HEAD REST

I first heard of Head Rest when I was a student at Admiral King; a couple I baby-sat for told me about the place, a "drop-in center" for teens. Not long after that, I got sent to Hawthorne Hills (see "THE SUMMER OF '72"), and I didn't get to the place until September of '72. It was really cool, a house on 22nd Street that had been converted into a haven for troubled youth. If you wanted , there were counselors to talk to, although most people just hung out, and talked to each other, when they weren't watching tv, playing cards, or listening to music. There were three fine sisters,the Catalanos, who lived right across the street, who were there almost every night, plus others from the area. The counselors ranged in age from the early twenties to a lady in her fifties. Head Rest opened at four every afternoon, and stayed open until midnight. Sometimes, they'd pop popcorn in the kitchen, and there was a Pepsi machine just inside the back door. I met my second-ever girlfriend there, a girl from Elyria named Betty, although everyone called her Mickie. History took place there-we saw the King-Riggs tennis match there, a well as the Trickster's resignation. Mainly, the place was about not being hassled by anyone. Their funding ran out in August of '75, and the place closed; I was the actual last person out of the door. Someone needs to open a place like that in Lorain, now....really.