Food

The circa 1940 ice cream fountain Once upon a time Anderson’s Ice cream fountain was the place to go in the summertime. Today that spot is our Post office, and also is where everyone goes just about every day. But back when it was an Ice Cream Parlor, there were marble topped tables with twisted iron legs and chairs to match. The soda bar was topped with marble and faced with oak. Every dish had a special use, and each topping was clearly displayed for all to see. The tall flaring soda glasses were in metal containers with handles. Silver… Read More »

1913 photo from the SC Wilcox Farm Was there any a time when there was no maple syrup for our pancakes? The Chippewa and Ottawas have a legend that begins with a god named “NenawBozhoo”. He saw that his peoples were becoming lazy as they drank the pure maple syrup from maple trees rather than hut and forage for food. He cast a spell on the maples that made their sap watery so it required processing before it could be consumed. While this may be just a legend, we do know early Native Americans gathered maple sap and put it… Read More »

If you wanted to get a large pie, say 3 feet in diameter, into a car for a trip to the President of the United States at his summer residence, how would you do it? If you were Frank Burkhart, Tom VanPelt’s Great Grandfather, and the car was, say, a 1926 Lincoln, you could just flip up the windshield and slide it in! And you could ask your son, Hugh, to drive it on the uncertain early roads of 1926 and deliver it to the President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, at his summer residence. Wallace Keep, who had… Read More »

From the 1860’s to the early 1880’s in the spring, Passenger Pigeon flocks darkened the skies as they came north into Michigan nesting. They arrived in such enormous numbers that they broke the branches of trees. People didn’t even have to be a good shot to shoot your fill of them, just shoot in their general direction. Maria Dougherty and her many children were able to move into the Church and Mission School Manse in 1858. But there was no rest for the poor woman. Not only did she have to help out the teachers of the mission with the… Read More »