Prologue: Out of Greenville Experiences. Beyond The Land Of the Deplorable's. Unlike my Greenville friends, from day one I had out of Greenville experiences. Thanks to Grandfather Coppock, Canada and Miami, Florida. Thanks to Dad, I had wonderful trips to Washington DC, Chicago and especially New York City. Best of all, the trip to Europe. Mother, the great teacher, from the Metropolitan Museum in New York City to the Louvre in Paris, to eating snails and horsemeat in Nice. Eighth grade in small fishing village in Naples, Florida. Culver Military Academy for summer and winter school. These out of Greenville experiences especially prepared me for life after Greenville.

Europe trip

I). The Very First Years.

A} Canada. During the Second World War years we made many trips to Canada. In the 1920's, Granddad had built a large lodge with a guesthouse on his own island in Georgian Bay. He also dammed up “Long Lake”. (30 foot beautiful dam) On the lake, Uncle Edward and Aunt Dorothy had constructed a large cabin in the 30's. The lake was 20 miles long. The only other cabin was Granddad’s fishing cabin on islands 10 miles down the lake. He had a big fishing boat called the Gray Goose. He had two guides, a French man “Frenchy” and an Indian, “Deaf Mike”. Wonderful fishing! Mother went there as a little girl.

B). Florida. Before the war we took a couple trips to Granddad’s beautiful home on Miami Beach. We never went there during the war. After the war, Granddad and grandmother sold their beautiful home on Miami Beach and moved into a large suite in the Columbus Hotel overlooking Key Biscayne. We visited them a couple times before my eighth grade year when we lived in Naples and saw a lot more of Miami. (See Fred Coppock stories! He was a millionaire before 30. He started going to Miami, Florida in 1906 and to Canada around 1918. It’s amazing that he could spend 2 to 3 months in Canada and 3 to 4 months in Florida and have large construction and dredging projects in both areas and still build the American Aggregates Gravel Company in Greenville.)

C). Postwar Trips.

1). New York City. In 1945, Dad acquired The Warrens Stores. The company had over 30 Ten Cent stores in Dayton, Columbus and small towns in Ohio. His office and warehouse (now removed) was one block from the Greenville town square. Dad would go on buying trips to New York twice a year. We would take the train from Dayton to Grand Central Station (our own compartments were wonderful and the dining car was a great experience). We would stay at the Astor Hotel on Times Square (now removed). Mother would take us to the museums and art galleries. We ate at the best restaurants, Ruby Foos, my first Chinese restaurant, Keens Chophouse etc. I met Jack Dempsey in his bar and restaurant. In New York, a piece of cherry pie cost $0.45, in Greenville, a dime. My parents would let me walk within a four block radius of the hotel at Times Square, after all I was 9 years old.

2). The Big Red Lincoln. The greatest trip of all was our trip to Europe. It was the summer of 1953. Europe was still recovering from the war and the dollar was king. This more than any other trip or adventure exposed me to a different world than Greenville. Dad, who loved to travel, did an incredible job of planning. We drove the brand-new Big Red to New York City and spent the night at the Astor Hotel. In the morning we took the car to the dock on the Hudson River. They loaded it on the SS United States (it had just returned from its maiden voyage). We boarded and spent the next five and half days in First Class! From Le Harve to Paris, Nice to Rome, all over France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and then on to London. Hundreds of wonderful stories.

D). Columbus, Ohio. From childhood, we regularly visited Columbus, Ohio. American Aggregates had two large gravel plants in Columbus. Everybody knew Granddad. My father’s Uncle Clement Brumbaugh had been a United States Congressman representing Columbus from 1912 to 1920. Everybody knew the Brumbaugh’s. My Dad’s sister, Aunt Nina and her husband Uncle Walter and their daughter, Jane lived in Bexley. Uncle Walter managed the gravel plants. My Dad’s uncle, Fred Reidnour was City Manager for the suburb of Upper Arlington. Dad had gone to Ohio State Law School and had many many friends. From the very beginning, Columbus was our favorite city. (Probably had a lot to do why I chose to practice law there). After my freshman year in high school, I went to summer school at Culver Military Academy. My junior year I went to which are school at Culver. My eighth grade I spent in Naples, Florida. (Many stories). I know of no one in my class that ever went to another school other than Greenville.