Down on the Farm at Cranberry Lake Farm

Down on the Farm is Saturday, October 1, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Cranberry Lake Farm Historic District 388 W. Predmore Road. Tractor rides, pumpkin patch, apple picking, chickens, horses and farrier, corn shelling, blacksmithing, quilting, spinning, outdoor games, beekeeping, tractors, plein air painters, apron exhibit, and more are all free to enjoy. Live music featuring Harmonica George from 11:00 a.m. to 12 noon and Ukulele Band from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. New this year, local author … [Read more...]

Diary of a Retiree Robert A. Lytle: Father’s Day

Diary of a Retiree Robert A. Lytle Sunday, June 20, 2021 – Father's Day, Franklin Village – Sunny 70-83 Bob Lytle in his home library An interesting thing happened at Ian’s today. Joining Candy and me were Ian’s in-laws, Jure and Lidija, and Jamie’s family—his wife Mary and their two children—eleven in all. Jure and I decided to give the kids a little exercise. We grabbed Henry, Liam and Charlotte from the patio where everyone else was gathered and headed for the grassy area of Ian’s … [Read more...]

Diary of a Retiree Robert A. Lytle: Christmas Came Early This Year

Diary of a Retiree – Saturday, December 5, 2020 – Christmas Comes Early This Year Bob Lytle in his home library Up at 7:30, I made our usual eggs and toast, and sat down with the iPad. The Detroit News front page has a Neal Rubin article about the Straits of Mackinac’s Round Island Lighthouse and its small but dedicated group of preservationists. With the Great Lakes having record high water levels and the likelihood of unusually damaging ice and high winds, this could easily be the … [Read more...]

Rochester Hills Public Library & Rochester Writers announce Second Annual Author Fair

Rochester Hills Public Library (RHPL) and Rochester Writers have once again partnered for the second annual Author Fair featuring local and regional writers in a variety of genres. This year the event will be online and include nearly thirty local authors in recorded on-camera interviews. The interviews will debut in a live stream on RHPL's YouTube channel on Small Business Saturday, November 28, and Sunday, November 29, beginning at 11 a.m. each day.  Then, on Monday November 30, the library … [Read more...]

Grampa’s Labyrinth: Journey To Devil’s Kitchen

Michigan Author Robert A. Lytle Transports His Characters and His Readers Back in Time to 1823 Mackinac Island Charlotte doesn’t believe the story of how her older cousins were transported back in time three years earlier. On a dare, she tricks her cousin Charlie to return to Grampa’s labyrinth (the time portal) with three other cousins, Oscar, Henry, and Liam. The maze sends the five cousins from the year 2014 to the year 1823 – they arrive on Mackinac Island during America’s wild and … [Read more...]

A Conversation with Bob Lytle

A Voice and Pillar of the Community Bob Lytle has worn many hats during his more than four decades in the Rochester area: community pharmacist, author of adventure novels for youth, city council member, folk singer/songwriter, poet, storyteller, and ballist (yes, that’s the term) with the Rochester Grangers vintage base ball club. Lytle grew up in Saginaw, where his father was a schoolteacher, but his fondest childhood memories were made at a small cabin in the Les Cheneaux islands. The … [Read more...]

Lytle Pharmacy is Rochester’s Oldest Drug Store

No living person in the Rochester area remembers when there wasn’t a pharmacy located in the Opera House block at the corner of Fourth & Main streets. Ever since the building first opened its doors in 1890, a pharmacy sign has been hanging in its front window. Robert A. Lytle is the current - and longest tenured - proprietor of the drug store business that was operated by John T. Norton when the Opera House block welcomed its first tenants 126 years ago. When Charles A. Burr built the … [Read more...]