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REFLECTIONS OF OUR COMMUNITY
Volume 2, Issue 36 JANUARY 31, 2025
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Roger Bailey – Setting the tempo in Pentwater By AnnaMae Bush The Oceana Echo Community Correspondent
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The history of Pentwater is intertwined with several families whose generations have been associated with the village over many decades. One of those families is the Bailey family. Roger Bailey has been setting the tempo for Pentwater with his drumming in community parades and civic band concerts since 1988. Roger was born on April 1, 1936, in Belding, Michigan. His father, Les Bailey, moved his family to Muskegon during WWII to take a foundry job. Roger, 7 years old at the time, had a brother named Bob who was 14 months older and a sister named Mary Elizabeth who was three years younger. “A few years later my father heard about a hardware store for sale in Pentwater. He was interested in having his own business, so in 1946 he moved our family again, this time north to Pentwater. I started Pentwater Public School in the middle of fourth grade.” Making friends has always been easy for Roger. He made two lifelong friends that first year: Ed Bigelow and Barry Rought, both also familiar names in Pentwater history. One of Roger’s favorite school
memories is the Gun Club, which was started and led by the school principal, John Rottschafer. “We would all bring our guns to school and lean them up (unloaded) against our lockers for the school day and then grab them up to go out to the rifle range after classes ended. I got to be a pretty good shot.” That scenario is totally foreign to our schools today, although some rural schools offer gun safety classes. The landscape surrounding the village provided great space for play and exploration. Roger recalls a camping experience he and Barry Rought had one night alongside the Pentwater River. It was late and very dark, and they heard something brush up against their tent. Terrified it was a bear, they froze and waited until several minutes of silence passed. Then they raced to pack up everything and ran home. Bailey’s Hardware Store was the first place Roger worked; no child labor laws were in place to restrict what age he could work for his father. But he started earning money at the age of 14 as the drummer with a square dance band in Hart. Then he moved on to playing with an older, experienced saxophone player in a jazz band. His love affair with drums began with a toy drum in his childhood. “Then I went to a large round cheese container I adapted for a drum. Eventually I got a real drum set and dreamed about making my living as a musician.” But before pursuing that dream, Roger spent several years in the military. “I joined the Michigan National Guard in my senior year of high school. Every Tuesday I spent four hours in drills with my unit. After graduation in 1954 I was stationed with
Ruth & Roger on their wedding day in 1963
Lisa, Mark, Ruth, Roger & Chris Bailey in 1982 the army at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama where I worked on Nike Air Defense Missiles and at Fort Devens in Massachusetts for three years. A highlight of those years was seeing Bill Russell play a game in his first season with the Boston Celtics.” Following his stint with the military, Roger returned to Pentwater. “I remember that commercial fishing was very important to the village at that time. To facilitate access to and from Lake Michigan in the early morning hours, the swing bridge across the channel would be left open for the fishing boats. Late one night, a man was driving his daughter somewhere, and he didn’t realize the bridge was not in place to bring him across the channel. He drove into the water, and both he and his daughter drowned.” In 1958 Roger headed to California to pursue his dream of “making it big” in Hollywood as a musician. He packed his drum set in a car and made the long trip from Michigan. But his opportunity was cut short when only months after his arrival, his drums were stolen from his car, never to be recovered. One’s response to adversity speaks volumes about one’s character. What did Roger do? “I took a job at a sawmill in California, working second shift. I sorted and moved very large dimensional lumber. Wolmanized lumber (lumber chemically treated so as not to rot when in contact with the ground) was not yet being produced. The only wood used at that time for lasting construction was redwood, and it was plentiful in California. But it was hard work, and most employees on the second shift quit after a few days or weeks. I didn’t
last long either.” He returned to Pentwater and found work at Mears State Park. He also acquired drums, joined the Scottville Clown Band with his father, who played trombone, and joined the Pentwater Civic Band. He really enjoyed the outdoor work and spent the next 30 years employed in several state parks and recreation areas. He explained that recreation areas were generally larger than state parks and that recreation areas had a much longer hunting season than state parks permitted. It was during Roger’s employment at Lake Mitchell in Cadillac that Ed Bigelow arranged for Roger to have a blind date with Ruth, his future wife. They were married on June 15, 1963. The locations Roger served (listed chronologically) were: Mears State Park, Lake Mitchell, Yankee Springs, Harrisville, Manistee, Grand Haven (where he was named state park manager), Ortonville Recreation Area and Metamora Hadley Recreation Area – his last location. Roger commented, “We had three children along the way – Mark, Chris and Lisa. Moving during their middle and high school years was a challenge for them because classmates changed with each different class in the day instead of being with the same group all day long.” In 1987 their youngest child, Lisa, was 19. She was living at home, preparing to go to culinary school in Flint. Tragedy struck when Lisa was killed in a car accident. The grief and memories were overwhelming. Roger felt a pull to his roots in Pentwater, the place that always felt like home, the place that centered him, that grounded him.
Roger & Ruth Bailey in their Clown Band attire So, in 1988 he retired from his career in state parks and returned to Pentwater, where he completely immersed himself in the local community. He joined the Service Club, the Historical Society, St. James Episcopal Church, the Clown Band, the Civic Band and for 11 years he was sexton at the Pentwater Township Cemetery. He shared, “I always had a passionate interest in history.” Son Mark concurred. “No matter where we went on family vacations, dad would find a museum or battlefield, a library or historical site where he would take all of us for a visit to learn something.” Since his return to the Village in 1988, Roger’s passion has played itself out in ways that have benefited residents and visitors alike. In scattered locations all around the Village there are sites marked with weather-resistant “story boards” that bear original photos and historical information to explain the role the site had in the development of Pentwater. They can be found on the main street downtown as well as along the channel. Roger had the lead role in that large project. Standing at the bass and snare drums, for many years he set the tempo for the Civic Band selections at the weekly concerts on the Green. He was instrumental in establishing the annual combined Clown Band and Civic Band concert at the start of each Homecoming Weekend. Until health issues impacted their tradition in recent years, Roger and Ruth invited the entire Clown Band for a picnic meal in their large yard when they came to play for Homecoming. Roger Bailey has seen
many transitions in Pentwater over the years he has lived in the village. He has watched how changes in the economy diminished industry and farm life. He has seen how city box stores and chain stores have replaced small-town family-owned stores such as his father’s hardware store. He has seen how soaring real estate prices have pushed many older residents out of the community. He also knows that before his time, Pentwater was a community that had to recover from three serious fires that destroyed much of the business district and industrial facilities. Did he have any theories on what enabled the town to survive, even thrive, after adversity? He mused and said, “The town had some long-standing churches. I think the strong faith communities had something to do with it.” Today Roger and Ruth Bailey enjoy a quiet life in their small home on Clymer. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren live miles away, but both their sons live in Pentwater. Mark lives with them to help them with medical appointments and other needs. Chris is the sexton at Pentwater Township Cemetery and continues to do limited house painting work. Roger’s contributions to the Pentwater Community were recognized in 2001 when the Service Club selected him as Citizen of the Year. He smiles and recalls, “It was a strange experience to ride in a car in the Homecoming Parade after all the years I had marched in the parade with the band.” Thanks to Mark Bailey for his help with photos and story details.
Roger Bailey today