Did You Attend Carleton Elementary?

[EMG]

EMG that corner store brings back many many memories...all my comic books were purchased there...I alwyas thought the apartment/home behind woudl have been cool to love in..but then again as I walked home from many a baseball game at Carlton or Mass at ST Brendan, I would think the apartments on Morang were interesting too...specially the modern looking one...I also remember the old farmhouse on Rossiter...funny what you think of thanks to the kind folks on here.

I know EXACTLY what old farmhouse you're thinking of - approximately 5th or so house south of Morang on the west side of Rossiter, big white house. I'm not at my home computer now but I'm almost certain I have a picture of that house, and when I get a chance I'll post it here if I haven't used up my space limit yet. [[If I have I'll delete one of my other pictures).

By apartments I assume you're talking about those ones with the aqua painted stripes, between Lakepoint and Rossiter. And I guess the "modern" ones would be the ones with the glass-enclosed four level staircases on Morang near Lansdowne. I have pictures of both of those too.

As for the corner store, I passed by that every day walking home from Carleton - but once across at the light, my path went in the opposite direction - as I lived on Nottingham. So as posted earlier, I went past Maranatha which in the winter was fun as there were those huge snow mounds to climb on.

[EMG]

EMG that corner store brings back many many memories...all my comic books were purchased there...I alwyas thought the apartment/home behind woudl have been cool to love in..but then again as I walked home from many a baseball game at Carlton or Mass at ST Brendan, I would think the apartments on Morang were interesting too...specially the modern looking one...I also remember the old farmhouse on Rossiter...funny what you think of thanks to the kind folks on here.

Now I just had a flashback. Remember the old "Maraldo's" party store which was on the south side of Morang, between Somerset and Balfour, just west of dentist Dr. Aptekar's office? And there was [[still is, for all I know) a big house just west of that store. Of course, it's been a long time since it was "Maraldo's" - have no idea what it is today.

Then on the next block east, on the southeast corner of Morang and McKinney, was Baskin-Robbins ice cream, which later was replaced by I think a hot dog place called "American." I never went there for hot dogs but I sure have fond memories of the Baskin-Robbin days in my earlier childhood.

[Tsomyak]

I had Mrs. Greiling for kindergarten back in the mid 50's. She was a woman probably in her 50's [[or so it seemed to me at the time), a bit heavy set, with brownish hair with some gray mixed in. She was very, very nice. She taught in the " big" kindergarten room. There was a piano in the room, along with a small log playhouse.

I also remember going to school during the summer and making something out of clay...i dont' remember what...that was fired in the art room kiln.

I'm almost certain I had Mrs. Greiling then. Your description is exactly how I remember her as well. Thanks!

[EMG]

As promised - the Rossiter Farmhouse - west side of Rossiter, south of Morang. Picture taken in early 2001.

Attachment 2451

[EMG]

And here are the apartments I assume you were talking about. Even though I titled my picture "Lakepoint Apartments" because that's what I thought of them as and it's easier for me to remember, I think they were actually called the "Morang Avenue Apartments." These are on the south side of Morang, I believe between Lakepoint and Rossiter.

Attachment 2452

[EMG]

Looking in my files I see I also do have a picture of the apartments with the glassed-in staircases from the north side of Morang near Lansdowne which I assume are the ones you meant by the "modern looking one." However, as I'm nearing space limitations and don't think that picture would have as much interest for others as any of the ones I'd likely have to delete to make room for it, I'll hold off on posting it unless you or others REALLY REALLY want me to.

[EMG]

Looking in my files again I do have a picture of Dr. Aptekar's dentist office on the southwest corner of Morang and Balfour - two, actually, one each from front and back [[that was a major childhood memory as my family would sometimes take me on walks to ride my tricycle around in Aptekar's parking lot back in my toddler days). Then of course in the winter they'd take me sledding on the [[relatively minor) hill on Britain going down towards McKinney. As I grew old enough to explore further away from home in greater detail, I was REALLY envious of the kids who grew up on or near Laing and Yorkshire, as there were even MUCH BETTER hills in all four directions from that corner, with the longest and least steep being Laing northbound from Yorkshire and then shorter and steeper hills in all three other directions. I remember really enjoying taking my bike out to that hill and coasting all the way from Yorkshire to Grayton on Laing. Hey, just a dinky little hill, but to a kid growing up in relatively flat Michigan it might as well have been one of the Rockies. Now here in Arizona I live near some hills that put Laing to shame - 20 minute uphill rides that I can then coast back down in less than half that time. Whoever said superb cardiovascular workout couldn't be fun?

In my Aptekar office picture [[which I'll post only if there's sufficient demand for it out there) I can barely make out part of the old Maraldo's party store building...and I see enough of the signage to remember that [[at least as of the time I left in '01) the former Maraldo's building was taken over by an antique shop, which as far as I know is still there to this day.

[grumpyoldlady]

Ohhhhhh Dr. Aptekar! His shots hurt! I remember the fish tank in the wall that I watched and tried not to think about what he was doing to me.

[EMG]

I was never a patient of Dr. Aptekar - my dentists were Dr. Bowles and Dr. Small at the Morang Dental Center at Morang and Wayburn - surprised you didn't go there as it would have been much closer to your house!!! But I remember my mother telling me she had once been to Dr. Aptekar and didn't care for him. No more detailed explanation than that.

[gibran]

Dr Small was my dentist -and yes that's the old farm house...very cool..man do I remember baskin robbins openning [[29 cents for two scoops or was it just one)...I remember getting the gas from Dr. Small..to this day I remember going under and the last thing I saw was Small morphing into Jerry Lewis and seeing one bird across the street turn into three...

yes those were some of the apartments..and yes the glass entry way was the modern ones I so desired to live in...
My family Doctor was DR. Boacoa [[spelling on Morang near ST Brendan...) ...how many times did we go to the bookmobile and play softball across from the Church...

[Tsomyak]

Dr. Small was my dentist as well. I sometimes saw one of his associates, the name Summers seems to come to mind, although I think there were a few others as well. My current dentist is AMAZED that some of the filling work done by him some 40 years ago is still holding up!

[gibran]

funny that you mentioned it..my last filling is just about to go...I remember the walk home after a filling ...not bad since it was only a block and half...

ok changing gears..which parks did you all play at growingup...my nearest was Rossiter...but mom would drive us all over Detriot to visit other neighbor hood gems.

[EMG]

Dr. Small was my dentist as well. I sometimes saw one of his associates, the name Summers seems to come to mind, although I think there were a few others as well. My current dentist is AMAZED that some of the filling work done by him some 40 years ago is still holding up!

Yes, there was a Dr. Summers there but I don't remember him very well. Dr. Robert C. Small was actually my MOTHER'S dentist from back when SHE was a girl, and he also treated me very well for many years.

I didn't get very many cavities and really only had about 3 fillings in my whole chldhood, two of which I believe were done by Dr. Small. Alas, while the fillings all held up [[I've never had one fall out or anything), now, 40 years later, I recently was found to have the beginnings of a crack developing in one of those filled teeth and so had to get the first crown of my life. My current dentist told me that is a common thing to happen in teeth with old fillings.

[EMG]

funny that you mentioned it..my last filling is just about to go...I remember the walk home after a filling ...not bad since it was only a block and half...

ok changing gears..which parks did you all play at growingup...my nearest was Rossiter...but mom would drive us all over Detriot to visit other neighbor hood gems.

Obviously you're talking about Brookins park, located south of Grayton between Lakepoint and Rossiter. In my family we referred to it as "Lakepoint park" because my folks tended to refer to parks by the streets they were located on rather than the people after whom they were named. Brookins was the closest park to where I lived [[Nottingham north of Britain). Then another, that I liked even better because it was bigger and had more equipment, was "Lanark Park" [[Sasser) which was on Lanark north of Casino. I remember that they had a wooden train there, and I always used to like to climb up in the caboose [[because at that time, when I was a toddler, one of my favorite childhood books was "The Little Red Caboose.") Needless to say, my family would take me to these parks - I was way too young to go there alone.

On one very sad day, I remember we went to Sasser park only to find that the train/caboose had been burned...we presume by vandals. It never was restored. Assuming that that was a deliberate act of vandalism, it was my first childhood exposure to such a thing.

Another park I REALLY enjoyed being taken to was Balduck - both the wooded side west of Chandler Park Drive and the sledding hill side - and skating rink - on the east side. Mom took me skating there many times, and my grandfather would usually take me sledding. [[Mom skated, Grandpa didn't!) Now, remember the family naming convention I mentioned earlier - calling parks by the streets on which they were located. We always referred to Balduck Park as "Chandler Park" because it was on Chandler Park Drive. It wasn't until I was a little older that I found out there WAS a real "Chandler Park." In fact, my mother's childhood home was at the Parkside complex located at Chandler Park.

Sometimes my grandfather would also take me to the field at what was then Arthur school on McKinney and Harvard, where I would play on the swings - he'd also often take me sledding on the little hill that Britain made as it went down east towards McKinney. My grandfather would also often take me to Balduck or to the Heilman field in the spring for kite flying.

[EMG]

My family Doctor was DR. Boacoa [[spelling on Morang near ST Brendan...) ...how many times did we go to the bookmobile and play softball across from the Church...

I don't remember any doctor's office in that area - that must have been before my time - but I do remember the Bookmobile. I never actually went there as my mom was always taking me to the library and those were always fun outings. My favorite library was the Chandler Park branch because it was the largest building with the most windows and it always seemed so grand and impressive in comparison to the others. But we went even more often to the Jefferson Branch on Outer Drive near Warren, which was closer to our home. That was OK but I didn't care for it as much as Chandler Park because it was smaller, and also there was a lady over there who I remember as having a much more snooty attitude if we ever brought a book in late. She was a very prim and proper uppity old lady who had red hair which I am SURE was dyed so as not to show the gray she must have had. [[The memories that stand out from childhood, eh? )

A third branch which we only rarely went to but I guess that made it all the more special when we did was the Franklin branch on Six Mile or McNichols or whatever they called it there at that time, just west of Gratiot.

I remember the playground "across from St. Brendans" - I believe they called it Father Downing Field [[I never knew Father Downing; Father Lombardi was the only pastor I ever knew there, along with his contemporaries, Fr. Kraus, Fr. Finnegan, and later Fr. Neumann. Fr. Neumann was fun - he had a sense of humor like Fr. Lombardi - I remember one Father's Day Fr. Neumann promising he wouldn't speak very long so the fathers could get home early and enjoy their TV sports. Fr. Kraus, on the other hand, was an all-business no-fun type of person. For a brief period, I participated in a youth music and singing group - we sang more modern hymns and there were even a couple of guys in there who played the guitar. We played several times during Fr. Lombardi's masses - but whenever Fr. Kraus had the service, we weren't allowed to - he insisted on the traditional hymns played by the church organist. There were often kids playing softball in that field but I was never one of them as I wasn't very good at softball and also was more of a loner. I tended to stick to taking solo bike rides on my own. [[Still am and still do, as a matter of fact!)

[gibran]

Your memories are great...all of us had shared values and memories of parks and adventures in the hood.

ok to try to be concise:
Loved the summer rec programs at "lakepointe" guess if you were coming from Wayburn [[which I was) we called it "Rossiter"...there was an older man on the corner of Grayton and Rossiter that kept his lawn immaculate...even having a small chain fence across the side...so no of us knuckleheads would cross on the way to the park. Back to the rec program..loved to make the ceramic statues for a nickle..painting them and then picking them up the next day..there was a small shed we used to climb on top off...can you imagine today leaving your supplies in a shed over the summer? There was a white house right next to the park that looked out of place because it was so coll looking..I dreamed of owning a house like it one day...I subbed for my cousins paper route on Rossiter..From Whitter to Grayton...used to roam the allies..we called it "garbage picking" back then...found many interesting things....

Balduck has specially memories too numerous to list..from sledding, to exploring the nature trail, to cross country running -used to run there from Denby to compete, and then back home..Many of the basketball players that were only there for conditioning from the surrounding schools,would cheat and hide behind the hill til the last lap and then jump out and finish the run. Skating in winter and playing truth or dare with girlfriends in the woods....ah summer...

Sasser was also a stomping grounds for me in ninth grade..with the locals [[guys that lived around the park) we would play on the summer ec baseball team [[sasser stoners)...raking havoc up and down Casino...

Even though I went to GA..I went to mass at ST Brendans most of the time..closer to home..neighborhood was dividing line two doors down...My good friend Supanich's went to SB...I did attend instructional classes when I went into ninth grade there with Lombardi...but spent my ninth grade finding ways to get grounded...and skipping instructional time to hang out at the new thing called a seven-eleven......

I shared your love for libraries..loved Chandler Park and the one off of Harper towards conner....later would go to the one downtown..what a treat...oh yes and I remember going to see "flipper" at the Harper Theater long before Harpos....but spent a lot of time at the civic center...

[gibran]

oh yes I do remember the winter storm, of 73 or 74 that shut the area down..but it only made bumberhitching funner..that was until u hit a sewer.

[EMG]

oh yes I do remember the winter storm, of 73 or 74 that shut the area down..but it only made bumberhitching funner..that was until u hit a sewer.

That storm was in early December 1974, and it fell exactly in time to give me a snow day on my thirteenth birthday. And let me tell you, snow days at University Liggett School were rare and few between. We got a day off. The Detroit Public Schools had a week off. This was back in the old days before the local neighborhood group Neighbors United was formed to contribute for snow plowing, so the streets were unplowed and we had that single set of ruts in the middle of 2 feet of snow - and if any traffic was coming in the opposite direction you'd have a standoff. It was especially bad at the corners; the snow would pack down there from the plowing of the business streets. When my grandfather was driving me to school in the mornings, the corner of my block, Nottingham, was impossibly impassable. He'd have to cut through the alley and the Kavan's parking lot to get to Morang.

Then there was the ice storm of about March of '76 that put the power in the area out for almost two weeks. I still remember writing my ninth grade English compositions by kerosene lamp.

I'll have more to say about your longer post too - but will have to wait for another time. Wow, I come on here just to take a two minute peek and get carried away with a flood of memories! I can totally relate to your comment - "to try to be concise..." HAH!

[gibran]

I remember having my driver's test during that Ice strom...the guy who tested me said I was driving too cautiously...imagine that, no lights and ice on the roads...only in Detroit- that one would get marked down for driving with caution.

I remember an earlier ice storm in the 1960's where we skated to school on the sidewlks...felt as if we were skating on the canals of Holland...

Funny how we roamed the neighborhoods then,,I remembered your duplexes back in the day. My cousin lived on Nottingham, on the other side of Morang...funny when looking at your great pictures that the party store [[ that is a Detroit term ) was still there.

[grumpyoldlady]

I don't recall any doctor located near St. Brendan's. As for Dr. Small, I do remember that he had a brother Kenneth and my mom told me that they had gotten into an argument and one had shot the other...i don't remember any details.

I also remember that when I was very young, maybe around 5 [[1954), a woman walking home down Wayburn was murdered just down the street from where I lived. I don't remember any details other than how one of her shoes was laying on a neighbor's lawn.

[EMG]

I don't recall any doctor located near St. Brendan's. As for Dr. Small, I do remember that he had a brother Kenneth and my mom told me that they had gotten into an argument and one had shot the other...i don't remember any details.

I also remember that when I was very young, maybe around 5 [[1954), a woman walking home down Wayburn was murdered just down the street from where I lived. I don't remember any details other than how one of her shoes was laying on a neighbor's lawn.

WOW!

Glad you've re-joined the discussion. Stick around. You REALLY have had a lot of interesting memories to contribute!

[EMG]

I remember having my driver's test during that Ice strom...the guy who tested me said I was driving too cautiously...imagine that, no lights and ice on the roads...only in Detroit- that one would get marked down for driving with caution.

I remember an earlier ice storm in the 1960's where we skated to school on the sidewlks...felt as if we were skating on the canals of Holland...

Funny how we roamed the neighborhoods then,,I remembered your duplexes back in the day. My cousin lived on Nottingham, on the other side of Morang...funny when looking at your great pictures that the party store [[ that is a Detroit term ) was still there.

Yes, Nottingham was indeed famous for the duplexes, and my grandparents owned one of them for about 39 years. If I had to go back to one of those now I'd feel claustrophobic, but at the time I thought nothing of it!

[EMG]

Loved the summer rec programs at "lakepointe" guess if you were coming from Wayburn [[which I was) we called it "Rossiter"...there was an older man on the corner of Grayton and Rossiter that kept his lawn immaculate...even having a small chain fence across the side...so no of us knuckleheads would cross on the way to the park.

I'm not sure just which corner you are talking about but I remember I always was impressed with the lawn on the northeast corner of Grayton and Rossiter, and I believe I have a picture of that area as well as another picture or two of Brookins/Lakepointe/Rossiter park. Will have to wait until I get to my home computer tonight or later to see if I can dig it up. Not sure how many I'll be able to post without going back and deleting some of my old ones - I think I'm close to my space limit for attachments here.

There was another house, on the west side of Lakepoint a few houses up from Grayton, where the owner kept the lawn immaculate as well. In fact, it was manicured just like a golf green - really impressive. [[I on the other hand would never have the patience for such things. In fact one of the reasons I deliberately moved to Arizona was to have the privilege of having a front yard with nothing but cacti and gravel. All I have to do now is just go out once in a while with a push broom and shuffle the gravel around. Threw away my lawn mower at the same time as the show shovel!

Back to the rec program..loved to make the ceramic statues for a nickle..painting them and then picking them up the next day..there was a small shed we used to climb on top off...can you imagine today leaving your supplies in a shed over the summer? There was a white house right next to the park that looked out of place because it was so coll looking..I dreamed of owning a house like it one day...I subbed for my cousins paper route on Rossiter..From Whitter to Grayton...used to roam the allies..we called it "garbage picking" back then...found many interesting things...

I don't remember the ceramic statutes - where was that rec program held? Heilmann's or somewhere? I don't specifically remember a white house there - perhaps it will appear in I'm going to try to post later when I get home and find it. I too used to enjoy going through the alleys, though I didn't pick through garbage. In my younger bike riding days, I used to pretend I was driving - the sidewalks were streets, the streets were freeways, and the alleys were dirt backroads in my imagination. And either of the bridges crossing I-94 at Bishop or Kensington might as well have been Mackinac!

Balduck has specially memories too numerous to list..from sledding, to exploring the nature trail, to cross country running -used to run there from Denby to compete, and then back home..Many of the basketball players that were only there for conditioning from the surrounding schools,would cheat and hide behind the hill til the last lap and then jump out and finish the run. Skating in winter and playing truth or dare with girlfriends in the woods....ah summer...

I too ran Cross Country and my ULS team used to practice there on occasion, running laps up and down the hill. Also we had a couple of meets there with schools like Lutheran East. I did mention skating there, but as far as "truth or dare with girlfriends" -- unfortunately [[or perhaps fortunately depending on one's point of view) ULS kept us far too bogged down with homework to have time for such things.

I went to mass at ST Brendans most of the time..closer to home..neighborhood was dividing line two doors down...My good friend Supanich's went to SB...I did attend instructional classes when I went into ninth grade there with Lombardi...but spent my ninth grade finding ways to get grounded...and skipping instructional time to hang out at the new thing called a seven-eleven......

Fr. Lombardi was great. And while I never "hung out" at it, I remember when that 7-11 was built - probably right around 1976 if I remember. Can't remember now what used to be there - some old beat up gas station...? Of course by the time I left Michigan there was nothing but an old boarded up building where 7-11 used to be. There was another 7-11 on Whittier between Roxbury and Lakepoint.

During this time, Balfour between Britain and Morang used to be one of my favorite streets. People did a much better job of keeping up the lawns, and even this at the time14 year old teen who seemingly never cared about such things noticed! I also used to like to walk down that block in December evenings during the Christmas season because so many people leaving closer to Morang were consistent about putting up lighting displays - it was one of the few areas where several houses in a row had similar displays and it was all really great when put together. I also remember that the third house from the corner on the east side of Balfour - 10924 - had a rock in the front yard that I had always noticed and liked since I was a toddler and my grandfather took me walking around there. It was a landmark to me until sometime in the 1980s when I guess the house came under new ownership and the owner decided to get rid of it. Wish I had known - I might have offered to buy it from him!

...the Harper Theater long before Harpos....but spent a lot of time at the civic center...

Although I never went there to either, I do remember the Harper Theatre before it was Harpos.

[gibran]

The elms forming the canopy over the streets created such a soft and gentle feeling in the summer..I loved riding my schwinn panther through the neighborhoods at dusk in the summers...or walking after dark and seeing the older residents cigarettes glowing in the dark listening to the Tigers...My family lived throughout the area and little by little by little they moved ..my Aunt lived on Wayburn and Britain late into this last decade and loved her new neighbors as well as all the older ones...but her husband [[my Uncle) was a sage and wonderful human being, whose sense of humor was infinite and gentleness made him a magnet for all nephews and nieces..why I mention him was his porch was one where you could find him sitting with his cigar and listening to the tigers...The folks who lived right behind him on Rossiter was a ex-navy guy whose stories were salty and very interesting.. I believe he had a anchor in his yard if not he should have...I swear he had a ship hidden in his garage...now across [[kitty corner_never understood that term) was the Johnson who owned or managed a marian on Lake St/Clair where teh Stoken [[spelling) brothers and I fished the day away with another buddy from my Uncle's Block...his dad was a tough old police officer and we always feared him.

The neighborhood was so ingrained in our lives we couldn't write all the adventures we engaged in one volume... Homes seemed large but by today's standards it was a wonder how we all survived in a one bathroom three bedroom home.

Your block was intriguing since because of the duplexes..wonder why they were built in the middle of the neighborhoods...it was funny you had really neat homes on a block and smaller bungalow on another.

Christmas was so very magical with the homes and the "big" lights framing the homes...my dad as a joke took my Uncles lights down one night and hide them in our bath tub...creating a real fuss,,,it was fun watching these grown guys really enjoying each other,,,,something to be said of having family down the block..

I remember walking the streets of Morang past the Triumph Dealer [[does anyone remember the little dealer on the street) ... I also remember the meat market and on Yorkshire? By the Shoe repair guys place..what was the corner bar on Landsdown? would always look in the door curiously...it was next to a "party" store.

The Halloweens were legendary..wuld fill a pillowcase in two blocks and drop off the bag to get more only to find to my dad "inspecting" the bags..ummm...
oh well thanks for the ability for me to touch base with the Denby/Eastsiders...we sure learned something form all those adventures. God Bless

[grumpyoldlady]

If you mean the motorcycle shop...Atlas Cycle...that was owned by Clarence Gest, who lived on Wayburn. The bar was and maybe still is Dex Walter Bar, and it was next to the party store that, among others, was called "Little Joe's". The shoe repair was on Whitehill, behind Ross' Drug Store. Next to the drug store was Gootch's Barber Shop and Joe's Tick Tock Market.