I remember 8 years ago…, photo by MightyBoyBrian.
…and Brian wonders where we’ll be 8 years from now.
Check this photo from the tunnel to Holland’s Tunnel Park beach out bigger and (for the moment) in Brian’s The Top Thirty set (slideshow).
Your photo contest begins at Michigan.org
Holland, Michigan Lighthouse, photo by Tony Tanoury.
The Pure Michigan Photo Contest is open until June 29, 2009 and offers you a chance to win prizes including a stay at the Gran Hotel on Mackinac Island!
You can get all the details at the link above and check out submitted photos on their map.
Tony took this photo of the “Big Red” lighthouse in Holland last May. Be sure to check it out bigger and also in his Michigan set (slideshow).
Houston, We have Tulips!
We have tulips!, photo by StormchaserMike Photography
Holland’s 2009 Tuliptime Festival starts today and runs May 2-9, 2009. In addition to parades, music, celebrations of Dutch heritage, kids events and fireworks and somewhere around 6 million tulips, they are celebrating the 80th anniversary of Holland’s signature celebration this year. All who attend are entered to win all kinds of prizes including a trip to Mexico, $1000, dinner for 6 at the B.O.B., a night at the JW Marriot and a party at New Holland Brewing!
You can get Mike’s photo bigger or check out his whole Flower set (slideshow).
If you’re still feeling tulip mania, check out past tulip posts from Michigan in Pictures, the tulip slideshow from the Absolute Michigan group and Absolute Michigan’s tulip page.
Happy Birthday, Michigan!
The Capitol of Michigan, photo by Ravi Vora.
Today (January 26, 2009) is Michigan’s 172nd birthday. I have to say she doesn’t look a day over 150 – must be all that fresh water!
The Michigan Historical Museum explains the somewhat lengthy process that Michigan took to becoming the 26th State of the Union:
Following the Compromise of 1820 it was the practice to admit a free state and a slave state at the same time. However, when both Arkansas and Michigan were ready for statehood, Michigan was involved in a dispute with Ohio over the Toledo Strip. President Jackson signed a bill on June 15, 1836, that admitted Arkansas but required the people of Michigan to settle the dispute before Michigan would be granted statehood. Michigan would need to consent to a compromise measure drawn up by Congress. The compromise gave the Toledo Strip to Ohio and the western two-third (2/3) of the present Upper Peninsula to Michigan.
A convention to consider the compromise took place in Ann Arbor on September 26, 1836, after delegates were elected. They deliberated for four days; then they rejected the compromise. On December 14 a second “Convention of Assent” was assembled, which—two days later—passed a resolution that accepted the compromise. After this news reached Washington, a bill was introduced to admit Michigan to the Union. Congress passed the bill, and President Jackson signed it on January 26, 1837.
Toledo for the Western U.P.? No offense to Toledo, but I think we made out all right in that one. More about Michigan’s path to statehood from Wikipedia.
Ravi says to check this out larger and cooler.
Creating Cities in Michigan
Lansing, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Flint, Traverse City, Marquette and Kalamazoo are by no means all of Michigan’s cities (or even the largest). Each, however, seems to be an anchor for its region – a center to which people look to for culture, entertainment and commerce.
October 13-15, 2008, lovers of cities large & small from Michigan and all over the country will head to Detroit for the Creative Cities Summit 2.0 (CCS2), an exploration of what our cities could become and how we can work to make them. Organizers have chosen Detroit, a city so deeply forged in America’s industrial fires that it’s been devastated by the flickering of that flame. I’m headed down there and will try to bring some of the ideas back to you through Absolute Michigan – I hope that some of you can join me there.
The Photos (left to right)
- Downtown View – Lansing, Michigan by Mario.Q
- Motor Within a City by SNWEB.ORG Photography, LLC.
- Partly Cloudy by GR58
- Old Flint (HDR) by Hemicuda82
- Traverse City, Michigan by farlane
- View from Mt. Marquette by fastbird232
- The Kalamazoo Radisson by bill.d
Creative Cities Summit 2.0 in Detroit on Oct. 13-15, 2008
CCS2 will present a dynamic and engaging conversation about how communities around the world are integrating innovation, social entrepreneurship, sustainability, arts & culture and business to create vibrant economies. Full conference registration is $300 for the two and half day event, and there’s also a “no frills” registration that is only $100. There’s also a free “Unconference” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) on the 12th for designers, urban planners, civic leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, students, community leaders to explore and discuss what’s possible for Detroit.
Keynote speakers include:
- Bill Strickland, MCG-Bidwell Corp.
- Richard Florida, Author Who’s Your City
- Charles Landry, Author The Art of City Making
- John Howkins, Author The Creative Economy
- Dean Kamen, Inventor, DEKA
- Majora Carter, Sustainable South Bronx
- Doug Farr, Architect and Author Sustainable Urbanism
- Ben Hecht, Pres. & CEO Living Cities
- Tom Wujec, Fellow, Autodesk
- Carol Coletta, CEOs for Cities
- Giorgio Di Cicco, Poet Laureate, City of Toronto and Author, The Municipal Mind
- Diana Lind, Editor, Next American City magazine
Breakout sessions on topics such as:
- Race and the Creative City
- Cities, Universities & Talent
- Marketing, Media and the Creative City
- Measuring New Things – ROI in the Creative Economy
- Creative (Small) Cities
- New Ideas in Urban Amenities
- Community Vitality: The Role of Artists, Gays, Lesbians & Immigrants
- Midwest Mega-region: How the Midwest Can Compete
- Transportation Innovation for Cities
- Making the Scene: Music & Economic Development
Much (much) more at creativecitiessummit.com.
Michigan Red, White & Blue
Big Red and sailboat, photo by ER Post.
It’s true we have challenges aplenty in Michigan, but how many other places have colors like these?
Happy Independence Day and I hope you all have something to celebrate!
Holland Harbor Lighthouse aka “Big Red” on Lake Michigan.
Here’s a few more 4th of July posts from the Michigan in Pictures archives:
Tulip Time Two Thousand (and Eight)
Growing UP, photo by luna.nik
Despite the best efforts of a seemingly endless winter not to end, the bulbs are once again bursting forth with colorful goodness, to be celebrated most especially in Holland this weekend ( May 3-10, 2008 ) with the annual Tulip Time festival.
Much more today (including a tulip slideshow) on Absolute Michigan: Tulip Time in Holland, Michigan.
Lone tree on a winter beach
Lone tree on a winter beach, photo by norjam8.
This photo was taken and is part of Norm’s set of Winter photos, a very cool set that includes photos like this amazing shot of “Big Red” aka the Holland Harbor light.
Like pretty much all of Norm’s photos, this one is available in super-biggie wallpaper size. I think that’s a beautiful thing.
Holland, Michigan: flippin’ sweet.
flippin’ sweet., photo by jill d.
Of this very wallpaper-friendly photo, Jill writes:
i took this one of my friend phil last spring. we were at this place called the bowl, which is basically a huge sand dune on the coast of lake michigan in holland, michigan. phil was a diver in high school — the combo of his back flip and the amazing sunset combined to make one of my favorite photos i’ve ever taken.
The Holland CVB’s history page tells the story of religious opression and economic depression in the Netherlands leading Dr. Albertus Christiaan & Christine Van Raalte, their family and congregation to take ship to America. At Detroit:
Dr. Van Raalte left his flock to survey the area and determine the best location for his Dutch Kolonie. Of all the sites that he studied, the one that was made to order for his colonizing plans was at the mouth of the Black River where it flowed into Black Lake (now Lake Macatawa) which, in turn, led to Lake Michigan. As soon as Van Raalte had satisfied himself that he had found the most desirable location for his colony, he lost no time in leading his group to the spot. They reached their destination on February 9, 1847.
There’s a ton more information about the early trials of the city and modern day Holland at the excellent Holland Convention and Visitor’s Bureau web site. Every May the city hosts Tulip Time, a celebration of all things Dutch and Dutch Village is a major Michigan tourist attraction. I think that this photo was taken at Holland State Park (also known as Ottawa Beach).
Wikipedia’s entry for Holland, Michigan says that as of the 2000 census, there were 35,048 people residing in the city (112,000 people in the metro area). Wikipedia also notes that Holland is home to the world’s largest pickle factory, that it is the birthplace of Slashdot, one of the first (the first?) blogs created by Hope College student Rob “CmdrTaco” Malda & company and that L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while summering in the resort community of Macatawa.
We’ve added Holland to our Absolute Michigan map of Michigan. Someday we’ll figure out how to let other people add stuff too. You can find more pictures of Holland from Michigan in Pictures (including a nice bit of history and a Tulip Time extravaganza) and get business info and stories at Absolute Michigan keyword Holland.
Dancing through West Michigan
Some days the photo for Michigan in Pictures is easy to find. Some days it’s not. Today was one of those days and after a lot of time wandering around the Library of Congress, I went back to Flickr and started looking through photos matching a search for Michigan.
Somewhere around page 12, I found these two photos – Untitled (from a West Michigan Whitecaps game) by Em Smith and Klompen Dancing at the Tulip Festival by Norm Hoekstra (from a group of Tulip Time klompen photos) – sitting side by side. That seemed to me to be some kind of sign, and I read it to say: blog the photos and get back to work!
Happy Friday and I hope your weekend gives you a chance to kick up your heels!
Michigan in Pictures 