05-28-2020 Tri-City Area History Page

The Paw Paw River Journal

A Century of Progress Soft summer morning, 1933… in Chicago there was a huge fair going on. They called it “A Century of Progress”. We had no chance of going to it. All of us kids knew that was the place to be… but not for us. People who had been to see it were impressed! We had the time, but Chicago was 120 miles down around the tip of Lake Michigan from Hartford. Out in front of my dad’s greenhouses there was a new Maple growing. In front of it he had erected a fence of wooden posts and two by fours so customers would not slam into it and skin off the bark. We were perched on the rail like a bunch of yardbirds… including a girl from down the street whose family was visiting Aunty Berry for the summer. They lived in Chicago, and she was about a year older than I. And she was the kind of a kid who would “Nah, nah,” anything that you had which wasn’t as nice as her version of it! She was singing over and over, “World’s Fair, I was there… World’s Fair… I was there!” Her name was Elaine Platt. We never got to see the Fair that year, but the next summer for some reason my dad decided we should go to Chicago one time to see something we were likely never to see again. I don’t know if we kids wore him down over the winter, but here we were packed into our Model A Ford with a picnic lunch and three other friends… Ethel Kime and her two kids, Laure and Russell. They were good friends of ours and we were glad to have them along. Seven of us in our Model A Ford! Years later a good friend of mine, Ray Sreboth, and I were exchanging stories. He lived in Chicago as a kid and knew the city like the back of his hand. Whenever his folks had company come to stay with them and see the fair, they would have Ray take them on the various streetcars out to the Fairgrounds and show them around. We got a kick out of it years later when comparing childhood experiences. We both heard about the headliner shows at the Chicago fair. It was “Sally Rand and her famous fan dancers”. The newspapers were full of it at the time. The show had these gorgeous girls, nearly in the buff; and part of that act was the huge feathers they waived in front of home plate so to speak. I know when we arrived and walked down that Midway, I anxiously looked for Sally Rand! There she was… a big display and the gorgeous girls! Believe me, my mom hustled us past that sinful display which… every time the girls came out and did a teaser for the show people gathered near and far. Not us! We were hustled past until we got to an area of more civilized propriety! Driving home to Michigan after a full day there the car was pretty quiet. I think the only person awake was my dad and that’s because he was driving. But we could now say, “World’s Fair, I was there!” I never saw Elaine Platt again that summer so I could nah-nah her. There are a couple of points here I’d like to expand on. First of all, why should I worry that a girl from Chicago has done something that I haven’t done. We go through life envying people who have more and have been places we’ve never dreamed of. My world now has shrunk to the limits of a two-room apartment. I wrote before what’s to worry about we get together at the dining room and exchange ideas. We don’t even get to do that now. I have not been out of this apartment for weeks. Family and friends call and we talk on the phone. I see all the people who work here and I cultivate friendships with them. Thus I do get some news of the outside world. I can watch all the TV I can take. When my eyes start to bug out, time to turn the thing off for a while. Where would I go if I could go? Can’t think of any place right now… oh, it would be nice to watch a Lake Michigan sunset again. I wonder if the camping parks will be open this summer. We have spent so many times, joyful times I might add. For standout experience… one night at Traverse City State Park I was setting up our campsite. Wind sighing through the evergreens. I can remember breathing deep that clear clean pollen-free northern air. After that Marion would have dinner ready. Either an icy cold Bud Light or the clean cold pine needle taste of a dry martini. And whatever was for dinner tasted great because we were full of joy and she fixed it. And I remember all the times talking with family… dinners and other get-togethers. How joyful they all were. Times with Marion almost three quarters of a century we were together and never ran out of words! There were times for talking and times for not talking. I knew and loved every inch of her body, but in some ways she was still an eternal mystery. I’m sure she knew more about me than I knew about her. All the people I’ve known, family and friends, people I’ve encountered over the years and all my students. They were almost all a great joy to me and I look back on the times I spent sometimes just talking. For a period of time I had some classic muscle cars… I mean the hot ones of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. That gave me an entrée into their world and I know kids loved to talk about cars with me. So whenever I wish I can go into this rich bank of memories. Only trouble is that was then and this is now. I’d do it all again… in a heartbeat! And I can feel the richness of my life knowing that I traveled that road even once weaving golden threads in the Great Tapestry of Life in these storybook towns along the Paw Paw River!

Joe’s Place Restaurant… Windows are painted with: Spring Chicken Dinner & Chicken and Noodles. Joe also had a fruit stand on the premises. Did you ever eat at Joe’s? Purchase fruit at his stand? What is your favorite eating establishment? If you have any information or memories of Joe’s Place Restaurant, please contact North Berrien Historical Museum at 269-468-3330, info@northberrienhistory.org, or facebook.com/NorthBerrienHistory. The museum is closed until further notice. From the photo collection at the North Berrien Historical Museum 300 Coloma Avenue, Coloma

Watervliet District Library News

The annual Summer Reading Program is fast approaching and, even though this year’s will be unlike any other, library staff is hard at work to make it lots of fun. Plenty of free books, take home craft projects, scavenger hunts and online “Make-It” programs will keep the summer lively, and filled with discovery. The Summer Reading Program will begin June 15. Look for sign up details online at www.watervlietlibrary.net and at the library’s Facebook page. Facebook Make-it-Monday, June 1: Sidewalk Chalk day! Decorate Watervliet with your coolest designs and great messages, and share it online. Trivia Tuesday, June 2: How well do you know… just about anything? This week’s topic is gardens and gardening. Celebrity Story Times, Wednesdays at 10:30: Each week a celebrity author reads a favorite children’s book online. On June 3, the library is thinking about gardens again with Beatrix Potter’s classic, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, read by Rose Byrne. Friday Free Reads: Library director Sharon Crotser-Toy shares the latest news in online books not-to-be-missed, all available through Overdrive, noon on Fridays. Foodie Friday: MEL.org gets cooking! Look for e-cookbook links, videos and more for at-home cooking inspiration. Story Hour Check out a story hour post any time your schedule allows. Share your photos, opinions, thoughts and suggestions whenever you have a moment to relax. Please feel free to reach out to the library through Facebook, or email (info@wdlib.org). If you need to speak to the director, call the library at 463-6382 and follow the prompts. Michigan eLibrary Need research for school or work from home? Try mel.org, the state wide database resource. MEL includes a huge selection of articles, journals and ebooks for curious minds of all ages, and contains a link for tools to help kids and parents, under Learning From Home. These are available to all Michigan residents.

NEWS FROM THE COLOMA COURIER

100 years ago – 1920 Get rid of that little white elephant you have on your hands. A little classified ad will sell that elephant. An ad of this kind is 25 cents. John Bessemer, well-known farmer, died following a stroke of paralysis. He was born in Esslinger, Wurtemberg, Germany in 1844. Services were held at the Methodist church. Interment is in the Coloma cemetery. An automobile driven by Milo B. Selter was stuck by a Ford car. This dangerous junction of Church and Centre streets has had many accidents. This is a warning to all drivers: “Stop, Look and Listen.” 60 years ago – 1960 Last rites for Frank Sipla were held from the Davidson Funeral Home. Burial is in the Last Supper section of North Shore Memory Gardens. Girl Scout Troop No. 197 participated in the International Fair. Troop members are: Virginia Hansen, Kay Pethick, Lyn Betz, Vicki DePalma, Karen Richardson, Carole Hartman, Nancy Cleworth, Jeanne Crain, Betsy Wilkens and Peggy Galles. The Donkey Baseball game will be held at the high school baseball field. We will play against the Watervliet team. Tickets are 75 cents for adults. 30 years ago – 1990 High School seniors, numbering 141, are candidates for graduation. Class President Pamela Kutchinski will give an address. Principal Mr. Harold Wheeler will present the Class of 1990 to the Board of Education. Named to the Dean’s List for Lake Michigan College are: Deanna Heminger, Tracy Hornus, Tammy Rodell and John Willming. Earning degrees from University of Michigan: Leonard Metheny Jr. and Jennifer Worick A twenty-year teaching certificate was presented to Mrs. Jean Hawkins by Sue Yetzke on behalf of the Coloma Education Association. She has been a teacher and nurse in the school system. Pizza Hut will hold a Cystic Fibrosis Bike-A-Thon. Submitted by volunteer Sandi Musick Munchow at Coloma Public Library from the Coloma Courier newspapers donated by the Tri-City Record. Hours: Closed until further notice. Phone: 269-468-3431

NEWS FROM THE HARTFORD DAY SPRING

100 years ago – 1920 Civil War veterans and the World War soldiers will join ranks again in the Memorial Day ceremonies in Hartford next Monday. The World War soldiers will escort the aged veterans of Ellsworth Post of the G.A.R. to the old cemetery, at the conclusion of the decorative rites they will fire a volley in honor of the heroic dead, and at the services at Ely Park in the afternoon the address of the day will be delivered by one of their number. An alarm of fire Saturday afternoon called the department to the fairgrounds where sparks from a locomotive had set fire to a fence along the railroad. The damage was confined to a few feet of fence. 75 years ago – 1945 A Memorial Day parade and military religious services will be held in Hartford Wednesday morning honoring soldiers from this vicinity who have been killed in the present and previous wars. Most of the stores in the village will be closed throughout the day and Mayor William Clark has requested the others close from 11 to 12 noon during the services. Leonard Ormerod, past commander of Stoddard Post No. 93 of the American Legion, will be master of ceremonies at a program scheduled at Ely Park. The main address will be given by Rev. R.V.Garrett of the faculty of Emmanuel College. Herbert Koepke, commander of the local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars will also speak. As the audience faces the east, the firing squad under the direction of William Welty of the VFW will fire a salute to the dead of World War II and taps will be sounded. 50 years ago – 1970 The Memorial Day parade will form at 9:30am Saturday on East Street in front of the South grade school. It is scheduled to march west on Main Street to Pioneer cemetery where services will be held at the grave of the unknown soldier. The parade will then return to Ely Park for a program. Gary Waterkamp, superintendent of schools will give the Memorial Day address. Ronald Ward will recite Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. The Hartford High School chapter of the National Honor Society inducted 12 new members last week at ceremonies at the high school. A proposed $2.35 million bond issue will be submitted to voters at the annual school election June 8. It would finance construction of a new middle school to house 5th through 8th grades. Submitted by Librarian Stephanie Daniels at Hartford Public Library from microfilm copies of the Hartford Day Spring. Hours: Closed until further notice. Phone: 269-621-3408

NEWS FROM THE WATERVLIET RECORD

90 years ago – 1930 The Watervliet Paper Company has awarded to Max Stock, Benton Harbor contractor, the contract for the building of a new stock house between the two mills of the plant in Watervliet. The new structure is to be of concrete construction and the estimated cost is $10,000. Miss Josephine Widmeyer entertained a party of young people at her home on South Main Street honoring Herbert Gilchrist, a member of the graduating class. Herbert is planning to enter the Kalamazoo Baptist College in the fall. Mary Ray is playing hostess to a few of her young girlfriends at her home on St. Joseph Street, the occasion being her birthday anniversary. 60 years ago – 1960 High school principal, Richard Rogers is the new Superintendent of the Watervliet Public Schools. Mr. Rogers, who has been a principal here the past five years, has spent 12 years in the field of school administration and six years teaching. Dale M. Emerson and Jean Ann Bandurski have been awarded by the Watervliet Paper Company, college scholarships for the 1960-61 school year. Each scholarship is worth $450. Miss Frances Ishmael, 15 years old, Watervliet, was awarded the 1st Place Trophy at the 1960 Holland Tulip Festival Twirling Contest. Frances also won a 2nd Place Trophy in the senior division of Girl Strutting for girls 15 years and over. She has been in competition for four years and has won 38 trophies and 49 medals. In 1958 she won the United States Twirling Association Junior National Strutting Competition. 30 years ago – 1990 On June 1, 1990, WHS Principal David Lickfeldt announced the coveted awards for outstanding senior boy and senior girl at the 101st graduation ceremony, Kurt Muenchow and Barbara Wise. Kurt was in the fifth place in his class with a GPA of 3.76 and Barbara in sixth with a GPA of 3.64. These young people can be proud that hard work and an honest dependable approach toward school paid off by being honored at their graduation. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jones celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 10, 1990. Both retired in 1982. The couple has two children, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Donald Wilson, Watervliet Junior High School Principal, retired June 30, 1990. Wilson has served 36 years in the field of education. He taught in Bainbridge Center and in a 3-room school in Niles and then came to Watervliet. A major benefit of his years in Watervliet is that he has met a lot of great people, not just teachers, but also community members, parents and students. Submitted by Sally Q. Gonzalez from files at Watervliet District Library of the Watervliet Record newspapers donated by the Tri-City Record. Hours: Closed until further notice. Phone: 269-463-6382