Month: May 2019
Track Season 2019
The Annapolis track season ended and James had a great time participating both as a shot putter and also as a discus thrower. This year was a little more difficult logistically due to the flooding, raining, and probably most important, construction on Annapolis which made visiting some of these events nearly impossible and postponed several track meets.
Despite the logistical issues it was a fine season and James had a great time participating in his second (sophomore) season of track at Annapolis High School.
Mothers Day 2019
Mothers day started off the same way as others, with a picture of James and his Mom in front of the house. We picked up some flowers at Kroger on the way to the cemetery, the weather fighting back rain constantly throughout the day made for a windy day with little annoying drops of water from time to time. However we did manage to get the flowers out. We did take pics of all the graves with flowers so mission accomplished despite the poor weather.
Next was the antique store in Flint, which had added an airplane with skeletons to their display, and only at a cost of 2,500 you too can have a crashed airplane in your living room.
Next stop was a visit to Grandma’s as today was James visits Grandma day. After dropping James off, Mom went to a couple more antique stores before we finally stopped in for Mothers Day dinner.
A great Mothers day despite the weather.
Magic Flea Market 2019
Mom was a little sick this day so James and his Dad had to handle the 2019 Magic Flea Market in Colon Michigan, the Magic Capital of the World. We did not have any magic to sell so Jame sold some of the Halloween freebies he gives you at his Halloween party and did pretty alright.
The flea market began at 9am, although setup was from 8am till 9am. At noon their is an auction and each table auctions one thing off. After the auction everyone went to Abbotts where they were having a 10% off everything sale.
There was lots of great stuff this year, but not much Halloween (except for James table). We saw a mutilated parasol, A Duck Bucket, a Find The Lady effect, and even a light and heavy chest among the hundreds if not thousands of used magic be sold here today.
Michigan Memorial Maps and Photos 2019
Today we took a day off from work and went to Michigan Memorial to finalize Pegs grave marker. Shown on the left is a preview of what to expect, it should be finished in 8 weeks and we are hoping everyone can get together around labor day for a little reunion.
People may have noticed that part of the wall near where Peg was buried is being removed, this is to make room for a stations of the cross monument where all the stations will be honored. It should be completed in 5 years so there will still be a landmark to find these graves for us.
We did travel to the 3 grave sites that we are most familiar with and had Michigan Memorial create maps on how to get to these areas. Each is identified by a block number which makes it easy to find the location on the main map (included with each block pdf). two secondary maps are also included in the pdf which show the exact location of the graves in the block. Please note if you see green in the one map that means that plots are available to buy. We will do these in order.
Block 6 We Call The Kleiber Plots – This has James Great Grandma Kleiber, James Great Grandma Kleiber, and James Great Uncle Raymond Kleiber who died in WW2 and was the first in the family buried at Michigan Memorial Cemetery. This is located near the first entrance to the cemetery from Huron River Drive, not the main entrance. When you come in through the entrance look for a bench on the right, the graves are about ten yards to the right (north) of that bench. You can find maps to block 6 in the link below –
also there are pictures in the gallery below to help.
Block 24 We Call The Graf Plots – This is the largest block of relatives with 12 plots owned by the family and 9 currently used. James Grandma and Grandpa Kleiber, Great Uncle Joe, Great Aunt Louise and her Husband Harry, Great Grandmother Graf, Great Grandfather Graf, Cousin Mark, and most recently Aunt Peg. To find this simply stay right when you enter the main entrance until you see the long brick wall (or crucifix island). FYI, the wall is being turned into a Stations of the Cross monument and should be complete in 5 years. You can find maps to block 24 in the link below –
Block 29 We Call The Kelly Plot – This is where Natalies husband and child lay in rest. If you are going there from “the wall” veer to the left at the fork and go straight till you see a hill on the right. A landmark is a small building with a street next to it which can be seen in the gallery below. You can find maps to block 29 in the link below –
This Kelly grave was the hardest of the three to find for us so I used my phone to get gps coordinates for the grave, they are below. (we will try it out for accuracy next visit which should be Moms Day, weather permitting)
Latitude (LAT): 42.117504
N 42°7’3.01368″
Longitude (LONG): -83.349019
W 83°20’56.46804″
also there are pictures in the gallery below to help.
The Great Flood of 2019
James warned us about this storm, it started about 11pm and pretty much went on all night. The next morning I left for work, saw a few flooded streets but didn’t think much of it (I was heading North at the time).
Coming home I came in from the South and saw what was going on as the Creek had flooded and most of the area around powers was unpassable. Almost every street was flooded to varying degrees. We walked a block before we could go no further because the water went over the sidewalk. There were several areas I saw on the way hom where the flood waters were so high you could drown in them (they were higher than a car). The worst one I saw was on Outer Drive beneath 94 where it was completely flooded and the road was closed. The worst one on the news was Telegraph near Van Born where people had to leave their homes. An emergency location for people to go to was set up at the rec center at Swapka field, although you would have to travel through floods to get there.
Lots of wet brakes today in Dearborn Heights.
