Here’s a look at some stories from the week of Aug. 25-31.
August 29, 1937: Dayton youths go on 17-day hitchhiking trip
Seventeen days of adventure, thrills and sightseeing went by all too fast for Bob McCleary, 14, and Jim Holkson, who turned 15 on the hitchhiking trip they took together.
They got 67 rides, which took them a total of 2,156 miles from the time they left Dayton until they returned.
From Dayton, they went to Cleveland and then through Erie and Albany to Boston. They stayed four days in New York before going to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., where they spent another three days sightseeing.
While in Connecticut, where hitchhiking was against the law, a policeman not only picked them up and gave them a ride to a corner best for flagging motorist.
They did their laundry in a river and slept outside most nights. A luxury was getting a real bed at a YMCA.
The two boys said they each spent just $25 on the entire trip.
August 31, 1947: Sidney store owner soon a half century in business
Mrs. H.A. Morris, known as “Grandma” Morris to most, was the owner and operator of the Morris Grocery Store in Sidney.
She was still going at 83 years old and was celebrating her 48th year in business.
Her only assistant was 77-year-old Louis Mann.
The grocery was in the same place all those years, and some of the original fixtures were still in use.
In the rear of the store, Morris had arranged two rocking chairs beside an old-fashioned coal stove for brief rests.
A weekly chore was grinding 25 or 30 pounds of coffee by hand on Friday nights to prepare for the Saturday rush.
Morris was proud of a blue-lettered card above the cash register for all to see. It read, “Please smile. Thanks.”
August 27, 1967: Re-opening of Dayton Speedway recalls grand days
The then-35-year-old Dayton Speedway, newly resurfaced, was about to start a new era in 1967.
Racing began there in 1932, on dirt. It wasn’t until 1939 that the high banks were first paved.
Ripples and dips in the track forced the speedway to close in 1961. Other factors that went into the decline of the track were costly annual maintenance, a crash in which three fans and a driver were killed and the loss of television revenue.
Then $60,000 was spent to get the track race-ready for the first time in six years.
A USAC sprint race was on the schedule for the following weekend.
August 28, 1977: Power lifter Pacifico going for 7th world title
Larry Pacifico, a man with a 48-inch chest, 33-inch waist and 20-inch biceps, was one of the top power weightlifters in the world.
The former Mr. Ohio and UD student had just won his sixth national title in the International Power Lifting Federation championships in Santa Monica, California.
He was then focused on seeking his seventh title, in Australia, later that year.
He had taken world titles twice in the 242-pound weight class, twice in the 220-pound weight class and once at 198. If he were to win again, he would have won more world titles that any other athlete in history.
In 1977, he held 46 world power lifting records.
Power lifting is unlike the Olympic lifting. It consists of the bench press, the dead lift and the squat. In Santa Monica, he bench pressed 507 pounds, dead lifted 705 pounds and lifted 695 pounds from the squat position.
In his day job, Pacifico was Vice President of New Life Health Spas.
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