The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan • Page 16

6B TIMES HERALD, PORT HURON, MICHIGAN SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 199 Michigan News. IFsraDy has iriuiDii'ftoinniKiuiire sta fiw 4 geiraeiraSDOTS I It was 1858 when Joseph and Christine Winglemire moved into By JAMES M. MILLER The Associated Press HOLLY The Winglemire family has been synonymous with furniture and the village for 141 years. i 1 Boots for all rm seasons I. if r.x 'I Vf CE 1 Pk Us! "Apples" Most Varieties NOW AVAILABLE Raspberries Pears Cider Donuts 5697 Harris Road Jeddo, Ml 810-327-6394 -J) i 7 FAMILY BUSINESS: The Winglemire appeared in 1925.

into larger quarters in a former auto service garage across the street. The family kept the original store, which has been used as a warehouse, hamburger shop, fabric shop, book store, bath store and arcade. It now is home to Joseph's Oak Shop, named in honor of the company founder, which sells accessories and collectibles. The house behind the store was built by Don Winglemire's grandparents. Lumber from furniture crates was used to side it, he said, and crate nails were straightened and recycled in the house.

"As a kid, I had crating lumber to play with, to build tree houses and forts with. That was better than the No. 2 lumber you buy today," Don Winglemire said. Maurice Winglemire died in 1943, the year Don graduated from high school, and his widow, Edna, took over operation of the store. 'boats' are workhorses of the waves The Associated Press Furniture store stands in Holly as it She still works there daily.

Don Winglemire was in the Navy during World War II, came home in June 1946 and went into the family business, learning quickly that customers were eager to buy furniture during the postwar boom. "The years right after the war were crazy years you could sell anything you could get your hands on," he said. A fifth generation of Winglemires works in the business: Don Winglemire's son John is general manager and daughter Penny is a buyer and bookkeeper. Another son, Richard, runs the gas station and convenience store next door, and daughter Lynn is a bus driver for the Holly School district. Don Winglemire said several years ago he decided to change the focus of the operation and stop trying to compete directly with the big furniture chains.

Alpena serves the distant ports of Lake Michigan and Superior, making about 70 trips per year. The boat routinely travels to Duluth and Superior, which takes five days, round trip. Mr. Sawyer said, fully loaded and depending on wave conditions, the Alpena cruises at about 14.5 mph. "Unloaded, we can get her up to 16 mph on a good day," he said.

The Alpena can safely travel in waves up to 15 feet. DESPITE ITS SIZE, the Alpena is surprisingly maneuverable. He said if the heelman turns the boat hard right or left, it responds immediately. The boat even reacts to slight adjustments and can make almost invisible changes to its course. However, the boat is not as good at stopping.

Mr. Sawyer said traveling at full speed and fully loaded, the boat needs about a half mile to come to a complete stop. The Alpena's captain, Seth Lock-wood, has been sailing for 36 years and worked his way up through the "hawsepipe" or ranks. Captain Lock-wood said he regards each of the 2 1 members of his crew as family. The "family members" are residents from Alpena and throughout Michigan and the United States.

They work the shipping season from late March to mid-January, after which the Alpena lays up for the winter in Cleveland, its port of registry. There are always crew members.on duty hether the Alpena is in port or The Associated Press FOURTH GENERATION: Don Winglemire, fourth-generation er of Winglemire Furniture, sits on the bed his great-grandfather made in the latter half of the 1800s. "We wanted to go into top-grade furniture," he said. "We're geared' more to a special-order, custom-craft ed line of good quality (furniture)." While the store always has sold dif-' ferent styles of furniture, Dorfi Winglemire said it now sells more traditional and country colonial furi niture. el One of the company's sources Richards Bedding has been doingi; business with the Winglemires sincei the 1930s.

Don Winglemire said many of the" furniture companies he deals with are family operations, and he likes it that; way. "I can get to them; the same way -people can get to me," he said. "You i have a different feeling in those types of companies I can punch the phone and call Richards and ask for, Carl (the owner), and he'll talk to, me." under way, but the captain and first mate are on call 24 hours a day. Three mates and wheelsmen navi gate the boat on three four-hour shifts. The mates are also responsi.

ble for the boat's administrative' responsibilities and for overseeing its maintenance. ni THE ALPENA'S CHIEF engineer? has three assistant engineers alonga with three oilers. The boat hosts the fleet's first and only female engineerA Emily McLaughlin of FernandiniP Beach, Fla. "I lived on the water my whole lifev I love the water. I'm not the kind of person who wants to sit at a desk and-1' do a 9-to-5 job.

I like to fix things travel. This is the best job if you likB'i to travel. I have been around the world," she said. 1 Ms. McLaughlin said while the pay is very lucrative, being away fron1J home, family and friends is by far thd" job's worst part.

vn Like the rest of the crew, Ms. McLaughlin works 60 days in a row and is off for 30 days. When her vacation arrives, the company flies her home. As the only female engineer in the fleet, Ms. McLaughlin said the men on the boat treat her either as their sister or daughter.

"Once I proved I was very capable and I do have the knowledge and abilities, they all sat back and realized I am basically just like them. There is no gender involved, which is how I like to be treated," she said. I 8 JLl said Don Winglemire, head of Winglemire Furniture Co. and great-grandson of the company founder. Like many other furniture makers of the 1800s, Joseph Winglemire also worked for a time as an undertaker and had two matched black horses to pull a hearse.

Don Winglemire said his great-grandfather dropped that business in 1893. Joseph Winglemire's sister Clara had a share in the furniture store and worked in its cabinet shop, caning chairs and upholstering furniture. Customers can see the kind of work that Joseph Winglemire did because a bed he made is set up in an area just off the main showroom of the store. The large headboard, made up of different types of wood, is ornately carved. Don Winglemire said his sister has the other pieces of the bedroom suite a marble-top dresser, commode and wash stand.

They have remained in the family since their great-grandfather made them. Joseph Winglemire probably sold furniture from his home until 1865, when he built a store. The family lived upstairs. Joseph and Christine Winglemire had three sons: John went into the family furniture business, Jake went into the business in Fenton, and Joe ran a grist mill and the company's furniture shop in Holly. The grist mill and Holly shop were phased out early in this century.

John Winglemire's son, Maurice, was Don Winglemire's father. Maurice Winglemire took over after John died in 1926. He came up with the slogan the store still uses: "Let Winglemire's feather your nest with a little down." The logo included a drawing of a nesting bird. The business operated at its original location until 1937, when Maurice Winglemire moved the business Great Lakes By JOHN RISTOW The Associated Press ALPENA Long before the cement carrier Alpena or its namesake city existed, "boats" plied the waters off the shores of Thunder Bay for years. Lafarge cement and the "boats" that deliver it to ports throughout the Great Lakes have long been an important part of the area's economy.

Many people romanticize the Great Lake freighters and the lives of their crew. Third Mate Erik Sawyer of Whitehall said the Alpena was built at Ecorse's Great Lakes Engineering Works in 1942. The "boat" was first called the Leon Fraser and carried iron ore for U.S. Steel. Mr.

Sawyer said, technically, any vessel that can be picked up and put on a ship is called a "boat," but on the Great Lakes sailors call ships like the former Leon Fraser and the Alpena "boats." He said when the Leon Fraser left the dock, it was 640 feet long. The Fraser Shipyard in Superior, bought the boat in 1991 and created the Alpena by cutting the Fraser in half and shortening it by 120 feet so it could haul cement for Inland Lakes Management to ports too small for CAWOOD AUTO has over 120 used cars, trucks, 4x4's, vans, sport utilit ies and a huge selection of new car choices. We will have appraisers on the premises to give you top dollar for your trade-in. If you owe on the trade, No problem. If you are in a lease on your present car, No problem.

We can do business with you. No phone calls please. All you have to do is come in and register for our super sale, go out onto the lot, pick out your car, truck, or van, let us do the rest and go home in your new purchase. town and set up shop, "He was a tailor' built caskets, did whatever it took to make a living," WOLVERINE nuoAcufitifc OPEN 7 DAYS! 8 a.m. tO 5 p.m.

CONVENIENT CARE I'AID ADVKKTISKMENT "We'll have over million worth of credit available for this event, so we are confident we can arrange financing for anyone with a job, even if they've had problems in the past! We have a little bit of everything to offer, and many of these vehicles are still under warranty. Customers can expect a large selection of vehicles and prices, from top-of-the-line luxury cars, M's, mini-vans and sport utilities to basic transportation. All vehicles will be clearly marked, so Just pick your vehicle and pick your payment. This should make shopping for these bargains even easier. This is a bargain hunter's dream.

Pick the cream of the crop from the cars available. These quality cars will be sold at huge savings to the public." Tom Barrett, Cawood Auto Co. Ml You get on a big 'thousand-footer' in a big storm, and you can watch it flex six feet" ERIK SAWYER, third mate on the Alpena the Fraser. Mr. Sawyer said the conversion made the Alpena stronger because it has less bend in its haul.

"She's a stiff boat. You get on a big 'thousand-footer' in a big storm, and you can watch it flex six feet. This boat just takes it. She rides the waves up and back down. She doesn't flex at all," he said.

EVEN AT ITS shortened length, he said, and a width of 67 feet, the Alpena is the largest in Inland Lakes Management's fleet of three working boats. The company also managed the Paul H. Townsend and JAW Igle-hart, and has a large tugboat-barge called Integrity. He said the Alpena weighs 5,633 tons and can carry 2'2 times its own weight up to 14,800 tons of cement. Due to water depths, on most trips it delivers about 12,500 tons.

Because it can carry the most tonnage and is the fleet's fastest boat, the trSST a. Marshall Daniel Souphis, D.O. and Mark Joy, M.D., Board Certified Family Physicians, are pleased to announce the addition ofRiad Hajjar, M.D., Board Certified in Internal Medicine, to their practice located at 4435 24 Avenue. Dr. Hajjar specializes in the care of Adult patients and will allow us to meet the growing needs of our patients.

For an appointment, please call: 810-385-1300 I COMPASSIONATE DOCTORS SCdmpbelL Due to an extremely high sales volume, Cawood Auto in Port Huron is over stocked with choice, High Quality, Premium Used Cars, Trucks and Vans. Many with low miles! With record New Vehicle Sales we no longer have room to park our trade-ins. These vehicles must be sold so prices have been cut to close to wholesale. No reasonable offer will be fzgjfi CENTER IS PORT HURON, MICHIGAN CAWOOD AUTO is going to be the official site of a tremendous super sale. This sale will far out do any sales that any other dealership can offer.

CAWOOD AUTO will have several financial institutions with lenders on the spot to approve deals so you can take immediate delivery of your new purchase. The sale will never be repeated in this area so it is important that you bring your title to your trade-in and be ready to drive home in your new or used car purchase. US I We have extended our sale through October 31st! Up to 60 OFF All specially marked items! Exceptional deals on sconces, outdoor fixtures, dining room fixtures, desk lamps and much No returns on clearance merchandise. if. i.i (u.i wi mp.im,Ii.i.

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