Rising Tide
“It was a perfect storm,” city parks and recreation manager Colin Smith told a meeting at the Leslie Science and Nature Center in mid-June. He was speaking of all the rain–especially the nearly two inches that...
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Bird Center/Polling Place
“One of my favorite buildings in town!” writes Julie Weatherbee of June’s I Spy (below), “a dual-purpose building on Mary Street.” It’s “the Bird Center of Washtenaw County,”...
Read MoreCoalition for Local Business
We received eighty-three entries last month correctly identifying the Fake Ad for the Washtenaw County Coalition for Local Business on page 68 of the June Observer. The ad was, of course, made up, but the idea of what would...
Read MoreAnn Arborite Kate MacEwen
In a small, neatly kept house in the east part of town, Kate MacEwen, twenty-nine, is recording a video interview. MacEwen, of average height, blue-eyed and rosy-cheeked, is development director of an organization called...
Read MoreBoiled Peanut Man
Tom Laporte, aka the “Boiled Peanut Man,” brought a small piece of Dixie to Dexter’s backyard last November. Laporte, thirty-five, the sous chef at the Ann Arbor City Club, has worked in the food industry most...
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Bidding War at King School
At King School’s ice cream social on June 11, principal Kevin Karr will be triumphantly wearing maize and blue. This may not seem out of the ordinary for a U-M alum who special-ordered a big block M on his parking space...
Read MoreHope’s Helpers
St. Joe oncologist Phillip Stella was volunteering at Ypsilanti’s Hope Clinic when he saw a patient with a nagging cough–which turned out to be treatable early stage lung cancer. Without the clinic, which provides...
Read MoreJefferson Market 2010
“Let them eat cake,” writes Noah Levin, adding, “I spy the Jefferson Market.” Make that the “fabulous Jefferson Market and Cakery, across…from my daughter’s school,” writes Linda...
Read MoreA2 Musical Theater Guild
You know how annoying it is when the media takes incomplete, flawed data and uses it to draw a really broad conclusion? Well, prepare to be annoyed.Last month’s Fake Ad was the most difficult to find in months. We know...
Read MoreTraveling Pants
Ever wonder what happens to all those neglected articles of clothing left at the cleaners? Harold Kim, owner of Armen Cleaners, estimates that fifteen to twenty pieces go unclaimed each year between his three locations. Although...
Read MoreBach Bargain
If you want to hear all 270 of Bach’s compositions for organ–played on instruments that Bach himself used–they’re just a few clicks away at www.blockmrecords.org/bach. Downloads are free, and there have...
Read MoreBarrels of Fun
Whenever Chris Frey is ready to brew, he fills thirteen five-gallon jugs with water in Detroit and hauls them back to his home in Saline. “Gretchen [Driskell], our mayor, would not be pleased to hear me say this,” he...
Read MoreHistoric Halls
On November 2, 1869, the famed Hutchinson Family Singers appeared at Dexter’s Costello Hall. Known for their four-part harmonies and social activism, the Hutchinsons presented comic, dramatic, and sentimental...
Read MoreSuperman in Trouble!
For about a year, a note affixed to the pay phone in the downtown library explained that the phone was not working and that the staff was “aware of the situation.” Now the note is gone–along with the...
Read MoreWhat? Me Divorced?
This year, the U-M will pay on average about $6,800 to provide health care coverage for an employee with dependents. So for the first time, the university has hired a company to conduct a full “dependent benefits...
Read MorePete Poulos
Behind the modern glass facade of Frank’s Restaurant on Maynard is a good old-fashioned diner as popular for the man behind the grill as for the good grub he turns out.Pete Poulos, seventy-four, cooks every bite served in...
Read MoreWineFest at Pfizer
“I feel like I’m living under a lucky star right now,” says Ann Arbor Art Center executive director Marsha Chamberlin. Like many nonprofits, the Art Center had a tough time last year–with income from its...
Read MoreOut of Print
“That’s one of the art deco reliefs on the now-abandoned Ann Arbor News building,” writes Joshua Rabinowitz, identifying April’s image. The clue “‘Out of Print’,” adds Elihau...
Read MoreAttorney Godfrey Finger
We received 168 entries last month identifying the Fake Ad as the one for the law offices of Godfrey Finger and one entry identifying it as the one “about the holistic dog.” Can you guess which one’s the right...
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