Occasionally I receive emails I feel would be of interest
to our Detroit Memories Newsletter subscribers.
With permission from the authors, I'll publish them.
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Eileen:
Here is a short story with photos about a 1963 Detroit Police car I restored. I believe your Detroit Memories readers may find it interesting.
Every time I take the car out to a show, people tell me their stories about Detroit and how they remember the Scout Cars like mine. And that their dad or other loved one was taken to the hospital in a car like this. Or how they were given an escort home in the back seat by the police.
Last summer I took the car to a meeting of Detroit Police retirees and a friend shot two videos and posted them to YouTube. Here's a link to the other one:
Our band, VanHammel,would love to sponsor an issue of the Detroit Memories Newsletter.
We are still rockin' and rollin' to the '60s music. Our crowds are becoming bigger and bigger. A few of the younger people can’t get over the fact of that 50-60 year olds
are dancing so much!
Regards,
Dave Hammell
Grosse Pointe Woods MI
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EILEEN'S NOTE:
I first met and heard VanHammel at MCC's Swingin' Time event last May. When they were playin', the dance floor was jammed. Read about it: June '09 Newsletter.
To the best of my memory, I recall that my father, Frank T. Gadwell, worked for the C&O Railway out of Rougemere Yard in Dearborn. Sometime between 1954 and 1957 on a very foggy day, the Detroit Tiger executives were traveling on a passenger train out of Detroit through Dearborn when it was discovered that were sharing the same track as another railroad crew. My father jumped off a boxcar and ran down the track to flag down the Tigers' train. The conductor saw him, but then my dad vanished under the train. Fortunately, he'd managed to jump out of the way just seconds before the trains collided.
My dad received a full year of Tiger passes for the family and his picture was in the paper with my younger brother sitting on his lap. He received a citation from President Eisenhower, Governor Williams and the Mayor of Detroit. I believe the story was printed in the Detroit Times or The Detroit News and in the Westwood paper in Southwest Detroit. That's about all I remember. My brother, who lives in Allen Park, MI, has the citation in his possession.
I miss all my friends but, believe me, there are loads of Michigan people down here!
Richard T. Gadwell
Crossville TN (2.5 years now)
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Hi Eileen,
Just a few memories...
I went to St. Gregory High School with Detroit radio DJ Tom Ryan. I met Soupy backstage after he performed in a St. Clair Shores nightclub back in 1996 amd have
a photo of that. I worked for 35 years for Dupont, and so did Milky the Clown, who, Monday through Friday, was a paint salesman.
Ward Case
Sun City AZ
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Eileen:
Folks interested in photos of the Ford Rotunda should check with the Ford Archivesmaintained at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village at the Benson Ford Center.
Paul Ganem
Gettysburg PA
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Hi Eileen,
Seeing the Ford Rotunda photo reminded me of when one of us kids had a birthday,
my dad would drive us past the lit up Rotunda and sing "Happy Birthday to you." He knew that to us kids, it looked like a giant birthday cake. Those we're the days.
Thanks for the memories!
Sam & Grace Samborski
San Diego CA
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Eileen:
Love the Detroit Memories Newsletter. You're to be commended for putting something together that I'm sure brings a lot of joy to those of us who are ex-Detroit area residents.
I was raised in Royal Oak, attended WMU and taught school for the Warren Woods School District for 35 years. I love Inverness (Florida) but my heart still tugs at me
to never forget Michigan and Detroit.
Robert Murray
Inverness, FL
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A friend of mine who grew up in the Hazel Park area is looking for a picture of a Brown's Creamery truck. Any suggestions?
Michael Vitale
Pinckney Michigan
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EILEEN: Actually, we're looking too. If any of you have a photo of a Brown's Creamery truck that you can share, email it to me at info@detroitmemories.com.
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Eileen,
I was a Detroit Police Officer from 1962 to 1967 when I
was hired by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
In 1971, I was transferred to Los Angeles where I spent
most of my career. Five years ago, I moved to Anthem AZ.
A close friend of mine from St. Ambrose High School also
joined the DPD. We went through the Police Academy
together and were assigned to the Palmer Park Precinct
where, after walking beats, we were assigned a police car
and worked as partners.
When the Tactical Mobile Unit was formed, we were both
hand-picked charter members. We were again assigned to
the same car (8-5). There were three men assigned to each
car. In 1967 I applied for and was hired by the Bureau of ATF.
Later my other two partners also applied for and were hired.
We all three worked together while in Los Angeles.
My St. Ambrose friend, B.H. LaForest, later retired as the
Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles District and now
lives in Scottsdale. He has just published a book entitled
"Shadow Partners, A Law Enforcement Story."
I have just finished reading the book and I really enjoyed it.
The story is an action-packed fictional tale that deals with the
three of us working together and with others to solve a murder.
Approximately 75% of the book takes place in Detroit. The story
starts out in the city, then moves to West Virginia and
Detroit broadcasting history is rich with character and characters.
It began atop the Penobscot Building on October 23, 1946, when WWDT shot a signal to the convention center, part of a "New Postwar Products Exposition."
WWJ-TV offered scheduled programming in June 1947, and WXYZ-TV and WJBK-TV jumped in a year later. The medium has influenced the city's personality and social agenda ever since.
Soupy Sales turned getting a pie in the face into an art form. Mort Neff celebrated the state's outdoor charms. George Pierrot showed Detroiters the world.
Other beloved personalities include: Milky the Clown, Ed McKenzie, Sonny Eliot, John Kelly, Marilyn Turner, Robin Seymour, Bill Bonds, Dick Westerkamp, Jingles, Bill Kennedy, Lou Gordon, Captain Jolly, Johnny Ginger, Auntie Dee, and many more.
