Owosso Armory — Local services in Owosso

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Ed wrote to me on the occasion of my father’s birthday. Edward William Juntunen was born on December 19, 1937. He didn’t become Edward William Juntunen Senior, of course, until the birth of Eddie, Edward William Juntunen Junior, his third son. Junior and I have agreed to knock back a shot of Jim Beam and take a picture of it. I have never called him junior before today. It will be our annual custom in honor of our father.

We’ll exchange those pictures. He says he has a bottle of right now. I called him an alkie. I’ll get a shot bottle down at the corner bodega. I’m sure a shot of Jimmy Beam is going to soak me for the better part of a twenty in a Brooklyn drinking establishment.

My word, I was asked to pay ten dollars for a pint of Guinness at the Laughing Buddha Comedy Club. I wonder why I had that kind of money when I was rich. Last time I was in Brooklyn, I drank endlessly. I got a dollar coke from the McDonald’s counter and filled it up three times. I still had a nice time and got to bed early. In New Orleans, I know what the tourists on Bourbon Street are paying for their hurricanes and hand grenades served up in the souvenir glasses made of plastic. I usually sip a tall can of Yuengling from Rouse’s Market on Royal Street, a dollar fifty each. I sip and watch their frolic.

When I was seventeen years old and about to leave for college, Karen and Mark Rivard celebrated their wedding with a reception at the Armory in Owosso. The great castle of a building still stands right on the shore of the Shiawassee River near the Castle of James Oliver Curwood, the famous author.

The men all lined up for a dance with Karen, the bride, who charged us a dollar for a dance. Karen’s mother reminded me that I was invited to the bride’s dance too. Funds had to be raised for the honeymoon somehow. We were given the choice of a chocolate covered cherry or a shot of Jim Beam before the dance. I took the shot. No one was going to card me. The shots already poured waited on the tray.

Mark and Karen were finishing up their graduate degrees at State. As the bride danced with me, she said in my ear. “There’s a lot of drinking at Michigan State, Billy. You have to be careful that the party scene doesn’t pull you down”. I promised her that I would keep my head. Men were waiting in line, so I made my turn brief. Dad met me on the edge of the dance floor. “I saw that. I saw you choose the shot. You took it back like a man”! He slapped me on my back.

I went to sit with Joyce, who wore a beautiful red dress. She didn’t seem to mind that I had taken a shot. She was driving me home in her Mustang Convertible anyways. It was still warm enough to have the top down. We went out for a few dances and people murmured whispers about the prospects for the two of us. She broke our courtship off the weekend I before I reported for classes. Her mother thought it was a good idea.

The sun of Thursday has begun to grow wan. I have to walk down to the bodega and fulfill my part of a ritual. I’ll take it back in a single gulp and...

We went here to the Downtown Owosso farmers market where we go every Saturday morning this time of year. On the lawn of the armory they held a pride event and it was the best day ever. The kids had fun, the music was appropriate, and the love shared among humans was amazing. I'm so glad they allowed this event to happen and that we got to...

I've loved the architecture of this beautiful building for a long time, and I feel that the restorations that were done on it have only served to add to it's beauty! One of my favorite historical...