I was a "city kid". I grew up in Lansing, and went to Maplewood and Walter French Jr. High School. And as a youngster growing up, I remember many Sunday visits we made to Kinneyville to visit my aunt, Nettie Van Vlearah, who lived all alone in a little house I can still walk through in my dreams. I recall walks down the main road  of the tiny village to look at the river where my grandfather once had a shingle mill, back when the village was called "Winfield", long before I was born. There was a lady who used to come by while we were there visiting  to get our names, so she would have something to report for the little newspaper community that she wrote for. (In those days before TV or computers, visitors were big news!)

On warm summer evenings,  my Grandmother Ida and Aunt Nettie and I would walk a little way down  the road that went to Eaton Rapids to Jim Ross' store.  Folks from the little community would gather at dusk for the outdoor movies that would be shown on the side of Jim's  store building as soon as it got dark.   People brought their own seats--folding chairs, blankets, etc., and everybody got settled down to watch a free movie! And that was quite a while before drive-in movies happened!

I'll save the stories about china eggs in Aunt Nettie's chicken coop, her prize-winning dahlias, and raiding the raspberry bushes until next time!

What are your growing-up memories associated with Kinneyville?  Or Onondaga or Aurelius?   Send them to Nedra, Ingham Co. website Hostess, and she will post them.   Love to hear from you!

Lynette's Family History Pages  

Back to Main Page        This page was updated March  22, 2000.