Make and Take wishing well article & photo · A hristmas songbook he held behind his back Waiting for guests to join him without any flack. His ivories how they tinkled his dimples

JANUARY 2016

Make and Take wishing well

Directions to Saint James Lutheran Church: 5660 Trabue Road, Columbus, Ohio 43228 is located at the intersection of Hilliard Rome Road and Trabue. Take I-270 from the south or north to I-70 west toward Dayton, Ohio to the first exit west of I-270, Hilliard Rome Road exit (north); first light is Trabue Road; turn right and first street on your right is Saint James Lutheran Lane and you have arrived at your

destination.

SUNDAY

JANUARY 31

2:00-4:00 pm

Saint James

Lutheran Church

5660 Trabue Road

Columbus 43228

Make it Take it

Clinic

Wishing Well

Host Mike Walls

Note: There will be some extra kits available at this meeting at $5 per kit.

In keeping with the interest of the past few years of making something and taking it home for your layout, we are getting the January 2016 meeting off with an-other “ Make it Take it” project. Our January 31, 2016 meeting will be held at Saint James Lutheran Church, Education Building, 2 to 4 pm. (see directions below) CGRS will provide all necessary cedar-shaped materials for easy assembly and Titebond II glue. Some air nailing will be required with equipment on site and complete assembly instructions provided by Mike Walls. Your wish-ing well kit will be provided with either a round or square base, upright sup-ports, roof choice of rough cedar or steel which is to be completed on your own with your own choice of materials. Each kit will, of course, include a bucket, hand crank and rope. This clinic requires preregistration in order to have enough wishing well materials on site (25 kits). Registration was requested during our last two monthly meetings with some members requesting more than one wishing well kit per family. For anyone requesting more than one per family member-ship, there will be a cost of $ 5.00 each to be paid at the meeting.

article & photo by Mike Walls

PAGE 2 JANUARY 2016

Please call Katy or me at 614-488-9025, or email us at [email protected], so we can use your donation(s) to start the raffle prize list for this year’s banquet! Thank you! #

Banquet Raffle Prizes by Dan Hill

Hope you took advantage of all the after-Christmas

sales and purchased items for raffle prize donations

for our banquet on February 27, 2016. Maybe you

purchased some new items at G-Scale Junction.

Someone else in CGRS might be happy to provide

a new home for collectible or good condition items

you no longer need.

Maybe you have some scratch-building skills that

can be used to create a unique structure or building

as a special item for the raffle. Or perhaps you

would just like to contribute a gift certificate from

a garden center or train store.

February 27 Banquet

Banquet

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Worthington Hills Country Club

920 Clubview Blvd. South, Columbus 43235

6:00 pm Cash Bar ** 7:00 pm Dinner

MENU Tossed salad with choice of dressing ** Hot dinner rolls

Red wine braised beef short ribs ** Poached salmon with dill sauce Au gratin potatoes ** Corn ** California vegetable medley

Pecan ball a scoop of vanilla ice cream rolled in crushed pecans topped with hot fudge

R.S.V.P.

Reservations for 2016 CGRS Banquet

$32 per person

Check payable to CGRS

See form on page 8 of this issue

PAGE 3 JANUARY 2016

‘Twas two days after

Christmas...and a wonderful night’ Dec 27, 2015

As Mr. Scheltz and the Hills were turning around Into the room came Jerry with a bound. He was dressed all in casual from his head to his toes And his hands were embellished with rings and with bows. A Christmas songbook he held behind his back Waiting for guests to join him without any flack. His ivories how they tinkled his dimples how merry, Gail’s cheeks were like roses, Dave’s nose like a cherry. Cecil’s foot pushed the pedal as her friends sang along To the carols, so jolly, she played many a song, Slowly the crowd dwindled by the number As many felt the clock-striking meant time for slumber, Then we heard in the distance a soft little whistle And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle. But we heard them exclaim ere they drove out of sight Thank you to Klinks for a wonderful night.

Many, many apologies to Clement C. Moore

‘Twas two days after Christmas and all through the house, Creatures were stirring, possibly even a mouse; The stockings were hung on the door with much care Hoping the guests would shortly be there. Jerry in his shirt with no tie nor cuff links; Gail in her Christmas attire ready for high jinx. When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter Jerry ran to the door to see what was the matter. He threw open the door as quick as a flash To see many arriving for the holiday bash. The rain on the breast of the cold looking pond Could only be changed with the wave of a wand. When what to his wondering eyes should appear But cars and more cars virtually ev-er-ry-where. With little old drivers, not so lively nor quick, He knew in a moment it couldn’t be Saint Nick. Less rapid than eagles the members they came, And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name: Now! Guscars, now! Hamblins, now! Caldwells and Duggan, On! Spanglers, on! Hornsbys, on! Mayers and Logans. To the dinner table to the dessert table all, Now savor the food and they gobbled it all. And dry wine and chestnuts for Easterday now For Clarks and Klinks the salmon had pow. With plates piled high and off they all flew The Geibs and the Lotts enjoyed the food too.

And then in a twinkling we heard Ms. Black say She was glad Mr. Schaumann had brought her today.

PAGE 4 JANUARY 2016

Day 5 Saturday October 3, 2015

We are starting our southern descent towards home and the end of our 2015 CGRS bus tour. Shut the door! Were you born in a barn?! Oh, to have been born in THIS barn…wow! Charlevoix, Michigan on Lake Charlevoix is the home of the Loeb family barn built from 1918 to 1922. This first-class barn where cows never had it so good, has a long and

The adventure

to Canada

storied history. And we were fortunate to have toured the barn, now a castle, the grounds with numerous beautiful gardens, soaring towers, and stone archways, and eaten lunch in the cow stables. AND, there is a fabulous garden railroad. After Albert Loeb died in 1924 and son Earnest took over the farm operations an agricultural depression, of the late 1920s, caused the Loeb family to close the farms and auction livestock and equipment. The next 30 years the property

fell into disrepair. In the 1960s, 100 acres were purchased and became — continued on page 5

Day Five, Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan to Plymouth, Michigan Written by JoAnne Hamblin Photos by Fred Scheltz, Dave & JoAnne Hamblin

PAGE 5 JANUARY 2016

— continued from page 4 Castle VanHaver, an art gallery. Third owners took over in late 1969 and renamed the property Castle Farms. The Reibel’s intent was to establish a riding academy, but instead it became a premier venue for rock concerts. In the late 1960s and the 1970s, acts from Aerosmith to ZZ Top performed. With the death of the concerts in the early 1990s, the Castle fell into disrepair again. In 2001 Linda Mueller’s childhood dream of owning a castle was fulfilled. The castle was restored following the original Loeb blueprints. Millions of dollars later, the castle opened to the public for tours in 2005 and was awarded the Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation. And in 2008 the garden railroad opened. Castle Farms was Linda’s fairytale come true.

From the castle we ventured further south into the interior of Michigan for the Chi-Town Union Station, the world’s largest O-scale model railroad in a former bank building in Commerce Township, Michigan. With more than 10,000 feet of track stacked many layers deep from the floor to the nine-foot level, this is an all-volunteer staffed operation. With its recent affiliation with the non-profit West Oakland Railroad Museum, emphasis will expand from exquisite modeling to an historically accurate and interpreted representation of railroading in and out of America’s largest train hub, Chicago, during the 1950s and 1960s. Because rain showers had started, this was the perfect stop to oh and ah and stretch our legs.

Our supper destina-tion was, what else, a train station…Station 885, which sits on the original site of the Chesapeake freight house, built in the early 1900s in Plymouth. This restaurant had round tables for dining to make it easier to converse with some of our CGRS friends whom we may not have known very well. It was fun; the conversations engaging. Just a few miles away was our home for the evening, the Inn at Saint Johns, Plymouth, Michigan. The grounds were immaculate, the decor was exquisite, and artwork on the walls of the many corridors connecting the wings of the Inn were awe-inspiring and the catholic chapel was breath-taking with its gold inlayed décor. Oh, and the rooms weren’t half bad either!

Good night from Plymouth, Michigan and the end of Day 5. #

PAGE 6 JANUARY 2016

Good Sunday morning, October 4, 2015 as the last day of our six-day adventure begins. Boarding the bus after the crack of dawn was a treat, and we arrived early at the doorstep of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village ready for some exercise and history lessons. We had four hours to take in the sights, sounds and smells of this vast campus of horses, tractors, automobiles, trains, planes, clocks, turbines, telephones, blacksmiths, glass-blowers, candle-makers, printers, tin smiths, weavers, machinists, and to trace the life of Henry Ford, one of America’s greatest industrialists and innovators. Adventures to experience were the rocking chair where Lincoln sat on his last night or the Presidential limousine in which Kennedy took his last ride, ride the Weiser Railroad pulled by an historic steam locomo-tive, ride in a Model T, hop aboard the Model AA bus, or enjoy the teams of horses pulling the shuttle thru the village. All-inspiring! — continued on page 7

The adventure

to Canada

Day Six Plymouth, Michigan to Dublin, Ohio Written by JoAnne Hamblin Photos by Fred Scheltz, Dave & JoAnne Hamblin

PAGE 7 JANUARY 2016

Ice Cream Cake Shirley Breitzman

35 Oreo cookies put in food processor until crumbs 1 stick melted butter 1 1/2 quart ice cream - any flavor 1 large hot fudge topping (Sander-Meijer) 1 large Cool Whip 9 x 13 pan Mix cookies and butter and press in 9 x 13 pan Cut ice cream and put on top of cookies crumbs Top with fudge topped with Cool Whip Top with nuts, chips, or anything you like

— continued from page 6

Anticipation grew as we boarded the Lakefront Lines bus for our last stop of our trip, the home of Rick and Shirley Breitzman in Sylvania, Ohio. The Breitzman home is only a little over a year new to the two of them and since we had to practically drive past their home on our trek back to Dublin, they invited nearly 50 CGRS friends to stop for a look at not only their new home but their two month old railroad. Our late lunch/early supper was well worth the wait as we had many choices of sandwiches, snacks, drinks, and Shirley’s now famous ice cream dessert. Not one flavor, but several flavors of ice cream. We put a really big dent in all the food dishes served by Shirley and their daughter, Mandy Tetreau. Rick’s railroad was quite impressive being created in only two months time. The electronics he has added to the eggliners were a fun addition to the Toad Mountain Railroad. For many of the ladies, taking in all of Shirley’s quilts, her sewing room and storage area, and her four-teen-foot quilting machine just added to the excitement. Buying their new home was dependent upon a room big enough to hold her quilting machine and being able to get it IN the home without remodeling to get it done!

We guests filled the kitchen, living, dining, and rec room and some ventured out to the deck in the cool, but sunny afternoon weather and had a splendid time enjoying the Breitzman’s

hospitality and our CGRS friends’ fellowship. What a great last event for the trip. All aboard for the final two hours to Dublin. We arrived in daylight, said goodbye to bus driver, Lydia, in hopes of seeing her in 2016, goodbye to Dawn, our tour coordinator for the week, and goodbye to another fabulous adventure with our Columbus Garden Railway Society friends. I wonder what is in store for 2016? I sure hope I can be a part of it. See you in 2016! #

Eating

PAGE 8 JANUARY 2016

Time to pay your 2016 membership dues!

AND

February 2016 Banquet reservations

Name (s) _________________________________ Phone _____________________

Address ______________________________________________________________

Email ________________________________________________________________

2016 dues $ 24.00

Feb 27, 2016 banquet $32 x # _______ = $ __________

Check # __________ TOTAL enclosed $ __________

Make check payable to CGRS and send to

Bob Collins 924 Middlebury Drive

Worthington, OH 43085-3466

PAGE 9 JANUARY 2016

All Payments made payable to CGRS and send to Bob Collins, 924 Middlebury Drive, Worthington OH 43085-3466 Contact Bob Collins [email protected]

Articles & Classified Ads Editor JoAnne Hamblin [email protected] Principal Business Contact Bill Logan [email protected] Request for invoice payment Cecil Easterday [email protected]

Meetings & Programs Bob Duggan [email protected]

Address Changes Richard Abler [email protected]

Webmaster Wayne Beedle [email protected]

Who’s Who in Columbus Garden Railway Society

dream trip on the Rovos Rail from Pretoria to Cape Town, South Africa. There is a possibility that a new location and vendor for club merchandise will take place. Bob Collins and Gail Klink are working on that project. Dan Hill is now collecting raffle items and will be doing an article for the January Newsletter asking for contributions. Mike Walls made a quick check to make sure all committees are in place for the February banquet. The speaker is confirmed. For years, there has been an emergency call list for members of CGRS. It was to be used in case a meeting had to be cancelled. Now, with most members using email, an email will be sent instead of a phone call. Only those 13 people who get their newsletter via the postal service will be called. #

The News Table meeting was held at the home of Mike and Tracy Walls. It was our first glimpse at the new point to point railroad they have installed in their family room. Beautiful job! Mike plans to do an article for the Newsletter that will include pictures. Cecil Easterday gave the financial report. If members want, they can contact Cecil and she will be glad to send them a report. Cecil reported that the bus is already half full for the fall trip to Indiana. There will possibly be a change in the last day’s itinerary. As soon as the plans are firm, she will update the information on the CGRS website. The January meeting was discussed. It will include a ‘Make and Take’ wood wishing well. Mike is cutting out all the necessary pieces and will have kits in plastic bags to hand out to those who signed up to participate in the project. February is the annual Banquet. The March meeting place is still to be determined. A clinic possibility was discussed. Gail and Jerry Klink will do a report on their train journey - a

NEWS TABLE News December 17, 2015 by Cecil Easterday

NEWS TABLE January 21, 7:30 pm February 18, 7:30 pm Jack & Cecil Easterday, Dublin

William Logan, Business Contact

1421 Norma Road

Columbus OH 43229-5153

The Columbus Garden Railway Society

On Track deadline is 5th of month

ON TRACK is intended as a medium in which to air the news and views of the Columbus Garden Railway Society members. CGRS is an informal group which meets monthly or thereabouts to share a common interest in garden railroading, and to socialize. Membership is open to all interested persons. All articles in this newsletter are provided by the editor unless otherwise noted. Photographs by Dave and JoAnne Hamblin

Jan. 21, 7:30 pm News Table, Jack & Cecil Easterday, Dublin Jan. 31, 2-4 pm Make-It Take-It Clinic, Saint Johns Lutheran Church, Hilliard—wooden wishing well Feb. 18, 7:30 pm News Table, Jack & Cecil Easterday, Dublin Sat, Feb 27, 6 pm Annual CGRS Banquet, Worthington Hills Country Club, 920 Clubview Blvd S, Cols March 17, 7:30 pm News Table, Location TBA March 20, 2-4 pm March event at Ron & Sue Mayer, New Albany

WE’RE ON THE WEB!

www.thecgrs.org

JANUARY 2016 Volume 25, Number 1

Inside this Issue

2016 Banquet 2

December—Christmas

Party 3

Fall bus trip to Canada

Days 5 & 6 4-7

Dues/Banquet Form 8

News Table News 9

Who’s Who in CGRS 9

2016 CALENDAR