Implosion Schedule Page 6
HURON HOMETOWN NEWS GREAT PRESS FOR A GREAT LAKE PLACE
-433-2499 Huron Market
525 Cleveland Rd. 419
NY Strip
5.49
$
/lb January 5, 2012 Vol. 7 Number 1
NEWS ONLINE 24/7... www.HuronHometownNews.com
Max Hinton to Begin Demolition The implosion of the ConAgra site on Sunday will have Max Hinton as the person who pushes the button. Max of Fresno, California has had as his wish to be at the site of building implosion for some time because of watching the tv show, Myth Busters. So his wish will come true on Sunday. Max, along with the rest of his family will fly into Cleveland on Thursday evening and be guests of the Kalahari Resort while they are here. “We are
so excited to have Max with us to push the button.” Lisa Kelly, President of Advanced Explosives Demolition, said in an interview. “Ever since we heard about Max, we have wanted to do this with him.” she added Max was diagnosed in April, 2010 with Neuroblastoma, stage 4. He will be 8 years old in February. He is a very normal child who loves to play games, plays the piano, soccer and tennis.
Con Agra Way Back When……….. By Sheila Ehrhardt
Around Town Page 2 ---------------Milestones/ Church Chat Parks & Rec/ Library
caissons per silo had to be sunk some 34 to 40 feet into the ground. Watching the implosion of the ConAgra Wargo and a partner would be lowered down buildings on Sunday will be a group of “old into the huge cement pilings to clean out any timers” who have a special interest in what was dirt or residue left in the bottom. “The fellas once Huron’s largest industry. began calling us ‘muckers,’ but we didn’t mind. They are the men who spent months and We were just glad to be working,” he explained. months on construction of the huge facility Mike Gebelle was fresh out of the Marines originally known as the Eastern States Farmwhen he came back to his hometown, lookers Exchange. ing for work. In 1946 he worked on constructOne of the first people to work on the early ing the foundations for the grain silos. “It was phases of the project was Paul Wargo, who at hard work, but the New England Foundation 90, is the oldest living survivor of the hardy Co., was a pretty good company to work for,” crew that built this Huron landmark. Before Gebelle recalled. When the silos began going any construction could begin, three to four up, he stayed on for another year or so, before going to work on the ore docks, where he operated one of the Huletts for 37 years, until the docks closed in 1985. Leonard Chicotel was a 19-year-old Navy veteran looking for a job in 1946 when he was hired at the mill’s on-site cement plant. He would mix 100-lb. sacks of cement with so many pounds sand and stones near the foundations of the 125ft. tall silos being constructed at the edge of the slip across the river from the ore docks. Crews would hoist a bucket up to the top of the silo and dump it into a hopper. Then Chicotel and the others would use a This quartet of longtime Huronites worked on con- 2-wheel apparatus known as a struction of the grain mill and silos in the late 1940s. “Georgia buggy,” to wheel 300 Seated, (l. to r.) are Paul Wargo and Ira Bailey and or 400 pounds of concrete into the forms. There were originally standing, Lenoard Chicotel and Mike Gebelle.
Page 3
Huron Grain Mill Has Had 4 Names, Is Huge Chapter In Huron’s History
---------------Classifieds Page 4 ---------------Schools/ Sports Page 5 ---------------Implosion Page 6
Carol's
Wine of the Week Dreaming Tree Cab, Chard, or Crush
$15.49 750mL.
27 silos, standing in three rows of nine along the northern edge of the property. Chicotel’s monthly pay while in the Navy was $27 a month, but when he was discharged he was able to take advantage of a 52-20 program, where veterans received $20 per week for an entire year. “The construction job was really hard work, but since we were making a dollar and seventeen-and-a-half cents and hour, I just couldn’t pass up those big bucks,” he said grinning widely. The crews worked long hours, taking advantage of good weather, whenever possible. That same year, 22-year-old Ira Bailey went to work as a carpenter, making the wooden forms for the silos. “Yes, there were a helluva lot of people working there at the time, but I can’t tell you just how many,’ said the octogenarian who is still a rascal. The forms were held together with screw jacks as a form was filled with concrete, Gebelle and several others would jack up the forms to be refilled. “Everybody had to keep on moving, as it was a 24-7 kind of pour,” Bailey explained. If all went well, one silo could be completed every 11 days. He stayed on to work in the mill’s maintenance department for several years. All of the men expressed a sense of pride in helping create the complex and a sense of sadness in seeing it demolished. “I only wish they could have figured out some other use for those buildings,” said Bailey. “But I guess that’s progress.” Many others who worked on construction of the mill are gone now and there are hundreds more who worked there down through the years. They have become an integral part of Huron’s rich history and we salute them.
By Kathy Muehlhauser Moore Huron Historical Society Eastern States Farmers Exchange A new addition to the docks came in 1941 when the Eastern States Farmers Exchange began erecting a grain elevator where the first coal unloader was located. Construction was stopped during WWII and was completed in 1952. Huge ocean vessels carrying large cargos of grain were loaded and unloaded at the dock. Eastern States Farmers Exchange was a regional farmer’s cooperative established in Springfield, MA, in the 1920’s that grew to become one of the largest co-ops of its kind, serving the agricultural community of New England and Upstate New York, and eventually as far west as Northwestern Pennsylvania and Northern Ohio. The Exchange, along with the GLF (Grange League Federation) merged in 1964, to form Agway Inc., based in Syracuse, NY. Agway ceased operations in 1967. Pillsbury The Pillsbury Company acquired the mill in October 1971 and it became the East/Lakes Region Headquarters of the company’s grain merchandising division. The mill bought wheat, corn and soy beans from county grain elevators and licensed farm dealers. The corn was used for livestock feed, the wheat was ground into flour, and the soybeans were processed into oil and meal.
Compare Cornell's ad to the rest. More choices, better value! Support your local community
CORNELL’S Foods MONEY SAVING FACT:
THE LESS YOU EAT OUT… THE MORE YOU SHOP CORNELL’S THE MORE MONEY YOU’LL HAVE IN YOUR POCKET!!
Most of the grain, which arrived by truck, was shipped by freighter to Canada, but it was also shipped internationally in ocean freighters. When the lake was frozen during the winter the grain was sent by railroad cars to the east coast for export. In 1971 Pillsbury began construction on six new storage silos that increased the holding capacity from 1.2 to 1.9 million bushels of grain. In 1988 Pillsbury decided to sell its grain merchandising division, including the plant in Huron. Miller Milling Miller Milling was founded in 1985 to offer major durum semolina customers the ben-
efits of cutting-edge regional destination mills focused specifically on their needs. The company, which bought the Pillsbury building at Huron, Ohio, served major pasta plants in the eastern United States, most notably what was then the country’s largest maker of branded pasta, Hershey Foods Corporation. In 1989 Harvest States’ Amber Milling division entered into a partnership agreement with Miller Milling Co. with its Huron, Ohio mill. ConAgra ConAgra bought the facility in 1989 and used it as a grain elevator for the storage and shipment of grain until 2006. On July 18, 2006, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) announced the purchase of the ConAgra Foods facility in Huron. Concurrently, ConAgra Foods announced the closure of the grain elevator. The 19.7-acre parcel, containing Huron’s largest building, is a key piece of Huron’s waterfront. ODNR’s Division of Watercraft has completed a public boating and fishing access site with launch ramps, docks and parking facilities. The City of Huron has assumed title to the former grain silos and flour mill and was awarded a $2 million grant through the Ohio Department of Development’s Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund to continue revamping the site. The city Pilot Tom Root took this photo of the envisions a future riverfront development to grain mill while under construction in include restaurants, retail stores, condominiums and green space. 1949
USDA BOTTOM ROUND ROAST
5LB POTATOES
SELECTED GENERAL MILLS CEREAL
OUR FAMILY 24OZ PASTA SAUCE
$2.99/LB. $1.99
$1.99
99
PORK SHOULDER ROAST
1LB STRAWBERRIES
WEIGHT WATCHERS ENTREES
YOPLAIT ASSORTED
$1.69/LB.
$2.00
3 for $5.00 10 for $6.00
¢ Locally Owned & Operated! A Friendly Place to Shop!! HOURS: 7 AM - 9 PM DAILY • 419-433-7733 408 Cleveland Road East, Huron, OH 44839 PRICES GOOD Jan. 5 - Jan. 11, 2012 Reg. $20.49