Claudia A. Bowers 1954-2023

My BFF.

“Never forgotten. Life is not forever but LOVE is”

I’m devastated. The love of my life lost her four-year battle with kidney cancer May 14 at home, peacefully, surrounded by Adam, Eric, Sarah, Cheryl and me. She had been in Hospice Care for 17 days. The cause of death is metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Stage IV kidney cancer). The cancer was discovered in 2019 and she had her left kidney and a tumor removed. Two annual CT scans were clear. The one in August 2022 showed that the cancer had spread to her lung. Despite taking the newest advanced kidney cancer oral meds and infusions, the cancer spread to other parts of her body. Like my Dad, she fought a good fight. Her friends and family are trying to cope with this huge loss. I could type pages and pages about the fun times we had together and the two fantastic sons we have. We held a Celebration of Life for Claudia June 17th at the Lee Chapel (Sytsema Funeral and Cremation Services) in Norton Shores, Michigan. There is is a video of the Celebration of Life on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/838096432/bc2fdb072b?share=copy) and also one on YouTube. Search Claudia A. Bowers Memorial Service June 17, 2023.

I’ve known Claudia for 49 years starting in1974. I’ve lived with her for 45 years (1978). Since I retired in 2017, I’ve been with her 24/7 for five years. I love her a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck. It’s all her fault that we originally got together. If she wasn’t so darn cute, I wouldn’t have tried to get her name. See BFF blog for details on how we met.

A butterfly garden in memory of Claudia will be built at the Charles L. Bowers School Farm in Bloomfield Hills starting the summer of 2024. The garden was funded by her family and friends. A memorial bench in her memory will be next to the garden. We don’t know when the garden will be completed at this time…stay tuned!

Obituary for Claudia A. Bowers

Claudia A. Bowers, age 68, passed away peacefully Sunday, May 14, 2023, at home surrounded by her loving family. She was born on June 30, 1954, to Franklin and Gladys (Ostermann) Bogard in Mt. Clemens, MI. She grew up in Allen Park attending River Oaks Elementary, Riley Elementary, South Middle School, and Allen Park High School, graduating in 1972. She attended Central Michigan University and Oakland Community College where she earned an Associate’s Degree in Nursing in 1983.

Claudia had a passion for helping others and dedicated 25+ years at numerous hospitals and schools working as a registered nurse (RN). She started her nursing career at Pontiac General Hospital then moved to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac in 1987. She worked at the Visiting Nurse Association and was the SCAMP Nurse in the summers of 1995-2005, a camp for special education students. She worked at Fox Hills Preschool as a Child Care Teacher; a kindergarten teacher’s aide at Eastover Elementary School; and a Teaching Assistant at Kensington Academy. She worked as the School Nurse at Detroit Country Day Junior School from 2004-2010, dealing with “crashes and rashes”. She was a Farm Guide at the Charles L. Bowers School Farm. She also worked as a Care Aide at Fox Hills Preschool. She did volunteer work with the Western Oakland County Meals on Wheels.

On August 11, 1978, Claudia married the love of her life, Pete Bowers, in Dearborn, MI. They spent 49 years together (45 married), enjoying a life well lived: viewing many Lake Michigan sunsets on the beach, exploring state parks, reading good books, and of course savvy shopping.

She was blessed with a green thumb and enjoyed spending time tending her flowers. Claudia was an animal lover, whether it was dogs, cats, or birds: you name it, she loved them all! She was also known for her famous holiday feasts and festive decorations. She had an eye for beautiful things, and made spaces and events special wherever she went. Claudia was also a social woman, blessed with the gift of gab, easily making and nurturing life-long friendships. She provided compassionate care for her mother over the course of many years, and was always willing to support anyone in need. Her vivacious and fun-loving spirit will be missed by the many who knew and loved her.

She is survived by her loving husband, Pete Bowers; sons, Adam (Sarah Bogue) Bowers and Eric (Cheryl Walton) Bowers; two brothers, Mark (Anne) Bogard and Jason (Laura) Bogard; niece, Kara Bogard (Fa and Belle); two nephews, Cameron Bogard and Jordan Bogard; brother- in-law, Jim Bowers; as well as extended family members and many dear friends. She was preceded in death by her parents.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, June 17, 2023, at The Lee Chapel of Sytsema Funeral & Cremation Service, 6291 S. Harvey St., Norton Shores, MI 49444 with visitation one-hour prior. You can watch the livestream of the Celebration of Life here: [https://youtube.com/live/NVQ-zeyzDU8?feature=share] . Memorial Contributions in her honor can be directed to Charles L. Bowers School Farm or the Harbor Humane Society. Share memories with the family at www.sytsemafh.com.

Claudia A. Bowers Celebration of Life, Lee Chapel, Norton Shores MI, June 17, 2023.

https://vimeo.com/838096432/bc2fdb072b?share=copy

Order of Service.

Poem in the Celebration program.

Perhaps Love and Evergreen lyrics.

For You lyrics.

In My Life lyrics.

Pete and Claudia playlist.

Seeds available at service in memory of Claudia.

Acknowledgment in Jeff Lawson’s Book

When my former student Jeff Lawson (Andover ’95) contacted me and told me he wrote a book, I was so excited for him! When he told me he wrote a little bit about being on the radio station staff, I was very excited! Then he told me I was mentioned in the acknowledgments, I was ecstatic! Jeff is the cofounder and CEO of Silicon Valley-based Twilio, one of the world’s fastest-growing technology companies. Jeff was Music Director when he was on the Biff and he designed one of our station logos. His book, Ask Your Developer, has just come out with rave reviews. From the book, “Not only are my WBFH memories some of the best from high school, but it was an amazing learning environment. Mr. Bowers let us make mistakes (as long as we were keeping things safe, fun and legal) and learn from them. I’ve used Mr. Bowers as inspiration to guide my thinking about how to create an environment where the ground rules are known, and then everybody feels empowered to sprint forward.” If we ever wonder if teachers and high school courses have a long-lasting impact on our students, wonder no more!

Book was released January 12, 2021. Available where books are sold!

The Bowers Family: Involvement in BHS is Family Tradition

Article posted on Bloomfield Hills School District website March 19, 2021 (with photos): https://www.bloomfield.org/news/details/~board/alumni-news/post/the-bowers-family-involvement-in-bhs-is-family-tradition

Article written by Leah Abel, Family Ambassador, Bloomfield Hills Schools.

Tom, Jim and I with our Dad, Charles L. Bowers, posing in front of their Quarter Midget race car which we raced at a track next to Miracle Mile shopping center near the corner of Telegraph Rd. and Square Lake Rd. (late 50’s). We actually had two cars, #28 and #82. The track was moved to a different location and we quit racing…but it was fun while it lasted!

On a sunny Sunday in March, Jim Bowers, whose family has been deeply involved in Bloomfield Hills Schools over multiple generations, stopped by the E.L. Johnson Nature Center. Checking on the Maple Sugaring Program, Bowers likes to say hello to the Bloomfield Hills Schools families that participate in the Nature Center programs, and enjoys seeing all the newest developments at the Nature Center, which includes the land that was once the Bowers childhood home. 

“We lived over there for 39 years, next door neighbors to the Olsens. The new Woodland Trail goes right through what was our family room! My dad was on the school board for nineteen years, which is why Bowers Farm was named after him. The family has deep roots here, and my dad helped recruit Don Hollums who was the first naturalist here. Don managed the Nature Center from 1970 to 1989, and lived in the Olsen house.” The Olsen family established a natural sanctuary on their property, and sold this property to Bloomfield Hills Schools in 1968, thus establishing the Nature Center within our school community. The Olsen home still serves as the caretaker residence for the Nature Center.

Jim explains how every member of the family was connected to Bloomfield Hills Schools: “My entire family is intertwined with the history of the school district.” Jim’s father Charles Bowers was a long-term Board member, while working as a family practice doctor in Pontiac. “My dad was on the PTO of Hickory Grove School when the Hickory Grove School District consolidated with the Bloomfield Hills School District. The Bloomfield School Board then expanded from five members to seven, and two of the Board Members were added from the Hickory Grove School area. My dad started his tenure on the Board of Education in 1960.” 

The Bowers family all attended BHS. Jim notes, “It was unique that Hickory Grove was brand new when I was in elementary school. Bloomfield Hills Junior High School was brand new when I went there, and the High School had just been added onto and expanded when I went there, so it was nearly brand new.” Jim graduated from Bloomfield Hills High School in 1965, which was located at our current Bloomfield Hills High School. In 1967, Lahser High School opened its doors because of an expanding student population, and what was once Bloomfield Hills High School was re-named Andover High School. In 2015, the newly renovated and consolidated Bloomfield Hills High School reverted to its original name, in its original location.

Jim, the eldest of three, worked for the architectural firm Tarapata-MacMahon-Paulsen (TMP) Architecture. “TMP and Peter Tarapata designed several Bloomfield Hills Schools. I worked on the Fine Arts Additions of all the Elementary Schools. I also drafted all the construction documents for the new Learning Center and Bowers Academy at the Farm. TMP's specialty was the design of schools (elementary, middle, high schools both public and private), performing arts centers, athletic buildings, college and university buildings and all associated educational structures.” 

Jim’s brother Tom worked at Andover High School as their PASS officer. Jim explains, “PASS was short for Parking and Student Safety. He held the STOP sign for the cross walk on Andover before and after school hours. He issued parking passes and enforced parking in the school parking lot. He patrolled the hallways between classes. He helped with school activities and assemblies. He responded to 'help' calls within the school with the assistant principal.” 

The youngest Bowers brother, Pete, is best known for managing the BIFF radio station for 41 years. Pete began the BIFF - our local 88.1 FM - in 1976. This award-winning, student-run radio station provides extraordinary opportunities for our BHHS students to learn broadcasting skills. Pete’s two sons, Adam and Eric, both graduated from Lahser High School. Pete retired in 2017 and was inducted into the Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2018. Jim notes that, “Tom and Pete ate lunch together every day for 25 years. Tom passed away in 2016, and Pete and I miss him.”

When the Nature Center’s serene property was potentially threatened by a developer who was looking to construct five mansions on the adjacent property - which included the land that the Bowers family owned - the Board of Education worked on a property trade. The developer traded for land adjacent to Booth Center, and Bloomfield Hills Schools now owns the property surrounding the lake that is central to the Nature Center. Jim notes, “I’m out at the farm and will spend a lot more time here at the Nature Center, now that our family home is part of the Nature Center. And Dan Badgley built two bridges across the river, so you can now walk all the way up to Hickory Grove Road and back.”

Without the Bowers family, Bloomfield Hills Schools would not be what it is today! Their family’s generosity of time, dedication and energy to our schools is deserving of the legacy that the Charles L. Bowers Farm name bears.

Tom, me and Jim in 2011 when I received the Distinguished Service Award from the Bloomfield Hills Schools Board of Education.

15 Minutes of Fame

American artist Andy Warhol once said, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." In an era of reality TV and YouTube, it looks like his prediction came true. For me, my 15 minutes happened on September 17, 1992. I had parked my car and was walking up the sidewalk to enter the school when I looked over at the access hole in the base of the radio station tower. I saw something metallic in the hole. I walked over to take a look…I thought they were pop cans at first. No, they were pipe bombs, four of them 3 inches wide and 12 inches long, capped at both ends, sealed with duct tape, with holes drilled in the center for fuses…fortunately, none of them had fuses. But we found out later that they were packed with gunpowder…potentially deadly. I didn’t freak out, yet. I dropped my stuff off in the radio station and went to the main office…quickly. Coincidentally, a Bloomfield Township police officer was in the hallway talking to a hall monitor. I told him what I saw and asked him to see for himself. He did and immediately notified administration and police that the objects looked like genuine bombs. The 900 students and faculty were evacuated from the school and sent to the parking lot. The administration decided to send the students home as police searched the school complex for additional bombs. In fact, Michigan State Police bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in from Lansing to see if there were any more bombs. The bombs were removed at 10:15 a.m. and detonated at an Orion Township quarry. The motive? We haven’t a clue. I did not receive any bomb threats. The school did not receive any bomb threats. I don’t know how long the bombs had been in the tower. Then the media showed up. I was interviewed on camera by Channel 4 and Channel 7. The story was also covered by Channel 2, Channel 50 and Channel 62. I have VCR tapes of the TV reports that aired at 6 and 11 p.m. that day. Some day I will get those transferred and put on this website. I was interviewed by the Oakland Press, The Birmingham Eccentric and the Detroit News who all ran articles and photos. One reporter said I was “visibly shakened”. Another quoted me as saying “to put it mildly, I was in shock” when I discovered the bombs. Students loved it, they got the day off from school sort of like a snow day. We sealed up that hole immediately and school resumed as normal the next day. The week after it happened, I did meet at the school with a gentleman from the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives). He asked me if I had received any bomb threats from anyone…I had not. People thought it was a prank…maybe done by rival Lahser students. Trust me, it was no prank and I still wonder what would have happened if one or all four bombs had exploded…my office was only about 8 feet away from the base of the tower. I got my “15 minutes of fame” but I didn’t ask for it, it just happened!

The Greatest Man I Ever Knew

I knew him for 31 years. He was my Dad and I loved him dearly. Sadly, he died at age 66, way too young. But he packed a lot into those 66 years and made a huge impact on everyone who got to know him. He’s the greatest man I ever knew and I miss him every day of my life.

Front page of the Eccentric May 3, 1984.

Charles LaVerne Bowers was born March 26, 1918 at home on 485 Orchard Lake Ave. in Pontiac to Frank Bowers and Annie M. Rose. As a young man, he attended Pontiac schools and graduated from Pontiac High School (later Pontiac Central High School) in 1936 (January class). He won varsity letters in four sports: football, basketball, track and baseball. He tried out for the football team at the University of Michigan and his name is on the roster. World War II put a crimp in his education plans when he was drafted in 1941. After the war, he returned to UM and graduated in 1947 (the year my brother Jim was born). He then attended medical school and graduated from Wayne State University in 1951 (the year my brother Tom was born).

Photo circa his college years at University of Michigan.

My family's relationship with University of Michigan football dates back to 1937 when my Dad (Charles LaVerne Bowers) made the junior varsity team playing the "end" position wearing #4 (see team roster sheet). He had played end and defense as Captain of the Pontiac High School football team where he also lettered in three other sports...basketball, track and baseball. He was on the UM roster again in 1938 but hurt his knee in practice in the summer of 1939 and was not on the team that year due to his injury. His studies at UM were put on hold when he was drafted into the Army. You'll notice a famous name on the 1937 roster sheet...Tom Harmon...who was on the freshman team that year. Harmon would go on to be All-American in '39 and '40 and would win the Heisman Trophy in 1940. I remember my Dad taking us to UM football games in the '60's and telling us stories about when he played football at Michigan when he was in college.

Serving his country, stationed in France with the 35th Evacuation Hospital.

Meeting up with his brother Jerry in France…how cool is that?

The guys did find time to play some baseball while stationed in France.

Photo op with the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Captain Bowers in a jeep at the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

My Dad’s Army hat. He was a Captain…then was promoted to Major at the end of the war, WWII, the big one.

Some awards my Dad won in high school (football, track and basketball) and war medals…The Bronze Star…“The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone”.

My Dad reading to us at Christmas, somewhere around 1956 in Barrington house.

President of the Bloomfield Hills Board of Education.

Rare photo of us with my Dad and Mom…mid 70’s. I say rare because usually my Dad would be taking the photos so he’s not in a lot of them.

On the back of his gravestone in Wixom Cemetery. He was a Captain most of his service and was promoted to Major when the war ended.

My Dad’s name on West Hills Jr. High sign in West Hills lobby.

Dr. Bowers in his office doing what he did best…being a great doctor! I remember stopping by his office one day and patients were packed in the waiting room and people were in the hallway waiting for a chair to open up in the waiting room. I hear he didn’t turn anybody away if they needed medical attention and if they couldn’t pay for services, he was forgiving.

His ID tag at the hospital. I remember when I was a little kid, I would go with my Dad on house calls to patients that were home bound. Yes, house calls! I liked going with him because the family of the patient would always give me cookies while we waited for my Dad. I also went with him to the hospital after dinner where he would do “rounds” and I would sit with the telephone operator and plug in the cords to connect callers with hospital staff.

Enjoying something I said in my Commencement speech. He was School Board President which was why he is on the stage at Commencement.

In the pits with our 1/4 midget race car, The Bowers Special Too!

With my parents at our wedding August 11, 1978.

Greatest parents in the WORLD!!

At my CMU Commencement, May 1975 in Mt. Pleasant.

Rare photo of my Dad just hanging out…love it!

Hanging out in Franklin back yard, my Grandpa, Orpha, Mom and Dad.

Bio printed in the 1980 Rotary Club directory.

My parents were chaperones for our Class of ‘71 Spring Break trip to Nassau Bahamas. My Dad is on knee, far right, my Mom to his left. I didn’t mind them being on the trip. I actually needed my Dad to treat me when I got a bad sunburn.

Drawing of my Dad…not sure the story behind it.

Behind every great man is a great woman. Photo I took of my Mom in our Franklin house. Don’t think she knew I was taking the photo. She’s probably watching the Detroit Tiger game on TV. I truly respect her for raising three boys while coping with my Dad’s busy schedule. Dinner was at 6 p.m. and we all knew it. My Mom was smart…she was the valedictorian of her senior class at Pontiac High School. Unfortunately, she never went to college due to her family’s financial situation. She survived the 1918 pandemic, polio, the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression, World War II…died two months before 9/11/2001 attacks on America.

Great photo of my parents dancing at our wedding reception. This was August, 1978. My Dad died six years later, in 1984. I feel so blessed and lucky to have had great parents who lead by example. Miss them every day.

I wrote this as a eulogy for my Dad to be read at his funeral. I knew I would have a hard time getting through it so I asked Dave McGraw to read it for us and he did.

Photo taken in my Dad’s hospital room in St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac. He fought the good fight. Shortly after this birthday photo, he died of stomach cancer in this room. Greatest man I ever knew.

My BFF

I’m devastated. The love of my life lost her four-year battle with kidney cancer May 14 at home, peacefully, surrounded by Adam, Eric, Sarah, Cheryl and me. She had been in Hospice Care for 17 days. The cause of death is metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Stage IV kidney cancer). The cancer was discovered in 2019 and she had her left kidney and a tumor removed. Two annual CT scans were clear. The one in August 2022 showed that the cancer had spread to her lung. Despite taking the newest advanced kidney cancer oral meds and infusions, the cancer spread to other parts of her body. Like my Dad, she fought a good fight. Her friends and family are trying to cope with this huge loss. I could type pages and pages about the fun times we had together and the two fantastic sons we have. We held a Celebration of Life for Claudia June 17th at the Lee Chapel (Sytsema Funeral and Cremation Services) in Norton Shores, Michigan. There is a video of the Celebration on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/838096432/bc2fdb072b?fbclid=IwAR3luICUCaJHJ8UYHzTj8FC4_M3PPAoy0y043fOq6qNqAVRtmNwqhRJpfsQ. There is also one on YouTube. Search Claudia A. Bowers Memorial Service June 17, 2023. Her obituary can be found on sytsemafh.com/obituaries.

I’ve known Claudia for 49 years starting in1974. I’ve lived with her for 45 years (1978). Since I retired in 2017, I’ve been with her 24/7 for five years. I love her a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck. It’s all her fault that we originally got together. If she wasn’t so darn cute, I wouldn’t have tried to get her name. So, how did we meet?

How We Met

It all started in the Robinson Hall dining hall at CMU. I noticed one of the food service workers was cute and wore colorful knee socks. As time went on and seeing her every day, I grew attracted to her. I would sit with a bunch of WCHP guys at meals and I told one of them, Jim Smith from Farmington Hills, that I thought that one of the food service girls was cute but I didn’t know her name and I was too shy to ask. Jim asked which one it was…I pointed…and he said “I’ll be right back”. Jim wasn’t shy. He walked up to Claudia and asked her for her name. He came back to the table and said “Her name is Claudia Bogard.” Back then (1974), they had a student phone book with everyone’s name, address and CMU phone number. It was getting near the end of the school year. I was thinking at first that I would just call her and say hi…but I was just nervous about doing that. With a little encouragement from my radio buds, I got up the nerve to call. She answered and I did eventually introduce myself and told her I lived in Robinson, the dorm next to hers. She didn’t hang up and we talked for a while even though her roommates were wondering who she was talking to. They thought it was a weirdo, and they would be right. I did try to impress her by telling her I was a DJ on WCHP, to which she said “I don’t listen to that station”. I told her I was on the CMU soccer team, to which she said “CMU has a soccer team?” We ended the call with a mutual agreement that I should come over to her dorm room sometime and meet in person. Not sure how long it was, but I did go over to meet her in her dorm room. Her roommates and girls across the hall were all curious who I was and if I was indeed a weirdo. I did ask her out on a date and she said yes. I was thrilled! In an effort to impress her, I took her out to dinner at the classiest restaurant in Mt. Pleasant, The Embers (which is not there anymore). As we spent more time together, I was definitely smitten with her. The plot thickens. After two years at Central, she was thinking of transferring to Western Michigan University and study Speech Pathology. As we dated more and more, I wanted her to return to Central for what would be my senior year, her junior year. I thought if she went to another college, she might find some other guy and leave me. She decided to return to Central and I was ecstatic! I drove down to Allen Park a lot that summer. In the Fall, I moved into an apartment with Brother Bond and Brew and she moved into an apartment on the same street within walking distance of each other. Soccer season was in full swing and I convinced Claudia to be a ball girl for the team. We spent a lot of time together that year and I graduated in May. I am indebted to Jim Smith forever for getting her name or I probably would have never met her!

BFF means Best Friend Forever. After four years of dating and driving up and down Southfield Expressway a thousand times, I asked her to marry me and we did August 11, 1978. See the blog entitled Tying the Knot for photos…one of the best days of my life! And she is my best friend…forever!

Celebration of Life June 17, 2023

Poem read at Claudia’s Celebration of Life June 17, 2023.

Photo I took of Claudia a few years later when her hair was cut shorter.

Photo taken by her friend Alison on a trip they took to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Photo taken at Franklin.

When Bosco was a puppy. We’ve had two dogs, Bosco and Rosie. Dogs love Claudia and the feeling is mutual…I’ve said many times that I think Claudia was a dog in a previous life. I’ve also said no human loves Claudia more than me!

Having fun at our lake lot on Lower Long Lake in Bloomfield Hills.

Having fun on one of our trips to Colorado.

Her nursing school graduation outfit and hat. She graduated from Oakland Community College…Registered Nurse (RN)

With my parents, not sure where, wearing my beloved CMU hat.

Guessing it was at some holiday party, not sure where.

At the Ritten wedding…Claudia was a bridesmaid for her friend Vicki.

With our dog Bosco…photo taken at Franklin.

At Dan Lippitt’s wedding. I’m the one with the trophy wife.

Kayaking on Kent Lake in Kensington Metropark.

In Vancouver BC.

Words to the song “The Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me” sung by Gladys Knight and the Pips (I dedicate this to Claudia. This song came out in Spring of 1974…that’s when I met Claudia…not a coincidence, was meant to be:

“I’ve had my share of life’s ups and downs, but fate’s been kind, the downs have been few, I guess you could say I’ve been lucky, well I guess you could say that it’s all because of you. If anyone should ever write my life story, for whatever reason there might be, You’ll be there between each line of pain and glory, cause you’re the best thing that ever happened to me, ah You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Oh there have been times when times were hard but always somehow I made it, I made it through, cause for every moment that I’ve spent hurting there was a moment that I spent ah just loving you. I know you’re the best thing that ever happened to me”.

I thank God every day that Claudia didn’t hang up on me when I called her in her dorm room at CMU. There’s a Bee Gee’s song “How Deep is Your Love?” How deep is my love for Claudia? Deep, very deep!

A photo I took with a timer on my camera walking down some trail when we were both in college. I was smitten…big time!

Early in our relationship…enjoying nature!

Claudia was born June 30, 1954 at 10:12 a.m. on a Wednesday at St. Joseph Hospital in Mount Clemens Michigan. Her birth certificate was signed by a nun. She attended River Oaks Elementary School in Dearborn Heights MI. She attended Allen Park High School and graduated in June, 1972. Claudia photo from elementary school…missing a few teeth I see.

Jason, Mark and Claudia looking good in the home on Fox St. in Allen Park, MI.

Claudia attending the Prom her junior year.

Photo taken in Colorado in September 2019 when we went to visit Eric who was working in Boulder at the time. We hooked up with Jim McCormick who took us on some hikes with beautiful Rocky Mountain scenery. This would end up to be our last trip out of the state of Michigan.

Being a Caregiver for Gladys

After I retired in 2017, we sold our dream house in Milford and moved to Spring Lake, Michigan (near Grand Haven on the West side of Michigan) to be caregivers for Claudia’s mother Gladys who was 86 years old and homebound. She lived by herself in a condo but didn’t drive anymore and needed our help with buying groceries, preparing meals, taking medicine, doing laundry, cleaning, pet care, condo maintenance and transportation to doctor, dentist, hair, vet and dog grooming appointments. We live about four miles from her and went to her place often in the last four years, every day for 17 months spending a few hours there to make her dinner, make sure she took her pills, do the dishes, take the dog for a walk, feed the dog, clean the house and other chores that needed to be done. In July, Gladys fell twice in a two-week period and had a mild stroke. We found her on the ramp in her garage the first time and on the floor of her bedroom the second time. It was recommended by her hospice nurses and aides that for her own safety, she should not be living alone and should be moved to a hospice facility with 24 hour nurse care. So on July 22, 2021, she was moved to the hospice wing of Heartwood Lodge in Spring Lake. One of the hospice aides took the dog…a good home full of dog lovers. We visited Gladys usually every day and brought her treats and did her laundry. On August 13, she celebrated her 90th birthday surrounded by her three children (Claudia, Mark and Jason) and their spouses (me, Annie and Laura). Her rapid decline kicked in that weekend and on Monday, August 16th, Gladys passed away in her sleep. A graveside burial service was done September 11 at the Benona Township Cemetery near Shelby MI. Rest in Peace G-Dog!

With Gladys B. Bogard in a rehab center while she was recovering from shoulder surgery.

My son Adam conducting the burial service for Gladys at the Benona Township Cemetery on September 11, 2021.

My daughter-in-law Rev. Dr. Sarah Bogue doing readings during the burial service.

My brother-in-law Jason Bogard delivers the eulogy.

Family attending the luncheon at Cellar 36 restaurant in Stony Lake which followed the burial service.

Gravestone at cemetery.

Jokes, Puns, Funny Stuff

One Bowersism is that I do these what I call “attempts at humor”. In other words, I would tell corny puns and dumb jokes to lighten things up…and to make people laugh, something I enjoy. I think I’ve always wanted to try stand up comedy but never had the guts to do it. Then I was thinking, teaching three 90 minute classes a day is almost like doing three sets on the stand up stage…teaching is a lot like doing stand up, except the audience is all teenagers and they haven’t been drinking alcohol. Here’s a few I’ve used plus some posters. Enjoy!

*I didn’t know where my boomerang went…and then it hit me.

*What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back…a stick.

*I went to the boomerang store the other day…they have a great return policy

*The hardest part about buying a new boomerang is throwing the old one away.

The King of Goofball Island at a WBFH event.

*People don’t know this about me but I was born with two kidneys. It hasn’t really affected my life too much.

*I’m reading a book about anti-gravity…I can’t put it down!

*I remember the last thing my Grandpa said to me before he kicked the bucket. He said “Hey how far do you think I can kick this bucket”

*Studies have shown that people who have a lot of birthdays tend to live longer.

*Why don’t cannibals eat clowns? They taste funny.

*I was addicted to the hokey pokey but thankfully I turned my self around.

*I was addicted to soap…But I’m clean now.

*I was addicted to brake fluid…but I can stop at any time.

*Having sex in an elevator is wrong on so many levels.

*I saw an ad for burial plots and thought to myself, this is the last thing I need.

*How do you find a naked guy with ED in a dark room? It’s not hard.

*I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

*My grandfather was one of 13 children in his family. He didn’t know what it was like to sleep alone until he got married.

Good tip…remove cap before drinking!

*A guy asked his blonde friend, “What are the names of your dogs?” She responded that one was named Rolex and the other Timex. Her friend said, “Whoever heard of someone naming dogs like than?” “Helloooooo,” answered the blonde “They’re watch dogs.”

*Duck walks into a bar, orders a drink, tells the bartender to put it on his bill

*Duck walks into a bar wearing only one boot. Bartender says “lose a boot?”, duck says “No, found one”.

*What do a duck and a bicycle have in common? They both have handlebars…except the duck.

*Skunk walks into a bar and says hey, where did everyone go?

*Guy walks into a bar, says I slept with my wife before we were married, did you? Bartender says “I don’t know, what was her maiden name?”

*What’s the cheapest type of meat? Deer balls, they’re under a buck.

*A San Diego patrolman pulled over a driver and told him that because he was wearing his seat belt, he had just won $500 in a safety competition. “What are you going to do with the money?” the officer asked. “I guess I’ll go to driving school and get my license,” the man answered. “Don’t listen to him,” said the woman in the passenger seat. “He’s a smart aleck when he’s drunk.” This woke up the guy in the back seat, who saw the cop and said, “I knew we wouldn’t get far in a stolen car.” Then there was a knock from the trunk and a voice in Spanish, “Are we over the border yet?”

*My wife’s female intuition is so highly developed, she knows I’m wrong before I’ve even opened my mouth.

*I don’t do drugs and I don’t drink. At my age, I get the same effects by standing up too fast.

Caricature drawn for my 40th birthday party.

*Human beings are the only creatures on Earth that allow their children to come back home.

*Teacher writes on chalkboard: “I ain’t had no fun all summer”. What should I do to correct this? Student: Get a boyfriend!

*Teacher: “You missed school yesterday, didn’t you?” Student: “Not very much”.

*

As you get older, three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can’t remember the other two.

Two huge racks in one photo…yellow card!

Two decent sized jugs in this photo…second yellow card…red card!

*A wife got so mad at her husband she packed his bags and told him to get out. As he walked to the door, she yelled, “I hope you die a long, slow, painful death.” He turned around and said, “So, you want me to stay?”

*My wife accused me of being immature. I told her to get out of my fort.

*Diarrhea runs in my family.

*She’s not the brightest bulb in the tanning bed.

*She is the cheese to my macaroni.

*I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised.

*Two antennas got married. The wedding was OK but the reception was great!

*How do you make a handkerchief dance? You put a little buggie in it!

Photo of my Pride and Joy.

So what's the story with the t-shirt? I was walking down the hall at the high school when I worked there years ago and I passed a student wearing this t-shirt. It got my attention immediately! So I stopped the young man and told him that was my name on the shirt. I asked him where he got the shirt. He said "resale store". I said I would love to have a shirt like that for obvious reasons. He said if I give him more money than he paid for it, he would sell it to me. Deal! As Paul Harvey would say, "and now you know...the rest of the story!

I don’t really know the governor but I do appreciate her concern for me!

Lady Astor: “If I was your wife, sir, I would poison your coffee”. Winston Churchill: “If I was your husband, I would drink it!”

My fake ID…taken from the movie Vegas Vacation when Rusty Griswold needs a fake ID to get into casinos and gamble.

Faith

I grew up in Bloomfield Hills. My parents attended church in Pontiac for many years. Somehow, they found out about an Episcopal church getting started in West Bloomfield. He was a charter member of what was Episcopal Church of the Advent. He was the first Junior Warden when it formed in 1955 and was a Vestry member. At first, the church met in Pine Lake Elementary School, then they moved to a one room schoolhouse at Middlebelt and Long Lake Rd. Then they built the church on Middlebelt Rd. So that’s where I attended Sunday school, confirmation, and altar boy. I later served as an usher and youth group adviser there and that’s where my Dad’s funeral was. Both of my boys were baptized there. I attended Milford Presbyterian Church when I lived in Milford and helped out with the youth group by chaperoning trips to see Adam in Princeton, NJ and a trip to Spring Hill. My faith is important to me and I pray every day and read the Bible for good news. I don’t attend a church right now but I have watched sermons online. I talk with my Jesus action figure, though I do all the talking and Jesus just listens. I try to be the best Christian I can be and I do believe in the power of prayer. Attached to this blog are some prayers and songs I like.

My Jesus action figure…doesn’t everybody have one?

*8 Second Prayer: Lord, I love you and I need you. Come into my heart and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus’ name.

*God Bless your day and keep you safe from harm and more, and may you have a better one than the day before! Amen

*Lord Jesus, I am a sinner and confess that I have not loved you with my whole heart. I am sorry and ask you to forgive me. I accept your sacrifice on the cross for my sins. I welcome you into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Jesus I want to serve you, to be yoked with you and have your power in my life. Pour out the abundance of your Holy Spirit upon me. Anoint me with your Holy Spirit and refine the gifts you have given me, and give me other gifts that I might serve you and others. Amen

*Grace (used by my Mom): Thank you for the world so sweet, Thank your for the food we eat, Thank you for the birds that sing, Thank you Lord for EVERYTHING!

*Matthew 28:9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings!” She said they came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

*Dear GOD, thank you for not allowing me to become who I would’ve been if it were left up to me (Nicole Notare in Guideposts)

*A Teacher’s Prayer: Dear God, help me to see each of my children as uncut diamonds; needing only enough pressure to knock off the rough edges so that the brilliance You have placed in each of their hearts will always shine through.

*Romans 8:28 All things work together for good to those who love the Lord.

*Sometimes God will put a Goliath in your life for you to find a David within you.

*The Constitution was never meant to prevent people from praying; it’s declared purpose was to protect their freedom to pray (Ronald Reagan)

*Those we love don’t go away, they walk beside us everyday, unseen, unheard, but always near, so loved, so missed, so very dear.

*I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it (Mark Twain)

*Life is just one damn thing after another (Mark Twain)

*The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you found out why. (Mark Twain)

*May the work I have done speak for me.

*The idea is to die young…as late as possible.

*When asked why he chose to eat a strictly plant-based diet, Dr. Kim Williams (President of the American College of Cardiology) said “I don’t mind dying, I just don’t want it to be my fault”.

*The best way to find happiness is by searching for ways to make others happy.

*Old Indian saying: When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced! Live your life in such a way that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.

*What Matters: One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much I had in my bank account, nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child (Author Unknown)

*May you always remember…God is in control. When things happen that are out of our control…It’s easy to become frustrated, feel afraid, and question what the future holds. Putting our faith in God’s plan allows us to trust that the events in our lives are meant to be. I want to remind you that God is in control and encourage you to trust Him. I love you…but God loves you even more.

A Prayer: Dear God, so far today, I’ve done alright. I haven’t gossiped. I haven’t lost my temper. I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or overindulgent. I’m very thankful for that. But in a few minutes,God, I’m going to get out of bed; And from then on I’m probably going to need a lot more help. Amen

Christian music I like in no particular order:

Shine, Jesus, Shine by Graham Kendrick

I Choose Christ by Karen Peck and New River

How Great Thou Art (Christian hymn)

Great is Thy Faithfulness (Christian hymn)

Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat soundtrack

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) by Matt Redman

Let it Be Christmas by Alan Jackson

It is Well with My Soul

The Savior I Sing of Today

Jesus and Me

Prayer written by my cousin Jim Walters when Claudia was having major surgery to remove a 4 inch tumor in her kidney: Dear Lord, we pray that Claudia’s healing be complete through this surgery and any further treatment. May you give her rest and comfort. We praise you for a successful surgery. Amen!

Comedian George Carlin was being interviewed and talked about his definition of happiness and success. He said he felt very lucky. He then said that his definition was in three parts: Find what you love; do what you love and be good at it; and then you will be recognized for what you love.

God is great!

My favorite apostle was, of course, Peter…a name I was given by my parents. Peter was among the first of the disciples called during Jesus' ministry. Peter became the first listed apostle ordained by Jesus in the early church. Peter is often depicted in the gospels as spokesman of all the Apostles and is always listed first among the Twelve Apostles in the gospels and in the Book of Acts. It was cool how he walked on water for a short time. This painting shows Peter preaching to a crowd on his way to the temple…love it!

This Bible was given to me in high school by the leader of a local Christian group. You can see I’ve read it a lot.

This is the Book of Common Prayer used by the Episcopal Church. I was given this book at my confirmation. Some great prayers in there and I do believe in the power of prayer!

“The universe is astonishingly grand. Right now the moon is spinning around us at nearly 2,300 miles an hour. Our Earth is spinning around the sun at 66,000 miles an hour. Our sun is one of 200 billion other stars and trillions more planets in our galaxy, and that galaxy is just one of 100 billion others hurtling through space. In comparison to this vast cosmos, our little Earth is no bigger than a pebble, and our individual lives no greater than a grain of sand. Yet according to Scripture, the God of the galaxies attends to each microscopic one of us in intimate detail. He saw us before we existed; He watches us as we go about our days and listens for our every thought. The One who keeps the galaxies spinning knows us intimately. That can help us get through the worst of times”. Puts everything in perspective, don’t you think?

Central Michigan University

Why did I go to CMU? I didn’t do an official visit to the school. I was on the track team when we ran in a relay meet on the CMU campus my junior year. We drove up to Mt. Pleasant, spent the day on campus, ran some relays and walked around campus a little bit. I liked what I saw and thought it would be a good fit for me. I didn’t go there to play soccer or be on the radio station. I fell into both of those activities by fate and I feel so lucky to have been on the soccer team and WCHP. I have no regrets about going to another college.

People ask me if I joined a fraternity in college. I joke with them and tell them that I was in a fraternity…I Felta Thigh. I was in two groups that were better than a fraternity in my opinion: the Soccer team and WCHP Radio.

*CMU Mens Soccer (4 year starter):  Lead the team in goals Sophomore year (16 goals, 5 assists), Junior year (17 goals, 9 assists in 9 games...injured out for 6 games), Senior year (28 goals, 12 assists).  Team record for four years: 36-18-5. CMU school record for goals in a game: 6 goals and 2 assists vs. Northwood 1973 (scored 5 goals vs. Toledo, 4 goals in four games, 3 goals in three games); CMU Mens Soccer record for goals in season (28), goals in career (70), points in season (28 goals + 12 assists=40 points), points in career (70 goals+30 assists=100 points); UM Dearborn Invitational All Tournament Team '73, '74; Tournament Champions '74; Tournament Outstanding Player '74; CMU Mens Soccer MVP '74.

*WCHP AM 650 Radio (1973-75):  Disc Jockey, Sales Manager, Sports Director, Sports Talk Show Host, Copywriter, mobile DJ

*Thorpe Hall Vice President for one year, president was Cam Davis former BH Andover classmate.

*WINO Radio, Rock 850 (1973): This radio station was literally housed in a custodian closet in Thorpe Hall, started by a guy who couldn’t make the cut on WCHP. The DJ’s were all Thorpe Hall guys and everyone brought in their own records to do their shows. I had a show Wednesday from 9-11 p.m.

*CMU Superstars: This was a take-off of the TV Special, ABC Superstars Competition. The event was a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. 34 CMU athletes competed. I was sponsored by the soccer team, WCHP and Mt. Pleasant Sports Shop. I competed in bowling, the half mile, Run-Dribble-Shoot, bike race, 100 yard dash, Punt ‘n Pass and obstacle course. I finished 12th with 20 points.

*I lived in Thorpe Hall the first two years, Robinson Hall the third year, and in an apartment on Vernon St. my senior year. Roommates I had include Curt (forgot his last name), Bob (the streaker…yes, he would streak the parking lot for money), Dirk VanOosten (West Branch), Tim Hughes (Troy), Les Hunt (Waterford), and John Hux (Clarkston). Jay Bond was roommate junior year, Jay and Dave Brewer my senior year.

*Graduated in May, 1975 with Bachelor of Applied Arts with Broadcast and Cinematic Arts major and Photojournalism minor.

ID card from freshman year.

Soccer team freshman year. Photo taken in my backyard at Franklin. Still have this shirt, shorts and socks.

Doing a DJ show in the main studio of 650 AM WCHP. Yes, I did play records…a lot! My first show was a Wednesday night/Thursday morning from 3-7 a.m. As I gained more experience, I moved to the 10-noon shift on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings…no sleeping in on weekends! My sports talk show was on Sunday nights.

Calendar on the wall says it’s 1975. As WCHP Sales Manager, my job was to sell airtime to local Mt. Pleasant businesses so I was on the phone a lot. Then I would meet with the manager of the business and convince them that buying commercials on WCHP was a good use of their advertising dollars. The good news was that WCHP was very popular with the 15,000 CMU students so it was not real hard sometimes to sell airtime. I think I made 6% commission on the airtime I sold…root beer money. Then I would have to get info from the client and have the commercials written so a WCHP air talent can record it and get it on the air. I wrote a lot of those commercials myself…even recorded a few myself.

Commencement was held in the football field because we had 5,000 graduates and their families.

Program for Commencement. Our commencement speaker was Rafer Johnson who won two Olympic medals in the decathlon: Silver in 1956 and gold in 1960. He also appeared in several films. Eunice Kennedy Shriver is the sister of JFK, Ted and Bobby Kennedy…her daughter is Maria Shriver. She is the founder of Special Olympics. She received an honorary degree from CMU, a big supporter of Special Olympics.

My group of Applied Arts grads. I met up with both Gary Lico and Ken Kolbe at the CMU Pioneer Awards ceremony…check out my blog about that event. Ken currently lives on the West side and is the General Manager of WGVU Public Media which includes the PBS public TV station, NPR radio stations and Real Oldies radio stations.

Graduated in four years…pretty proud of that…I know some of my friends who were on the five year plan. My major was Broadcast and Cinematic Arts (BCA) and my minor was Photojournalism.

Graduates walking into Perry Shorts Stadium. I wore white pants and white shoes so I might be seen by my family.

All the graduates sat in the end zone, all 5,000 of them. Family sat wherever they wanted.

With my Mom and Dad and diploma in hand!

Photo op with Central logo!

Taking a break on picnic table near Warriner Hall left to right: My brother Jim, Mom, Emerson Brown (my Mom’s cousin), me, my grandfather Frank Bowers and his wife Orpha.

Long hair back then…should have had a haircut before commencement. The clothes are strange…white pants, black belt, shirt with busy pattern, white shoes…what was I thinking?

Article in CM Life Fall of 1974, my senior year.

My Adidas Super Lights…loved them! Scored 70 goals with these shoes…well, minus any goals I headed in.

Article in CM Life my junior year.

Got a promotion for my sports reports in the WCHP music playlist flyer.

Press passes through the years with different News Directors and one from Jere Craig, the Sports Information Director…got me into any game, any sport that year.

Ad in the paper for our coverage of CMU basketball. I did the play-by-play of Junior Varsity games with Brian Jackson on WMHW 91.5 FM, the other student radio station on campus. Even though I was a CHP guy, they let me do basketball on MHW (Moore Hall Wireless). There was competition between WCHP and WMHW…CHP had more listeners but WMHW had that nice FM stereo signal.

Mr. Sports Director getting his sportscast together before airtime.

Senior year team, Super fun season! We won the UM Dearborn Invitational Tournament. I talked Claudia and her roommate Karen into being ballgirls for us…that’s them in front, in the middle. Great parties after every game…some I remember, some I don’t. End of the season party was crazy from what I can remember about it. The only player I’m still in contact with is Duff McAlpine.

So this was Jay Bond, aka Brother Bond, who I went to school with in 8th Grade at East Hills Jr. High and who helped me make an audition tape which got me accepted into the WCHP group of talented radio broadcasters. I roomed with Jay in a double room in Robinson Hall and then with him and Dave Brewer in an apartment our senior year. Stories to tell there as we hosted several WCHP Seabreeze parties. I last saw him in 1978 when I was in New York City for a radio conference. We went to see the Broadway show Beatlemania in the Winter Garden…haven’t heard from him since. Jay…if you see this…contact me!

Brother Bond (Jay Bond) doing his dance to Desmond Dekker's Israelites song in dorm lobby during WCHP's 48 Hour marathon for Special Olympics. We would get tons of students to come down to the lobby to see Jay perform and we raised a lot of money by passing the hat. Jay was the WCHP Station Manager.

This is Dave Brewer, aka Brew, who I roomed with in my senior year along with Jay Bond. Brew was the WCHP Program Director and would come on my sports talk show on Sunday nights to talk sports on occasion. I took this photo of Brew doing his Tricky Dick, Richard Nixon impersonation.

I played point guard for our Thorpe Hall corridor basketball team. We were Dorm Champions in the Thorpe Corridor Basketball Tournament…woo woo! My Andover buddy Ken (aka Cam) Davis Jr. was Thorpe Hall President and I was Vice President.

We played the IM basketball games in Finch Fieldhouse.

I wore number 44 which was my idol Pistol Pete Maravich’s number in college.

President Nixon made a campaign stop at Tri-City Airport April of 1974 and I decided to use my Press Pass to attend the event. Never saw a president before so it was pretty cool! Air Force One landed, he came out of plane and waved the Dick Nixon wave, then went to a podium to give a speech. We had to stay behind the fence so we didn’t get too close to him. I wrote a news report about the visit and aired it on WCHP. Note that George Bush (senior) was the RNC Chairman…interesting!

Photo I took of President Nixon at campaign stop at Tri-City Airport.

CMU Superstars: This was a take-off of the TV Special, ABC Superstars Competition. The event was a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. 34 CMU athletes competed. I was sponsored by the soccer team, WCHP and Mt. Pleasant Sports Shop. I competed in bowling, the half mile, Run-Dribble-Shoot, bike race, 100 yard dash, Punt ‘n Pass and obstacle course. I finished 12th with 20 points.

At least I finished ahead of two guys who were CMU basketball superstars who played in the NBA: Dan Roundfield (Pacers, Hawks, Pistons and Bullets) and Jim McElroy (Jazz, Pistons and Hawks).

Extremely rare photo. The Vietnam War seemed like it would never end and I didn’t know if I might be drafted even though I was in college. So I thought that if I was going to be drafted into the military, I’d rather go in as an officer so I enrolled in ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) in my freshman year. When it looked like I wouldn’t be drafted, I left ROTC after one year. Closest I’ve ever been to being in the military.

The guy who took the photo of me in my Army dress uniform was one of my roommates my Freshman year in 405 Thorpe Hall. His name was Curt and he lived in the Detroit area and became a teacher.

In CMU dorm room…being goofy as usual.

Vintage photo of Claudia in her CMU dorm room.

Article that appeared in the Central Michigan University Alumni Magazine Centralight, in summer 2016.

The best thing that happened to me at CMU was not a piece of paper…it was meeting Claudia Bogard from Allen Park Michigan. There is a story how we met on my BFF blog. I thank my lucky stars every day that Claudia decided to come back to Central for her junior year, my senior year. Power of prayer.

Those four years at CMU…Those were the best days of my life (line from Summer of ‘69 by Bryan Adams)

Hickory Grove Elementary School

The Hickory Grove Elementary Years 1958-1965 (K-6)

4th and 6th Grade President

Softball League Champion, World Series Softball Champion

School High Jump Champion, 5th Grade and 6th Grade

Safety Patrol Captain

School P.A. Announcer

Kindergarten: Mrs. Panks (who played piano in class…very fun!) 1st Grade: Mrs. Snyder; 2nd Grade Mrs. Morrett; 3rd Grade Mrs. Lendt; 4th Grade Miss Fetrow; 5th Grade Mrs. Boettger; 6th Grade Mrs. Cole. We had 37, yes 37 students in Mrs. Cole’s 6th Grade class. You couldn’t even walk around the class, we were like sardines! I remember her saying “If I get one more student, I’m outta here”. About an hour later, the principal brought in a new student into our classroom. I remember saying, “Mrs. Cole…are you leaving now?”

The original Hickory Grove School t-shirt I wore when I went there. We used this same logo for the 40th anniversary of the school in 1998. Loved Hickory Grove…it had a hill which was great for sledding in the winter!

School had not one but two “beanies” you could wear…I don’t think I did wear one. My high jumping ribbons for 5th and 6th grade.

Kindergarten with Mrs. Panks who is not in the photo. The girl in the middle with pigtails is Linda Fenner who lived across the street from me on Barrington Rd. We played together a lot as kids. She was Catholic so after Kindergarten, she went to Catholic schools, not Hickory Grove. Hickory Grove opened in 1957 so I started there in it’s second year.

2nd Grade with Mrs. Morrett.

3rd Grade with Mrs. Lendt. The man is Principal Hargett.

Young people don’t know this but our phone numbers started with the first two letters of a word, in our case, the word was FEDERAL…so you would dial FE and then the last five numbers.

4th Grade with Miss Fetrow (typo on photo).

5th Grade with Miss Boettger.

6th Grade with Mrs. Cole. We had 37, yes 37 students in Mrs. Cole’s 6th Grade class. You couldn’t even walk around the class, we were like sardines! I remember her saying “If I get one more student, I’m outta here”. About an hour later, the principal brought in a new student into our classroom. I remember saying, “Mrs. Cole…are you leaving now?”

School photos: Upper left-1st, Upper right-2nd, Lower left-5th, Lower right 7th.

I picked the trombone because you could make a cool sound by making the slide go down and up. Here’s me in 6th grade performing for the class. I wasn’t very good at it and dropped the trombone by 9th grade.

The Halloween parade ended up outside for some reason. Looks like I borrowed some antique clothing, hat, goggles and gloves from my Dad for my costume.

Parade made a big loop and returns back to the school. Who’s idea was that?

My 6th Grade teacher Mrs. Cole in front of the Halloween bulletin board. I made the Frankenstein character…kept it for years before tossing it.

First day of 6th grade with my Safety Patrol belt on. We lived at Franklin at the time.

My Dad was a Captain in the U.S. Army during WWII. I was the Captain of the School Safety Patrol. Cool!

My Safety Patrol belt…yes, I still have it.

The Safety Patrol supervisor selected me to be the Captain of the Safety Patrol students. My photo is at the top of this bulletin board as Captain…unfortunately the photo is blurred. As Captain, I got to announce the bus arrivals on the PA system…my first experience in broadcasting!

Our Little League team playing out of Hickory Grove baseball fields. I’m in upper right. I pitched three innings a game, outfield for 4 innings. Most boys played Little League baseball…youth soccer wasn’t offered yet.

With Richard Coy and my Al Kaline bat.

My Cub Scout badges.

I Love You…made in Kindergarten for my Mom.

Those seven years at Hickory Grove Elementary School…Those were the best days of my life (line from Summer of ‘69 by Bryan Adams)

Candles in the window for the school’s 40th year celebration in 1997. Principal Jim Felix was the best…really enjoyed working with him as I was the chairperson for the 40th birthday party. Jane Lowell was PTO president and was also great to work with. We had a Beatles tribute band (Shout!) perform and Elvis even drove in from Kalamazoo to perform!

Showing off my T-shirt that I wore as a Kindergarten student in 1958 at Hickory Grove. We took that same logo and made new shirts for the birthday party.

Charles L. Bowers School Farm, Bowers Academy, Woodland Trail

My father served on the School Board for 19 years, from 1960-1979. After he died in 1984, the School Board voted to change the name of the school farm to the Charles L. Bowers School Farm in his memory. As a family, we were humbled. I always say it’s my favorite farm and we love going there to see how it has grown over the years. Then the folks at the BHS alternative high school decided to rename that program Bowers Academy because it was housed on the Bowers Farm property. We were thrilled to see that happen and we attend the Bowers Academy graduation ceremony every year. Some of my favorite Biff remote broadcasts were aired during Open Barn events at the Bowers Farm, both in the Spring and in the Fall.

Charles L. Bowers School Farm was purchased in the mid-1960's by Bloomfield Hills Schools to be used as a land laboratory. The farm is housed on 90 acres on Square Lake Rd. in Bloomfield Hills.

Animals such as sheep, horses, llama and a donkey graze the pastures. They also house poultry of all types, rabbits and goats. Every animal has a purpose at the farm and farm equipment is used daily to maintain the property as an educational agriculture production enterprise.

Charles L. Bowers Farm is open daily and year-round for various educational programs and community events.

Students who thrive in a small environment that develops character, integrity, compassion for others, and academic skills will find success at Bowers Academy.

Founded to address the needs of non-traditional learners, Bowers Academy balances academic challenge with self-reflection, exceptionally small class sizes, and the unique learning environment of the Bowers Farm.

The ultimate goal at Bowers Academy is to graduate competent, empathetic, aware, and empowered individuals.

Bowers Academy aerial view.

Loved to do remote broadcasts from the Charles L. Bowers School Farm Open Barns!

Photo op with Billy the Greatest Of All Time!

Article in paper about ground breaking ceremony in 2010.

Selfie in front of the Bowers Academy entrance.

Join the Friends of Bowers Farm…see Farm website for details.

Woodland Trail Story

My parents bought some land on Franklin Rd. in Bloomfield Hills in the early 60's and a house was built on the property. We moved there in 1963. Our neighbors, the Olsen family, sold their property to the Bloomfield Hills School District in 1968. In 1969, the school district turned the property into a nature center and named it after former Superintendent Eugene L. Johnson. On September 21, 2019, the Nature Center Staff and the Friends of the ELJNC joined together to celebrate 50 years of environmental stewardship.We sold our property in 2003 and our house was torn down years ago. The school district made a deal with the current owner and was able to acquire what was our property to protect the south side of the Nature Center from development. Also on the 21st, a new hiking trail (the Woodland Trail) was dedicated on what was our property. Members of the Johnson family and the Olsen family were in attendance. My brother Jim and I represented the Bowers family. We had stories to tell about what it was like when the Olsens lived there and then later when it became the Nature Center. Thank goodness the Olsens sold their property to the school district and not to a developer. Everyone agrees...the Nature Center is a valuable asset for all ages in the community!

Heading to the 50 year celebration and the ribbon cutting for the new Woodland Trail.

Cutting the ribbon to open the Woodland Trail, a new trail which runs on what was our property on Franklin Rd. next to the Nature Center. Left to right is Nature Center Manager Dan Badgley, School Board Member Cynthia von Oeyen, Ruth Carol (Olsen), me and my brother Jim Bowers.

Vintage Charles L. Bowers School Farm shirt, a real collector’s item!

Bowers Farm swag.

Memorabilia

Memorabilia: Objects kept or collected because of their historical interest, especially those associated with memorable people or events.

The coolest thing for any kid in the 60’s was to have one of these Schwinn Sting Ray bikes with the banana seat and high handlebars. What a lucky kid I was…I had one! It was even the color of the one in this 1965 ad. And my parents paid $49.95 in 60’s money for it! Even Kevin Arnold in The Wonder Years TV show had one. Is it me or do I even look like the kid in the ad with the red hair?

This is my Schwinn Varsity 10 speed bike that my parents bought me in late 60’s. Having 10 speeds was cool, it had the skinny tires and drop handlebars. The seat was terribly uncomfortable…we bought a better seat as you can see. I put the carrier on the back when I took this bike to Colorado in 1973 and I had camping gear with me. My son Eric used this bike at Michigan State University for four years. We figured no one would want to steal a vintage bike like this one…it worked, no one stole it. We bought new Trek bikes a few years ago so my Varsity was just taking up space so I donated it to charity in 2018.

I wanted a Super Bee but my Dad bought me a 1965 Corvair to drive while I was in high school. It had a stick shift, engine in the back, trunk in the front and a silver hood. A book written about Corvairs was entitled Unsafe at Any Speed.

The engine on the Corvair is in the rear. On my birthday one year, my girlfriend filled the car with balloons…fun prank!

This is a model of the car I dreamed of driving but never did…a 1969 Dodge Super Bee. Mopar rules!

This is my RCA Victor portable transistor radio I got in the 60’s. It had AM only and just one earbud. Tuned to the Big 8!

This is a 1953 Zenith AM radio my friend Randy Carr got for me. It works, uses tubes (not solid state). It’s as old as me, also a 1953 model…which is doing better, the radio or me?

The three rings I wear left to right: My Dad’s ring which I wear right now as my wedding ring because my wedding ring (center) won’t fit over the knuckle of my ring finger anymore. My wedding ring can be worn on my little finger if I want to wear it. George Poy made my wedding ring and made it bigger once already. It’s engraved on the inside of the ring, our initials and the wedding date 8-11-78. The third ring is similar to my Dad’s ring (intended)…it’s a star sapphire which makes a star when the light hits it just right. I wear that on my right hand ring finger…I call it my Dad ring in remembrance of being a Dad to two great kids!

All my important rings, left to right: Wedding ring, my Dad’s ring, my star sapphire ring, my DAD ring. Top row: my BHAHS class of ‘71 ring, my CMU class of ‘75 ring, my brother Tom’s Oakland University ring, Claudia’s high school class of ‘72 ring, my Dad’s Pontiac High School class of 1936 ring and my Mom’s ring with birthstones of her three sons (pearl, emerald and diamond).

$2 bills which you don’t see very often…one is from 1953 (my birth year) and one from 1976 (year I got my dream job). Also a broken bank note from Oakland County Bank in Pontiac Michigan, 1843.

Four leaf clovers my Dad found and were passed down to me…good luck!

Etch-a-sketch…had one!

Story to tell. When I went on a study abroad trip to France and Italy in the summer of 1968, I wanted to bring home a cool souvenir. I decided on a watch, but not just any watch. I bought a Swiss Made Omega Seamaster Cosmic Automatic Waterproof watch. Omega watches are very well known around the world and worn by astronauts heading to the Moon. Automatic means you don’t have to wind it, it winds itself just by the motion of wearing it. I think my parents were surprised when I got home and showed it to them. I still have it and wear it on special occasions…it works like a Swiss Made watch!

My current watch is a Fitbit Charge 4. Keeps track of my daily mileage as well as many other things.

My grandfather Frank Bowers watch…an Omega. My Mom’s watch she wore all the time(x)…A “Rolex” watch my son Eric bought off some street vendor in New York City.

First video game called Pong, two paddles and a ball…had one!

My Al Kaline bobblehead was a K-Mart promotion. The Tiger bobblehead is an antique from the 50’s or 60’s.

Autographed photo…personalized to me…priceless!

My Al Kaline card collection, starting in 1959 when I was six years old.

Other Kaline memorabilia including a 33 1/3 record (rare), bobblehead and Al Kaline Day button.

My Little League bat was an Al Kaline autograph model. He was MLB batting champion in 1955 when he was only 20 years old!

Six A Salute to Al Kaline

Al Kaline Day at Tiger Stadium, August 2, 1970. Heck ya, I was there!

I sold most of my baseball cards to a professional sports card company in 2018 but I did keep some for my sports card collection. Of interest, I have two Mickey Mantle and two Roger Maris, the second one is from 1961 when he hit 61 home runs breaking Babe Ruth’s season record. Also, in 1960, the biggest trade ever had Harvey Kuenn going to Cleveland for Rocky Colavito, straight player for player. You’ll see I made one of the Colavito cards into a Detroit Tiger by cutting out the Tiger logo and gluing it on to the card. That totally ruins the value of the card but hey, I was only 7 years old at the time and wasn’t thinking about the resale value of the card. I had to keep a Hank Aaron card, had to! I don’t have a Lou Gehrig card but I do have that one with him and Babe Ruth. I never saw Gehrig play but I admire him greatly for his play on the field and his play off the field.

Collection of baseball cards I kept. Two Mark “the Bird” Fidrych cards I see. Two Frank Tanana cards also. Story to tell: When I was a senior in high school, our basketball coach arranged a scrimmage with the team from Detroit Catholic Central. We drove to their gym. It was over the Christmas break so the school turned off the heat during the break. It was freezing in the gym, you could see your breath. The star player on DCC’s team was Frank Tanana who was All-State in basketball and baseball. I guarded him in the scrimmage game and got smoked by him. In baseball, he had a 32-1 record in his high school career. The California Angels made him their first-round draft pick in 1971. He spent 20 years in MLB with six teams, pitching for the Tigers 1985-1992.

This is my Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Double R Bar Ranch lunchbox and thermos that I used when I was in elementary school. My Mom used nail polish to put my name on the box. At auction, the name could lower it’s value.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy-fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC, airing from 1964-1968. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret international counterespionage and law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E. Here is my ID card.

I made a UNCLE communications device complete with reel-to-reel tape recorder just like the one used by Napoleon Solo.

My Biff lunchbox which I used the last few years of my career when I started to bring my lunch everyday instead of buying a lunch everyday.

Important PB teaching props: Actual antique school bell (to start class), yellow/red cards (yellow is caution, red after two yellows issued…you’re out!), mono-scope (used for exploring electronic media), yellow flag (for penalties in class…10 yard penalty for cussing).

My Little League baseball glove circa 1963…looks like it has seen better days. Wrote my name on it just so I know it’s mine.

Pinewood Derby car made when I was in the Cub Scouts early 60’s. No, I don’t think it won any races but the flames are cool!

G.I. Joe was an action soldier and the craze for a short time in the 60’s. My friend Jon Schwanz bought one which lead to me and others in our group to buy one. Can’t say that I played with it that much and I still have it hoping it will be worth more than the three bucks I paid for it.

G. I. Joe accessories. I see a holster but I don’t have the gun…or the field telephone. My Mom made a sleeping bag for him using her sewing machine (strapped to knapsack).

My favorite toy as a little kid! I used to push it around the house making siren sounds, driving my mother crazy, I’m sure. Tonka toys were the best and pretty rugged. You can tell I played with it a lot, the paint wore off!

I played with it so much, a wheel broke off…not sure where it is.

My first and only teddy bear when I was a real little kid, my buddy through thick and thin…still have it. It’s a Cubbigund bear made by Gund company.

Say kids, what time is it? Kids in the Peanut Gallery would yell “It’s Howdy Doody time! Howdy Doody was a children’s TV show that aired from 1947 (the year my brother Jim was born) to 1960 (when I was 7 years old). Found this scarf in my stuff.

Having fun with the minibike on our Franklin property with my cousins Mark, Don (with helmet) and Doug Heathman (Aug. ‘67). It was great for younger kids because there was no shifting involved. Drove it around the back 10 acres of property.

My first camera, a Kodak Brownie. Switch on the bottom was there to select either color film or Black & White film. Need a flash, put a flash bulb in the bulb receptacle.

My Kodak Super 8 movie camera…the one I used to make two movies in high school and one in college. Notice “Made in U.S.A.”!!

This is the camera I bought when I was in high school taking photos for the yearbook. It’s a single lens reflex camera called a Nikkormat, made by Nikon in Japan. I wanted a Nikon F but I couldn’t afford it. It came with a 50 mm lens, I bought two telephoto lens, a 135 mm and a 200 mm. Built my own darkroom in the basement at Franklin where I could develop film and print black and white photos.

Had one…loved to get it to go down the stairs.

On December 19, 1988 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission introduced an outright ban on lawn darts in the U.S. In the previous eight years, 6,100 Americans had visited hospital emergency rooms and one person died as the result of lawn-dart accidents. Jarts are also banned in Canada. I still have the original game in the original box. Collector’s item?

My beloved backpack, an Alpenlite, made in California. Bought it in the mid 70’s, used and abused it on my trips to Colorado and the two backpacking trips with Adam’s Boy Scout troop. I liked it because it would stand up on the frame. I don’t backpack anymore, so I said goodbye to it and sold it at our garage sale.

My beloved soccer shoes from my days at Central Michigan University. Super Lights by Adidas ROCK! Scored 70 goals at CMU with these puppies…if they could talk, the stories they would tell! Wore them when coaching my son’s youth soccer teams years ago. Took this photo before I threw them away.

My Happy Days lunchbox. Not sure when I bought it. Used to take my lunch in it to day camp every day in the summer. It got pretty beat up…a long ways from being mint condition. I could relate to Richie…I was like him in high school, even had the same hair color, but I never had a sweater like that as far as I know.

My favorite coffee mug given to me by my son Eric. My favorite cereal bowl…breakfast with my buddies Snap, Crackle and Pop!

Two of my favorite mugs and my Seattle Sounders FC glass. I’m a huge fan of loons and bought this loon mug at a store in Mackinac City. Rocky Mountain National Park is my favorite national park and I treasure the mug given to me by my Colorado buddy Jim McCormick. The Sounders are (or were) my favorite MLS soccer team mostly because Clint Dempsey was on that team. Somebody I know said I looked like Clint when I played soccer at Central…he became my favorite MLS player after that.

TV tray featuring cartoon characters from the 60’s.

Cap collection #1 left to right: PB (Pebble Beach), Spring Lake MI (where I live now), West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit Tigers Class A affiliate team…home field is 5th 3rd Ballpark in Comstock Park, a suburb of Grand Rapids), Central Michigan (Alma mater), Michigan State University DAD (Eric is State grad), St. Andrews Old Course (given to me by Adam who bought it in Scotland…St. Andrews is where the game of golf originated), Tiger cap #1, Tiger cap #2 with orange detailing, BHHS Radio The Biff (the newest Biff cap), Under the Radar Michigan (PBS TV show I watch whenever it’s on), Detroit Lions cap, Colorado cap (bought on our trip there Sept. 2019), Buick Open (PGA event that was held at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc (not any more)…I would attend when I could), WBFH Biff cap (older edition), U.S. Open (PGA event held at Oakland Hills in 1996).

Cap collection #2: No Doubt winter hat, Michigan football National Champions 1997, Pistons 89/90 World Champions, Tiger cap (one I wore in high school and college…flat brim), CMU cap (one I wore at Central as a student), Red Wings Stanley Cup Champs 2008, Tiger cap (World Series 2006 edition), Lindsey Hunter autographed Piston cap, Nassau Bahamas hat from high school senior trip 1971.

‘84 World Champion Tigers; Peachtree Road Race 10K run in Atlanta (with friend Bruce Byrne); ‘89 and 2004 World Champion Pistons.

Tiger hat autographed by Hall of Fame Tiger broadcaster Ernie Harwell.

 Barry Goldwater was a five-term Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States in 1964. I was only 11 in 1964 so my parents must have acquired it somehow. Ebay?

My Abraham Lincoln bust. Not sure where I got it but it was in the 60’s. I read a book about him and always admired him. Tried to memorize the Gettysburg Address for school once.

Pete belt buckle, Nametag, Boy Scout nametag, John F. Kennedy money clip, Gwen Stefani LAMB jewelry, bracelet engraved with “Dr. Jock” (one of my radio air names) and a bracelet with my Dad’s initials “CLB”.

Pin collection: Red Wings goalie, Bloomfield Hills Schools pins (2), BHHS Athlete of The Year 1971, 71 pin, Try God pin (gift from my Aunt Bev to Adam), two Central Michigan University Chippewa Club (Alumni Club), Michigan Sesquicentennial 1837-1987 150 years, Free Press International Marathon (1983), March of Dimes Walk America 25 Year Anniversary, Detroit Tigers, Buy Nearby, Chris Webber NBA pin, World Cup Soccer at Pontiac Silverdome 1994 (4 pins), The Biff, I Love Bloomfield Hills, Hard Rock Cafe, two guitar pins, one from Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland), two USA ribbon pins and Mickey Lolich World Series MVP 1968.

Golf stuff: 1996 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills, 2002 U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills, 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills (Europeans destroyed the US team), 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, Ford Senior Players Championship (TPC of Michigan,Dearborn), Old Course St. Andrews ball marker (given to me by Adam who bought it in Scotland).

Tigers 1984 Champs pin, vintage Robert F. Kennedy for President pin (1968), vintage Official Beatles Fan pin (1964), John Lennon, Super Bowl XL played at Ford Field in Detroit 2006 guitar pin…Steelers beat Seahawks 21-10, halftime show featured the Rolling Stones.

Five different crosses, one regular angel, one soccer angel, Cub Scoutmaster tie, Boy Scout tie and peace sign necklace.

Rare Beatles hangers from the Yellow Submarine era (ala Andy Warhol)

Beatle memorabilia: patches, buttons and Beatle cards. I was 11 years old when Beatlemania swept America in 1964. The one button is rare, I hope, has Ringo’s nickname as “Rings”.

I’m fan of the Toy Story movies and as you know a big fan of Tim Allen. Probably got these for the boyz, don’t have the heart to toss them.

Three photos of the briefcase I used early in my career as WBFH Station Manager. The WCHP sticker is my CMU college station sticker. The Biff sticker on top is a real early one, early 80’s I would say. I was a Madonna fan, hence the Madonna sticker.

Three more Biff stickers, all in the 80’s I do believe. The one that says The Hills Are Alive… was designed by Joan Dodge. I also tried to be fair and incorporate Andover’s colors (blue) with Lahser’s colors (yellow or gold). People thought the colors were picked because they were University of Michigan colors…not true. The Free Press Marathon sticker was acquired in 1983 when I ran that marathon.

Stickers on inside of show that I was a fan of Dick Purtan, Olivia Newton John, Alan Almond and his Pillow Talk show, Central Michigan, Kermit the Frog and Apple Computor.

My VW microbus. Bought it so I could haul radio station equipment around but…what was I thinking? Sold the rust bucket for less than I paid for it but, oh well, live and learn.

Michigan license plates 1953 (my birth year) and 1954 (Claudia’s birth year). I bought these in an antique store. Notice they added Water Wonderland to the ‘54 plate? Easy to remember ‘54 plate: JC (Jesus Christ), 71 (year I graduated high school), 90 (year Eric was born).

1989…a good year for basketball in Michigan with the Wolverines winning the NCAA Championship and the Pistons winning the NBA Championship.

Do I have Prince Albert in a can? Yes indeed…two of them!

Bowers Candy Company was out of Moorestown New Jersey. Unfortunately, we are not related to the Bowers family that owns the company. Here’s some tin canisters we collected just for the name.

Bought this Macintosh SE when I was taking courses at Madonna University going for a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership, 1992. I felt pretty high tech at the time. We used floppy discs. Served me well when I needed it.

My 1999 Ford Conversion van which I bought new. The high top had the TV up so everyone could see it better. The boyz hooked up video game systems to the TV which gave them something to do on our trips besides watching movies. Many trips in all directions: East to Princeton NJ, South to Atlanta, West to Colorado, North to Upper Peninsula. If this guy could talk, the stories it could tell! Great memories! Had 150,000 miles on it when I donated it to charity in 2016.

My car flag collection.

My pennant collection. That Detroit Tigers pennant showing Briggs Stadium is a real antique!

Mostly Tiger stuff…autographed baseballs from ‘80s done by machine, not actual autographs. Baseball on right from a foul ball at Tiger Stadium. Shot glass from ‘97 U of M National Champions; Steve Yzerman puck; Pistons World Champions mug (Bad Boys).

My Cub Scout scrapbook covered the 1961 season of the Tigers and Roger Maris hitting 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth’s record. I was 8.

Sports Illustrated cover when Denny McLain won his 30th. He went on to win one more so his record was 31-6.

Sports Illustrated from August of 1955.

Sports cups/glasses: Lions (Ford Field), NBA Champion Pistons, CMU can holder, MSU Rose Bowl Champions, Detroit Pistons glass, University of Michigan football cups.

Attended Camp Chickagami when I was a kid. Sponsored by the Episcopal Church, the Camp was located just north of Alpena MI. Camp would last one week. My brother Tom actually worked at the camp at least one summer.

Left to right: Pebble Beach PB, Spring Lake (where I live now), West Michigan Whitecaps (high-A minor league baseball team out of Grand Rapids…affiliate of the Detroit Tigers), Central Michigan U., MSU Spartan DAD, St. Andrews Old Course (golf course in Scotland, hat given to me by my son Adam who bought it in Scotland), Tiger hat #1, Tiger hat #2, BHHS Radio The Biff, Under the Radar Michigan (TV show on public television), Detroit Lions, Colorado, Buick Open Warwick Hills (PGA Tour tournament in Grand Blanc from ‘58-2009), WBFH Game hat, US Open (bought hat at Oakland Hills in 1996…same hat Tiger Woods wore in tournament, playing as an amateur)

No Doubt winter hat, UM National Champions 1997, Pistons Back to Back World Champions ‘89-’90, Tiger hat I had in high school/college (notice no curve in bill), CMU hat (bought in college, old school style), Red Wings Stanley Cup Champions 2008, New Era official Tiger hat 2006 World Series (unfortunately, they came in 2nd place), Pistons hat signed by guard Lindsey Hunter, Nassau Bahamas hat bought on my high school senior trip…and it survived the trip back.

Chef Pierre hat (when I’m cooking), Sergei Fedorov (Adam’s hat), Stanley Cup Champs, Pistons, three Stanley Cup Champs (two are Adam’s), Red Wings.

Pistons World Champion hats, ‘89 and 2004; Tiger World Series Champion 1984; Peachtree 10K Road Race in Atlanta, a race I ran with my friend Bruce Byrne (Bruce died nine years ago of cancer…so sad).

Mini Lions helmet, Lions hardhat signed by quarterback Greg Landry, Wing Nut hat.

Lions hardhat signed by quarterback Greg Landry, #11, on Lions team 1968-1978, First team All-Pro (Pro Bowl) 1971. NFL Comeback Player of the Year 1976.

Autographed Grant Hill jersey. Hill played for the Pistons from 1994-2000. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

I also have, but did not photograph, a Ben Wallace #3 Pistons jersey and an Allen Iverson #3 Philadelphia 76’ers jersey.

Autographed Detroit Vipers jersey. The Vipers were in the International Hockey League from 1994-2001. They played in the Palace of Auburn Hills and won the Turner Cup in 1997 (the IHL Championship). They were the affiliate to the Tampa Bay Lightning. 18 Vipers signed this jersey.

Autographed Joe Dumars jersey. Joe played for the Pistons from 1985-1999. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. Interesting side note…Dumars lived two houses down from our house on Franklin Rd. in Bloomfield Hills. His mansion had a full size indoor basketball court and tennis courts in the back yard. He doesn’t live there anymore.

Autographed by Red Wings players Kris Draper and Darren McCarty, this 1998 Stanley Cup shirt is pretty cool!

Michael Jordan jersey, front.

Michael Jordan jersey back.

Shirt I bought to commemorate running this marathon, the only marathon I ever ran.

Story to tell. So I’m walking down the hallway at Andover High School and a student passes me wearing this t-shirt. It got my attention immediately! So I stopped the young man and told him that was my name on the shirt. I then asked him where he got the shirt. Resale store, he says. I told him I would love to have a shirt like that and he said, if I give him more money that he paid for it, he would sell it to me. Deal!

Rare collector’s item…the last time the Lions won anything.

Vintage Red Wings sweatshirt bought when I was in high school, some 50 years ago.

Vintage, rare Fonz t-shirt…also a collector’s item.

I was a huge fan of Fonzie (played by Henry Winkler). Who wasn’t?

W4 was the logo for the radio station 106.7 WWWW (W4…get it?), a Detroit station that hired Howard Stern to do a morning show in 1980. He wore a shirt like this in the movie Private Parts. After a year there, the struggling station switched from rock to country music overnight and Howard couldn’t handle it and left two weeks after the format change. The “QUAD” was a failed attempt at broadcasting in four channels instead of the traditional two channel stereo signal (left and right channels). Thanks to the McKinlay brothers (Scott and Stewart) for giving me this shirt!

Stony Lake was near the Bogard’s property on Michigan’s West side. No, there wasn’t a nude beach…wishful thinking.

Bowers Harbor is on the Old Mission Peninsula, north of Traverse City. No connection with our family but cool t-shirt. There is a vineyard in the area and we buy the Bowers Harbor brand wine all the time. We also like to eat at the restaurant on Bowers Harbor.

Vintage Biff shirt I had made up for our new studios dedication.

My Biff manager polo shirt.

My Nike US Soccer shirt given to me by my son Eric…love it!

Three Wheaties boxes I collected. Love the ‘89 Pistons box! 1996 Olympic Women’s gymnastic team and Michael Johnson who won both the 200m and 400m at the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta. Must admit I bought the boxes for the covers not for the cereal.

My Linda Ronstadt/Stone Poneys record collection.

My Linda Ronstadt photo disc of her album Living in the USA. Pretty cool!

An original painting of Linda Ronstadt painted by Joan Dodge and given to me as a gift.

Bowersisms

Uniquely Pete Bowers

Essential props: Yellow/Red cards (soccer referee), football yellow flag (football referee), lucky coin (may be specific year coin), Parker T-ball Jotter pen (which I NEVER loan to anyone), Biff logo pen (which I DO loan out and leave on teacher desks), pocket calendar in back pocket (notice curvature of bottom), handheld microphone to use in the class like Phil Donahue, antique school bell (used to get attention, class starting), Biff water bottle, rubber bracelet (for snapping on my wrist, I feel your pain), my own dry erase markers, Biff boom box, 3 X 5 cards with topics to discuss in class, air guitar (yard stick, stapler)

Other props when needed: mono-scope and safari hat (EXPLORING electronic media), swear jar, spring, pipe dream, Howard Stern Halloween mask, snare drum and cymbal, photo of Megan Fox (used to get guy’s attention),

Exploring Electronic Media!

Important PB props: Antique school bell (to start class), yellow/red cards (yellow is caution, red after two yellows issued…you’re out!), mono-scope (used for exploring electronic media), yellow flag (for penalties in class…10 yard penalty for cussing).

*Saying “Greetings” to start class, first words spoken by Jesus after he rose from the dead

*Today’s class is brought to you by…(usually a hot current event in broadcasting)

*The cut off laugh: a laugh cut off with the hand coming down across the face.

*Andover and Lahser radio students coming together under the radio tower (fingers from both hands intertwined, fore fingers up like an antenna) open the door and there they all are…happy Biffers!

*I will check with the Department of Redundancy Department

*I was talking with “no names” and I said Biff, why didn’t you do your show last night

*I’m only serious (instead of I’m just kidding)

*Taking a drink of water, saying “doctor’s orders”, making gargling sounds

* You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them hydrate

*Water bottle back flip a la soccer style into wastebasket (did that with a broken speaker once), extra points if it bounces off wall into wastebasket

*The rubber pencil trick (find pencil on floor, hey look, I found a rubber pencil)

*Station ID at top of hour (at top of hour say “you’re listening to WBFH, Bloomfield Hills” legal station ID)

*Magic finger (if chalk fell on floor, take small broken piece, put under finger and draw all over chalkboard…say MAGIC FINGER!

*Reaching down to pick up pencil on the floor and ripping a piece of paper making it sound like pants were ripping

*Pencil it in with dry erase (or pencil it in with ink)

*When dry erase marker runs dry, throw marker across the room into wastebasket…extra points if it bounces off wall into wastebasket

*Two satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius, become one (two fingers on one hand, drop first finger, leaving middle finger)

*I’ve got guns (showing bicep on right arm which for some reason is big). They want to give teachers guns…I already have them

*I have a face for radio (borrowed from whoever said that first)…not good looking, the reason I went into radio and not TV

*Pull out the V card (veteran card…student with seniority gets something over someone with less seniority)

*Dropping an F bomb (having a letter F prop and dropping it to the floor)

*Rewind tape (making sounds of tape rewinding and shaking head like it’s rewinding video)

*Mr. Bowers’ hair by Jerry’s Salon (write this on the board the day after a haircut, a haircut by Jerry who I went to for over 35 years)

*Did I get a haircut? No, I got them all cut.

*My guest speaker today is…bring out a small Bose speaker (prop) as a joke

*I live in the sticks. After I moved from Bloomfield Hills to Milford (a small town community about 20 miles from Bloomfield), I told my students that I live in the sticks. Apparently, young people had not heard that phrase before and had no idea what I meant by “living in the sticks”

*Guess Who sings American Woman? Guess Who sings American Woman? Who sings Teenage Wasteland? Who sings Teenage Wasteland?

*Dentist sounds (sounds of drill, sounds of air)

*I’m all ears said Prince Charles (or Ross Perot)

*I have no-speed internet at home

*I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

*Let’s take a trip down Amnesia Lane.

*My grandfather was one of 13 children (true). He didn’t know what it was like to sleep alone until he got married.

*People don’t know this and I don’t tell anyone but I was born with two kidneys. It really hasn’t affected my life much.

*Dumb joke or bad pun…that was an attempt at humor

*Hocus Pocus Amanda Kokas (when doing magic trick like disappearing coin trick, Amanda was Biff student)

*The Sarcasm Club meets Tuesday after school and I’m the adviser. I LOVE all the students in the club. They’re my FAVORITE students of all time

*I’m the adviser for the Procrastination Club. We actually haven’t turned in the club application form yet. We were going to have a club meeting but we haven’t set a date for it yet. I was going to write up an agenda for the meeting…I’ll do it later.

*Everything remains the same until it changes

*Top 40 DJ voice: Flip an imaginary switch on my neck to go into 60’s-70’s Top 40 DJ voice…actually had a light switch prop to use, put switch on neck and flip it

* What do I smell? I smell the makings of a great promo (or some other production)

*What do I hear? Creative juices?

*Peachy! (trademarked to me…not “peachy keen” which is trademarked)

*Adios or Adios Amigo! (when saying goodbye to someone)

*Drive Safely! (also when saying goodbye to someone…means “I love you”)

*Use sunscreen! (also when saying goodbye to someone…coming from a two time skin cancer survivor)

* You’re my favorite 3rd Hour this semester. I’m your favorite 3rd Hour teacher this semester

*I’m the best radio broadcasting teacher the school district has ever had. (later, as told to me by, no names…Matthew Branicke…I’m also the WORST radio broadcasting teacher the school district has ever had)

*The future of the Biff is sitting in this room…and 4th Hour.

*Biff and when…

*My first wife Claudia…

*I worship the quicksand my mother-in-law walks on. My sons call her Gdog. We call her dog Ratdog.

*Standing on teacher desk with hole puncher on my head simulating a satellite orbiting 22,000 miles above Earth (See photo in Vintage PB as proof)

*The short end of my tie was sticking out from under long end of tie. I took scissors and literally cut the short end off so it didn’t stick out. I started wearing ties about a year into teaching when the principal told me I would look more authoritative if I wore a tie. I wore ties for 30 years after that and then noticed how few male teachers were wearing ties…so I quit wearing them.

*(to a student athlete before a game) May the best team win and that team be yours

*Don’t feel bad for the team that lost…they finished 2nd Place in the game…they got the Silver!

*I’m in the twilight of my career…

*Men in Black Memory Eraser…grab a black permanent marker and pretend to use it the erase the memory of students after saying something that would probably get me a yellow card…and yes, I have given myself a yellow card if earned.

*Is Mr. Tom Bowers your brother? Yes (wink, wink)…same last name, he looks just like me, his mother married my father, his brother and my brother are the same person

*Yellow card if someone says something inappropriate. Second yellow card in same hour gets a red card, out of classroom.

*Imitation of flamboyant referee with yellow card

*I would stand on my head for you…then actually standing on my head in the classroom (did it once when Eric was in FORB class)

*Fun With Mentals (name used for those in Fundamentals of Radio Broadcasting class)

*In Loco Parentis (Latin, meaning in place of parents, since your parents aren’t here, I’m your parents so do what I say)

*(on Fridays) You’ve worked so hard today, I’m going to give you two days off, I don’t want to see you until Monday.

*Looking for Amir (on the school PA, Sue said she wanted a student named Amir to come to main office. I grabbed a locker mirror we had at the station and went down to the main office and said “I understand you are looking for Amir”

*Horny hen joke (used one time at a Bowers School Farm remote…ask Randy how the joke goes)

*Someone comes into class after haircut…can I help you?…oh, it’s _________.

*I thought growing old would take longer

*Make “L” with hand and fingers, not for loser but for liability

*If I think someone is being bullied, address it, stop it, snap rubber bracelet and say I feel your pain

*I have my fingers on the pulse of the community

*I grabbed a hole puncher and used it as an air guitar for the Eddie Van Halen guitar solo in Michael Jackson’s song Beat It. I didn’t know it, but Zac Barnett was videotaping me…something that I hoped wouldn’t go viral. I also used a stapler once as an air harmonica during a Beatles song.

*The game was close right up to tip off (or kick off)

*What we have here is failure to communicate (from movie Cool Hand Luke)

*My Dad was a doctor. He wrote me a note, I couldn’t read it, I took it to the pharmacist to read it, he said it says “Buy milk”

*Wearing a tie everyday is a pain in the neck

*1000 comedians are out of work and you’re trying to be funny

*After having a grade conference with a Staff student, I would come out of the room saying “You can take ceramics, they throw pots” making it sound like they are being kicked off Staff and what class they might take if not on Staff.

*I wanted the best staffer to engineer your spotlight show…but he couldn’t do it so I got ____________

*If it were me…

*I did have a talk stick once, the person with the talk stick had the floor and everyone else had to be quiet..that person would then pass the talk stick to the next person who wanted to talk.

*If the shoe fits (take off size 13 shoe) wear it

*On a reel-to-reel tape delay system, if someone swears (ie shit), shit starts to fly (around tape recorder), bleep it so it doesn’t air

*You’re just saying that because it’s true…I’m just serious

*If someone is hurt or sick, say let me help you, my Dad was a doctor and my wife is a nurse

*After someone vents, say “if you have an opinion, don’t hold it in, let it out”

*I was in a fraternity in college, I Felta Thigh

*Broadcasters do it with frequency!

*I went to a wedding of two antennas…the ceremony was just OK but the reception was great!

*I was born via Caesarian Section (true). It hasn’t affected me but when I leave my house, I don’t go out the door, I go out the window (stolen from Steven Wright. Also, “the earth is bipolar”.

* Story about how my college roommate grew marijuana in the middle of a cornfield on his property in Owosso, called it Wacky Tobacky

*When a teachable moment occurs, say it, that’s a Teachable Moment

*I’m in a union…High School Radio Station Managers Union Local 881 (the only member)

*I feel asleep while watching a documentary on the Civil War…I don’t know who won

*My first year of teaching, I was stopped in the hallway and asked for a hall pass by a Hall Monitor who didn’t know me. So I pulled out my passes and wrote me one. I used to call Hall Monitors “Hall Monsters”

*Also my first year, I got the student rate for lunch because the food service people didn’t know I was a teacher. When they found out, I had to pay the faculty rate.

*Someone turns in late paper (or staff application) take it to wastebasket and pretend to file it by saying “I’ll just file this under “name”

*Use it and abuse it

*Being the manager of a high school radio station is sort of like sticking your head in a guillotine every day, looking up at the blade and praying it doesn’t drop

*If I feel someone is stepping on me (taking advantage of me) pull out photo of me, put on ground and literally step on it

*I was the third of three boys in my family, the baby. My brother Tom, the middle child, says he is the rose between two thorns. My brother Jim and I say that Tom is the bologna between two pieces of Wonder bread.

*If someone is lefthanded, a southpaw, I say, one minute let me get you a left handed pen

*I had a car in high school, a Corvair. They wrote a book about Corvairs called Unsafe at any Speed (true).

*Radio is in competition with PMS (personal music systems)

*I’d like to thank my listeners, both of them

*”Going to get some water Boss” (stolen from movie Cool Hand Luke where prisoners tell “Boss” everything they’re doing.

*At the end-of-the-school-year banquet I call Biff Bash, I would put the spotlight (literally using a flashlight) and brag about each senior and their Biff accomplishments. I would end each senior with “I love (name) and I’ll tell you why”. Then I would talk about what I loved about that senior. After that, instead of applause for that senior which can go long, I invented the three-clap system to save time: “Three claps for (name)…clap, clap, clap!

*In 1986 when Ferris Bueller’s Day Off came out, I would imitate the Ben Stein teacher character with that monotone delivery…”Anyone? Anyone?”

*That dead air was brought to you by the Bloomfield Township Library

*12:34 I have this thing about the time 12:34…I’ll look at a clock for some reason and it’s 12:34…weird! I remember driving through a small town once and the clock on the bank read 12:34…freaks me out.

*And now the weather forecast with WBFH Meteorologist Winchell Factor

*We’ll have our station engineer, Shurewatt Ohms, fix that equipment

*The guy’s a Nimrod!

*Showing one cycle (wave) with my arm, then showing 88,100,000 cycles (88.1 MegaHertz) per second, rapid arm motion

*After returning from Chicago and listening to WLS, I invented the character Dr. Jock who did the Top 40 jock thing

*I hated it when someone would say “we have a technical difficulty”. I prefer saying “we have a TD”

*When we would drive to Chicago for Drury Awards or IBS conference, as we crossed the Illinois line, I told the students in the van that I had to make a stop at the bank and convert my Michigan money to Illinois money.

*I’m a little off…I just flew in from New York and I’m experiencing jet lag.

*I thought I had a concussion but they X-rayed my head and found nothing.

*Also didn’t like it when a DJ would say “here’s a little bit of the Beatles”. A little bit? What, just playing a little bit of song?

*Also, enunciate the letter “W” in the call letters…don’t ever say “dub ya”

*The volume control on a console is called a potentiometer, or pot for short. Used to say DJ’s have a lot of pot in the studio

*Wearing my Andover varsity jacket at Homecoming pep assembly, “I’m representing our Andover Class of 1971”

*You take Anatomy? I took that in high school too…I would go over to my girlfriend’s house to study anatomy.

*WBFH went on the air with the minimum number of watts…10. Hence the nickname “The 10 Watt Big Shot”

*Rule 881: Go on the air under the influence of one thing…good radio!

*When we did marathon broadcast, we would do 24 hours in a row. So Steve had the morning shift, 7-9 a.m. I told him he was every Andover senior girl’s dream…to wake up with Steve in the morning!

*Catacombs/pool under Andover High School: So many memories from our Spring Celebration marathon broadcasts but the one students really enjoyed was when I took them down through the custodians room to the catacombs of the school and walk to the gym and look out through the vents. Then we would go down under the pool area and look out the windows into the pool. Another catacomb started in the boiler room area and went all the way to my office where there was an access door in the floor. One time I went under that door and pounded on it from below…I hear that those in the office were scared stiff!

*Radio is a one to one form of communication, very personal. Used to tell rookie DJ’s to put a photo of someone on the console and pretend to be talking to that one person, instead of broadcasting to mass amounts of listeners

*Inside everybody’s brain is a like/dislike area. The only song everybody likes is “Happy Birthday”. Every song you play will be liked by some, disliked by others. Try to pick songs that the majority of listeners will like since you can’t please them all.

*Radio is one dimension, audio. That’s why it’s known as Theater of the Mind. When broadcasting a sports event, pretend there is a blind person sitting next to you and you have to be their eyes, you have to describe to them what you are seeing…play by play.

*There are more women in the US than men. Guys…you are a minority group.

*There was a video I would show on the charter bus heading to Lansing for MAB awards. I also used it in class when we covered the history of radio. It was a Sponge Bob Square Pants episode entitled “Idiot Box” which some critics of television have called TVs. So SBSP takes the empty TV box and pretends he is in different situations which can be heard outside the box. So SBSP does this thing with his arms making a rainbow while saying “I don’t need TV, I just use my imagination”. Just like radio was in the Golden Age, you know, Theater of the Mind, using only one dimension, sound.

*Students would ask me if I ever lived at the Bowers Farm. I would say, tongue in cheek, sure I grew up there, it was great, we had fresh eggs from the chickens, I would milk the cows for fresh milk, fresh produce every day…it did get ugly when we wanted bacon.

*The “huddle” for the WBFH Staff class was invented by me to gather everyone in that staff hour to come together in the main room and discuss broadcasting current events, upcoming Biff events, other station topics. Like sports “huddles”, some would put their hands together in the middle and say something like “Let’s Go Biff”.

*Studies have shown that the people who have a lot of birthdays tend to live longer.

*I always tried to make it a big deal when it was someone’s birthday. I would put a Happy Birthday banner on the dry erase board and sometimes light a birthday candle. Always celebrated the Biff’s birthday October 1. Quick story: one October 1, I entered the FORB classroom and saw “Happy Birthday” on the board in front of the room. The French teacher was still there so I thanked her for wishing our station a Happy Birthday. She said she didn’t know it was the station’s birthday, she said the students wrote that because it was HER birthday. Now the freaky part. I said it was cool that she had the same birthday as Biff…I said the Biff is probably older than her. She said she was born in 1976, I said so was the Biff! So, she was born on the day WBFH went on the air! How cool is that?

My last teacher ID before I retired.

Bling I would put on my ID, couldn’t fit all of them on regular ID so they got their own ID holder.

Broadcasting Bug prop. Students who get the Broadcasting Bug at WBFH, continue to study communications in college. WBFH is a launching pad for those who get the Bug.

Hole puncher becomes satellite orbiting Earth at 22,000 miles out in space. One, I didn’t know I was being photographed, and two, I didn’t know that the students in a class across the courtyard might be watching me. There are shades on the windows but you can still see out.

East Hills and West Hills Jr. High

I attended East Hills Jr. High for grades 7 and 8. The growth of students in the district was so big that the schools built a second high school (Lahser) and a third Jr. High (West Hills) in the 60’s. So I was a content East Hills Cavalier and the school board redrew the lines and next thing I know, I’m heading to West Hills for 9th Grade. I missed some of my friends from East Hills but I made new friends at West Hills and everything was new…everything! I was given lemons so I made lemonade. I ran for 9th Grade president and won. I played on the soccer, basketball and track teams. I was an actor in both plays Good Morning Miss Dove and Our Hearts were Young and Gay, the only time in my life I performed in a play at school. And since so many of us played in sports after school, our play rehearsals were held before school, like at 7:30 a.m. I didn’t drive so I’m not sure how I got to school so early…must have car pooled with somebody. It was a fun year…and I won the Outstanding Athlete Award. Because I was a West Hills Warrior, I then went on to attend Andover instead of Lahser where the people I grew up with attended.

The Junior High Years (7th and 8th Grade-East Hills '65-'67, 9th Grade-West Hills '67-68)

Flag Football, 7th Grade

Soccer, 8th and 9th Grade

Basketball, 7th, 8th and 9th Grade

Track, 7th, 8th and 9th Grade

9th Grade Class President

Student Council, 9th Grade

Theater, Small part in Good Morning Miss Dove and Our Hearts Were Young and Gay

7th Grade yearbook photo.

When I was in 7th grade, they didn’t offer soccer yet so we played IM (flag) football.

The names got goofed up and they owe me any apology, I’m not Bob!

Looking so studious! (Feb.1967)

First year they offered soccer in the Fall, the photo has both 8th grade and 9th grade together. PE teacher Barry Crowe was the coach.

8th Grade basketball team coached by the shop teacher Mr. Corcoran. 13 was my lucky number!

My last year being in the school band…when I went to West Hills, I dropped band. I’m in the back row with my trombone.

Our band teacher had a great name: Mr. Lively!

Mr. Werner was the media center librarian at East Hills. He moved to West Hills with us.

The gang in East Hills lobby: Rick Olson (my next door neighbor), Jon Schwanz, Bill Leonard, Doug Byrum, Scott Gallentine, Mike Studnicki.

Carol Oliver on the way to the bus with what looks like a lot of homework. This was an era before backpacks became popular.

One of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Logan, who taught English.

Scott Gallentine with French teacher Mrs. Kahler.

On the bus with Patti Jaaksi and Sue Rodgers.

Doug Byrum and Biff Galentine on the bus.

So the district redrew the attendance lines and, living in the same house, I and others in my area, were sent to West Hills Jr. High, a brand new school built to handle the large number of students in the district.

Photos from yearbook.

I didn’t know a lot of the 9th graders at West Hills but that didn’t stop me from running for class president. Pretty cool!

Soccer team coached by Mr. Crowe who came over to West Hills from East Hills. He was one of my favorite teachers of all time. I worked with him in the summer as Day Camp Counselor starting in the summer of 1969.

9th grade team had only 10 players, eight of them in this photo. My nickname was “Rubber Man”. I was the leading scorer, leading free throw shooter, honorary co-captain and Most Valuable Player…that’s what it says on my certificate.

I had an interest in one of these cheerleaders…can you guess which one?

Warming up before game. Note the Chuck Taylor Converse All-Star shoes…and kneepad.

Starting for us was Doug Byrum, Bob Smith, Stacy, Mark Sewell and moi.

I’m thinking my Dad took this and other basketball photos.

Track team, just 9th graders. I ran the sprints, the 60 and 100 yard dashes. I was a high jumper and ran on relay teams. Mr. Crowe was coach.

Story to tell here. Mr. Lyle wanted me to play baseball but I was committed to the track team. Mr. Lyle asked Mr. Crowe if he could “borrow” me when we had baseball games as long as they didn’t conflict with track meets. Crowe said OK and that’s why I’m in the baseball team photo. As it turned out, I didn’t play any baseball games for West Hills…it just didn’t work out.

When I was choosing classes to take, A/V Assistant looked like something I could get into since I was an audio-visual kind of guy. And Mr. Werner was cool. One of my jobs was to run 16mm film projectors in classrooms to help out the teacher. Fun!

Student Council…I was probably on it because I was 9th Grade President. Mr. Sheldon was one of my favorite teachers!

Our Fall play was Good Morning Miss Dove. I had a very small part… a few lines…but it was fun with the exception of 7:00 a.m. rehearsals. They had morning rehearsals because so many of the cast played in sports after school. I also had a small role in the spring play, Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. This was the only time I was ever in a play or musical. I wanted to be in those in high school but never could because I played three sports a year. Mr. Chapman was drama teacher and play director. He was one of my favorite teachers of all time!

At the 50th anniversary of West Hills, some of us came to the party May 16, 2018…all of us were 9th grade students the first year West Hills opened: Trent Dalrymple, Ellen Pankratz-White, Sandy Sweeney Feloni, Jon Schwanz, Stuart Bergsman and me.

My Dad was on the School Board in 1966 when they were building West Hills. The school opened the Fall of 1967.

Those three years of Jr. High…Those were the best days of my life (line from Summer of ‘69 by Bryan Adams)

Bloomfield Hills Andover High School

Some people didn’t like their high school daze. I loved high school…excited when I entered 10th grade in Fall of 1968, feeling down when I graduated in June, 1971. Most photos are from our yearbook…our senior year was peachy! The Class of ‘71 ROCKS!

The High School Years (10th-12th Bloomfield Hills Andover High School, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan '68-'71)

Soccer, 10, 11, 12 (Captain, Team and League leading scorer with 14 goals, All League, All Area); School record for goals in season (14) and career (28).  Team won two league championships, 32 games without a loss.

Basketball, 10 Varsity/JV, 11 Varsity, 12 Varsity (Captain, All League honorable mention).  Team won League Championship junior year. Averaged 11 points a game.

Track, 10, 11, 12;  3rd in league in 440 yard run by a nose (51.6).  High jump personal best: 6 feet. Team won League Championships junior and senior year.

Received eight varsity letters and won Andover Athlete of the Year 1971.

B-Club (Varsity Club), 10, 11, 12 (Vice President)

Pep Club 10, 11, 12

Student Council 10, 11

Shield Newspaper 10, 11, 12 (Sports Editor)

School Sports Reporter to Birmingham Eccentric Newspaper 11, 12

National Honor Society 11, 12

Hillcrest Yearbook 12 (photographer)

Variety Show 12

Executive Club 12

Class Officer 12 (Class President)

Commencement Speaker 12

Bloomfield Barons, you’re on the ball

Fight, fight, fight, for you’ll never fall

We are the champs, and this is the test

So prove you’re the best

Rah, Rah, Rah.

Win this game for old blue and white,

Bring home Bloomfield fame tonight.

So fight, fight, for Andover High and victory!

Senior class officers: Alan Robbins, Barb Wotila, Sue Rodgers, Pam South and Andrea Cohn.

Loved working with the other class officers…they contributed to making our senior year peachy!

My letter sweater which I used to wear on “game days”. Since I was on three sports teams (soccer, basketball and track), I had a lot of game days to wear my letter sweater. You can see the three teams on the letter. A star represented being captain of that team…I was captain of the soccer team and basketball team. A “Champs” pin represented a team winning the league championship. I was on two championships in soccer, my junior and senior year. I was on two championship track teams, my junior and senior year. And I was on one championship basketball team, my junior year. The “B” in the middle meant I was a member of the Varsity Club, or B Club, people with a varsity letter who made it through the rough initiation process. The ribbon/medals on the bottom signify winning third (bronze) in soccer MVP voting my junior year and soccer team MVP (gold) my senior year when I lead the league in scoring with 14 goals. The other medals are from track meet finishes in the league and Oakland County championships: I competed in the high jump, 440 dash, 880 relay, mile relay and shuttle hurdle relay. Our mile relay team and 880 yard relay team won 1st in the league. Our mile relay won 2nd in Oakland County meet. My junior year, our mile relay team won 4th in the state, Class A. I was on the Shuttle Hurdle relay that won 2nd in the Oakland County meet. The blue stripes represented years of varsity letters…I received eight varsity letters, two in basketball and three each in soccer and track, hence three strips for three years of varsity letters. The nameplate “Bowers” was attached to my basketball warm up jacket. After my last game, Coach Henderson could not just give me the nameplate for some weird reason, so he had me stand by the waste basket as he threw it away…which I retrieved from the basket to keep forever.

Driving our family 1909 Model T Ford in Homecoming Parade.

I wanted a Super Bee…my Dad bought me a 1965 Corvair to drive while in high school.

Soccer team my senior year. I’m sitting next to our coach Ernie Knecht, the mastermind behind our 29 game undefeated streak! I had a good year…lead the league in goals (14) and was selected to the All-League First Team.

Doug Byrum and I were co-captains of the undefeated team, both selected All-League First Team, and he is one of my best friends!

Ken Heidel and I heading up the field!

Varsity team my senior year. I wore number 22 at home, number 23 for away games. I was Captain so I got to hold the ball for the photo. I averaged 11 points a game and was selected All-League Honorable Mention. I lead the team in shots taken, shots missed, free throws missed and lost balls. Yes, Coach Henderson had a category called lost balls and I lead the team in that category. I was second on the team for assists, saves, steals and shots made.

Article in Eccentric before season began.

Article mentioning my “hot hand” and scoring 23 points against Lahser. That was the most points I ever scored in a varsity game…but we lost…to cross town rival Lahser…bummer!

Article in the Oakland Press also mentioning a “hot hand”. Cool! Two of the guys on Lahser’s team, John Cvengros and Tim Lewis, I had known since elementary school.

Our 98 points vs Kettering broke a school record, a record I saw broken by a team in the 90’s. We lost to Lahser by four 65-61 in the first game of the season. I scored the most points of my three year varsity career, 23, against guys I grew up with on the East side like John Cvengros and Tim Lewis. We did beat League Champion West Bloomfield…almost beat them twice. Notice we lost to Campy Russell and his Pontiac Central team by 31 points in our gym…Pontiac Central went on to play in the Class A Final. We lost to Seaholm in the first game of the Districts…another bummer!

Let’s Kill Keego! Making two clutch baskets in the closing minutes of the game vs league rival West Bloomfield at home was just downright crazy. I’ve seen the video of this game and the crowd pours onto the court like we had won the NBA Championship! Because they were undefeated going into this game, it was an upset no doubt about it. As it turns out, had we beat WB in the last league game at their place, we would have been league champs but, alas, we lost by seven…ouch! But after losing our first four games (one of those vs Lahser another ouch), we came back winning 9 out of 10 league games to be in the position to defend our title…we were very proud of that!

As it says in the article, we “shattered the Andover (team) scoring record” with 98 points! Too bad we didn’t get 100 but breaking the school record and scoring 98 points in a high school basketball game was super cool! Paul and Kenny got 22 each and I scored 16…fun!

Not sure how we got Pontiac Central on our schedule but it was like David vs. Goliath only Goliath prevailed. Pontiac Central was ranked #1 in the state Class A and they had the best player in the state, Campy Russell. Two of their other players were All State. Even though we got beaten badly, I felt good that I scored 14 points against the best high school basketball team in the state.

Campy went to University of Michigan then on to the NBA where he played for nine seasons mostly with Cleveland.

I made the list of the top scorers in Oakland County at 15.2 points per game, same as Ken Rump from Lahser. Notice Campy Russell was first scoring over 28 points a game.

Pistol Pete up, up and away! We had lightning bolts on our jersey and pants…not sure the significance of that. I tried to have big socks like Pistol Pete Maravich wore…didn’t really get that look.

Jump shot ala Pistol Pete…great photo by someone.

Paul Denzer wins the tip-off…I’m (22) heading for the basket!

One of the perks of being the Captain of the basketball team…I had the honor of breaking through the paper wall heading into warm ups before the game. One time I slipped on the paper and fell on my butt…how embarrassing!

Photo in newspaper my junior year with Scott and Larry. Oh, by the way, I didn’t play football, I played soccer. Shoes…Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars!

This was super cool! Looked like we were going to lose in overtime until I stole the ball twice and passed it to Ken Heidel who shot two baskets. The article said that Ken and I scored seven points in the last 10 seconds to win the game!

Photo in Pontiac Press. I was one of two sophomores who made the Varsity team, Bob Reid was the other. I stayed on the team for most of the season but not getting a lot of playing time so Coach Henderson moved me down to the Jr. Varsity team where I played a lot every game, even scored 27 points against West Bloomfield.

Love this photo which was in the Pontiac Press! Note that I’m taking a left handed layup shot and I’m not left handed…proud of that!

I made the Varsity basketball team as a sophomore but wasn’t getting a lot of playing time so Coach Henderson thought it would be good for me to move to the Junior Varsity team and get more game playing time. That’s why I’m in this photo with my Varsity jersey on. Poor Paul Denzer, they spelled his name wrong. I loved playing with these guys, and I had the best game of my life when I scored 27 points against our rival…West Bloomfield!

Help! I’m trapped in a full court press! Does another dilemma mean I’ve been in numerous dilemmas?

Point totals sophomore year, four games on Varsity, 12 games on JV. 27 points against West Bloomfield was the most I ever scored in any basketball game…Jr. High, JV and Varsity.

In satin warm ups…warming up before game.

Wide open jump shot from the side…better have gone in.

With Ken Heidel and Andover gym serving as referees for Intermural Basketball league on Saturdays. Varsity players were refs because they were not allowed to play on any IM team.

Our school sponsored Spring Break trip our senior year was a week in Nassau Bahamas. I’m the one with the Captain America t-shirt…Where’s Pete? My parents were chaperones…my Dad was president of the School Board…and it was handy to have a doctor on the trip, especially for people like me who got sunburned so bad I spent a day just sitting in my room.

I had one field event, the high jump, and my best was 6’0’’, two inches under the school record. I was pretty proud of that since I was 5’11”…I jumped higher than my height. And I did the “Western roll” style of high jumping, not the Fosbery Flop. I had been high jumping even at elementary school and all through Jr. High. I ran the 440 yard dash with my best time of 51.6 seconds. In the league meet, it looked like a three way tie for the 440 and the judges determined that I finished 3rd…by a nose. I also ran on the 880 yard relay and the mile relay which is really 4X440. So after high jumping, two relays and a 440, I was pretty pooped at the end of every track meet. In the Oakland County meet, Coach asked me to run in the Shuttle Hurdle relay since we had three all-county hurdlers and he needed me just to get from one end of the track to the other and just jump over the hurdles the best I could since I never ran hurdles before. I did my best and our relay team won 2nd in the county meet. Our mile relay team also got 2nd Place in the Oakland County meet my junior year (Al Murray, Todd Murphy, Pete Kopke and me).

Rare photo of me high jumping in high school and this was at practice, not a meet. As I said earlier, I did the Western roll style of high jumping, not the Fosbery Flop. The landing pit was an inflatable giant pillow that was supposed to be good for landing after the jump. Have to say it was OK but sometimes I rolled right off the front onto the ground.

Results of our League track meet…written by yours truly. I didn’t do so well in the high jump that day. But I was on the winning 880 yard relay team (fastest time of season, see article), got third in the League (for second straight year) in the 440 yard dash (almost a three way tie…read article) with my personal best time of 51.6, and I was on the winning mile relay team (fastest time of season, 15 yards ahead of second place team, see article), the last event in the meet…a event we needed to win the League track meet and a very large trophy!

I competed in four events at the All Oakland County Track and Field Meet held at Oxford High School May 28, 1971: 440 yard dash, high jump, 880 yard relay and mile relay. These four sheets are from the meet program showing where I stood in the county in the high jump and 440 yard dash…and where our two relay teams stood in the county.

I saved this Outstanding Athlete trophy from being thrown in the dumpster with other Andover trophies. Not just because my name is on it, but because of the historical value of these athletes who received this prestigious award. I saved the nameplate.

Getting through B Club initiations was rough, but being a B-Club member meant you got a special letter for your jacket (V.C. stood for Varsity Club and a “B” pin for your letter sweater). Was it worth it? Sure! Hey, what’s with the plaid pants?

My clipboard used to obtain signatures of B Club members during the initiation day…a day that will live in infamy. I can’t really tell you what we had to do to get signatures. Let’s just say I made it through the day, got the signatures I needed, and became a B Club member.

Hillcrest was our yearbook. I was a photographer for them, taking photos of events and submitting them to editors. Some of my photos appeared in the yearbook…pretty cool!

The Shield was the name of our school newspaper. I was the Sports Editor responsible for covering Andover sports for the paper.

The Executive Club was created to coordinate all the clubs in their various activities. Its members consist of the presidents of each club in the school. I was senior class president…that’s how I got into this club. Wearing a tie…really? It was picture day, that’s why the tie!

Not sure how I got into the National Honor Society but I’m in the photo so it did happen somehow. I’m in top row next to Paul (not Raul…that’s a typo) Denzer.

I was a member of the Andover Students for Environmental Quality (ASEQ). The club did a walk-a-thon and I participated along with 127 Andover students who did the 15 mile walk and raised over $2000.00 (in 1971 money, pretty good!) The hat was because I had short hair (thanks to basketball team rules) and the shoes were Chuck Taylor Converse All Stars, low and black…shoes that have seen better days!

I was a Special Writer for the Birmingham-Bloomfield newspaper called The Eccentric. I covered sports teams at Andover and other activities like this article about Intramural Basketball. I didn’t get paid much to do it but I did get my photo in the paper every week…which was pretty cool! I did have aspirations of studying journalism in college and maybe being a sports writer as a career. I did minor in Journalism at Central Michigan but got the broadcasting bug and chose to major in that.

I decided to do a sports quiz for the Shield when I was Sports Editor.

This is a yearbook photo of the School Board my senior year. My Dad, Dr. Charles L. Bowers, was president.

Our football team was awesome, winning all nine games and extending the school winning streak to 19 games, ranked 6th in the state for Class A by the Detroit News. I do believe that was the first time Andover football was ranked in the state top ten…and the last time Andover was ranked in the state top ten!

We had a ton of good players on the team with four players getting All-State honors…Bob Reid making First Team (Class A), the best running back in Michigan high school football that year!

Commencement was on a Thursday evening that year, not the traditional Sunday like most schools. And we had it on the football/soccer field under the lights which were installed our junior year. A little risky having it outdoors unprotected, but Mother Nature was kind to us and it did not rain.

I was the first one to speak after the Invocation, no pressure! Plus my Dad was sitting right behind me! I did a shout out to our principal Mr. Spiess who was retiring after a long career in education, it was his last Commencement. I thought giving the speech at Commencement would be my last task as class president…boy was I wrong about that! But I love being President-For-Life…no regrets!

Being senior class president has it’s perks…I got to speak at graduation…which was held on the football/soccer field June 9, 1971 under the lights. The guy on the right (my left) is my Dad, Charles L. Bowers MD, who was president of the Board of Education. He appears to be enjoying whatever I just said. The other man is Anne Cole’s father, Ed Cole, president of General Motors and our commencement speaker.

I graduated so long ago, they hadn’t invented color film yet…jk. If it was color, guys are in blue and gals are in white. Looks like I have my speech in my hand…break a leg kid!

Photo op with Mom and Dad at Franklin.

In front of Franklin house.

See…school colors blue and white! Janice Carrier, Greg Phelps and Ann Coughlin get ready to walk across the stage.

Got my diploma signed by my Dad…cool beans!

The Senior All-Night Party was held at Bloomfield Hills Jr. High, not at the high school. Remember that our senior trip went to Nassau? So they had a Bahamas backdrop for photos, this one featuring me and my girlfriend Barb Wotila. Is that a Parker T-ball Jotter in my pocket? I think so!

This was drawn by a caricature artist at the All-Night Party. Are my ears really that big?

Janis Carrier, Bill Hartmann, Jan Harley, Ann Coughlin, Tim Wiegert, Rick Kaufman, Mark Dean and Bob Fischer.

Jan Harley, Mark Dean, Ann Coughlin and Anne Cole.

Our winning Homecoming float in color…great job by our float team!

Article that appeared in The Eccentric in May of 1971.

Junior year ID. Homeroom was Mr. Wareck’s room.

Junior year yearbook photos.

My girlfriend was Barb Wotila whose father was a math teacher at Andover. We attended a lot of school events together and being able to share those fun times with someone made my high school experience more memorable!

Junior year soccer team that went undefeated, pretty impressive!

Made first team, all league soccer team as a junior. Had 14 goals and 8 assists…lead the league in goals scored.

All Area soccer team, 1st Team, my junior year. My friend Duffy McAlpine from Seaholm also made 1st Team…we both went to Central and played together for four years there.

Left footed pass to Kurt Hubert, junior year.

Junior year basketball team that won the league championship!

Junior year track team that won league championship! I ran 440 yard dash (3rd in League 53.0), 880 relay, mile relay (2nd in League, All Area Team 3:28) and high jump.

Junior year…photo of me high jumping is somewhat embarrassing…I mean…nice shot of my…shorts!

Shield staff junior year. I was a sports reporter.

Junior class representatives.

B Club (Varsity Club) junior year.

Sophomore year yearbook photos.

Soccer team my sophomore year.

Sophomore year, here with coach Ernie Knecht who came to America from Germany, got a job with Bloomfield Schools and then got involved coaching the high school soccer team. His leadership lead to an amazing win record and numerous league championships.

Varsity basketball team my sophomore year. Bob Reid and I were the only sophomores on the team.

In article…”crowd of 1,300” to see Andover play Lahser for the first time. I did make the scoring column with one basket! Wahoo!

Class representative photo…what’s with the sad face Bowers?

Prom our Junior Year…with Barb Wotila, photo taken in the living room of our house on Franklin.

Prom Jr. year, with my parents who were chaperones for the event.

Prom, Senior year, with Barb Wotila, photo taken in our living room at our house on Franklin.

Prom, Senior year, with Barb Wotila.

Class members at Homecoming Game October 14, 2011: I’m with Mike Morelli, Rob White, Barbro Andren, Sue Britt Wright, Bill Wright, Ellen Pankratz White and Trent Dalrymple. Varsity jacket fit…not!

Class of 71ers (Dave Wertz, Doug Byrum) stop by the high school for a photo op in 2008.

Those three years at Andover…Those were the best days of my life (line from Summer of ‘69 by Bryan Adams)

Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters (MAEB Board)

The Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters was established in November 1977 to strengthen, improve and promote educational broadcasting stations in Michigan. I served on the Board as president (1985-92), vice president, secretary and treasurer.

WBFH was a Charter Member of MAEB. The president was Greg Byndrian from Highland Park Schools; the vice president was Jeff Cardinal from Plymouth-Canton Schools; the secretary was David Legg from Novi Schools; the treasurer was Carl V. Jacobson from Spring Arbor College; one board member was H. Greydon Hyde from Central Michigan University; one board member was David Albery from West Bloomfield Schools; one board member was Charles Lampinen from Warren Schools.

As an active MAEB member I:

Attended MAEB meetings usually four times a year at member stations. In the 35 years of membership, I think I missed one meeting. At the meetings, I was responsible for providing an update of WBFH events and news. When I was president, I was responsible for printing an agenda for each meeting and running the meeting.

Helped create an annual event called a Share-a-thon where all member stations met in one place with sessions covering different positions in broadcasting and featuring professional broadcasters on panels giving students a glimpse at a career in broadcasting. Helped acquire guest speakers for Share-a-thon. When hosting Share-a-thon, was responsible for have food and drink catered in for attendees.

Helped create an awards competition where students could submit their work in different categories and have member advisers act as judges and award students either a gold, silver or bronze medal. I acted as judge and was responsible for ordering the medals. Responsible for getting award entries to judges and getting results back before Share-a-thon.

Contributed to the spreading of information regarding educational broadcasters in the state of Michigan. I think this was the best part of MAEB. To hear what others were doing was helpful and being able to share my experiences with others, especially those who were new to educational broadcasting was great. I miss the social aspect of MAEB, sharing stories with cool advisers like Carl Jacobson, David Legg, David Albery, Charlie Lampinen, Greg Byndrian, Bill Keith, Jenny Stanczyk, Ron Wittebols, Jay Korinek, Susan McGraw, and Lara Hrycaj.

Concerts/Shows and Sports Events I’ve Attended

Concerts/shows attended in no particular order: Steve Martin (Pine Knob, Eastern Michigan University Bowen Fieldhouse (10/8/1977), The Whiting, Flint); Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers (Wharton, MSU) 11/4/12; Steve Martin Mull (Steve Martin and Martin Mull) (Royal Oak Music Theater 7/10/1976)

No Doubt (twice in Pontiac, first time at Phoenix Plaza Amphitheater 5/96, second one at Clutch Cargo’s 3/2000 (best concert I ever went to), State Theater 4/02, two times at Palace of Auburn Hills 6/97 (opened for Bush) and 7/09, once at Blossom Music Center (with Blink 182), Cuyahoga Falls, OH, with Adam and Eric, June 12, 2004). They opened for the Rolling Stones at Ford Field 10/2002 but I didn’t go…not a fan of concerts in football stadiums.

Gwen Stefani solo (two times, both at Palace of Auburn Hills w/Adam)

Blink 182 (once with Green Day at Palace, once with No Doubt in Ohio)

Green Day (Palace with Blink 182) 9/11/05

Jethro Tull (Silverdome) 7/25/1976

Elton John (Silverdome) 7/11/1976

Linda Ronstadt (Pine Knob)

Jesus Christ Superstar (Cobo Arena)

School of Rock (Broadway show at DeVos Performance Hall, Grand Rapids)

Simon and Garfunkel (Palace w/Claudia) 10/18/03

Paul McCartney (Palace w/Ryan Fishman) 10/15/05

Billy Joel (Palace w/Claudia) 2/23/90

Joe Jackson (IBS Radio Convention in New York City)

Carrie Underwood (twice, Breslin, MSU and at the Palace 11/25/12)

Bruce Springsteen (Silverdome w/Claudia)

Jeff Foxworthy (Fox Theater, w/Claudia, front row seats!) 1/10/04

Ron White (Fox, w/Ron) 1/22/05

Jerry Seinfeld (Fox) 10/26/02

Weird Al Yankovich (two times, Meadowbrook Music Festival) 8/19/04

Demetri Martin (Meadowbrook w/Adam and Eric, front row!) 8/24/07

Jay Leno (Freedom Hill, w/Tom) 7/25/15

Beach Boys (Pine Knob)

Harlem Globetrotters (Breslin w/boyz) 1/23/15

George Carlin (once at Central Michigan University when I was a student there, once at Michigan Theater 1/27/07)

Steven Wright (Michigan Theater) 10/18/07

Ben Folds (Wharton, MSU, w/boyz 4/6/04 and at Michigan Theater w/Adam 3/18/06)

Soupy Sales (Detroit casino showroom)

Prairie Home Companion live radio show (Fox Theater) 2/27/10

KISS (CMU)

James Taylor (CMU) 5/8/75

Bob Seger (CMU)

Kathleen Madigan (Royal Oak)

Madonna/Beastie Boys (Cobo Arena)

Guess Who w/Joe Cocker (Pine Knob) 8/24/01

Chicago (Pine Knob)

Bruno Mars (Palace)

Weezer (State Theater w/boyz)

Wayne Brady (Las Vegas) 4/20/07

Rita Rudner (Las Vegas) 4/28/06

Alice Cooper (Cobo Arena)

Johnny Ginger/Elvis impersonator (Northville)

Howie Mandel (Pine Knob) 8/1/97

Salute to America/Detroit Symphony Orchestra (Greenfield Village with/Tom) 7/2/15

Shout (Beatles tribute band, Hickory Grove 40th birthday party)

Creed (Pine Knob, Sept. 7, 2000, first rock concert for Adam, age 15 and Eric, age 10)

Ernie the Play (Hockeytown Cafe theater)

2nd City Detroit (Hockeytown Cafe theater…featuring Jackie Purtan) 12/23/06

The Nutcracker (Mercy High School Auditorium) 12/4/11

Kenny Wayne Shepard (Michigan State Fair)

Celebrity Hockey All-Stars vs. Lahser hockey team, March 27, 1973, Lakeland Arena, featuring Gordie Howe, Dick Purtan, Sonny Grandelius. (Dick Purtan signed my ticket…this was in ‘73 before his daughters took my radio classes at Andover)

Movin’ Out (Broadway show at Fisher Theater)

Jersey Boys (Broadway show at Wharton, MSU w/Tom) 10/8/11

Whad‘ya Know live radio show (MSU Auditorium) 10/31/09

1964 The Tribute…Beatles tribute band (Freedom Hill)

Beatlemania (Winter Garden Theater, Broadway show in New York City)

Jeff Tweedy, Ann Arbor Folk Festival (Hill Auditorium w/Eric) 1/25/08

Detroit Symphony Orchestra, 1812 Overture (Orchestra Hall) 3/1/15

Amahl and the Night Visitors (Michigan Opera Theater with family)

Grand Rapids Symphony (Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Edith Blodgett Recital Hall 7/14/18

Central Park Players, Grand Haven Community Center, It’s a Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play, 12/16/18

School of Rock, Broadway Grand Rapids, DeVos Performance Hall, Jan. 9, 2019

West Michigan Symphony, Home for the Holidays, Frauenthal Center, Muskegon, Dec. 14, 2018

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Matthews Performing Arts Center at Cornerstone University) 11/18/17

Tom Chapin (Interlochen)

Flight of the Concords (Fox w/Eric on his birthday) 4/24/09

Rush Limbaugh (Rock Financial Showplace) 5/3/07

Matt Watroba (The Ark) 11/24/06

David Barrett (Green Wood Coffee House) Went to high school with David, played soccer and basketball with him…talked after show.

Eric Clapton (Palace) 6/6/01

The Night 89X Stole Christmas (Cobo Arena) 12/14/06

Vans Warped Tour (Comerica Park parking lot w/Adam) 7/29/06

Relient K (Royal Oak w/Adam)

North American International Auto Show, Charity Night (Cobo Hall) 1/13/06

John Denver, Harry Chapin, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, a rare concert with all four together in the round at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, 10/15/1977. Presented by CKLW, the Big 8, it was a benefit concert for World Hunger with 17,000 people attending.

The Late Show with David Letterman (in Ed Sullivan Theater, New York, TV show w/Ron…photo op with him on the street on his way in to do show!)

Stand up comedians at Catch a Rising Star, Carolines on Broadway and The Improv, all in New York City

Won tickets to Gordon Lightfoot concert at Meadowbrook (7/27/06) by calling in to Pillow Talk host Alan Almond’s radio show…on the way to show, it started raining cats and dogs…we decided not to attend thinking it would not be fun to watch a concert in an open amphitheater in pouring rain. I met Alan Almond a year later when he called us and wanted to use our studios to make a tape. He came in and made his recording and a few months later made a $1000.00 contribution to WBFH. Great guy…and I know what he looks like!

One more story…when I was in college I applied for an usher job at Pine Knob Music Theater (now DTE Energy Theater) and was hired. As an usher, I got to see a bunch of concerts even though I was technically working. I remember seeing acts like Andy Williams and Engelbert Humperdinck four nights in a row…it was painful to watch at times. Anyway, they hired too many people to be ushers so one night I was told to report to the theater office (which was a mobile home in the parking lot) and they let me and a few others go…I was “ushered” out of the office, the only job I was ever fired…not because I did anything wrong…because they hired too many people.

Sports venues and sporting events I’ve attended in no particular order: Tiger Stadium (Tigers 6/15/73, Lions), Cobo Arena (Pistons), Olympia Stadium (Red Wings), Silverdome (Lions, Pistons, Pro Soccer, 1994 FIFA World Cup Soccer), Palace of Auburn Hills (Pistons, Vipers hockey), Ford Field (Lions, high school football), Joe Louis Arena (Red Wings, college hockey tournament), Comerica Park (Tigers).

Kelly/Shorts Stadium (CMU football), Finch Fieldhouse (CMU basketball), Rose Center (CMU basketball).

Spartan Stadium (MSU football), Munn Ice Arena (MSU hockey), Jenison Field House (high school basketball), Breslin Center (MSU basketball, high school basketball)

The Big House (UM football, vs N. Carolina 10/1/66; vs Northwestern 11/12/66;vs Central Michigan w/Eric and Sina), Yost Ice Arena (UM hockey), Crisler Center (UM basketball vs Wisconsin 3/4/67; vs Purdue and Rick Mount; vs Kentucky 12/2/67), Grand Valley State University vs Michigan Tech, Bash at the Big House (football, Nov. 6, 2004, with Adam and Eric); Detroit Lions vs Baltimore Colts Preseason game 8/22/71 in Michigan Stadium.

Lake Michigan Credit Union Ballpark (Whitecaps baseball), Van Andel Arena (Griffins hockey), L.C. Walker Arena (Lumberjacks hockey), O’rena Oakland University (OU college basketball, high school basketball)

Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club (Buick Open, PGA tour event), Oakland Hills Country Club (US Open 1996, PGA Championship 2008, US Amateur 2002), TPC Michigan, Dearborn (Ford Senior Players Championship, Champions Tour Golf)

Greensboro (NC) Grasshoppers (baseball), Traverse City Beach Bums (baseball)

Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Indy 500 1972, 1975, 1977), Michigan International Speedway (MIS) Brooklyn (auto racing)

Detroit Free Press International Marathon (streets of Windsor and Detroit, finish on Belle Isle) See blog devoted to this event that I ran in 1983.

Madison Square Garden, NYC (NCAA basketball tournament) 3/12/05 (in town for radio conference)

Lowell High School: MHSAA State Soccer Championship won by Bloomfield Hills Lahser High School.

Muskegon Lumberjacks (hockey), LC Walker Arena, Muskegon, Jan. 13, 2019

Eric and I at Red Wings game.

With Adam and Sarah at Red Wings game..

First rock concert for my boyz, Adam was 15, Eric was 10…lawn seats at Pine Knob…good place to start them off.

Front row seats…see ROW 1…so close to him we could hear him talking not amplified by speakers. Pretty cool! Only other row 1 seats I ever had was when I took the boyz to see Demetri Martin at Meadowbrook Music Festival in Rochester.

Oldest ticket in my collection is this Lions vs Rams at Briggs Stadium (later named Tiger Stadium) 11/15/59, lower deck seats for $3.27 plus Federal tax of $.23 for a total price of $3.50…really? I was only six years old in 1959 so I don’t know if I went to this game or the ticket was from my dad’s collection.

Oh, the Places I’ve Been

I’ve done a fair amount of travelling in my 67 years of life. I’ve been in 43 of the 50 states…the states I haven’t been in include Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oregon, Hawaii and Maine. I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life and I would say I’ve probably been in almost every county in the state. With apologies to Dr. Seuss, instead of Oh, the places you’ll go…here is oh, the places I’ve been:

Heading to Traverse City in 1909 Model T Ford with George Poy riding shotgun.

International Travel: Foreign Study League trip with my French teacher and six students to France (Thonon-Les-Bains on Lake Geneva), Italy (Rome) and Monaco the summer of 1968, the summer before my sophomore year in high school; Senior Spring Break trip to Nassau Bahamas (1971); Freeport Bahamas, Claudia and I were hired to be chaperones for a large group of Andover senior students (1988); Vancouver BC (twice) once for sightseeing and once for my son Eric’s wedding (2018); Montreal and Quebec, a trip taken when I was a little kid…I’ve seen the photos but I don’t remember the trip; Toronto (twice)…one time for my honeymoon (1978) and second time with my boyz and Claudia to see the Hockey Hall of Fame; Backpacking trip with Adam’s Boy Scout troop on the Bruce Trail in Ontario. One day in Tijuana Mexico during a family trip out west in 1957. Several trips into Windsor, Ontario across the bridge and through the tunnel between Detroit and Windsor.

Colorado Solo Trip (1973-age 20): Heard John Denver’s song Rocky Mountain High and decided I wanted to “come home to a place I’d never been before”. I threw my 10 speed bike on a train in Ann Arbor and took it to Denver. It took two days but I rode my bike to Estes Park and camped in Rocky Mountain National Park. I climbed Flattop Mountain (12362 feet) and got my Rocky Mt. high with a view from the top. I rented a car and drove to Crested Butte where they filmed the movie Snowball Express. Oh, and I bought my first can of Coors.

Colorado (other trips): Hiked up to summit of Long’s Peak (14,259 feet) with friends; Hiked up to Colorado’s tallest mountain, Mt. Elbert (14,439 feet); Tour of Coors beer plant; Water World water park; Durango to Silverton train ride; Pike’s Peak; Rocky Mountain National Park; Estes Park;

Lake Michigan beaches in Ferrysburg, Traverse City, Muskegon. SUNSETS!

S.S. Badger Lake Michigan people and car ferry, Ludington to Manitowoc Wisconsin. Took the ferry with the boyz in the 90’s.

Mackinac Bridge: Walk across the bridge on Labor Day with my brother Tom and my son Eric…five mile walk.

Mackinac Island: Been there at least 5 times, stayed in the Grand Hotel three times, most recently in 2018.

Isle Royale National Park: Went with my family in the 50’s…don’t remember too much because I was a little kid.

Disneyland: Trip with family in late 1957…driving a Chevy Nomad back in the day before interstate expressways.

Walt Disney World: Went with my parents in Spring of 1972, six months after it opened. Took our boys there for a February break trip. Went to Universal Studios in the Orlando area on the same trip.

Toronto: One night honeymoon at the Royal York (1978), a second trip with the boyz going up to the top of the CN Tower and visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame.

New York City: At least five trips there, seeing Ground Zero, NBC Studio Tour, Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Ed Sullivan Theater (Late Night with David Letterman Show), Central Park, Strawberry Fields (John Lennon memorial), Broadway shows Beatlemania and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Matthew Broderick), Catch a Rising Star comedy club, MTV Studios. On one trip, I ran into David Letterman on the street walking into the Ed Sullivan Theater. Had tickets to his show that night…his guest was Bill Cosby.

Indy 500: At least four races, one as early at 1972 (1984, 1994), in seats my Dad got right after WWII. My brother Tom was a HUGE Indy 500 fan and went every year…one year I went with Tom, Adam and Eric…so fun!

Cedar Point and Sea World: Both in Sandusky Ohio area, went several times with Adam, Eric and Eric’s friends.

Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame and Museum: In Cleveland, went with my boyz and one trip with my WBFH students where we stayed overnight and got to broadcast live from their radio studios…so cool!

Niagara Falls, New York (US side); Tahquamenon Falls located near Lake Superior in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Both worth seeing!

Las Vegas: Several trips there, most for conventions, once for pleasure. Stayed at the Mirage, Paris, and Stratosphere.

Seattle: Three times, once for a conference, two to see my son Eric who lived north of Seattle in Bellingham, WA. Went up to the top of the Space Needle, went to Pike Place Market and saw them throw the fish around.

Vancouver, BC, Canada: My son Eric and his wife Cheryl live there. Went to Stanley Park on one trip, also Granville Island, Grouse Mountain.

Washington DC: Walked around, saw the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the spot where Dr. Martin Luther King gave his Dream speech, the National Air and Space Museum, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Smithsonian, US Capitol.

San Antonio: Saw the Alamo, of course, and did the whole Riverwalk experience.

New Orleans: There for a radio conference…did check out the French Quarter.

Atlanta: My son Adam and his wife Sarah live in the Atlanta area. Was there for their wedding. Took CNN Studio Tour, the World of Coca Cola, Georgia Aquarium, Varsity Restaurant, Stone Mountain Park.

Ground Zero, New York City and Flight 93 National Memorial, Shanksville, PA: Every American should see these memorials…very moving!

Gettysburg: Every American should see Gettysburg too. So rich in history. Hard to imagine what happened there.

Mall of America, Bloomington MN: Was in the Twin Cities for a conference, took the family and just had to go see the largest mall in the US. Plus Camp Snoopy, a seven acre amusement park located in the center of the Mall.

Mt. Rushmore: Twice, once on a family trip and the second when Eric, Adam and I drove from Michigan to Bellingham Washington.

Pictured Rocks: Backpack trip with my son Adam’s Boy Scout troop to this park in Upper Peninsula. We did another one in Canada…can’t remember the name of the park.

Tombstone Arizona: Had to see where the Gunfight at the OK Corral took place.

Chicago/Naperville: Attended radio conferences in Chicago when I was in college. Made quite a few trips to North Central College in Naperville for the national high school radio awards…bringing students for an overnight field trip. Fun stuff to see and do there include Navy Pier, Museum of Broadcast Communications (home of the National Radio Hall of Fame), WGN Radio, Tour of Chicago Tribune (thanks to Dan Ellman), Millennium Park, Harry Caray Restaurant, the Magnificent Mile, Chicago pizza, dinner with radio legend John Records Landecker.

Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee: Pretty fun for a family trip.

Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania: Trip with the wifey to Honeymoon Heaven…wasn’t so heavenly.

Mammoth Cave National Park: In central Kentucky, a trip made when I was a little kid…don’t remember too much about it.

Camp Chickagami, a summer camp near Alpena Michigan run by the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. I attended the camp (a 7 day session) a few times and it was fun…maybe not as fun as the movie Meatballs, but fun.

Marquette, Michigan, home of Northern Michigan University where I attended basketball camp in the summer of 1969 with Paul Denzer when we were in high school. In the summer of 1970, I attended the Dave Strack Basketball School at Concordia College in Ann Arbor. Strack was the University of Michigan basketball coach from 1960-68.

Two interesting trips, one Bloomfield Hills to Traverse City and the other Bloomfield Hills to Sault Ste. Marie in the UP. The trip to TC was made in a 1909 Model T Ford with my friend George Poy riding shotgun…see photo in this blog. The other trip we made in a 1912 Model T Ford also with George as navigator. Both trips were made to a motel where the old car club held it’s week long tour of the area. For the second trip, we had to cross the Mackinac Bridge…twice! After the week was over, we drove the cars back to Bloomfield Hills. Fun, fun, fun, til Daddy took the car away.

Trip to Los Angeles with some guys I worked with at the summer day camp at West Hills, summer of 1975. One of the guys (Jeff Waalkes) used to live in the LA area and had friends there we could stay with. Driving our family passenger van, we headed west and, alternating drivers, got to LA and stayed in a house in Pasadena. Someone there had a connection at NBC and we got to tour the NBC Studios and see areas most tourists don’t get to see. I got to sit in Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show desk. I saw Sanford and Son in rehearsal. We went on the set of this new TV show entitled Welcome Back Kotter with comedian Gabe Kaplan. We met some of the Sweathogs, including the guy who played Vinnie Barbarino…John Travolta! He wasn’t famous yet…his star was still rising. Cool, very cool! We then drove up the California coast to San Francisco and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge.

Favorite sports “places” in Michigan in no particular order: Sporting events held in Tiger Stadium (Tigers, Lions), Cobo Arena (Pistons), Olympia Stadium (Red Wings), Silverdome (Lions, Pistons, Pro Soccer), Palace of Auburn Hills (Pistons, Vipers hockey), Ford Field (Lions, High School Football), Joe Louis Arena (Red Wings), Comerica Park (Tigers), Kelly/Shorts Stadium (CMU football), Finch Fieldhouse (CMU basketball), Rose Center (CMU basketball), Spartan Stadium (MSU football), Munn Ice Arena (MSU hockey), Jenison Field House (high school basketball), Breslin Center (MSU basketball, High School basketball) , The Big House (UM football), Yost Ice Arena (UM hockey), Crisler Center (UM basketball), Fifth Third Ballpark (Whitecaps baseball), Van Andel Arena (Griffins hockey), L.C. Walker Arena (Lumberjacks hockey), Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club (Buick Open, PGA tour event), Oakland Hills Country Club (US Open 1996, PGA Championship 2008, US Amateur 2002), TPC Michigan, Dearborn (Ford Senior Players Championship, Champions Tour Golf).

Favorite “places” in Michigan in no particular order: Frankenmuth, Zehnders chicken dinner, Bronners, Mackinac Island, Grand Hotel, The Henry Ford/Greenfield Village, Boblo Island, Boblo boat ride, Fox Theater, HockeyTown Cafe, Greektown restaurants and casino, Dow Gardens, Meijer Gardens, Detroit Zoo, John Ball Zoo, Detroit Auto Show, Autorama, Woodward Dream Cruise, Traverse City, Bowers Harbor Restaurant and Bowers Harbor Vineyards, Mackinac Bridge, Tahquamenon Falls, Red Wings Championship parades, Pistons Championship parades, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Hot Air balloon ride with my brother Tom, 4th of July Fireworks over Detroit river, kayaking/walking/biking at Kensington Metropark, canoeing on Au Sable River, Badger ferry across Lake Michigan, Ferrysburg Lake Michigan beach.

Article about the Foreign Language League six week trip the summer of 1968, the summer before I started high school. My French teacher at West Hills Jr. High, Ms. Schwalm, was the chaperone of the trip and as you can read, the trip got off to a crazy start. We flew into Geneva airport and then went to Thonon, France for the first three weeks. Then we took a train to Rome, Italy which was cool, then to Monaco and finally to Antibes, France on the French Riviera, with a view of the Mediterranean Sea. We took tours to museums, wineries, perfume factories and castles. The article mentions a side trip to Paris but that did not happen. I’m so grateful to my parents for paying for me to go on this study trip…it was a great experience for me! It’s been my only trip across the pond…don’t think I’ll ever go to Europe again.

Mackinac Bridge walk certificate in 1999 with Eric, who was 9 (and sick), and Uncle Tom.

With my friend Tony May in the Colorado Rocky Mountains in the 70’s.

One of the biggest challenges I’ve ever had in my life was climbing to the top of Longs Peak located in Rocky Mountain National Park, elevation 14,255 feet. Tony May was with me when we made this climb in the mid-70’s getting on the trail by 4:30 a.m. to we could get to the summit before noon and head back down before afternoon storms came through. The trail was OK until we got past the tree line and then the trail was marked by painted dots on the rocks which lead you to the top. Awesome view from the top! George Poy bought this marker (really a paperweight) to remember the achievement…thanks George!

With Jimmy Mac (Jim McCormick) rafting through Brown’s Canyon on the Arkansas River near Royal Gorge in mid 70’s…what a rush!

Rafting with the McCormick family on a Arkansas River.

A big part of my life growing up in Bloomfield Hills had to do with my Dad’s old car collection. Once we moved to Franklin and built an old car garage (the carriage house), my Dad was able to collect even more cars. Cars I remember include: 1909 Model T Ford, 1911 Model T Ford, 1912 Model T Ford, 1901 Curved Dash Oldsmobile, 1909 Renault, Maxwell, Cadillac, Buick, 1930 Model A Ford, 1910 Oakland. We were members of several local, state and national old car organizations. The national club was the Veteran Motor Car Club of America, VMCCA. The Great Lakes Region car club offered a one week tour every summer somewhere in the Great Lakes area. We went on those tours every summer starting in 1960 when I was seven years old. Those tours became our family vacations. Pictured here is the plaque from the 1972 Great Lakes Region Tour held in Sault Ste. Marie July 30-August 4. My parents were the directors of this tour and I helped with some of the organization of the week events. I also will note that I drove a Model T Ford from Bloomfield Hills to the Sault for the tour. George Poy was with me. We drove over the Big Mac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula and then to our hotel…crazy! But fun!

Attended this camp with my good friend Paul Denzer the summer before our junior year.

Attended this basketball camp the summer before my senior year. Dave Strack was the University of Michigan basketball coach until 1968 when Johnny Orr took over. Dick Honig and Fred Snowden were assistant basketball coaches at UM. George Pomey was a former UM player, he was on the 1965 team that went to the NCAA final and lost to UCLA 91-80.

Family

Family comes first…feeling blessed that I have a great family!

Bowers Party of Four with our beloved border collie Rosie, at our Deer Ridge home in Milford.

A Christmas 2019 family photo with my daughter-in-law Sarah and Lucy joining us at our condo in Spring Lake.

Photo taken at Eric and Cheryl’s wedding in July, 2018. I told Claudia that she looks beautiful. She said, “I guess you’re not always wrong”.

One of the best days of my life: Adam Charles Bowers born March 29, 1985.

Adam at 3 months…cuter than a bug’s ear!

Adam in a Detroit Tiger uniform…looking sporty!

One of the best days of my life: Eric Andrew Bowers born April 24, 1990.

Hey there, hi there, ho there…it’s Mickey and Eric hanging out

Eric having fun in his playpen!

With Santa…ho ho ho!

With Adam showing off some of the patches he earned in Cub Scouts.

In Adam’s classroom, I’m thinking 1st grade, 1991.

The Bowers Boyz, with Uncle Jim and Uncle Tom.

Bowers Boyz at Indy 500 with UT…Noisy but fun time!

Trip to Washington state with stop at Wall Drug in South Dakota.

With Eric all set in his apartment in Bellingham Washington, time for Adam and I to fly back to our homes. Two sides to this coin…excited for Eric starting a new chapter in his life but we won’t see him as much in person being two time zones away. So happy that Adam could go with us on this trip entitled The Bowers Boyz Go West!

Luna, super kitty, enjoying a catnap on her half pipe until I got in her face with my camera. A feline family member, Luna was born in 2013. In the Fall of 2022, Luna came down with some health issues which we had addressed by our vet and the emergency vet. She finally was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia Virus which lead to her not eating and becoming so weak she could hardly stand. Our vet came to our house and we talked about Luna for an hour. It was mutually agreed by all of us (vet, me, Claudia, Adam and Eric) that our beloved Luna’s time had come to cross the rainbow bridge. The vet came to our house on December 30th and we said goodbye to Luna…so emotional but she left us with many, many fond memories…nine years of memories.

Luna doing some “scratching” on her turntable.

My Dad and Mom…Charles LaVerne Bowers, Charlotte Bertha Bowers. My Dad was born at home on 485 Orchard Lake Rd. in Pontiac Michigan. My Mom was born at home on 623 Pleasant St. in Royal Oak Michigan.

Rare family photo taken by LaZaroff Photography in 1963. Also rare is that we are all dressed up! Front row left to right: me (age 10), Doug Heathman, Mark Heathman, Sherry Heathman. Middle row, left to right: Nancy Wittkopf, Aunt Marilyn Wittkopf, Janet Wittkopf (deceased), Frank Bowers (my grandfather-deceased), Anna Bowers (my grandmother-deceased), Don Heathman, Aunt Verna Heathman (deceased), Sue Bowers, Brian Heathman (deceased). Top row, left to right: Tom Bowers (deceased), Jim Bowers, Uncle Walt Wittkopf (deceased), Charles Bowers (my Dad-deceased), Uncle Gerry Bowers (deceased), Aunt Dorothy Bowers (deceased), Terry Bowers, Uncle Glenn Heathman (deceased), Bob Heathman.

My Aunt Marilyn Wittkopf at her 85th birthday party. She was my Dad’s youngest sister who was born when my Dad was in high school.

My Mom surrounded by the Bowers Boyz for a birthday photo, number 80.

Family group photo on Claudia’s side taken at my niece Kara’s graduation party in 2006. Front row, left to right: Adam, Eric, Kara, Grandma Gladys, Jordan, Cameron. Back row, left to right: Jason, Laura, Pete, Claudia, Mark and Anne.

Bogards, Bogards and more Bogards!

At our niece Kara and Fa’s wedding in Rome, Italy. I was still working and didn’t go but Claudia and Gladys attended with other family.

My grandfather on my Dads side (Bowers) had seven brothers and six sisters…14 kids total! Left to right top row, birth order: Newell (3), Grace (7), Ella (4), Blanche (5), Dorr (1), Frank (my grandfather-6), Verne (8). Middle, front row left to right: Dell (10), Norm (9), Harry (12), Charles (father in chair), Katie (2), Louella (little girl-13), Fern (really little girl-14), Jennie (mother in chair), Glen (11). So my Dad, Charles, was named after his grandfather (man in chair), my great grandfather.

My grandparents on my Dad’s side, Frank and Anna Bowers (though on my Dad’s birth certificate, it read “Annie M. Rose”). My grandmother was 1/2 Chippewa Indian. My grandfather was born in Wixom Michigan.

My grandfather on my Dad’s side, Frank Bowers, was a mailman for 34 years out of the Pontiac post office. This is a rare photo of him delivering mail. He was born in 1893 in Wixom Michigan and died in 1982.

Family gathers for birthday party for my grandfather, Frank Bowers.

My grandmother on my Dad’s side, Anna M. Rose, born 6-7-1894 in Mikado County, 1/2 Chippewa Indian. She attended Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. Her father was Henry Rose who was born in Berlin Germany. Her mother, Mary Wastinarbi, was born in 1868 in Alcona County, MI, a full blooded Chippewa Indian.

My Mom’s side of the family, left to right: My Uncle Leon Tiffany, my Mom (Charlotte), and my Aunt Beverly.

My Mom, my Aunt Beverly and my Uncle Leon at my Mom’s 70th birthday party in 1987.

The Walters family visiting us at Franklin (August, 1968), front row left to right: my cousins Steve, Jim and John. I cut my face out of photo to use some way, not sure why. Top row left to right: Woman in chair unidentified, Aunt Lillian, Doris, Aunt Bev (my Mom’s sister), Uncle Bob, my cousin Cathy and my Mom. Oh, and one extra large watermelon!

Eric’s inlaws…Linda and Brian Walton…and Eric’s wife Cheryl at their home in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia.

Mom and Dad’s grave in Wixom Cemetery, Wixom Michigan.

My Dad was a Captain in WWII…when war ended, he was promoted to Major.

Bowers monument in Wixom Cemetery in Wixom Michigan where a lot of Bowers family members are buried.

Rare photo of my Dad and his brother Jerry, my uncle, when they met up in France.

Captain Bowers with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

My brother Tom’s grave in Wixom Cemetery, Wixom Michigan. He died at age 65.

Back of Tom’s grave.

We had this marker at the cemetery, but the one for Dad disappeared so we took Mom’s marker and put it in our flower bed.

A subdivision was built on the land that was owned by the Bowers family so they named the sub Bowers Hills. It’s located on Pontiac Trail in South Lyon.