The Tuscarawas Valley news business lost its most veteran
member – Ed DeGraw, 92, of Dover, who reported for a gazillion years for The
Times-Reporter and other publications.
I’m not sure the business can create characters like Ed any
longer. Always puffing on his pipe and sipping a Coke, Ed was a fixture in our
newsroom, sitting in his little corner of the world pontificating about
everything and launching into a rant without warning.
Ed was one of the few reporters and photographers that I
managed who actually liked covering the county fair – it could get tedious -- and
in tandem with another veteran, Joe Mizer, provided unprecedented coverage for
our local agricultural community year after year. I suspect that demographic
has noticed that coverage might not be the same since Ed and Joe retired.
But that’s not all.
Ed didn’t understand the concept of overtime pay and would
show up for work on days off because there was a story or column to be written.
Need a volunteer? Ed would raise his hand.
He’d cover the cops, or city council. Or attend that
all-important chicken dinner without complaint. God love him.
I don’t remember him ever calling in sick, or asking to be
excused from traveling to work because of bad weather. And he brought a
historical view to the news that he wrote -- sometimes to a fault. He knew when
stuff happened. Ed was our Google before Google.
It sounds corny, but Ed had the proverbial nose for news and
maintained sources on all levels. The first phone call I received on a fateful
Sunday morning a couple of decades ago was from Ed who reported that “New
Philadelphia High is on fire” and that we needed to rally the troops. A source
had tipped him off.
Ed also had a special relationship with gardeners. At the
first sign of frost, Ed would knock out a column, offering his thoughts on
preparing the soil for winter and he wrote that column from scratch every year.
His other passion was the Cleveland Indians, but his sportswriter roots allowed
him to offer commentary on every aspect of athletics. And he did. Often.
I suspect God is getting an earful from Ed right now. And if
God is smart, he better listen. I suspect He’ll learn something.
***
A few more quick hits and I’ll let you get on with your pre-Christmas
activities:
--Please don’t ask me “What do you think of Trump now?” That
question usually comes from a Fox News devotee who hasn’t been paying attention. It gets me all riled up and puts me in a really bad mood.
--It seems to me that every elementary school should have
its own principal. I would have gone nuts in my elementary school without
Sister Monica waving her paddle (with holes drilled in it to alleviate wind
resistence) at my fellow hooligans. Fortunately, New Philadelphia Superintendent David Branch agrees and will request Monday that the Board of Education approve the hiring of a full slate of building principals effective Jan. 1.
--If you study the tax duplicate for the famous Dairy Queen
which sits in the footstep of the new Dover High campus you will come to the
conclusion that the property is worth about $160,000. In my mind, that would be
a good offer from the school district to the Yoder-Angel family which owns the
property.
--Driving north on N. Wooster Ave. recently, I
noticed that I got stopped by only one traffic light, which is a vast
improvement over the old system. There’s still more work to be done before the
synchronization project is completed and traveling south is still
dicey through the retail portion of S. Wooster Ave.
--I’m still encountering folks who are unaware of the
existence of this blog. If someone happens to mention to you that he/she can’t
find Farrell’s column in the Bargain Hunter, tell them to Google "dickfarrell.blogspot.com." It’s easily found.
--This is probably my last offering before Christmas. I hope
you and your family have a great holiday. Talk to you soon.
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