Charlie Turner

“My name is Charlie Turner and although I never attended school or lived full time in Romeo I have a very deep connection with the town. My mother and father bought a farm on 33 mile Rd in 1948 (the year I was born) because my father was ill and it was assumed he would never be able to work again. My mother was a strong woman and had been raised in the country so she told him they needed to get out of Detroit and get to a place where she knew how to live cheaply. So, that’s how we wound up in Romeo. Long story short he fully recovered and they loved the area so much they couldn’t part with the farm and we have used it for summers and weekends ever since.  

It was at Folly Farm as we came to call it that I learned to love the outdoors and nature. As a child I roamed the woods, swamps and gravel roads and was taught the names of the birds, animals and plants by my mother. When I got a bit older Jim Wachowski and I would peddle into town and enjoy the activities at the Youth Center on Morton St. pretty much every day during the summer months and made a whole new circle of friends. RJ Brainard was director at the time.  Those friendships have lasted to this day. 

It’s this love of nature and Romeo that led my wife Yolanda and I to support “Greenspace on Prospect Street”. As a long time board member at Seven Ponds Nature Center, I am aware of the positive effects on children, adults and families of being outside and exposed to nature and open spaces.  Sadly we live in a time where kids spend their youth glued to a screen. Greenspace will be an area where people of all ages can relax, have fun and be unplugged, and it’s right in the middle of town! The opportunity to utilize this parcel in a way that will not only benefit the town today, but will reach untold generations in the future, is an opportunity that must not be missed.”

Photo credit: Charlie Turner