Midwest Guest

Where I live: Driving America opens at The Henry Ford

Workers put the finishing touches on "Driving America" at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, last week as a reimagining of the museum's premiere auto exhibit for the 21st century approached its public debut, set for Sunday, January 29.

Museum visitors familiar with the exhibit's former incarnation as "The Automobile in American Life" should be pleased to see some familiar and favorite artifacts like the 1960s-vintage Golden Arches sign, a 1930s-vintage tourist cabin and a diner car from 1946, interspersed among a vehicle collection spanning automotive history beginning in 1865 with a Roper steam carriage (thought to be the oldest surviving American car) and continuing into the present day to include innovative and alternative vehicles like hybrids and Segways.

I wrote about the upgrade early last year as workers began dismantling the old exhibit, making repairs and preparing to close the exhibit during the a year-long renovation, so I was especially thrilled when the folks at The Henry Ford invited me for a preview of the redesigned exhibit.

While "The Automobile in American Life" represented a real step forward from traditional, static collections of artifacts in terms of interpretive exhibits and using a variety of media to engage viewers at its 1987 opening, "Driving America" represents another leap forward in visitor engagement with sophisticated interactive elements and a new emphasis on the automobile's impact on our culture and everyday life.

Last year, I wrote that some historians questioned the old exhibit's emphasis on automotive history from the manufacturers' point of view to the near exclusion of that history from the consumers' point of view and slight attention to the idea that the automobile led to a fundamental change in our entire culture over time. I'd like to think that they would appreciate the new exhibit's emphasis on that cultural change and enhanced interactive elements that give visitors more personal ways to relate to museum artifacts.

I enjoyed exploring the exhibit with the museum's 18 touchscreen kiosks. The 42-inch touchscreen stations are a first for The Henry Ford and offer some really cool ways to access museum artifacts on, and off, of the museum floor.

Word searches give visitors access to artifacts and related items, while an app-like interface with app-directed interactive features gives visitors some really fun ways to access information.

Want a closer look at something? You can pull up a photo and enlarge it with a flick of your fingertips, much as you can enlarge a section of the screen on your smart phone or tablet.

I heard several people say they had a lot of fun playing the "Talk like a Trucker" game on one kiosk where viewers tried to guess the correct meaning of phrases commonly used by truckers who used Citizen Band (CB) radios during their 1970s heyday. I hate to admit it, but I did pretty well at this game because I actually had a CB radio during my days cruising Woodward Avenue as "Highway Star" (my CB name or "handle").

I also loved the Car Tunes kiosk, where I listened to audio clips of car-related songs dating from 1900 to the present day.

The My Collections feature sounds especially cool, as visitors will use Radio Frequency Identification Cards issued at the exhibit to bookmark favorite items, photos or videos to create a custom collection accessible on their home computer, smartphone or tablet via a special link sent to their email address. That feature wasn't available during the press preview, but I look forward to trying it out next time I visit the exhibit.

I'm glad to see many of my old favorite pieces in the exhibit, and I'm especially excited to learn that visitors will now be able to order food at the Lamy Diner. I remember how much fun we had stopping for an ice cream cone at the Blue Moon Diner car in Kalamazoo's Gilmore Car Museum, and I'm thrilled to see we'll be able to enjoy a similar experience much closer to home!

"Driving America" covers 80,000 square feet with 130 vehicles and more than 60 cases of automotive-related artifacts. The new 15-minute film playing at the exhibit's 100-seat theater explores automotive innovation and, in the words of The Henry Ford's senior curator of transportation Bob Casey, the car as our "chariot to the unknown" and agent for expanding our personal freedom.

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved

Where I Live: Global Thursdays launches fall season September 8 in Dearborn, Michigan

Detroit's Concert of Colors is such a great catalyst for hope and unity, so it's exciting to see that summer festival's spirit continue to shine during the rest of the year at a series of Global Thurdays performances organizers call a "sister" series to the Concert of Colors.

This season's Global Thursdays schedule launches September 8 with a performance by Los Angeles-based Syrian American hip-hop artist and producer Omar Offendum. This show is part of a weekend schedule of special programs related to the 10th anniversary of 9/11, U.S. Rising: Emerging Voices in Post 9/11 America, which explores the country's journey over the past decade and the road forward towards a more unified nation.

Offendum was born in Saudi Arabia, raised in Washington D.C. and lives in Los Angeles. His lyrical hip-hop and rap contains reflections of those multiple cultural influences like the short Spanish-language snippet I caught in "Damascus".

October 13 brings a performance from Armenian-American Ara Topouzian, who honors his Armenian heritage while incorporating music from around the Middle East, as well as jazz, fusion, new age and blues influences, into his own music. The Detroit-based artist performs on the kanun (a Middle Eastern harp) and other Armenian and Middle Eastern instruments, along with oud (Arabic stringed instrument) virtuoso Joe Zeytoonian and percussionist Myriam Eli.

Get ready for laughs on November 3 as a crew of young Arab-American creatives hit the stage for an evening of sketches and stand-up comedy. The Ann Arbor-based indie folk musician Hana Malhas, who spent her childhood in Jordan, rounds out the bill that evening. You can check out Malhas' music online.

Wendell Harrison

We caught Wendell Harrison's appearance during the Don Was All-Star Revue at this summer's Concert of Colors, and jazz buffs have another chance to see this legendary saxophonist as he closes out this Global Thursdays season with a December 8 show. Detroit-based soul/funk musician Amp Fiddler joins Harrison onstage to help the sax legend celebrate his first new release in seven years, It's About Damn Time, with this performance. You can also check out a few of Amp Fiddler's tracks online.

Global Thursdays programs begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Arab American National Museum's 156-seat auditorium, which is on the lower level of the museum at 13624 Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, Michigan. Free parking is available in the lighted lot behind the museum. Global Thursday shows are $10 ($9 for museum members).  Purchase tickets in advance at the museum's Web site or at the door.

© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved

Where I live: Emancipation Proclamation viewing accompanies Civil War exhibit at The Henry Ford

Excitement built through the early part of last week as 21,015 visitors viewed the Emancipation Proclamation during a 36-hour vigil showing at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, from 7 p.m. on Monday, June 20 through 7 a.m. on Wednesday, June 22. Museum officials had to cut off the queue at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday to insure that everyone waiting in line would have a chance to view the document.

It was truly amazing to see people waiting up to 7 or 8 hours to see the document issued and signed by President Abraham Lincoln as a formal proclamation of freedom for all slaves and an invitation to black men to join the Union Army and Navy. The proclamation didn’t insure every slave’s freedom at the time, but it did draw attention to the issue of slavery as a major impetus behind the War Between the States and resulted in almost 200,000 soldiers and sailors joining the Union’s Army and Navy to fight for their own freedom, and the freedom of others.

We checked out the lines snaking through the museum during the initial evening of the document’s display. We opted to skirt the crowds during the wee hours of the morning by skipping the line to file by the proclamation and simply viewing the Museum’s limited-engagement exhibit from the National Archives. It turned out to be a good decision for us as the exhibit itself wasn’t crowded at 2 a.m.

The National Archives show is a traveling exhibit that utilizes various documents, photos, and other records of some of the little-known stories to put a human face on the war and the issues that rent our country apart during the mid-1800s.

The exhibit includes a lot of interactive elements that engage viewers by allowing them to see what it is like to follow the path of evidence through bits and pieces of information to discover a fresh perspective on a war that many of us learned about as school children, but may not feel a close connection to the people who lived, and died, during the conflict.

One interactive video display allows visitors to follow in the footsteps of a researcher as he discovers the truth behind an execution order issued for a half dozen soldiers. What happened? Why did it happen? Who lived? Who died? The answers are all in various scraps of information in the National Archives, which, when put together, reveal the result of the order and why events unfolded as they did.

Another touch-screen based exhibit allowed visitors to discover connections between many of the major players, in the North and in the South, during the Civil War. I never thought about it before, but the exhibit shows how many of the war’s participants knew each other well before the war and ended up on opposite sides of the battle lines during the war.

We were even able to sneak a peek at the Emancipation Proclamation itself as a section near the end of the exhibit overlooked the glass-encased document and the rotating groups of honor guards, garbed in replicas of Civil War-era uniforms, standing at attention before it.

Discovering the Civil War, the National Archives exhibit, continues at The Henry Ford through September 5, 2011.

© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved

The Henry Ford upgrades "The Automobile in American Life" exhibit

The woman greeting us at the door of The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, during a recent visit reminded us that the museum closed some sections of its massive automobile exhibit as it begins a major makeover scheduled to continue throughout this year.

Considering that some of the newest vehicles in the The Automobile in American Life exhibit include a 1983 Honda Accord and a 1981 Ford Escort, you could say the exhibit is a bit dated.

However, I remember when the display represented an innovative step forward for the museum, and interpretive installations in general, during the 1980s. 

The Henry Ford originally displayed its collection of over 200 vintage cars pretty much parked fender-to-fender in seemingly endless rows.

Some people objected when museum officials suggested reducing the number of cars displayed and renovating the exhibit by arranging it thematically with other artifacts to represent the impact of automobiles on American culture throughout the 20th century. Many wondered if displaying fewer cars and departing from the traditional way of displaying them would have met the approval of Henry Ford himself had he still been alive.

I remember attending the unveiling of the then-new exhibit at a preview before its official November 1987 opening.

The exhibit covered 65,000 square feet (about a quarter of the museum's total main floor) and cost over $6 million, according to Wayne State University professor Charles K. Hyde in a review for the January 1989 issue of the Technology and Culture journal.

It featured about 100 automobiles and a variety of other vehicles, displaying them chronologically from newest to oldest along winding and elevated paths resembling highways.

Some of the bigger objects the museum acquired for the exhibit particularly wowed me when I first saw them. Things like a vintage McDonald's neon sign, a 1946-vintage diner car, a 1960s-era Holiday Inn motel room, a 1930s tourist cabin, and an old Texaco gas station grouped with the vehicles gave you the feeling of stepping back into time to go on a great road trip and checking out some cool retro stops along the way.

Exhibit renovation begins, January 2011

Joseph J. Corn of Stanford University mentioned those big artifacts in his review of the exhibit in the July 1989 Organization of American Historians journal, saying they helped demonstrate the automobile's impact on roadside America and engaged museum visitors by drawing them in with more familiar sights to lead to smaller, older, and less familiar artifacts placed further back into the exhibit.

Hyde criticized the reliance on celebratory images, as well as the exhibit's heavy emphasis on the manufacturers' point of view to the exclusion of the experience of consumers and auto workers. Corn thought it put too much emphasis on big technological breakthroughs, while ignoring many incremental changes that cumulatively led to fundamental change for the industry and our culture over time.

Hyde and Corn both saw the exhibit as a major breakthrough for interpretive exhibits using a variety of media in visually exciting ways and far more engaging for visitors than the traditional, static artifact arrangements.

Now the museum is ready to makeover the exhibit once again, promising to keep visitors' old favorites while adding new items and interactive elements, according to a brochure we got from the woman at the museum entrance during our latest visit.

Workers already closed and started dismantling some sections of the exhibit, tagging artifacts for moving or storage during our visit. Work also continues on identifying and repairing some general problems like leaky roofs and resulting water damage.

While I've always loved the current exhibit, it should be exciting to see how museum officials update it for 21st century visitors as they head towards completing the upgrade in early 2012.

Here are a couple of links to photo posts I've done about specific objects in the museum's Automobile in American Life exhibit-one about Lamy's diner and one about the vintage McDonald's sign and its move from its original location in Madison Heights, Michigan.

Curious about how Henry Ford amassed such a large collection of cars and other historic objects? Check out Henry's Attic: Some Fascinating Gifts to Henry Ford and His Museum by Ford R. Bryan and Sarah Evans.

© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved

Where I live: Global Thursdays launches winter series on Friday, January 21, in Dearborn, Michigan

No, that's not a typo in the headline! The Arab American National Museum (AANM) launches their latest Global Thursdays series with a smokin' Friday evening performance by Detroit blues legend Alberta Adams at 7:30 p.m. on January 21 at the Dearborn museum.

I saw the 93-year-old Adams at the Concert of Colors this past summer when she amazed everyone with a powerful performance and earned a standing ovation from an SRO audience in Detroit's Orchestra Hall. I can only imagine what her show might be like in the more intimate venue of the AANM's theater. Blues and Detroit music fans should be in for a real treat!

Music fans around town know the AANM as a major presenter of the Concert of Colors, Detroit's annual summer world music and diversity festival. Global Thursdays is an extension of the popular festival and presents a diverse bill of talent and ideas from around the world.

Simon Shaheen appeared at last summer's Concert of Colors and appears for a special performance benefiting the museum that features his fusion of Arabic, jazz, and Western classical styles and his virtuosity on the oud (a stringed instrument that is extremely popular in Arabic music). An Evening with Simon Shaheen happens Thursday, March 11 at the museum.

Orquesta La Inspiracion rounds out the musical portion of the Global Thursdays winter/spring schedule on Thursday, May 12, as a 10-piece band featuring some of Detroit's finest veteran salsa and jazz musicians serve up a hot program of salsa and other Latin-flavored dance music.

Preview an upcoming PBS documentary on Thursday, February 10, with a showing of Freedom Riders, the story of more than 400 black and white Americans who risked their lives to challenge segregation and Jim Crow laws in the Deep South during 1961. A discussion following the film featuring a Freedom Ride participant offers a personal perspective on this profound and affecting story.

I wonder if the rise in popularity here of programs featuring short talks about a variety of ideas, accompanied by projected slides or images, has its genesis in the Tokyo practice of PechaKucha, or "chit chat". Check out PechaKucha Night on Thursday, April 14, when speakers present five-minute programs, accompanied by 20 images, about some of the newest designs and creative ideas. The museum invites architects, graphic designers, industrial designers, and other creatives to apply as presenters and invites those with an interest in new ideas to come and watch the presentations.

Global Thursdays programs begin at 7:30 p.m. in the AANM's 156-seat auditorium, which is on the lower level of the museum at 13624 Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, Michigan. Free parking is available in the lighted lot behind the museum. Check out the AANM site for information about the programs, prices, and purchasing tickets.

Watch video of Alberta Adams' great 2010 Concert of Colors performance on My Damn Channel. You can also check out Amazon for Alberta Adams and Simon Shaheen to listen to samples of their music.

Looking for a little extra bit of summer? The Alfred Shaheen: Fabric to Fashion exhibit is at the AANM through March 13. The Lebanese American engineer popularized the men's Hawaiian shirt and developed many mid-20th-century textiles and technical innovations in the islands' clothing industry. The show features dozens of vintage textiles, garments, and photos. Check the AANM site for information about museum admission and hours.

© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved

Where I live: Explore the world of music, enjoy a taste of tropical style in Dearborn, Michigan

Summer may be nearing its end, but things are heating up at the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan. The museum offers a hot musical menu and a taste of tropical style with its fall season of Global Thursdays concerts and a new exhibit featuring the fashions of famed Hawaii-based designer Alfred Shaheen.

 Music for every taste

Organizers envision Global Thursdays as an extension of Detroit's annual Concert of Colors celebration of diversity and city pride. Global Thursdays, much like the Concert of Colors, brings music from around the globe to metro Detroit with the goal of celebrating diversity and developing unity through music.

Photo courtesy of AANM
• The series kicks off September 9 with Jesus "Chuy" Negrete, who plays guitar and harmonica, as an early celebration of Mexican Independence Day (September 16). The talent of Negrete, the founder and director of the Mexican Cultural Institute in Chicago, as a story teller who shares the Mexican experience through words and music led author/historian Studs Terkel, no slouch as a story teller himself, to dub him "the Chicano Woody Guthrie".

Photo courtesy of AANM
• Composer and violinist Riad Abdel-Gawad brings a unique style of Arabic music to the AANM on October 7. His music combines and integrates a variety of Western and Eastern musical genres-not fitting neatly into any specific genre, yet encompassing many of them at the same time. The native of Cairo, Egypt, is the premiere artist and musical educator in this music that preserves and protects its Arabic roots.

Photo courtesy of AANM
• Composer/guitarist Sean Blackman merges music reflecting his own Armenian roots with the rhythms of Senegal and Brazil for the final concert of the fall Global Thursdays series on November 4. Blackman settled in Detroit specifically to work with the city's amazingly deep talent pool of the ethnic musicians, and this show promises to feature some of the best Detroit-area ethnic musicians. This sounds like an especially intriguing show for music fans interested in unusual instruments and sounds as it combines the sound of Blackman's nylon-string guitar with unusual instruments like the oud, kora, and kanun.

Tropical treat

Fashion fans are in for a real treat as a free reception prior to the Riad Abdel-Gawad concert on October 7 serves as a preview for Alfred Shaheen: Fabric to Fashion, an exhibit featuring dozens of vintage textiles, garments, and photos.

Shaheen, a Lebanese American engineer, is primarily responsible for popularizing the men's Hawaiian shirt, as well as developing many mid-20th-century textiles and technical innovations in the industry, according to AANM Director of Communications Kim Silarski.

"On the cover of his "Blue Hawaii" album, Elvis Presley wears a Shaheen shirt," she says.

Shaheen created garments using imported material in the years immediately following World War II, but quickly realized the economic and environmental wisdom of creating his own fabrics at home in Hawaii. Innovations like mass producing silk-screened textiles and production sewing techniques, plus an in-house training department, established him as a leader in the islands' industry.

"He did for clothing what Ford did at the Rouge, start to finish, designing and finishing his products under one roof," says Silarski.

Shaheen maintained his factory and production on Oahu, even as his company distributed his informal tropical styles reflecting Hawaiian, South Pacific, and Asian culture worldwide.

Photo courtesy of AANM

Those styles remain popular today says Silarski, who is a real fan of Shaheen's work.

"Shaheen vintage shirts and dresses go for hundreds on eBay," she says.

Don your best tropical attire and enjoy complimentary refreshments at the opening reception for the Shaheen exhibit at 5:30 p.m. on October 7. The exhibit runs through March 13, 2011 and is free with museum admission.

Tickets for each Global Thursdays concert are $10. Purchase tickets at the door, or order online in advance until 5 p.m. the day prior to each show.

Global Thursdays concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. in the AANM's 156-seat auditorium, which is on the lower level of the museum at 13624 Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, Michigan. Free parking is available in the lighted lot behind the museum.

Also be sure to watch the AANM site for upcoming events like the museum's annual film festival December 2-5.

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

Ackley covered bridge brings history to Dearborn, Michigan

The Ackley covered bridge, spanning a small pond in Dearborn's Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford, is one of more than 80 historic structures pioneering automaker Henry Ford collected as he developed the 80-acre outdoor showcase honoring America's history and its development as an industrial giant.

The bridge is one of my favorite destinations in the village, especially on a quiet spring or autumn day when it's easy to imagine how the bridge appeared at its original location in the Pennsylvania countryside.

Joshua Ackley and David Clouse built the 75-foot-long, multiple-kingpost bridge to span the Enlow Fork, a branch of Wheeling Creek, on the line dividing Washington and Greene counties in southwestern Pennsylvania in 1832.

Some area residents thought builders should use hickory wood for the covered bridge to honor Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson, president of the United States at that time. Practicality prevailed when construction began on land owned by the Ackley family, using oak timbers from trees felled on Joshua Ackley's nearby farm. Oak was more readily available, and less prone to warp. Stones for the bridge abutments came from a nearby quarry, nails used came from a small steel mill a couple of miles upstream, and about 100 men worked on the bridge.

One of the most interesting and complete accounts I found about the building of the bridge during 1830 to 1832 came from a Facebook page maintained by Ackley family descendants. Robert A. Ackley tells how ox teams hauled timber to the site where it was hand cut, and describes the method used for the bridge's unusual shingled roof.

Robert Ackley also mentions a story related by Forrest Samuel Ackley, bridge builder Joshua Ackley's grandson. Forrest Ackley wrote that Native Americans living in the area at the time were not happy with what they saw as further incursion into their territory, and they responded by shooting arrows and rifle balls at the bridge.    

The solidly built bridge survived that and flooding in the area during 1902. It stood in Pennsylvania for 105 years before local county officials ordered it demolished. The old bridge was in disrepair by 1935, and plans called for a more modern replacement concrete and steel bridge.

The 1930s was also a time when Henry Ford began searching for a covered bridge for Greenfield Village.

Lucille (Ackley) Carroll, Joshua Ackley's granddaughter, learned of plans for the bridge's demolition and set about saving it. She learned of Ford's interest in the bridge and contacted him. She purchased the covered bridge from the Pennsylvania highway department and gave it to Henry Ford for Greenfield Village.  

Perhaps the fact that William Holmes McGuffey was born a few miles from the bridge's location sparked Ford's imagination and interest because he greatly admired the author of a series of schoolbooks popular in 19th century America. He also already acquired the cabin where McGuffey was born in 1800 at West Finley Township, Pennsylvania, for Greenfield Village.

In late 1937, Ford sent workers to Pennsylvania to dismantle the bridge, number each piece, and load the pieces onto trucks for the 300-mile trip to Dearborn. They also transported stones from the river bank in Pennsylvania, and Ford ordered yellow poplar wood from Greene County to craft replacement pieces for bridge parts too decayed to use for its reassembly in Michigan.

Members of the Ackley and McGuffey families traveled to Michigan in 1938 for the reassembled bridge's dedication at Greenfield Village.

I'm again looking forward to visiting the bridge at Greenfield Village (which opens for the season on April 15 this year) and give a special thanks to Mrs. Carroll and Mr. Ford for saving this picturesque piece of Americana.

 

Be sure to check Tuesday's story at Midwest Guest about west Michigan's Ada Covered Bridge and my earlier story about Greenfield Village.

 

Want to learn more about how Henry Ford collected other structures and artifacts for The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village? Check out the book, Henry's Attic: Some Fascinating Gifts to Henry Ford and his Museum by Ford R. Bryan at Amazon.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Things To Do
Dearborn

Where I live: Michigan Glass Month celebrates 30 years

Glass artists across Michigan get fired up in April as they celebrate Michigan Glass Month.

Michigan Glass Month always brings a schedule of creative events and exhibitions geared to promoting Michigan artists, studios, schools, art centers, museums, collections, and galleries.

Stained glass artist Mark Talaba and Habatat Galleries owner Ferd Hampson conceived this celebration of glass artistry 30 years ago as a series of lectures, exhibitions, demonstrations, and studio visits.   

Today, the annual event promotes artists working with glass in many different forms at galleries, art centers, museums and businesses throughout the state and the greater Great Lakes region with shows, seminars, demonstrations and other celebrations of the art of glass. Over the years, the celebration grew to occasionally include events in March and May, and in other regional locations like northern Ohio and Windsor, Ontario.

This year's schedule includes events traditionally included in Michigan Glass Month like Habatat Galleries 38th Annual International Glass Invitational exhibition and auction in Royal Oak, Michigan. This event features over 90 artists from 16 different countries, and I've heard it described as the oldest and largest contemporary glass exhibition in the world. These pieces can run into five figures at auction, but enjoying the April 24 through May 25 exhibition is free.  

The schedule this year appears to include more events at venues in western Michigan as well.

The 4th Annual Battle of the Glassblowers, hosted by the West Michigan Glass Society in Kalamazoo, is a series of timed glass blowing competitions drawing participants from across the country. This event, billed by the sponsoring society as a "spectator sport", looks like a lot of fun and takes place Friday, April 2 and Saturday April 3.

Teens in Benton Harbor, Michigan, get "Fired Up!" this month as they exhibit their fused, blown and flame worked glass pieces at Water Street Glass Works. This organization is a non-profit, public access school, studio, and gallery that offers classes and workshops for teenage students and adults. Check out this show, and a metal and glass show from Kalamazoo metal smith Holly Fisher, April 17 through May 16.

One of the best places around town to watch glass blowers in action year round is at the 75-year-old "Sandwich Glass Plant" in Greenfield Village, where glass blowers demonstrate the process from start to finish, and you can purchase some of the finished items at the Liberty Craftworks Store or online at the Henry Ford site. Visit the glass studio Saturday April 17 through Monday April 19 when the Greenfield Village glass artisan team creates some special pieces highlighting their talents.

Check out the Michigan Glass Month brochure online, or drop by the organizers' Web site for late updates.  

 

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

Where I live: All aboard for Thomas the Tank Engine's annual visit to Michigan's Greenfield Village

Many families anxiously wait for spring when Thomas the Tank Engine travels to Michigan's beautiful Greenfield Village. I'd hate to see little train enthusiasts disappointed, so here's your heads-up for those popular Thomas dates so you can get in on advance tickets sales and not get left behind at the station!

Thomas visits the village April 24-25, May 1-2, and May 8-9. Riding the train will be the highlight for most visitors, when Thomas takes passengers on a 20-minute ride around the perimeter of Greenfield Village. There are also other activities like storytelling, arts and crafts programs, live music, and, of course, a place to purchase all of those must-have Thomas toys and gear! (Can't wait until then to pick up a Thomas book, wooden train engine, or Thomas flashlight--there's always Amazon!).

The Henry Ford has a detailed FAQ on their Web site about Thomas' impending visit, details about a new Railroaders' Breakfast offered each Saturday morning of Thomas' stay at the Village, and information about ordering Thomas admission tickets online.

We happened to snap a few photos of Thomas at Greenfield Village when we went out for one of our first photo trips of the season there a few years ago.

If you are going to see Thomas and ride the train, hopefully you can still make some time to tour the rest of Greenfield Village.

Even though we don't have kids and aren't into the whole Thomas scene, we found those days a good time to visit Greenfield Village. The arrival of spring meant the weather was starting to get warmer, there was a hint of green in the landscape, and once we got past the crowd of families waiting to board the Thomas train, it was nice for taking photos because the rest of the village was relatively less crowded.

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

Photo Friday: Retro repro sign at Michigan McDonald's

I always loved the vintage sign that stood in front of a McDonald’s in Madison Heights, Michigan, until that restaurant modernized their signage and donated the old sign to The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

That vintage Micky D’s sign made an appearance in one of my very first posts here at Midwest Guest in 2008, and it made a cameo appearance in my 2009 story about a vintage diner at The Henry Ford.

McDonald’s ceased using the Speedee character featured on the vintage signs in the early 1960s, so, you might imagine my curiosity when I spotted this sign earlier this winter in front of a Micky D’s in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.

It turns out that the Dearborn Heights sign is a retro reproduction in front of a McDonald’s that bills itself as the “world famous 50s McDonalds”. A closer look at the sign shows it marked as a “50s” restaurant in the spot where the vintage sign at The Henry Ford features the 15-cent burger price.

Franchisee Eric Bardha spent $500,000 and one year to create a 1950s themed McDonald’s to replace an aging McDonald’s, opening the retro restaurant in 1988.

The restaurant’s 1950s theme is particularly well-suited to its location on Telegraph Road, a major metro Detroit cruising route throughout the years that still draws classic car owners for the annual Telegraph Tomorrow Car Cruise each summer. The 50s McDonald’s is popular among classic car owners who show up for classic car nights at the restaurant.    

There is a similar retro reproduction sign at a Lapeer, Michigan, Micky D’s.

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