Sports and Weather Blog.

I saw on the news today about Chris Chelios retiring from hockey and taking a front office post as an adviser with the Red Wings. Chris was a defenseman for the Wings. I remember seeing him at the Red Wings Victory Parade a few summers ago, and watching him play for the Red Wings on Television. I'm sure that "Cheli" will be great in his new role in the front Office. In other news, I've been seeing the reports about Hurricane Earl on TV that's about to hit the east coast. I'm keeping all my East Coast readers in my prayers that your homes/schools/places of business won't be damaged.

Harvard Sq. Centre

Here is the Harvard Square building on Broadway here in Detroit. As I look at its page on SkyscraperPage, It says that the building was built in 1925, and for the most part , is unused today. There's currently a nightclub on the ground floor. The page also says that there'll be lofts there soon. There are old signs on the building soliciting people to call if they wanted to rent a loft, book a hall for a party, etc. back in a previous era, and there was a store for Christmas decorations for businesses next door. I like the arched windows on the top floor/penthouse level of the building, and the font of the "Harvard Square Centre" sign, as well.

Movin' around at Night (and in the day, too)

Here's the locally famous Night Move. It's a shuttle that takes people to all the popular nightspots in Royal Oak, Ferndale and Downtown Detroit. Reservations are required if you want to ride around to various parties on the weekend. I've seen these buses in passing as I've gone around town the past few years. They seem like they're pretty full, and a pretty popular draw for anyone wanting to make a night on the club scene around town. The buses run on biofuel, so you can be sure it's a "Green" ride. I've seen the Night Move in Greektown a few times, as well as in other spots around town.

YouTube Friday-The Detroit You've Never Met - Part One of Three

Here's an interesting video I found while taking a peek around YouTube. This video, from user GrandOleDetroit , is for Detroit's bid for the 1968 Olympic Games. It tells about why Detroit should be considered as a potential host city for the '68 games. The video I'm blogging about today is the first of three uploaded. The man in the screen capture is Jerome Cavanagh, the mayor at the time. Many people remember when Detroit and the downtown area looked like this in the not-so-distant past.

Spirit of DPS

Today was the Back-To-School parade and rally here in Detroit.The Spirit of Detroit donned this shirt for the occasion. There was a van there to register students, and the Health Department was there to immunize kids. The Detroit Public Schools are looking to get kids into the school district that may have gone to Charter, Private/Religious or suburban schools. The slogan that adorns the shirt and the ad campaign, "I'm in", is in its second year. Many people were at the rally and parade today, wearing the same type of the shirt. I think that the rally and parade had good turnouts overall.

Help Affording Medications

I saw this ad from AstraZeneca as I took my photo walk back in June. It seems nowadays that many people are losing their health coverage after losing their jobs or have a limited income, and not being able to afford their prescriptions. I saw an article in the newspaper a week or so ago about many people losing their Cobra coverage, and having to face a new set of challenges in paying for their medication, especially if they are taking medicine that's very expensive to pay for. The website mentioned on this ad lists the website AZ and Me, which is a program to help people pay for their prescriptions. It has useful links on the site, as well. This is one of many programs out there to help people afford their medications.

Comerica Skyline

This picture is one of my favorite pictures that I took this past Sunday at the Tigers game against Cleveland at Comerica Park. It shows most of the city skyline and historic buidings in the area from the Detroit Athletic Club on the left, to the "Two Davids", Broderick (with the ad on the side) and Whitney (right next to the Broderick Tower) on the Right. It was a beautiful view from my seat in section 334. Skyline views are my favorite types of pictures to take, because you can see all the buildings and the beauty of a city. Most times, the Detroit skyline is shown from across the river in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Hope you like this view as much as I do

Dream Cruisin'

Here are some of my Dream Cruise pictures from this past Saturday. Enjoy!
Thunderbird near Woodward

One of Many Mustangs on Woodward

Imperial on Woodward

'57 Corvette

YouTube Friday: Love Ain't Love- Florence Ballard

Here's a video that I found while doing a search on YouTube for a video for today's YouTube Friday segment. This video was posted by YouTube user coxmillelementary. It's of a rare single by Florence Ballard called "Love Ain't Love". It was released in the late '60s after she left The Supremes. She had a deal with ABC Records after she was let go from Motown. She had an album out, but it didn't get too much airplay. I read the book about her called "The Last Supreme". It's based on one of "Flo's" final interviews with the author of the book before she passed in 1976. The Supremes are one of my favorite groups , and after listening to this song, Florence Ballard is on my favorite Singer list.

Dream Cruise week

It's Woodward Dream Cruise week here in Detroit. The actual cruise isn't until this coming Saturday, but people take the week leading up to to the Cruise to do their thing and show off their classic rides. In honor of the Cruise, I post this album of the CarTunes on Parade from 2005. These cars were around downtown Detroit and in all thirteen of the People Mover stations. This year is the sixteenth year for the cruise. The cruise started as a private event, but one of the local radio stations picked up on it, and it just went from there. Many people come out to check out the cars and to reminisce on days gone by. The Cruise goes from Pontiac all the way down to Ferndale. There's always a good turnout of cruisers from here in Michigan and from around the country.

Phone Home!!

This picture is of the original and part of the current addition of the AT&T building. The original building was built in the 1920s, and an addition was built in the 1970s. This was built under what was then Michigan Bell, in the Bell System. A lot of people used to (and some still do) call it "Ma Bell". This building was built in 1912, and an addition to it was built in 1927, according to the Wikipedia page of the building. This building is currently located near the Rosa Parks Transit Center downtown, which services the DOT, Smart Buses, Transit Windsor, and the Megabus discount bus line. Before the bus terminal was built, there was a park dedicated to a vice president of the Phone Company, who passed in the Mid 1990s. This building is architectually interesting. The style on this building reminds me of some of a building on the M-10 Service drive south of W. Grand Blvd. that was built probably between 1900-1940.

Elliott/Kresge's downtown

Here are a couple of shots of the Elliott Building, former home of Kresge thrift store, This was one of a few Kresge stores downtown Kresge's was the precursor to what's currently known as K-Mart. Many people remember going downtown to go shopping for discount deals at Kresge's back in the day. At last check, the Elliott building was under construction as a loft/Penthouse residence. There has been some action here within the past year or so, but I'm not too sure about how far they're coming along with it, or if it just hit a stall here recently. Don't try to go to the website listed on the placards there in the window, because it'll just take you to a GoDaddy.com page that has sponsored links and deals on hosting a webpage

YouTube Friday: Ryan White 1971-1990

I saw this video on the late Ryan White as I was looking around YouTube. Ryan was an inspirational young man. He was born in 1971, and had hemophillia, a disease of the blood, since he was a few days old. He acquired AIDS in the mid '80s from a blood transfusion, and was put out of school because of it. This was back in the days when AIDS was not well-understood in public,, and people didn't understand how someone acquired the disease. Ryan and his parents had to go to court to fight the school board about his re-admittance to school. He passed away at the age 18 in April 1990 from AIDS, right before he graduated from High School. Looking at the Wikipedia page about his life, it says that 1,500 people were at his funeral in '90, and that many celebrities came to visit him over time. I remember seeing a replay of a made-for-TV movie about Ryan's life when I was in Middle School. I hope that people can find courage and strength from what he went through, and that opinions on AIDS and HIV change from what they are now.

RenCen History

The Renaissance Center is one of the most recognizable buildings on the Detroit skyline. The project was first proposed in 1971, and was completed in 1977. According to the RenCen's website, is over five million square feet in size, and now houses General Motors, a Marriott Hotel, and many other businesses, including a CVS and clothing stores in the structures shown in this picture. . The building in front of this shot is Ford Auditorium, which is now vacant. My parents remember when the RenCen opened, and my mom told me that she, my grandparents and my aunt stayed at the hotel, formerly part of the Westin chain of Hotels, shortly after it opened. There's a set of good pictures from Wayne State University on the building of the RenCen. I remember coming here as a Teenager with my Mom and we'd have lunch and do some window shopping.

Edison Memorial Fountain

While walking through Grand Circus Park, you notice one of Two fountains: The Alger memorial fountain on the east side of the park (near Comerica Park) and the Edison Memorial Fountain, shown here. This fountain was dedicated to the works of Thomas Edison on October 21, 1929. The fountain has been turned on at various times this past year, possibly to conserve water. My favorite part of this fountain are the birds underneath the top of the fountain. Speaking of the birds, many of the birds that are in Grand Circus Park often frequent the fountain to keep cool or to get a cool drink on a hot day. The Plaque on the fountain reads " Erected by the people of the city of Detroit in commemoration of the achievements of Thomas Alva Edison in the realm of electricity. October Twenty-first in the year One Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty Nine".

Tribute to Anthony Wayne

I decided to write about General "Mad" Anthony Wayne today, who Wayne County, Michigan is named for, as well as the city of Wayne, Michigan. According to a site on the American Revolution, he gained the nickname "Mad Anthony" because of a hot temper. Anthony Wayne was born in January of 1745, and died in December 1796, according to Wikipedia. He also served with George Washingon, who was also a General in the Revolutionary War. One of the things that was noted on both webpages about him was that he ordered his own Court Martial. This plaque is at the old Wayne County Building in Detroit, the County Seat, and was placed there by the Sons of the American Revolution. This was the first I have heard of the Sons of the American Revolution. I've heard about the Daughters of the American Revolution on numerous occasions

Festivals and Practice

Two of the events around town this weekend were the Ribs and Soul Festival and the Lions open practice at Ford Field on August 7. The Ribs and Soul festival is an interesting festival with good food and music to go around. There were many vendors there, an many people going around to look at their wares and listen to the music of the many different performers. This is one of the many festivals I referenced in an earlier entries here in TWaSbL. I first went to this festival when I was a teenager in the early '00s. I haven't been since then. I enjoyed seeing all the people out and about, from family reunions, to people out and about for the days. One of the big sporting events was the Lions' open practice at Ford Field. The picture I post of the open practice is when they were on the field stretching out before their drills. They're usually at their practice facility in the Detroit suburbs, but they were here for a session. The players signed autographs for the fans before the practice began at four in the afternoon. All fans enjoyed seeing the Lions run through their drills and through their practice routines.

YouTube Friday: How to Search for Historical Records on Ancestry.com

I'm currently working on my Family History, and I'm finding the records on Ancestry.com useful to my research. I've been working on my tree since 2008. This video helps you to find your family's records on Ancestry. There's no sound on the video, so you just can look at the screen as they go along.

Mayor Maybury's Statue in GCP

Here are a couple of pictures of the statue of former Mayor William Maybury in Grand Circus Park downtown, which was erected in 1912, three years after his death. Looking at his biography on Congress' biographical website, he represented Michigan for the Democratic party in the mid-late 1880s, and was the city attorney for Detroit, where he was born and raised. Mabury was also a mayor of Detroit, but lost when he ran for Governor in 1900 . He died in 1909, at the age of 60. This is one statue that's frequently passed as people walk and ride around the Grand Circus Park/Stadium area. They're fixing up some of the area around the statue, hence the yellow stick on the base there.

Kern Clock

Here is the Kern's clock in Downtown Detroit. It's placed on the corner of Woodward and Gratiot, where the old store once stood until it's closure in the 1950s and demolition soon after. Compuware Headquarters currently resides at the location. The clock was placed here in the early 2000's and still gives the correct time (even though it may be fast or slow by your watch). Whenever I pass the clock, I always check to see what time it is and if my watch is correct. Hudson's Department store used to sit right behind Kerns, but as you see in the picture, it's no longer there, either. Hudson's was imploded in October 1998, and now houses an underground Parking lot. Lots of old stores are just a memory now, but they live on in the hearts and minds of many Detroiters and former Detroiters

Abraham Lincoln, from Detroit's German Community

This bust of Abraham Lincoln is stationed near Hart Plaza. It was dedicated on Lincoln's Birthday, February 12, in 1956 by the German-American population in Detroit. This is my most recent discovery of a bust or statue downtown that donated from the diverse ethnic communities of Detroit. It joins the bust of Christopher Columbus from the Italian Community, Gomidas from the Armenian Community, Gen. Casimir Pulaski from the Polish Community, and many more statues and tributes from ethnic communities that were placed in the 20th century. Learning about the cultural heritage and the history behind these statues is an informative experience.

Skating Points of Origin

Whenever I'm at the Hart Plaza Ampitheatre, I always think of when it was used as an ice skating rink back in the days, as shown in this picture (circa 1979) from WSU Virtual Motor City. I remember when my city's Winter Break travel camp took us here to go ice skating in the mid 1990s, around 1993-1994 era. . Ice skating is currently held in Campus Martius Park, which is north of here. Ice skating downtown is still a popular draw in the winter time, especially during the Winter Blast, which started in 2006 for the Super Bowl, which was held in Detroit. There was a trial run for the event in 2005
This is the Point of Origin marker in Campus Martius Park downtown. It shows the point where city leaders started to map out the city in 1806, a year after the fire that destroyed the city. The city is plotted out from this point. The West marker is partially covered by flowers at the new Fountain Bistro restaurant at Campus Martius, which took over the space Au Bon Pain once occupied.

Historic Eagle

I saw this Bronze relief while on my photographic journey this weekend. It's on the Ford Training Center in Downtown Detroit. This Eagle was made by Marshall Fredericks, who designed the Spirit of Detroit in front of the City-County Building downtown, the American Eagle statue near the Detroit Athletic Club, the Boy and Bear statue at Northland Mall in Southfield, Lion and Mouse at Eastland Mall in Harper Woods, and many other statues. The Plaque reads that the building was originally known as the Veterans Memorial Building at the time of its completion in 1950 (The cornerstone was laid in 1948, hence the date there), and was the first of many buildings in the then-new Civic Center to be built. Currently, UAW/Ford has their national Training Center there for all their union employees. This and other adornments on the complex were designed by Marshall Fredericks, who passed in April of 1998. You'd never know that this was here if you didn't do some looking around when you pass by. This is right near Hart Plaza in Downtown Detroit.