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More on Tipp City News | West Milton News | Bethel Township
| Once we got off the ground we were flying high |
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| Written by Editor |
| Thursday, 09 September 2010 20:00 |
  By SANDRA SPANGLER Record Herald Guest Columnist A recent Tippecanoe Historical Society field trip was indeed a soaring adventure. First stop was at the Aviation Trail Visitor Center and Museum located in Dayton. Upon arriving, we entered the theater to view a superbly done 30-minute film on the Wright Brothers’ trials and tribulations with the idea of flight. We then went next door to the Cycle Shop where our extremely informative Park Ranger (the entire museum is under the auspices of the National Park Service) told us lots of interesting facts about that facet of the brothers’ lives. All of us decided to walk a block to see the location of the home the boys grew up in. Only the foundation exists today as the home is on display in Greenfield Village in Michigan, but an exact replica of the home stands across the street. Once again the ranger was brimming with knowledge. By the time we returned to the museum, we only had 15 minutes to look at two floors of displays before departing for our next stop! That was okay with me because I had already decided that my husband just had to see this museum and all it had to offer. We will return sometime in the future, take our time viewing the displays and definitely take the historic walking tour of the neighborhood that is given at 10:30 every morning between Memorial and Labor Day weekends.
Driving about six blocks, we reached our next destination – the Paul Laurence Dunbar House. Here, we also started off with a film and were given the opportunity to vote for Ohio’s next representative for Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. Although we were given a list of 10 renowned Ohioans, I felt pretty sure that since we had just come from the museum about the Wright Brothers, they probably secured most of our votes. Our guide then led us through various displays before entering the home. As we stepped into the living room, there was a collective, audible “gasp” of recognition from those on the tour. It was the smell - not a bad smell, but the smell of familiarity, the smell of the walls and the floor of a home we all knew from somewhere in our past. For me, it was that of my grandparents’ farm home located west of Greenville close to the Indiana state line. The Dunbar living room was exactly a copy of my grandparents’ living room – every door opening and window were positioned in the exact same place, complete with the lace curtains that adorned the latter. Even the closet and the sliding door into the parlor, or formal living room as Grandma called it, were there. I tried to listen to what the guide was saying, but I found myself standing in that cozy old room I had known so well for so many years. I could see the petite rocking chair my grandma always sat in and the overstuffed chair that seemed to always be Grandpa’s. The coat tree where we always hung our wraps came to mind, also. And then, when the guide opened one of the doors, there was the stairwell leading to the second floor, exactly where it had been in that old farm home. It even had the part that hung down a few steps up where I always had to watch my head. Now the layout of the rest of the house was different, but oh, the memories that came to life in that living room and stairway… and the unmistakable smell…the smell. Having spent a totally enjoyable, but fully scheduled morning, we ate a late lunch at Pop’s Diner on Miller Lane. The servings were so large, I think all of us left with take-home containers! Another great field trip was enjoyed by all. (Sandra Spangler is a member of the Tippecanoe Historical Society and guest columnist. Responses to her column may be sent to the Weekly Record Herald at
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