September 19, 2023 – Leelanau County, MI – Written by Jim

To say that this summer has been filled to the brim would be an understatement! When we last posted, we had just had our new sofa and recliners delivered, along with a new mattress for the guest room. We had emptied our storage room in Grand Rapids and had everything we owned here at home…the first time that had happened since September, 2014. We figured out early on that our plan of landscaping and moving in would be whittled down to just moving in, as we wanted to enjoy our place and not be constantly working.

It wasn’t long before our guests started arriving!

We’ve hosted several groups of friends and family over the summer, which has been very special for us. Just like I have said about full-time RVing: it’s not about the places…it’s about the people.

Smiling faces who make our lives complete.

Every one of them bring joy to our lives!

Rarely a week went by without getting together with someone.

We even have a few of our great nephew’s small handprints on the refrigerator door that we can never wash off. 😊

I even delayed this post to visit with a dear friend from college. Apologies to those who we failed to get photos of! We enjoyed seeing each and every one of you!

We also made six trips downstate! We’ve had birthday, graduation and anniversary celebrations, doctor appointments, memorials and a very special afternoon in Detroit. You may recall a past post about my great-grandfather being the general contractor on Old Mackinac Lighthouse in 1892. That post can be seen here. Well, nine years before that, he was the general contractor on the bell tower at St Joseph Shrine in Detroit. Completion of that tower made the building the tallest in Detroit at that time. There had been a family story about the largest bell being dropped by the crew, which ended up in the basement of the vestibule. When the crew couldn’t find my great-grandfather, they feared he was below the wreckage. They ran two blocks to my great-grandmother’s house to tell her, only to find him there for some reason. Anyone with first-hand knowledge of the event had long passed on, so it pretty much was just a story in my generation’s minds. It turns out that the story actually is true!

This year is the 150th anniversary of the church. I saw a post on a Detroit historical architecture Facebook group Diana and I belong to where a member of the church was looking for information on the early families from the parish. He is doing a Ken Burns-style documentary on them. I provided him all the information I had and asked if there was any way that Diana and I could personally see the bells. We arranged a time and met with Joe and Julie, who gave us an extensive tour of the church!

My great-grandparents and grandparents were married here, and my mom was baptized here.

The climb to the bells themselves was an adventure! The church had recently been sandblasted, so there was sand everywhere. Bat guano and pigeon poop too! Rickety stairs led us to the top.

The bells themselves were massive! All of them have an 1883 date on them, except for Anton, the 5000 pound bell. It was cast in Baltimore in 1885 to replace the 4000 pound bell that was dropped. It is named for Anton Pulte, who made the largest donation for the bells. Many of you will recognize the Pulte name, as they are one of America’s largest home builders. This was where they went to church back then. It turns out there was a push to get the bells installed for Christmas in 1883, as the bishop was coming to bless them. The bell was dropped on Christmas Eve. The entire set is still mounted on the hardwood beams my great-grandfather’s crew installed.

They even got permission for us to ring them!

Julie then stayed behind and sent us to the street to listen to her ring them, so we could hear them better. With seven bells, she had to be running around the room like a crazy woman! To hear these bells ring was a gift.

Our last piece of news for the summer is that we have decided to spend the winter in Michigan! We want to enjoy our home in addition to getting in some snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Those of you who have been to our place may be wondering about the combination of our steep driveway and snow.

We purchased a back blade from a 1953 Ford Jubilee tractor. A little John Deere green and we are ready to go! That and the front bucket on the tractor should take care of any snow we have.

That’s about it for now. Until next time, safe and happy travels to all!