My paternal grandparents’ house where my father and my aunt had both grew up off of 8 Mile Road and Ryan Road in Warren, Michigan. This is where we move my paternal grandmother out of and into our new house in Oakland Township, Michigan in “Early Life And Continuous Livelihood”.
Video of the Chrysler Stamping Plant on Mound Road in Warren, Michigan where Joe had worked from when he wasd discharged from the military after WWII until he had retired in 1969.
The plant is located next door to the Dodge Truck Assembly Plant, just north of the other plant.
This is a home video that was taken by somebody as part of a field trip to this plant that students from the St. Clement Parochial/Catholic school had taken in November, 1993:
Videos of the Chrysler “Detroit Arsenal” tank plant in Warren, Michigan, with some mention of the nearby Dodge Truck assembly plant that’s also located in Warren, Michigan. At the time, the Dodge Truck assembly plant was building the famous WC military trucks that would evolve into the civilian market Power Wagon after the war.
The City of Warren, Michigan; being rural, sparsely populated; and bearing the name Warren Township, as the place had still yet to designated an official city (which wouldn’t occur until 1957 with the incorporation of the City of Warren) was better than being the sprawling, crowded, urban metropolis it is today and has been since the early 1960’s. The City of Warren was in this rural state as of the time my paternal grandparents had bought the property off of 8 Mile Road and Ryan Road in Warren, Michigan on the Warren-Detroit city borders and the Macomb-Wayne county borders to construct the house that my father and my aunt had grown up in. And Joe & Martha have done the same, buying the property located a few streets down from where my paternal grandparents’ house is located; also off of 8 Mile Road and Ryan Road where Joe had built one part of the house that Margaret & Ann had grown up in before the war, Martha had lived in the original part of the house during the war; and the once Joe had returned home after the war, Joe had built the addition that consisted of 2 bedrooms (both of which were Margaret & Ann’s).
The street that my paternal grandparents, my father, and my aunt had all lived on wasn’t paved until the early 1960’s, and my father personally remembers being a young boy sitting on the front porch of their house with the massive paving machine coming by to pave their street. Joe & Martha’s street, located a few streets down; was at first dirt, then it was gravel; and even later, it was paved.
The City of Warren becoming the sprawling, urban metropolis it is today is as depressing as the City of Rochester Hills, Michigan (formerly Avon Township) (and not Rochester City, Michigan; located north of Rochester Hills, and where we move to in Early Life And Continuous Livelihood) having more recently become a sprawling, urban metropolis. The cities of Chesterfield, Michigan and nearby New Baltimore, Michigan also having more recently become a sprawling, urban metropolis; and also, the City of Bethany/West Chester, Ohio also having become a sprawling, urban metropolis ever since the decommission of the Crosley/Voice Of America Bethany, Ohio shortwave transmitter site are also all depressing.
In other words, I prefer that these areas forevermore remain rural and sparsely populated.
Enjoy the history of the Chrysler “Detroit Arsenal” tank plant in Warren, Michigan and the place being rural and sparsely populated as you watch these videos.
Website about a man, his family history; and some history about the City of Warren, Michigan with an article about the Chrysler “Detroit Arsenal” tank plant:
Since we’re on the topic of the automotive industry and how it was key to transforming the City of Warren, Michigan into the sprawling, urban metropolis it is today; here is a video of the dedication by President Eisenhower of the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan upon it’s completion in 1956. Like both the Chrysler “Detroit Arsenal” tank plant and the Dodge Truck assembly plant, the GM Technical Center is too; a part of the automotive fabric within the community of Warren, Michigan and helping shape the City of Warren into what it is today.
In this video, the area is still, for the most part; rural. Shown in this video is the entry into the complex off of Mound Road in Warren, Michigan and the rural scenery being obvious.
In response to GM employees and their families moving into the area from Detroit city proper, a new subdivision, an Elementary School; and a strip mall were all built near the Technical Center during the years 1955-1957 at the corner of 13 Mile Road and Mound Road.
Since we’re on the topic of the Michigan State Fairgrounds, let’s talk about the time it was used as an automobile racetrack prior to the construction of the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan; and also as a horse racetrack.
The NASCAR races held at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in the early 1950’s (and early in NASCAR’s history) were the auto executives’ very first taste of what NASCAR is and what modifying a car into a stock car is all about. The auto executives who had attended these races that were held at the Michigan State Fairgrounds were so impressed that they persuaded the companies that they work for to begin supporting and fielding cars from their respective manufacturers for NASCAR. This paved the way for things such as Chrysler building the Plymouth Superbird/Charger Daytona and for Ford building the Torino Talladega, the Torino King Cobra; and the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II. These NASCAR races held at the Michigan State Fairgrounds also inspired Ford to start it’s corporate-owned NASCAR race team based in Charlotte, North Carolina-which later became Holman-Moody, which has a long history of fielding Ford products for racing themselves. John Holman and Ralph Moody had both jointly purchased the race team from the Ford Motor Company in 1957 when Ford had wanted out of being directly in the racing business.
Once Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan was completed in 1966, it had signaled the end of the Michigan State Fairgrounds being used for automobile races and MIS (Michigan International Speedway) became the only racetrack that NASCAR would use in the entire State of Michigan from this point forward.
In “Early Life And Continuous Livelihood”, Chris & Jim take the children of my mother’s brothers and my mother’s eldest brother’s niece & nephew to the circus that has been long held at the coliseum within the Michigan State Fairgrounds. They all go in Chris’s GM Full-Size van.
My mother’s parents and Bernice also join them at the coliseum within the Michigan State Fairgrounds to spectate the circus.
For Bernice, it’s just a short drive from her house down 9 Mile Road and up Woodward Avenue until she arrives at the Michigan State Fairgrounds.
Location of where in the Metropolitan Detroit area the Michigan State Fairgrounds are, being that the area was sparsely populated as of 1905; and the area wasn’t built up until the 1920’s through the 1940’s, particularly the homes and the Elementary School surrounding the Michigan State Fairgrounds.
Thomas did not build a front-engine Transit style School Bus as of the era of the old, retired School Bus that we buy in “Early Life And Continuous Livelihood”.
Thomas also didn’t build a front-engine Transit style School Bus during the time the Arthur movie for adults takes place.
Thomas Built School Bus – 54 – Tempe Union High School District Surplus
Two more people we acquaint with many years earlier in “Early Life And Continuous Livelihood” are veterinarian Dr. Jan Pol from the Netherlands and his wife Diane Pol.
Jan & Diane had first met while he was an exchange student from the Netherlands at the High School she attended, Mayville High School in Mayville, Michigan This was in 1961 during Diane’s Senior year in High School. As Jan came off the plane just prior to staying with Diane’s family as an exchange student, he noticed Diane towering over everybody else. Diane was 5-foot-8-and-a-half in height; and Jan was 6-2. The moment that Jan had stepped off the plane, Diane had thought that he wasn’t as good-looking as she had previously thought he would be, but by the end of the year, they were good friends as if they were brother and sister. Jan & Diane had fallen in love when she spent a summer in the Netherlands with his family. Once Jan had returned to the Netherlands, he and Diane had wrote to each other every so often by exchanging letters using International postage from both the Netherlands and the United States. As Jan had invited Diane to visit him in the Netherlands and meet his family, their relationship had become more intense. Even after Diane had returned to the United States and over to Michigan allow Jan to finish his studies at the University of Utrecht, they eventually married in 1967. After living in the Netherlands with Jan and his family for a few years, they both moved back to United States and over to Harbor Beach, Michigan. Jan had thought that because the Netherlands is so small where you could get anywhere within an hour, he looked at a map and thought that Mayville, Michigan (located at the base of the thumb) is near Ontario where his sister lives; which is somewhat true.
When Jan was in veterinary school in the Netherlands, his textbooks were printed in German because any material printed in Dutch was nonexistent.
Jan & Diane had lived in Harbor Beach, Michigan; where Jan had worked for Harbor Beach Veterinary Services prior to moving to Weidman, Michigan and founding their own veterinarian practice.
Photos of the exterior and parking lot of Jan & Diane’s veterinary office.
The interior of Jan & Diane’s veterinary office is anodyne.
Jan is just as philosophical as Ray and our friend Dennis both are, and they each would talk about philosophical things. There are also a lot of similarities between Diane and Dennis’s 2nd wife Carolyn.
EPSON MFP image
Jan & Diane, along with Shannon & Ray are also the right type of people to own Jeeps because they appreciate the history of Jeep, all the owners it’s had throughout the decades, and Jeeps having been used as a substitute for a farm tractor; unlike the relatives that we don’t like and don’t associate with and Carletta and her daughter. Also, unlike the relatives that we don’t like and don’t associate with, Carletta, and her daughter; Jan & Diane, along with Shannon & Ray are also the right type of people to own Land Rovers, Toyota Land Cruisers; and the Lexus version of the Toyota Land Cruiser because they appreciate the history of Land Rover and Toyota’s history with the Land Cruiser, Land Rovers also been used as a substitute for a farm tractor; and the amount of owners that Land Rover has had throughout the decades.
Jan owns a few ZJ Grand Cherokees as his company vehicles. Below is the famous introduction of the ZJ during the 1992 North American International Auto Show where then Chrysler chairman Bob Lutz drove the very first production ZJ straight off the assembly line at the plant on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit to Cobo Hall (where the North American International Auto Show has been held annually since 1965) and had crashed the vehicle through the architectural glass into the main lobby.
Excerpt from Jan & Diane’s reality television show on the National Geographic cable channel that was created by their son Charles courtesy of the company based in Los Angeles he works for about Jan’s ZJ Grand Cherokee breaking down:
Jan is also as fond of Caprice station wagons and Suburban as we are, and before Jan had Jeeps, he owned Caprice (and the car’s GM corporate siblings) and Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis station wagons. Jan & Diane have also owned 2 old, air-cooled Beetles-one while he and Diane had lived in the Netherlands together; and the other when they both lived in Harbor Beach, Michigan.
My paternal grandmother would talk to Jan about how much he has in common with my paternal grandfather. Such as both Jan and my paternal grandfather having easily adapted to American customs and had easily learned English. My paternal grandmother would talk to Jan about how my paternal grandparents had first met each other at a picnic across the International border in Windsor, Ontario, Canada; and the fact that she was able to communicate with him from the very beginning because she knew Polish, and she eventually taught him English after they got married.
Shannon would talk to Jan & Diane about herself being Ray’s 2nd wife, that Ray had always lived in Warren, Vermont with his first wife Constance Cappel and since Shannon herself has been married to Ray; they at first lived in Waitsfield until Ray had built their house in Warren, Vermont in 1981; and she, her siblings, her parents, and her grandmother had moved to Weston, Vermont after living in Troy, New York because the Buick dealership that her father had owned in Troy, New York had failed due to the oil crisis in 1973; and her father Whit had thought he’d be better off selling Real Estate in Vermont than selling cars in Troy, New York. And so Shannon and her family had moved to Weston, Vermont originally so that her father could sell Real Estate.
Shannon would talk to one of Jan & Diane’s associate veterinarians, Brenda Grettenberger about their shared interest in baking. Particularly about the apple pies they’ve both baked and the pumpkin pie and chocolate chip cookies that Brenda has baked. Many of the foods that Brenda bakes, she brings to the veterinary office for people to sample while placed on the table in the kitchen of the veterinary office.
Shannon also expresses her positive opinon to Jan, Diane; and to Brenda that she thinks the mixed clientele of large and small animals, consisting of a ratio of 50% each; by stating that Shannon personally thinks it’s very interesting.
Who knows that Mary Agnes “Mag” and Alison would talk to Jan & Diane about.
It is unknown as to what Marie “Mimi” and Mary Ann would talk to Jan & Diane about.
Joe would joke around and play satirical jokes on Jan, who can be as equally as funny. Martha would advise all of Jan & Diane’s female associate veterinarians and veterinarian technicians not to let a dog’s tail hit their stomachs or otherwise they’ll become pregnant.
For instance, Joe makes a satirical joke about his wife Martha of many years, stating that Jan should stick his hand with the plastic cover on his hand and arm into Martha’s vagina; Jan laughs and gets cracked up. Martha immediately gets angry and states that both God and Jesus will send both her husband Joe and Jan to hell. Martha also says in her infinite wisdom that Diane isn’t “Christian enough” to teach Sunday School.
Ann would talk to Jan & Diane about the fact that she had to wait 7 years after the dog that she & Paul had was euthanized before she could get another dog, and in comparison; their son Charles had to wait 8 years after his Great Dane named Mason had been euthanized before he could ever get another Great Dane. And like Ann herself, Charles spent years being emotional over the loss of his dog.
Margaret and both of Ann & Paul’s 2 daughters-Elizabeth and younger Ann would each be sitting on the residential-type furniture in the waiting room of Jan & Diane’s veterinary office. A client would bring in a cat that seemingly looks like a cat that Elizabeth used to have but had later wound up under the possession of Margaret & Ralph, and Margaret would say to Elizabeth ‘that looks like the cat that you used to have when you were 7 years old, that your parents (Ann & Paul) had found in their driveway one Halloween day at the house off of Square Lake Road and Middlebelt Road in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan’.
Rick Steves would talk to Jan about the 1600’s being Holland’s golden age, how the Netherlands has changed for the worse in the last quarter-century, such as their consenting of prostitutes; and the period of time in Dutch history when the country was ruled by the Habsburgs and known as the ‘Habsburg Netherlands’. Rick would also talk to Jan about several European languages and dialects-such as Emiliano-Romagnolo language, Ligurian language, Genoese dialect, Neapolitan language, Rioplatense Spanish (a version of Spanish spoken in the Buenos Aires region of Argentina); Frisian language, Limburgish language, Main-Franconian dialect, Riograndenser Hunsrückisch language (a variant of the German language spoken in parts of Brazil); the original Hunsrückisch dialect, Lombard language, Romansh, Friulian, Ladin, Arpetan, and Occitan languages; Walser language, the Lötschental dialect,
Jan would say to Rick that both he and his adopted son Charles both own and proudly wear wooden clogs. Rick would say wooden clogs, a quintessential feature of Dutch culture. Then Jan would say to Rick that both he and his adopted son Charles play chess on a chess set that I had made as a child in the Netherlands. Rick says oh do you? I play chess on a “life-sized” chess set while I’m in the Mosel Valley in Germany, while I’m in Spain; and in Provence while I’m in France.
Shari Lewis, her daughter Mallory, and her sister-in-law Judith Krantz would talk to Diane about how as Jewish people, they celebrate Hanukah and Passover and not Christmas and Easter; Shari Lewis and her daughter both being heavily involved with their synagogue located somewhere in the Los Angeles area in relation to them talking about Diane teaching Sunday School at hers and Jan’s church; and Shari Lewis’s father having been a rabbi, being one of the founding fathers of Yeshiva University in New York City. Then Shari Lewis would talk to Diane about her family history, by likely saying that her father was actually born in Lithuania, immigrated here to the United States through Ellis Island with his family; and had settled in the Bronx, where I was eventually born. Shari’s father’s side can actually be traced all the way back to the Kingdom of Prussia where and when the Germanic and Slavic cultures and languages intermingled with each other. That’s the reason as to why her real, non-professional last name; Hurwitz is German sounding. Then Shari Lewis would say her father’s mother was a Latvian national who, for whatever reason; had wound up in Lithuania and married her grandfather, therefore; contributing to the Latvian portion of her ancestry. Shari Lewis would go on to say that also contributing to the Latvian portion of her ancestry are several aunts & uncles from her father’s side who lived in Latvia, stayed behind in Europe when her father had immigrated here to the United States; and one of her uncles had actually died in Russia, and another one of her uncles had died in Israel. And then Shari Lewis would say that her great-grandparents from her mother’s side had immigrated here to the United States from Poland at some point in time, therefore; contributing to the Polish portion of her ancestry. Shari Lewis would then probably say that herfather had actually retired to Florida later in his life, and Florida is where he had passed away in 1981. He lived in a city in Florida that ironically, is also called Hollywood, Florida; and is just another one of a “million” bedroom communities located throughout this nation, but in this case; a suburb of Miami. And then Shari Lewis would say that she, Mallory, her husband; and her sister actually had to fly to Florida from California in order to conduct funerary services for him and that they had him buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. Then Shari Lewis would go on to say after the conclusion of the funerary services they held for her father in Florida, they had his body transported to the cemetery in New Jersey. And then Shari Lewis would say that when her mother had died, they had her buried locally at a cemetery within the Los Angeles area.
Then Shari Lewis gets on the subject of her mother having been a music teacher, having worked at a school somewhere in New York City; and she was also music coordinator for the New York City Board of Education. Then Diane talks about how she used to be a Special Education teacher prior to when she had left her teaching job to work for her husband as his office manager, and that she holds a degree in Special Reading from Michigan State University.
Then Shari Lewis talks to Diane about her nephew and one of Judith’s sons Tony being a television producer, and her other nephew and Judith’s other son Nicholas at one time having been a television producer, but is now a financial advisor. Then Diane would say to Shari and to Judith that their son Charles is a television and movie producer. He went to college at the University Of Miami in Florida (not to be confused with Miami University in Ohio), received his degree in Communications; and he eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career in the film and television industry. Judith Krantz would likely say he probably had to jump through the same hoops as my son Tony did in order to get into the film and television industry. Diane says Charles was actually an intern for Sydney Pollack. Judith Krantz would probably say oh really, it must have been an honor for your son to have interned for Sydney Pollack. Shari Lewis would then say that her sister, who is 9 years younger than I am; Barbara Hurwitz-O’Kun, is married to Lan O’Kun; best known for being a screenplay writer for the television show “The Love Boat”. My brother-in-law had also written the screenplays for Star Trek-The Next Generation, a 1980’s reincarnation of “The Twilight Zone”; and the cult science-fiction show Small Wonder, to name a few.
Diane would say to Shari Lewis, her daughter Mallory, and her sister-in-law Judith Krantz that Jan usually drives so fast on his way to a farm call that some people can’t catch up with him. Mallory would say how could he possibly drive so fast? Diane would say to Mallory that because they’re out in the country where speed limits are rarely enforced and so he can act as if he were an ambulance for a person in need of help. Judith Krantz would say I would obey all the rules for driving a car anywhere on the road if I were Jan. Shari Lewis would say don’t look at me for any comments; I’ve never driven a car a single day in my life. Being originally from New York City and now living in Los Angeles, I’ve always been dependent on Public Transportation for my entire life. Diane would probably say well, with the huge advent of public transportation of cities like those, and how crowded traffic always is in those places; there really isn’t much of a reason to own and drive a car in places like those.
When Diane would talk to Shari Lewis about she and Jan using a wood-burning stove to heat their house, Shari Lewis would say that it’s a good thing that they don’t utilize fossil fuels to heat their home.
Marc Brown would also probably talk to Jan about philosophical things.
Marc Brown would likely perceive Jan & Diane’s adopted son Charles to be as much of a fruitcake person as his son Tolon. Diane would likely say to Marc Brown and his wife Laurie that she & Jan had named Charles after Diane’s own father and had given Charles’s middle name Albert after one of Jan’s brothers who had died in a motorcycle accident somewhere in the Netherlands. This was evidently after we had adopted Charles at birth and had given him both his first and middle names upon adopting him. Then Diane would probably say to Marc & Laurie that all of hers and Jan’s children are adopted, with one of their daughters, Kathy also having been adopted at birth; and younger Diane right when she turned 18 and had legally become an adult after being in foster care for 10 years prior. Laurie would probably say that she thinks it’s virtuous that the both Jan & Diane had adopted all of their children rather than if they ever had any biological children because all of their ‘adopted’ children were most likely in need of homes at the time both Jan & Diane had adopted them. Then Diane would likely say that in the end, she and Jan had both just decided to adopt all of our children rather than have any biological children. Then Diane says that all of our adopted children have raised lambs, chickens, pigs, rabbits; and cows for the 4-H fair. Marc Brown says I think it generally; it was inimitable and unparalleled feat that your children have raised all of these animals for the 4-H fair; considering the broad spectrum of what most children do during their childhood and teenage years.
After Diane would say to Marc Brown’s sister Kim that their practice has many Amish clients and that there are many Amish farms around here, Kim would probably say the most concentrated Amish population near where I live in Nebraska is in Pawnee County. Then Kim would say there’s an ultraconservative group of Amish that once lived in Pennsylvania, had later settled in Nebraska and even later moved back to Pennsylvania colloquially titled the ‘Nebraska Amish’. They say that around 1880, a Bishop by the name of Yost H. Yoder had led 9 families from Juniata County, Pennsylvania; to Gosper County in south-central Nebraska, founding an Old Order settlement that would last until 1904, three years after the death of Bishop Yoder. Yoder had later in 1881 gone back to the Kishacoquillas Valley in Pennsylvania to assist a conservative Amish group. Yoder lived primarily in Nebraska, and the group was nicknamed the Nebraska Amish by others. Diane asks are there any major differences between the standard Amish and this ultraconservative group of Amish people? Kim would probably say something like they do not use motorized equipment or any indoor plumbing to any extent, and they wear very conservative clothing. The noticeable differences include the fact that the men do not wear suspenders and the women do not wear bonnets, but instead; the women wear black kerchiefs and flat straw hats. Then Kim would say other differences between the Nebraska Amish and the standard Amish are that they do not place screens on their doors or windows, men only wear white shirts, curtains are not used in homes, buggy tops must be white and can’t be any other color, men’s hair must be shoulder length and the men can’t wear their hair in any other way, a single lawn mower of any type isn’t allowed; and homes with projecting roofs are an absolute no-no. Diane would that sounds very stringent if you ask me.
We, of course; would bring all of these people to Jan & Diane’s veterinary office from our house in our diesel Suburban.
In case you ever wondered what exactly the Bavarian Inn Restaurant in Frankenmuth, Michigan is; what the hype over the two Zehnder brothers owning both restaurants is all about, and what the competition between the two brothers owning both restaurants located directly across the street from each other is all about, here is a map of where in Frankenmuth, Michigan this restaurant is located and 360 degree views of the interior of this restaurant.
We did eat at the Bavarian Inn Restaurant once some time ago, but we never bring Rick Steves, Shannon, Ray, Shari Lewis, her daughter Mallory and her sister-in-law Judith Krantz; Marc Brown, his wife Laurie, and his 3 sisters Kim, Bonnie; and Coleen there.
Matthew Parij 
