The One And Only

For those of you who have been following our efforts to assist with the renovation of East High School in Columbus, Ohio, we have some good news to report. Work on the new 20-ft. long “Harley Field” sign that will soon adorn the facade of the East football field’s press box is completed and will soon be shipped to Columbus. There, at a football game within the next month or so, a formal re-dedication of the improved football facilities will be dedicated and the orange and black sign unveiled.
It was at East High School that Charles W. “Chic” Harley worked his sports magic chalking up 269 points in his three years of play. He was so good that in the late 1920s, the school named the gridiron Harley Field”. A sign had hung on the stadium for many years, but eventually fell into disrepair and eventually disappeared. We are now bringing back the sign and the name Harley Field.

Want a Chic Harley t-shirt? Call me at 847-561-3382 by Friday, Sept. 4 and we’ll mail you one.

—Todd Wessell

It was a wonderful day and a half in Columbus last Thursday and Friday, Aug. 13 and 14 as we met with top East High School athletic department officials, members of the local media and bookstore owners.
This writer and brother Bob sped off for Columbus from Chicago at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday. About seven hours later, we were inside the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe dropping off a few copies of the new book “The One And Only: Chic Harley - America’s Great Athlete.” The next morning, following a meeting at the Columbus Dispatch newspaper, we made our way to the Eddie George Grille across from Ohio State where we met with reporters to unveil plans for a new Harley Field sign at East High School. That’s where Chic attended high school from 1912 to 1915. He scored 269 points by himself during three years on varsity setting the stage for a glorious college career at Ohio State.
East High School Athletic Director Greg Reamsnider and head football coach Mike White attended the press briefing. As of today, the new 20-ft. long Orange and Black sign has been ordered and will be ready to be mounted on the stadium’s press box facade by mid-September.
Our thanks to Russ Finneran who provide morale support during our stay and to Nick, day manager at the Grille. Also, we were delighted to see that several book stores around the OSU campus are already carrying copies of “The One And Only.” One such place is Long’s Barnes & Noble Bookstore on High Street. We’ll post a complete, up-to-date list soon.
We plan to return to Columbus and Ohio State sometime between mid-September and early October.
Stay tuned. One of our upcoming announcements will give details of a big event coming up where a presentation of the Chic Harley story will be available to everyone in central Ohio.
And, I’d like to add, the first two people who see this blog entry and call my cell phone at 847-561-3382, I’ll send you a complimentary, autographed copy of “The One And Only”.

—Todd Wessell

In just a couple of days we’ll be heading for Columbus to host a press conference where we will inform the entire community of our efforts to properly recognize Chic. In 1929, East High School did just that when they named its football field Harley Field. East is where Chic attended high school. In recent years the Harley Field sign has crumbled and today is no longer there. We intend to do something to rectify that. I can’t say enough about the cooperation of professionalism displayed by the find folks at East High School. They said they are honored to work with us on this project, the details of which will be announced Friday at the Eddie George Grille.
From there, we will announce and plan for other events in and around Columbus this summer and fall to call attention to the fact that if it wasn’t for Harley much of what we know today about Ohio State, professional football and even Columbus itself could be much different.
That is why the full length biography of Chic Harley called “The One And Only: Chic Harley: America’s Great Athlete” was written. It was written to honor Harley and to make sure that he is never forgotten. We wanted people to know the full, complete and true story about Chic.
With that being said, we will see how much interest the Columbus media has in East High School and Chic Harley at Friday’s conference. We have already several confirmed attendees. Either way, we intend to push forward.
If you want to join the Harley bandwagon, email us and we’ll sign you up. Or, call author Todd Wessell at 847-299-5511

Well, we did it. The annual National Sports Collectors Convention is now history and we had a whale of a time visiting with vendors, sports buffs and people interested in knowing more about Chic. We sold lots of The One And Only biography books on the great Harley. Free t-shirts and DVDs of Chic information were given out to every book purchaser. Some of the more interesting people we talked with included a teacher at Youngstown State who knew Jim Tressel way back when, one of Ohio State’s best known and knowledgeable football team bloggers, and many folks who knew something about Harley but wanted to know more. We had a great booth location—right across from the autograph pavillion where sports greats Archie Griffin, Eddie George Hop Cassady and others signed autographs for a price. We had a great booth display with life-size Chic cut-outs and historical photos catching the eyes of convention-goers. Many thanks to Bob Wessell and Mary Alice Wenzl for their hard work. Look on our website–chicharley.com–for several photos we will post in the days ahead.
Our next stop: Columbus. Check in in a few days to learn of details and our quest to get a fitting memorial for Chic in place on or around the OSU campus. If you want to join in the crusade. let us know
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