Letter by Phyllis Carnahan, Sept. 5, 2000, an excerpt from “Remembering Solon: A community and family history of Solon Township.’’ There was little juvenile delinquency because our parents wouldn’t put up with it. We were spanked if we did wrong, and besides that, we all worked.
We all had chores at home, girls having to help with cleaning and cooking, and the boys had their jobs to do, mostly outside work. Also, we worked at real jobs; I worked at the Cedar State Bank and at the Cedar Depot during my school vacations, doing minor clerical work. Most of the girls worked as waitresses at the resort hotels in the summer.
I think I was about 12 when I started at the Nicholas Hotel in Leland. We had potato vacation in the fall when the kids would pick up potatoes at the neighboring farms. Also, we picked cherries in season.
As noted in my talk to the kids at Holy Rosary, Cedar went downhill when the lumber industry left, the railroad left, and most of all, when the school was closed. Now Cedar is way down in population and is mostly a bedroom town for people who work in Traverse City. The ball fields and tennis courts are an attractive addition, but are used most by outsiders than local residents. The water situation continues to be a bid problem and I fear will never be resolved without incorporation and leadership devoted to bringing more pure water to the town.
Evidently, my grandfather, Joseph Sbonek, was a township supervisor. In 1911 he wrote a letter to my father, Joseph J. Sbonek, which seems to indicate he held that position. He writes, “I think that we are going to have a pickling station in Cedar as I have been round with the Agent amongst the farmers to get the acreage. We were out eight days and got over 100 acres subscribed, but had to stop on account of bad roads. The Agent is from Manistee and is a Polish fellow. He will come back again as soon as the roads get better. They want about 150 to 2000 acres if they can and I think they will get it.”
He also said in this letter, “We are going to have Cedar soon incorporated. Gee, that is a fact.”
That was 1911, and this is 2000 and Cedar still is not incorporated and probably never will be.
••• Big Fire at Cedar
Sbonek’s General Store and State Bank Destroyed Fire destroyed the building which housed Sbonek’s general merchandise store and the State Bank at Cedar early Tuesday morning, March 2.
The fire was discovered about 6 o’clock but it had gained such a start in anything from the store. Some furniture and papers were however saved from the bank.
Four residences across the street were in danger also. The front windows of Sbonek’s were cracked by the intense heat. Snow on the roofs kept the flying cinders and sparks from starting more fires.
The cause of the fire is not known but it is thought that it may have been started from the furnace.
Total loss has not been ascertained, but the building being modern in every respect, the loss is undoubtedly very high.
— Leelanau Enterprise, March 4, 1926 •••
Cedar Bank and Store Burned
No water supply, fire unhampered
Electronic Pumps Out of Order, So Crowd Watched Flames Burn Out — Loss $50,000 — Bank to rebuild — Sbonek and Skeba, at 5:40 this morning, with a loss estimated at $50,000.
When discovered the fire was making fast headway and the residents of the village, as well as many who drove in from the surrounding country to be of assistance, were helpless because of lack of water and the fierceness of the flames. The electric pumps which furnished the closest water supply, were out of order, so the crowds were forced to stand idly by and watch the building burn.
The big stock of Sbonek and Skeba was totally destroyed, as were all the bank fixtures. The fire was still smoldering this morning, and it is still too hot to test the bank vaults. E. Billman, Head of the bank, says that the vaults are fireproof and that little chance exists that the contents, including the books and securities, are damaged. The building was a two-story tile structure with the store and the bank on the ground floors and an excellent dance hall on the second. It was built several years ago and was recognized as one of the best buildings in Leelanau County. It will be rebuilt as soon as the debris can be cleared away and the insurance adjusted.
An investigation will be made to determine the cause of the fire. It was generally agreed that it started near the furnace probably from a defective pipe or from spark thrown out by the heating plant.
— Record Eagle, March 2, 1926
