DOT ruling: DIY Cigarette Revenue Goes up in Smoke

Traveling on route two, from the Marblehead Peninsula to Sandusky takes five dollars worth of gas. Hopefully making more than one stop while there justifies five dollars cost for a thirty two mile round trip. 

While cutting through Sandusky, Bruce Springsteen’s, “My Home Town” plays on the radio. The minor keyed tune portrays a factory town he remembers as thriving in a by gone day. Similar memories linger throughout my hometown not too far away. Sandusky is kind of like this, too.  Streets form diagonal routes past and around factories splayed throughout a warehouse district all but abandoned.  Little shops and cafes that resemble cottages are dotted throughout.  Learning the different routes of this lake's edge town is how I found the "Cheap Tobacco Store."  It's the best place around to buy incense.

Situated next to one of those instant money places; next door is an auto parts dealership and sprawling parking lot. Upon entering the variety cigarette store called “Cheap Tobacco,” I hear a rhythmic muffled clatter.  I see a big wooden box that’s thundering with the sounds of industry. A viewing window in the big box reveals a nebulous ball of tobacco whirling and transforming into the end product – cigarettes.  The operator is a customer.

The store owner is always friendly and conversational.  Giving the scoop on roll-your-own cigarettes, she was pleased by the extra revenue it brought her. More than being cheaper, this kind of tobacco lacks the addictive chemicals that are in ready made ordinary smokes.  Commercial companies deny adding extra substances, though.

In Florida I’d seen another store like this with a picture window view and three roll-your-own machines inside.  Whenever I’d go shopping at Beall’s outlet, I could see the cigarette place was quite busy.

The next trip to Sandusky, I made the stop at “Cheap Tobacco.” The silence was too tranquil.  The wooden cigarette machine shoved next to the wall bore a sign written with big magic marker letterin. The memo registered as non sequitur:

“Sorry for the inconvenience, this machine has been closed down by the government”

What’s the government got to do with it?  I’m wondering, so I asked the proprietor.

“Obama closed it down,” she said.

“What do you mean Obama closed it?” 

“He signed a department of transportation bill declaring what we are doing here is illegal manufacturing.” 

I immediately mentioned the store in Florida that only provided tobacco and the use of the rolling machines.  This DOT ruling would put them completely out of business.

The mystery of what the transportation department has to do with manufacturing is yet unraveled.  I always wondered how government officials had the time to read all the bills that pass across their desktops.  I figured, our president hurried through the reading and signed the bill.  He wouldn’t allow democracy to be smeared like this, would he?

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Ex Libris Volunteer Bookstore adds charm to Marblehead

Ex Libris is all about books.  It's a growing volunteer library organization that parallels the overall growth in the formerly sleepy, little burg of Marblehead Ohio.

When I first came to Marblehead and found out about this fledgling library campaign, I joined up immediately.  That was four years ago during the beginning phase of this hugely successful book sales endeavor.

Ex Libris is located on a peninsula near Lake Erie.  Marblehead, Ohio is a small village, that has spent a long time in relative obscurity.  For years, development along the waterfront went unsupervised as happens often in areas near the water.

Currently, the development is more focused, and the incoming new people have been really supportive toward the growth of Ex Libris.  Their support shows up in boxes and boxes of donated books.

Forty volunteers formed the initial hub of this hard working drive to support literacy.  The president, Lorrie Halblaub, is a special education teacher.  Her leadership has been impeccable, and everyone thinks the world of her.  She's so organized with everything amid miriad books of different topics.

Lorrie  knows all of the businesses that contribute to our concern, like Wallmart.  Thankfully, we are well supplied with all of the office materials we need, and they are all stowed away in perfectly organized niches. She has been a tireless worker with both hands-on labor, and organized events.

"How do you do it?"  I just had to ask.  

" I don't know.  It just sort of comes to me." she sanswered,

 And she had sort of a baffled expression on her face as if some divine entity bestowed a special grace to help her on this mission to encourage literacy.

Lorrie talks with volunteer arranging centerpieces for the volunteer luncheon.

She's had many other teachers follow in her footsteps right up the steps and across the porch and through the door of the old century home converted to the Exlibris.   The book store funds our goal of a library for Marblehead.  The creativity that abounds throughout really adds a nice touch.  The older books that couldn't be saved were converted to book markers by removing the spine portion and laminating the old titles in Gothic print.  Gold tassels added a nice touch.

Other folks from around the community have joined the volunteer effort making for a powerful force in the community.  I recently learned that this year we have expanded to sixty volunteers, and there is plenty of work for everyone.

Our staff is loosely divided into two groups.  One of the groups, I must warn people not to get into a an arm wrestling match with.  These are the people who transport books to the various events.  Interesting events like the Lighthouse Festival, and the Perch Festival are just a few examples.

The other part of the group watch the book store and take care of sales.  Early on we were located in a newly renovated building - the Kukay. The small shop, barely bigger than my living room, drew 4,000 enthusiastic customers the first year.

With hardback books at $2.00, and paperbacks $1.00, it's easy to understand why our customer base keeps growing.  Many local historical sites draw visitors to the area.  Fortunately lots of these tourists follow the beaten path to Ex Libris.

Situated near downtown Marblehead, Ex Libris is flanked with a Byzantine style Russian Orthodox church, an original historical school building, an art gallery, restaurants, ferries to the islands to name a few of the surrounding interests.

An overheard conversation between friends shopping and marveling at the good prices and selection went like this:

A lady shopper asked her friend, "Why don't you get one of these hard back books?  They're only two dollars!"

"I like paperbacks better," answered the friend.  "When you fall asleep reading in bed, they don't make such a loud noise when they hit the floor."

I have really enjoyed my Ex Libris volunteer post - people who read a lot of books are the most interesting people to meet.

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