Shawen Acres. a piece of history, awaits its fate...

And once again, another piece of history awaits its destruction.

True, I'm partly a sentimentalist. But that's okay. It means I have feelings and compassion.

True, I'm partly a realist. It means I accept the way things are and adjust to the situation.

True, I'm partly a pragmatist. I want what's best and practical for the people.

But where does it stop. Who finally stands up and says, "No more".

With the instant access to news sources available, I make it a point each day to read the on-line newspaper of my childhood hometown, Dayton, Ohio. The news there is not much different from news in any other Midwest town or city, nor for that matter,  no different than what I read in the Dallas papers. Crimes, successes  new openings and yes, closings all permeate the stories as I look for familiar names or places to help me have a thought or two about a period of my life that was fun and peaceful. It seems though like there are more closings than I would hope for.

Of course, schools and other buildings have a life expectancy and we shouldn't want them to live out their declining years on a respirator while we pump hundreds of thousand of dollars trying to keep them alive simply for sentimental reasons. But that doesn't mean we can't find a way to pay our respects to what they stood for, both literally and figuratively.

One of the cottages that was home to hundreds of kids

I saw yesterday that Shawen Acres, in Dayton, was soon to meet it's maker with the removal of the remaining crumbling buildings that once served as an orphanage in my neighborhood. It served that purpose for half a century and as the system found new ways to house young children through foster homes, it no longer served its intended purpose.

I grew up with several kids who called Shawen Acres their home. I practiced football on the grounds while a student at a nearby catholic school. There were good kids and not so good kids that lived there....the same as any neighborhood. And now, unless a last minute reprieve is offered to relocate one of the stucco cottages with tile roofs to possibly Carillon Park....the memories, albeit some good and some bad, will disappear with the buildings.

Another institution that will now soon be all dust and rubble, was Julienne High School and of course, if you read this blog regularly, you will know Fairview High School  met it's demise earlier this year. Thousands of students went to these schools over the years and now only their faded memories will be left. And of course, Fairview High School was where I learned to become a man.

I'm not trying to live in the past by keeping these now relics breathing at the taxpayer's expense. But, doesn't anyone in Dayton have the forethought to plan for a way for our future generations to know our past. Why do the powers that be suddenly walk into a building that has stood the test of time, but has had absolutely no care-taking provided in the last years, and expect to find something more than just crumbling waste.

Shame on you,  city fathers and mothers. Are you simply trying to erase the past because it was an uncomfortable time for you during this period?. Or are you simply unresponsive to your citizens wants and desires. Find some way to remember your past...without it you have no compass to find your future.