Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1934-02-08
MAYOR WM. HI. VANOSTER
DELIVERS RADIO ADDRESS

DELIVERS RADIO ADDRESS
! Recently VIM H. Vanoster, mayor
over station WTAM, which attracted
considerable attention and was car
/ ried in full in the Elyria papers.
Mayor VanOster is native of Nor
| gan county, and is now serving his
second term, having been reelected
last fall by an overwhelming ma
jority, carrying every precinct in
/ Elyria His address follows:
! Ladies and gentlemen of the
radio audience, it is very gracious
of Station WTAM to give me this
! opportunity to tell you about the
city of Elyria.
"Twenty-five miles west of Cleve-
land, nine miles south of Lake Erie,
on Route 20, you will fine one Of
/ the most beautiful cities in the
United States. A city rich in the
] things that are fundamental! to hap
piness. A community that has lived
unselfishly, giving freely to help
others.
! .The origin of several leading
! institutions was mainly the result
of incidents occurring in Elyria. 1t
was while John ]. Shipperd was
preaching in Elyria that the move
ment which resulted in founding
Oberlin college had its inception. In
| l0 ri 10 W. tch in O.
Mrs. Shipperd bake bread, con-
structed in Elyria the first cook
stove which drew heat from the
fire box completely around the oven.
ssThe first Community Chest was
started here and when we gather
Tuesday evening, January 80, to
hold the National Birthday Ball in
honor Of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, to endow the Warm
Springs Foundation so that it may
carry on it's nationwide work for the
relief of sufferers from infantile pa
ralysis, it is well to remember that
the movement to help crippled chill
dren had it's origin in Elyria in
1908 by the untiring and unselfish
work of E. F. Allen, better known
as Daddy" Allen, and has since
reached all over this country and is
now worldwide. Many thousands
of crippled children have been help
ed by his work. The Gates hospital
and the Ohio Society for Crippled
Children stand out as beacon
light of leadership in worthy
cause to help those less fortunate.
"Elyria is the county seat of Lo-
rain county, one of the richest agri-
cultural counties in the state, with
3,O38 farms containing 238,731
acres, with 81 per cent of the land
in crops, "a per cent in pasture and
eight percent in woodland. Special
agricultural enterprises include Sc
acres under glass for raising flow
ers and it is estimated that nearly
40 acres under glass are devoted to
raising vegetables. The products
of our farms have helped in large
way the development of Elyria.
"Elyria was founded in 1917 by
Heman Ely, wealthy man who had
travelled extensively abroad, par
ticularly in France. He named this
county Lorain after the Lorraine in
France. He was generous in do
mating land for public improve
ments, giving Elyria one of the
most beautiful parks in the country.
cascade park, known all over
the United States for it's beauty,
contains 130 acres of river gorge,
two 40-foot waterfalls, and realm
of wonderful scenic beauty, rock re-
treats, caves and primeval forest. 1t
has two coasting hills, the Double
Jump and the Straight Away, which
can also be used for skiing, four
picnic grounds, with a table ca
pacity of about 1900, six dirt tennis
courts, a swimming pool with ca
pacity of 325 bathers at a time, a
play ground for the children, and
two and one-half miles of auto
trails including two shallow fords.
There are 36 varieties of trees and
endless trails for hiking which lead
through the gorges and along the
rivers. The park is visited by $780,
900 people annually.
Its Indian Shelter Cave has
yielded human remains 1000 years
old. They are now under examina-
ton of three geologists of national
reputation.
"A $1,000 entrance design, under
the supervision of Mr.. Donald Gray
of Cleveland. is now being con-
structed and will be completed in
another six weeks. CWA labor is
being utilized in this work.
sIt is nature retreat filed with
trees, flowers and animal life, and
under the supervision of the park
commission is being kept free from
~oapnE