The Post went with Phil and Sue Harrison, of Nelson Township, to the American TriFive Nationals in Bowling Green, Kentucky on August 10-12, 2017. This is the 60th anniversary of the 1957 Chevy. Sue and Phil drove their 1957 Chevy convertible over 1,162 round trip miles to join the 2,717 other 1955, ‘56, ‘57 Chevys at the convention.

That sounds like fun! Thank you Phil and Sue, for taking us with you!

Are you going on vacation? Take the Post with you and snap some photos. Then send them to us with some info to news@cedarspringspost.com or mail them to Post travels, PO Box 370, Cedar Springs, MI 49319. We will be looking for yours!

Sue and Phil Harrison recently returned from a 3,200 mile round trip to San Antonio, Texas to see their son and his family, and they were good enough to take along a copy of the Post.

“We wanted to find a very unique place to shoot a picture of the Post and it couldn’t have been any better than Luckenbach, Texas, population 3,” explained Sue. “The town’s population soars to thousands when bikers and country and western fans from all over the US come for concerts there. The general store/post office/gift shop/saloon is the oldest building. Luckenbach’s claim to fame is being featured in a song by Waylon Jennings and Willy Nelson, both of whom have held sold out concerts in the dance hall.”

Sue said that although they didn’t see Waylon or Willy, they got to sit on Tumbleweed, the longhorn steer, and have their picture taken as they read the Post. They also got a great shot of Sue, Phil and granddaughter Emma in front of the Luckenbach General Store.

Thanks so much for taking us with you!

Will you be traveling? Take along a copy of the Post and get a photo. Send the photo and some info about it to news@cedarspringspost.com. We will print them as space allows.

Dear Editor,
I want to thank all those responsible for the Veteran’s Day Memorial Remembrance events that took place last Friday in Cedar Springs. It was amazing to see that Chinook helicopter land at Skinner Field and wonderful to see the hundreds of people who turned out to honor our veterans.
I know how much time Wayne Price and wife June spent to make this event a reality to honor Wayne’s brother Jack, and the six other men, who died in Viet Nam in a Chinook helicopter crash in 1969. Jack Price was a classmate of mine at Cedar Springs High School so I was glad to be there to remember his service to our country and all the other veterans who have served and are currently serving in the military.
The day’s events, including a special military display at the Cedar Springs Museum, as well as a memorial remembrance service at Veteran’s Memorial Park, were organized by The Cedar Springs Veteran’s Memorial Remembrance Committee.
We all should especially thank those four young crew members of the Chinook who gave up their day off to bring that helicopter here and who will be heading off to Afghanistan in December. We wish them God speed and a safe trip home.

A proud American citizen,
Sue Harrison, Nelson Township

Area residents celebrated poetry month last weekend with the “Potpourri of Poets” at the Kent Theatre.
The event, held Saturday evening, April 30, showcased a variety of classical and original poetry read by 25 adults, teens, and youth. Several presenters either dressed in character or brought along props to enhance the presentation.  Sue Harrison emceed the event.
“It was a wonderful experience,” said Librarian Donna Clark, one of the event organizers, along with Rosann Gerhardt and Nancy Noreen.  “I’m so proud of each and every one who participated. Every poem was special, adding a special flavor to the evening. Every person I talked with said how much they enjoyed the evening. We definitely want to do it again next year!”

By Judy Reed

Last week, we printed an old photo given to us by Lori Ostrom. She said it was on an old postcard that belonged to her great-grandmother Margaret Hale. We guessed it was a celebration of some kind around or before the turn of the century.  It turned out we were right.
We got a call from Sue Harrison, one of the authors of the Cedar Springs Story, and she explained that this photo was taken during a Beucus Hardware Day. Harrison said that while working on the book, Margaret Hale called her and told her she had a photo she might want to use, and it turned out to be the very one her great-granddaughter sent to us.
In fact, the photo is on page 17 of the book, in the section on Early Township Settlement, because it went with a story that Della Wightman, of Nelson Township, was telling about harvesting wheat, and when they got their first grain binder.
According to “The Cedar Springs Story,” by Sue Harrison and Donna DeJonge, it was in 1889 that John Beucus and his brother Tom opened a hardware store at 59 S. Main (at Ash St.) “They opened the store with the purchase of mortgaged stock that could have been packed in a two-horse wagon,” the book said. It went on to describe a fine store there at the corner of Main and Ash in 1900. The brothers carried hardware, cook stoves, and the “celebrated” Crescent bicycles, with sales totaling $25,000 per year.
Della Wightman told how her husband, Glenn, and his dad used to go out into the fields and harvest the grain with a cradle. “Then one time, the Beucus brothers had a big day in town. They brought in two flatcar loads of kitchen cabinets, grain binders, and mowing machines. Then they had a regular ‘Fourth of July’ downtown with parades, picnic dinners, and all kinds of contests,” she said. That perfectly describes what it looks like in the photo.
She also noted that the Beucus brothers sold the whole two carloads of items, with her husband buying a grain binder, kitchen cabinet and a steel range.
Thanks, so much, Sue, for the info!
In later years, the Beucus building was owned by Tom and Sonya Cronkright, and housed Pioneer Pharmacy, and then NAPA and other businesses after it was renovated. The building was at least 119 years old when it burned down in 2009.

By Judy Reed

Last week we ran a partial photo sent to us by Steve Hegedus, which showed two girls hitchhiking in Red Flannels, with one of the girls partially cut off. We asked readers to identify the girls, and they were happy to oblige!

The photo was one of several photos taken by LIFE Magazine in 1949, for a special spread on Red Flannel Day. It was published in December of that year.

Sue Harrison sent us a complete copy of the photo we ran last week, along with two other photos taken that day.

According to Dorothy Bishop (as told to Sue Harrison), they just gathered a group of high school girls together to take photos around town that day. The photo with the girls hitchhiking in Red Flannels was taken on Northland Drive, which was then US131. It’s unknown to us whether it was the north or south end of town.

Sue and several others identified the girl sitting with her thumb out as Marlene Heiss, (later Sipple). She was Red Flannel Queen the following year, 1950.

Shari Wesche (and a few others) positively identified the second girl (standing by the sign) as Shari’s mother, Janet (Call) Olmsted, who is now 79 years old. Shari talked with her mom about that day.  “She said that when they (LIFE) came to town, they wanted the 16 and 17-year-olds to drop the flaps on the Red Flannels, and they were just in tears,” related Shari. “So the Clipper girls stepped in and said ‘No way!’”

The same two girls can be seen in the photos with the car. They appear to have been taken from the parking lot of what is now Cedar Chest, facing the east. You can see the building that is now Car Quest and the building on the corner of Main and Maple in the background.

In the car photos, Janet is on the left and Marlene is on the right. The man driving has not yet been positively identified. Sue noted that the girl standing at the left behind Janet is Suzanne (Wheeler) Anderson, and the girl standing at the right behind Marlene is Joyce (Bremmer) Empie.

Thanks to all of you that called on this photo, and to all of you that have been bringing in old photos and postcards. It sure is fun looking at old photos of what Cedar Springs used to look like and the people that lived here!

Cedar Springs 100 years ago

David Marin sent us this digital copy of an old postcard of downtown Cedar Springs that was hand colored. According to Marin, a friend told him the postcard was published in 1907. The picture can also be found in black and white on page 35, in the Cedar Springs Story, by Sue Harrison and Donna DeJonge, and the caption says it was taken before the turn of the century.

This photo could have been taken about 1900, because two important things happened in Cedar Springs in 1900: telephone service came to town (note the telephone poles) and the dirt roads in town were covered in crushed stone and the curbs were made from larger stones pushed into the dirt. That does not appear to have happened yet in this photo.

Do you have an old photo or postcard from Cedar Springs or the surrounding area you’d like to send us? Email it to news@cedarspringspost.com, or bring it in and we will scan it. Give us as much information as you can about the photo, and if we have room, it might make it in the paper!