Part 1 – Downtown Traverse City – Then and Now

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Mike Delve's world number 411.

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I guess that'd be the information.

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Anyway,

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4114

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November fifth 2025.

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I I think it's time for my dove

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world.

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Ah, there it is.

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And, yes, there it is. And today, I'm

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gonna talk about downtown,

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downtown Traverse City, to be exact.

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You know, there's people from all over the

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world that listen to this, but,

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you know, I was gonna make this about

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November up north.

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And

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the more I think about it, I I

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think I just wanna make it just about

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up north, whether November or not.

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And, certainly,

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November downtown Traverse City is kinda cool. In

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fact, it's a little too cold. We're supposed

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to have our first snow today, so I

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did instead of walking around down there and

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talking about stuff that's going on currently,

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I'm gonna kinda go back in time and

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do some, some more nostalgia.

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Yeah, I know. It's a disease, but

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we're gonna do it anyway.

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So

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basically

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Traverse City's downtown, it's one of those typical

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Midwest downtowns,

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you know, three to five story buildings.

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We do have one ten story building that's

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a block off of what I consider downtown.

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Downtown basically

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is

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what I consider downtown

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is from,

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Pine Street,

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on the West Side,

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down Front Street

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to the parkway.

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Those that are are local know where the

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old Holiday Inn used to be

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and Grandview Parkway.

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And basically from the open space,

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which I'll talk about later,

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all the way up till eight on Union

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Street, which goes, from north to south. So

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just some of the stuff that that used

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to be there and some of the stuff

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that's there now, what it is now,

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you know, kind of a historic

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sort of thing and in no particular order.

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I I sort of wrote down some bullet

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points here, but, I probably

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meander a little bit like I normally do.

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So

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here we go.

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One of the most

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landmark y buildings

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downtown

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other than, say, the Park Place Hotel, which

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is the 10 story building on State Street,

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but on Front Street is probably the currently

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Fifth Third Bank building.

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It was originally built in the late eighteen

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hundreds, I believe,

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as the Traverse City State Bank.

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It's one of those iconic

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domed clock towers and that clock has been

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rebuilt and remodeled I don't know two three

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times, but still has kind of that same

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old look. You've probably seen a building like

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it with a clock tower on the corner.

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One of the cool things about this building,

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and this has been that way,

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I don't know, as long as I can

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remember,

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but the sidewalk out in front of the

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bank all the way around the corner for,

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you know, probably half a block in two

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different directions

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is heated, and I believe it's from the

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boiler

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of the bank building,

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and it's steam.

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And, what's cool about that or warm about

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that is

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no snow builds up there.

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So

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you can you can imagine what that looks

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like when it's really snowing.

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There's steam coming off of it, but, an

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old building, it's still for Third Bank

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and you can still go in. There's a

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regular lobby, and it's kind of the old

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style bank lobby, and

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it's, you know, and the cool thing us

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kids thought about it back in the seventies

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was it had a,

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one of those revolving doors, and it was

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one of those that was motorized, so it

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was constantly moving.

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I don't even think they have that there.

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I I was just by there about

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an hour ago,

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and I forgot to look to see if

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that revolving door is still there or the

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the round door.

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But,

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it may be. It might not. I don't

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know.

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But, it's probably the tallest,

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building. Well,

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back then, it was the tallest building. There's

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a I think there's a couple six story

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buildings now

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on Front Street,

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or just off of Front Street,

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but

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as of back then, it was it was

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definitely one of the taller buildings.

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There was, like I said, there was one

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other bank building that was six

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stories on the other end of Front Street.

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And then, of course, again, the Park Place,

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which was,

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you said, a a block,

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south of downtown.

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Ironically, the Park Place had a,

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or still does, has a beacon on it

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like a lighthouse,

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and it was kind of used for that

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purpose.

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You know, back in the day, it was

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built in 1930 or at least finished off

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in 1930

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it was something else before that but

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it's still a hotel and it still has

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that old nineteen thirties building look to it

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so it's pretty cool.

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Anyway going on down Front Street and we're

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kind of going west to east

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On the south side,

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just past Union Street is

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a building. I forget what the name of

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the building was, but I remember it as

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the old True Value Hardware store back in

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the sixties, seventies, eighties.

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Right there at the on the bottom, it

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was a three story building, so it had

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offices, I think, on the Second Floor and

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apartments up on the Third Floor,

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something like that. And that building caught on

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fire.

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A lot of fires downtown, but,

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that one caught on fire and just sort

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of gutted it, and then, they revamped it.

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And I don't really remember what's there right

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now, but, you know, just regular storefronts, little

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stores, that you would find in a typical

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downtown.

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Traverse City is,

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lucky in the fact that the downtown is

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thriving, so there's not a lot of empty

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real estate.

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There's a little construction going on, but

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it's,

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you know, it's it's holding up pretty well

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for a downtown.

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I don't go down there all that much

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anymore and simply because, you know, it's a

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lot easier to go to the big box

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stores outside of town and all that. I'm

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sure a lot of people are that way,

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but you know, we're also a touristy town

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so they get lots of business and

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we do go down there. One of the

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other one of the places we go to,

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I wouldn't say frequently, but a couple three

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times a year is the City Opera House

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and

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the City Opera House was built in 1890.

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And

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back in the day, they had vaudeville shows

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and all kinds of things going on in

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the Opera House. Nowadays, they have little mini,

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you know, smaller concerts.

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I don't know. Kathy and I went there

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and saw Tyrus.

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Tyrus is a a comedian slash wrestler slash

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Fox News guy

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and from the great Greg Gutzfeld show,

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and, we saw his tour in there. That

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was cool.

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Our local

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community theater

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had their gala there, and, of course, we

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support the the local theater. So we

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went there for the gala.

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So that that was cool.

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And we've been to a few other concerts

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there. We saw the

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Ukulele

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Orchestra of Great Britain.

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I know that sounds funny. Look them up

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on YouTube though. They are they are funny

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and and quite talented

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musicians

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considering they're using ukuleles.

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But, that that's been restored and

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and, kept up, and and it's, you know,

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it's just a neat old theater.

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You know, it's got

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the balcony. It's got a, you know, got

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the the,

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I guess, sky boxes. I don't know what

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what do you call those little outcroppings

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where, you know, two or three people can

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sit.

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Has a few of those and has the

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big ivory looking

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columns in it and everything. So it's a,

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you know, like an old opera house. I

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guess that's the best

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best way to describe it. The Whiting Hotel

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is also a little further down,

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or was.

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I don't believe it's a hotel anymore. I

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think it's

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a fancy yuppie apartments. But back in the

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day,

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yuppie.

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Yuppie a word anymore?

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I don't know. But, now, you know, back

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in the day, it was, you know, just

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a cheap hotel, and, I mean, cheap, cheap

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hotel.

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A lot of

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down and out people, in the seventies and

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eighties lived in there. You know, they it

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was still kept up pretty nicely and, you

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know, it was a it was a good

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place for that purpose,

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but it was, it's definitely a lot fancier

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now if it even exists.

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Like I said, I heard that they had

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remodeled it, and it was more of a,

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you know, downtown apartment living.

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And, there's probably nothing cheap about it now,

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but,

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yeah, the good old Whiting Hotel.

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Across the street on the, on the north

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side

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is the old Hannah Lay building, and,

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Perry Hannah

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was kind of the father of Traverse City

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in the late eighteen hundreds,

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and he was a lumber baron. He built

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a really big house. A friend of mine

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owns that, huge house. It's a funeral home

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now, but

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the,

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I forget what they they they call it

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the Hannah House, but,

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they also it's a funeral home,

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the Reynolds Youngkopf

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funeral home.

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And it's, you know, they've kept it

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restored and, you know, it's been updated a

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few times, but, still very

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cool old Victorian era house.

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But the main store, the big store, the

277
00:10:42,164 --> 00:10:43,225
it was a

278
00:10:43,764 --> 00:10:44,584
three story,

279
00:10:45,870 --> 00:10:47,250
almost block long

280
00:10:49,710 --> 00:10:52,049
department store. You know, like a

281
00:10:52,509 --> 00:10:54,670
you know, they had a department for men

282
00:10:54,670 --> 00:10:56,750
and a department for women and department for

283
00:10:56,750 --> 00:10:58,925
sports and a apartment for this and that,

284
00:10:58,925 --> 00:11:00,925
and the other thing all under one big

285
00:11:00,925 --> 00:11:01,425
roof.

286
00:11:02,045 --> 00:11:03,024
And that lasted,

287
00:11:03,404 --> 00:11:04,465
I wanna say,

288
00:11:05,165 --> 00:11:07,165
you know, it was before my time when

289
00:11:07,165 --> 00:11:08,705
they closed down, but

290
00:11:10,709 --> 00:11:12,789
then then it became the top two floors

291
00:11:12,789 --> 00:11:15,750
became office suites and, there was a a

292
00:11:15,750 --> 00:11:16,250
bank,

293
00:11:16,709 --> 00:11:18,949
offices in there and all this. And then

294
00:11:18,949 --> 00:11:20,329
the bottom row of

295
00:11:20,709 --> 00:11:23,929
of spaces were, you know, just regular storefronts.

296
00:11:24,070 --> 00:11:25,509
I think there was three or four of

297
00:11:25,509 --> 00:11:27,465
them. The thing I remember, there was a

298
00:11:27,465 --> 00:11:29,644
couple of stores in that building,

299
00:11:30,425 --> 00:11:31,884
on the on the Ground Floor,

300
00:11:32,825 --> 00:11:35,485
Bill Maher Sports, and they're long gone.

301
00:11:36,184 --> 00:11:39,629
And Montgomery Ward's catalog store was there and

302
00:11:39,629 --> 00:11:40,909
they you know they had a like a

303
00:11:40,909 --> 00:11:43,789
few appliances or something and and then they

304
00:11:43,789 --> 00:11:46,049
just take you know take and deliver

305
00:11:46,750 --> 00:11:49,329
catalog orders there kind of like Sears

306
00:11:50,190 --> 00:11:52,455
before they you know, had the big store

307
00:11:52,455 --> 00:11:54,075
in Traverse City at the mall.

308
00:11:54,455 --> 00:11:56,535
Sears also had a store. I don't think

309
00:11:56,535 --> 00:11:58,774
it was on Front Street. It might have

310
00:11:58,774 --> 00:11:59,274
been,

311
00:12:00,615 --> 00:12:02,235
you know, their catalog store.

312
00:12:03,325 --> 00:12:04,325
But, not

313
00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:07,959
not not the same as, you know, a

314
00:12:07,959 --> 00:12:10,360
big Sears store that they would have, at

315
00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:12,220
a mall or a stand alone

316
00:12:12,759 --> 00:12:13,980
out out of town.

317
00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,384
But, then there was another department stores, you

318
00:12:18,384 --> 00:12:19,605
know, quite smaller,

319
00:12:19,985 --> 00:12:20,804
but Milliken's

320
00:12:21,184 --> 00:12:24,225
and Milliken's was I think they might have

321
00:12:24,225 --> 00:12:26,884
had two or three stores in smaller towns

322
00:12:27,664 --> 00:12:31,980
around Northern Northern and, in Central Michigan. I

323
00:12:32,139 --> 00:12:34,079
think one of their stores was in

324
00:12:35,179 --> 00:12:37,659
Clare, and, I think they had one in

325
00:12:37,659 --> 00:12:38,159
Cadillac,

326
00:12:38,860 --> 00:12:40,379
so that would be, you know, south of

327
00:12:40,379 --> 00:12:40,879
here.

328
00:12:41,500 --> 00:12:42,639
But, Milliken's,

329
00:12:43,820 --> 00:12:45,199
been around for,

330
00:12:46,315 --> 00:12:48,875
I don't know, since probably the eighteen hundreds

331
00:12:48,875 --> 00:12:50,735
as well or early nineteen hundreds.

332
00:12:51,834 --> 00:12:52,334
And

333
00:12:52,714 --> 00:12:56,014
they got bought out, by another chain and

334
00:12:56,235 --> 00:12:58,254
closed down sometime in the nineties.

335
00:12:58,930 --> 00:13:00,710
But, the Milliken family,

336
00:13:01,490 --> 00:13:05,910
our governor from, I wanna say, 1969

337
00:13:07,330 --> 00:13:08,950
to almost 1980.

338
00:13:09,649 --> 00:13:10,470
Bill Milliken,

339
00:13:11,170 --> 00:13:12,710
he was part of that family.

340
00:13:13,904 --> 00:13:15,985
And really the only thing I remember about

341
00:13:15,985 --> 00:13:17,985
it is my grandmother and my mom would

342
00:13:17,985 --> 00:13:20,004
take us kids when we were really little,

343
00:13:20,144 --> 00:13:22,144
you know, four or five, six years old,

344
00:13:22,144 --> 00:13:23,125
something like that,

345
00:13:23,985 --> 00:13:26,320
shopping, you know, and they would shop at

346
00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:28,160
Milliken's. You know, the women would get all

347
00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,259
their clothes and stuff there, and they had,

348
00:13:30,399 --> 00:13:32,480
you know, kids department, so we got some

349
00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:33,860
of our clothes there.

350
00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:35,600
And then we always got to go to

351
00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:37,620
the tea room for lunch, and

352
00:13:38,235 --> 00:13:40,075
it was kind of up on the Second

353
00:13:40,075 --> 00:13:41,054
Floor and,

354
00:13:41,674 --> 00:13:44,174
like, a balcony overlooking the store.

355
00:13:46,154 --> 00:13:48,794
And the thing I remember about that weird

356
00:13:48,794 --> 00:13:50,860
things you remember when you're a kid. But

357
00:13:50,860 --> 00:13:53,360
I remember the, hot roast beef sandwich

358
00:13:54,139 --> 00:13:55,759
at the Milliken's tea room.

359
00:13:57,179 --> 00:13:59,740
It was, well, as I remember it really

360
00:13:59,740 --> 00:14:00,379
good, but,

361
00:14:01,179 --> 00:14:01,840
you know.

362
00:14:02,620 --> 00:14:04,879
There was another restaurant downtown,

363
00:14:05,285 --> 00:14:08,245
I don't remember exactly what building it was

364
00:14:08,245 --> 00:14:08,745
in,

365
00:14:09,045 --> 00:14:10,745
called Stacy's, and

366
00:14:11,764 --> 00:14:12,585
this lady

367
00:14:13,125 --> 00:14:15,605
ran that place and the unique part of

368
00:14:15,605 --> 00:14:17,225
that was two things,

369
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:21,200
No politics. So you could, sit there and

370
00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:21,940
talk and

371
00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:24,399
and, you know, get all your buddies around

372
00:14:24,399 --> 00:14:26,740
and drink coffee and, you know, whatever.

373
00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:29,759
All you wanted, but no politics. And the

374
00:14:29,759 --> 00:14:31,600
other thing was you had to ring yourself

375
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:32,899
out on the cash register.

376
00:14:34,045 --> 00:14:36,845
She trusted everybody, and you just go up

377
00:14:36,845 --> 00:14:39,665
and, you know, run the cash register yourself.

378
00:14:39,804 --> 00:14:41,665
That saved her from, getting

379
00:14:43,325 --> 00:14:44,384
a getting a

380
00:14:47,410 --> 00:14:49,350
cashier. Yeah. There we go. Jeez.

381
00:14:50,129 --> 00:14:51,269
I'm kinda just

382
00:14:51,730 --> 00:14:53,830
theater the mind going on here.

383
00:14:54,290 --> 00:14:55,730
So what do they call it? A mind

384
00:14:55,730 --> 00:14:56,230
dump?

385
00:14:57,730 --> 00:15:01,009
Another interesting thing about Downtown Traverse City is

386
00:15:01,009 --> 00:15:02,149
we had two theaters,

387
00:15:03,004 --> 00:15:06,284
and they were basically mirror images of each

388
00:15:06,284 --> 00:15:06,784
other,

389
00:15:07,325 --> 00:15:08,544
one block apart,

390
00:15:09,164 --> 00:15:11,264
one, on the east

391
00:15:11,884 --> 00:15:13,584
eastern block between Union

392
00:15:13,964 --> 00:15:16,544
or western block between Union and

393
00:15:17,245 --> 00:15:17,745
Park

394
00:15:19,170 --> 00:15:22,690
Street. And then, the State Theater, which was

395
00:15:22,690 --> 00:15:24,850
be it was about the same spot on

396
00:15:24,850 --> 00:15:28,710
the block, but one block to the east

397
00:15:29,490 --> 00:15:29,990
between

398
00:15:30,450 --> 00:15:31,750
Union and,

399
00:15:34,004 --> 00:15:35,705
or maybe it was no. It was,

400
00:15:36,164 --> 00:15:39,384
Michigan was between Union and Cask, and then

401
00:15:39,684 --> 00:15:42,085
between Cask and Park was a State street

402
00:15:42,085 --> 00:15:43,144
or state theater.

403
00:15:43,845 --> 00:15:45,304
The the Michigan theater

404
00:15:45,970 --> 00:15:48,690
had a vertical sign because there's more letters

405
00:15:48,690 --> 00:15:50,610
in Michigan, but it was one of those

406
00:15:50,610 --> 00:15:52,629
old style thirties, forties

407
00:15:53,090 --> 00:15:55,350
vintage theaters, you know, the red

408
00:15:55,889 --> 00:15:58,210
marble looking stuff. I don't know what it

409
00:15:58,210 --> 00:15:59,669
was, but red

410
00:16:00,815 --> 00:16:03,715
blocks and, you know, really large blocks and,

411
00:16:04,095 --> 00:16:06,575
you know, the neon and the flashy lights

412
00:16:06,575 --> 00:16:08,654
and the overhang and a little pull off

413
00:16:08,654 --> 00:16:10,174
on the street so you could, you know,

414
00:16:10,174 --> 00:16:13,134
get dropped off right under the overhang and

415
00:16:13,134 --> 00:16:15,529
had the marquee kind of sticking out into

416
00:16:15,529 --> 00:16:17,209
the street, and they they said they looked

417
00:16:17,209 --> 00:16:20,089
identical except for this state had a vertical

418
00:16:20,089 --> 00:16:22,970
sign and the or a horizontal sign and

419
00:16:22,970 --> 00:16:25,230
the Michigan had a vertical sign,

420
00:16:25,690 --> 00:16:28,909
but, again, they were mirror images. Underneath the

421
00:16:29,695 --> 00:16:33,134
Michigan Theater was a roller skating rink called

422
00:16:33,134 --> 00:16:34,274
the Fun Factory,

423
00:16:35,214 --> 00:16:37,294
and that was, you know, in the seventies

424
00:16:37,294 --> 00:16:39,695
and eighties. And it was a small, you

425
00:16:39,695 --> 00:16:40,195
know,

426
00:16:40,575 --> 00:16:42,514
indoor roller rink, low ceilings,

427
00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:45,240
but, you know, back in the seventies, that

428
00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:47,019
was cool. I remember

429
00:16:47,639 --> 00:16:50,600
every time disco duck would come up, when

430
00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:52,460
we were skating, you'd you'd

431
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:54,059
run run around,

432
00:16:54,679 --> 00:16:56,360
squat down on your skates, and

433
00:16:57,004 --> 00:16:59,404
I don't know. Maybe I'm aging myself here,

434
00:16:59,404 --> 00:16:59,904
but

435
00:17:00,845 --> 00:17:02,544
that was quite fun.

436
00:17:03,164 --> 00:17:05,184
Rumor has it that is intact

437
00:17:05,565 --> 00:17:09,565
still. It's been closed for probably thirty years

438
00:17:09,565 --> 00:17:10,065
plus,

439
00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,080
but from what I understand the, the floor

440
00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:16,320
is still there. The the wooden floor from

441
00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:18,400
the skating rink is still there and the

442
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,100
DJ booth is still there.

443
00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:22,980
They were using it for, like, wedding receptions

444
00:17:23,039 --> 00:17:24,900
and stuff for a while, but

445
00:17:25,525 --> 00:17:26,424
from what I understand,

446
00:17:26,804 --> 00:17:27,785
it's still there.

447
00:17:28,325 --> 00:17:30,664
Of course, the Michigan Theater is no longer.

448
00:17:31,204 --> 00:17:33,944
That got remodeled into kind of a

449
00:17:34,244 --> 00:17:35,304
little mall

450
00:17:36,325 --> 00:17:37,704
sort of space,

451
00:17:38,339 --> 00:17:40,900
you know, two stories of little shops and

452
00:17:40,900 --> 00:17:42,759
whatnot called Front Row Center.

453
00:17:43,220 --> 00:17:45,779
I think it's been changed one of the

454
00:17:45,779 --> 00:17:48,339
names been changed, but it's still there. There's

455
00:17:48,339 --> 00:17:49,880
still a few things in there.

456
00:17:50,259 --> 00:17:51,400
It's kind of cool.

457
00:17:52,434 --> 00:17:55,414
The State Theater is still intact.

458
00:17:56,275 --> 00:17:57,255
Michael Moore,

459
00:17:57,955 --> 00:17:59,815
you know, that guy. He,

460
00:18:03,075 --> 00:18:05,875
had a film festival here in Traverse City

461
00:18:05,875 --> 00:18:06,775
for many years,

462
00:18:07,079 --> 00:18:08,779
that has since gone defunct.

463
00:18:09,559 --> 00:18:10,619
But, that

464
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:11,819
film festival

465
00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:12,859
organization

466
00:18:13,319 --> 00:18:13,819
owned

467
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,519
the State Theater. Now I think it they're

468
00:18:16,519 --> 00:18:17,500
their own thing,

469
00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:19,259
but it's a nonprofit.

470
00:18:20,025 --> 00:18:22,184
And they play old movies in there, and

471
00:18:22,184 --> 00:18:24,585
they play live events, you know, where they

472
00:18:24,585 --> 00:18:26,765
stream live events in there. And

473
00:18:27,464 --> 00:18:29,945
and it's it's a cool old theater. It

474
00:18:29,945 --> 00:18:32,365
still looks like the nineteen thirties

475
00:18:32,940 --> 00:18:36,460
vintage theater with the marquee and the flashy

476
00:18:36,460 --> 00:18:39,339
lights and the posters on the outside and,

477
00:18:39,339 --> 00:18:41,839
you know, so that that's quite a a

478
00:18:41,899 --> 00:18:43,279
time capsule there.

479
00:18:44,619 --> 00:18:46,859
They still have the ticket booth outside on

480
00:18:46,859 --> 00:18:47,440
the sidewalk

481
00:18:47,740 --> 00:18:50,434
and all that. Like I said, it's pretty

482
00:18:50,434 --> 00:18:50,934
cool.

483
00:18:52,995 --> 00:18:55,975
But, let's see. I've got my notes here.

484
00:18:57,235 --> 00:19:00,674
Let's see. Horizon Books. Horizon Books wasn't that

485
00:19:00,674 --> 00:19:02,355
big a deal when I was a kid.

486
00:19:02,355 --> 00:19:03,815
It was a a small,

487
00:19:04,450 --> 00:19:05,830
you know, one storefront,

488
00:19:07,250 --> 00:19:09,590
little bookshop, and, you know, a little,

489
00:19:11,330 --> 00:19:13,029
you know, a little family owned,

490
00:19:13,730 --> 00:19:15,029
no big deal bookshop,

491
00:19:15,330 --> 00:19:15,830
and

492
00:19:16,690 --> 00:19:17,910
they were on the

493
00:19:18,674 --> 00:19:19,494
South Side

494
00:19:20,034 --> 00:19:21,414
Of Front Street and

495
00:19:23,554 --> 00:19:26,054
across the street from them or nearly across

496
00:19:26,274 --> 00:19:28,674
the street was the JC Penney building and

497
00:19:28,674 --> 00:19:30,934
that was another you know full blown department

498
00:19:30,994 --> 00:19:34,529
store, had a basement floor, a main floor,

499
00:19:34,529 --> 00:19:35,990
and a and an upper floor.

500
00:19:36,529 --> 00:19:38,470
So it was a rather large

501
00:19:39,649 --> 00:19:40,149
space,

502
00:19:40,529 --> 00:19:41,909
and, of course, JCPenney,

503
00:19:42,450 --> 00:19:44,769
pulled out of downtown and moved out to

504
00:19:44,769 --> 00:19:45,829
the the mall,

505
00:19:46,210 --> 00:19:48,869
what we affectionately call the new mall.

506
00:19:49,595 --> 00:19:51,375
Actually, they're still there for now,

507
00:19:52,154 --> 00:19:54,394
although Macy's moved out of the mall, but

508
00:19:54,875 --> 00:19:57,115
and Sears is long gone and all that.

509
00:19:57,115 --> 00:19:58,255
But, anyhoo,

510
00:19:58,714 --> 00:19:59,355
the the,

511
00:20:00,234 --> 00:20:00,734
bookshop,

512
00:20:01,355 --> 00:20:03,134
which everybody thought they were nuts,

513
00:20:03,799 --> 00:20:04,859
And this was probably

514
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,339
twenty five, thirty years ago at least.

515
00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:08,440
They,

516
00:20:09,079 --> 00:20:11,099
moved across the street to

517
00:20:11,799 --> 00:20:14,700
the JCPenney Building. And in the downstairs,

518
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:15,500
they

519
00:20:15,825 --> 00:20:18,544
made a little, coffee shop cafe sort of

520
00:20:18,544 --> 00:20:21,184
thing, and they'd have live music and book

521
00:20:21,184 --> 00:20:23,924
greetings and book signings down there. And then,

522
00:20:24,065 --> 00:20:25,825
you know, they just had the the, you

523
00:20:25,825 --> 00:20:27,524
know, the run of this huge

524
00:20:27,984 --> 00:20:28,484
building,

525
00:20:29,130 --> 00:20:31,230
and it's still one of the best bookstores

526
00:20:31,369 --> 00:20:31,869
around.

527
00:20:32,570 --> 00:20:35,369
It's, it's really quite cool. And they were

528
00:20:35,369 --> 00:20:37,210
going to close it down not too long

529
00:20:37,210 --> 00:20:39,930
ago because the owners wanted to retire, and

530
00:20:39,930 --> 00:20:41,070
I think the employees

531
00:20:41,450 --> 00:20:42,269
took it over

532
00:20:42,605 --> 00:20:44,924
or helped the owners, you know, keep it

533
00:20:44,924 --> 00:20:45,424
running

534
00:20:45,884 --> 00:20:48,605
so that, they could sort of retire. I

535
00:20:48,605 --> 00:20:50,365
I don't know the full story on that,

536
00:20:50,365 --> 00:20:53,025
but Horizon Books is still there

537
00:20:53,565 --> 00:20:55,484
and it's kinda right next to the State

538
00:20:55,484 --> 00:20:58,720
Theater. So there's kind of that vibe going

539
00:20:58,720 --> 00:20:59,940
on down there of

540
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:01,140
of the old

541
00:21:01,599 --> 00:21:04,019
the old thirties forties thing.

542
00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:08,340
Something with some family connection

543
00:21:10,875 --> 00:21:11,375
On

544
00:21:11,914 --> 00:21:14,815
the north no. South side of

545
00:21:16,154 --> 00:21:19,195
of front street, there's a building and it's

546
00:21:19,195 --> 00:21:20,174
a it's a very

547
00:21:20,954 --> 00:21:24,095
not very, but it's a unique looking building.

548
00:21:24,910 --> 00:21:25,410
It's

549
00:21:26,109 --> 00:21:29,009
it's got an upstairs and a downstairs, so

550
00:21:29,630 --> 00:21:31,170
you have to go up a few

551
00:21:31,950 --> 00:21:34,589
few stairs to get to the upper level

552
00:21:34,589 --> 00:21:36,029
one and then you kind of go down

553
00:21:36,029 --> 00:21:38,450
below the street level to the thing below.

554
00:21:38,965 --> 00:21:39,865
Well my grandfather,

555
00:21:41,285 --> 00:21:42,424
on my dad's side

556
00:21:42,805 --> 00:21:44,904
had a restaurant there, Doll's restaurant

557
00:21:45,924 --> 00:21:46,424
and

558
00:21:46,725 --> 00:21:48,485
that was in the upper part with the

559
00:21:48,485 --> 00:21:48,985
big

560
00:21:49,445 --> 00:21:52,325
big and there's these big windows with you

561
00:21:52,325 --> 00:21:54,450
know rounded tops on it, and the and

562
00:21:54,450 --> 00:21:56,309
the building still looks the same.

563
00:21:56,690 --> 00:21:59,490
It's been many things since that. This was

564
00:21:59,490 --> 00:22:01,829
in the forties that grandpa had that restaurant,

565
00:22:02,849 --> 00:22:04,710
and, you know, one of the funny things

566
00:22:05,089 --> 00:22:07,089
about my grandpa is, he didn't believe you

567
00:22:07,089 --> 00:22:08,630
should put ketchup on anything.

568
00:22:09,224 --> 00:22:11,545
And, no, I don't like ketchup on anything

569
00:22:11,545 --> 00:22:12,365
but pasties.

570
00:22:13,304 --> 00:22:14,845
That's a whole another story.

571
00:22:15,464 --> 00:22:15,964
But,

572
00:22:16,585 --> 00:22:18,825
one time somebody, came in there and ordered

573
00:22:18,825 --> 00:22:21,545
a steak and then wanted ketchup. My grandpa

574
00:22:21,545 --> 00:22:22,365
threw them out,

575
00:22:23,789 --> 00:22:25,569
But like I said, that was in the

576
00:22:25,630 --> 00:22:27,950
in the forties, I think, shortly after World

577
00:22:27,950 --> 00:22:30,369
War two that he had that restaurant.

578
00:22:31,230 --> 00:22:33,409
I don't know how long it lasted, and

579
00:22:33,710 --> 00:22:35,230
he really didn't get a whole lot of

580
00:22:35,230 --> 00:22:37,470
history on it before he died or grandma

581
00:22:37,470 --> 00:22:37,970
died.

582
00:22:38,575 --> 00:22:38,894
But,

583
00:22:39,855 --> 00:22:42,015
that was our family's claim to fame on

584
00:22:42,015 --> 00:22:43,154
Front Street there.

585
00:22:44,174 --> 00:22:46,575
Again, I mentioned Stacy's that was up the

586
00:22:46,575 --> 00:22:48,414
street a little ways. It was kind of

587
00:22:48,414 --> 00:22:50,275
a coffee breakfast thing.

588
00:22:51,900 --> 00:22:54,619
There was another place called the Beanpot and

589
00:22:54,619 --> 00:22:55,359
that was

590
00:22:56,220 --> 00:22:58,000
kind of at the end of

591
00:22:58,380 --> 00:23:00,400
Front Street on the East side

592
00:23:01,500 --> 00:23:03,820
and it was, you know, a corner location.

593
00:23:03,820 --> 00:23:05,440
I think it was on Park Street

594
00:23:05,794 --> 00:23:07,714
maybe or you know might not even been

595
00:23:07,714 --> 00:23:09,654
Park Street, but it was on that block.

596
00:23:10,515 --> 00:23:13,154
And I just remember the bean pot having

597
00:23:13,154 --> 00:23:14,054
like everything

598
00:23:14,355 --> 00:23:17,234
that they sold was just really good. They

599
00:23:17,234 --> 00:23:19,255
had Coney dogs, they had

600
00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:21,859
of course bean soup was kind of their

601
00:23:21,859 --> 00:23:24,740
claim to fame, but they just everything they

602
00:23:24,740 --> 00:23:26,819
had in there was just awesome. This was

603
00:23:26,819 --> 00:23:28,980
in the eighties and of course that's long

604
00:23:28,980 --> 00:23:31,059
gone. I think it's a real estate office

605
00:23:31,059 --> 00:23:31,559
now,

606
00:23:31,940 --> 00:23:32,440
but

607
00:23:32,740 --> 00:23:33,400
it was

608
00:23:34,065 --> 00:23:35,444
definitely one of those

609
00:23:35,744 --> 00:23:36,964
places that

610
00:23:37,424 --> 00:23:39,284
was quite cool, I thought.

611
00:23:40,625 --> 00:23:42,304
Anyway, I'm probably boring the hell out of

612
00:23:42,304 --> 00:23:44,224
you, but, you know, I'm enjoying it. So

613
00:23:44,224 --> 00:23:46,224
I guess that's what, what matters here. And

614
00:23:46,224 --> 00:23:47,984
if I'm enjoying it, you might be enjoying

615
00:23:47,984 --> 00:23:48,484
it.

616
00:23:50,250 --> 00:23:53,930
And actually not technically in downtown, but damn

617
00:23:53,930 --> 00:23:56,730
close was the Paul Bunyan well I guess

618
00:23:56,730 --> 00:23:58,029
it's part of that stretch.

619
00:23:58,650 --> 00:24:00,269
The Paul Bunyan building

620
00:24:01,130 --> 00:24:03,210
and probably even the locals are going, what

621
00:24:03,210 --> 00:24:05,704
are you talking about? Paul Bunyan building.

622
00:24:06,404 --> 00:24:07,625
That's where WTCM

623
00:24:08,884 --> 00:24:10,184
radio is. And,

624
00:24:10,724 --> 00:24:12,585
back in the day, that was AM

625
00:24:13,204 --> 00:24:14,265
fourteen hundred,

626
00:24:15,045 --> 00:24:17,704
and then they switched to AM five eighty,

627
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,480
and I have an FM station one zero

628
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,579
three point five country station

629
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:23,859
and

630
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,539
that was all run out of this little

631
00:24:27,759 --> 00:24:29,519
well, looks pretty little but it's a lot

632
00:24:29,519 --> 00:24:31,440
bigger on the inside when you go in.

633
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:31,940
But

634
00:24:32,345 --> 00:24:33,964
this little building, everybody

635
00:24:34,424 --> 00:24:36,984
affectionately called it the Paul Bunyan building or

636
00:24:36,984 --> 00:24:38,924
at least the guys on the radio did.

637
00:24:40,345 --> 00:24:40,845
And,

638
00:24:41,464 --> 00:24:42,904
the the people that own that,

639
00:24:43,305 --> 00:24:45,224
or owned that started that back in the

640
00:24:45,224 --> 00:24:46,045
day. The

641
00:24:46,779 --> 00:24:47,279
Biederman,

642
00:24:49,339 --> 00:24:50,799
the Biederman's. In fact,

643
00:24:51,259 --> 00:24:53,440
Les Biederman, the the old man,

644
00:24:53,900 --> 00:24:55,980
affectionately called him the old man. He was

645
00:24:55,980 --> 00:24:57,200
a hangout at Stacy's

646
00:24:57,579 --> 00:24:59,579
restaurant all the time, and he was a

647
00:24:59,579 --> 00:25:02,634
reason for the no politics rule that,

648
00:25:03,335 --> 00:25:05,174
that I forget what her name was. It

649
00:25:05,174 --> 00:25:07,355
ran Stacy's. Her name wasn't Stacy.

650
00:25:08,055 --> 00:25:10,055
She was a Hungarian lady and,

651
00:25:10,535 --> 00:25:11,515
really a spitfire.

652
00:25:12,934 --> 00:25:13,595
Look up

653
00:25:14,389 --> 00:25:16,470
on YouTube. There is maybe I'll find it,

654
00:25:16,630 --> 00:25:18,950
and I'll send you the video, or I'll

655
00:25:18,950 --> 00:25:20,470
put the video in the show notes over

656
00:25:20,470 --> 00:25:21,769
at mikedell.com

657
00:25:21,990 --> 00:25:22,389
of,

658
00:25:23,029 --> 00:25:26,069
this lady at Stacy's restaurant here in Traverse

659
00:25:26,069 --> 00:25:26,569
City.

660
00:25:27,909 --> 00:25:28,409
But,

661
00:25:29,654 --> 00:25:30,715
anyway, the Bitterman's,

662
00:25:31,894 --> 00:25:32,715
his son,

663
00:25:33,255 --> 00:25:36,134
is now the the is running it. Actually,

664
00:25:36,134 --> 00:25:37,894
I think somebody else is running it now,

665
00:25:37,894 --> 00:25:40,075
and the son retired recently, but

666
00:25:41,095 --> 00:25:43,130
it's still family owned. It's a it's a

667
00:25:43,130 --> 00:25:45,650
locally owned radio station. It's not, you know,

668
00:25:45,650 --> 00:25:47,849
a big conglomerate, but they've picked up other

669
00:25:47,849 --> 00:25:48,349
stations.

670
00:25:48,730 --> 00:25:50,750
It's called mid Midwest Broadcasting

671
00:25:51,049 --> 00:25:53,150
is the name of the company now,

672
00:25:53,609 --> 00:25:54,430
and they,

673
00:25:55,529 --> 00:25:56,589
built a huge,

674
00:25:57,815 --> 00:26:00,934
well, huge three story, big office building kinda

675
00:26:00,934 --> 00:26:02,714
right next door to their building

676
00:26:03,015 --> 00:26:04,555
called Radio Center.

677
00:26:05,335 --> 00:26:07,654
And a lot of their other stations are

678
00:26:07,654 --> 00:26:09,275
on the Top Floor of

679
00:26:09,660 --> 00:26:10,160
Radio

680
00:26:10,700 --> 00:26:11,600
Center. Although,

681
00:26:12,460 --> 00:26:12,960
WTCM

682
00:26:14,140 --> 00:26:15,680
AM FM and

683
00:26:16,299 --> 00:26:16,799
WKLT,

684
00:26:18,059 --> 00:26:19,119
the rock station,

685
00:26:19,740 --> 00:26:21,740
is also in the Paul Bunyan Building and

686
00:26:21,740 --> 00:26:23,900
then they have an oldies station and I

687
00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:26,555
think a jazz station and a sports station

688
00:26:26,555 --> 00:26:29,595
and and a classic country station and a

689
00:26:29,595 --> 00:26:31,275
few other things that are up there at

690
00:26:31,275 --> 00:26:33,835
the Top Floor of the Radio Center Building

691
00:26:33,835 --> 00:26:36,555
and then the Bottom Floors are offices that

692
00:26:36,555 --> 00:26:39,035
they rent out and storefronts on the Bottom

693
00:26:39,035 --> 00:26:40,769
Floor and all that.

694
00:26:41,390 --> 00:26:43,869
And kind of kitty corner across the road

695
00:26:43,869 --> 00:26:45,089
from radio center,

696
00:26:45,789 --> 00:26:47,569
at Park And Front

697
00:26:48,750 --> 00:26:51,230
used to be Murray's Boats and Motors, and

698
00:26:51,230 --> 00:26:53,069
it was right on the river. The the

699
00:26:53,069 --> 00:26:56,234
river Boardman River kind of runs behind the

700
00:26:56,234 --> 00:26:58,234
buildings there on the north side of Front

701
00:26:58,234 --> 00:26:58,734
Street,

702
00:26:59,515 --> 00:27:01,674
and there was a marina there,

703
00:27:02,075 --> 00:27:02,575
called

704
00:27:03,434 --> 00:27:05,615
Murray's Boats and Motors, and they sold,

705
00:27:06,394 --> 00:27:07,295
I think, Mercury

706
00:27:08,279 --> 00:27:11,340
outboards and boats and all that stuff.

707
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,200
Both my dad and my uncle worked there

708
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:14,859
as mechanics

709
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:16,220
back in the day,

710
00:27:16,759 --> 00:27:17,980
way back in the day.

711
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:19,100
And

712
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:19,980
that

713
00:27:20,704 --> 00:27:23,684
got torn down, and another radio guy

714
00:27:24,704 --> 00:27:27,984
built another big building there. Another three story

715
00:27:27,984 --> 00:27:30,785
building, and I think he he called that

716
00:27:30,785 --> 00:27:31,285
broadcast

717
00:27:31,664 --> 00:27:32,164
center.

718
00:27:33,390 --> 00:27:34,109
But then,

719
00:27:34,430 --> 00:27:37,390
before it was completely finished, he ran out

720
00:27:37,390 --> 00:27:39,549
of money and somebody else bought it out,

721
00:27:39,549 --> 00:27:41,390
and I don't know what the building's called

722
00:27:41,390 --> 00:27:43,330
now. But on the bottom floor is a,

723
00:27:44,269 --> 00:27:47,170
rather large credit union office or

724
00:27:47,630 --> 00:27:48,849
credit union branch,

725
00:27:49,285 --> 00:27:52,404
and then there's apartments and whatnot on the

726
00:27:52,404 --> 00:27:53,704
upper floors. But

727
00:27:54,005 --> 00:27:57,204
kinda interesting that, two radio titans, you know,

728
00:27:57,204 --> 00:28:00,025
and I use the that term in lowercase,

729
00:28:00,884 --> 00:28:01,704
in the area,

730
00:28:02,519 --> 00:28:04,619
built those two big buildings downtown.

731
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:08,700
And I'm trying to think of what the

732
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:10,539
guy's name was that,

733
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:12,460
he he had the other

734
00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,440
big radio station, w c c w no.

735
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:17,500
That wasn't it.

736
00:28:18,775 --> 00:28:19,275
WLDR.

737
00:28:20,055 --> 00:28:21,994
There we go. That's what it was.

738
00:28:22,775 --> 00:28:24,855
He had that one and a few others

739
00:28:24,855 --> 00:28:26,154
and and all that.

740
00:28:26,775 --> 00:28:28,955
But, you know, so that was Front Street.

741
00:28:29,414 --> 00:28:31,755
Let's see. I've been going twenty eight minutes.

742
00:28:32,339 --> 00:28:33,240
Maybe tomorrow,

743
00:28:33,940 --> 00:28:34,919
I'll pick up

744
00:28:36,099 --> 00:28:38,179
on pick up on Union Street, so the

745
00:28:38,179 --> 00:28:39,559
other part of downtown.

746
00:28:41,460 --> 00:28:44,519
And, part of Union Street's called Old Town

747
00:28:44,734 --> 00:28:46,255
for whatever reason. But, yeah, I think I'm

748
00:28:46,255 --> 00:28:49,295
gonna call this one a podcast, and I'll

749
00:28:49,295 --> 00:28:51,855
probably just hit stop and and record part

750
00:28:51,855 --> 00:28:53,295
two here so I can take a day

751
00:28:53,295 --> 00:28:53,795
off.

752
00:28:55,690 --> 00:28:59,290
So standby for tomorrow. I'll, I'll have, the

753
00:28:59,290 --> 00:29:02,110
Union Street part of Downtown Traverse City.