Ronzel "Hudepohl" Poling (left) with friend Clarance
"Colie" Argabrite on Arnoldsburg's main drag (US 33-119)
in 1939, looking east with stately houses, including the
Poling house shown to the left (James Haught Photo)
By Bob Weaver
Ronzel "Hudepohl" Poling of Arnoldsburg is remembered by a generation of Calhoun High School football fans as the man who walked up and down the sidelines during Red Devil games, cheering, yelling and making fantastical comments about the game, usually the opponents.
Hudepohl was nicknamed after a well-known Cincinnati beer once popular in the region, his beverage of choice.
In the 1939 photo (above) of Arnoldsburg's Mayberryesque main drag, Hudepohl was a daily fixture, floating around the villages stores, service stations and restaurants, likely traveling to the "Y" (intersection of US 33-119 and Rt. 16) to visit the local beer parlor.
He lived with his mother Eulah in a large house above the street, both living a nocturnal life, she often playing the piano until the early morning hours. It was a house of music always being performed on instruments or on the radio. They'd go to bed, to rise in the afternoon to commence life.
Residents recall Mrs. Poling calling for her son from an upstairs porch, yelling loudly for "Ronzel," her voice echoing up and down the street.
One recollection from a football game, Calhoun being undefeated went down for the first time. Hudepohl (sometimes just called "Hooty") went out into the field and yelled loudly, "Well, you may think it is over - but (deleted) it is."
Allen Pyles wrote, "He would have lunch in the cafeteria with the students and cheer us on. He was the first on the field giving us cheers as we took our warm up laps."
Another story often told, "Hooty" was having a rough night in Charleston, and he
was robbed. After surrendering
his money he commented to the hold-up man, "Its
lucky I still have $10 hidden in my shoe."
If readers have a favorite story about "Hooty," one of this county's great characters, we'd like to hear from you.
2012
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