Vandalia

Cathy 6 posts Jul 09, 2008 12:31 PM	I grew up I Vandalia, graduated in 1982 ----- does anyone have some good memories/topics regarding Vandalia? Thanks! Cathy
driver62 83 posts Jul 09, 2008 1:04 PM	I grew up in Eaton and the only thing I remember about Vandalia is playing high school baseball at what I believe was the old high school on Rt.40 west of downtown.
bigbob 2 posts Jul 28, 2008 7:53 AM	I met my wife in Vandalia in 1972. The cops would pull me over every time i came there.
SeeDavid 40 posts Nov 16, 2008 10:43 PM	Oh Cathy, You missed the wonder years! Vandalia was a great place to grow up. Everyone knew everyone's families...some were relatives (still so, as our children married some of our classmates). We are grandparents now and still live in Vandalia. We still see many friends that we went to high school with. The Rib House used to be a Frisch's with car hops and everything! We would meet there after games on Fri and Sat nights...all eat our Big Boys and socialize. We walked around town. We built floats at actual FARMS and HOUSES that our classmates owned. We actually designed them. We had a Homecoming parade every year. We had a mascot who was a rip off of the Snoopy / Red Baron flyig Ace..."AVIE". At homecoming, each class would challenge each other to BONFIRE MADNESS! We would collect wood from all over town..many folks put out the stuff they were taking to the dump. The boys would gather the stuff in their pick ups and four bonfires were held after the "snake dance" through town where everyone held hands and walked from the Trapshoot to the High School. The bonfires were spectacular! Whatever class had the highest bonfire won some spirit award. Mr. Wherry was our Principal. I am sure he has lot's of memories. Look him up. Harold Wherry...Vandalia area. Not sure..he moved recently. Good memory, though. If you want historical information about Vandalia, there is a great web site for the Vandalia Butler Historical Society. You can google it. The National Road is also known as the National Trail. It is the first road East to West from Atlantic Ocean to California. Covered Wagons made the trip there and right through Vandalia when the road opened in 1803. That is the same year Ohio became a state. My Aunt and Uncle owned an old farm house on S. Brown School where Cassel Creek Homes are now that was the first "Inn" on the National Road. (40 and Brown School are one in the same until you come to the curve towards Taylorsville Dam.) We are the crossroads of America because US40 and US48 (E-Wood Dam) crosses here. Now, in the modern wonder years, I-75 and I-70 cross, east/west, noth/south! I have more if you are interested. More factual information may be gathered from the Historical Society, though. They have some old buildings and a one room original school house from Brown School Rd. located in the Historical Park on E Alkaline Springs Rd. right near the high school Good luck, and I hope you find what you are looking for. The City of Vandalia offices should have some sort of archives as well. Good luck with your quest. ~Cindi Last Edited on 27-Feb-2009 10:08 PM
bigbob 46 posts Nov 17, 2008 10:29 AM	How about the Falls
SeeDavid 50 posts Nov 22, 2008 6:39 PM	Big Bob: The Falls were originally owned by the Sunderland Family. When we were children, we would go on field trips to the falls and collect tadpoles to study them turn into frogs. It was beautiful...no houses..just Cassel Road...led to the old farmhouse that is across from the golf course now. There were many URBAN legends about Cassel Road, those of men in trees with axes and one arm and girls in the back of cars hiding while boyfriends hang from same tree,after being chopped up by urban legend guy. Same guy lives in Dayton, Canada, Eastern/Western Europe/Asia/Africa/Australia...you get the idea, don't you? When we were in school,Cassel Road was a place you went to see the "praying monk" In the dark, on the south end of Cassel Road where you used to be able to enter off Rte 40, near the Dam bridge, there was a "white praying monk"..you could only see him praying in the dark, and he would only show up on the weekends (yeh, right!)....well, not to keep you in suspense much longer, HE WAS FOUND ...DEAD ... IN THE DAYTIME....by some underclassmen! It was a horrible ending! Legend unfolds: It was discovered that some upper classmen had painted a dead tree stump white and helped carve it into small praying type of stump...it prayed and glowed in that dark road as your car lights shined on him! A MIRACLE! Some goofballs at Butler, messing with the underclassmen! Now you all know many sorted stories of Vandalia. For the real deal, check out the Vandalia Butler Historical Society on line...some www dot something...you can research and find out all the true things about this community. If you are thirsty for more, just get with me on Dayton in the 60's and 70's.......booooooh. Those golfers would be scared out of their plaid pants, wouldn't they? More than the falls, huh? "it was pretty before all the development, still is....~cindi Last Edited on 16-Feb-2009 11:31 PM
bigbob 48 posts Nov 24, 2008 5:21 AM	David, My wife and friends would sit on the ledge of the falls when they were kids. She told me she had almost fell off a few times. She lived close by the falls.
SeeDavid 64 posts Nov 24, 2008 2:17 PM	Hi Big Bob, Yes, the falls were a slippery ride to parts unknown and unwanted when we were kids. They didn't have a barricade there until our kids were young, I think. it was a beautiful area to grow up near. It still is. Your wife must have good memories of this place. That was/is a natural wonder. I only wish we had thought of preservation and maybe gone "parks" on that area. Private property, what can you say? Have your wife get with me, or you. This is Cindi, by the way. Dave has a broken arm and had surgery. I grew up here. I hope your wife remembers Vandalia well. CU later...on the 60-70 site. Cindi Last Edited on 15-Feb-2009 11:24 PM
SeeDavid 170 posts Feb 16, 2009 11:27 PM	TEW: It is still a mystery to many in this town as to who in the heck was "sic sic sez" On the Sign every Thursday at Frisch's, i.e. Jolt the Bolts, Trip Tipp, Ploy with Troy, etc. Who was the person who climbed up that ladder every Wed. night and stole the letters from Frisch's and also wrote all over windows in town? We sure had spirit, didn't we? Cindi -Class of '73
samstone 1 post Mar 01, 2009 9:55 PM	We used to play at the falls and down the hill at Tadmor. Did you ever see the ruts in the limestone from the wagons that came up the hill when National trail used to come up by the falls?
strokie76 2 posts Jun 15, 2009 7:43 AM	Does anyone remember the Hutchison family?
SeeDavid 271 posts Jun 15, 2009 6:53 PM	Mike, Mark? Layne Plat? Cindi
granniemicki62 3 posts Jun 26, 2009 5:51 AM	I'm posting this same request on several topics here. My mom worked at a restaurant in Vandalia in 1953. Either called or owned/managed by a woman named Vi. It was across from the trap shoot. Does anyone remember this? I'd love to have a picture of this for my brother, who lived behind the restaurant with our mother at the time.
samstone 11 posts Jun 28, 2009 1:11 PM	grannie, Was it Yendi's? I remember it in the late 50's It was pink stucco and had a wall in front. It was located just west of Helke road on National.
granniemicki62 4 posts Jun 29, 2009 8:55 AM	My brother was only about 8 at the time, but he remembers the restaurant in 1953 being white stucco. He says Yendi's motel was right beside the restaurant. Do you remember the motel and restaurant both being called Yendi's? You certainly have the area right!
Marck1957 41 posts Jun 29, 2009 8:53 PM	I have a postcard with an aerial view of Yenti's, with a slogan on it of "For Those Who Care". I have it on my PC and would be pleased to share it if anyone would like to see it. Send me your address to liveandlearn@woh.rr.com
Marck1957 49 posts Jul 16, 2009 9:58 PM	That was at the Ramada Inn off of Stop 8 Road. I think it was around 1980? But, I'm not altogether sure of that. Could've been in the 70s. I believe that it was the Police Department and the FBI doing a drug bust at the same time. One didn't know about the other, the FBI agent had a gun, and he got shot by a Police Officer. So, does anyone else remember any of the details? Was more than one officer shot/killed?
samstone 15 posts Jul 17, 2009 2:39 PM	Bohanan was a great cop. He helped this juvenile delinquent a couple of times. He didn't make the briefing between the FBI and VPD. The FBI didn't recognize him as a cop.
SeeDavid 292 posts Jul 22, 2009 1:47 AM	I worked at Vandalia PD, James Bohanan was a Lieutenant there and was killed in the line of duty about 1970. I started there in 1972 and he was gone then. He did most of the designing of what is now the Municipal Building on the Street named after him "James E. Bohanan Memorial Drive" They were building it when he was killed. He was killed by a Secret Service Agent in a counterfeiting bust at the Ramada Inn at Little York/Miller Lane (I-75 was an exit/entrance then). The Secret Service Agent involved did not attend the "briefing" prior to the raid and mistook Lieutenant Bohanan for a suspect and shot and killed him during the incident. Yes, Lieutenant Bohanan was in plain clothes. He was at the briefing earlier. He was a great man and police officer and friend to all in Vandalia and Butler Township. He was also a finish carpenter. Most of the basement/family rooms in the Crestgrove plat behind the high school were finished or bars were put in their rec rooms by Lt.Bohanan. Friend to many and public servant as well as a piece of him was left behind in many homes in Vandalia. (As well as memories) There is now a STANDARD guideline used by all law enforcement agencies whenever there is a raid or some type of multi-agency proceeding. The guidline is that if you don't show up for the "set up and staging" meeting, and meet all the others involved, you DO NOT go on the assignment. Throughout the country. ~C Last Edited on 22-Jul-2009 1:54 AM
SeeDavid 293 posts Jul 22, 2009 2:07 AM	Another Officer Killed at Miller Lane and Little York Road (when only Bob Evans, Days Inn and The Red Roof Inn and a Sunoco Station were there) was from Butler Township Police Department. His name was Officer Jan Schmidt. He was instructed to set up a barracade with his car on Miller Lane just south of Little York Rd. in order to head off a suspect who was being chased by several departments down the Interstate. (He was a juvenile in his grandparent's stolen automobile and wasn't even old enough to drive). The OSP and other departments (including Vandalia, Montgomery County and neighboring agencies were involved in the pursuit), They chased him North on Miller Lane somehow and while being pursued and after seeing Officer Schmidt's car blocking the intersection of Little York and Miller, the suspect then proceeded to run Officer Schmidt down in a grassy area right near the Bob Evans towards the interstate. Officer Schmidt was dead on the scene. The juvenile was apprehended and was charged in juvenile court as a juvenile. I don't remember the outcome. At that time,as I recall, they did release juveniles to their parents or guardians even if a serious felony. I am not certain, though. I was friends with Officer Schmidt and his wife. They had a baby boy who was a year old. I went to his funeral.. where he was originally from, Eaton, Ohio. They remember Lt. Bohanan and Officer Jan Schmidt every May at the City Building and now the Justice Center on James E. Bohnanan Memorial Drive every year. Together as two families of police departments who share a common bond.... loss. ~Cindi Last Edited on 22-Jul-2009 2:08 AM
Jeff59 3 posts Jul 24, 2009 5:01 PM	I've been doing some research into the development of Vandalia, and wonder if anyone is old enough to recall that stretch of I-75 before it was an interstate? From what I've been able to find out it was a quasi- limited access highway from the traffic circle to US40 (National Road), where it dead-ended. It was a divided highway with frontage roads, but it also had stop lights and at-grade intersections instead of full interchanges. Anyone recall that? Also, does anyone remember what the first shopping center was in Vandalia? I think it was the one across from the airport, where the Masonic lodge is.
SeeDavid 294 posts Jul 24, 2009 10:01 PM	Tom, I knew Randy. He was on a side Street off of Philadelphia Drive, if I remember correctly. He was killed without pulling his weapon. I will see if there is a dispostition in the case from Dave. Jeff59 - I lived up on a hil that overlooked 75/70/ We discussed in another thread how there was only a stop light on the "interstate" at Little York and 75. I remember pushing the "walk" button and crossing all four lanes of highway in the 60's. The first shopping Center was across from the old Airport on Dixie, The Masonic Lodge was a movie theatre, owned by the same man who owns the "Airline Dairy Creme".. Aka Fat Rat. (Still there) (he knows it's a term of endearment). There was a clothing store called Lively's, the "Drink Dock" (still there). There is a bar there now called Oscar's and Lively's has closed, replaced by a torphy shop, and there is a comic book store also. Do you remember how the teenagers used to park across the Street at "the old airport" to watch the planes come in ??? That is no longer. ~Cindi Last Edited on 26-Jul-2009 11:18 AM
samstone 19 posts Jul 25, 2009 7:14 AM	"Fat Rat" My friend ,Smokey, gave him that name when we were kicked out of the movie for smoking. It stuck like glue.
Jeff59 5 posts Jul 25, 2009 11:48 AM	Many thanks for the info! I appreciate your alls memory of old Vandalia. Here's two more questions: 1. On the old I-75 (from old aerial photos) there seems to have been a hotel or motel of some sort, between Little York and Benchwood, on the east side of I-75, I guess off of Poe Avenue. It would have stood in the general vicinity of the Iams offices. Can anyone confirm that was a motel, and does anyone recall the name? 2. Apparently there was a government housing development by the Airport, for war workers. Does anyone remember this and were it was located?
samstone 20 posts Jul 25, 2009 12:22 PM	I remember the motel and Bar. The bar got most of the business and the motel got the business of anyone getting lucky. I can't recall the name. The "Projects" as they were called were in the area of were the Expo Center and the gate to the Air Show, if I recall right. I have a lot of friends who lived in the Project as young kids in the early 50's. There was another Project in the area right behind Rib House where the Post Office is now located.
SeeDavid 296 posts Jul 26, 2009 11:16 AM	I am Dave's wife, Cindi,.. Dave always signs his name, and we share his moniker on this site. We will both look into the details of the case.. it isn't a problem. There is still a housing development behind "The Rib House" (used to be Frisch's) and it was always known as the Airline Plat. It is behind Fat Rats and sits next to the old INLAND, now Defunct and closed DELPHI, it runs off of N.Dixie across from the "old airport" (not on airport property, but E. of the new Expo Center) I believe htis is the housing development you are speaking of. It also runs off of Maple St. which runs N. off of National Road by the Old 3rd National. (now Key Bank) and next to the Justice Center. Go to Vandalia Butler Historical Society. I don't know about any housing on airport property. Regarding the "motel" on Poe.. the Now Closed IAMS sits S. of a place that used to be called "Damons, A place for ribs" and prior to that, "Dinner Bell". Now it is at the same intersection of Poe and Little York and is called "Little York Tavern".. moved when they tore down the original place at Dixie and Little York, (formerly the Stagecoach Bar and Restaurant). It depends on what era we are talking about regarding motels, etc. If you are Google Maps then you may be looking at a couple of car dealerships that look like motels. There are some large office buldings on that side of the interstate that look like Motels, but all of them are now on Miller Lane (W. Side of 75), and the Ramada Inn is now closed but one motel still stands on the N E Corner of Little York and Poe..used to be a Howard Johnson's. Wish I could be of more help. If you haven't been here in awhile, Webster now runs off of Little York and connects to Benchwood and on to Needmore. Progress...?? (personal comment). Later - Cindi
samstone 22 posts Jul 26, 2009 6:18 PM	Cindi, The "Project" behind where Rib House now sits was not the Airline Plat. The military housing "Projects" were torn down in the 50's.
Jeff59 7 posts Jul 27, 2009 5:22 PM	Thank you all for yr replies. I should say, to add a bit what I found out, is that the plat that is south of the Delco plant and east of Dixie(behind the shopping center),was one of the very first suburban plats in Vandalia. The oldest parts date from around WWII, though it was mostly built-out after the war. Vandalia did get some suburban development before the Great Depression, too, on little side streets running off the orignal part of town.
SeeDavid 300 posts Jul 28, 2009 9:44 AM	Thanks samstone. and Jeff. Tom70: I need to correct something about Randy R. He was killed on Grant Ave. off of Salem. (It is right behind the current Popeye's on Salem). The suspect was apprehended, and I have been told by a reliable source, (DAVE) that he is spending the rest of his life in prison. Randy was called on a suspicious person call and this is what ended up with in his fatality. Another correction I must make to JEFF59, I grew up from 1960 off of Little York right where you spoke of Poe, and I don't recall an OLD motel, but Dave and I were riding down 75 the other day and saw A "Hawthorne Inn". (I think it is a Hawthorne,, I don't drive, and Dave was driving fast...zoom!!) It is located on Poe right near the old Iams plant and also near the Volvo dealership. Jeff, weren't the little side streets Perry, Kenbrook, and Tionda?? They have older homes near the intersection of Dixie and National. At the Rib House, Mike and Bill have pictures of old Vandalia... 50's and 60's. There was a motel (Vandalia Motor Lodge at the Ranchiview/National area) right at the SB entrance to 75 on the S. Side of National. McDonald's and a motel sit there now. Wish I were more accurate. I have said before, I am not factual, but try to remember as much as an old woman can. Didn't we all have fun at WW AAmco? Western Auto? Rettig's Music? Pappy Birchfield's Sinclair station? Morton Jr.High? (My Dad went to first grade there). ~Cindi
samstone 23 posts Jul 28, 2009 6:21 PM	Jeff59, The Motel on Poe was called The Valley View. It was still there in the 70's as I recall. I don't know when it was torn down. It was owned by the Brussmans who also own the Rib House.
SeeDavid 302 posts Aug 01, 2009 5:40 PM	Thanks samstone... good memory..~cindi
mem 32 posts Nov 24, 2009 1:29 PM	There was a motel on Poe Ave next to the Casa Lupita Mexican Restaurant south of Little York Road. It was a suite motel, now called extended stay motels. In the late 1950s west of Vandalia on National Rd, just west of the tire and auto repair store, was the Rocket Drive-In restaurant. I don't remember the blonde carhop's name but she was something. Last Edited on 25-Nov-2009 11:33 AM
samstone 52 posts Nov 24, 2009 6:11 PM	I was a dish washer at the Rocket for a few month while in high school. The Detmers owned it then. Mr Detmer used to own all the vending machines in town. Must have been around 64 as I recall.
KentRdKelli 2 posts Mar 02, 2010 10:17 AM	My Dad went to the trapshoot as a child in the 1950's with my grandpa and saw Roy Rogers shoot. My Dad was also the first dishwasher at Christies Alpine Inn. He loved that place and we always ate there when we would come back to visit Dayton.
Doug68 62 posts Mar 05, 2010 12:55 PM	Does anyone remember the old Rocket Drive-In restaurant in Vandalia? I believe that it was near the trapshooting grounds during the late 1950's and/or early 1960's. I'm beginning to believe that I dreamed up the place.
Doug68 64 posts Mar 05, 2010 1:00 PM	After posting my last above, I was checking another file and SAMSTONE had answered my question.....yes, there was such a restaurant and he had actually worked at the Rocket during the mid 1960's. Thanks to SAMSTONE!
jfox68 5 posts Jan 26, 2011 9:38 AM	Doug, I remember The Rocket. My grandnmother used to live on National road west of town right before you get to Peter's Pike. When she sold the property they built a Waldo Pepper's restaurant which is no longer there either. My wifes family actually owned The Rocket at one time. I believe it was probably in the 60's when they owned it. Her last name was Martin.
UnChained! 7 posts Jan 26, 2011 7:13 PM	My Uncle married into a Vandalia family sometime in the early to mid 70's. His name was Doug Soder. He married Ruth-Ann Harlow. Her children were Frank, Frankie, Rodney & Shane. They lived on Halifax drive, in the sub that is northeast of 75 & National road. My uncle was a truck driver for CW Transport. He also spent a lot of time at a bar called The Chateau. Sadly, he and his 3rd child from his 1st marriage (my cousin) scott, were killed in a 1977 car accident that was due to them drinking. They lost control and crashed into Smedleys Chevrolet showroom. Pretty horrific. I always wondered what happened to the Harlow's. Anyone know them?
Artw55 1 post Feb 02, 2011 9:26 AM	I knew the family in the early 70's. Little Frank lived with my X and I. Wonderful boy. Big Frank's brother (Walt) lived down the street from me when I moved to Troy in 75. He told me that little Frank married and lives out on Frederick/Kessker rd near Miller's lane. About all I know.
SeeDavid 354 posts Feb 23, 2011 11:24 PM	jfox68 !!! Fancy meeting you here, one of the founders of the "Praying Monk", I presume ? Only kidding. ~Cindi
bigbob 137 posts May 24, 2011 7:51 AM	Lonebear, i drove a VW Bus and it was in 1971 or 72. I would see the cop coming towards the airport and i would turn around and take the back way around the airport. Can't remember the name of the road but it would bring me out on dixie. Sometimes he would still get me though.
samstone 124 posts May 24, 2011 8:04 PM	Lonebear, Yes, Smokey hung with Overstreet. I saw Oversteet last summer at our class reunion. You may be thinking of the Rock n Roll on 48, just across the road from where Heathcliff rd dead ended into 48. I remember the deserted farm and the grave vaults laying around. We probably know each other if you knew Smoke and Overstreet.
jfox68 18 posts May 25, 2011 4:20 AM	Vern pulled me over on National Road for having my "high Beams" on. It was my dad's car, a 63 Plymouth, old police car. I think I had just taken my Dad to work and was going back home early in the morning. I think Vern just thought he was going to catch me doing something wrong being out that early in the morning.
Doug68 103 posts May 31, 2011 12:51 PM	Samstone mentioned the Rock-n-Roll Dairy Queen on SR 48. It was located about a mile south of I-70 and just south of Heathcliff Road on the west side. My family used to live in Cedar Knolls (the plat on the hill, adjacent I-70 that some thought looked like "Bedrock" at night) and we used to walk down there everyday during the summer. The Rock-n-Roll had great hamburgers and malts!