 
Zitro
Member
Username: Zitro
Post Number: 233
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 10:00 pm: |    |
The city is taking a big enough hit these days. Rightfully so IMO. But they don't have to pile on |
Jcole
Member
Username: Jcole
Post Number: 373
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 10:03 pm: | |
What with Kwame, and the auto companies, I'd say any good news would be a huge boon. Let's hope one or all of our teams can pull it out. |
Zitro
Member
Username: Zitro
Post Number: 234
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 10:08 pm: | |
The Kwame thing is an absolute farce. I don't understand how the city can move forward with him in office. It could be a long hot summer I'm afraid. |
Jcole
Member
Username: Jcole
Post Number: 374
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 10:39 pm: | |
I hope someone with some pull convinces him that he should, for the good of the city, quietly resign, but I'm not holding my breath. |
Olddetroiter
Member
Username: Olddetroiter
Post Number: 66
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 10:40 pm: | |
Some people in Detroit deserve what they got. They should have known better than to vote for Kwame after the surprises from his first term. The ones I pity are those who didn't vote for him but are stuck with him anyway. I always thought that election was rigged anyway. Kwame was behind most of the night, and then the last few precinct's results came in overwhelming in his favor. Coincidence? No me parece.
(Message edited by olddetroiter on April 27, 2008) |
7andkelly
Member
Username: 7andkelly
Post Number: 231
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008 - 7:22 pm: | |
As a kid, I used to love the alleys.
You had an endless supply of rocks. These were great for throwing at trees and telephone poles, and various street signs, and once in a while, another kid who was holding a garbage can lid shield. You would toss them up in the air and bat them as far as you could. The chances of breaking a window, or knocking someone's eye out were relatively small. And you would find those special rocks that were layered or sparkly or flat, and you would put those in your pocket. The flat ones were great for skipping on lakes and ponds and ditches. |
Olddetroiter
Member
Username: Olddetroiter
Post Number: 69
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008 - 10:00 pm: | |
Since you bring up the subject of alleys….. I only tell this because I know how much KR enjoys my little stories, and the statute of limitations has expired. Troop 706 was assembling in the church parking lot at about 3:00 am for our public service trip to Mackinac Island (*) when two of us somehow became separated from the group and found ourselves a block and a half away in the alley behind Maier’s. Then someone discovered a misplaced blockbuster in his pocket. We knew it was forbidden to transport explosives, and when police came across unexploded devices they would set them off in large open spaces away from any people. For something the size of a blockbuster the Maier’s backyard seemed big enough so we did our civic duty and detonated the charge. As we turned to leave my companion fell into a dirt pile in the alley. Being a good team player I naturally waited for him to extract himself and regain his bearings. By that time every house light in the neighborhood was coming on and we thought it best to make a swift exit. Just as we were crossing Salter I looked left and saw Mr. Workman (**) standing beside his house looking in our direction. I thought we were busted for sure, but he must not have recognized us. We made it back to the church and blended back into the troop without anyone being the wiser….. until today. Other than that one little incident we were perfect gentlemen for the whole trip, except maybe for some inattention to the troop’s poop sheet.
(*) Note – ‘Public service’ should not be confused with ‘community service’. Community service assignments may have been handed out to some after we returned from the trip.
(**) Mr. Workman was the neighborhood cop who lived a few houses from ES. He helped Mr. H keep ES under surveillance during the time he lived on Mapleridge.
(Message edited by olddetroiter on April 27, 2008) |
Olddetroiter
Member
Username: Olddetroiter
Post Number: 72
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008 - 10:14 pm: | |
Z, JC: It was scary for awhile, but it looks like someone rubbed some lucky socks in Philly's face. |
Zitro
Member
Username: Zitro
Post Number: 252
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008 - 10:18 pm: | |
Good thing, There's no reason this should even be a series |
Olddetroiter
Member
Username: Olddetroiter
Post Number: 73
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008 - 10:22 pm: | |
7K: Once three of us were returning home from the Civic in the alley behind Kelly when a group of kids challenged us to a rock fight. It was the kind of offer you couldn't say no to since they were already throwing them. We took cover and returned fire. The battle was intense, and in a couple minutes I turned around and noticed my companions weren't there anymore. So I decided to make a strategic withdrawal too. End of my rock fighting career. |
Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue
Post Number: 1533
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008 - 11:45 pm: | |
Geez OD...we didn't know that was you! The Fordham Group, Ltd. had a contract to nail ES61...it was clearly a case of mistaken identity...mea culpa. |
Olddetroiter
Member
Username: Olddetroiter
Post Number: 76
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 12:00 am: | |
GB: All is forgiven. ES was with us, but he was the the first one to run off. |
Eastside61
Member
Username: Eastside61
Post Number: 1246
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 12:33 am: | |
OD: I was 2nd.....not the first to run.... Those Fordham psycho's were totally grease balls... no class and never knew how to sweet talk DHS cheerleaders like SR... MS ... and Marty B......
Bob Workman's dad was a DPD cop...and was very interested in GB when he made some moves on Workman's younger sister... I think GB always had trouble with the ladies ... and once again needed a date ... Gb was known at Mr Fix UP..... the boy struggled with women... |
Kellyroad
Member
Username: Kellyroad
Post Number: 379
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 2:37 am: | |
Alleys, rock fights, and explosives...now that's eastside nostalgia. I can relate to 7K's alley story. It seemed kids were under the radar when traveling the hood via the alleys...we were in our own kid world with trying to hit targets, rock fights, or perhaps just a short cut to the party store to return bottles found in the alley and exchange for bubble gum etc (the 7 and Kelly Kid can relate, I'm sure.). My dad lead the petition to have our block's alley closed. It was a good deal since he had a massive vegetable and flower garden and composted. I hated raking the leaves because it meant carting them back behind the garage instead of just raking them into the street, dumping lighter fluid and enjoying the company of all the neighborhood's pyromaniacs. I didn't appreciate then the fact that he was ahead of his time....However, I did appreciate that not all blocks closed the alleys until much later (mid to late 60s). and it was an adventure just trailing the garbage haulers thru the alley.
On a related note: Did anyone have an incinerator next to their furnace to burn garbage? They were banned shortly after leaf burning was banned.
OD: great story, I can relate to the adventure and daredevil like mischief in that story. Boys will be boys and the fareastside was a good place to be one.
(Message edited by kellyroad on April 28, 2008) |
Olddetroiter
Member
Username: Olddetroiter
Post Number: 78
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 8:19 am: | |
KR: I guess you can count me with the pyros. In addition to the garbage can we had a burn basket for discarded paper in back by the alley. It was about the same size as a garbage can but was made of strong wire webbing instead of being a solid can. In the winter I used to like standing by the warm flame watching it’s glow until it burned out, like the city’s version of a campfire….. Some of the bottles we found were caked in mud. The store owners would sometimes interrogate us as to where we got them. The standard answer was “at home.” |
7andkelly
Member
Username: 7andkelly
Post Number: 250
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 9:36 am: | |
KR: Not only did we have an incinerator, but it was my job to run it. It was a blast, literally, lighting it. Removing the ashes wasn't as fun, but it wasn't bad either.
Back in '76, when I worked at McD on 9 Mile in Roseville, I got to run their incinerator too! I would toss a couple of bags in at a time, press the igniter button, and FWOOSH! Once and a while a plastic tray would be in the bag, by mistake, and I got to watch it melt. I miss that job. |
7_and_kelly_kid
Member
Username: 7_and_kelly_kid
Post Number: 130
Registered: 12-2007
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 9:46 am: | |
KR:.........I remember goin' alley pikin' and looking in the garbage cans for aerosol cans and then finding a trash or leaf fire ....then tosssin' 'em in...............then bikin it fast out of there................and if the guy who set the fire came back we would try to wave him off..........but either way........BOOF!.....leaves all over........9and mabe a flying piece of schrapnel too!...... |
7andkelly
Member
Username: 7andkelly
Post Number: 252
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:21 am: | |
OD/7&kk: ...and I thought we were reckless with a few errant rocks. You people were totally insane! Or you're just good writers in your old age. |
Olddetroiter
Member
Username: Olddetroiter
Post Number: 82
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:27 am: | |
7K: That's why I didn't keep any pictures from the old days. Didn't want to have any embarrassing facts laying around that might contradict a good reminiscence. |
Kellyroad
Member
Username: Kellyroad
Post Number: 381
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:36 am: | |
7 and Kelly Kid: You of course were one of the pyromaniacs mentioned in the aforementioned post LOL. It seems now, although there are seemingly more local and private fireworks, there are not as many firecrackers as back in the day. I mean M-80s (with 1/4 grain gun powder), cherry bombs, hammerheads...the kind that would rock your socks off. You must remember D. Vi#@&^% placing hammerheads under fruit baskets and seeing the fruit basket rise to above the streetlight. The first time I had a firecracker was an M80 (remember this was a kid whose parents were reluctant for him to handle sparklers)...myself and some other Eastwood thugs went to the blacktop, lit it and scurried. I don't know if it was the M80 or the reverberation off the church buildings but that blast was felt thru the bones.....everyone on Fordham came running out and wondering what was that?....After that I did appreciate the power of explosives in a package half the size of a roll of nickles. |
Zitro
Member
Username: Zitro
Post Number: 253
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 11:00 am: | |
M80's and Cherry Bombs were cool because they had waterproof wicks. We'd drop them down the sewer and they blow the lid up in the air a couple of inches which was no small feat considering how heavy they were.. Pretty powerful little suckers. |
7andkelly
Member
Username: 7andkelly
Post Number: 253
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 11:01 am: | |
The blacktop:
From what I remember, if the ball landed in Getow's yard it was a home run, and the game was over unless you had a spare ball. The ultimate dare was to enter his yard and try to retrieve your ball from amongst his tomatoes, and get out of there before getting whacked with a hoe or stabbed with a pitchfork. |
7andkelly
Member
Username: 7andkelly
Post Number: 255
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 11:07 am: | |
Z: I guess that explains part of Detroit's infrastructure problem. |
Zitro
Member
Username: Zitro
Post Number: 254
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 11:12 am: | |
Yea that's it. Not 30 some years of cronyism and corruption. |
Jcole
Member
Username: Jcole
Post Number: 383
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 11:16 am: | |
Yeah, I don't think a couple M80's and cherry bombs trumps Coleman and Kwame. |
Olddetroiter
Member
Username: Olddetroiter
Post Number: 84
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 11:23 am: | |
Blockbuster is the term we used before the proper identification (M-80) was known to us. This is what we had to dispose of in the Maier's back yard. |
7andkelly
Member
Username: 7andkelly
Post Number: 256
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 12:28 pm: | |
Of course everything was on the up-and-up when we were kids, but I'm still wondering what took them so long to call in the state police, national guard and army reservists back in '67. I guess Romney was being "brain washed" by Cavanaugh. Still, Nichols made a lot more cents than Coleman. I still have his campaign pin. |
Zitro
Member
Username: Zitro
Post Number: 257
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 12:33 pm: | |
I'm sure it wasn't but at least we can blame our young age for our naivete' at the time. By the time Coleslaw took over that wasn't the case. |
Jcole
Member
Username: Jcole
Post Number: 385
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 12:49 pm: | |
I was living in Almont when Johannes Spreen ran for Oakland County Sheriff. He had been Police Commisioner down in Detroit when dad was on the force. Well, we got up one Saturday morning, and there were hundreds of Spreen for Sheriff signs on our front lawn. Mike Sawicki, RJ Laney and company had gone around the night before stealing signs, and somehow got them all set up without any of us hearing. My dad was fit to pe tied. He claimed that's why Spreen lost. |
7andkelly
Member
Username: 7andkelly
Post Number: 259
Registered: 04-2008
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 1:01 pm: | |
We were at the Romeo Theatre the other day. Just a great place to see a movie.
But outside there was this terrible foot odor smell coming out of a north wind. It was horrible. We asked the owner about it, and he said it started happening earlier this month, and the EPA is trying to track it down. |