And Now A Word From Our Sponsors

Occasionally, we like to remind readers of the reason The Ann Arbor Chronicle is able to keep publishing: Advertisers have invested their dollars in ads that appear in the sidebars of the site. So every once in a while we’ll highlight those advertisers here in the center column.

The ArborTeas logo now appears on The Chronicle as an advertiser, but that’s not the only place Chronicle readers may have seen it around town. It also appears on a sign on the back of the bicycle cargo trailer I use to make the regular delivery from ArborTeas to the U.S. post office and the UPS store. Customers buy tea online and get it shipped to them, or else delivered free if they live in Ann Arbor. Jeremy Lopatin of ArborTeas is committed to an environmentally sustainable approach to doing business.

Another company I do bicycle cargo delivery for is Books by Chance, run by husband-wife team John Weise and Stephanie Bentley. Theirs is also a sustainable operation focused on re-use: On consignment, they’ll sell your used books, CDs and DVDs on the Internet. They recycled 16 tons of books last year, and I hauled them all to the post office.

Fuel for all my bicycle pedaling comes partly from RoosRoast Coffee, roasted by John Roos and packaged up in bags that are block printed with hand-carved designs, which makes each bag of RoosRoast Coffee a work of art both inside and out. Order RoosRoast online or get it at Sparrow Market in Kerrytown.

The connection of those first three businesses to the Teeter Talk interview series is direct: the proprietors are all alums of the totter. Indirect is the connection of Fingerle Lumber to Teeter Talk: that’s where I bought the lumber for the totter. They have a slogan at Fingerle: “We’ll walk you through a project, not point you down the aisle.” So I paid them a visit and told the guy at the counter I wanted the kind of treatment their slogan talks about. I got it. He walked with me out to the yard and we picked out a 12-foot length of Hemlock-Fir with a grain oriented vertically for maximum strength for tottering. Fingerle Lumber literally supports guests on the totter, and when you’ve got a project requiring lumber, tools, and other supplies, Fingerle will support you, too.

There’s also a Teeter Talk connection to the Blue Nile Restaurant. One of the alums of the totter, Rob Goodspeed, used to work there, and talked on the totter about how he liked to go back there and eat when he was back in town. Give Blue Nile a try you might find yourself going back, too.

The Blue Nile is one of three Main Street Area Association merchants who are currently advertising on The Chronicle. Rounding out the triad are Four Directions and Ann Arbor Biscuit Co. Four Directions is headed in the direction of north soon, but it’s only one block. It’s the place you want to go for minerals, crystals, cards, jewelry, fossils, pottery and the like. The “biscuit” in Arbor Biscuit Co. is for dog biscuits. They bake ‘em up right there in the store, and if it smells good to you, you know it’ll taste good to your dog.

Middle Earth on South University is a continuing advertiser. Their name came up recently out by a bicycle rack, when I was chatting with a woman from Toledo about what she was doing in Ann Arbor. One reason she came to Ann Arbor was to visit Middle Earth. It’s a place people come from out of town to visit, so if you’ve never been, take a look inside and see if they can satisfy your gift-giving needs. Valentine’s Day is coming up and you know you’ve got obligations.

What better place to hand over that Valentine’s Day gift to your special Valentine than at the restaurant that put the “V” in Valentine: Vinology Restaurant. If a gift from Middle Earth presented over dinner at Vinology doesn’t win their heart, then there’s simply no justice in the world.

In which case, David Nacht might be able to help. You can hear his show “Ann Arbor Justice” on the radio every Saturday at 2 p.m. on WLBY AM-1290.

By no means are these the only supporters of The Chronicle – a complete list of Chronicle advertisers can be found in a link at the bottom of every ad. It’s a diverse group, from Wild Swan Theater and the county’s RiverSafe Home Program to Nationwide/Davenport Insurance and Financial and Community Farm Kitchen. Some, like the Bank of Ann Arbor, the Ann Arbor District Library and both Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti public schools, have advertised with us since almost the launch of our publication in the fall of 2008. We appreciate their support.

Advertisers don’t pay by the click-through. But do us a favor and click through to see what those advertisers might have to offer you or someone you know. It’s up to them to convert you to a satisfied customer, but they won’t be able to do that unless you give them a fair shot.

And if you’re interested in joining the lineup, let us know. We’d love to welcome you aboard.