Sesquicentennial Interview: Anthony Preketes

Thu, 11/07/2024 - 5:20pm

When: 1974

This interview was conducted in 1974 as part of the I Remember When television series produced by the Ann Arbor Public Library.

Transcript

• [00:00:11] TED TROST: Mr. Preketes, how was it that you happened to come to Ann Arbor?
• [00:00:14] ANTHONY PREKETES: How?
• [00:00:15] TED TROST: Yeah.
• [00:00:15] ANTHONY PREKETES: Due to the fact, my brothers were here before. That's what really drove me here in Ann Arbor.
• [00:00:25] TED TROST: You came to Ann Arbor at what age?
• [00:00:28] ANTHONY PREKETES: Let's see. I was about maybe not ten, eleven.
• [00:00:37] TED TROST: Now, did you come as a young boy?
• [00:00:41] ANTHONY PREKETES: Naturally.
• [00:00:42] TED TROST: Then you went to school, through the grade school and the high school, and then on to the university.
• [00:00:48] ANTHONY PREKETES: Right. During the World War, I was enlisted. I was taking medicine at that time. I was entertaining the boys wrestling, a lot of times how they are. A matter of fact, a lot of times, we used to stay our bunk is in the Michigan Union. It was unfinished at that time and September was cold, real cold. I remember we are freeze to death. Lots of times, I would sneak out and go in the store. They didn't give us very good food. Let's put it that way. We didn't have it. I would make a lot of sandwiches and we had a little candy. One time, I was caught by the guard, but I says, wait a minute, are you hungry? Here you are. He let me pass. Of course, the food wasn't too good them days. They didn't have the right people to take care of the way it should. See what I mean? But that was it. That's of course. Later on as I said, there was the SATC, and a year later, they called ROTC.
• [00:02:07] TED TROST: ROTC. Sure.
• [00:02:09] ANTHONY PREKETES: Which some young ones wanted to destroy. They don't realize that was the backbone of our defense. Because there was a lot of those boys. In three months, you were shave tail. First louie, they call it.
• [00:02:33] TED TROST: First lieutenant.
• [00:02:34] ANTHONY PREKETES: Then in three months or most of six months, they're ready to ship you off. But fortunately, the war was over, so not most of us stay in for a while.
• [00:02:49] TED TROST: Well, now, as you grew up in Ann Arbor, you obviously were close to the Greek community here.
• [00:02:56] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yes. Absolutely. As I said, we were pioneers in this town, you see.
• [00:03:03] TED TROST: The Greeks were pioneers in this town.
• [00:03:05] ANTHONY PREKETES: Pioneers. We were the first ones. There was no families because now my other brothers, they were just young. They were 25 or some 20, 25. There were no families at all. But after a while, one of the boys got married and then the other and so forth. Then Greek families began to come in like Poulos and like Walken and like Thorolees. Let's see. Kurtis. Not Kurtis, it was Collins. He was the one here.
• [00:03:56] TED TROST: Well, now, the Greek Church has played an active part in the life for the Greek community.
• [00:04:01] ANTHONY PREKETES: Very much. You see, AHEPA really was behind it. You see. As I told you before, when we form AHEPA here way back in 1924.
• [00:04:15] TED TROST: Now, you formed a what?
• [00:04:17] ANTHONY PREKETES: The AHEPA lodge.
• [00:04:19] TED TROST: AHEPA lodge.
• [00:04:21] ANTHONY PREKETES: Which is one of the best foreign organizations and patriotic, next to Masons.
• [00:04:34] TED TROST: Oh, it's sort of like the Masons. It's a fraternal society.
• [00:04:37] ANTHONY PREKETES: Fraternal society, but more so. They adopt this country frankly with all their hearts.
• [00:04:45] TED TROST: With all their hearts.
• [00:04:46] ANTHONY PREKETES: Let's see if that's right. As I said my brother that time, he was a head of the AHEPA and he built about ten new chapters all around Michigan. Then we bought this building where the church is now.
• [00:05:05] TED TROST: That's down on Main Street?
• [00:05:06] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yeah, on Main Street. South Main was old house on the old but big house. We donate that to a church to build church in there. See?
• [00:05:21] TED TROST: I see.
• [00:05:22] ANTHONY PREKETES: We made it. That's how we started. Then was during the depression, really was hard times. But we all worked hard and a lot of personal work. Besides money, and my older brother, he went all over, he knew a lot of friends, even depression times. A lot of American people here in town, they help us quite little. See. I say about 1935, that church was finished and completely paid. That's something fantastic because money, that time a dime was a dollar them days.
• [00:06:01] TED TROST: Now, the services are held in Greek, aren't they? Yes, the language.
• [00:06:05] ANTHONY PREKETES: Both.
• [00:06:06] TED TROST: Both Greek and English.
• [00:06:06] ANTHONY PREKETES: Oh, yes. They have in English and in Greek. A matter of fact, every Sunday and ceremony, the preacher always give talk, mostly in English. Then even in the ceremonials time, you would give many parts, like I say, the lesson, for Our Father.
• [00:06:39] TED TROST: In the gospel lessons sure.
• [00:06:40] ANTHONY PREKETES: We have now practically in this town with intermarriages must be over 500 families.
• [00:06:54] TED TROST: That's a big big congregation.
• [00:06:56] ANTHONY PREKETES: You see, way back in 1910 and 1911, this town was dominated by Germans. Almost were 75%.
• [00:07:08] ANTHONY PREKETES: I used to go to German school where, the national bank is, the Huron National Bank. It used to be church, and they had little school classes on the side. I used to go there and I had a lot of friends, at that time.
• [00:07:23] TED TROST: Yes, I think there are some similarities between the German community and the Greek community.
• [00:07:28] ANTHONY PREKETES: I tell you still they're thrifty. I just find out. And workers. Good work. German women same as the Greek woman.
• [00:07:40] TED TROST: They like to cook. Some of the festivals that you had in your church, I suppose are very meaningful. I bet. Beautiful services at Easter and Christmas.
• [00:07:51] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yes.
• [00:07:52] TED TROST: Easter isn't always held at the same time as the rest of the churches.
• [00:07:55] ANTHONY PREKETES: No, In matter of fact, what they call the Gregorian calendar, and I think they call it there's two different calendars. Seems to me, they are a little different there. Somehow every four years, we are the same. I mean, we do the like the Easter.
• [00:08:29] TED TROST: It's the same time every four years.
• [00:08:30] ANTHONY PREKETES: But Christmas is always the same.
• [00:08:31] TED TROST: Always on the 25th. What is a name day?
• [00:08:36] ANTHONY PREKETES: Name day?
• [00:08:37] TED TROST: Yes, tell us.
• [00:08:40] ANTHONY PREKETES: For instance, if your name is John. Of course, you got a birthday. You celebrate that, too if you want. Then when name day come around, you celebrate again. Like Saint Johns or Saint Mary or Saint Nicholas. A matter of fact, we name the church Saint Nicholas in memory of our father. Our father was named Nicholas.
• [00:09:05] TED TROST: That's very interesting, I never knew that.
• [00:09:05] ANTHONY PREKETES: I were very proud. I was way back in 1932. I was in Greece and I spent studied. Meantime, the priest wrote me big letters. We need lot a paraphernalia for the, you know.
• [00:09:26] TED TROST: The chancel.
• [00:09:30] ANTHONY PREKETES: I was ready to leave, and I had to stay about three weeks later. Meantime I got married. I brought this girl back, she was born and raised in Chicago.
• [00:09:42] TED TROST: That was a worthwhile trip.
• [00:09:45] ANTHONY PREKETES: I says, well, now let's go back where belong, so I have brought four big boxes of the paraphernalia. Then some there [OVERLAPPING]
• [00:09:58] TED TROST: Must be very meaningful to you. Still at the church?
• [00:10:01] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yes, still except a few things. I don't know what happened. Sometimes they steal it or something. Not the, just a colored guy sometimes.
• [00:10:11] TED TROST: You then spent most of your life here in Ann Arbor?
• [00:10:16] ANTHONY PREKETES: Absolutely every bit of it outside of being in Greece, '32.
• [00:10:21] TED TROST: In 1932.
• [00:10:22] ANTHONY PREKETES: I stay there. I was there again in 1967. I stayed there about only about three months, but the first time was over year.
• [00:10:36] TED TROST: Do you still have ties in Greece?
• [00:10:40] ANTHONY PREKETES: Far distant relatives.
• [00:10:42] TED TROST: I see.
• [00:10:42] ANTHONY PREKETES: In matter of fact, our father's estate is still there yet. Some give away. We did build on one high school like I was there, which was destroyed here by earthquake about ten years ago. Beautiful building. I happened to see it. Was all marble steps, mosaic tile. When they had this catastrophe of earthquake that demolished it.
• [00:11:17] TED TROST: Do you still follow the politics of Greece and the Cyprus situation [OVERLAPPING].
• [00:11:22] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yes, that was that was very bad the summer. Kissinger had done very very bad job. Nixon, he tried to bridge the peace loving nations and abolish wars. Overnight, Mr. Kissinger, he ordered the American, the Turkish warships, which is all Americans, paid by out by you and me and everybody else to go ahead to go in and cover Cyprus. But you know what happened? It's the Turks, they had never been educated. When I was there, 32, I was there, it was only about 4% of them. Only 4%. Then Kemal come to when they come to power, which he was educated in Salonica and the Greek schools. Then he ordered the Turks to go to school, but now it's only about 17% educated. Then when the Turks navy was going after Cyprus, the airplanes, which we give the to Turkey, they thought it was Greek ships. They destroy and [INAUDIBLE] it. The papers don't say very much, but everybody knew about that. They destroy and two smaller destroyers. Think about how dumb they are. They were barbarians. Then there's no nation in the world I admit yet that they love Turks. I see, they've done so much against Christians. They have killed the last 400 years more than 150 million Christians. In 1904, in 1905, no 1914, 15. They massacred about six million Armenians. That's more than Hitler killed Jews during the war.
• [00:13:45] TED TROST: In any event, that's really a strife torn isle over there, and it's probably not going to be solved for a long time, Cyprus situation.
• [00:13:54] ANTHONY PREKETES: They done so much damage now. There is over 200,000 left their homes. Now we know they have Red Cross trying to do a lot. Then the AHEPA lodge and all the lodges and churches donate all they can.
• [00:14:14] TED TROST: Trying to help the [OVERLAPPING]. Now, I want to ask you something else, just to come back to Ann Arbor. When you were here, you were in the restaurant business, weren't you?
• [00:14:25] ANTHONY PREKETES: Was what?
• [00:14:25] TED TROST: In the restaurant business.
• [00:14:27] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yes.
• [00:14:28] TED TROST: Tell us about that, too. The [OVERLAPPING] job.
• [00:14:32] ANTHONY PREKETES: I tell you, I guess it when I was younger yet. I used to run, you know the old high school on Huron and on State Street. It used to be high school [OVERLAPPING].
• [00:14:46] TED TROST: The Frieze, the university has it now.
• [00:14:48] ANTHONY PREKETES: I used to run at noons, for about I made five minutes and go and help a little and have some bite to eat and run back to the school. Of course, that's a shame, though that of course, university occupy they condemn that. Then they condemn what they did. They rebuild it, and they closed the Thayer Street, and they expand it. You see. That's the university for you. They own everything. University owned more than, owns more than half of the Ann Arbor?
• [00:15:22] TED TROST: I didn't know that.
• [00:15:23] ANTHONY PREKETES: More than half, believe it or not. Then they don't pay the rent, they get rents from other people.
• [00:15:31] TED TROST: They give us some jobs now and then.
• [00:15:35] ANTHONY PREKETES: But you know our tax average is? 82% goes for schools. That's outrageous.
• [00:15:44] TED TROST: That's a lot of money. When did you get into the Sugar Bowl?
• [00:15:47] ANTHONY PREKETES: When? I get in, in 1910. You bought that. I was a little boy, that the boys, the child.
• [00:15:57] TED TROST: Brothers were, were there with you.
• [00:16:00] ANTHONY PREKETES: In 1910, we bought it from Mr. Webber. He had a little candy store, but it was running down. So we closed the thing up. We had a lot of candy throwaway because they didn't take care of it. Then we build that. In matter of fact, I have one picture on our first get in there. The windows it wasn't as big as it was lately, it such short windows. There's four of us. I was one and there's two girls and somebody else. I can't think of their names. That's over 55 years ago, my dear man, this is 55. That's a long time, is long [OVERLAPPING]. I spent there my 55 years. It hurt many time to go by there and see the place. It really hurt me. It hurt me, my lifetime, my young. I used to know millions and millions of people I used to see. People whenever I go they recognize, Hello Tony, of course, I got a white hair, now I have no dark hair like.
• [00:17:09] TED TROST: Now, you then changed it from a candy store into a regular restaurant.
• [00:17:13] ANTHONY PREKETES: We started candy store and ice cream. Yes, that I distinct remember. We had boys there. I remember some schoolmates, we used to wash the dishes, and we used to call ourselves pearl divers.
• [00:17:29] TED TROST: Pearl divers.
• [00:17:32] TED TROST: Jerry Ford work there? You mentioned that?
• [00:17:35] ANTHONY PREKETES: Thirty four around 34, 35. For twenty five cents an hour, which was a lot of money. The kids who used to get nine, ten cents an hour, believe it or not. Again that was lot of. I know I used to work about 25 hours a week. All day Saturday, all Sunday, and some after school. Two and a half dollars. Then I was [LAUGHTER] glad to have it and saved enough to buy bike.
• [00:18:04] TED TROST: A lot of people from the Ann Arbor community came here to the restaurant. Right?
• [00:18:09] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yes, lot of people in town, now. Of course, Ann Arbor. It isn't what it used to be.
• [00:18:15] TED TROST: How's it changed?
• [00:18:18] ANTHONY PREKETES: I'm telling you when I was in school during the war. We had about 6,000 students, about what about 450 or 500 girls. But you see neat, clean. You respect them. You wouldn't dare do anything and I don't know it start last fifteen, twenty years. We had a new city manager, and he really destroy the Main Street by letting all the shopping centers come in.
• [00:19:01] TED TROST: Oh you feel that the shopping centers have destroyed Main Street because? [OVERLAPPING]
• [00:19:05] ANTHONY PREKETES: Not only that, and the city is getting. It used to be model city. We used to have our doors open all time. We'll walk from the store to 9th Street. We used to live young young boys, with a lot of money.
• [00:19:17] TED TROST: You're concerned that there's more crime than there used to be?
• [00:19:20] ANTHONY PREKETES: Oh my God, more crime lately, it's terrible. You're afraid to get out of the streets anymore. If you follow the Ann Arbor paper every night, you see what the hold ups and what not. Isn't it?
• [00:19:33] TED TROST: This conditions prevails in many places, many communities today that can destroy our country.
• [00:19:39] ANTHONY PREKETES: Chicago was like a dirty town, but just two weeks ago, a paper come out the Ann Arbor is one of the worst cities for crime. Good Lord, I hope. The thing is this, our courts don't act properly. I don't know. They don't seem to punish the ones they say.
• [00:20:00] TED TROST: You feel that law enforcement has to be improved?
• [00:20:04] ANTHONY PREKETES: Must improve lot, and say of juvenile. What do you mean? On kids 14, 15, 16, 17-years-old don't know what he's doing a crime or not? I don't believe in that. My God there should be some kind punish for them because they're given more chance now to do more crimes than ever. You see? Maybe I'm wrong.
• [00:20:30] TED TROST: Now go back to to your restaurant. You had a lot of Greek people would come in and eat there. Wouldn't they?
• [00:20:40] ANTHONY PREKETES: No. Wait a minute.
• [00:20:41] TED TROST: Does everybody came [OVERLAPPING]
• [00:20:42] ANTHONY PREKETES: Wait a minute. No. That was a meeting place for everybody [OVERLAPPING] from the poorest to the highest. All the governors, Democrats or Republicans. They used to stop. They had meetings there and my older brother, he was quite active in politics, too, and they used to come in quite often. They had a banquets and things like that. As I say, during the war, during the inflation, depression, we used to feed lot of people.
• [00:21:22] TED TROST: Yes, I read in an article. You take food to the poor people.
• [00:21:28] ANTHONY PREKETES: How can I refuse? I knew you and you has come a lot of times. We given orders to the girls. If anybody come in, never refuse him, less is drunk. Not to give the drunkards. But I can tell you stories after stories a matter of fact. If I tell you one story, which really impressed me. Every day was some micro episode or something happened. Anecdote was one Saturday afternoon, about two o'clock in the afternoon. A young lady, probably around 25, nice, dark hair and beautiful looking lady and had it with a little child, girl. The girl was about, probably, I would say, not quite two years old. She said wanted a booth in the lower parlor.
• [00:22:22] TED TROST: The lower part of the restaurant.
• [00:22:23] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yeah, there's a lower parlor and upper parlor. The girl went away to her and says, I want a bowl of hot water. The girl come up at me and says, well, I charged that. I says, you deliver that. I says, don't I tell you what you do. But there was a place I can stay and I can watch what's going on the whole place without detecting me. I saw the them days, we used to have a bowl of those oyster crackers, and ketchup, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper. It was all on the table and as I watched there, she took the ketchup and put some ketchup in the soup and then took some crackers and put then little salt pepper and start feeding the child. I say that kind touch me up. I say it's all right, I call the girl come here, says go back to order hot sandwich with all the trimmings and coffee and take some glass milk and some ice cream for the child and take it down the table, to this lady. She did. When went there, she looked at her. She says, I didn't order that. It almost tears in her eyes, and, it touch me up. I watched it and say, I only got a dime. I say, don't worry about it everything taking care. The poor woman [OVERLAPPING].
• [00:24:06] TED TROST: You been in the people, concerned about people.
• [00:24:08] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yeah. Well, I tell you, when you are in business like that, you learn more in your lifetime, that you're doing all universities of world. You meet people, you talk to people. You see the actions. Once she got through she come up to me to thank me. We say, for what? Or says, don't worry about it. It says, where are you from? It says, I'm from North. Where are you going? It says, I have a sister in Detroit and I want go to her. That time we had street cars running Detroit, up to Chicago. The fare, if I can recall, was about thirty five cents that time. Thirty five cents to go to Detroit. There's depot ways down here. I give her $1. I don't want to say that I give her dollars you go in your sister. She thanked me for it. But about twelve years later, she come in one Saturday afternoon in the store, and she says, "Do you remember me?" I said, My dear lady. I say thousand millions your feed some kind. Do you remember that lady come with a little girl? She had a beautiful little girl. She wasn't very tall, but yes. I say, that's my daughter. I say, what are you doing here? I say, I come in to enroll my daughter. She wants to go to school and become teacher. Wonderful. I think her name was Maria.
• [00:25:50] TED TROST: That's a delightful story. [OVERLAPPING]
• [00:25:51] ANTHONY PREKETES: I says, whenever you want anything. I says, don't be ashamed to come down here and help whenever you're downtown, stop in. That can please me, I say, four years later, she graduated, took isn't that something?
• [00:26:05] TED TROST: That is something. Yeah.
• [00:26:07] ANTHONY PREKETES: I can tell many so many things that happened, that another thing I remember, a boy. That was later on. It was on Sunday, about seven o'clock and he come in and I was making some menus for the next day in the cash, by the cash register, and he says, I look up. Are you hungry? I said, he couldn't talk. He had a long hair, blonde, dirty shirt, cowboy shoes, and dirty overalls. I said, you go back and i'll see you. I went back and I'd start talking to him. I knew he couldn't talk. This poor fellow, he can't talk. I said, I usually had extra pants and shoes and clean shirts. Now I said, you go downstairs, wash, and come up. He went down to come up he was heck of a good looking chap. Must have been about sixteen, seventeen years old. I gave him a card to put his name. Couldn't write. [OVERLAPPING] so right away, I thought that was outcast way out in the south, when the kids and everybody, maybe pull a parent. I said, all right. I said, put a cross. I said, you go to school and Perry School that time had two nights a week teaching English support to learn to read and write. He said, all right. Next that night, I went to the YMCA and got him room and then back in our place was a barber shop. I went to give him a haircut.
• [00:28:05] ANTHONY PREKETES: You can see my son. I started, telling him what to do, pick up dishes, and help.
• [00:28:13] TED TROST: He was working for you.
• [00:28:14] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yeah. On first pay, as I took him next door the Ann Arbor bank. I give him a book to put his money in. I says, you come in any time here and you put money in. He stayed there for a while. He went to school. He began to talk. He didn't stutter. He began to write, he began to so he felt better. I think he stayed about eight months. One day he says, I want go to Detroit, and I says, you should, my boy, you will go. But, don't take all your money out. Take a little money, do your need. If you want a thing, better come back and I'll be glad to have you. He went to Detroit. It was about two and a half, almost three years later. One Sunday night again, he come in the store. I was usually taking cash or doing something. Well dressed, nice bow tie, nice dark suit. When I come he said, do you remember me?
• [00:29:30] TED TROST: You didn't recognize him.
• [00:29:32] ANTHONY PREKETES: I said, yes, aren't you Joe? He says, yes. That's me. I says, I'm so happy to see you. What are you doing? He says, after I left here, I went to Detroit to art school.
• [00:29:52] TED TROST: An art school.
• [00:29:53] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yeah. Now I have a place in this side of Romulus. What is that town, the small town, the side of Romulus. He says, and how are you doing? I'm doing wonderful. I have just come back. What are you doing here tonight? He says, I drove a doctor up to University Hospital, and he says to me, here going to be there a couple of hours. I thought I had time to come down and thank you what you did for me. I didn't do anything. Yes, the shoes you give me. I still got them. That's the shoes they put me in right road. They kind of touch me up. Really, that's wonderful. I'm glad you're doing well. Whenever you're in town, be sure and drop in. He says, you don't know how much help you was to me. The little things like that. You don't have to give people, run on. Just lift them up a little. I always figured that boy was outcast. All the kids, who were there I suppose they wouldn't play with him or anything. Maybe their folks were so poor, they couldn't help.
• [00:31:09] TED TROST: Well, the way the Greek community has helped each other how you help those outside the Greek community.
• [00:31:16] ANTHONY PREKETES: There's so many things that I can write in a book. A couple of judges told me to go ahead and start write books and test in. They used to come. We had all the judges, all the lawyers, all the doctors come in. Then I said, all the poor people, too. Do you know something? The real estate men of this town, he used to tell me what them, 95%. We've done the biggest business right in your place. Says, bring people.
• [00:31:46] TED TROST: Oh so they'd come into the restaurant.
• [00:31:48] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yeah, a restaurant and sit down and talk. We had about, can sit about 350 people. It was a big place. Plenty of room and nobody bother them. He says Tony, believe it or not, 99% of my business is done right here. I say I should charge you rental for coming here every time. [LAUGHTER]
• [00:32:16] TED TROST: Now tell us about old Ann Arbor days, what you remember.
• [00:32:21] ANTHONY PREKETES: It used to be the Majestic, first theater. You know the Majestic.
• [00:32:24] TED TROST: I know where the Majestic was, right.
• [00:32:26] ANTHONY PREKETES: Then they used to rush that once a while. As kids, we go in anyway, but the worst part of it and they have a snake dances, and then they have bonfires right on Main Street. They took one day right in front of our store there. The street car off the tracks and then they started cheering. Then pretty soon, they start rushing the Sugar Bowl. My older brother says, alright, boys. He says, If you behave, I'll give you all drink, Coke. They let him go on by one, and we had four faucets going. They make Cokes. Ready made, you put your syrup and some pour and ice. Then when they get through, they go outside and start to say, Hey Sugar Bowl, Hey Preketes, RAH RAH RAH!
• [00:33:22] TED TROST: Well, you got your own cheer there. That's wonderful.
• [00:33:28] ANTHONY PREKETES: I say tell about the hill dorm without the time when he had it.
• [00:33:33] TED TROST: You go right ahead. We would like to hear about that.
• [00:33:35] ANTHONY PREKETES: Then where the Hill dorm is now it used to be hollow. Big hollow there. The students would pick up. Them days, all the merchants used to get in wooden boxes, all their merchandise. They pick up from all over, and they used to come in our stores. They pile those then they had the cap night which they abolished later for what reason, anyway. They used to dance and sing and bonfire where probably about 40 to 50 feet way up, good and then dancing. I remember one time as I was telling them as kids, he used to sneak under the boy's legs try to pick up one of those caps. In matter of fact, I succeed one time to get one. I didn't know how I'll come out alive. A year later, I was delivering some little hamburger joint on State Street. I delivered some sciences and the diagonal. That was half dozen of those sophomores. There goes the Freshman! They're all rushing boys. First thing they all pile up on me. There goes my sandwiches I think. I tried to tell them, I'm not Freshman, but it was fine. I took that darn cap after that night, and I throw it away.
• [00:35:01] TED TROST: You threw it away.
• [00:35:05] ANTHONY PREKETES: I wondered them to kill me.
• [00:35:07] TED TROST: Didn't you win a car once in Ann Arbor?
• [00:35:10] ANTHONY PREKETES: Twice.
• [00:35:11] TED TROST: Twice, tell us about that.
• [00:35:12] ANTHONY PREKETES: In 1912, in Ann Arbor News. They had big contests, popularity and so forth. I won first prize. I had about million votes from the second one. That's way back in the Jackson car. Great big Jackson. That time we only had a probably a couple dozen cars in Ann Arbor, way back in 1911, 12. The second time I won a car in the Washtenaw.
• [00:35:47] TED TROST: I saw that in the newspaper.
• [00:35:48] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yeah. Now it's Ann Arbor, because they bought them after. I've done a lot of work for that paper. Let's put it that way. I come up first that. But that time I won, Oldsmobile. That was good car.
• [00:36:06] TED TROST: Still is.
• [00:36:07] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yes. Of course, it was twenty years later, It was way back in 1912. In 1930, when I won the second car. I was in contest. I won diamond ring and $100 besides.
• [00:36:24] TED TROST: Well, you must be a lucky fellow.
• [00:36:26] ANTHONY PREKETES: But I work, though. Then I knew a lot of people, I used to, a matter of fact, the time the first car I was in wintertime. If you get a subscribing from farmers, the votes were double. I just used one day by the church, there Scio church. There was a lot of snowing and ground and I tried a jump and it was big ditch, and I went in about here. I said, Oh my God. I said no good thing. Finally I worked myself out. That's an awful feeling. Just finding your self going down buried in snow. I was very careful after that when I was stepping. I worked as for both times well, but it's worth it.
• [00:37:26] TED TROST: You bet it is.
• [00:37:27] ANTHONY PREKETES: I thought worth it.
• [00:37:28] TED TROST: Awfully nice talking with you.
• [00:37:30] ANTHONY PREKETES: Anything else you want to know for Ann Arbor?
• [00:37:32] TED TROST: I could spend all day here and I'd be thrilled with your stories.
• [00:37:37] ANTHONY PREKETES: I can tell you a lot of things about Ann Arbor. Way back. Yes indeed. I'm telling this. Well, that's a lot of water goes over the dam you may say, but too bad that man gets older and you can't keep up the way he should, but that's one of them.
• [00:37:55] TED TROST: That's life.
• [00:37:56] ANTHONY PREKETES: I'm not young anymore.
• [00:37:58] TED TROST: But you've had a full life. Would that everybody could say that.
• [00:38:04] ANTHONY PREKETES: I always tried to be clean life, and I used to love lot of athletics. I used to do a lot of race outside after the practice in football, I told Mr. Yost, I says, oh no. As I don't tell him, he used to come to the store.
• [00:38:22] TED TROST: Mr. Yost did?
• [00:38:23] ANTHONY PREKETES: He loved chocolate sodas and chicken sandwiches on toast. He used to come practically every other day. I knew right way, he didn't even ask and I just get them ready for for him. Toward the end, he was getting kind of old, and he didn't get around very much. But I remember he used to hurry up.
• [00:38:44] TED TROST: He was a fine gentlemen.
• [00:38:46] ANTHONY PREKETES: Once said get up there, get going. Just pushing just as hard as he can. You made minute.
• [00:38:56] TED TROST: Wait a minute.
• [00:38:57] ANTHONY PREKETES: Minute, point, minute. Hurry up Yost.
• [00:39:00] TED TROST: Hurry up Yost?
• [00:39:01] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yeah, hurry up Yost.
• [00:39:02] TED TROST: He said, hurry up a lot.
• [00:39:03] ANTHONY PREKETES: Oh God. Hurry up. I have thought of hurry up. He wants people to hurry. Which speed means lot in football. Speed has a lot to do, you know that. Yes, I tell you there's a lot of things in. Well.
• [00:39:26] TED TROST: There we are.
• [00:39:26] ANTHONY PREKETES: Anything else?
• [00:39:30] TED TROST: What's it like to go to a Greek wedding? That must be something.
• [00:39:34] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yes. A matter of fact, the bride of course, she has her maids and the groom has his court or whatever it is.
• [00:39:51] TED TROST: The ushers. Best man. Sort of thing.
• [00:39:55] ANTHONY PREKETES: The wedding lasts almost an hour. It isn't you love me and I love you. The last whole hours regular ceremony. That goes through regular. You might say from the Bible, which, a lot of times give in the church, takes a lot of things from there and ceremony is very colorful. Then as I say, they have the bride maids and so forth, and so on. Then after the wedding of course, they go and congratulate the bride and groom and the parents and the court, you might say. Then they usually have a big dinner.
• [00:40:56] TED TROST: Big dinner. That's the reception, then.
• [00:40:58] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yeah.
• [00:40:59] TED TROST: What's that like?
• [00:41:00] ANTHONY PREKETES: Well, drinks. First of all, probably some cognac or something like that and then wine on the table, or what you want to drink. They have bottles in there and maybe four, five or six course dinner, sometimes ten course dinner.
• [00:41:21] TED TROST: Ten course dinner? Oh my goodness.
• [00:41:23] ANTHONY PREKETES: [LAUGHTER]. They have so many things, so you got to make your mind that when you go to wedding and you of course, sometimes they don't all invite it to the dinners, because a lot of them invited to.
• [00:41:42] TED TROST: Do they hold receptions at the church or any other places too.
• [00:41:45] ANTHONY PREKETES: They go no. They go use outside the church because sometimes the crowds so big they can't handle it.
• [00:41:53] TED TROST: Well, does the father of the bride have to pay for that?
• [00:41:55] ANTHONY PREKETES: Who?
• [00:41:56] TED TROST: Father of the bride? Who does pay for it?
• [00:41:59] ANTHONY PREKETES: Mostly.
• [00:42:00] TED TROST: Mostly.
• [00:42:01] ANTHONY PREKETES: When my daughter got married, I paid, we hold it in the girls.
• [00:42:11] TED TROST: The women's league? The union.
• [00:42:17] ANTHONY PREKETES: The union one and the other union. We had over 600.
• [00:42:24] TED TROST: Six hundred people. A big ten course dinner. Oh, my goodness.
• [00:42:29] ANTHONY PREKETES: Well, sometimes though when you have it in some Greek restaurants, then when you get all kinds.
• [00:42:35] TED TROST: Then it gets.
• [00:42:35] ANTHONY PREKETES: [LAUGHTER] They pile up.
• [00:42:39] TED TROST: Well, now, in addition to the festival that's held here in Ann Arbor every year at the Greek Church, what other things do you do for the community?
• [00:42:48] ANTHONY PREKETES: Well, first we have a drive now, which is going to take place next week sometime.
• [00:42:57] TED TROST: What's that for?
• [00:43:00] ANTHONY PREKETES: To get money to pay some the mortgage. You see.
• [00:43:06] TED TROST: This is for your church.
• [00:43:08] ANTHONY PREKETES: Once open. You're going to have open for everybody. They give a lot of prizes. They give $1,500, second prize. First prize two tickets to Greece. Then they have $100 and, other things to go, like oh for instance nice TV set and things like that. They have probably about 15, 20 different prizes. They have dinner, first and dinner dance. Let's see what it costs me $56. Sixty five dollars.
• [00:43:58] TED TROST: Sixty five dollars.
• [00:44:00] ANTHONY PREKETES: Well, of course, that's for leavers.
• [00:44:01] TED TROST: Now you put on spaghetti suppers before.
• [00:44:05] ANTHONY PREKETES: Spaghetti suppers on about two dollars, two and a half.
• [00:44:08] TED TROST: I thought spaghetti was an Italian dish.
• [00:44:11] ANTHONY PREKETES: Well, that's a little cheaper, but they prepare a little better a little differently. They don't have you know, all you can roll this one. [LAUGHTER]
• [00:44:21] TED TROST: I'd like it, wouldn't I?
• [00:44:24] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yeah. With a lot of sauce or meatballs.
• [00:44:27] TED TROST: Does the Greek community get together for picnics in the summer?
• [00:44:30] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yes. They have once for the church. In the German park. Way out there.
• [00:44:38] TED TROST: I know where the German Park is. Been there many times.
• [00:44:41] ANTHONY PREKETES: We have a lot of doings out there. That's complete for the church though. Then the AHEPA holds once in a while, picnic and some other. Of course, families, sometimes they get together, your family.
• [00:45:01] TED TROST: What was the first Greek family to come into the Ann Arbor community?
• [00:45:05] ANTHONY PREKETES: Preketes.
• [00:45:06] TED TROST: That's your family.
• [00:45:08] ANTHONY PREKETES: That's what I said.
• [00:45:09] TED TROST: That's what you meant when you said the church was named for Nicholas. Which was your father's name?
• [00:45:13] ANTHONY PREKETES: Father's name. Yes. Well, we are pioneers.
• [00:45:17] TED TROST: This Pioneers.
• [00:45:19] ANTHONY PREKETES: Pioneers. Yes. My older brother was here first. There was a little place right across from where the Salvation Army is. It was a little stand that had a little store, fruits and ice cream. There or my brother got all the strength and how to make the ice cream, the ten gallon freezer, salt and ice, get toward the end, gets so hard. That's how he got the strength. He pile up all those points for the Adrian College in Kalamazoo. His picture was all over all over the state at that time.
• [00:46:03] TED TROST: For doing that.
• [00:46:03] ANTHONY PREKETES: That's the only time they win anything. [LAUGHTER] That's fact. His pictures out there. Then they had a little candy store there, too. They open up candy store there.
• [00:46:12] TED TROST: The Greek community still sticks pretty much together and as a matter of fact.
• [00:46:18] ANTHONY PREKETES: Yes, pretty much. Of course, a lot of intermarriages, lot of boys, marry American girls and so forth, a lot of Greek girls married. I don't know, American boys like Greek girls, they make a good wives. That's one thing. They make very good wives. They lovely homes. They like to help their husbands much and then they want to see that the kids get educated. They do the most, just like some of the German women. [LAUGHTER] My brother married German girl though. They said, the second one is they still living. He's 85 and she's 83, 11.
• [00:47:10] CATHERINE ANDERSON: When did the first Preketes come to Ann Arbor?
• [00:47:14] ANTHONY PREKETES: When? Just the turn of the century.
• [00:47:19] CATHERINE ANDERSON: 1900?
• [00:47:21] ANTHONY PREKETES: That's one or two right in there.