October 1 - What Happened to September?
September went fast! I think Mother Nature's thermometer broke when the calendar turned over at the end of August. The temperature dropped quickly from the mid-80s to the low 70s, then to the low 60s and now in the 50s. Frost will be here any day at this rate, and snow will cover the leaves before I've had time to rake them up. I hope this is temporary confusion on the part of Mother Nature and she'll soon return to some more normal for this time of the year. I miss the warm days of a typical September.
October 3 - James Clements 75 Years Old (Bay City)
Dignitaries and local flight enthusiasts gathered at James Clements Memorial Airport off River Road to celebrate its 75 years of service to the local aviation community. Among the attendees was Geraldine Higgs, author of two books related to the history of the airport, "Aloft" and "Military Pilots of Bay County." The opening of the airport in 1928 was largely due to the airmail service being launched that year, and Bay City being offered the service if they provided an adequate airport facilities. The airport is named after James Clements, a local pilot who lost his life in the Navy during WWI.
The Wright Brothers excited the world in 1903 demonstrating man's desire to fly was more than a dream. The Saginaw Valley was an early entrant in the history of Michigan aviation. The first plane manufacturing in Michigan took place in Saginaw in 1909, when the Brooks Airplane Company began its brief operation as a manufacturer of plane kits. They sold 22 of them before closing this line of business. Lionel H. DeRemer of Bay City and Henry Dora of Essexville were among the first pilots here. DeRemer was a graduate of the Wright Brothers school at Long Island, N.Y. in 1912. Dora was a talented mechanic and friend of DeRemer. A couple notable creations demonstrating Dora's skills, and firsts in Bay County, included a motorized 12 foot long ice sled and a motorcycle.
Flying in these early years was the domain of aviation pioneers and a source of exciting entertainment for the local folks below. WWI demonstrated the utility of these flying machines and created many new aviators, many returned to their communities after the war and continued their love of flying. Their unique capability made them a closely knit group, they shared the experience and delight of being able to fly in record time from one point to another, taking off and landing on whatever open field may be available. It wasn't until the airmail service was established in 1928 that local communities understood the practical value of having and airport.
Today, MBS International Airport is the center of aviation in the Saginaw Valley. However, local pilots sipping a cup of coffee as they go over flight plans at James Clements Memorial Airport may tell you otherwise. The airport is the center of flight activity for privately owned planes of local pilots and businesses. They quietly keep the airport busy accommodating the practical flight needs for point to point service such as business meetings and medical transport of patients. In many respects, they remain pioneers of local aviation holding down the fort so to speak until technology makes aviation affordable and practical to their neighbors and friends. A possibility that might be reality during the next 75 years of local aviation history.
October 8 - California Voters Elect The Terminator
"Only in America," might be the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger's next movie. That is if he ever makes another one. He'll have his hands full attending to the world's fifth largest economy.
California voters in this historic "recall" election sent current Democratic governor Gray Davis packing, and in his place chose the terminator to straighten things out in this financially stressed state. They did so with a voter turn out that exceeded the previous election with 54% favoring the recall of Governor Davis. In the next governor vote, Republican Swarzenegger soundly beat his closest rival, Democratic Lt. Governor Bustamante by more than 30%. Californians sent a clear message that they not only wanted a new governor, but a change in their state's politics.
The story of Swarzenegger's life is a modern day tale of an immigrant who came to America and made the most of his opportunities through hard work and intelligence to become a success. He was a world class body builder, hollywood star, business millionaire, and now, governor of California. It is a story well worth sharing in school class rooms as an example and inspiration about what can be accomplished by any student to become the best they can be through hard work and intellegence. He maximized the attributes that he had at each stage of his life to build towards another goal. It wasn't luck or serendipity that propelled him forward. He was the engineer of his own success.
October 12 - Plans Announced For New Nautical Museum
The Saginaw Marine Historical Society has started a campaign aimed at establishing a museum that will house the rich nautical history of this area. Their goal is to raise $300,000 by next year for this project.
1918 Davidson shipyard launching. |
There are no natural elements more important to the history of this area than that of the Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay. Carved out by the last great ice age, these natural resources became the harbor of life for nature, animals, and eventually humans. It’s earliest human history will never be known, and it is only the last 200 - 300 years that can be understood with some degree of depth. Unfortunately, the early settlers here were far too busy with daily survival to be concerned with documenting history so we would know with great detail of their endeavors. Its a human condition, that only a few find importance in doing today. A museum devoted to our nautical history is not only desireable, but essential as a center for focusing on the details of this history for the public.
Some may argue that we already have a museum maintained by the Bay County Historical Society and another entity to house artifacts and information only duplicates the effort of what already exists. The reality is that space for housing history at the present museum is already depleted, and to cram more objects into this limited space only removes others from display depriving the public of seeing all of their history. It is the good fortune of this community that we have an abundance of interesting and notable history worthy of displaying. Our history should be a source of knowledge and local pride. It's a hertiage that citizens and visitors drawn to this area need to have readily available to them. The Saginaw River Marine Historical Society was organized in 1989 not to compete with the Bay County Historical Society, but to enhance the offerings of this community. Their focus on nautical history is a major works and is responsible for preserving the historic Saginaw River Rear Range Lighthouse.
Another group hard at work to preserve our maritime history is the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum. Their plans are to harbor a USS Charles F. Adams, DDG-2, US Navy Guided Missile Detroyer in the old Davidson Shipbuilding dry dock located in Veterans Memorial Park in Bay City. It’ll be a floating museum dedicated to the memory of the Destroyer Navy of the 1960-70‘s, and to those who served in Navy. This is the same type of vessel of which many were built at the Defoe shipyard once located on the east side of the river just north of the Liberty Bridge.
All three organizations need local support and interest to bring the past to the present. Let them know they’re appreciated, support them with your contribution and use the invaluable resources for which they uniquely provide for our communities.
To learn more about these groups and to help, visit:
- [Saginaw River Marine Historical Society]
- [Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum]
- [Bay County Historical Society Museum]
- Some Bay-Journal resources on maritime history are:
- {Davidson Shipbuilding Company}
- {Defoe Shipbuilding Company}
- {1918 Saginaw River Maps (Davidson, Defoe, Lighthouse)}
October 13 - New Digital Camera
From this date on you should see an improvement in the quality of our contemporary photos added to Bay-Journal. The color results with the old camera were pretty bad. We didn't know just how bad they were until we put the new camera into use. The new camera will encourage us to add more graphics to this monthly magazine and in the Pictorial Library. One of the features that we would like to do down the road is a "then and now", where a historical photo is compared to contemporary photo of asubject.
Please... don't send emails requests for us to do photography for your weddings and other family events! [smile] (Hmmm... that might be a way to pay for the new camera.)
October 20 - Trip "Over" Niagara Falls
According to the news media, witnesses saw a man go over the Niagara Falls yesterday. While he is no the first to survive this trip, he is the first known to have done so without any the help of any devices. Little more is known about this escapade at this time.
Over 100 hundred years ago, Annie Taylor, a Bay City school teacher became the first to successfully make the trip over the falls doing so in a barrel on October 24, 1901. It was no ordinary barrel as it was specially designed for this purpose. Even so, few thought she would survive the trip. You can read her story and see some pictures regarding her history making voyage in the Heritage Library.
- {Heritage Library/People/Annie Taylor}
October 22 - Water Damage Threatens Historic Landmark
1909 Image of City Hall |
On the front page of today's Bay City Times is an article on the condition of the eight floor where the and the tower where ancient clock symbol of this city has been the pride of the city since it opened in 1897. The floor is rotting from water damage which in turn is leaking to the lower level threatening even further damage. The city now plans to go ahead and have the repairs done for an estimated $7,975 after having pulled the funds under tight budget constraints for this year. The real story is why would they wait until the wood rots and becomes a real problem before acting in a manner consistent with the value of this national registered heritage building?" The city needs to do a better job of taking care of one of this communities prize assets. I don't think that's asking too much of them. I'm sure that is the city is that financial strapped that many would be willing to donate to a "save our heritage" building fund program. It's kind of embaracing to see a front page story of this nature when this community's history is becoming a valuable asset as a tourist attraction.
