Eckhart Public Library and The Window Nook Studio are Fun Places to Visit in Auburn

The top photo here is an upstairs view of one set of the many stained glass windows in the Eckhart Library. This public library in Auburn, Indiana is truly one of a kind. Featuring Arts and Crafts style architecture, it was built in 1910, and made use of Bedford stone and salt-glazed brick.

Automobile executive Charles Eckhart financed the ambitious design project. Architecture firm Patton & Miller was hired: the firm had designed prominent buildings in Chicago, southern Indiana, and other parts of the county. The Auburn library is impressive, with 18-inch thick brick walls, four-feet wide concrete foundations, and Spanish green tile on the roof, laid with wide overhangs.

Entrances were made of mosaic tile and marble, and the stairway is heavy iron. One of the most striking features of the library is the array of stained glass windows mentioned above, which were designed by artist Gustav Brand.

The library now includes a campus of buildings, including separate buildings for teens, a genealogy department, and an annex. Children's programs are a highlight, with a beautifully designed "secret garden" space carved out in a basement. The library park features a fountain, terrace, sundial, and sculpture. It's easy to tell patrons and staff are very fond and proud of their library - it certainly is one of the brightest stars in the sweet town of Auburn.

The last place I visited on my local town tour was an art studio where one of its artists works and lives. She has created a lovely, multipurposed space that contains a kitchen as well as a bedroom loft. The artist and an art teacher offer painting parties, art lessons, a kids' club, woodworking projects, and custom work. The studio is in a place over a business in the town square district. The day I visited the studio, a bottle painting class had been conducted the night before - what a beautiful way to repurpose empty glass containers into reusable works of art.

You see me standing in the studio space in the lower photo above. This space on 215 N. Main has housed a lot of businesses since it was built in the late 1800s. One of its most famous occupants was photographer Kelso Davis and his wife Margaret. Beginning in 1938, it is reported this war service veteran, Kelso Davis, ran an Auburn studio for over 60 years, and lived and worked in the upstairs area from 1938 - 1947.

Davis' work is generally well known in the Auburn area. Margaret employed her art background to hand-tint the studio's brown toned prints with oil paints for a distinctive look. One of the Davis' three daughters was available to speak about Kelso's history and work the day of the Auburn walking tours. For more information about The Window Nook Studio, write windownookstudio@gmail.com.

Auburn is a charming place to explore, chock-full of American history. All over the square are businesses, shops and eateries, each one a unique jewel worth visiting. It's just a short drive north of Fort Wayne, with two exits off Highway I-69.

Historic Auburn Hotel Has a Colorful Past

On the southwest corner of the town square in Auburn, Indiana is a landmark - a large, old hotel. Construction began in the 1860s, and by the 1870s it was called the Swineford House, offering up 36 guest rooms. One report I read said that it had primarily been built for traveling salesmen. By 1919 it was remodeled into the Auburn Hotel. Auburn started booming with its carriage and then automobile factories, and this hotel developed a reputation of being one of Indiana's finest.

Th Historic Auburn Hotel is open for business today, but it gets most of its occupancy during the annual Auburn Cord Duesenberg festival, held Labor Day weekend. At a recent downtown business event, I was surprised to learn the hotel is now open for business year-round, and some of the customers are regulars with extended stay deals, rather than the conventional nightly arrangements.

Rooms in the hotel look much like they would have in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. There are some cracks in the walls; much of the furniture and rugs are antiques, and not all the rooms have bathrooms or showers. But even with all that being said, the place has a wonderful charm. I was fascinated to see it. It looked like a perfect, authentic set for an old movie. I could have roamed the halls of the three floors and peeked in doors for hours.

While there, a young manager gave me a tour, and showed me a typical corner room, with a birds eye view of the downtown square. He then asked me if I knew the history of the criminal John Dillinger in Auburn, and I told him I did not. He then told me a gripping tale which I will recount for you here.

It seems as though some of Dillinger's associates rented that very corner room, and spent nearly a week spying on the town, watching the comings and goings at the local police station which was easily visible down the block. Dillinger, who had been born in Indianapolis, was locked up in a jail in Lima, Ohio. Apparently, some of JD's gang broke him out of said jail by posing as Indiana State Troopers. The bunch then hightailed it back to Auburn. JD's prison breakout was on October 11, 1933.

By having watched the Auburn Police Station in secret, the henchmen knew the schedules, habits, comings and goings of the local officers. On October 14, the gang knew just when to try to catch the Auburn police unaware. They busted into the station, held up the deputies at gunpoint, and forced them into a jail cell. They then got the keys to the arsenal and took bullet-proof vests, a Tommy gun (machine gun), about eight rifles and revolvers, and a lot of ammunition.

Here I had trouble collaborating the details of the rest of the story, but I will tell it the way the hotel manager told it to me. At this point, JD and his gang ran around Auburn, robbing banks and otherwise causing mayhem before leaving town. JD had a 'Robin Hood' reputation at the time, and may have gone into a poorer section of Auburn to dump a bag a cash for the delighted citizens there. Then, according to the story I was told, most of the gang members took off for Chicago in a car, while JD surreptitiously made his way north through Indiana and then Michigan by hitchhiking on his own.

From Michigan, he took a ferry to Wisconsin, and eventually showed up in Chicago. Of course, a year later, he was killed in the famous shoot-out at the movie theatre in Illinois. Thus ended the career of JD, and so ends my story. My next blog post will be another story about delightful Auburn, Indiana - so stay tuned.

Post-Valentine's Day - are you an Einstein with your Relationships?

A new book caught my eye at the Grabill Public Library yesterday. Of course there are tons of self-help, psychology and relationship books on the market, but this book grabbed me. It is written by married couples: an MD couple and a PhD couple. The book is based on, most significantly, 40 years of research with real-life couples.

The book is called The Man's Guide to Women. I recommend reading the whole book. It's pretty entertaining, and very up-to-date. The story I would like to share today is a little piece from near the end of the book, about Albert Einstein and his wife.

We all know who Albert Einstein is, correct? The scientist who developed the theory of relativity? Yeah, that guy. A lot of people think he may have been the smartest man that ever lived, and was certainly thought of as being a great genius. But even this great guy didn't seem to well understand women and marriage.

Our authors tell a tale from another book, Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson. Isaacson reports that Eistein gave his wife Mileva a list in 1914. These were his expectations of her if she wanted to stay married to him.

I'm going to change his format and paraphrase here a little, but this is the list from him to her:

You will make sure that my clothes and laundry are kept in good order, that I receive my three meals in my room, my bedroom and study are kept neat, and that my desk is left for my use only.

You will forego my sitting at home with you, and my going out or travelling with you.

You will not expect any intimacy from me, nor will you reproach me in any way. You will stop talking to me if I request it. You will leave my bedroom or study immediately without protest if I request it.

There is a little more to the list, but you get the idea.

Even though this was 1914, at a time when women didn't have many rights of their own and divorce was highly stigmatized, Mileva left Albert a couple of months later. She took their two children and filed for divorce. Isaacson reports that in the settlement, she received all his Nobel Prize money.

Einstein may have been brilliant, he may have known a lot of things, but he didn't know how to keep from losing his wife. I think the good news here is it doesn't take an Einstein to do the things that make a relationship work. The average Joe can do these simple things if he is willing to learn, if he cares, if he tries and continues to make an effort.

It works both ways, of course. Women need to do their part equally as well. I'm not going to try to teach a course here, so I'll stop. If you're interested, get the book and read it. Or read any one of a large number of books on the subject. It's really up to you. Is it work? Maybe. But aren't marriages and relationships work? That is what I have always been told. For me, it is a very rewarding type of work. Peace!

What is Going on With Rental Car Companies?

You know to prepare your own car for winter, correct? Check the fluids, make sure there is air in the tires, check the wiper blades and washer fluid, etc. Do you ever think twice about what state your rental car might be in?

Someone close to me almost had a disaster with a rented car. It was rented from one of the big companies, but I don't think naming the business would make a difference here. You will see what I mean while I tell the story.

For the purposes of this accounting, we will call him Hank. So, Hank gets his rental car to go on a business trip. He picks it up from the rental lot. Sometimes, the cars are actually dropped off at the workplace.

It's winter, and he's driving out of town in bad weather. The car does fine on dry pavement, but we're talking northern Indiana here, on the way to Chicago. Pretty soon, Hank hits a downpour of rain; just a steady, light rain.

The rented car started shimmying, dancing, jiggling, and scooting - something was definitely wrong. I am so thankful nothing happened to Hank. What if he had had to brake suddenly? What if traffic had quickly slowed to a stop because of an accident ahead? He could have died in a crash.

Thankfully, Hank pulled the car over under a highway overpass. (I just heard all that over and under stuff right there.) He walked around the car, wondering what was going on. Front tires looked great, check. He went to the back of the car, bent down and looked at the tread on the rear tires, and ---

There was none. No tread. The tires were bald. He could not believe what he saw. He blinked his eyes and decided to use his hands. He ran his fingernails over the tire, and there was no edge: they didn't catch on anything. Hank was shocked. He went to the other tire. Completely smooth. How could this be happening?

The rental had only 17,000 miles. Hank made it to his destination and called the rental company. He got a different car for his drive home. Meanwhile, the rental company looked into the problem. The car had been given a full walk through at 15,000 miles. A full inspection, it was reported. After that 15,000 miles, the car had been rented seven times. The end of the story is, someone stole the tires off the car and replaced them with the bald tires.

We have discussed all this thoroughly since then. Many questions come up - were the tires replaced rim and all, or were just the rubber tires popped off? I don't know how much the rental company is looking into the whole thing, but there are definitely safety issues here. If someone had been hurt or killed, I guarantee you the police would have checked all seven of those renters, looking for that set of tires. One can only assume someone stole the newer tires and replaced them with the old, treadless ones.

Bottom line, walk around your rental car. Don't assume it is in good shape, even if the rental company tells you it is.

Anytime Fitness in Leo Has it Going On

My family had been members of the local YMCA system for many years, taking advantage of a corporate discount. We joined after Fort Wayne's wonderful YWCA campus which had been on Wells Street closed. The YMCA worked well for us for a long time. When the kids were small, we used the pool often, and also the child care facilities. It had lots of features, classes, and the kids also really liked the climbing wall at the DuPont Road/Dawson's Creek campus.

But recently, we found we were no longer using it enough to make it worth our while, and we dropped our family membership. My husband often works out at his workplace, and the kids get exercise at their school gyms and sports programs. I was trying to do things from home, and also running outside, which I love to do. But, I decided this winter I was ready for something more.

So after taking advantage of a free one-week trial, I joined the Anytime Fitness in Leo. It's so nice to be in a smaller gym after braving that huge YMCA for years. I've never been in this Anytime Fitness when it is crowded. I know they have fitness classes, so it's probably busier then, but when I've been there during the day it is relatively peaceful and quiet.

The equipment looks fairly new, and is in good condition. In one room are lots of treadmills, ellipticals, bikes and stair climbers. In a separate room are the free weights and machines (which are what I am mostly using right now). It's nice to have this separation. A third room has a projection screen for workout videos, along with a couple of bikes and some nice abdominal equipment. A fourth space, pictured in the lower photo above, is really nice - a very large room with mirrors for classes, or dancing, or stretching perhaps, when there are no classes scheduled.

A member can use one's key fob to swipe the door to get in, which makes it very secure at night or other times when the facility is not staffed. But what great flexibility that is - you could work out late at night or early in the morning. Video cameras are in the different rooms and are monitored by staff in the office, so it feels very safe. If you need assistance or advice, just go during the staffed hours. It's low-key, it's pretty clean, and nice. I like it. I seem to be making time to go, and that means everything. I can also use Anytime Fitness locations when I visit other towns, so I am looking forward to trying that feature.

There are also two tanning bed rooms - I thought we were all supposed to stop doing that for fear of skin cancer, but I must admit I still do like to tan outside in the sun. There are some nice TV screens in the weight machine room, but they always seem to be tuned to Fox News or ESPN, and I'm not that interested anyway. I usually prefer to listen to music through my headphones. I haven't tried the free WiFi feature, but it seems like a nice perk.

There are no big locker rooms, but there is a private shower available if someone needed it. There are two or three bathrooms, which are unisex and private. Usually the bathroom has been clean, but the last time when I was there around 11 a.m. on a Monday, it needed to be cleaned. I really don't understand how adults can miss the toliet a bit, and then not clean up after themselves. The garbage can was also pretty full and the sink was not spotless. Maybe that's just a Monday thing, after the weekend. But we all tend to be germaphobes in the gym, wiping down the machines after ourselves, etc., and rightly so. I bet the next time I go in the bathroom it will be clean again.

I like my new Anytime Fitness routine. I'm paying about $32 - $35/month. I think it's going to be worth it.