Toledo Showman Leaves Legacy in Lights

When Toledo was still in its adolescence as a city and flexing its Midwestern muscle in the world of industry and commerce, it required leaders with vision. And in the early years of the 20th century, it could be argued that Toledo had no shortage of such ambitious visionaries. Mayor Samuel Jones, Brand Whitlock, The Lamson and Tietdke brothers,  John Gunckel, Edward D. Libbey,  Michael Owens, Edward Ford  or suffragette Rosa Segur, Inventor Lyman Spitzer, and developer George Ketcham.   There are many others and the list is lengthy of those who left heavy footprints on the city’s pathway to the industrial and social future.  Public entertainment and theatre were also a key part of life in the city in those years and one man, Frank Burt, played a major role in creating venues where hard working Toledoans could find a few hours of relaxation and laughs.  Unlike many,  Burt’s legacy did not fade away with the decades. Even though his name has largely been lost in the dust of time, his venues continue to live on and and his creations continue to entertain. Frank, the son of a Confederate officer was born in Louisiana and his birth name was Frank Burton Fulenwider, but his father, frowned on Frank entering the world of showbusiness and forbade him to use the family name, so Frank became Frank Burt. In the 1890’s Frank came to Toledo almost penniless, but soon landed a job as manager of the Casino theater near Point Place and within time, his eager ambition made him a successful showman as owner of numerous theaters and entertainment venues nationwide. Ever the showman, he would became the focal point of his own melodrama that almost shortened his career and legacy. On a warm spring night in May of 1904,  he was shot and gravely wounded by his irate wife in front of his theater, the Burt Theater at Jefferson and Ontario.

The Burt Theater as it stands today on Jefferson

Addie Burt had pulled up in her carraige, and saw him talking with a man under the marquee of the theater and she wanted Frank to go inside the theater where they could talk. Frank refused. It was then she reached into the folds of her dress and withdrew a small pistol and opened fire on Frank. One of the bullets went through a cheek and exited out his eye socket, She hurried away and while Burt, who was still able to move, ran to a nearby saloon for help.  Frank later said that Addie shot him because she suspected he was having an affair with another woman. Earlier that morning he had served her with divorce papers.

The young Burt would later recover from his wounds, but the marriage didn’t survive. And ironically while Frank managed to live, six months later Addie Burt died of sudden brain inflammation.

That turn of events allowed to Frank to marry the young showgirl, Candace Morgan, with whom he was indeed having an affair.  That wedlock and his marriage to his ambitions as a theater promoter lived on for another two decades.

At the time of the shooting Frank Burt, a former Vaudevillian himself, was listed in the papers as owning more than eight theaters around the country including the Burt and Lyceum Theaters in Toledo, and other theaters in Ft. Wayne, Lima, Evansville, Youngstown and other cities in the area.

The Casino, circa 1900, Burt was part owner

He was also a part owner of the Toledo Casino at Point Place and had an investment in the newest amusement park on Lake Erie, called Cedar Point in Sandusky.

As for the Burt Theater in Toledo, he opened it in 1898 as a copy of a 15th century Venetian palace complete with a row of ornate gothic columns and balconies.

The 1565 seat theater also featured an extra wide row called a “fat man’s row”.

Patrons were offered a variety of daily shows of early Vaudeville performances and melodramas, but like many “live” theaters of its era, the popularity was eclipsed by the growth of moving picture houses.

In 1907, Frank Burt would have another brush with death, suffering painful injuries when he was trying to crank his automobile and it jumped into gear and pinned him against a light pole crushing his legs.

After healing and regaining his strength, Burt left Toledo in `1908 and moved into new areas of theatrical interest to pursue even greater achievements.

He was by most measure, a master showman and creative and enterprising amusement park manager and his reputation became legendary across the nation.

Lakside Amusement Park near Denver

By 1912, he was managing the popular Lakeside Amusement Park in the bustling city of Denver, and a few years later, he began dividing his time between Denver and California when he took the role as concessions manager of the Pan American Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915.

After the Exposition, Burt moved south to the coastal town of Seal Beach California where he developed and managed the Seal Beach Amusement Park, or “Joy Zone” in California which opened in 1916.

The Joy Zone at Panama Expo in 1915

His colorful presence there left an indelible impression on the town he is remembered fondly by local historians.

One of his claims to fame was the promotion of dare-devil air stunts including wing walkers, and aerobatic performers.

Some of his projects still live to this day as a legacy to his talents and vision, Cedar Point, The Lakeside Amusement Park near Denver and the still standing theater building that bears his name in Toledo, the Burt Theater.

After those ventures in California, like many at the time, Burt was bitten with the “movie” bug. He and his wife moved north to the San Francisco area to start a movie colony in that part of the state. But after a few ill-fated movies and bouts of illness. Burt’s star would no longer rise.

Frank Burt died in 1924.

But the old Burt theater did not die. In later years, it inspired a new showman for Toledo.

As downtown Toledo evolved, the old Burt theater would find a new life as the home venue for another great showman. Duane Abbajay. Duane took the reigns of the theater in 1962 when it was the very popular Peppermint Club where Jerry Lee Lewis would amaze audiences with his energy and musical prowess. Abbajay brought in many top acts, including Chubby Checker, Little Richard and the Everly Brothers. 

But as Duane saw the rising popularity of country music in the 1970’s, he took the theater in another direction and the club became the Country Palace and would fill the venue by booking top country acts of the day including Waylon Jennings.  It also earned a national claim to fame by being mentioned in Kenny Roger’s famous ballad “Lucille”.  Set in a “bar room in Toledo across the from depot”, the song’s creator Hal Bynum is reputed to have witnessed a scene at the Palace one day that inspired the song’s story.

After Abbajay sold the club, 725 Jefferson became a popular drag show venue known as Ceaser’s Show Bar. The operation and reputation of Ceaser’s flourished for well over a decade before, its lights were dimmed by time and an out of control city bus that rammed the front entrance. It was the proverbial show stopper.

 There was talk about tearing the building down, but thankfully rational heads prevailed. Its history and architectural features were saved from the wrecking ball of progress by those who recognized that it still had value and good bones. The county’s Land Bank took control in 2013 and it has since been rescued by a new owner who has plans for preserving this historic treasure of Toledo for future use.  Stayed tuned. The old Burt Theater at Ontario and Jefferson may yet have a new life and somewhere Frank Burt is smiling.

Bullets, Badges and Batons..the Story of Police Inspector Charles Roth

Inspector Charles Roth

      The Toledo Symphony Orchestra celebrated its 70th birthday this past year and  what many Toledoans probably don’t know is that the seeds of the symphony were sown by a a man who grew up a farmer and then later became a Toledo Policeman. That officer was  Inspector Charles Roth who grew up in Defiance County in the early 1900’s the son of a farmer, but the young man was not content with the idea of following in his father’s footsteps to cultivate corn, Roth, instead, wanted to cultivate and grow the music in his heart.  At a young age, Roth had already taken up the piano and trumpet and numerous other instruments. He was a natural, and he was passionate about playing the instruments with enough talent to relocate someday to Toledo where he might play in the popular Toledo Police Band.

Early Toledo Police band

By 1917, he achieved that goal. He moved to the big city upstream on the Maumee where he joined the Toledo Police Department as a rookie on street patrol.   When he wasn’t pounding the beat, young Roth was keeping the beat, while playing in the popular Toledo Police Band.  By 1923, however, Roth’s ambitions as a musician were ready to expand and so he formed the Toledo Police Civic Symphony, recruiting musicians from all walks of life throughout the Toledo area who shared his appreciation and talents for good music.  Roth led this new orchestra as its conductor and musical director, while at the same time, continuing his career on the streets as a Toledo Police officer.  The Toledo Civic               Symphony proved to be a hit with local citizens during the 1930’s, appearing often in concert at numerous venues around the city.  Roth as the conductor, reached for new horizons as a writer and composer.  By 1937, he wrote the official Centennial March for Toledo’s 100th birthday. The orchestra debuted this original composition at the newly built Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre. It would not be his last composition.  Over the course of his life, Roth wrote more than 70 symphonies and other pieces.

Charles Roth and Toledo Civic Symphony

Lt. Roth did not go away in rancor.  While the love of music played the melody of his life, it was always in harmony with his career, for Roth was also considered an outstanding law enforcement officer in a number of areas.  Among them, his renowned abilities and skills as a marksman.  Instrumental in the building of Toledo’s police shooting range at Bay View Park, Roth exhibited his skills as a champion marksman in numerous matches held at the range. His reputation was unrivaled in Toledo and most of the nation.  In 1927 he won the U.S. national revolver championship held at Camp Perry.

Roth Teaching at TPD Academy

Roth was also one of the driving forces behind the development of the Toledo Police Academy.  With a strong belief that police officers needed more training, discipline and professionalism, Roth helped guided the academy’s growth for many years and literally wrote some of the earliest books and manuals that the rookies absorbed during their training. Adding to his long resume as a true renaissance man, Roth had a love for horses and wrote several books about them and their owners. he was often invited to be the announcer for local rodeos held in the Toledo area.  In his spare time on Sundays, he taught Sunday school for a Methodist church.  To say he was a stern man, might be an understatement, Roth to this day is remembered as a strict disciplinarian, who could be sharply candid in his remarks and commentary.  Many young officers learned to fear Mr. Roth’s reputation as a tough taskmaster and his no-nonsense style.  Those who knew him well, however, also knew that he could be as compassionate as he was strict, often giving musicians and officers personal loans if they didn’t have enough money to make it to payday.

Captain Roth at Police Range

Major Charles Roth by the end of his career, had helped the Toledo Police Department grow as a professional law enforcement organization over five decades and when he left this life in 1967, he left behind not just a police department,  but a wonderful symphony orchestra that to this day can ascribe a part of its legacy to this most unique and dedicated Toledo Police officer.

My thanks to the Toledo Police Museum for their photos and information about Charles Roth. If you would like  to visit the Museum it is on Kenwood Blvd. at Ottawa Park.

Here is a video from the Toledo Police Museum about this most talented policeman.

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Toledo’s Big Organs still make powerful music

(This is from a story I did recently at NBC 24)

 

TOLEDO — There is no larger musical instrument or nothing more majestic than a concert or theatre pipe organ.  In Toledo, we still have plenty of people who love to listen to their powerful music and luckily a number of people who are passionate about keeping their music alive. That passion for the big organ sound is in evidence this with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra as they continue to present special organ concerts featuring the now restored and historic Skinner organ at the Peristyle. For those who have never heard the Skinner organ or any large  theatre or concert pipe organ, it can be a thrilling experience. (Think Phantom of the Opera).  So what is it about this big music that we love so much. “It’s a combination of all the parts coming together to make a wonderful sound.” says Evan Chase, who is President of the Toledo Theatre Organ Society. Chase, who doesn’t play the organ is fascinated by them and has become an expert technician who can tune and restore them. He currently has two of the large theatre organs in his south Toledo home.  One of them is a “Mighty Wurlizter” organ, made in 1926, salvaged from the Loews’s Theatre in New Rochelle, New York.  This organ with a beautiful wooden console, he  is hoping to donate it to someone or some group that wants to give it a good home in a local theatre or concert hall.   While the Wurlitzer that takes up much of his living does not currently play,  Chase has another, set up in his basement, and it does play and is the centerpiece of his own old-time movie theatre, complete with seats, a large screen, and projector system.  The Golden Kimball organ, he says, was originally installed nearly a 100 years ago in the Capital Theater of Aberdeen South Dakota.   It was purchased by a Minnesota businessman in the early 1970’s and eventually found its way to Toledo and to Chase’s basement. The Kimball, which uses player piano rolls to key the music, belts out a huge sound from it many ranks of pipes and other mechanics which are hidden behind the interior walls of the basement theater.

Chase, 63, and now retired, says he became interested in this pipe organs many years ago when he visited a theater organ concert in suburban Detroit. ” “When I heard and saw that golden console rise up from the orchestra pit and hearing that and seeing the old movies again, I said this is it, this is my life’s work.” And the work of keeping these antique instruments in good shape is considerable. There are thousands of parts and there can be many ranks of pipes, all tuned precisely to a specific pitch, and each organ employs a system of air and mechanics to make the sounds. Without constant care and stewardship, they can become unplayable. Even the tuning can be thrown off with a change in the humidity or temperature.   At the Peristyle,  the restoration of the grand Skinner organ a few years ago was a major undertaking and required hundreds of thousands of dollars and meticulous detail in the rehab.

Evan Chase, meanwhile, hopes he can find someone in Toledo who would be willing to take the big Wurlitzer,  invest in its future well-being, and use it in a fitting venue.  So far, he hasn’t found any takers.  Historically, the large pipe organs were the primary source of music for Toledo’s many movie palaces. They were used in silent movie houses to play a musical score along with the action on the screen. But they fell silent and out of favor when the “talkies” or motion picture sound came into being, or when theatres could use recorded music.   Facing obsolescence,  many of these musical giants were left in the dusty backrooms or just found their way to junkyards or demolition yards. But not all.  Many of them were fortunately rescued. Their value was appreciated by historians and they were frequently restored and reused in other venues.  In Toledo, the “Mighty Wurlitzer” that once the throaty “voice” of the famed Paramount Theatre downtown was also headed for an uncertain future when the old theatre building was torn down in the name of “progress”.  Effiorts to save the organ locally were futile. Thanks to the efforts of those recognized its potential, the Golden Wurlitzer  found its way to California in 1986,  where it was restored is now the featured organ at the Berkeley Community Theatre near San Francisco.

At the Ohio Theatre on Lagrange Street, which is currently under renovation,  the pipe organ still remains on premises, and Evan Chase and others involved in the renovation of the theatre, hope it can be restored to its former sound and power.   Chase is also looking at other various old movie theatres around the Toledo area to see if he might be able to place his Mighty Wurlitzer there and re-create a classic movie palace, but the choices are limited.  In downtown Toledo, the only  large movie palace left is the now restored Valentine Theatre, but they have reportedly declined the offer to take the Wurlitzer and use it there.   At one time, in downtown Toledo, there were over 20 big movie and live performance theatres, but those days have faded, and most fell to the fate of a wrecking ball.  Chase, who is also a classic movie buff and promoter is currently offering special classic film series nights at the renovated Maumee Indoor Theatre on Conant Street. In a future writing, we’ll talk more about his efforts and the desire of others (including this authors), to recall with great fondness, those days when downtown Toledo in the evenings was ablaze with marquee lights and a full spectrum of entertainment choices.