More photos

A look back: snapshots of Clinton County cities and villages

A photographic tour of summer’s end – autumn’s beginning
Ryder Cup, Charlevoix, rural Clinton County

By Rhonda Westfall

First day of autumn?

That’s what the calendar says, but sultry sunshine has made the start of a new season seem much more like its predecessor – actually better than that. The weather during the past week has provided more warm, sunny days in a single stretch than any time during the ‘real’ summer.

We say thanks for that.

Those beautiful blue skies created a lovely backdrop for some road trips that, by chance, happened within the same time period. Whether it was viewing a practice round of Ryder Cup competition at Oakland Hills Country Club, playing in the sand on the shore of Lake Michigan in Charlevoix, or traveling through the villages on the west and south side of Clinton County, it’s been a blessing to capture some digital images of a summer that’s winding down – slowly, thankfully.

Let’s begin at the end of the journey – an afternoon ride this past Wednesday with my mom in tow, snapping pictures in Fowler, Westphalia, Eagle and Wacousta. The purpose of the ride was an assignment to take photos for an update to the website of the Clinton County Chamber of Commerce – the side benefit, which was worth more than anything else - was the opportunity it afforded to have mom enjoy some of the scenery she used to see on a much more regular basis than she’s able to today.

For many, many years, visits to Fowler were a weekly routine. My dad would attend church at Most Holy Trinity; he’d always deliver grain to Mathew’s Elevator. A stop at Quality Dairy was also often part of the routine – my mom still does love getting ice cream there.

Many family and personal ties remain in Fowler, which I consider to be one of the finest communities anywhere. Much of my connection was – and still is – with Fowler’s school system. It’s wonderful to visit any of the school buildings and see the tradition of excellence that was exemplified by educators like Steve Spicer being carried forward today by Scott Koenigsknecht, Daymond Grifka, Donna Piggott and many others.

Similar feelings of familiarity exist when my mom and I drove into the nearby village of Westphalia – as always, looking neat and tidy. We swing around the block from the main four corners to take a picture of St. Mary’s – a beautiful structure – and then snap a shot of the water tower.

A drive through the main intersection leads us to Droste Park on the west side of the village, where we pause for a few minutes to soak up the sunshine before retracing our path through downtown. We had hoped to head south on Grange Road, but construction prompted us to double-back east on Price Road for a continuation of our road trip that concluded with stops in Eagle and Wacousta.

There’s something about the drive south on Wright Road through Westphalia and Eagle townships that I’ve always found to be enjoyable. No doubt, it’s the rural landscape that catches my eye.

We cross over the expressway and take a right on Grand River, heading west again toward Eagle. A picture of the Eagle Inn is a must – I’ve never been there, but certainly should stop on a different occasion – as is a snapshot of the Eagle Fairgrounds. I hate to admit it, but I have no knowledge of why a railroad car has such a prominent spot there – I’d like to know.

Again, we retrace our path and head back east on Grand River – this time making a pitstop at the McDonald’s at the expressway exit where mom gets a strawberry sundae. Continuing on Grand River, we turn north onto Wacousta Road where we stop at the Wacousta Cemetery – maybe not the first choice of most people who want to eat a treat in the shade, but it works just fine for us. This is one of the prettiest cemeteries in the county, I think, with its rolling hills and driveways.

We resume our drive and pause to take a photo of the Wacousta General Store, certainly a landmark in this part of the county. Then, we turn east onto Herbison Road, stopping again to take one last picture – of the lovely Looking Glass River. Sunlight and blue skies reflected on the water, surrounded by the lush greenery on the river’s banks – a great way to end this particular photo shoot week.

Two days prior to the county road trip, I made a ‘quickie’ visit to the home of the Charlevoix grandchildren where the services of Grandma Rhonda were required to watch – or, more accurately, be entertained by – Ella and Jack. A trip to the beach was perhaps the best of the whole summer – Lake Michigan was warm, the sun was shining brightly and a gentle breeze blew along the shore.

Jack was determined NOT to wear his sunhat, while Ella had fun filling, dumping and refilling her pail of sand.

The digital photo journey began last Thursday with what may very well be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a Ryder Cup competition. Since it was the final practice round and opening ceremonies were set to begin at 4 p.m., all players were off the course by 1:30 – we weren’t able to actually view much golf.

We did manage to catch every European foursome, but saw very little of the American players – always on the wrong part of the course at the wrong time, it seemed. It was interesting watching the best golfers on two continents hone their already fine skills by practicing shot after shot from a bunker – landing each and every ball within inches of the pin.

We were duly impressed with the amount of time the Euro players spent signing autographs – no fan was left wanting.

Without a doubt the highlight of the day was the opening ceremony. Although we were too far removed from the podium to get good photos – at least with my little digital – just being part of the moment was thrilling.

Like everyone else in the crowd that numbered 40,000, we played the part of spectators to perfection – Brandon especially got into the act with cameras looped around his neck, taking a time-out on a golf stool.

Great golf, great course, great tournament – great end-of-summer day.

* * *

Just a note of thanks to a reader from far, far away who helped out in a search for an eggplant recipe. Readers may recall from a recent Random Notes column that the eggplant crop this year was abundant – too abundant, actually.

Joe Lebrato, a former St. Johns resident who now calls Dubai, United Arab Emirates, his home, came to the eggplant rescue. His email is contained in our letters section. It’s pretty wild to think that a local guy living half-way around the world is an Indy regular reader – but, we’re sure pleased with that fact.

I haven’t tried the recipe yet, Joe, but I do plan to. There were more purple plants in the garden this week – just waiting to be turned into moutabal.

Thanks.