Flickinger on course to be president when he is 120

When you talk about history and Huron County, you can't start without talking about Henry Timman first and foremost. The author of 11 books — with No. 12 on the way — Timman was a longtime columnist for the Norwalk Reflector. Among the many things he is involved in, Timman has been a member of the Young Men's Library and Reading Room Association for the last 53 years — including 50 as president. Timman stepped down as president at this year's annual meeting and handed that title to John Flickinger. "I have been a member for 53 years and I am still a member," Timman said. "It was a good time to call it quits and move on." The group only meets once a year, and some of the meetings last about 10 minutes. "You have to build up to them, then keep going to get through them," Timman said with a chuckle. "It is just exhausting. Afterwards, somebody said in 50 years John Flickinger will be 120 and will still be president." How about stepping down the same year as Tom Brady. Is there any coincidence? "We have some things we are talking about, but we haven't signed any contracts yet," Timman said. "Who is Tom Brady, anyways?" That is a vintage Henry Timman response. This was the 157th annual meeting of the Young Men's Library and Reading Room Association. The group owned the building, which now houses Berry's Restaurant, and was originally part of the St. Charles Hotel. The group sold the building to Berry's in 1974. "I was president then, and I posed the question: should we continue on and be a charitable group, or should we stop, and nobody wanted to do that," Timman said. "I wasn't suggesting that. We just kept on with it. "Before we sold the building, we always had to meet because we needed to talk about repairs to the building. Once we sold it, we only needed to meet once a year to distribute funds, which, by law, we needed to do as a charitable group. All we had to do was to administer the money on paper." Two years ago, the group pledged $10,000 to the Firelands Historical Society toward the construction of an addition. And the group annually donates money to the Little Red Schoolhouse. "We've never had any quarrel," Timman said. "We have distributed our income, which by law we had to as a non-profit. It has all worked out." Timman has never missed a meeting in his 53 years, and he leaves some pretty big shoes to fill. "John's dad was a member of it," Timman said. "He has been vice president for a long time." He will have no problem filling those big shoes. Flickinger has been a member since 2000 — the same year I joined the group. I filled the spot of former Reflector Publisher Jack Brown, when he passed away. There are 27 people on the board: Matthew L. Burr; Joe Centers; Kathleen Schaffer, Fred Downey; Jay Ewell; George C. Ford; Brian Lonz; Ann Schloemer (secretary-treasurer); Stephen P. Zigo; Wayne Babcanec (vice president); Anna Bristol; John Flickinger (president); Jim Gerken; Susan Hazel; John Schumm; Bob Gentzel; Henry R. Timman (past president); Skip Wilde; David Adelman; Linda Bersche; Katherine Downey; Brad Davis; Susan Essex; Richard Stein; Richard Suhr; Ann Stoddard; and Ed Walker. Joe Centers is Reflector community editor. He can be reached at jcenters@norwalkreflector.com.