Grandpa's Bridge

When Dad was growing up in Sheboygan, Grandpa TerMaat supported the family driving delivery trucks, but later in life he was the bridge tender for the 8th Street drawbridge and this is how his grandkids remember him. The picture above of Grandpa enjoying the view from the bridge with grandson Chris dates from around 1957. 

These two pictures show Chris and I visiting Grandpa at his workplace in 1963. I remember being a little jealous of Chris because he got to help make the bridge go up and down for a boat to pass through. I thought it was an awesome job, sort of like having a superpower.  I get a special thrill anytime I encounter a draw or lift bridge and think of my grandfather. 

The brick building visible in the background of the photo above is the C. Reiss Coal Company building. You can learn more about that company and see some other historical, views of the Sheboygan river and harbor at this page. The bridge is visible in the lower left corner of this aerial shot which looks like it dates from Grandpa's era. 

I don't recall ever hearing stories about mishaps or other incidents at the bridge, though there is one famous drawbridge accident from 1911 that pops up on the Sheboygan history sites, in which a trolley car slid off the open bridge drowning three.  Surely that story would have been passed down from one bridge tender to the next.

Here you can have a look around the modernized bridge as it looks today via Google Street View.

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Gone Fishing

For Father's Day, how about a tribute to TerMaat men fishing? First, above we have a photo of Grandpa TerMaat in Eggebeen's backyard in 1955 with a big catch. You can make up your own fish story to go with this picture as there are no other details available, other than one presumes Aunt Margaret prepared a tasty meal from this!

Next we have some pictures from 1962 where Grandpa takes Richard and Chris fishing. I'm pretty sure Dad was the cameraman, so this was a multi-generational expedition. I wonder if this is where he learned to fish when he was young. 

Eventually Chris will move on to bigger fish, but you can tell he's pretty proud of this little guy here (despite the camera error) and as you can see below, Richard and Chris did pretty well, in a quantity vs. quality kind of way.

These next are from 1963. I assume these are fishing trip preliminaries with Chris and Vernon (or in the second picture Vern and Jim?) collecting grasshoppers and earthworms for bait in Aunt Hattie's yard. Followed by Richard and Chris at a different bridge than above. 

Finally, here are a few pictures of a 1964 trip again with Grandpa TerMaat, Chris, Vern (and cameraman Dad).

For all the Dads, thanks for keeping the dream of landing the whale going!

Chris On The Move

In honor of big brother Chris' Chicago to River Falls bike trip and his 60th birthday, here are some photos of epic bike trips of the past.

1955. Two years old. Not sure where he is or even if he's exploring Valparaiso or Ann Arbor but this is how it all started.

1956. Exploring Ann Arbor. 4 Marshall Court to Division and back.


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1957. More Marshall Court. Okay, not a bike, exactly. More of an aspirational vehicle for Little Chris' dreams of travel adventure. I doubt he got as far in this pedal car as he did on the trike.










Here we have a journey down Hedges Street (now incorporated into the Heidelberg College campus), Tiffin, Ohio in 1958.

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1967. The car had a paint makeover and Chris is cruising the driveway in River Falls, Wisconsin.

1976. Going nowhere fast. A bit of a fallow period for bike pictures. Dig the bell bottoms and lavender shirt though.

Okay this is more like it. Here's one from a bike trip around Minneapolis in 2010. Bon Voyage and Happy Birthday Chris!