Code,999031
Subject,Bernadette Rose
Date,6/9/2007
Interviewer,James Calder
Abstract,"Bernadette Rose describes the importance of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church to the Detroit Shoreway community. She describes the festivals at Mt. Carmel, which were geared toward generating neighborhood unity and raising funds to keep the church open. Rose describes the changes in the neighborhood and believes that the neighborhood is again on the rise. She attributes the decline of the area to gang activity and a lack of family values. "
Tags,"Our Lady of Mount Carmel, neighborhood beautification, neighborhood revitalization, Detroit Shoreway"
Special Notes,
minutes:,
0,Introduction: background in her participation with Mt. Carmel
1,The Parish has changed from being an older crowd to more Italian; the older people either died or have moved away; children of the older generation are moving back
2,"I-90 first hurt the neighborhood, lost friends that had to move away; has helped our neighborhood"
3,I-90 has brought people back to the suburbs; has been beneficial to the neighborhood;
4,Mt. Carmel was an Italian community; everyone knew everyone and everyone was like family
5,The neighborhood has changed; youth more aggressive; noise; a lot of the older people resent it
6,"Back in the day, there was a lot of gang activity; as a child, she was not allowed to go past West 65th Street"
7,"The Day-go Bombers Gang; they wore dress pants, dress shoes and black leather coats and they ruled the corner; The Ghetto Rats"
8,In 1980 there was no more gangs in the neighborhood;
9,Busing was not a real issue or a racial issue; older daughters went to the Cleveland School of the Arts; younger daughter stayed in the
10,Busing was not convenient for her because she had no transportation; it was a breakdown in the parent-participation in the school system.
11,There are a lot of single parents that were raising their kids and there was no transportation so it was better to place them in a school near the home.
12,Parent participation in the Catholic School compared to the Public School was better in the Catholic School
13,"Mt. Carmel is successful because of the effort, time and money that has been invested in the Mt. Carmel School."
14,Mt. Carmel has a good reputation within the community.
15,"If there were not homes for the families and if there was nothing for the community, Mt. Carmel would not survive; there is something there for everyone and every age level and interest"
16,"Pre-school, K-8; they have computer room; they have Italian group, they have the church choir; they have the senior citizens group all at Mt. Carmel"
17,Mt. Carmel has a close-knit relationship with everyone
18,Bingo at Mt. Carmel; she enjoys helping with Bingo at Mt. Carmel
19,She helped at the festival; helped to organize the festival; help with the needy; would have a food drive in the school
20,Everyone in the neighborhood would get involve with helping the needy especially during Thanksgiving and Christmas; people would come from all over
21,The Great cheese giveaway
22,"So many people came to get the cheese; turkey, etc.;"
23,Father Vincent did not like bingo; was considered an unnecessary evil; bingo was important for the school; The Festival is like a big homecoming party
24,The Festival is like a big party and is traditional within the comnmunity;
25,Certain stands in the Festival are traditional; the percession is also tradition; pinning money on the statues;
26,The Italian Sausage and Cheese stand is a favorite; The Raffel off the the cheese and wine is also another favorite
27,Those stands have been there for a number of years for over 26 years; The attendance at the festival has changed
28,See a lot of Hispanics now; mexican food is a big hit along with the Italian food; see a lot of younger people; on Sunday you see the traditional people who have been part of the neighborhood
29,History of the Festival started out as a small parish and Italy; a fund-raiser for the parish
30,The Festival has grown; the parish was founded in 1926; the Festival has been around for over 70 years
31,Father Vincent would celebrate mass with the Italian and it has grown; started to build a church
32,The building of the church and school was done by the community;
33,Mt. Carmel was like an anchor in the neighborhood; community involvement was very important;
34,Detroit Shoreway was started by Father Marino and others in the neighborhood;
35,You could not just depend on the parishners; community involvement was very important to Father Marino; there was a balance between spirituality and community involvement
36,There were different bars in the neighborhood around six or seven; people rallied and was successful in closing those bars;
37,A lot of things opened up in order to make the neighborhood a better neighborhood such as constructing a new street in order for the trucks to go down
38,"Before the 1980s, the neighborhood began to deteriorate; Detroit Shoreway became involve and began to rennovate the neighborhood"
39,"If something does not look inviting, people tend to look down on the neighborhood"
40,Appearance of the neighborhood has a lot to do with who comes into the neighborhood;
41,"Gordon Square Arcade and roller skating in the basement; when they started the rennovations, she and her husband was invoved during the rennovation"
42,Not too many hair-raising stores about the rennovation
43,Never experience any real problems in the neighborhood; she feels safe in the neighborhood;
44,Her daughter has moved back into the neighborhood; if everyone is respectful there is peace in the neighborhood; it is all about how you treat people
45,The bad influences in any neighborhood will not affect your children as long as you bring them up in the right way
46,It all depends in the way you raise your family; important for families to be inovlved in raising their kids together
47,The Detroit Shoreway has a lot of programs going on for the family; so many different things being offered in the area where kids can be involved; inexpensive
48,Pleased with the neighborhood and the area; looking forward to those things in the future
49,People must stay united and support the area;
50,"It is going to be an exciting time coming up for the neighborhood; a good thing for young families; shopping, church, school, stores, everything within walking distance"
51,We need to bring back some of the old family values; a good neighborhood for the young professionals and they could have a lot to offer as well
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