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SAUGATUCK BORN AND BRED BITS AND PIECES of the 30's and early 40's in Saugatuck, Michigan as remembered by Margaret Sessions Clark 19-page draft version of the memoir scanned 2009 from Jack Sheridan drive 2023.72.02 This OCR process text may contain errors. This text did not include any photographs. --- At the age of 72 years, I lay awake at night and think back to my beginnings, and with few to challenge my memories, I can think them correct. PARENTS My father, Stuart Nathaniel Sessions, was born in York, ND, April 22, 1901 (when I was in college we visited the farm where he was born. A small unpainted two-story house, with a porch). His parents were trying to make a living at farming, but failing at this they returned to Michigan. My father attended school in Grand Ledge, where he graduated from high school. He then went to Texas A&M for one year, Albion College, one year, and graduated from Michigan State in 1918-1919. He wanted to farm, and did so with his Aunt Edith and Uncle George Elliot: his mother's sister and husband,. while he went to East Lansing to college. They promised my father that he could have the farm if he stayed with them and worked the farm. But he soon realized that he was little more than a hired hand. My father delivered milk in Detroit, with a horse and wagon. He told of going to apartment houses where he would have a number of deliveries and the horse would know the stops and continue on to the next stop and wait for him. My mother, Ruth Emily Douglas was born in Saginaw, MI, on December 12, 1903. I know little of her early days. She and her sisters made a red and white quilt, which I still have. Mother only finished the 8th grade. She took short hand and typing and got a job working at the Old's Automobile factory in Lansing, MI. It was while she was there she met my father at the Methodist Church in Lansing. They corresponded and dated for some time, before marrying August 20, 1924. Rev. Laity was the minister, and the Morris', friends from Grand Ledge, stood up with them. Following the wedding they moved to Fennville, MI where my father began his teaching career. The road from Lansing to Fennville was little more than a trail through the pines. It took them most of the day to cross the state by car. My brother Donald Douglas was born in Fennville on June 26, 1925. My folks moved from Fennville to Saugatuck the following year, and I was born August 2, 1927. BIRTH TO KINDERGARTEN Some of my earliest memories are of things told to me. Such as my coming into the world, August 2, 1927. I was born, in the early evening, in the Grandma Jarvis house up on the hill. My folks had called Dr. C.C. Corkill in Fennville, to come as soon as he closed his office hours,.. that a baby was expected soon. It was reported to me that I arrived before the Dr. did. I do not know who assisted at my birth. The women of the Methodist Church were having a circle meeting at the little house behind ours, where Grandma Jarvis lived, at the time I was born. Where my two-year-old brother, Donald was during this time, I don't remember ever hearing. I have no memories of my own about living in this house. 1 do know my mother stayed home and took care of Donald and me. I was also told that the doves cooed all day and night and were very depressing for her. Dad taught'in the high school where I know he taught math and possibly woodworking. I also remember being told of the time my father put Donald, my brother, in the back seat of the car, leaving the door open, and Donald rolled out, and was nearly run over. I was baptized April 8, 1928 at the Methodist Church, by Rev. Bessie Rulison. IGA STORE I was less than two when my folks bought the IGA Store and we moved to the living quarters over the store. It is here that most of my memories begin. I don't know if mother took care of us at first or if my grandmother stayed with us at that time, and mother worked in the store. Or if we just grew like topsy. I think there was some of both Before I was old enough to be out on the street by myself, I was at one time tied to a pole in the alley behind the store, and there was a play place with sand. I don't know that Donald was tied too, or if I was just by myself. It being a small town, everyone kind of kept track of me. I was told that one day when I was still in diapers, I woke up from my nap, got out of bed, went down the hall, down the stairs, down the sidewalk, crossed the street past three stores, and was recognized by someone going into the post office. They brought me back to the store, and my folks. As I look back on this time I guess it was a good thing the whole town helped take care of Donald and me, as we were always into some mischief. About this same time I was put to bed for my nap, with a black doll. When mother came to get me up, I was running a high fever, and the black paint had come off the doll, on my neck. I had a gland lanced in the right side of my neck at that time. As we were at home in the store as well as in the apartment, I soon learned where the candy was. I would help myself to the candy that was in a class front counter. Then later to candy bars which dad did not know I could reach. When the partition was moved to give more room in the front of the store, they found half-eaten candy bars between the boxes. SURROUNDINGS A stairway with a door opening between the IGA Store and Bird's Drug Store on the corner, led to the second floor. Up the stairs to the left, over Bird's Drug Store was the telephone office. TELEPHONE OFFICE Here there was alwas one and maybe two telephone operators. We could stand in the doorway and watch the operator at the board put in plugs and pull them out as they connected or disconnected parties from their calls. We could hear the operator give the latest gossip, and visit with the phone customers, and they would visit with us when they were not to busy. When the fire siren blew we would run to the office and listen while the operator told the firemen where the fire was. We had volunteers, who had to call in, then go to the fire station and get the truck and head for the fire. The first one who arrived would take the truck and the others would drive their vehicles behind the truck, with their horns blowing. If the fire siren blew at night, we would all leave supper, or whatever we were doing, and drive or run to the fire. I think dad had a fixation with fires, which has carried over to me. Farther down the hall beyond the telephone office was an apartment where the head telephone operator lived. I remember visiting her there, I think her name was Mrs. Shaw, who made a dress of organdy with tiny embroidered pink roses on a peter pan collar trimmed in lace. This was for the baby shower for the baby mother lost, when I was three or four. I remember the shower, and other things she received that night. The dress in a beautiful box and a shawl I kept for many years. Straight ahead down the hall was another apartment, which was in the corner, also over the drug store. Aunt Virginia and Uncle Gordon lived here for a time, and Gordon worked in the grocery store. I remember Aunt Virginia inviting me to lunch one day, and she offered me watermelon, which I said I didn't like, and some other things that I also declined. She told my mother, and did I ever get a scolding. I was told to never again say I didn't like something. OUR APARTMENT On the right at the top of the stairs, and along the hall a ways was the entrance to our apartment, over our grocery store.. The living room over the front of the store, had two windows, and in my memory it was a very large room. Yet when I returned to Saugatuck in the 50's, the store area seemed to have shrunk, and the whole town was much smaller than it had seemed as a child. In the middle of this large front room was a black stove, which in the winter, furnished the heat for this part of our living area. I can remember our Sunday morning bath in a large tub placed near the stove to keep us warm while bathing. A dining table was in the area closest to the kitchen. The kitchen, I remember, was painted a pea green. And had no outdoor light except what came through the door from the living area. So we either had a ceiling light, which turned on from a pull cord, or it was dark. There was a square table in the kitchen, where we could eat lunch. We stood on a green stool (in the kitchen) to reach a lead pipe, which went down through the floor to the grocery store below, so we could call the folks when we needed them. Sometimes Donald would call down the pipe to tell the folks I was misbehaving, and other times I would call to complain about something. The apartment was entered from the hall with a transom over the top of it. This was left open at times and we could hear people coming and going in the hallway. An inner hall went 10 feet or so toward the front of the building and came into the living room, and another doorway off of this hall came into the kitchen area. The reason I remember the transom was that when my father's youngest brother lived with us and worked in the store, he and dad were always playing tricks, or pranks. One day Uncle Gordon took a pail of water and threw it through the transom on top of my dad who was standing near the door. I also remember hearing people in the hall at night, going to the other apartment, and being somewhat fearful, as I am quite sure our doors were not locked. I don't our ever remember having locked doors in Saugatuck., Behind the kitchen was a play area, but I think we also slept there when we were younger. Off of this area was the bathroom. Neither of these areas had outside lighting. Our bath water was heated by an electric "donut shaped heater., While it was plugged in, the top of the tub was covered with a green cloth with elastic around it, to keep us from falling in and get electrocuted. In the wintertime we also had a portable floor heater that was used to heat the bathroom and play area. One afternoon Donald and I took a pair of scissors and went into the bathroom and cut off chunks of my hair. This necessitated a trip to the barber a block down the street, who repaired some of the damage. Behind the play area was my folks' bedroom. A door from their room went out to the back hall. On down the back hall were more rooms and apartments. There was a stairway that led downstairs and outside. At the bottom of the stairs you could go left into the backroom of the Bird's Drug Store, or right into the back of our grocery store. Upstairs there was a large room over the back of Consumer Power Co.. When I was older we all slept in this room. I had a 3/4 bed with iron bedstead. It was painted blue. Because we had no bathroom near this room, we used "slop jars". There was a stove here too, but it did not keep us very warm. Especially when the coal was gone near morning. Summers we were hot, and winters we were cold. During this time I think maybe my Grandma Douglas was with us and she had the bedroom in the back of the apartment, next to the bathroom. PLAY THINGS I can remember having a doll bed and that at one time I had 28 dolls in it. My favorite ones were named Don-sta, and Mar-ru.' for Donald, Stuart, and Margaret, Ruth. I would change the dolls from daytime clothes to nighttime, putting them to bed. I also, about this same time, had a green doll-buggy (I think everything about this time was painted pea green) No wonder I can't stand the color now. I can remember taking the dolls in the buggy, for a walk, going half way around the block, the back half, where the houses were, away from the stores. I also remember someone ran over the buggy, when I left it in the driveway, and that was the end of it. In the morning I would hurry and get dressed and run down to the store and wait for father to finish his business and we would s tart down to the bank and the post office, hand in hand. With my short legs it was hard to keep up with him but I never asked him to go slower. Donald and I would take our toys and play on the bench out in front of the store. We had a wooden tricycle, when we were very small. We also had a wagon. We would push or pull each other in the wagon, providing hours of fun. In the wintertime, we had a sled. Dad built a box on it and Donald and I would sit in the box, and dad and mother would pull us, when they went for walks in the evening. CARE GIVERS There were many times when various people took care of us, while our folks were both working in the store. Sometimes we had high school girls with us. Our grandmother lived with several different times. For a period our Aunt Dorothy, my mothers youngest sister lived with us. Later she got a job taking care of an older couple that lived north of the house at 805 Holland St. (which the folks were to buy later). Various relatives lived with us and worked in the store. Uncle Gordon, my father's youngest brother worked in the store briefly. Uncle Melvin and Aunt Thelma Gilmore came to work in the store. They lived at the bottom of the hill on Holland Street, on the right hand side, going north. My cousin Elaine was at least two years younger than I, and they had a girl, Gladys Pshea, living with them while she went to high school. Living in a small community had its drawbacks as well as its advantages. If we were found doing something, which we were not supposed to do, or where we were not supposed to be, we got told on, or talked to directly. Most all of my folks' adult friends we called "Aunt" and "Uncle". Uncle Harry Newnham, was the town maintenance man, and was often around working in the park, or on the streets. He had a snow plow, on the front of the truck in the winter, which he used to plow the streets. In the summer he would repair the streets with a trailer on the back of his truck that hot tar. We would get a piece of the tar, and chew it. Uncle Harry was one of those who kept an eye on us, and talked to us, when we followed him around while he was working. We would sometimes go over to visit Aunt Nita and Uncle Harry's, and daughter Ruth on Sunday afternoon. Other times we visited Uncle Russell Force, who had a green house north of town. Other times Aunt Mayme Force, with daughter's Joyce and June. Their husband, father died February 24, 1935. I remember the day he died, because my folks were at the hospital with Aunt Mayme on a Sunday afternoon and Donald and I ,and I think, Joyce and June were all at Uncle Harry"s with Ruth, till quite late. At the age of 7, I remember this because of the effect it his death had on my folks, and friends Both mother and dad worked in the store, and we could go up and down the back stairs. When grandma was staying with us, we were to "mind" her. But she very seldom told on us when we acted up. I can remember she had a stiff ankle, which made it difficult for her to get around. We were to do what she told us to do, without making it necessary for her to get after us. She had a good sense of humor, and played with us, and entertained us a good deal. One day I remember her sitting in the rocking chair, (which our daughter Virginia Stroh now has) and with Donald on one side and I on the other she tickled us both, until we rolled with laughter. In the summer time my folks spent long hours in the grocery store. They stayed open as late as 9 or 10, as the highway went through town then, and tourists would stop on their way through to buy groceries. I remember one night when they closed the store, they woke Donald and me, and we all went over to Lake Michigan for a swim. It was relaxing, and cooling, and we came home and went back sleep. Later the highway was changed, and it went around Saugatuck, and the traveling tourist traffic stopped. As Saugatuck was a summer resort, it was said the population was 500 in the winter and 5,000 in the summer. The resort people came mostly from Chicago, and many had summer homes in Saugatuck. Many were single people who came and stayed in the various homes that had board and rooms or just rooms for rent. There were also those who lived in Chicago but had summer homes in Saugatuck or over on Lake Michigan. Al Capone was a well-known gangster from Chicago, and some of his henchmen lived in Saugatuck. This was well known, but nothing was done about it. These people would make some big grocery orders as they did lots of entertaining, and needed lots of food. Later I was to remember the first $100 grocery order, we ever had from one customer. There was also the Hotel Butler at the end of the street and Hotel Maplewood at the other end of the street. And the Hotel Saugatuck and Crow Bar on the waterfront,- where Jerrine Crow lived on the second floor with her mother and father. But she did not become a part of my life until I was old enough to go to kindergarten, and expand my territory of play My early days were pretty much spent on the block where our IGA Store was located. On the corner was Bird's Drugstore, where Grandpa Charles E. Bird filled prescriptions 7 days a week until he died. The son, John Bird ran it after that, with his brother Moffat working there too. don't think the sons filled prescriptions after that. I do remember the soda fountain, and the tables and chairs in the back, and the drug store items in the front. Then the doorway upstairs between and drug store and our IGA Store, the Consumer Power Co, owned by Mr. Abbott Davis. Jarvis Jewelery Store was next and Mr. Jarvis sat in the front window repairing watches, and Mrs. Jarvis took care of the rest of the store. They sold gifts and souvenirs. Mrs. Jarvis worked there mostly during the summer, and they had a small kitchen in the basement. Alden wrote in the January 1999 issue of Douglas-Saugatuck Historical Newsletter. "In a real way Saugatuck owes him tribute for its new high school. It was on the original Jarvis field that the new school was built. if the Rotary Club had not purchased the space it would probably have been subdivided and unavailable. My father was known as "Jarv" not "Jarvie." The clock hung in the jewelry store many years prior to having it at the museum. While he directed the band and orchestra from about 1925 through 1949, he was never paid. He was given a set of golf clubs, but didn't play golf. He was happiest when working with young people. We always had a lot of young people around. His main instrument was trombone, but he played many other instruments. The next store was Joe B. Zweemer Real Estate Office, and Uncle Joe and his wife worked there most of the time. They lived up on the hill, and in the 30's their niece, Saburna Jean Naughton lived with them, and we would play in their yard. Uncle Joe as I remember also painted and I think he gave me his oil paints. Next door to the Real Estate Office was Grandma Naughton's Sundry store. She had baby clothes, and some gifts. Next to her store was Mrs. Blaine's gift shop. She had many beautiful gifts, which we loved to look at. She ran the store in the summertime' as she taught English in the high school in the winter. Around the corner and behind her shop was Dr. Walker's office, facing the park. It was here we were taken for our ailments, great and small. Dr. R. J. Walker, is remembered as a fine doctor with a rather gruff bedside manner. In 1933 a man robbed the Fennville bank and was shot in the jaw by a posse during his capture. Dr. Walker was called to Fennville and tended the injured citizens before tending the robber. he poured disinfectant on the wound and the robber yelled. dr. Walker snapped, "We;;. you've got guts to take this, you've got guts enough to rob a bank, you've got guts enough to take this," Beyond Mrs. Blaine's shop was the park. Here was nice green lawn, a walk, through and around it, and lots of trees. Beyond Dr. Walker's was an alley, and then the house where the Whipple sisters lived. It was here that mother was taken during the night, and we learned later she had given birth to a baby that was born dead, and they had buried it that night, with the help of Uncle Russell Force, the local florist, who was also in charge of the cemetery. Mother spent several days over at the Whipple's. I think the loss of that baby affected her more than was realized at the time. Next to the Whipple sisters was another Hotel, open only in the summer. A small green house was next to it, and then the big white Christian Science Church. I can't ever remember going inside it, or seeing it used. It had a number of steps, and big white pillars. We use to play on the railing behind this church. Behind the Christian Science church and along Water Street were the Pfaff, Veits, and Maddens. (I don't remember what order their houses were. We were, I'm sure, nuisances to these folks. When we saw them out on their porches we would stop and visit. The Maddens ran the newspaper. The Commercial Record office where they wrote, typeset, and ran the presses for the newspaper, was in a little building behind their house. We could see the paper being printed from the open door. On up the side street was another house with a big front porch. Next was the alley behind out store and the drug store. So was the block around which my early days centered. Across from the park, was another vacant area. It had more trees, and as I remember a cannon, from the Civil War. and it was here we held the Memorial Day ceremonies. I think there may have been swings in this area. Back of this area was Dr and Mrs. Waugh's house, and son Marc; then Grandma Naughton's, and Mrs. Blaine's. I don't know whether she lived in an apartment, or owned the whole house, and rented rooms. Beyond this open area was Maplewood Hotel, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Carl Wicks. Mr. Wicks would take his little open taxi, down to meet the bus when it came in from Chicago, and take passengers and baggage back up to the hotel. I think he also delivered freight, that came in on the bus. as well as papers. KINDERGARTEN When my brother, Donald, started school I would sit on the curb and wait for hours until he would come home. I also went to Mrs. Dolly Bird's Kindergarten. Her husband was Carl, and he owned a boat shop. Their daughter, Mary Lea, along with Jack Breckenridge, Jerrine Crow, Kiff House and I attended Kindergarten in their house on Allegan Street. It was a half-mile or so out past the Springer house. I can remember sitting at low tables covered with linoleum, and having graham crackers and milk. This was called the Hunting House, and was painted pink. With a large enclosed front porch with windows across the front. We had a couple of tricycles, wagons, that we played with on the porch, when it was to cold to go outside. I was fortunate that my father's mother would buy fabric, and have my father's younger sister, Aunt Edith, make me three dresses each spring and fall. These were the basis of my wardrobe. She also made coats for me, from larger coats. I always felt privileged to have these beautifully, made clothes. I remember getting a store bought dress from Woolworth Store in Holland for the large sum of $1.39. This was a real treat. During this time my freedom expanded to include the people and places in the adjacent blocks Across from Bird's Drug Store was the tavern. This place we were told to give a wide berth. But sometimes we would look in the door and see the thick smoke, and the dark interior, and music, before passing by. We had to go by there to get to the rest of that block. Beyond there were three little stores, one was a restaurant, and one was a gift shop. Beyond there was the post office. The mail was distributed, and the windows were not opened until they had the mail out. Dad would stand and visit with folks until the mail was ready. This was a place where gossip, and news was exchanged I can remember that our box was at the very bottom, and so quite early I was able to learn the combination and go for the mail myself. Beyond the post office was Koening's Hardware. This was a big building, with lots of interesting things. Beyond them was Funk's Newsstand. Mr. and Mrs. Funk both worked here. Beyond this was another building, and then another grocery store. I think it was an AG Store. These last two buildings were built higher than the street, and so had two or three wooden steps. Around the corner was the barbershop. It was here that we all went to have our hair cut. I wore my hair cut straight across, and it was thick, and sometimes stuck far out with electricity. Next to the barbershop was a small house, and a large white house on the corner with windows all around, and it was a hotel. The Funks lived next door to this hotel, across from The Saugatuck Hotel and Crow Bar.. Next to the Funks, lived the Koenings. And then an empty corner lot before coming full around the block to another house and then the Kreagers Across the street from the alley behind Bird's drug store. lived the Kreagers. Dr. Kreager was the dentist. He used to tell me that my father "hollered like an oyster peddler " while getting his teeth fixed. Dr Kreager was fixing my teeth the morning after "The War of the Worlds" was broadcast on radio. And although I had not heard it, he was concerned that it might have been true. He was also village president for 12 years or so before he died in the late 30's or early 40's. His wife, Allie kept house and they also rented rooms during the summer, as did many others. The Kreagers had three daughters, Illene, Jane, and Helen, much older than I was, a son, Jack, some older and a daughter Phyllis, who was a year older than I, and younger than my brother. The Kreagers had a grass yard, where we would run through the sprinkler. and I remember a round flowerbed. Mrs Kreager would let us pick some of the flowers. We would take them to dad and "sell" them to him for a nickel to buy ice cream with. We played with Phyllis a great deal. I remember the back steps which led through a back porch and into the big kitchen, with a large round table, and lots of activity. Cookies, and snacks were often offered to us. Donald and I would have squabbles and disagreements with Phyllis. Sometimes her cousins Elaine of Mary Lee would come to play and we would have fights with them, which would lead to Donald and I staying on our side of the street and Phyllis on her side. but it never lasted for very long, and we were again playing together. We also went across the street in front of the store. Across from Mrs. Blaine's shop was Wilson's Ice Cream store. They had many varieties of ice cream, and for a nickel we got a great big dip. It was often hard to decide which flavor I wanted. Alden Jarvis, came with her folks, to her father's shop about this time, and she would tell her folks "Margaret has a nickel. Can I have one?". At the same time I was telling my dad "Aldean has a nickel. Can I have one?" Next door to Wilson's Ice Cream shop were two other stores. When Grandma Douglas lived with us, she opened a Brown Bobbie Shop in one of these stores, for one year at least. Brown bobbies are a triangular donut made in an iron, that cooked the top and bottom like a waffle iron. They were advertised as greaseless donuts. This machine is the only one like it I have ever seen. She bought it used. She would make a number of dozens, some with different colors of frosting, and some plain. The original recipes is in my records. The machine I gave to our daughter Virginia. There were benches in front of the various stores, and we would play with our dolls, or other toys on these benches. In the afternoon, when the stores were hot, the owners would come out and sit on their benches, and visit with us or others who passed by. Artists were a large part of our summer life. We would spend afternoons wandering from one painter to another watching them execute their painting. In the park, on the walks throughout town, along the waterfront, painters would be sitting on their folding stool, with wooden easel, and paint box. Some were painting in oil, some in watercolor. (Little did I know this was to become a life time interest.) Their work held a real fascination as we sat on the grass and watched the white canvas, or paper, take on color and design. GRADE SCHOOL AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION One afternoon I went downstairs, and my father was very sharp with me, and told me to go back upstairs immediately. I was quite hurt. But later I learned that there had been a tarantula in a box of bananas, and he was afraid of my getting bit by it. Dad was able to put it in a bottle where I later saw it. He got bananas in a large box with the hands of bananas still on the stalk. He hung the whole stalk from a chain in the front window, and cut off bananas as they were bought. All our produce came by truck from Grand Rapids, MI two or three times a week. We ate quite well during the depression. because we had the ripe produce, which customers didn't want if they had a spoiled spot. They often bought produce that was not yet ripe. I can remember dad trying to get people to eat as well as they could, or make their money go as far as possible. One day he suggested to a woman who lived behind Parish Drug store and had a big family, that she buy a 5 pound bag of corn meal, and make corn mush. That seemed to be a good idea, but then they came back to buy, milk and sugar. This ruined the idea of feeding the family on the money they had. Much of the business during the depression, was conducted on charge books. Customers would buy their groceries, and most other things on credit, and when they got their WPA checks they would pay their bills. I am sure that most families never had enough to pay all their bills. Our IGA store was independently owned but we got our wholesale groceries from the warehouse in Holland, MI, and they would not extend credit. Cash flow was a real problem. I remember that dad said, one-day, the cash intake was only $15.00. The rest of the dav's business was on credit. I was less than six-year-old, but was aware that... [truncated due to length]

[Another, slightly different, version of this text printed in the SDHS newsletter inserts, paged 307-311] Growing Up in Saugatuck Margaret Sessions Clark lived in Saugatuck from her birth in 1927 to 1945. We have previously published her recollections of the family store, p. 173-175; and Butler Street and the Big Pavilion, p.185-87. This month's installment concerns activities centered around the Saugatuck Methodist Church and other happenings in the neighborhood. The church always played a large part in our family life. I think my father would liked to have been a minister. Rev. Bessie Rulison was the minister from 1924 to 1929 and baptized me, April 8, 1928. In 1929 our church became an outpoint of the Holland Church and Rev. J. C. Willits was our pastor, followed by Rev. Randall in 1931, and Rev. Brownlow in 1933. In 1937 Rev. Flowerday became pastor at the Holland church only and Howard Ammi Smith came to serve the Saugatuck church. He was followed by Rev. Murl Wilson in 1937, Rev. Robert Sneden, 1938; Rev. Harold Mackey, 1939; Rev. Russell Bowers, 1941; Rev. Allen Gray, 1941; Rev. W. F. Kindrick,1942; and Rev. Paul Hinkamo, 1945. We attended church every Sunday and often on Wednesday nights for prayer meeting. For one period during the thirties we had as our minister, Dr. F. S. Goodrich, a Bible teacher from Albion College. He was one of the few men I ever had the privilege of knowing who could quote most of the Bible from memory. Years later when I attended Albion College, Dr. Goodrich was sometimes the speaker for chapel. I remember going with him to the park on Saturday afternoon and visiting with him. One such afternoon he said he could name the books of the Bible, backwards. I was sure he could do anything. He stood up with his back to me and started naming the books of the Bible from the beginning; I was a bit disappointed for a while. He told me many stories. Every week at church he told "Mary Ann stories" about a little chicken, as the children's sermons. These were also printed in the local paper. They were stories about a chicken named Mary Ann that was often getting into trouble. These stories always had a moral. I had chicken pox about this time and I remember getting a letter from Dr. Goodrich with a small piece of flannel with baby chicks on it, as a reminder of his stories of Mary Ann. Sunday was the only day my folks had off. We would go to church in the morning. I began at birth attending church every Sunday. When I got a bit older I sat in a wooden high chair just behind the back pew. And still older Donald and I sat in the back pew with our folks, and with little to interest us during the sermon, we bothered each other. This usually got a "look" from Mother, Those "looks" were to keep us in line for years to come. Sunday school was held in the church basement with Mrs. Martin Bennett Sunday School Superintendent. Lois Bennett Monroe, their daughter, came from Kalamazoo every weekend to play the piano. Married to Basil Monroe, Lois taught school in Kalamazoo all during those years. When I was older we had choir practice Saturday night and then sang in the choir Sunday morning. Saturday night choir practice was an enjoyable social event. The Van Leeuwen boys, Dale, Andy and Alan, all came to Sunday school. About this time Alan was run over by a truck. He did recover without any seeming after effect, even though the truck had run over his stomach. When I was 12 I joined the church. I can remember meeting Rev. Mackey at the door of the church to tell him I was 12 and wanted to join the church. Early Social Life We began having birthday parties. As mine was in the summer we celebrated some years at the beach, and sometimes in our yard. Donald and I ran errands for various older residents. We now were able to go pretty much anywhere in town. We delivered groceries and the paper to Mrs. Camstock. I think it was really Donald that was in charge and she gave him a dime each time. The only person in town to whom I felt a great disliking was about 50 years old and with nothing else to do but cause trouble, she caused my folks plenty. Dad would deliver groceries to people on our way home, as a convenience - and then infrequently. One day she saw me carry groceries into a house and went to the Justice of the Peace and served a warrant far Dad's arrest because he didn't have a commercial license on the car nor a chauffeur's license. She delivered antiques all over the country and she didn't have a commercial license either, but Dad would not stoop to her level. I don't remember how it was resolved. One summer we had a plague of insects that came through town. they had long bodies and big wings. What killed them? I don't know, but their bodies covered the sidewalk. I remember walking on them and going squish-squish. They eventually dried up I suppose. The summer of 1938 my brother and I had a garden up on the hill behind Doc and Mae Heath's house at 336 Hoffman Street. Doc Heath ran a real estate office and owned the building the grocery store was in. They had a space behind their house that they let us plant a few things. I don't remember how successful it was, but it did keep us out of mischief for a time. Mrs. Heath was one of the most beautiful people I have ever met. She had white hair and always a smile. She was a friend to everyone she met. One day she walked round and round a large oak tree with her baby in the buggy for hours to keep the town from cutting down the tree. It is still standing on Griffith and Francis. Several years after Doc died in 1947 Mae Heath moved to a new home at 525 Butler which she called "Heathcote." It was next door to the Congregational Pastor Horace and Mrs. Maycroft who lived at 521 Butler. In her later years Mrs. Heath became an acclaimed artist. She was instrumental in building the Woman's Club building on Hoffman Street and in the founding of the Saugatuck Art Club in 1953. She died September 1961 of a heart attack. In the summertime it was hard to keep us busy. About this time we started going out to the swimming pool north of town. It cost 5 cents to ride the bus out and back. And I think ten cents to swim. I did not have any fear of the water and they were constantly finding me out in the deep water and sending me back to shallower water. I would spend several hours at the pool. I believe it closed because of the cost of upkeep. I joined the Brownies and although I can't remember much that we did, I was proud of my uniform and pin and we were in the parades with the Girl Scouts. Genevieve Wright was our leader. Sometimes we met in her home. I seem to remember that mostly we met in the village hall, upstairs over the fire trucks. This building had a jail cell, either in the basement or on the first floor. One day Uncle Harry locked me in briefly, just so I would know what it was like. Above the fire trucks was a large room where art shows also were held in the summer time. Lessons Expand Our Horizons Donald and I took piano lessons for a period from Mrs. Reuben Scott. A newspaper clipping notes that we were in a recital at the home of Mrs. Abbott Davis. I can remember this recital on a Saturday afternoon and our mother in attendance. Participants as listed in the newspaper clipping were: Bessie Beery, terrine Crow, Marc Reid, Patricia and Abbott Davis, Matilda Hespel, Patsy Taylor, Margaret and Donald Sessions, Phyllis Kreager, Hazel and Edward Olson, Norma McCarty, Avis Hankes, Dorothy and Mary Ann De Breuil, Susan Boyce, Olive Reeks, Audrey and Catherine Padbury and Alice Belden. Later Donald played the accordion, but I gave up piano lessons when I cut the end of my finger off one day on the meat sliver at the store. I was cutting a slice of cold meat for a sandwich for an after school snack. Dad ran me down to Dr. Walker's office with the tip of my finger in his hand and a towel wrapped around my hand. It was decided not to my and reattach the tip of my finger. When the shock was over, one of the first things I said was, "Good, I won't have to take any more piano lessons." I never did get the idea of the metronome. It would click away going back and forth and I would play the notes when I found them. I was not interested in playing an instrument, so would take paper and pencil and go find me a place to draw. In 1931 the Taylors moved to a house on Holland Street at the corner of Lucy Street, where Mrs. Taylor founded the Taylor Art School. When I was 12 I was the first one to answer a contest in the paper, sponsored by Mrs. Cora Bliss Taylor. There were questions about great artists and, if answered correctly, Mrs. Taylor would give a series of free lessons. This encouraged my interest and enjoyment in painting. That summer I spent most of my time with Mrs. Taylor and bought my palette box and paints which are still "at the ready." Mrs. Taylor gave me one of her paintings (which I treasure very much) for a high school graduation present. Cora Bliss Taylor was an active member of the Saugatuck community for over So years, before she died at the age of 97 in April 1984. I think vocal lessons came later at the home of Mrs. Tillinghast. I can remember recitals at her home and some of the songs we sang such as "Londonderry Air" and "Du Bish My Kindest Pupshen If you love me, like I love you, no one can break our love in two." One of our favorite radio programs was Jack Armstrong and in the summertime we learned where the building's shadow hit the curb, opposite the grocery store, so we would know when to come in, in time to hear him. One winter day, coming home from Holland, Mother put her foot on the brake at the bottom of the hill on Holland Street and the car slid on the ice hitting the cement culvert over the creek. I was sure we were going to tip over. The car righted itself, but I did not want to get back in it. We walked down to the store and told Dad what had happened. he got the car and then made us get back in the car and go for a ride. He did not want me to have a fear of riding in cars. During the summer bands of gypsies would camp just outside of town, come into town in horse and wagons. They would come in the store and try to steal all they could. They wore big flowing clothes in which they could easily hide groceries. Several came in at one time and one would try and district Dad and get him away from the cash register and the other one would try and get money from the drawer. The good thing was that they never stayed around long. Moving to a Real House About this time we moved from the apartment over the store to a house at 207 Hoffman Street, owned by Mrs. Davis. We rented it. In the house just across from us lived the Bradys at 515 Mason. He was owner or manager of the Fruit Growers' State Bank. It was past their house that we went down the cement steps to the lower part of town. It was beside their house that we went up the driveway to school. We lived on the corner with the sidewalk raised two feet above the street. There was a lead pipe railing around the walk. This house was two stories with the living room on the front of the house, with the folk's bedroom behind it. The stairs went up off the front room. There were two bedrooms with sloped ceilings. Donald's room was at the head of the stairs and I went through his room to get to mine in the front. The dining room was one story, off the living room. Behind the dining room was the kitchen and another bedroom. Grandma Hill slept here when she lived with us. Off the kitchen was an enclosed back porch. After we moved to Hoffman Street, I played more with Aldean Jarvis since she lived at 450 Culver Street, which was just below the school, a block away from our house by a path at the bottom of the stone steps. We made candy and cookies at her house and she had lots of toys. Work Projects Administration About this time WPA (Work Projects Administration) came into existence under President Roosevelt. My earliest contact that I remember was in a sewing class. Miss Fern Lawrence, a single lady and her mother lived in a duplex at the bottom of the cement steps leading down town from the school. As they had no income they were eligible for WPA which was a government work program for food. The government paid her to teach us how to sew. The first thing I ever made was a blue serge pair of slacks, which I and not sure I ever wore. One winter day Donald and I went down to the Kalamazoo River. We were not supposed to go near the river. Way out in the middle of the river in front of the Pavilion was the town fire truck. They were flooding the ice to make it smooth for skating. We thought that if the fire truck could be way out in the middle, it certainly was hard enough for us to walk out on at the edge. WRONG. We went just a few feet from shore when one foot went through the ice and I was immediately cold, wet and scared. We got my foot out and headed for the store. We were more afraid about the punishment than anything else. Winter nights there was community sledding. Because half the town was built on the hill and the other half was down on the river level, we had several streets that were good for sliding. St. Joseph Street was our hill, this section of road has now been abandoned. We had a sled, but the older boys and men had big toboggans. There were two or three of them. Eight or 10 foot planks fixed with wooden runners. The front runners turned and the back ones were fixed. The bigger people, the Woodall brothers, Henry Gleason and others would get on the front and put us kids in between them. What fun and how fast we went. Then to walk back up the hill and wait for the next ride down. The temperature was cold but we didn't complain because we didn't want to quit until the folks made us. In the spring Donald and I would take the ferry boat for five cents and cross the Kalamazoo river with Captain (Cappy) Leonard S. Brittain usually rowing the boat. Sometimes a car would want to cross on the chain ferry and so we could still pay our nickel and get to ride with the car. On the opposite side of the river was the Ferry Store where we would often get an ice cream cone before continuing on to Lake Michigan. We walked through the woods on paths we quickly learned. We would sometimes swing from a great big rope that had been tied to a tree, out over a sand dune, then jump. When we got tired of this we would continue on, enjoying the early wild flowers like Jack-in-the-pulpits and the lush undergrowth and big dense woods to Lake Michigan. Camp Gray, a Presbyterian church camp, was one of our stops. Aunt Lu Lu (a large black lady with a huge smile and a bandanna around her head) who came early spring to clean up the buildings would be there and we would eat our lunch with her. We would be gone most of the day before walking back to the ferry again and coming home. Summer days we would play along the riverfront. When the fishing boats started coming in, in the late afternoon we would watch them as they unloaded their catch. Sometimes mother would send us down to the fish market to get fresh fish for supper.

[Another, slightly different, version of this text printed in the SDHS newsletter inserts, paged 3020-322] Growing up in Saugatuck Margaret Sessions Clark lived in Saugatuck from her birth in 1927 to 1945. We have previously published her recollections of the family store, p. 173-175; Butler Street and the Big Pavilion, p.185-87, and church activities, 308-311. This month it is tales centered around growing up in the Saugatuck schools. When my brother Donald, started school, I would sit on the curb and wait for hours until he would come home. I also went to Mrs. Dolly Bird's kindergarten. Her husband was Carl and he owned a boat shop. their daughter, Mary Lea, along with Jack Breckenridge, Jerrine Crow, Kiff House and I attended kindergarten in their house on the corner of Maple and Allegan Street. It was a half mile or so past the Springer house. I can remember sitting at low tables covered with linoleum and having graham crackers and milk. This was called the Hunting House and was painted pink with windows across the front. As my horizons expanded I started 15t grade with Miss Margaret Vanderhart my 1st and 2"d grade teacher, and Margaret Woodall, took care of us. I can remember I sat in the back row and when I had my work done I helped one of the girls who wrote with her left hand and upside down, learn to write with her right hand. We held a mirror in order to read the way she wanted to write. I also remember going to the back of the room to two benches for reading. It was here that I remember the books about Dick and Jane and dog, Spot. We visited a dairy farm and then returned to the classroom to build a cardboard barn and a large cardboard cow in it, and the milking machine, copies of what we had seen at the dairy. Living across from the school had its drawbacks. We would wait until we heard the tardy bell ring, before we would run out the door and up the driveway to school. We would usually be just behind the last ones waiting to enter the building. Sometimes the teacher marked us tardy and sometimes we were in our seat by the time roll was taken. Layout of the Old School The school building had a basement and two floors with high ceilings. Just inside double doors wide wooden steps took us up to the first floor. Narrower steps led to the basement. Mr. Martin Bennett was the school custodian. He held forth in the basement with the boilers that provided the heat for the building and all the custodial equipment. Later, we had a lunchroom in the basement where we could eat our box lunches and Mrs. Bennett was in charge of us during lunch hour. On the first floor, Miss Ashdown's room was on the left and Mrs. Belden's room was on the right. Up to stairs to the second floor, the chemistry lab was on the left and the assembly hall was on the right. Off the assembly hall was the library. At the end of the hall was the Principal's office. Mr. Miller was the principal and his son Jimmy was either in my class or a year ahead. From this (old) building an opening led to the new brick building. The first room on the ground floor was 1st and 2°d grades. The second room was 8th grade. Above these rooms was where we had high school English and bookkeeping classes. We had Latin in the next room. Past these two classrooms at the end of the hall was Superintendent Waugh's office. Down stairs at the end of the hall was the door that went onto the stage of the gymnasium. The first thing I remember about the gymnasium-auditorium is all the grade school plays. In one of the earliest Donald was a pirate in a big boat and I can't remember what I was, but I remember being on stage in the background. Miss Vanderheart was music director at this time. The school-town orchestra-band under the direction of Mr. Jarvis also practiced and performed here. Later I remember going to basketball games and school plays in the gym. It was the largest place in town for gatherings. Third and 4th grade teacher was Miss Ashdown. We called her "Miss Ashcan." I wonder if she knew that was what we called her. I remember learning the times tables and in 4th grade, writing a paper about famous musicians and copying lots of information from the encyclopedia. We also made a post office or bank out of cardboard boxes and learned how to handle money. Fifth, 6th and 7th grades were with Mrs. Belden. She was rather short, also strict. I had a seat near the back of the room and she was constantly telling me to be quiet. My report cards at this time usually noted that "If Margaret would not talk so much she would do better work." Maybe so ... Summertime Baseball In the summertime the boys would gather in the schoolyard for baseball games. Donald was not very athletic, but he did try. And of course wherever he went I went, so sometimes they would let me play too. The school did not have athletics, other than basketball. A new boy came to town who was large for his age and hard to get along with. Mrs. Belden called him a "procrastinator." This intrigued us all and made us go to the dictionary to learn what he was. The word has remained with me ever since. Because there were three grades in one room, only one grade could meet at a time. Each class would go to the front of the room and sit on benches for their recitation. I am sure I did not talk all the time because I can remember listening to their lessons and learning from them. We had art classes at this time taught by Mr. Grapple. WPA also paid him, I believe. We were introduced to poster paints and some abstract types of painting. The playground was just outside our 5th-6th grade room. It was a distraction when lower grades were out playing. We had swings, a merry-go-round and a big slide. A metal fire escape stairway went up to the second floor. Maybe this is a strange thing to remember, but Mrs. Belden was a stickler for good posture. She would stand with her back to the wall and tell us your feet, back and head were all in a straight line. As I remember Mrs. Belden was not above using the ruler when needed. She was so short that some of us, by 6`" grade, were bigger than she was. I'm sure this posed some discipline problems as teacher. Six of us girls formed a sorority, Sigma Tau Delta. We met at Tripp's Drug store every Wednesday and had a party once a month. Pat Forster's mother made us pins. In the 7th grade we had our first man teacher, Mr. Sonnenberg, for math and the 8'h grade came into Mrs. Belden's room for English. In 8th grade we had Mr. Sonnenberg to ourselves, except for English. I remember being delegated to present him with a gift when he married Miss Ashdown and said "Happy Birthday" instead of "Congratulations" in making the presentation. Mrs. Belden took our class to Grand Rapids to see the newspaper being printed. The summer following 7th grade she took a bunch of us to Chicago in her car. We visited the museums and planetarium an aquarium. Mrs. Belden and her daughter, Alice, lived in an apartment over Mrs. Blame's store. Alice was in high school when she stayed with us if the folks were gone. On to High School High school made some changes in my activities. I took speech and debate. Mrs. Blame was our coach and English teacher. She was sick when we were to compete with another school and I went at the coach. I really felt this responsibility. I worked in the school office and the library. Donald and I rode our bicycles to school most days. I remember one winter day, having just pumped our way up the hill, I hit a hole, and I went up in the air, and the bicycle continued ahead of me and I came down in a puddle. I was muddy as well as sore the rest of the day and sore for some time afterwards. One day Donald and I were in Grand Rapids. I don't remember why or how, but we ended up hitchhiking back to Saugatuck. I had a red wool, reversible raincoat. I was wearing the red side out when we were standing by the road looking for a ride. One of the residents of Saugatuck recognised my red coat and stopped to pick us up. Several years during the war Dad went back to teaching and mother and John Biller ran the store during the day. Dad taught math, after Mrs. Miller left, and woodworking, in the basement of the home ec building. Dad, Donald and I ate our lunches in the home ec room. One day we heard something in one of the sewing machine drawers. Opening it we found a nest of tiny pink mice. That was a surprise. All four high school grades met in the one large room upstairs above the 5th•6th-7th grade room, for assembly. We had announcements and attendance. Then off to our various classes. I got mostly A's and B's with some C's and a D in typing. I could never type as fast as I could think, so made mistakes. Little did I know that I was to later type for a living. I was 7`h in standing in a class of 13 when we graduated. Each year we had a school play. The English teacher usually directed it. Miss Dumas I think was her name. I remember one play I was in called "Double?" and when the play opened I came running across the stage and jumped over a davenport to answer the doorbell. That one, or another one, I was the dumb maid and asked the guest "One lump or two?" (Sugar that was.) Strange what we remember after 60 years. Donald went to Starr Commonwealth for Boys his second year where he had a room and helped out with the boys while going to college. We visited him and met Uncle Floyd who offered Dad a job teaching math and agriculture at $1,600 a year. At the end of my junior year I was in charge of the Junior-Senior Prom. We had a banquet in Holland, I have the program but it does not say where it was held. April 24, 1944, was the date. The Program; Welcome, Margaret Clark; Response, Ray Biller; Senior Will, Rita Brady; Community Singing; Surprise, Mrs. Blame; Class History, Aldean Jarvis; The Class of '44, Winn Adams. Following this program we attended the movie, "The Purple Heart." When Mrs. Blame got up to speak she acted very strange, almost as if she was going to faint. I don't remember what, if anything she said, but I think she was play acting. The following year, when we were seniors. I also remember the Junior-Senior Beach Party. The juniors planned it and I was most disappointed when there was not much to it, other than a beach party, High School Graduation Commencement was held in the school auditorium. Jack Breckenridge and I were to lead the procession, but at practice neither Jack nor I could keep in step with the music, so we got moved to the back of the line. Jerrine Crow gave the Salutatory Speech and Betty Campbell was the Valedictorian. Kiff House, Jerrine Crow, Jack Breckenridge and I had gone through all 12 grades together.