Little trip to Celina, Ohio

I come across these little towns every so often. To me there are not too many in Ohio. This has to be one of the nicest and friendliest little towns I have ever been to in Ohio. I know you North Pole guys have been there but this was my first time.

I found a gas tank for my truck up there so finding a cool little town was an extra for the 2 1/2 hour drive to get it.

I seen this on the way up.

As most of you know I'm a design freak(geek) when it come to old building.

Looks like home town USA doesn't it?

Nothing fancy, just different.

The little town was really cool. Plenty of old houses with different styles. The Victorian houses are my favorite but there was a lot there to take in.

What was the cherry on top for this little town was the lake. Most of the town borders this water. It had me wanting to jump in for a swim.

I plan on taking the family but up there and maybe renting a boat to hit the water for a couple day. Not sure if It will make it on this summers vacation list if not it will be on next years spot.

I shot a spring jack out of my old 56 Ford thru the window of Bair's Drug Store. I came around the corner and heard a big POP. My little brother said to get out of town and quick. Hopefully you didn't drink the water while you were there. That stuff not only tasted bad but also smelled bad. My Anunt and Uncle lived over there and used to come to our house over in St Marys about once a week to fill thier H2O juggs. The drinking water came from the lake and still does. I think it might taste a little better now. The Shell station (don't know if it's still there) at the other end of the main drag from the drug store was where the racers hung out. Bright Eyes had a 1963 427 Galaxie and The Heavy had had a 1964 SS 409. There were always lots of hot cars @ the Shell. In the later 60's Mutter and May had big block Novas and Butch Brown had a 55 Chevy gasser that hung there too. Briar Long had a 62 Impala 409 that was really quick and his little brother Fuzzy had a Modified Production 55 Chevy that was quick. I think Fuzzy still races in stock eliminator at national meets. The Ward Brothers along with Duckfoot (Bright Eyes' little brother) raced an ARCA car for years. They had one of the best dirt cars around in the late 60's and early 70's. The driver was Wako Wayne Watercutter from Sydney. They raced Daytona a few times. As you can tell, the area has ton's of "Car History". There is/were 3 of the premier dirt 1/2 miles within about 30 miles of there.

If the Lake is your draw, they have the Lake Festival in the late summer. I used to go back home for that for years. I worked at the Drive-in that's between Celina and St. Marys and I think it's still in operation. Not too sure about the activities on the lake though. They've had a lot of pollution problems up there. It'd be fun to get a bunch to go up there and hit the Drive-in and then campground down the road. Tried to talk people into it in the past but.................

As you can tell I spent probably the best years of my life up there growing up in that area, spending time at the Lake, street racing, and learning about life.

Sound like a fun place back then too. Thanks for sharing. Wonder if any of those old local hot rodders still live around there?

Yeah, I think quite a few are. The Arnold boys, Bright Eyes and Duckfoot, are still around. I saw their other brother a couple of years back. I think they are still in on their Dad's bar out at Biems Landing on the south side of the lake. It's called Duckfoot's, who would have guessed. My Mother-in-law lived out at Biems for years. The Long brothers, Briar and Fuzzy are still there. I saw them at the reunion for the old racetrack @ Sydney. I just wished I would have had a good (or bad) camera back then. It was a lot of fun. Lots of stories from back then. From about 1962 to about 1974 it was pretty wild back home. I was just getting out of high school and was a wide eyed kid at first then the guys my age were busy trying to beat the old established gaurd that were idols to us. There were some of the guys from St. Marys, Celina and Lima that had reputations for speed for a long time. Maybe it was because the "Conflict" or war that made us play hard because you never knew when you were going to get the letter that your friends and neighbors had selected you..............