Oh, Menominee, true world of wonders
Water and forest, sunshine and snow
Stretching three miles on the Green Bay shore
Her southern border, the handsome Menominee River
Wisconsin right over the bridge
1890 logging capitol of the world
The surroundings, lush woodlands
Birches, pine, oaks, maples
Deer, bear, beaver, porcupines, foxes
The very edge of the Great White North
Gateway to the U.P.
All U.P. towns are smallish
Menominee, the fourth largest
Nine thousand, plus or minus a few
German, Scandinavian, Polish, French
Catholics and Protestants, some non-believers too
Friendly, caring, honest, helpful
Menominee people are an outdoor sort
Camping, swimming, ice boating
Sailboat races to Mackinac Island
They say, the best bass fishing in the world
Muskies, whitefish, Northern pike
The first day of hunting season, time to skip school
Our county, the largest deer population in Michigan
At age 16 our dads brought us to Jean Worth’s camp
Summers are the stuff of dreams
Temperatures in the seventies, air so pure it sings
Hot dogs, firecrackers, softball at the circus grounds
The winters, quite opposite, hardy and majestic
Snowstorms with drifts three or four feet high
Icicles stretching from the eaves to the ground
Cross-country skiing, plodding on snowshoes
Days off from school when our county road closed
Boats from Milwaukee tied up in the harbor
Thursdays, bandshell concerts at Marina Park
Only ten cents a ticket, matinees at the Opera House
Roy Rogers, Tom Mix, Laurel and Hardy
Playin at the Dome, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington
Every August, the Hagenbeck Circus
Elephants, slapstick clowns, high-wire beauties
We fed the deer, watched the buffaloes at Henes Park
Snuck into the stock car races at Spies Field
Cheered for the Menominee Maroons
Afterwards, root beers at the A&W drive-in
Our family moved to our house on the river
We built rafts from old logs, rowed our boat through the channel
Caught snakes and fireflies, crayfish, toads
Were frightened by the snapping turtles feeding at dusk
And deadly quicksand at Mr. Shaver’s lagoon
Steve and I played basketball on the snow and ice
The Ideal Dairy, just one mile away
Lemon Flake ice cream, two dips for a nickel
We pulled our wagon to the city dump
Such treasures we brought home, you’d never believe
Menominee was a safe and welcoming place
We children could go wherever we liked
The whole town, within ten minutes on our bikes
We never were scared to go anywhere
A pretty good place for young kids to grow up
[Footnote: For more Menominee poems, see www.funnypoemsmaybe.blogspot.com]
Halcyon days they were!
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