(L/R) Forrest Wiles, Robert McPhail, Richard Foley, Louis Meisel, Jr.; seated, Ponnie Jozwiak, Herbert Bean Jr. (in clown suit), Lyle Higgs; standing, Fred Fenske, Fred Nitschky, Herbert Hadcock, Emil Mish, Howard Auer, Hal Young and Fred Reer.
FLYING EAGLES: Bay City YMCA Acrobats Won State Trapeze Titles in 1920s
November 4, 2014
By: Dave Rogers
An Bay City YMCA amateur acrobatic group called the Flying Eagles thrilled county fair crowds in the area in the 1920s.
The group would be forgotten if not for a March 19, 1949 article by Jimmie Donahue and photo in The Bay City Times, a yellowed clipping of which came into the possession of yours truly recently by referral from retired banker Dick VanAkker.
One of the 14-member group was my former father-in-law, Emil Mish, who died in a garage mishap at his home on Cass Avenue in 1968.
Those pictured above were front row, left to right, Forrest Wiles, Robert McPhail, Richard Foley, Louis Meisel, Jr.; seated, Ponnie Jozwiak, Herbert Bean Jr. (in clown suit), Lyle Higgs; standing, Fred Fenske, Fred Nitschky, Herbert Hadcock, Emil Mish, Howard Auer, Hal Young (Y athletic director) and Fred Reer.
Mr. Young came to the local YMCA from Bloomington, Illinois, home of many professional trapeze performers, and started the local boys on a tumbling team and an aerial performance troupe "that was the talk of the country," Donahue wrote expansively.
The "diminutive, bespectacled scrivener," to ape Donahue's distinctive writing style, observed:
"The boys finally patched up an old net acquired from Bloomington, using copious quantities of baling wire, rope, and sweat of their brows and decided to add to their two state amateur CMCA gymnastic titles won in 1925-26 by going into the trapeze act."
Using 40 foot uprights and a net about 20 feet below the performers they put on their act three years running at the Bay City Water Carnival, numerous performances at the fairgrounds, at the Fairgrove homecoming, Tri-county fair at Standish, Vassar and elsewhere.
"Life of the Flying Eagles as amateurs ended with the deaths of Fred Fenske and Hal Young," Donahue concluded, commenting:
"Nitschky, Bean and Higgs got a three week billing with the Pantages circuit out of Chicago, their pro careers ending when they were short a catcher and couldn't find a replacement. "Bean later spent one season with the Flying Valentinos out of Chicago, an outfit with which Nitschky turned down an offer."
"What are they doing now?" asked Donahue, answering his own question: "Wiles is with the sales department of the National Electric Welding; McPhail is with the Habitant Shops; Foley is a plastics engineer; Meisel is with the Meisel Hardware; Jozwiak runs a flying school at AuGres; Bean works for Southeastern Electric in Midland; Higfgsis an instructor at Handy High; Nitschky is business representative for Electrical Workers Local 692; Hadcock is with Industrial Brownhoist; Mish is a general contractor; Auer coaches football for Flint Central; and Reer is with Dow in Midland.
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