The Tidal Wave, a story…
In addition to my being a partner in the Law Firm of Spidel,
Staley, Hole and Hanes, 210 Weaver Building; I was the Safety Director of the
City of Greenville Ohio during the four terms of Mayor Tillman Hathaway in the
1960's. As such, I was responsible for the administration of the police
department and the fire department as well as the public welfare in the City of
Greenville
I became familiar with the men and equipment in both safer
departments. The fire department had a contract to provide fire protection to
My wife Jean and I attended all the football games except
during heavy rain, and then I would go with several of our friends. I swear
there were nights when we guys, huddled in ponchos, were the only people in the
stands. The ladies played bridge and waited for us to come home. To top it all
off, "The Wave" was in a major slump, there were loss, loss, and more
losses.
I think it was about 1969 when Bud Stegall, a contractor,
plumber and trucker, Jim Thwaits, (GHS 53) who owned Thwaits' Floor Fashion,
and I got together in my law office one night and talked. First the idea was
trying to work with the boosters. The others had tried that so we decided to
start a new organization and see what we could do to shake things up and get
the community involved. For the lack of a better name, we called it the TIDAL
WAVE.
I had been an artillery officer in Korea
In late 1970 l got a call from Bill McCullough, then, our
long time Congressional Representative in the old 4`' District He said
"Tom, you have never asked for anything for the work you did for me in In a flash, I thought, I wondered if Bill could get cannon for me. I called him back and made that request He said, "A what?" After I explained what I wanted it for he said he would see what he could do. Shortly, he called back and told me I would soon be getting a call from Major General Rasmussen, the Chief of Army Ordnance. It may sound strange in 2007, but that was how Bill McCullough operated as our Representative to Congress. Personal notes and phone calls were his stock in trade.
Bill was right, I got the call and again, "what and why"
was asked. I explained what I wanted the cannon for and he told me point blank
it would have to be demilitarized and made inoperable. That meant the gas and
oil would be drained in the recoil mechanism and the breech block welded shut
at our expense. I said, "CI, what does that cost". The answer was
$110.00 dollars. He had located several 75 mm pack howitzers at Lefterkenny
Arsenal in Pennsylvania Camp Carson CO Korea Greenville
The pack howitzer was ideal for us. It had been developed as
light artillery between the World Wars for use by mounted troops and could be
broken down into six pieces and carried by six mules. They were used mostly in
WWII by airborne troops and were pulled by a jeep or a weapons' carrier. It
could be man handled if necessary and was by the Marines.
There was a basketball game that night and I called Bud and
Jim and told them we needed $110.00. We
agreed to go to the game and collect $1.00 at a time from people and it look
all of ten minutes. When we got $110.00, we quit people were tired of losing many
tried to give us more but we said "NO'... the idea was to get as many
people involved as possible.
The cannon arrived in About the same time we came to realize that we needed a vehicle. Dick Hole II (GHS 55) was my law partner, and also the new mayor's Safety Director. Doc Hathaway had died, in my arms, giving a speech at a political meeting on the eve of the election a couple of years before; I think that was in 1968. Dick told me the Quad was about to go to heaven because the engine had blown again and the City Council had agreed to replace the truck. The Tidal Wave went to the council meeting and explained our need and what we were trying to accomplish. They agreed to sell it to us for one dollar, but we had to tow it away. That dollar was raised by taking a jug to the high school and putting it into the Principal's office and asking for donations of one red cent, a penny. No dimes, no nickels, just pennies. We picked up the jug and it was full. We took 100 pennies to Gene Gruber, the City Auditor for payment of the fire truck. The balance went to the Community Chest That way every kid who put in a penny thought he/she had a share of the truck. It worked.
I got Jay Schieding of Jay's Towing to tow it to McClain
Inc's fenced-in yard on Front
Street Covington KY Covington
Then again, both fire trucks were towed by Jay to Greenville
Manufacturing, a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Aggregates
Corporation, a large, local gravel and concrete company. Max Shoemaker was the
Chief engineer and had sons in the athletic programs. He said he would see that
the engine was replaced. This involved a special made (28 foot by my memory)
drive shaft because the old drive shaft had to run to the pump and then a
second shaft ran on to the rear axle.
He ordered it and American Materials paid for it. Ed Hole
was the Chairman of the board at the time and he watched all details, however
small. He caught this weird expense and called Max and asked what vehicle this
driveshaft was going to be put into. Max explained to Ed what he was doing and
what the Tidal Wave was up to and who was involved Ed laughed and said go
ahead.
The concept of community involvement thus had begun. People
wanted to help and came forward to volunteer. We added some new primary members
also. Don Cain, an industrial engineer at Lewisburg Container, Jim McCombs who
at that time was a painter, and later a mailer, Dick Marker who worked at Corning,
Jim Coverstone who worked with Jim Thwaits, Jay Niswonger who fanned and worked
in town and Bud Oiler who happened to own a WW II jeep. There were others who
pitched in when we needed extra help but those men were the basic crew. The
weekly meetings were moved to the library of my law office in order to hold
everyone now involved
I think it was Bud Stegall who came up with the idea of
feeding the football team before the away games at different restaurants. We
had no problem in people coming forward to pay for those meals. Business men
and individuals came and ask what they could do.
The same held true for the gasoline for the "Wave
Wagon" as it came to be called and believe me it was a guzzler of fuel
with those 12 big cylinders banging away.
Insurance was going to be a problem, for us and the rolling
equipment. I had been insured with Littman Thomas since I came home from law
school to the practice. I talked to Dick Thomas, my insurance man and he told
me no problem, the Greenville Association of independent Insurance Agents had
already discussed the issue and they would see that a proper policy was issued
to us. Again, we were getting community involvement people were involved.
The work was going well on both the cannon and the fire
truck. I showed Carl where to cut, and he did, and we got the sliding breech
block working perfectly. The way it was made and the welding of the mechanism
by the Ordnance people made it a tedious job. Carl was a machine shop genius
and had the equipment He was able to detach the firing lock mechanism and we
found out the cylinder was empty of the necessary parts to make the lock work.
That problem was solved by a call to John Caron (GHS `50), an army Lieutenant
Colonel who was then going to Command and General Staff School at
Carl made two steel slugs the size of a 75mm shell casing
then hollowed out part of the center and chambered the slugs so an empty 12
gauge shot gun shell could be inserted in the base to provide ignition for the
black powder, which we had determined, was the best medium to fire the cannon.
It all came together and it was time to try out the cannon.
Carl's machine shop was down on
Earl Bedwell, was a local man who worked for the Standard
Oil pipeline company that ran through Darke County Omaha
The Wave Cannon was stored in one of the garages under the
high school football bleachers. To my knowledge it still is.
I had a sign made for the cannon with a statement, from
memory, ""This cannon is a rolling memorial to the men and women who
served in the Armed Forces of the USA
Max Shoemaker called and said the fire truck was done and
road tested, and when did I want to pick it up? I said "soon". It was
running beautifully, all equipped with new batteries and a new exhaust system.
That big old engine just purred. The exhaust rumbled and grumbled very pleasantly.
The Tidal Wave crew spent an evening under the direction of Bud installing the
running lights to meet state code Someone had donated the lights and wire.
We had been keeping the Wave Wagon in Herb McClain's fenced
yard but I was looking for a roof. Found one at the old Children's Home which
had burned some years before. There was a huge garage with overhead doors that
would take the Wave Wagon. The County
Engineer Russ Road
The "Greenie" is located over the former pump outlet. The bed is part of the remodeling process by Herb McClain and was originally where the hose, ladders and chemicals were stored. We left the dials and pump controls simply because there was no reason not to. The rest is "original" as we got the truck. The bubble gum machine revolving tight was a fire department add on, the siren was original as were the spot lights.
Dick Marker was responsible for the "Wave Wagon"
being painted bright green by the people who worked at The "Greenie" is located over the former pump outlet. The bed is part of the remodeling process by Herb McClain and was originally where the hose, ladders and chemicals were stored. We left the dials and pump controls simply because there was no reason not to. The rest is "original" as we got the truck. The bubble gum machine revolving tight was a fire department add on, the siren was original as were the spot lights.
This truck bed would hold the entire football team and the
cheerleaders' and it has many times.
Now we had another problem to solve. We had to figure out a
way to hitch the cannon to the fire truck. The cannon had a ring for towing. We
needed a GI hook up to fasten to the Wave Wagon and one was scrounged up
somewhere and put on the truck We were ready for the coming football season
with our rolling stock
First, l want to relate a side light. There is a street that
runs from Harmon Avenue Green Wave Way
Another side light to our activities; we had no problem
getting a vehicle title for the Wave Wagon, a historical tag, no less. The
cannon however was another problem. I called Lt. Kinney, then the Commander of
the Preble/Darke Post of the Ohio State Patrol. I asked him how to get a
license for the cannon. There was hesitation and finally he said, `Tom, you cannot
license a cannon, there is no provision for it, it is not a trailer".
After some conversation and my telling him what and why l needed a license, he
laughed. He said he would work out something. He did. On away games 1 would
call him and tell him where we were going and what route we would be taking. He
would then alert that Post of the OSP that the idiots from
The Wave football was part of the Miami Valley League. My
wife Jean Staley (GHS `48) Hanes was on the school board and on the committee
to find and hire a new coach. They did, a man from Sidney
Holman came with a purpose; revitalize the football program
and the high school. And he did from day one. He had the boys working with a
will to win that carried them into a winning season, game by game. They won
every game. As I recall, we always played Celina for the first game. We took
the cannon, towed by the Wave Wagon to the game it was a beautiful fall
evening. Sam Spidel (GHS' 72), son of my senior partner Wilbur D. Spidel, was
the quarterback. The team did well and the cannon fired and fired.
During the game, we discussed
what to do if they won…the answer was a parade, that night. I had already
alerted the Greenville Police Department, the Darke County Sheriff's office and
the Ohio State Patrol that if Greenville Greenville Greenville
That was the first of many parades with the Wave Wagon and a
Green Wave sports team. This is a tradition that continues to this day.
Driving the Wave Wagon soon proved to be a real pain for any
long distance. There was no power steering thus it was hard to steer. Plus, as
the beautiful fall became cold, the open cab was freezing. Then the old
transmission had to be double clutched and there was no heater. Bud Oiler's
Jeep was just as cold. To the rescue came Jim McCombs, who had just bought a
new pickup truck. He had a hole cut in the bumper for a receiver. He towed the
cannon to the away games in comfort. We would have the Wave Wagon available on
short notice to lead the parade after each win. The parades got longer and longer
with each win. It got to the point that the tail was still out by the
Children's Home road when the Wave Wagon got to the High School after winding
around half of Greenville
I remember several things about the cannon crew. We took
turns on the cannon crew, and it always amazed us when Greenville
The high school was negotiating to enter a new league. The
rules were written to exclude the cannon from all games played away from home;
the opposition felt it gave
It has been thirty six years since those events. The Tidal
Wave made its peace with the booster organization and was disbanded, the cannon
still fires with a new crew and Wave Wagon still parades with the boys and
girls of various teams having been refurbished several times. But those are
other stories that others need to tell.
In reflection, it has always amazed me how the tickle finger
of fate, writing in the shifting sands of time, could bring together the
people, the kids, and bring together a first time head football coach who
wanted to win football games, and a group of young men who wanted to believe
that they could win football games. That in turn caused a "special twist
of fate" to happen to a bunch of young men on a high school football team,
as well as the students and people of
In its short life, "The Tidal Wave", gave this, as
our legacy, to our city, our school and our kids…
GO WAVE!!!!
Supplemented by the memories of
Jean L Hanes (GHS ‘48), Bud Stegall, Mike Stegal (GHS'72), Jim McCombs and Amy
Bedwell (GHS ‘77) Erisman
Saturday, September 21, 2007
Thomas C. Hanes JD
From the land of the Giant
Saguaros
7241 East Maritime Drive
