BlankWow, I was reading our July Scope, the Central Michigan Amateur Radio Club newsletter, when what a wondrous thing I beheld:

Gregg Mulder/WB8LZG 
I thought I would tell you all of a very FB QSO I had the 
day after Field Day. I was busy putting the rig and station 
back together and after a quick check at 10 watts to verify 
a good antenna connection, I gave the dial a spin to check 
on the band conditions. I heard N1IBB calling CQ, and 
decided to give him a buzz. Matt came back to me, with a 
559 in Newton, Mass. near Boston. Here is where it gets 
interesting. Matt is over 60 years old and blind. That 
would normally be quite interesting, but the rest of the 
conversation was fun. Matt had been a student of the 
Michigan School for the Blind (now closed) on Lansing’s 
old north side. My family had relocated here in 1967, and 
my Father ran the A&W root beer stand on Old Grand River 
and Ballard St. in the north end. Working at the root 
beer stand at a young age gave me some very fond memories 
of some of Lansing, Michigan’s best days. In the 
60’s & 70’s the Michigan School for the Blind was a worldrenowned 
training facility for the sightless. In fact, “little 
Stevie Wonder” lived right behind the A&W for a time, and 
was affectionately known to locals as “the blind boy from 
Ballard St.”, was also a student there. As our conversation 
toured through Lansing in our memories, it was quite 
delightful to reminisce about some of our now gone businesses 
that were going strong back then. Companies like 
Knapp’s, Howmet , Motor Wheel, Oldsmobile, Estes Furniture, 
Melling, Lindell, Wards, Grinnell’s, Lansing Electric 
Motor, Wedemeyer’s, Jim’s Tiffany Place, Albert Pick, 
Casa Nova, Ramon’s and of course, the A&W. Just to 
name a few. (Sigh) Lansing was in its “heyday” back then. 
Everyone had a job, and could afford to buy the goods we 
made here. Our economy was in high gear, and the world 
was at our fingertips! This was also when I first became a 
Ham. Happy times for me growing up in the Ol’ north end. 
With great memories of a prosperous time in our city. All 
from answering a CQ from a ham far away. It is a small 
world, and Ham Radio spans those distances to make it 
even smaller. We said our 73’s and wished each other 
well. I smiled to myself in the silent satisfaction of have 
been able to be here to see all the changes. 
Ours is truly a wonderful hobby. It has thrilled and fascinated 
me for over 40 years, and continues to do so every 
time I turn on the radio. Here is to even more excitement 
the next time I turn on the rig. Where will my signals 
take me tomorrow? 
73, Gregg/WB8LZG 
 
Steve, K8SP
Lansing, MI