Sylvania Summer Days

There’s always something going on in the lovely town of Sylvania, which I now call home. Dinners and informal gatherings on our front porch with my apartment mates Judi and Robin (to the right in front of our house) are a favorite. The “Ladies of Main Street” holding court!

It’s wonderful to watch breathtaking sunsets out my kitchen window or from my back porch, and full moons rising in the Eastern sky out my bedroom window.

Musicians regularly perform on the front porch of the Dragonfly Tea Cottage, two houses down, always a treat. Flutist George, a wonderful women’s group (above), Jim Fahey and his Friends, several guitarists among them, all make the neighborhood sing.

We have art shows and car shows, and public events that bring people out into the street. The photo collage above shows Elissa’s friend Scott and their friend Bob with his beautiful (and very loud) racing car, “The Hustler,” plus an antique white convertible, impeccably groomed, and one of me with my favorite, a ’46 cadillac.

Last week’s car show featured more than 50 antique and old cars that have been lovingly restored and kept going. There’s something magical about keeping those old machines going, and in such good shape and glorious condition. The efforts and the results speak to a Senior’s soul! The car shows also bring lots of people to the neighborhood, which is good for business, especially the shops and restaurants along Main Street.

A few nights ago I went to my first program at the Sylvania Historical Society, a women's history program featuring local storyteller Sheila Painter portraying Lizzie Custer, the wife of George Custer of the Last Stand; Toledo-born suffragist and women's right activist Paulina Steinem, also the grandmother of Gloria Steinem; Mrs. Harroun, Sylvania -born anti slavery activist who provided shelter to runaway slaves at her family farm nearby (now the site of Flower Hospital); and Annie Oakley, among others. About 30 Sylvanians crowded into the front hall to enjoy the program on a torrid summer night.

Then there are visits from and to the kids and grandkids (photo of my entire family at the top), the prospect of daughter Elissa bringing her grandson Philip to play with my treasure box, and of Michelle’s giving birth to her fourth child, son Chase, in about a month, and moving into a new house, right around the corner. It’s her very first house, and it’s exciting. Now we’re all in Sylvania, within walking distance of each other, and what a blessing it is!

So life strolls on in Sylvania. Lots of things to do, lots of family time, lots to look forward to. “Summer time, and the living is easy!”