Good morning,

I was really excited to see the information about the Prince’s Point cleanup in the newsletter. I don’t really have a specific story to share, more just some information about Prince’s Point cleanups. I work for the Alliance for the Great Lakes; we have a volunteer program in which volunteers adopt beaches throughout all of the Great Lakes states. There was a group that adopted Prince’s Point for an annual cleanup, but hasn’t done it in a few years. If there’s interest, we would love to have someone take it up again! Our volunteers collect data on the litter picked up during the cleanups so we have historical data about all the litter collected at that location. Looking at the data can give people guidance on how to proceed with improving an area; for example, an Adopt-a-Beach™ team in lower Michigan used the data to help get smoking banned from their beach.

A sample of Prince’s Point data:

-Over 100 pounds of litter picked up at just three cleanups
-40 percent of litter found there was plastic
-25.9 percent of litter found there was smoking related

I’m not sure if this is really relevant to your story, but I thought it might be interesting for those who worked on the project and could be a potential future partnership for them.

Thanks!

Jillian Schubert Edwards
MS Environmental Policy (’11)
BS Applied Ecology and Environmental Science (’09)

- Thanks, Jillian. Great information and I’m sure they’ll be pleased to have it. Thanks for checking in. -SB

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Two things, Scott (and parenthetically, I read your column with as much interest as the alums) – Prince’s Point: growing up in the
Houghton area, I joined most community people (not too many from Tech at the time) to spend wonderful hours on the beach that was set up for summer use.
Without knowing how it was spelled, we always referred to it as “Princess Point.” Just an oasis among the trees growing along
the shore for miles, before cottages began sprouting all the way to Chassell. If someone in the family couldn’t drive us there, we’d
hitch-hike – no problems in those happy summer days.

Also, thank you for your remembered professors articles; I’m more than surprised that anyone would recall a budding teacher like me with a love for education of all kinds, including communication skills pertaining to photography, movies, broadcasting, and, of course, literature—not exactly top interest to our Tech students. So it was a surprised delight to hear from a few. I am also more than pleased
to see that someone recalled Ed Vandette with good thoughts—a man who loved his work, lectured fascinatingly, and seemed to be friends as well as teacher to everyone.

– Joe Kirkish

- Hello, Joe. Good memories of happy times. Thanks for reading and sharing. -SB

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Probably my favorite Professor was Dr. Ray Kauppila in the ME dept. He taught a strength of materials class and was the first of any of the Profs who treated students like people. He was truly concerned that his students really understood what the class was all about, and would answer any students questions no matter how trivial. He was always available after class hours.

Professors like him were few and far between.

Chuck Laurila, PE
ME class ’59

- Thank you, Chuck. Sounds as if Ray was an excellent teacher. -SB

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I read many of the tributes to past professors at MTU. I didn’t see one, unless I missed it, for K.O. Alexander. I went to Michigan Tech from 1969 to 1973(CE). K.O. Alexander was my Economics teacher/lecturer. He made the “dismal” science enjoyable and interesting and was always sad to see the end of his lectures. It was rumored that he was on the Council of Economics Advisers to the President (Kennedy I believe). He did graduate work at MIT as I understand it. How he ever landed up at Tech is beyond me but I’m glad he did. I ran across his obit awhile ago and he is buried in the Keweenaw area as he must have had family there. What I loved about college at Tech is the opportunities to learn and experience subjects outside engineering. I thank K.O. Alexander for that as he left a lasting impression and an interest in economics that I still have to this day.

Tom Permoda 1973 CE

- Thank you for that very nice tribute, Tom. -SB

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Dr. Chimino: When asked how he could draw such perfect circles, he stated that you just keep the radius constant.
Pete Rankin ’59

- Sounds like just the way a Tech professor would answer such a question. Thanks. -SB

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Scott,

I was pleased to read that others also considered Edmund Vandette their favorite professor. He was certainly mine! I was fortunate enough to have him for three terms of both US History and European History during the 60/61 academic year.

He always brought in-depth knowledge, passion, and color to his lectures. He often referred to the Roman Empire as “The Big R” and I still recall him saying ” When the Big R moved, the earth quaked!” It has been over 50 years and those words still evoke images of Roman legions on the march!

Good Memories!
Richard C. Rummer ’63

- As a history lover myself, I can appreciate his style. -SB

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Scott,
1) Please tell me more about the car in the photo—looks a lot like the 1924 Dodge that has been in my family over 60 years.

2) I had just passed the driving back to the owner of the car before the “Seney Straight” on a return trip to Tech for Christmas break. Less than five minutes down the road, we hit a deer. Fortunately, the cars from the late 60′s did not fall apart on impact. A part of the fender was pushed in, but the headlight still worked and was lined up. The deer kept running. We continued our drive! And the driver and I were both fine – no injuries. Winter 74-75. I think the car was a 69 Vega … it was orange. Can’t remember the driver/owner.

Anita Elam Uhlir ’77

- Hi Anita, our resident auto expert here in University Marketing and Communications, Bill Tembreull, believes it’s a 1931 Plymouth based on the rounded grill. -SB

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Hello,

My name I Ronda (Hall) Blayer, BS in Geological Engineering, 1987. Below is my Thanksgiving drive story.

I never did get an “I survived Thanksgiving Drive ‘85” shirt but wished I had. It was quite an adventure; one that my friend and fellow passenger, Anne Castle (’89) who now lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, were just discussing over lunch last weekend when she was back in Michigan.

There were three of us heading back in our friend Todd’s sedan. All from different locations downstate, we met up in the center of the lower mitten early for the drive back. The weather was pretty typical until we got about ½ hour south of the bridge. I remember asking the toll booth operator which route she recommended to get back to Houghton, US 2 or Michigan 28? Her reply was “Honey, it’s all bad up there!” Wow, that was comforting news!

We stopped for gas and all of the sugary substances we would need to keep all of us alert. Todd decided to take the more inland route hoping to avoid any impact from the lake and taking a route that would likely be more traveled in case we had trouble. It was a white out for most of the trip. We ended up following a semi-truck through much of the eastern and central UP. It blocked some of the wind and its tail lights helped lead the way. It didn’t occur to us that it may not have the same final destination. I don’t remember seeing another vehicle for a very long time. However, as we headed north out of Marquette, we lost our “escort.” We saw lots of unattended cars in ditches and continued our record-breaking pace. When we got to Baraga and went around the bay, the water was across the majority of the road. Waves were crashing into the bay-side of the car. We somehow made it around and notices that a police car behind us had subsequent closed the road to normal vehicle traffic. A few hours later, we got back to campus to discover that everything on the passenger side of the vehicle was coated with ice and frozen shut. The driver’s side doors would not open but the windows would roll down. You guess it—we retrieved what we could from the inside of the car and crawled out the windows. The trunk was like Las Vegas … whatever was in the trunk stayed in the trunk! I got back to my apartment and called my parents to let them know I was back. They were unhappy that I didn’t call right when I got back. I told them I actually did and that a normally 9-hour drive had turned into a 14-hour drive. My roommates weren’t so lucky as some got stuck in Mackinaw waiting for the bridge to reopen and others stayed at a National Guard station if I recall correctly. I had the whole apartment to myself for over a day … lots of time to reflect on the epic trip that we still talk about today. Only a true Techie can really understand!

Ronda Blayer ’87

- That deserved more than a T-shirt, Ronda. Great tale. Glad you made it. -SB

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I started at Tech in the fall of ’64, coming from Dayton, Ohio (780 miles one way). I think it was Christmas break ’66, coming back to school in early January ’67. Did not have any riders this trip, by myself.

Left Ohio in the morning for the 14-hour trip. Ran into glare ice around Ann Arbor, as I recall. Thank the “Snow Gods” for studded snow tires. Really started snowing in “clumps” about the Bridge. Very slow going. Stopped in Seney for a very old cup of coffee at a bar, although I was not yet 21.

Got to Marquette in the middle of the night, ran into the Highway Patrol blockade. US-41 was closed, the officer told me to turn right and follow the cars ahead, to go to the Armory to spend the night. He went to talk to the car behind me and I decided, I did not want to go to the ARMORY (I may say – A VERY MATURE DECISION).

Pulled into the dorm parking lot after dawn, slept all day, so I missed all my classes I was so eager to attend. I am lucky to be here and learned a very valuable lesson that day and night, sometimes you make really bad decisions when you are exhausted.

For the record, my usual 14-hour trip took 23 1/2 hours.

Frank Wright ’69

- Glad you made it, Frank. That’s a heck of a long ‘day.’ -SB

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For Thanksgiving 1968, it was an easy drive home to Chicago for the six of us carpooling together, but the return on Sunday became difficult as soon as we drove into Wisconsin. The decision was made to navigate away from Lake Michigan onto US-45, then onto MI-26 into Houghton on the “back way.” By the time we reached Watersmeet, we were the only car on the road and were driving through a lot of un-tracked powder. It took three people to navigate, the driver (who only drove an hour before someone else took a turn) and a left and right side spotter. All of the road markers were covered with snow and 35 MPH was about the fastest we could go. We also noticed that there were no gas stations welcoming business on Sunday nights, but figured we could make it to Houghton. We arrived in Houghton about 2 a.m. and dropped off four of the passengers, but I had one passenger that needed to return to Calumet, so we kept driving. In Calumet, there were 3-4 ft drifts across the streets. We just hit them with as much speed as we could muster between drifts. The car (a full sized Chevy) would toboggan up over the wind-packed drifts! We arrived about 3 a.m. and I took a nap while waiting for the girl’s father to leave for his snowplow operator job, then I drove to Houghton for a 9 a.m. EE exam. Imagine my surprise when I arrived and less than 1/2 the class was there. Most were stuck along the Seney stretch on MI-28 for at least another day.

Dave Bittner, MTU ’69

- What’s tougher at Tech, the classes or the weather? Sounds like a serious challenge, Dave. -SB

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Invariably we would leave Houghton for Midland after the last class or exam and more often than not the roads were clear and dry for the trip home. I was married living in Daniell Heights and had a new car which was unusual for the time but my Dad was a dealer so I was very fortunate.

We generally had a passenger or two and at one time carried a VW engine in the trunk that was rebuilt during the Christmas holidays. It wasn’t unusual to hit speeds close to 100 mph on those desolate highways between Houghton and Midland with the only fear of hitting a deer or ????? but we were lucky and didn’t. We did see a bear once but was not in any danger of hitting it.

However, on the way back to Houghton it was a different story—it seemed to always snow! The worst I remember was coming back from Christmas—left Midland about noon with just snow flurries and the further north we went the more snow we encountered. By the time we got to the bridge we were in doubt if we would make it all the way but we kept going and got to Marquette around 7 p.m. The roads were barely passable but many others were in the same predicament as we were and we kept going following each other as close as we could just to see tail lights and try to stay on the road.

We made it but took about 5 hours from Marquette. I’m not aware of any serious accidents but there probably were some sliding off the roads and maybe a fender bender but that’s about it. We can look back now and reminisce while enjoying retirement in Branson, Missouri.

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to all!

Fred and JoAnn Roman, BSME 1966

- Thank you, Fred and JoAnn. Happy Retirement to you. Come back to Houghton when you can. (But maybe keep it under 100 mph when you do.) -SB

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Good Evening Scott,

Here is my story:

It was either freshmen or sophomore year and I was heading home for Thanksgiving. There was already a lot of snow on the ground, and I was driving by myself. It was a beautiful, cold winter evening, with the sunset burning the sky to a dark orange. I came through Shingleton and, it being deer season, there were many hunters in the area, I was just starting the Seney Stretch, where I spotted an old man, dressed in camo, at his hunting camp next to the highway. He was just standing there in the cold, with his hands on his hips, looking up at the sky and admiring the sunset. You knew he had it made.

That image will forever be burned in my mind. I felt like I was looking at a painting of the “good ole’ days.” Everything about it was peaceful.

I decided then and there that I would get land and a cabin in the UP.

Chris Blessing, B.S. Civil Engineering 2015

- Hi, Chris. Thank you for so eloquently sharing those memories. Enjoy your cabin when you get it. -SB

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I believe the year was 1965. I had a 1962 Rambler, and lived in West Wadsworth Hall in my sophomore year. I would usually take the same riders with me on my trips home to Dearborn, Michigan. For the Christmas break in 1965 I had with me Tom Huhta from Detroit, Dennis Benkowski from Royal Oak, and Dennis Dunlap from Grand Blanc. All friends who lived in AlKa Hall at West Wadsworth Hall. On the way back to Tech that Sunday, we drove into the usual snow starting at Gaylord. By the time we got to the Bridge, it was a full-fledged snowstorm. It got to the point where 35 mph was the top speed. After Ishpeming, the flakes were so heavy, I had to ask Tom Huhta, who was riding shotgun, to roll down his window and stick his head out to see the tree line to see if we were still on the road. There was one car behind us, as in a little convoy.

The right wheels suddenly went off the road and onto the shoulder, off the pavement. As I pulled the wheels back onto the road, I started to fishtail. When I finally got the car straightened out, we were in the left lane, and the car that was behind us was next to us. As I slowed down to pull back into the right lane, he did too. Also at that time here comes around the bend, headlights. We had no way to go as there was a car in the right lane next to us and headlights coming at us. I told Tom we are going into the ditch. I went off on the shoulder as far as I could and stopped. Then these headlights which were from a semi went flying by between us and the other car. We sat there for probably 10 minutes without a word. Finally, I said, “That was close.” It broke the air, and we went on and made it to Houghton. The next day we found out roads had been closed in most of the UP and classes were about 1/3 full because toots couldn’t make it back to campus. We talk about it and laugh now, but we didn’t laugh back then.

Brian Rodden, Forestry, 1968

- Glad you lived to tell the tale, Brian. -SB

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Wednesday before Thanksgiving we went to class in tee shirts, it was that warm. We headed home for the holiday that afternoon. It started snowing that night, the first snowfall.

When we returned to our dorm, DHH, on Sunday PM we had three feet of snow and planks were laid on top of the snow for us to walk on to get to the door! That month of December we received 192″ of snow fall. I recall it totaled 327″ that freshman year.

Bob Wicklund BSME ’69

- That’s serious snow, Bob. Even by Houghton standards. -SB

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Two storms, one day: This drive consisted of a blizzard across most of the UP, followed by an ice/snow storm below the Bridge. We were in the UP storm until just outside of St. Ignace. About half-way down Highway 77, the wind-blown snow was so dense that I couldn’t see the end of my car’s hood. Having driven the stretch several times, I knew it was straight, lifted my foot off the gas and held the wheel steady. Probably only lasted seconds, but seemed like 10’s of seconds went by. Once we were on US-2, picked up the tail lights of a semi-tracker rig and followed those to St. Ignace, praying that the truck didn’t go into a ditch with me following!

From St. Ignace to Gaylord, all was clear. But then we ran into 6-8 inches of snow on top of ice, all the way to Flint. From Flint to Romeo, just ice! Passed almost 30 vehicles in the ditch, including a State Police cruiser with its lights pointed skyward.

Folks asked how the drive was when I got home: “No problem!” Actually, it really wasn’t a bad drive—stay steady, no sudden moves, speed down, lots of distance between me and other cars—all good. Drivers hitting the gas pedal or brakes hard—these were the ones in the ditch.

I always drove and I always had three passengers except for start and end of classes. Those drives, the conversations we had, the Christmas carols we sang when the catalytic converter failed, holding us to 45 mph, the help we received when a wheel bearing failed near Bay City … those drives and the people I shared them with are some of my best memories.

Dale Stockman ’85

- I have a “Storm of ’95″ story I trot out occasionally. Good friends. Good memories. Thanks, Dale. -SB

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My 2nd year at Tech began in September 1985. Thanksgiving drive back to Da Tech that year was much worse than usual. I set out with my friend Anne and another person in a black Ford Escort. It began snowing heavily even in the Lower Peninsula. We spun out somewhere around the Gaylord area, doing several 360’s before heading off of the road. We were all ok and the car was undamaged, so with the help of some kind people that stopped to help, we pushed the car back on the road and kept on going.

Once we managed to cross the Bridge (no easy feat), we headed north on 123 to stay away from the coast. The driving was still pretty bad. We finally got to L’anse and the State Police were out, saying the road to Houghton was closed. I waited about half an hour to call my folks from a gas station and let them know I was ok and that we were going to find a place to stay somehow. When we left the gas station, the police were gone, and we decided to keep going. Superior had thrown up various rocks and logs, but we finally managed to make it to Houghton. Another friend and I called Pizza Joynt for a late night snack. Most people didn’t even make it—school was canceled the next day.

Howard Pann
MTU ’88

There’s weather. Then there’s “classes are canceled at Tech” weather. Glad you made it, Howard. -SB

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On a snowy, windy Wednesday before Thanksgiving (1955 or 56), four of us crammed into a Nash Rambler arrived at the Straits of Mackinac to find a very long line of cars waiting for the ferry. The Bridge was under construction and not available yet. It seems the ferry tried to land and crashed into the dock due to the high wind and waves so they decided to ride out the storm in the lake. Poor seasick people. But we were forced to spend the night and much of the next morning in the Nash. We couldn’t even walk around because of the storm and we were at least a mile out from the ferry dock but I think one of our gang did get to a phone somewhere to let our families know what was happening. Cell phones were still a dream. Made it home in time for dinner and did the whole thing over again at Christmas but with a better result.

Peter Rankin ’59

-”Back in my day, we didn’t even have a Bridge.” I love this story, Peter. Grew up in Mackinaw City, so I really appreciate it. Thanks! -SB

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Scott -
Here’s my most memorable trip. Actually first published in TechAlum December 16, 2014.
Keep up the good work.
Jim Carpenter ME ’70

Thanksgiving Trip—1966—Rockford, Michigan to Houghton

We left Rockford mid-morning to grey skies and moderate temps. Joined up with other carpoolers in Reed City and added another vehicle to our caravan. One of my DHH RAs was our chauffeur for the remainder of the trip. A cold rain and rapidly dropping temps were the signs of trouble to come. I-75 became slush and ice covered well south of the Bridge. The other vehicle in our group spun out and went off the highway. Waking up in the back seat as we pulled off to help, I fell hard as I jumped out onto the ice covered shoulder to help. We were able to push it back to resume the trip, but it then ran out of gas. By the time we got gas back to them, it was dark. With a long haul ahead in blizzard conditions, we stopped at Downings (now Audies) in Mackinaw City for dinner.

Unfortunately, these delays meant we were on US-2 between M-117 and M-77 when a semi jackknifed and blocked the highway, stopping all traffic for the night as the blizzard raged on. The car had a weak ignition system, which got wet from the snow blowing into the engine compartment. The last time we got it started for heat was in the wee hours of the morning. There was a bus with a half-broken-out windshield a few vehicles behind us that was still running, so we warmed up there. There was a family with a baby that needed food in one vehicle, so we contributed what we had. At daylight, we thought we were getting the road cleared as we could see a large plow heading east on the shoulder around the two lanes of stranded cars. Unfortunately, it ran off the shoulder and got stuck down an embankment.

One of our group had connections with a construction firm doing work (on a pipeline I believe) aways west of us. We gave him our extra clothes and he set out on cross-country skis, bringing back a hot-wired, tracked vehicle. With that, we were able to get vehicles turned around and head back to M-117. We towed the dead car to a gas station, dried off the distributor cap (Google it, younguns), got several cans of Ether, and headed north again. The rest of the trip went slow but smooth—other than when our driver had to hit the brakes. When he did, the engine would stall, so we had to remove the air cleaner to spray Ether into the carburetor (again, Google it, younguns) to restart. When we got on M-28, we heard it was being closed behind us, but we continued on. Conditions improved further west, and we made it to Houghton about dark on Monday afternoon.

After I graduated from Tech in ’71, my wife and I returned for a hockey game in 1974. Driving from Wisconsin, we hit a snow storm and had to follow a snow plow for the last 50 miles to Tech. We could hardly see the plow in front of us, but managed to stay on the road. This may have been the reason we never went back to the UP until 2015. When we did, we made sure it was a summer trip.

Dan Schmidt ’71

- As I read these, I kept thinking they can’t get any crazier. I was wrong. Thanks, Dan. -SB

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Thanksgiving 1969ish:

Didn’t go home! Had no girlfriend to go home to soooo, stayed over and manned the telephone switchboard in Wadsworth Hall to save travel expense and earn some needed room-and-board cash. Sigh, was not rich.

Preamble: That fall the men of the dorm had adopted a dog. He was apparently a stray who attracted attention by making it a project of attacking passing cars. The men began feeding him, housing him surreptitiously in their rooms and bought him a collar with a name tag. They named him “Shitty.” He was injured by one of the cars he attacked so a door-to-door collection was taken for veterinary expenses. Then, Thanksgiving arrived.

At the switchboard, I received this extraordinary phone call: Our dog, who has been missing for several weeks, suddenly returned home with a new collar, with your phone number, a new name and a new scar. I enjoyed a short conversation explaining some things and later passed the story on to the school newspaper.

Bert Peterson, B.S. in Bio Sci; 1972; now trying to live semi-retired as an ex-Army Optometrist.

- Sounds as if you helped “Shitty” have a nice Thanksgiving, Bert. Thanks for checking in. -SB