Lakewood Lore

They came from a land down under to visit our city

In case you've wondered, that was the national flag of Australia flying beside Old Glory last week from a porch of a home on Clarence Avenue in Lakewood.

The bunting of down under has a Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner and the stars of the Southern Cross constellation on a field of blue covering the remaining space.

It was unfurled to greet Lakewoodites Cecilia and James Witherington's Australian guests, Judith and Christopher Ellis.

Judith and Cecilia have been corresponding for the past 33 years -- ever since they were 11 years old -- but, until this month, had never met.

Their non-stop letter writing sprang from a "World Friends Pen-Pal Club" at the Madison Branch of Lakewood Public Library, 13229 Madison Ave. It was there in 1960 that Cecilia was given Judith's name. (They were Judith Harris and Cecilia Stalmah then.)

When Judith received her first letter from halfway around the world, she was surprised because she couldn't recall having given out her name. Since then, each has written more than 400 letters, and all of them have been saved.

And what were they about?

"The story of our lives," Judith confessed. "More revealing than a diary."

"All about our families," Cecilia added. "Our trials and tribulations, our good times and bad times."

In the beginning, the pen pals wrote each other every two weeks. Later, when they learned to type, they were able to squeeze more into each letter and did not need to correspond as often.

Judith came to Lakewood via air, with husband Christopher and their 10-year-old daughter Belinda. The family resides in Adelaide, the capital of the state of South Australia. The city's population is about 1.1 million.

Judith has always lived in Adelaide, where the summers are hotter than they are here and where it is now springtime. She attended a Church of England girls' school there and later was employed as a librarian at the State Library of South Australia.

"I married the boy next door," she said, referring to Chris, whom she has known since she was 7. He is a dispensary assistant (pharmacist) in Adelaide.

The Lakewood host couple -- Cecilia and James Witherington -- feel particularly honored because the Ellises came all the way to America to visit only them.

The Witheringtons have two children -- Mona, 8, and Sheila, 6, who, following in their mother's footsteps, are now writing to Ellis's daughter Belinda.

James Witherington is chief financial officer of a management firm, Banc Capital Corp. in Independence. Incidentally, the Australian flag for the porch was his idea.

"It was the last one the store had," he said.

According to Chris Ellis, the Southern Cross part of the flag is a familiar constellation seen in the Australian sky.

Alas, we in Lakewood cannot see it because we live too far north. However, things tend to even out, astronomically speaking, because the Ellises in their southern hemisphere are unable to behold our Big Dipper and North Star.

Upon the guests' arrival here at Cleveland Hopkins, they were met by their hosts and taken to Melbourne's, a restaurant in Strongsville whose menu includes Australian entrees, such as bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) and bubble and squeak (hash).

But the Ellises chose American fare -- Boston scrod in beer batter for Chris and steak for Judith.

"In Adelaide, we have lots of steak houses and Asian cuisine," Judith pointed out.

The Australians were immediately impressed by Lakewood's "tall, magnificent trees."

"Ours are mostly eucalyptuses and are neither the big size nor the age of yours," Judith said. "The large, brightly painted wooden homes here were a surprise, too. In Australia, we have brick or brick veneer, and our color are plain and somber."

Here, the Ellises saw squirrels for the first time.

"At home, we have wombats, emus and kangaroos," Chris noted. "Australia is mostly sheep (for wool and meat) and wheat."

Though not intending to disillusion Americans, he did want it known that Hollywood and TV's depiction of hell-bent-for-leather characters (like Crocodile Dundee) often give a false impression of the country down under. Before ending their eight-day stay, the Ellises were given a tea reception last week at the Lakewood Library's Madison Branch -- the place where the pen-pal friendship was sparked in 1960.

Branch librarian Kim Senft-Paras said that while the library no longer sponsors the pen-pal club of years ago, it does -- what with global tensions being that they are -- provide information and programming to promote a "wider-world viewpoint."

One such program -- "Family Weekend Wonders," a series of meetings for discovering family traditions around the world, is being held weekly at the branch, as well as Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, through December, at the main library on Detroit at Arthur.

Title of the meetings this weekend is "Many Faces, One World." They will celebrate United Nations Day.

The Madison branch has grown considerably through the decades. Its book circulation in 1960 totaled 61,961. This year, it is expected to break 170,000.

This article by Dan Chabek appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post October 21, 1993. Reprinted with permission.

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