Going Home
Once a year—typically in May—I return to my hometown. I tell myself that I am going home because I need to tidy the graves of my parents, but it really is an excuse to drive past the little house where I grew up...meander through town (Champion) and into the bigger city nearby (Warren)...poke around the regional campus I attended.
I want to see what is being done with the recently burned-down roller skating rink (the land is being razed). I want to know if the Robins Theater in Warren is actually renovated enough to host concerts and live shows (Yes! The marquee boasts that musician Tab Benoit is coming soon). I wonder if Packard Music Hall—where many hundreds of students and I marched across the stage for high school graduation—is still there (this November they are bringing in Uncaged: The Untold Stories from the Cast of Tiger King...EGAD). In short, I want to see...
When I was younger, my hometown and surrounding environs seemed huge. These days I am struck by the smallness of the place. Maybe it’s the shrinking population (Champion has fewer than 4,800 residents —Warren has fewer than 40,000 after hitting a high of 64,000 in 1970). Maybe my eyes and my brain just expect something more expansive. Certainly, Champion High School has a much larger physical footprint—and so does Kent State University’s Trumbull Campus. But I can fly along Route 45 from Warren to my old high school in record time, glancing quickly to see where my family doctor used to have an office...same with my dentist...same with the pharmacy. The building that once housed our favorite grocery store is now an auto parts store (comfortingly, Sparkle Market still thrives). The location of Quality Plastics—where I worked for 3 years (midnight shift), post high school—now seems to be some sort of diesel mechanics shop (I’m grateful to Quality Plastics because it taught me that college was my best way out of factory work). Dun-colored, twisting vines grow high on the sides of another long-abandoned factory, and who knows what is being made at the old Copperweld Steel, which employed many people when I lived in that area.
Some interesting people have come out of Warren, Ohio—Roger Ailes (improbably!)...the great dobro player, Jerry Douglas...filmmaker/director Chris Columbus (Harry Potter!)...NFP Hall of Famer Paul Warfield and NFL player Randy Gradishar...rock musician David Grohl...Hollywood set designer Linda DeScenna...and many others.
And it was a good place to live with lots of open space for wandering about and, for me, an excellent school with a fantastic band and great theater program (excellent baseball team, too!). I made friends that I still have a half a century later.
Still...I’m not sorry I left. It is a good reminder of things from my past that informed the person I am today. This summer, I think I’ll go back again...
