Third Street, Wellsville, Ohio - by - Frank Guidone Captain USMC Retired

Wellsville Alumni.Com

The Closest Thing To Being Home™

Captain USMC, Retired

I can recall Third Street during the thirties and will try to bring to mind some of the people, and events of that time. I may not be totally correct but if I am not then blame my memory.

Third Street runs from Lisbon Street to Riverside. Main street from Third Street and extends, as does the river, the entire length of the town, some 18 blocks. Main Street was Wellsville’s life line

Across the street from Sam’s store was the Riverview Hotel operated by Rudy and Margaret Wilks.
In earlier times Rudy operated a bakery on 3rd Street. The hotel later burned down but as you can see was restored and later became the center of operation for the Wellsville Alumni Club tentivately.

I will touch lightly on some of the families that lived on this street in the thirties -the Lascola family operated the barber shop down the street from Sam’s store. Charlie and Tommy Lascola, the oldest sons of the family assisted Mr Lascola in the shop. The Arcuragi and Viola families were next in line. Mr. Arcuragi had a shoe shop and the family lived in the rear of the shop. The Sabbato family came next followed by the Guidones, who lived upstairs on the corner of Broadway and Third street. They would later
move up and across the street next to the old Wilks’ bakery. The Scarbino family resided at the corner of Broadway and Third Street- across Broadway from the Sabbatos.. From Third Street down Broadway there were the Lamars, the Trainers, the Giordanos and the Metz families followed by the Fitzgeralds and Carbosiello families. Back to Third Street, on the left side facing the river there was the Richi family grocery store next to a tavern operated by Jim Viola and Jerome Drago, the Checklers lived next to the tavern.

Up the street toward the river were the Checkler and Drago families followed by a tavern called “The Venetian.” The Riverview hotel was next in line and the last building next to the river.

The families that lived on Third Street were true to their religion, Catholic, of course, and dedicated to their work and families. Those who were not in business worked in the steel mills or the railroads. Boot-legging was a side income for some of the families - for some it was necessary to make ends meet.

The families had strong ties and morals. I cannot remember any sons or daughters of these families having any trouble with the law. Some of the fathers had some difficulties since bootlegging was a sideline and some of them spent time in the county jail. Of course, we (the sons) were not always angels. One night we were playing football on the grass of center Broadway - apparently we made too much noise for the residents on that street because the city police showed up. There must have been ten or twelve of us. We were herded to City Hall and put in jail! Within a short time our fathers appeared on the scene and most of us went home led by the ear by a father who was spewing his venom at us in Italian.

Most of the children in these families were required to toe the line, especially the daughters. Drugs and alcohol were never a problem. At the most, cigarettes were smoked by some of the sons- some of us were not even allowed to go swimming in the river. We made certain our hair was dry before we got home.

At this time we were required to go to school and to at least finish high school. Our fathers’ generation believed in only the work ethic - college was not in the plans for the children, generally. It is not that they did not plan for our further education - it was really not within their financial means.

Most of the families got along with each other. There were Sicilians, , Basilicata, Neapolitans, Calabrese, etc. They spoke Italian but in their own dialects - they understood each other and got along well. There may have been a little in-fighting but nothing serious.

I would be remiss if I did not mention some of the frequenters of the taverns on 3rd street. You could see and hear Charlie Marshal every day; he would stand on the corner and talk to people and hail the cars as they went by him; then, there was Joe Murphy, a daylight rover on main street. He would duck in and out of the taverns, a fun-loving Irishman. Two very gifted maintenance men were Alvie Wilson and Emmett Daniels- they would be called by any of the tavern owners for plumbing jobs or carpentry work. They would be compensated with food, cash or a glass of frothy ale. alcohol from the bar. Also there was “Dutch” who delivered ice to the neighborhood ice boxes and our one-armed truant officer who would come knocking on our door if one of us failed to show up for our class. We did not play “hookee” in those days. The children attended classes at McKinley or McDonald schools and later the high school. we roamed the the banks of the Ohio River. fishing and camping out. For sports we met at the Creek bottom where we had a large a large green field - great for tackle football. We did not have a ball field in our immediate area- there was one at the site of the old steel mill which we to use and did. This field was considered to be our home field when we played visiting team. We often played our league games at the 12th street ball field.

The boys or sons of the families were many and I knew most them very well and can tell more about them then I could ever say about the daughters of the family. Of course, the girls were very chaperoned while the boys had the run of the town from the river to the hills.

I would like to name some of the “boys.” I am really challenging my memory at doing this.

There were four steps of sons - the oldest ones, the next older, the teenagers and the little brothers. I remember them as follows: the oldest group consisted of
Tommy and Charlie LaScola,
Nancy and Jimmy Checkler,
Tony Bologna,
Mona Carbosiello,
Jimmy Sabbato,
PoP Murray
Nancy Checkler - Outstanding running back for the Bengals in the early thirties.
Elmer Angelo.
These are the ones I remember, there were some others but they did not come to mind.

“Ming” Carbosiello,
Pat and Tony Scarbino,
“Chappie” and Paul LaScola,
Gus Richi, - Gus was linked to the teenagers because of our club and the softball team .
Willard Murray.
John Sabbato“Cooley” was a maintenance man at the Whitacre Flats and he slept in the boiler room . where he worked.

Most of the following were “teenagers” and some belonged to the Comet Club. They were
Phil (Knobby) Corbisello
Jimmy (Wee Wee) Corbisello,
Rocco (Horn) Scarbino
Nick Scarbino,
Frank (Henry) Guidone
Jimmy Giordano,
Nick Checkler
Jimmy Lascola. He was the drum major for our high school band.
Calvin Bethel - moved to Columbus, Ohio and became an outstanding high school foot player
Joe Drago
Angelo Sabbato
Carmen Caruso - Carmen and I joined the Marine Corps together.
Andy Caruso,
Dick Caruso
Butch Caruso

The “little brothers” who were always being run off by their older brothers were:

Julie, my brother,
Leonard and Jerome Drago,
Buddy Lascola,
“Tut” Sabbatto,
Bennie Carbosiello,

There were some even younger brothers who took over in later years; some of them were

	Third Street	Wellsville Alumni.Com
Class of 1938	Wellsville, Ohio	The Closest Thing To Being Home™
	by
	Frank J. Guidone
	Captain USMC, Retired	Return To The Home Page

I can recall Third Street during the thirties and will try to bring to mind some of the people, and events of that time. I may not be totally correct but if I am not then blame my memory.

Third Street runs from Lisbon Street to Riverside. Main street from Third Street and extends, as does the river, the entire length of the town, some 18 blocks. Main Street was Wellsville’s life line

The town square was at 4th and Main - here was the bank, Checklers’ barber shop, Frank Giess’ business - gambling, numbers, sports betting and so on. Just down the street was Shoub’s tobacco shop and baseball betting parlor. Jim Smith operated a restaurant - we used to call him “Jim the Greek.’ A short distance from the Greek’s restaurant was the “Bolero.” It was operated by Rocco and Patsy Carvelli. One of the grocery stores on 3rd was owned and operated by Sam D’Amore. He handled all of the Italian foods needed for our sustenance. He was assisted in the store by a nephew named John. Sam was a friendly “old timer” and lived over the store. His store was on the corner of Main and 3rd Street. One time Father Ring, the priest of our parish, came into the store for Sam’s weekly contribution. Sam informed the Father that business was not good and he could not make his weekly contribution. Father Ring commiserated with Sam as he made his way into Sam’s storeroom. He then reappeared with a box of spaghetti on his shoulder and thanked Sam as he exited the store. Sam was furious.

Across the street from Sam’s store was the Riverview Hotel operated by Rudy and Margaret Wilks. In earlier times Rudy operated a bakery on 3rd Street. The hotel later burned down but as you can see was restored and later became the center of operation for the Wellsville Alumni Club tentivately.

I will touch lightly on some of the families that lived on this street in the thirties -the Lascola family operated the barber shop down the street from Sam’s store. Charlie and Tommy Lascola, the oldest sons of the family assisted Mr Lascola in the shop. The Arcuragi and Viola families were next in line. Mr. Arcuragi had a shoe shop and the family lived in the rear of the shop. The Sabbato family came next followed by the Guidones, who lived upstairs on the corner of Broadway and Third street. They would later move up and across the street next to the old Wilks’ bakery. The Scarbino family resided at the corner of Broadway and Third Street- across Broadway from the Sabbatos.. From Third Street down Broadway there were the Lamars, the Trainers, the Giordanos and the Metz families followed by the Fitzgeralds and Carbosiello families. Back to Third Street, on the left side facing the river there was the Richi family grocery store next to a tavern operated by Jim Viola and Jerome Drago, the Checklers lived next to the tavern.

Up the street toward the river were the Checkler and Drago families followed by a tavern called “The Venetian.” The Riverview hotel was next in line and the last building next to the river.

The families that lived on Third Street were true to their religion, Catholic, of course, and dedicated to their work and families. Those who were not in business worked in the steel mills or the railroads. Boot-legging was a side income for some of the families - for some it was necessary to make ends meet.

The families had strong ties and morals. I cannot remember any sons or daughters of these families having any trouble with the law. Some of the fathers had some difficulties since bootlegging was a sideline and some of them spent time in the county jail. Of course, we (the sons) were not always angels. One night we were playing football on the grass of center Broadway - apparently we made too much noise for the residents on that street because the city police showed up. There must have been ten or twelve of us. We were herded to City Hall and put in jail! Within a short time our fathers appeared on the scene and most of us went home led by the ear by a father who was spewing his venom at us in Italian.

Most of the children in these families were required to toe the line, especially the daughters. Drugs and alcohol were never a problem. At the most, cigarettes were smoked by some of the sons- some of us were not even allowed to go swimming in the river. We made certain our hair was dry before we got home.

At this time we were required to go to school and to at least finish high school. Our fathers’ generation believed in only the work ethic - college was not in the plans for the children, generally. It is not that they did not plan for our further education - it was really not within their financial means.

Most of the families got along with each other. There were Sicilians, , Basilicata, Neapolitans, Calabrese, etc. They spoke Italian but in their own dialects - they understood each other and got along well. There may have been a little in-fighting but nothing serious.

I would be remiss if I did not mention some of the frequenters of the taverns on 3rd street. You could see and hear Charlie Marshal every day; he would stand on the corner and talk to people and hail the cars as they went by him; then, there was Joe Murphy, a daylight rover on main street. He would duck in and out of the taverns, a fun-loving Irishman. Two very gifted maintenance men were Alvie Wilson and Emmett Daniels- they would be called by any of the tavern owners for plumbing jobs or carpentry work. They would be compensated with food, cash or a glass of frothy ale. alcohol from the bar. Also there was “Dutch” who delivered ice to the neighborhood ice boxes and our one-armed truant officer who would come knocking on our door if one of us failed to show up for our class. We did not play “hookee” in those days. The children attended classes at McKinley or McDonald schools and later the high school. we roamed the the banks of the Ohio River. fishing and camping out. For sports we met at the Creek bottom where we had a large a large green field - great for tackle football. We did not have a ball field in our immediate area- there was one at the site of the old steel mill which we to use and did. This field was considered to be our home field when we played visiting team. We often played our league games at the 12th street ball field.

The boys or sons of the families were many and I knew most them very well and can tell more about them then I could ever say about the daughters of the family. Of course, the girls were very chaperoned while the boys had the run of the town from the river to the hills.

I would like to name some of the “boys.” I am really challenging my memory at doing this.

There were four steps of sons - the oldest ones, the next older, the teenagers and the little brothers. I remember them as follows: the oldest group consisted of Tommy and Charlie LaScola, Nancy and Jimmy Checkler, Tony Bologna, Mona Carbosiello, Jimmy Sabbato, PoP Murray Nancy Checkler - Outstanding running back for the Bengals in the early thirties. Elmer Angelo. These are the ones I remember, there were some others but they did not come to mind.

The next older were:

“Ming” Carbosiello, Pat and Tony Scarbino, “Chappie” and Paul LaScola, Gus Richi, - Gus was linked to the teenagers because of our club and the softball team . Willard Murray. John Sabbato“Cooley” was a maintenance man at the Whitacre Flats and he slept in the boiler room . where he worked.

The Teenagers were as follows:

Most of the following were “teenagers” and some belonged to the Comet Club. They were Phil (Knobby) Corbisello Jimmy (Wee Wee) Corbisello, Rocco (Horn) Scarbino Nick Scarbino, Frank (Henry) Guidone Jimmy Giordano, Nick Checkler Jimmy Lascola. He was the drum major for our high school band. Calvin Bethel - moved to Columbus, Ohio and became an outstanding high school foot player Joe Drago Angelo Sabbato Carmen Caruso - Carmen and I joined the Marine Corps together. Andy Caruso, Dick Caruso Butch Caruso

The “little brothers” who were always being run off by their older brothers were:

Julie, my brother, Leonard and Jerome Drago, Buddy Lascola, “Tut” Sabbatto, Bennie Carbosiello,

There were some even younger brothers who took over in later years; some of them were

Mike Drago, Buddy Lascola, Frank Scarbino and Joe Scarbino., Freddie and Sam Giordano.

We teen-agers had a club. it was called the Comets and we had jerseys to prove it. We generally met in a store room above the Richi grocery store. The head of our club was Charlie Richi - because he was a little older, his mother owned the building housing our clubroom and he was the pitcher of our softball team. We called him “Gus.’ He was a great beer drinker and a great kidder - weighed in at about 180 to 190 pounds, husky and built solid.

In the club room we played “hearts” for a penny a point. We played in teams and you would not believe the signs we had to convey a message to our partner. If you got caught there was a penalty - like five cents.

Gus had three sisters, Jenny, Lena and Roxie and they came into our club quite a few times - of course, it was their home, who could object? At least three or four of us “tough guys” were taught how to dance by the Richi girls. If you were walking along the front of their store you would have heard the music of Sammy Kay, Glen Miller or the Dorseys playing Green Eyes, Tangerine or And the Angles Sing coming from our club room. Of course you could not see them but members of the club were dancing with their instructors.

The Comet Club member lived through some trying and exciting times from 1936 to 1938.

We enjoyed celebrating the Feast of St. Rocco, with all of the food and great fireworks, the water melon eating contest, catching a greased pig or climbing a greased pole. This was an annual event and usually ended up at the 12th Street ball field with a huge firework demonstration.

We feared the Klu Klux Klan and watched from our windows as they rode their horses down main street after dark. They wore robes and hoods and we watched many times as they flamed the crosses up in the hills overlooking the town. I knew by name many of the Klan as they visited our tavern many times.

The Fourth of July was another favorite holiday. At night the evening was lit up with Roman candles. We fired these candles at each other from one side of the street the other - at each other. It was dangerous but no one was ever seriously hurt.

When “Pretty Boy” Floyd was loose near Calcutta, his partner, Adam Richetti, had already been captured and was in the city jail. Many of the town’s citizens surrounded the city hall with their personal weapons waiting for Pretty Floyd to show up. Meanwhile, having heard that Floyd might be in our hills we went searching for him - it was an exciting time. Floyd was killed in a cornfield near Calcutta.

We had a very good softball team with Gus Richi as our Captain and pitcher. We also used Dina Kessler (he did not live on 3rd street) as our support pitcher. We had some games with the teams from 12th and 13th street (our arch rivals). Most of the town showed up to see the games. This was in the days of the fast pitch. On weekends or holidays the team traveled to Salineville, Irondale, or East Liverpool to play.

Third street produced some good athletes for the local high school, mostly high school athletics. The 1939 football team was well represented by the 3rd street athletes. Football and softball were our prime sports. There was a boxing team that was headed by Tad Diloreto and managed by Dan Megailey. I was a member of the team. The members were Al Luckino, Bob Carter, Billy Call, Carl Grey and Tad Diloreto. We fought in many places - East Liverpool, Wellsville, Pittsburgh, Elwood City, etc. Tad later turned Pro for a short time. We did not participate in track or basketball We did play some rough and tough basketball in the gym under the church on Main and 5th street. This was in the winter time.

The summer season was our busy time. We fished, roamed the hills, played ball and made our spending money by digging for iron on the site of the dismantled steel mill that was near Wells Avenue, to the best of my memory. We made our movie , candy and soda pop money by selling the iron to Abie Katz, who had a junk yard in our area.

We would buy large bottles of soda pop from Sam’s store and nickel bags of chocolate drops from Lawson’s five and ten cent store. If we could not sneak into the theater we would pay the admission. I remember making some spending money setting up pins in the bowling alley on Main street near 5th street. It was duckpins - we earned two cents a line. It was hard work and at times we would set pins up in two alleys at a time. On the way home, generally about 11 O’Clock, we would stop at Isaly’s for a malt or ice cream. However, we were very tired but had money in our pocket.

We spent most of our time on the river banks of the Ohio River. We built lean-to shacks made of reeds, fished for catfish using throw lines, shot dice and played Frank Buck, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon or Tarzan, depending on whoever or whatever was in vogue. We would borrow a boat and row out to meet paddled wheeled steamboats in the middle of the river; row directly behind the wheel and jump into the water catching the large waves. If our fathers knew about this the reaction would have been violent, as most of us were not even allowed to swim in the river.

At this time many of the 3rd Street families had gardens on the river banks. This was in addition to the smaller gardens behind or along side of our homes. They grew tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, etc. These gardens were prime targets for thieves, but they were never bothered the river gardens. For one reason, outsiders knew who the owners of these gardens were.

The depression years were difficult and the WPA was the main effort to assist the unemployed and the families. Many of the families lost their savings in the local bank. These were lean years but most of us survived it without the benefit of welfare. At home we ate home baked bread, vegetables from the garden, very little meat outside of chicken and fish. Pasta, especially macaroni and beans, was usually the center piece in a large dish in the middle of the table, to say nothing of the always favorite “polenta.” This was a very inexpensive but nourishing meal.

Winter time was for the birds. The river would be frozen over and the hills would be covered with snow. There were few sleds among us and we used to go down a hill with at least four or five of us on the same sled. Most of us woke up in a cold house until someone stirred up the banked grate and added some more coal. At night we were entertained by the radio- Amos and Andy, the Lux theatre, Eddie Cantor, the Shadow, etc. Then, if my Dad was not in the house, we went upstairs to one of our empty rooms. My Dad made home made sausages and he had these sausages hanging from a broomstick braced by two chairs so they would dry out. We would cut a couple of sausages from the links and go back down stairs and roast them in the grate fire. It was like heaven - the taste of those simmering fat sausages.

Just about the time the Comet Club members were graduating from high school, some were in their junior year, Hitler was getting ready to swing into action.

Most of us were looking for jobs but times were bad for employment.

In 1940 some of our members made the initial move and joined the service; then World War 11 upset all of our plans and almost every member of the club was wearing the uniform of their service and serving in every area of the war zones. This was one time that the “little brothers” were allowed to follow their big brothers. Some of us met in different areas and it would be like old times when we met each other in another part of the world. (I ( I met Jimmy Fitzgerald in a Pacific island combat zone). The Comet Club guys served in the Pacific, North Africa, Europe and at Attu and Adak in Alaska. You name it and did it, in the air, on the sea and on land. When the war ended most of returned except Jimmy Giordano who was kill in action Europe. It was unfortunate that most of us were still overseas and could not share our grief with Jim’s family.

Most of us came back just to check in and then left for other parts of the country. We had seen what the rest of the of the world had to offer at the time and it was more than Wellsville had to offer. Sure we would come back often to visit and renew our memories of those days gone by and to visit the family and friends.

The town had been good to us and we were raised among people and family who believed in God, family and country. These fibers remained with us and were extended to our families in later years in towns and cities far from the banks of the Ohio river.

It goes without saying that visits to Wellsville by any of the old gang is depressing at first sight but as soon as you visualize what the street was like in our day; put the banks back on the Ohio river, look up at the hills, see McKinley and McDonald schools in your thoughts, picture the trolley car making it’s way up third street (with you hitching a ride) then, picture the freight cars moving along the river track, (the coal cars spilling some small lumps of coal that we would later gather in a bucket and take home) and put the flow back into the river and once again you will know it is worth the trip and God willing, I WILL BE BACK.

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		Frank J. Guidone
		Class Of 1938
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