I simply could not have done this without the Fairview Park Historical Society. Thanks to Leah Trainer, Debbie Hammerle, and Deb Shell for allowing me to dig through their files for a few months. And, like most of the Cleveland area Arcadia books, I have to thank Lynn Duchez Bycko at the Cleveland Press Archives at Cleveland State University. In addition to the names credited with each picture, thanks to Dennis Hrubiak, James Widmer, Marilyn Yesberger, Diane Peplin, Darlene Waugh, Kevin Kelley, Gary Swilik, and Al Dahlhausen.
A little competition helps. I must thank friends who did other Arcadia books. Tom Matowitz, Matt Grabski, Wayne Kehoe, Reginnia Williams, and Bill Becker, all historians to varying degrees, inspired and made suggestions. And my Arcadia editor, Melissa Basilone, patiently guided me through the occasionally overwhelming process. It is harder than it looks.
I am not sure exactly how this works, but there must be some karmic connection to my memory of the author of the “other” Fairview Park book of 30 years ago. The late Margaret Schaefer Goebelt wrote Fairview Park in Historic Review in 1978. I notice we both left the school system the same year; in 1974, she retired, and I graduated. She worked for the whole school system. In third grade, our teacher once let four of us into the teachers’ lounge across the hall to discuss a small group project. Just as Mrs. Goebelt walked in, I was in a playful shoving match with the other boy in the group, and she immediately scolded us for “wrassling on the davenport.” I assured her we were working on a project, but she insisted, “No you’re not, you were wrassling on the davenport.” Not only did I feel falsely accused, but, though I knew what a davenport was, I used the word “couch.” And I never thought of anything I did as “wrassling.” But she promptly disappeared into a back room. Did she plant a seed some 40 years before my book came out? It seems like there must be some deep magical connection. Thanks Mrs. Goebelt, wherever you are.