Garwood Mansion

**old guy** · June-24-14, 12:11 AM

Lee, good to hear from you. I've often wondered if it was you that set up the conference at the garwood that William Kunstler attended. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you teach at Wayne State? Maybe I've got a few things mixed up here, but I thought that was you.
bushmark.

**stnfrnt** · June-24-14, 03:10 PM

old guy....
Frisk Service station on South main and Prarie. Operated by Justus Fisk....Rockford, IL circa 40s-50s [[I'm guessing here).

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**Lee Elbinger** · June-30-14, 07:42 AM

Bushmark:
I got funding from a Detroit foundation to film the conference and to provide food. The film was poorly made and got lost in the decades. I never taught at Wayne State. I met my wife Barbra at the Gar Wood, we conceived our daughter Spirit there, over 42 years ago. Yesterday [[June 29, 2014) Spirit gave birth to her first child, my first grandchild. Barbra, I am sorry to report, passed away in 2002. I am in Pleasant Ridge now with the kids. Going to India on July 21.
Blessings to all, Lewis [[Lee)

**stnfrnt** · June-30-14, 12:18 PM

NEWS UPDATE
Our sincere apologies for the lack of activity on the news page here at the Stonefront Garwood Years website, there have been a number of interesting and exciting developments that we want to tell you about, but first some sad and unfortunate news.
Last month, Robin Welch our dear friend, work colleague, 'founding father' and the driving force behind the projects here at Stonefront Garwood Years very sadly passed away.
Robin founded RiverWyeProductions over 10 years ago and began work on this project in earnest about 5-6 years ago and in truth has had this story at the heart of his creative endeavours for nearly 40 years since he spent such wonderful, warm and creative times with so many of the lovely people at the GarWood mansion in the early 70's.
Robin was also one of the key members of the Stonefront Band and some of his distinctive saxophone melodies can be heard on the Stonefront Album release that we hope to be bringing to you all very soon.
Robin's passing is a very sad development in the extended history of this project, but his work, commitment and passion for the project will be continued by all of us involved.
Tim Welch; his eldest son and the Artistic Director and Associate Producer for the projects will be effectively taking-over as the primary point of contact for the project and will be aiming to complete the work that will bring the film, book and music projects to market and a wider audience.
His aim, like Robin's is to share the wonderful times experienced by all at the GarWood together with the fantastic stories, John Collier's photographs and the music created by Stonefront that has come to characterise the unique time, the unique place and the unique people at the GarWood Mansion.
I hope all of you who have been following the development of the project here at Stonefront Garwood Years will join us in bidding Robin a very fond farewell and perhaps, moving forward from this sad development we can all collectively help to achieve the aspirations that Robin had for this wonderful project.
ROBIN E. G. WELCH: 24.11.37 - 15.05.14
Film Maker, Producer, Publisher, Artist, Musician, Entrepreneur, Friend & Father

Despite this sad development, you can all rest assured that there is more positive and exciting news to come very soon, so watch this space . . .

**old guy** · July-01-14, 02:44 AM

Thanks for the information Larry. That's really too bad. Great guy with a lot of talent and great involvement with the ongoing saga of the Garwood story. Great sax player. I looked forward to hooking up with him again.
He invited me to come to England when they were having a first showing of the initial documentary at Abbey Road or Apple Studios. Wish I had gone there.

I remember when Robin, Gus and I all shared the same job in Ann Arbor. They were building a new Sears store I believe. There was a job stocking shelves when they were setting up with a huge number of people. One of us got the job, and we were all working at that production company in A2. We all took turns at showing up at the Sears job on the side, and nobody knew who we were. We'd just show up on different days, punch in on the time clock and work for the day. Split the check at the end of the week. Ate at the bagel factory most of the time.

This is really sad news. He will be missed.

**stnfrnt** · July-01-14, 05:42 PM

Great story, old guy.

**Isle_of_fun** · July-02-14, 10:13 AM

Robin's smile , enthusiasm, inspiration, kindness and aura of warmth will always be missed! So glad to have met him. Hug and love to his family and to all of the Gar Wood group!

**stnfrnt** · July-07-14, 11:18 PM

I just got the sad news from Linda Boddye [[first lady) that one of the founding fathers of the whole Gar Wood Mansion saga, Steve Long [[Breeze) died today. That's all for now.

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**old guy** · July-09-14, 01:08 AM

Really sad to hear about Breeze. He was one of my favorite people in Detroit and A2. Had some great times together, actually many great times. He was one of the most laid back, good natured people I knew in the early days that I lived in Michigan. Always good natured.
I know he went through some tough times later on, but hooking up with him at the reunion, he still had the great, loving personality that I remember from the Garwood days, despite what he was going through.
He was a good person with a great heart. I will truly miss him. He had a heart of gold.

**stnfrnt** · July-09-14, 09:11 AM

old guy.....that pretty much sums it up for me too. Steve was just a really good guy on several different levels.

**stnfrnt** · July-11-14, 11:59 AM

old guy......my nephew and great-nephew are at it again up on Lake Delevan.

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**Whaler** · July-15-14, 06:30 AM

What a fisherman!!!!...Looks like great fun!!!...Whaler

**old guy** · July-16-14, 12:02 AM

Nice fish Larry. It's strange not seeing any boats in the background. Delavan has become such a popular lake for fishing in the last 3 years it's generally wall to wall boats. Looks pretty serene. I might have to head down there again.

Also loved the photo of the Frisk Service Station. Checked it out on google street view. Pretty quiet corner now.south main st. and prairie rockford il - Google Maps

**Whaler** · July-30-14, 06:33 AM

Boy it's getting pretty lonely around here!!!!... 44 years ago was getting ready to go camping at place called Goose Lake!!!...Anyone else remember....Whaler

**stnfrnt** · July-30-14, 09:28 AM

Barely.......just barely.

**stnfrnt** · July-31-14, 05:22 PM

An early version of Stonefront with Joe Ford on bass, Chuck Mahoian on lead guitar, myself, and Eddie. This is the band that played forever at a place called the Last Chance Saloon over in Dearborn. Shortly after this, Harry "HighWatt" Boulier and my favorite bass player Mark Swanberg replaced Joe and Chuck.

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**Whaler** · August-01-14, 07:17 AM

Another one I haven't seen before!!!...How many hours did you spend practicing ????...How were you received at the Last Chance!????...Whaler

**EASTSIDE CAT 67-83** · August-01-14, 12:14 PM

Stnfrnt
I gotta ask...did you guys just wake up everyday and say to yourself..self can you frickin believe we live and practice in this grand old mansion? What a run you all musta had! Hence this thread!
I never made it much further than the Handicap center back in the early to mid 70's but no doubt you guys were over there Jammin while I was hanging off the monkey bars at the foot of Lenox.

**stnfrnt** · August-02-14, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by Whaler

Another one I haven't seen before!!!...How many hours did you spend practicing ????...How were you received at the Last Chance!????...Whaler

Taking into consideration all a jamming playing messing around we did we spent thousands of hours at that end of the ballroom. We never tore down the equipment unless we had to go on the road. It we playing locally, we'd just leave our gear there and we had a spare set of amps and a PA system set up in the ballroom so we could practice or just jam or be ready for anybody who wanted to come in and play any time day or night. We blew them up at the Last Chants Saloon. The owners wanted to take us into Vegas and get us started in that circuit but we weren't built for that.

Like I said, we would leave amps and even some guitars and PA system stuff set up all the time ready to go at a moment's notice. Bush Mark tells a story one time of waking up at 4 AM to the sound of somebody playing in the ballroom. Turns out it was Iron Butterfly doing Ina Gada da Vida. I guess they just heard about the place, had got done playing a gig somewhere, came down to the Garwood, walked in and didn't see anybody around so they just picked up the gear that we usually left set up and started playing. That's how it went.

**stnfrnt** · August-02-14, 06:30 PM

Eastside Cat..... Real sorry you never made it down to the house, but I honestly have to say, and I'm speaking for myself here, that it was just another day most of the time. I knew I was living in a big house, and I knew it was special, like I said it just got to be one day after another and the grandiosity of the place became less and less of an issue. Now I look back and I say.....WOW! Keep your eyes and ears open for news about a documentary that is being produced and worked on as we speak by River Wye Productions out of London, England. If you got a few moments, go to this link and click enter. You can navigate around the website and be caught up on the latest and greatest news about Stonefront in the Garwood mansion.

http://www.stonefrontgarwoodyears.com/

**EASTSIDE CAT 67-83** · August-05-14, 06:00 AM

Originally Posted by stnfrnt

Eastside Cat..... Real sorry you never made it down to the house, but I honestly have to say, and I'm speaking for myself here, that it was just another day most of the time. I knew I was living in a big house, and I knew it was special, like I said it just got to be one day after another and the grandiosity of the place became less and less of an issue. Now I look back and I say.....WOW! Keep your eyes and ears open for news about a documentary that is being produced and worked on as we speak by River Wye Productions out of London, England. If you got a few moments, go to this link and click enter. You can navigate around the website and be caught up on the latest and greatest news about Stonefront in the Garwood mansion.

http://www.stonefrontgarwoodyears.com/

stnfrnt
Thanks for the link, very cool project. In my ear I think I also hear a twinge of Quicksilver Messenger Service in those Stonefront guitar licks..I like it.

**stnfrnt** · August-05-14, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by EASTSIDE CAT 67-83

stnfrnt
Thanks for the link, very cool project. In my ear I think I also hear a twinge of Quicksilver Messenger Service in those Stonefront guitar licks..I like it.

Eastside, great ear on the twinge of Quicksilver guitar licks. You would be referring specifically to a tune called Equal. Quicksilver has always been one of my favorite bands, but truth be told, when we recorded Equal none of those guitar licks were intentional copies from anything QMS ever did. But, that is not to say that there was not a subliminal influence going on there. Thanks for the profs, and I'm glad you got a chance to check out the link.

**EASTSIDE CAT 67-83** · August-05-14, 02:44 PM

Originally Posted by stnfrnt

Eastside, great ear on the twinge of Quicksilver guitar licks. You would be referring specifically to a tune called Equal. Quicksilver has always been one of my favorite bands, but truth be told, when we recorded Equal none of those guitar licks were intentional copies from anything QMS ever did. But, that is not to say that there was not a subliminal influence going on there. Thanks for the profs, and I'm glad you got a chance to check out the link.

Stnfrnt
One of my favorites as well, I was very fortunate to catch their 20th anniversary concert
at the Fillmore in '85 when I was stationed out in the Bay area in the early-mid 80's. Luckily my Squadron was not deployed at the time, back then we did 12 months at home then 6 months overseas.. rinse and repeat year in year out.

**stnfrnt** · August-07-14, 12:20 PM

Here's a little TBT for you. You know him as old guy on the DY thread here, and the Garwood mansion residents knew him as Bush Mark. Maybe someday he will explain that nickname.

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