Blaine & Shelley de Beaubien

Shelley: I grew up in Caro. When I was in school–I graduated in 1980–there was a huge rivalry between the ball teams of Cass City and Caro. It was huge. It was fun, too. You really got to know a lot of the people over here. Coming to the ball games, it was a great turn out.

Blaine: When I was in high school, you did not date girls from Caro. That was not a good plan!

Shelley: He graduated in ’77. We didn’t meet til ’82.

Blaine: The year I graduated, I wouldn’t even think of it. You just didn’t do that.
My grandfather was E.B. Schwaderer. A couple years ago, Donny Ball brought over a file from the days of old, from my grandfather’s time when he owned the road construction, which was C.R. Hunt Road Construction. It used to be E.B. Schwaderer Road Construction. Grandpa built M-81 from Cass City to Caro and lots of other things. One time, virtually everyone in Cass City worked for Grandpa.

Shelley: He put people to work. He did a lot. He built the hospital. He was clerk of works, where he took a pay of one dollar to build it. We wouldn’t have a hospital without him doing all that he did. And the pool. The way we’ve heard the story is that they were debating about needing a new pool. The old pool was in horrible disrepair. His grandfather, owning all the construction equipment around town, just went up there and dug them a new hole and said, “There”.

Blaine: Yeah, we go back in town a long way. We’re living on a family farm here. My grandfather’s parents used to buy houses around town, renovate them, sell them, then go on to a new project.

What makes Cass City special for you?

Blaine: The history. The people in Cass City are generally friendly. It’s a really safe place to be. Realistically, we’re very sheltered here, and I like that.