Dash Between: Herman Frankel, owned three Elyria movie theaters

Herman Frankel owned three movie houses, located within a few blocks of one another in downtown Elyria, from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s, before television and the newly opened Midway Cinema at the Midway Mall drew away audiences and cut into his profits.

During one particular week in 1960, movie fans could see the Doris Day romantic comedy, "Please Don't Eat the Daisies," at Frankel's Capitol, watch Jerry Lewis in the zany "Visitor to a Small Planet," at the Rivoli or view "Samson and Delilah," a biblical epic from 1949 starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr, at the Lincoln Theatre.

Frankel also offered cartoons and kid-centric Saturday matinees and special showings of spooky movies.

Click here to read about "The Dash Between" Aug. 6, 1922, when Frankel was born in Cleveland, and Nov. 8, 2010, when he died at age 88, which was published in the Dec. 19, 2010, edition of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.

The Lorain County Historical Society provided this photo of the Capitol Theatre. It's from a collection of movie-related photos that Herman Frankel gave the society in 2005.

Patch Work, Lakewood: Obits for George Dobrea and Dr. Mary Anne King

The Lakewood Patch is live and has my stories about two local folks, who have died: George Dobrea, Northeast Ohio's honorary consul general of Romania, and Dr. Mary Anne King (Kilroy), diagnostic radiologist.

More Patches will be launching in the coming days. Go to Patch.com to keep track of which ones are "coming soon" and which are "new."

Patch Work, Fairlawn-Bath: Obits for Frank D. Martion, Karen Kleinfeld

My first two obits for the Fairlawn-Bath Patch, which launched Dec. 14, 2010, are for Frank D. Martino, retired International Chemical Workers Union president, and Karen Kleinfeld, retired Akron Children's Hospital administrative lab director.

Martino lived in Fairlawn, Ohio. Kleinfeld was a resident of Bath, Ohio.

Patch Work, Strongsville, Ohio: Obits for Springsteen fan and a businessman

Joanne Connolly, a library clerk and bigtime Bruce Springsteen fan, and Alva Stone, an independent sales rep and tax review board official, are the subjects of the first two obits on Patch.com's news site for Strongsville, Ohio.

Strongsville Patch launched Dec. 13, 2010. Explore it at http://strongsville.patch.com/.

Patch Work, Avon, Ohio: Bill Hricovec and Henrietta Straub

Bill Hricovec, who owned Tom's Country Place, and Henrietta Straub, retired Heinen's cashier, were the first people to have obits posted on Patch.com's community news site for Avon, Ohio.

Explore the Avon Patch, which made its online debut Dec. 13, 2010, at http://avon-oh.patch.com/

Dash Between: Warren Powelson, worked on the railroad

My "Dash Between" for the late Warren Powelson, a retired freight train conductor, was published in the Dec. 5, 2010, edition of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.

Writing about Mr. P stirred memories of my own childhood, when my dad, who had worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, used to take me to the railroad tracks to wave at the guy in the caboose in the 1950s.

I think most people of my generation were taught to pay their respects to the caboose and the railroaders inside it. What a thrill when the trainmen waved back!

Click here to read about the Dash Between June 11, 1916, when Warren Powelson was born in Amsterdam, Ohio, and Oct. 11, 2010, when he died at age 94.

Dash Between: Bev Hall, Secret Santa, Medina Wal-Mart greeter

Bev Hall, who greeted customers to the Wal-Mart in Medina, Ohio, since it opened in the mid-1990s, anonymously gave money, food, school supplies, toys and loads of other stuff to folks in need.

She could best be described as a Secret Santa, no matter what time of year she was performing her good-deed doing.

Click here to read the story from the Dec. 6, 2010, edition of the Medina County Gazette about "The Dash Between" April 19, 1940, when Bev was born Beverly Heilman in Lodi, Ohio, and Oct. 14, 2010, when the lifelong Spencer resident died of complications from a stroke.