Three Aspiring Entertainers

Nettie Baumeister Buder, Heenan Elliott, and Helen Fisher are pictured below in front of a stage backdrop from a play in which they were performing at Cedar Point, around 1918.
Sadly, Helen Fisher, who later married George Reynolds, died in 1922 at the age of 25.

Nettie Baumeister married Edwin Buder, and was the mother of Dr. Joseph and Thomas Buder. She was a lifetime resident of Sandusky, and was involved in many local musicals and civic affairs. She was a 50-year member of Grace Junior League, volunteered at the Grace Church Thrift Shop, and was a member of the former Memorial Hospital Guild. Nettie lived until the age of 97.

Heenan Elliott was the husband of Freda Black Jenkins, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Black. Heenan Elliott appeared on television shows, and was in several movies. He also traveled as a speaker with the Chautauqua Circuit. In 1926 Heenan Elliott was the secretary of the Catawba Candy Co., where his father-in-law, Leslie Black, served as company president. Heenan and Freda eventually moved to California, where Heenan served as president of the San Fernando Valley Real Estate Board. The Elliotts lived in California until their deaths in the 1970s.
Above is a photograph of a man driving a wagon from the Catawba Candy Company, which operated in Sandusky from 1905 until 1933.

Kiwanis Christmas Party, 1926

On Tuesday, December 21, 1926, the Sandusky Kiwanis Club hosted a party for forty-five children from the Erie County Children’s Home. The festivities took place at the chapel of the First Presbyterian Church. Each club member was responsible for one of the youngsters’ gifts. J. F. Starkey, dressed as Santa Claus, gave each child a gift of candy, nuts, and oranges. Christmas carols were sung by all. Heenan Elliott entertained the children by doing impersonations. At the end of the luncheon, the children sang a song of thanks to the Kiwanians.

In 1926, Mr. and Mrs. John Ritter were in charge of the Children’s Home. The committee responsible for the Kiwanis Christmas program was made up of: W. P. Bittner, Dr. A. J. Funnell, and Dr. H. L. Brown. Mrs. Clara “Ma” Bock, the club’s caterer (pictured below), was given a pin by the Kiwanis Club members at the Christmas party.
At the time of the Kiwanis Christmas Party, the children whom they hosted resided at the facility pictured below. The Erie County Children’s Home opened at its Sycamore Line location in May, 1901. The home closed in 1960 because of increasing operating expenses to maintain a facility not filled to capacity. The photo below was taken by Robert E. Frank, when the building housed offices for Erie County’s Sanitary Engineering division. The former Children's Home building is now privately owned.