The Beav! - 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

The Beav!

Leave it to Beaver was probably my favorite TV show growing up. The half hour Thursday night show was about the lives of two brothers, Wally and Theodore (Beaver) Cleaver growing up in a fictional suburb named Mayfield. What I liked most about the show was Beav's unassuming demeanor and Wally’s dry sense of humor. In a typical episode, Beaver (played by Jerry Mathers) gets into some sort of boyish scrape, drags his older brother into the situation to make matters worse, then faces his parents, June & Ward Beaver, for some level-headed parental discipline. The series often showed the parents debating their approach to child rearing, and some episodes were built around parental gaffes. Leave it to Beaver was unique in that the premise was from the kids’ point of view. At the time, the Beav was considered a modern day Tom Sawyer!

According to Wally played by Tony Dow, if the studio audience laughed too much, they redid the scene to tone down the comedy and to keep the show more low-key. It didn’t work, as I laugh out loud when re-viewing an old episode.

Leave It to Beaver premiered on October 4, 1957, the very same day as the Communists launched Sputnik, the first satellite in orbit around the earth, which started the space race between the USSR and the United States. The TV show ran for 234 episodes over 6 seasons. Check out that first episode the day of the Sputnik launch by clicking here.

One of the special Leave It to Beaver characters was Eddie Haskell. Typically, Eddie would greet his friends' parents with overdone good manners and often a compliment such as, "That's a lovely dress you're wearing, Mrs. Cleaver." However, when no parents were around, Eddie was always up to no good—either conniving with his friends or picking on the Beav. An untrustworthy wise guy, Eddie could be relied upon to concoct and instigate schemes with his friends, schemes for which they would be in the position of blame if (and frequently when) they were caught. One of his most infamous pranks with the Cleaver brothers involved fastening a chain around the rear axle of their friend Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford's car, causing unplanned damage as the entire rear axle, wheels and all, became detached when Lumpy tried to move the car.

Eddie was played by Ken Osmond. In 1970, after the show was over, Osmond joined the Los Angeles Police Department and grew a mustache which helped to secure his anonymity. He worked as a motorcycle officer and while on duty, was struck by five bullets while in a foot chase with a suspected car thief. He was protected from four of the bullets by his bullet-resistant vest, with the fifth bullet ricocheting off of his belt buckle. Osmond was placed on disability and eventually retired from the force in 1988.The shooting was later dramatized in a November 1992 episode of the CBS series Top Cops.

Another episode had Wally and the Beav wanting a pet, so they ordered a baby alligator from a catalog. Once it arrived, they soon realized there was no place with water to keep their new pet, so they improvised and used the tank of the toilet in their bathroom. At the time, censors would not allow toilets to be shown on TV, but after re-filming the segment showing only the back tank without displaying the bowl, the episode was allowed to be shown.
Those TV censors are sure long gone! 

Click here for access to every episode of Leave It to Beaver. LOL!

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Anna Football-Loramie Baseball - 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

Anna Football - Loramie Baseball

Congrats to the Anna Rockets for their state championship in football, the first in county history. But what might you ask has that to do with Loramie baseball. Well, let me connect the dots. I first noticed a twitter posting by Loramie Baseball that got my attention, because Doug, a high school classmate of mine, was mentioned in the posting. Turns out Loramie played baseball in 1963 during our freshman year in high school against Bob Bixler, the grandfather of Anna’s star QB, Bart Bixler (#4 holding the trophy). Doug got a double and drove in 2 runs batting against pitcher Bixler during a district championship game. He played for Riverside HS. Another classmate, Frank, was on that team as well. Doug, Frank and I got together in Florida earlier this year to reminisce about old times as shown in this photo.

R-L: Doug, Frank, Me

Doug said he could point out the exact spot where the ball hit the fence at Hardman Field in Piqua where that 1963 District Championship was played. He also claimed "Bixler could throw a fastball through a shower and it wouldn’t get wet"! Doug had witnessed Bixler be entered in Riverside HS Hall of Fame during a football game this fall that one of his grandkids played in.

Here’s the full twitter article from Loramie Baseball:

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Margarita Night - 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

Margarita Night

Friday is Margarita night, no matter where we happen to be. Mexican food is a real favorite, so I diligently search out and plan the best places each week. Recalling my first Mexican restaurant in 1968, it involved a road trip to Taco Bell in Springfield to try out the new restaurant, which was the first Taco Bell opened east of the Mississippi. They were founded in 1962 in Downey, CA by a guy named Glenn Bell. It was my first taste of real spicy food and really hit the spot after all those years of rather bland German food served in our area. It’s a taste I’ve craved ever since.

Unfortunately, Taco Bell did not serve alcohol, so my first margarita must have come a little later. Wonder why I can’t remember??

Our favorite Mexican restaurants have all sadly closed. One was Las Palmas in the Comfort Inn north of Lima along I75. We would invariably stop there on the way to or from our frequent trips back home over the years. Apparently the two brothers who ran the place had a falling out so the restaurant was suddenly closed about 8 years ago. They had the best pulled pork quesadilla in the world along with tasty chips, salsa, refried beans and rice. Because of driving, I never had an opportunity to sample their margarita before the place closed for good, but I’d bet it was outstanding. Ironically Las Palmas still has a facebook page, so hopefully the brothers will someday reconcile.

Our favorite Mexican restaurant near our home in Michigan was Old Mexico, a real authentic place owned by a crazy guy who walked around the restaurant with a belt of tequila shot glasses across his chest carrying a bottle of tequila. He would pour a shooter for anybody and everybody. Salt and lime were always handy to help wash the tequila down.

The place had a Mariachi band that really provided an authentic Mexican feel. One day the owner decided to just go back to Mexico, closing the place without notice. However, we discovered later that he owed back taxes so was literally deported back to the US to pay off his taxes. He started a small restaurant in a strip mall and begin serving the same menu, except without the liquor, as he couldn’t get a license due to his tax delinquency. We went back a few times and about a year later, his taxes were paid off and he again headed home to Mexico, never to be seen again!

While working at Ford, I had the opportunity many times of traveling to Mexico for business, from Mexico City, Hermosillo, Chihuahua and Monterey, plus also on vacation to Cozumel and Cancun. Having authentic Mexican food in-country was a special treat, as opposed to the Tex-Mex places in the US. The locals' favorite tequila was Patron, for which I quickly gained a taste. Patron margaritas are always the best.

Also, Mexican beers were special, of course, with a squeezed lime.

During one Ford test trip to Tucson, Arizona in 1974, we ventured across the border to Nogales, Mexico where we ate at an awesome Mexican restaurant call La Roca. The original building, Casa Margot, was built in the late 1800’s and served principally as a boarding house, but was eventually remodeled and La Roca opened its doors in 1972. Nestled into a natural cliff face, the restaurant is named after the natural stone that frames its main dining room. Constructed primarily of stone and concrete, the simple yet quietly elegant design fills you with the beauty of an old Mexican hacienda. And the rock formation with a trickle of water seeping down, offered cooling relief for the restaurant patrons. La Roca is a truly memorable place with great food and drink. Plus we made it back across the border without incident!

Let me know your favorite Mexican restaurant, as we’d like to check it out some Friday night!

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