Fostoria's Gatrell published in glass industry magazine

FOSTORIA — Lifetime Fostoria resident Ellen Gatrell likely never thought about having a story published internationally.But when the opportunity arose to write about the relationship between the railroads and the long-departed glass factories, she went ahead and did so, unpaid, for the Early American Pattern Glass Society's quarterly magazine, the News Journal."Everything I do is as a volunteer," said Gatrell, secretary/treasurer of the Fostoria Rail Preservation Society and a reading aide at Fostoria Elementary. "I did it because we have too many people who cut down Fostoria."While trying to boost her city's present status, she's proud of its past and doesn't hesitate to talk about it. And, with family members having worked in both the railroad and glass industries, it seemed natural for her to combine them in a story."I thought we needed to do something good about Fostoria because so many people complain about the railroads and all this, and I'm thinking, '(The railroads) built our nation! Good heavens!' One in 32 people, in a time frame, were employed by the railroads, one way or another. That's huge!"I was glad to do (the story). But it's work — it's a lot of work to get it done."The relationship between the railroads and the glass factories was the topic when Gatrell was the guest speaker for the Fostoria Ohio Glass Association's annual meeting and teamed with association board of directors member Charlene Kelbley. Carl Hearn, editor of the News Journal, read about the meeting in the local association's newsletter, Victoria Views, and inquired about having a story done for his magazine about the railroads/glass companies relationship."He asked if we would write (a story)," Kelbley said. "Well, I don't have a computer, so I had pretty well gotten rid of everything I had done. So, I contacted Ellen and I said, 'This man wants an article written.' ... She said she was willing and I helped her out a little bit and Sally (Reed, a glass association board member) helped her out a little bit. But, she did most of the work."Gatrell said it took a while to put together the 4,600-word piece, in which Hearn agreed to allow details of Gatrell's family history in the industry."It took me about a month to write it," she said. "I had to do a lot more learning about the railroads and put my paragraphs in order and learn more about my family and things like that."The relationship between the local glass companies — 13 came and went relatively quickly between the late 1880s and early 1900s — and the railroads basically involved the distribution of the items manufactured in the city."The railroads were here, and they came because Henry Ford hadn't (yet) invented a vehicle because the roads weren't too good," Gatrell said. "Railroads had been here, and you could haul an awful lot on there. ... Railroads were everywhere at that time. Railroads were the way that you could haul everything."