DON'T MISS THE CHERRY FESTIVAL - JULY 5-12, 2008

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At Rest Micro Spa

Cherry Festival Events

Morsels

Oryana Natural Foods Market

Serenity Tea Bar & Cafe

Stroll Writing Contest Winner

The Wooden Gallery

CLICK HERE to see books by Sonja Richards, publisher of Stroll. The Comet Kid My Maize and Blue day (New in 2008!)

Relics All Around:
Discovering the Past in Little Things....

My eyes go where most people’s do not. I look for cinders along Railroad Street in summer, relics of the steam engines of seventy years ago. I look at fading names on building walls that declare ownership of parking places. I look at fire alarm bells on the sides of old buildings. I look down at manhole covers in winter, manhole covers like the one near Front and Cass outside of Espresso Bay Juice Island (formerly Milliken’s). The manhole cover I admire there shows a glorious symmetry of curves with embedded glass prisms toward the circumference that shine like jewels in the sun. Research indicates this lid is a coal hole cover with the glass bodies designed to admit natural light to the vault below. Why would anyone go to such trouble to construct something beautiful that fulfills such a practical function? I cannot answer, but I am glad that they did and that the City was willing to pay out a few extra dollars to get something so precious.

Names of medical doctors are stenciled on the back wall of Passageways Travel, 116 Cass Street: Dr. Thirlby, Dr. Bushong, Dr. Power--all practitioners of medicine when the Thirlby Clinic occupied this place. It closed--during the seventies I think--as medical offices migrated away from downtown to the hospital area. Many residents will remember the Clinic, an institution that extends back several decades. Indeed, my daughter’s impending birth was first announced here. And there, across the alley, I see a capped-off pipe along side the old firehouse, now Hanna. Was it connected to a faucet that the firemen used to wash off their rubber coats and gear after fighting the frequent house fires of times past? Or was it used to water the horses more than a hundred years ago? Old things lead to unending questions.

Fire alarms stand out on the front of the Whiting and that on the Union Street side of the Masonic building on the corner of Union and Front. No doubt you’ve seen them, though most likely you walked on past. Below the weathered red bell on the Masonic Building a notice says clearly: “When ringing, call the Fire Department,” advice that makes good sense, especially if rolls of smoke are coming out a window. I checked with the Fire Department and the Chief confirmed the alarms worked. “They activate when water starts flowing through the sprinkler system. The water turns a rotor which activates the bell. These old systems still work.” How charmingly elementary: A water wheel turns and causes a beater to hit the rim of the bell! Here is early twentieth century technology that performs well without computer chips, a device that does its job with simple grace. How I miss such things in this age of complexity!

Cinders found at F and M Park at Railroad and Washington Streets remind me of steam locomotives working the downtown area during most of the city’s history. Within the memory of many residents railroad tracks crossing the city have been torn up: the line that crossed Union near Sixth Street; the line that extended along West Beach, reaching towards Leelanau County; and the line that passed through F and M Park off Washington Street (where at one time an enginehouse was located). The cinders remain, though the engines with their smoke and steam have long passed into oblivion. They are miniature monuments to a bygone age.

All of these things, as well as the faded sign, Votruba’s Leather Goods Co., painted on yellow bricks manufactured here, the Indian trail-marking tree on Washington Street, the tiled front of the State Theater, the flag that waves atop the 5/3 Bank--Perry Hannah’s bank building--connect us to our past. They represent snapshots of our history. My eyes still wander as I walk the downtown streets, looking for the tiniest relic with a story to tell. Presently I am rewarded: I find a brass disk embedded in pavement outside the entrance to the Park Place on Washington Street: It declares the composition of the asphalt used at the turn of the century. Truly, it is a gift from the past to me and to us all. Let us treasure such gifts as we walk our beautiful city.

Written by Richard Fidler, first place winner of the Stroll Writing Contest. Richard is an aspiring writer from Traverse City.