The time I met Machinegun Meldon
Got your Book Friday from Amazon... Just started reading it.. NOTE: Two names I know, Machine Gun Meldon & Screw Andrews... Meldon and his brothers (several were cops).. I grew up with his youngest brother Jim (Pidgy), and his one and only sister, Marie.. Pidge was 4 years older than me,, Marie was about a year older.. We all went to Holy Angels School in O'Bryonville.. That is where the Mother of the Meldons lived.. Bob Foppe married Screw's daughter, another O'Bryonville Boy... I saw her on many occasions.. She had a voice you could remember... I hosted an O'Bryonville re-union in 1981-82-83 & some after these years.. The first 2, we had about 350 people show up.
At one time Bob Foppe disappeared for 10 years.. NOBODY KNEW WHERE HE WAS ??? I thought the Gang gave him some concrete shoes to wear in Ohio River, as was the custom.. So they said.. Bob's Mother and my Mother were friends when they were young and single. The last time I saw Machine Gun Meldon was on the River Bank in California, Ohio.. He was sitting there alone drinking a 6 or 12 pack of beer. I sat down and had a beer with him. It was probably after 1981 ??? I think he had cancer at that time.. He and I talked mostly about old O'Bryonville. I remember one thing he said, "Mike Schoot went through Marine Corp on a Golf Scholarship".. :-))) Which was close to the truth statement.. Mike was the son of Roy Schoot, for many years the Caddy Master at Cincinnati Country Club. Most boys growing up in O'B were Caddys. I don't know the history of the early Meldon Family.. I know their Dad was killed in a vehicle accident, somewhere near Fairfax Ave. in Evanston.. He was on Fire Dept. at that time.. I think most of the children were young. Of course I had some (little) time in Newport. I was 18 in 1950. Some of my Buddies were a little older. One time I went with my cousin’s husband in the Cincinnati area to empty nickels from pinball machines. He was working for someone in Newport ??? He was quite active in Newport at that time, ie bartender, cab driver, etc. Pinballs were a big deal at that time. Newport was OK if you behaved yourself.
Thanks for listening to me... I am 88 years old now.... A lot of memories, not much else.. Live here in Peebles, Ohio with my second wife. First Betty died in 1999 after 43 years of me.. My second wife Betty and I have been together for 16 years.. Both will go to Heaven after putting up with me.. Good Luck on sale of your book. — Thomas McDonough
A tip on why the aisles were packed
Peter, in the 70’s, I entertained business guests at Beverly Hills at least ten times.
On weeknights we saw John Davidson, Roger Williams, Ferrante and Teicher, Roberta
Sherwood and Connie Stevens. It was always crowded, by design. The attractions were low cost dinners ($9-$10.00) of chicken, meat, fish or pasta and nationally
recognized second tier stars (no Sinatra or Garland). Beyond the low cost food, there
was an excellent selection of steak or prime rib.
About 20 minutes before the performance, I would leave the dining room, pass a long line waiting to be seated in the Cabaret Room and approach the Captain with
two $20.00 bills visible. I handed him one of them and said I would lead a party of five
(myself included) five minutes before the performance. I told him he would get the other $20 bill then. After I led our party to the theater, the Captain directed two waiters who brought in an 18 inch wide table with a tablecloth and five light weight folding chairs from storage. We followed the waiters right up to the stage where my guests took the two closest seats. Other patrons on both sides of us had already been seated. We filled the aisle as did other guests behind us who also tipped for immediate seating. On its face, this arrangement was a great deal both for those who
only paid for the meal, or business people like us who didn’t mind a modest $8.00
per person cover charge (by tipping). The fatal flaw was that safety was ignored.
Even on a weeknight when only half of the 1000 seat capacity was present, the
exit aisles were filled. I have imagined myself in 1972, a healthy 30 year old, inhaling
black smoke in the dark and stumbling over my 55 year old boss who could not move
as fast as I. I probably would not have survived.
Your book Forbidden Fruit is excellent. You should write more often.
Sincerely,
Dick Rensing
A 1927 poster from the Beverly Hills Country Club owned by Pete Schmidt
The poster was provided by Mary Lee Oberhelman, whose grandfather owned the property before it was sold and later became the Beverly Hills Country Club. Her grandfather, H.M. Davis, was president of the Highland Silver Fox Ranch on the property in the 1920s. He died suddenly in 1928 of appendicitis, and the ranch house (blow) and 17 acres was sold to later become the Beverly Hills County Club owned by Pete Schmidt, that was burned in 1936.
“SILVER FOX INDUSTRY TO BRING WEALTH TO THE OHIO VALLEY,” The Cincinnati Enquirer reported in 1927. Silver Fox furs were in fashion and a single pelt could bring as much as $1,000, the paper reported, with “demand far greater than the supply.”
“That was my grandparents’ home that burned in 1936,” Mrs. Oberhelman said. “It was a big house with a living room that was 20 by 40 feet. It could easily be turned into a gambling club.” Her father always believed his mother was swindled out of the property by Newport gangland lawyer Charles Lester, she said. “That whole hill is just cursed.”
“Newport was safe when the mob was in control.”
Mike Kunkel ran a furniture store in downtown Newport and furnished the casinos and nightclubs for the underworld. “You could always tell when the big boys were in town from New York or Chicago. They would meet in a backroom at Pompilio’s Restaurant. (Heavyweight Champion) Ezzard Charles had a club in Newport, the 323 Club. But the streets were safe. I could take $40,000 and walk it from my store to the bank without a worry. They took care of things and watched everyone.”
But Newport was not so safe for gangsters who stepped out of line, Kunkel recalled. “There was one guy shot down in the street. He was shot nine times and not one of the bullets was from the same gun. Now that was a hit.”