Growing up I did a lot of farm work, such as help some friends inn Breckeridge out working on their Dairy farm, usually when the neighbor had to go over there to do some electrical work. he was their Grandfather nothing beats the smell of th milking parlor, where all of the milk is stored after the cows are milked, and picked up . I also worked for the neighbor who owned the Blueberry pathes by our house. there i was basically pruning blueberry bushes, that and pulling wild raspberry bushes.

After Highschool I joined the Army as 11B, infantryman, I was stationed at Ft Carson Colorado, with the 4th Infantry Division. spent a year and a half at Ft. Carson, then transfered to Mainz West Germany, with the 8th Infantry Division. There I .saw a lot of Free Europe with EuroRail Pass. some of the sites, Flanders Field, Verdun, Cemetaries at Omaha Beach, Ramgon,Dachau Concetration Camp, and plenty of other sites. After a year and a half, was transferred back to Ft Carson, where I left active Duty, from there I was transfeered to 4/38 FA 8IN Sp, A Battery Saginaw MI as a cannon crew member for 9 years. During that time, I volunteered for Desert Shield/Storm for 8 months where I was on the Arabian Peninsula. In October 1997, i was going to college and missing training meetings, it was not fair to the men every training weekend we were behind the eightball, play figuring it out and catch up, so i did not re-enlist. Unlike most I was not there just to collect a check, I cared.

Numerous jobs after the military, such as Art Van as Customer pickup After that I moved my job search Noth to Mackinac Island. there i started out as day barnman, went to Night Barn. Not real good if you are a people person. Finally made it to tour driver. Driving horses, and giving a narrated tour of the sites of Mackinac Island. i n the beginning when I started out, I was getting questions to questions i could not answer, because the information i had, I did not trust. I did my research and made the tour my own. While doing research I found the stories behind the facts more interesting , than the facts themselves. i decided to write a book about my experience, the stories behind the facts and also about Island. Yes I like to write. The book is called, A Place That I Love . I worked there for 11 years, probably one of the few in in my Generation who can honestly say, they can harness, hookup, and drive a team of horses. For two winters, i drove sleigh for Thunderbay resort in Hillman MI.

ater Mackinac Island Carriage Tours, I had a couple of Seasonal job , these were the two where for the first time getting out of the service, as a Staff Sergeant, E-6. Where I felt I had any sort of responsibility. One was spotter for Heavy Equipment, making sure the boom of the excavator stayed 50 feet away from high voltage wire, was basically running the yard. evewn though I did not need it, always had my hearing protection in, making who ever was aproaching from behind and talk, coming in front so I could keep an eye on everything and talk to the person. Spotter was also the slow and stop person as well i loved it. It made me feel good for the first time. My second job was Fire Lookout in Custer National Forest. Poker Jim Butte Lookout was my Hoffice for the summer of 2015. Map reading was my gift while in the Army, it helped emensly in this job. I did not see them as fires, but as smokes., When i saw smoke , i had to report them, furthest one I reported was 79 miles away in Wyoming, with the help of my boss in the helicopter, from Miles city Dispach, for the Bureau of Land Management, (BLM) I saw the smoke, but also knew that it was off of my map, which covered a five mile radius.

After that summer I had to deal with knee issues. i n that time I published my first book for the first time, having issues with pricing and knees i republished my book. dealing with chronic pain, finally with the help of the VA Hospitol, there I took a couple of classes. Pain Toolbox, and Pain school , that was almost 14 weeks of information on Chronic Pain and how the brain deals with pain. Battlefield accupuncture is my main method for dealing with the chronic knee pain. I am currently at Kroger, where they support my writing and myself. Goal is to have the book supporting me and my writing. i am currently working on another book at this time. This fall I am starting my course work in Masters in Creative Writing with Non Fiction being my focus.

My Dad,  

and 

My Relationship with Him 

My dad grew up in Alpena Michigan, on French Rd, coming from a family of 10. The Siblings were, Aunt Ellonor, Aunt Bonnie, Aunt Deloris, Aunt Gale, and Aunt Shirley. His brothers were Uncle Butch, Uncle Glen, Uncle Ernie, Uncle Ervin, and of course Dad, Garry Kitter Garry.  Grandma and Grandpa Kitter both passed before I really had a chance to know and learn about them.  Dad was a source of knowledge for Grandma and Grandpa.   If you listened to his stories, you could get bits and pieces of informationn, Aunt Shirley if you want to know you could ask.  While he lived in Alpena, boy he could swim, and swim far. he also fished, liked fishing for Pike in the Thunderbay River behind the fairgrounds. Two of his favorite fishing holes was between the two dams on Long Rapids Road, that is where Uncle Butch and Dad would go fishing when we came up to visit most of the time. We would also go out South of town to Squaw Bay. Chumming around with Roger Anderson. Seeing how much trouble they cannot get into.They still are best friends. Even when he was young he had a knack for mechanics. I know of only one accident, he was driving South on US 23, somehow he was in Squaw Bay car filled with water. Roger became Chief of Police for the City of Alpena. Dad became, third shift Job Setter at Plant 2 for Saginaw Steering Gear.

My dad rode into town, on his Harley Davison motorcycle, stopping to see his brother Uncle Ervin, who was working for GM at a local foundry. He was on his way to California. On this stop is where he met my mom.  They got married and lived in Saginaw on Granger for a while working for numerous employers to include Consumers Auto Parts.  His brother would get him into Saginaw Steering Gear across the Saginaw River from his brother.  Uncle Erv’s foudry pourded the housings for the power steering pumps, then they were sent across the river to dads’ plant, where hoses and other parts are put on.  Dad was Job setter, keeping the machines running and the lines going. 

As I was saying for a while they lived on Granger, in Saginaw, later moved to Victor Dr in Shields.  At the time the street was a Dead end, wewere the second house from the end on the right.  There is where my dreams began.  To be able to walk down to the end of the street with the rest of the neighbohood kids to catch the bus. They had to walk to the end of the street every day to catch the bus and get dropped off.  There was a big field behind the house, it was Verbotten(forbidden) to play in said field, I did any ways got yelled when coming back all muddy. The field is now where the Swan Valley Highschool is now located. If we lived there now, we could probably put lawn chairs on the garage roof and watch Friday night Football from our yard. The dreams of walking to the end of the street were dashed when we moved to Hemlock.  I have some vague memories of him tinkering on motors at our residence on Victor Drive. Nothing specific stands out 

The residence in Hemlock is where all my memories lie.  The big dream for me was being picked up by the bus, being picked upand dropped off at the end of the driveway. Later, when in highschool, we had to walk down to the corner to catch the bus. That was fine by me allowing me to unclutter my head before school. From helping my dad pump the brakes on the car or truck while working on the brakelines, riding on the back of the garden tractor.  To add weight so he could clear the neighbor’s driveway of snow, helping every now and then when he was pulling motors from a neighbor’s vehicle.   

The three big projects that I really remember, one was the 1950 Ford pick-up. My dad was the mechanic for the project. He hooked up a chevy motor to a ford transmission, one of a few hick ups along the way.  My Uncle Ernie was the body man. He did all, bodywork including Bondo, fiberglass, and painting.  In the end, that baby was sharp, Firengine  Red and Black running boards.  he worked third shift; we would be on the bus you could see him coming from a mile away, sure enough it was dad.  Those two burned some midnight oil on that project, I am sure of it. 

The boat, the barn was not in existence yet.  The garage, where all his projects took place.  I am not quite sure where he got the boat, but this thing called a boat needed refinishing.  All I know is that sometime while refinishing,of course garage was closed, it was mid spring, he was painting, thank goodness he was inside the boat, the garage filled up with fumes, the furnace kicked on, flames traveling alongside the boat, and the main door blewout, looking like someone had tried backing a car out without opening the door.  That is what it looked like to me when I came home from class later in the evening.  Can not remember if he was kept overnight for observation or not.  I just rember coming home with the garage door bowed out, wondering what the heck had happened, wondering where mom and dad were.  Imagine my surprise when Gary Wade shows up from the Richland Twp Fire Department. what in heck are you doing here, “Doing a report” for what? “For the gargage door” I didn’t know there was a fire. “Oh no, there was more of an explosion” Oh ok I see now.  He was alright, no worse for wear.  Boat was sold all was well. 

The 63 Ford unibody.  Not really a whole lot that needed to be done on it.   I think that he did go through the motor and did a rebuild. Garry Kitter when doing something you do it right the first time.  he would have gone theough the motor.  The paint job was classy. I do remember him having some sort of leak, and he was having problems chasing it down. He did finally find out where the leak was coming from, and it was fixed. He went to a few shows with it as well. 

For four years I was in Active Duty Army, then Reserve and Guard, so I was away a lot, also deployed for Desert Shiel/Storm, he was miffed because I could not tell him where I was going.  I told him to watch the News, if you want to know where I am going.  I don’t think he did. It was classified and I could not tell him. I missed a year’s worth of course work, no regrets do it again in a heartbeat. 

Deer hunting was where the connection was made. When I turned 14, I was deer hunting around the house at my neighbors’ property, and with my cousins out in Marion Springs, dad would go to Alpena to Deer hunt. Mom was hitting more deer with the car than I was seeing in the woods. Very frustrating. Occasionally dad would take me up to Deer camp for the weekend and see some deer in the woods. One year I went up over the weekend, to hunt. I was hunting the powerline at camp. Saw nothing my first day hunting, dad offers to switch spots. I agree dad hunts the powerline and shoots a nice buck off the powerline. That weekend I saw nothing but doe. Another year before the addition was out on the camp, space was at a premium, one night dad put a large oak log in the stove, I think everyone was sweating their butts off that night, windows wide open way too frickin hot. There is hope. 2007 was the year I shot my first deer. it was the same part of the same day that dad shot his deer as well 2010 I shot a ten pointer out of the swamp, it ran off, no blood, dad and Roger found it laying in dads’ field that he hunts the next morning.

2011, I was a lucky Michigan Hunter, for about 18 years of applying for an either-or Elk tag. 18 chances,I finally won the lottery. It was an eight-day hunt, divided into two four-day hunts. I wanted dad and Roger Anderson with me. They came up for the first half of the hunt and saw nothing, considerd myself lucky, because I was wondering to myself how in the heck are we going to haul this animal if I shot one. Was definitely not in a half ton pickup truck. We saw nothing, made a note to self to remind dad to bring his trailer up for the second half of the hunt.

For the second half of the hunt, dad brought the trailor up, with a winch on it. On opening day, of the second half, we saw nothing, some elk with headgear was spotted a mile or so up the road from the Brilely well sites, hunting there in the morning. where we were hunting was an access road to a powerline and an isolated wellsite. Plan was was dad and Roger watch the powerline, we would be hunting the wellsite. We got a call that there were cows and calfs on the powerline, so the decision was made to go check it out. Two cows, two calfs. Iwas asked if I wanted a cow, no we are still hunting bulls, tomorrow if my tag is not filled it will be anything goes. watched them, asked if they knew of any groups hunting cows. Another one of my wishes came true, seeing some elk in the wild, besides the one I killed. We moved dad and Roger stayed put on the powerline. It was not even fifteen minutes, get a call from Roger, cell service is spotty , Roger thought I hung up on him, just ran out of bars. Call back, bull on the powerline. We turned around at the nearest spot on the two track, going what seemed like fifty miles an hour down two track, praying no one was coming from the opposite direction. Disconnected because of lousy phone service again in that area. When we pulled in, up the road there was a fork in the road, he was off to the left. Chambered a round, missed, chambered another round missed, moved to sitting suported and used my sling how it was meant to be used, zoned everything out that was going on around me, third shot hit its mark six inches behind the right shoulder, he walked in the woods, couple minutes later a loud crash could be heard.

After he was cleaned out, pictures taken and loaded on the trailer, we had to find ice and lots of it. It was 58° degrees out no matter where we get it processed we had to cool him down. The ice supply guy was leaving as we wre pulling in. We put 22, 22-pound bags of ice. Dad and Roger took the elk to where we processed our deer at the time, I closed out the Motel room, and headed to Alpena. Mom and dad picked the meat up when it was done,coolers galore, dad and mom picked my shoulder mount up from Oscoda and it was taken to Deer Camp, then took it and the skull to Alpena. Shoulder mount went to the camp where it still is today, the skull went to the DNR Field Office in Alpena, located out by the Alpena Airport off of M-32. The Elk hunt worked out how I wanted it to, my dad and his friend Roger Anderson played a vital role in the hunt. They stayed on the powerline where the two cows and calfs were,little while later the bull comes out. They were active participants, just what I wanted

Fifty-nine years of being with him here is what I picked up. 

Use something, or borrow, put it back where it belongs, or return it to the rightful owner. 

If you did something wrong own up to it. If it was wrong, learn from it and drive on. Try not to do it again.

Make a mess clean up after yourself, don’t leavethe mess for the next person to clean up after you 

Be on time, a lot of times you’re the one saving the day for the party, because everyone else was tied up in traffic, or they are running late

Everybody has the same toolbox, but each person’s tooolbox contains different tools.  I learned this lesson in Highschool, taking auto shop.  tearing apart a four-barrel carburator. I could take it apart but could not remember how the stupid thing went back together.  That was when I realized that I was not a mechanic. Almost nine years later in college is where I found my purpose. It would be writing. 

Don’t throw away all that hard work                                                                                      This is one of my lessons, was the last day of Highschool, I almost did not graduate.  here I was always struggling with all my classwork. spending eight hours on homework every night. No matter how hard I tried the outcome was not reflecting the effort that was being applied for sure.being told by the teachers, i am not applying myself. Becase of this stupid act I almost threw away all my hard work that I did for 12 years. 

Start a project, see it through to the end  

Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.  

When hunting, there is more of Michigan, than there is animal you are shooting at   

There are going to be things that you do not like to do, but sometimes they have to be done anyways. Just do it and get it over with.

Put spare change in some sort of container, after a while it adds up.

The many times helping him with brakes, sitting in the vehicle pumping and holding the brakes, while he was adding brake fluid, stuff like that.There were numerous other projects and family trips. There were also fishing trips. Camping trips was some of the time with Uncle Al and Aunt Ellonor, and Uncle Butch and Aunt Deloris. In the end, I want to think that the relationship I had with my dad was good. The Big trip to Alaska. His favorite answer to me was I do not know, whenever I asked him a question. I hope that I was a good son, I tried. In the end all that we can do is try. With dad you never knew how or what he thought. He did not ever let me know. He was always telling me he did not want to come to deer camp, because he did not want to sit and watch all the other members do the work, I would tell him he earned it. He did not go. He was always saying how he wanted to go to Alpena, let me know when, I will get the time off and we will drive up there. He did not go. He would help me with the leaves and pine needles. He was driving the snapper lawn mower with the trailer, I would pick up the needles and leaves, put them in said trailer and walk down to the ditch. He would back the trailer up. I would empty the trailer and meet him up by the house where we are working. I hated driving that thing, because it was way too small for me, with my knees being shoved into my chin. It didn’t bother me to walk.I often wondered where I stood, but all in all, I think I had a better relationship than I thought I did.

The 4^th of July 

Here we are now in the middle of the season, 4^th of July on Mackinac Island.  I was usually a tour driver; I would usually ask about going in early so I could get ready for the Parade through town.  I was and still a member of American Legion Post # 299 Mackinac Island.  I was usually sent in early, around 4:00 or 5:00.  I usually told the ticket office in the morning and reminded them when I came down from feeding my horses about needing to go in early.  Being a member of a small post is great.  What I like about being a member of a small Legion Post is everybody gets to participate in functions, whether it is posting the Colors at the Grand Hotel, or doing parades, everyone has a chance to participate.  We would take the Colors down in front of the island House along with some Fire Trucks from the Mackinac Island Fire Department (MIFD).   We would make sure we all had ear plugs, the firefighters would get carried away with the horn, because we were leading the fire trucks through town. all the way to the Mackinac Island Public School.  We would roll the Colors up and walk back to the Court House, storing the Colors and the rifles, and then head to the Post Bar, talking amongst ourselves, having a cold beer or two, while the fireworks are going off from a Barge off Windmere Point.            

For the tourists, the day is fun filled, with events scheduled including various fudge shops, tours, and shops to visit. the events are as folllows. The Grand Hotel has a package that includes accomodations,breakfast and dinner daily, including a childrens carnival and other activities. There is a Star Spangled Fourth of july at the Fort. The fort is decked out for the fourth of July, including a 38-gun salute honoring the number of states in the union at the time. Childrens games on the fort parade ground beginning at 1:30, Tea Room and Restraunt is open. There is an Stone Skipping Tournament starting about 10:00 am down at Windemere Point Beach (Located next to the Hotel Iriquois). Then at Dusk we have the fireworks. most view the fireworks from behind the island schoolhouse, just below the Grand Hotel. If you are a little more adventureous, one could go up to Ft Holmes where you could have a possibility to view St Ignace, Mackinaw City, Cheboygan, and of course Mackinac Island which is done off a barge. We are now about 3/6, or ½ way through season. 

Lilac Festival

A Place That I Love

When most people think of Mackinac Island, they probably think of fudge and hoses.  If you are fortunate engough go to Mackinac Island around the end of May, or the first couple of weeks in June you might be lucky enough to catch the Lilacs in bloom.   The floral perfume fragrance smell of the lilac, mixed in wirh the smell of freshly made fudge, and horse manure.  Mackinac Island has around 23 species, and about 400 different varieties thrive on the Island, thanks to growing conditions that suit the lilac perfectly shallow, well-drained soil, with a high pH level from underlying limestone.  Back in the Annex there are Lilac specimens that are 100 years old. Some of the specimens in the collectionthat is on the Island are over 200 years old.  The earliest written documetation of Lilac on Mackinac Island comes from a journal entry Henry David Thoreau kept when he visited the Island in 1861.when Connie Smith, from the Thoreau Society in 2016 on her visit to the Island, was asked if Thoreau had written about Mackinac Island Lilac,  his journal did in fact, include a single mention of them above a line about apple trees. 

The Lilac Festival, you could say, is a celebration of spring, the lilacs and their uniquenes and history to Mackinac Island.  It is a ten-day festival held in June. This is the first and largest event on the island for the season, attracting tourists from all around the country. As an employee for Mackinac Island carriage Tours, I looked forward to driving in the parade, usually the experienced drivers drive in the Parade. My luck , I was always placed behind a Bagpipe band. horses semed to like it more than the driver. I would personally I prefer a Polka band over Bagpipes. Polka music seems to be more upbeat and happy. As I was saying, this is a ten-day event. Here is a list of some of the things going on for the ten days. Family Fun Playground at Windemere Point, Kayaking, snorkeling, paddle boarding Great turtle Kayak Tours, Festival Poster Contest, Coronation of the Lilac Queen, Festival 10K Run and Walk, Smart Gardener Program, lilac Festival Puzzle Contest, Lilac Walking Tour, Nature Tour, Hardwood nature Hike, Movies and Live Music throughout the 10 days (about 1 and a half weeks), culminating with the Lilac Festival parade on Father’s Day. The parade is usually held on Father’s Day, and signifies that we one third of the way through the summer  

Mackinac Island

A Place That I Love 

It is usually this time of the year where my thoughts drift every now and then, to when I was a Tour Driver for Mackinac Island Carriage Tours. Brings back great memories. I always said as a tour driver, that there are four main holidays.  They are Memorial Day weekend. Lilac Festival, Father’s Day Weekend is the Parade. We also have 04^th of July with the Fireworks, and finally we have Labor Day Weekend, concluding with the Bridge Walk.  I will talk about these four holidays and what they meant to me as a person and employee. 

I was usually asked to show up to the Island around the middle of April.  A couple of times there was a late Easter, and would miss it, what was a person to do. It was important to me as a Catholic, it was celebrated more privately with some friends instead of family. Between my arrival in mid to late April to Memorial weekend, my hours were short and pay checks were small. The closer we get to Memorial Weekend gradually the hours pick up. Memorial Weekend, I am personally reminded of those Veterans who were killed in the line of duty, both on the battlefield and in training accidents. The last couple of years deaths caused by training accidents has out paced deaths on the battlefield. What a somber thought.