ALBION BAND SHELL

If you grew up in Albion during the 1950s and 1960s, the A & P store on S. Eaton St. was certainly one of your weekly destination points. John Kehoe (1921-2010) employed many persons there during his tenure as manager, and later of course at Albion Foodland. He retired in 1982. Many Albionites have fond memories of John and his business leadership in Albion. John passed away on July 1; the funeral service was here in Albion, with burial in his hometown of Bronson. We featured John and the 1954 A & P staff in the July 13, 2003 edition of this column. It is reproduced on the www.albionmich.com website.

From the Albion Evening Recorder, February 18, 1947 comes this paragraph in the local news: "John D. Kehoe of Bronson has arrived in Albion to be the new manager of the local A and P store. He was the former manager of the store at Jonesville and also was in training in the Coldwater store before coming to Albion. Mr. Kehoe is residing at the Parker Inn for the present.

One of Albion‘s great attractions and features during the summertime months is our Albion Community Band and the concerts they give. I have always enjoyed their presentations; we are fortunate to have them perform year after year. I encourage your support by your attendance and financial gifts.

During the 1960s, the City of Albion "helped the band members and audience alike by fogging the band shell area with a mosquito-killing smoke prior to the concert. This fog had its own peculiar smell which was hard to forget. I wonder if it had DDT in it? Do you remember that smell?

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photo from August 10, 1965 showing city parks worker Joe McCracken apply fog to the band shell area. The boy with his left arm halfway up under the smoke is yours truly.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
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