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ACTIVITIES Nov. 21 - November Art for Everyone at the Carroll County Arts Center will feature learning to paint a Christmas ornament. The ornament, paints and brushes will be provided by instructor JoAnn Heestand. The workshop begins at 6:30 p.m. Registration is required at 330-627-3739. The class fee of $10 can be paid that evening. Nov. 21 - The Carroll County District Library Board of Trustees will meet 6:30 p.m. in the Malvern Branch Library, 710 E Porter St., Malvern. Nov. 22 - Free Resume Workshop at 10 a.m. in Connections Building, 55 E. Main St. (rear), Carrollton. Nov. 22 - WIB Council meeting at 10 a.m. at Wallace Lodge, Sally Buffalo Park in Cadiz. Nov. 22 & 23 Carroll County Animal Protection League will be selling cookbooks, pet toys and supplies and baked goods at Consumer’s National Bank, 1017 Canton Rd. NW, Carrollton, Fridayfrom 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. A membership drive will be held. All proceeds will fund the construction of a no-kill shelter for domestic animals in Carroll County. Nov. 23 - Homemade Pie Sale at Dollar General Market from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. sponsored by Loudon Twp. Community Center. For info or to donate, call Donna at 330-739-4193 or Judy at 330-323-5610. Nov. 23 - Benefit Dinner for Roxanne Casper 5-9 p.m. at St. Francis Xavier Church in Malvern. DJ, silent auction, 50/50 more! Nov. 24 - Turkey shoot at Leesville Lake Property Owners Association, 5480 Autumn Rd., Carrollton. Doors open at 11 a.m., shoot at noon. Bring own eye & ear protection. For info call Stan Craig at 330-6274296 or 330-663-1564. Nov. 30 & Dec. 1 - 33rd annual Valley Merry Christmas Craft Show at Sandy Valley High School. Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 1 - Turkey shoot at Leesville Lake Property Owners Association, 5480 Autumn Rd., Carrollton. Doors open at 11 a.m., shoot at noon. Bring own eye & ear protection. For info call Stan Craig at 330-6274296 or 330-663-1564. Dec. 2 - Hunter’s Breakfast from 5-8 a.m. at Loudon Twp. Community Center. For info, call Donna at 330-739-4193. Dec. 6 - The 17th annual Christmas concert by the Carroll County Chorale begins at 7:30 p.m. in First Presbyterian Church in Carrollton. The Town Sound, the barbershop group from Minerva directed by Dave Speakman, is the guest performer along with vocal soloists, piano and organ duets, and pianists. Refreshments served following in the fellowship hall of the church. Ticket prices are $6 for a Carroll County Arts members; $8 for non-members; students under 18, free admission. Dec. 14 - Santa Breakfast from 9-11 a.m. at Loudon Twp. Community Center on SR 9 in Kilgore. Donation only. Kilgore Evangelical Church will present “The Christmas Story.” Santa arrives at 11 a.m. Each child will receive a treat & chance for door prize. For info, call Donna at 330-739-4193 or Judy, 330-323-5610. CHURCH Nov. 23 - Piano and vocal concert by Tab Beechler at Carrollton Bible Chapel at 6:30 p.m. Two food items requested for Loaves & Fishes. For info, call 330-739-4005. Dec. 7 - Cookie Walk beginning at 9 a.m. at its new location, Carrollton Church of God, 371 Moody Ave., Carrollton.
Boutique open at Arts Center The Christmas Boutique is underway at the Carroll County Arts (CCA), Center 204 W. Main St., Carrollton. The boutique offers a variety of unique gifts and items for all ages. During the remainder of November and the month of December, CCA members receive a 10 percent discount on any purchase. Carroll Cooperative members can receive a 10 percent discount year-round through the Co-op Connections program. The Arts Center is open Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday, 1-6-p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is closed Wednesday and Sunday. For more information, call the Arts Center at 330-627-3739 or visit www.carrollcountyarts.org.
Contact the Accent Editor on the web at:
Section C
Nov. 21, 2013
fpsaccent@gmail.com
50 years later: The death of JFK Tom Mitchell recalls assassination of President Kennedy, overnight trip for viewing of bier By Leigh Ann Rutledge Accent Editor 50 years. Five decades. Half a century. No matter how you say it, 50 years has passed since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, TX, Nov. 22, 1963. Carrollton resident Tom Mitchell finds it hard to believe it’s been 50 years since he jetsetted to Washington D.C. to a part of a historic event. “When you called and said the 50th anniversary, I couldn’t believe it,” he said when scheduling an appointment to discuss the event with The FPS. “You are aging me.”
Mitchell was a senior at Ohio Northern University studying Political Science and History Education in 1963. Home for Thanksgiving break, he had been rabbit hunting and was field dressing the rabbits when his neighbor told him the president had been shot. Mitchell continued with his Friday. Tom was out cutting Christmas trees on the family farm the next morning when his dad announced he had purchased a ticket for Tom to go to Washington D.C. “My dad had no desire to go to Washington D.C. but wanted me to be there. He felt it was a mon-
President John F. Kennedy's flag-draped casket lies in state in the East Room of the White House, Washington, D.C. Members of the honor guard attend the casket. Photo by: Robert Knudsen. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
umental event like the assassination of President Lincoln,” explained Mitchell. “He wanted me to be a part of something he sensed we would never forget.” Mitchell had to fly out immediately from Pittsburgh and arrived in Washington D.C. early Sunday morning dressed in a suit and tie and wearing a sports coat. Carrying his suitcase, he walked down Pennsylvania Ave. and having no reservation, rented a room at a hotel. After dropping his suitcase in his room, he walked up Pennsylvania Ave. to the White House. “There weren’t barriers everywhere like today,” Mitchell said. “I observed the crowd on Pennsylvania Ave. and decided I wanted to watch the procession to the Rotunda in the Capitol Building and walk past the casket.” Mitchell could see people lined up across from the Capitol Building. Looking around, he realized the quickest way to get to the line was to go through the Capitol Building. He went up the steps on the off side of the building to the basement level. There he fell into step with three Georgetown University students with press passes. (Mitchell had a press pass issued by The FPS). The guard told them all to go in the door and another guard would check their credentials. Mitchell walked in the door and unnoticed, quickly took off down a side hall and began making his way through the Capitol Building. He went up one floor and saw flowers and bouquets and debris from them. Near the end of the hall he saw daylight and headed that direction. “I looked up and all I saw was polished shoes,” he remembered. “I realized I was standing in the middle of the Honor Guard waiting to receive President Kennedy.” Mitchell went out on the portico and spoke with a police office, watching the Honor Guard re-
ceive the casket and carry it up. “Watching that really unnerved me,” he said. Mitchell finally got a place in line where he waited eight-anda-half hours to pay his respects while President Kennedy’s body laid in state. “The grass around the Justice Building was trampled. It was nothing but mud,” he stated. “People were lined several
amongst a sea of people,” he reminisced, “and when I came out on the far side it was a beautiful crisp, clear night. No people.” After a tiring day, Mitchell made his way back to his hotel and flew home Monday, Nov. 25. “I didn’t realize it has been 50 years,” Mitchell said again. “Looking back, I didn’t think we were living in a different era but we were. The Cold War was still going on but we were living “You go inside amongst a sea of people and when in a time of inI came out on the far side it was a beautiful crisp, nocence. People still clear night. No people.” dressed up to -Tom Mitchell do things and go places.” He felt it was blocks and down streets. One a time of old style after World War lady was distraught because II when life was innocent. But she had lost her children. She that life came to an end during told a police officer and he just the tumultuous era of the 60s. walked away. There was nothing “That’s the time, the young he could do.” rose up and pushed their values All those people and there through,” he stated. “Ideals rewere no restrooms, food vendors laxed like the style of dressing. or first aid stations on the There was no reason why the streets. There was also no cell President of the United States phones or Internet service to could not ride in an open car. We spread news. The crowd heard didn’t think of those kinds of updates either by seeing a telethings happening. And it shouldvision in a window of a storen’t have happened. The front or from a battery-operated Kennedys were special.” transistor radio. The news of the He felt the Kennedy family was death of Lee Harvey Oswald tore special even without adding in through the crowd like a shockthe political side. “It was wave, he remembers. Camelot,” he said. “They were “The crowd was of a mixed kind of American royalty. Jackie population,” recalls Mitchell. was refined, distinguished. She “We sang ‘We Shall Overcome’ was what we needed in the White which made the white populaHouse.” tion nervous. But I don’t recall Would President Kennedy have any major crime during that won reelection? Mitchell feels he time. Auxiliary police officers would have. “He was very popuhad been called in but there lar and everything was upbeat,” were no federal troops there.” he noted. “It was very unfortuIt’s his opinion there was no nate (for the citizens of America).” trouble because people were in Mitchell says he will always recomplete shock and they were member the time he spent in there to pay their respects. Washington D. C. “My dad Mitchell finally made his way wanted me to be a part of history, past the casket holding the be there when the events took body of President John F. place,” he stated. “I am glad I got Kennedy. “You go inside to be part of history.”
The day that changed America Residents recall how, when they heard about assassination of President Kennedy Each generation has one monumental event that stays with you and is never forgotten. For many, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was that moment. As we approach the 50th anniversary, people remember where they were and how they were feeling as if it happened yesterday. Those affected by the event say it was a desperate time and feel it was the biggest tragedy in the history of United States. Readers and Facebook friends took the time to tell us where they were and/or how they heard the news of the horrific event. •Gary Griffith, a third grade student, was sitting in class when Miss Graham, the teacher, announced President Kennedy had been shot! •Rosalie Nowalk said, “I had just turned eight years old and was in my third grade classroom at St. Joseph’s in Amsterdam. I remember I was sitting on the right side of the room and class stopped when someone came in with the news. I remember watching TV a little later with my family and seeing Lee Harvey Oswald get shot. Everything was in black and white.” •Paula Miller was in Latin class at Conotton Valley High School when she heard the news. •Barb Dunkle was in the 4th grade at Harlem Springs School. She said, “I was in class and I didn’t understand what had happened, but I knew it was something terrible because all the teachers were crying.” •Pamm Moledor-Sedon was in the first grade and remembers being sent home early. Later she sat with her parents watching their little black and white TV all evening. David Brinkley and Walter Cronkite were reporting and kept stopping to wipe tears from their eyes. •Sharon McLean was a cashier at Al’s IGA in Carrollton. She was
standing at the register when the news came over the store radio. Everyone got quiet and was in shock. It was a very sad day. •Dick and Glo (Lumley) Rector were in Minerva shopping at Garee Scotts when they heard of the assassination. The couple was married Nov. 23 and said out of respect they did not have their procession blow car horns nor did they drag tin cans from the back of the car. “It was a tragic time,” noted Dick. •Mary Ann Miller recalled that day. She was living in the basement of her home on Sterling Ave., feeding her son, while workers were building the top portion of the house. “Lindsay Smith came in and said the President has been shot,” she said. “It was such a shock. We turned the television on and that was all that was on the TV for a long time.” •Ruby Gilliam was at home watching television when she learned of the assassination. “At the time, we didn’t realize what was happening. We saw the President and the commotion,” she stated. “Then when it hit home, it was terrible.” Looking back on the 50th anniversary, Gilliam said, “It’s done and over. It became a different world.” •Don Rutledge, who was working as a draftsman for General Telephone Company was having lunch in New Philadelphia when the announcement came. “To sum it all up, we were all shocked beyond belief,” he stated. “It was hard to concentrate at our jobs the remainder of the day. Everyone was then glued to their televisions for the evening news coverage.” Rutledge also noted, he was a member of a Canton band who performed in Canton Memorial Auditorium during John F. Kennedy’s 1960 campaign stop in Canton. While conspiracy theories continue to run rampant 50 years later, the iconic pink Chanel suit
and its accessories, still stained, remain essentially unchanged from the day of the assassination. The items are stored in a vault at the National Archives. Caroline Kennedy, the legal owner, deeded the items as a gift in 2003 with the provision that the suit would not be seen by the public until 2103. Tom Brokaw, a journalist and former NBC Nightly News anchor, was on duty in the newsroom when the United Press International wire-service machine began to sound its bulletin bells. He wrote in his book “Boom! Voices of the Sixties”, “I walked over casually and began to read a series of sentences breaking in staccato fashion...’THREE SHOTS WERE FIRED AT PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S MOTORCADE IN DOWNTOWN DALLAS...FLASHKENNEDY SERIOUSLY WOUNDED, PERHAPS FATALLY BY ASSASSIN’S BULLET...PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY DIED AT APPROXIMATELY 1:00 PM (CST).’ John F. Kennedy, the man I thought would define the political ideal for the rest of my days, was suddenly gone in the senseless violence of a single moment.” He wrote of how the gunshots in Dealey Plaza triggered a series of historic changes, Vietnam and the fall of Lyndon B. Johnson as president through the disgrace of Richard Nixon. “This doesn’t happen in America,” he said (in the book), still a child of the innocence of the Fifties. And then I distinctly remember thinking, This will change us. I don’t know how, but this will change us.” He stated in his book, “It was Nov. 22, 1963, and it was, in effect, the beginning of what we now call the Sixties.” Clint Hill, special agent in the US Secret Service, was one of the agents assigned to protect First Lady Jackie Kennedy. He is pictured in the infamous photo showing Jackie trying to crawl
486 frames from Abraham Zaonto the truck of the presidential pruder’s home movie. limousine. In his book “Mrs. Kennedy and Me” he wrote, “I Two books for fiction lovers heard a sudden explosive noise, are on bookshelves, “Top Down” over my right shoulder, from the and “If Kennedy Lived” along back of the motorcade...I saw with previously released President Kennedy grab at this “11/22/63: A Novel” by Stephen throat and lurch to his left...I King. thrust myself onto the trunk, grabbed her and pushed her back into the seat...I twisted around to make eye contact with the follow-up car. They had to know how bad it was...I gave them the thumbsdown sign and shook my head.” Numerous books have been written about John F. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy and the Kennedy family. Several new books are being published in accordance with the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s death. They include: “Five Days in November” by Clint Hill with Lisa McCubbin; “End of Days”, “Dallas 1963” and “The Interloper” by Peter Savodnik about Lee Harvey Oswald; plus others President John F. Kennedy at his not listed. Life Magazine has pub- desk in the Oval Office, White House, lished “LIFE The Day Washington, D.C. This is the first White Kennedy Died: 50 Year House photograph of the President at desk. Later” with an eight-page hisPhoto by Abbie Rowe. White House Photographs. fold-out reproducing all John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Winter concert planned “A Winter Concert with Mark Statler and Roger Hoard” will be held Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. in the Jewett Wildcat Center. Longtime friends, the two musicians will bring a wealth of warm and joyful memories to light through their instrumental and vocal music. The concert is free, however, a love offering will be taken to help with concert expenses and upkeep of the cen-
ter. The Jewett Wildcat Center is located on Main St. in Jewett (the former Jewett Elementary School building.) The facility was purchased from the school district a few years ago, and is used by groups and individuals in Harrison County and benefits the youth. For more information, contact Tammy Dray at 740-946-7941.