Keith Norwalk

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Keiths dad was the principal at old Flint Northern while I was there in 1936, 37, and 38. Somehow early in that time, Keith and I found out that we shared a mutual interest in fly fishing, he being taught by his father, and I by mine.

The old homestead where Keith had been born and where his father, Otto Norwalk had lived as a boy, was in a farm house up on the hill just south of Beulah, in the hamlet of Benzonia.

One spring day in May of 1938 before we graduated from Northern, Keith invited me to be his guest at his folks home there, and we went up late on Friday. That Saturday morningearly in the morningwe fished the Betsie, which runs into Lake Michigan at Frankfurt. We were lucky to catch a couple of nice browns with a fly I hadnt heard of at the time, a Mickey Finn. It acted like a minnow as it skirted across the water of the Betsie. Since salmon were planted in Lake Michigan, in the spring today the big salmon have taken over the little stream.

After fishing and quitting for lunch at the farm, Keith suggested that we should take Ottos Model T and try to get up as far as the village of Empire (36 miles away). While we were at it, maybe we could try to get up on Sleeping Bear Dunes with the car. I was game.

Arriving at Empire which is just a few miles south of the big dunes, we took a trail to the north. After a while, it became very tough to navigate and we proceeded to sink the front end of the Model T deep in the sand. Keith got out with a shovel and started to dig while I tried to move the car with both the front and rear bands in the band box. It wasnt too long before I had stripped the front band and all we had left was the back band. Then I dug for a while and Keith worked on the back band. Finally, we were able to get the wheels out and then had the daunting task of backing up 36 miles to Benzonia. This took us back through Empire with all the dogs in town yelping and astonished townsfolk looking on and laughing at a couple of 18 year old kids.

We made the main road and started down it backwards at the brisk pace of about six or seven miles an hour, the afternoon turning toward night. At some point Keith said to me, as cars passed us and people thought we were crazy, Ive lost my watch. I must have dropped it while we were digging.

About two miles down the main highway, with amazed and laughing motorists, a State Police patrol car appeared and pulled us over. After listening to his ire, we told him what our problem was and that all we had was the rear band. So, with that, he turned on his siren and began to give us an escort for 34 miles. After what seemed like hours later, with dusk settling, we arrived in the town of Beulah. We were greeted by half of the town who had heard about a couple of crazy kids going backwards.

Now ahead lay the challenge. Benzonia is up on the hill and the grade is eight, and its a mile climb. If the band didnt hold, we would slide back into Beulah and Crystal Lake. But, by sheer perseverance and luck we made it, with the trooper sounding his siren and leading us into Otto Norwalks back yard. Here is where the story should end, but it didnt.

About 55 years later at about 10:00 in the evening as Sally and I headed for a good nights sleep, the phone rang. A voice said to me, without any Hello first, Phil, I got my watch back. I recognized Keiths voice coming from Grand Rapids, and I said, What watch? Over the years, I had forgotten about the watch.

Keith went on to say, Dont you remember back in 38, when we dug out Old Betsy above Empire? Then I remembered. Then he said, A couple from Farmington Hills were hiking on that trail and the sun glinted on the watch after all these years. They picked it up and when they turned it over, it showed my name and Flint Northern High School and the date that we had won the Class A Debate title from Benton Harbor. They called Northern, got a clerk in the office, and when they explained their problem, the clerk found a computerized copy of the list of all graduates from Northern. They looked up the Class of 38, found my address, and I have my watch.

I also remember when Keith and I were at the old Flint Junior College, we pulled a prank. At the time we enjoyed every minute of it. One wintry night at his house we made a dummy, hat and all, and we took it downtown to the Flint River and the bridge by Albert Schiapiccases candy store. We got around in the back and put the dummy in the river in such a way that you could see it and it looked like a body caught in the debris. Then we stood on the bridge about 10:00 at night and waited for someone to walk by. Along came an old drunk and we pointed out the body in the river. Thats all he needed. He ran screaming and must have alerted the police and the river squad. We watched as the river boat got into the current and picked up the body (dummy with the hat). Oh, to be young again.