The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Resident remembers growing up in city
Janice Habinski recalls simpler times in Lake County’s largest city
The smell of cupcakes was all around as Janice Anthony Habinski leafed through a book of memories.
This is the last of a three-part series in which longtime residents share memories of their communities. Nov. 23: A reflection on Willoughby’s past Nov. 24: A reflection on Painesville’s past Nov. 25: A reflection on Mentor’s past
The smell of fresh-baked cupcakes was all around as Janice Anthony Habinski leafed through a book of memories on a recent afternoon.
She was perusing “Mentor: A Restrospective,” while at Confectionary Cupboard, an appropriate location to look through the memoir she helped create in 1985.
The cupcake business is housed in the Abram Garfield-designed former library building, moved to 7300 Center St. from the corner of Center and Mentor Avenue.
“I was always at the library,” Habinski said. “It’s gone through quite a few changes. … They’ve kept the flavor of it.”
Her family moved to Mentor in 1954, when she was 7 years old. She lived elsewhere for 16 years, when her then-husband got a job in Michigan, but returned to Mentor and has stayed ever since.
“People always come back to Mentor, I’m finding,” she said.
The fabulous ’50s
Habinski was born in Oklahoma, lived in Eastlake, then arrived to Mentor.
“My family has lived in this same house since 1954,” she said.
In those days, the changing seasons brought a variety of outdoor activities, including pond skating and sledding on Bolton hill in the winter, backyard pool swimming and beach visits in summer, and toasting marshmallows and an occasional potato over leaves being burned in people’s driveways in fall.
“It was unnecessary to lock doors back then, and parents believed it so safe that we were allowed to sleep in the back yard in makeshift tents,” said Habinski, now 70 years old.
She attended Brentmoor Elementary School when it was a brand new building, opened in 1955.
Neighborhood children frequented a tiny store called Colkits on the northwest corner of routes 306 and 84. There were few fences in those days, so they took shortcuts through neighbors’ yards.
“The excitement came when trying to decide which penny candy we wanted,” she said.
Her father, Bob Anthony, organized the Brentmoor Civic Association for the Midland-Moor area. The group arranged for “Santa” to drive up and down the streets in a horse-drawn sleigh before Christmas.
“We also had a neighbor, an elderly gentleman named Mr. Hall, who walked the street late at night Christmas Eve ringing jingle bells to convince the children that it was Santa,” she said. “In a simpler time, it worked.”
Most children were involved in scouting and church youth groups in 1950s Mentor.
Before the days of Little League, the only organized sports were loosely structured baseball teams that played at the elementary schools.
“If you showed up, you could play,” she said.
In the 1950s, there were still many grand estates in Mentor, including Merrifield Farm and the H.B. Van Cleve residence, where some high school proms were held. The latter was burned for practice by the Mentor Fire Department in 1974.
High school daze
The 1960s brought many changes, from the opening of Great Lakes Mall to the uniting of Mentor Township and Village into a city, in 1963.
Habinski graduated from Mentor High School in 1965 — the last class in the old high school, which is now Memorial Junior High.
“I still do a newsletter for my class,” she said. “Our class was 472 students. At that time, we were the biggest class to come through the school, because we were the first Baby Boomers. Now it’s a drop in the bucket.”
Headlands Beach State Park was a gathering place for parties and bonfires with friends. Other hangouts included Cicerelli’s — later Hobnobber’s and a Mexican restaurant — northeast of Hopkins Road and Route 20. The Italian eatery was a staple in the community since 1924.
Students also would gather on the opposite corner, where a Kenny Kings once stood. It’s now a CVS.
“The first McDonald’s came about in 1966 (on Route 20 near Little Mountain Road), and it’s now considered the old one,” Habinski said. “They had 15-cent hamburgers and 12-cent fries.”
The land where the mall now stands was part of Klyn Nurseries rose gardens. There were some memorable businesses in the vicinity, such as Bargain Fair, on the current Value City Furniture site.
“It was a big old barn, and the roof was turquoise and an orange,” she said. “People would camp overnight there to be first in line for ‘Krazy Daze’ to buy a car for a dollar. I’m telling you, they sold everything.”
The mall was built in 1961 and was a far cry from the retail destination of today. It began with Penney’s and Newberry’s (like a dime store), and later May Company and Kroger were added. Now the mall is home to more than 120 retailers.
“We actually held our Senior Prom at the brand new Great Lakes Mall and walked over to the new Ridge Junior High for dinner,” she said.
Her parents would often take the family to the mall to “people watch” on Saturday nights.
“Lots of people did,” she said. “You’d wave ‘Hi’ to your neighbors, catch up on the news. It was very small-town back then. The people who grew up here are still small-town type people.”
A passion to preserve
As the mall grew, so did the city. Some beloved buildings were torn down or transformed into new uses.
Habinski’s desire to keep the memories alive led her to join the Old Mentor Foundation, formed in 1971 to preserve the heritage of Mentor. The group documented 102 historic buildings and initiated restoration of Old Council Hall.
Among the members were Bob Brewer, the city’s first mayor.
“I’m the only living member as far as I know,” she said. “I would like to get it started again, if there’s enough interest. There are things in Mentor I’d like to keep in Mentor.”