Happy birthday Detroit! I have so many fond memories of her that I would like to share with everyone! When I was growing up family was very important and we did everything together.We would have our family reunions at Belle Isle or Bob-lo Island. Our great Uncle Catarino had a band that he put together with his five sons and they would entertain our family and everyone around us with music, be it on the Bob-lo Boat, band shelter at Belle Isle or the Ethnic Festivals on the riverfront! It gives me a warm feeling looking back and seeing strangers joining our family at the end of the evening and enjoying what our family had to offer. My sister's and me waited all summer long for the Mexican Festivals and for the Irish one also!We would go to the Eastern Market every weekend and it was always a adventure. You always ran into someone you knew.Then we would go to Greek Town or Mexican Town to eat.We lived on the SW side of Detroit. Which was really nice during the 60's and 70's. The community had and still does one of the only 4th of July parades still left. If you didn't go and watch the parade you was not part of the community, then at night we would all meet at Patton Park for the fireworks. Like so many of you I also remember going downtown to Hudson's for DD Day's and back to school shopping and to see Santa at Christmas.Our Aunt Aurora worked at Lerners across the street so we always stopped in to say hello and had lunch at the 5&10 next door. I still watch the Thanksgiving parade but for the last 16 yrs we have enjoyed it with our daughter.My sisters and brother lives in KY now but still watches the parade down there every year! I also remember the Olympia, never seen the Wings play but went to see Disney on ice and a few other shows. Then there is Tiger Stadium! Never a bad moment there. My husband took me there for our first date,we was only 16 and sat in the bleachers. We took the Baker Bus now called the Vernor. I can't recall how many times our father took us and how much fun we had eating popcorn as fast as we could so we ! could use the box as a megaphone to cheer on our Tigers (the boxes came that way then)popcorn and a toy how cool!The last thing I would like to talk about is the old Train Station, it was so beautiful. We would take our grandmother down there when she would go on vacation (for those of you who didn't get to see it you really missed a gem)I LOVE DETROIT! sure we have our problems but when I talk to people out in surrounding communities guess what? YOU ALL CAME FROM HERE and enjoyed the same things as us still here! My wish is for Detroit to come back to the Lovely Lady she was and can still be. I see the change and it makes me feel good. I hope all of you do also. I want to wish all Detroiters here and gone that truly loves where they are from a Happy Birthday! You All Come Back! Hear!!! -Rose MacDougall (Barrios)


One night after seeing a production at the Fox Theatre with my father and sisters we went to dinner at The Soup Kitchen Saloon. It was a modest home-style restaurant. My father told me that The Soup Kitchen Saloon had been open since my grandfather was a child, or before then! Sadly, that meal at The Soup Kitchen was my first and last. The restaurant was recently closed to make room for another casino. I will always remember The Soup Kitchen Saloon as my piece of Detroit history. -Mal


My grandfather had many stories related to the construction of the tunnel from Detroit to Canada...some humorous, some sweet. He was a diver on the project! The one I'm most fond of is how after the completion of the tunnel, my grandfather snuck his wife (my grandmother) down to the tunnel to walk through to Canada. So, even though the history records don't show my grandmother being the first woman to cross the tunnel....we know she was the true first lady! There were also some humorous stories he would tell since this was during prohibition - you can imagine, can't you? I miss my grandparents dearly and the wonderful stories they told! -Jodi West


Thanksgiving Day was Hudson's parade then to the Lions vs. Packers, then home to turkey and trimmings. Can't beat that. -Dick Wexelberg


My most memorable times in Detroit, were going down to Hudson's with my grandmother shopping! I think there was a Crowley's and there definitely was a Sander's, where we would stop to get a Float. Of course there was the Belle Isle Zoo and the wandering deer! Happy B-day Detroit, you're quickly regaining your youth...


My fondest memory of Detroit is Christmas time at the Downtown Hudson's and getting to see Santa Claus. I remember riding the elevator, it seems like there were so many floors and there was actually a person who operated the elevator. It was a Winter Wonderland. Now being able to take my children to see Santa sitting in the middle of the mall doesn't even compare...


When I was a young boy I used to love to hear my parents and relatives talk about "the old neighborhood" which was Detroit's old Poletown neighborhood on the near East Side. My Dad and Paternal Aunts and Uncles would especially reminisce about my Great Uncle Edward Mastaj and his Melrose Orchestra. They were extremely popular in Detroit's Polish community and would play at dances sponsored by St. Albertus, Sweetest Heart of Mary, and St. Josephat Churches. They even mentioned that his orchestra was the first Polish Orchestra to perform on Detroit Radio. When St. Albertus Church would have the Summer Picnics at Tashmoo Park, my great Uncle's orchestra would play on board the Steamer Tashmoo playing a polka-ized rendition of the Tiger Rag. My great uncle lived next door to my grandparent's home on East Hancock between Russell and Rivard St. Many times the guys in the orchestra would rehearse at my Great Uncle's home. At times the trumpet player would stand on the back porch and play the Polish hymn "Serdeczna Matko" (Beloved Mother) and the neighbor Mrs. Lypkowska would run outside crying and wiping the tears from her apron saying how beautiful was his rendition of the well-known Polish hymn sung in such churches as St. Albertus, Sweetest Heart of Mary, and St. Josephat. My mother is of Croatian descent and she often reminisces about Russell St between Eastern Market and Grand Blvd. The street held a rich mosaic of Polish, Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, and Macedonian businesses and restaurants. My mom would tell us about how she would dance the Croatian Kolo dance at the Croatian Hall. When my Dad was dating my mother they would eat at the Blue Danube Restaurant on Russell St and the restaurant had live entertainment. My mom would also go with my Maternal Uncles to the Greystone Ballroom on Woodward Ave and because she was so light and petite, she was asked by a lot of guys (under the watchful eye of her brothers)to dance so they can swing her around. If a guy got too fresh with my mother while dancing, she would let him know with her knee plus he might be escorted off the floor by one of my uncles. My parents often told us that when it was unbearably hot at nights in the summer they would take their blankets and pillows and walk from their homes in Poletown to Belle Isle and sleep on Belle Isle to cool off since this was before home air conditioning. My great memories were growing up in the Poletown neighborhood in the 1960's and going to Bob-Lo about 4-5 times every summer. We would definitely go on Memorial Day and Labor Day. How I miss those beautiful old Steamers Columbia and Ste. Claire. I hope that the Columbia gets restored and sails again and hope that Corporate Detroit will help. My family's memories of Detroit are rich and warm. Thank you and Happy 300 Detroit!


Once my girlfriend and I took the bus downtown by ourselves, (we were about (10 years old) and spent the day on Bob-Lo Island. We thought we were so grown-up, if our parents knew they would have killed us. It was the best day. I have moved to Tennessee, but Detroit will always have my memories.

Being from Windsor As a Very Young Boy I remember Taking The Tunnel Bus To Detroit With My Mom And Friend And Going To See Santa Claus At J L Hudson's. There, I rode my First Escalator, Saw The Sparkling Toyland With The Trains Running and All The Wind Up Toys Making Their Noises, The Glitter From All The Decorations And Sitting On Santa's Knee and Telling Him What I wanted For Christmas.

It Was Just Like Being In A Movie For Us Back Then. Happy Birthday Detroit!!





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