Hashtag, Willoughby - No Dust to Dust for this book!

Did You Know these Willoughby facts?

•  Harvey Sharpe was elected the first mayor in 1853.
• The Civil War Monument was erected in 1884-1885 and paid tribute to the 160 who enlisted in the Grand Army of the Republic.
• The first terminal of the C.P.& E railroad line was located in Willoughby in 1896.
• The Penfield Mahon House dates back to 1900.
• Roy Kirby's Emporium on Erie Street dates back to 1900 and was the site that introduced Heinz 57 to Lake County residents.
• The dam at Daniels Park was constructed in 1912.
• Cook Cleland, a 1940 naval aviator set speed records at the 1947 and 1949 National Air Races held in Cleveland.  He also helped establish the airport that once dotted the Willoughby landscape.
• The Marshall Doug Fire of 1950
• The Van Gorder House, circa 1901-03 was part of Andrews School in the early years.

Dust to Dust; paper to digital?  Print's longtime passing has become a topic of discussion in recent years.  Editorials, media sources, and yes even us boomers and beyond lament the Death of Print.  We mourn the passing of old ways.  We shop online, order out, e-mail rather than dial, use gadgets and social media to replace small talk and personal relationships.  The last print edition of Newsweek has joined the dinosaurs and become extinct.  Borders, a box store repository of the printed word closed in 2011, a victim of recent technologies.  Newspapers throughout the country are folding and daily papers once like Monday-Saturday mail delivery might morph into a lesser desired reality.

Yes the words are the same, whether perceived on paper or on a small illuminated screen.  One can read Old Man and the Sea on a Kindle or an iPad, but one cannot experience the sights, sounds, or smells of the printed word.  Print is uniquely sublime.  Napping with a gadget, noticing a blinking light as your nook powers down, or nuzzling an electronic gizmo doesn't hold the same appeal as a printed book.  That photograph, caption, and text in your book is a full-on sensory experience.  It is an experience that future generations may never know, nor, likely miss.

In 2012 Christina L. Wilkenson released a history book through Arcadia Press.  The simple working title is Willoughby.  The facts shared above are but a few that appear in the book.  The photographs within trace the history of this Lake County town.  The photos and text depict the human gatherings, the history that is us.  It celebrates the accomplishments of our community and pays tribute to those who came before us.  It reassures us that no matter what the future holds, human beings did deliver newspapers, provide organic connections to our natural world, and exchange pleasantries with fellow human beings.

Wilkenson's book tracing the history of Willoughby, Ohio is a must for the Lake County printosaurs.  It celebrates a love affair with your hometown, creating sensory ties that bind all generations - something no childhood laptop will replicate.