JFK inspired a generation. In his 1961 inaugural address he called upon us to “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” On the steps of the Student Union in Ann Arbor, he outlined his vision of the Peace Corps. Kennedy challenged us to be the first nation to land on the moon, and stared down the Soviets in the Cuban Missile Crisis. He inspired a million people protesting the erection of the Berlin Wall and declared on behalf of the free world, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” He also had great humor as well. He quipped “I’m the man that accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.”

In the middle of a bustling suburb there is an unexpected slice of heaven. River Bends Park, in Shelby Township, is home to many plants and animals, and is a lovely place for picnics and relaxation. Within the boundaries of the park are many opportunities for recreation, including a sledding hill, an RC race track, a trap as well as a soccer field and baseball diamond. Visitors would never imagine that his public park was once the personal retreat of boxing legend and equestrian, Joe Louis.

It was a heady age, the 1920s! The Doughboys were home, factories were humming, the stock market and hemlines were rising, and the ebullient strains of jazz filled the streets. Young, vigorous Americans thought they could accomplish anything, and so did an obscure U.S. Postal Service pilot flying the airmail route from St. Louis to Chicago

“Come on, let’ get out there and give that guy a hand.”
“Sure it’ll only take a minute to give him a shove.”
“Ok, all together now…PUSH!”

Ice grips the Clinton River in this photo view from the old iron bridge at Market Street in downtown Mount Clemens in 1951. You are looking south toward Crocker Street, and the old Medea Hotel and Bathhouse is in the center of the background with the Macomb County Building on the right.