{"id":1626,"date":"2009-09-17T17:54:58","date_gmt":"2009-09-18T00:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/17\/%e2%80%9cthere%e2%80%99s-a-souvenir-for-the-little-girl-from%e2%80%a6-charlevoix%e2%80%9d\/"},"modified":"2009-09-17T18:23:02","modified_gmt":"2009-09-18T01:23:02","slug":"%e2%80%9cthere%e2%80%99s-a-souvenir-for-the-little-girl-from%e2%80%a6-charlevoix%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/17\/%e2%80%9cthere%e2%80%99s-a-souvenir-for-the-little-girl-from%e2%80%a6-charlevoix%e2%80%9d\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a souvenir for the little girl from\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Charlevoix\u00e2\u20ac\u009d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s out for excessive window shopping \u00e2\u20ac\u201c looked at one too many\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Should I stay or should I go?\u00c2\u00a0 I had a rough day at work on Wednesday.\u00c2\u00a0 My entire morning and half the afternoon was spent debating in my head whether I should go down to Comerica Park that night to see my Tigers take on the Royals, and see Ernie Harwell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Thank You speech in person or, should I go home and watch it on TV?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0On one hand, like most Americans, I have bills to pay and my need for frivolous spending on baseball tickets tends to get me in a bit of trouble at times. But on the other hand, Ernie was an old friend who I thought would have enjoyed seeing me there at the park. I had things to do at home, but I would probably end up regretting the fact that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go later on in life.\u00c2\u00a0 How many times do you get the opportunity in life to say Thank You to an old friend? The decision was made, responsibilities aside \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I had to go see Ernie.\u00c2\u00a0 Besides, if you are gong to be out and celebrate, cry, smile and cheer for the voice of many generations – you might as well do it amongst your kind of people – not at home with your cat.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s two for the price of one for the Tigers\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Wednesday night was a beautiful night, 66 degrees at game time 7:05 pm.\u00c2\u00a0 There was a slight breeze and the sun was starting to set on the right field side of the park.\u00c2\u00a0 The Tigers were paying tribute at the park that night to all the local WWII vets as well as Mr. Ernie Harwell.\u00c2\u00a0 Pregame show would have made any red blooded American tear up a little bit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there was a small bugle corp. that played echo taps, the color guard for each branch of our armed forces and then there was the traditional National Anthem \u00e2\u20ac\u201c complete with a WWII B-17 bomber fly over at the finale.\u00c2\u00a0 Sitting in the stands, you knew that it was going to be a perfect night.\u00c2\u00a0 You knew that all was right with the world at that point in time.\u00c2\u00a0 You were sure that the future was bright, and Ernie hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even spoken to the crowd yet.\u00c2\u00a0 Ernie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice had the knack of making you feel comfortable regardless of what you were doing.\u00c2\u00a0 As long as his southern Georgia drawl was coming thru the airwaves, every listener had a common calmness to them as they listened to Ernie replay the game magic that was unfolding in front of him.\u00c2\u00a0 Ernie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice always had a way of making you feel safe regardless of where you were and what you were doing, but today was possibly the last time we would hear the comforting voice of our old friend Ernie publically.<\/p>\n

<\/u>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Tigers are looking for instant runs\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

Ernie and I have never met in person, but in a way, he was like family.\u00c2\u00a0 My childhood was spent listening to Ernie on the radio in my mom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kitchen in the summer while we made cinnamon rolls for Sunday morning breakfast. Or we were getting summer fruits ready to go into the freezer to have later in the winter (Traverse City cherries were a messy and tedious to prepare for freezing but oh so worth it in January).\u00c2\u00a0 Ernie was right there in the kitchen along with me and my mom and numerous other siblings.\u00c2\u00a0 His voice told us the story each night of Trammell, Sweet Sweet Lou, Gibson, Fryman, Fielder and Tettleton.\u00c2\u00a0 My younger sister had a thing for Tettleton\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

My mother and I always thought that my late grandfather looked a lot like Ernie.\u00c2\u00a0 We told him this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 but unlike Ernie, my grandfather was not a talker.\u00c2\u00a0 He would just simply shrug and smile.\u00c2\u00a0 My grandmother on the other hand, would deny there was any resemblance.\u00c2\u00a0 She would adamantly deny the resemblance\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 but in a way, I think she was proud that her husband bore a resemblance to such a genuine, honest and comforting man.\u00c2\u00a0 I liked to hear grandpa talk, it was rare that he did, but when he did it was profound.\u00c2\u00a0 Ernie was the same way. He had his euphemisms that everyone knew.\u00c2\u00a0 He had his catch phrases, his syllable exaggerations that were unmistakably his.\u00c2\u00a0 No one could say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ti-guhs\u00e2\u20ac\u009d quite like Ernie\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He took his cut, now he takes his seat\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/u><\/strong><\/u>
\nI stood there listening to Ernie talk in the middle of the 3rd<\/sup> inning, wiping away tears with the Comerica park patterned napkin I swiped from the concession stand (I was prepared for this), I realized something that I had though of but it hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite hit me till then.\u00c2\u00a0 Ernie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s goodbye speech was not only a goodbye and thank you to us his fans; it was a goodbye to my youth.\u00c2\u00a0 I reflected a bit sitting in the lower front of the 3rd<\/sup> deck (great overhead view) and realized that pretty much everything that I had tangible memories of from my youth were gone.\u00c2\u00a0 Building and places in my home town had changed, friends had changed, family had changed, living arrangements had changed, jobs had changed, traditions had changed and now Ernie Harwell was prompting change as well. \u00c2\u00a0Ernie Harwell had been a constant , reliable source of entertainment thru my youth and now he was officially leaving.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Of course Ernie had been gone from broadcasting since 2002 but in my head I always thought that he would come back, and occasionally he did.\u00c2\u00a0 But this was the curtain call, the last hurrah. And just like my childhood and youth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Wednesday was the final bow.\u00c2\u00a0 Or perhaps this was Ernie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s delicate way of telling me to grow up and deal with it.\u00c2\u00a0 We all get older; some of us do it more gracefully than others\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They are having a confab on the mound\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/u><\/strong><\/u>
\nYou Tiger fans are the greatest fans of them all,” he finished. “Thank you for your support, your loyalty and your love.”<\/em> Ernie said to us on Wednesday night. But we really should have been thanking him.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanking him for the love he showed by coming to the park every day to give us our baseball fix.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanking him for the loyalty of being with one team, our team, for 42 years.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanking him for his love of the game and community that he passed on to everyone who he came in contact with.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanking him for being our audible rock.\u00c2\u00a0 Life may have been tough, things might not have been going according to plan, but Ernie Harwell would be there for you every day during the baseball season at 1:05 or 7:05 to let you in on his view to the game. He was constant, predictable and inviting.<\/font>\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So come on down to the Corner of Michigan and Trumbull\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/u><\/strong><\/u>
\nEarlier this year, Detroit Tigers fans across the world lost one of their most treasured landmarks with the demolition of Tiger Stadium at the Corner of Michigan and Trumbull.\u00c2\u00a0 Being that Ernie coined the term \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Corner at Michigan and Trumbull\u00e2\u20ac\u009d so it seemed dually depressing that now they would both be leaving me.\u00c2\u00a0 At first, I reflected on Ernie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desire to come down to Comerica Park as another form of goodbye.\u00c2\u00a0 I have already said enough goodbyes this year with the final hopes for the preservation of Tiger Stadium being shot down by the corrupt talking heads in Detroit.\u00c2\u00a0 I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand to say goodbye to another part of my past, another part of my future not to be, another memory.\u00c2\u00a0 But unlike Tiger Stadium, it was Ernie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wish to say Thank You to his fans and community, Tiger Stadium didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get that opportunity.\u00c2\u00a0 Ernie wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t saying goodbye, in a way; he was just proving to us that we all would do just fine without him.\u00c2\u00a0 He gave us what we needed when we needed it.\u00c2\u00a0 He taught and demonstrated to us his humanity, his class, dignity and style.\u00c2\u00a0 He made us realize that good people do exist and they do good things\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and good things do happen to good people.\u00c2\u00a0 But Ernie has taught us all he could and now it was our turn to carry on the message.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That ball is loooooooong gone\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/u><\/strong><\/u>
\nErnie isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t gone yet. I think that is why Wednesday night was so special.\u00c2\u00a0 How often have you heard the story of the person who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say something to a loved one, then they were gone and it was too late.\u00c2\u00a0 Ernie wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to let that happen.\u00c2\u00a0 Ernie wanted to come back and tell all his friends one more time that he appreciates us as much as we appreciate and love him.\u00c2\u00a0 Ernie got to say his peace, but on a larger scale, he let us say ours. Ernie gave us a chance to say what we needed to say, to gather as a community of Tigers fans and cheer, weep and above all remember our happy times, remember our childhoods, the happy time, the sad times together as a community.\u00c2\u00a0 This camaraderie was necessary and although we all hate to think what our lives would be like without Ernie.\u00c2\u00a0 We knew that we could make it without him, as long as we Tigers fans stuck together.\u00c2\u00a0 Ernie Harwell gave us our common bond and a source of conversation for years to come.\u00c2\u00a0 As Ernie walked off the field, waving to all of us enthusiastically, the organ at Comerica Park played \u00e2\u20ac\u0153put on a happy face\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.\u00c2\u00a0 Why?\u00c2\u00a0 Because that is what Ernie would have wanted \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a crowd full of happy, appreciative faces.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a souvenir for the little girl from\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6charlevoix\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/u><\/strong><\/u>
\nNo Ernie, you are our souvenir, a souvenir of a city, a souvenir of a state.\u00c2\u00a0 But Ernie was not just a man of Detroit and Michigan, he was a man for all people and he represented the good in humanity.\u00c2\u00a0 With deepest gratitude \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I thank you, for being a friend, companion and role model.\u00c2\u00a0 And as you started off every home opener you broadcast to us masses, I leave you with this:\u00c2\u00a0
\nFor lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.”<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s out for excessive window shopping \u00e2\u20ac\u201c looked at one too many\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Should I stay or should I go?\u00c2\u00a0 I had a rough day at work on Wednesday.\u00c2\u00a0 My entire morning and half the afternoon was spent debating in my head whether I should go down to Comerica Park that night to see my Tigers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":352,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}