  Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 151 Registered: 04-2007 |
7&K, I'm guessing the Colonial time/temp sign was letting you know how much time to St. John Hosp. I seem to recall you working there. Are you in the metro Detroit Area now?? I recall you driving a 63 impala convertible, and a jeep later. The convertible had a Craig 8 track system. At that time it was the cat's meow. Oh yeah, till this day, I think your brother's 64 or 65 black T-Bird with swivel bucket seats was one of the sharpest cars in the hood ever. Your house was on of the first houses on Eastwood to have a basketball rim on the garage. Yeah that garage made out of redwood seemed to be the premier garage in the hood. And yes, who can forget the pulley system that hoisted the 4'X8' plywood that supported the HO scale train set. ES61, Haven't talked to Bro-in-law in a while. How's things in SJ? Can you do the cover or prologue to the "Eastside book"? "Black Top" would be and interesting title for Chapter one. | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 797 Registered: 03-2007 |
All: WOW! What a great addition to this thread...7&K is a walking encyclopedia of history of Fordham-Eastwood...at least on the upscale east side of Hayes. It sounds too like he's just a little younger..by '60-'62 I was more focused on WMU and my soon to be fiance (gag) who lived in Chalmers-Mack. I was playing hockey on the WMU club and so no long made trips to the Heilmann rink. Plus, I didn't know many of the St. Jude types...was focused more on Assumption Grotto and Guardian Angel...and...not much on the guys...Catholic girls were a whole lot more fun...especially more than the somewhat uptight Methodists. It sure is great to have a new writer...I was getting tired of editing ES's literary wanderings...I'm certain that KR was also. ES tends to live in a fantasy world...in fact, if it weren't for his fantasy life he really wouldn't have a life. Its all the result of his misspent youth in the Haight-Ashbury area...hair to his shoulders...drooping mustasche...wearing his tie-dyed t-shirt, torn jeans and sandals... smoking pot...dissing his country...burning his draft card...and flashing the peace sign at the tourists. Great to have you 7&K...will look forward to your posts. | ||
Eastside61 Member Username: Eastside61 Post Number: 641 Registered: 07-2006 |
GB - The three T's rehab has done wonders for you!••••• do you remember anything about DHS or Heilmann - since you were totally drunk in school, at the 706 scout meetings, Lutheran Youth groups, caddying and while at work at Fox studios.......and also drinking warm Goebels Beer in the Jackson Jr HS area after 1960....and then trekking off the kalamazoo and Molars Barber College for your AA......talk about make believe....the above is all true!•••••• | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 800 Registered: 03-2007 |
ES: I never drank Goebels...nothing but Stroh's! And...the only time I was near Jackson was to visit my grandmother's apartment. 706 ruled and 309 drooled! You have GOT to quit smokin' that high grade California wacky backy...if it weren't for nonsense you wouldn't be makin' no sense! | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 152 Registered: 04-2007 |
OK GB another chapter in the Eastside Book: What beer did eastsiders drink? http://video.google.com/videop lay?docid=-7981628504437166992 You may or may not have seen the above link or enjoyed Goebels .... Van Patrick was the epitome of Detroit sports broadcasting in the 50s wasn't he? Our beer was E&B available in a 16 ounce bottles and discounted on Thursdays at Pollas on Kelly....a very grainy taste but you know you were drinking beer. 7K..Pabst Blue Ribbon??? | ||
7_and_kelly_kid Member Username: 7_and_kelly_kid Post Number: 12 Registered: 12-2007 |
ALL.......thanks for having me........KR..yup..you pegged me too...good detective work on your part..I just moved back to Farmington from Fla....(BOCA....)so I'm gettin' re-established (again) I'm in transition waiting for my new job to start so I'm using the libraries 'net for now and stumbled on this site after stumbling upon that cool St. Jude bell one while I was searching for my high school (St. Thomas the Apostle) ..........let's see.......where to begin...actually KR, I worked at Sinai Hospital for a number of years (should have went to St. John's.....o well....your whole life changes just by missing a bus......its true!).......so, I got married to a nurse, moved to G.P.(that's where the Jeep came in......you forgot all of the 'Vettes.........oooooooooooo.. ...wish I still had 'em.........'specially that'67 silver coupe....sigh......o well.........that '63 convertible I bought off the folks at the end of Eastwood across Kelly and yea, first thing I did was put in an 8 trak system and drove the whole 'hood crazy plaing "In a gotta da vida" maxed out. Of course I was prodded to do so by those "fair weather friends"....(my mom's term) from Fordham (cicala and crew).hey!...they had nothing to lose......wasn't their neighbors. Anyway, My brother had a "63 T-bird (black)and I remember the night he brought home a Karmon Ghia. Hokey Smoke!.....I remember my dad's quote word for word........"I didn't fight those god damn German bastards just so you could buy one of their god damn cars!••••• So the next day I remember my brother coming home with a '65 T-Bird convertible. That was the one with swivel seats KR....all for now | ||
7_and_kelly_kid Member Username: 7_and_kelly_kid Post Number: 13 Registered: 12-2007 |
I always thought Van Patrick was related to me KR............for obvious reasons......also, cool video..... | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 153 Registered: 04-2007 |
More trivia for those of you in the Heilmann area. 7K and ES61 this should be a slamdunk for you. There were two barbershops in the triangle area (7 Mile, Morang, Kelly). One was, as 7K pointed out, J&Bs on Kelly, the other on the corner of Glenwood and Morang (not too far from your haunts on Mapleridge/Salter ES61). What was the name of that barbershop? Does anyone remember the barbershop wars between union and non-union barbers that were so prevalent during the 60's? J&B was a union shop charged $2.50 for a regular haircut. There were many shops that charged $1.00...a hugh difference back then. Gems on Lappin near Montgomery Wards was non-union. There was a shop on 7 Mi just off Kelly and a shop on the south side of 7 near MacCrary or Celestine (near GB)that were non-union also. Those shops seemed always busy, especially with kids. Anway, things got pretty heated. There was a lot of picketing by union members in front of non-union shops and I do recall windows being broken (GB, the 7MI near Celestine was near you, but you were already at WMU or UM) Question: Do you remember the Barbershop wars and what barbershop did you frequent on the eastside? | ||
7_and_kelly_kid Member Username: 7_and_kelly_kid Post Number: 14 Registered: 12-2007 |
Hmmmmmmmm.I always went to j&b's.......you may have forgotten KR...I worked there. I forgot the other one over on Morang and I totally don't remember the wars you speak of........ | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 154 Registered: 04-2007 |
7K, I do remember you worked there. I recall you had a key to the back door and there was a two way mirror in the back room. J&B always had some very interesting "reading material" on hand. More later. | ||
7_and_kelly_kid Member Username: 7_and_kelly_kid Post Number: 15 Registered: 12-2007 |
About that book deal................I'm reading "Made in Detroit" right now thanks to your recommendations and I don't know gang, Clemens seems to have the whole subject and area covered. His N.D. experience really has no interest to me only that some of my friends went there (KR) as did my son (Class of 2000). The whole "white flight" thing......well now...don't get me started. The last time I was in the 'hood was the summer of 2004. At that time I was living in the U.P and making a now and then sojourn to visit family and friends. A day or two was enough and I scooted back up to Escanaba. On that 2004 visit I parked on the blacktop, went through St. Judes's (dismayed at the re-arrangement. Fr. Ording is spinning I'm sure) I'm still not sure why they changed the lights in oh, about '64 or so. To me (nobody asked my thoughts)it changed the whole look of the place. Anyway, I digress (easy to do in this forum) and when I was walking down Eastwood the owner of McKitricks' house (not Jim McKitrick.....I don't even think he was Irish if you get my drift) was cutting his grass and invited me to sit for a spell and have a beer (or 2). KR you'll remember that McKitricks' really had no porch so we sat in the driveway. Ah! porches. 15906 (mine) had a great one and so became a gathering spot. Where the hell am I going with this? I'm rambling......I'll be back. | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 802 Registered: 03-2007 |
All: My dad was a plant guard at Stroh's after he retired from DPD...he was there around 1960-66...it was hog heaven for him. Plus, he could buy "shorts"...bottles that didn't get completely filled coming down the line. A case of shorts cost me $1!...that made the decision of what brand to drink real easy. He started letting me get them when I was about 20...told me not to tell my mother...he always made sure I had a case in the trunk of my car when I headed back to campus after a holiday or if I'd come to Detroit for a weekend to rendezvous with fiance-to-be. On campus...at the Wayside Inn in Kzoo we could get a large glass of Stroh's for 25 cents...sometimes we poured a can of tomato juice in it...I have NO idea why! I remember the barber union wars...The barber shop I went to during my high school years was "Tom's"...on the south side of Seven Mile just west of Chalmers...it was the first shop or two west of the gas station that was on the corner. He had a big net in the back that he used for a practice driving range...he knew that I was a TAR golfer and would let me practice back there in the winter. I wore my hair in a "Princeton" in those days...I think the cut might have cost $2 although I'm certain that Tom was not a union guy. Loved hearing about those cars 7&K...especially that '63 'vett...my roommate at WMU bought one new when we graduated in '63...I remember one night we were out drinking and racing around dirt roads with it somewhere out around Bloomer State Park...he lost control and we ended up sliding backwards and mowing down a couple of mailboxes...did some damage to the back of the body. I never did figure out how he got his girlfriend pregnant in that little cockpit but I guess where there was a will there was a way. Had to laugh at your dad's reaction to your brother's Ghia...my old man would have said about the same thing if I'd come home with a foreign car...he wasn't real pleased when I bought a Toyota lots of years later. 7&K married a nurse...me too...first MAJOR life mistake...WHAT in the hell was I thinking...she wasn't even pregnant! Yeah...I'm a little ahead of you guys...but not ahead of ES!...started at WSU in Jan. '59...the company my dad worked for went under and he was unemployed...serious recession in '58-'59...I was working at Fox Studio and bringing in a little money...$25 a week plus $25 for shooting a wedding on Saturday...plus all I could eat and drink at the reception...plus the eternal unfulfilled hope of scoring with a bridesmaid. Anyway...I lasted one semester at WSU...mostly shot pool at the student center...hustling quarters...had terrible grades...the old man laid out some choices at the end of the semester when he saw the report..."You carry books and I'll pay the bill...you carry a rifle and Uncle Sam will pay the bill...you keep carrying that goddamn pool cue and YOU pay the DAMN bill...take your choice!" I transferred to WMU in the fall of '59 and studied as little as possible for the first couple of years. Our next door neighbors on Fordham were the Cardinali's...Joan was a year older than me...I think she went to Dominican...Fred was a year younger than me...he went to Notre Dame and I think played football...his next younger sister was 2-3 years younger than me...Diane...I think she went to Regina...There was a younger brother named John but I don't know where he went to high school. They all went to Assumption Grotto. Will look forward to new posts. | ||
7_and_kelly_kid Member Username: 7_and_kelly_kid Post Number: 16 Registered: 12-2007 |
I hope this isn't getting too personal for ES, GB, et.al and KR.....the reading material you speak of (sports illustrated......those ARE the ones your talking about I'm sure......they were illustrated) belonged to Harvey (the other barber)...... | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 803 Registered: 03-2007 |
7&K: Don't worry about too personal for KR and me...we've nothing to hide. ES on the other hand has been in a sort of witness protection program ever since he quit paying SH child support almost 50 years ago...he pops up every once in a while...which is exactly the way she described their relationship. And THAT'S the truth! Geez...you Catholic guys were looking at dirty magazines in the barber shop...didn't ya'll have to confess that? lolol | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 155 Registered: 04-2007 |
ALL: Also married an RN (got lucky...still am) Interesting coincidence. After WSU Pharmacy School my life journey took me away from the utopia on the eastside to downriver. Yep, still there. The social fabric and dynamics of the neighborhoods are quite different. There are still generations of families within a 5 minute drive of each other. It was just recent that some of my colleagues come from Ann Arbor or Windsor, many are still from or near Wyandotte (a town with a history of over 150 yrs). Point is the neighborhoods have NOT seen nearly a 100% turnaround in 20 years. There is a continuity of community. All neighborhoods change; but the rapidity of change on that northeast enclave is of interest (Yes, Paul Clemens underscores that in his "Made in Detroit" book). In our town the mayor and most of city council attended the local high school (no editorial comment just an interesting observation). Downriver seemed worlds away at that time of my move and conversely the eastside seemed worlds away from downriver. I distinctly recall having to explain that the eastside of Detroit was different than EastDetroit the city. On the other hand someone had to point out that big island out on the Detroit river was Grose Ile and that people actually lived there... Nope, never heard of Southgate, Riverview, Trenton...... my world even into my teens was the Heilmann area. Downriver and the Westside could have been in other states. Perhaps another chapter in the Eastside book could deal with provincialism ....I know GB this could be your chapter. 7K, I concur with your observation and feelings about St. Jude Church. I do remember the controversy. The Arch Diocese of Detroit mandated certain architectural updates in all churches. It seemed like a lot of finances for what was/is a working class congregation on a beautiful cathedral like church...all that beautiful marble...yea...I do remember similar comments.... JJ must be spinning Also, your comments on the porch could be yet another chapter. The dynamics of the neighborhoods in my opinion are significantly affected by the existence or design of porches. GB, west of Hayes seemed to have smaller houses but as I recall there were hugh porches that spanned the width of the house. Yes, 7K your porch seemed to be the focal point of neighborhood. It had an awing and rails to prop up your feet. Yes I do remember listening to Inagodadivida on your cool stereo HiFi while sitting on the porch along with the Beatle's white album (Shaheens had a nice porch too) And another observation: the people who moved into McKitrick's home(way before your 2004 visit) were the Pecars (yes related to the Morang audio store). Real nice folks who've since moved to far suburbia. 7K, On a personal note, when I started this Heilmann thread months ago I really didn't know what to expect...the thread somehow evolved into Eastwood nostalgia and the bantering of our frequent contributors (thanks ES and GB). In the far reaches of the back of my mind I thought maybe some of the 60s residents might chime in. What a surprise.....good to have you on board. Perhaps a reunion on the eastside in the future??? More later. (Message edited by kellyroad on December 13, 2007) (Message edited by kellyroad on December 13, 2007) | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 156 Registered: 04-2007 |
GB, Tom's barbershop must have been right next door to Flamingo Hall or was it Flamingo theater during your day? | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 804 Registered: 03-2007 |
KR: I'm not certain...there may have been a shop in between Tom's and the Flamingo...which was the site of my first visit to a movie theatre...2 features, newsreel AND cartoons...don't recall what it cost probably about a dime...my older sister took me. I can't remember the name of the movie but it was about the 7th Cavalry and was likely filmed in Monument Valley...the theme music was "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon". It seemed like one of the features always was a Tarzan flick. After the Flamingo closed and turned into a roller rink movie viewing moved to the Ramona Theatre on Gratiot near Six Mile. Interesting that three of us married RN's...mine graduated from the Harper Hospital program in '62. Glad to hear that your's lasted... sounded like 7K's did also...congrats to both of you...2 out 3 ain't all bad...mine was as close to an arranged marriage as is possible in our society... families were friends, same church...have known her since we were five years old...once there are kids and grandkids there is no escape. I agree...really good to have 7K on board...ES is an old fart...his memory fades...he distorts...he fantasizes...we need contributors who have accurate recollections...even if they are just kids! I absolutely agree with your thoughts about porches...when they began to design homes with no front porches the whole fabric of our neighborhoods seemed to disintegrate. My family sat on the front porch on summer evenings...or along with neighbors went "for a walk"...which meant that they strolled up and down the sidewalk of our block with the intent of conversing with neighbors who were either also out strolling...or were sitting on their porches waiting to converse. I think air conditioning added to the breakdown as well...in the 40's & 50's the only cool place was on the screened-in front porch. I slept out there on occasion. Your description of your downriver community is fascinating...I truly did not know that such places existed anymore...at least not outside of micro communities where the gene pool is extremely limited. I agree with you though...I don't think I was ever across Woodward until I met a girl at our cottage near Caseville when I was in high school. She was from Cooley...we rubbed noses that summer and dated a couple of times in the fall...I wasn't certain that I wouldn't fall off the edge of the earth on my first trip to her home. I didn't even know that Downriver existed until I had a roommate at WMU who was from Wyandotte...he was a crew member on his high school team...I had never heard of someone actually going out on the Detroit River to row a boat for the hell of it. About provincialism...one thing I did learn in all of my wanderings is that the earth truly is flat at the personal level. Wherever you are standing the earth is flat...it is not possible to see the curvature while simply standing. And...there are damn fine people...and real assholes...everywhere. I had to smile when 7K said he had lived in Escanaba...Eastsider turned Yooper...I remember the time I was driving with my Yooper girlfriend to meet her parents in Marquette...in the winter at night...snow up to the second story windows...I truly thought that I had to be approaching the edge of the earth! While I live on an Arizona ranch these days I need to feel solid concrete under my feet for several days a couple of times a year. | ||
7_and_kelly_kid Member Username: 7_and_kelly_kid Post Number: 17 Registered: 12-2007 |
GB.....no..sorry to say............my nurse too took the goldmine and I got the shaft.sigh......but here's one......I am a 1977 grad of Harper Hospital School of Nursing....but, believe it or not.........wound up being an Air Traffic Controller at city airport......then up to Esky with my second wife......(a librarian!).......I opened up a coffee house....(the 8th Street Coffee House......still there.............check out the web site).............sold it in '04 and came back to Detroit to patch up my son and get him back on track..........managing the Monroe County Rod & Gun club for a year or so and then moving down to Florida for a bit and coming back here to go back into nursing...............If you think all of that sounds confusing you should try living this life.......sigh.......o well..........I certainly envy KR and the stable life.......(even if it is Downriver)........KR's dad would be proud of him.(I am).........ALL........KR and I hooked up on the phone last nite and really got started on specifics of Eastwood and Redmond.......and boy, the Ramona was a beautiful theater...more later | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 158 Registered: 04-2007 |
http://www.waterwinterwonderla nd.com/location.asp?ID=736&typ e=5 OK GB, you've mentioned the Ramona Theater, I've put this trivia question out before and those of you in the Heilmann area (70s and before)might remember the Ramona theater sign. What was the sequence of how the Ramona sign was illuminated and flashed? (about 90% sure of this one). Go back in time perhaps to the 50s and 60s during the night. As you recall the Ramona was THE theater on the eastside. Yes, the Civic, Vogue (for you historians the Flamingo), Harper, and the Woods theaters were around but, in my opinion, didn't have the cachet as the Ramona. | ||
7_and_kelly_kid Member Username: 7_and_kelly_kid Post Number: 20 Registered: 12-2007 |
KR.............I really let you drive my car?......unheard of.....triv........name me Vigneaus (both Don and Ricks) cars...... | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 159 Registered: 04-2007 |
 Way too easy 7K. R - 68 Camero, D - 69 firebird (forgive me if I'm off by a model year) followup trivia: Who are the two kids in the above picture by one of the aforementioned vehicles? (initials will be fine) I know it's not the best quality but a fixed twin lens argus and limited pixels in this format don't allow for larger detailed pix...sorry ES61 etal: the picture (circa 1970) looks east near Redmond toward Kelly. Most of the dutch elm trees were already gone, many replaced with maples | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 808 Registered: 03-2007 |
7K: I can relate to that goldmine and shaft thought! Oh well...one out of three...of course ES brings the longevity of marriage up to 2 out of 4...but then his wife was a social worker...he was her senior project from his Haight-Ashbury days...the woman is a saint I tell ya! That is the gospel truth! In a lot of ways I envy KR's stable life also...but on the other hand riding an emotional roller coaster wasn't all bad...at times...and my built in wanderlust kept me moving. My dad told me once in his latter years that I reminded him of his father...always wondering what was over the horizon. We've been here five years now and I can feel the itch...ST humors me but I don't think she's gonna agree to hitch up the wagon unless I come up with a better reason. KR: Yer talkin' to the guy who couldn't remember his prom date's name...and you want me to remember the flashing lights on the Ramona sign? lolol Actually it seems like something about it should have stayed in my hard drive given the number of times I walked past the place...to visit the library on Six Mile just west of Gratiot...or from the time I worked at Fox Studio just south of Six on the west side of Gratiot...a few doors south of Saunders...and that GREAT hot fudge...anyway...sorry, no recollection of the Ramona sign. By high school we were going to the movies at the Woods. | ||
Eastside61 Member Username: Eastside61 Post Number: 643 Registered: 07-2006 |
7/K, KR, GB - Thanks boys......The book will be so MUCH better than the "Made in Detroit"....since we are from an interesting time in DETROIT we can use his insight at the end.....Cars in HS just sucked oil....but during the MSU days I had a Chevy Nova II convert, and then later a 66 pontiac Sprint convert...65 Vette 327/350 hatchback, then sold it for a 69 Pontiac GTO convert and headed west to the coast and hung out here ever since...and eventually sold it when I got married for a Datsun Station Wagon...currently driving around in a 07 Pontiac Turbo Solstice...it is fast....... When we left 15847 Eastwood for 15630 Mapleridge the movie theater was the Civic....and the Cath. kids went to Guardian Angles.....but the good folks all headed to Columbus....GB was the only student who I knew who drove to COLUMBUS......he parked next to Mrs. Sturm principal and his favorite teacher Ms. Stephanie......... some of the Eastwood names are whitakers, whitworths, readers, ryans......and of course Iola..... GB - was a power broker on the eastside...and trys to cover his tracks with this caddy, scouts, Lutheran church. working various jobs - i have found out that his Ph.D was computer generated by a wonderful man named Art Deikoff or Harold Hammond and mailed to him in '65.......along with magazines from Tom's barber shop...... | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 812 Registered: 03-2007 |
Now that we've established...through his own confession...that ES was originally a used car salesman...he worked at a lot located on Gratiot between 6 & 7 mile...we can assess the validity of his claims...all of which emanate from a guy who obtained his Ph.D. from California Coastal University...their entrance application was on the back of matchbooks...and in airline magazines...CCU was the forerunner of today's online degrees. The Fordham names were Cardinali, Latanzi, Buck, Abbott, Merle, Kern, Stell, Goosen...a mixed crowd of public school and parochial. | ||
Eastside61 Member Username: Eastside61 Post Number: 645 Registered: 07-2006 |
GB - In my era it was Calif Western University.....originally in San Diego and then moved to Santa Ana.....I actually had to submit the matchbook cover but a thesis toooooo.....It dealt with counseling middle school children.....that is when I determined that Middle school should be cancelled and all of them need to be sent to the forest until the age of 14...... | ||
7_and_kelly_kid Member Username: 7_and_kelly_kid Post Number: 22 Registered: 12-2007 |
KR......hmmmmmm........I'll say the kid leaning on the car is L.S. (and be right no matter what!).because at first I thought it's the older of the two but on second glance........now then......I'm putting too much thought into it and coming up with too many variables.......D.V.'s (not D.V.D.W) firebird was gray and it may be the pic but this looks a bit darker....so I'm gonna say its D.V. himself behind the wheel and I can see the tires floorwaxed (one of my favorite tricks also) those were the days I'll tell 'ya......putting so much effort into keeping the car sooooo what was the term?......'bitchin!.....all for now | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 818 Registered: 03-2007 |
ES: I always thought that those who actually chose to work with middle school kids were a tad off plum. I've had the theory that teachers self select into working with various age groups because that was the stage of their own development that was most comfortable for them. Embarrassingly enough a close friend of mine has a "doc" from the institution I mentioned...and actually believes that he has a doc. | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 160 Registered: 04-2007 |
7k, right on, it is LS by the firebird. The kid behind the wheel is Bob G (I know it's hard to tell by the pic). More trivia: Do you recall what car DV used to decal with woodgrain contact paper on the dash, sword handle dip stick, and pin stripping along the side? GB, Perhaps the trivia is getting a little far-fetched (but sometimes a prom date can result in a defensive suppression of memory and a movie theater marquee lighting sequence be indelibly etched in one's long term memory...didn't mean to cause any consternation...lol,lol) Yea, the Franklin library next to the Ramona seemed to be THE library for the far northeast side until we ventured out to the Chandler library near the Harper theater, or the one next to the Alger's Theater (forgot name)....gee what a coincidence...all next to movie theaters. and of course, the book mobile would always make a stop along Crusade by Heilmann.....hey another chapter on the life of 50s and 60s on Detroit's far eastside...REMEMBER THE BOOKMOBILE?. When the John F. Kennedy library opened in the 60s in Harper Woods it was a big deal to go to that "nice modern library" I remember my dad challenging the librarian about not letting us take out books because we were not citizens of HW, but because my siblings and I went to HS in HW (ND and Regina) we got special dispensation. GB..right on about the expose on porches and provincialism. I know that our 50s and 60s eastside book exists now only in cyperspace, but I have to agree with ES61's sentiment that our book could be better than "Made in Detroit" (although kudos to Paul Clemens for a great book)well maybe not better but certainly in a whole different direction and perspective. Another chapter could deal with religion and education, and since 7K joined the foray, the notion of separation of public and parochial education can be explained with interesting detail(St. Jude, St. Brenden, St. Raymond, GA students might have made up the bulk of kids on the far northeast side.....speak of provincialism and separation......that separation seemed pronounced, especially through the eyes of a child) I'm sure GB and ES can detail their experiences rather eloquently. I now find this really fascinating that at least along Eastwood which was primarily a St. Jude haven during the 40s-70s, that there really was a separation by school and/or religion. more later. (Message edited by kellyroad on December 15, 2007) | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 821 Registered: 03-2007 |
KR: Yeah, that's good logic about forgetting the prom date...but trust me on this...she was memorable...it was just weird that I was not able to pull her name out of the hard drive. That plus I never saw her again after I left for WMU. Ah well...all's well that ends well...I guess. It is interesting though to think back on those forks in the road and to wonder where life would have taken me had I taken a different tack...on the other hand there were so many forks that its quite clear that no single different choice would have had an absolute impact. I think too, that is part of the recollection issue...moving every 3-5 years to a new locale and job created so many memories and variables that they simply do not all fit in. Until moving here I had not lived under the same roof for more than five years since I was 18. The stability of your life is awesome to me...I admire it greatly...and yet, I don't think I could have done it. Those libraries really were key to the Eastside...plus the JFK in Harper Woods. We were living in HW when I finished my M.A...was bored as hell with that pressure gone...the JFK library was my salvation...I think I read everything written by Minchener that they had in inventory...including some little known early works...like Daughter of Bugle Ann...see, I do remember some things! lolol The religious segregation on the Eastside was significant...as a TAR we did not socialize with kids from the parochial schools...about the only person I can recall being somewhat part of our clique was Dave DeBuschure (sp?)...he was dating a Denby girl and of course, was a big name jock. I dated an Italian Catholic girl a couple of times...both sets of parents went nuts...we were Missouri Synod Lutheran. My folks never knew about the Greek girl I dated...I don't know but I imagine she was Eastern Orthodox...now that would have set them spinning. When we were younger we played ball, etc. with the Catholic kids in the neighborhood but there was a clear divide...something separated us...I guess it was the attitudes of our parents. | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 164 Registered: 04-2007 |
ALL: Here is an story about a nun who lived in the Heilmann area back in the day. The story was followed by op/ed interest and even the national blogs. 7K you know of her, ES61, you may even know her....she is your age and lived on Saratoga between Rex and Redmond almost directly due south of your Eastwood home....Does Kathy Avery sound familiar? As educators and/or former far eastsiders....you may find an interest or even a grin. She actually babysat me during my Morang days. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=/20071209/NEW S05/712090667/1001 |
