Darrell-E-Hamilton

Elect

Darrell E. Hamilton

City Manager

Hello my name is Darrell E. Hamilton and I am a candidate for City Manager. Hopefully

if the Hamilton Charter passes, it will be for mayor. Ashtabula has not had a mayor since

1915 however that is another story. First I want to tell you a little bit about myself.

I am the son of Oscar and Maggie (Newsome) Hamilton. I was born on August 18, 1951

which was the same day as the first non-native American (Virginia Dare) was born.

I am of Scottish, English and Native American descent. My tenth great-grandmother was

Pocahontas

Pocahontas, the Indian Princess. If you are counting, that makes

me a whole 1,024th native American Indian. Edith Bolling

Wilson who was the wife of President Woodrow Wilson was also

a descendent of Pocahontas. She is a distant cousin of mine.

Edith Wilson

All of my ancestors with exception of the

Powhatan Indian Tribes which were standing

on the shores when the first English settlers

landed in America came to America

before 1800.

My ancestors have lived in Virginia,

North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and

Ohio.

My parents came to Ashtabula in about 1937. My father was a merchant marine when

I was born. He sailed out of the Ashtabula

Harbor.

I was the sixth of seven children. Unfortunately only my oldest sister (Villa of Florida &

Columbus, Ohio) and my youngest sister (Deanna of Jefferson) are still living.

I started school at West Junior High (the little building). I skipped kindergarten and went

directly into first grade. My first grade teacher's name was Mrs. Ah. I can remember everyone of my teachers' names. They had a huge impact on me.

First row - Phyllis Moore, James Miller , Aljean Miller, Darrell Hamilton, Greg Wolf, Richard Zinsky, Brenda McCool

Second Row - Miss Howard, Charles Holmes, James Jackson, Ron Rocco, Brenda Panzone, Jim Dramis, Sandy Zetlaw

Linda Burger, Larry Wells, Howard ?, ?, Patty Foy, Sherry McCloud

?, Artila Thomas, Gilbert Bailey, Robert Rinto, Nancy Airaksinen, Werner Noesner

Every student above that I named was recalled from memory. That is amazing since every time my wife sends

me to the store for more than three items, she knows to write it down for me.

If you know who the two names that I missed or feel that I am incorrect, please let me know.

Unfortunately when I was five years old my parents divorced. Later on my mother married Albert Gilbert. He was a wonderful man.


Oscar L. Hamilton	Oscar & Maggie	Albert L. Gilbert

My sister Villa

Darrell & Deanna - 1954

Growing up I lived on West Avenue where Tops Grocery store sits now up to eighth

grade. I lived next door to Bert & Betty Searls and their son Dennis who was the same age as

me. They moved to Columbus, Ohio when Denny was in seventh grade. Since then they have

moved back to Ashtabula and they live In the Harbor Area. Denny owns the Sea Shanty in

Geneva.

I made this flag pole from a bamboo pole.

I was patriotic even at eleven!

Bert & Betty Searls reminded me that the only

thing left where we lived where Tops sits now

is the fire hydrant in the background.

Darrell & Charles R. Hamilton

My brother died in 1972 at age thirty.

My bother left behind three daughters,

Denise, Scharlette and Darlene.

Deanna & Darrell in their junior choir robes

First Row - Jerry ?, Sherry Cooley, Jean?, ?, Anna Petro, Phyllis Moore, Clara Peterson

Second Row - Mrs. Steakly, Danny Peoples, Paul Cochran, Sandy Zetlaw, Darrell Hamilton, Donald Rocco, ?, Greg Wolf

Carol Palmer, Linda Jackson, Sharon Skaggs?, Tom Harvey, Diane Hackathorn, Martha Miller, Patty Chapman

Artila Thomas, Werner Noesner, Dennis Searls - (69 North High School, Columbus), Sandy Sullivan, Tom Miller, Gilbert Bailey

Who would have guessed that the pretty little girl (Sherry Cooley-front row) would someday be principal of the same school.

On the other side of me lived the Beaver family. Their son Robert who was in the same

grade as I was, was killed in Vietnam. Amazing enough Bob's daughter was named Terri

and she married a Hamilton. The same name as my daughter.

Two doors down from me lived Eva Strubbe. She is the lady that got me interested in

history. I used to mow her grass and do odd jobs for her including going to the store for her.

Back then I mowed people's lawn with a reel mower. We never owned a power mower until I

was thirteen years old.

I used to sit on her porch for hours as she told me what Ashtabula used to be like at the

turn of the century. She gave me a lot of antique items including antique coins which I still

have today. She died in 1966 at the age of 91.

When I was nine years old Frank Eastman used to have me sweep the his parking lot and

the bank parking lot. It was an all day job for a nine year old. I was paid seventy-five cents an hour.

I sometimes used to do odd jobs for Eddie Cimorell at his television and radio repair

shop. His son, Bret Cimorell is an attorney in Ashtabula.

My brother Charles & his 1960 Chevrolet convertible.

Eddie Cimorell's tv shop can be seen in the rear. The building in the background is the

back of Cecil Welton's service station.

By the time I was eleven years old I was working inside Frank Eastman's Clover Farm

Grocery store. I delivered groceries and I worked behind the cash register. It was a big old

brass cash register that you had to squeeze a lever with your left hand and turn big crank with

your right hand. It seemed at the time that a hundred bells rang when it opened.

Frank Eastman's Clover Farm Store Harold Eastman, Carl Rider and Frank Eastman

Pictures courtesy of Thora Eastman

When my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Mildred Lyons, saw me working behind the counter

and I waited on her. She was impressed. It made me feel good to give her back her change.

Eastman's had a lot of charge accounts for groceries and they didn't even take credit cards. Most of the time we wrote out what you purchased and everyone added up everything

up in their head unless it was an extremely long order. As far as know, I never was wrong. We

took a lot of phone orders for delivers.

By that time I making a dollar an hour. Big money in those days for a kid who probably

shouldn't have been working. In those days they over looked a kid working in a store at such

a young age. In the summer when I got a little older I would work about forty hours a week.

I remember a lot of families from the West End besides the ones I have already mentioned. There were the Deckers, Millers, Jacksons, Eskelins, Taylors, Hoffmans and more

that I can't name off the top of my head right now.

The Hoffmans used to let me and my sister pick cherries out of their cherry trees. Back then there were a lot of cherry trees in Ashtabula. My mother used to make cherry pies and so forth out of them. No, I did not chop down the cherry tree. I wanted the tree to be there

next year so I could pick cherries again the next year. While my sister (Deanna) picked

cherries from the ground off the tree, I climbed up in the tree.

Well, (and that is a deep subject) I fell from the cherry tree. I landed on my left side. The

fall knocked the wind out of me. I thought I was dying. I thought that half my ribs were

broken. I was in terrible pain. So what did I do next?

In all my pain I thought to myself, "This would be a good time to play a joke on my

sister." I died! Well at least I pretended to die.

My sister ran home to my parents yelling that I had fallen out of the tree and died. My

parents rushed to the scene expecting to rush me to the hospital or even to the morgue. By

the time they arrived I was just getting up. I started laughing and could not stop. With every

laugh pain shot my toes to the top of my head. I think my sister really wanted to kill me!

As a child growing up we used to play baseball until dark, catch tadpoles, collect comic

books and baseball cards, jump robe (and I could jump with the best of them) play with hula hoops, build forts and dig fox holes.

Speaking of fox holes my next door neighbor (Denny Searls) and I dug a fox hole one summer in the very back of the Searls' back yard. It seemed to be ten feet deep at the time.

It was really about four to five deep at the time. We spent a long time digging this fox hole.

It should have been called a bear hole!

To make a long story short, Denny's father Bert took a walk in the back yard one evening without realizing what great task we had accomplished. Well, I wasn't there when Mr. Searls fell in but wouldn't you liked to been there with a camera or even a movie camera?

Anyway Denny didn't relate to me everything his father said or any action taken but we

started filling in the hole the next day.

Before we stared filling the hole in, Denny had a great ideal. He said, "Why don't we

bury a treasure? You know a buried treasure!"

And so it was written, we buried a treasure. Well it was at least to a couple of ten or eleven year olds. The tin box contained a glass jar with the treasure. The treasure contained

some coins, our names, the date and some other trinkets that a kid might place into a buried

treasure. Maybe Denny can remember more of what we put in the jar for a treasure.

Anyway, I imagine the treasure is still there underneath Top's parking lot.

One day Denny swallowed a watermelon seed and a watermelon started to grow out of his mouth in a few days. Well that was what he told me anyway. I think sometimes we used to

come up with some pretty big whoppers to tell each other.

The neighborhood kids also had club. I can not remember what the name of the club was

for the life of me. Does anyone out there remember?

The club was for the neighborhood kids which included West Avenue and the streets that ran off of it and Nathan Avenue and few other streets that didn't run off West Avenue.

The dues were two cents a week which enabled us to buy a pack of Kool-Aid and a pack

of cookies. We played all types of games and had contests which included a singing contest

in which used a long tube for a microphone. You can rest assured that I did not win the

singing contest however I think my sister won at least a couple of times.

If my memory serves me right, I was the the president, my sister was the vice-president,

Brenda (Beaver) Zinsky, was the secretary and Judy (Decker) Wheeler was the treasure.

Ah yes! Those were the days my friend. I thought they would never end.

Right before the start of eighth grade we moved to Adams Avenue. The Parkers, Adams,

Armstrongs, McDaniels, Cubbisons, Sheers, Mrs. Green and her cocker spaniel named Tammy and the Scovils are just a few of the names that I can remember from the

neighborhood.

Denny, Deanna, Darrell Coming from church

Me in my Civil Air Patrol uniform - 1966 Getting ready to go to school - 1966

When I was at home, it was my responsibility Darrell & Barbara Hicks

to mow the grass. I took pride in my work. (She was a little girl my mother used to baby sit.)

I climbed a tree and took this picture of

our back yard.

When I was in junior high I had a paper route for the Star Beacon. I delivered newspapers

in the evening six days a week to West 58th Street, Nathan Avenue and a few other streets that

ran off West Avenue. There was no Sunday paper at the Star-Beacon in the 1960's.

The Star Beacon in the early sixties was ten cents. If you got home delivery, you only had

to pay only thirty-five cents per week. That should give you an idea how much we were paid.

I still have some punch cards that we had to punch for the customers. Believe it or not, I

I still have my customer list from my paper route. A couple of my original customers still live

at the same place. In two of the houses their children live there now.

When I was about fifteen Frank Eastman retired and went out of business. I was his last

employee. Frank and Thora Eastman were wonderful people.

Well, I was fifteen and unemployed except for doing odd jobs such as mowing grass.

Summer was coming and I needed a job.

My mother used to baby sit a little boy by the name of Kevin Christian. He was the son

Harold and Lucille Christian. Lucille told my mother that she could probably get me a job at

Garfield's Restaurant. Lucille used to work at Garfield's and she knew the owners. Lucille

took me in and introduced me to them. The next thing I knew I was working there for one

dollar an hour.

With all my work experience, George and Jimmy took it for granted I was older than I

really was. My age had never came up. When my birthday came in August I told George that

it was my birthday. He ask my age. I told him I was sixteen. He was in disbelief. By this time

authorities were cracking down on under age workers. However it was too late. I was sixteen.

My birthday was pretty good that year. George gave me a steak dinner for my birthday.

About three or four blocks from where I lived was a pretty girl that I used to walk by her

house a lot to get a glimpse of. At the time I did not know her name. Every time I walked by her house and she was sitting on her porch, she would give me the prettiest smile that would

melt my heart. I was fifteen and I was in love. I have often said that if I had it to do over I

would have walked up on her front porch and planted one on her lips. However, when it came

to girls I was very shy.

She hadn't lived there long so I didn't know her from school. That was in the spring of

1967.

One day I was riding bicycle by her house and she was sitting on her porch with her friend, Bonnie Bowers. As I went by her house the girls decided to follow me and see where I

lived. Unfortunately they lost me around a corner. What they didn't know was that I lived just around the corner.

I didn't formally meet the girl until October of 1967. That is if you want to call it formal.

I was going into the library with a stack of books. I was a college prep major so taking

home a stack of books was not unusual.

Back then the entrance to the library was in the front of the library. There were two sets

of doors with a breezeway with a bench in between the two doors.

Well, the girl said to her friend Bonnie while sitting on the bench waiting for their

mothers to pick them up, "Wouldn't it be funny to trip this kid with all the books?"

The girl could not see my face very well for all the books. Little did she know that I was

the same kid that she and her friend chased to find out where I lived.

Well, the girl stuck her leg out to trip me but chickened out at the last second. However I

was so befuddled looking at her legs that I tripped and fell anyway. (Girls had to wear dresses

to school back then.)

I did indeed find out her name. Her name was Sharon Brumagin however no one in

school called her Sharon. Everyone at school called her Sherry.

Well, a romance blossomed for the next year. I ask her to marry me during my senior

year at Ashtabula High School in North Park. North Park was the same place that I had first

really given her a real kiss. It must have been a site to behold. It was right after the junior

class play that I was in. I was dressed in a sailor's uniform.

Anyway, it was not that uncommon for a girl to get engaged in high school however it was for a guy. I say guy because I was not really a man yet even though the the senior class

boys had started the Senior Men's Club.

Right before my senior year we moved again to the East side. We now lived in the

Buckeye School District. Because I was a senior I was aloud to stay at Ashtabula High

School. However my sister who was just a junior had to attend Edgewood High School. She

graduated there in 1970.

Because I lived in another school district, I was not allowed to participate in a lot of

school activities. That was one of the rules then. One of the things that upset me was that I

was not allowed to play on the tennis team even though Edgewood High School did not have

a tennis team at the time.

Coach Bob Walters thought it wasn't fair either but the rules were the rules.



*Sharon Brumagin - 1969*	*Darrell E. Hamilton - 1969*
	(Senior Class Picture -taken on my 17th birthday

Sharon & Darrell Hamilton - taken Easter Sunday 1969 after church

We were married five days after I turned eighteen at the Prospect Presbyterian Church by

the Rev. Harold D. Shiflet. His son Hobart is a local attorney.

My wife is of English, French, German, Italian, and Welch decent. Her great-great uncle

was Clarence Darrow. Clarence Darrow was probably this country's most famous attorney

that has ever lived. He was also the City Solicitor of Ashtabula in the 1880's.

Clarence Darrow


Rev. Harold D. Shiflet, Charles R. Hamilton (brother)	*Charles, Darrell, Sharon, Janet*
Darrell, Sharon, Janet Rossi (Sister of Sharon)	*(At the Prospect Presbyterian Church)*

Mrs. Darrell E. Hamilton

	*Sons of Italy Hall* We had our reception at the Sons Of Italy Hall. August 23, 1969 was a very hot day. My wife had to change clothes to get some relief from the heat. The hall did not have air conditioning in 1969.

Right out of high school I got a job with my brother-in-law at Major Construction Co.

in Columbus, Ohio. I worked as a carpenter. I worked mostly on townhouses but I did help

build many homes. Depending on the weather I made between $250 and $350 a week which

was very good money in 1969 especially for a seventeen year old. I will always be grateful

to my brother-in-law Ivan Moore for the money and the learning experience.

Right after my wife and I were married I took her to Grove City, Ohio (a suburb of

Columbus, Ohio). I had already obtained an apartment for us at seventeen and had already

lived there for two months by myself.

I took this picture from our upstairs apartment living room window. This was our first

residence. It was located in Grove City, Ohio.

Since I write biographies on a lot of people, a lot of people suggested I write an auto-

biography. Unfortunately I do not have the time to really write more of a complete auto- biography. I thought some of my childhood experiences growing up in Ashtabula might be of some interest to the readers. If you have read some of my biographies, you'll know that I

like to tell funny stories and make people laugh or at least put a smile on their face.

I'll try to skim through the rest of my life in a condensed version. There is a lot more

of my childhood that I'm sure would be of interest to some people especially from a histori-

cal point of view from all the people that I have known growing up that contributed greatly

to Ashtabula's history.

After living in Grove City for about a year my wife and I became homesick. The only

relative living in Columbus area at the time was a sister and her family. We decided to

move back to Ashtabula.

Not to long after we moved back to Ashtabula our first child was born. Darrell Jr. He

would be our only son.

The following year or daughter, Terri Lynn was born.

Ever since junior high I wanted to become an attorney. I tried going to school but with

a wife and children there was very little time and even less money. My dreams of becoming

an attorney or even finishing college seem to be growing dimmer and dimmer.

Good paying jobs were very plentiful in Columbus. After spending over two years back

in Ashtabula we decided to give the Columbus area another chance. We were more mature

which I did not realize at the time.

Probably the biggest reason for leaving Ashtabula was that my only living brother died

at age thirty. It was quite a shock to the entire family. He left behind a wife (Mary) and three

daughters ages eight, six and five. There names were Denise, Scharlette and Darlene.

After moving back to the Columbus area I landed a job as a painter. I worked at a

high rise. It was a twenty-four story luxury apartment building located in Grandview which

is a suburb of Columbus. The building had penthouses that rented for over a thousand

dollars a month in the early 1970's.

The building also had a two story underground parking lot. The parking lot attended

had to go on an extended sick leave so I had to substitute for him for almost three months.

It was the first time I ever got to drive a Rolls Royce and I was still being paid painter's

wages. A couple of times I was paid to take a tenants Rolls Royce in for service and to

bring his Rolls Royce back from the airport after I had dropped him off. It may not sound

like much to some of you but for a young man in his early twenties, it was a thrill. I only

wish I would have had some Grey Poupon.

Two Rolls Royces from Summit Chase apartments in Grandview, Ohio.

Yes that is me hanging out of the car window in the left picture.

One of the celebrities that lived there was astronaut John Glenn. I got to meet Mr. Glenn

and his wife. I even helped paint his apartment and I got to see a lot of his pictures and

memorabilia. I was even able to obtain his autograph.

After gaining some valuable experience as a painter from a place that expected the best,

I decided go out on my own. It was my first business venture.

I had gotten various contracts with different apartment complexes in and around Columbus. I also painted interiors of homes. I also painted some houses near the Governor's

mansion in Bexley (another suburb of Columbus). I was sometimes paid over four hundred

dollars a room just for labor. These people expected the best. Sometimes my work was in-

spected with a magnifying glass especially when I hung wallpaper.

After a few years I knew I did not want to make painting houses a life's work. Someone

offered a good cash profit for my contracts so I sold my small company which included one

full time and one part time employee.

I then worked at a service station which I already worked there part tine while I was a

painter to get some extra cash when business was slow. I eventually had my own service

station. However in the 1970's there was the oil embargo. That is when the gasoline prices

began to jump. I saw the writing on the wall and I decided to find another line of work.

For a while I went back to work for the same construction company that I had worked

for when I got married. However with the end of the Vietnam War companies were beginning to lay people off. It was the first time I was ever laid off in my life. I collected unemployment

for about five months.

It was a nightmare. My daughter Traci Ann was born to us the year before. We were in the process of building a new home in 1975 when I was laid off. My wife was also expecting

our fourth child, Heidi Kathleen.

For awhile I worked in security. I was bonded for over one million dollars. However it was

just a job. I did not want to make it my life's work.

I finally found a good job in London, Ohio as a new/used car salesman at Goodyear

Plymouth-Chrysler-Dodge.

I enjoyed selling automobiles very much. Selling automobiles was the first time I had a

paycheck for over one thousand for a weeks work. I worked at an old established car lot.

The dealership was the number one dealership east of the Mississippi for dealerships in cities

with a population under 50,000. We also outsold the local Ford and General Motors dealer-

ships. I only had one week where I never sold an automobile and that was during a blizzard.

While employed as a auto salesman our last child was born, Heather.

I had worked for the dealership for a few years when I was on my way to work in a

snowstorm. A State snowplow sideswiped me and I ran into a house. No one in the house was

hurt however I sustained a broken back, legs, ankle, rib, arm, shoulder and nose. I had to

have an operation to repair one of my legs with a plate and has screws put in my ankle.

I suppose the only blessing was that I was in a company car and on the way to work. I

was able to collect Workman's compensation.

I was in a body cast for about three months.

At the time this picture was taken I was the number one salesman for the dealership, the county and the district.

I was supposed to be off work for over a year. However with a wife and five children

to support, I decided to go back to work soon after I was able to walk which was in about

six months. That was a mistake.

Walking or sitting for any extended period of time put me in excruciating pain. So I

took a couple of more months off.

The cold weather at the time gave me a lot of problems especially during the healing

process. A relative of my wife convinced us to move to Florida.

I had visited Florida before during the winter months. I had never been to Florida in

the summer.

Right after we moved to Florida I decided to go back to work. I worked at a dairy for

a couple of months before I landed a job at a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership.

However it had not been a year since my accident. My health did not improve as much

as I thought it would.

I did not like Florida. I did not like the bugs or the heat. At the time the pay for the same job was less and I did not receive the benefits that I had received at my job in London, Ohio.

I was told by the doctor if I didn't take a full year off because of the severity of my

injuries, I might jeopardize my life.

I finally agreed to do what the doctor said.

We packed up and moved to Ashtabula. I still did not like just sitting around. I decided to try and finish school.

I enrolled at Kent State in Ashtabula. I was still to have health problems but I did have at

least an income from disability to support my family.

I spent two and half years at the Ashtabula Branch of Kent State University. I have

many fond memories while I attended school there especially of my instructors.

After receiving over seventy credit hours at Kent State - Ashtabula, it was time to transfer to another university. I had thought about attending Ohio University or Morehead

State University in Kentucky. I finally decided on Morehead State because my ancestors had

lived there and wanted to know a little more history of my family. It was a difficult decision

but money also played a big part on my decision.

When we moved to Morehead we purchased a house about three blocks from the

university. Morehead was a town of about 6,000 at the time however the university had over

8,000 students at the time.

Morehead was dry. When I moved there someone said the county was dry. I looked

around and said, "Everything looks pretty green to me."

Well I shocked that a university with over 8,000 students would be dry. It didn't really

bother me since I didn't drink anyway. Then I realized that a great deal of parents were pay-

for their children's education, this might be why the university had large student population.

A great number of these students were from Ohio.

Left to Right:

Front:

Terri Lynn, Sharon, Traci Ann

Middle:

Heidi Kathleen, Heather Christine

Back:

Darrell Jr., Darrell Sr.

Taken in Morehead, Ky. - 1985

No, this is not my great-grandparents. This is my wife and children.

Both pictures were taken at Kings Island August 10, 1985.

After finishing school at Morehead State we thought about staying in Morehead

permanently. However the employment and business opportunities were not that great. Most

of the decent jobs were at the university. At the time wages in the South were a lot less than

in Ohio unless you live in present Ashtabula.

A school teacher lived across the street from me. He had a wife and two children. He

was eligible for food stamps which he did collect.

I had entered college with the anticipation to teach. I had wanted to teach history or English. I had also done some student teaching at Ashtabula High School. After the experience at Ashtabula High School (which I did ten years after I left high school) and the

fact that teaching at the time did not pay that well, I decided that teaching was not for me.

After over fours years in Morehead we decided that the Columbus area had better employment and business opportunities.

After moving back to the Columbus area I started a business. Actually I dabbled in the

antique business since 1979 when I had a garage sale and made over $1200 in one day. I also

had been a collector of antiques since I was a kid. Mrs. Strubbe got me into antiques when I

was just a kid when I lived on West Avenue.

The business started slow more part time than full time. After about a year it became

more of a double time job.

While I was in the Columbus area (I say area because I actually only lived in the City of

Columbus for about six months.) I enrolled at Ohio State to work on my degrees.

Most of the time when I lived in the Columbus area we lived in Madison county. This

was a county that bordered Franklin county to the west.

With all my children grown and with two children that already left the central Ohio area

we decided to move back to Ashtabula. We had came back to Ashtabula and looked around.

The rent for a commercial building in Ashtabula was a lot less than in the Central Ohio

area.

I also liked to write history. I had collected artifacts, memorabilia, and books of Ashta-

bula since I was a kid. I even had collected items on Ashtabula even when I lived in the

Columbus area. Buying these items of Ashtabula was a lot less costly than if I had bought

the items in Ashtabula.

I had always went to antique post card and paper shows, at the state fair grounds. I had

always been able to pick up some type of memorabilia of Ashtabula.

I have in my collection of old Ashtabula over three thousand different pictures of

Ashtabula. I also have a lot of memorabilia of Ashtabula. For instance do you remember the

old neon sign that used to hang in front of Hotel Ashtabula? Well, it is in my garage.

I sometimes wrote for the local newspapers in the central Ohio area. However writing

history in a town you never grew up in is entirely different. In Ashtabula I lived the history

or knew a lot of the family of the people who made the history of Ashtabula.

I had always kept up on the current events on Ashtabula which would turn into history.

I almost all the time when I lived in Kentucky and in the central Ohio area I had a sub-

scription to the Star Beacon.

Moving back to Ashtabula meant I would not only save money on rent for a commer-

cial building plus the Star Beacon delivered to my home by a carrier was a lot cheaper than

the mail rate!

In 1996 we moved back to Ashtabula and sat our business up in a building (the old Ash-tabula County and Savings & Loan) on Main Avenue.

After over two years at that location we had the opportunity to move in the old Carlisle

building and expand.

We cleaned the building up and put the parking lot in a presentable condition. With the

building occupied and made into a presentable condition, Main Avenue was brightened up

especially during the holiday seasons.

Darrell & Sharon Hamilton - Picture taken in their store. - 1999

The absentee landlord and I did not get along. It is a long story that I choose not to go

into. The legal battle is still going on of this writing.

In the year 2000 I started planning for the Ashtabula & Ohio Bicentennial Celebration.

It was a big gala affair in Ashtabula for the Sesquicentennial Bicentennial in 1953. I was

hoping to at least come close that celebration. However unlike 1953 the city did not give me

any help for our own city's birthday celebration let alone for the state which also celebrated

the same year.

When Mickey Rooney came to town he made the statement that Ashtabula was one of

about the most dirty, disgusting little hick town that he had ever been in. Well , I suppose an

outsider should know. After all he has been around. However Mickey Rooney was given a

key to the city by former city Manager Augie Pugliese.

When I brought Tammy Cochran to Ashtabula (an Ashtabula County native) and ask the

city manager to present her a key to the city, he would not even though I offered to give him

free tickets to the concert.

At the concert Tammy Cochran was GREAT! Not only that she was very sweet and kind

to her fans. I felt so ashamed that no city official showed up at her concert!

I had received four Ashtabula City Key Pins previously for the work that I had done for

the city out of my own pocket. One of them came from Hugh Thomas and three had come

from Mr. Pugliese. I felt so ashamed that no city official showed up that I gave Tammy one of

my Key to the City pins. She was so wonderful that she DESERVED the pin. Someday I would

like to bring her back, God willing.

I spent about $14,000 out of my own pocket for the Ashtabula & Ohio Bicentennial Cele

bration. Not one member of the city council to my knowledge showed up for any of the

events. Neither one of my opponents showed up up for any of the events either.

The amount of work that I have done for the city for free comes to a lot more than

$14,000.

I do not just complain about someone's lawn being to tall. I mow and have mowed

several elderly and disabled people's lawns for free because they were unable to do it themselves.

I have taken care of North Park and the little park on South Main for the past six years.

What have my opponents done for the city besides talk??????????????????

I am not just a talker, I am a doer!

Now days I do almost all my selling on the internet. I started out selling a lot on E-bay

however after being taken several times for money by customers and by Pay-Pal (an E-Bay

company), I decided to build my on web site for business. I also build web sites for other

companies and private individuals at a very reasonable cost. Call me!

Even though a class action suit was filled against Pay-Pal and a settlement was reached,

I still have not received the money that was owed me. I was told I would eventually get my

money.

The best way to get back in America at another business is to give them competition. I

built my own web site. ( www.tnttrader.com ) The biggest difference is that my web site is not

an auction site. It is a very low cost advertising web site. Not only do I advertise my merch-

andise for sale but anyone else can too.

It is an advertising web site for almost anything you want to advertise including help

wanted to homes for sale. I do not not take advertising for pornography as E-bay does.

I am also in the process of building a site similar to Pay Pal. The big difference is that

you don't have wait for your money for three days or more. I've cut out the middle man.

The money is directly deposited into your account within twenty-four hours without having to

request or beg for YOUR money!

Hey, since this is my web site so I might as well do some advertising for my business.

Check it out!

If you have been following my plight with the city council over the new charter that I have

written you know that the council has been fighting me tooth and nail to preserve the good old

boy system of government.

The following is a letter I wrote to the Editor of the Star Beacon concerning my plight with the city council. The letter should sum up everything.

Letter to the Editor

9-22-2005

The Supreme Council of the U.A.S.R. (Union of Ashtabula Socialists Republic) has spoken. The people of Ashtabula have been silenced by the supreme council.

According to the council the people have no say. Even though I had more than enough signatures the council did their best to find some reason not to put my charter on the ballot.

The council was shocked last year because my charter received 3,010 votes. That is more votes than the city solicitor or the city manager received running unopposed. Now they are scared to death that my charter has a chance to pass.

Instead of letting the people decide they feel the citizens of this community do not have the intelligence to decide for themselves. What kind of democracy is this?

We have a charter written in 1914 by a member of the Socialist party. We have the only elected City Manager in the world. It is not unique! It is stupid! If of our system of government is so great why are we the only ones in the world with it. It is not working! Look around! Helen Keller would be able to see that it is not working.

The City Manager can not introduce legislation. What kind of a leader is that? It is a puppet!

What kind of fool would make the statement that I had to have my charter attached to every single piece of paper plus the current charter? Tom Simon that’s who! I would have to have a wheel borrow just to collect signatures. The Charter has always been attached so that anyone could read it no matter what Mr. Perry says!

The City Council and Tom Simon do not want someone with leadership abilities with an education. They want a puppet!

Look around! This city is a mess. Visit other cities that don’t have as many resources as we do. They are doing ten times better than we are.

Some people do not want the city of Ashtabula to change. These good old boys make money off Ashtabula being depressed.

I think that the majority of the people of Ashtabula are finally sick and tired of the same old backwards form of government. They are also sick of the good old boy system of government, in other words a socialist’s government.

Think about having a clean, green and safe city again. It starts with a leader who has a vision. What have the other candidates done for the city besides talk? I have proven my self over and over.

I don’t need to prove myself to the city council, just to the voters of this city which I think I already have.

Left to Right

Willie Coleman, Senator George Voinovich, Darrell E. Hamilton, Janet Voinovich

The picture at the left was taken in Washington D. C. about a couple of weeks after Senator Voinovich took office in 1999.

Darrell E. Hamilton & J. Kenneth Blackwell

Picture at the left was taken September 16, 2005 in Ashtabula

Darrell E. Hamilton & J. Kenneth Blackwell & wife

Picture at the left was taken September 17, 2006 in Ashtabula

Vote For

Darrell E. Hamilton

Make this city proud again!

Darrell E. Hamilton