Flint Expatriates

Standdup, I looked up "Midnight In Bethlehem", and...

2010-03-19T16:01:27.851-07:00

Standdup, I looked up "Midnight In Bethlehem", and there is a score by a Warren Barker by that name, but I'm not sure that is the same song. Youtube and mp3s available are like a series of different songs, leaving me more confused. Warren Barker seems a familiar name, but unless I actually heard or saw the lyrics, I'm still not sure either.

I would think Les Root or Dave Barber or even some competitors from that time might know the answer.

There are also some ironic connections and degrees of separation in the comments on this topic that I don't even get into here because I don't want to reveal too much personal information. But this is, as BJ said, one of the most popular threads on this blog. Milbourne Memories is another. Mr. Yoong should bring back some other "Classic Flint Expatriates Threads".

Flint IS in large part these memories and people, not the depressing parts of the city that remains.

Hey BJ, My Dad used to buy his car parts from Mr....

2010-03-19T14:57:16.062-07:00

Hey BJ,

My Dad used to buy his car parts from Mr. Adler at his store on N. Saginaw Rd. I remember it well. It was real close to Roma's Pizzeria. I think it was on the northwest corner of Saginaw and Cornell Ave. The last time I was there was around 1978 and they had new parts on the wall for some really old cars from the 30's, 40's, 50's. It was pretty cool to see them and the man at the counter was very nice to talk with. He was probably in his mid 70's at that time. I always assumed he was Mr. Adler but don't know for sure.

Anonymous,
I think you found the song for me. When I read the lyrics I instantly could hear the melody. That is so cool! A quick search of the web has found nothing, so it's pretty obscure, but I'll keep looking. Thanks for the tip.

Dave

We always had an all summer supply of baseballs wh...

2010-03-19T13:59:42.702-07:00

We always had an all summer supply of baseballs when the Flint Arrows were active in the fifties. Shagging foul balls on Prospect was a fun past time. unclebuck

I find it very disturbing, sgc. One has to wonder...

2010-03-19T12:10:40.634-07:00

I find it very disturbing, sgc. One has to wonder if this is Schaudenfreude, given the views on OPEC, terrorism, etc. One major thing that did in General Motors as we know it, and as the stockholders knew it, was the run up of oil prices, particularly in 2008. One has to wonder if there are people rejoicing in Flint's misery, like the people seen cheering the September 11, 2001 attacks.

If the younger Flint expats can handle a trip waaa...

2010-03-19T10:04:56.310-07:00

If the younger Flint expats can handle a trip waaay back to the 50s...I played 78 rpm records by J. Stratton Shufelt and Les Barnett at WMRP, the Methodist Radio Parish. The station was first in a basement on Mary Street, then built a studio addition onto the transmitter building on Lapeer Road just off of Dort Highway. Ownership, call letters and formats have changed many times and FM was added sometime after I left in '55. I don't know what station operates from that building now. I wonder if anybody knows what happened to the WMRP Steinway Grand piano and Hammond Organ that were in that building.

Clif Martin

I lived on Prospect St, more or less behind home p...

2010-03-19T09:08:39.978-07:00

I lived on Prospect St, more or less behind home plate. I shagged a few foul balls that made it over the wall. The dead end street had lots of kids and Techer Peckers waiting for a pop foul to make it over the wall and into our hands. This photo is from the Prospect St. side of the diamond. Great place to spend the summer.

Doesn't anyone find it odd/disconcerting/disorient...

2010-03-18T19:11:46.189-07:00

Doesn't anyone find it odd/disconcerting/disorienting that this report was not produced by CNN/FOX/ABC/NBC/CBS but by Al Jazerra? While all of these networks are covering the same thing and highlighting the arguing Washington talking heads, the official voice of the Arab World is covering the state of America's disenfranchised in the Heartland.

I think this is a sad day for American Journalism.

Anonymous said... Check out this link and you...

2010-03-18T06:55:27.652-07:00

Anonymous said...

Check out this link and you will see a old photo of a Lansing MI Kewpee's and the current one in Racine WI.

http://www.kewpee.com/history.php

There used to be 2 Lansing MI Kewpee's...I wonder which one this portrays? Anyone know out there??

That was the East Lansing Kewpees from back in the 1940's. There is a Barnes & Noble there now. The downtown Lansing Kewpees is still open though in a different location. They have a website www.kewpees.com and a facebook fan page.

I remember the College Inn as a "strip bar". It ha...

2010-03-18T06:43:06.958-07:00

I remember the College Inn as a "strip bar". It had a sign with a silhouette of a busty lady. Quite exciting!
Right after the war my father used to eat lunch there and one of the habitues was Billy Durant

My apologies for the comment about the Sears kit h...

2010-03-17T16:32:25.709-07:00

My apologies for the comment about the Sears kit homes. I just looked at some websites that showed pictures of the Sears homes and many looked much better. There's even some really nice looking ones that look like some older homes in the better areas of Flint.

For the record, the new houses in the video were i...

2010-03-17T11:43:27.984-07:00

For the record, the new houses in the video were in the pipeline and actually completed before Walling became mayor. No comment on the aesthetics, but those weren't his deal. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Federal money helped finance a large portion.

Also, keep in mind Walling has to run again in two years, and the way this urban planning approach was rolled out was pretty bad. Mike Brown, for all the good things he did, implied whole neighborhoods or "quadrants" of the city would disappear. That got people scared.

Walling's statements seem ridiculous to me. Of course you have to shrink the city. But I wonder if Walling isn't simply using rhetoric that will keep voters happy, while moving forward with Dan Kildee's agenda. Walling's got a master's in urban planning from the University of London. He has to know the city isn't going to "regrow" certain neighborhoods.

Maybe he'll turn out to be just another in a long line of bad Flint mayors. But in the short term if he keeps tearing down houses I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Trees don't pay taxes, but they don't need service...

2010-03-17T06:45:16.618-07:00

Trees don't pay taxes, but they don't need services either. Flint needs to adjust to it's 'new size' and it will be fascinating to see how well that is managed. Many cities would love to have expanded greenspace and more room for community gardens. I'm sure some green building experts might like a shot at maximizing the reclaimed materials from the houses that were being knocked down with backhoes. Even the scraps could be used by retired folks to teach a few folks how to frame a chicken coop or weld. UM has a school of architecture AND urban planning, GMI has droves of engineers.

So time to jettison the old model (growth is the answer), and the old strategy (build it and they will come - hello Autoworld!). Time to play to the strentghs and opportunities that actually exist.

It was a big joke among my high school friends tha...

2010-03-16T17:12:14.930-07:00

It was a big joke among my high school friends that every time I had more than four beers I would endeavor to call J.D. Salinger. There were telephone operators on the East Coast that actually would recall me when I would speak with them. I was obsessed, but, obsessed in the "good way" (unlike Mark Chapman). Okay....so maybe there's no good way to be obsessed with a celebrity. Anyway, if he was still alive my advice would be this: don't try to ring him up.....it doesn't work!

LMFAO 2 FUNNY DUDE! R U STILL A GUARD?

2010-03-16T16:58:55.977-07:00

LMFAO 2 FUNNY DUDE! R U STILL A GUARD?

Bulldoze them all and start over from scratch. A b...

2010-03-16T16:48:54.796-07:00

Bulldoze them all and start over from scratch. A blank canvas would more appealing then those ghastly homes Walling is proposing.

They certainly don't look "designed" either.

2010-03-16T16:45:19.982-07:00

They certainly don't look "designed" either.

Adler Auto parts was on N saginaw and you probably...

2010-03-16T15:28:58.910-07:00

Adler Auto parts was on N saginaw and you probably are describing Louis Adler.His brother owned Northside auto parts also on N. Sag.Two very fine and devout men.Benny would instantly tell you how much change you had coming much like todays cash registers do.I think louis store was almost to Mt. Morris Bennys was inside flint near carpenter Rd.

Macy!!!! Congrats, girl!!! Jus' don't be usin' t...

2010-03-16T09:57:29.550-07:00

Macy!!!! Congrats, girl!!! Jus' don't be usin' that lighter on anything illicit.

I agree they are ghastly, but not because of their...

2010-03-15T19:35:53.572-07:00

I agree they are ghastly, but not because of their size. Houses should be built of materials that don't require a lot of maintenance, or they will end up looking bad in just a few years. Also, these designs look like something out of a Sears Roebuck kit from the early 1900s. They don't look modern.

omg... who designed those "new homes" that Walling...

2010-03-15T19:02:37.314-07:00

omg... who designed those "new homes" that Walling wants to put up? They are ghastly... and will be part of the problem in 5 years.

Flint needs to consider "The Not so Big House" as a model when designing homes.

Trees may not pay taxes... but supersized homes are really not the answer.

Kudos to Harry Ryan for being a part of the soluti...

2010-03-15T18:17:37.343-07:00

Kudos to Harry Ryan for being a part of the solution! Does anyone know where in Flint this was shot?

RoadsideDinerLover

I bring you victory for Apella!

2010-03-15T13:53:47.147-07:00

I bring you victory for Apella!

In the mid 70s, when we were sixteen, two friends ...

2010-03-14T22:43:32.675-07:00

In the mid 70s, when we were sixteen, two friends and I pooled our paper route coinage to buy a 1948 DeSoto as our shared first car. We had a great time with the beast, but of course it needed constant tinkering to keep it reasonably road worthy. Finding parts was an adventure in and of itself, which led us to discover a small, time worn, auto parts store on North Saginaw street, having shelves filled exclusively with obsolete, and very dusty, old stock. (It was the kind of place where it was so quiet you could hear the clock ticking on the wall).

If my memory serves me, it was called Adler Auto Parts. The sole attendant at the counter was a grandfatherly man that had to be in his 70s. We assumed he was Mr. Adler. He patiently advised us on selecting the proper parts to service our old bomb, even though I think he was initially a bit wary/incredulous/annoyed/impressed that three long haired teenagers would walk into his store, interested in purchasing a part of his precious inventory.

This may not be the same Adler Auto Parts to which you are referring, but I will always remember the name and look upon the experience as sort of a generational passing of the torch, which encouraged me to pursue the collector car hobby that I still am involved with to this day. Thanks Mr. Adler, wherever you are.

Willis and Wilton, two good solid citizens, typica...

2010-03-14T20:36:00.900-07:00

Willis and Wilton, two good solid citizens, typical of the Flint we all knew back then, Unclebuck.

Anonymous, Good research. Stanton was a political ...

2010-03-14T19:51:14.128-07:00

Anonymous, Good research. Stanton was a political animal and I think he was defeated in that primary as a republican candidate. I was pretty young then and a couple of years later was in the service, my three brothers just proceeding me. I do remember that Wilton Slocum fell ill shortly after I arrived at Whittier.Howard Auer was principal then. Maybe Slocum was in Flint Community Players. Unclebuck