Community

Question Corner | May 2025

Q. The old Washtenaw County Garage (I think) across the street from the YMCA has been demolished except for the chimney which is home to chimney swifts. It is beloved by Ann Arbor birders. Is the chimney being preserved and, I hope, being incorporated into whatever future development might occur?

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Vyshyvanka Day

It’s  not easy planning a “cheerful” Ukrainian celebration these days, but U-M statistician Iryna Bondarenko is determined to do just that.  The observance of Vyshyvanka Day on May 15 “will not focus on the war,” she says. “ It’s something for people to enjoy.”

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Little Break

“When I said that to a random mom one time, she started crying,” the U-M Stamps grad continues. “She was like, ‘How am I doing? No one’s asked me that!’ And that’s what Mamas Network is about.”

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To Buy or Not To Buy

My husband and I had been wondering about replacing our own second car, a ten-year-old Buick Enclave SUV with 146,000 miles. As soon as we learned about the tariffs, we, too, hurried to dealer showrooms to see what we could find.

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Sheila Schueller

It’s a cold spring afternoon, but ecologist Sheila Schueller is determined to find signs of life in her backyard pond. She scoops a wiggling alien-looking creature into her net. “Ooh, you see how it has baby wings right there?” she asks. Come summer, she explains, this nymph with the bulging eyes will emerge as a dragonfly and “eat up” any mosquitoes.

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Surf Michigan

A small cyclone was predicted to hit Lake Michigan on November 21, 2024. Saint Joseph lay still—no wind, just the occasional whisper of movement—but out in the heart of the lake, the waves roared to life. For the MSurf club at the University of Michigan, it was the perfect storm—an unmissable call to adventure.

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Desk Set

Jayne Bower also found the name of last month’s winner “in microscopic letters on the Reproducing Women book.” And Tom Blessing wrote, “As someone with a legal background, it pays to read the fine print.”

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Echelon Kitchen and Bar

March’s photo shows “a column outside the new Echelon Kitchen and Bar that just opened,” writes Dyke McEwen. It’s on the “southwest corner of Main Street and Washington,” says Debbie Onderdonk. “The building in the background is Cafe Zola.”

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Modern Love

To this day, the stream of applicants from the recovery community has not abated. They are like our very own LinkedIn and Indeed all rolled into one. Over the ensuing ten-year period, while owning and operating a growing vegan food business that now includes a restaurant, a bakery/cafe, and an events venue, I have hired more than 150 people in recovery. As their employer, I have had the privilege of joining them on their life-changing and lifesaving journeys

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Observer Cover Art Exhibit

An exhibit of fifty original paintings from the covers of the Ann Arbor Observer is on display at Office Evolution in Ann Arbor. An Opening Reception open to the public will be held Saturday, April 12 from 1 – 6 p.m. Come meet...

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Doomsday Planning

“We’re dealing with an insane amount of mental health issues and anxiety from our residents,” says Derrick Miller, executive director of the Community Action Network. CAN’s seven community centers provide everything from after-school programs to housing support and emergency food pantries, and its clients are reeling from the Trump administration’s budget cuts.

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Sugar Shanty

After dusk on a cold, starry night, guests can easily follow the enticing aromas of a wood fire and a sweet treat across patches of snow to Elsi and Bob Sly’s sugar shanty. Open the door, and a fog of evaporating sap and an array of hot dogs, baked beans, and salads promise a one-of-a-kind winter picnic.

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17 Blocks

A Community High and U-M grad, Rothbart has worked as a ticket scalper and pizza delivery driver, created a magazine, and won an Emmy. This year, a Knight-Wallace journalism fellowship brought his family—wife Margaret Box and their kids, Desi, six, and Birdie, three—to a rented house on the Old West Side. And this month, he’s reuniting with his second family—the one featured in his documentary 17 Blocks—in an event at the Michigan Theater.

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