News from the Anchor

For the first time in my life, I am a subscriber to the Northwood Anchor.  It's time to keep up with what's going on back home even though most of what I'm looking for happened 50 years ago, and will be found in that section of the paper called the "Early Files."

My first issue arrived a couple weeks ago, and the next one just two days ago.  Lo and behold, there were two items of interest, including the photo here, that of the swiftly flowing Shell Rock doing a bit of damage to the bridge connecting the pool area to the rest of Swensrud Park.

Ordinarily that wouldn't be a big deal, but given the escapades of certain members of the Class of '65, this "liquid ice" kind of caught my eye.  The guardrails would have been difficult to drive around, otherwise it would have been oh so easy to drive right off the bridge and onto the hard stuff those many years ago.  Since that wasn't possible, I can only conclude that the car in question was driven down the bank of the river and onto the ice.  And somehow - safely.

The other story that I found of interest was the one about an invention that was announced in the Anchor when a patent was issued 50 years ago.  Don Weaver of Northwood, former owner of Weaver Bottle Gas and Appliance, was noted for his Tempflo push button water temperature control, with plans to spend all his time on the manufacture, improvement, and marketing of this unique gadget.

But that's all the Anchor reported in the current issue.  Originally the news included a photo of Mr. Weaver and I believe his spouse demonstrating how the gadget worked.  It said that he got the idea for inventing it when he hopped in the shower one time but nearly scalded himself from the overheated water, and in a Eureka moment probably determined he might make a boatload of money while serving humanity with a thermostatically controlled water flow device.

Whether the idea ever took off for him is doubtful, and I can report to you that in some 20 years of traveling around the nation at the rate of up to 12 to 14 nights a month, I never saw one in any hotel that I stayed in.  Still, it was a unique idea and certainly caught my attention back then.  And the Anchor, that local purveyor of truth, wisdom, and local tidbits, has brought two more memories back into my life.  Our thanks to them for having done so, and now I can begin to reflect on all the news that I have been missing since 1962!