CASCARELLI SHUFFLEBOARD

As we approach the Christmas holiday, I’d like to remind our readers that my Albion history books and materials are available at the Albion Chamber of Commerce. These would make great gifts for those visiting family and friends in their hometown. Even my Riverside Cemetery tour booklets make quite interesting reading.

If you’ve been following our “100 Years Ago” feature each month you’ve read that the Italian fruit dealer Robert Cascarelli’s establishment on N. Superior St. collapsed into the Kalamazoo River during the Great Flood of 1908. He then spent the remainder of the year in a temporary location in the Lottie Eslow Block on W. Porter St. [That’s the smaller building located just west of the Moose]. That situation changed on Thursday, January 7, 1909, when Robert purchased a business on the NW corner of S. Superior and W. Center Sts. and promptly moved to his new location. Coming up on Wednesday, January 7, 2009, Cascarelli’s will commemorate its 100th anniversary at their 116 S. Superior St. location with a huge celebration. Give them a call for further information.

Through the years Cascarelli’s has been known for a variety of things as it has become a community gathering place for individuals, clubs, and others. During the 1940s the craze at Cascarelli’s was shuffleboard. Tournaments were held and Cascarelli’s was the center of activity as patrons showed their skill or lack thereof, while others watched and cheered for their favorite players.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph of shuffleboard in action at Cascarelli’s, circa late 1940s. On the left, Betty Morgan and Delores McDowell look on, while C. Robert Llewellyn demonstrates his skill at this exciting sport. He is observed on the right by Hewitt “Curly” Eddy. Posted on the wall is a chalkboard with the score, as well as a list of rules with “No Gambling” in bold print. How many of our readers remember shuffleboard at Cascarelli’s?

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
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	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
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