Live Web Cam of Chardon Square

I'm strangely addicted to watching this...

Live Web Cam - Chardon Square

DQ / OJ

Some might find it tacky, but I LIKE the new DQ franchises. They're bright and fun and I think the design is well balanced.  If you've compared the one in Chardon to the ones in Mentor or Chesterland, you'll have noticed that they are not all the same.  I think the one in Chardon is the best looking because it has the most decorative accents.

I don't miss the old DQ too much, although I have some fond memories of it.  I do, however, miss the old guy that used to sell sweet corn and vegetables out of the vacant lot next door. I haven't seen him for a few years...anyone know?

I created the images below using a free 3D modeling program called SketchUp, and with Kerkythea, a free photo-realistic rendering program.  This has been a hobby of mine lately...

The final resting place of Peter Chardon Brooks

A few years ago, I wrote an article for this blog about Peter Chardon Brooks and the history behind Chardon’s name: "On the Naming of Chardon" .  I wanted to include some information in that article about Mr. Brooks’ final resting place, but unfortunately wasn’t able to find any information about it…I’ve always felt that the article was slightly incomplete because of that missing piece of the puzzle.  Today, thanks to a recent family vacation, I have that information, and you can skip ahead to find it near the end of this article.  If you would like to know how I found it, read on!

My wife and I visited Boston several years ago in conjunction with a trip to Connecticut to visit relatives.   This year, we decided to return, with one of our daughters, and we decided to drive so that we could spend a day in Concord before continuing on to Boston.  

I was planning our agenda, and it occurred to me that we might have an opportunity to learn some more about Peter Chardon Brooks on this trip – perhaps even find his grave, which I assumed must be somewhere in, or near, Boston. Once again, I searched the Internet for information about Mr. Brooks and found a Wikipedia article which didn't list his grave site (I will fix that!). This time, I also found a listing on www.findagrave.com  which indicated that he was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, in Medford, Massachusetts.   I checked the map…we would be passing Medford on our way from Concord to Boston!

Having this piece of information, I went into full research mode.  The findagrave site did not have a picture of his grave (I will fix that too!) and did not show a map with its exact location, something we would need if we visited the cemetery.  I searched the Internet for more information about Oak Grove Cemetery and found out that it is located adjacent to a noteworthy piece of property – The Brooks Estate!  I discovered that the Brooks family has lived in Medford since the 17^th century.  You can read more about the estate here at www.brooksestate.org .   I also found contact information for the cemetery on the Medord city website.

Having this, I sent emails off to the Brooks Estate and to the cemetery. The Brooks Estate did not return my email, which was very disappointing.   I had better luck with the cemetery.  The helpful proprietor replied to my email and confirmed that Mr. Brooks was indeed buried in the cemetery, and gave me the plot number.  He said that I should be able to get a map at the office and find it pretty easily.  I filed this information away for our trip.

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After a pleasant day in Concord, we headed into Medford, a pretty town about 30 minutes away.  A GPS is a wonderful thing…we found the cemetery on Playstead Rd, and found the office located just inside the gate.  I asked a fellow behind the desk for the location of Peter Chardon Brooks, assuming that he would know it off the top of his head, but it didn’t seem to be noteworthy to him, and he pulled out a box filled with index cards and started flipping through them, looking for the grave.  There was a bit of confusion for a few minutes, and for a moment I thought we were in the wrong place. Apparently, the original grave was located at the Salem Street Burial Ground, which is Medford’s oldest cemetery, but was recently relocated to Oak Grove. The man confirmed that there was a family plot that had Mr. Brooks, his wife, and his children.  He pulled out a map and showed me how to find it. We got in the car and went looking for Peter Chardon Brooks.

Oak Grove is a very large and beautiful cemetery…I wish that we could have had more time to explore it.

Peter Chardon Brooks is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, 230 Playstead Road, Medford MA, at Plot 212, Grave 1, on Oak Ave.

Peter Chardon Brooks 1767 - 1849

As you can see, the headstone looks to be fairly new, with little weathering; it is obviously not the original headstone from the Salem Street burial ground.

Here is a wider view, showing his wife's grave as well.

Peter Chardon and Ann Gorham Brooks

Here is the cemetery map – click on the image for an enlarged view.

Oak Grove Cemetery - Medford, MA

We had a wonderful time on this trip, and finding the grave of Peter Chardon Brooks was definitely one of the more interesting things that we did.  Standing at his grave, I had to wonder how many “Chardonites” (if any) have stood here before me, thinking about the  man who generously donated some of his property in the Western Reserve for the foundation of a town that would bear his middle name - a town that he never got to see. 

I took out a small stone that I had brought with me from the Chardon square and gently placed on his headstone.  “Thanks for the town…” I said.

Playboy

Someone from Chardon has finally made it into Playboy!

The Official County Tree

Just in, from the "Department of Unexpected Announcements that will Surprise No One"...

Geauga County Commissioners have taken a vote and declared the Acer Saccharum to be the official tree of Geauga County.

Don't know what that is?  Click here

Muzzies

There are Muzzies in the Chardon School System and they've been there for a long time.  They were already an institution by the time I arrived at Chardon High back in the early 70's and according to my daughter, who is currently attending as a freshman, they are still there.


I was not a Muzzie, but I was aware of their covert presence as I walked to school along the access road between the Middle School and the High School, glimpsing them hiding behind trees along the perimeter, doing the things that they did. They would group together in the parking lot, in the restrooms, and near fast-food joints in town.  In class, when one would sit behind me, I could often detect a whiff of weed, or alcohol. Sometimes sex. Always cigarettes. For me, interactions with Muzzies were pretty simple - requests to copy my homework, or to borrow a lighter, or bum a spare cigarette - even though it was obvious that I was not a smoker.


I thought every school had Muzzies until I went off to college and compared notes with my dorm-mates.: Jocks - check.  Nerds - check.  Muzzies ...huh?  What are Muzzies?  I began to use the word Stoner because it was something everyone understood, but somehow, it left something lacking.  Those schools may have had Stoners, but they didn't have Muzzies.  I finally became proud of being a Chardonite.


I've had three children attend the Chardon School System, and all three of them at some point have come up to me asking, with a glint in their eye, "Dad, do you know what a Muzzy is?" Like that first question about the birds and bees, it is a day that a parent does not forget.


I did some research on the word Muzzy,and found that it was originally a slang term for marijuana, probably dating back to the Beat Generation.  If so, there may have been Muzzies in Chardon since the 50's. The Urban Dictionary indicates that Muzzy is also being used these days as a derogative term for a person of the Muslim faith.  Would a Muslim Stoner at Chardon High be a Super Muzzie?


And finally, of course, there's a a Muzzy Facebook page: Muzzies - if you went to Chardon you know what I mean    Check it out.


Were, or are, YOU a Muzzy?

IOOF

                                                                                         - Photo by Gary Thomas

This imposing building always made me feel uncomfortable as child.

I distinctly remember looking up at it and asking my father, "what does the IOOF stand for?" and he would answer, "I can't remember...it was some kind of club".

My dad seemed to know everything, and he grew up in Chardon, so his vague response to this question made the building seem even more mysterious to me.  What kind of club could it have been?  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't conjure up any kind of club name that would fit the IOOF acronymn.  It seemed spooky to me...those big letters up there looming down.

Somehow, years later, I finally learned what it stood for and then promptly forgot - until I relearned it again somewhere else, years later.  I have probably learned and forgotten what the IOOF means at least 4 times in my life, and to be honest, I hardly even notice those letters any more when I'm in town.

All of this was brought to mind when I saw this photo by Gary Thomas the other day. He is a local photographer that I follow on Flickr. I really love his creative and beautiful images of Geauga County and the Western Reserve.  He submitted this photo in response to a photo challenge for the topic "odd".

Why is this "odd", you ask?  I'll let Gary answer that question with his caption for the photo:

IOOF - Independent Order of Odd Fellows

Taken for Our Daily Challenge .. ODD.  Built in 1879 this is the IOOF (Independent Order of Odd Fellows) building in Chardon, Ohio. The chapter is no longer active. "As an organization, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows are dedicated to improving and elevating the character of mankind by imparting the principles of friendship, love and truth and making the world a better place to live by aiding the community, the less fortunate, the youth and the elderly in every way possible." - Wikipedia

So there you have it.  Memorize this and impress your friends!

By the way, the IOOF is still an active organization nationally, and you can find a lot more information about it in Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Order_of_Odd_Fellows

And if you would like to see more of Gary's wonderful photos, you can find his photostream on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26992926@N08/

I think it is really great that these letters still remain on the building after all these years.  I'm sure that a decision must have been made at one time, to either leave them up or remove them.  I'm so glad that they were left there and I hope they remain...to continue to perplex people and provide a symbol of Chardon's history.

Russ, we checked every bulb, didn't we?

Hat's Off!

Mary Bramstedt's Car

An encounter with Mary Bramstedt always brightens my day.

Chardon in Google Earth

I'm a big fan of  Google Earth.. It appeals to both my geekiness and curiosity about the world.  I could  (and have) easily spend hours zooming around, looking at aerial photographs of far away places. It's even fun to look at your own neighborhood;  "Hey, look at this picture of our house!  You can see our deck and the car parked in the driveway!"

If you have a DSL internet connection and a decent computer, I urge you to download the free Google Earth program and start exploring.  You'll soon get hooked!   Here's just a few samples of what you'll see if you explore the city of Chardon.

Chardon Football Field:

St. Mary's Church

Chardon Cemetery:

Chardon Square:

Google Earth also has lots of cool features that you can turn on, like 3D Buildings.  If you turn on this feature in the menu and take a look at downtown Cleveland, you'll be amazed to see that nearly all of the buildings are modeled in 3D graphics, allowing you to zoom in and take a close look at them from any angle. Here's a view of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

At first, the folks at Google did all of the work creating these models, but they soon found out that lots of people wanted to make them too so they could  model the buildings in their own home town.   

I was disappointed to find that there weren't any 3D models completed for the Chardon area, but then I got excited because I figured if I could learn how to do it, I would be the first!  So I downloaded Google's free "Building Maker" and SketchUp programs and went to work on the Court House.  I think it came out pretty good!

I submitted the model to Google Earth, and after about a week I received a notice that it met all of their requirements and was accepted!   So, now Chardon has one 3D building on Google Earth.  Check it out sometime!  I'd like to make more when I have time, maybe model all of the buildings along the Square.

I'd love to have some help!  There are lots of resources on the internet for people interested in learning how to model buildings in Google Earth.  Feel free to send me an email if you need some advice!

Chardon's Square And Proud Of It!

Rachael Masek recently sent me some wonderful pictures that she took of the beautiful hanging planters along Main Street, and a bluegrass concert in progress at the bandstand. This area is officially known as the "Chardon Courthouse Square District" and is listed on the National Register, but most Chardonites simply refer to it as "The Square".  Thanks to the hard work of many volunteers, merchants, and support from the city, the Square has become one of the most attractive and vibrant areas in town.  Thanks for the pictures Rachel!