May is Blossom Time in Michigan!

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Traverse MI 1950s East Grand Travese Bay Cherry Blossoms Photo by Phil Balyeat Avery Card 58253 S1155661 National Cherry Festival Postmark 1961

Traverse MI 1950s East Grand Travese Bay Cherry Blossoms Photo by Phil Balyeat Avery Card 58253 S1155661 National Cherry Festival Postmark 1961, photo by UpNorth Memories – Donald (Don) Harrison.

The annual National Cherry Festival got its start around 1910, as cherry growers in the Grand Traverse area began to hold informal “blessing of the blossoms” ceremonies each year at blossom time in May. Businesses jumped on the bandwagon (cherry truck?) in 1925 for the formalized “Blessing of the Blossoms Festival” which was such a big deal that in 1930 they expanded to 3 days and in 1930 President Herbert Hoover attended the opening. The next year the Cherry Festival was declared a national affair and in 1933 they moved it to summer.

Although it’s now a summertime affair (July 2-9, 2011), the wineries on the Old Mission Peninsula hold an annual Blossom Days celebration (May 14 & 15 this year). My informal read of the cherry blossoms here says that tart cherry blossoms will be in full swing with sweets kicking off.

Apparently in 1906 there was some sort of spiritual attraction of orchards, because to the south in Benton Harbor, the Reverend W. J. Cady of the First Congregational Church in Benton Harbor was the first to urge his parishioners to drive through the orchards and view the fruit blossoms. Cady termed them “symbols of life renewed” and his sermon is credited with the birth of the Blossomtime Festival. Now the Blossomtime Festival in St. Joseph/Benton Harbor is shared between the oldest and largest multi-community festival in the state of Michigan. Join them this Saturday (May 7) for the Grand Floral Parade and more!

Check this photo out big as a cherry orchard, in Don’s slideshow and see another cool old orchard photo right here.

Arbor Day, Michigan and Exposure.Detroit!

Posted on by farlane

visually grounded

Untitled, photo by caterpillars and visually grounded photo by mlephotos

Today (April 29) is Arbor Day, a nationwide celebration that encourages people to take the simple action of planting trees. According to the Arbor Day history page, Arbor Day was founded in 1872 by Julius Sterling Morton. Morton grew up in Detroit and graduated from the University of Michigan. He actually grew up in Monroe, and you can read his story from Hometown History Tours (a very cool site btw!).

look who's showing at the woodbridge!!

A whole ton of Arbor Day can be found at the Michigan Arbor Day Alliance (Facebook).

I was faced with a bind this morning when I became aware of the fact that two of my favorite photographers, Laura Dyszynski aka caterpillars and Meghan East (mlephotos), were the subject of the latest Exposure.Detroit opening tomorrow night (April 30) from 7-10 PM at the Woodbridge Pub in Detroit! Click for all the details!

Thankfully, both women had photos of trees to choose from!

Check Laura’s out bigger and in her slideshow.

You can see Meghan’s photo on black and in her you like {top 30 favorites} slideshow, but the best way to see both of their work is to go to their show!

Almost Tulip Time in Holland!

Posted on by farlane

It's like a dream

It’s like a dream, photo by cae3 – Anita

Tulip Time in Holland is just around the corner! The annual celebration of Holland’s Dutch heritage and tulipular beauty takes place May 7-14, 2011 and features parades, music, dancing and much more. They explain that:

This year is a particularly special celebration as we recognize the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of the founder of the Holland, Michigan: Reverend Albertus C. Van Raalte, who led his congregation of Dutch Calvinists in founding our city in 1847. To commemorate his birth, a Bilateral Conference will take place in Holland, Michigan and the Netherlands in the fall of 2011. For more information, visit www.dutchheritagewestmichigan.com.

Like most celebrations, the Tulip Time Festival started as a relatively small event, which was proposed by Miss Lida Rogers, a high school biology teacher. In 1927, Miss Rogers presented the idea of commemorating Holland’s Dutch heritage, history and culture to the Women’s Literary Club. Her proposal was accepted, and in 1929, the City of Holland planted its first crop of 100,000 tulips. The overwhelming number of visitors to our small town resulted in the community’s decision to repeat the event. As thousands of spectators soared to hundreds of thousands, the celebration lengthened by days, and pageantry, costumes and parades and the popular Dutch Dancers were added to produce a week-long festival that is now over 80 years old.

“Tulip Time” on Michigan in Pictures has all kinds of photos & information about this festival!

Check this out bigger and in Anita’s Explored slideshow.

Earth Day, high above our piece of the Earth

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Great Lakes, No Clouds

Great Lakes, No Clouds, photo by NASA Goddard Photo and Video.

Today is Earth Day (and also Good Friday). You can read all about Michigan’s role in Earth Day on Michigan in Pictures and check the list of Earth Day events in Michigan from earthday.org.

I thought this shot from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center was a perfect image, and it’s a great lead-in to their Earth Day 2011 slideshow, which looks at almost 40 years of Landsat images. NASA says:

Launched in 1972, the Landsat program is the longest continuous global record of the Earth’s surface. It continues to deliver both visually stunning and scientifically valuable images of our changing planet, allowing us to plan for the future of Earth’s precious resources.

Check this out big as Michigan an in their Explored! slideshow.

Get (April) Foolish at Festifools in Ann Arbor

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

tibihxE deeF toN oD esaelP

tibihxE deeF toN oD esaelP, photo by jenny murray.

This Sunday (April 3, 2011) is the Festifools parade in Ann Arbor. It’s annual street festival of “HUGE PUPPETS and random acts of April Foolishness”. New this year is FoolMoon – April 1 from dusk to midnight. It’s a FREE event that invites you to bring your luminary (or kazoo / chicken suit / saxophone / what have you) to one of their three “Constellation Stations” and join fellow frolickers for the Foolish stroll! More updates about this Foolish weekend on Facebook!

If you’re not already familiar with FestiFools, you can get a sense of what we’re about by watching some videos on the YouTube FestiFools channel and at photographer Myra Klarman’s blog that includes a neat look behind the scenes at Festifools!

Jenny says that this was Anorexicsaurus or TyrAnorexicsaurus … from the Starvaceous Period. Check it out big as a bulemiasaur and in her Festifools slideshow.

There’s a ton more foolishness to be found in the flickr FestiFools group!

49th Annual Ann Arbor Film Festival ~ March 22-27, 2011

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Untitled, photo by Ann Arbor Film Festival.

The Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF) is the longest-running independent film festival in North America. The 6 day festival brings filmmakers and guests from all over the country and the world along with 188 films, videos and live performances in 40 programs, including more than 20 premieres of new work from China, England, Spain, France, Japan, Finland, Croatia, Chile, Netherlands, Korea and throughout North America. Complete details, schedules and trailers on the 49th Ann Arbor Film Festival website.

With a focus on independent cinema, the AAFF has showcased early work from filmmakers & artists including Kenneth Anger, Agnes Varda, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, Gus Van Sant, Barbara Hammer, Lawrence Kasdan, Devo and George Lucas. Their history page says that:

The Ann Arbor Film Festival was started in 1963 by University of Michigan School of Art filmmaker/artist George Manupelli. The 1960s sparked rapid changes in cinema, thus challenging the art world to accept fresh ideas and talent. Manupelli took advantage of this shift and envisioned a festival that would serve experimental and pioneering filmmakers with the exposure, feedback and competition they desired. He designed his festival to be open to anyone who saw filmmaking as art.

From a casual group of fascinated students, filmmakers and film enthusiasts crowded into the smoke-filled Lorch Hall auditorium, to the thousands of filmmakers, artists and spectators hosted in the grand Michigan Theater, the Ann Arbor Film Festival has grown to be an internationally celebrated institution. Since 1980, it has been independent of the University of Michigan as an independent non-profit arts organization. In the fall of 2003 the festival broadened its scope to include video and digital formats for competition.

Dive into the AAFF website for much more!

The 48th AAFF Highlights slideshow from the Ann Arbor Film Festival shows one of the coolest things about the AAFF, the up-close access to filmmakers that you get through Q&As and panel discussions. Lots more including opening reception, after parties, fashion and (of course) Giant Animal Badminton.

March 11, 2011 Northern Lights over Lake Superior

Posted on by farlane

Editor’s note: I had planned a post about Michigan St. Patrick’s Day parades, some of which take place today or tomorrow. Check out  information for St. Paddy’s celebrations in Detroit, Bay City, Clare, Flint,Kalamazoo, Grand Ledge, Saugatuck, Traverse City and Muskegon. Sorry about that, but when the Aurora Borealis calls, I’m picking up the phone!

March 11 Northern Lights over Lake Superior, photo by Shawn Malone

Last week Michigan in Pictures featured an article saying that the prospects for Northern Lights viewing in Michigan were looking great for the next couple of years. Thanks to Pure Michigan’s Facebook, that post became the most popular ever.

Yesterday on Facebook (does it look like I’m spending too much time there??) I saw that photographer Shawn Malone of Lake Superior Photo had captured a fantastic series of northern lights shots over the frozen landscape of Lake Superior near Marquette in the early morning of March 11th. She writes:

Nice to see the northern lights back, I caught the tail end of the strongest part of the display. These were taken along the Lake Superior shore near Marquette MI.

Lights were bright, brightest I’ve seen them in years. Snow did a good job reflecting the light hitting it.

See the whole gallery on Facebook. Shawn and Brian haven’t posted the photos to their site yet, but when they do, they’ll likely be in the Northern Lights section which includes some truly jaw-dropping photos!

If you’re interesting in keeping up with geo-magnetic forecasts, I would recommend NOAA’s Space Weather site, which includes the ability to subscribe for updates (link to “Email Products” at the bottom of the page). Definitely tune into the Northern Lights on Michigan in Pictures, and if you see the aurora, post a comment on the Michigan Northern Lights Log!


Celebrate the Great Lakes at the Benzie Water Festival!

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

The Beach at Green Point Dunes

The Beach at Green Point Dunes, photo by jimflix!.

The 2011 Benzie County Water Festival takes place next weekend (March 19-21, 2011) in Frankfort. The Water Festival moves around Michigan, bringing the message of the vitality of Michigan’s water all around the state in different seasons.

We have an in-depth feature on Absolute Michigan about the festival that includes a number of videos featuring Water Festival presenters including Tom Kelly of the Inland Seas Educations Association; Derek Bailey Tribal Chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians; Hans VanSumeren, Director of Northwestern Michigan College’s Water Studies Institute and musicians Seth Bernard & May Erlewine.

This will be a unique event designed to engage folks in the stewardship of the Great Lakes, the global freshwater crisis and the cultivation of a vibrant and sustainable local culture. A family-oriented, community-centered program will feature Michigan musicians, speeches from water luminaries, interactive multimedia projects and presentations, artisan foods and beverages, workshops, visual art, theater and dance, children’s activities, an ice fishing contest, as well as connections to campaigns and projects protecting our water locally and/or addressing global water challenges.

The Benzie County Water Festival is co-sponsored by the Benzie Conservation District and Absolute Michigan. For more information, check out the Benzie Water Festival Facebook

Get much more information about performers, presenters and special events at water-festival.org!

Jim took this shot at the Green Point Dunes Nature Preserve, a gorgeous nature area that is part of a huge swath of Lake Michigan shore that has been protected. If you check it out bigger, you can see the Frankfort Lighthouse in the distance (and yes – Jim has one or two shots of that!).

Green Hornet, Black Beauty

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Green Hornet Black Beuaty

Green Hornet Black Beuaty, photo by burnlab.

The Green Hornet opens tonight. You might be interested in the Michigan roots of the Green Hornet and the buzz on the Green Hornet via Absolute Michigan.

Michael took this photo at the 2011 North American International Auto Show which opens tomorrow. Collider got to take the Black Beauty for a spin – no word if he used the missiles. The Beauty is a mid 60s Chrysler Imperial – get the specs from Autoblog.

Check this out background bigtastic and get up close and personal with Black Beauty in Michael’s 2011 NAIAS slideshow.

North American International Auto Show: Yesterday and Today

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures
Traffic at the 1960 Auto Show by Hugo90

 Traffic at the 1960 Auto Show by Hugo90

“You know what? We’re going to prove one thing. That this is the Motor City, the motor capital of the world. And we’re going to bring it back, in the esteem of the world, to where it should be.”
~Ken Meade, International Auto Show, 1989

It’s time again for the North American International Auto Show aka the Detroit Auto Show. The world’s premier celebration of cars and car culture has lost some of its luster but is still an amazing event.

The NAIAS runs from January 15-25 at the Cobo Center in Detroit and you can get all the details including photos and video at 2011 Detroit Auto Show on Absolute Michigan. An article we link to from the Detroit News is the source of the quotation above and says that 1960 was the first year at Cobo Hall.

Check this out bigger and in Hugo’s THE OTHER CAR PICTURES slideshow.

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