Moment in Time (originally submitted to ThisWeek News for publication November 1, 2007)

This 1909 photograph shows ten-year-old Francis Paddock (right), his sister Elizabeth, age 3 (center), and their dog Fritz sitting pensively on the back porch of their new home at 1085 Westwood Avenue. They had just moved from their home in Fort Collins, Colorado because their father, Wendell Paddock, had accepted a position as a Professor of Horticulture at OSU. Francis prospered in his new hometown. He was a charter member of the Brotherhood of the Rooks Fraternity and was captain of the GHHS football team in 1916 and 1917. Legend has it that Francis was sent to choose jerseys for the new GHHS football team. He was instructed to purchase red ones, but he was colorblind and he inadvertently selected blue, which remains the Bobcat’s color to this day. This photograph is from the collection of Francis's daughter, the late Patricia Paddock Todd, whose son Drew still lives in Grandview Heights.