newton during the regular season. Brayden Monnin surfaced on varsity just a couple games into the schedule and became a quick substitute off the bench averaging 6.0 ppg with his season high of 18 points versus Anna. The lanky guard with long arms can also give opponents fits with his defense.

In four November scrimmages this preseason, a few additional and younger Raiders have been mixed in with the varsity as the coaches digest their talent pool. It all gets real on Friday night when Russia opens the regular season at Ft. Loramie. Unlike last year's restricted crowds and quiet gyms, fans of the blue & gold have traditionally filled the stands with both adults and students cheering loudly for their Raiders. You can bet that will be the case this season.

Script Ohio - 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

Script Ohio

Remarkably, the very first "Script Ohio" was performed by its biggest rival, when in 1932, the visiting University of Michigan band formed a crude version by today’s standards of the famous halftime show, according to Ohio State University library archives. The upside down photo shown below is the only known documentation of the performance. Michigan went on to win the game, highlighting an undefeated season and a national championship.

Four years later in 1936, the Script Ohio tradition began when OSU hosted Michigan on October 24. Since then, the formation has been a favorite half-time moment for game fans. Script Ohio has been an Ohio State University tradition for 85 years and has evolved to include a revolving block “O” at the beginning, the curved formation of the word “Ohio,” and the “dotting of the i ” by the sousaphone player (not Brutus Buckeye).

According to the OSU Marching Band’s history, the band director in 1936, Eugene Weigel said “Searching for ideas, I remembered the rotating sign around the Times Square Building in New York City, during my student days at Columbus, and also the sky-writing advertisements at state fair time…” BS, as Weigel was present in 1932 when the University of Michigan Marching Band took the field at Ohio Stadium. According to the student newspaper, The Michigan Daily: “Probably the most effective single formation was the word ‘OHIO’ spelled out in script diagonally across the field in the double-deck Ohio stadium to the accompaniment of the O.S.U. marching song, ‘Fight the Team.’ Other Michigan band formations were ‘MICH,’ a block ‘O,’ and a block ‘M.’”

Ted Boehm, OSU Marching Band member in 1935 and 1936, and considered an “authority” on Script Ohio, wrote that indeed, Michigan had performed the first Ohio in script. The University of Illinois’ marching band also performed a script Ohio at the OSU game in 1936, after the OSU band had already done one, with a number of musicians dotting the “i.” But are the scripts equivalent to the OSU Script Ohio? Boehm wrote:

“We submit that the script aspect is only one part of the overall event that is signified by the name. Of course, the script is the one essential element, but there is more; all of the parts have merged, starting with the triple revolving block O as the lead off formation, the peel-off into the script movement, the interlaced shoestring movement, the pervasive driving beat of the venerable Le Regiment de Sambre et Meuse, the dotted “i” and the concluding vocal chorus. But most powerful of all are the emotional overtones from thousands of proud participants and an ocean of caught-up observers, sharing a common nostalgic experience which has lasted more than forty years.”

So which marching band performed a script Ohio first? Michigan. Which marching band created “Script Ohio”? Ohio State.

Now I’ve got a hunch there might be some shenanigans going on between the bands on Saturday, as each band have been trolling the other the last several weeks at their respective half time show. Click this link for OSU and here for Michigan! Also, check out this video of an OSU fan who spells out Script Ohio in his neighbors yard, a Michigan grad!

The formation has also been replicated on the hockey arena and basketball floor; however the Script Ohio will likely have to be dramatically changed, since current students were not taught cursive in grade school.! The band will have to perform an “unscripted” version!

Regardless, Saturday’s game will be another big one for both teams, Just hoping for no repeat of the infamous 1950 snow bowl:

1950 Snow Bowl photos:

Happy Thanksgiving, Fish Report readers.

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Your 2021-22 Russia girls basketball team

Raiders Preview

Meet this year's Russia Raiders girls basketball team (Photo by Cindy Saunders)

The 2021-22 Russia varsity girls basketball team has lots to look forward to when they open the season on Friday, November 19th. For starters, they’ll be led by a new head coach, but a familiar name to Raider fans. Paul Bremigan takes over the program after coaching the Russia boys from 1984-2015. Since then, Bremigan also coached the Troy Trojans varsity boys four seasons and has accumulated a career total of 471 wins through 35 seasons. Joining the head coach will be two new assistants in Rachel Borchers and Tracy Schulze. Leading the junior varsity team will be longtime Raiders girls coach, Bruce Borchers. Gone from last year is former head coach Andy Timmerman after accepting a coaching and teaching position with his alma mater at New Bremen. Also gone from last year’s roster due to graduation are the trio of Kendall Monnin, an All-SCAL honoree, along with Ashley Scott and Katelyn Monnin.

Friday’s first game for Division IV Russia will renew a traditional opener versus Division I Sidney, and is a varsity contest only with tipoff at 7:00. The Raiders previously opened their schedule versus the Yellow Jackets for 19 consecutive years from 2001 to 2019. Last year’s game was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions from the Miami Valley League, of which Sidney is a member. During that 19 year span, Russia led the head-to-head series with a record of 13-6. Many of those battles have been close with two games going into overtime and two going into double overtime.

This year’s Russia roster includes three seniors in Sophie Francis, Riley Hammonds and Ella Hoehne. Francis was a solid ball handler on the varsity last season where she ran the point and played at wing, averaging 3.0 points per game with her season high of 9 points versus Houston. With Sophie’s height this season, it won’t be surprising to see her spend some time down on the low blocks. Hammonds will play her first full season of varsity after logging the majority of minutes last year on the junior varsity. Riley is the 2021 SCAL Softball Player of the Year and will certainly bring that same competitive mentality and athleticism to the basketball team. Hoehne, an All-SCAL Honorable Mention honoree, was the Raiders second leading scorer last season at 8.5 ppg and will be looked at to score down low with her height advantage and veteran presence. Ella’s season best was 22 points versus Covington and that outburst led all Raiders last year.

The junior class at Russia is stacked with seven players that includes Cece Borchers, Kelby Doseck, Eliza Gariety, Reese Goubeaux, Miah Monnin, Simone Puthoff and Kate Sherman. Returning starters from that group are Goubeaux, Puthoff and Sherman. Reese averaged 5.5 ppg mainly at the point with her season high of 12 versus Fairlawn. Kate, an All-SCAL 1st-Team honoree, led all Raiders with 9.0 ppg and her season high was 16 versus Versailles. Simone averaged 5.0 ppg with a season high of 13 versus Newton and was one of the better defenders on the team. While Cece Borchers would have started for most other teams in the area last year, her role off the bench resulted in being the third leading scorer at 7.5 ppg with a season high of 16 against Versailles. Kelby Doseck and Miah Monnin were sporadic additions to the varsity roster last year and both got a good taste of what this long varsity season will bring. The final junior, Eliza Gariety, logged a boatload of JV minutes last season and that experience earned her opportunity with the varsity this year.

Rounding out the varsity roster will be sophomores Roni Poling and Carley Scott, both JV players last year. If their successes in volleyball this fall transition to basketball this winter, each could be future stars for the Raiders.

Russia faces a monster schedule the first five days of the season. After their Sidney opener, the team hosts perennial powerhouse Minster on Saturday and follows that with a trip to defending state champion Ft. Loramie on Tuesday. Other highlights include visiting Tri-Village on December 7th for a rematch of last year's district final which ended Russia's season. On Tuesday, December 28th and Wednesday, December 29th, the Raiders play in Covington's Buccaneer Holiday Classic. Finally, Russia will end their regular season schedule at home on February 5th versus backyard rival Versailles, the first time they've closed the season against the Tigers since 2001.

Duct Tape & WD40 - 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

Duct Tape & WD40

Today duct tape and WD40 are commonly used to fix about anything, but growing up on the farm in the 1950’s we did not have either product. Both existed back then but believe it or not, were limited to government use. Duct tape was developed by Johnson and Johnson (of Tylenol, Band Aid & Covid vaccine fame) during WWII to seal ammunition boxes yet making them easy to open. It was also adapted for makeshift repairs to military equipment. After the war the tape became commonly used in construction to wrap air ducts, thus the name. However, way back in 1899, there was a material called “duck tape” that actually was the forerunner of duct tape. Canvas material at the time was called duck and back then, an adhesive would be spread on one side of the canvas and then stuck to something needing fixing to provide a seal while holding the parts together.

Meanwhile, WD40 was abbreviated from the term "Water Displacement, 40th formula”, suggesting it was the result of the 40th attempt to create a water-resistant product. The spray, composed of various hydrocarbons, was originally developed in the mid-50’s to coat and protect the outer skin of the Atlas missile, the first ICBM, from rust and corrosion. No doubt there was likely some duct tape also used on that missile since it was and still is government-issue, as evidenced by this photo from the recent Mars rover mission.

Another impressive use of duct tape came in 1970, during the infamous Apollo 13 lunar mission that went awry. During the mission, two external oxygen tanks exploded that forced the astronauts to move into the spacecraft's lunar module, where carbon dioxide levels rose precipitously. The crew used duct tape (among other items) to patch together a CO2 filtering system featuring an incompatible round hole and square filter as shown in this photo.

After the military use, coincidently, WD-40 was found to have many household uses and was made available to consumers in 1958. However, neither product was sold by Albers Hardware in Ft. Loramie, because if they had, Dad would have bought some, as he was a loyal customer of that old hardware store, a trait that I also inherited. In fact, at one point after retirement, a golfing buddy suggested I work part time at an Ace Hardware where he worked. Considered the offer but never followed up. Maybe I missed my calling?

Over the years, WD40 has found some very creative uses, such as cleaning stainless steel appliances, removing super glue from your fingers, coating the front of your car to keep bugs from splatting, breaking in a new baseball glove, removing crayon marks on walls, and more. In fact, this link documents over 2000 different uses for WD40! But don’t believe them all as shown in this video.

It wasn’t until college that I discovered duct tape and WD40, when both were readily available to create our various engineering projects for class. I recall several projects where we had to improvise on the fly and used both products. We quickly learned, "If it doesn’t move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and it shouldn’t, use duct tape.” The following engineering flow chart says it all!

Couldn’t resist including these photos about the two products:

My wife would not think highly of this cologne:

But would agree with this adage:

Nothing’s perfect!

Sounds good to me:

Too late for me:

Found this to be true:

Ouch, but whatever works:

Nerd glasses - duct tape worked great:

What’s the rule - If it supposed to be moving and isn’t, use WD40:

Now the varieties of each product are endless! Go figure?

Any duct tape or WD40 stories to share, Fish Report readers?

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Electric Vehicles - 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

Electric Vehicles

As an automotive engineer, friends and family often ask me about electric vehicles (EVs); wondering whether they make sense or are just hype. Before Tesla, my response was pessimistic, but once they made the first commercially successful EV, I quickly responded much more positively. By essentially designing a vehicle akin to an iPhone, Tesla made their vehicles aspirational, meaning people desired to own one just as Apple did with the iPhone. That took EV’s from a regulatory contrivance to a mainstream product drivers loved.

Speaking of mainstream, the recently introduced Ford F Series Lightening and Mustang Mach E electric vehicles also are hits, based on advanced orders and initial sales. As a Ford retiree, I was please they were one of the fastest followers, but disappointed they couldn’t have come up with the Tesla-type design first. But back in the day, Henry Ford wasn’t the inventor of the automobile; instead he put the world on wheels by developing an affordable vehicle. Hopefully, the company can do it again with EVs.

The first EVs came along more than a century ago. Thomas Edison pictured above with BFF Henry Ford was a big proponent of EVs. No doubt the conversations between Edison and Ford were interesting about the pros and cons of electric versus internal combustion engine-powered vehicles. Here’s an excerpt written by Paul Israel, the director and general editor of the Edison Papers, from his biography Edison: A Life of Invention:

"Edison knew in order to compete with the gasoline-powered car, the electric car would require a storage battery that was rechargeable, had a longer life than those currently available, produced sufficient power to allow the vehicle to travel long distances without recharging, and was light enough so that all of the electric power wasn’t used up in simply moving the battery. A nickel-alkaline battery that was much more durable and far less hazardous than the lead-acid battery was developed. Unfortunately, the new battery was also larger and more expensive than the conventional lead battery. Since most consumers could better understand the initial price of a vehicle than they could the long-term cost of operating it, automobile manufacturers were not willing to increase the initial price of their cars in order to use the more efficient Edison battery. The timing of Edison’s battery invention was also unfortunate. Henry Ford introduced the inexpensive, high-quality, low-cost, gasoline-powered Model T in 1908, just one year after Edison had perfected his battery and some two-years before Edison was ready to manufacture it on a large scale. The Model T captured the imagination of the American public and ushered in the age of the internal combustion engine. By 1912, the development of the electric starter for gasoline cars, which replaced the crank, removed the one serious advantage—ease of start—that electric cars had over gasoline-powered cars, at least in the eyes of the consumer”.

Today’s EVs carry a premium price, because of the high cost of batteries. But those costs are coming down rapidly. For example, battery cost efficiency is measured in $’s per kilowatt hour ($\kWh), and as indicated on the above chart, costs have fallen dramatically but have a way to go for more affordable EVs to become commercially viable in about 2030. Assuming the battery trend occurs, EVs are here to stay because of their simplicity, flexibility and performance compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE). For example, take a look at the simplicity of this EV platform nicknamed "skateboard” when compared to a typical ICE platform.

Each wheel has its own integrated electric motor totally eliminating the drivetrain to allow more room for a larger battery.

The platform facilitates autonomous driving, braking, and steering by wire and has the flexibility for any number of so called "top hats”, or vehicle body styles to be readily mounted on the skateboard providing maximum interior space, low step heights, extended range, fantastic acceleration and better reliability all at a lower cost (once the battery costs come down). And to top those benefits, the Ford F150 Lightening can even power your house for several days during an electrical outage, or save a wedding reception as described in this article It’s for all of these reasons, I feel EVs are the vehicle of the future. Check out this short video to see the skateboard in autonomous action.

That all being said, there are more obstacles to overcome before EVs really take off, way beyond just battery cost. For example, a dramatically more comprehensive charging infrastructure must be installed that also has significantly faster charging times to minimize range anxiety; that feeling you get when about to run out of power in the middle of nowhere. One interesting development on the horizon is wireless charging similar to how your phone can be re-energized without actually connecting a charging line. A connected pad can be simply laid on your garage floor to automatically charge your EV overnight while parked.

Another EV challenge is making sure the electrical grid can handle the extra load. Since most electrical power plants are underutilized at night, during the period when most EV charging will take place, power plants can likely handle the added load; however, the local grid right in your neighborhood could be compromised if every garage has a couple EVs charging overnight full blast. That’s why smart charging is under development to balance the load and sequence the charging to avoid overtaxing the local infrastructure. The power companies will have to replace neighborhood transformers with higher capacity solid state units having integrated smart power management and bidirectional active power flow capabilities. Speaking of power plants, converting totally to wind and solar could derail the EV revolution; however, recent breakthrough research showed individual EV charging stations could be efficiently and cleanly powered via solar and wind (not the irony of a gas powered generator as pictured below!)

Recycling of the batteries is also a challenge, in that rare earth elements making up EV batteries are not only scarce, but very difficult to extract efficiently from a depleted battery. Longer term, solid state, silicon-based batteries could provide easy recycling, much faster charging, lower fire risk and lighter weight at a much lower cost.

The good news about EV’s is their low operating cost. At current economics, the average cost per mile for an EV is 3.3 cents per mile versus 15.9 cents per mile for ICE. For reference, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) with an ICE supplemented by a battery and electric motor comes in at 7.8 cents per mile.

Notice that little or no mention was made of regulatory efforts to drive EV sales, such as zero emission requirements, financial incentives, government purchasing, EV standards, etc. Politics is the biggest influencer of such efforts rather than scientific analysis and customer driven initiatives discussed in this blog. Regulating green house gas (GHG) emissions is the most widely used driver to expand EV use; however, the GHG’s to manufacture EVs are more than double ICE, primarily due to the battery. Over the course of the life of the vehicle on the other hand, emissions are significantly lower for EVs as indicated in the chart above. So that provides a long term advantage for EV’s.

Hope this provides a quick primer on EV’s. For the record, we have a hybrid and like it because of its 42mpg fuel economy, but will be holding off on buying an EV until the wireless charging via a garage floor pad is available. And only for my wife’s vehicle used primarily around town rather than mine we use for longer trips, this avoiding range anxiety, that is until the faster charging infrastructure becomes more widespread. Then we’ll pull the trigger to be an all EV family; oops, except for our classic Thunderbird!

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