From John
Spending a week every year at the Salvation Army Camp (summer camp) with Ma (but no men were allowed). Maybe you and Monica might remember this as well.
from Monica
Do you remember at that Salvation Army summer camp there was a little boy who took a liking to ma, and he would sit next to her at the table with us to eat. One time when ma had a piping hot cup of tea, he rolled his hands over the steam of her cup, saying, "oh, that's nice & warm." Ma said to him "get your hands away from my tea!" (You know, little boy-dirty hands and germs and all.) I wouldn't have wanted his dirty hands rolled over my tea either.
from Paulette
I think we went to this Salvation Army camp just one time. Rita was 12 and I was 8. It was just mothers and children. Boys were housed separately but because Gabby was only 6 (or maybe 5 if it was before his birthday) he was allowed to stay with Mama and us. The little boy of the dirty hands belonged to a woman who was housed with us. She had one other daughter with her who was about Rita's age. I thought she was much poorer than us because her daughter did not have a bathing suit and went swimming in her underpants. Mama was scandalized, and thought she was too old to be doing that.
Families whose boy children were housed separately were still seated together for meals which is why the dirty handed (and they were always dirty) kid was at our table. It was cold when we were rousted out of our beds in the mornings and made to go to the dining hall for breakfast and he did like to warm his hands over Mama's hot tea.
On Sunday morning we were obliged to attend the Christian service with songs and sermons but that wasn't enough for Mama, after the service we met in our cabin and got down on our knees to say the rosary. Since the other lady was also Catholic Mama offered for her to join us. She accepted and called her daughter to come in. When the girl was leaving her friends to come in she explained to them that she had to go in to say the "rosalie or something like that" and she would be back shortly.
We learned lots of songs and games and did crafts. Mama got rid of us for long periods during each day and she didn't have to fix any meals, so it probably was more of a vacation for her than for us.
Somebody in the parish had told Mama that this camp was available to the underprivileged and I remember going on the streetcar with her and having trouble finding the building on Bagley where we had to go to sign up. I don't remember if any of the other kids came with us or not.
from John
Going to day camp one day per week in the summers.
from Paulette
Oh, boy, Day Camp. We used to have to walk, early in the morning, to the pick up spot. One year I remember being picked up at Wilson School, another time at Harms School. We would bring a bag lunch and the busses would take us to Rouge park where we would have organized games and crafts. There was usually a day during the week that was designated as Swimming day when we went to Rouge Pools (I think that's what it was called). After my first swim day Marcel asked me if we had swum with black kids. I said yes, we had and he said "And did it come off." I thought that was a mean thing for him to say. We had very little contact with black people and I don't remember being acquainted with any of them or having any interaction other than sharing a swimming pool.
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Do you remember the 3 of us walking to Baby Creek Park, I think that later it was called Rouge Park. I don’t think Gabby was ever with us on our treks to the park. We had our bathing suits and lunch in a bag, walking down alleys and strange streets to get there. One day during some kind of rioting that must have been on the news on the radio, when we got close to the park, some woman came out of her front door and asked us if we were going to the park. We answered yes and she said “don’t go there, there’s blacks rioting over there”. We looked at each other, and sort of mumbled to ourselves, “what a busybody. Ma had packed our lunch and sent us over here and it’s none of her business”. Never a thought that ma didn’t take the time out to listen to the radio during the day, she was too busy. We kept on our way to the park, with no appreciation to that woman who was looking out for us. But we must not have encountered any problems, because I don’t even remember the rest of the day, except that we always swam near the edge of the pool because all the 'big boys' swam in the middle near the drain (it was probably 5' deep there) over my head, and the boys were very rowdy, dunking each other, etc. I wanted no part of that. I think all 3 of us stayed at the shallow sides. Is that right?
OK. I just remembered that Rouge Park was a different park on Vernor somewhere past Holy Redeemer High School, and that's why we needed to catch a bus to get there.
Rouge Park was between Plymouth and Joy Road. Outer Drive runs through it North and south. To get there you took the Baker Streetcar to Livernois, the North bound Livernios bus to Plymouth, the West bound Plymouth bus to the Park. The first time Bernie and I went there we were taken by Wally's Mother, can't remember her name. I remember a riot at Baby Creek Park in 1943, between toughs from Detroit (our side) and toughs from East Dearborn mostly muslims. Some things don't change.
I do remember walking to Baby Creek Park (now called Patton Park) and the "pool" we went swimming in was a wading pool and I doubt if it was a whole 2' deep in the middle. The best times were when Mama and Papa would take us there after dark and watch us swim. It must have been some pretty hot summer days for them to do that.
I do remember Gabby being with us some of the time, and during the war years some of the stores on the way would put signs in the windows announcing days when they would have bubble gum, and we would be sure to have our pennies on those days to get some.
I don't remember any "riot" or ever being afraid to go there. I remember changing clothes in that creepy little changing house, and some days there were counselors there to organize games etc.
Before I finished high school they had built a proper indoor pool at Patton Park and some of my friends and I tried to join a swim team there. I didn't make it because I wouldn't put my head under water. Just think, I could have been a synchronized swimmer if it wasn't for the water part.
The park on the other side of Redeemer is Clark Park and I only remember going there with Mama and Papa when we were visiting the Morins. Oh yeah, I used to go there with Elise when I was "vacationing" at her house. She only lived 1/2 block away on McKinstry.
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