Code,518042
Speaker,Richard Bigelow
Date,6/22/11
Interviewer,Carolyn Conklin
Abstract,Richard Bigelow grew up in Peninsula and lived on a farm in Richfield along SR 303. His grandfather brought the first Chevrolet dealership to Summit County in 1911. Richard and his brother Doug worked in the dealership and on their father's farm. Richard's grandfather eventually purchased the adjacent farm property. The Ohio turnpike eventually cut through the two properties. The family sold the farm to Nick Moletti for the Coliseum property.
Tags,"Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Summit County, Richfield, Peninsula, Akron, Chevrolet"
Special Notes,
,
0,"Introductions, born 1936, beginning of family history in Richfield; grandfather had Farm Bureau in Peninsula"
1,"grandfather started dealership in Peninsula, dealership eventually passed on to Richard's father (Lloyd)"
2,Lloyd started farming on SR 303 in 1950s as side-business/hobby
3,father didn't like working in the dealership; grandfather bought adjacent property
4,"oil wells drilled on the property, before the highway both farms connected; raising animals and working on farm, decide not to pursue farming after they left home"
5,"grandfather grew up in Richfield, larger town than Peninsula, Peninsula reliance on the canal for business; dealership in Peninsula"
6,"grandfather thought the canal and railroad would make Peninsula the ""new big town in the valley"""
7,grandfather and his neighborhood friends successful
8,"history of Coliseum property, most of the land came from his father's property"
9,1949 or 1950 when Lloyd Bigelow purchased the farm; barns and farmhouse; dividing line for Boston and Peninsula through the house
10,"herford cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep"
11,
12,"mainly sold animals, sheared wool to sell; most vegetables and things grown on the farm was for animal feed; father drilling oil wells in 1950s"
13,most wells eventually plugged for the OH turnpike to go through; Bender family worked with Bigelows to drill wells
14,"butchered and sold cattle, sold pigs, hired hand on the property took and sold portion of eggs and chickens as payment"
15,family income mainly from car dealership; no roadside stand; marketing through word of mouth
16,hay bales from large field
17,"many barn, a lot of hard work loading hay bales into wagons; mother (Dorothy) was from Cleveland"
18,"mother canning, mostly enjoyed farm life"
19,"local businesses in Peninsula, Terry Lumber, story about his father and Terry Montequila playing basketball in GAR Hall"
20,"dealership closed during WWII; grandfather bought buses to ship people to the rubber factories, gas rationed, no cars being built; other businesses, restaurants and night club"
21,working in the dealership
22,
23,"Coliseum history, selling the farms for the OH turnpike and then to Moletti"
24,more about selling the property; large fire around 1953 that killed livestock and caused the family to go out of the farming business
25,Lloyd and Dorothy moved to Brecksville after they sold the last of the property for Coliseum in 1960s
26,"other farms before the Coliseum property - Emmetts, Rollers"
27,"reactions to the Coliseum, many people wanted to sell"
28,"watching the Coliseum built and taken down, friends with Moletti, walking through construction"
29,
30,"great views from the farmlands on the hill, beautiful in the Fall"
31,
32,school in Boston; fun and growing up in Peninsula
33,
34,
35,knowing all your neighbors in a small town
36,"growing up during the war, people out of work"
37,"not a lot of businesses in Peninsula, except Terry Lumber and the Chevrolet dealership; more about the fire in 1953"
38,
39,farming more a hobby than a business for his father; private man not interacting with a lot of the community; farm bureau and automobile business at same time; Terry Montequila worked for grandfather before his own store
40,"after the disappearance of canal, Peninsula became a ""sleepy town""; only dealership in the valley"
41,possibly purchased the farm from the Lightfoot family; the land was probably used as a vacation home from Cleveland
42,"great-grandparents also from the Richfield area, not agricultural background; grandmother possibly one of the first women in Summit County to get her drivers license"
43,"more about grandmother, teacher in one-room school house on Black Road"
44,"father learned how to farm from being around and working on farms, always wanted his own farm"
45,loved living in Peninsula and raising his family there
46,using the ski run as adults at night after it closed; watching development in the valley and construction
47,circus coming through the streets of Peninsula to the Coliseum up SR 303
48,
49,
50,
51,
52,
53,
54,
55,
56,
57,
58,
59,
60,