Ramona Park

Ramona Park, not to be confused with a historical park of the same name in Grand Rapids, was opened in the 1920s by a Mr. Lesco, who already owned and operated the Ramona Theater in the 6 Mile/Gratiot area.

Located north of Utica adjacent to Pulaski Park, Ramona Park was not as developed as other Clinton River parks. Despite having picnic tables, there were no grills in the park. Visitors made cookfires from fallen twigs and branches, which kept the park cleat of tree debris. Roads were also still primitive, and many visitors had a hard time getting their cars uphill from the river flats to Auburn Road when they left the park.

That said, the park was not without staple facilities. A concession stand sold candy, ice cream, beer and liquor. People, who rented the park, sold hot dogs, hamburgers and Polish sausages.

Like so many other Shelby Township parks, Ramona Park had a dance pavilion with the dance floor in the center and tables and chairs around the perimeter. The Ramona Park pavilion was open-air, quite rustic and unpainted). The park manager, John Sczesny, lived in a small house on the park premises, and in the early 1930s, Mr. Lesco built a beer garden for park patrons after Prohibition ended. The beer garden proved popular enough that a deputy sheriff was regularly assigned to the park to maintain order.

The park was open on Sunday and all holidays in the summer and on certain Saturdays for select private parties. Park visitors usually consisted of Catholic groups or ethnic groups of Polish, German or Lebanese descent. The park was particularly popular with picnicking groups and for family reunions. Visitors played softball, swam and fished in the Clinton River, or socialized in the beer garden. However, the most popular activity was dancing, which started at 3 p.m. and lasted until 9 p.m. For Saturday's private parties, moonlight dancing took place 8 p.m.-midnight.

The park was sold and turned into the Ramona Park Landfill, a closed industrial/sanitary landfill. The Ramona Park Landfill PRP Group retained Leed Environmental, Inc. as a technical project consultant for environmental remediation. Per Leed Environmental, Inc., the landfill contained a 5.5-acre battery casing area between the landfill and the Clinton River on a small peninsula situated within the river's flood plain. Crews completed removal activities at the site. While Ramona Park Landfill remains an active site, it is not on the EPA's National Priorities List, which means it is not considered one of the nation's most hazardous waste sites.

Pulaski Park

Pulaski Park was located on Auburn Road, north of Utica, adjacent to Ramona Park. The two parks seem to have been very similar in their design and layout. 

Like Ramona Park, Pulaski Park had picnic tables in the grassy bottomland near the Clinton River with no grills on the premises. It had a 70-foot diameter pavilion dance hall with a bandstand at the end. A long concession stand sold pop, ice cream, candy, popcorn and hot dogs. A separate concession building sold beer. Kids could play baseball or softball at Pulaski's ballfield, fish in the Clinton River or swim in a swimming hole dug out in the Clinton River.

We don't know much about how Pulaski and Ramona parks' proximity affected their relationship, but we do know that they at least shared one employee. Jim Brede worked at both Ramona and Pulaski Park. At Ramona Park, he ran the concession stand, cleaned the park buildings and grounds, and policed the picnic ground area. At Pulaski Park, he was paid $1 per day by the park's manager to clean up the park's picnic area. We do not know whether Jim sometimes worked at both parks on the same day, but given their proximity to each other, there is a good chance that he did, at least on occasion. 

If you would like to learn more about historic Shelby Township river parks, read Wally Doebler's "Summer Along the Clinton: A History of the Clinton River Parks."