Flint Photos: VW Experimentation at Flint Central High School in 1960

Flint Artifacts: 1953-54 Central HIgh School I.D.

Sentimental Journey

The stage of the Capitol Theater in better days.

A reflection on Flint from Pat McFarlane Young, born at Hurley Hospital on November 2, 1930. It was originally posted on November 7, 2007, and it's one of my favorites on Flint Expatriates.

A stranger traveling through Flint today would, in all probability, view it as a rather dreary, gray, nondescript city filled with abandoned factories, boarded up buildings, and streets in need of repair. It certainly doesn’t have the charm of San Francisco or the excitement of New York, but I still see Flint through the eyes of my youth.

I often have an acute attack of melancholy thinking of my school days at Central High. My thoughts drift to 1945 and the school grounds teeming with students on their lunch hour, sitting on the lawn or hanging around Lloyd’s Drug Store, hiding their cigarettes in cupped hands. If I hurried I could run downtown for a coke at Pinecrest, a tiny lunch counter in the Capitol Theater Building. It was a hangout for the so called “400,” a faction everyone wanted desperately to belong to. I felt that my presence there would somehow make me belong as if by osmosis — a theory soon disproved by the chosen few.

After school I studied in the old Public Library, standing like a fortress at Kearsley and Clifford Streets. It was full of enchanting nooks and crannies with mysterious, narrow stairways where I sat and hid for hours in the world of books. I’m sure the new library offers many more advantages, but never again will I be able to escape in such a belletristic atmosphere.

I grew up on the Eastside and recall the unexplained pride I felt when the 3:30 Buick factory whistle blew and the roughly dressed workers poured out of the General Motors labyrinth swinging their lunch pails. Some were headed for home and some for the corner bar, but all with the determined step of an army after a battle won. I somehow felt as if I were a part of this giant assembly line and the city it fed.

Saturday night was an exciting climax to the week. I sometimes spent the evening surrounded by rainbows of shimmering colored light bouncing off the ceiling and walls like ping pong balls as couples swayed gently to the music. A psychedelic happening? No, only Saturday night at the IMA during the big band era. The World War II melodies of “Moonlight Cocktail” and “Sentimental Journey” were perfect accompaniments for the mood of the times.

Nostalgia, I’m sure, is the opiate of old age. Memories over ten years old automatically become the “good ol’ days." We remember only the happy things and leave the shaded areas behind. And yet, faintly sifting through the sands of time, I seem to recall saying, "The day I’m eighteen, I’m leaving this town."

The Infamous Pig Incident

Flint Expatriate Michael D. Perry remembers a time when a pig added a little excitement to the 1962 Northern-Central Thanksgiving Day game at Atwood Stadium:

Here’s what I’ve been able to piece together, both from my memories of it, as well as from various email exchanges and conversations I’ve had people who were there. The idea was to release a greased pig onto the field during the Central band’s halftime performance. Of course there could be no expectation that the pig would go anywhere near the band, but the caper succeeded beyond the perpetrators’ wildest imagination.

During the week before the game, the main perps, seniors Ray Giguere, Larry Moyle and Frank Morse took up a collection among a number of Northern students for the caper. The morning of the game the perps went out into the country northeast of Flint to buy a young pig from a farmer for $27.

They brought the pig to Ray Giguere’s garage and began to prepare the pig for its performance with a festoon of red and black ribbons around the pig’s neck, which happened to be Central’s colors. While the perps were quietly at work in the garage, Ray’s dad became suspicious and came out to investigate and he startled the boys by bursting in the garage. After the boys explained what they were up to, Ray’s dad made some very helpful suggestions and actually fashioned a sort of harness to ensure that the ribbons and bows showed up to their best advantage.

Click to Enlarge

Just before game time Larry Moyle, a member of the band, persuaded Phil Fox to smuggle the pig into the stadium in his sousaphone case, where the pig peacefully spent the first half of the game.

Then at halftime Larry released the pig. The pig, anxious to escape its confines, at first ran down the sideline, but soon found its way onto the field. Hard as it is to believe from the perspective of 2009, the Central band was formed up in the shape of a cross, and was playing “Faith of Our Fathers.” The pig proceeded to run to and fro throughout the band formation, and the people in the stands, rather than listening reverently, were in an uproar and began chanting “Go pig go!”

Al Walters, Northern’s band director, reports that he didn’t quite comprehend what was going on at the time. “I was wondering why the Central cheerleaders would pick that moment to release a pig.” “After all,” he said somewhat defensively, “it did have Central’s colors draped around its neck, and I couldn’t figure out why they would want to disturb the solemnity of their band’s presentation.” In the aftermath the next week, however, Guy Houston, Northern’s Principal, called Mr. Walters on the carpet and only then did he begin to realize that members of his own band might have been involved.

At band practice that day, Mr. Walters simply announced that there were rumors that some of the band members might have participated in the prank, and if so, the decent thing to do would be to write a letter of apology. Later that week a letter was delivered to Bruce Robart, Central’s band director. Mr. Robart, by the way, was not known for his sense of humor. In fact, a Central band member reports that the letter made no difference, and that Mr. Robart was in a foul mood for quite awhile thereafter.

Alas, nobody seems to remember what happened to the pig. It was last seen on the field being pursued by field security personnel, who finally chased it out of one of the back doors of the stadium that faced the river. Ray somehow reclaimed the pig and later that day returned it to the farmer, but let him keep the $27 for his trouble. Perhaps that pig eventually graced some family’s dinner table. If so, little did that family know what a notorious animal they were about to feast on that day.

Flint Artifacts: Central High School Belt Buckle

Happy Thanksgiving from Flint Expatriates

Flint Central Meets an Uncertain Future

Some very mixed messages are emerging about the fate of Central High School. It seems clear it will close in June. But now school officials are hinting that they'd like to reopen the school at some point...provided that money magically materializes to renovate it. Or perhaps they'd tear it down and rebuild a new school...once they find the money. That's a bit like me saying I plan to turn Flint into hugely successful artists colony, once I get funding to make my dream a reality. Meanwhile, a group seems to be organizing to get Central on the National Register of Historic Places. No mention whatsoever about selling the building to Powers.

What are the odds that Central will sit vacant for years to come, a lost opportunity in the heart of the cultural district?

Disappearing Schools Map

Here's a map with all the schools slated to be closed by the Flint Board of Education.


View Flint School Closings in a larger map

Flint School Closings: Central High and Civic Park Elementary on List of Eight

The verdict is in on school closings in Flint. The Flint Board of Education approved its 2009-10 budget today, and it appears six schools will get the ax at the end of this year:

Central High School
Anderson Elementary
Civic Park Elementary
Garfield Elementary
Merrill Elementary
Stewart Elementary

Coolidge and Wilkins elementaries will close at the end of next year.

Central High on Center Road?

Gary Flinn provides a brief and often surprising history of Central High School in The Flint Journal:

There was talk in the 1960s of building a new Central High School at the corner of Center Road and Lippincott Boulevard where Walli Strasse Drive now runs through. But in the 1970s, the Board of Education decided to keep the existing Central High because it was structurally sound and at a better location.

High School Angst

It's hard to tell if Powers and the Flint Board of Education are just being cagey negotiators as they try to work out a deal on the fate of Powers Catholic, Central and Southwestern High Schools...or if nobody is really sure what they're doing.

As Kristen Longley of The Flint Journal shows in her most recent coverage, all parties are suddenly being very vague: Powers isn't sure it wants Central, and Flint Superintendent Linda Thompson isn't sure Central's even closing...and if it is, she's not certain Flint wants to part with the building.

There's no offer on the table, but Powers would consider a move to Central if Flint's Board of Education follows through on recommendations to close it, an attorney said Wednesday.

"Central may not be right for us, but at least we should be talking about it," said attorney Michael Manley, who represents Powers. "We would have to inspect the building and see if it's doable for us before we ever made a formal offer."

The Flint School District last week declined Powers' $5-million offer for Flint's Southwestern Academy. Powers for years has been trying to move further south so it can compete with districts such as Grand Blanc and Fenton.

"We hear our parents and our future parents loud and clear," Manley said. "They have told us we need to come closer to where they live."

Flint Superintendent Linda Thompson said the matter would have to be discussed with the Board of Education. There are no plans for the Central site at this time if it does close.

"There's a lot of history at Flint Central for the Flint Community Schools," she said. "The fact that we can't run it right now doesn't mean we've given up on that site."

What are the odds that Powers ends up closing or leaving Flint, and the city is left with a vacant, boarded up high school?

High School Roulette

But wait...Powers Catholic isn't giving up on getting its hands on a Flint public high school. Southwestern wasn't for sale, but Powers says Central High will do just fine.

Central's Call to Action

Abnstranger says:

Flint Central has been the victim of deferred maintenance for quite some time. Whether this is a symptom of construction dollars gleaming in the eyes of those who build the modern, soulless, unimaginative, flat-roofed, neo-con boxes or simply another circular firing squad maneuver by Flint's finest is not apparent. However, the direction of Flint should be toward historic restoration (Cmon fools, if tiny Dollar Bay, MI can do that for their high school, so can you!). Flint can be something other than an industrial wasteland and declining monument to dips that 'put all their (automotive) eggs in one basket and left the area. It's up to all of us who benefited from the schools, the largess of the Mott Foundation, excellent programs, parks, and more to stand up and kick some bore-o-cratic butt. Class of '66, and here to say, Everyone deserves quality education, arts, music and a beautiful campus. Everyone. Alumni, get your efforts up and going, because we owe it to do so! If nothing else, think of it as cheap insurance. We all live downstream from Flint's problems. Please, stop whining and sniffling about 'those good old days' and let's build some fine new ones.

High Schools and Murder: Location, Location, Location

I've added icons for the various Flint high schools — Central, Northern, Powers and Southwestern Academy — to the 2008 Flint Murder Map. It provides a nice visual representation of why Powers is willing to part with $5 million to relocate to Southwestern.

Please note that Northwestern and Powers are so close to each other that I couldn't figure out how to get an icon on the map for both of them. Nothing personal.

Mayor Gets Vague about Flint High Schools

Wurstside Warlord just alerted me to a post on K-12 Corner, Flint Journal education reporter Kristen Longley's new blog, that has some interesting info if you're trying to read the tea leaves and figure out the fate of Central, Southewestern and Powers High Schools. A few highlights:

1. Temporary Mayor Mike Brown says he wants Powers to stay in Flint. (Even though, as Wurstside points out, it's not actually in the city limits now. I say if the location is accessible by the Dupont Street bus, it's within the spirit of the Flint city limits. But technically it's in Mt. Morris Township, even though it has a Flint mailing address. Whew!)

2. Even though Brown wants Powers to stay, he's not sure Southwestern is the right spot for it.

3. Brown says he won't try to influence schools Superindentant Linda Thompson, even though he meets with her weekly.

4. Brown attended St. Michael's, but all five of his kids went to Central.

5. None of Brown's kids went to Southwestern.

High School Confidential

Powers Catholic's public offer to buy Southwestern Academy has added some new heat to an already emotional subject — closing Flint schools as the city's population and resources decline. It appeared from committee reports that Flint Central was being set up as the most likely candidate to shut down.

As Flint Journal reporter Kristen Longley recently reported, "an advisory committee has labeled Central as 'an example of possibly the worst facility' in the district. The high school, once home to as many as 2,000 students, now houses fewer than half that and is one of the most expensive schools to operate." Worse, a facilities committee report included in an evaluation by the engineering firm THA Architects Engineers of Flint called the landmark "a poor performer with many deficiencies including wood construction, narrow classrooms and poor building layout. Not great facility for investing future school funds."

But closing Central would not be easy. The majestic brick school on Crapo Street has a long history and is located in the heart of the cultural district. It has a lot more alumni who might fight to keep it open than Southwestern. Perhaps the Powers offer makes the decision on which high school to close a little easier for the school district. After all, school officials can argue that the city will actually make money by closing Southwestern and avoid the hassles that would come with shuttering a local icon like Central.

I'm left wondering if Powers didn't approach the district and get some positive feedback on the offer before going public with their desire to buy Southwestern. It would seem odd to just float this idea in the press without having some inkling of where the district stood on the proposal. Going even further, who's to say the district didn't approach Powers about the sale? Just thinking out loud.

Regardless of how it went down, the district's next move should be known in a month or two: "Superintendent Linda Thompson, who has called closing a high school 'really possible,' said in an e-mail that there will be no talk of school consolidations before her administration presents its budget proposal to the board," Longley wrote. "That proposal is still being put together and is expected in April or May."

UPDATE: The Flint Journal is now reporting that Powers is offering $5 million for Southwestern.

Flint Artifacts: Flint Central vs. Battle Creek 1950 Football Program

The Thanksgiving Mud Bowl

Tom Foote, the official Flint Northern Viking, at halftime of the 1967 Thanksgiving Day game.

To help us celebrate Thanksgiving, Randy Gearhart passed along some great shots of the 1967 Thanksgiving Day game at Atwood Stadium between the Northern Vikings and the Central Indians. For obvious reasons, it came to be known as The Mud Bowl.

The endzone at Atwood.

Two minutes after a completing a fourth-quarter, 43-yard pass play that put the Vikings in scoring position, All-State co-captain William Wallace heads toward the end-zone to seal the 6-2 victory.

Before he was “The Church Guy,” Randy was Drum Major for the 1967-68 Flint Northern Viking Marching band. "You should have seen my white uniform after the Thanksgiving Day game!" he says. "Not a pretty sight."

For more memories of Flint Northern in 1968, head to www.68vikings.com.

Turkey Day Gridiron Memories

Northern's Art Johnson hauls in a 50-yard game-winning touchdown pass on fourth-and-19 in the 1953 Turkey Day showdown with Central

Now that we're into November, you may find yourself missing the old Northern Vs. Central Thanksgiving Day football games. Thanks to former Flint Journal reporter and editor Larry Gustin you can relive some of the action from Atwood on DVD and help restore the old stadium at the same time.

Larry explained the genesis of the project in a post on mlive last year:

"When I learned there was a group trying to restore Atwood Stadium, I thought it would be cool to offer up a few of the great Northern-Central high school Thanksgiving games on DVD as part of the momentum, maybe for fund raising. After all, those classic football games made Atwood the city's center of attention along with IMA Auditorium.

"I remembered some of the old Northern-Central films were gathering dust atop a file cabinet in The Journal sports department when I worked there 1960-63 (I was then in the news room until 1984). When I asked about the films in conversation with Len Hoyes and Dean Howe, they hadn't seen them in years. Turns out, they were in the bottom of a file drawer. So when I mentioned those old films to Journal sports writer Dan Nilsen at the Buick Open last summer, he said he knew where they were and brought them out to me at Warwick Hills."

Ken, a regular reader, has made an order and, although the footage isn't state-of-the-art, he thought it was well worth the cost. Besides, it will probably be more fun than watching the Lions.

Here's all the ordering information:

Games available: 1938, 1942, 1951, 1952, 1953 (the color 1953 film has edited highlights and added sound), 1955, 1956, 1957 (first half only), 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964 (second half only), 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 (second half only), 1973 (first half only), 1974, 1975, 1976.* No others available at this time (summer 2008).

Each film is available on DVD for $25 plus shipping and handling.
Half of price goes to Atwood Stadium Authority for stadium restoration fund.

Order by phone or mail:

VIDCAM Productions
7550 S. Saginaw St., Suite 1
Grand Blanc, Mich. 48439
Phone (810) 694-0996
Contact: Craig Smith (craig@vidcamproductions.com)

Please note films were transferred to DVD as found. Some are in black & white, some in color, quality varies, perhaps not every play is recorded. In some cases, as noted, only half of the game is available. VIDCAM was chosen by the Authority to handle orders.

We want more game films! Did anyone you know shoot amateur film of Thanksgiving games not listed above? Do you have or know of an official game film? We have a few segments of other games, and want any you may have of Northern-Central games played on Thanksgiving (1928-1976). We particularly want 1947, 1949, 1950, even if it’s only a few feet.

The Golden Leaf

I was at a wedding party for my friends Keith and Kim at the Potrero Neighborhood Center, known as The NABE, last weekend in San Francisco. I spotted a guy in a Red Wings jacket who turned out to be Albert Johnson, a NABE employee who was born at Hurley Hospital and went to Clark Elementary (left) in Flint. His parents, Jerry and Jimmie, still live on Providence Street.

We ended up talking about The Golden Leaf, one of Michigan's legendary black clubs. It’s still in business at 1522 Harrison Street, just across the school yard from Clark Elementary. It’s a membership-only club, just as it was when it opened in 1921.

“My dad liked to play cards there,” Albert remembered, before our conversation turned to how glad we both were that Matt Millen is finally out as the Lions GM.

The Golden Leaf is a well-known Flint landmark in my family. One of my mom’s best friends from the old days in Flint is Adrienne (Wilson) Oliver, who is the mother of Notre Dame assistant coach Jappy Oliver (left). Although it wasn’t unheard of for a black girl and white girl to be such close friends at that time in Flint, it was rare. And it was even rarer for a white girl to visit The Golden Leaf. But Ardrienne took my mom, Pat (McFarlane) Young, on several occasions.

“We never looked at Pat as being white or black. Pat was just Pat,” Adrienne told me during a recent conversation. “She was with me and she was my friend, so nobody thought anything of her going to the Golden Leaf.”

Except, perhaps, the girls' parents. Sometimes a little subterfuge was needed.

“We did some of the craziest things,” Adrienne remembers. “Pat would say she was spending the night at my house, then we’d tell my parents we were both going to spend that night at another girl's house, then we’d sneak out.”

Adrienne and my mom both remember Central High, where they graduated in 1948, as having good racial relations. Blacks and whites interacted and formed friendships.

“I remember there being more economic prejudice than racial prejudice at Central,” my mom says. “Students seem to divide over their neighborhoods and how much money their parents had.”

Ardienne adds: “At Central, everybody was wonderful, but there was a lot of prejudice hidden in Flint. Nobody came right out and said it, but it was there.”

And there was prejudice built in to the structure of Flint life. When performers like Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole or Lionel Hampton came to the I.M.A., whites went to a separate early performance, while blacks were only allowed at a second midnight to 4 a.m. show.

“That was terrible,” Adrienne says. “It’s sick to even think about, especially when most of the performers were black.”

The Golden Leaf was a popular destination before the midnight dances at the I.M.A. “You know, it’s just a hole in the wall, but we thought it was the greatest joint in the world,” Adrienne remembers.

Today, the look of the Golden Leaf is relatively unchanged. It’s owned and managed by Lottie Reid, who told me on the phone that it’s still the same long, narrow brick building with a dirt basement, a bar, and several tables, much like it was when Adrienne and my mom went there, not to mention more famous visitors like Sammy Davis, Jr., Dinah Washington, and Malcolm X. The age of the members ranges from 21 to around 80.

But the neighborhood has changed, starting with the massive I-69 — I-475 interchange that obliterated much of the community that once surrounded The Golden Leaf . And like many Flint schools, Clark Elementary is boarded up.

“There’s really nothing around us now,” Lottie Reid said. “There’s nothing but us on this block.”