Article published August 16, 2009
Perrysburg’s Carranor club has its roots in polo
Imagine the excitement to have been a spectator when the Perrysburg Freebooters played Troop D, a Toledo cavalry unit, in a polo match on the Maumee River flats in Perrysburg.
That was long ago, in the 1920s. Perrysburg was recognized as an important equestrian town in the Midwest, and the Carranor Hunt and Polo Club was newly organized to promote polo and cross country riding and its team was the Freebooters.
The members may no longer play polo or spend a Sunday afternoon riding horseback cross-country, but they bring those good old days to the present in conversation as they remember their own experiences, or what parents and grandparents told them about the early days at the club.
The names of several well-known local families figure prominently in the diary of Carranor, which dates to 1921, when Toledo’s industrial leaders were establishing permanent homes on East River Road in Perrysburg. Spitzer, Knight, Ford, Beckwith, LeBoutillier, Secor, and Bell are a few of the family names of members active in the early days of the club.
The stately building and grounds at the corner of Second and Hickory streets in Perrysburg can easily be mistaken for a mansion until you see the small, unpretentious club sign on the open porch. If it’s a Thursday night, club members and their guests are dressed up — Thursday nights are Club Nights, one of several traditions still honored. In 1925 it was declared by the board of directors that Thursday would be the members’ night to go to the club for dinner because it was the traditional maids’ day off in Perrysburg homes. On other days, for lunch or dinner, dress can be casual, but on Club Night it’s still strictly suit and ties for the men, appropriate dress-up attire for the ladies. A special dinner prepared by Helen Barber and her assistant, Troy Tinney, is served.
Ms. Barber may know more about what members like to eat than they do themselves. During her 21 years in the Carranor kitchen, she has received many requests for dishes from members who bring in family recipes. She defines the Carranor menu as comfort food, including homemade rolls, and knows that when meat loaf or fried chicken is featured the dining room will be full. Members are equally receptive to Ms. Barber’s tomato-orange and chicken Florentine soups. In summer she is a regular customer at the Thursday farmers’ market in Perrysburg to buy herbs and produce.
According to Pat Gibbons, Carranor manager since 1990, the membership is about 200 families. “This is a family-oriented club,” Mr. Gibbons said. “The importance of families as members is in the mission statement.”
According to the history of the club written by C. Robert Boyd in 2003, the Fort Meigs Horse Show, attended by 1,500 people, was the catalyst for the formation of the club. The show was held at the home of Col. George Greenhalgh, which today is the 577 Foundation on East Front Street.
Because Robert C. Pew, a Sun Oil executive, donated the flats at the foot of Maple Street for a polo field, he was given the privilege of naming the club. Carranor was derived from parts of Carroll and Eleanor, the names of his son and daughter.
The club’s value to the community was recognized in a Perrysburg newspaper article: “One should not underestimate the wholesome publicity given Perrysburg by Carranor Polo Club. It brings a fine class of people to our town.”
The location of the Second Street house for club quarters was a natural choice for a polo club. Hilton Maddy had already built stables for 26 horses nearby. Nathaniel Blinn, a Maumee Valley pioneer, built the house, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, in 1848. Several additions and architectural adjustments have been made in its 88-year history to accommodate weddings and other private parties that are booked.
The grounds have also been changed from equestrian needs to tennis, which is big all year around. In winter paddle tennis players warm up in the old Perrysburg train depot that was moved to the property.
Mr. Boyd’s historical account of Carranor is not just about polo and horses. Dance lessons in the late 1950s were conducted by Mrs. Brooke Brown and Mrs. Burton Jamieson, Jr. The President’s Ball in November is the big annual social event now. In December Perrysburg residents can count on the Carranor Wassailers for caroling, as they have for 50 years.
Jimmy Aiken, a club icon who worked at Carranor for decades, starting in 1930, fills a large chapter in club history. He is honored with a bronze bust and several photographs in the taproom. Mr. Aiken, whose name matched his hometown in South Carolina, was brought to Carranor by Duane Stranahan, Sr. The teenager was the groomsman for four ponies when Mr. Stranahan was a student at Harvard.
Mr. Aiken is remembered fondly in many club tales for his bartending after the club’s horse craze bit the dust.
Mary Alice Powell is a retired Blade food editor.
Contact her at: mpowell@theblade.com.
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