Saturday, February 16, 2008

History Buff's Take Note!

One of the most popular packages that we offer here at Hallauer House B & B in Oberlin is the History Buff Package and one of the things received in that package is the book "The Town That Started the Civil War"
by Nat Brandt. So mark your calendar now and make plans to visit Oberlin in mid April when Nat Brandt will be presenting several programs co-sponsored by the Oberlin College Archives and the Oberlin Heritage Center in partnership with the Oberlin Wellington Rescue Coalition. His visit will be the kick-off to a series of events planned throughout the year on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. Mr. Brandt will speak about his newest book, In the Shadow of the Civil War: Passmore Williamson and the Rescue of Jane Johnson. at the Oberlin Public Library on Friday, April 11th at 4 p.m. There will be a book signing after the talk.

Then on Sat., April 12th at 2:00 p.m., Nat Brandt will present Oberlin's Finest Hour and How It Resonates Today: Reflections on the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of 1858. This presentation will take place at First Church in Oberlin, 106 North Main St. and will be followed by a reception and book signing.


April is a very busy month in Oberlin with students returning for final decisions, so if you are really interested in delving into Civil War history, now would be a good time to make your accommodations at Hallauer House B & B for that weekend. Enjoy our History Buff Package and receive your personal copy of "The Town That Started the Civil War." Then take your new book and have it signed by the Author! And remember to mark your calendars to be here in September for the re-enactment of the Oberlin -Wellington Rescue. More info on that coming later!

Monday, February 11, 2008

"Baby It's Cold Outside!!!!"

Last night the temperatures began to drop and finally stopped when it reached 2 degrees but the wind chill made it feel about 10 below! It's now 11 degrees! We've had some heat problems recently in our private section of the B & B, all related to our natural gas well. Everyone is always fascinated when we tell them we have FREE heat in the downstairs of our house because the furnace, stove, and hot water heater are fed from our private gas well 1000 feet underground! The well was put in in the 1960's and has served us faithfully for 16 years. But in Jan. the gas all of a sudden stopped. Finding a gas well repair person was no easy task but after serveral phone calls we found someone who would come out. He found water in the well and managed to bail it out down to 850 feet and then discovered that it had developed holes below that allowing more water to come in. He sent us to another
driller who could go deeper and he said we needed to pack the well and install new pipe as it had collasped at the bottotm! So in order to have hot water, we had to install a supplemental electric water heater and we are still waiting for the driller to insall the new pipe. I think that all the money we have saved over the years getting our "free" gas has been eaten up with the cost of repairing the well! But with the cost of propane (we can't get Columbia gas in the country) we figured we can still recoup the repair cost. Let's hope so! I'll write an update when we start getting our gas back! The guest bedrooms are quite warm and toasty, there is plenty of hot water so the B & B is still running smoothly. It is just our private areas that can get a little chilly.