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Combatting cynicism at the gym

All of a sudden, the tiny men's locker room at Next Level Health & Fitness in St. Clair Shores had a mini pedestrian traffic jam.

Workouts completed, four of us walked in at the same time, each trying to get to lockers containing our street clothes. After exchanging excuse-mes, we took turns retrieving our clothes as the others backed away from the small bank of lockers.

Then it was just me and another gentleman, a bulky, graying guy who is probably in his mid-60s but looks like he could still play a mean middle-linebacker.

"It's amazing how many nice people work out here," he said to me, referring to the way we politely handled the locker shuffle.

"Yes, there are," I replied. "But I think most people are nice. It's just that the bad ones get most of the press."

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A day at Belle Isle

Just returned home from a wonderful late morning/early afternoon with my family on Belle Isle.

There thousands of people on the island for the 11th annual "Shiver on the River." I'm not kidding, there were actually pedestrian traffics jams at the old casino, conservatory and aquarium.

It was plenty cold, but seeing all the activity was absolutely heart-warming. And I totally enjoyed feeding the geese and ducks on the frozen Detroit River with my kids -- just like I used to do with my parents and grandparents.

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Rev. Gerry Bernier and doing God's work

There's a wonderful story in today's Detroit News about a priest from St. Joan of Arc Parish in St. Clair Shores who made a "miracle recovery" from the H1N1 virus.

The priest, Rev. Gerry Bernier, changed my life and I'm so happy God let us keep him for a while. As soon as you meet him, you know in your heart he's the real deal and an instrument of God's peace.

Bernier tells The News: "What I went through was not just about me. God was using me as a tool to get out a message. I think the message is you better believe in God and that God is with us."

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Nothing up in the air about it

I went to see George Clooney's new movie, "Up in the Air," recently at the AMC Star John R 15 theater.

Without going into great detail about the movie, Clooney's character, Ryan Bingham, is a terminator-for-hire who spends his life flying all over the country firing people whose bosses don't have the guts to do it.

Eventually, Bingham and his young apprentice, Natalie Keener (played by Anna Kendrick), land in Detroit. We know this because all of Bingham's destinations throughout the movie briefly appear in big letters near the bottom of the screen.

As soon as the word DETROIT hit the screen, the crowd in the Madison Heights theater let out a boisterous cheer. I laughed, leaned over to my wife, Shannon, and whispered, "There it is again."

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Visit Belle Isle on Saturday for 'Shiver on the River'

Each year the Friends of Belle Isle and the Friends of the Detroit River gather on the first Saturday of February at the old Belle Isle Casino with a number of environmental groups to hold an event called, nonetheless, "Shiver on the River."

No, they do not take a dip in the icy waters of the Detroit River, nor do they run around building snowmen. The name simply represents the normal temperatures out on Belle Isle at this time of the year. If temps are anything like today, we will be shivering even in the warmth of the old Casino.

The 11th Annual Shiver on the River is Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The event is free to the public and fun will be had all around the island park. This is a winter ecological family fair and is a one-of-a-kind event.

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The organ at St. Jude

I spent Sunday evening in another Detroit neighborhood from my childhood, the area around St. Jude Catholic Church on Moross, between Kelly and Hayes.

My great aunt and great uncle, Wanda and Floyd Szymanski, lived right across the street from St. Jude, on the corner of Maddelein and Rex. I used to bounce tennis balls off the curb there with my second cousin Gary, trying to make it all the way across Rex and onto the St. Jude lawn.

I think we called it curb-ball, a made-up version of baseball in which the farther you could bounce the ball off the curb, the farther your runner would advance. Going yard in the game meant banking the ball to St. Jude. My 45-year-old pitching arm aches just thinking about it now.

Not too far from the church is Heilmann Memorial Park. I took swimming lessons there as a kid, nearly drowned one afternoon when my head told me I was a more advanced swimmer than I actually was. An alert lifeguard saw me struggling in the middle of the pool, dove in and plucked me out. Thirty-nine years later, I still suck at swimming.

The reason for my Sunday visit to the neighborhood -- which is obviously distressed but not nearly as bad as the area around Fletcher Field -- was an advertisement I saw in the St. Joan of Arc Church bulletin. The headline said "Organ Restoration Project: St. Jude Church."

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We need more catchers in the rye

Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. -- J.D. Salinger, "The Catcher in the Rye"

RIP, J.D.

If there were more aspiring catchers in the rye, like your hero character Holden Caulfield, the world would be a much better place.

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Haiti's hell

The terrifying movie appears to be playing in a loop inside her head.

She won't, likely can't, quit screaming.

I saw this physically and mentally crippled 11-year-old girl on CNN the other night. She's in a tent orphanage in Haiti and, according to her two young caretakers from the United States, the girl's legs and mind are broken.

"She just keeps screaming," one of the caretakers said. "We don't know what to do for her."

Just let the girl keep screaming. That's what some people in this country think we should do.

I've heard a lot of visceral talk on the radio about Haiti in recent days, how we should ignore its pain and take better care of our own instead.

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Divine friendships

On Aug. 16, 2009, my brother John Lewis married Valerie Traylor. My brother's good friend for more than 30 years, Charlie Sampson, and his gracious wife, Gerri, drove in from Massachusetts for the wedding. I can still picture John and Charlie, friends, standing at the altar waiting for the bride to appear.

After a wonderful ceremony and delicious dinner, Charlie, as the best man, made a toast. He shared how he met my brother at Fitchburg State College when he was pledging the "Fenwick" Pi Sigma Upsilon Fraternity. John was Charlie's big brother. Both men graduated and began their careers as teachers. They became great friend, such great friends, that my brother was best man at Charlie and Gerri's wedding in 1975.

At the birth of Charlie and Gerri's first child, daughter Stacie, John was asked to be Stacie's godfather. He accepted. Then, I was surprised to learn, Charlie's second child and only son, Curt, was born on my brother's birthday, Feb. 25.

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Holy Name Reunion III update

OK, this is going to happen. The response has been quick and decisive, with about 100 saying they're coming so far.

Again the reunion will be held at Lakeland Banquet & Event Center in St. Clair Shores on Saturday, March 20, from 7 p.m - 1 a.m.

The cost and menu is the same as last year, with one exception:

Admission is $20 per person (cash, credit or check paid at the door) and includes the following:

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