Welcome Home

Welcome Home Reunion 2010 - Coming this fall!

kgimmarro — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:50:18 +0000

The 3rd Reunion of former patients, staff, volunteers and families of the Michigan Hospital School, Michigan Convalescent Home, and the Sister Kenny Hospital — all names of the early children’s hospital in Farmington — will be held this fall. If you’d like to come, contact Kimberly Gimmarro or Pam Everidge at (248) 426-6951 or peveridge@botsford.org.

The 2009 Reunion Date!

kgimmarro — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:54:17 +0000

Mark your calendars! Welcome Home - A Reunion 2009 will be held Saturday, July 11, 2009 at Botsford Commons Senior Community. We welcome those affiliated with the Michigan Hospital School in Farmington, Michigan back for a special day!

Reconnect with your past, and tell your story! This is the year we will establish the formal archive for the former children’s hospital with the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University. The oral history project which began last year will continue, in hopes of preserving personal recollections of an important hospital in Farmington area history.

For reservations, contact Kimberly Gimmarro at (248) 426-6951 or kgimmarro@botsford.org.

Directions to the former hospital site are on the web at www.botsfordcommons.org.

Welcome home for your reunion!

Join us Saturday, June 26th for a Trip Down Memory Lane!

kgimmarro — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:52:34 +0000

The “Casual Ts” and “Piquette Ts” chapers of the Model T Ford Club International will be at Botsford Commons on Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. for their “Trip Down Memory Lane” tour. Model Ts were built by the Ford Motor Company between 1908 and 1927. You’ll be treated to a fine example of early automotive history on that day, complete with owners in period costume. Famed architect Albert Kahn was both the architect for the Highland Park plant that built Model Ts, and of two buildings original to the Botsford Commons campus. For event details or directions, contact Kimberly Gimmarro at (248) 426-6951 or via e-mail at kgimmarro@botsford.org.

The 2009 Reunion…we remember

kgimmarro — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:20:42 +0000

Saturday, July 11, 2009, we welcomed back 40 former patients, their families, and a relative of a two former staff members. Along with those present, Wayne State University’s Walter P. Reuther Library Director Michael O. Smith led a team of archivists in cataloguing early photographs and memorabilia from those affiliated with the early hospital.

The collection will afford researchers and those affiliated with the early hospital a unique glimpse into life at the early Farmington children’s hospital.

More than one Reunion attendee was able to locate with some degree of certainty their former room. Attendees represented the years 1929 - 1954, and came from as far as Long Beach, California and Plano, Texas!

Persons interested in donating to the hospital’s archive may contact Mike Smith at the Walter P. Reuther Library at 313-577-0415.

Rotary Club of Farmington Learned Local Hospital History

kgimmarro — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:32:25 +0000

Our thanks to the Farmington Rotary Club for the opportunity to share with them on April 21, 2009, the early history of Botsford Commons, which includes the history of the local children’s hospital - a hospital which treated debilitating childhood illnesses including polio and tuberculosis.

Their members are involved in Rotary International’s campaign to End Polio Now..

Looking for . . .

kgimmarro — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:07:09 +0000

The former patients that we’ve heard from frequently ask, “have you heard from?” Absent patient registers to tell us who was here, we’ve opened this space to try to meet that need. If you were here, and are trying to locate another patient, we hope you’ll find this page helpful. Caution to our commenters — this is a public space. Plan your comments accordingly. That said, we do hope to help you make the connections you are seeking.

There have been a couple of posts made to the Farmington Enterprise site. You can find them if you search “Michigan Hospital School” on that site.

Rotary Club of West Bloomfield

kgimmarro — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:47:18 +0000

On March 6, 2009, the Rotarians of the Rotary Club of West Bloomfield were presented the history of the early children’s hospital, including photographs from the Botsford Commons collection, and the Farmington Community Library Heritage Collection.

One member mentioned she had been sent to the hospital in her younger years as she was about to assist with fundraising for polio research, and the fundraising organizer felt she should see first hand what happened to the children that were unfortunate enough to have that diagnosis.

The Rotary Club of West Bloomfield is raising Pennies for Polio and was invited to attend our Reunion with this effort. We’re happy to support Rotary in their efforts to raise funds to meet Rotary International’s goal of worldwide polio eradication.

Generations at Botsford

kgimmarro — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:38:28 +0000

On Thursday, January 29, 2009, Generations at Botsford members were treated to a bit of local Farmington history…the story of the Michigan Hospital School! The campus which once served as a Farmington base for this hospital is now Botsford Commons Senior Community. Two of the three original hospital buildings remain — the Albert Kahn-designed buildings. The hospital dates back to 1919, and finds its origins in the late 1800s in a woman by the name of Blanche Van Leuven Browne. Original photographs, discovered in recent years in storage spaces, were available for viewing — and what a story they told! For more information, contact Kimberly Gimmarro at (248) 426-6951 or kgimmarro@botsford.org.

Farmington Historical Society

kgimmarro — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:52:48 +0000

On Wednesday, October 22, 2008, Kimberly Gimmarro, Executive Assistant and campus historian for Botsford Commons, delivered a presentation on the history of the Farmington children’s hospital at the October meeting of the Farmington Historical Society.

Many thanks to Brian Golden, President of the Farmington Historical Society for both the invitation to share, and for his work at the Reunion event on September 13, 2008. Mr. Golden videotaped the entire event, including selected narrative responses provided by the former patients during the “remember your hospital,” narrative part of the event.

Tell us your story…the questions.

kgimmarro — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:11:56 +0000

At our first Welcome Home reunion event, held September 13, 2008, we asked those present to share their story. To prompt their personal recollections of time spent at the children’s hospital, we provided a brief list of questions:

When were you diagnosed and how did you arrive here?
Describe a typical day.
Which staff do you recall and why?
What do you recall of the grounds?
Where did you go on outings?
What do you recall of the food? What was your favorite meal? What was your least favorite meal?
What was the most mischievous thing you did during your stay at the hospital?

The answers were as varied as the attendees!

If you’d like to share your story, please send it to: Kimberly Gimmarro, Executive Assistant, Botsford Continuing Care Corporation, 21450 Archwood Circle, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48336. Don’t forget to include a phone number and return address.