My first batch of random travel photos from three years of research and reporting trips to Flint got mixed reviews. One viewer called them "odd and grotesque," while another complained that they were "ruin porn" that failed to capture some of the positive aspects of my hometown. So our team of highly paid photo archivists at Flint Expatriates went to work and came up with another batch of photos that won't ruin your weekend. (There's a bonus nostalgia shot of three Flintoids at their 8th grade graduation from St. Mary's in 1980.) It's a reminder that, despite all its problems, Flint is still a friendly, welcoming place filled with people who haven't given up.
For more Flint Expats posts and comments on Balkan Bakery go here and here.
Reilly and Emilia Holbel outside Balkan Bakery. Look closely and you can see the bakery's high-tech security system. (Just click on photo for a larger image.)Jim Holbel, a Flint Expatriate now living in Atlanta and the former member of Dissonance, recently visited the old hometown with his family and paid a visit to one of Flint's amazing survivors — Balkan Bakery on Dayton Place across from Civic Park School.
Here is Jim's report from the field:
Our kids think Flint is kinda neat, mostly because it seems like a small town to them compared to Atlanta.
We conducted an informal test to determine if the taste for chili dogs is learned or genetic. (I know... Coneys, but that’s not what they are called in ATL.) My son, Reilly, ate a chili dog at Atlanta's legendary Varsity before leaving. During the visit we took him to Angelos. (Have they poured even a penny into that place since 1980?) It was as close to a 'side-by-side' comparison test as one can get. Reilly voted the Angelos Koegel Coney superior, scientifically proving that hot dog appreciation is genetically inherited. I'm thinking I can get a grant for that one.
The visit to Balkan Bakery was just a whim during our drive through. I'm telling you that place is EXACTLY the same inside — same paneling, same display case, same news clippings taped to the wall. Barbara has been there for 38 years. She has pretty good recall of all the old business in that strip, their demise and replacement. I didn't take notes, but if ever you need a bar bet settled she could help.
We drove by all my old schools (Civic Park, Walker, Whittier, Central, Northern, GMI), which bored the kids to tears.
We stopped by Hidden Park, and it appeared to be completely overgrown. It looked abandoned. I didn't go in, mostly because there was a fair amount of people hangin’ on the street corners and I wasn't real comfy leaving my wife, Dayna, and kids in the car, nor bringing them with me, so off we went.
The kids highlight was stopping by the D&R market on Mackin and Chevrolet — the other end of 'strip mall' from the old Ruggero's — where our friends Steve and Rick have been working forever. Steve let the kids pick out any treats they wanted 'on him' and they got some candy and Faygos. I must admit they have never seen plexi-glass walls in a store before, so there were some questions in that area.
Beyond that my wife and I mostly played 'look what got torn down' as we drove around.
Oh…I think weeds are some kind of protected species in Flint. What else could explain the fervor with which they are preserved?
Emilia and Reilly meet Barbara at Balkan Bakery. The bread is fresh; the wall decorations were there in the eighties.
Emilia and Reilly hang out in front of the weed and concrete savanna that was once Comber's and, later, Double D Market. The garage in the background to the left, now being reclaimed by the urban forest, was once a staging area for pelting cars with snowballs. Delmar Street is directly behind them, and the houses in the background are on Humbolt Street.
Please excuse my temporary obsession with the Civic Park neighborhood where I grew up, but reader GH has provided an excellent rundown of the small strip of stores on Dayton Place between Delmar Street and Forest Hill Avenue, just across the street from Civic Park School and east of Comers/Double D Market. This is where my 
family bought countless loaves of Balkan bread, and I got my regular supply of Wacky Packages.
I also remember standing on the corner waiting for the bus one morning with my mom when a guy with long hair and a poncho staggered up to us and asked, "Excuse me, which way is north?" (Always best to start with the basics after a night of heavy drinking.) We both pointed toward Canada; my mom gave him two dollars; and he weaved away in the general direction of the Mackinaw Bridge.
Here is GH's recollection:
"As far as the stores go, there was a constant change of guard in that strip. However, going back to the start of my memory, on the east end, it was Comers Market (before they built the new place), then that spot turned into a storage warehouse for foam cushions and was also subdivided to create the Ski Haus to the west. The foam place died out and the Laundromat moved in. West of the Ski Haus was the barber shop, next was Rickman's drug store, still going west it was Max's Hardware sold to become Lewis Hardware, further west was Stiltz Realty, who took over after the gift shop closed, who took over from Mrs. Friend's small diner, after it closed.
"Going west from Stiltz, it was the Dry Cleaners and finally the Philips gas station on the end facing west. The bakery took over from the dry cleaners when they closed. The guy who ran the dry cleaners was a tough character. Three of my older brothers worked for him on & off.
"In thinking this over, I worked for every business listed above at one time or other with the exception of Stiltz Realty and the dry cleaners. The fellow at the gas station was very large and also created a very large ball of string. The potato chip boxes came tied with string. Over many years he patiently added this string to his ball. I believe it was at least 30" in diameter when his predecessor in the gas station finally set it to the curb. The last time I saw that ball of string, it was rolling down Delmar St in the middle of the night, headed for the small ball diamond at Haskell (pushed by me and a couple of my buddies)."
The mysterious Slick checks in with a brief personal history of Bassett Place and the Civic Park neighborhood:
"Our first home was on Bassett Place which is just around the corner from Civic Park School and closer to Haskell Community Center. It was a quiet neighborhood when we moved there in 1982. We had Double D market and Balkan Bakery. Haskell was actually still open with a nice pool. Bassett Park had tennis courts and softball fields. As time went on and the neighborhood changed in that the old folks died off and their kids began renting those homes it was no longer a safe neighborhood. When my next door neighbor resorted to crack sales as a means of making a living and with his gun play and stripping stolen vehicles in the driveway I was advised by a Flint Police officer friend of mine that it was time for me to leave. So, after 7 1/2 years I sold my house for a loss and we left with our lives. A sad but true story."
Interested in seeing what downtown Flint looks like now? There are loads of photos available at skyscraper.com, including this one of construction taking place next to Paul's Pipe Shop. Anyone remember when you could buy Detroit Tiger tickets there? Besides Balkan Bakery, it's probably the best smelling business in Flint.
