Balduck Park

[oladub]

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Attachment 5235

I posted these on the old forum but couldn't find the link so am posting them again. They were taken in 1958 when I received a Brownie box camera for Christmas.

[stasu1213]

Had Balduck Park ever hosted the Soap Box Derby?

[p69rrh51]

Geez, I had almost forgotten all about Austin. I believe Austin closed down in the very late 70's or very early 80's. I actually took an elective summer school class in accounting in Austin in the summer of '78. [[I later went on to major in accounting at University of Detroit and knew already that that was what I was going to do, so I decided to take that accounting course as an introduction just to make sure I really liked it. University Liggett, which I attended at the time, didn't offer any accounting courses).

There was at least one student in my Liggett graduating class who had transferred over from Austin.

ULS never ran any meets against Austin or GPN. There were at least four different classes of teams - arranged on the basis of school/team size I believe - A through D and ULS was in the D group and Austin / GPN obviously must have been in different ones.

Austin closed in 1978 I remember its was my Junior year at ULS and a couple students transfered to school that year.

[EMG]

Austin closed in 1978 I remember its was my Junior year at ULS and a couple students transfered to school that year.

Well hello former classmate. If '78 was your junior year and you graduated in the class of '79 then you and I graduated together! I can't tell from your signon who you are but if you look at your '79 yearbook my initials will make it clear who I am!

I specifically remember fellow male student with initials A.D. was from Austin but I don't have a clue as to who the other might have been.

[menckensghost]

Smoked a lot of mary jane in the woods on the back side of Balduck hill in the late '80's.

[Michigan]

When I looked quickly I thought you wrote "Badluck" Park.

[bee@dee]

i'm new to this site,stumbled onto it while looking for a name. the posts revealed were from discussions back to 2007. wish i could've jumped in back then. anyway, i recognized so many names from the'70's where i might've filled in some blanks for ya'll. is 'gistok' still out there? he was one of many that may know past aquaintances and friends of ours 25-30 yrs. back. thanks

[Lowell]

I was touring the eastside last Friday with long time friend Gregg Sutter, who grew up a couple of blocks away, and climbed Balduck Mountain for the first time.

[EMG]

Well I wouldn't say it's a "mountain!" especially not now - from that picture it looks like even less of a hill than I remember it being 9 years ago - but wow, thanks for posting those - especially that SECOND picture of the staircase - I had forgotten all about that!

[stonechipped]

Once upon a time Balduck had a great skating rink. And it was so easy: All the city did was open up a fire hydrant and flood a sprawling, depressed area in the ground. Why can't they do that today? [[I admit I haven't noticed lately if the hydrant is still there.)

Great idea but how do you get the kids now days off the couch, to quit playing those rotten video games

[Bullet]

Thanks for sharing those old photos, oladub. Here's the linkage you were looking for I presume:

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1170378044

[[It was a lot easer to find the thread with Google Search than the DY search for some reason)

[Gistok]

i'm new to this site,stumbled onto it while looking for a name. the posts revealed were from discussions back to 2007. wish i could've jumped in back then. anyway, i recognized so many names from the'70's where i might've filled in some blanks for ya'll. is 'gistok' still out there? he was one of many that may know past aquaintances and friends of ours 25-30 yrs. back. thanks

Hi Bee @ dee.... I'm still here... ask away!!

[EMG]

When I looked quickly I thought you wrote "Badluck" Park.

Just noticed this post now and laughed out loud. I'm just amazed that during my years of growing up around there, making that sort of transposition never occurred to me. Especially since as a kid I was exactly the type that would have deliberately done such a thing to be funny.

[Bullet]

Glad you were able to check out the Hill at Balduck Park during the tour of the east side, Lowell. As a youngster growing up two blocls away on Farmbrook, I recall once asking a neighbors dad why Chandler Park Drive took such a curvy route around the city, as opposed to the straight route of the other main roads we knew such as East Warren. He told me that Chandler Park Drive was a road meant for "touring" the city. It still is.

[Al Publican]

What is the vertical drop of Balduck Hill, about 50 feet? Around 1960 I remember Balduck being jammed with people, even on bitter cold nights.

Isn't Balduck Park named for some notable historic figure? I recall once reading about him.

[bee@dee]

Hi Bee @ dee.... I'm still here... ask away!!

hey there! i moved out of the 'balduck' area 16yrs. ago, but still have contact with a scant few from the 70's and classmates from Finney H.S. here are some last names of some still with us, and some deceased. Rife, Goodwin, Pilon, Teschendorf, Pyszinski,Veet, White,Vansteen, Vetarbo, Gotts,and a few more that have escaped me for now. it looks like the 'balduck' topic is pretty much worn thin, but like any subject, the people are the larger story. i think i was 17-18 yrs. old during the infamous parties that took place there for 2 or more summers. i lived 200yrds. away from the scene and remember the afternoon that the 'law' descended upon the mass of humanity. it was bedlam!

[EMG]

Glad you were able to check out the Hill at Balduck Park during the tour of the east side, Lowell. As a youngster growing up two blocls away on Farmbrook, I recall once asking a neighbors dad why Chandler Park Drive took such a curvy route around the city, as opposed to the straight route of the other main roads we knew such as East Warren. He told me that Chandler Park Drive was a road meant for "touring" the city. It still is.

I think you're thinking of Outer Drive, not Chandler Park Drive. As far as I remember, Chandler Park Drive itself IS a fairly straight route - it's only INTERRUPTED for a stretch by part of Outer Drive. In the fact, the only curves I remember on Chandler Park are a few S-bends within Chandler [[not Balduck) Park itself as well as the curve just before it ends at Moross in front of St. John Hospital.

OUTER Drive, on the other hand, bends all over hells-half-acre and would definitely meet the description of "touring route" even though it too, just like Chandler Park Drive - is at times interrupted by other streets or discontinues or picks up again - such as at Conner.

[Bullet]

Right you are, EMG. I stand corrected.

[lafontaine]

bee@dee

I was friends with several of the names you wrote [[Pillon, Vansteen, Vetarbo) back in the 60s when we were still in grade school.

[bee@dee]

bee@dee

I was friends with several of the names you wrote [[Pillon, Vansteen, Vetarbo) back in the 60s when we were still in grade school.

'lafontaine', as it turns out, i once lived on 'lafontaine' st.! do you remember Duane Goodwin?

[Gistok]

hey there! i moved out of the 'balduck' area 16yrs. ago, but still have contact with a scant few from the 70's and classmates from Finney H.S. here are some last names of some still with us, and some deceased. Rife, Goodwin, Pilon, Teschendorf, Pyszinski,Veet, White,Vansteen, Vetarbo, Gotts,and a few more that have escaped me for now. it looks like the 'balduck' topic is pretty much worn thin, but like any subject, the people are the larger story. i think i was 17-18 yrs. old during the infamous parties that took place there for 2 or more summers. i lived 200yrds. away from the scene and remember the afternoon that the 'law' descended upon the mass of humanity. it was bedlam!

I went to grade school [[Marquette) with Sheri Rife [[on Radnor)... Michael Pilon [[who later committed suicide in Florida) and the Gotts kids on Lodewyck [[Judy, Wayne and Keith)... sadly Wayne Gotts also committed suicide in recent years. A friend of mine [[Tony Piet) who lived at Marseillles and Berden also later committed suicide [[due to too many drunk driving arrests)... and my older brother used to hang out with Bob Bauer [[corner of University and Minerva), who also sadly committed suicide. Many years later, I worked with his aunt at Ameritech... and she said he died of auto erotica asphyxia.

[bee@dee]

Hey there, 'Gistok', i remember wayne. he was more familiar to other friends of mine.'craig', sheri rifes brother, had told me he commited suicide. i did know him well enough, back then, that i could tell he was a tortured individual. so many tragic stories. i wont try to theorize high suicide rates for a given group of people, but it does seem unusual. i also knew mike pilon and his family. his dad was a cop and i was good friends with his brother 'ernie'. i spoke with sheri rife last october. she moved to L.A. many years ago. she was my friend craig's big sister. he showed me a recent snapshot of her and she is every bit as lovely as she was in high school. i'll even confess to a'school boy crush'. as a matter of fact, craig related a story about michael pilon. he came to his house one rainy evening to 'call' on his sister sheri. he was smitten. she refused to answer the door, uninterested in him, and he just stood on the porch, in the rain for hours, hoping she would see him. she never came to the door. sad story. if you knew mike, he was a sensitive, thoughtful kinda guy. to be honest, until i heard that story, id've never believed he had any interest in girls. pre-conceived notion. i did feel foolish. all i can say now, is God rest their souls. everyone of 'em.

[lafontaine]

bee@dee

Yes, I knew Duane Goodwin. He was in my class at Marquette. I went to Marquette in 6th-7th grades in the late 60s. Did you go there? Ernie Pillon was a friend of mine, too [[we were born on the same day). I knew his brother as well. Also knew Wayne Gotts. He was a friend of my neighbor, David Monterosa. I lived at the Canyon end of Lafontaine. Balduck was directly across the street from my house. We moved to Algonac in 1969 as my mom was getting frightened living there. The park was full of hippies in the summer and there seemed to be incidents every night.

gistok, when did you attend Marquette?

[bee@dee]

hey lafontaine, forgive me if my reply doesn't find the right location. too many options for 'reply'. i've lived many places and attended 9 different schools, finney h.s. being the last. my family moved to lafontaine st. in 1971. i lived on the corner of frankfort st. across from Duane. sorry to tell you that he has died. it was an extended battle with colon cancer, 3yrs. ago. he was a great guy. family man with 2 kids. i moved from the area some time ago and lost touch with most everyone i knew back then. i did see 'ernie' at the funeral. he's alive and well. i'd imagine the 'throngs' of people that descended on the park would cause our adult parents to be fearful, but for me it was exciting. i think i was 16yrs. old. the cars that arrived, packed with hippies, would take every available parking place for dozens of city blocks. the afternoon the cops arrived to bust the party, once and for all, everybody scattered like cockroaches! one group all packed into a 'mustang', slammed both doors simultaneously, blasting out the door glass on both sides! the occupants of the vehicle barely noticed and 'burned rubber' out of there, as did most everyone else that wasn't arrested. word must've got out to all that this was no longer the 'cool' place to be because no one ever came again from that day on. at least not in numbers. thanks for lettin' me bend your ear. peace, bee

[Gistok]

Lafontaine, I left Marquette to go to Finney Jr./Sr. High in 1966.

Many of the Marquette teachers were quite the characters.... still keep my fingernails trimmed nicely thanks to music teacher Mrs. Pagota [[LOL). I loved librarian Mrs. Gardner... and Mrs. Markey was a friend of my mother. Sadly Mrs. Markey she died circa 1995 at the age of 89... I attended her funeral... but I guess most of the teachers from back then are long gone.

Sadly Mrs. Canton, the Kindergarten teacher [[I never had her)... was retired and on vacation in upstate New York in the 1990s, when both she and her husband were pedestrians killed in an auto related accident.