Thursday February 26, 2009

Alarm goes off at 0555. Nancy and I have a busy day. I head for the MAC to complete my routine in record time. At 1100 Nancy takes off her monitor and we head for the clinic to turn it in. I drop Nancy off at Blodgett so she can work in the gift shop until 4 PM.

After lunch I head downtown to attend a GR Planning Commission meeting. The Planning Commission will vote on allowing the Grand Rapids Christian Schools to demolish the old OHHS and built a smaller elementary school. Many neighbors spoke for approving the plan. The neighbors are concerned that if the proposal is not approved the old school will continue to be a blight on the neighborhood. The school has been empty for about 9 months. The only opposition to the plan was from some folks who wanted the old building preserved because they thought it had unique features. Of course none of the opponents live in the area. The GR Planning Commission voted to approve the plan. We all clapped.

This evening Nancy and I headed for Great Lakes Shipping for our usual Thursday night dinner. We discussed our plans for tomorrow. In addition to getting ready for the OHNA TGIF we also want to attend the visitation for Mrs. Henry who passed away Tuesday.

Ossineke, MI this date in 1938. Not much happening on this Saturday. GG worked in the Post Office from 9 to 2. Erma B got married and Aunt Julia attended.

Just a quick note on Uncle Guy, Julia's husband. Uncle Guy was a rural mail carrier, he was from Indiana and during WWI he had served in the Marine Corps. He was involved in several fierce battles in France. Uncle Guy's real talent was making crow calls. In the 40s and 50s there was a bounty on crows ($0.50 per crow, I think). They were thought to be destroying crops and driving out native birds. Uncle Guy made a very good call. He made them in his basement shop. They were sold all over the Midwest and were carried in most sporting good stores. Uncle Guy was even a guest on a popular TV show called Michigan Outdoors. I remember Uncle Guy because he could roll a cigarette with one hand. He was an excellent shot and his hunting exploits were legend around Alpena. I also remember that he was missing many teeth.