Local writers and stories
One of the greatest comeback stories I have ever heard. At age 24 Frank Winfield’s life was over. A failure in his chosen field, and now he was dying. A neighbor girl was hired to take care of him. She had faith in him and fed him when he was too weak to feed himself.…
By: Ron Burt Indoor Racing Kicks Off 2024 These next few weeks are big for indoor racing. The Tulsa Shootout set records for two new car entries in the 38th annual event. The Shootout in Tulsa, Oklahoma is the largest event for micro sprint racing in the world. Imagine sitting in the stands of a…
By: Mark Holtsberry Frederick F. Johnson was born in Antwerp, Ohio in 1883. The son of James L. born December 31, 1858 in Ohio and Carrie S. (Goshorn) Johnson born in 1864 in Ohio. Her father, Andrew Jackson Goshorn, was a Civil War Veteran who served with 147 Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Anyway, I went down…
“Sparky” was a klutz. Even he would admit that he was a klutz. In fact Sparky kind of owned the fact that he would forever be a klutz. However sparky was an eternal optimist, and believed things would work out in the end. Sparky had been given his nickname, after a cartoon character, a horse…
By: Ron Burt Race fans that made the trip to the Dome in St Louis to watch the 7th Annual Gateway DIRT Nationals weren’t disappointed with the action during the Super Late Model and Modified events. The 1/5-mile dirt oval inside the former home of the NFL Rams was a challenge for drivers in both…
By: Mark Holtsberry William Vilas Keckley was born April 28, 1894 in Jackson Township Paulding County, the son of William Sherman, born December 15, 1858 in Union County Ohio and Alice (Bowdre) Keckley, born April 15, 1861 in Ohio. William and Alice were married March 15, 1885 in Union County, Ohio. In 1888, a daughter,…
By: Ron Burt The Rumble Is Coming On December 29th and 30th several very competitive classes of race cars will compete at the Allen Country War Memorial Coliseum inside the Expo Center. The Midgets are the headliners for the weekend. Let’s not count out the other classes that are loaded with veteran drivers that know…
A story I remember from a reader when I was young. All those stories seemed to have a moral to them, which l’ll let you interpret for yourself. Andre’ was the lazy type. It seemed he could never set his mind to anything. When his father passed, he left Andre’ the value of 100 drachmas…
“Serving overseas as a small-town boy from America is intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from our last 20 years overseas!” —Matt Kerosene and Mice There is a country song that goes, “Seventeen, you don’t think that much about life, You’re just livin’, Like kerosene dancin’ around a fire, But you’re…
By: Mark Holtsberry Virgil Hudson was born September 11, 1899 in Paulding, Ohio. The son of Edward E., born December 4, 1865 in Henry County, Ohio and Alma O. (Barnes) Hudson born March 20, 1870 in Jackson Township, Paulding County. This couple was married January 17, 1894 in Paulding. This happy couple were blessed with…
This is a story that I heard years ago, and I have no reason to believe it isn’t true. Time for a Christmas story so let’s go. It was about mid afternoon on Christmas Eve and mum asked her son Charlie if he’d like to go for a spin. Of course Charlie thought this was…
“Serving overseas as a small-town boy from America is intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from our last 20 years overseas!” —Matt Navigating by GPS (Good People Service) On a snowy afternoon when I was around 16 years old, I learned how important it is to have good people around…
By: Ron Burt Millstream Update Race fans and drivers are looking forward to Millstream Speedway coming back to life in 2024. For years it hosted major races before it went idle. New owners Matt and Beth Cogley have been working hard on the track and grounds and fans have volunteered time to help. Matt knows…
