Bicycle a hit at the fair

Ask folks of a certain age what their favorite part of the Jay County Fair was, and you might be surprised by their answer: George Codling’s bicycle.
To which anyone under the age of 60 who didn’t grow up in Portland is likely to say, “George Who?”
George Codling was, to put it plainly, a character.
For many years, he ran a popcorn stand at Main and Meridian streets, right in the center of the county seat.
How it came to be there is anyone’s guess. But it appears in vintage photographs from the 1930s to the 1950s. At some point, after pressure from the health department and city officials, it was removed.
Beside the popcorn stand, there was a public drinking fountain. Apparently put there so you could wash down the popcorn.
But it had other uses as well.
Last week in the Classics Tent at the fair, where Codling’s battered and rusty old bicycle was on display, one woman told me she had vivid memories of seeing George wash his feet in that same drinking fountain. She never drank from it again.
As I said, he was a character.
George Codling frightened small children as he trundled around town on his bike, never really pedaling, just pushing with one foot and then the other, as if he were poling a boat down a river.
And he was often the target of taunting and cruelty on the part of older kids.
According to George’s obituary, he at one point worked at Indiana Glass Co. in Dunkirk, though details of that are lost to the ages.
In fact, George Codling would have soon disappeared into local legend if not for the efforts of Dave Frasher.
Dave, an amateur historian and active member of the Jay County Historical Society, is the guy responsible for tracking down Codling’s bike and making arrangements for it to be displayed. He also tracked down the obit from 1969 and a number of photos, including one of George having a cold drink on a hot day.
Frasher also researched the life of J. Esta Taylor, a former county treasurer and businessman who overcame disabilities to achieve significant success in both business and local politics.
For Dave, the important thing was that these fixtures from our childhood not be forgotten.
History isn’t always about the powerful; sometimes it’s just about the colorful, the people who add a little spice to the small town stew.
And it was clear to visitors to the Classics Tent that Dave had hit a nerve.
Those who remembered J. Esta Taylor and George Codling had stories to tell. Those who had never heard of them were enriched by the stories that were told.
It was a great addition to the fair, and Dave’s already working on research for next year’s fair, when the lives of two other “ordinary but extra-ordinary” people will be in the spotlight.[[In-content Ad]]