Gratiot County in Depression and War, February 1940, “The Long Winter”

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From the top: The Joe Porubsky auction took place eleven miles southeast of Ithaca and drew a record crowd, lining both sides of the road and filling up a twenty-acre field; baseball was on the minds of Gratiot readers, with messages about a war going on in Europe; Electrified Farm Week, along with new tractor models, came to the county in mid-February 1940.

The long winter of 1940 continued. Get out the ice skates. Read about the war in northern Europe. Farmer, think about the upcoming 1940 season.

It was February 1940 in Gratiot County.

The World at War – “The Winter War” Continues

Most war news in Gratiot County dealt with the Winter War and Russia’s invasion of Finland. Photographs of dead, frozen Russian soldiers appeared in the newspapers, the results of the clashes between the Finns and Russians near the area of Petsamo, Finland. A hint of Nazi Germany’s intention to start an offensive in the West began as the French slowly retreated from a quiet German advance. The world knew that spring fighting was not that far off.

The St. Louis Service Club met at the Park Hotel and watched talking pictures of the United States Navy and March of Time films. People continued to monitor world events. In all this talk and awareness of a potentially expanding world war, one group expected to benefit from the war centered around news for farmers. Economists foresaw a billion-dollar boom for farmers as competition for food supplies, changes in shipping routes, and sea conflicts meant Britain would have to deal with more goods from the United States. Although the United States was not in its position in 1914 when the world had an endless need for food and goods, many believed a growing need for goods would happen again starting in 1940 with the war’s expansion.

Gratiot County Life Late in the New Deal Great Depression

During the winter months, if one wanted to see New Deal social programs in the county, one looked at ice skating. The WPA (Works Progress Administration) continued to maintain and invite the public to use skating rinks. Over in St. Louis, Lester Fillhard supervised the Community Council skating rink east of Wheeler Field, which sponsored a St. Louis Community Ice Meet. The meet had six types of skating events, from boys and girls under twelve to men and women of any age. The community council stated that there was a “crying need” for someone to donate a public address system and phonograph to play music. Some St. Louis residents used the rink for birthdays, such as when one student invited forty fellow eighth graders to skate and have lunch together. Hockey teams from both St. Louis and Alma battled each other in city competitions. St. Louis held its first Skate Carnival, and Robert Wilson served as contest judge. Sled events opened to both boys and girls. However, soft ice postponed the events for a week. Soon afterward, the ice improved, and the St. Lois recreational hockey team met and defeated the Alma East End bunch by 10-5.

Alma had a skating rink on South State Street, and city commissioners agreed to provide music for its skaters. Above the dam, many ventured out to enjoy the new ice that was created in only a few nights of cold weather. The city lowered the water to construct an overflow drain and raised it to its natural level. Two WPA recreation leaders, Frances Lott, and Chester Johnson, oversaw the Alma rinks. They promoted a city-wide meet and planned to lay out an oval shape on the rink for the races. One of the problems with operating the rinks centered around people who got on the ice when it was not in skating condition. Some of the older boys tended to get on the ice before it was ready, which resulted in numerous ruts and holes and made skating impossible.

There were other New Deal programs at work in the county. The Alma Salvation Army allowed the NYA (New Youth Administration) a place for thirty boys and young men to work on woodworking projects. The NYA also offered a sewing project for girls and young women ages 18 to 25 and provided sewing machines to recondition used clothing. One special need concerned the making of layettes for newborn children. In February, the government programs employed fifty NYA workers on different projects in Gratiot County. The WPA offered the city of St. Louis financial help to construct pavements and sidewalks. However, the project was estimated at over $108,000, with over $76,000 provided by the WPA. Still, this meant St. Louis would have to issue bonds to borrow money, and the common (city) council hesitated as the public would have to vote on the matter. Another issue involved buying the Gratiot County Bank building and turning it into a city hall.

Even in February, WPA workers continued on labor projects, such as retaining walls and the river bank near Walnut Street and North Court Avenue. The city also wanted the dangerous curve at that location worked on in the upcoming year, and many Alma property owners petitioned for extensions to sidewalk work that started in 1939. The city also hoped to widen Downie Street and Pine Avenue entirely through WPA labor and funds.

Several leaders like A.D. Smedberg of Alma met at Alma High School for a radio broadcast over WBCM of Bay City to continue promoting the benefits of New Deal programs such as the WPA. The men explained how WPA programs helped the city and why Alma remained a good place to live and have a business.

For a community celebration, the St. Louis Park Hotel hosted the annual President’s Birthday Ball. The ball benefited those affected by infantile paralysis and the Gratiot County chapter of the March of Dimes. Half of the money raised from the ball went directly to those in Gratiot County who had infantile paralysis. Those who attended the ball were awed by the beautiful red, white, and blue decorations provided by the Consumers Power Company of Alma and the music and dancing led by the Don Hoffman Orchestra of Lansing. In the center of the ballroom hung a large picture of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The issue of public health was very real in 1940, as the Michigan Tuberculosis Association continued to offer T.B. clinics in response to eight people who died from the disease in Gratiot County in 1937. Tuberculin tests and at least one X-ray clinic occurred in the county in March 1940.

Some news in the county relating to the effects of the Depression was not so happy. Ralph Olmstead of Elwell led a case against the First State Bank of Alma, arguing that the Alma bank was the parent bank responsible for the loss of assets in his former bank in Elwell. Olmstead and other former depositors sought compensation for the closing of the Elwell Bank in 1933. Judge Kelly Searl granted an injunction to consider whether all suits could be combined.

The county also had a “scavenger sale” on delinquent properties. County treasurer William Federspiel offered over 500 property descriptions with a total value of $153,077 to the public in anticipation of the sale. However, the county only succeeded in selling 203 descriptions for a total of just under $25,000. While Alma and St. Louis led the sales, Hamilton Township sold nearly $4,000 of land to fervent bidders and speculators. Seldom did any original owners bid on any of their property.

Finally, opponents across the county for those concerned about President Roosevelt’s Social Security plan continued attending Townsend Club meetings. Alma, Ithaca, St. Louis, and Wheeler clubs participated in these potluck meetings to discuss their support for the Townsend Plan.

On the Farm, In the Gratiot Countryside

Although it was winter, Gratiot County farmers, dealers, and businesses planned for the upcoming farm season. The Michigan Sugar Company of  Alma and Lake Shore Sugar Company of St. Louis issued contracts for the 1940 season. However, the companies issued contracts with a slight change. Farmers would be paid for their first beet payment by December 1, 1940, but would not receive the balance until October 1941. This proposed second payment would be one month later than the year before. The St. Louis Co-Operative Creamery announced plans to build a bigger creamery during its 25th annual meeting at the St. Louis High School auditorium on February 2. A significant reason for creating a new creamery came from the June 1, 1939 fire, which caused $9000 in damage. The dairy also promoted Milkmaker, a mix with alfalfa or clover hay, and sold a superior dairy ration.

Alma Production Credit Association held its annual meeting and elected officers. Howard McMacken of Shepherd was re-elected president, and Harry Glenzen of Alma as secretary and treasurer. Over 700 members in Gratiot County belonged to APCA, had been operating since February 1934, and issued more than 1.3 million dollars in loans. Amazingly, the association had lost only $137 since that time.

Did you need a new tractor? Johnson’s Farm Equipment in Ithaca offered the 1940 Model 60 Family Harvest for $545. Bill Harper’s Hardware, northwest of Ithaca, sold the John Deere Model “DA” disk, billed as operating “Faster, Easier, Better.” About 150 farmers visited Rademacher Motor Sales in Alma on February 21 to see a demonstration of the New Ford tractor, which had a Furgeson system. Albin Rademacher showed a film entitled “Building for Future Farmers,” with entertainment provided by the Mercury Rangers. A highlight of the day was the presence of William Ford, brother of Henry Ford, a general distributor for Ford tractors. Eleven miles southeast of Ithaca, a record crowd attended the Joe Porubusky auction. Cars lined the roads for over a half mile up and down the road, filling a twenty-acre field for the auction.

Other events surrounding county farmers proved sobering. Leon Cratsenberg of Hamilton Township lost his home to a fire early in February. The Cratsenbergs, who had attended the county teacher’s institute in St. Louis, were on their way home through Ithaca and heard of the fire from a passing motorist. When they arrived home, the family found that only part of the contents could be saved due to the fire’s severity. Cattle thieves stole eleven cattle from the Eugene Ensign farm east of Ashley. Police arrested two brothers who rustled in Saginaw and Genesee counties and returned five of them after being discovered on a Huron County farm. Law officers arrested the Desanders brothers on robbery and possible murder charges. Because the brothers sold some of the Ensign cattle and other stolen livestock to farmers, getting the cattle back to the rightful owners proved challenging as other farmers had innocently purchased stolen stock. George Stoneman, Jr., of Ithaca, had a team of valuable draft horses hit by a Cheboygan man’s car. The horses, which won several horse-pulling awards, suffered severe cuts. Still, a veterinarian called to the scene believed the team would survive the wounds. Stoneman pulled onto US-27 when the Cheboygan car hit the team, destroying the vehicle’s front end.

Gratiot County received $3,526.17 for claims made from dogs that killed livestock in 1939 and ranked ninth in the state for losses. Authorities stressed that mongrels and strays running in packs, as opposed to bird and hunting dogs, were most responsible for losing sheep and other livestock in the county. The state urged the continued enforcement of quarantine and local dog laws as measures to reduce losses. Another dog story appeared in the news when Fred Cornell of St. Louis helped boys playing near the Pine River after the boys ran to the Michigan Chemical Corporation yelling for help. It turned out that the boys could not help an Irish Setter who had fallen through the ice and gone under several times. After more calls for help, Leverne Hill and Burdett Yats also arrived at the scene. Hall strapped a rope around his waist and gently crawled out on the ice to the struggling dog. Cornell and Yats then carefully pulled Hall and the exhausted dog back to safety. After returning to the river bank, the men and boys witnessed that the dog could no longer stand due to exhaustion. They then returned with the canine to the Michigan Chemical plant to dry off and warm up. In a short time, the once-drowning Irish Setter recovered and was up and around. A St. Louis dog owner undoubtedly owed thanks to this group of boys and a trio of men who saved this pet.

 Central Michigan Turkey growers met at the Court House in Ithaca to listen to speakers from Michigan State College explain new methods and answer questions about turkey management. Parks Allen, a Gratiot County naturalist, sought to save the life of an injured doe found east of Elwell. The deer appeared to have a broken leg, and a Pere Marquette Train brakeman reported that he thought a train hit it. Allen soon arrived and deduced that the doe had a dislocated shoulder but no broken bones. Allen took the deer home and provided a quiet location in a box stall, and the deer slowly improved. Allen also believed the injury occurred when the deer tried to jump a high fence near the railroad tracks in Elwell.

What else could farmers do in the winter? Ice fishing on Houghton Lake called many people north, where fishermen had daily limits of 15 perch or 25 combined pan fish. Fishing licenses cost one dollar and included one’s spouse! Although the trapping season ended, Gratiot trappers had until the end of February to report how many animals they trapped during the 1939-1940 trapping season. Barely half of those licensed to trap had reported their winter kills.

Finally,  strange things happened in southern Wheeler and northern Lafayette Townships in early February. The commotion became so intense involving “Finnish soldiers” that the county sheriff and his deputies were called for help. Township residents hid in their cellars, locked their doors, and turned off the lights. One caller telephoned the sheriff, urging, “Come to the Powell farm two miles south of Wheeler in a hurry!” Area farmers were so excited that several turned out with shotguns because “peculiar objects” had been seen a mile down the road. Deputy Nestle led a posse into the area and saw four strange things that appeared against the white snow. Nestle called out, “What are you doing?” The response came back, “Just hunting crows.” It turned out that Carl Lanshaw and Dr. C.O. Shaffer of Wheeler, along with Glenn and Grant Marr of Lafayette, all wore white aprons to blend in with the snow, covering all except their head and shoulders. The four men went out on a crow hunt wearing white camouflage but riled up the entire neighborhood. After determining that the complaints and phone call did not involve “Finnish soldiers,” Nestle reminded the men as he departed, “You better go to Finland if you want to use those methods (to kill crows). Carl Lanshaw later told the local newspaper that his group killed over 150 crows, thought it was a good sport, and even took their wives along while hunting the black pests.

The Long Arm of the Law in February 1940

If someone wants to learn about some of Gratiot County’s problems, they must look no further than the local courts and the county jail. That month, Fifty-eight people were convicted of crimes and contributed $387.78 to the county coffers. At the end of February, the county jail had 19 prisoners. Forty of the convictions dealt with traffic violations, and the rest of the crimes covered a variety of offenses. William Partello, age 27, and Grace Schaffer, 23, both of Lafayette, were hauled into court on the crime of lascivious cohabitation (living together without a marriage license). This crime had a long history in Gratiot County, and the consequences varied. In Partello’s case, he was sentenced to sixty days in jail, while Schaffer was sentenced to a strict one-year probation. In another case, Armond Bongard, 36, and Goldie Lewis, 17, ended up in jail on the same charge of “L and L” crimes. They waved examination and said they would appear before Judge Searl for sentencing. The bigger question remained: how did the sheriff and judge discover the  “L and L” crimes? Someone reported the couples, but the question remained: who?

Two other crimes involved embezzlement, one for vagrancy, and two for illegally trapping muskrats (one offender received ten days in county jail; the other got a $10 fine and $8.85 in costs). Other court cases involved selling chattel mortgage property and issuing checks without funds. Howard Phillips of Crystal pleaded guilty to embezzling $19 worth of property from Peterson Hardware Company, paid $33.85 in fines and costs, and pledged to repay the stolen money. The sheriff’s deputy went all the way to Flint to arrest Philips. Harry Conklin of St. Louis said he was not guilty of misappropriating the sum of $41.35 and twenty bushels of oats. His trial was yet to come. Roscoe Daymon, who lived west of Ithaca, was brought before the court for deserting his wife and three children. Daymon furnished a $500 bond and was released until his hearing.

Ralph Fisher of Elwell experienced the law’s long arm when Conservation Officer C.B. Smith pinched Fisher for spearing fish in protected waters. Fisher paid $8.85 in costs rather than spend ten days in jail. Over in Breckenridge, the conduct of a Porter Oil Field worker made the news when Lester McAlister caused an automobile accident in town due to drunk driving. McAlister was arraigned for drunk and disorderly conduct but spent sixty days in jail as he could not pay his fine and costs of $31.11.Oil wells continued to be installed in parts of one of the Porter oil fields, even though newspapers reported that drillers did not expect to find more oil. The Pure Oil Company, however, did put in its 28th well in Porter Township at the Mina Narmore lease.

Another pair of crimes in Alma upset residents. On a dare from his peer, one young man damaged newly constructed items at Gratiot County Conservation Park. In another case, thieves broke into the new log cabin at the park. They then stole $125 worth of aluminum cooking ware that the Lobdell-Emery manufacturing plant had just donated. The thieves used a wrecking bar to pry off the locks and entered the cabin to do their dirty work. The next night, another group of thieves broke into the Lobdell plant and stole 1,000 pounds of scrap valued at $125.

The Jesse Perez murder case reappeared in the courts after three years. Perez shot and killed a fellow Mexican beet laborer on a farm in Seville Township on July 7, 1936. Perez argued that Judge Searl failed to accurately hear and pass on the confession that Perez made about the murder and, therefore, Perez somehow witnessed against himself. Perez’s attorney also argued that his client did not understand the charges brought against him and that witnesses to the murder no longer resided in the United States. Perez’s appeal was denied, and he continued serving his 15-30-year sentence in Marquette.

Finally, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union requested printing an article in the Gratiot County Herald about a “Warning About Marihuana.” In 1938, there had been over 1,000 violations of the Marihuana Tax Act. Because over 8,770 pounds of bulk marihuana had been seized that year, parents and educators needed to be more aware of the possibility of the drug entering local schools. According to the WCTU, education continued to be the best defense against the drug.

Life in the Underside of Gratiot County: Race

What did being Mexican or Black in Gratiot County in 1940?

As more Mexican beet workers came to the county to work in the fields each summer and fall, the Gratiot County Council of Churches and Sunday Schools sponsored a religious project for children and adults. The program ran from June 15 to  September 1 in Alma and St. Louis with two Spanish-speaking teachers and a Mexican minister. Helen White served as superintendent of migrant work for the Council of Church Women of the Board of Home Missions.

A historically uncomfortable but then acceptable event in Gratiot County dealt with the performance of a minstrel show by the Alma Rotary Club. On February 20, the Rotary Club used forty men in a two-hour show and charged forty cents for admission. The sold-out performance hosted 500-600 people. Before the program started, Father John Mulvey gave a short talk about why minstrel shows appeared in history and the beliefs and history of the Alma Rotary Club. Aside from Father Mulvey, only one performer did not appear in “Blackface” during the performance. The Alma Record wrote about the show’s conclusion, “The grand finale was all that the term implies, with nothing lacking to revive the glory of the old-time minstrelsy and the spirit of Auld lang Syne.” Minstrel shows as community or organizational fundraisers and entertainment could be found in Gratiot County well into the 1960s.

County Clerk Charles L. Hicks announced that an examiner from the Detroit Federal Naturalization Office planned to be in the county on February 21 to conduct a naturalization hearing. Approximately a dozen people who petitioned for their citizenship planned on attending. The examiner also said he would be present in the afternoon to help petitioners with questions and problems about becoming a United States citizen.

Finally, Reverend V.K. Beshgetoor, born in Armenia and well-known and respected in the Alma area for decades, officiated at his daughter’s wedding in Highland Park, Michigan. Throughout his life, Reverend Beshgetoor had been a proponent of remembering and telling the story of Armenia’s sufferings and hardships.

And So We Do Not Forget

Miss Maurine Stovall announced that she installed a new lighting system at her studio in Alma. The new system gave the subject a daylight effect without heat and glare. She also had new photo enlargers and remodeled her darkroom…A.D. Smedberg of the Triangle Coal and Oil Company at 904 E. Superior in Alma advertised a new, higher quality coal stoker with a lower price…a St. Louis product, Crystal Fo Iodized Salt, appeared at the M.S.C. dinner in Lansing. The event hosted 150 Michigan publishers and their wives. Each received a complimentary box of salt…Corky’s Standard Service at the stop light in St. Louis gave away free autographed photos of actress Dorothy Lamour from her new movie, “Typhoon.” Drivers could also purchase Winter Iso-Vis Motor Oil…Gratiot County prepared to honor the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Both former presidents appeared on the front page of the Alma and St. Louis Leader newspapers…Alma Public Schools notified parents of students who wished to enroll outside the Alma district. The cost for enrollment would be $11.20 per child…Alma JC Penney Store announced it had increased the size of its “Baby Shop.” The area next to the ladies’ ready-to-wear section featured the newest items for the baby or nursery…The Gratiot County Crippled Children’s Society met and decided to hold its annual Easter Seal campaign during the Week of March 11, 1940. Four area Rotary Clubs planned to promote the campaign. In 1939, the county raised $436.99 in penny Seals…Simi’s Restaurant and Billiard Hall planned to open in the Gaffney Building beginning March 1. Hubert Croton, Ray Helman, and Silvio Simi invited the public to come and see the new location.

The Danceland Ballroom, located above JC Penney Company in Alma, planned to host the annual Fireman’s Ball. Reed’s Sing Band provided the music….want the “Soundest Investment I Ever Made”? Buy a Pontiac at Pung Motor Sales at 315-317 East Superior Street in  Alma or Whitney Auto Sales in Ithaca…the quickest knockout ever seen in amateur boxing took place at the Alma Athletic Club when featherweight Don Anderson of Ithaca knocked out Al Brown of Stanton – in all of seven seconds. Anderson took out Brown with a sharp right jab that took Brown out for the count…the Detroit Tigers announced that they planned to move Hank Greenberg from first base to the outfield. The move enabled Rudy York to play at first base…a high school Mardi Gras took place at Alma High School. Eighteen students appeared in a photo in the Alma Record and Alma Journal…the Jean Bessac Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution held a colonial tea and exhibit at the Gleaner Home in Alma. The Jean Torrence Chapter of the Ithaca D.A.R. provided historical exhibits, and members of the Alma chapter appeared in colonial dress. This meeting was the first significant function of the Alma D.A.R. since its formation a few months earlier. A crowd estimated at 125-150 people attended…a group of an executive committee met in  Alma to continue exploring establishing a community center in Alma. A.D. Smedberg chaired the committee. A group of twenty-five delegates from various Alma organizations encouraged the creation of the executive committee …the I.O.O.F. Hall in Elwell hosted a dance every Saturday night. Both round and square dances took place, and it only cost thirty-five cents per couple…Edward G. Robinson starred in “Blackmail” at the Ideal Theatre in Ithaca. Admission was fifteen cents…the Ithaca Post Office received approval to move to the old Ithaca National Bank Building. The area would be enlarged to 1800 feet of floor space. The old post office had been in operation for over forty years and was owned by the Barstow estate.

Drivers in Ithaca could now turn on red at Center and Pine Streets. A flashing red arrow now came on with a red stop light for traffic coming from the east…famous artist J. Franklin Caveny entertained a large crowd at St. Louis High School using works done in crayon and clay. As he talked to crowds, Caveny quickly transformed drawings like the Atlantic Ocean, then used a few strokes to make it into the Hudson River. What appeared to be a lump of clay promptly became a bust of William Shakespeare or Abraham Lincoln. The crowd responded with prolonged applause for several of his works…over at St. Louis, excavators working on Maple Street at the Ray Boivin home found flakes of gold at a depth of seen teen feet. Samples of the gold quickly went to laboratories for testing….Laurel and Hardy starred in “Flying Deuces” for two nights at the Alma Theatre…Mrs. R.B. Smith of Alma returned home with her daughter, Miriam, from visiting her son, Lieutenant Reynolds C. Smith, in New Haven, Connecticut. No one knew it in 1940. Still, Reynolds C. Smith would be the first Gratiot County serviceman to die in World War II…Professor Roy Hamilton of Alma College addressed the Alma Rotary Club. He issued a “terse and forceful plea” to the audience about the lack of moral and spiritual poise during this time of world and individual affairs….American League umpire George Moriarty spoke to a very excited crowd of listeners at Ithaca High School. Moriarty told stories about professional baseball and how, by living by “clean rules,” America could fight “the anti-Christ influence” coming from Europe’s dictators. Moriarity signed a baseball for Marie Plank, and the photo appeared in the Gratiot County Herald…Leslie Reeves of Ithaca stated that he would display the new Case Flambeau Red Tractor during Electrified Farm Week…” Elmer and His Singing Farmers” traveled to South Bend, Indiana, for a one-night performance at the Mid-West Creamery Banquet. The group included Kenneth McComber, Linden Wright, Wendel Wright, and George “Elmer” Schleder.

And that was February 1940 in “Gratiot County During Depression and War.”

Copyright 2025 James M. Goodspeed

We Remember the late 1970s: “Gratiot Wasn’t Jimmy Carter Country, But…”

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Above: This ceramic mug found its way back to Gratiot County with the help of my grandparents, who stopped in Plains, Georgia, on their way home in the late 1970s.

Today, on January 9, 2025, the United States paid final respects by laying to rest the 39th President of the United States, James Earl (“Jimmy”) Carter.

 Carter occupied the White House from 1977-1981 in what was a time when Gratiot County, like the rest of the United States, sought to recover from a national scandal that shook our confidence in American politicians. Michigan’s closest tie to the presidency was President Gerald R. Ford,  Carter’s predecessor, and the only non-elected vice president and president in our nation’s history. Had Ford not pardoned President Richard M. Nixon for potential crimes during Watergate, Ford would easily have been re-elected as President. Before this happened, Ford, a United States Representative from Grand Rapids, Michigan, had visited Gratiot County more than once as a congressman.

However, Gratiot County never carried Carter in the Election of 1976. In its entire history, Gratiot County went Democratic only four times and had not done so since 1964. Only in a time of severe economic or national crisis had Gratiot County helped elect a Democratic President. It either took the Great Depression or the death of President  Kennedy to get Gratiot County to go Democratic. My paternal grandmother complained the day after the 1976 election, saying, “THAT Carter won.” He wasn’t Jimmy Carter, he was “THAT Carter” from Georgia.

The late 1970s continued to be a time of severe economic problems, which soon led to the worst economic recession the nation had seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s. We heard the words “energy crisis,” Carter urged the public to conserve energy by curtailing gasoline usage and turning down thermostats to 68 degrees. Inflation skyrocketed as the decade went on. In Gratiot County, by the late 1970s, property owners often opposed votes on school millages, which my father continually bemoaned as a small farmer. All of these things surrounded the arrival of President Jimmy Carter after he became President.

I was never a supporter of President Carter during his time in office. I remember clearly the day after the 1976 election when my math teacher said in class that he voted for Carter because “He (Carter) represented the little guy.” Another social studies teacher, on the day of the election, did the electoral college math on the blackboard in geography class. Mr. Milne told me Ford would win the election if two or three states went for Ford (I remember that one was Hawaii). It turned out that my teacher was wrong, and Carter won. For a time, it seemed that the country wanted to get away from the word “Watergate” by electing Jimmy Carter. Like many other people on that 1977 Inauguration Day, I was surprised by how President-Elect Carter got out of his limousine and walked part of the parade route along with family members. The Secret Service must have had fits with that decision, but that was Jimmy Carter.

 According to my research, President Carter’s closest connection to Gratiot County occurred after he left office and went hunting in northern Michigan. According to a story, Carter and his Secret Service agents stopped to eat at a McDonalds (possibly in Clare). While those at the register who took the group’s order did not recognize the Secret Service, Carter later walked up to the corner by himself to ask for a refill of his beverage. The girl at the counter gazed at Carter and said he looked familiar. Jimmy Carter just smiled.

Still, by my first year of college in 1979, President Carter seemed out of favor with most people I listened to or talked to in mid-Michigan. Something we knew as “The Iran Hostage Crisis” was developing in 1978-1979 as the Shah of Iran was forced out of power and fled to the United States. A group of 52 American hostages would be held for 444 days in Iran, and Carter could do little to end the crisis. One of those held in Tehran, Robert Ode, had a sister in St. Louis, which brought the issues of the hostage crisis home. After a rescue mission to get the hostages failed, to some, it looked more and more like war was imminent. I had recently filled out my Selective Service card and sent it to the government. Remember, this was all only five to six years after the end of the Vietnam War, and many young people my age feared another draft. As a result of all of this, Carter was even more unpopular.

For those of us old enough in Gratiot County, we remember how the Carter story ended. In 1980, Ronald Reagan defeated Carter resoundingly, and Carter became a one-term president. As for me, I helped send Jimmy Carter on his way as I voted for Reagan and joined a movement that believed the country needed change.

Jump this story ahead over twenty years. Jimmy Carter has long been out of office, but his personal story intrigues me. This was not so much for his faith and character, for which I came to admire him. It was now how Carter became one of the most successful Presidents AFTER he left office. These works included his commitments to Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center, working with countries on free and fair elections, and seeking to eliminate Guinea Worm in impoverished areas of Africa. President Carter also had earned a new title, which I heard several times and read about in an issue of Parade Magazine in the late 1990s as “America’s Most Accessible President.”

I found the title correct, as I would go on to meet President Carter three times. The first was when he did a surprise walk-through at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum and then reappeared at a dinner held there for teachers. Once, while traveling through Plains, Georgia, I saw the President talking to an area farmer as they examined watermelons that the farmer had in the back of his truck. Only one agent was standing next to the President. Anyone could have approached Carter had he wanted to converse.

Having re-thought Jimmy Carter as the man, the person, the character – and not so much the President – my opinion of him changed. Part of this was a more mature understanding of the significant national and international problems Carter faced when he entered office in the late 1970s. As a result, I decided to write a letter to the President after learning that he often read his mail. In a letter that I wrote to the President in late 2002, I told him that while I did not vote for him in 1980, I had tremendous admiration for him and the problems he faced as President, and how he was seeking to stay active in local, state, national, and even international issues. I also confessed that I had not voted for him in 1980, but my views of him as a person had changed drastically.

It must have been early December 2002 when the secretary called me to the Fulton High School office where I taught. When I arrived, I was told that I had received an important letter and would want to see it. The return address shocked me as it indicated that President Carter chose to reply to my letter. I received a copy of the initial letter, and at the top were the words, “ Jim, come down to Plains (Georgia) and see me.” Even more strangely, the letter I received was shortly after it was announced that Carter would receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

One of Carter’s works was teaching Sunday School at the Maranatha Baptist Church outside of Plains. Before the time of the President’s return letter, Sundays at the church drew people from across the nation and the world. I chose to find out what was happening and visited Plains with another family relative in the summer of 2003. It was hot, it was peanut country, and it was Georgia.

I think we had to arrive at the church about one hour before the church offered Sunday School, and I had to pass a couple of Secret Service agents who “wanded” me down to check for weapons. That morning, we had a pretty good seat only 4-5 rows from the President. Before he began, Carter asked the audience where people were from. While I said “Michigan,” I heard people say they were from across and outside the United States – some even from Europe and Africa. One of the humorous parts of his lesson was when he read a passage from the Old Testament lesson that mentioned a place in Jerusalem, then known as the Water Gate. It got a few laughs and snickers as Carter paused after he read the verse. I also recall looking over my shoulder toward the President, seated in the opposite aisle and behind me during the worship service. I was greeted with a very icy stare from a Secret Service Agent who stared back at me.

At the end of the Sunday church service, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter offered an opportunity that no other United States President has done. All of those present were allowed to have their picture taken with the Carters outside of the church, under the condition that your camera was ready, you stepped up and stood next to the Carters, and you did not engage the Carters in any discussion. Even though almost everyone thanked the Carters after the photo op, the couple remained stoic, looking almost straight ahead. The Carters probably spent 20+ minutes on the photos, as everyone had been told to be ready as the line moved along for their photo opportunity.

Before the end of the service, President Carter also invited all visitors to Mama’s Kitchen in Plains for lunch. At the restaurant, the Carters sat off from the dining area in a separate room with his Secret Service agents. As Carter promised in his remarks before we left the church, the “Mama’s” menu was excellent. Over the years, I traveled through Plains several times, my last stop being in 2017.

Today, one of the remaining things my paternal grandmother left was a ceramic mug she obtained when my grandparents stopped in Plains, Georgia, during a return trip from Florida in the late 1970s. The souvenir featured the beaming smiling face of then-President Carter.

Today, Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter’s lives after they left the White House still speak to us about pertinent issues that each of us who enter retirement must still answer. The questions are somber but true. What do I do with my remaining days on the earth? What is the meaning of life? How do I respond later in life to the needs of others, injustice, reform, and change in America and the world? How do I live a meaningful life? What is to be my legacy after I leave the earth?

While I never initially supported him as a young adult in the 1970s, I later found Jimmy Carter’s character (Carter the man) to be a good example of how to live and end life.

Copyright 2025 James M Goodspeed

Gratiot County in Depression and War, January 1940: “A New Year, New Prospects?”

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January 1940 photos from top to bottom: Fred Pernert, manager at the St. Louis Co-operative Creamery, took on the role as county chairman for the Finnish Relief Fund; a picture of Japan’s new three-man pocket submarine appeared in the newspapers; “Mugsey,” the Holstein cow belonged to J. Ward Doyle of Breckenridge. No other cow in the county produced milk at cost as Mugsey did; the dean of American League umpires, George Moriarty, appeared at Ithaca High School.

By January, the holidays passed, and winter finally arrived in Gratiot County, dumping snow and creating colder temperatures. As a new year started, residents wondered if the Depression was beginning to end.

What would happen in Europe as fighting continued?

It was January 1940 in Gratiot County.

Images of War in Gratiot County

County newspapers continued to provide Gratiot readers with glimpses of the fighting taking place in the world. Most news stories seemed to pay attention to Nazi Germany. However, in January, news coverage focused on the Russian invasion of Finland, which took place near the Arctic Circle. Here, Finnish soldiers endured bombings and had to flee to neighboring Norway for refuge. During some of the fighting, the Finns wore white uniforms as camouflage, while Russians fought in their traditional dark suits. Names of Finnish cities like Turku, Hanko, and Tornio all now became newsworthy while they endured Russian attacks. Over in St. Louis, Fred Pernert, manager of the St. Louis Co-operative Creamery, accepted the chairmanship of the Finnish Relief Fund. Pernert received the request from President Herbert Hoover to serve as chairman. This fund sought to help the Finns as they fought for principles similar to America’s. Supporters could send money to the Creamery office or Commercial Savings Bank. In St. Louis, Rotarians heard a speech from John L. Giles entitled “Communism in the United States.” Giles went on to explain his experience with Communist propaganda and urged listeners to be aware of the dangers of “the Reds.”

 A cartoon entitled “The Middle Man” in county newspapers depicted the predicament neutral nations found as they tried to sail through the British Blockade, which contained German sea mines. This problem echoed events over twenty years earlier when the United States tried to stay out of the First World War while trading with European nations. In an ironic twist, the Gratiot County Herald showed Japan’s new three-person vest pocket submarine, which started production. Small submarines like this appeared at Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

News coverage also featured two Gratiot men who served the country while the rest of the world was at war. Fireman First Class Arthur Wood of Alma came home on a ten-day pass to spend the holidays with his parents. Fireman Wood, in the service for four years and ten months, told the Alma Record about what he saw during fighting at Soochow Creek, China, in 1937 and rescuing the crew of the gunboat Panay in 1939. Wood was also involved in the rescue of the steamship President Hoover near the island of Formosa. Other journeys led to Vladivostok, Russia; Manila, Philipines; Siam; and journeys through Alaskan and Chinese waters. Over time, the young sailor managed to keep a record of his journeys in a picture album. Sergeant Chester Harvey of the 106th Cavalry of Alma was the other serviceman to return to Gratiot County. Harvey went to Fort Riley, Kansas, for three months of training to prepare for a promotion as a commissioned officer. Harvey, an Alma College graduate, also had the record as one of the best shots from Troop B.

The Depression Rolls Onward

One of the new developments in Gratiot County by 1940 concerned changes for those requesting welfare. The Gratiot County Social Welfare Board made a presentation to the County Board of Supervisors regarding hospitalization for those on welfare, especially afflicted children. Mable Clelland, county agent, was ordered by the Supervisors to handle investigations of the sick and disabled children until the state appointed a person to replace him. One positive report showed that the county had 113 fewer relief cases than a year ago. The Supervisors then transferred $10,000 from the general fund to the social welfare fund, giving it a balance of $24,000 for the upcoming year.

The biggest news concerning welfare centered around Gratiot County’s new program unofficially called Work for Relief. Relief clients who wanted assistance now had to do work provided by the county. One type of employment meant cutting brush along county highways for $1.50 daily. The question was then asked, what about the many clients who would not be able to labor cutting brush? To answer this question, the board asked physicians to designate those unfit for such labor. Still,  “work or no relief” caused relief clients to appear at one of five county garages on the first day to get their work assignment, which entailed working eight hours daily. Twenty-two showed up at Alma, eighteen in Breckenridge, ten at Ithaca, nine at Ashley, and seven in Middleton. To help the clients, the county road commissioners furnished tools and supervision.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) continued in Gratiot County, although it sometimes lacked favor from some, like the Gratiot supervisors. Mr. Morrell, a WPA legal advisor, proposed a five-year federal relief project involving compiling a Gratiot County history to the supervisors. The project would employ five people, and the federal government would finance it with $4,000. Gratiot County had to pay $300. The results? The Board flatly turned the offer down. One commissioner likened the project to a dog chasing a train. What would the dog do with the train once the dog caught the train?  In other words, what would the long-term benefit be for creating the history of Gratiot County? In other news, Alma Junior High hosted a state WPA Project where Gladys Bradshaw Perry, state supervisor of the Michigan State College WPA Project, brought an extensive collection of toys created by WPA workers. The collection consisted of stuffed dolls and animals, educational toys, doll beds, and various games done by WPA workers. The federal government paid wages for the workers, and materials came from sponsors and co-sponsors, all in an attempt to give the unemployed jobs and the opportunity to learn a trade. The WPA also did other things in the county, such as holding a city-wide ping pong tournament. Both WPA recreation leaders, Jack Acker and Wilford McWilliams, oversaw the program. Other WPA recreation programs occurred at Alma’s Wright Park, the Old Republic School, the Republic skating rink, and the city skating rink. Over at St. Louis, a new skating rink debuted through the Community Council, which opened weeknights and weekend afternoons. The WPA and NYA (National Youth Administration) had members overseeing activities at the rink. In addition to a weekend of working to create good ice, skaters also had a warming house for taking a break from skating. Over at East Alma Recreation, the WPA sponsored Junior Bug-a-boo, Senior Bug-a-boo, and Girls Doodle Bug clubs. Participants enjoyed food, music, crafts, and dance instruction.

The other significant New Deal Program in Gratiot County concerned the NYA (National Youth Administration). Vernon Davis of Alma was one of only 200 young people chosen to take a two-year program that educated young men interested in aviation. Davis enrolled at the Waterloo Project at Camp Cassidy, which trained men in mechanical engineering. The young men in this program lived in cottages, each with a leader (Davis was elected as one). NYA workers would also be involved with 2,150 Gratiot youth in a nationwide survey to determine unemployment problems for those ages 16-24. The survey attempted to determine how many young people were out of school and did not have jobs. Some of the NYA workers in the county helped conduct the study. Here in Gratiot County, NYA members worked clearing the ground of dead logs around Conservation League Park, built tables and benches,  a shelter house, and rebuilt a log cabin. Around city hall, boys in the NYA did shop work and cleaned and painted walls. Over at Alma Schools, several worked in woodworking classes. A sewing project sponsored by the city of Alma involved NYA, and the Salvation Army employed ten unmarried young women aged 18 to 25. The project had help from a local company that loaned machines so the women could condition old clothing and create layettes for newborn children.

In other news, the Townsend Club followers continued to hold meetings in the county. President Charles Reed, who oversaw the Alma club, invited Reverend George Gullen from Detroit to attend a program at the American Legion Hall over Reed’s Shoe Store. Gullen represented the Townsend movement in the state as its attorney. Another Townsend meeting occurred at the St. Louis Park Hotel, where Harry Elliot, a national speaker, planned to discuss the Townsend Plan. Over 200 people attended the program, ending with Edgerton Crandell playing the xylophone.

New Deal programs like the WPA, NYA, and others often faced criticism from Americans who believed the programs to be a waste of government dollars. One such program gave the public millions of surplus apples at seventy cents a bushel. Because farmers could hardly get twenty-five cents a bushel for apples, a critic wondered why the government paid seventy cents for each bushel it planned to give away without helping farmers. On top of that, too many apples seemed to go to waste, and to this county newspaper, the government just seemed to be “shaking the tree.”

The Outdoors, Farming, and Farm Issues in January 1940

After the holidays, Alma urged Christmas tree owners to deposit their used trees at Conservation Park. The previous winter, large flocks of birds appeared and used the trees as shelter. The Gratiot County Herald ran a story about a new winter sport – ice fishing in Michigan. However, a new law prohibited using lights at night to catch bluegills. In another topic relating to fishing, Michigan sugar beet executives met to discuss the issue of epidemic fish killings again in places like the Pine River below Alma and St. Louis. The large number of fish killed was attributed to the sugar beet plant’s inadequate treatment facilities. It took ten miles of chasing, but hunter Charles Boots shot a red box west of Bridgeville along the Maple River but a second red fox got away, and many had been seen between Bridgeville and Maple Rapids. Henry B. Gulick of Mason, Michigan, grew up in Lafayette  Township. He recalled what hunting was like as far back as the 1870s in Gratiot County and described the abundance of bears, which made hunting very successful. Within three hours on one hunting day in 1884, Gulick and his family shot three bears in Section 24, and with the help of their wagon, they had them back home by noon. The largest bear weighed 450 pounds.

Farmers met at different shows and meetings as the 1940 winter moved forward. The Middleton Methodist Church hosted the Gratiot-Clinton District Association of Farmers. Middleton merchants furnished roasted meat for the noon potluck meal as a break from the whole day of meetings. Don Sharkey from St. Louis hosted one of three tractor shows in January. Sharkey, who sponsored one meeting at the Community Hardware Company’s implement building, highlighted the use of John Deere tractors and implements. One of the features of the meetings included free talking movies and a free lunch. The St. Louis Beet Growers Association held its ninth annual meeting in the St. Louis High School auditorium. The meeting was expected to draw 500 to 600 farmers, and the Lutheran, Episcopal, Christian Church, and American Legion Auxiliary provided a meal. When the day ended, over 800 people attended. News came from Washington that a government sugar beet program would take place in 1940, but payment rates would be the same as in 1938 and 1939.

Some of the controversial news involving farmers that winter dealt with the sensitive issue of ending Sunday hunting in Gratiot County. The Gratiot County Board of Commissioners voted 18 to 6 to petition the state legislature to allow a referendum vote on the issue. Clinton County also sought to ask the state the same thing. A group of ministers in the Gratiot County Council of Churches and Sunday Schools approached the commissioners and urged an end to Sunday hunting. However, a ban would not be enforced for at least one year. Opinions on both sides of the issue appeared in local newspapers. H.O. Butler wrote a long letter to the Gratiot County Herald telling readers that he was against a ban on Sunday hunting, saying, “It is no more wicked to hunt on Sunday than on any other one of the five remaining work days.” He added that if preachers did more of their job preaching “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” from the scriptures, there would be no hunting on Sundays as more hunters would be in church. Butler also added that he did not hunt or own a gun.

 H.J. Pinter and D.W. Olson announced the opening of Blue Ribbon Hatchery in Alma, located one block south of city hall. The owners planned to buy poultry and sell Blue Ribbon poultry feeds to the public. Swift and Company of Alma published a fifteen-page annual Yearbook of Swift and Company that covered what the company did in the past year. “Mugsey,” a Holstein owned by J. Ward Doyle of Breckenridge, appeared in the news as a record-grade cow. Mugsey produced 17,708 pounds of milk and 739.7 pounds of butterfat during 1939, returning to owner Doyle $229.79 above feed cost. Doyle wanted to know if any other cow in the county had a higher producing grade.

Breckenridge was busy that January as it hosted its 12th annual community fair. The Future Farmer Chapter and Breckenridge merchants sponsored the two-day event, which enabled 800 people to view exhibits of farm produce, sewing and home economics, and handcraft projects.

Gratiot County also took a moment to pause and reflect on the history of farming. A long article in the Gratiot County Herald reminded readers of the vital role of the County Extension Agent. The article reminded readers that Gratiot County’s first agent went on duty starting in 1917. The current agent, C.P. Milham, provided the history and details.

The Long Arm of the Law in Gratiot County in Winter

If anyone wanted to know the status of lawbreakers, they only needed to read the newspapers. During the previous month, the prosecuting attorney, Robert H. Baker, announced that thirty convictions occurred, with an additional 21 traffic violation convictions. Eight people in the group were convicted of illegally trapping muskrats. Another offense, passing bad checks without sufficient funds, had five culprits.

 January began with a settlement in the farm accounting case of Rowland Sexton, a Flint minister, and Maurie Arman. Arman operated as a tenant on Sexton’s farm near Houserville for nine years. The pair settled the accounting issue after evidence was taken to circuit courts. Fines and costs brought in approximately $280 to the court.

Various stories behind some criminal cases contained a mixture of sadness, grief, and even disbelief. Berniece Barry, wife of a Porter Township oil worker, failed to have her driver’s license after being involved in a traffic accident. It cost her $55.05 or 60 days in jail. Cornelius Eichorn, reported to be a well-to-do farmer in Emerson Township, made a petition to regain his automobile license, which had been suspended when Eichorn drove his car against a car off of US-27.   Eichorn had not been allowed to drive for several months. Eichorn’s wife petitioned the court to speak on her husband’s behalf in a February hearing. Mike Miczek of Middleton was brought before Judge Potter for stealing coal from Middleton Farmers Elevator. He paid $18.15 for fines and costs or spent 20 days in jail. Newell Little of Wheeler got the book thrown at him when the court sentenced him from 7 ½ to 22 ½ years for forgery. Little forged the name of William Kipp of Wheeler to a check amounting to $12.50. Little had a long line of forgery offenses that came up at sentencing. Kipp was sent to Jackson Prison as a second-offense felon.

Richard Storms, a WPA worker in Alma, stood mute after being arrested for assaulting his wife, who was trying to find medicine for a sick baby. Storms wanted the baby to stop crying and beat her. Storms was allowed to return home while awaiting trial as long as he “lived in accord” with his wife. Theodore Orwig, age 18, of  Alma, broke into Clare Shunk’s car on an Alma street. Orwig had previous probation terms and, therefore, went to jail for ninety days.

Jesse Perez’s attorneys attempted to bring his three-year-old murder case back to court. Perez argued that he did not understand the implications of his confession to a murder he committed in Seville Township in 1936. Perez was convicted of killing another Mexican beet worker, Gonzola Silba, after a dispute while working in the field.

Probably the most talked about topic in Gratiot County in January remained the Dewey Glinke embezzlement case. The probe of Glinke’s efforts to embezzle funds from the Gratiot County treasurer’s office now went to state auditors, and Gratiot County had to pay the state for the audits. Had Glinke been manipulating records for only one or two years or more? To know for sure, auditors now suggested a complete probe of Glinke’s work, which went back five years. The current Glinke defalcations ran up to $1,800. Despite this scandal, the state auditor commended and sympathized with County Treasurer William Federspiel for his cooperation and determination in getting to the bottom of Glinke’s crime.

Norman Prange of St. Louis tested the city of Alma’s peddling laws. He made $1 on a sale at one of his door-to-door stops and was arrested after he failed to pay a $40 license fee. The case was to be reviewed in February, as his lawyer argued that the transaction involved interstate commerce. Finally, In the February 1940 term, two county women, Mrs. Never Hole of Alma and Pearl Strong of St. Louis, served jury duty. The rest of the jury pool consisted of men.

And So We Do Not Forget

The Alma First Methodist Church started holding Lenten season evangelistic services over two weeks. Reverend Edward Patsch of East Liverpool, Ohio, served as evangelist…Eugene T. Walker of Alma wrote a letter to the Alma Record Alma Journal regarding his memories of operating thrashing machines during harvest times in Arcada and Sumner Township. Walker described how he threshed a total of 927,194 bushels of grain in his lifetime. Walker also collected and owned old thresher catalogs, which he loaned to interested readers…Gratiot County Treasurer William G. Federspiel announced that citizens of the county continued to conduct good tax collections. Roughly 58 percent of assessed taxes had been paid so far…Viewers continued to see Alma’s Local News Reel on Wednesday and Thursday nights at the Strand Theatre. Also, Billy Farrell entertained audiences from 6:45 to 7:15 p.m. during intermissions each night. Farrell played the Hammond Organ before features on Tuesday and Friday nights…Alma City Manager William Reynolds laid the rules for those using the city skating rink. The number one rule said no games of “I got it,” “Crack the whip,” or “Tag”…The hamlet of Pompeii witnessed a fire that caused over $7,000 worth of damage to the home of L.E. Passenger, which turned out to be a complete loss. Pompeii had no fire department, and all calls had to be answered by the fire department at Perrinton…Members of the Alma Fire Department planned the upcoming annual fireman’s ball. The ball took place on Washington’s birthday.

Used car sales in Alma remained very brisk. Hickerson Chevrolet Sales said it had more used car sales during the winter than could be remembered. Usually, car buyers wait until after winter to make their purchases, but not this January…Mr. Bourikas at the Main Café in Alma announced that the new modern fireproof addition enabled him to keep up with his growing business. The new 20×24 floor space connected to the dining room and helped him serve the busy crowds on Saturday and Sunday nights…The Newberry Store in Alma announced a new addition that called for an 80 percent addition to its existing space. Newberrys planned to lease the adjacent store building, which belonged to Floyd Luchini. The Simi Café that operated next door planned to move. A 40-foot addition in the back of Newberry’s allowed more space. A partition between the two buildings would be removed, and the store would have different entry locations…The first fatal traffic accident of 1940 took place in Wheeler Township when Lawrence Bartlett, age 29, died when his car collided with one from Ricard Jessup, age 19, of Wheeler. Bartlett, who died at Smith Memorial Hospital, failed to stop on M-46 and crossed in front of the Jessup vehicle.

Red Cross contributions thus far totaled $2,230.90. An increase of 408 new members raised the total from this time last year. Emerson Township had 61 members and contributed $75.60….The newsreel man from the Strand Theatre made his way to Grayling to watch the crowning of the Snow Queen during Grayling’s Winter Festival. The queen, Miss Pauline Merrill, previously lived in St. Louis and Breckenridge and was well known in Alma. The movies will be shown before the show each day until February 4. The film also featured several Detroit Tigers players who attended the festival…Bernard Gallagher, who worked at Bragg’s Standard Oil service station, was taken to Wilcox-Carney Hospital for acute appendicitis. After emergency surgery, Gallagher was resting and had much improved…Mr. and Mrs. Louis Gittleman, owners of their style shop in Alma, traveled to Detroit for a fashion show. The Gittlemans hoped to obtain new merchandise for the Alma store and the ones they owned in Greenville and Ionia…St. Louis Community Council announced that the new skating rink for children would soon open on Wheeler Field. Adults who wanted to skate used the rink on the newly lighted softball field…The Alma Public Library continued to grow as demands for books in practical arts, history, and special sciences doubled. The Masonic Home received 442 books on loan from the library, and the Gleaner Home received 108 books…The Gratiot County Farm Bureau held its fourth annual meeting in the basement of the Ithaca Methodist Church. After the business meeting, a potluck dinner occurred at noon, followed by special singing by Mrs. Neikirk. Mrs. Hearn played the piano…The movie “Beau Geste,” starring Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Susan Hayward, played at the Strand Theatre in Alma. Tickets were ten and twenty cents…January 22-26 became known as Health Week for Gratiot County, according to county school commissioner Donald L. Baker. All teachers in the county stressed the importance of good health with students. Topics included keeping the body clean, proper care for teeth, getting physical examinations by the family doctor, vaccinations, and good sources of drinking water…Redman Trailer sales experienced a 200 percent increase for 1939 compared to the previous year. The company sold 400 trailers and grossed $220,000. The company employed sixty men with a payroll of $38,000.

The Gratiot County Herald announced its tenth annual baby contest. A list of rules about those who entered the first babies born in 1940 could be found in the January 4, 1940 newspaper. The first prize involved a baby bed with a mattress or a high chair with a waterproof tray. First place went to Judith Joan Russell of St. Louis, born at 4:18 a.m. on January 1 to Mr. and Mrs. Rolland Russell…Young Dale Paul Todd of Middleton won the Gratiot County Herald’s New Year’s Baby Contest in 1939 and celebrated his first birthday on January 1. Now walking around the house using chairs and furniture, young Dale Todd weighed 25 pounds and measured 29 inches…Roy W. Richards of Alma was appointed enumerator for the 1940 census. Richards began a check-up of business property, but the population count would not start until April 1…Alma’s new sander now sanded three blocks of the road with the same material that formerly only did one road…E.R. Erickson and Edwin Harwood completed work at the University of Michigan to obtain their master’s Degrees. Harwood taught English and wrote a thesis for his degree; Erickson chose to do extra work hours instead of the thesis. Both men taught at St. Louis High School…The St. Louis Rollers women’s bowling team, outfitted in their new uniforms, won two of three games at Alma Recreation Alleys. St.  Louis merchants donated the uniforms…Over 100 couples attended the annual J-Hop held at St. Louis High School auditorium on a Friday evening. Giant white stars hung from the light blue ceiling while the orchestra’s stage displayed blue lights on Christmas trees. Kenneth Harrier, vice-president of the class, led the grand march along with Elaine Ellsworth. Several classes had graduated in attendance from as far back as 1934…462 Gratiot County teachers with teacher certificates filed their oath of allegiance. Those who had not filed had 60 days to do so.

“The Wizard of Oz” made its first movie appearance in Gratiot County when it debuted at the Ideal Theatre in Ithaca on January 11. Admission was 15 cents and 10 cents…The Perrinton Community Hall underwent renovations, and new seats and furniture were installed. Upon completion, the Fulton High School basketball team planned to play its home games at the hall… Noted columnist and radio speaker Boake Carter appeared in Ithaca as part of the Gratiot Town Hall series. Carter was initially supposed to appear in October, but with the outbreak of war in Europe, he remained in Washington. Carter’s reputation as one of the finest radio speakers of his day meant good attendance for his program…The Gratiot County Rural Letter Carrier’s Association held a potluck supper at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Knapp in Alma…Ithaca Schools gave out standardized tests to students on two days in mid-January. Superintendent McKibben said the tests revealed whether the schools expected too much or too little for children in each grade. The scores told whether students performed at their grade level, or higher or lower…The Ballard Trophy at Ithaca High School went to Ralph Cheney for the most valuable member of the 1939 football team. Elwood Mellinger was announced as captain of the 1940 team…The Mellinger School planned a P.T.A. meeting later in January. George (Elmer) Schleder and his “amateurs” would provide entertainment….The Union Telephone Company issued its 1940 telephone directory with 3,094 names of subscribers. Alma had 1,350 telephone stations… The Christmas weather seemed somewhat light, but cold temps in January dropped to the mercury to four above zero…The Ithaca High School Athletic Club sponsored the dean of American League Umpires, George Moriarty, who spoke at the Ithaca High School gym. Moriarty also showed a movie entitled “Touching All Three Bases.”  The Ithaca High School Athletic Club sponsored the event, and entrance was free.

And that was January 1940 in Gratiot County during Depression and War.

Copyright 2024 James M. Goodspeed

We Remember “An Urge to Kill in St. Louis, 1958”

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Above: Carol Ann Risk, the young St. Louis girl who was murdered in early December 1958; the Risk home as it looked at the time of the murder on North Clinton Street in St. Louis; Michigan State Police divers quickly found the murder weapon in the Pine River on the day after the killing; the only existing picture of Paul Rondeau as he appeared as a sophomore in the 1958-1959 school yearbook. Of all of the St. Louis sophomores photographed, Rondeau was the only one to appear in a tie and jacket.

On December 1, 1958, a young girl in St. Louis was killed in what was then considered the most horrific murder since the town’s lumbering era. Twelve-year-old Carol Ann Risk was suddenly and unexpectedly shot by a neighbor boy named Paul Leroy Rondeau. The Risks lived in a small house at 322 North Clinton Street, two doors north of the Rondeaus. Christian Risk, the father, served as a St. Louis fireman and worked at the chemical plant. The mother, Lova Risk, lost five children to miscarriages and deaths at early ages. Their family consisted of a son, Michael, and a daughter, Carol Ann, who would soon be thirteen. She had naturally curly brown hair and brown eyes and was in the seventh grade. Quiet and studious, Carol Ann also liked roller skating and going to the movies.

    The Willet Rondeau family moved to St. Louis from Alpena, Michigan, in 1952. Willet Rondeau was a traveling salesman who sold school supplies and was often only home one night a week. Their mother, Betty, was active in the community. There were two children: their son, Paul, who was fifteen, and a daughter, Beverly, who was younger. Paul struggled with a speech impediment but participated on the school debate team.  He was an above-average student with few friends, a “lone wolf.”

      On the weekend of November 29, 1958, Paul asked to borrow Christian Risk’s .25 caliber handgun, took it, and kept it inside his high-top boots and under his pillow at night. On the evening of Monday, December 1, 1958, Christian and Lova Risk took their son by car to help him with his paper route.

    Two hours later, Rondeau went to the Risk’s home.  Carol Ann answered the door, and Rondeau asked if he could borrow Michael’s bike. After letting him in, she resumed watching “The Huckleberry Hound Show.” Rondeau stepped toward a heater behind her chair, pulled out the pistol, and shot Carol Ann through the forehead. Getting up from the chair, she screamed, and Rondeau shot her again, this time through the temple. Surprisingly, no one in the neighborhood heard the shot or knew what had happened. Paul then headed downtown to finish running errands for his mother. Crossing the bridge southwest of Wheeler Field, he tossed the gun into the Pine River.

    Entering the living room upon returning home, Christian Risk was first to see his daughter slumped over in her chair.  Dr. William Knowles was called and arrived quickly, followed by the St. Louis police. The State Police were also called to assist with the investigation.  The police created a list of three possible suspects from the neighborhood. Clearing two left Paul Rondeau.  He was picked up and questioned. Rondeau was questioned for only an hour when he confessed.  Rondeau’s written confession simply read, “I had an urge to kill someone. I don’t know the exact reason I did it, but I knew after pulling the trigger that I did wrong.” After obtaining the gun two days earlier, he had planned to kill someone.  While held at the Ithaca County jail he talked to a reporter from the Detroit Free Press.   “Maybe someone can find out what’s wrong with my mind.” Rondeau stated he wanted “what’s coming to me” and described Carol Ann Risk as “an old buddy, a pal, and Michael Risk is my best friend.” He concluded that killing Carol Ann the way he did “was a good setup.”

     Upon learning that Rondeau had thrown the murder weapon in the river, Michigan State Police divers found it within an hour. Probate Judge Mildred E. Taft ordered him to undergo testing at the Lafayette Clinic in Detroit. Dr. Norman Westlund certified that Paul Rondeau had a mental illness. In February 1960, fourteen months after the murder, Rondeau was transferred from Detroit to the Traverse City State Hospital for the mentally ill. Doctors believed Rondeau needed long-term care, and he still had not shown remorse for killing Carol Ann Risk. Judge Taft ruled that Rondeau would not be released from Traverse City without consent from her court. When the Gratiot County Prosecuting Attorney Fred Passenger petitioned the court to try Rondeau in a criminal court, Judge Taft would not grant the request until Rondeau turned seventeen.

    Times were hard for the Risk family. Carol Ann was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in a new red dress a neighbor made for her upcoming birthday and the new saddle shoes her mother had gotten for her. Lova Risk died in December 1959 from a heart condition, and her father, Christian, died a year later. Michael Risk moved from Gratiot County, entered the Air Force, and sold insurance. He died in 2010 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

    Paul Leroy Rondeau, however, disappeared from Gratiot County’s history. The Lafayette Clinic of Detroit closed in 1982. The Traverse City Hospital, later known as the Northern Michigan Asylum and Traverse City Regional Psychiatric Hospital, closed in 1989. As a result, those records disappeared, and Rondeau’s juvenile court records were sealed; only he could open them. A search shows a man named Paul L. Rondeau of similar age who once lived in Wayne County, Michigan. From there, this Rondeau married, moved outside Las Vegas, Nevada, and died in 2017. Was this Carol Ann Risk’s murderer?

    Sadly, all that remains today from this St. Louis murder are three graves located on Oak Grove Cemetery’s east side. Under a shade tree, a young girl buried in a new red dress and black and white saddle shoes rests. She tragically died on an early winter’s day in 1958, the victim of an urge to kill.  

Copyright 2024 James M. Goodspeed

We Remember January 1920 and Launching the S.S. City of Alma

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Above: An actual photo of the S.S. City of Alma taken in the 1920s; this postcard, supposedly of the ship, was issued with the ship’s name painted on the hull; Esther Rhodes, the daughter of a prominent Alma businessman, christened the ship at a ceremony in 1920.

Sixteen-year-old Esther Rhodes of Alma stepped up on the platform adjoining the ship’s top. Freshly painted battleship grey, the vessel was draped in many flags and streamers. Miss Rhodes then broke a bottle on the ship’s hull and pronounced, “I christen thee City of Alma.” Amid the cheering of the small crowd, the boat slowly slid into the water. With the christening, the group celebrated the culmination of a successful post-World War I war bond drive in Alma.

During the Fourth Liberty Loan Drive in late 1918, Alma earned recognition as one of Michigan’s largest purchasers of Liberty Bonds. Over eighty percent of the people in Alma bought a bond – a record for cities buying $10,000 or less in bonds. By raising over $403,000, Alma led Gratiot County in its effort to raise over $1,000,000 for the war effort that fall. Most of the time, Michigan towns and cities with successful bond drives had tanks named in their honor. After the war ended, the government turned to naming ships in honor of places for their work with bond sales.

On January 20, 1920, at 9:15 AM, nine people went down to the Bristol, Pennsylvania pier. Charles G. Rhodes, his wife, and daughter accompanied Alma’s Mayor Murphy and his wife. Rhodes was a prominent Alma businessman and was vice president and spokesman for the Republic Truck Factory. Two men who helped lead Alma’s successful Liberty Loan Drive, Lieutenant T.A. Robinson and Lieutenant D. Sullivan, also attended. Three people from United States Emergency Fleet Corporation offices also went along. 

The ceremony to launch a ship took place at the Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation. Ten boats, in different stages of construction, could all be seen—one of them, the S.S. City of Alma was 417 feet long and 54 feet wide and belonged in the 9000-tonnage class. Onboard, it had “palatial quarters” for its ship’s crew and officers. A fabricated type of ship, it had rolled plates in the hull. These plates had holes punched into them at steel mills hundreds of miles away, a result of a type of production that sped up the building of ships during the war. This ship also had 3000 horsepower and burned oil on three boilers, but it could be converted to coal if necessary.

 Still,  during the Alma visit, the new vessel was unfinished and would not be ready for several weeks. Despite the delay, the Alma group received a tour aboard a similar ship in the naval yard, and a set of the S.S City of Alma’s blueprints and official ceremony photos went to Alma City Hall for display. When it became seaworthy, the new ship was assigned to the United States Shipping Board and then to the American Steamship Line. The vessel eventually belonged to the Waterman Steamship Company in Mobile, Alabama, during World War II, even though the United States Maritime Commission controlled the boat through a charter.

However, the story of the ship had a tragic ending. On June 3, 1942, while carrying 7400 tons of manganese ore and 400 miles northeast of Puerto Rico, a German submarine, U-172, sank it with one torpedo. The ship sank within three minutes, and 29 out of 39 men aboard died. The ten remaining crew members floated in a lifeboat for four days before being rescued.

Sadly, after 22 years of service, the S.S. City of Alma went to the bottom of the Caribbean.

Copyright 2024 James M. Goodspeed

Gratiot County During Depression and War, December 1939: “A Gratiot Pre-War Christmas”

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Gratiot County prepared for Christmas in December 1939: Santa arrives in Ithaca, this time in an automobile. He made more than one trip to the village before Christmas; the Alma Community Christmas League distributed Christmas baskets to 130 families in the area. Pictured from left are Clare Fillmore, Effie Ullman, Fred Towersey, and Captain W.C. Davis of the Salvation Army; the start of the Second World War dominated the year in a review regarding the news.

As winter approached, the beginnings of the Second World War seemed distant and unrelated to Gratiot County. Places with battles and conflicts like Finland and Uruguay made Gratiot residents pull out their world atlas to see where things happened.

The Depression meant again that the holiday season for many in the county would again be a hard one. Santa was here, and trees, houses, and buildings were lit to start the holiday season.

It was December 1939 in Gratiot County.

News during the Depression

The Alma Community Christmas League needed help for the upcoming Christmas season. To prepare toys as gifts for Alma youngsters, NYA (National Youth Association) workers moved from working on the Conservation League improvement project to working in shifts in the Salvation Army’s basement. WPA (Works Progress Administration) crew members resumed projects due to the mild winter weather. Work on Elwell Street resumed after a six-week layoff, and then the crew moved to East End Street. About forty men worked on this WPA project.

Gratiot County supervisors continued to prepare for the new county social welfare commission. The commission needed to appoint a collector who sought reimbursement from adults who had been hospitalized and received treatment at county expense. The county also sought to get reimbursement from parents of disabled and afflicted children who initially pledged to reimburse the state for their child’s treatment. An estimated $25,000 to $30,000 remained outstanding in Gratiot County and the county welfare relief fund had a balance of $1,938.85.

The State of Michigan’s general fund deficit grew, even though many said business conditions were improving. As of June 30, 1939, the state was $30,651,842 in the red, up over $2.2 million in the last few months.

Charles H. Reed became the president of Club No.1 of the Townsend Recovery Plan in Alma. Reed believed that the Townsend Plan, which attacked the financial needs of the elderly, would remedy the problems created by the Great Depression, including unemployment for young workers. Club No. 1 had 310 active members in Alma.

The World at War

Red Army troops broke the primary defenses at Finland’s line of defense north of Leningrad. The Soviet Union continued to invade Finland. News from Uruguay reported that the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee sank in an estuary. The commander tried to avoid turning his ship over to the British before scuttling the damaged vessel. Two other German sister ships that preyed on Allied shipping remained at sea. Holland tried to protect its waters through an intricate system of underwater mines, and the country continued to move munitions to its forts in anticipation of invasion by the Nazis.

Major George Fielding Eliot was a lecturer at the Gratiot County Town Hall Series in Breckenridge. Eliot spoke to 750 people about world war conditions and what to expect if the United States got involved. Fortunately, according to Eliot, the United States was geographically blessed and was outside of possible airplane attacks. Major Eliot had a vast audience of readers and listeners through Life Magazine, CBS Radio, the New York Herald, and Look Magazine.

American farmers received news that France ordered over 6,000 horses from the United States. France needed horses for its farm and army work to conserve gasoline, and its demands improved the horse market.

Christmas 1939 Comes to Gratiot County

The Santa Claus Club, an organization of fifteen clubs in Ithaca, met to create a united Christmas program for the village. Santa arrived in Ithaca to greet children on Saturday, December 9, following the Ithaca High School band. This time, Santa arrived in an open automobile, and the American Legion Post helped distribute over 1500 candy bags to those in attendance. Ithaca also had its annual Window Night, where the village celebrated the start of the Christmas season. Village officials gave out over 1000 tickets for the fifty prizes awarded to those who attended the Friday night lighting of downtown businesses. Although it rained that night, Santa promised to return to Ithaca the following weekend.

St. Louis also had a Window Night opening ceremony on the same night as Ithaca. Monroe Drug Store won first prize for depicting a mountain village and painted background. Those who passed Doctor Waggoner’s home on East Saginaw Street saw large red candles at the doorway’s entrance and red flood lights on the lawn. The Percy Wheeler home at 215 S. Delaware won first prize for having lighted wreaths in the front windows and a lighted tree in the corner of the house. The Wheelers were awarded ten dollars. The Arthur Stinsons and Carl Johnsons finished second and third. In downtown St. Louis, the community hall had a large star, and the Meteor Café had a giant Christmas tree on its roof.

Alma also had activities during the Christmas season. The Alma Community Christmas League provided food baskets for 130 families in the area, and they went out on Christmas Eve. The League got help from children who attended a free two-hour movie at the Strand Theatre. The cost of admittance was either to donate food or a toy. Before the Christmas Eve basket deliveries, the League also had an extensive Christmas program for the town’s youth at the high school. A group of 650 children showed up and received clothing, toys, dolls, and sweets. The gym also displayed an 18-foot-high Christmas tree, and George Urtel, city treasurer, appeared as Santa Claus. A committee made up of Chester Robinson, Mrs. L.R. Kamperman, and J. David Sullivan judged Alma homes engaged in the town’s Yule Decorations Contest. Two contests were offered, one for institutions and the other for homes. As one walked around Alma, businesses like Van’s Wallpaper and Paint, the Strand Theatre, Holland Furnace Company, and Rademacher Motor Sales all had eye-catching Christmas displays for the public. Just before Christmas, city hall lit its large, illuminated white cross with a red frame. As people walked downtown, music played from the second floor of city hall, courtesy of Chamber of Commerce officials and City Manager Reynolds. Fourteen records of Christmas music played one after the other once the record machine started.

One of the big things people saw in Gratiot County that Christmas was a mammoth billboard located on the curve 2 1/2 miles northwest of Alma on the US-27 trunkline. Both cars and passengers on the Ann Arbor railroad could see the rectangular billboard that measured 120 feet long, 20 feet high, and 10 feet wide. The billboard featured a likeness of the Holy Bible, lit up by 24 electric lamps, and displayed a Biblical quote. The sign was sponsored by an Alma and St. Louis resident who had support from Casey Vander Jagt of Grand Rapids, known as Michigan’s sign evangelist. Vander Jagt had other signs constructed along many Michigan highways in 1939.

Farm Life in December 1940

As the decade of the 1930s ended, Gratiot took stock of its schools and students. County school commissioner Donald L. Baker told an audience at the Ithaca Rotary Club that in 75 percent of the school districts, the only people attending each annual meeting were school officials. In 1939, 122 one-room rural schools operated in Gratiot County. Four schools had two rooms, and two had three rooms. In only two instances did the schools have four or five rooms. Three hundred school teachers worked in the county and were employed in 131 school districts. 9,829 students were enrolled, including 5,097 boys and 4,731 girls. In this group, elementary schools had 4,778 students and 2,452 in high schools. It cost nearly one-half million dollars to run the schools, with $393,000 coming from state aid and $107,000 from local taxes.

The Ithaca Board of Education offered a part-time evening school to an estimated 150 boys in the area regardless of whether they finished high school, had never attended, or dropped out. The Agricultural Department conducted the program, which offered training for those who wanted to learn how to rent their farms, buy livestock, buy a farm, or feed farm animals. All boys between sixteen and middle age were invited to participate.

Life on the farm could be dangerous, as Ed Altenberg of Ithaca discovered. Altenberg, who worked at Balmoral Farms west of Ithaca, broke two ribs and was knocked unconscious by a bull. The bull quietly entered a pen from the yard and threw Altenberg six feet in the air before Arch McCall could pull Altenberg to safety. The bull was considered one of Balmoral’s best show animals and had not caused problems until the last year. In better news at Balmoral Farms, ten more purebred Ayrshire cattle arrived from Quebec, Canada. The farm initially started with 75 head of Ayrshires and was a new breed in Gratiot County. Only two cows remained from the original herd that James E. Davidson began in 1925 – Springburn Lucky Girl 6th and Springburn Lucky Girl 9th.

The Ithaca Elevator Company offered a free color movie entitled “Vitamins on Parade” at the Ithaca High School gymnasium. A professor from Cornell University also planned to talk about “Solving Our Poultry Problems.” At the south end of Gratiot  County, the Middleton Farmers’ Elevator Company opened a feed department in a new building that measured 20×40 feet. This new building also had seven overhead bins that held 4,000 to 5,000 bushels of grain. The elevator also had a new corn sheller, giant grain cracker and grader. As a result, Middleton now hosted one of the nicest feed elevators in central Michigan.

4-H county club enrollments reached a new high for the winter when Riverdale Hot Lunch Club entered 23 members, and North Star Clothing Club enrolled 12 members. The new county total reached 1,020 members, up from 986 the previous year. During the first year of 4-H in Gratiot County, 40 club members enrolled, and 14 completed the program. In 1935, the numbers included 393 county members with 360 finishing.

The St. Louis Lake Shore Sugar Company announced that beet slicing for the 1939 harvest season would end around December 18-19. Lake Shore processed 81,672 tons of sugar beets. However, the company experienced a fire that started in the bottom of a flue in the pulp dryer and destroyed the building’s cupola. Damage, estimated at less than $1,000, was covered by insurance.

The Long Arm of the Gratiot Law in December 1939

Several arrests and searches took place in December. The Gratiot County Prosecuting Attorney, Robert H. Baker, announced that 75 convictions had been made in November. Traffic law violations made up a total of 46. Fines totaled $539.

Four Gratiot County criminals were all arrested after being on the run for nearly one month. The group confessed that they committed safe robberies in Gratiot, Midland, Saginaw, Bay, and Huron counties and were captured in Columbus, Ohio. All were in their twenties. A trio of young Ithaca men were arrested for the robbery of the Ithaca Dairy when they made off with just over $60. Byron Campbell, Clarence Hyde, and J.C. Wheeler were initially under suspicion, but police could not tie them to the crime. After their arrest, Campbell and Hyde both were placed in solitary confinement for up to 20 days. Wheeler, who concealed some of the stolen money from the car, said that police must have taken it but later pled guilty to a fine of $27 and costs.

Issues with minorities and the law appeared in the news. The Floyd Goins case continued. Goins, a man of color, was charged with stealing 65 bushels of apples and 271 empty crates from Frank Beck’s orchard. Goins’ sons and wife were also arrested but later released. Goins testified that he purchased the apples from a dealer near Greenville. However, Goins had no proof of the sale. The trial lasted two days, and the defense ultimately produced proof of purchase of the fruit and argued that the crates were already at the Goins home in Washington Township when they moved there. Ultimately, Goins was found not guilty and discharged from jail.

Another newsworthy case appeared in Judge Kelly Searl’s courtroom when Jesse Perez, a Mexican beet worker found guilty of murder in 1936, requested a writ of habeas corpus. Perez killed another older beet worker on July 7, 1936, after a confrontation on a beet field near Elwell. Perez shot and killed Gonzolo Silba over where they worked on the field. Perez later claimed he was “railroaded” by the court and that the shooting was in self-defense. The court was confused about why Perez believed he did not get a fair trial. 

In another case, the court dealt with a former WPA worker, Don Whitford of Ashley, who had been arrested three times within a few weeks for conduct while intoxicated. First, Whitford was found guilty of assault against a nine-year-old boy, and then again only a few days later in an assault against his son. In each case, public drunkenness was the issue. Over in Alma, police tracked down a pair of men after receiving 15 complaints against brothers Lane and David Lavoy, formerly of Elm Hall. The brothers siphoned gas from the cars and stole extra wheels and accessories. After their capture, the brothers were bound over for trial.

In December, the most significant crime news in Gratiot County dealt with Dewey Glinkie. Glinkie, a World War veteran with a troubled marriage and a drinking problem, was hired by Gratiot County Treasurer William G. Federspiel. Federspiel tried to help Glinkie by giving him a job, but over time became suspicious of Glinkie’s work. Then Glinke disappeared. As of mid-December, Dewey Glinkie embezzled up to nearly  $2000. It would turn out that the Glinkie case would go on for years to come as Gratiot County law enforcement searched for the fugitive.

If there was any good news regarding crime in the county, it was that at Christmas, only six people resided in the county jail. People did not want to be in prison for the holidays – save one Don Whitford, who again returned to the friendly confines for violating the game law by having a pheasant out of season.

And So We Do Not Forget

Ross Clagg, an employee at Ithaca Roller Mills, narrowly escaped death when his clothing caught in the line shaft. While working alone in the basement, Clagg’s overalls became entangled while oiling machinery. During this dangerous ordeal, Clagg managed to brace himself long enough to avoid the machinery as it tore off the clothing from his body. The incident resulted in no broken bones, but Clagg was severely bruised around his shoulders, neck, and arms… A dozen Gratiot residents hurried to be among the first to purchase Christmas Seals for the 1939 Christmas season. Joe Battles and Dr. Robert Erwin were those from Alma who bought seals…The Alma Post Office was designated a first-class office by exceeding $44,450 in business for 1939. In 1934, the Alma Post Office managed $34,000 a year in business…The new Hamilton Church of God, located one-half mile south of Edgewood, opened its doors for services. Considered one of the finest rural churches in rural Michigan, it measured 36 x 70 feet with two wings, massive stone steps, and a 10×12 foot vestibule. J.C. Thompson had just arrived as the church’s new minister.

G.A. Giles returned to work at Giles Super Service Station after being confined to home for nine days with the flu…December 22 marked winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Solstice was to arrive at 1:06 p.m. Eastern Standard Time…All teachers had to have their state teachers’ oath submitted by December 27. An estimated 70,000 oaths had been filed, and Michigan had 35,000 teaching positions…Recent cold, freezing weather meant three new inches of ice above the Alma dam. With its new construction and deeper water near the dam, the ice had a more uniform thickness. A new hockey rink was planned south of the dam on State Street, along with a smaller one at the Republic School and another at Wright Park. Tourist Park was also considered for a smaller rink for children.

Mrs. Leon Dawson announced that the Rainbow Inn in Elwell had re-opened for business. The new inn catered to those who wanted to dance and ate sandwiches and soft drinks. Gone were the elaborate chicken dinners…Reed’s Swing Band planned a “Midnight Frolic” for New Year’s Eve from midnight until 3:00 a.m…A new drug for treating syphilis became available in capsule form, according to Stanford University…The Marx Brothers appeared in “The Marx Brothers at the Circus” at the Strand Theatre…William Bourikas obtained a permit to enlarge the size of the Main Café Building at 117 East Superior Street. Bourikas planned to add a 20×24 foot addition to the back. Bourikas came to Alma during World War I and entered the business with Nick Bardeville…Hot December weather resulted in several people picking dandelion blossoms at Riverside Cemetery.

Vitamin consciousness emerged in Gratiot County as people purchased books on the use of vitamins. Stanley Vliet of the Alma Varsity Shop sold several copies of books on the subject… Approximately fifty people from twenty-four organizations met at the Rotary Room in the Wright Hotel to discuss a project for a city community center…C.P. Milhams hosted a venison dinner for fourteen guests at his home in Alma…The second annual St. Louis football banquet took place at the Park Hotel. The St. Louis Service Club sponsored the banquet for the 1939 squad. Black and red decorations, along with large cutouts of football figures, appeared at the dinner.

And that was Gratiot County During Depression and War, December 1939.

Copyright 2024 James M Goodspeed

Gratiot Goes to the Movies, Alma Series Part XV: “Lights Out at the Strand, 1980-1992”

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Above: Advertising on the Strand’s marquee told the story—decades of movie-going at the Strand Theatre ended in 1992; familiar Strand advertising from the 1980s until its closing.

It had been a long run, but in the early 1990s, over 75 years of movie-going ended in downtown Alma. At the start of the 1980s, the Strand Theatre faced severe challenges. First-run movies came late – if they played in Alma at all. In August 1981, Harrison Ford’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” finally appeared nine weeks after being released in Mt. Pleasant. During Christmas 1981, the Strand closed for an entire month, although adults paid $3 and kids paid $1.25 to watch a movie. A year later, in 1982, the Strand started its policy of “All Seats All Shows for Only $1.50.” Even though these were generous ticket reductions, the VHS rental craze started, and soon, in the 1980s, one debated renting and watching a movie at home.

Determining who owned and managed the Strand during its last twenty years is a mystery, especially after owner Keith Musser died in the 1970s. Linda Apple became the Strand’s manager from 1981 to 1986; the theater had nine employees. By then, Apple reported that she only had five days’ notice to get a movie and could only plan showings two weeks in advance. Second runs were a norm then, except for an occasional big release like “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” which debuted in December 1986 and had a large turnout. People knew that although ticket prices were low, prices remained high as concessionaires controlled the cost of candy, pop, and popcorn.

The end of the Strand appeared on the horizon by late March 1989. Steve A. Smith from S&R Investments announced that Alma would have a new $750,000 cinema complex in the Pine River Plaza, next to 300 Bowl. The idea of a new cinema corresponded to changes on Wright Avenue as it grew in the 1990s. A new Fisher Big Wheel store, restaurants like Taco Bell, and a new Wal-Mart came along. The new Alma Cinemas featured four screens, had a sign visible from US-27, and opened on September 15, 1989. The first movie shown at the Cinemas was “The Adventures of Milo and Otis.”

On February 16, 1992, a Sunday, the Strand closed its doors for good. For some time after this, a passerby wondered what would become of the old movie theatre with the marquee displaying a message that read “Closed.” However, another group had a dream for the Strand, and that came through the vision of the Gratiot County Players. They wanted the Strand but needed $80,000 from the owners, Craig and Kristin Naffziger. The Players pulled the deal together and showed old movies on weekends to help raise money to pay off their purchase. They eventually succeeded and held performances at the Strand several times each year.

A final goodbye to the movie days at the Strand took place on August 13, 2004. On that day, “Grand Slam at the Strand” was held as former workers and those associated with the Strand from the Depression through the 1950s showed up for a red carpet reunion. Interviews recalled the old days; visitors could leave handprints on the sidewalks. The grand old movie place, a fixture since its start in 1920, had this one last hurrah in Alma and Gratiot County. Looking back, it all began with the first movie at the Opera House. Alma’s movie history then played out with the Liberty, Idlehour, and Alma Theaters, in addition to two different Strand Theaters.

Copyright 2024 James M. Goodspeed

Did you know the Strand’s owners or managers from the 1970s to 1992? If so, please send me a note.

Gratiot Goes to the Movies, Alma Series Part XIV: “The Strand in the 1970s”

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Alma’s Strand Theatre in the 1970s: in response to a belief that ticket prices should be adjusted for teens, Chris Tobin (left) and Barb Hunter, Alma Middle School students, led a picket. A total of fifty young people picketed the Strand on a Friday night in January 1975; movies like “The Legend of Boggy Creek” were among the first in a series of films and documentaries dealing with Big Foot in the 1970s; the coming of cable television to Gratiot County became one of the challenges to movie-going during the decade. “Jaws,” the first of the Hollywood summer blockbusters in 1975, debuted on cable in late July 1979.

In 1970, one often saw long lines of Strand Theatre patrons that extended down the sidewalk on East Superior Street. Many nights, people waited to buy tickets for the next show or to be first in line after missing out on a previously sold-out movie. Despite the crowds, the Stand faced challenges that decade, like the emergence of the nationwide rating system and the playing of adult movies. Across the country, adult-rated movies drew large numbers of moviegoers and produced handsome profits for theatre owners. Many parents wanted a rating system and opposed showing adult movies in Gratiot County. The Strand Theatre also faced competition from places like the newly built Campus Twin Indoor Theatre in Mt. Pleasant and the nearly Skytop Drive-In west of St. Louis. New releases came faster to Mt. Pleasant, where people watched movies in the convenience of a modern theatre. In response to sparse attendance, owners of the Skytop started showing adult movies, and the number of cars skyrocketed. To keep up business, the Strand was tempted to show similar movies.

One event at the Strand in the 1970s centered around young viewers. In January 1975, two Alma Middle School students, Chris Tobin and Barb Hunter, led a group of fifty youngsters who protested the prices charged for 12-17-year-olds (the cost was $2.00 a ticket). The two girls and their group presented a petition to manager Harvey Freeman demanding that the Strand lower the price of tickets for these young people to a more median level. The group then went and picketed outside the Strand during “The Longest Yard,” which starred Burt Reynolds. The next day, newspapers reported that in response to the student’s demands, Freeman tore the petition up and then bluntly stated that there would be no price changes in tickets.

While many big movies of this decade came to Alma, most of the time, they appeared many months after their initial release. For example, “Jaws” (1976) did not arrive until six months after it debuted. In this case, a movie that created the “American Summer Blockbuster” took until December to be shown in Alma. An exception to this was “Star Wars,” which arrived only two months late in July 1917 and played for three weeks (the same movie played for thirteen weeks in a row in Mt. Pleasant). Between the 1970s blockbusters, there were often reissues of older films, such as three showings of “Gone with the Wind,” which appeared between 1970 and 1974. Movies that featured Bigfoot documentaries also became a fad.

As the 1970s ended, community outcry arose over X-rated movies at the Sky-Top west of St. Louis, leading to petition drives and further opposition. Cable television competition became another problem for theatres and arrived in Alma in the summer of 1979. Another of the factors that marked the decline of the Strand was its scant movie advertising throughout the 1970s. After the attention-grabbing promotions of Keith Musser in the 1960s, if one wanted to see a movie at the Strand, now a person needed to call the theatre about show times. Different owners and managers also appeared to follow Musser after he sold the Strand. In a twist, the last movie shown in late December 1979 was entitled “Starting Over.” This Burt Reynolds movie foreshadowed what the Strand must do to stay in business. This final chapter of the theatre’s history, marked by more struggles, lasted throughout its final twelve years.

Copyright 2024 James M. Goodspeed

Gratiot Goes to the Movies, Alma Series Part XIII: “Keith Musser, Strand Promotions and the 1960s”

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The Strand Theatre in the 1960s from the top: Keith Musser became the owner of the new Strand Theatre in 1962. One of the improvements in the new Strand was his installation of two 800,000-candle power projectors; Musser’s gift at movie promotions worked in Alma. Here, a group engages in a “Twist contest” in front of the Strand in late April 1962; “HELP!” was the call that drew many teens to see the Beatles’ first movie in late October 1965; the changing times and conflicts of the 1960s can be seen in this memorial service walk conducted by over 200 Alma College students and faculty members in front of the Strand and City Hall. All silently recognized the tragic assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in early April 1968. The walk stopped the traffic in downtown Alma for a few minutes without incident.

After opening in the late winter of 1962, owner Keith Musser sought ways to draw people to Alma’s new Strand Theatre. Musser’s efforts as a promoter and showing of memorable movies continued throughout the changing times of the 1960s.

In many ways, the Strand Theatre during this decade could be called “The Era of Keith Musser.” In one of his first promotions after purchasing the Strand, Musser started a “Twist Contest” in May 1962, where female contestants stepped onto a large platform in front of city hall. The first round of the “Twist-off Contest” coincided with the debut of the movie “Twist All Night.” WFYC radio broadcasted the contest finals, and winners received $25 in cash prizes. The next night, Greening’s Chevrolet Buick gave away a “beautiful jalopy” for anyone who could guess the nearest mileage on the old car. A year later, Musser hired magician Dennis Loomis to escape from a straitjacket while hanging upside down in front of the Strand.

 In April 1965, Musser hyped the debut of a new James Bond movie by having a yellow convertible on loan from Mike Pung with the movie title “GOLDFINGER” hanging on the sides. The car also had four lovely girls inside, and the vehicle paraded around Alma. For Christmas 1965, Musser again displayed the Ruskovic Mastodon bones, found in Emerson Township in the 1950s, to the public. Two years later, Musser held a contest where only “red-blooded” teenage boys could win a date with “a real live girl bomb.” He then added that the Strand was “not responsible for explosions.” There were also children’s draws on Saturdays, like when Channel 6 sent His Honor the Mayor and Al E. Khatt to perform live on stage. All of these promotions appeared in local newspapers and sought to draw people to the Strand.

During this decade, the Strand made many improvements inside, such as investing in an 800,000-candle power projector to show Cinemascope and widescreen movies. Musser also installed new drapes in the theatre and purchased a new popcorn popper. He then gave away free popcorn to those passing by the theatre. Free movie passes appeared for contests and giveaways through local newspapers. Twice, on opening night, the Strand invited the public to meet actors who starred in films that were showing, like “Hawaii” and “The Green Berets.”

To those who saw them, movies at the Strand during the 1960s regularly depicted America’s ongoing social changes. In late October 1965, the Beatles starred in “Help!” Musser wanted adults to attend and sarcastically guaranteed that teenagers would not scream during the movie. “My Fair Lady” (1966) was a successful musical comedy movie with solid appeal. So was “The Sound of Music,” which ran for three weeks straight in 1967 and was one of the longest runs at the Strand during the decade. A year later, a movie addressed America’s racial issues in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”  It played one month before the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sometimes, trying to show different kinds of movies brought about conflicts in Alma. In October 1968, the Strand started showing adult movies, and when “Ulysses” appeared, the movie was met with public opposition. That night, many Alma College students got up and walked out due to the movie’s excessive use of profanity. In response to the walkouts, Musser immediately canceled the show and replaced it with a rerelease of “The Sound of Music.” A year later, the Strand showed its first “X” rated movie, “Midnight Cowboy.” Letters supporting and demanding the use of the nation’s first movie rating system soon poured into the newspapers. All of these letters opposed the showing of adult movies in Alma. While some writers strongly urged parents to screen films before allowing their children and young people to see them, many Gratiot County residents wanted the X-rated movies banned entirely. 

Yet, as the decade of the 1960s closed, the Strand Theatre had seen its best days regarding movie attendance. As the 1970s approached, a slow decline began, from which the Strand, like other movie theatres in America, ultimately would not recover.

Copyright 2024 James M. Goodspeed

We Remember as Gratiot Goes to the Movies,  Alma Series Part XII: 1960 – “The Fire”

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Above from top: Fire consumes the Strand Theatre on the early morning of November 7, 1960. Even though fire as soon detected, the theatre went up in smoke and could not be saved. Forty years of movie going at this location appeared to have ended on that date; the wreckage and rubble of the Strand would rest on the site for more than a year, creating a public eyesore in Alma; a photo of the new Strand Theatre as it approached its opening in mid-January 1962; new theatre oner Keith Musser (left) had been manager of the Strand for six years in the 1950s. A forty year veteran as a theatre operator, Musser was the man to help put the Strand back on Alma’s map – and got people to come to the movies. Musser accepts the keys from builder A. Carl Schmidt of Hillsdale. In the center is J. Donald Sullivan who was the building inspector in Alma.

Alma lost a well-known place the day before one of the closest Presidential elections in American history.

It was 4:23 a.m. on Monday, November 7, 1960, when John Zigray, a newspaper boy, saw flames and smoke shooting from the rear of Alma’s Strand Theatre. Zigray ran around the corner to the Alma police station to report the fire, and the alarm rang five minutes later. However, in only a short time, the flames shot up 25 to 30 feet above the roof when the first fire truck arrived. By 7:00 a.m., the fire was nearly out, but the interior of the Strand was gone, resulting in over $100,000 in damages. In addition, fireman James Peck fell from a ladder and was treated for chest injuries while putting out the flames.

Although the fire started in the rear of the building, the Strand’s walls failed to collapse. Many who saw the theatre the next day marveled that the marquee remained, hanging dangerously over the sidewalk. The following afternoon, a crane came with a wrecking ball to take down the marquee for fear of it being a public hazard. Alma City Hall remained undamaged, probably due to the double brick walls adjoining the Strand. However, as the Strand’s remains slowly cooled, a pile of debris formed that sat on the premises for months to come.

Before the fire, the Strand Theatre showed movies in Alma for forty years; now, more was needed to build a new theatre in 1960. In response to not having a theatre in Alma, the city quickly supported showing Saturday movies at the Alma Community Center. In April 1961, owner Dolores Cassady offered the city thirty days to purchase the Strand’s 53-foot lot for $25,000. City commissioners quickly replied that the price was too high and gave Cassady thirty days to clean up the remaining debris.

In late June 1961, Carl Schmidt, a Hillsdale contractor and former theatre manager, bought the property to rebuild the Strand. He quickly proposed an “escrow plan” to see how badly Alma movie patrons wanted a new theatre. For $25, anyone could buy advance tickets for 52 future movies. If sales were poor, Schmidt proposed turning the property into a retail store. Fortunately for Alma moviegoers, Schmidt went ahead with his plans to rebuild the theatre. Although the opening date for the new Strand was moved back several times, on Thursday, February 1, 1962, almost fifteen months after the fire, a new Strand Theatre debuted in Alma.

Carl Schmidt surprised many in Alma when he announced that he sold the new building just one month later to Keith Musser, a former manager with ties to the old Strand. Musser was experienced with movie theatres and had many ideas about getting people to the movies. Given the city’s desire for a new theatre, Musser appeared to be the right man at the right time.

This time, the new Strand had only 600 seats and no longer had a balcony. It did have a cry room, party room, wider seats, new projectors, and a screen measuring 36 feet. After Alma Mayor Robert Anthony cut the ribbon on opening night, viewers watched a drama, “Madison Avenue,” and “Swinging Along,” a musical comedy. The first big blockbuster to appear at the Strand took place a month later, on March 8, 1962, with the premiere of “Spartacus,” starring Kirk Douglas. The Strand Theatre was back in business and showed movies in downtown Alma again for the next thirty years.

Copyright 2024 James M. Goodspeed