Our guest speaker in February was Toni Benson, the local history librarian from the Van Buren District Library in Decatur. The title of her power point presentation was “The Many Faces of Family and Local History Research.” She spoke of the many online websites that were helpful in the pursuit of tracing family roots.

Don Sanborn is from the Schoolcraft Historical Society. He has been president of the Society for 20 years and gave an interesting talk on the history of Schoolcraft and the Dr. Nathan Thomas House, which was used as a stop for runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad. 

Dr. Tom George is a former state senator and an expert on Abraham Lincoln's one and only visit to Kalamazoo in 1856.  Dr. George's very informative and sometimes humorous talk was accompanied by a power point presentation featuring pictures of men who were influential in Michigan's early years of statehood.

Sandra McNary, Chair per-son of the Yard Sale Com-mittee, reported on the results of the yard sale at the July Board Meeting. The sale took in a total of $2,489.00, and after ex-penses were deducted we made a profit of $2,106.56.

We purchased 20 tables, but had to borrow 10 more from the Fire Department due to the incredible amount of donations.  We had several big ticket items donated such as: a Victrola, 78 LP records, sofa and chair, and assorted silver items, (sold to Earl's Jewelry).

The annual yard sale has become one of the historical society's major fund raisers.  Despite the work and July heat, it has turned out to be an enjoyable and rewarding endeavor. 

Many guy type items such as a chain saw and a muzzle load gun were donated. Also, numerous books were donated and sold. Traffic was steady both days. Most of the items left over were given to a Mission Store in South Haven.

The House of David baseball team plays a regular schedule through the summer. Several towns in Southwest Michigan also have their own teams and travel back and forth competing.

Some of the Bangor Cubs players included the Umpire, Coach Scott "Hawkeye" Jackson. The Cub's Manager was Lennie "The Coach" Johnson. Base Coaches were "Sweet Lu" Robertson and Bev "Duck in a Tree" Quakenbush. Other "lady" players on the Cub's team were "Cool" Karla Vassar, and Yvonne "Brown Sugar" Beasley.

A House of David Striker (batter) hits a fly ball over the head of 3rd baseman Dr. Craig“Hermie” Herrmann. Fellow Ballists (players) watch in the background.

Umpire Jackson grabs Cubs ballist Chief of Police Gary "Crime Dog" Baker to discuss an infraction. A twenty-five cent fine was assessed and the game continued.

All players, coaches and the Umpire lined up for introductions at the begin-ning of the game.  At the end of the competition both teams lined up again and shook hands in good sportsmanship.

The turnout for the Annual Meeting was exceptional. Everyone enjoyed walking around the old Elevator. The speaker, the members, the atmosphere and the refreshments were great.

The guest speaker at the Annual Meeting was Steve Rossio, Portage District Library Local Historian. He gave a touching pre-sentation on a Kalamazoo man who gave his life in WWI.

With the old Elevator decked out in Christmas decorations, and the cookies piled high, there was a Holiday spirit present that made the event a very special occasion. Cookie buyers came and went, and before we knew it, the cookies were all gone.