Good Ol’ Wayne County

I have all sorts of memories growing up in Wayne County, Ohio. It was a bit strange when I moved to Detroit and resided in Wayne County, Michigan.

To me, Cleveland was a metropolis. I never shared the childhood memories of growing up in the big city that I now call home. Instead, it was growing up “Green Acres” style down in Wayne County. The locals knew you weren’t from their “parts” when you rhymed Wooster with rooster. It’s pronounced like Worcester, Massachusetts. If you don’t know how to pronounce it, click here then on the speaker to hear a man say it.

Some of my first memories were of the Wayne County Fair. My father was a Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy and we spend a lot of nights going to the fair to see him and all of the attractions. As a deputy, my father got to escort Jerry Lee Lewis to the fair, ride Evel Knievel’s motorcycle and introduce me to Mel Tillis and Lynn Anderson. I still remember my conversation with Mel Tillis, who did, by the way, stutter as he talked to me. I was only about 4 or 5 years old but I won’t forget it. I missed the fair this year but there’s always next year.

My mother worked for Bishop’s Fine Foods growing up. It was a fifties style drive-in but she didn’t do the rollerskate thing. She did deliver the food including those awesome onion rings to people’s cars. Sadly, the original haunt is no longer there. Apparently, it’s moved to Orrville. The onion rings are unrivaled. My favorite sandwich is the Nutty Muffin. It’s a double cheeseburger with cole slaw and peanuts. It may not sound good but believe me, you’ll want another one.

I’d never heard of Rini Rego’s or Heinen’s growing up, if you wanted groceries, you went to Buehler’s. Their Milltown location touted a restaurant when it was built and made headlines for days in The Daily Record. Let’s not forget Hawkins Supermarket. That’s where we went most of the time to get our food in Wooster.

I mentioned in another post about Bauman’s Orchard in Rittman. It’s another place where my mother worked growing up. I can remember going there to get apples and cider. I can also recall getting to see how they sorted and cleaned the apples after picking them. I was amazed at the process. It didn’t take a lot to make me happy then and it doesn’t take a lot to make me happy now. Some things, just like Wayne County, don’t change much.

While we’re talking about food, there’s Dravenstotts Restaurant in Orrville, it’s the home of the world’s best strawberry pie. That is, after my grandmother’s recipe. Dravenstott’s pie was good but believe me it doesn’t come close to hers!

If you haven’t been to The Barn Restaurant in Smithville, it’s worth the drive from Cleveland. It’s country cooking in a place you’d never thought you’d eat… a barn. I’m sure I didn’t have to spell that one out for you.

Of course, Wooster is known for its college. The golf course is also nice. My friend, Kevin, owns it. Not literally, but he spent more hours on that course than the time I spend blogging twenty times over. I believe he got a hole-in-one there. He’ll correct me if I’m wrong, just watch or even if I’m right.

Finally, I’ll wrap up this promotion of my home county by mentioning two places I knew as big department stores. One of them was in Rittman. It was called Conley’s. We went there all of the time. I remember getting lost in that big department store more times than I care to remember. I’d walk up to the front and tell them to page my mother. I’d often times be in tears. Hey, give me a break I was probably only 4 years old. We’d shop there everything from clothes to paint to records (even then I loved music) to Star Wars figures. Yes, that movie trilogy was a big part of my life. I even got to meet Darth Vader there. He wasn’t any two-bit Darth Vader either. All of the lights on his chestpiece flashed and he even had the breathing thing going too. I still don’t know to this day how Rittman landed him but I know that I was certainly freaked out by the process. I remember him not being nice at all. I mean, what else would you expect? Here’s a picture to commemorate the situation. By the way, going back there before they closed I wondered how I could ever get myself lost in such a small place.

What was the department stores of all department stores to me was Freedlander’s. It wasn’t just all on one floor either. History shows Freedlanders Department Store has been in business since 1884 when David Freedlander decided to settle in Wooster. I remember my mother paying for something. There were no cash registers. The clerks sent the sales receipt and payment up a pneumatic tube. Seconds later, it would arrive back and we’d be on our way. That was always magical to me as a kid.

Ah, the memories, I guess I’ll always be a small town boy trying to make it in a big city,