Back to the future Part II

In reading my "YIR" (year-in-review) post, I noticed that I left out one really exciting even that happened in 2015, but in a way, I'm kind of glad I neglected to mention it because now I'm writing a separate post on it. The reality, though, is it needs a separate post anyway since it really started in 2014 and I never finished the blog post about that trip I had intended to.

Long story short, October 2014 was my Grandpa Ridinger's 90th birthday and we had all sorts of fun stuff planned to celebrate. For several years I had wanted to get a sweatshirt from my grandpa's alma mater, Miamisburg High School, which is located in Miamisburg, Ohio, just south of Dayton. I finally remembered to email the school in September 2014 and they were awesome about it, sending him a beautiful royal blue hoodie. My grandpa played football at MHS from 1937-1940 (graduated in 1941 at the age of 16). In sending the sweatshirt, they also sent info about the fundraising drive to build a new stadium at the school to replace their current stadium, Harmon Field, which opened in 1923 and was the same field my grandpa played on.

From the 1941 Miamisburg High School, "Mirus". Grandpa is top left, a 16-year-old senior class president. That happened because he attended part of his elementary years in a rural one-room schoolhouse and picked up on what the older kids were doing, so when they moved back into town, he was able to skip some of those grades.

Football team photo for the 1940 team (1941 yearbook). Grandpa is in the bottom row of individual pictures, second from right.

I asked the family if they would like to donate some money to the school in Grandpa's name and everyone liked it. We were able to donate $300 to the stadium fund, enough to have his name listed in the "Blue and White Club" section on the stadium fundraiser website. He seemed pleased with the sweatshirt and when we told him about the donation and showed him a printout of the website.

A week before his 90th birthday, I went down to Miamisburg, about a 3 hour trip from Kent. My purpose was first, to personally thank the athletic director for the gift, but also to see the field itself, attend a game, and then get some pictures of various places in town to show Grandpa and for my own record. I always prefer going somewhere over seeing pictures of it. It's part of making history, even family history, more real for me, being where important events actually happened. Anyway, I was able to get lots of great pictures and really enjoyed finally seeing Miamisburg, what I call my "ancestral homelands".

With the MHS athletic director at the game in 2014. Small world, his brother coached at Ravenna a little while back

My grandpa was born in one of these two houses on Sycamore Street in Miamisburg in 1924. His dad's family lived in one house and his mom's family lived right next door. The 1920 Census lists his dad in both houses. And yes, that's my car front and center! :)

Found this headstone almost as soon as we drove into the cemetery. Sara and William "Tiff" Ginter are my great-great grandparents. I looked in vain to find the marker for my great-grandma Esther Ginter Ridinger. She died the day after Christmas in 1938 when my grandpa was just 14. 

OK, so fast forward to this past October. I find out sometime in September that Miamisburg High School was planning a big ceremony to mark the final game at Harmon Field, scheduled for October 23rd. I asked my Grandpa if he would want to go and got the expected answer: no. By then he'd be 91 (it was just 4 days after his birthday), and the combined 6 hours of traveling, walking around, and dealing with crowds didn't appeal. I didn't expect him to go.

I mentioned it to my dad and he asked him again. By then I had just assumed I would go with my dad as representatives of Grandpa and had already communicated with the school about it. Their reply was interesting in that they made it clear they really wanted him to be there if at all possible as he would be the oldest attending football alum. Dad showed the email to Grandpa and with a little help from Grandma convinced him to go since I would be driving.

Well, we went. Not only did the weather cooperate beautifully (it was close to 70 degrees and clear the night of the game...when I went in 2014 it rained the entire game), but the way my schedule worked that day subbing, I was able to leave a little earlier than I had originally, so we made it to Miamisburg with plenty of time to spare, enough time to have a nice dinner before heading over to the stadium. The school was kind enough to make sure we had a place to park close to the entrance (which is quite the coveted spot...small parking lot as the stadium is in the middle of a residential neighborhood, not at the school). My sister and her family met us at the game as they came down from NW Indiana (about as far as we drove) to see.

Returning to his old stomping grounds with my grandma and dad. When my brother-in-law asked if being back brought back tons of memories, Grandpa simply said "no." My grandma explained "he doesn't look back." Even so, he seemed to enjoy the evening and said he was glad to come.

Most of the crew that came...my dad's face got cut off at the top...oops! 

The school invited all MHS alumni who had every played on the field, so there were hundreds of guests since that not only included all the football alumni, but soccer and track alumni when those two sports played there. The only alum there older than Grandpa was a lady who was homecoming queen in 1937 or something. As I mentioned, Grandpa was the oldest attending football alumnus, so he was one of the few individuals recognized during the halftime ceremony. I was able to walk out on the field with him and get several pictures from the sideline, so it was neat for me to actually get to walk on the same field (and let me tell you...it was a very thin and dusty field!) he played on so many years ago. It would've been cool to do that period, but being there with him made it even more special.

One view of the crowd on the field, divided by decade. You can see me just to the left of center with my Cleveland Indians bag!

Grandpa acknowledges the crowd when he was recognized as the oldest attending football alumnus.

Just me on the sideline with Grandpa in the background

With Grandpa heading off the field. I love that he wore his Kent State hat. As Grandma says, he doesn't look back too much, but he has been in Kent now 50 years and was at KSU for 20+ years as an employee (assistant dean of the College of Business) and even longer as a donor and supporter, even though he's not a KSU alum (actually is an alum of Otterbein College and Ohio State).

Not only was the game a huge deal because of it being the last scheduled game in the 92 year history of Harmon Field, but it also had huge playoff implications on top of the great weather. There were an estimated 8,000 people in and around the stadium. My best guess is the entire stadium (4 separate stands) seats MAYBE 4,000 people if that, maybe even less. Not only were the stands packed, but people lined the inner fence around the actual playing field, and there was a sizable crowd lining the outer fence. Although we didn't stay for the entire game, it ended up being quite the thriller. Miamisburg coughed up a big lead to Springboro only to score the winning touchdown with 12 seconds left. The win ended up earning them a playoff spot and an additional home game. The funny thing about playing Springboro was Grandpa mentioned in his day, Springboro wasn't much of anything, just a little crossroads. He was also impressed Miamisburg had beaten Xenia earlier in the season, something that never happened when he played there.

Touchdown Vikings! First touchdown of the game right as it happened!

Third quarter view of the main home grandstand

Panorama showing the setup and the crowd. This was taken just before halftime while they were assembling all the alumni.

Although it was pretty tiring for him (a lot more walking than any of us anticipated), my grandma said he said he was glad he went. She also told me later it took about three days of resting to fully recover. I'm glad we were able to do that with him. Having my dad, and my sister and her family there made it even more memorable and fun. I was more than happy to be able to provide the transportation too! The school was also a huge help, not only with arrangements for him, but also accommodating my sister and her family. Such awesome people. Just as we were about to leave, I went up to see if I could get a souvenir program. One left. When they found out I was related to the "oldest living football alumnus" they gave it to me free.  Just a really special evening and something I will always remember fondly. My hope next year is to go down by myself and do some more exploring of family history sites, and attend a game at the new stadium.

@jonridinger @MburgVikings So glad you could come and be part of such a special night! #weloveouralumni

— Miamisburg Schools (@BurgSchools) October 25, 2015

On the drive home, we stopped near Columbus to get gasoline and Grandpa gave me his card to pay for it. I filled up my Honda Civic tank, coming out to about 9 gallons of gas. I handed the card back to Grandpa and he basically said "Oh, you're not going to fill it up?" I explained it's only about a 10 or 12 gallon tank, so yes, it was full and it will get me about 400 miles (40 mpg on the highway). :)

Hello New York!

So much has happened the last few weeks, now I'm finally able to catch up on blogging.  My last post related to my most recent trip is about my 2 fun visits to New York City on July 31st and August 3rd.  I've already talked about the nightmare trip on August 1st, so no need to go there again!  Anyway, ever since I found out that the trip was going to be in eastern PA within driving distance to New York I knew I would make at least one trip to the city while I was there.  As time grew closer I decided to make a trip to New York on my own.  What transpired was a lot of fun (and a lot of walking)!

PATH Train from Newark to the WTC

Back in 2009, while my brother was still living in the Washington, DC area, I took a trip to see him on my Spring Break during student teaching.  I didn't really do a whole lot while there (I was mostly just getting out of town and relaxing), but one of the days I drove his car to the nearest Metro station and took the Metro into town and just spent most of the day visiting things I wanted to see and enjoying the scenery.  I also got a lot of great pictures.  Well, with that in mind, I wanted to do something like that in New York; just take a day and go explore the city by myself and not worry about anyone else.  Initially I was going to park in Jersey City or Newark and take the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) train into Manhattan, but a friend of mine told me if I was going in on Sunday I could probably drive into Manhattan and find on-street parking.  To make a long story short, he was right and amazingly I found on-street parking for free.  Granted, when I crossed the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan I started thinking to myself "what the heck am I doing?!?" but I finally managed to maneuver my way through the river of traffic and I found parking on a residential street between 5th and 6th Avenues.  First thing after parking was I double checked to make sure it was even a legal space to park (it was) and then I found a subway station.  After paying some $26 to ride the London Subways back in 2007, finding out that the NYC Subway was only $2.25 for every time you enter the system (unlimited transfers), it felt practically free!  I got on the first train that came and took it to the end of the line, which was City Hall.  Just FYI, though, on-street parking is only available in a lot of places on Sunday.  Where I parked the sign said "No parking Except Sundays".

Finally got some pictures with the Brooklyn Bridge!

I had a great time re-introducing myself to the city.  I hadn't been to New York since I was in middle school.  My dad took my sisters and me on an East Coast trip in 1996 which included stops in Hershey, Valley Forge, Philadelphia, and New York.  We actually left the van in Philly and took the Amtrak train to New York and stayed there, I think, 3 days in a hotel along 8th Avenue.  In any case, a lot has changed since 1996 as anyone can imagine.  Most of the places I explored I ended up visiting later when I came back on August 3rd with my sisters, dad, and brother-in-law.  It didn't bother me though because I could be somewhat of a guide.  Being able to use the subway system again got me familiarized with the whole map system they use (it's not easy to read quick if you aren't familiar with it), so I was much more of a help on the 3rd.  I was also able to meet up with a friend from Flickr.com who lives in Queens.  He showed me around a bit and it was great to meet him!

New 1 World Trade Center under 
construction in Manhattan

Seeing the World Trade Center site for the first time since 2001 was surreal.  I vaguely remember it from the trip in 1996, where we took the elevator up to the 107th floor of the South Tower to the observation deck.  We couldn't go on the roof that day because of high winds (which we got to experience on the Empire State Building observation deck!).  I remember being up in the tower a lot more than the plaza around it.  Somewhere I have pictures I took of it, but they're in a box I have no idea where!  Anyway, seeing the massive construction site and remembering being there in '96 and seeing what I saw on the news in 2001, it was hard to believe it was the same place.  September 11th is a day that anyone who lived through and was aware of what was going on just never forgets.  I was showing some kids at Roosevelt a documentary about it back in May.  The same emotions I remember from that day were resurfacing as I watched the video.

Manhattan Temple

It was cool to see the Manhattan LDS Temple, right across from Lincoln Center and only a block from Central Park.  Both trips I went to the park via the 66th Street Subway Station, so I saw the temple both days.  It's not the most spectacular temple, but it fits in without totally blending it.  Kinda cool to see Angel Moroni on a spire in the middle of Manhattan!  Both trips were a lot of fun.  Being there solo was just a chance for me to be on my own and go at my own pace.  It was also a chance for me to be alone, which I really don't get a lot of these days.  The trip with my dad, sisters, and brother-in-law was fun too getting to spend time with them and seeing all the sites.  It was also nice having been there a few days earlier so I had a little bit of familiarity with where everything was.  The laminated map I got from my friend (who also recommended driving into Manhattan on Sunday) was a HUGE help!!

Vesey Street at the WTC site

Couple things I did learn: 1st, New Yorkers in general are very aggressive drivers.  Not just New York City, but the entire metro area.  They won't honk or swear at you if you just barge over into their lane or drive close to them (especially in congestion), but don't go slow.  Going slow is the ultimate sin in New York driving.  Keep up with traffic.  Don't drive like that in Ohio though.  We'll think you're nuts and probably give you the finger if you cut us off or drive too close like that!  Next, I also learned that I never really want to drive in New York again.  It's so slow (SOOOO much congestion everywhere) and frustrating.  Traffic congestion is one of the quickest ways to drive me insane.  I'm just not sure why anyone would ever commute into New York by car.  If I ever lived in the NYC area, I'd definitely live near a subway line or a train line.  Not only is traffic absolutely miserable, but there are tolls galore on pretty much every bridge and tunnel (at least in one direction).  The tolls are cheaper for residents and those with the automated EZ-Pass, but still...that can add up in a hurry!  I also learned that for me, New York is a great place to visit.  Keyword VISIT.  It made me even more grateful for living in good old Kent, Ohio and the whole road system we have in the Cleveland area.  It's not because I think New York is a horrible place; New York is a great place, but it's definitely not for me.

On the subway

Anyway, a great couple of trips sandwiched around one of the worst driving experiences of my life!  I'm glad I was able to go to New York and hope my next visit is in less than the 15 years between the first and second visits!  

Roller coaster

So in my last post I alluded to the "roller coaster" I was in the midst of when This is Kirtland! opened at the beginning of July.  Basically, it was just a series of events one after the other that took me from the end of June to the middle of August.  Well, here I am in the middle of August and that roller coaster has basically come to an end, but in ways I never thought or hoped!  Don't worry, I'm still OK and overall the "ride" was fun, but there were some unexpected surprises along the way that I could've done without.

With Katie at Camp Pennyroyal in Kentucky on July 23

Soon after the show was over I went to Nashville with my Mom to visit my brother and sister-in-law.  While we were there we also took a side trip to visit my sister at the summer camp she was working at in Kentucky, about a 2-hour trip from my brother's.  While we were down south, the weather was hotter than hades down there and even here, part of that huge heat wave that covered most of the US.  Thankfully, I was able to stay inside through most of it and have a relaxing time in Nashville.  It was also nice to visit my sister and meet all the people she was connected with at camp.

We got home from that Monday, July 25th, and then I had a few days before I had to get ready for my next adventure, the Ridinger family get-together in Bushkill, Pennsylvania.  Before I left for that I had most of the week to myself and even helped my mom teach kickball to 2 cub scouts (it's not easy with just 3 people!).  I also discovered that all 4 of my tires needed replaced, so I had that done Friday during the day, the same day my sister Becky was visiting with my brother-in-law and my nephew (they were here to come to the get-together in PA too).  Little did I know that would be the least of my car's problems soon!  On Friday night (the 29th) I had the opportunity to "reprise" my role as Lorenzo Snow as part of the Kirtland Stake's Youth Conference.  We had several of the cast members come back and get into costumes to portray their characters in Historic Kirtland.  My role was that of tour guide and I took my group to 4 different places in Historic Kirtland where different characters talked to the groups.  It was a lot of fun even though it was suuuuuper humid that night.  Because of that commitment, I had decided to put off getting a haircut until after I did that (though no one else did so), so the next morning I finally got a haircut and it felt absolutely wonderful!

In Manhattan at Battery Park with the new 1 WTC rising
 behind me, July 31, 2011.

After the haircut, I headed off to Pennsylvania and made the 6-hour trip along I-80 to a resort called Tree Top Villas in the little town of Bushkill, PA, right along the Delaware River and the border with New Jersey.  That trip was uneventful and very smooth.  The next morning (after staying up late to talk to my brother!) I drove myself to New York City (about 2 hours away) and amazingly parked for free on the streets of Manhattan.  I had a great time visiting New York for the first time since 1996 and doing so by myself.  I met up with a friend of mine there and we hung out for the evening before I headed back to the resort.  I'll definitely blog more in detail about that as well as the 2nd trip to NYC a few days later with my dad, sisters, and brother-in-law.  The next day was the big 5-year family photo, which went OK I guess.  Later that day I took my sister and her friend to the JFK airport in New York so her friend could go back home to the England.  Getting there was somewhat of a struggle, mostly though traffic, but getting back was a nightmare.  What should've been a 4-5 hour round-trip turned into an 9 hour round-trip.  Part of it was me missing a turn and not being totally sure where I was headed on Long Island's antiquated Parkway System of roads.  The other factor was the absolutely horrible traffic.  It seemed no matter which way we went there was total gridlock.  I cannot stand traffic congestion for long periods of time, so I was going crazy.  There were points it felt like we were never going to get home.

New York Stock Exchange, August 3

Just when it seemed like we were finally back on track and clear of the traffic, then things REALLY got interesting.  I had begun to notice that it seemed like I was having to push harder on the brakes while were constantly stopping and going.  We came to the Triborough Bridge (between Queens, The Bronx, and Manhattan) and I was trying to get the toll out and bumped into the lady in front of me.  Thankfully nothing happened as a result to either car (I was obviously not going very fast since I had been in line forever), but I then noticed that the brakes went completely to the floor.  I thought I had pretty much lost the brakes completely and then I have this toll worker telling me I need to slow down since it "coulda been a lot worse."  At that point I was so tired and irritated and now worried because I didn't know if I had brakes that I just nodded and drove away, albeit slower (which made someone honk their horn at me...New Yorkers HATE it when you go slow for anything).  I wanted to say "Slow?!?  I've been stuck in your $%*@*%$ city for 5 hours going 5 miles per hour and you wanna tell me to slow down?!?"  Anyway, next I had to cross the George Washington Bridge from Manhattan to New Jersey and used the emergency brake just to make sure.  I debated pulling off and calling AAA but at that point I just wanted to get home, so once we got across the bridge and back onto I-80, I simply was a little slower and kept my distance from any car in front of me.  I did have minimal use of the regular brakes; it just took much more effort on my part.  I came to find later it was basically that the brake boosters were out, but I still had brakes.  We finally made it back to our condo at like 11:15 after leaving around 2:30.  I pretty much lost it with my sister.  I was physically and mentally exhausted.

Times Square, August 3.  I absolutely love this picture!

Well, I figured there was obviously a leak in the brake line, so two days later I took the car into a local dealership to have it looked at.  I left it there as I went back to New York with my dad, sisters, and brother in law.  Well, of course I come to find that not only is the ENTIRE brake system rusted (on a 6 year-old car no less), but that the work would take me into the next week.  Too bad it was Wednesday and I was due to leave Friday.  Initially I said go ahead and do it, but then after talking to Mom (cell phone reception in Manhattan is actually HORRIBLE!) and others decided not to.  There was no way I could stay there with the car and no way to tow it back without renting a U-Haul truck.  My AAA towing only got me 100 miles and I was 350 miles from home.  I ended up hiring a company to have it shipped back here to Kent.  It cost me the same as if I had rented a U-Haul truck and towed it back myself ($350).  The car was delivered Tuesday and work started on it Thursday (for less than the original estimate too).  Shockingly, the car was done today (Friday) and that included some other work that needed to be done.

The last part of my roller coaster wasn't that bad as I had two more performances.  The day I got back from Pennsylvania, I had about 20 minutes to change and then my mom and I went up to Kirtland to sing in the Kirtland Temple for the Joseph Smith, Sr.-Lucy Mack Smith Family Reunion going on that entire weekend.  We sang the 2 number that we sang at the 175th anniversary of the temple's dedication back in March and then did some of the actual hymns performed at the temple's dedication.  I was sooooo tired and irritated at that point, but it's always nice to sing in the Kirtland Temple.  I also performed again for the same group at a dinner they had in Mayfield, Ohio (very close to Kirtland) with some of the cast members from This is Kirtland!  I performed "Lorenzo's Song with Rylee Mitchell, who played my sister Eliza R. Snow in the show.  Other cast members performed 2 other songs from the show.  It was nice to see a few cast members again and sing that song one last time.

What a weekend

Current mood: tired

So I've had quite a weekend already and I still have one more day...

On Friday I went down to Provo, Utah for a mission reunion. I was already running late thanks to Utah's WONDERFUL traffic, but wasn't going to be THAT late. Well, as I was going through American Fork on I-15 and suddenly I realized my passenger side back tire had failed! I pulled off and looked it over, then unloaded my trunk to get my spare out (of course this always seems to happen when I have lots of stuff in my trunk). After getting the car jacked up and getting the old tire off, I discovered the spare I had didn't fit my car. Yeah, the dealer sold me a spare that doesn't fit. I got it two years ago and this is the first time I've had to use it. Thank goodness for my friend Manda and AAA! I got the car towed to a Wal-Mart (it was in view from where I got the flat), but they closed 30 mins before I got there. They let me leave the car there overnight and then Manda came and got me, so I was able to catch the very end of the reunion and at least see a few people I remember from the mission ("the mish"). I picked the car up the next morning and came back to Rexburg.

Here's the tire...ya, not sure what caused this really. It was a Goodyear, not a Firestone! On the left is the spare that didn't fit. At least the jack works! This is BEFORE I found out the spare didn't fit...

Manda and me at the American Fork, Utah Wal-Mart when I picked up my car. Manda and I go way back...we both were at Kent State in 2001 before I went on my mission.

Manda and I trying to take a funny picture...

I got back around 4pm and had a date with my friend Mindy. That was kind of interesting too as we went to Olive Garden in Idaho Falls. After waiting about 15 mins to get in, we got seated but no one came to get our orders for like 10 mins. Finally someone came and was very apologetic (he wasn't supposed to wait on us either; just took over). We both ordered my favorite thing, Chicken Alfredo Pizza, only to find they were out (AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!) so we had to order something else. Well, I had a wonderful time talking with Mindy and getting to know her a little better. We were about to leave after we finished and our waiter was still very apologetic about us having to wait, so he had the manager come out and he offered us free desserts!! YES! The weird thing is, we didn't even complain! While we were waiting for our desserts another server came by with two of those pizzas (they had gotten a shipment right as we had gotten there) and was about to serve them to us, but we explained how we had ordered them, but they said they were out, so we ordered something else. Anyway, something was messed up (maybe new people or just busy), but they were really nice about it all and the free dessert I got was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!! Plus, the date was a lot of fun too!

It's General Conference weekend in our church too; that's where we can watch or listen to a live broadcast from Salt Lake City with talks from many of our church leaders in four general sessions, each of which is 2 hours (you can go to conference in Utah too...I've done that a few times). It's always a great weekend with lots of good information and a great spirit! I mostly listened on the radio (something I can't do at home) as I drove back to Rexburg from Orem, Utah.

Comments

Nari; April 1, 2007

Phew you had yourself quite the weekend there, J. I had no idea that Utah had any kind of traffic, let alone heavy traffic...lol.

glad that you made it to your mish reunion!