Here’s a look at some stories happening the week of July 9-15.
July 11, 1937: News, cigar stand in post office
Through the Randolph-Shephard bill passed in 1936, cigar and news stands were permitted in post offices, and Dayton was getting one. The stands were designed to be run by people who were blind.
The Ohio Commission for the Blind purchased all the supplies to get a manager started. At the Dayton post office, Otto Mach was put in charge. Mach had previously run a small magazine stand and was known for not missing a day of work in over three years.
About 18 such stands run by a blind person were operating in the state at that time. Others were in industrial plants, office buildings and hospitals.
July 9, 1950: Woman named Director of Art Institute
In 1950, the Dayton Art Institute became one of just a few museums in the country to have a woman as Director.
Esther Seaver came to Dayton from Hartford, Conn. where she was serving as educational and publicity director of the Wadsworth Atheneum of Hartford. The Wadsworth was noted for its collections of Far Eastern art, as was the Dayton Art Institute.
Seaver was taking the place of Siegfried Weng, who had been director of DAI for 20 years.
Seaver held a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Radcliffe college. She also attended Beloit college in Wisconsin as well as Wellesley college and the University of Stockholm where she received extensive training in European and Near Eastern art.
The only other major museums of the day with woman directors were the Syracuse Museum of Art, the San Francisco museum, and the Baltimore museum.
Serving as director from 1950-56, Seaver was responsible for the Dayton Art Institute acquiring the painting “Waterlilies” by Claude Monet, one of the museum’s most notable possessions.
July 11, 1961: Cache of drugs found by boys
Several boys found a package of drugs and hypodermic needles in the woods near Forest Park Plaza shopping center.
One of the parents called the police, saying, “we nearly flipped,” after finding their son, age 9, “playing doctor” with vials of Novocain and Ravocaine. More of the vials were found under another boys’ beds.
The Dayton health commissioner described the drugs as “quite powerful, closely allied in type with narcotics.” He added that they “would be dangerous if taken by mouth or through injection.”
The Chief County Deputy said the containers in which the drugs were held were of the type used in doctors’ and dentists’ offices.
July 9, 1974: Kettering turns over old leaves
Kettering led the state in making mulch for citizens to use. In 1974, it started a “share the shredder” program to let other communities do the same.
The shredder, which was purchased for $13,000, could process 45 cubic yards of material per hour. The previous season, Kettering produced 700 dump truck loads of mulch in very little time. It was distributed for free to Kettering residents.
Picking up a handful of the shredded compost, Mayor Charles Horn said, “Mix this about half and half with dirt, and you’ve really got something. The weeds won’t grow through and the plants will grow like mad.”
July 9, 1980: New Lebanon police like smaller cruiser
After 100 days on the road, New Lebanon’s new police cruiser seemed to be proving what they hoped it would: Smaller cars mean smaller fuel bills.
The cruiser, one of two 1980 Chevrolet Citations, was averaging nearly five more miles per gallon than their heavier Plymouth Volares also being used by the department.
The new cars cost the village about $6,700 each.
The Citation was averaging 13.9 miles per gallon compared to 9 mpg for the Plymouths. Stretched over a year’s time, it was estimated that they could trim about $2,300 from the department’s fuel bill.
Other advantages were the car’s hatchback design which provided needed cargo space and front-wheel-drive which made it better in snow.
“It’s a real eye-catcher,” Police Chief Rick Kisner said. “Everywhere we go, people want to stop and take a look at it.”
July 13, 1990: Carvings that aren’t for the birds
When Ray Kunz was 20, he told his mother he could make her new kitchen cabinets if she bought him the saw he needed.
From that point on, the gifted Daytonian became a professional woodworker.
But it was his bird woodcarvings that brought him the most attention. He started winning national and international competitions.
Kunz couldn’t explain how he became a world-class wood carver. He didn’t learn the skill in school, and started his career as a welder with Dayton Power and Light Co. He worked for DP&L for 33 years before retiring to carve wildfowl full-time.
He spent eight to 10 hours a day working in his garage, carving birds ranging from sandpipers to eagles.
“I sort of lose myself in my work,” said Kunz, who claimed bird carving could relieve a tension headache in less than an hour without pills.
His work went on to be displayed at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History as part of an exhibit titled The Wooden Bird: An American Folk Art Tradition.
In 1990 a Kunz piece would sell from $50 for a simple bird to “way up in the thousands” for elaborate award winners.
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