Happy birthday Henry Pohl

Local businessman Henry Pohl celebrated a birthday today, his 85th, 50 years ago. And, yes, he was right on time for work this morning at his Main Street store. He has been on time for 61 years. Although he still waits on customers, he leaves a lot of the waiting to his son, Stan, and employee Bill Rogers. If needed, they know who to come to for advice. Pohl first visited Norwalk with a cousin back in 1911. Although they checked out another community, they liked Norwalk the best. For those who don't remember, the original clothing store was in the building that now houses the Glass Bar, 45 E. Main St. The owners moved the stock to its present building in 1919. There have been a lot of changes since 1919. First, men have more than one suit. According to Norwalk's Dean of Businessmen (Pohl), very few men back in the 20s and 30s had more than one suit. Well-to-do businessmen had as many as three but no more than that. Also, women, mostly wives, made decisions as to what clothes their husbands wore. 'Signal' highly rated The National Scholastic Press Association gave last semester's Norwalk High School's SIGNAL All-American status, the highest rating it offers. To quote the graders, "The SIGNAL meets all standards. It is exceptionally well-rounded. One of the better papers we have seen this year." The credit goes to the students who "put the paper to bed." They are editor-in-chief David Ensminger, his assistant as well as editorial page editor Helen Carpenter, Nancy Haynes, feature page, and Mark Fogg, sports. Other NHS news All teachers, in appreciation for their dedication, were served supper at Memorial Lake Park on Monday night. Art McCarty and teachers Jerry Emmons and Dale Berner served as chefs. The menu included chicken and sweet corn. The event was sponsored by the Norwalk Teachers Association. Hubans knows 'All' And if you ever talked with former St. Paul football coach Bill Hubans, he will tell you the same. For sure, he knows football. He was a stalwart coach, first at Western Reserve and then at St. Paul where he followed and was almost as successful as the coach he replaced, Mike Gottfried. During the summer, Hubans plays softball. Let's put it this way — there was never a pitch he didn't like. For the second straight year, he won the city league batting title. It was close, however. But, hitting to the tune of .720 for the season is what you would call "sinful." Even at that he won the title by just two points over Carl Pettit. Hubans parlayed the batting championship with the home run title. He banged 20 over the McGuan Park Diamond No. 1 fence. Winning the batting title in the Central Circuit was Steve Burdge with a .571 average. Jeff Eby was second at .553 and, ironically, had the most trips to the plate, 94. Mike Carter won the Eastern Division title with a whirl-wind finish, collecting 16 hits in his last 20 at-bats. His average at the finish was .607. Wayne Lortcher, who led most of the season, was second at .574. Huban's record-setting .720 average was 95 points higher than the previous best, that of John Schaechterle when he batted .625. Hubans hit .590 last year, topping second-place Jerry Kangars by 22 points. Rounding out the top five in each division: WESTERN — Duane White.606, Bill Mesenberg .561, Denny Davie .542. CENTRAL — Terry Meagrow .529, Jim Barnett .526, Ralph Ritzenthaler. 507. EASTERN — Jerry Bement .557, Dave Knoll .535, Bruce Czaplicki .523. Lefty Grove winners The team sponsored by Sheller-Globe won the Junior division. The team was made up of Dennis Brummitt, Kevin Tighe, Scott Colvin, Scott Hester, John Roth, Carl Osborn, Bobby Osborn, Jim Chapin, Randy Kraft, Mike Berry, Tom Spranz, Bobby Summerlin, Tom Cannon, Vincent Leber and Tom Hipp. The coach was Dave Roth while Jim Berry was the manager. There is always a Sportsmanship Award Team. In 1972 the award went to the Jaycees squad. That team was composed of John Frank, Jim Witter, Jeff Waldron, Jerry Volcheck, Stan Taylor, Jerry Smith, Bob Lippert, Stan Smith, Tom Albright, Denny Bauer, Bob Ridgeway, Todd Moore, Pat Rinner, Juan Felix and Doug Bleile. The coach was Jerry Volcheck and the manager Bill Hackbush. Flyer old-timers The St. Paul Old Timers football game raised $1,838.75 with all the proceeds going toward the new press box at Whitney Field. It ended up being more than enough for the new build. The original cost estimate was $1,700, a cost that was to be shared by the two Boosters Clubs. But, when neither stepped up, the St. Paul alumni decided on a fund-raiser. When the money raised from the game was about $500 short, the Reflector kicked in $500. Lefty Grove on hand The man himself, Lefty Grove, was on hand for the annual banquet. And he did not look his age, 72-years young. He presented batting title trophies to Mark Brandts and Greg Russell. League champions were also lauded, senior division winner, Bleile's, and Sportsmanship winner, Schild's IGA. The Bleile team was made up of Chris Reynolds, Eric Bright, Eric Duffey, Wes Douglas, Jay Chapin, Steve Jaworski, Ken Bleile, Charles Fritz, Ned Palmer, Craig Colvin, Hoyle Burger, Larry Goudy, Greg Russell and Steve Jones. The coach were James Wise and Dick Wise. The manager was Ben Duffey. Schild's IGA was composed of batboys Scott Smith and Craig Neal and players Steve Killian, Calvin Sickle, Bob Copsey, Danny Witter, Bill Ott, Eric Carstensen, Steve Sickle, Randy Fluck, Rick Carrasco, Gary Goodsite, Steve Smith, Richard Tuttle and Allan Lee. The manager was Bill Smith and the coach, Harold Neal. (There were a number of players not present.) Record-tying run Galion runner Jeff Harding tied the Elks Club cross country course record last night, running the 2-miles in 10:04. Ron Knoll finished fourth for the Truckers in 10:34. Jim Bersche's runners, with just Knoll as the lone returning veteran, ran sixth, seventh, ninth and 11th with Bob Chappelear, Wendell Rakosky, Tom Clark and Doug Berry filling those spots. Free golf lesson Bill Owens, a candidate for Huron County Prosecutor, decided to put on a golf clinic for those who wanted to learn the game. He set up the class at Millstone Golf Club in New London. Owens figured a dozen or so might show. He got 125. And they all — "well, most of them tried" — to play the game. Owens knew how to play and really was better than average. He shot a 40 that day but was bested by Carl Senstock, who carded a 35, and by the son of course owner Frank Cooke, Stan Cooke, who shot a 37. Just how many votes he gained by trying to teach but doing more chatting about golf would never be known. What was known that Owens won the job as county prosecutor. Don Hohler is a longtime reporter and correspondent for the Norwalk Reflector.