Here’s a look at some stories from the week of April 7-13.
April 7, 1946: West Carrollton is preparing to extend its boundaries
West Carrollton did not want to become part of any other city or community. It did not want to be annexed to anything.
Five years prior, West Carrollton had annexed Alexandersville.
It had further plans to expand, taking in South Moraine and an area of approximately 100 acres known as Dodds plat.
The city occupied a highly important place industrially because of its three huge paper mills.
In 1946, West Carrollton had a population of about 2,700. Today that number is over 12,000.
At the time the city had a public library, six grocery stores, one bank, one drug store and two baking shops in the business district.
There was one elementary school with 649 students, and there were 350 in seventh through 12th grades.
April 8, 1956: Youth, 11, right in school though he’s 3 miles away
Beavercreek fourth-grader Buddy Moyer was a trailblazer for remote learning.
In 1956, Buddy suffered an attack of rheumatic fever. After nine weeks in the hospital he came home, but doctors prescribed complete rest for several more months, meaning he would miss valuable school time.
Then an Ohio Bell Telephone Co. device called an Executone came to the rescue. It worked much like an office intercom system except that it could be used from the school to his home three miles away.
Buddy could hear the entire classroom and push a button on his box to communicate with the classroom.
When he was stricken, Buddy was president of his class and a member of student council.
His teacher visited him two nights a week for tests and in-person check-ins and also for any needed tutoring.
Ohio Bell officials said Buddy’s classroom intercom was the only one in operation in Dayton at that time.
April 10, 1966: Brew at UD campus a bust; Off-campus bistros win out
A beer bar on the University of Dayton campus?
It hardly seemed possible that such a thing could happen on a conservative Midwest Catholic campus.
UD had started a pilot project, selling 3.2 percent brew at its snack bar on Wednesday nights.
Freshman Dale Kepenick didn’t think it would last.
“I don’t think it will ever get real big because kids like to go off campus,” he said. “Wednesday night is kind of the weekend within the week. That’s the night everybody goes out.”
Popular bars close to campus at the time were Mario’s, Timothy’s, The Shed and The Book Store across the tracks.
Out of 7,500 students, only about 90 to 100 were showing up to the on-campus bar.
“The number probably won’t come up,” said one student, “unless they do something like bring in a small rock and roll combo.”
April 11, 1976: 120 breeds in Dayton dog show
The Dayton Kennel Club’s 53rd show was held at the Convention Center in 1976. It was the first year the show was moved from Hara Arena.
It was the largest the club had every hosted, attracting 1,949 entrees in 120 different breeds. That was 272 more entrees than the year before.
One of the seldom-seen breeds which was to be presented was the otter hound, which was described as “like a bloodhound wearing the wrong coat.” The breed was developed in England for otter hunting, a sport that never caught on in America.
They are big dogs, weighing from 75 to 115 pounds. Their oily coat could stand any immersion in water and they were expert swimmers, aided by webbed feet.
April 13, 1986: Greene sheriff recalls law-and-order years
It was speculated that 66-year-old Greene County sheriff Russell Bradley was about to retire in 1986.
Bradley had been elected eight times and had held the position for 29 years at this point.
Nearly half of Greene County’s 130,000 residents were not yet born when Bradley took office.
Known as a “law-and-order” sheriff, Bradley was considered the most powerful political figure in Greene County. He was said to be loyal to his friends and less kind to those who opposed him.
Bradley was coming to the end of a 40-year career in law enforcement, starting as a patrol officer in Yellow Springs.
“I came on not expecting to make it a career,” Bradley said.
But he liked certain aspects of the job, such as interrogating suspected criminals.
“Boy, if I couldn’t break ’em, they couldn’t be broken,” Bradley said.
When the Yellow Springs police chief position became available, he applied and was hired. Nine years later he was Greene County Sheriff.
Later that year, Bradley did in fact retire.
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