The Roving PollocksWe got busy with auto and motor home maintenance including the new refrigerator. We also entertained and were entertained by our neighbors and erstwhile house watchers, Scott and Missy White and had dinner with neighbors and former RVers Don and Bonnie Day. By the end of June it was time to start our summer travels.
We departed for Michigan by heading south to Richmond for a visit with Ann and Dwayne. We then headed west toward Louisville, KY to visit Bill’s Notre Dame Classmate, Jim Thornton and his wife, Dee. We made our first visit to Churchill Downs where Jim has a box and did the obligatory tour of the Louisville Slugger bat factory. Another ND classmate and member of the 1966 Fighting Irish National Championship Football Team, Tom Rhoads and his wife Kathy came down from the Cincinnati area for a day. The Rhoads family is developing the ultimate in Pet Resorts and Spas in Raleigh, North Carolina, Suite Paws, which will open in September. We wish them well in their new endeavor. Jim and Dee were wonderful hosts who really introduced us to the Louisville area. We hope to return the favor some day so we can show them the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the wonders of the world inside the capital beltway.
At the Races
Our next stop was Bloomington, Indiana where we caught up with Gisela’s cousin Glorianne Leck, her partner, Susan Savastek, her other cousin Henry Leck, his wife Merry, daughter Anya and grandson Rhonan. We really like the Bloomington area. This time we enjoyed a tour of the University of Indiana campus which is one of the prettiest campuses in the country…it even rivals that other Indiana University to the north. Bloomington and the University are really interwoven resulting in interesting shops and a great variety of restaurants. We enjoyed Ethiopian and Thai this time. We also made a trip to Henry and Merry’s cottage on a lake near Nashville, IN. They have recently doubled the size of the cottage. What a nice place! They had just returned from South Africa where Henry had taken the Indianapolis Children’s Choir of which he is the director.
We were only a few hundred miles from Rockford, Michigan where we were headed for Bill’s 45th high school reunion. However, it was only July 9 and we had three weeks to get there. Sooo, we headed west and north to northern Wisconsin. We stopped by Gisela’s home town of Merrill, Wisconsin. Actually Gisela’s home town is Grebenstien, Germany but that’s difficult to get to by RV. We stopped by the cemetery to pay our respects to deceased family members and continued “up north.”
We headed for Mike and Beth Myers’ cottage on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage. It looks like a lake to us but what do we know? Geoff and Nancy Justiss, who we had not seen in over two years, also converged on the Flowage after spending a month or so dodging flooding and tornados in Iowa. We had a fun filled days of good food, fun games…pegs and jokers; thanks, Ron…good wine, boat rides and, of course, the obligatory Friday night Wisconsin fish fry at Shane and Molly’s Midway Tavern. Wisconsin taverns tend to be named for their owners, e.g., Stosh and Debbi’s in Stevens Point, and Dar and Slim’s Pair-o-Dice in Butternut. They all have “Old Style” beer signs out front but only have Bud and Miller Light on tap. Go figure. Fish fry was allegedly started by German Catholics who immigrated to Wisconsin but it has become a religion unto itself. Damn the carbs, full speed ahead!
Mike and Beth were great hosts....we'll be back again....if they will have us.
Cheers!
We then proceeded into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in caravan with Geoff and Nancy plus Chaco (15 year old dog) and Franklin (15 year old cat). Mike and Beth headed into the Minnesota Boundary Water Canoe area for a two week tent camping canoe trip. Living in a log cabin on the Flowage is clearly not rugged enough for them.
We first camped at the city park in Houghton, MI which is right on the Portage River separating Houghton from Hancock which are both in the heart of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The Keweenaw Peninsula was the site of America’s first “Rush” after the discovery of large deposits of Copper. There is a great deal of mining history not the least of which revolves around the ‘pasty,’ say past tee. The pasty is an invention of the Cornish miners originally from Cornwall, England. It is meat, potatoes and rutabagas in a pastry shell that make the perfect lunch when you are a thousand feet down in a copper mine. According to Bill, the best pasties in the Keweenaw Peninsula are found at Toni’s in Laurium, MI. Of course, we had to try them. When we arrived in Laurium, Bill reminded us that it was the home of the real Gipper, George Gipp, Notre Dame’s first All American. So we visited his memorial, his house, his grave, etc. Of course, Gisela had been through this all before. It was almost worth it as the pasties were wonderful.
At the Gipp Memorial
We also toured Fort Wilkins in Copper Harbor, took the scenic Brockway Mountain Drive to Eagle Harbor, and were amazed by the incredible mineral collection at the Seaman Mineral Museum. Geoff and Bill toured the Quincy Mine including a horizontal decent down to level seven. If that sounds confusing it is but it was cold, dark and damp. The high point of our visit to Houghton was the Finnish breakfast at the Soumi Restaurant.
After Houghton we moved the Marquette area where we camped for free at the Ojibwa Casino for three nights. Bill went into the casino to make a contribution through the slot machines and inadvertently won $14. Oh well, we tried. At Marquette we met up with Bill’s sister-in-law, Pat (Bill’s brother Mac’s widow) and her friend, Mark as they RV-ed through the UP. We converged on Munising and did the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore boat trip. It was a chilly, foggy morning so that the 60 person boat only had 10 passengers. We felt special. We then had a Michigan fish fry lunch before Pat and Mark headed for Tahquamenon Falls.
Pat and Mark
Pictured RocksWe also did the Maritime Museum in Marquette which has an annex dedicated to the exploits of the WW II U.S. Navy submarines DARTER and DACE. Why, you ask…CDR McClintock, the commanding officer of DARTER was from Marquette. You can read their story at http://www.csp.navy.mil/ww2boats/darter.htm.
After Marquette, we headed south to the Lake Michigan shore. First we went to the city park in Gladstone. The highlight was the pet casket factory. Don’t laugh…it’s the number one pet casket manufacturer in the country and we got a guided tour. Geoff and Nancy have several travel ‘bibles.‘ One is “Made in America,“ which helps you find factories that give tours.
Yooper Boomers
Snail Shell HarborWe really had a special time with Geoff and Nancy. Some people are just easy to travel with and lots of fun. Some are even better than that which defines these friends. It was hard to part ways but we did so with the knowledge that we would see them again somewhere down the road. We’ll even miss Chaco and Franklin.
Geoff, Nancy, Copper, and ChacoWe proceeded to Leland, Michigan and another favorite peninsula - the Leelanau. We visited with Pat and Mark and Bill’s brother Bob who came up from Kalamazoo. Bill and Bob even played some tennis…almost. Bill also got a chance to visit with Notre Dame roommate Pete Gast and his wife, Pat who were vacationing in Leland for the 35th consecutive year. We camped at another casino, Leelanau Sands, north of Suttons Bay. In Suttons Bay, we met up with Bruce and Carey Rayce and Pat and Mark for Breakfast at Martha’s Café….Martha being one of our ‘Walk Through Provence’ tour organizers.
It was the end of July and time to head for Camp Opperman between Cedar Springs and Rockford, MI and get serious about the reunion. We had driven 2100 miles to get there rather than the 700 that the crow flies. That was only 1400 extra miles at 7 miles per gallon…let’s see 200 extra gallons at nearly $5 per gallon…it’s only money.
We had dinner at Gaylen and Dianne Demarest’s house in East Grand Rapids to plan some reunion stuff but we mostly enjoyed the company. The reunion was a double barreled affair - Friday night was a cook out at Ivan’s. Chuck and Mary Crosby came early so that Chuck could do his charcoal magic on the Brats. We had about 25 other classmates out of 80 and two or three teachers. Mrs. Clark, our first grade teacher was the highlight. She looked better than some of the classmates. Jim Douglas, our eighth grade math teacher was there. It turns out that his son lives in the Outer Banks of North Carolina where Bill’s son lives. He is the inventor of the OBX oval that one sees on the back of lots of cars. He was clever enough to trademark it…smart kid. The next night was the more formal dinner. Ivan showed a slide show from the 15th reunion as the program….no one seemed to remember that they had seen it before.
Cedar Springs Class of 1963Bill, Ivan and Allen Newman, another classmate, played golf. Actually, Ivan and Allen played golf and Bill did something else with golf club and balls. At least Bill did not have a head on collision with the girl in the beer cart. That’s something.
Bill and his brother, Bob, carried out their genealogy assignments from Bill’s daughter Ann. We took pictures of graves, houses, businesses, etc of Bill’s mother’s family, the MacGregors or McGregors. Bill and Gisela also spent a day at the Grand Rapids Library researching obituaries. Best of all we found a great photo of the business started by Bill’s Great-Grandfather James McGregor in the late 1800’s and run by his sons John, Neil and Bill’s Grandfather, James until 1938...the McGregor Dye Works. They were dyers and cleaners, as in dry cleaning. Why they shut it down is a mystery. Unfortunately, earlier generations are no longer around to fill in the blanks.
In mid-August, we buttoned up the motor home and headed for Virginia to visit Gisela’s mom, thank Scott and Missy for watching the house, entertain Ann and Dwayne, visit Paul and Yvette…and William, stop by and see Don and Kathee Larmee, etc.
Ann and Dwayne came up for the weekend and we had a great time. Ann and Gisela cooked up a super dinner of rolled flank steak with a lot of good stuff inside. The two of them should be on the food channel. On Sunday Bill once again tried to master spare ribs and had his best effort so far….but he is a long way from the Neely’s of Memphis. But it is fun to try.
A surprise was hearing that nephew Andy and family (Sabrina, Conner, Elise, and Jack) were heading our way for a soccer tournament in Richmond Labor Day weekend. They stayed with us on Thursday, we toured DC with them on Friday and watched Conner play soccer on Saturday in Richmond before heading down to the Outer Banks for Labor Day. This presented an opportunity for Paul, Yvette and William to come up to Richmond. With Ann living in Richmond, we had a critical mass of Pollocks….eleven in one place. Paul says that would actually be illegal in twenty-eight states. We had a fabulous time Saturday and Sunday morning before heading south. Bill helped Paul get his project boat into the garage for winter and we all enjoyed spending time with William, who on the cusp of three, is a lot of fun. On our way north we stopped to see Don and Kathee, checked in with Gisela’s mom and headed back to Michigan for some ND games and Red Flannel Day in Cedar Springs.
Eleven PollocksThe first ND game was against the powerful San Diego State Aztecs, who had dropped their opener that other west coast powerhouse, Cal Poly. The Irish eaked out a hard fought 21-13 come from behind win. OK, it was ugly …but it was a win. The real highlight was getting together with Bill’s classmate, Joe Smith, AKA The Tree, and his sons, Joe, Jr. and Todd. It was a real treat to see them.
Bill and JoeIn early September, the 10th to be exact, we left Camp Opperman, for the Lake Michigan coast, Muskegon, then Ludington where we found a resort park selling lots and offering five…yes five nights free for listening to their sales pitch. We enjoyed the park and Ludington but it rained for four of the five days. Bill enjoyed watching ND beat Michigan…he thinks Michigan knows how ND felt last year. We also met Don and Kathie Ducharmel in the park. They are members of the Beaver Ambassador Club as are we…Beaver being the brand of motor home we both own. So we had a few acquaintances in common plus Don is a University of Michigan alumnus so Bill could ask him how he liked the game. (Bill really enjoys asking Michigan fans that when ND beats them.)
From Ludington we went south to the Holland Elks Club. From there we explored the lower Lake Michigan coast…Holland, Ottawa Beach, Saugatuck, Douglas, and Grand Haven….nice towns all…especially Grand Haven. We then headed to Kalamazoo to visit with Bill’s brother, Bob. They played some tennis…again sort of…watched ND get thumped by Michigan State, and went to ND for the Purdue game. On the way home Bill bagged his first deer with the front of the Jeep. No one hurt except the deer. We visited Gisela’s high school pal, Rosie Brock in Saint Joseph, another neat Lake Michigan town and toured South Haven. We will be returning to the Lake Michigan coast again…Bill would really like to do that in a boat but the recent global financial meltdown makes this dream seem more distant. Jeez! Rosie paid a visit to Gisela in Kalamazoo while Bill and Bob were off “deer hunting.”
We returned to Camp Opperman for the long-awaited Red Flannel Festival including the presentation of the Red Flannel Kids photo to the Cedar Springs Historical Museum and Society in remembrance of Pollock‘s Store and it‘s role the Red Flannel Saga. This full page color photo appeared in Life Magazine on December 19, 1949 and featured Bill’s dad as an old time photographer taking a picture of fifty or so school kids all dressed in red. Bill’s Dad was attired in red long johns. Bill negotiated a twenty year license with Time-Life Getty Images to permit display of the photo. Bill’s daughter, Ann, did some terrific editing to make the rough image look as good, if not better, than the one in Life. The presentation was fun and included Bill’s cousin, Mike Allchin, (who owned and operated Pollock’s after Bill’s parents) and his wife Bonnie, Don Koster, who managed the men’s department in the 50’s and 60’s and others who worked there over the years, including Bruce Rayce and Jim Opperman. We then watched the Red Flannel Parade …lots of tractors. Other than the folks who came to the museum, Bill only saw one other person who he knew….42 years is a long time.
Life Magazine Red Flannel Kids 
Mike, Bob, and Bill
Pollocks Store People
The next day found us having a Greek celebration at Camp Opperman….why Greek? Two reasons…it was an excuse to get together with John and Jan Simmons, Bruce and Carey Rayce and Jim and Louise Opperman, all of whom were on the Greek Isles trip last fall. The other reason is that Ivan and Janis had a freezer full of lamb that needed to be cooked…and cook we did….leg of lamb, mousaka, lamb kabobs, etc. What a feast and it was great to see everyone again.
On Monday, October 6 we made a speed run back to Virginia in time for visits from John and Ellen Albin, Chuck and Mary Crosby, Greg Pollock, Bill’s cousin from Canada, as well as a family get together at Paul, Yvette and William’s (now three years old) house in North Carolina and a visit to Ann and Dwayne in Richmond. More on all that when we report on the Roving Pollocks Fall adventures.
