Lisa Brush and Jim Frey
Brush and Frey fell in love nearly twenty years ago. They first met less than a mile from the Longshore building, while collaborating on Leslie Science & Nature Center’s shift to an independent nonprofit.
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Community
Townie Homes
The Zillow listings seem too good to be true: A 2-bed, 2-bath, 800-square-foot house on S. Maple for $125,000. A 3-bed, 3-bath 1,372-square-foot townhome on S. Wagner for $225,000. A 3-bed, 2-bath, 1,232-square-foot home on Jewett for $325,000.
Read MoreLive to Tell
Public speaking consistently ranks as people’s number one fear. It comes before spiders, the dark, nuclear war, death. Death? Yes, before death.
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Weathering ICE
“You see vehicles that look suspicious with dark windows and [when] you look inside you see [people] in bullet-proof vests and you know, it’s them: its ICE,” says a community advocate who wishes to remain anonymous. “It’s happening in our lovely county. It’s here.”
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John Hilton
Last October, he retired after thirty-nine years as the Observer’s editor.
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Second Chances
After forty-three years, eleven months, and twenty-three days, Billy Cole was released from prison. It was 2019 and he found himself scrambling, trying to find his footing. He took on factory work, delivery work, anything he could find to bring in money and avoid returning to prison.
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Renee Baumunk’s Wild Women Years
What she didn’t know was that this old house on a quiet, tree-lined road would become the birthplace of a beloved, long-running tradition: the Wild Women parties.
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Creating a Dementia-Friendly Community
“Dementia is not only emotionally upsetting, it’s literally life-changing—and not just for the people diagnosed,” says Jim Mangi. “Most people who are thrust into a job as a caregiver have no idea how best to handle the situation.”
Read MoreHoliday Guide 2025
Wishing you a joyful holiday season! Experience all Ann Arbor has to offer throughout the month of December—from local performances to holiday concerts, dining, religious services, and of course, shopping. It’s the perfect time...
Read MoreFarewell, Question Corner
After twenty years, Question Corner is retiring. Since the segment debuted in July 2005, author Tim Athan answered hundreds of questions from readers across Ann Arbor. Although there are a handful that remained unanswered, there’s one that Tim considers his white whale.
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Full Circle
On a windy evening in late October, I sat in the impressive Michigan Union Rogel Ballroom, with its vaulted ceilings, arched doorways, and dark, wood-paneled walls. The event? The 19th Annual Prechter Lecture, hosted by the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program, featuring keynote speaker Ellen Forney and moderated by program director Dr. Melvin McInnis.
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Trailblazer
Construction is underway on Fire Station 4 at 2415 S. Huron Pkwy. The name of the new station is a nod to a pioneer: Mindy Kerr, Ann Arbor’s first female firefighter.
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SNAP Judgment
On a chilly mid-November Wednesday morning, volunteers from Food Gatherers assembled in a parking lot at Briarwood Mall, outside JCPenney. It was the second in a series of four hastily announced food distributions following a freeze in federal food benefits.
Read MoreThe Yellow and Blue
Some years back, I went to the Michigan Union Ticket Office to get tickets for a U-M Men’s Glee Club concert. But when I finally got to the front of a long line, the young clerk politely told me MUTO didn’t sell Glee Club tickets. This surprised me, I told him, because the Glee Club website said this was in fact the only place that sold them. He assured me that no, MUTO did not sell Glee Club tickets. I gently persisted: “Another indicator is the sign behind you that says ‘Glee Club Tickets Sold Here.’” This observation delighted the people in line behind me.
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Pat Deneau
Deneau, who works regular twenty-four hour shifts, finds comfort in his woodchuck friends. “On a day where things aren’t going our way, our station mascots are still out there doing their thing—unbothered by circumstances outside of their control.”
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Fixing Barton Dam
When I lived in Ann Arbor back in the 1980s, Barton Dam was barely on my radar. The Huron River was scenic enough from the road: a heron or hawk here and there, maybe a deer ambling just off the shoulder. The dam itself, tucked out of sight from Huron River Dr., might as well have been invisible.
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The School of Yoga’s Uncertain Future
There’s a secret room in the basement of the Ann Arbor School of Yoga (AASY). Below the studio space, behind the changing areas, there’s a room where three huge shelves groan under the weight of Blakeney’s collection of yoga books. Her students are allowed to read the books, but not take them home, so many of them peruse the private library before and after class.
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A Farm in Dexter
Amy Ramsey watches the sun rise over her neighbor’s field every morning. She’s up before dawn, a strong cup of coffee in hand, ready to open her barns and feed her animals. Wild Apple Farms is named for the centuries-old apple trees scattered across the property, and Ramsey strives to live in harmony with the land, respecting the rhythm of the year. “There’s a feeling of peace and contentment that doesn’t exist anywhere else,” she says. “If you pause to pay attention, you can smell the seasons changing.”
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