A favorite summer pastime was swimming at Houghton’s Sunshine Beach (aka, Hoover Beach), directly across U.S. 41 from the Portage Lake Golf Course. Although it was three miles east of Houghton, getting there was no problem, because the village of Houghton ran a daily Beach Bus.

I’d wait for it sitting on Dr. Labine’s wall on College Avenue at Agate St. – at about 1 p.m. any day. Sunshine Beach had big grassy lawns, with a small merry-go-round, swings and a raft to swim out to. It even had change house and a nice snack bar.

Lifeguards like Don Meyers made sure us kids didn’t get too out of line before we finally boarded the bus at 4 p.m. for the ride back to town. Quite near Sunshine Beach was the “private” Onagaming Yacht Club, with a nice “members only” beach and pier with cabanas – and a top-notch public dinner house. We would also occasionally get to swim in other nearby lakes, driven by “Pops” Gaynor, an older teacher at Houghton High, who would pile kids into his big ’56 Buick and head for places like Twin Lakes park, where a two-story diving tower was a daunting challenge for us young boys.

Our family also spent time every summer in Bootjack at “Aunt” Clara Koepel’s cottage. Walking the Bootjack Road a mile to Dreamland’s ice cream stand or to Warala’s old roadside store offered a footloose excursion and sense of freedom that many kids never experience – especially today.

July 4 was a pretty dead time in Houghton, so we’d always pile in the car and head to Grandma and Grandpa O’Rourke’s in Lake Linden, where lots of old fashioned fun festivities were happening, most organized by the volunteer fire department.

Whenever the fire whistle blew, tickets worth a nickel were handed out to kids for use at stores and eateries like Lindell’s or the Spanish Shop. Firecrackers, all illegal then, could usually be bought “under the table.” Of course, a fireworks show always ended the day for us tired kids.

Another fun summer event was the annual Soap Box Derby, held on Ingot Street in Hancock. Boys (usually with very handy fathers) would build a small “gravity” race car and coast down Ingot, competing for a chance to go to the National Championship race in Akron, Ohio. – an honor most kids could only dream of.

A rather special event I recall occurred one summer just before the re-paving of Shelden Avenue through downtown. Since the rock used in the old asphalt pavement had come from early piles of mining waste rock, there was a fair amount of visible copper in the streets around Houghton. (I recall seeing some copper nuggets two-three inches long.)

Some very creative local leaders decided to have a “street mining” contest, where each kid was assigned a parcel of the street, and using a hammer and chisel or screwdriver, we could “mine” any copper we spotted for an hour. They even made up fake mining claims and stock certificates for each parcel. What memorable event for us kids – thanks to some creative town fathers.

Drive-in restaurants were limited to the A&W in Ripley and the TeePee out on U.S. 41 near the golf course. Sister Laurie worked at both. In addition to the Dairy Queen, Broemer’s had a small drive-in ice cream stand just west of the bridge in addition to their popular restaurant on U.S. 41 near Chassell. Two drive-in theaters also popped up in the 50s – the Hiawatha in Chassell, and the Lakes in Lake Linden. Monday night was “Buck Nite” – a buck a carload.

As for summer sports, baseball carried the day in the 50s – for both kids and adults. An organized sandlot little league (no uniforms) with teams from Houghton, Hancock and Dollar Bay, was run by Tech Coach, Omar LaJuenesse. Games were played mornings at Tech’s Hubbell Field and at the Hancock Driving Park. I caught for fledgling young pitchers like Fred Hagen and Jon Fryxell.

Adult baseball included the Twilight League (hardball) and an evening commercial fast-pitch softball league, which included teams like Bosch Beer, Michigan Tech, Carlings, and the Air Force (from Gratiot Lake). Venues included Hubbell Field and even “Slag Stadium” in Ripley, with people often watching games from their parked cars, and the smell of beer always in the air.

But the most exciting baseball was the pick-up games for us kids that went on every night after dinner – usually on the side lawn of Sherman Gym, or on the dirt field between the Courthouse and the old high school. The beauty of these pick-up games was that they provided a rare opportunity for us younger kids to play with the older high-schoolers – if only to make up enough bodies for a game. When the bat was tossed to choose up sides, the pecking order of players was quickly established, with us younger kids usually getting stuck playing right field.

I usually sped to those after-dinner games with a full belly on my nifty two-speed Schwinn – from Weider’s Bike Shop in Hancock. I can still smell the rubber tire scent that filed that very old shop.

My summers were filled with lots of other great memories, and more could certainly be offered here. But I hope this glimpse of some of my boyhood times will trigger some great memories for others and provide a renewed appreciation for the value of the simpler times that framed our lives.

In my next segment I’ll take a similar look back at my Fall and Winter memories of Houghton in the 50’s. Stay tuned.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Roger Smith now resides in California and can be reached at: rdsmith2009@gmail.com.