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Category Archives: People

The Kindness of a Kochville Firefighter

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg

kochville Michigan fire station

My son and his teammates were running last week, on one of the unbearably hot days, getting ready for the upcoming cross country season.  they ran the walking path in Saginaw County, and ended up at the Kochville fire station. They saw a firefighter, that was there and asked if there was a drinking fountain or something so they could get some water. There was no water fountain available, so the firefight got them some water from the station. I just wanna say thank you to the anonymous firefighter if they happen to see this.

“Firefighters are some of the most selfless public servants you will ever encounter.” Denis Leary

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Posted in People |

Norman Little the founding Father of Saginaw

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Mike Sonnenberg
norman little cemetery

Norman Little’s grave site at Brady Hill Cemetery

 

In 1822 Normam Little first came to the “Saginaws” with is father who had purchased land her but after seeing the swamps and being bitten by all the mosquitoes he quickly sold his land and told Norman “there is no future here”. Norman Little still believed in Saginaw and in 1836, Norman Little came upriver by steamboat with his wife, Jane and some craftsmen with their tools, and Norman Little set off to build a city. He started a steamship run from Buffalo, N.Y. to Saginaw to bring immigrants to the city and built a hotel he called the Webster House.

Norman LittleBy 1838 many people had given up on Saginaw but Norman was determined to see the city grow an prosper. With funding and support from Jesse Hoyt, he built a sawmill along the bank of the Saginaw River that cut planks for a road from Saginaw to Flint. It was this road that allowed people to travel to Saginaw and continue the expansion of East Saginaw. Little was also credited with starting the first bank and printed the first money in the city of Saginaw and starting the short-lived Saginaw Journal, organizing three churches, building the first school on the East Side, and helping to found the salt industry here.

 

He lived in Saginaw up until his mysterious death in November of 1859. Little stepped out of his home on Water Street and jumped into the Saginaw River. Witnesses reported Little seemed “very cheerful” before walking to the dock of his mill alongside the river and jumping in. It is believed Little was under the influence of medicinal drinks of the time that contained cocaine.

 

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Posted in People, Saginaw History |

The Cat Lady’s House and it’s Amazing History

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Mike Sonnenberg

cat lady house saginawOne of the most well known houses in all of Saginaw has to be the “Cat Lady’s House” on Washington Ave. near the railroad tracks just south of Downtown Saginaw. Before Rosemary and her pet leopard Chichu lived there, the house was built by one of Saginaw’s prominent lumber barons.

English immigrant Charles Lee came to East Saginaw in 1862 after establishing a successful saw mill and brick works during the “building boom” in Detroit. He purchased two sawmills and 200 acres of pine lands in the Saginaw Valley for $40,000, an enormous sum of money at the time. He was also a director at the East Savings Bank and a major stockholder in the Saginaw, Tuscola and Huron Railroad. The red brick queen Ann house was built by Lee in the 1870’s. His house was the only lumber barons house built along the Saginaw River. The woodwork inside was supplied by his own sawmills. He was married 3 times (his first two wives died) and had eight children seven of which were present when he died in the house in 1899.

After Lee’s death the house was purchased by Dr Michael D. Ryan. Arriving in Saginaw in 1893 he became the first resident physician at St Mary’s Hospital and he was a staff physician for 55 years, the most seniority of any staff physician in the hospitals history. Soon after working for St Mary’s, he would walk to lumber camps and sell the hospital’s $5 insurance plans that would provide medical treatment for one year. Dr Ryan was one of the last “ horse and buggy” doctors traveling to outlying lumber camps in the Saginaw Valley. During the great fire of 1893 Dr. Ryan joined in the bucket brigade on the roof of St Mary’s Hospital dousing embers from the fire saving the hospital from the treacherous flames. He was a charter member of the Michigan State Medical Society and received a presidential citation for his work with the county draft board in WWI and WWII.

Dr Ryan’s daughter Rosemary married Roy DeGesero and they lived in the house raising their family in the same house she grew up in. When the Saginaw Daily News building was demolished in 1960 some of the terracotta lions were given to her, and prominently displayed on the front porch. Currently they are at the Castle Museum. Rosemary was and eccentric and interesting person, she loved the theater and often helped out at Pit and Balcony. She was known for her love of cats and had several of them and was known by those who did not know her name as “the cat lady”.

Sadly Rosemary died in 2012 a A few years after moving to New Jersey to live with her daughter. The house went up for sale at that time and the City of Saginaw purchased the property and is the current owner.

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Posted in People, Saginaw History |

Honoring Saginaw Native Louis Zdrojkowski

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Mike Sonnenberg

Louie zdrokowski Saginaw Michigan WWIIS/Sgt Louis “Louie” Zdrojkowski was born March 13, 1925 in Saginaw MI. He went missing in action August 7, 1945. Louie was a true American hero. At the age of 18 he entered the US Army. He volunteered for the Army Air Corp and became a top-turret gunner on his B-29 Superfortress. His family didn’t know until after his death in a bombing raid over Japan that he was part of a small group clearing the way for the atomic bomb attacks on Japan

The last entry in his diary was August 1, 1945. He wrote “Just eighteen more missions to go. We flew our twenty second one today. Our target was the Locks at Nagasaki. We carried eight 1000 lb bombs. The ball turret has been taken out. Our hits were excellent. Flank was heavy & accurate. We had one hole in the plane. Fighters killed two. 494th came and wounded several others. They had lost about nine planes in three weeks. Dicie’s crew went down yesterday. Kumo went with them. They might be picked up. I hope so.”
On August 7 S/Sgt Zdrojkowski was assigned to a new spot as tail gunner on a B-29 headed for Japan. Louie’s plane was the first in a V-shaped formation assigned to bomb out anti-aircraft sites that would have fired on other B-29s to come later with atomic bombs. Anti-aircraft fire hit the plane over the Japanese island of Kyushu. A week later August 15 Japan surrendered.
Louie gave his life to put an end to WWII In March 1946 the Army officially declared S/Sgt Louis Zdrojkowski dead. It wasn’t until April 1949 before the family got his remains and was able to bury him.

I am posting this for my Grandmother, She came from a large polish family with seven brothers and sisters and whenever they were all together they would remind us all that Louis was not there and were extremely proud of him, Louis would be my great uncle and I wanted to share his role in the end of the war. since the anniversary is coming up.
PS. I know how to pronounce Zdrojkowski, I have a lot of relatives in Saginaw because my Great Grandparents Immigrated to Saginaw from Poland.

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Posted in People, Saginaw History |

Jesse R. Drowley St Charles born Medal Of Honor recipient

Posted on May 25, 2015 by Mike Sonnenberg
sgt drowley s2

Memorial in St Charles honoring Jesse R. Drowley

Born in St. Charles Jesse R. Drowley earned the Medal of Honor on January 30, 1944. He was a rifle squad leader and assigned a defensive role within his platoon and company as a neighboring company launched an attack against Japanese defensive positions. While maintaining their defensive positions, Drowley witnessed three of his fellow soldiers from the other unit fall wounded while continuing intense enemy fire prevented their rescue.

Staff Sergeant Drowley disregarded his own safety and headed into the field of fire to rescue the wounded. He carried two of them to safety, and then identified an enemy strongpoint that was inflicting grievous casualties on our troops. He ran across open terrain to reach a friendly tank, climbed on board, and personally led them towards the bunker. Although twice wounded while on the tank, he refused medical evacuation until the bunker was destroyed.1677

When he finally returned for care, his platoon leader threatened him with reprimand or court martial for leaving his post. Instead, when the full story of why he left his defensive position was learned,he was awarded the Medal of Honor eight months later,by President Franklin Roosevelt in the White House on September 6, 1944.

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Posted in People |

Artist Jim Fives paints a new Mural on Spatz’s Bakery to Honor Heritage

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Mike Sonnenberg

 

Spatz bakery mural saginaw michigan

A few weeks ago I was driving down State Street and I noticed there was something happening on the wall of Spatz bakery on the corner of State and Bond. A few days later I went buy and there was a guy painting so I stopped and met Jim Fives, a local artist and sign painter. He is the artist that paints the artwork in the window of Spatz bakery. If you drive by, or hopefully by bread on a regular basis, you may have noticed it changes monthly and Jim usually paints something to honor another famous artist although this month he painted a portrait of Joe Spatz for in honor of Father’s Day.  Anyways getting back to the outside wall, I have been waiting for Jim to finish his mural painted in the manner of Maxfield Parrish and by some strange coincidence or maybe fate I went by and he was finishing up signing his name and dating his artwork. Jim said he is old school and does not use technology much so if your looking for someone to do some old school sign, lettering or window painting give him a call at 989-791-1436.

Jim Fives Spatz bakery

Jim Fives Signing his finished mural on Spatz Bakery on the corner of State and Bond

 

Jim Fives art on the wind of Spatz Bakery

Jim Fives art on the window of Spatz Bakery

jim fives spatz 2spatz mural s

 

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Posted in People, Saginaw | Tags: art, artist, mural, spatz bakery |

Saginaw Born Robert Heft, Designer of the 50 Star Flag

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Mike Sonnenberg

In honor of Flag Day I want to remember the man who was born in Saginaw who designed our nation’s current 50 star flag. Robert Heft moved to Ohio when he was young. At the age of 17 in 1958, for a school project, he took his mothers flag and sewing machine, removed the 48 stars, and placed 50 stars on the field of blue. His teacher gave him a B- for his efforts, he thought he deserved a better grade but the teacher told him that if his flags design was selected he would give him an A.

Approximately 1500 flag designs were submitted, when Alaska and Hawaii were considered for statehood, but it was Bob Heft’s flag that was approved by Congress.  And yes his teacher did change his grade to the A that he deserved.

Heft became a high school teacher and later a college professor and he also served as mayor of Napoleon, Ohio, for 28 years. After retiring he moved back to the Saginaw area and continued giving speeches, and was a member of the Toastmasters.

Sadly Bob passed away in 2009 and is laid to rest in Saginaw at Holy Cross Lutheran Cemetery on Brockway, His marker is visible from the road, and with its Patriotic theme, its truly fitting for the man who designed our nation’s flag.

bob heft designer flag day
I was never fortunate enough to meet him, but I was told by his friends that we was a great guy who loved sharing his story. I wonder, since there were so many designs, and some similar to Bob’s, I think the Eisenhower administration chose him, because we was an outstanding student and all around good guy. And if you think about it, what a great American story about a Midwestern kid and his mom’s sewing machine that created the design of our flag.

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Posted in People | Tags: bob heft, flag |
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