About 3 weeks ago, I went back to Michigan for my 20 year high school reunion. It was a fantastic but very short trip. I stayed with my buddy Trig Bennett and his wife Amy right outside the town where I grew up. One day we wandered into town. The Main Street of Milford has gone completely upscale with fancy restaurants, bars and salons. When I lived there it was bit more, how do I say it....rustic. I think I liked it better. We all had colective chips on our shoulders because we lived in the boonies and all the other kids had sweet pads in the suburbs like Birmingham or Farmington Hills. But the fact was, that chip was a badge of honor. We baled hay, dammit. And we may have had a lousy football team, but we definately had more fun on the weekends. Anyway, the point of this story is that when I lived in Milford, the weirdest and coolest place in town was called The Shutter Shop. This place sold models, old super 8 movie projectors, cameras, guitars, games, you name it. It was out of another time even when I was 9 years old.
THE SHUTTER SHOP -- MAIN STREET MILFORD, MICHIGAN
The whole place had this dusty film over it and it smelled like the most amazing attic you've ever explored. We used to go in there to buy WW 2 models. The owner of the place used to follow us around to make sure we didn't steal anything. Nobody ever went in there except me and my buddy Mark. The owner was bit of a weird guy, but he owned the Shutter Shop so we cut him slack. Well damned if the Shutter Shop wasn't the last store standing on Main Street. And damned if the guy who owned it -- and seemed a bit old in 1974 -- was still running the place. He didn't follow me around but stayed seated. he didn't remember me. I said to him "I used to buy WW 2 models back in the 70's."
He just looked at me and said ...'you were the one?'
Who knew the guy had a sense of humor. I was glad to see him.
2 comments:
FYI, the owner of the "Shutter Shop," passed away.
http://lynchfuneraldirectors.com/(S(5ri5mveldbxllervz4vpy155))/death_notice.aspx?Operation=preview¬iceid=3717
As far as I can tell, the remains of his store are being sold on ebay via "hobbyshop420"
http://www.ebay.com/usr/hobbyshop420?fol=5f452f4856fc8196322c73c262e6dc3483ef35806d64047327d3229e010fd9da&pwid=hobbyshop420
His name was John Doilber. His wife who used to run the upstairs selling craft supplies was Shirley. She passed maybe 8 or so years before he. After she passed he kept the upstairs permanently closed.
R.I.P Mr. and Mrs. Doilber
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