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Two men left mark on Chagrin
(by Barbara Christian - December 07, 2011)
WINDOWN ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Two men left mark on Chagrin
Steve Shields and Wes Brewer were the "Kings of River Street" because of the benevolent way they ruled their respective realms -- aka their side-by-side commercial buildings at the nook-and-cranny end of the street.
The two old monarchs were alike in that way and so different in others. Both served their country at war -- Steve during World War II and Wes during the Korean conflict. Both loved Chagrin Falls.
As personalities go, they could not be more different. Steve was quiet and shy, while Wes was all "hail fellow well met" larger than life.
The two men left this earth 11 days apart. Steve was 87 when he died on Oct. 27. Wes, at 82, passed away Nov. 7.
Steve owned what was known as "The Shields Building," a onetime manufacturing plant and later a newspaper office. He brought that building back to life and maintained it with fastidious care.
Wes was the owner and founder of neighboring Coach House Square. Like Steve, he rescued and restored one of buildings in the Coach House collection. He saved the gray clapboard building from demolition in the mid-1970s when the Chase Bag Co. decided it was no longer needed.
Even before he bought his building, Steve was a devotee of the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre next door, doing everything and being everywhere when needed, except performing on stage. After he bought the building, he let CVLT use it for a variety of purposes -- prop shop, costume loft and the black-box River Street Playhouse.
Wes is remembered by his tenants for insisting they not sign extended or ironclad leases, because, as his son-in-law Paul Seegott said recently, "He thought the little guy deserved a break."
Wes was one of the more gregarious people around. We encountered him for the first time the day he moved the old Chase Bag building onto the lot next to the newspaper office. Later, with a straight face, flair for the dramatic and a gift of Blarney, Wes announced the building was haunted and talked about holding a seance. The haunting was never verified.
When he wasn't at the theater, Steve was likely working on his book about his World War II experiences. He told a fascinating story about the secret prisoner he was charged with guarding. Research and memory led him to determine the despot was none other than war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
Wes and Steve were town characters in the best sense of the term, because both were men of character. However, it was Wes who received official designation when, on one landmark birthday, he was presented with a plaque by then Mayor Dick Bodwell, declaring him as the bona fide "town character."
Steve's character was memorialized Saturday during a tribute at -- where else -- the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, where, ironically and fittingly, he got his time center stage in the spotlight.
At their end, Steve bequeathed his building to the little theater, and Wes left Coach House Square to the care of his family.
Two overused phrases come to mind when I think about the time, space and love of Chagrin Falls the two men shared. Their passing marks "the end of an era," and "it won't be the same around here without them."
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