Our Love Affair with Magazines, Strippers, etc.

[titzling319]

JustSomeone suggested I throw in a few tales of my personal exploits. Ill bet we all have at least a few to share…Ill tell you some of mine if youll tell me some of yours. The following is just a set-up for several true adventures. As a now-disgraced comedian one said, “I told you that to tell you this.” Patience, my friends.

1971 Saugatuck, Michigan
Memorial Day weekend, 1971, I joined my brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha (Ferris State College), some sisters of Alpha Zi Delta, some brothers of Delta Sigma Phi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Sigma Phi Epsilon in the Village of Saugatuck. A fellow Lambda Chi had announced that all were welcome at his familys big red three story “Cabin”, located on Park St. on the west side of the Kalamazoo River. There were a group of about 150 that took him up on the offer.
I had never heard of Saugatuck before this venture and little did I suspect that I would spend virtually every summer weekend there thru 1979 (including at least two full weeks each summer when laid off for model change at G.M.C. Its fair to say that I had more than my share of good times (and some VERY good times). Saugatuck was and is a resort town, an art colony, a nudist haven as well as being quite friendly to bikers, gays and horny college students. There were bars and restaurants to suit any persuasion. I spent a lot of time at The Crow Bar (a huge mainstream rock joint that was part of the Coral Gables complex).
Only a couple hours after I arrived, 5 or 6 of us took the Chain Ferry across the river to downtown for beverages. At this point, I had no knowledge of the gay community in the area, not that it would have mattered. Walking along Butler St., I saw two guys walking toward us, holding hands. As we got closer, I thought I recognized one of the guys. I stopped and said. “Jack?” Sure enough, It was a high school classmate, Jack E. He was a bit embarrassed but we talked for a few minutes then moved on. All my buddies couldnt wait to grill me on how I knew Jack but they all shut up when I simply said, “We played football together…Jack was All-County!”
I could go on-and-on with Saugatuck stories and I will eventually tell a few and while it might seem like bragging, truth is that for every success, there were probably two or three no-goes (or downright disasters).