Life

Metz Fire story swap Saturday

ALPENA ­-- A fire that decimated the village of Metz 115 years ago, leaving about 700 people homeless and taking the lives of over 40 still needs to be remembered and talked about today, according to one descendant of survivors.

Glory (Grambau) Kelderhouse is hosting a Metz Fire story swap at 2 p.m. on Saturday at St. Peter Lutheran Church Parish Hall, 2045 E. Metz Highway (on the corner of County Road 441).

"My grandma was 13 when the fire went through," said Kelderhouse, 65. "And, I remember her talking often about the fire. And, my dad spoke at the 100th anniversary of the fire, and he described it as a line in the sand -- there were things that happened before the fire, and things that happened after the fire. It was definitely a division in time."

The fire occurred on Oct. 15, 1908.

"On October 15th, 1908, a great forest fire swept away the town of Metz, Michigan, leaving nothing but the flagpole in the middle of the town square," Kelderhouse read from a summary she typed up for the 115th anniversary. "Forty-three people were lost, and hundreds were left with absolutely nothing but their lives. My family was directly impacted in several different ways. My homestead, the Grambau home, was spared, and many of the victims ended up here, for lack of anywhere else to go."

Her grandmother was Dora (Dramburg) Grambau, and her grandfather was Otto Grambau. Her parents were Gerald and Beatrice (Burzych) Grambau.

"I live on the Grambau Homestead that my great-grandpa, Herman Grambau, started in 1884," Kelderhouse said.

At the time of the fire, Kelderhouse said, "My home became a hospital, and every sheet in the house was torn into bandages to treat the burned victims. My great-grandfather, Herman Grambau, had just taken a load of wheat off of the field, and had it ground at Elowsky's Mill. This is what my great-grandmother, Emilie (Schott) Grambau used to make bread and biscuits to feed these visitors. My grandmother said that every inch of my home had people sitting, standing, or laying."

She said the St. Peter Lutheran Church burned down in the fire of 1908, but it was rebuilt on the same foundation.

Kelderhouse said getting together to share stories is better than just looking up history on your own.

"I'm swapping stories with other people about the Metz Fire," she said. "I'm trying to get other people to talk, because that's where you learn a lot of stuff."

She hopes more people will take an interest in local history and realize its value.

"This is pure, local history," Kelderhouse said. "And, if I don't tell people, nobody's going to know. Most of the people who live here now have no clue. They've never even thought about it. It's not something that's entered their minds. It's always been part of my life, so it's automatic for me to think about it."

She thinks it's especially important to pass historical knowledge down to younger generations.

"We're all getting older, and if we don't talk about these things, nobody's going to even know that they happened anymore," she said. "It's too important to just let it go. I just can't let it go … It's a labor of love."