Memory Lane - Here Comes the Sun (June - August 1982)

My last post ended with Nancy and Christy enjoying a bright Easter afternoon in even brighter Easter outfits. We were on the cusp of an interesting and active summer in the sun. We pick things up with what I will call "Anniversary Month", true for many families including ours. We visited my parents mid-month to celebrate their special day. We took them to one of their favorite eateries of the time, Rodeitcher's (pronounced ro'-dike-ers), purported to be the first Chinese restaurant in the state of Michigan. Here's a shot of Wendell and Dolores settling in for an evening of Asian ambrosia. 

Later that visit Nancy and I crept down I-75 for a day at one of our favorite spots, Zehnder's of Frankenmuth. Our anniversary coincided with the annual Bavarian Festival held in this little German town. We were treated to what passes for spectacle in mid-Michigan, like quaint German architecture,

A parade, 

Unusual bands with funny hats, 

Unicyclists, with funny hats,

Even royalty, without funny hats.

My memories of Frankenmuth trigger memories of other local traditions. When I was young and growing up in Bay City it seemed that every little town had their own festival, most of which celebrated a particular fruit, vegetable or flower. There was the Munger Potato Festival, the Bridgeport Vlassic Pickle Festival, the Bay City Sugar Beet Festival, the Traverse City Cherry Festival, and of course on the west side of the state the Holland Tulip Festival. I'm guessing most of these summer galas are still alive and kicking. Well, maybe not last year in the era of COVID 19, but hopefully again soon.

The Frankenmuth Bavarian Festival was one of the few not based on plant life. It featured mostly chicken and sausage, and of course beer. The fact that there was a Carling Black Label brewery down the street was probably a factor. But it was always close to my heart for another reason. 

I think I have previously mentioned that I play the accordion. In my youth, I not only played the accordion. I was in a marching accordion band. About 50 of us, if I recall, including some drums and majorettes. It was sponsored by a company that specialized in accordion lessons. Go figure. Kind of a Professor Harold Hill thing.

This band's major activity was playing in these summer festivals throughout Michigan. We would march in the parades, usually behind some group involving horses (we became quite adept at dancing around "hazards"). We had some other high water marks in our four or five year tenure, but the main events were the festivals. Somewhere in my photo storage stacks, I'm pretty sure there are some pictures from my M&M Marching Accordion Band era. I'll have to dig into those treasures sometime soon. But for now I'll just include this shot of me in my Spanish motif band uniform, complete with - funny hat.

 

Just picture about 50 kids from eight to eighteen years old wearing this outfit, sashaying down main street in dance formations to classic melodies like Lady of Spain and Jada. You haven't really heard Lady of Spain until you've heard it played by 40 or so accordions at once, accented by majorettes doing cartwheels. Pure Michigan.

But back to '82. After our wild Bavarian adventure, we retired back to my parents' house for a little anniversary R&R. Here we are on the back deck just chilling to the country air. Nice glasses.

All the while our little darling was doing fine playing in her portable world, 

And maintaining her personal hygiene. 

At the end of the month we journeyed up to Ipperwash Beach to celebrate Nancy's parents' 40th anniversary with them. Here's a favorite shot of Rae and Marge taken that weekend on the beach at Avon Rae.

 

Here's one final shot from June of Grandpa Rae sharing the finer points of life at the beach with Christy. Life was good.

With all the anniversaries accounted for, the summer progressed into July. Now I don't want you to think that life was all leisure time. I did have a job. It was July of '82 when I advanced to a mid-level management position in the Collection Division of the IRS in Detroit. I had charge of a bunch of training groups preparing revenue officer hires for their duties. We had nine managers and 22 coaches overseeing 120 new recruits. It was quite an adventure, and I'll be sharing some of those stories as we progress. But for now what I'd like to note is that I had a new office. The first one I'd ever had with a conference table and a decent view. It was on the 19th floor of the Patrick V. McNamara Building Downtown Detroit. 

When I needed a few moments to contemplate my next blunder, I could walk over to the large, room-length window, look a little to the right and see this.

That would be Michigan Avenue and Tiger Stadium. If memories of many good times at the ballpark didn't spark any brilliant ideas, I could turn slightly to the left and see this.

This would be a loaded freighter gliding along the Detroit River on her way back to the ocean. This sight always reminded me of the years my father spent in the late 60s working as a crewman on just such a vessel. He always spoke fondly of those times as he loved being on the water. I very much enjoyed my time in that office. But enough about the burdens of work. Let's get back to real life.

Christy was continuing to develop new skills, like differentiating various types of plastics according to taste.

And that old standby baby yoga. 

July was also the beginning of our Ipperwash season. Rae and Marge traditionally opened up the cottage on Memorial Day and spent much of June reclaiming Avon Rae from the ravages of the Canadian winter and tinkering with an endless list of fix-ups and improvement projects. By July 4th the company season was in full swing. A weekend at the lake made for happy kids, 

 

Happy Dads, 

And even happy dogs. In this era, our little Heidi on a beach prowl with Ted.

As July rolled into August, the pace of life picked up. Ted, now turning six, discovered tee ball. Here's a pic of him with his teammates and coaches in the heat of battle. 

Note Ted in the front row, third from the left trying to remember which end of the ball to grab. Here in some action shots Ted demonstrates his batting, running and throwing prowess.

Of course there was the usual after-game all-inclusive trophy ceremony, 

And pool party. After playing in the hot sun and scoring or being scored upon so often no one really knows (or cares) who won, a kid needs to cool off and contemplate the next opponent. Happens to be my own attitude about sports. The important thing is to not get hurt and miss the party.    

August was also the month in which Nancy decided to leave her post in Ann Arbor and take a field job in a downtown Detroit Collection group. To mark the occasion, the Ann Arbor group threw her an evening goodbye party. Nancy had been a revenue officer in Ann Arbor before we met, and had long-standing friendships with many of the staff there. Those of you with an IRS background may remember these folks. In this pic Nancy is sharing memories with Warren Ingersoll and (I believe) Val Oatley. 

In this pic are three more colorful personalities - Beth Freiberg, Nancy Lorenz (eventually Mrs. Boltrick) and Jerry Carley. 

And in this poignant pic we have two kindred IRS spirits who sadly passed in recent years, long before their times, Brian Oatley and Tony Cipparoni. I think this pic shows their true personalities - larger than life. We have many memories of these two, some of which will no doubt appear in this chronicle as we move on.

 

Later in August, Nancy and I took Christy on about a 10-day vacation to Canada. We started at the cottage, to get into that laid-back vacation attitude. Here's Christy on the beach playing in her blowup pool, working her way to a plunge in Lake Huron known in our family as "the big water". Note the stylish beach wear.

Ted was close by indulging in a pretty sandy version of a classic western confrontation. This pic is famous in our family for the introduction of what to this day is still referred to as "the hat". As a doting parent with pretty fair skin, wide-brimmed head coverings were encouraged. I admit that this chapeau lacked some style, but it was effective. To his credit, Ted accepted his fate with only token resistance.

After a couple of days in the sun we loaded up the Olds and headed east to Toronto. On the drive we made what would become a fairly regular pass by the Niagara Escarpement.

In Toronto while visiting cousins for a couple days we made a trip to the Toronto Science Center. Now, 40 years later, I have to admit that the tour is a bit of a blur. I have some pictures of things we saw, like this.

But I can't remember what this is or really what several other of the pics are of either, so I won't drag you through anymore of them. I write off my patchy memory of the day to the pressure of keeping one kid from being bored to tears (the six-year old), another kid from crying from overstimulation (the almost-one-year old) and the parents from blaming each other for the predicament. Live and learn. With practice, we learned to do much better.  

On our way back to Michigan, we stopped by Nancy's grandma's apartment in London. It was the first time Ted and I ever met Nana, who had just had her 97th birthday. We had a lovely visit,

Aw. Check out Ted. Just a perfect gentleman in this picture. Right? Here's the practice shot.

Note the wall behind the sofa. You can see the bottom half of a painting. It's of fishing boats returning to harbor at day's end. This painting has been a part of our lives for a long time now as it has hung over our living room fireplace since Nana's passing in 1986. I very much enjoy the serene and reflective mood it projects. And of course, the remembrance of its former owner. Here's a full view.

Before heading home from Nana's we stopped off at a children's park in London called Storybook Gardens. It was a trip down memory lane for Nancy who had visited the Gardens in her youth. As you can see from the following few pics, we all had a good time walking around and seeing the sights. 

Bushed from the fresh air and activity, we piled into the car and headed for home. It had been a fun but packed few days.

A week or so later we headed to my parents' house in Linwood to visit the cousins and celebrate Ted's sixth birthday. The birthday itself wasn't overly memorable as I recall, but one of Ted's gifts was. Take a look.

This playset is called "Navarone". It came with this replica of a mountain fortress, a la "The Guns of Navarone". It had about a hundred pieces including green US Army guys, white Nazi guys, and about a dozen US Army tanks and canons. The idea was that the US Army would attack the Nazi fort and fight it out. However, I learned early on that Ted was a shrewd strategist. He would give the US Army guys the tanks and canons and the mountain fort, leaving the Nazis to fend for themselves with a few side arms. As Captain Kirk would say, "Officer thinking!" This gem is still in our basement toy storage area awaiting another strategic thinker.

I should note that several of Ted's cousins also had summer birthdays so this August get-together at Grandma and Grandpa's place was sort of a regular thing. As I have noted before, I enjoy these pictures of the cousins when they were little because in later years they were seldom in the same place at the same time. Here's a shot of sister Wendy's kids - Jenny, Tristan and Melanie - showing off some of their birthday loot.

And to round out the crowd brother Jeff's daughter Dee Dee with her new craft set.

There was one other birthday to celebrate that August, and for that we returned to Avon Rae cottage. That would, of course, be Christy's first birthday. It was a grand affair, well attended and with appropriate decorum. In this first pic the birthday girl is all dolled up and waiting in Grandma Marge's rocker for the festivities to begin.

Here she's been suitably inserted into what I believe was her Uncle Dave's high chair. 

Current child safety protocols would require this ancient finger-masher to be burned on the spot if it were ever discovered. But in our family, it's still a classic. 

In this next picture, Christy faces the moment of truth - presentation of her very first birthday cake. She's diggin' it.

Here's a better look at this baker's gem.

Here cousins Matt and Brian are looking on in anticipation of sharing birthday cake.

By the way take a good look at all these hats. You're going to see them again. I think they're still in a cupboard somewhere waiting for their next assignment.  

Here's a shot of me assisting with the cake part. Note my polished technique. This is what happens when you are posing for a picture while trying to hit the target with the spoon.

Of course there were presents.

But for Christy, it was all about the cake.

Here's one last shot of the birthday girl, through the ordeal and enjoying the afterglow. And thinking, "Wow! What was that? I need to do that again!" 

This seems like a good point to wrap up this post. Next time we'll look into the rest of '82 and some "magic" events that took place. Until then,

Grosse Pointe Charles