Lakewood Lore

When longtime resident cuts the rug, look out!

Do you think you'll still be dancing at 95?

Longtime Lakewoodite Bill Nelson, who has now reached that age, continues to fox-trot at Lakewood Aristocrat Nursing Home every Saturday night. What's more he says, "And that's not enough for me."

When Bill was a young blade, there were numerous public dance halls, as well as dine and dance spots in and around Lakewood. He took in most.

Among them were Gilbert's at Detroit and St. Charles; McKasky's at Detroit and Belle; Rainbow Gardens at Rocky River Drive and Munn Road, where the bands of Austin Wylie and Emerson Gill wire favorites; Chinese Temple at Clifton and West 117th; Mahall's at 13200 Madison, haven for Sammy Kaye of swing and sway fame before it switched to bowling and food in 1937; Regnatz's at 3218 Warren Road where chicken was king, and Homestead Ballroom at 11806 Detroit, which is still in operation but now as the Phantasy Nite Club.

"I learned to dance at the Homestead and later, in the 20s, taught the Charleston, the Cuban waltz and all the various fox-trots in Bott's dance hall at West 25th and Franklin in Cleveland," Bill recalled.

Born William C. Nelson in Franklin, Pa., he was brought to Lakewood by his parents in 1895 when he was 1. Of a family of 10 children, he is sole survivor.

His father, John R. Nelson, at first worked a 50-acre farm at Detroit and Waterbury. Young Bill, who eventually attended nearby Garfield Elementary, remembers that he seldom got wet while walking to and from school. "At that time, large maple trees reached across Detroit Road forming a canopy that protected me from the rain," he said.

More interested in a clerical career than in farming, Bill went on to West commerce High School on Bridge Avenue. Afterward, through Nelson Cotabish, he got an office job in National Carbon at Madison and West 117th that lasted for 14 years. Cotabish was top executive for the company and served as Lakewood's mayor in 1910-11.

Bill later in life worked 26 years for M.A. Hanna Co. where he became routing manager in the sales department. He retired in 1949. Before entering the nursing two years ago, he lived in the Carlton Apartments on Clarence Ave.

For 70 years, Bill has been a member of Gaston G. Allen Masonic Blue Lodge No.629 in Lakewood.

In his playbill of life, 1925 holds top billing. "That was the year I married the sweetest girl in Lakewood -- Eva Schwing of Coutant Avenue," he mused. Sweetheart Eva died eight years ago.

This article appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post March 23, 1989. Reprinted with permission.

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