The City of Hart, Michigan – Part 2, and Family

With over 10,000 acres of asparagus in the area, it only makes sense for Hart to have an Asparagus Festival, with a parade, craft sales, rodeo, etc. One of the highlights this year was the appearance of the Scottville Clown Band.

A couple of pictures including Austin & Tori dancing the Chicken Dance with the band.








In this picture, her sisters are admiring Melissa’s “Little Bean”.

Since Joe can’t just relax, we had to cut down a tree, which meant having a campfire. And that

leads to S’mores, here is Madi enjoying hers – yes that is her hair stuck to her face.

And the end included the kids singing “So Long, Farewell” from Sound of Music as they headed in to bed. A GREAT time was had by all!

The City of Hart, Michigan

Hart is the county seat of Oceana County. Located in the western portion of the county, Hart is approximately six miles from Lake Michigan. Hart was founded in 1856 by early pioneers including Nelson Grove. Hart Township was named after Wellington Hart. In 1862, a gristmill and sawmill were built by Lyman Corbin and the area was officially platted in 1864, being named after the township. It became the county seat in 1865, incorporated into a village in 1885 and a city in 1946.


The Hart Historic District came into being in 1984 when the Hart City Council voted to establish a Historic District Commission. Today, the Historic District is home to several carefully restored buildings and collections, as well as a summer Friday Night Concert series during the months of July and August.


We arrived yesterday (Cindy & Joe are out of town), and got settled into the back yard. And, of course, a strong storm came through, including a lightning hit too close! We are impressed with the house, and the outside landscaping, the pic is of a gorgeous rhododendron by the back of the house.

Sailors' Pines

Close by the north shore of Croton Pond (about 6 miles from our Park) is a reminder of our past. Here is a stand of white pine that takes you back to a time before the turn of the century, when most of Northern Michigan was covered by the wonderous pine. Mr. Sailors, a lumberman, purchased this property in 1926, cleared the few hardwoods, trimmed the lower branches, kept the forest floor clear, all with the vision of leaving something for future generations. Still in the family, the property is available for the public to view. These pines are at a point that is reminiscent of what the lumberman of the 1800's would have seen, some measure 24" in diameter, and are over 100 ft. tall. This size of stand would yield over 18,000 board foot per acre. What fun it is to walk among the trees, listen to the breeze move through the pine canopy, and enjoy the serenity of the forest!

Friends, History, & Great-Grandkids

FRIENDS




As mentioned in previous post, we met our friends for Breakfast, had a GREAT time. And of course, Shirley & Laura needed to visit Mt. Pleasant. :-) Here are a couple more pictures of them.










HISTORY

Now a short, different history lesson. Many years ago, Laura started selling Jewels by Park Lane, working for Shirley. Since our children were the same ages, we became good friends, and had many fun times together. And some not quite so good, sometime ask me about the "drunk on crutches" :-) In 1985, Ted & Shirley witnessed Sam & CJ's wedding on Dec 31, since our anniversary was the next day, we were invited to celebrate New Years Eve with them. We celebrated and stayed at the Marriot Inn. Instant friendship, and New Years Eve became a tradition. Some years it was at one of our houses, others were at different hotels. In 1987, it was the Amway Grand Plaza with Tux, and all the trimmings. Picture of Jerry & Laura, sorry guys, couldn't find the picture of the six of us. Another year, we went to Mt. Pleasant to their Hawaiian Luau, so much fun!

Then Sam & CJ moved to Arkansas, and then Ted & Shirley moved to Florida. But, we have managed to meet in Arkansas, Florida, Tunica, Miss, and of course, Michigan. Thank you guys, for being our friends, we look forward to seeing you again soon.


MORE FRIENDS

Saturday, we drove to Long Lake to visit Sandy & Rudy. We last saw them in Las Vegas 2 years ago, and lots has happened. About 3 weeks ago, Rudy had by-pass surgery, thought I had lied to him about it being an ok event, and now is well on the road to recovery. Of course, we had to compare scars! Oh, and my pillow is bigger.


GREAT-GRANDKIDS


Sunday, we drove to Hart for dinner, and a chance to see Paula, Bart, and the five kids. Austin, Tori, & Logan have grown sooo much in the 2 years, 9 months since we saw them. And Madi & Gabby are just precious. Needless to say, we had a great time with them. As Paula mentioned in her blog, we had a cake for Logan's birthday, and Dad, Grandpa, & Great-grandpa went to the playground with the kids. I will post 4 pictures, 1 of the family, 2 of the kids sliding down the big slide together and one of the biggest kid as he is falling off the slide after showing the others how "not" to do it. :-) Then back at the house, still playing, trying to keep up with all that young energy. Now I know why I had MY kids when I was young. We are looking forward to spending more time with them all in a couple of weeks.



















BTW - Did I mention that the Red Wings defeated the Dallas Stars for the Western Conference Title, and lead the Stanley Cup Finals 2 games to none????

We return to Michigan

So finally we return to Michigan on Friday, May 16. Sure enough, Fri nite we have a thunderstorm, and it rains again Sat afternoon!! Ahhh, but then Sunday the sun comes out. We drive to Hart to have dinner with Cindy, Mom & Dad Ruder. Then a nice drive to Pentwater so we can see Lake Michigan for the 1st time in nearly 3 years. Monday am, 34 degrees (brrr), Tues, 37, highs low 60's. Welcome to Michigan. :-)

Tuesday, friends staying in Big Rapids come for lunch. Sam & CJ from Arkansas, Ted & Shirley from Florida. The six of us used to do New Year's Eve together. It is good to see them again, 1st time since Oct of 2005. Tomorrow, we will visit them in Big Rapids.

Rain Rain, Go Away !!!!

12 days we have been in Indiana, and it has rained 8 of those! Sunshine, what is that???

So tomorrow, we will return to Michigan after nearly 3 years. We are looking forward to seeing Family & Friends. But, we sure would like to see some nice, Spring weather! Our itinerary has been updated, please feel free to make any suggestions for changes. We are pretty flexible with our travel plans.

Expect to see any & all of you soon!

Mother's Day in Indiana

The pictures are of the site of our Mother's Day Brunch at White Oaks, and our cook & waitress, Ron & Linda. We met them at Valley Vista in Benson this winter. Ron prepared a delicious breakfast casserole for us. This afternoon, we will also attend the Mother's Day Dinner in the Beachfront Cafe.

White Oaks has some of the nicest facilities we have seen. 1500 foot sandy beach, beachfront cafe, heated pool, jacuzzi, game room, coffee shop (picture), ice cream parlor, and a dinner club/ballroom.

Weather is rainy, so will not stray far from the park. Hopefully, we will get some sunshine the next few days.