Every signature tells a story: President Gerald R. Ford and a Christmas miracle

An amazing discovery at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum today, and a wonderful Christmas gift from Julie.

We checked out the museum gift shop after touring the “Louder Than Words” exhibit because, without fail, there is something cool in the Ford Museum store.

There are often presidential history books signed by authors who recently spoke at the museum, and I’ve obtained several them on sale over the years.

This time we saw a small sign indicating there were Christmas cards signed by President Ford – and for a very reasonable price.

Now, it’s important to remember that we’ve been without President Ford for 11 years now. While he was alive, there were often signed photos and books in the gift store, and I’ve lamented never purchasing a photo.

A museum staffer told me once that the President would visit the museum several times a year, and he’d be sure to sign a stack of 8x10s for the store.

There are still some copies of his book, but those are well out of my price range.

I held up one of the cards to the friendly clerk behind the register.

“Were these signed by an Autopen?” I asked, having worked in politics now and knowing how some things are signed with a machine -- a really cool machine -- when many signatures are needed.

“No, the President signed them by hand,” she said. “Someone working in the archives found a box of them. They kept some for the museum, but said we could sell the rest in the store.”

This was a Christmas miracle.

In the often sketchy world of autographs, a scenario like this would be cause for some concern. Will and I used to see tables at baseball card shows with stacks of photos signed by Mickey Mantle and wonder if the ink was dry. But I trust the Ford Museum.

I looked at a couple of the cards, and noted that the signatures were all slightly different, clearly not the identical markings that would come from the machine.

At Julie’s urging, we looked through several of the cards to select one that had the clearest signature, which was easy, as President Ford had nice handwriting.

Later, after discussing how to display this new treasure, we went back and purchased an unsigned version of a card, so we could frame them and display both the signature and the painting of the White House on the cover.

We stopped to buy a frame on the way home, and the cards are now proudly displayed on the mantle.

This marks the third presidential signature in the collection.

I was in attendance when President George W. Bush visited the museum for a discussion about his book “Decision Points” and signed copies for the store to sell.

And Julie was able to obtain a copy of President Jimmy Carter’s book “A Call to Action” a few years back when he visited Grand Rapids Community College as part of the school’s centennial. 

The signature is on a sticker with the college’s logo, making it extra special!

President Ford is, of course, remembered very fondly here in Grand Rapids. I never had a chance to meet him, but I did get to see him up close several times, including a community celebration for his 90^th birthday. Andrew is in a group photo with the President.

And later, I had the honor of being on the team of reporters covering the President’s funeral. I was the only reporter inside the museum for a solemn arrival ceremony before he would lie in state, the first event in a very moving local tribute for a national hero.

Place No. 46: Cardinal Gibbons School; Place No. 46A) South High School, home of the Grand Rapids Chicks

Listen closely, and you can hear Madonna sing "This Used to Be My Playgound."

I’m going to flip Josh Pahigian’s book back a few pages.

He tapped the Cardinal Gibbons School in Baltimore as spot no. 46 in the "101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out."

That’s where Babe Ruth was sent as a youngster, when it was named St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, and served as an orphanage and reform school.

The original building burned in 1930s, and the Bambino helped raise money for a new building. It closed in the 1950s, reopened in the 1960s as Cardinal Gibbons. It’s a Catholic secondary school today.

We didn’t go there during our stop in Baltimore, but I offer up something right here in Grand Rapids.

Alternate Place No. 46 A) South High School, former home of the Grand Rapids Chicks.

And it’s where President Gerald R. Ford went to school, too.

I’ve been interested in the All-American Girl’s Professional Baseball League since the early 1990s.

There’s a chance I ticked off my editors in Flint because I kept proposing sports stories. Might not seem like a bad thing, except that I covered schools and local governments.

But in 1991 I bravely pitched one story I suspected they couldn’t resist.

Rickey Henderson was about to break Lou Brock’s record of 939 career stolen bases, and be, as you know "the greatest of all-time."

Except that I knew he wasn’t.

The professional record of 1,114 bases belonged to Sophie Kurys of the Racine Bells. And, best of all, she was from Flint.

I found the "Flint Flash." at home in Scottsdale, Ariz. and was thrilled to hear stories about the league. This was before the movie "A League of Our Own," and not too many people knew about the AAGPBL.

She sent a note a few weeks later thanking me for the story. She liked it — mostly. I could have sworn she said she might watch Henderson break Brock’s record on television if it wasn’t too late at night.

But Kurys chided me, saying she would never fall asleep watching baseball. I was torn between being crushed and pledging allegiance.

Since the movie, some of the players make the rounds at major baseball card shows and All-Star Game FanFests, signing autographs and telling wonderful stories. I always check out their booth to see of Kurys is among the signers.

We moved to Grand Rapids in 1999, and I’ve always thought it was neat that the city hosted one of the teams — and a good one, too.

The franchise originated in 1944 in Milwaukee, won the championship, moved to Grand Rapids and made the playoffs every year until the league folded following the 1954 season.

The team had some great players. Pitcher Connie Wisniewski earned her nickname "Iron Woman" because in 1945 she started 46 games, and finishing with a 32-11 record. She was named "Player of the Year."

Gabby Ziegler earned the honor in 1950, and was one of the league’s longest-serving players.

My wife found a neat Chick’s pennant for me, and the Public Museum of Grand Rapids once had a whole exhibit dedicated to the league.

But I’ve always wondered where the team played. Some sleuthing revealed that they played at South High, except for 1950-1952, when games were played at Bigelow Field in one of the near suburbs. Bigelow Field was destroyed in a fire, and the team returned to South until 1954.

South is better-known in these parts as the place where President Ford attended classes and played football. Today it houses a Jobs Corps program named in Ford’s honor.

I had an assignment there this week, and arrived a little early so I could walk the grounds and see what was left of the stadium where the Chicks played.

Nothing.

There were some rather untended fields, but nothing left of the bleachers or anything else that would lead someone to think that professional baseball was played on the site.

There were two backstops, but I have no idea where the original diamond was situated.



I was surprised, because Grand Rapids does a good job of recognizing its history. We even have a marker noting that we were the place were fluoride was first added to the drinking water.

Old South High does have some neat features. This stone pattern surrounds the door to the auditorium.

A husband, a father and a grandfather

Jimmy Carter is no longer my missing link. I was able to get an up-close view of our 39th president this week as he took part in laying to rest the man he succeeded in the White House, Gerald R. Ford, here in Grand Rapids, Mich.

This was an emotional week, one of those times when we journalists walk the fence between being a participant and a neutral observer serving as the eyes and ears for our readers.

But it is impossible to not be awed by the majesty of a state funeral, or to not be swept up in what became a homecoming for Grand Rapids’ favorite son.

Ford’s casket and his family arrived on Tuesday afternoon after the service in the National Cathedral in Washington. My first assignment was to be at the Ford Museum when the casket arrived for a brief ceremony before the president was to lie in repose overnight.

There is some downtime in an event like this because the Secret Service demands everyone be there hours early, partially for security.

This allowed me time to talk to some of the U.S. Army staffers who are in charge of such events. I was amazed at the amount of planning involved, literally years of work coming together. The days are planned down to the minute.

When the time came, I was brought into the museum to a perch on the second floor, overlooking the atrium where the ceremony was to take place. I was the only reporter there, a testament to my editors’ pull. I considered that both a tremendous privledge and responsibility. Everyone else relied on a C-SPAN video feed.

Some of the guests, such as the governor, were already in place. Others, including Carter and his wife, arrived in a motorcade prior to the arrival of the Fords.

Everyone stood when they heard the military band outside play “Ruffles and Flourishes” and “Hail to the Chief.” Then the color guard slowly marched into the museum, followed by the flag-draped casket carried by six soldiers, their every movement precise, polished and in perfect unison.

I confess there was a lump in my throat when they set the casket on a catafalque under a large stone presidential seal that decorates the atrium.

Then Betty Ford, her children and grandchildren were escorted to their seats. The first lady looked smaller and frailer than I imagined. The Fords are icons here in Grand Rapids. To see them in person is a reminder that they are real people showing real hurt at losing a husband, father and grandfather with the added burden of people looking over their shoulders as they grieve.

This was intended to be an arrival ceremony and it was relatively brief, with an invocation by the mayor and comments from the former head of the president’s foundation and the governor. The Army Chorus sang the hymn “Shall We Gather by the River,” chosen, I’m sure because the museum is located on the banks of the Grand River that gives the city its name.

After about an hour to remove chairs and prepare the room, the museum was opened so people could pay their respects. Plans called for the museum to be open overnight until late the next morning, when it was time for the funeral at a nearby church

The planners expected thousands of people, set up the convention center across the river to accommodate the lines.

But what happened caught everyone by surprise. So many people came pouring in that the lines snaked out of the convention hall then throughout most of downtown. I’ve never seen anything like it, stretching for block after block and over four bridges. Police were telling people they would be in line for six to eight hours, and I didn’t see a single person walk away.

Family members handed these cards to people who paid their respects.

My job was to walk the length of the line from about 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. asking people what moved them to spend the night standing for a few moments before a casket.

People freely told stories of their encounters with Ford – you meet a lot of people when you are in Congress for 25 years – and their pride that a president could hail from their city.

Others said they just wanted to be a part of history, and knew they’d never have another experience like it in their lives.

I spoke to people who came from as far as Chicago and northern points of Michigan, people with babies and elderly parents.

Amazingly, no one was tense or grumbling. I get cranky when I have to wait on line at the supermarket, and police told me there was just one incident the entire night.

In all, about 57,000 people – roughly the capacity of Shea Stadium -- passed through the museum.

Several of Ford’s children spent time greeting people on line and handing them cards with the president’s photo and a word of thanks. It was a very classy thing to do.

I finished my shift at 2 a.m. and spent about 45 minutes writing the story before heading home.

My children had been watching the arrival of the casket in Washington earlier in the week, and last week I brought them down to the museum to sign the condolence book, so we had several discussions about President Ford and what he meant to the city and the country. They asked that I wake them up when I got home and bring them downtown to view the casket.

I knew my 14-year-old would be fine, but was a little worried about how the 9-year-old would handle it. But I was proud of both of them as they respectfully walked past the president. I hope it is something they will always remember.

We didn’t arrive home until about 4 a.m. – the kids are on Christmas break, so they could sleep in – but I had to return back around 9 to help with the funeral coverage.

My assignment Wednesday was to join the media group outside the church and describe the arrival of the hearse and the ceremonies that take place before and after the funeral.

The honor guard brings President Ford into Grace Episcopal Church. The president's brother is in the light jacket on the far right. The next person in a light jacket is golfer Jack Nicklaus.

We’re used to cold, gray winters and you can usually be assured of snow in January. But we haven’t had snow in weeks and the weather was beautifully sunny and only slightly chilly.

Vice President Cheney was one of the speakers, so that called for new levels of security. Every street within three blocks of the church was blocked to traffic with dump trucks and other public works vehicles.

There were thousands of people outside the church, and they fell silent when the honor guard and Air Force band marched out of the church, again in perfect formation. Then a string of police cars and black vehicles started arriving with guests and the Ford family. The honorary pallbearers – including golfer Jack Nicklaus – were positioned at the end of the driveway.

Finally, the hearse pulled into view and stopped about 20 feet from where I was standing.

Even the post jaded onlooker cannot help but be impressed by the pageantry and the seven soldiers who carry the president in and out of the church.

If you closed your eyes you would not have believed that you were surrounded by thousands of people. The only sounds were the commanders issuing orders to the honor guard and two blocks away, those protesters who have been showing up at every military funeral for the past year. I think they were looking for a confrontation and must have been frustrated when they were ignored because they suddenly stopped and disappeared.

The scene outside the church relaxed once the service started inside. Reporters sat around watching the video feed from inside and talked with the network people who came from out of state. Some of the Army staffers told us horror stories about where they were staying after getting bumped from the main hotel, and people in the East Grand Rapids neighborhood surrounding the church all apparently felt the need to show off their shaved dogs in assorted designer jackets.

I spoke to families who had gathered there since early in the morning with blankets and snacks for the kids. One said she worried that their spread would look like a picnic and seem disrepectful, but they could think of no other way to keep the kids content.

But it was all business again when the honor guard and band reemerged. This time the family was brought out into the street to the rear of the hearse, with Mrs. Ford assisted by one of her sons and her military escort.

Shortly thereafter, the motorcade arrived back at the museum, where the president is to be buried. Again, thousands and thousands of people filled downtown.

No one was allowed close to the fenced-in area around the gravesite, but people wanted to see the 21-gun salute fired by cannons that promised to rattle windows – they did – and the 21 F-15 fighter jets that flew in formation, with one breaking off from the group and seeming to head straight up into space. Like everything else in the past two days, it was awe-inspiring.

Today we expected life to return to relative normalcy after the hectic two weeks.

The museum, which is in a city park, is practically across the street from the newspaper, and on my way to grab a sub at Jimmy John’s I figured I’d pass through the park and see the gravesite.

I was surprised to see a Secret Service agent. He was letting people walk past, but making sure no one stopped. Then I saw why.

The Ford family was once again up at the gravesite, Mrs. Ford by now using a wheelchair. There was no honor guard, no cannons, no flyovers and no crowds. Just a family saying a quiet goodbye to a husband, a father and a grandfather -- who just happened to be the president of the United States.

"I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln"

Best I can tell, we’ve never had a Ford or a Lincoln on the Mets.

But we’ve had a Washington (Claudell), a Jefferson (Stan), five Taylors (Billy, Chuck, Hawk, Ron and Sammy), five Wilsons (Mookie, Paul, Preston, Tom and Vance), five Johnsons (Two Bobs, Lance, Howard, and Mark), and a Carter (Gary).

It’s been a pretty emotional day here in Grand Rapids, where former President Gerald R. Ford grew up and is to be buried next week.

We get Associated Press bulletins that scroll across the top of our computer screens, and when we want to startle an editor, we say out loud “Dateline: Rancho Mirage, Calif.” which is where the president has lived since leaving the White House.

But no one was joking when the scroll we all dreaded came just before midnight on Tuesday.

Given the president’s advanced age and recent health problems, the newspaper was well prepared with a special section ready to go. But there were a lot of other stories that needed to be told. I was called to work about 1 a.m. on Wednesday, worked until about 8 a.m. before heading home for a shower and short nap and returning again.

I think it’s an honor to tell these stories. We take the first-draft-of-history stuff seriously.

I’ve been in Grand Rapids only since 1999, but some of the veterans here have a long history of interviewing the former president, who represented the city in Congress for 25 years.

They said Ford’s famous “not a Lincoln” line is pretty reflective of the person the president actually was: A middle class guy who plugged away at his job, ended up in an office he never sought and sacrificed it by making a decision he knew was right – and took many people 30 years to come to the same conclusion.

One of my jobs today was to talk to people stopping by the Ford Museum to sign the condolence book, light a candle or leave a note. They started arriving within an hour of the news and came steadily through the cold night.

Some, wiping tears from their cheeks, told me of their admiration or acts of kindness.

I’ve had the opportunity to see President Ford him up close just twice, once at the opening of a shopping mall and the other at a community celebration of his 90th birthday three years ago.

I brought my son to the celebration, and he’s in a group photo with the president that I assured the then-11-year-old that he’d appreciate much more in time.

Tonight, after work, I was able to take the reporter hat off and bring my children down to the museum where we stood on line to sign the condolence book then walk past the growing makeshift memorial to read the notes. I’m not sure about bringing them back next week when the president is to lie in repose, which might be a little heavy for them.

I was 10 when Ford became president, but was a little political junkie even then and I remember closely following the transition. But that’s ancient history to my kids. So on the way down we spoke about doing the right thing even though everyone else tells you it is wrong and there might be a penalty for doing so.

I don’t know if that’s the legacy Gerald Ford sought, but it’s a pretty good one to have.

President Ford and baseball.

Ford is remembered as a football guy, but he here are some interesting baseball facts.

Ford took his future-wife Betty on dates to All-American Girls Professional Baseball League games in Grand Rapids.

In December 1974, Ford signed a bill allowing girls to play in the Little League.

As vice president, Ford attended the game where Hank Aaron hitting career home run number 714 on April 4, 1974.