New Years was celebrated in Trenton this year and we wanted to wish everyone a great new year as the bicentennial year comes to an end.

During the summer of 1976 we had 3 tents in the backyard and it was very common for my friends to spend the night pretty much whenever they wanted to. We were 16 at the time and the girl next door had a bunch of girlfriends for us and a pool so all was right with the universe.

I remember watching the All Star game that year, Ron LeFlore from the Tigers led off the game with a single and the sounds of “Frampton Comes Alive” filled the summer air.

One day, one of my friends, Bob Welker, was working at the K of C in the kitchen and saw that the beer tap was left unprotected so he grabbed an empty plastic gallon milk jug and filled it up with beer. He then hid the gallon of beer until he got off, then put the gallon in his newspaper route bag and rode it over to the tents in the back yard.

We had no way of hiding an entire gallon of anything in the tents and the only thing big enough to cover it up was a matress we had in one of the tents so we slid the gallon of milk under the mattress and except for a small lump you could not really notice anything (A combination of a lumpy mattress and an unlevel back yard).

That evening was the night we watched the All Star game and I had a few friends over to watch it with. All of a sudden dad comes into the tent to see how we were doing. We told him fine and said we were having a good time watching the game and how cool it was of Ron Leflore to lead off with a single.

Just that moment he decided to sit down, since all the chairs were taken in the tent he sat on the mattress that was covering the beer. As we watched this in horror we saw little trickles of beer begin flowing out from under the mattress. These actually began to puddle and we were certain we were going to be busted. Finally after what seemed an eternity, dad got up and left the tent and we quickly cleaned up the mess we made as Bob Welker shed tears of anguish for his once glorious gallon of beer.

Needless to say we never had any more gallon jugs in the tent that year.

When Joseph Conrad Graf was born on November 30, 1924, in Natrona, Pennsylvania, his father, Joseph, was 37 and his mother, Rose, was 34. He married Teresa Eva Graf Pingitore in Wayne, New Jersey. They had three children during their marriage. He died on April 3, 1976, in Orange, Florida, at the age of 51, and was buried in Flat Rock, Michigan.

James dad has many fond memories of his Uncle Joe. He remembers Uncle Joe always helping with big and little projects at his home including setting up his basketball net on the garage, making a BB gun target, and fixing his train. Joe was very good with mechanical things and also very creative. Like his father, Joe would set up a Christmas display with a train and small homes. Joe liked camping and owned a camper which he put to good use every summer.

During the 70’s almost everyone in the family would vacation at Disney World and Joe took his family there in 1976 (Dad remembers taking care of Sandy’s guinea pig while they were away). Joe had a heart attack at Disney World and died shortly after. Ironically 25 years later his sister Loretta would also die while on vacation in Traverse City.

Continue reading “Remembering Joseph Graf 1924 – 1976” →

After graduating from St. Albert’s James’ Dad had fun with a tent in the back yard where his little friends from St. Albert’s could get together. Don’t worry, the bottles are actually empty.

The tent set the standard for the next few years as James’ Dad and his friends did much camping in tents including Hell Michigan and Leamington Canada.

The tent was purchased by James’ Grand Dad who spent time with James’ Dad in the tent listening to baseball games on the radio.

Renee’s Baptism came up and her mother Kathy asked me to fill in as a temp God Father because the actual God Father was not able to attend. I agreed to being the stand-in so long as the Baptism counted toward my going to church that weekend (I did not want God to get tired of me by going to Church too often).

My sister Margaret was the God Mother and the entire Baptism was attended by the “Trenton Pinochle Club” as we liked to refer to them (Aunt Louise, Loretta (Mom), Peg, etc.). The two of us are seated in the back row in the picture.

The ceremony went off without a hitch, although I got called the wrong name several times but it was no biggy. At the time I was a teenager so I really didn’t care what they called me so long as it counted toward my going to Church for that week.

Continue reading “Renee Baptism 1974” →

James’ Dad is in this picture (top row, third from the left) from 1974, his class of 1974 taught by Miss Shea. Dad was a bit of a trouble maker in those days. Dad’s friends from those days are known as “the little friends” because they knew each other when they were little.

St Alberts is still around, but they no longer offer the school. The school was divided into two building, the senior building and the junior building. The Senior Building was grades 5 – 8 while the junior building was 1 – 4. To the best of my knowledge they did not offer kindergarten at least during this time frame.

Renee is the daughter of Mark and Kathy, Sister to Ron and Natalie, Granddaughter to Louise, 2nd cousin to James, and Godmother to James as well.

Renee recently got married in Las Vegas and served her country as an army reservist. She and her husband have been to Iraq several times in service to their country. Renee retired from the military a few years back and now enjoys entrepreneurship with her husband.

The thing James Dad remembers most about Renee working is not the military but the gift shop (Grange I think) that she used to work at, every time he walked into that store it seemed she was working behind the counter. At least you always knew where to find her on our Saturday visits to Trenton.

As mentioned above Renee is James Godmother and Peg is Renee’s Godmother.

Continue reading “Renee Dunberger Born 1974” →

The wedding took place at Dearborn City Hall and was presided over by Mayor Orville Hubbard. On the back of the photo given to us by the city is the following:

With Best Wishes From Orville L Hubbard, LLB, Mayor of Dearborn Since January 6, 19942. A very nice gesture from the City of Dearborn for sure.

After the services at City Hall, the wedding party went to the Dearborn Inn where a reception was held. The band played “Misty” for Criss, since it was her favorite song at the time.

A good time was had by all!

Continue reading “Criss Marries Danny Merritt 1973” →

James’ dad in 6th grade class photo, third row, seventh from the left.

St Alberts is still around, but they no longer offer the school. The school was divided into two building, the senior building and the junior building. The Senior Building was grades 5 – 8 while the junior building was 1 – 4. To the best of my knowledge they did not offer kindergarten at least during this time frame.

We take the train ride to Toronto about once a year, sometimes just to sight see, sometimes to visit the science museum, and sometimes we stay on for the next stop which is Niagara Falls.

While at Niagara we enjoy going under the falls as you walk through this little cave area and come out behind the mist. This is done on the American falls and it is pretty cool. Everyone wears raincoats so no one can really tell who the person is next to you since everyone is dressed pretty much the same. This can lead to some funny encounters as the person next to you may not be exactly who you think he or she should be.