I had such a great time at my first Photowalk last fall, so I eagerly signed up to go on another Photowalk at The Henry Ford Museum.
Again, the mission of the day was to meet up with the group for an afternoon of informal shooting around the museum. It was also a bit of a chance to be a tourist in our own hometown.
Some of our photographers were trying out their new DSLR cameras for the first time, others packed pocket-sized point-and-shoot cameras, and some came loaded with high-end DSLR cameras and equipment like tripods and multiple lenses. None of that mattered, because we all encouraged and helped each other, and the pool of photos posted from that day show that some of our group have amazing eyes and talent!
The act of walking around a location and leisurely shooting whatever strikes your fancy encourages you to take your time and see things in different ways, and from different angles. I've shot photos at The Henry Ford many times in the past, but there is always something new to see and shoot.
Thanks go to The Henry Ford, which is extremely open to hosting photo groups. Museum staffers hastened to make our group feel welcome shortly after finding our initial Twitter conversations discussing a proposed photowalk at the museum.
Thanks again to Dave Peckens and Becks Davis for organizing another successful and fun event.
Check out my post about our Photowalk in Royal Oak, Michigan, last fall, or check out a recap of that event Becks posted at Detroit Moxie. I also have a few more photos posted to Flickr from that day.
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and
coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
Wandering around Ashtabula, Ohio, I spotted a sign identifying the Hubbard House as an Underground Railroad terminus. We stopped to take a closer look and learn the story of a station along the network of homes serving as havens for runaway slaves traveling towards Canada and freedom during the mid-1800s.
I'm not sure if I'll ever think the same about the familiar nursery rhyme, "Old Mother Hubbard", after learning that fugitive slaves knew this home as "Mother Hubbard's Cupboard" or "The Great Emporium". You may feel sorry that the woman in the rhyme failed to find a bone for her dog in the cupboard, but the reputation of Ashtabula's Hubbard House as a safe haven for runaway slaves makes the idea of those hunting for something at the home and not finding anything seem like a good thing.
William Hubbard was a captain in a New York regiment during the War of 1812 and a colonel in that state's militia after the war. He and his wife Catherine came to Ashtabula in spring of 1834 to establish his post-military life as a farmer, land agent for his uncle Nehemiah Hubbard Jr., and to work in his family's warehouse and lumber business.
William's brothers Matthew and Henry already lived in the area, were active in the local abolitionist movement, and founded an abolitionist newspaper called the "Ashtabula Sentinel". William joined the Ashtabula County Anti-Slavery Society within weeks of arriving in town and became active in local politics.
William and Catherine bought almost 50 acres from Nehemiah in 1836. By 1841, the couple had a beautiful brick home perched along the south shore of Lake Erie. Accounts say that a fugitive slave named Uncle Jake did much of the masonry work at the house.
Ohio is important in the history of the Underground Railroad. Ohio residents helped runaway slaves as early at the 1810s, and estimates say there were about 3,000 miles of Underground Railroad trails established in Ohio with as many as 40,000 people using them to escape slavery. There were over 30 known Underground Railroad stations in Ashtabula County.
The Hubbard House quickly became a station on the Underground Railroad. A steady stream of runaway slaves arrived at the home seeking shelter, and the Hubbards hid them in the cellar or in their hayloft. One account that says the couple hid as many as 39 slaves at their home at one time.
The house was not open during the week, but we could still wander around the grounds and take photos. We peeked through foliage bordering the rear of the property and imagined how someone running towards freedom might take heart in catching a glimpse of the lake, knowing that freedom was hopefully close at hand. The next leg on the journey would be a short one-quarter mile walk to the Hubbard warehouse on the Ashtabula River to catch a ferry to Canada.
William Hubbard died in 1863, and the home passed out of the family by the late 1870s.
The home housed many things over the years, including a women's social club, a temporary kindergarten, and a local parks and recreation department office.
The house earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, but the then-shabby building earned a date with the wrecking ball in 1979.
Fortunately for the house and history buffs, a group that included Thomas (Tim) Huntington Hubbard (a great-great-grandson of the original owners), purchased the building. The group gave the house to the City of Ashtabula, requiring the city to restore it as a public museum.
The Hubbard House is open weekends during the summer. Groups can also schedule tours by appointment year round. Check the Web site for information about the museum exhibits, business hours, and directions to the home.
Interested in learning more about Ashtabula? Check out these stories:
Learn more about Ohio's important role in the history of the Underground Railroad here:
Are you waiting? (Our visit to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati)
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
The long winter days may seem a bit dreary, but April McCrumb and the crew at Catching Fireflies invite creative types to help them spread a little love and sunshine among area seniors with a fun and thoughtful Valentine's Day project.
Do you want to be part of the fun?
April invites area residents of all ages to create colorful cards to donate for distribution to St. Anne's Mead Senior Center in Southfield and Sunrise Senior Living in Rochester. Just pull out some paper, glitter, glue, ribbons, crayons, lace, or whatever else strikes your fancy to create some cheerful cards and bring them to Catching Fireflies in Berkley or Rochester by February 11.
Catching Fireflies specializes in unique gifts, the work of independent artists, and promoting eco values like creative reuse and recycling (the colorful decor in the Berkley store especially showcases April's inventive use of found and recycled objects).
April already collected over 100 valentines by the time I heard from her late last week.
"People are using markers, glitter, stamps, rhinestones, beads and crayons to decorate," she said. "There is a pretty good mix of all ages and talents. We have cards with glue and glitter lettering, cut-and-past hearts, coloring sheets, embellished doilies, and more progressive scrapbooking type cards.
"One of our consignment artists dropped off sweet vintage styled valentine hang-ups you could tack on a wall or window, and one used tiny letter beads to spell out 'love bug' on a piece of wire and applied a 3-D lady bug on the card, too."
Handmade cards may be increasingly a thing of the past for many people as we tend to rely more and more on things like e-mail, texting, and social media to communicate with others, but receiving a physical card or letter can mean so very much to some folks-especially seniors who live in assisted living homes.
"I know it can be a bit lonely in assisted living homes," said April, remembering how her grandparents spent the last years of their lives in such homes.
This is the first year for the valentine card collection and distribution, and the project fits nicely into April's community involvement efforts.
"One of our goals for 2010 is to add more community focused projects to our events."
Check out the Catching Fireflies blog to find out how you can help share the love and check out some of the cute and creative cards crafty folks have already donated to the project. (April thought the cards featuring dog photos were clever, and I agree that they're pretty cute!)
It doesn't matter how crafty or creative you think you may, or may not, be--I think April would tell you that it's the love in your heart that counts.
"Just have fun with it," she said. "Valentine's Day isn't just about couples. It's a good reminder to share a little love with everyone in your life."
Visit Catching Fireflies on the Web for more information or stop by Catching Fireflies in Berkley (3117 W. 12 Mile) or downtown Rochester (203 East University).
Note: "Where
I live" posts are part of a series of periodic stories about special
events and people in, and around, metro Detroit. "Where I live" posts
are stories I'll post in addition to my regular schedule of stories about
attractions around the larger Midwestern region. I hope you enjoy reading them
as much as I enjoy writing them.
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
Let's start the new year with a new list of Midwest-related blog posts from other writers I've enjoyed reading this past month:
Cave Point's Icy Cliffs-I enjoy Bo Mackison's beautiful photos at Seeded Earth Photography, and you can just feel the wind-whipped chill as she ventures out to Cave Point County Park in Door County, Wisconsin, to capture this image of the icy cliffs along Lake Michigan.
Fried Chicken and Frozen Waterfalls-This may sound like an unlikely pairing, but check out Illinois' Starved Rock State Park with Justin at The Windy Pixel. This grand old log lodge reminds me of the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
In-Town Tourist: Frozen Falls in Hocking Hills-People often express surprise when we mention the waterfalls we've visited in Ohio. Join hometown tourist Heather as she shares some beautiful winter views of the frozen falls in southern Ohio's Hocking Hills area.
Hocking Hills Winter Hike-It's obvious that Hocking Hills isn't a secret to the 5,000-plus people who joined the park's traditional winter hike this past month. Join Joe at My Quality Time for this six-mile trek through nature's winter wonderland.
Get Out on the Lake!-I've often seen gaggles of ice fishing shanties out on the frozen lake, but Amy gives us an up-close look at some fun and unique ice shanties created for the Art Shanty Projects on Minnesota's Medicine Lake.
Across the Icy Green-Hard-core golfers will enjoy this story a winter golf tournament born of cabin fever during a particularly harsh winter in Grand Haven, Michigan. Check out the Look blog at Seeking Michigan for more fun blasts from Michigan's past.
The best time for a public art inspired tour of Chicago-Chicago has some really fabulous public art, and Helly at Travel by the Calendar tells us that spring is a great time to plan an art-themed trip to the Windy City.
Kerycik Riverview Elk & Buffalo Ranch-Join Melissa at Midwest Girl as she gets up close and personal with elk and buffalo at this Nebraska ranch.
Wakarusa Dime Store-Who doesn't love an old-fashioned dime store? Jessica checks out this 100-plus-year-old store in Indiana's Elkhart County that is home to the giant jelly bean!
Karmageddon's gonna getcha!-Eating Flint can be a blog with bite, but check out Bob's tasty visit to this Flint, Michigan, gem-the Most Beloved Farmer's Market in the country. This reminds me that I need to drive on up to visit the market one of these days, and Steady Eddie's sounds worth a stop as well.
US-27 in Michigan-Michigan in Pictures is always worth a visit as it showcases wonderful images from around the state. The site also occasionally features a vintage shot like this mid-1950s shot of the old two-lane highway that served as a major route to northern Michigan. This view reminds me a bit of present-day M-115 that runs northwest from near Clare to Frankfort-the favorite part of our drive when we head to that area of Michigan.
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
Summer is a great time to stroll the Riverwalk and beach at Manistee, Michigan, but the northwestern Michigan waterfront cloaks itself in some amazing natural artistry as shifting sand, snow, ice, and water creates a muted palette of ephemeral patterns for adventurous winter visitors to enjoy.
The interplay of natural elements never ceases to fascinate me, so I'm offering a few more scenes from the winter wonderland I found one overcast winter day at Manistee along Lake Michigan.
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and
coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.
Want to find out more about Manistee? Check out these
Midwest Guest articles:
Manistee North Pierhead lighthouse awaits fate
Stroll from historic downtown Manistee to Lake Michigan along city Riverwalk
Photo Friday: More Manistee, Michigan, views
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
Dining at The Berghoff in downtown Chicago seems to remain comfortably the same, whether you ate there last week, ten years ago, or even a century ago.
Tim loves German cuisine, and we stumbled over The Berghoff one cold winter day about ten years ago. We had fond memories of our meal there a decade ago, and made sure we revisited the venerable restaurant when we were in Chicago this past year.
The dining room with its stained glass windows, dark wood beams, and vintage brass pendant lamps looked much the same as we remembered from our first visit. I even spotted the same lamps in several pictures of The Berghoff's early days at their Web site.
We don't have a lot of German restaurants near our home, so tucking into a mid-afternoon dinner of sauerbraten, accompanied by a Berghoff beer, was a special treat. It was a decision I made after considering several menu options that included potato pierogies, big iceberg lettuce wedge salads, and classic German entrees like wiener schnitzel and sausage plates.
As great as the ambience and the food is, the thing that always intrigues me about places like The Berghoff is the sense of history and tradition carried on in businesses like this restaurant with roots in the late 1800s.
Herman Joseph Berghoff immigrated to America in 1870 from Dortmund, German, and began brewing Berghoff Beer in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with his three brothers by 1887.
The Berghoffs brought their brew to Chicago during the famous Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and received such a warm reception that they opened the original Berghoff Cafe in 1898 at the corner of State and Adams Streets in downtown Chicago.
The Berghoff's present-day employees know the restaurant's history well. We met a Berghoff manager on our way out as we stopped to look at a large framed Berghoff menu from 1932 in the lobby, and he told us how the restaurant built a steady clientele by selling beer for a nickel and giving away sandwiches for free when it first opened in 1898.
The Berghoff even weathered Prohibition by selling near beer, Bergo Soda Pop, and expanding into a full-service restaurant. In 1933, at Prohibition's end, Chicago issued the city's liquor license No. 1 to The Berghoff.
Chicago diners mourned in 2006 as the third generation of Berghoffs to operate the restaurant decided to close it. They didn't stay in mourning long, though, as Carlyn Berghoff became the fourth generation of the family to carry on The Berghoff tradition by re-opening in the building that same year with the classic ground-level restaurant serving many of the family favorites, as well as a more casual downstairs cafe, a catering company, and a cafe at O'Hare International Airport.
Carlyn Berghoff describes her approach as "tradition with a twist", adding more modern fare while still serving her family's long-time classics. She and her mother, Jan, co-authored"The Berghoff Family Cookbook". Carlyn Berghoff's second cookbook, "The Berghoff Cafe Cookbook: Berghoff Family Recipes for Simple Satisfying Food", includes more classic recipes from the restaurant founded by her great-grandfather Herman Joseph Berghoff.
I guess we were lucky to be blissfully ignorant of the 2006 restaurant closing, arriving back in Chicago several years after the restaurant's rebirth at the hands of Carlyn Berghoff to come in for an early dinner of traditional sauerbraten and beer!
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
Get over those cabin fever blues and see a bit of the world at the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan, as it kicks off the winter/spring season of Global Thursdays with a performance from world-renowned multi-instrumentalist Bassam Saba on January 28.
The concert is also a release party for Saba's debut album, The Wonderful Land, described on his Web site as a mix of Arabic and gypsy Turkish music with hints of Western-style classical arrangement.
The winter/spring season of Global Thursdays continues through April with an eclectic schedule of film and concerts representing diverse cultures from around the world. Each program begins at 6:30 p.m.
"Global Thursdays is an extension of the annual Concert of Colors," says museum director of communications Kim Silarski. "Musical acts and films are selected to represent diverse cultures from around the world."
Global Thursdays, like the Concert of Colors summer festival, brings talent from around the world to metro Detroit with the idea of celebrating diversity and fostering unity through the arts.
The season kick-off for Global Thursdays coincides with the opening of "From Mocha to Latte: Coffee, the Arab World and the $4 Cup" at the AANM. This exhibit explores the history of coffee, from its origins in the Arab world as a crop first cultivated in Yemen, through the preeminence of Yemen's port city of Mocha as a major coffee marketplace, to the amazing popularity of coffee-based drinks and the rise of coffeehouse culture throughout the world.
Be sure to go to the AANM for a free opening reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Museum's Community Courtyard area and grab a complimentary Arabic coffee and sweet before the concert, where you can check out Bassam Saba's virtuosity with the nay, an open-ended cane flute.
The nay traces its origins back to antiquity in the Near East and may look deceptively simple to play, but it is one of the most difficult Arabic instruments to master. Saba's skill with Arabic instruments like the nay, oud, buxuq, saz, as well as violin and western classical flute, create high demand for him as a musician, conductor and music educator.
The other concerts scheduled for Global Thursdays also sound intriguing. You can check out the jazzy, high-energy fusion of the Chicago Afrobeat Project on February 25; enjoy a night of flamenco dancing and music with metro Detroit's La Chispa & Company featuring flamenco artists from around the country on March 25; and hear the fusion of Chinese and Western classical music with Xiao Dong Wei, featuring Yang Wei and Yuki Mack, on April 22.
Film fans will want to mark their calendars for Global Thursday programs featuring films you won't find at the local multiplex. February 11 brings the Michigan premiere of All About Dad, the story of a Vietnamese American family and their sometimes conflicting paths to each finding their own way in life. The 1983 film El Norte follows the story of Mayan Indians through a brutal civil war and the tale of two teenagers who flee to the North to escape the violence, screening on March 11. The series' films wrap with another Michigan premiere on April 8 with the showing of Children of Invention, an official selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival that tells the story of two homeless children orphaned by the disappearance of their mother.
Global Thursday concert tickets are $10 and tickets for films in the series are $6. You can purchase tickets at the door, or order advance tickets online (online sales end at 5 p.m. the day prior to the show).
Note: "Where I live" posts are part of a series of periodic stories about special events and people in, and around, metro Detroit. "Where I live" posts are stories I'll post in addition to my regular schedule of stories about attractions around the larger Midwestern region. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
I wasn't expecting to find a gem of architectural and motion picture history in Erie, Pennsylvania, but finding the city's Warner Theater was a pleasant surprise.
We recently traveled along Lake Erie through Ohio, with the plan to go as far as east as Ashtabula, Ohio, before turning around to come back home. We somehow ended up over Ohio's eastern border in Erie, Pennsylvania, and decided to explore downtown Erie before checking the Presque Isle and Presque Isle Pierhead lighthouses and heading back west towards Detroit.
I snapped a photo of a bright red trolley car running past the historic Boston Store and Mercantile Building on State Street, before spotting the Warner Theater as I turned around to head back towards the car.
The four Warner Brothers showed films in Pennsylvania and Ohio theaters before opening their own theater in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1903, beginning to produce films in 1918, and incorporating Warner Brothers Pictures in 1923, the studio responsible for many classic films and beloved cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Tweety Bird.
Warner Brothers commissioned Erie's Warner Theater in 1929. The opulent theater's construction cost $1.5 million, a surprising figure given the fact that it opened in 1931 during one of the country's worst economic depressions.
The theater, designed by Rapp & Rapp of Chicago in an Art Deco-style with the ancient Egyptian-influenced motifs fashionable at that time, opened as a grand movie palace and vaudeville stage.
The Warner Theater operated primarily as a movie theater until 1976. By the early 1980s, the city of Erie bought the theater and converted it into a performing arts center with hopes for it as the centerpiece of a downtown revival, and the Warner Theater earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
A sign I spotted in the box office window listed the varied performers who appeared at the Warner Theater over the years, including Tony Bennett, Milton Berle, Johnny Cash, Nat King Cole, Alice Cooper, Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis Jr., BB King, Jay Leno, Meatloaf, Wayne Newton, The Temptations, Mel Torme, Train, and Trisha Yearwood.
By the 1990s, the Warner Theater restoration became the highest priority for arts funding among civic leaders seeing the old movie palace as a key component of downtown Erie's revitalization.
A $7 million state appropriation in 1994 and formation of the Warner Theater Preservation Trust marked the start of a period of additional fundraising and restoration proceeding in fits and starts.
Pennsylvania released the $7 million appropriation in 1997, and the preservation group raised $3.3 million by early 1998. Today, total funding for the project stands at over $20 million.
Daniel Coffey and Associates of Chicago and Crowner/King of Erie became the project architects.
Work through the remainder of the decade and into the next decade included restoration of the theater's interior with painting and restoring or replicating some of the grand decor like gold leaf and intricate tapestries, a new roof, new seating, upgraded lighting, updated heating and cooling systems, a new entrance, building expansion, and renovated restrooms.
Work on the project awaits completion with the anticipated release of another injection of money from the state for final renovations like an expanded stage, improved dressing rooms, upgraded loading docks, and restoring or replicating the grand curtain and draperies.
Today, the 2,250-seat theater, with its expansive 65-foot by 28-foot proscenium-style stage, hosts over 150 events each year that include theater performances, programs from the Erie Philharmonic and Lake Erie Ballet, weddings, and other private receptions.
Check in with the Warner Theater at its Facebook page or learn more about its history in a book by Barbara J. Hauck. Profits from sales of the book, "A Picture Palace Transformed: How Erie's Warner Theater Survived a Changing World", benefit the restoration, expansion and maintenance of the theater.
The vintage look of the Warner Theater's exterior reminded me a bit of some of the old movie theaters still barely hanging in there as I grew up in metro Detroit. I only wish we'd been able to tour the inside of the theater, which photos remind me of the opulent movie houses the beautifully restored Fox on Woodward Avenue in Detroit.
I guess it's a good excuse for another trip along the Lake Erie shore!
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
Manistee is a great little town with a lot of history, and I found the story about the fire that coincidentally occurred on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 fascinating. Manistee's original lighthouse burned during that 1871 conflagration, but the busy port city quickly rebuilt their lighthouse and today has a pretty white light tower, along with a smaller range light, on Lake Michigan.
We've visited Manistee many times over the years and always enjoy visiting the lighthouse, especially during the warmer months when you can walk out to the north pierhead and get some nice close shots of the tower.
The winter months can bring an overcast quiet to the Manistee waterfront, but the lighthouse always offers plenty of picturesque possibilities.
Check out my story, Manistee North Pierhead Lighthouse awaits fate, for more about the lighthouse and Manistee's unique link to Chicago and its historic fire.
Planning a summer vacation Up North and looking for a family-friendly scenic trail that is also fully handicapped accessible? Check out my story about the 1 1/2 mile boardwalk along the Manistee River, Stroll from historic downtown Manistee Lake Michigan along city Riverwalk.
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
