  Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 859 Registered: 10-2003 |
Do you have any memories and stories to share about Lakeside Trailer Court and its surrounds of the Marine Hostpital, Windmill Pointe Lighthouse, Harbor Island, and Alfred Brush and Ford Park? Please scroll down to the "Add Your Message Here" posting box and tell us about it and add it to the Detroit Memories collection, a part the DetroitYES forums. | ||
Grey Member Username: Grey Post Number: 98 Registered: 05-2004 |
Sorry, no memories here. However, looking on Mapquest and TerraServer at this corner of Detroit, it is fascinating. Surely ripe for development for those savvy enough to get in on it. On TerraServer it appear that high priced housing was going up on Keelson Drive (just west of Alfred Brush Park) in 2002 when the overhead pictures were taken. | ||
Laborlawyer (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 209.104.144.90 |
There was a story about this place in the News or Free Press Sunday Magazine in the 80's. I remember it was fascinating. Lots of pictures and stories of interesting characters who lived there. I remember something about a sea captain's widow, and one guy who had a grand piano in his mobile home. The reporter if I remember correctly lived in a trailer there for several weeks while writing the story. A good researcher, or someone with a contact at the newspaper, could probably find it. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.18.224 |
I am a 61-year-old native Detroiter and I grew up on Chalmers between Essex and Freud. I remember the Lakeside Trailer Court, Marine Hostpital, the Windmill Pointe Lighthouse, Harbor Island, and Alfred Brush Ford Park (it's all one park on both sides of the channel, or it use to be). In any event, we just called it Lakewood Park. My buddies and I use to ice skate on the canal by the trailer park. We had a friend who live there. My neighbor and childhood best friend use to walk about four blocks east on Essex to Fox Creek, then skate down to the "bridge store" that was located in a house right on the Korte Street Bridge (the very next bridge over Fox Creek, south of Jefferson, into Grosse Pointe Park). We'd then hike a couple of blocks back to Phillip where we went to Guyton School. Oh, the memories of that wonderful community then. In the summer, Chalmers was shaded by Elm trees (I guess they were Elm) that arched over the street, and we'd walk down to Lakewood Park, picking up another friend who lived on Harbor Island and swim in the Detroit River. I remember, I think it was 1958, when the military jet (I think it was canadian) crashed near Scripps and Ashland. We were coming home from Jackson Jr. High on the bus when we heard it hit. We jumped off the bus a few blocks from the crash site and it looked as if someone had dropped a bomb. By the time we ran the few blocks to the scene countless houses were consumed by fire. As the story goes, the plane flamed-out and the pilot could have ejected, but he chose instead to try to ditch in the river so the plane wouldn't come down in a populated area. He crashed a block or so short and was killed, but no one was at home in any of the houses that were destroyed. I spent from the time I was born until I went to college in that marvelous neighborhood. My memories would fill a book. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1072 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hi, a few questions for the old-timers: Last year on the Discuss Detroit forum, someone else mentioned the aircraft crash in this neighborhood in the 1950's. However, they said it happened on Klenk Island. Mark, you said Ashland & Scripps...did it possibly damage houses on Klenk as well? When and why did Lakewood Park get the un-official name "Angel Park"? Do you have any memories of the Army installing and operating the Nike anti-aircraft missile site on the riverfront at Alfred Brush Ford Park? Or anywhere else around town? DId they have anti-aircraft artillery there before they brought the Nike missiles in? In the park, next to the trailer court, there is a home that was called the Lighthouse Recreation Center. Any memories? Also in the park area on the water was a business where seaplanes could land on the river and get gas and maintenance. I think it went by the name of Garland's. Any memories of it, or when it started or ended business? Thanks. | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1073 Registered: 10-2003 |
I did a little research and found this regarding the plane crash: "OCT. 24, 1958: A British Royal Air Force bomber jet -- trailing smoke and flame and its pilot calling out "mayday" -- crashed on Ashland Avenue near the Detroit River on the city's far east side. All six crew members were killed. Three homes were destroyed and about 40 others were damaged. Wreckage was scattered into nearby Grosse Pointe. No one on the ground was killed; two women were treated for burns. The four-engine delta-winged plane was on a training mission, flying from Lincolnshire, England, to Lincoln, Neb. Crippled, it dived from 45,000 feet, passing over hospitals and schools on its path to the ground. The impact was so hard that searchers dug 70 feet in an unsuccessful effort to find the plane's cockpit. The largest piece of wreckage found was a 6-foot section of wing that landed on a porch." | ||
matt fletcher (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 69.47.156.144 |
Back in the 1970s my grandmother, grandfather, sister, her husband and kids lived in the trailer park. They were all auto workers. it was a nice place back then. grandpa had a boat parked in the boatwells across the road at Tommy's Boat Livery. The place was alive with activity in the summer. There were fishermen launching boats everywhere. People going on boats to ski and swim. It was alive with activity. The trailer park was shaded by huge cottonwood trees and the cotton would blow all over in late summer. We used to walk down to the river edge to fish and watch huge ships go past. If you were lucky enough to have a friend that had a trailer on the canal, you could fish right on the dock and watch the small boats go in and out. I recently drove through the park as the last people were packing up to leave. People were ripping the aluminum off of the trailers. The place was nearly deserted. It was a little scary to me. I seemed like a Steven King movie. My sister found some kittens under an abandoned trailer. She kept one and took the rest to an animal shelter. She couldn't find the mother. one kitten was missing an eye. that is the kitten she kept. My mom bought a very nice 40 foot trailer at a bargain and we moved it to some land we have in the country. A 40 foot souvenir of the place! (Message approved by admin) | ||
Jason Tabor (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 192.203.223.66 |
Hello, I live in Lansing and tour this website from time to time. I was checking out Lakeside Trailer Court feature and also reading the memories of Lakeside Trailer Court. I am particularly interested in the posting by Mr. Mark Colden and his memories of a military fighter jet crashing in 1958. Can you elaborate at all on this event? I think my uncle was the pilot of that plane. Thanks, Jason Tabor (Message approved by admin) | ||
Jason Tabor (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 192.203.223.66 |
Hello, Thank you Mikem for the information regarding the crash in 1958. Although my uncle died in a single or double seat USAF fighter, that purportedly crashed into Lake St. Clair. I can use the date of the Canadian Bomber crash to locate articles that could lead to references of the accident my uncle was involved in. Thanks, Jason Tabor (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1080 Registered: 10-2003 |
Jason, let me know what you find...I'm in the aviation field, and I'd be interested to know. Was your uncle flying out of Selfridge? | ||
steve padgett (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 12.44.48.41 |
My aunt lived in the Lakeside Park for a few years in the '70's. I would spend a few days at a time there. Plenty of kids and it was kind of fun. On the occasion of the passing of the first 1,000 ft. freighter, a large crowd gathered at the riverfront. One of the neighbors was blind and he held a tape recorder so he could listen to the engines. I think a Detroit Police helicopter crashed near there too about that time. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Frank Farrell (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 198.240.130.75 |
I periodically visit this website to view the pictures and read peoples musings and memories about Detroit. One thing I can never understand is how everything went so bad so fast. This trailer community looks(from people's memories) to be a quaint and pleasant place to live. Now it's a disaster. How could this happen throughout an entire Metroplis? (Message approved by admin) | ||
Frank Farrell (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 198.240.130.75 |
This may or may not work but this is the view from above: http://www.terraserver-usa.com /addressimage.aspx?t=1&s=10&lo n=-82.9322257030606&lat=42.357 9749703579&alon=-82.93587253&a lat=42.35796797&w=3&opt=0&qs=r iverside+blvd.%7cdetroit%7cmi% 7c&addr=Riverside+Blvd%2c+Detr oit%2c+MI+48215 (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.111.163 |
Let me see if I can answer some of the questions posted and congratulate Mikem on the excellent research about the 1958 jet crash. He’s absolutely right and jogged my memory. As we later found, it was a British bomber and there were parts of the plane scattered all over the place. I didn’t know until Mikem’s post where it was coming from or where it was going and had forgotten there were several others besides the pilot who were on the aircraft. Great research! And to Mikem again, your investigation shows that pieces were found as far away as Grosse Pointe Park and since Klenk Island lies between the crash site and GPP, I’d imagine plane parts also fell on Klenk. I haven’t the slightest idea how Ford Park got the un-official name "Angel Park." During my 20-some-odd years of living on Chalmers, it was known to everybody in the neighborhood as Lakewood Park. Regarding the Nike anti-aircraft missile site, to my knowledge there was none at Lakewood Park, but my brother, who is eight years older than I am, told me there were plans for an army anti-aircraft battery to be put there during WW II. I don’t know if they did it or not, but there use to be some concrete columns at the park that may have been used as gun mounts, I really don’t know. There was a Nike missile site on Belle Isle, maybe that’s what you’re talking about. I remember the lighthouse next to the trailer court, but don’t remember it as a rec. center. No memories about the seaplane business called Garland's, but I’ll ask my brother when he gets back from D.C., he may know of it. Frank Farrell’s post about not understanding “how everything went so bad so fast” is a legitimate question. Well, I can tell Frank why things went from sugar to shi** so quickly. There was some racial movement on the periphery of the area in the early 1960s, but didn’t cause any significant change in the ethnic makeup. The 1967 Detroit riot was the impetus for the real beginnings of a radical change in the neighborhood. Although the riot itself didn’t physically damage or really touch our immediate community, it did great psychological harm. Middle-income whites left, and were initially replaced by middle-income blacks. However, before any real interaction could occur between the two racial middle-income groups, realtors turned more and more to scare tactics to scoop up white-owned homes (“Block-Busting”) cheaply. There were a few apartment buildings and other multiple-dwellings scattered throughout the area, this was especially true in the neighborhoods north of Jefferson and west of Newport. This area was devastated by block-busting tactics. Lower-income blacks began moving into these areas. Unfortunately, crime began to edge up along Jefferson, where a thriving commercial community had existed for decades. At first, it was shoplifting and the merchants began to employ different kinds of security measures. This was new to old-time residents of the area who were use to open and inviting shops. Breaking and entering into homes south of Jefferson came next and really started the stampede to move. By about 1972 or 1973, the surrounding neighborhood was predominately peopled by lower-income blacks, and by about 1975, only lower-income whites were left. Now, before anyone calls me bigoted and takes me to task for being a racist, let me say that I, too, am black. I spent the first third of my life on Chalmers (that’s a story in and of itself--how my grandfather came to a white area in the 1920’s, but I’m getting lengthy and will save that story for another time), the second third on the west side and moved back east about three years ago to finish up. I’m in the Indian Village area, not many miles from where I grew-up, and it pains me to go into my old neighborhood. I am hopeful, however, by the housing developments (Victoria Park, Grayhaven, etc.) that are springing up. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1089 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks for your inputs Mark. Ford Park, on the west side of Lakewood Park, had radars on top of the cement columns for guiding the anti-aircraft missiles, over on Belle Isle, to their target. They were for the most part, staffed around the clock by the National Guard. They were there from 1955 to 1968. I was just wondering if anyone had any stories of interacting with the guardsmen, was the park a public park at that time or was it of limits to the public, etc? Growing up in the '70s I knew Lakewood Park as Angel Park, but I was wondering how it got that name. I always thought it had something to do with the popularity of it as a place to get drugs/get high, i.e., get angel dust? Maybe? The recreation center I am referring to is pictured here: http://www.detroityes.com/webi sodes/2005/ParadiseLost/07-Mar ineHospEast.jpg http://www.detroityes.com/webi sodes/2005/ParadiseLost/08-Mar ineHospRear.jpg Maybe you've seen this already, but it's a similar thread on the history of the area occupied by the Marine Hospital: https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/6790/36360.html?11073110 33 | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.18.194 |
Mikem--Just a quickie. Thanks for the info about the Lakewood Park radar, but I can’t for the life of me remember ever seeing it, and we spent a lot of time there. Was it open so the actual apparatus could be seen scanning the sky, or capped as most radar is today? I sure don’t remember the mechanism being open, but I was hanging there more than 40 years ago and my memory might be shaky (old age isn’t all it’s cracked-up to be when it come to total recall). But you’ve got me wondering. I’ll have to check the Burton Archives at the main library to satisfy myself, but you’re probably right. The park was open to the public during the time you mentioned (1955 to 1968) and there wasn’t any security that I remember. I’ll go down and check out the recreation center to see if I remember it. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1091 Registered: 10-2003 |
The radars were covered with a white dome. I don't know how the park was then, but they were at the far west end of the park, across the canal from Lakewood Park, nearer to the Gar Wood mansion area. | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.111.80 |
Mikem--Right again. The area in question was fenced off from the rest of the park (back then, we didn’t know it was a part of the park). As I remember, there was no access from the park itself. I think the entrance was at the foot of Lenox St., down from the old Fisher mansion, and it wasn't open to the public. I was in the Army National Guard myself from 1965-1971 or thereabouts (like Bush, avoiding Viet Nam), but never heard of army guardsmen securing the place. Maybe it was the Air Guard. I’m going down today to checkout the rec. center to see if I remember it. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1093 Registered: 10-2003 |
Probably too late now, but here's a pic of the radar tower in Ford Park at the end of Lenox: http://www.detroityes.com/webi sodes/2000/04mysteries/01concr ete_tower.htm | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1094 Registered: 10-2003 |
I found a little more information today about the Nike missile sites. The radars in Brush park were removed in 1961. Maybe that's before you lived there? Nearby, on the riverfront at the end of Conner, was another radar site for the Belle Isle missiles that was kept in operation until 1968. | ||
NancyBenner (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 205.188.116.195 |
There was an article in the Detroit Free Press, July 2, 1995 issue, written by Judy Rose, Free Press Homes Editor, titled Urban Isle. Talks about Klenk Island. My mother lived at 14687 Klenk. She has many stories about life there. (Message approved by admin) | ||
jkay (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 141.217.119.205 |
i'd like to collect real-life stories about the trailor court community. like the one's that have begun here. Mainly specific personal stories or special memories of anything you might say is...well, compelling and interesting i suppose. Anything site-specific that might still be there or photographs would be great. please continue to post them here or email me your connection to the place and your stories (wisdomtracker@yahoo.com) so i can contact you. i'd like to write about the place. THANK YOU! (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.111.146 |
Mikem, sorry, but I still haven’t gone to checkout the rec center. I’ll do it this weekend. NancyBenner, if your mother was living on Klenk during the 1950s, we may have gone to Guyton School together. jkay, have I got some stories for you, here’s a quickie. Since I’ve just mentioned Guyton School (on Phillip), here’s a short anecdote. The school was named for Joseph Guyton, supposedly the first American soldier killed in action during WW I. Out in front of the school is a bolder, and on it use to be a bronze plaque with the names of Guyton School students killed in “The Great War.” Unfortunately, the bronze tablet is long-gone (worth something), but the rock (worth nothing and too big to steal) remains. Anyway, each year around Memorial Day the student body would all troop out to the rock where a short ceremony would be held honoring the war dead. Sometime toward the end of the proceedings, a car would drive up and a woman dressed in black would get out and place a wreath at the base of the rock. She never spoke, but went back to the car and drove off. Everyone believed it to be Guyton’s mother because that was the story, but I never verified if the story was true. It could have been, though. Figure it this way. Say she was born in 1874, gave birth to Guyton at 25 in 1899, that would make him 18 and eligible for soldiering in 1917 (when the U.S. entered the war), and his mother around 81-years-old in 1955. Of course, back in the 19th century women would marry early and have babies right away, so maybe a few more years can be lopped-off her age, putting her in her late 70s in 1955. Who knows, urban legend or not? I do know for sure the family was from Michigan’s Macosta County because years later I saw his name again among the “Honored Dead” in the Big Rapids Armory when I was at Ferris. Maybe they were from Big Rapids, I don’t remember if the plaque honored county and Big Rapids dead or both – it’s been a long time. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Prokopowicz Member Username: Prokopowicz Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2005 |
I moved to Grosse Pointe in 1971 and have driven past this many times. Somehow I grew up with the impression that prime parcels like this were being held by "speculators" who would not develop the property but would not sell it either. Now when I look at these pictures, and learn about the history of this site from this discussion, I am amazed that the property could be undeveloped. Is there something about Detroit tax laws that lets a landlord sit on a site for so many years with no investment and no holding cost? Or are there just no takers for the land? Is it really worthless? - Pete | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.111.240 |
Mikem, finally an answer – yes, there was a Lighthouse Recreation Center down from the trailer court just as you said. I don’t remember it, probably because my mates and I spent 99 percent of our time west of the channel in Lakewood Park – that’s the Lakewood St. entrance – ‘cause it was the next street over from Chalmers where I lived and we were lazy. My older brother, being more adventuresome and not as lazy, remembers it well and has many other stories to tell. He says he’ll get on this week and share his memories. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Rodrigo (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.40.111.153 |
Perhaps I can provide a small (and very superficial) snapshot of the Lakeside Trailer Court in its late years. For a few years in the late 1990s I took my boat out into lake St. Clair via the canal bordering the trailer park. This was a bit like traveling on a train through people's backyards, where one basically becomes a (relatively) unobstrusive observer of the life surrounding the path. I remember these traverses with affection, for the place did not struck me as the standard idea of a trailer park, where people struggling with their lives find a place to hold. Rather, the trailer park I saw (or imagined) conveyed a distinct sense of place, a place where a community of interesting people had chosen, rather than be forced, to live. One would get glimpses of rich lives being lived by the water, a bit of distinctive music, a boat rigged for muskies, joyfully arranged wind charms and fish wind sockets, decorated docks and, sometimes in the early morning, the unmistakable remnants of languid nighttime conversations. At least by the canal, people seemed to have lived their lives facing the water, with boats and signs of activity at every dock, a sharp contrast to the often well manicured but ultimately sterile lakefront facades directly on the lake. These were years of relatively high water in the lake, and the canal was shallow but quite functional. I wonder if the demise of the trailer court could have been accelerated by the low water of the early years of this decade, which must have rendered access to the lake through the canal near impossible, and also must have created a muddy/stagnant area next to the trailer park. It has been some years since I last traveled the canal, but I see it often, a long watery ribbon extending beyond the curved arch of the Riverside Boulevard bridge. Places that were once regular haunts often carry for me persistent memories, and the Lakeside trailer court is no different. I can still see her hands cupping her morning coffee in the early morning, the veranda of the furthermost house fighting decay, the grey wood a recorder of lake spray and storms. And I see her back to the canal, her black hair, her eyes fixed on the sun rising over the horizon, her demeanor of disdain and courage, signs of a difficult spot, but also of resolve and survival. Even today she reminds me of the Detroit I cross as an outsider, marveling at what it was, and what it is. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mike Saad (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.60.134.11 |
I stumbled across this site and could not stop reading about everyone's memories of my neighborhood. I grew up in the "Jefferson-Chalmers" area, as we called it, from 1952-66. During those years I lived at Kitchener and Essex until moving in 1960 to Phillip and Scripps. I remember the Canadian fighter plane crash distinctly. I was living on Kitchener and heard an enormous crash. One of my adult neighbors ran to his car as I ran out of the house. He called to his son and to me to join him and my mother gave permission. By the time we drove over there - a matter of only a few minutes, the streets were already crowded with police and onlookers and within minutes of that, there were air force personnel gathering up pieces of aircraft. I saw several kids taking electronic parts off the ground and running home with them. I recall as a young boy, thinking how enormous the crash site must have been. Airplane parts were everywhere for blocks around. Adults were talking quietly about people dying aboard the airplane. As a young boy, I remember walking barefoot on summer days with my friends to the party and bait store at the bridge house on Korte and Ashland. The store was known by the name of the family that ran it – Bierly’s or Byerly’s. Boats would dock all along the canal – small motor boats north of the bridge and larger boats south of the bridge. Only a small boat could squeeze under the Korte bridge. It was great fun to go there, buy a chocolate pop or a Faygo and a pack of baseball cards and lean over the bridge, with the sun beating down on our bare backs and spit into the canal. As I got older, I remember accepting a dare to dive into the canal from the bridge. I was very lucky. The water there was only about four feet deep and the muddy bottom was filled with pop bottles and God only knows what other debris was thrown in there. I had a friend whose dad had a fishing boat on the canal. And we would motor along the canal, past what I think was the veterans hospital at the end of the canal, then we would motor toward Angel Park with all the trailers. Klenk Island was on our right as we headed toward the outlet to the River. I was so envious of the people who lived on the water and with access to the river. When we made the turn and could see the River, “Lakewood Park” was on our right and “Angel Park” was on our left. That was how we always distinguished those two bodies of land separated by the canal. During the winter, we would ice-skate on the canal the other side of Scripps. The Scripps neighbors left their yard gates open and we would walk to their back yards; don our skates, wrap our shins in magazines and play hockey on the canal ice. The Klenk Islanders weren’t too happy with hockey pucks zipping through the air behind their houses. If we weren’t sure the ice was thick enough, we would throw the largest rock, brick or broken concrete piece we could find. If it skidded along, we’d skate that canal. Several of us went through thin ice as a testament to the lack of our scientific testing methods. I remember skating one night along the canals of Klenk and Angel, over to the Ashland canal and out onto the Detroit River. We then made the turn past the Grosse Point lighthouse and hopped the wall at Grosse Point Park to skate with the residents there. It was all great fun and getting there in the moonlight was very special But the return home was long, dark and cold. We could hear the thunder of the ice cracking and buckling as we skated, and that sent us scurrying to the canal breakwalls to hang on until the ice froze back into the cracks. Although I attended St. Martin High School, I played summer softball and horseshoes with the Guyton Parks and Recreation teams. I remember the Guyton Memorial stone, but until I read it on your website, I had no knowledge of its meaning. My memories of that neighborhood, the families, the schools and the canals are all pleasant and vivid for me to this day. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Patricia Saad (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.40.202.29 |
Lakewood Park was at the foot of Lakewood Street. Angel Park was at the foot of Alter Road. These are two separate and distinct parks, and each had it's own "feel" in the 60s and 70s. Lakewood Park was certainly more family oriented, picnics, ball games, swings and cleaner surroundings. My memory of Angel Park is that it had a much more harsh atmosphere than Lakewood Park. As the Age of Aquarius dawned on us makeshift hippies of the neighborhood, Angel Park was the place to be seen, especially the parking lot where the action was. As if it happened last week, I can remember a gang of St. Martin, church-attending, hippy wannabes hanging around the parking lot. The teenage tension added to our hypervigilance so it was no surprise we could hear the rumble of the Harleys from Korte and Ashland. Then the Hells Angels roared into Angel Park. This was well before Altamont, and was much more drama than we could have ever hoped for. The more adventerous of us made quick eye contact, while the majority of us were too frightened and thrilled to exhale. The smell of their leather and long hair, motor oil and cigarettes combined with our teenage fear, enough to make us shiver. To this day, I cannot remember what was said to provoke them. Although we were somewhat fearless and very reckless, we were not that foolish to taunt a Hells Angel. Ralph, a Denby High School kid, spoke up. Insults and taunts were exchanged and in an instant so quick most of us missed it, Ralph was stabbed. No one saw the blade or the biker, but everyone saw the blood. There were screams throughout the park, Ralph stumbled, trying to grab the wound in his back. People scrambled into cars - anyone's car - and Ralph was shuttled to Bon Secour's Hospital. We may have been born to be wild, but at that moment we were born to run. Was anyone else there that night? Does anyone else remember this incident in 1968/1969? I lived in Detroit (Kitchener/Essex; Phillip/Scripps; Chalmers/I-94) for 29 years. I now live in Ann Arbor and my two children honestly think I make these stories up. Can I get a witness? (Message approved by admin) | ||
(Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.60.134.11 |
Re: Nike Sites ... As a kid, I remember being told that the fenced in area at the far south west corner of "Lakewood" park was an old (abandoned) Nike missile launch site. Of course, I had no idea what a Nike site was at the time and don't know if the information was true or inaccurate lore of the neighborhood. It was certainly repeated enough that everyone I knew believed it to be true. I do recall that the site was visible from the park, but it was also deemed inaccessable enough to be of no interest to me. I also recall being scared as a kid that if that really was a site to defend against an "atomic bomb" attack, that is was likely on someone else's list to destroy with an atomic bomb. Those kinds of thoughts made "hiding under my desk with my head between my knees a very real exercise during "air raid drills." The St. Martin Dad's Club held a fishing Derby at Lakewood Park and neighborhood kids of all ages participated with hot dog lunch and prizes for caught fish being the attraction. I have an old group photo of the derby at Lakewood Park, circa 1958. Not sure how to upload it to you though. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mike Saad (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.60.134.11 |
Mikem Re: Nike Sites Check out this Nike Research website. It addresses Nike sites all over the country (by State) and specifically references the location at the "foot of lenox" which would be the far corner or Lakewood Park. http://ed-thelen.org/loc-m.htm l#D-23 I hope this helps. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.111.111 |
Let’s go way back to the Prohibition Era and the rum running on the east side. The following is excerpted from a March/April 1993 article by Donald W. Voelker (“Quags, Sloughs, and Miry Bogs” A Detroit Community Rises from the Marsh) in the “Michigan History Magazine.” Back issues can be obtained by calling toll-free at 1.800.366.3703 (Lansing area residents call 373.1645). the article gives boatloads of info about the area. It begins in 1874 and runs through about 1929 with pictures. “During the 1920s smuggling and the distribution of booze became Detroit’s second largest industry, exceeded only in size by the production of autos. With the arrival of the rumrunners to the far-east side, Conner and Fox creeks and the Grayhaven canals became prime unloading points, and speakeasies and blind pigs sprang up on Klenk Island and along Jefferson and Clairpointe avenues. For the most part, rum-running in far-east side Detroit and the Grosse Pointes differed from the near-east side and down river operations, since it was not dominated by organized crime. With the possible exception of the Licavoli and “Jewish Navy” gangs, the converted marshland smuggling operations were generally the handiwork of individual families using their own motorboats. “Long-time residents of the community still revel in tales of rumrunners and speakeasies. Stories about revenuer speedboat chases on the Detroit River, rumrunners escaping into canal-side boat wells, nighttime flashlights flickering ‘all clear’ signals, and tommy guns brandished at dock-side whiskey pickups recall the tension and excitement accompanying this largely unpopular law. On the other hand, Harbor Island residents were particularly distressed by the rumrunners’ disruption of their waterfront community; in 1926 the Harbor Island Improvement Association held an emergency meeting to discuss special vigilante action needed to maintain law and order.” (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mike Saad (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.60.134.11 |
Here is a 1950s photo of a St. Martin Dad's Club Fishing Derby at Lakewood Park.  Notice the full old trees at the park. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Steven Addy (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 207.69.2.131 |
Like others responding on this wonderful site, I have many pleasant memories that originated in this neighborhood. Three generations of my family spent portions of their lives in this part of the City and I'll always feel a positive connection to it. One need only spend a little time reading these comments to realize how strongly people feel about this area and to understand the deep bitterness and resentment often encountered when looking at its demise. In one comment Mr. Farrell asks, “how did things get so bad, so fast?” Mr. Colden’s thoughtful response was much too kind. This was not just block busting. This was part of a much larger story about people, ruthlessly and for profit, transforming a major international city into a minor player. Two groups that have always been well represented around the Detroit area are white racists and unscrupulous business people. The symbiosis between them, coupled with Detroit’s inability to annex the expanding neighborhoods around its perimeter, stoked a commercial feeding frenzy that ultimately halved the population, the housing stock, and the commercial activity within the City. There was an unpublicized ethnic war and this neighborhood was one of its victims. (Message approved by admin) | ||
James Amato (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 69.47.249.56 |
Hi Everybody. I can't believe I actually came across this forum. My friend Diane Mery who I grew up with sent it to me. Outstanding. I am also an 61 year old former resident of the neighborhood. I wanted to say a big hello to Mark Colden and Mike Saad. You guys might remember me I hope. I used to walk to school everyday with you Mark and some other friends. And Mike wasn't that your store on the corner of Freud and Eastlawn? Those were the best times of my life. My memory is failing me these days but a lot of it came flooding back when I read some of the posts here. Believe me I could fill a very large book about our neigborhood back then also. I don't have much time at the moment but I will post again very soon and share my memories of those times with you. By the way Mark I have never forgotten you. The last time I saw you was at a Motown review concert at the Fox theatre in the '60's I believe. I always knew you would do well in your life. God bless. Jim Amato (Message approved by admin) | ||
Ginny Keusch (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 66.82.9.62 |
I lived on Ashland, south of Jefferson from 1957 to 1971. In 1971, I married and we moved into the Lakeside Trailer court where we lived until the end of 1973. I worked at "Tommy's" from 1968 to 1973 in the carry-out food side. Memories I have that are mentioned above: I remember the plane crash, although I was only 6yrs old. I was with my grandmother at her house on Eastlawn, and she was giving me a piano lesson. When the crash hit, it literally lifted us off the piano bench. My mother picked me up and she drove toward the site, as many many people did. We weren't able to get too close, but I remember that there were stories for years of the pieces and parts that people found strewn over the area. "Angel Park" is the name for the park at the end of Alter Rd, just past the trailer park, it was across the canal from Lakewood Park, which was the park at the foot of Lakewood Ave. It was "angel park" even when I was a kid in the 50s / 60s so I am not sure how the name came about but the drugs exchanges came about in the late 60-70s, about the time the Hospital was transformed into a Methadone clinic. My mother told me stories of how the canals were used to run liquor during prohibition. Many of the boathouses were safe haven for the runners. My father was a Sealtest milkman for Grosse Pointe Park, and she told me that he also (while delivering the milk) would pick up bets and "handle" them ... hence, he was bookie! I know that in the early 60s his books (milk route) were audited and it had something to do with a case and the mafia. I attended St Ambrose until the 9th grade and then Cass Tech. My husband is a graduate from St Martins. He lived on Newport. My family were long time residents of the area. My grandfather built a home on Eastlawn, and Guyton was well known for the annual "Guyton Fair" which was a big neighborhood draw. My mother grew up on Eastlawn, she was born 1915, and that house was in the family until my cousin moved out in the late 80s, early 90s. I haven't been back in so many years, but will be there in April for a reunion with my cousins. The area was a great place to grow up during the 50s and 60s, so I imagine it was even moreso earlier on. The water just adds such a nice element. So many nice homes and quality construction. Each neighborhood a town unto itself. There were ruins of what appeared to be a military area just to the south of Lakewood park, you could climb under a fence and then explore in and out of the remains of silo-like structures. We always owned a boat (both my parents, and then me and my husband) and use the canals to access the river and Lake St Clair. In the 50s and 60s the areas was so charming. My mother and sister lived in the area until the early 80s, at which time you saw a rapid deterioration of the area. It was so sad to be afraid to visit areas where, as a child you were able to ride your bike for hours, without a care in the world. (Message approved by admin) | ||
James Amato (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 69.47.249.56 |
Just a quick note before I go. There definately was a Nike site next to what I called Lakewood Park. (At the foot of Lakewood street) We all were scared to death to even get near it. I know it was short lived. I believe the missle's were in underground bunkers of some sort. I'm not sure but I think I also saw them sitting on top of some concrete pillars also. Like I said my memory is failing me but I do know for a fact that the base was there and armed. (Message approved by admin) | ||
James Amato (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 69.47.249.56 |
I can already see it coming. This forum is going to explode very soon. I hope there will be enough space for all the posts. If it does get to large maybe someone who is savvy could create another forum of if nothing else another string. Our roots to this neighborhood go very deep for all of us and I hope we will all get a chance to share such wonerful memories of those great days. I'm late getting to my daughters house but I can't stop reading these great posts. lol (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1197 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks everyone for your responses over the past few weeks. Great stories and memories. I love hearing about the neighborhood markets, the ice skating on the canals, the milkman/bookie!, the airplane crash etc. If you have any memories of the nearby Continental Motors plant or any other eastside industry, drop us a line on this thread: https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/5/38261.html?1109619933 | ||
Mike Saad (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.60.134.11 |
Hi Jim (Amato) and Ginny, It was fun reading your posts. Jim, I was familiar with the Mery family also - Diane, Tony Jr. (Antny.) I know there was a younger brother and another sister - Joann?? (their names escape me). I feel bad not rermembering their names, because I hung with Tony (they lived across the street from Guyton) for years. We were very close friends and double dated girls from Grosse Point who were also close friends. Tony's mom dated my dad when they were kids. I did not know that until much later in life. I jumped the Ashland bump in Tony's dad's car once and raced Windmill Point Drive in Tony's aunt's car (Mrs. Simon.) Both were wonderful families and treated me like family. My sister and Mrs. Simon's daughter are still lifelong friends. It wasn't my store on Easltawn - but I was told that the family that owned the store was related to us in some manner. There was another "Saad's" market on Continental and Essex - also shirt tail relatives. We shopped for bubble gum, when I lived on the corner of Kitchener and Essex, at "Pete's Corner Grocery" across the street from us. There was also another grocery a half block from Pete's on Essex called Mazzola's Market. I recall back in the early sixties, that between the time when Guyton school closed for summer and when the Parks and Rec folks came, we used to crawl up the fire escape chute on the side of the building and slide back down for thrills. Guyton was two stories high as I recall but there was not much chance of us falling out of the closed cylinder. We also played slow pitch pick-up softball on the gravel playing field there. As we grew older, we became able to hit the roof of Guyton on the fly. At first, it was a home run to do so. Then as we got better at it, it was only a double. But as we continued to get balls lost up there, it was an automatic out to hit a ball on the roof. Furthermore, if you hit it up there, you had to go up on the roof to retrieve the ball. The only way up at the time, was to scale the screens on the outside of the nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. Once on the roof, you tossed down the ball you hit and play continued. But if you found any other previosly unretrieved balls up there, you got to keep them! Crawling back down was always harder than climbing up. We had no idea how stupid it was to be scaling the outside of a two plus story building at the time. You could also ALWAYS tell the difference between a kid who played ball at Guyton parks and rec. from the kids who played elsewhere. WE were the ones whose thighs and arms were always scabbed over from sliding into base on the gravel playing field. Our balls wore out faster, our bats looked like hell, our PF Flyer, Red Ball Jets or Keds tennis shoes and clothes were shredded regularly. But I don't think one of us saw it as anything but a badge of honor to wear Guyton scabs. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Eastside Member Username: Eastside Post Number: 117 Registered: 01-2005 |
Hey guys, keep the stories coming, they are very... entertaining | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.18.70 |
ONE GREAT BIG FAT HELLO BACK TO YOU, JIMMY AMATO!!!! Do I remember you? I didn’t even have to read your post. I just sat and looked at the name. Talk about an instant time-trip back to the 1950s. Geezee, after a quick count of the years, I really feel old now – we walked to school together more than fifty years ago. If anymore of the old guys find their way to this forum, we’ll have to have a Lakewood Park reunion this summer. Hey, that really doesn’t sound like a bad idea. How’s everything with you? (Message approved by admin) | ||
Diana Mery (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 69.152.252.197 |
Boy the memories have been stirred up reading this. Mike Saad, did you know your Dad and my Mom(Jasmine Mery) also dated after they lost their spouses? I remeber waking up on Saturday mornings listening to the drum and bugle group practicing at Guyton School. You were always at our house and didn't stand up in my brother Tony's wedding? Will write with more..got to go for now. (Message approved by admin) | ||
James Amato (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 69.47.249.56 |
The same thing happened to me also Mark. I just sat here and said " DAM " that's Mark Colden my friend who lived on Chalmers. I didn't even read your post. I knew who you were right away. Those were the days weren't they. We had so much fun. We would walk to and from school through the alleys and smoke our cigarettes (Lucky Strikes)We were only about 12 years old at the time. I always wondered what happened to a lot of my buddies that I hung out with. This is a real kick to say the least. Well Mark I'm retired now and live in Clinton Twp. I've been single for 8 years now and life is good. My health is good and I'm really enjoy doing whatever I want to. My children are doing well and I have a grandson and grand daughter so far. I'm getting ready to fly out to California to see my oldest son on the 10th. of this month. I agree, it would be awesome to arrange a get together. Let's do it! I also played a lot of pick up baseball on the ash field at Guyton Elem. I think I still have scars from it. lol I was a hockey nut also and played on the canals at what I called Fishers Bridge. I believe the Fisher mansion was down there. I spent a couple of summers working for whoever lived there. They had an all steel yacht called the HELENA and two or three wood Chris Craft speed boats. You could eat off the floor of the boiler room of that yacht. I was the deck scrubber. Very hard work but I loved it down there. At the end of my fourth year at Guyton they threw me out and I went to St. Martins Catholic School for two years and returned to Guyton for the 7th and 8th grades after they threw me out of St. Matins. I was a bad boy I can tell you. I remember during the winter you could find me either hitching a ride on the rear bumper of a bus which actually ran down Lakewood St. or Skating down the Ashland canal down to the bridge at Biarly's store and boat rental. I would change into my shoes there and walk over to school. At the foot of Alter Rd. there was a private park. I can't remember the name but we had our little hole in the fence and we would sneak in there to swim and play around. We would usually get caught and thrown out but not until we made a dash for the water to at least cool down from the heat of summer. Most of the kids that snuk in there would leave their cloths on a certain picnic table. One day I found a deck of cards which I secured as my own. They had naked women on them. I think that was the first time I ever saw a naked woman. I bet that kid wanted to kill me when he couldn't find his cards. lolol After I graduated from Guyton I went to Jackson Jr. High until I got thrown out of there. Then it was over to Foch Jr. High and then back to Jackson after they threw me out of Foch. I finally graduated from Jackson and went to Southeastern High School for most of the 10th grade. I quit high school and went in the Navy. By the time I left Guyton the big thing then was hanging out at Lakewood Park. My friends numbered about 50 guys and for the most part we owned Lakewood Park. There were some real characters that came down there like 'Lucky" and "Buffalo Bob". They weren't part of the crowd but we had some real fun with them. They were beyond funny. They were alcoholics but you couldn't help but like them. We probably drank half the beer in the city down there along with the police who would bust us and take our beer home with them. We never got arrested and just did the whole thing over again the next day. It was a great game. Something just came up and I have to go. I will continue this tomorrow. Once again Mark it was great hearing from you. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mike Saad (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.60.134.11 |
Hi Diana, Wonderful to see your name in print. I have the warmest smile on my face right now. I did know that your mom and my dad re-dated a bit after your dad and my mom died. I recall your home so vividly - right across from Guyton School on the east side of Phillip street, just midway south of Korte. I had completely forgotten the drum and bugle corps practicing there until you mentioned it. If I am not mistaken, they practiced in the playing field on the south side of the school. I remember after a dance at St. Martin High, Tony and his date, and I and mine returned to your house - it really wasn't late by today's standards, but it was for us - probably about 11:00. Your mom cooked up bacon and Detroit Sausage links and eggs and huge piles of toast. God, I LOVED Detroit Sausage links. It seemed every coney island restaraurant in town served them. (Didn't your dad work for Detroit Sausage Co.?) We had sliced tomatoes and cheese (feta, of course) and olives and Pita bread. I thought I had died and gone to Lebanese heaven. Our dates, both Polish girls from Grosse Point, loved it! My folks gave me permission to be late because we were at "Jasmine and Tony's" and it was of, course, like being at family's. Were you there too that night? By the time we took our customary slow cruise down Windmill Point Drive in my 1954 two-tone cream and green, stick-shift Chevy and got the girls home, it must have been 2:00. I felt so mature at the ripe old age of about 17. I think it was Tony also who helped me install a "suicide knob" on the steering wheel of that Chevy and install a radio with "reverb" sound. I couldn't afford a whole stereo system, so we settled for the reverb echo affect. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mike Saad (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.60.134.11 |
Hi Mark Colden, I just re-read your summary from Michigan History magazine about the rum-running days of our neighborhood canals. That is what I enjoy about this site - good research prompts so many memories for everyone. I had an uncle who had a beautiful inboard Chris Craft mahogany boat - probably a 15 footer or better. The wood just glistened from varnish and polish. The engine purred quietly, but throaty - even at open throttle. It was a beautiful piece of marine craft. He reverently referred to it as an "original rum runner". I was not sure of what that meant at the time, but obviously acquired that info as I grew older. Your telling of the story of rumrunners and vigilante talk at Harbor Island brought back great memories of my uncle and cruising the Detroit River with him in his "rum-runner." As a young teen, I had a friend with a boat that he docked along the canal alonside Alter road. We would cruise out onto the river, then back into the canals alongside Lenox, Kitchener (Kielson?), and Clairpoint. The places you refer to were the places we would motor through. A very young friend of my brother's died by drowning in one of those canals in the early 50s. I remember distinctly thinking that the canals alongside Clairpoint were too shallow to be navigable - even for a small boat. We would tilt up ny buddy's motor and paddle through that canal. Whereas, the canal that ran to the Fisher mansion was quite deep. It was often also filled with debris - trash or limbs blown in from storms. Thanks Mark, for helping to keep those memories alive. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Diana Mery (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 69.153.16.81 |
Hi Mike, Your stories about being at our house brought tears to my eyes...yes i remember every wonderful moment. I retired from American Airlines in 1995 after 29yrs. I then became involved with Senior Health Care and still do volunteer work for the Alzheimer's Assoc. My Mother passed away 5yrs ago from Alzheimer's ,so I was trying to give back to them all the help they gave to me. I live in San Antonio Tx, and my brother Tony lives here also..he has 2 beautiful grandchildren and boy are they spoiled. My Dad's family all lives here and they are very well known ..we are a big "Mery Family". Look forward to hearing more great stories about our wonderful life south of Jefferson. My sister's name is Gloria and she married Bill Wiebelhaus(Weeps) who went to St. Martins. We also have a brother named Rick who still lives in Michigan. I get up there at least 3times a year...would be great if we can get together and tell stories. Take care..Love, Diana (Message approved by admin) | ||
Anthony Mery (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 69.152.238.164 |
Hi you'all, Nice to hear from the old neighborhood..thanks to my cousin Mary Simon I found this website. Hey, Jim Amato..I remember you also..get your jokes that you send her..very funny. Nice to hear from you also Mike Saad, we shared alot of good times together..glad you remembered so much. I remember the dates we went on together and how much fun we had(and the trouble we got into). The polish girls we dated I still remember one of their names(Mary Margaret Wurzbacke). haha My wife laughs when I tell her I still remember her name. No one mentioned the drugstore on Manistique and Essex,, penny for a pretzel and nickle for pop. Also remember my Mother giving me $5.oo to go to Ned's Firestone on Jefferson to fill the tank due to a gas war(gas was 19cents). Remember delivering the night Free Press with me and Jimmy Dunn and you. We used to see who could throw the paper the fastest. Do you still talk to any of the old neighbors, like Eddie Sheridan,Pat PReston,Jimmy Dunn,etc. All the guys we used to play ball with at Guyton. I laugh all the time about Guyton, because I was always late and I lived right across the street! Do you remember Mr Whiteshot and Mrs Harrington(Charelton Hestins Mother).We had celebrities in our neighborhood and didn't even know it! About the plane crash one funny story. The phone rang and my cousins on Ashland thought their furnace blew up..my dad and I ran down the alley and my sisters got in the car..thinking we were going to drive there.haha. If you lived below Jefferson you had to have ID to get home. Will talk later when I have more time. Bye now from sunny San Antonio. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1225 Registered: 10-2003 |
Did you folks suffer a lot of flooding in this neighborhhod in the early '70s? I seem to recall the canals needing sand-bagging to hold back the record high water levels. | ||
(Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.60.134.11 |
Hi Tony and Diana Mery, I sure do remember those nights of delivering the Detroit Free Press. I bought my route from Carl Regallado. I don't remember what I paid for the route, but I do recall having to save allowance to buy it. I think that was my first real job. I saw Carl a few months ago at the funeral of one of our contemporaries. I will write you separtely about that. We used to pick up our papers at the parking lot of Faith Lutheran Church on the southeast corner of Phillip and Jefferson. A truck driver would throw them to the curb and we would "bust" the wire or hemp twine on the paper bundle. We used to sit on the curb stones of the parking lot and fold our papers into the canvas paper bag that nestled onto the handlebars of our bikes. My route also required that, on Sundays, I used saddlebag style newspaper bags over the rear wheel to hold all the thick papers. I sure do remember seeing who could throw a folded paper the farthest - without it bursting open! I also remember racing the route to see who could get to Scripps first from Jefferson. I felt I had a disadvantage because I had so many apartment buildings on my route and had to get off the bike, count the papers and run the halls dropping the paper and knocking on the doors of the customers as I ran by. I have so many memories of delviering those papers. I recall shivering in the cool fall breezes because i didn't dress warmly enough and didn't understand windchill on a bike. I recall the first snowfalls when you could no longer ride a bike on the route and had to walk it in the snow. I recall my dad helping on the route by driving alongside me as I ran with an armful of papers, restocking my arms from the bag on the front seat of the car. I didn't realize then that he was folding them for me as I was running down the sidewalk in the snow. I remember that on lazy summer evenings at about ten o'clocck at night, I would walk the route and sing out loudly "FREE PRESS PAPERRRRRRRS" if I had any extras. People would come to their porches and turn on their lights if they wanted to buy one. I got to keep a larger portion of the sale price of a nickle if I sold extra papers. I remember that I had to deliver those papers come hell or highwater - even if I had a date. I often paid my brother or someone else to deliver if I had a weekend date. My younger brother David remembers going with me on the route as a "helper." Do you rermember the customer route books we used to have? They were pieces of heavy writing paper or cardboard with customer's address, name and delivery record on them, Each week we would go through our books and "collect" from customers to pay for our papers. Any extra or tips, we got to keep. There were plenty of folks on that route who either didn't tip, or who didn't pay for weeks on end and I had to keep track of that and pay their delinquency out of my own pocket. I finally quit delivering papers because of the deadbeat customers. I wasn't making any money. I do remember the store on Manistique and Essex. Do you remember skating along the sidewalks and streets during an ice storm to go buy pretzels and pop there one year? I remember when you took Evvie B. to a prom one year and I took Elaine D. from Grosse Point. We double dated and probably took your dad's car. It was expected that Evvie would win the "queen" honors but Jackie W. won. I have a picture of you standing with Evvie in the gym at St. Martin for the dance. Her mascara had run because she was so disappointed that she cried. I remember when you and I would play horse shoes at Guyton. Didn't we actually go to the City Champs one year - were you my partner for that? Your cousin Mary gave the website to my sister Pat. Pat gave it to me. Mary and Pat are still lifelong best friends. Mikem - you asked about flooding. I remember one year that we had a flood in our neighborhood, but it was more of backed up sewers caused by the floods, as I recall, than from the actual ravages of high water itself. I also recall being worried about water flooding the banks of the canals as a kid because people were talking about it, but I have no specific recollections of being a victim of that exact type. Folks who lived there longer than I may recall flooding of the kind you describe. Thanks again to all who are contributing their memories of this Jefferson Chalmers area and era. (Message approved by admin) | ||
KIM SOBANSKI (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 65.54.97.150 |
sounds like the trailer park is getting demolished?!?!?! I'm not sure... read this blog I came across. Anyone know what's up??? I was going to go there this weekend to take some more pix... I'll be so sad if it's gone!!! http://fulcanelli.blog-city.co m/read/1112220.htm (Message approved by admin) | ||
James Amato (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 69.47.249.56 |
Hello once again everyone. Reading everyone's posts brings back even more memory's. Gosh I wish I could remember every detail but these days it's almost impossible. By the way Mike (Saad) I was told right after I posted that it wasn't your family who had the store. Does anyone remember Price's Sweet Shop? I always thought Mr. Price was pretty cool. Grumpy though. We used to distract him and swipe candy. I also hung out at Donna Lee's Sweet Shop at Coplin and Freud. I even sold Christmas tree's one year for them. I would sell two and pay him for one. Made some nice money. I was always in trouble with someone. I do regret doing those things but they happened and I'm stuck with the legacy. A group of us would stand out in front of Donna Lee's and wait for a cop car to approach and then we would all scatter making sure they saw us running. It was hilarious. They always thought we did something. They would be all over the neighborhood looking to grab one of us for something. I remember a few friends and I stocking up on eggs and going over to the Cinderella Show on Coplin and Jeffersdon. We would climb that huge fire escape on the side of the building and toss eggs at the cars on Jefferson. Now that was fun. No one ever figured out where they came from. We laughed so hard we could barely keep from falling down the steps. On some nights we would make a special trip over to Moross near E. Warren. There was an island that seperated traffic on Moross. We would tie fishing line to someones door knocker and go on the island behind the bushes. Once there we would pull the string to get it to knock. The people would come to the door as many times as we did it. They couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. Once they opened the door and didn't see anyone they would close it. As soon as it was just closed we would do it again. Now you know that no one could physically do it that quick and get away. They'd pull the door open so fast I thought it would come off the hinges. I don't think I ever laughed that hard in my life. They knew someone was messing with them but could not figure it out to save their life. As time passed all of us guys mainly hung out on Avenue as we called it. (Jefferson) I used to help set the marquee at the Cinderella Theatre. Back then you could get in for 25 cents. There was the Lakewood Show also at Lakewood and Jefferson. For 14 cents you got tons of cartoons and two movies. I kissed my first girl in that Theatre. I'm not sure of the name but just a block away or two from the Cinderella was the Time theatre. You could get in there for one dime and they sold hot dogs. To be continued. (Message approved by admin) | ||
James Amato (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 69.47.249.56 |
To continue: I remember the Coney Island at Coplin and Jefferson. It was owned by the Thomas brothers. I could tell you some story's about that place but only in private. Right next door on the corner was Buster Brown Shoe store. (I'm Buster Brown. I live in a shoe. That's my dog Ty. He lives there too.) We used to go in there just so we could put our feet in that x-ray machine and look at the bones in our feet. Crazy. Then there was Carden's restaurant between Coplin and Drexel. I used to like going in there to eat. Eventually all us guys wound up hanging out at the poolroom between Dickerson and Gray. I don't even remember the name of the place or the old guy that owned it. I do remember that he was really a nice guy. We used to always try to get in the bars around there before we were 21. Places like the Zebra Lounge, The Torch Bar, Silver Lady and one other one next to the poolroom. More than not the BIG 4 would show up and drag our fanny's into the alley for a little whoop ass. I celebrated my 21st birthday at the Cinderella bar between Coplin and Piper. If anyone knows that place you had to know it had the best burgers in town. I couldn't get enough back then. The nicest thing was that you weren't straped by not having a car because you could walk everywhere. My mom used to send me down Jefferson to the chinese restaurant to get a carry out once a week. It was called White something. It was right around Manistique. I spent a whole lot of time at the Jefferson Bowling Alley. It was upstairs from Meyer Jewelry at Eastlawn. I used to set pins there. I think I got about 14 cents per game. That was dangerous and I'm surprized I survived it. One time a guy throws down the wrong lane that I'm standing in and BAM. I was down for the count. Have you ever been hit in the ankle with a 16 pound ball going a hundred miles an hour. I couldn't walk for weeks after. lol We used to have a long steel rod with a hook on the end to drag pins back if they went to far out on the alley. Sometimes during pot games, if I knew the person bowling I would knock down a ten pin by tapping it so they would get a strike instead of getting only 9 pins. That was slick. No one ever guessed. Most of the money I made went for bowling myself and eating at the little snack bar they had. That place was almost my home away from home. Great times. I could write a book on all the adventures and times on the Avenue as we called it. We raised a lot of hell back then but we lived through it with little harm done. In my earlier post when I referred to the two guys that hung out with us at Lakewood Park I said the one guys name was "Buffalo Bob" It was actually "Burma Bob". A mind is a terrible thing to waste. I do remember the canals being sand bagged but I don't think there was any real damage from it. Well I think this is long enough for now. I'll get back and share more memories soon. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Eastside Member Username: Eastside Post Number: 134 Registered: 01-2005 |
Hey there Mr. Amato. That Chinese place was called White Sun. I only know that because, although closed, the sign is still there. | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.180.196 |
Sad news to share today. I just heard Guyton is one of the schools slated to be closed at the end of this school year (June ’05). Guyton students will return in August to Stark Elementary located at the foot of Algonquin St. There’s an organization (“The Guyton School Alumni Association”) that is trying to stop the closing. From what they say Guyton has just undergone major renovations to make it 21st century friendly. They intend to start a letter writing campaign and want all former Guyton students to send letters and E-mail the DPS CEO, Dr. Burnley. When I get more info, I’ll post it. Jim, I remember those cigarette alley walking days to school. We were bad boys then, but angles by today’s standards. Do you remember the Lucky Strike’s slogan: “Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco” - LSMFT? We had our own vulgar meaning that called attention to a part of the upper female anatomy for LSMFT – Loose Straps Means Floppy (I think you can remember what the “T” stood for). I don’t know if you were with us any of the times some other friends and I used the hole in the fence to get into Groose Pointe Park to swim. But not surprisingly, I was the reason for the bum’s rush. I’d lie back while my buddies made their move to the water. Once in, they’d create a diversion, then I would come running for my splash. While the folks in charge would be concentrated on checking out my buddies, I’d jump in and get some quality-wet time until someone finally noticed that I REALLY didn’t belong there. So when they came to get me, my guys would come out and run interference while I made a mad dash for the exit. Funny thing, over time they kind of looked the other way and let us splash around for a little while before kicking us out. Mikin, right again. There was a flood of major proportions in the 1970s. I left the neighborhood in the mid 1960s, but my brother and his family were still living in the old house. Our house was on Chalmers between Freud and Essex and for the 20-some years, I lived there our basement never flooded. I went by one day to hang with my brother. It was raining and when I got ready to leave, I couldn’t get my car out of the driveway due to high water in the street. We went back inside and my brother checked-out the basement. The water was so high, it was coming up the stairs. The weirdest thing I remember though was the guy in the outboard motor boat chugging down the middle of Chalmers. We always figured somebody screwed-up at the Connor’s Creek Pumping Station because nothing like that had ever occurred in our lifetimes. However, further research reveals that it has happened at least one other time. “In the spring of 1929 a flooded Detroit River overflowed both Connor and Fox creeks.” Apparently, this area is a part of an “ancient Great Lakes overflow plain.” This info is from a March/April 1993 article by Donald W. Voelker (“Quags, Sloughs, and Miry Bogs” A Detroit Community Rises from the Marsh) in the “Michigan History Magazine,” I’ve referenced in an earlier post. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Michael Mooney (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.43.189.4 |
In response to Ms. Patricia Saad’s posting, you can get a witness! My name is Mike Mooney and I am 53 years old. I spent several years in Angel Park, throughout 1965 to, ohh, say 1973. Those years defined a period for me that included the emergence of the Far East side Detroit "hippie movement." A lot of drugs were casually being used there and Angel Park was gaining an underground name for itself amongst us in the new counter culture. Those of us "in the know" simply referred to it as "the park!" We had enthusiastic times there, and seemed to enjoy having some “partying” competition from nearby "Balduck Park" which was located to the north of Warren Ave. During the times I am remembering, the Eastown and Grande ballrooms were in full swing with the live underground music scene. This was the "underground" music played on WABX radio station. I moved to the Dickerson / Freud area (Emerson street - south of Jefferson) in 1960 and then moved in and around the Jefferson/Chalmers area for the next 25 years. I was at the park when Ralph was stabbed, also during the time the Detroit Police had a "raid" complete with police boats in the canals and "prisoner busses" west of the park bridge (where the DSR's Conner Bus would turn around.) There were several clashes between the park regulars and the police in the early 70's. Around 1970, Marine Hospital was turned into a Federal Methadone clinic for eastside addicts. I remember the Nike base at the foot of Lenox. As a boy, I used to play there on a regular basis, after the National Guard moved out, in the early-60’s? In addition to the two cement "tee towers," there was a 100 foot tall metal observation platform that resembled an oil rig.The actual Nike rockets were kept on Belle Isle and the other station was at the foot of Conner. I think the Lenox base was deserted by 1962 or 1963. After the buildings were raised, you could still see the concrete floor plan of what looked like seven or eight 8 man barracks just inside the gate at the foot of Lenox. To the west of this base was a cement sea wall where my friends and I would swim in the river. West still was the Gar Wood mansion of which many stories emerged during the late 60's / early 70's when a group of hippies rented out the mansion and had week end parties to get the rent money, which was $600.00 per month. I am dredging up more memories... the Fifth Estate newspaper, the "Wild or Mild Head Shop" on Newport and Jefferson next door to the "Mellow Music record shop." At Angel Park, we periodically had baseball games between the "freaks and the police" where Detroit Police officers would occasionally come down and spend a weekend afternoon and "socialize" with the hippies over a softball game. Right next to the bridge entrance of Angel Park was "Tommies Boat Livery." This was a combination party store, fast food restaurant (remember the 25 cent French fries!) and fishing/boating store. Everyday, Tommy would come out in the afternoon and holler, "DUCKS...DUCKS...DUCKS!" And to the amazement of many, hundreds and hundreds of ducks would land to feed on the corn he would throw out. Tommy also rented small aluminum boats for fishing. South of the park was the recreational house property that was fenced off from the park proper, sandwiched in between the trailer park and the rest of the park. It had a separate dirt road that led to the house. I recall it being used in the daytime’s only and I always thought that this place catered to handicapped people. Further south, in the water at the east mouth of the Detroit River is Peche Island that at one time was being considered for an amusement park. Does anybody else remember these times? I see many posted messages that reference St. Martins School. Do you guys remember “the Bun?” It was a soda shop located on Essex and Coplin that was owned and operated by ole’ man Price. In 1963, at the age of 11, I lived kitty-corner from the Rexall drug store on Lenox and Essex. There was another popular “hang-out” that catered to kids on the corner of Coplin and Freud named “Donna Lee’s” that was ran by Al Drury(?) his wife, and son Dale. I think they were later hurt or killed in a robbery. I will check in on this site from time to time. The last time I was in the park was to watch the “tall ships” sail by, during the Detroit’s big tri-centennial celebration a few years ago. The parking lot was overgrown with weeds and the entire area was in disarray. I was deeply moved by being there, though. (Message approved by admin) | ||
anthony mery (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.230.156.152 |
Hi East Siders nice to hear from you all, keep the stories coming there great to hear. Jim I tjink the name of the pool hall on Jefferson was called the eagle pool room. I remember going in there when I was 14 or 15 asking for a job. Little did I know when I went in there was a guy named Weeps playing pool and he said hey punk what are u doing in here? Little did I know he would end up being my brother-in-law, and I ended up getting a job there cleaning tables.Does anyony remember the bon fires we had after Christmas at St Martins. I think I started that by collecting Christmas trees and tying them to the back of my car and dragging them to the playground? One year it snowed so hard that my car skidded and went into the side of the church, (I thInk my headlights are still imprinted in there).Remember the speed boat races on the Detroit River? I was working for Ginos Pizza at the time and he would leave me there and go back and forth to get more, he sold thousands of them. Hey Mike Saad I think we did win the horse shoe championship around 1960 or 1961 at Geyton. Even up to today my son and I win the horseshoe tournament at our church for the last 7 years.Does anybody remember the boy that was killed on his moped? He lived on Marborough and Korte. He was everybodys friend and I can't remember his name??You are sarting to steer up my memories and I'll keep in touch. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mike Saad (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.60.134.11 |
Michael Mooney, I will see that my sister Pat is aware of your wonderful posting. Lots of common memories. And I am sure she will enjoy your post - especially your recollection of the time Ralph was stabbed - she now has a witness! I was a lunchtime regular at the "bun" although the nuns at St. Martin forbade us from going there. We used to play "burn" for quarters on the sidewalk outside the bun and munch on single slice pizza from Shell's Bakery next door. He also had a pinball machine in there - remember that? When I was really young, we used to pitch baseball cards against the wall at the bun. When I got older, we pitched dimes. You talked about the raid the DPD conducted at Angel Park. There was nothing more terrifying to me as a kid than when the nuns would sneak up on us at the bun! It was only a block and a half from the school - talk about busted! I never visited Donna Lee's. I lived at Kitchener and Essex back in those days and walked along Essex to Lenox to school, or one more block to the bun and Shell's Bakery. No need to regularly pass Freud. We also had to go to Lacharitie's for haircuts as kids. That was also on Essex and I believe in the same block as Shell's and the "bun." (Message approved by admin) | ||
Michael Mooney (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.43.189.4 |
Mike Saad I am familiar with Kitchner and Essex, although I gather your family moved further east by 1963. I lived on the corner of Lenox and Essex during the asasination of Kennedy. In the basement of my two family flat was a barbershop, ran by an immagrant named "Nick." My back yard bordered on a small grocery store. I knew a family on Kitchner with the last name of Herod. They had a bunch of kids. The pinball game that I remember from the bun was a baseball game that shot a metal ball up small ramps to score bases or home runs. I played that game weekly for several years and got to be pretty good at it. Also, I remember Mr. Price sold a brand of potato chips that were extra dark and crispy. By the way, the reason that I found this web site is because I talk with a guy about the old naighborhood, whom I also do business with... your brother David. Today, I run an outpatient drug treatment program for the Michigan Department of Corrections in Macomb County. David and I are involved in several projects and I consider him to be more of a friend than a business associate. I gather that you are a few years older than me, so we may not have a lot of common childhood friends. Did you know the Vojnov family? There was Ray (The Rat), His twin, brother Bill, and youngest brother Paul. They had a sister named Diane who died years ago. Up on Jefferson, kitty corner from the Eagle poolroom was the Golden Gate restaurant on Dickerson. I went there as a kid in the early 60's. I'm sure you remember Harry's Hobbyshop on Jefferson & Chalmers, next to the Sanders that used to be there. The stabbing that your sister and I witnessed actually got its start about two years before Ralph got stuck. A few bikers from california came in to town and was hanging out up and down "the Avenue" (as we called Jefferson). Being the self proclaimed "bad asses" they were, they attempted to make a name for themselves by slapping around some of the guys and talking big sh** with the gals. Word of this traveled around, and the bikers were challenging all takers, looking for the local tough guys to defeat. Well, there was a local Mexican dude by the name of Emanuel Rodriquez who the bikers stumbled upon, and one of the bikers was hospitalized. Several years later, these bikers came back with "a score to settle" and was told that Emanuel sometimes frequented Angel Park. The day they came down is the day that your sister witnessed Ralph's attack, who, by the way, was running his mouth as were several of the rest of us. I wonder if I know your sister. During those days, I had a "partner" named Larry Cole. He was a black "hippie" and both of us were inseperable for 5 or 6 years at the park. I will continue to check in here for updates... this is way cool! Mike Mooney (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.18.220 |
Mike Mooney, nice post. One correction, however. Harry's Hobby Shop was on Jefferson between Chalmers and Marlborough, not next to Sanders. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Miike Saad (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.60.134.11 |
Hi Mike Mooney, My brother and I are going to a fly fishing expo tomorrow. I will be sure to tell him that you are a contributor to this website. I emailed it to him also and told him he might enjoy checking in. I too remember Nick's barber shop. My brothers and I ended up going there for a while - we had an expression about going there, even though we were just kids: "Nick the mad Russian barber; bring your own bowl!" We didn't get god haircuts from Nick and we hated having to go there. Ed Lacharite gave good haircuts, but I think he was a bit more expensive, so we ended up going to Nick's. I guess you get what you pay for. I do know and well remember the Vojnov family. If I am not mistaken, they lived on Korte and Chalmers or Lakewood?? I ran across them as a kid when my family moved from Kitchener and Essex to Phillip and Scripps in 1960. We didn't hang together, and in fact, I always thought they were a pretty intimidating family. But I treated them with respect and they did the same to me. I walked past their house every day on my way to school. It seemed there wa always someone on the porch. I bumped into Ray as an adult. And we still talked as if we were neighbors. I graduated in 64 from St. Martins, so was about 2 years older than Dave. It wasn't until we moved to Phillip that our friends merged on the baseball field. At Guyton our P&R team was comprised of truly good talent ranging in ages that spanned about 3 years. So Dave and a couple of his buddies and I and mine were able to play ball together. But after the games. we went separate ways. Sad to think they might close Guyton school like they did to St. Martin's. You know Mike, last year St. Martin had an "all neighborhood" reunion. If you lived in the neighborhood, you were invited to meet your old friends from Martin's. 500 people showed up at St. Clair Shores memorial Park - it was awesome. Students and friends and neighbors came. Nice event and wonderful memories to share. There were people there who graduated in 1947-48. Talk about memories! As a young boy, I worked at the Gratiot Central Market at Russell and Gratiot. In order to get there, I had to take the "Chalmers Through" bus. I had to catch that at Lakewood and Scripps because, although the bus ran by my corner at Phillip and Scripps, it was still dropping off from its Eastbound trip. The drivers told me they couldn't pick me up without charging a full eastbound fare for the three blocks to Lakewood. So I'd walk to Lakewood. After a couple months of that, they'd pick me up at Phillip and just ride me the three blocks. I'd take that bus to Vernor (maybe Charlevoix??) and switch busses with a bus transfer and head downtown. The bus would stop at Russell. I once saved enough money for a plastic airplane model, some glue and plastic paints. I got the model at Harry's. After that failed attempt to neatly assemble, decal and paint the grey fighter, I realized that I had neither the patience nor the skill for airplane models. Does anyone remember going to the park at the foot of Algonquin? I think it was called Maheras?? It was a large old field and there was a swing set there. We accessed the park from Kitchener and walked through scrub weeds and thistle to get to the swing area. When I was about 12-13, I got on a baseball team that played from there. There was a diamond that was managed by parks and rec, I presume. It was much further towards the river. My St. Martin high school baseball team actually played games there and in 1962, we won the City Championship for our division in baseball at that field. I believe they also had a football field and again, I believe St. Martin practiced there. I recall walking, after practice, back to the locker rooms along the blacktop that was Avondale road, back to the school at Lenox. I remember thinking what a long way that was back then - it is such a short distance in reality. I also remember turning the corner at Lenox, passing the Fisher Mansion, walking all sweaty and carrying leather football helmets and shoulder pads. We got plastic helmets within a year with a single facebar! I can still hear the sound of our cleats on the blacktop. The road turned gravel for about a block and then concrete as it approached the Fisher Mansion. I still remember walking past the Fisher Mansion, its beauty and the fact that it backed onto a canal and had a HUGE boatwell. By the way - the history of that area is especially interesting. Angel Park is named after one of the last owners of the Fisher mansion - Alfred Brush Ford. The "Brush" auto bears his name. I'll write more about those steets and the exquisite homes along Grayhaven later. The Detroit News has some good info on this area at its tricentenial website. (Message approved by admin) | ||
Pat Anthony (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 24.151.172.240 |
Wow ! Mike Saad, thanks for letting me know about this site. How fantastic to read about my old neighborhood. I moved to 491 Eastlawn when I was just 4 and then my Dad bought a house at 791 Eastlawn when I was 11. Hi Jimmy Amato, remember me? I went to Guyton from grades 1 to 8 then over to Jackson for 9th grade. I then went to St. Martin's for the rest of highschool. I sure know the areas and parks you are all talking about. I remember the jet crash vividly as well. I also knew Angel Park as one side of the canal and Lakewood Park as the other. I used to ride my bike with a neighbor boy, Matt K. on summer nights from our houses near Jefferson down to the park. We were only buds but I sure thought he was a cutey. I remember sitting on the edge of the water at the park and watching the boats and wondering who was on Peche Island. I walked to school at Guyton everyday and I would see the kids going to St. Martin's. I remember Tony Mery (thought it was Murray) as the guy who would dance with me at the St. Martin's dances. The store on Eastlawn and Freud known as Saad's Market was owned by our neighbor across the street. The boy my age, Richard, went into the Seminary. I don't know anymore about them. This is a great site. Please keep sharing memories. Who remembers the cherry cokes at the drugstore on Essex and Newport? (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mary Simon (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 216.234.113.246 |
Hi Everyone! I am the cousin of Diana and Anthony Mery - Mary Simon. I lived at 231 Ashland from the time I was 6 years old (1957) to 1969, when my mom moved to Grosse Pointe. Our house was only about 7 houses from the plane crash. I remember that vividly. Our father was out of town and was flying into Metro that night! We could barely get out of the neighborhood as it was swamped with medical personnel, news reporters, neighbors, police, emergency vehicles and you name it. Our house suffered no damage, but our garage floor cracked in half! We lived across the street from the canal but spent alot of time there. We fished, skated and watched for muskrats,which we thought were really creepy! My best friend, Pat Saad, lived on Philip and we would spend hours at Guyton playing 4 square, baseball, making crafts, and singing Beatles songs on the swings! We never thought of ourselves as the "hard" gals, but had a few fights along the way. Who was that gal I hit with my baseball glove, Pat??? My sisters and I went to St. Ambrose and so I had friends at both Ambrose and St. Martins. 25 cents a day was our allowance during the summer months, so we would go to Beyerly's and spend it on candy and watch Bud, Phylliss and the gang bringing in fish and feeding minnows to their cats! They were kindly, but a strange group I always thought. I married Ken Fagan, who grew up on Manistique just south of Jefferson. His brother, Pat, was a great guy who was a Detroit cop and then a Grosse Pte Woods cop. He died at 42 of lung cancer and we miss him still. AFter Kenny and I were married, we parked our fishing boat on the canal and just last year, took our son down there fishing! I spent alot of my senior year and the couple years after that at Angel Park hanging out with friends from the neighborhood - both Ambrose and Martin kids. Tommy's had great hamburgers! I think I was at the park the night Ralph got stabbed, but have blocked it out - or maybe there was just too much going on down there that it was just another event! The Mery family (my mom and their mom are sisters) lived on Philip and we lived on Ashland, so our families were and still are extremely close - we always say we are just one extended family. Anthony and his brother, Rick, always helped us with big jobs around the house, especially after our dad died in 1960. Diana and Gloria would babysit us and when Gloria started dating Bill Wiebelhause ("Weeps") she would make him bring a pizza from Gino's before she would let him in the house. I loved going to their house and listening to their 45's and learning to dance. Anthony was the original "Duke of Earl"!!! And, of course, I have tremendous memories of spending time with the Saad family. They were the brothers I never had. Mike was the cool older brother; David was the guy filled with trivia and card games; and Jimmy was the fun guy - always laughing and fun to be around. Hank and Marion were like another set of parents and were quick to share their affection with me. Pat and I would go to watch her Dad play ball every week and he would treat us to a float or ice cream cone afterward! What a great family! Nice to hear from everyone! And Ginny H - Kenny and I figured out that you are Ginny Vanmeerhaeghe, right? As soon as I mentioned to Kenny about your note and that you worked at Tommy's, he knew it was you! Mary Simon (Message approved by admin) | ||
Michael Mooney (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.43.189.4 |
To All You guys want to know what's really weird since I visited this site? Growing up south of Jefferson, I saw the neighborhood slowly slip into disarray thoughout the late 1960's and 1970's, as many of you did, too. The funny thing is, is that during my youth there, I thought the place was "nothing special" and at times, I longed for my family and I to move out, kind of like the grass is always greener on the outside of the fence. Now, I look back at the times I had spent there as some of the best times I had in my life! I mean, I had a blast growing up there. Not many of us had brand new shiny toys and bikes and stuff. I remember making wooden go-carts, playing ball all day with minimal equipment, spending hours and hours somewhere "outdoors." There was no equilivent of today's apprehension felt by parents, when their kids wnat to go outside. In th winter, I too "shagged" car bumpers and slid down sidestreets, unbeknown to the driver. I hitchhiked to the beach in St. Clair Shores, and pretty much grew up without a care in the world. Of course, we did have the threat of the H-bomb hanging over us, but, all things considered, I am fondly remembering a childhood that may not easily be replicated in today's suburbs, by our computer assisted, ipod wearing, cell phone dependent children who would be "panicky" at the thought of swimming off the rocks at the foot of Lakewood. Can anyone else relate? Mike Mooney (Message approved by admin) | ||
Mark R. Colden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 4.229.18.110 |
Here’s some more news about Guyton School. It’s still on the closing list, but the Guyton School Alumni Association (Sharon DeSantis, president – P.O. Box 14702 – Detroit, MI 48214/ phone: 313-331-3923) seems serious about doing everything possible to keep it open. They appear to have their act together, too. For example, they donated $1,500 last year to have the plaque replaced on the boulder out in front of the school. Apparently, they have big feelings for the rock (referring to it as the ‘memorial rock’) because they say they worry what will happen to it if the school closes. The March 5 school alumni association letter I read said the district spent more than a million dollars to upgrade Guyton’s boilers, electrical and computer network. They also say the school just received a $20,000 grant for new computers, and last year one of their alumni donated 400 books to the students while others tutor at the school. The kids did well on the state MEAP test and outscored the other area schools. The following is a quote from the letter: “Guyton gave us a good start in our lives, and we believe that the present students deserve no less. Our goal is to help provide an excellent education so that the students will become better citizens. The teachers and staff at Guyton care about the students. It shows in how well behaved they are at the functions at the school. We are not sure about the quality of education they will receive elsewhere.” The tone of their letter speaks volumes about their love for the old school. It says that last May they had a Memorial Day ceremony in Evart, Michigan where they got together with Joseph Guyton’s nieces. If that’s not love, I don’t what is. They have a web address GuytonAlumni@yahoo.com), but for some reason its not accessible. (Message approved by admin) | ||
dave saad (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 68.62.87.114 |
All these postings bring back memories I'd long forgotten. I do remember walking alonh Jefferson avenue as a youngster, eyes wide at everything I saw. In addition to Sander's, there were actually dime stores then, Both Kresge's and Neisner's, where you actually could buy something for a dime. There was a mechanical riding horse just inside Kresge's you could ride for a penny. Thought I'd never see it again until I walked through Meijer's and saw them again. Let's here it for Fred Meijer's Apparently, he remembers too. At Neisner's there was a back wall full of small pets that all the little kids wanted and all the parents hated. Painted turtles, gold fish and beautiful parakeets singing. To a city kid, it was as close to nature as some of us would ever get. Playing hockey on the canals was a way of life. The home owners on Scripps would put down rubber mats so we kids could go through their yards to get to the canals. On colder days, we'd duck into the boat wells to change or just get out of the wind. There were beautiful wooden boats, Chris Crafts, etc, in there. No one touched anything or ever went on the boats. It was un unwritten rule I never saw violated. We knew the people trusted us and we didn't want that trust ruined. Like Mike Mooney said, it was a kinder, gentler time. There was no fear in our lives and we were too naive to recognize it for what it was, yet it shaped many of us into the adults we became. The younger kids would bring heavy shovels and would be our own human Zambonie machine, busting our butts to clear off the snow from the canal so we could play. Then the older kids would come and kick us off and we'd have to start over again. It was my introduction to the predator/prey relationship. Carl Regalado, I know where you live. Mike Bunting's dad had a boat on one of the canals and we went over to Peche Island to swim and goof off. We'd brought along home made dredgers to see what we could find and dredged up a rope to which were attached several jugs. As we knew this had been a stop off during rum running days, we were sure we were going to blitzed on moonshine. Alas, the corks had failed and all we got was river water. This being decades before E-bay, we set them on the pilings and threw stones until we'd broken them all. So much for our Motor City amorphae. All the kids collected baseball card with a passion. You could buy them for penny which got you one card and a piece of gum, or for a nickel which got you 5 cards and a piece of gum. Lafata's market on the corner of Kitchener and Essex got my income for several summers in this fashion. I always hoped for Al Kaline. I always got Jerry Adair. At the end of the summer we'd have sgoe boxes full of cards and there was a big bon fire when they were ceremoniously burned. Yeah, I know, thousands of dollars up in smoke. Bur the memories: priceless. Summers was playing baseball and horse shoes at Guyton school which was a parks and rec site. The horse shoe games were endless with kids losing and joining the softball game until their turn to re-enter the pits came up again. The derisive cry of "next" was a victorious exultation and a put down to the losers. Double ringers were counted and it weasn't unusual to see 4 horshe shoes on the stake. We sent several kids too the city tournaments and many came home as winners. Pat Preston, Ronnie Crandall and others had a reputation as very good players but Joe Cutshaw is the one that stands out in m y mind. Occassionally an adult would join us and the generation gap would become apparent. We flipped our shoes; they tossed theirs paralel to the ground. To Mary Simon, the Merys and others, I hope life has treated you kindly. It truly was the best of times. More later. (Message approved by admin) |
