(Author’s Note: This post was suppose to be published yesterday – 9-7, sorry about that.)
The Mansfield Reformatory/Shawshank series on OgleOhio.com ends today. Before it ends, I want to tell you about what happened while I was taking pictures. Below is a picture of the pond in front of the reformatory.
“Reformatory Pond”
While taking pictures, there was a tall, stocky gentleman also walking around the pond. At one point he stood a few feet away from me and said “This is man-made. It was not here before.” I said something along the lines “Oh really, this is my first time here. You’ve been here before?” He said “Oh yes, I’ve been here before.” The way he stated that made me think that the last time he was there, he was on the inside looking out. Mansfield Reformatory closed in 1990 and this man was probably late 50’s or early 60’s so it is possible he could have resided there. Maybe he resided in cell block 27 or 28.
I quickly and quietly went back to shooting my pictures while he walked back towards the main entrance. After all, the reformatory was a maximum-security facility in its later years and I was not sure hanging around talking to this guy was a good thing.
And that my dear readers, is the story of my brief encounter with a man I will call “Andy Dufresne.”
“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Andy Dufrense
