The Criterion Club

                                                              
The Criterion CLUB

 

       Organized in Dayton, Ohio, October 12, 1889

 

 

HISTORY OF CRITERION CLUB NOTES & REMEMBRANCES

 

OCTOBER 24, 2014

 

         It all began back in the spring of 1889 when Mr. O.D. Wolfe founded an organization of men that was called the “Break Away” Club.  In existence approximately six months, with Mr. Wolfe as the moving spirit, all meetings were held in his rooms, located on the third floor of the Winters Bank Building on North Main Street, which later housed the Gem City Building & Loan Association.  On October 12, 1889, the first meeting of the Brake Way Club was called in the west parlor of the Phillips House Hotel on the southwest corner of Main and Third streets.  Mr. Wolfe put together a Committee of three men: Charles A. Rau, Charles Shannon and J.A. Smith, that prepared the original resolution to organize.  A copy of that document is in your hands.  Interesting enough, the President Protem, Gruthuien (spelling?) is nowhere to be found in any of the many documents that I looked at. 

 

         As an aside, the Phillips House was really the classiest place in town.  Built in 1852, with Dayton’s population at 13,000, it was the first “American Plan” hotel in Dayton, offering both rooms and dining for the many travelers and gold rush hopefuls heading cross country to the west.

 

         My predecessor, Ed Warner, in a newspaper article covering the 90th anniversary of the club, opined that “We don’t know what the “Break Away” meant…maybe getting away from the family to be with friends.” 

 

         In accordance with the 6th Article of the original resolution, a committee of five, I believe, consisting of O.D. Wolfe, Joseph K. Baker, Edward G. Durst, William Hadler and William F. Hackett…not real clear to me…drafted the club’s ByLaws.  Subsequently,

 

         The members did not like the name, Break Away Club and so, after six months, with discussion pro and con, lots of fun and jokes, O.D. Wolfe gave in and consented to the name, Criterion Club and it was adopted.  Also, membership was limited to 31.  In doing my research, I found just 30 members who made up the original membership.  Perhaps the leadership decided to add just one more member…to have one vacancy…and established the limit of 31.  I could find

no other explanation in the documents I have.  The membership is composed of prominent business and professional men of the city.  And, in those early days, the men met on the last Saturday in
January, April, July and October.

 

         Annual dues was $1.00.  The initiation fee was $2.00 and in addition thereto, 2% of the total amount of the General Fund as reported at the previous annual meeting.  The Sick Benefits were created by making assessments.  Later on the initiation fee was increased to $20.00 plus the current quarterly assessment of $4.50 and one-half of the assessment of $4.50 was credited to the account of the General Fund and Sick Benefits.  There was a lot of bookkeeping in those days.

 

         The first officers of the Criterion Club were:  Charles Shannon, President, O.D. Wolf, Secretary, and W.C. Kershner, Treasurer.  A Death Benefit of $50.00 was created in 1908 and W.J. Ferguson’s widow received the first Death Benefit in 1913.  The death benefit was later increased to $100.00.  And it remains at that level today.

 

          Also, in accordance with the 3rd Article of the original resolution, the object of the club being to pay its members weekly benefits in case of sickness or disability whereby they are unable to follow their usual occupation, each new member had to have a physical examination and pass it to be considered for membership.  If a member got sick and was sick two weeks…then he was entitled to receive benefits of $10 a week up to a total of $600…IF the Sick Committee approved.  Also, once a member received the $600, he ceased to be an active member of the club…presumably until his debt was paid… not very clear in the information I found.

 

         At some point in the early history of the club, fines were established for members who did not attend a meeting…IF they did not have a very good excuse.  For some reason there were a lot of absences in those days, perhaps to get the sick benefits, so there were a lot of fines…$2.00 for each unexcused absence.

 

         Interesting enough, it appears that providing sickness or disability benefits eventually gave way to spending a part of the club’s funds for socializing.  Meeting many years in the west parlor of the beautiful Phillips House Hotel, the older members recalled many happy, pleasant and social gatherings.  One of the real good and enjoyable times was their picnics on the old Canal Boat down the raging Miami Canal to West Carrollton and return.  Many other trips to the Springfield Country Club, The Elk Club, Algonquin Hotel, Dayton City Club, Bicycle Club and many other places where entertainments were for the pleasure of their wives and sweethearts.

 

         As the records show, the Criterion Club members dined quite well and usually included plenty of adult beverages, cigars and cigarettes…all paid for by the club…to go with games of poker and euchre.  This went on for many years until, at the October 23rd, 1953 meeting of Criterion Club at the Van Cleve Hotel, the question of discontinuing sick benefits came before the club.  The directors were well aware of the fact that a promise made is a debt unpaid.  I get the impression that collecting the debts became a problem for the club.  Judge Don Thomas said, “There should be no ambiguity, doubtfulness, or uncertainty of signification.”  Some members wish to discontinue sick benefits and make the club a “SOCIAL CLUB.”  It was no insurance club.  A motion was made to limit the benefits of older members.  All previous motions were withdrawn and the matter referred back to the committee for reconsideration and report at the next meeting.  Back and forth the issue went and, after three years in committee, at the July 27, 1956 meeting at the Van Cleve Hotel, the question of discontinuing the sick benefits came before the club.  Perhaps a bit tired of the whole mess by now, a motion was made and carried that sick benefits be discontinued.  It now became a “Social Club” and good times were ahead for the members.  Great food, plenty to adult beverages, places to go, lots of things to do.  And with members who were of means, there was almost no limit to what the fellowship could do.

 

         One example of that and an eresting bit of history, including some humor, happened in 1966 when Criterion Club became “international”…the first Criterion Club meeting held outside the United States.  From the minutes…at 2:56 PM on July 21st, the cream of Dayton Criterion Club took off for Port Severen, Ontario.  It was a beautiful day and a delightful flight.  With the assistance of a beautiful piece of tailwind, we arrived at Bracebridge Airport about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.  Our thanks to Ed Warner and Forey Becher for making arrangements with South Dayton for the Executive DC-3.  Our chief pilot and co-pilot were very expert and the bartender, Frankie Maryland, helped to make the trip very enjoyable.  On Friday, July 22nd, after a hearty breakfast, several of the members took to the waters but did not quite exhaust their supply of Walleye, Bass, etc.  When the anglers returned and the liquid refreshments started to flow, we held the first Criterion Club meeting ever held outside the Continental United States.  The meeting was called to order and the following signified with some grunt or signal that they were present:  George Anderson, Becher, Brown, Bush, Delscamp, Ellis, Neff, Lawton, Rickard, Warner, and Willis.  There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned and we retired to social session and pool.  All who were present had a delightful experience and an enjoyable three days at Beechwood.  That Canadian water, woodland and ozone is tremendous and invigorating.  Our sincere thanks to Huston Brown for making this trip possible.  On July 24th, after another pleasant flight, via Cleveland, where we told off the customs officials, we arrived at South Dayton Airport full of good spirits.  Respectfully submitted, Your retiring secretary, O.C. Locks.  In the interest of accuracy, George Anderson was secretary at that time so this O.C. Locks must be his alias.

 

           Many of these fellows were members when I joined the Criterion Club in 1975 and every meeting was lively to say the least.  Pretty salty if you know what I mean.  But, thankfully, much of that has faded away out of respect for the diverse membership.

 

            Memories…I have many but will mention just a few:

 

            Only member to ever be rejected…wasn’t easy.  Won’t mention his name but that was a tough one.  Long story short, he was nominated, approved by the directors but rejected by the members..not once but twice, despite a very fair hearing and discussion with the members.

 

             Dale Fawcett, Frank Herschede and Max Schneider probably remember the October 25, 1991 meeting when we first had our dinner meeting at Herschel Headley’s party house and then drove out to the South Dayton Airport…now called the Wright Brothers Airport…where Jim Custer, a volunteer there, made arrangements for us to see and learn about the Wright B Flyer and then take a ride in the reproduction aircraft.  For a $125.00 contribution, I couldn’t resist…along with three other members: John Calhoun, Bill Kane, and Bob Reeves.  I was the first to “suit-up” with goggles and climb into the seat.  We taxied out to the end of the runway, did our run-up check and off we went…up, up and away to an altitude of probably 50 feet and then right back down for a landing!  It was a hoot to say the least and Jim Custer recorded it with his video cam for me to keep.  I received a nice certificate indicating that I was the 340th of so person to take the ride.

 

        Huston Brown, long-time member, inventor and super salesman for the Joyce-Cridland Company, maker of jacks and lifts for service garages.  Always a big hit at our get togethers with his little talks about life, always with a nice lesson.  Moved to Tryon North Carolina and would come to our picnics at Ben Sproat’s home in July.  In fact, I would usually pick him up at a motel at the Dayton Mall and bring him to Ben’s place and take him home.  One time, Huston brought his guitar and, after everyone had gone home, he insisted that he play us some tunes.  That went on and on and on for a good couple hours but I finally got him back to his motel.

 

         I almost quit one time when we met at Herschel Headley’s home…in that neat little party room next to the pool.  One of the members…I won’t say who…kept badgering me about the poor job I was doing with the financial report.  I discussed it with George Shellabarger, the fellow who got me into this job, and that was the end of the badgering.

 

          And then there was the time ole Ben Sproat really let me have it real good because I had forgotten to check my stash of adult beverages before delivering them to his place the evening of the meeting.  Oh my, the wrath of ole Ben was almost more than I could handle.  I knew that Ben had plenty of booze in the house and actually tapped into at times when someone wanted something we didn’t have.  So, to put a stop to his rant, I turned and headed for the car…to go after what we needed.  Having accomplished his mission of teaching me a lesson, ole Ben yelled at me to get back here…I’ve got some I can bring out.  Ben, as many of you remember, was a quick wit and you could not top him.  I truly loved than man…an ex Marine…who had a heart of gold.

 

           Now, let me just say a few words about some of our members who have passed on because they represent the true character and integrity of Criterion Club Members: