7 min

Old West End Festival 2014

The festival ran from Friday evening, June 6 through late Sunday afternoon, June 8.

We visited the festival on Saturday and Sunday with our neighbors who had never attended. They loved it. We had a great time too.

Around 9:15 a.m., we started at the Black Kite Coffee shop, located at Delaware and Collingwood. We bought drinks and snacks. We stayed at Black Kite for a bit before walking to the parade route. I bought green ice tea and a scone.

The weather was excellent. Comfy morning start on Saturday. It warmed to the low 80s in the afternoon, but it was not humid. It rained early Sunday morning, but by late morning, the rain had ended, the sky was overcast, and the temps were cool. The sky cleared, however, by early afternoon, so it was a sunny, pleasant, Sunday afternoon. Light to moderate wind on Saturday, breezy on Sunday.

The parade was a lot of fun, as usual. It has to be the most entertaining parade around here. The New Orleans Mardi Gras-style jazz band led the parade. The Scott High School band was entertaining to watch. I love the percussion. The parade featured entries from numerous special interest groups and organizations. Of course, the parade also contained a lot of political entries. Many humorous parade entries existed too. I liked the hacked-together double bicycle where a big skeleton "peddled" in the front with a human on the back.

On Saturday, we visited three of the five homes on the home tour. We checked off the other two homes on Sunday.

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garage sales
yard sales
admired home architectural styles
a lot of walking: robinwood, scottwood on Saturday, and included Glenwood on Sunday. fortunately, heavily treed area so quite shady.
dog-friendly area. water dishes supplied along walks.
live music. at least two bands played on front porches.
middle area with pavilion or gazebo with live music, exhibits, food vendors on street, at Delaware and Robinwood where we watched the parade. bought a walking taco.
art fair by glass museum - bought watercolor painting of a Red-bellied Woodpecker (RBWO) by local artist Janet Ritter Davies of Davies Garden of Art. http://daviesgardenofart.com - Walbridge, OH
food area near glass museum, dining tent, taco truck, more live music. bought pork tacos and a coke.
toured a friend's home at end of day on Saturday that they bought recently and are currently renovating before moving in.
toured an open house for sale on Sunday.
on Sunday, we visited the Milmine-Stewart House, located along Collingwood. It housed antiques and books that were for sale, and it housed the Toledo History Museum.
on sunday, we arrived at the OWE festival around 11:30 a.m.
we ended both days around 6:30 p.m.

Scribbled notes from my Field Notes notebook for Sunday, June 8, 2014:

Libbey house
5 bathrooms
18 main rooms
Reception hall
- 5 foot wide front door(s)?
- 30-foot long hallway
- fireplace
living room
- leaded glass bookcase
- fire place
  - marble
  - built-in seats at sides
  - mahogany wood
  - two window seats
  - bench window
  - pocket doors?
carriage entrance
push button light switches
coat room
base of steps to second floor:
- 4 columns
- grand staircase
- french stained glass windows
music area near steps and front door
2nd floor
grand hall
- fireplace
- dental tooth molding along top of walls/ceiling edges
- egg and dart ???
- bead and reel ???
mrs libbey sitting room
- approx 30-feet by 24-feet
- juliet window with built-in bench overlooking grand staircase
  - hinged, door-like
  - stained glass windows
- built-in bookshelf
bedroom
- mahogany wood with cherry stain
- fireplace
- master bath
  - clawfoot tub
- floors patterned, parkay??
- two windows with benches by fireplace
mr. libbey's office
guest bedroom
3rd floor off-limits to tour
- servants' quarters
- five bedrooms
- contains the less expensive and elaborate cherry and pine wood
kitchen
- surprised that it's electric with the flat, glass top. too modern. could not can on this type of stove, i think.
butler pantry
english revival dining hall
- 10 small lions heads, wood-carved, each face unique, mounted on walls.
- fireplace
  - small, square tiles on fireplace front / wall, top and sides.
  - painted tiles
  - each tile contains a different landscape scene
  - delft tiles ???
  - imported from netherlands
  - each tile looked like a small watercolor sketch
  - some were monochrome blue, others colorful with blue, green, yellow, and burnt sienna
- large safe behind wooden doors. smaller safe shown elsewhere in house.
- foot button on floor under big dining table. button depressed to ring butler.

Mansion View House
we also toured this on Sun, Jun 8
it's still an operating bed and breakfast
second floor closed off this year because people staying at the B&B.
reynolds-secor home
reynolds was a grain merchant
home built in 1887
in 1920s - 1930s, house interior divided into efficiency apartments. depression era. big rooms divided into tiny apartments.
in 1980s, three men restored the house.
it's 8500 square feet
it took 30 craftsmen 3.5 years to build the house
the detached carriage house is 5000 square feet.
the secor family were big squash fans. the sport.
on 2nd floor, a squash court with spectator seating.
extensive woodwork, hand carved, ceiling, walls, doorway frames.
dining area:
- call button under table on floor, rings butler.

Toledo History Museum

at the Milmine-Stewart House along Collingwood Ave.
Lake Erie Park and Casino
- north Toledo
- near Bay View Park
- Amusement Park
- opened in 1895
- closed in 1910
- 1200 foot boardwalk protruded into bay
- penny arcade, cafe, theater, ice cream parlor, and roller coaster

Walbridge Park
1907
"The Scenic"

Weather Sun, Jun 8

cloudy at noon, low clouds
early aft, sunny, breezy, and cool
sky cleared quickly

Lunch

we ate at the food court area around 1:30 p.m.
many food vendors with their trailers.
fair-like food
I got same thing as on Saturday:
- Antojitos Laredo Tacos truck
- two pork soft tacos
- cilantro and onion
- can of regular coke
- we sat under big tent, listening to live music, like on Saturday.

On Sunday, we toured the art fair again, and we visited inside the glass museum.

Then we walked around the OWE.

From our home tour ticket, the homes on the 2014 tour:

Williams - Petitjean Home - 2532 Glenwood
Pratt - Lockford Home - 2515 Glenwood
Allen - Kienzle Home - 2238 Scottwood
The Libbey House - 2008 Scottwood
Mansion View Inn - 2035 Collingwood

http://toledooldwestend.com

Ice Cream Social
A Benefit for the Libbey House Foundation
Preserving Toledo's National Historic Landmark
Sat, Jun 7 - 12 to 4 pm
Sun, Jun 8 - 12 to 4 pm
Toft's Ice Cream

We bought ice cream on Sunday afternoon.

A wine garden event also occurred at the Libbey House on June 7 from 6 to 9 pm.

The handout listed 35 garage and yard sale locations, mainly at homes on Glenwood Ave, Robinwood Ave, and Scottwood Ave, with some on Parkwood Ave and others scattered elsewhere.

Interesting local group that we spoke with at their display during the festival on Saturday.

"The Society for Creative Anachronism - Forward into the Past"

It's a local chapter of the SCA.
http://sca.org

For newbies: http://welcome.sca.org

From the handout about the Toledo area chapter:

Our local SCA chapter, the Barony of Red Spears, covers Northwest Ohio.
We host 4-5 events per year, plus weekly and monthly general meetings, practices, and workshops.

Please visit our Facebook groups for a listing of our events and activities: Barony of Red Spears

Members of the SCA learn about the past by researching period arts, crafts, and traditions and then experience history by recreating it.

Armoring

Calligraphy & Illumination

Ceramics & Pottery

Cooking

Costuming

Dancing

Fiber Arts (weaving, spinning, etc)

Gardening & Herbalism

Heraldry

Leatherworking

Medieval games

Metalworking

Music (vocal and instrumental)

Needlework

Poetry & Literature

Woodworking

and many more

You can see artisans practicing their skills at workshops and events.

At the OWE festival, one woman was using a small, notched, wooden, hand tool to weave or knit yarn or something into a cord. It was interesting.

--[ this might be the process: http://www.shelaghlewins.com/tablet_weaving/TW01/TW01.htm ]--