For The Record – April 3, 2014
by Barb Mastriania
Rumor has it …
Rumor has it, not a clue if it’s true, but when it comes to growing flowers of hope Renovo people may be setting a record. In three days Renovo people raised several thousand dollars for the
American Cancer Society with purchases of daffodils and tulips. The purchases were from a group of Renovo volunteers for the Flowers of Hope Relay for Life in Clinton County.
It’s not the first time Renovo has made record sales of flowers. For the past three years Renovo has held the record in Clinton County for sales of daffodils during the American Cancer Society Daffodil Days. This year the cancer society did away with the Daffodil Days fund raiser. In Clinton County volunteers decided to launch the Flowers for Hope sales campaign and from all reports it is a successful fund raiser, at least it is here in Western Clinton County.
Flashlight egg hunt …
Renovo youngsters and parents too will be pleased to hear there will be another flashlight egg hunt this year. The hunt will be at the 16th Street Park on April 18th. Watch The Record for more information. The flashlight egg hunt was very popular and successful last year, rumor has it.
The robins …
Bud Hallberg of Farwell reports he hasn’t seen any robins yet but he did see a blue bird in Farwell this week.
It’s been brought to my attention that I may not have seen any robins yet because they’re trying out for a part in a Sharon Osborne commercial for Atkins products.
In case you’re wondering …
In case you’re wondering what is happening with my store building in North Bend, here’s the scoop. I’m having the exterior of the building refurbished – new metal siding – in order to preserve the building. It was beginning to deteriorate rapidly. The wood was drying out and warping and some of the boards were actually moving away from the building. Merely painting it, which was my first thought, would not have saved the boards that were going bad. As a friend said, I could either save it or have it taken down. But I had to do something.
Through the years the building has been a dry goods store, a grocery store, served as the North Point Post Office, served as a meeting place for the township supervisors and in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s as a dance hall. It’s been a social gathering place and most recently an antiques and collectibles business.
The building has been on the tax rolls since the 1880’s and is in my estimation an extremely interesting structure. The basement has brick pillars in it, the original furnace that’s the size of a small kitchen, steps that lead to the back porch and a round vat that used to store coal oil or kerosene, whatever oil they used to sell for lanterns I believe.
The main floor has the original shelves from the days it was a store. The upstairs, where the dance hall was, has a curved ceiling under that peaked roof you see from outside. The rooms are divided by rather flimsy wall panels and some remnants of old fashioned wall paper are visible.
The exterior work that’s being done now was started last year and is to repair and preserve and to improve the appearance of the building. Amos Zook did the work on the front of the building last summer. Joe Marino (Marino Construction) of North Bend is doing the renovation work under way now.
