
First, he is contributing $1 per mile for the total distance I travel in the state of Ohio (it’ll be close to 500). As if that wasn’t enough, he challenged me to find Jerry Gibson, proprietor of Gibson Bagpipes, premier crafters of these fine instruments. Jerry’s shop is located in Willoughby, Ohio. This is where I am tonight.
In addition to finding Jerry, my challenge was to get him to play the pipes as a part of one of my live reports. The payoff is an additional $500 contribution! Okay, mission ALMOST accomplished.

I would have gotten him on the air today, but he had no fully assembled pipes in the shop. He is going to get a set assembled and I am going to call him later this week and get him on.
The challenge of finding Jerry was great fun, but being able to spend some time in Willoughby has been even better. This is a beautiful town in the suburbs of Cleveland. Here’s a brief history:
Willoughby's first permanent settler was David Abbott in 1798, pre-dating Ohio's bid for statehood by five years. Abbott and his family had close relations to the local tribe of Erie Indians along the banks of the river the Indians called the "Sha-ga-rin" or Clear Water. This river was later called the Chagrin River. In 1835, the village was permanently named "Willoughby" in honor of Dr. Westel Willoughby, Jr., a public health official that the founders of the Medical College, which was based in the city, hoped to attract to the area. This medical college would later merge with Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, OH to eventually become Western Reserve University, the predecessor to Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University. Many historical buildings from this period survive to this date, affording the downtown Willoughby area some outstanding specimens of 19th century architecture.

Tomorrow I head to Ashtabula. It should be a good ride along Lake Erie, a little cold in the morning (there are frost warnings tonight), but clear and sunny. I’ve just about run out of Ohio, with Pennsylvania on the horizon. I hope the wind stays at my back.
Large versions of all my blog pics can be found at my photo gallery
What Do You Think?
As always we want your thoughts, opinions and feedback. Please use the links below to make a comment or suggestion and to see what others are saying about this subject.
You Don't Have to Register
To have your say, just choose the 'name/url' option and enter a screen name (you can leave the url field blank) or choose the 'anonymous' option on the comment screen.
Show Comments - Make Comment - Hide Comments
4 comments:
you're almost there man!! keep it up!!
cheers
You made it to Willoughby now the fun begins in Lake County the traffic here is a nightmare. enjoy the Northern Tier !
Pat,
You rock man. I'm writing the check now.
I told you Oberlin would be worth the stop...and Charlie is icing on the cake.
Les
Oberlin is a beautiful place. I visited there in 1983 so its been a while but I bet it hasn't changed much! You are doing such a great job, Pat, what's next? Run to New York City? Swim to Miami?
Post a Comment