Holsten Asso. hold picnic

This story was published by The Ypsilanti Record on Thursday, August 14, 1919.

Monday the Holstein-Fresian association of this county held their first annual picnic at Recreation Park. A fair sized crowd was in attendance, and after enjoying a picnic dinner President Aitkin of the state association was present and gave an address on the Holstein, laying particular emphasis on their good milk qualities and meat value.

After the address a Holstein calf from the Shady Knoll farms was auctioned off to the highest bidder, and John Bazley, who bid $500, became the owner of the calf. A curtis plane was on the field to deliver the calf to the owner’s premises, but whether the owner got cold feet or the birdmen thought the load a little heavy for the machine, we are unable to state; but after the claf had been led to the Warner barn to be fixed up for his flight through the air the plans were changed and a bag of straw was substituted and placed in the plane. Some say the calf objected so strenuously to becoming a birdman, and as the crowd was patiently waiting to witness this part of the program, something had to be done, and this was the only way out—so the straw calf.

As things turned out the calf was right; he just knew that the “darned” thing was a flivver, and that he wasn’t going to trust his valuable carcass to no such contraption. The start was made and the crowd hollered “There goes the calf,” but it was evident that something was wrong—not with the calf, but the engine. It was flying low and turned and headed back across the field, and in attempting to light caught in the top of a tree, turned partly around and crashed into another tree and then crashed to the ground. Fortunately the pilot or the passenger with him were not injured in the fall, but the machine was badly damaged and will have to undergo extensive repairs before it can return to its home anchorage at Thompson field, Detroit.

So ended a perfect day.