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Page 35 A favorite submission came from Roland "Ted" Likert, Jr. of Detroit. "Late August 1943, as two 14 year old boys, both members of the Downtown YMCA, we rode our bicycles from Detroit to Niagara Falls (thru Canada) arriving late on the third day. Nightly, we stayed at YMCA facilities along the way and encountered very little automobile traffic due to wartime gas rationing. Late the fifth day we rode into Buffalo, placing our bikes in the cavernous vehicle hold of the CITY OF BUFFALO for a dark and stormy overnight return passage to Detroit. "We marveled at the ship's beautiful woodwork, Grand Staircase, and Main Dining Room (although we lacked the money to dine there). The next morning we rode our bikes down the landing ramp at a dock just downriver from the Bob-Lo boats. Indeed the end of a most memorable boyhood adventure." The shortest submission came from Dennis Williams of New Boston. "My parents, Joseph and Margaret Williams, were married in Detroit in 1940. That night they took the D&C to Cleveland to begin their honeymoon. Somehow, two towels found their way into my parent's luggage." Don Lewis of Shelby Twp. wrote, "Boy, did you strike a memory for me regarding all the great boats going up and down the Detroit River. My grandfather had a house right on the river just south of Amherstburg, directly across from the Bob-Lo dock. In fact, when the COLUMBIA or the STE. CLAIRE made the turn, they came close enough we could talk to the people on the boat, if they could hear us over the band playing. "Since the Livingstone Channel was not open yet, all the boats went both ways in front of my Grandfather's place, so I can remember the different sound all the boats made as they "tooted" as they approached each other. He knew all the boats names, including the ore boats. There was a fleet of boats we called "cigar boats" that had rounded sides. "Dad tells the story of a time he and mom took the D&C to Buffalo, and coming back, they expected to pass Amherstburg about 1 a.m. Mom and Dad were out on the deck hoping to see Grandpa, when the captain saw what they were trying to do, he blew the "greeting" whistle, and out came Grandpa in his nightshirt and cap to wave to them." With decks lined with windows and a regular schedule, the S.S. TASHMOO was known unromantically as the "glass hack." However, familiarity made her a big favorite on the river during this period. Mrs. Eleanor Rule of Dearborn remembers, "the TASHMOO was a beautiful boat. I rode it many times, as I lived on Harsens Island during the summer for many years. I would run down to see the boat dock, and let people off going to Tashmoo Park. It was a treat to sit on the upper deck to watch the beautiful lake and feel the breeze. What a treat to dance to a band on the main floor, and get food and snacks." The TASHMOO's sinking was remembered by many people. Kay Shaw of Harrison Township wrote, "My dad, Theodore Kesman, served on the TASHMOO and was with it when it "sank" in 1936. We have a few souvenirs from the TASHMOO, and.. .stories Dad told about his time on the boat. It was where he met my Mom the day before the TASHMOO went down." Charlene Polulak of Sterling Heights called it a "Night to Remember." "That's what my dad would refer to whenever he told the story of "the boat that sank." He was twenty one years old at the time, out for an evening of fun with his girlfriend and his friends from PAL of Hamtramck on the evening of June 18, 1936. "He told about the wonderful music that was played up until everyone was led off the sinking TASHMOO (similar to the band on the TITANIC). The Captain and crew didn't want to cause a panic. Women were taken off first from the second deck. Soon, it became necessary to move people to the third deck. My dad left the ship from there just before it sank. "Dad recalled getting on the back of a coal truck, along with his date and other passengers, near the docks in Amhertsburg. The driver dropped them off where the steamer COLUMBIA picked them up, for the return trip to Detroit. When my Dad arrived back in Hamtramck, the 6 a.m. church bells were ringing. He took his date to her job at a bakery and then returned to his parent's home on Prescott Street. My Grandfather asked my dad, "Where the hell have you been, Kid? Do you realize what time it is?" My dad replied, "The boat sank," an unlikely story that my Grandfather didn't believe.