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BAY WATCH
SUMMER, 2001
Guide for Forest Bay Stepford Wives
SUMMER, 2001
Proud To Be
An
American
The following was written a number
of years ago by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. His remarkable editorial broadcast was
printed in the U.S. Congressional Record. Perhaps it takes an outsider to
help us have a fuller appreciation of our
country. It definitely makes you proud to
be an American.
This Canadian thinks it is time to
speak up for the Americans as the most
generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth.
Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of
the debris of war by the Americans who
poured in billions of dollars and forgave
other billions in debts. None of these
countries is today paying even the inter-
Yankee Doodle
The term “Yan-kee” started out as
YAN KAAS (Dutch for John Cheese),
a disparaging name for a Hollander.
Later it came to be used as a term for a
Dutch pirate. The Dutch, after coming
to America, applied the term to the
English who lived in Connecticut and
by the time of the Revolution, the British had come to use it to apply to any
Colonist.
In fact, Yankee Doodle was originally a British song of derision sung by
the British soldiers to mock the poorly
clothed Colonists. The Colonial Army
liked the song so much they adopted it,
gave it new lyrics and took it as a
marching song.
I’m a Yankee Poodle Dandy!
Resident News
Congratulations to Julie Gardel who
successfully passed the Certified Public
Accountant examination last November.
With the designation CPA, Julie is licensed to conduct audit examinations,
offer accounting services and represent
clients before the Internal Revenue Service. Julie plans to establish a private
practice out of her home in the near future.
In the October, 1999 issue of The
Bay Watch I reported that Paul Debrincat had begun his studies in medical
school. Paul finished his classes in record
time, graduated and recently took his
medical boards. Dr. Debrincat will begin
his internship this fall at a hospital in Miami, Florida. Parents George and Gerry
are understandably very proud of Paul’s
accomplishments.
est on its remaining debts to the United
States.
When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans
who propped it up, and their award was
to be insulted and swindled on the streets
of Paris . I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it
is the United States that hurries in to
help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman
Policy pumped billions of dollars into
discouraged countries. Now newspapers
BAY WATCH
in those countries are writing about the
decadent, warmongering Americans.
I’d like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the
United States dollar build its own airplane.
Does any other country in the world have a
plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the
Lockheed Tri-Star or the Douglas DC 10?
If so, why don’t they fly them? Why do all
the international lines except Russia fly
American planes?
Why does no other land on earth even
consider putting a man or woman on the
moon? You talk about Japanese technology and you get radios. You talk about
German technology and you get automobiles.
You talk about American technology
and you find men on the moon—not once,
but several times and safely home again.
You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window
for everybody to look at. Even their draftdodgers are not pursued and hounded.
They are here on our streets and most of
them, unless they are breaking Canadian
laws, are getting American dollars from
ma and pa at home to spend here.
When the railways of
France, Germany and India
were breaking down
through age, it was the
Americans who rebuilt
them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New
York Central went broke,
nobody even loaned them
an old caboose. Both are
still broke.
I can na me you 5000
times when the Americans
raced to the help of other
people in trouble. Can you
name me even one time when someone
else raced to the Americans in trouble? I
don’t think there was outside help even
during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone and
I’m one Canadian who is damned tired of
hearing them get kicked around. They will
come out of this thing with their flag high.
And when they do, they are entitled to
thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope
Canada is not one of those. Stand proud
America!
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History of Our Flag
In June, 1813 Maj. George Armistead
commanded Fort McHenry in Baltimore.
Armistead ordered a flag “so large the
British will have no difficulty in seeing it
from a distance” to be made for the fort.
It required 266 yards of red, white and
blue English (ironically) woolen bunting
for the stripes and about 10 yards of
white cotton for the stars, each measuring
26 inches from t ip to tip.
The British sent 16 ships to attack Ft.
McHenry. Francis Scott Key, a Georgetown lawyer and amateur poet, watched
the attack from the British admiral’s flagship, where he was detained by the enemy. Key looked through a telescope
and saw the U.S. flag from eight miles
away.
Key started to write the “The Deference of Ft. McHenry,” which he later
completed at a Baltimore hotel after his
release from the British. He set it to mu sic and called his song “To Anacreon in
Heaven.” Printers changed the title to
“The Star-Spangled Banner.” The flag
remained flying at the fort for another
two years.
Armistead passed this flag on to his
widow who gave it to their daughter,
Georgiana Armistead Appleton who
passed it on to her son, Eben Appleton.
Eben made the flag a permanent gift
to the Smithsonian in Washington and in
1931 Key’s composition officially became our country’s national anthem.
PAGE 6
BAY WATCH
SUMMER, 2001
One, Two, Three
Strikes, You’re
Out at the
Ol’ Ball Game
by Ted Kotsakis
Summer, 2001
A group of Forest Bay residents put together a soft-ball team to compete in the
Waterford Parks and Recreation league.
The Bay Watchers, as they are known,
ended the spring league in dramatic fashion defeating the Spin Doctors 17-14 to
end up in first place in the Waterford CoEd Upper Division. Both teams came to
the final game with identical 6 and 3 records. Our Bay Watchers started the season slowly with a 2 and 2 record. However, they greatly improved as they won 5
of the next 6 games.
The team was organized by Noelle Kotsakis. Noelle’s two sisters and her mother have been involved in Brighton softball for 30 years and Noelle’s mother has
a Brighton baseball diamond named after her.
The Bay Watchers are composed of the following residents: Brian and Jose Archer, Mike and Cyndie Bloor, Kevin
and Kathleen Hurt, Ted and Noelle Kotsakis, Tom and Tricia Valentine, Denny Miller, Fran Lewis, Denise Remick and,
on injured reserve list, Tom LeVergne.
The Bay Watchers will be competing in the playoffs on July 11 at Herrington Park just north of Cooley Lake Road on
Lochaven. Game time has not yet been set. If you want to cheer the Bay watchers to victory, call Brian Archer for details.
Cass Lake
Goose Round-Up
The Save Our Lake Association
(SOLA) of Cass Lake conducted its
annual goose round-up in June and a
number of Forest Bay residents volunteered. The geese were herded into
caged pens located around the lake on
the shoreline. Volunteers used their
boats to coax the birds into the pens.
Since they are molting this time of
year, geese cannot fly to make an escape. The DNR removes the captured
geese from their temporary captivity
and transports them to a wildlife refuge in Iowa. All geese captured with
scientific marking tags are released
back into the wild where they were
captured.
SOLA explains the round-up is
critical in reducing the amount of contaminates in Cass Lake. “Geese are
the primary source of the E-Coli that
closes beaches,” claims Art Stephens
of SOLA. Art requests that you not
feed the geese. It’s a fowl thing to do
causing dependency and the spread of
disease.
The Save Our Lake Association
publishes a periodic newsletter and
conducts tests on Cass Lake water
quality. If you are interested in becoming a member, telephone John
Broadwell at 248-682-5249, Annual
dues are $25.
President’s Letter
Summer has finally arrived and
many projects have been under way
throughout the season in an effort to
improve the overall appearance of the
Forest Bay common areas. At the
front entrance, we removed most of
the original shrubs and replaced them
with more colorful plantings. The
islands and other common areas have
Forest Bay Condominium Association
Oakland Sheriffs Sponsor Benefit on Cass Lake
For 15 years the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department has sponsored its annual Fishing Derby Benefit for
the mentally and physically handicapped. Over 600 impaired individuals will enjoy this year’s activities, which
include, boat rides on Cass Lake, fishing activities, a
picnic lunch at Dodge Park, competitive events, prizes
and free hats and T-shirts.
Arnold Collens and his family, donate their time and
boat to this notable charity and encourage other Forest
Bay residents to do the same. Beneficiaries enjoy a
memorable day that would otherwise be unavailable to
them without the generosity of so many Cass Lake area
people. Smiles abound and will account for the reward
you will receive as a result of your largesse.
The benefit, to be held Wednesday, August 8th , requires the work of countless volunteers and financial
donations of many benefactors. All contributions are
tax deductible. To volunteer your seaman skills and
boat or to make a financial donation, please telephone
Laurie at (248) 858-4998.
Arnold Collens chauffeurs guests during OCSD Fishing Derby.
Forest Bay Hosts Annual Freedom Parade
been trimmed, weeded and mulched
to improve their appearance. We also
laid down new sand in the marina
area. I would like to thank all of my
dedicated neighbors who took the
time to assist in both the spring
clean-up and the flower planting at
the front entrance. Your time and energy make our community a more
beautiful place for us all.
I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable summer and look forward to seeing many of you throughout the season.
Fourth Annual Independence Day Parade Begins at the Marina
Forest Bay residents celebrated our country’s 225
birthday with its fourth annual Independence Day parade on July 4th. Everyone gathered at the marina to
cooperatively decorate their golf carts, bicycles, scooters
and hot wheels . We even had patriotically dressed
roller-bladers this year.
Decorations included red, white and blue balloons,
bunting, crepe paper, streamers, flags, hats and hair ribbons. The Forest Bay children were obviously the central attraction of the parade as they all left the marina at
11:00 am and paraded around Forest Bay Drive to the
delight of many residents.
There were many new faces at this year’s parade as
residents new to Forest Bay enjoyed their first year’s
independence activities. Some residents brought their
pets, also adorned in patriotic fashion.
Ed and Cindy Murray celebrate their wedding anniversary on Independence Day (hmmm, there seems to be
some irony in that). Congratulations!
It was a fitting tribute to our great country and our
individual freedom and liberties.