Community

Julie Kobylarz

Kobylarz, thirty-six, has loved rodents since childhood. Chipmunks ate from her hand at her family’s cabin up north in Gaylord. At home in Westland, her parents gave her gerbils as a gift. In college at Central Michigan she bought “feeder mice,” which pet stores sell as food for reptiles, to keep as pets

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Talk About Inflation!

An old photo shows my mother, Geraldine, in the middle, at age fifteen, and Irv, age thirteen, on the left and Rolly, age eleven, on the right. The cost to park that close to the stadium was a whopping 25 cents.

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Flower Ladies

Flower Therapy at Mott Hospital, the oldest activity of the Ann Arbor Farm & Garden Association, started in the 1950s. The program has always been entirely staffed by volunteers, with flowers donated by local grocery stores, florists, and a flower farm.

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Handhelds

It’s the crowned King of Lunch. The perfect combination of utility and nutrition. Arguably the best handheld invention since we developed thumbs. I speak, of course, of the sandwich.

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Because They’re There

How does a “walk in the park” become a challenge only the hardiest and most determined locals accomplish? By inviting people to visit every single one of Ann Arbor’s 162 parks. Nearly 100 community members have accomplished this feat in the past five years.

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Zeitun’s Bach Neighborhood

On Hamilton Pl., just a few blocks west of U-M’s central campus, it’s standard to wake up to the familiar sounds of the city: passing cars, roommates, construction. However, at Tri Sug—a house shared by U-M students that doubles as an underground music venue—their morning starts instead with a loud meow from just outside the window.

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The “International Aspect”

The Harts’ home, a “school bus yellow” Cape Cod with a huge garden, was the second one built by high schoolers in the Ann Arbor Student Building Industry Program, an experiential learning initiative. The first was on nearby Yellowstone Dr., and the third, says Donna, “is right around the corner, on Carl Ct.”

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My Allen Neighborhood

I could’ve written another version of this essay and blown the entire word count just describing how the canopy of trees changes from season to season, or the way the maple leaves scatter sunlight across our chalky sidewalks in bouncing dapples.

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Voters Approve Library Proposals 

On Tuesday, Ann Arbor voters headed out to the polls to cast their ballots on Proposals A and B for the special 2025 August election.  After a heated race marked by lawsuits, lawn signs, and fervent online discourse, early...

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Creative Gamers 

These aren’t old favorites like Monopoly. These are board games invented by some of those in attendance. Their creators brought them to Sylvan Factory, a hobby store in Westgate, to have others test them out.

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Big Book Sale

“It’s probably the biggest sale in town,” says bookseller Gene Alloway. He plans to line up early on Friday, September 5, when the three-day event begins at WCC’s Morris Lawrence Building. “The books are in fine shape,” says the owner of Motte &  Bailey Booksellers, “and they have lots of different subjects.”

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The Spire at Zion Lutheran

Church members, neighbors, and passersby all enjoy seeing the tower, but they will have to live with a shorter one for several months. At almost seventy years old, its spire—the metal section on top—is about to be removed for repair.

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Internet Fraud and Its Victims

At ten o’clock on a Sunday night, my eighty-six-year-old mother received a call from a girl who sounded like my daughter, then a college student. Crying, the caller said that she had gone to Canada with friends, their car had broken down, and they were stranded without money. Could Grammie please wire $700 right away, so they could get back to campus?

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