Genesee County Lost Treasures
March 29, 2011 by Cindy Langston · Leave a Comment
I recently took a tour of an old school building in Flint, The Oak School, which was built over a hundred years ago. Vacant for just over a decade, there is talk of restoring it which would be very cool. A few months ago I wrote about another amazing structure, the Jackson Hardy House which had been recently renovated, then burned down. Flint is and always has been rich in beautiful stately architecture. My broker, Adam Abt, recently stumbled upon some beautiful buildings that you may never have known existed. Check out his pictures below.
While browsing the web recently… (ok, eBay), I searched the keywords “Flint Michigan” and found some interesting postcards and photos for sale showing interesting sites and buildings that for one reason or another are no longer here. While researching some of them, I found some pretty cool websites that offered discussions on these landmarks and where possible I linked to those sites containing additional information.
Below are a few.
The Deaf and Dumb School or The School for the Deaf
School of the Deaf History with Flint
I was unable to find any information…
The Oak Grove Sanitarium
Oak Grove Sanatorium History More History
This is my personal favorite. Wow, what a place. Evidently it was located on 60 acres and included bowling greens, “gold links” (whatever they are…golf related, maybe), tennis courts and was described as the, “gem of Flint”. I was wondering where this massive compound could have been. Evidently it was razed to build Flint’s Central High School, later Mott Community College.
Old Flint City Hall –
Circa early 1900’s. I believe this was on the corner of Saginaw St. & Third St.
Old Flint Court House –
Once again, my novice research skills proved useless when trying to locate anything on this cool old building.
YWCA – YWCA Information
Evidently, there have been several YWCA buildings at various locations in downtown Flint. It is a shame that at least one of these isn’t still here.
Old Flint High School
Once again, I got nothing on this one. Zilch, nada, zip.
Bishop Airport
Not exactly a lost treasure since its still there but in a much more modern design. I thought these were cool. One dates to the mid 1950’s and the other is probably a tad earlier.
Opera House
Was located where the Flint Journal now sits.
Spring Into Lawncare Maintenance
March 21, 2011 by Cindy Langston · 2 Comments
Spring is finally here. Sure, we likely have more cold weather facing coming our way, but we can see the light at the end of the freezing cold, snowy, dark tunnel. Hooray! Just as New Year’s Day renews our spirit for the new year, Springtime represents new beginnings and possibilities as we watch nature wake up around us. We feel our own bodies waking up too, as we’re greeted by lighter mornings and the sun washes across our skin. And thank goodness we experience our own rejuvenation because we have a lot of work to do to get our yards and grounds cleaned up to restore the curb appeal of our homes. It may not be time for planting yet, but it is time to think about landscape maintenance - cleaning up your property and prepping it for the gardening and grooming just around the corner. Do you know where to start?
Stay off my lawn! I’ve mentioned before that my husband is THAT guy. lol. The addition of our dog last summer has forced him to relax a little bit in this respect but he’s already hard at work devising a puppy potty plan that wreaks the least havoc on the yard. This time of year though, as the ground unthaws and is soaked and spongey, I agree with him. Those footprints you make in the wet ground will stick and cause damage to the root zones of your lawn. It could take a month or so to repair, so why not make it easy on yourself and avoid it for a few weeks until the ground is all dried out?
Clean up debris. Did I mention we got a new dog? So for us, as the snow melts, debris means doggy doo doo. Get that off the lawn as soon as you can to prevent damage. Throughout the cold season when you weren’t out there paying attention, all kinds of things have blown into your yard, broken off your trees. Sticks, pine cones, and miscellaneous unidentifiable other things.
Then we rake. Regardless of whether or not you have any leaves in your yard, raking will tear away the harmful thatch, and allow water & nutrients to reach the soil. Take the time to do this easy task and watch your grass come alive.
Weeding. This is not the most fun part of spring gardening, but an important one. AND one that you can assign the kids as a chore (or consequence!) You gotta pull those weeds to allow for new growth – not just around your landscaping but in your lawn too. Then over seed the bare spots. (In general over seeding is best done in the fall, but over seeding the bare spots in the spring will restore healthy grass to the areas you just plucked and those damaged by leaves or things left on them too long.
Time to fertilize. After everything is cleaned up and aired out you can fertilize. We are on a maintenance schedule with True Green for that so that it’s done properly, as well as treated for weeds and such. Now your neighbors might not take as much care with their yards and you could still find a scattering of dandelions as debris is blown from the neighbor’s yard into yours. We gave a True Green card to our neighbor and luckily, he got the hint. 
Good luck with that.
Lawn Mower tune up. Soon you will be mowing the grass so get that mower out, sharpen the blades, dust it off, and make sure it’s running properly.
Sweep Up. As soon as that first really warm sunshiney day hits, where I can open all the windows, air the house out, and listen to the wind chimes – I will be outside sweeping and mopping the exterior – Sweep or blow off those decks, porches, patios, driveway & walkways, wipe down the trim around the doors, outside lights, clean all the exterior doors and windows, the mailbox, kids play areas outside… Care for all the hard surfaces you can find and your property will look so good and stand out among your neighbors before your flowers even bloom.
I’m not a landscape or gardening expert – just an enthusiast – and a home owner like you! My husband and I do most of the work outside ourselves because we enjoy it. We love going to Walker Farms for plants & ideas, and we love digging in the dirt. The routine maintenance of mowing, edging, pruning, etc. are therapeutic and gives us a reason to stop “working” and enjoy the outdoors. When it comes to lawn treatment like fertilizing and such, we leave that to the professionals because it’s not fun and we don’t want to screw it up. If you’re a new homeowner, you will soon develop your own routine and landscaping strategies. If you’re a seasoned homeowner, what are you most looking forward to as the ground thaws and frosts disappear?
Where Am I?
March 16, 2011 by Scott Hoyt · 1 Comment
It has to get worse before it gets better!
Hint: They had the best Escargot. The Speakeasy in Flushing. Looks a little different these days. It is in the process of a SERIOUS remodel. When I spoke with the new owner last year he promised one of Michigans Finest and Best Restaurants would be there sooner than later. He showed me the plans for the wine celler and layout of the dining room. The plans to remodel the rest of the plaza and retail and office spaces, then gave us the keys to walk through the units.
Wow, that was a wierd day, walking through what use to be the Speakeasy in an inch or two of water all the tables, chairs, light fixtures, bars still there, the ceiling leaking and falling in, it was really bizarra. There were banners from the tiki bar and tent parties in the back, sound equipment was piled on tables…like the just walked out, locked the doors and never came back. To walk through a place that was always so crowded was the strangest part.
But now great things are happening, the demolition has begun at the restaurant, the old Kessels grocery store and Right Aid have been knocked down, and workers are on site. This will be a great addition to a great town. I am excited to watch the progress of this project over the next year.
The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow. So Take Your Vitamins and Don’t Wallow In Sorrow…
March 15, 2011 by Cindy Langston · Leave a Comment
Someone asked me last night, “What is going on?” She was contemplating all the people around her and in her extended circles who have been struck ill or passed away recently. I bet you have too. Like everything else over the last few years, can we blame THIS on the economy? I think so.
As each year has ended in very recent history, there has been a collective,”Thank goodness that’s over. This year has got to be better.” We could argue better or worse, I suppose, but none have been good, and each new year seems to have its own set of problems. This year’s theme so far seems to be poor health.
Now right at this very moment, the theme is turmoil. You have to keep a written list of all the simultaneous trauma to keep track of it. Personal disasters, natural disasters, man made disasters, political disasters… It really is a lot for people to process.
But back to the theme. In the last few years we have watched the housing market fall apart and the the banks stumble. It was frustrating having to help the banks get back on their feet knowing that they’ve been taking advantage of us for years and would likely continue to do so. After that we watched OTHER PEOPLE suffer. People most immediately affected by the recession were losing their homes and our neighborhoods were getting boarded up. By the end of 2009 we were ALL feeling the strain in our pocket books and becoming experts in couponing and penny pinching. In 2010 we saw many of our favorite small businesses close their doors. The economy may have been coming around by then, and we’d all made some necessary adjustments, but too much damage had been done to the mom and pop establishments and young businesses and they couldn’t recover.
Coming into 2011 it seemed that we were on an upward swing and we were well into putting the pieces back together but all that worrying and suffering has taken a toll on our bodies. Stress is a major contributor to many diseases. People were working multiple jobs to replace the one income they lost. We just didn’t take good care of ourselves and now I believe we’re feeling the affects of it.
Myself – I just spent several weeks dealing with kidney stones. Why? Worry, financial hardship, and the need to stay productive longer each day to work more and take care of more problems found me eating unhealthy, sucking down energy drinks and not drinking water. That’s a very mild example compared to the hardship, suffering, & loss of others, but it is simple enough that you can see how my reaction to our economical crisis contributed to a health problem for me. And how we can make the argument that this recession has made us collectively, physically ill.
So what do we do now? I guess the best thing we can do is try not to let the world’s crises inside of us. We have to care and do what we can to help, but we can’t stress and worry and take the burdens on as our own. We have to move forward toward repair and making things better, not focus on what has been done and we can’t fix.
I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed. I thought about the advice I had given to my friend last night about taking care of herself and realized I was not following my own advice! THEN I thought about Zak Galifinakis SNL monologue and I felt my face relax. Zak in an “Annie” dress is funny enough to cheer me up, but him singing “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow” while lightly touching on some current events put things into perspective for me. I hope it does the same for you.
The Skinny (Salad) at Wize Guys
March 14, 2011 by Cindy Langston · Leave a Comment
Do you ever let yourself get too busy to do things that you want to do purely for enjoyment – JUST for you? I do it all the time. Like I feel guilty doing things that don’t necessarily contribute to my household or my family. I know, that’s something I may want to take up with Therapist. But I know I’m not the only one who says, “Maybe I can squeeze that in later” when it comes to fun stuff. Shannon’s the same way. So we came up with a way to do more fun things without feeling guilty about it – Find a way to associate it with work! Genius, right? And one of the things we’ve both been wanting to do is explore more of the downtown goodness that is popping up all over Flint. So we have decided to take time out of our busy schedules, eat some good food & soak up a little culture – all just for you. :) Big Red says she loves to eat so she’s digging right into the restaurants with Wize Guys Pizza.
“I love seeing the new businesses going in downtown Flint! Especially the restaurants, because Big Red loves to eat!! Well I went to WIZE GUYS PIZZA, INC this week and had the “Skinny Salad”- Here’s how it works…you go up to the counter and first choose the type of lettuce you want, then select your “toppings” such as fresh cut veggies, egg, cheese, cranberries, croutons, and so much more. Then pick a protein if you like – grilled chicken, tuna, ham and many more. Top it off with your favorite dressing, and your last choice to make is whether you want it tossed or chopped. They make it in front of you and serve it to you with some pizza crust type breadsticks! It was SOOOOOOO yummy!
This restaurant opened this past year along with 501 Bar and Grill. Both are owned by Blue Collar Gourmet which also owns the Redwood Lodge and Bubba O’Malley’s. The opening of these two restaurants added about 75 jobs in Flint too! There is Wifi, tons of flat screens TV’s hanging from the ceiling and best of all the view of the beautiful buildings on Saginaw St!
I haven’t been to Wise Guys yet, have you? But I just added the Skinny Salad to my list of things to do in Flint.
It Was All Good at Hood’s; A Sip of Owosso History
March 14, 2011 by Cindy Langston · Leave a Comment
Don’t let the fact that Shannon Jones is a STATE fan reflect negatively upon her ability to help you buy or sell your house. That single flaw aside, she knows her way around Michigan and the properties for sale in it like nobody else. Experience has taken her across the roads but her own curiosity and interest to learn more is what makes her so knowledgeable of the neighborhoods & communities she works. In fact, it was her misguided affection for the color green that helped her uncover a little history in her own back yard.
“So this summer we were doing some landscaping and dug this bottle up much to our surprise. It’s a quart size pop bottle and this is the history I could find on this company.
The Osmers had a soft drink bottling plant in Owosso, which they started in 1906. Paul Hood purchased “Owosso Bottling Works” from the Osmers in 1920 and produced Hood’s soda which had flavors such as “Vess Cola” (not sure what this is) and other flavors of his own. Paul said he remembers bottling the pop in the morning and delivering it by WAGON in the afternoon! The name was changed from Owosso Bottling Works to Hood’s Bottling Works and even had a store called “Hood’s Soda Pop Shoppe”….which closed in the 1980’s.
Even though I saved it because I was drawn to the green bottle (Go STATE) and loved the saying on it “Hood’s It’s Good,” I had fun researching the origin and not only learning a little more about Michigan but having a piece of that history in my hand.”
My own research of Hood’s led me to many nostalgic conversations of the good old days when soda was made with real sugar, how much better the cola tasted in glass bottles, and what a treat it was to drop peanuts in coke & Dr. Pepper to drink. And now I’m wondering if you have any nostalgic soda pop stories or if any historic treasures have turned up in YOUR backyard?
Lenten Appeal For North End Soup Kitchen
March 11, 2011 by Cindy Langston · Leave a Comment
From now until April 10, 2011 The North End Soup Kitchen is making it really easy to help your community. Often we let ourselves get to busy to help. “I’ll check into that later.” Even more commonly, we want to help but don’t know where to begin. Well what’s better than this – NESK is collecting money to provide food to those who need it during Holy Week, beginning April 18th. When we all give what we can, a donation as little as $5 will go a long way toward meeting NESK’s goal of $3500. Five minutes and a couple of clicks beginning right here will get you going in the right direction. =)
Kim Babcock; The Agent of Many Hats. And Shoes.
March 11, 2011 by Cindy Langston · Leave a Comment
Prior to January 2004, Kim Babcock ran a daycare but as her kids got older, she found herself wanting something different. At a friend’s suggestion, she decided to give real estate a try and she has loved her decision to do so, and the opportunity it has allowed her to make a living and spend time with her family.
Meeting new people and the constant challenges of the job is what makes Kim so excited to get to work every day. She is a people person – I can vouch for that. If you go out looking for houses with Kim Babcock you will have fun. But the part about the constant challenges, that’s a very special quality in an agent.
Every single day I learn something new because every single day there is a new situation in this market that creates new challenges. To sell a house today it is not enough to have a knowledge of inventory for sale and how to write up a purchase agreement. You have to access every skill and talent you have to jump through new bank hoops eand comfort your clients in the process. I wear so many hats – Agent, counselor, babysitter, repair man, mechanic – I almost lose track of what my actual job is!
It’s true! She actually was late picking up her kids from school one day to help her (pregnant & crying) buyer get her car started. When Kim asked how she could help, the distraught woman handed her a wrench and instructed her to tap on the engine. Now – seeing Kim in her high heel shoes and fancy duds one might wonder if she even pumps her own gas. But there she was, trouble shooting car trouble and helping her buyer get home.
I asked all the agents for examples of fun or interesting things that happen to them in the field and Kim told me a funny story that is so illustrative of her character.
When foreclosures were coming on the scene in bigger numbers, none of us were familiar with squatters. Shoot, we weren’t even familiar with foreclosures! So when Kim was showing a home to her clients she was surprised to be greeted by a man who yelled at them for not knocking. Startled, Kim guided her buyers out the door and they left. Not at all because she was afraid. But because she felt bad for interrupting the squatter’s nap. Life wasn’t easy for him and he needed to be well rested.
Learning foreclosures was then, though, and Kim says that even though we’re still just calling it a bad market, it has undergone many transitions. Just the fact that everyone is now a foreclosure expert is an interesting observation.
Selling short for no profit or having to actually bring money to the table to sell is a HUGE change from the days when we said, ‘A house is the best investment you can make.’ Where sellers once negotiated to get large sums of money on their sale, they are now ecstatic just to break even. I think it’s slowly getting better though. We at least seem to be headed up and not further down.
The media paints a darker picture than what actually exists. Hard work, creativity, and the best resources are what have kept our little company growing. Do I have to work harder for less pay than I did a few years ago? Sure. But I’m still having fun and making a positive impact on my community. What’s more rewarding than that?
Good point, Kim. Kim is anxious to get you started buying or selling your home. You can reach her at 810.625.6159. She just asks that you make sure your car is running smoothly before you leave and don’t make her late for her daughter’s softball game. =)
Let the Voting Begin!
March 11, 2011 by Cindy Langston · Leave a Comment
It’s that time again to vote for your favorite Genesee County Businesses! Last year all I had on my mind as I reminded everyone to vote ever day was winning. A little competition is fun and motivational. But this year, the BEST OF is a little more thought provoking to me.
Sure, it’s still a fun game, but as we have watched so many of our favorite businesses close their doors or change hands, it is a nice gesture to give a shout out to your favorite places. I still vote for Vic George in the auto sales category. They rolled out the red carpet for me for many years and many Chrysler vehicles. And to be honest, no one has come close to duplicating their service. Another favorite for me is Rite Aid – Belsay Rd. More than most friends & family members, the pharmacists there have been at my side since the day I adopted my kids – through name changes, insurance changes, & medication tweaks – to greet me by name and offer a smile and a kleenex in addition to the great care.
When a business takes care of you like that – the least you can do is vote.
Before I worked for ChangingStreets.com I had a Buyer’s Agent named Adam Abt. I didn’t realize then how high maintenance I was. But BOY was I!? I had worked with other agents before I settled in with Adam. He took all my calls and emails. Researched all the addresses I sent him, and helped me narrow down my search area when I got overwhelmed with the process. He and his company, ChangingStreets.com, made it fun and easy to shop for a house. That is why I voted for ChangingStreets.com as best real estate company.
And don’t forget all the new businesses that have come into town in the last few years! It wasn’t long ago that I remember saying, “I love going to the Whiting for shows. I wish there were some restaurants or something downtown to go to make a complete night on the town.” Now we’ve got places like 501 Bar & Grille, Wise Guys Pizza, and Blackstone’s Pub! So say thanks to your favorite new businesses for investing in us and giving us more good food to eat, more places to workout, more places to get our hair done and more!
Voting this year for me goes beyond bragging rights. It really means “THANKS GENESEE COUNTY BUSINESSES” and we hope you stay around for a long time.
Vote here daily until March 20th midnight!
Green Electronics
March 9, 2011 by Cindy Langston · Leave a Comment
No, this is not a St. Patrick’s Day post, although it was submitted by our very own, very Irish, Shannon Jones. She’s been extra busy lately sharing some really good hints for real estate and beyond. Today she’s telling us how to be green with electronics.
I was doing some spring cleaning and recycling when I came across a bunch of old cell phones that were not in good enough shape to send to the agency that provides cell phones to the troops. I still wanted to get them recycled and disposed of properly. I am a very modern girl who has to breathe into a paper bag at the mere thought of living without modern conveniences, but I also understand the toll that all our technology takes on the planet. It’s important to me to make things as right as I can so I was excited to find out about this “Instant Sale” feature at Ebay.
At the SELL bar at the top on Ebay there is an option for “instant sale.” I typed in the type of electronics I had, gave the condition and answered a few more questions. I was presented with a “buy it now” price, which I accepted, and Ebay emailed me a pre paid postage label for me to print off and send them the items. They looked them over to make sure everything matched up then deposited money into my account. It was awesome! And really easy to use – they kept me informed every step of the way, reminding me to send the items, letting me know when the items were received, when they were reviewed, and when they posted the money to my account. And get this – not only did they pay for the shipping, but there are no Ebay fees or Paypal fees associated with these transactions.
You’re not going to get rich off these items but you can do your part to help the environment and it beats the price your junk drawer was paying!
I love it. Thanks Shannon for the green tip. No wonder ChangingStreets.com was named Genesee County’s “Greenest Company in 2010!”~
Call Us at 810.733.3374 
flint@ChangingStreets.com
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