North 6th Street. Sheboygan. Great location. Home.
In 1973 your Mom and I decided to move to a different house. We wanted a bigger lot and a location that “might” increase in value over time. The northeast side of Sheboygan was a great residential area with lots of old homes. We found a place that was priced right (but it needed work; God, where have I heard that before?). We bought the Clemens house. It got its name from the attorney that had lived there for many years.
The 6th street home was the first residence where our whole family lived together at one time. Grasshopper No.1 and No.5 were born 17 years apart, so the “all together thing” was short lived.
We took a musty old home and remodeled the old, dated kitchen before we moved in. We upgraded a family room, stripped wood, painted, wallpapered and patched every other room in the house, including building a closet in a bedroom.
We entertained 3 high school graduations there and a wedding.
Grasshopper No.5 was born while we lived there.
We cleared the way for one of the longest paved concrete driveways in Sheboygan that ran all the way from the street deep into our property. Our property depth was 212 feet.
We built a large two-car garage that was able to house cars and boats. Then, Grandpa George built a custom backboard fitting the shape of our garage roof and holding a basketball rim and net.
With Grandpa George’s help, we chopped down lots of old apple trees in the back yard and even 2 huge old chestnut trees, that allegedly were planted from chestnuts brought over from the personal garden of a German Czar. We needed room for our driveway and garage.
Every Sunday afternoon, a long, old red cadillac would pull up our driveway. Nana and Grandpa were just out for a ride and thought they’d stop. Every Sunday? They were actually a delight to have around.
Sunday’s were barbeque. I’d use the old Kingsford charcoal, lighter fluid and a match. Whooof! It might singe your eyebrows. I kept trying to keep the fire hot and Grandpa George was convinced it was too hot, so he kept dousing water on it.
I became unemployed on 6th street.
All our children learned to play piano on an old ‘player piano’ from Nana and Grandpa’s house. Too bad the player mechanism had been removed.
And there were animals. Squirrels in the wall. Bats in the fireplace. Gerbils for pets. There was a fox terrier dog named Pepsi that lived with us for 6 months. We decided to part ways with the dog and find him a better home. It was “squirrels, gerbils and bats, oh my”. I couldn’t resist that!
The house was sold in 1985 and it has changed hands several times since. No matter who owns the property, it was “our home”. I’ve got the memories to prove it. I’m sure you do too.
e-Mail me your favorite 6th street memories.
Love,
Dad