Perrysburg Pulse Magazine Perrysburg Pulse November | Page 28

PERRYSBURG’S PAST:
E.L. BLUE AND THE SANTA CLAUS CLUB
M
With Angela Shapiro
oms Mobile Mission is a local non-profit charity
highlighted in this issue of Perrysburg Pulse.
While the organization is (relatively) new, efforts
by Perrysburg residents to lend a helping hand
to struggling families is not. One example is the
Santa Claus Club established in 1913 by E.L. Blue, then editor of
the Perrysburg Journal.
The Journal is very anxious for a big Santa Claus Club to be
formed and will use every possible effort to boost the work.
It should be understood, however, that the Club is
undenominational, that is in no manner under the direction
of or in connection with any church or secret society, but is
to be an organization of people who are willing to lay aside
personalities and who will endeavor to DO SOMETHING
FOR SOMEBODY without return or reward save that
which comes from a consciousness of having done a good
act in a worthy cause."
Edward Lamotte "E.L." Blue was born in Perrysburg on
December 28, 1858, almost exactly 161 years ago. At the age of
just 14, he found himself in need of an income. He left school
to pursue a printing apprenticeship with the Perrysburg Journal,
where he spent nine years learning the trade before moving on to
various Toledo-area publications.
E.L. went on to solicit names of interested participants and
stressed that everybody was invited, "There's plenty of room and
plenty of places where Santa Claus work is needed." In the weeks
preceding the holidays in 1913, 1914, and 1915, E.L. recruited
and recognized donors and volunteers, and shared stories of
children and families who benefited from the Club's efforts.
E.L. returned to Perrysburg in 1889 and purchased the Journal,
which had been struggling. He quickly increased circulation and
returned the paper to profitability. E.L. believed in community
service. Overlapping his tenure as editor of the Journal, he also
served as the Wood County Clerk of Courts and was a member
of the Perrysburg Board of Education, the Perrysburg Village
Council, and the Way Library Board. He was also an active
Mason (Phoenix Lodge No. 123), and belonged to several other
fraternal and service organizations, including local chapters of
the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Woodmen Lodge, and the
Grange.
The Santa Claus Club lasted until 1916 when E.L. published the
following sad notice:
"The Santa Claus Club that has done good work in the
past was not reorganized this year for various reasons
unnecessary to explain, lack of interest on the part of the
public being the chief reason. However, if anybody knows
of any person (old or young) whose Christmas will be
cheerless, either through illness, poverty or neglect, they will
confer a favor and be assured that Santa Claus will make his
call upon such worthy neglected ones, by calling the Journal
office and giving the names of all whom they feel should
have attention. We have a direct wire to Santa Claus, and he
will respond to the call. Call the Journal office, phone 21,
and give the information to anyone who answers the phone.
All information will be kept confidential. DO IT NOW!"
One of the above organizations was likely involved in
Perrysburg's original "Santa Claus Club" in 1912. E.L. references
the 1912 effort in his notice about forming another such club in
the October 13, 1913, edition of the Perrysburg Journal:
"The time for consideration of holiday events is drawing
near and in this connection the Journal desires to call
attention to the work of the Santa Claus Club in Perrysburg
last season, and to suggest that it is time the preliminary
steps be taken toward organized and effective work.
There is no record of how many Perrysburg residents E.L. Blue
helped, directly or indirectly, during his tenure as owner and
editor of the Perrysburg Journal. If he had known that Moms
Mobile Mission would come along a century later to do the
same, he undoubtedly would have approved and urged all
residents to donate, volunteer, and DO SOMETHING FOR
SOMEBODY.
Last year many children were made happy by the gifts
that were sent to them on Christmas Eve, and those who
engaged in the work were well repaid for the time and
expense thus given.
Angela Shapiro is a self-proclaimed history nerd. She lives in Perrysburg with her husband
and five-year-old daughter and works as an attorney in Detroit. Somewhat ironically, given
her love of all things historical, her practice is focused on the use of cutting-edge legal
technology to handle high volumes of electronically stored information.
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