~You ever took swimming lessons as a kid at Thompson Lake at 8 in the morning in June and your lips turned blue because it was so cold. ("Mom, really, I don't need to learn to swim. Really. I can float really well. I won't drown when we go up North to the lake. Really. I don't want to take any more swimming lessons. Really.")
~You know not to call it Howell Lake. There is no such thing as Howell Lake. Any time a newcomer says "Howell Lake" you raise an eyebrow and ask, "Now where is exactly is Howell Lake? Is that in like Tenessee?"
~You've been to Spag's to buy homemade candy or Howell Melon Ice Cream (which is nasty, melon ice cream, pulease).
~You know how to get from Howell to Hell and back.
~You remember when before the new high school was built, the high school was on split sessions. Better yet, you attended high school during this time. ( I did!)
~ You've ever gone to see a free concert on the old courthouse lawn during the summer on a Friday night and snuck in some beverages.
~You know to avoid downtown like the plague during Melon Fest, Ballon Fest and the Festival of Lights.
~You know the Farmer's Market is really lame and overpriced.
~You can sort of find Robert Miles' old KKK farm, now a Neo Nazi survival training camp.
~ You can reassure your friends from other ethnic backgrounds that Howell is not really like that anymore and mean it.
~You can remember when there was nowhere in Howell to buy a decent pair of shoes.
~You remember Dancer's clothing store.
~Anthony's Restaurant. Olive Burger. Need I say more?
~Consumer's. They used to keep the cigs next to the jewelry counter and sold Pepsi products (locally bottled at the Howell Pepsi facility) cheap.
~ You remember the first Wal-Mart we had.
~You can remember high school football games played at Page Field.
~You can remember when the Livingston County Press and the Brighton Argus were two separate, albeit similar, papers.
~Dan's Doughnuts used to be a Tastee Freeze. I had my first taco there with my mom.
~The Howell Theatre used to be a dollar.
~ The sleazy Red Apple Bar used to be a A & W.
~ Kroger's used to be where Big Lots is now.
~The Nugget Restaurant.
Oh. My. God. I am so freaking old. I have lived here far far too long.
Our kids will say, "...Or when there was only 1 high school!"
Also, we will always say McPherson Hospital not... "St. Joes Mercy Livingston Howell Whatever Silly New Name They Came Up With Now".
Posted by: Holly | December 21, 2004 at 08:17 AM
Do you remember the 'Old Howell House' restaurant and gift shop in downtown Howell? Or the Marion House restaurant or the Clock?
Posted by: Patti | December 29, 2004 at 07:14 PM
You know you are from Howell Mi, if you know the oliver burger was called the Highlander, you could get it at Anthony's or the Midget Restaurant. My favorite was getting the highlander, oniorn rings, and a boston cooler. Now don't forget the banana split. Sure do miss those good days gone by.
Posted by: Vi Ashmore | January 29, 2007 at 10:02 PM