Walter L. Main (From Don Covington)

02-13-2012 07;40;43PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. GENEVA TOWNSHIP, OHIO — It has been more than 60 years since Walter L. Main passed from the local scene, but several area residents still recall the great showman from Geneva. Further, on the west side of town, Walter Main Road, between routes 20 and 84, remains as a reminder of this prince of the big top. It was on this road that the winter quarters for Main’s circus stood for several years, until the devastating fire of 1906 that killed dozens of circus animals and caused Main great financial setback. He never recovered from the event that he would refer to as his “Waterloo” later in life. Houses now occupy the land between what were the Nickel Plate and New York Central tracks. Geneva Township resident Ray Frabotta, 81, grew up around the corner from the Main property. By that time, Main was out of the circus business, but the story of the fire and a legend about wild animals escaping persisted. “We would go pick blackberries down there,” Frabotta says. “My brother and my sister and I would go back there and see if we could find some snakes, which was a big joke. All that happened long before I was born.” Frabotta answered an ad for employment with Shea’s Theater in Geneva and was hired to work the ticket booth and refreshment stand. He soon learned that Walter L. Main was one of their best customers. “He was a movie guy,” Frabotta said. “He never missed a movie. I used to give him popcorn. I would pay for it, but he thought he was getting something for nothing. He never missed a movie up there.” Frabotta started working at Shea’s in 1945 and continued there through the winter of 1950-51, when he went into the Army. Every time a new show came to the Shea’s, Main was there to see it, regardless of the subject matter. “He saw them all,” Frabotta said. Main walked to the theater and dressed simply. “Overalls. He didn’t dress up. He just came as he was,” Frabotta said. Main was apparently well respected in the community. Frabotta said he never saw Main angry and he was always friendly. “He was a very well liked person, I got to know him pretty well,” Frabotta said. “He was very, very soft spoken. He was a very likable person.” Betty Darrow also recalls seeing Walter Main at the Geneva movie theater in the late 1940s. “He was always dressed up ... he knew my husband and would always talk with us. How wonderful that was,” Betty Darrow said in an e-mail. Interest in Main’s colorful life reaches all the way to Kailua Kona, Hawaii, where Bradley K. Main, a distant relative lives. When his mother received the gift of a Main Circus poster last year, Bradley began researching the story, which led him to the Tyrone Historical Society and online Star Beacon articles. Main died in 1950 at the age of 88, or was it 83? There has always been controversy over the showman’s true age. Never accused of being modest, Main liked to brag that he entered the circus business at a very tender age, which necessitated exaggerating his birth year a bit. Main insisted he was born July 13, 1867, but his marriage license gave an earlier date, 1862. Main is buried in Uniondale Cemetery, Pittsburgh, where his second wife was buried. His obituary listed only one survivor, a sister-in-law. The circus buildings on Water Main Road were heavily damaged in the 1906 fire, but their remains were repurposed shortly after Prohibition went into effect. Two businessmen, one from Chicago and one from Detroit, remodeled the building and converted it into a gambling casino. The “Club Deau Ville” quickly earned a reputation. It was reputed to be a hangout for wealthy Cleveland-area residents with a penchant for gambling. To protect their interests, the building had watch towers, where machine guns were strategically placed, just in case someone got the bright idea to rob the casino. The casino lasted about 90 days before the county sheriff shut it down. After that, it was repurposed as a chicken farm and manufacturing facility. The many incarnations of Walter Main shows produced a fair amount of publicity material, including the colorful posters that are prized by collectors. From time to time, a collection of this memorabilia is displayed at Victoria’s Country Corner, 19 N. Broadway, Geneva. Another collection of material, belonging to Fred Frisbie of Unionville, was donated to the Henry Form Museum’s research collection. Fred’s grandfather, Cecil (1872-1947) worked for Main’s circus for several years as assistant superintendent of stock. He also worked as an advance man. Cecil saved and passed on to his son and grandson a collection of memorabilia that included rare circus tickets. The Main Circus calliope, a signature item for any circus, was already in the Henry Ford Museum’s collection when Frisbie made the donation.