Neighborhoods Section

David Menefee serenades shoppers at Sunday's Art in the Barn.

Off of West Huron, just west of the railroad tracks, is a compound of buildings that houses an eclectic mix of businesses. And on one day for each of the past eight years, a building within this compound known as The Yellow Barn transforms into a venue for local artists and holiday shoppers.

On Sunday, 17 artists gathered for this year’s show, many of them regulars from previous years, plus some first-timers. Despite the crappy economy and threat of this season’s first major snowstorm, there were a steady stream of customers when The Chronicle dropped by around noon. [Full Story]

Angeline Hazime saw even the performance artist (?) outside Hatcher Library as a prospective recruit for her Take the Walk campaign.

Outside Hatcher Library, a guy decked out completely in black and dark gray – from his patent leather dress shoes, to his overcoat, to his fedora, to a black knit face covering – stood silently, paging every once in a while through a USA Today newspaper. It was the day after Black Friday, and The Chronicle was beginning an afternoon walk from the UM Diag westward along the Liberty Street corridor.

Outdoor performance was the common thread of the walk. The theme started with that apparent performance art piece, continued to a standard bell-ringing number at a Salvation Army kettle, was punctuated by the “Michael Jackson guy” in the alley adjacent to the Michigan Theater, and finished with news of an appearance next Saturday at Downtown Home & Garden by Santa and Mrs. Claus. [Full Story]

A mailbox for letters to Santa, on South Ashley Street in front of Red Shoes.

The Chronicle has been known to send a letter or two to Santa, back in the day. But our recollection is that they were whisked up the chimney or something – actually, that memory is pretty fuzzy.

Ann Arbor kids have a more direct alternative: A mailbox on South Ashley specifically for letters to Santa.

The mailbox is red, naturally, with Christmasy images painted on all sides. A note near the letter slot makes its purpose clear: “North Pole Only!”

According to Maura Thomson … [Full Story]

Look for these signs to guide you to the Chapel Hill clubhouse, off of Green Road.

This year, Judy White organized her first holiday craft show, held today and Friday at the Chapel Hill Clubhouse on Ann Arbor’s northeast side. Here’s a quick Chronicle guide to how she pulled it off – we’d also encourage you drop by and check out the final result, where 15 local crafters will be selling wooden bird houses, jewelry, aprons, photographs, scarves, ornaments and other handmade items.

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Supporters of marriage equality line the plaza in front of the post office on East Liberty. The group later marched through downtown, then headed over to the Diag for a rally.

The chanting was faint but audible from about two blocks away, growing louder on approach to the post office plaza at Fifth and Liberty: “Love, don’t hate! Don’t discriminate!” Drivers honked as their cars passed the crowd of about 250 people who came out on a miserably wet and cold Saturday afternoon to support marriage equality.

Many held umbrellas, rainbow-striped flags and handmade signs, including one that read “The weather sucks, but so does inequality.” [Full Story]

Downtown Ann Arbor outside the Ann Arbor Art Center.

The juried exhibition “Displaced Spirit” ended Nov. 11 at the Ann Arbor Art Center, but the following day, a small selection of pieces from the show lingered briefly for a few minutes outside the center on Liberty Street. As Cathy Jacobs loaded up a van for transport of her work back home, The Chronicle happened by and had a chance to view her contributions to the show.

The exhibit was meant to celebrate the creative spirit that survives war and genocide. Works for the show were selected from 14 Michigan-based artists who endured forced displacement from their home countries whether directly through their own experience or that of their parents or grandparents. [Full Story]

Banner from the Obama campaign hung in the Downtown Home & Garden courtyard Thursday night.

By Thursday night, the imperative “Make History” on the Obama campaign banner could have well been changed to the past tense “Made.” But along with a second banner reading “Hope,” it made a nice backdrop for a party pitched for the folks who worked on the Obama campaign at the First and Liberty headquarters.

The post-election celebration was held just down the block from Obama headquarters in the courtyard area of Downtown Home & Garden, which owner Mark Hodesh had made available.

One take-away from the event for The Chronicle … [Full Story]

The petting zoo on Kingsley goes for a walk. Photo by Ari Sussman

Ted Kennedy bought his house on East Kingsley in May, and is interested in how people react to the stuff he puts in his yard. He’s hung empty picture frames from trees – you know, that kind of thing (more on that later). On Wednesday, he did a performance art piece that involved a petting zoo, which looked a lot like … just a petting zoo.

Now, if you’re driving or walking through downtown Ann Arbor’s residential streets, you might not expect to encounter, say, a Clydesdale – especially not in someone’s front yard, with an alpaca, two goats, a duck, chicken and Shetland pony named Bronco. You’d probably stop to look. You might think, “Huh?” Or you might take some photos and send them to The Chronicle, which is what Ari Sussman did.

People were pretty confused by it, Kennedy says. Which was sort of the point. Plus, it was fun. [Full Story]

Peg Kohring of The Conservation Fund talks to members of the Ann Arbor Greenbelt Advisory Commission on Wednesday, as commissioners Gil Omenn and Peter Allen (far right) look on.

The Greenbelt Advisory Commission met Wednesday, spending about 45 minutes in their public meeting before going into a closed session to discuss land preservation proposals.

Field trip: The first major item on the agenda was a presentation by Peg Kohring, Midwest director of The Conservation Fund, which manages the city’s greenbelt program. She gave a brief talk about the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy, describing it as a think-and-do tank focused on local land use and food systems. Kohring said that she, city staffer Ginny Trocchio and Susan Lackey of the Washtenaw Land Trust made a trip to northeast Ohio to take an up-close look at this organization, and glean ideas that might be applicable to the Ann Arbor area. [Full Story]

Alert from someone in line who observed Stephen Postema inside on Election Day as I was standing outside Slauson Middle School.

City attorney Stephen Postema visited around 25 different polling places on Election Day in his capacity as election commissioner. First off, I’d like to thank Stephen for allowing me to tag along with him all day as he checked in on various polling places. One point we had addressed the previous day when discussing logistics was what kind of access I’d be afforded at the various precincts: I would at all times avail myself of exactly the privileges afforded the general public. Every polling place has a public viewing area.

From those public viewing spots there’d be no talking to people waiting in line, no photography, nothing to disrupt the ritual of democracy. (I don’t think lending my pen to Dave Boutette, who asked me for it to fill out his voter application, broke the spirit of the rules.)

Postema and I had agreed to meet at Slauson Middle School to start the day. I wasn’t sure where exactly he’d meant, and figured it would not be smart to just barge into the polls asking, “Anybody seen Stephen Postema?” At 6:58 a.m., two minutes before the polls opened, I received a text message clarifying the situation: “Postema is in here conducting the masses.” [Full Story]

Unofficial results from the Washtenaw County website indicate a victory for Easthope. Easthope, 21,099; Gutenberg 18,825; Write-in, 480. Miss Saigon was not officially registered as a write-in candidate, so any votes cast for her will not be tallied.

At various polling places around the city of Ann Arbor, the colorful campaign signs for candidates stuck into the ground provided a nice complement to the spectacular fall foliage still stuck to the trees. But it wasn’t signs that impressed The Chronicle most – it was the live human beings offering literature in the 15th District Court judicial race. Many of them were family.

We met Eric Gutenberg’s parents, Erwin and Barbara, at Bach Elementary. At Thurston Elementary we met Christopher Easthope’s mother, Mary. And at Tappan Middle School we chatted with his sister, Tracey Easthope, and his nephew, Luke Desprez. And we met plenty of other Gutenberg or Easthope supporters at other polling places as well. [Full Story]

To capture the experience of Ann Arbor voters today, The Chronicle is tagging along with city attorney Stephen Postema as he drops by polling places around the city, filling his role as one of three election commissioners. The Chronicle won’t be given special access to areas reserved for election inspectors, but we will be covering a lot of territory. Check back for periodic updates throughout the day – with the most recent posts at the top of this article – and add your own observations in the comments section.

9:30 p.m. Still at Slauson, where results from Ward 5, Precinct 4 have now come in. The 15th District Court judicial race remains tight: Easthope 623, Gutenberg 648. For city council, Hohnke drew 1,259 … [Full Story]

"You'll need a partner for this one." Bob Schoeni and Gretchen Spreitzer demonstrate a stretch during the group warm-up session.

On Sunday, the northeast corner of Burns Park was already teeming with humanity at 1 p.m. That was the start time that Ann Arbor Active Against ALS [A2A3] had scheduled for its kickoff fundraiser: a family field day. David Lowenschuss, one of the organizers, pointed out Bob Schoeni for us among the crowd waiting for the formal start to the festivities on a crispy overcast day. Schoeni had provided the impetus for the formation of the A2A3 nonprofit, when he was diagnosed with ALS in July.

A few minutes later, when Christopher Taylor took the microphone to help get the field day fun started, the gray skies had gone from spitting a few misty drops of rain to a steady sprinkle. It was hard to escape the conclusion that it was really raining. Added to a breezy day that saw temperatures in the low 50s, the rain meant that Taylor’s declaration, “It’s a beautiful day!” easily drew the chuckles it deserved from the crowd. [Full Story]

You’re driving along I-94 and you see a McCain-Palin campaign sign lying in the middle of the road. For the sake of argument, let’s say you pull over and pick it up – because it’s a safety hazard. Or else because you don’t think McCain and Palin are in the middle of the road on the political spectrum and you don’t want people to get the wrong idea. Whatever the reason, let’s say you’ve got a McCain-Palin sign in the trunk of your car. Now what? [Full Story]

Editor’s note: You’ve seen The Chronicle’s photos of Halloween on Main Street in a previous entry. Now forget that and take a look at the event through the eyes of a professional photographer. Myra Klarman, who was the official photographer for this year’s Ann Arbor Summer Festival, has graciously allowed The Chronicle to publish some of her work documenting today’s festivities. Enjoy.

Number 1

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This little airplane was puttering up and down Main Street, diving into stores to fuel up on candy.

If you happened to be in downtown Ann Arbor today, well, chances are you were either giving out candy, wearing a Halloween costume or walking past any of the dozens of trick-or-treaters who were exponentially increasing the Main Street area’s cuteness quotient.

The Chronicle was there too, capturing on camera a few of the spooks and spiders roaming the streets with their parents on a glorious autumn afternoon. We also stopped by Mrs. Lovett’s Meat Pies, usually known as Arcade Barbers, to check out the amazing Sweeney Todd transformation that was previously noted by one of our Stopped.Watched. correspondents. [Full Story]

View of Thurston Pond looking east.

Heading east out of downtown Ann Arbor, by the time Plymouth Road nears the 200-foot-high, 500,000-gallon water tower – painted with blue sky and clouds – west side Ann Arbor residents who stick mostly close to their own neighborhoods could easily forget this is still Ann Arbor. A couple of weeks ago The Chronicle headed up that direction, turning left just before the water tower onto Georgetown Boulevard. We were meeting Neal Foster, a neighbor of Thurston Pond and retired scientist, who had agreed to give us a tour of this 8.5 acre pond, which is a major feature of the Thurston Nature Center. [Full Story]

Anyone want to claim this pickup truck?

Long-time Chronicle readers know that we’re always on the lookout for mobile art. So we were delighted to come across this pickup truck in the wild – or, more accurately, in front of the UM Credit Union on William just east of Fifth.

Unlike our previous encounter with an embellished vehicle, this time we didn’t catch the owner so we know very little about the genesis of this piece – other than, we’d hazard to guess, it’s making some kind of political statement. [Full Story]

On an unseasonably warm October Sunday afternoon at Ann Arbor’s Wheeler Park, supporters of the open carry of handguns gathered for a picnic, to demonstrate “what doesn’t happen” when people wear a handgun openly.
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Councilmembers listened to concerns from citizens related to the 601 S. Forest project, an alley off Fourth Avenue downtown, odd easement conditions put forth by the University of Michigan, the city’s long-term financial health, and ballot language limiting sale of park land. [Full Story]

Bake sale for Obama at Third and Liberty. In background, Carrie Hatcher-Kay, with Elijah and Amelia.

“John McCain says he supports cider in the fall, but …,” joked Benjamin Paloff on his walk back from the Farmers Market, stopping at the Obama bake sale at the corner of First and Liberty. Saturday was Day Two of a projected three-day effort to register voters, sell some cookies and cider – plus some art – and enjoy the beautiful weather, all in support of Barack Obama’s campaign. Actually, as the sign made clear, it was half in support of the campaign: “Full Disclosure 50% for Obama 50% shared amongst the kids”

Two of the kids, Elijah and Amelia, belonged to Carrie Hatcher-Kay, who was providing the on-site adult supervision. She related how explaining to a three-year-old why their family supports Obama had to be reduced to basics.

That means Obama: looks for other energy besides oil; inspires everyone to get involved; loves the air, the trees, the water, and wants to keep them clean. Plus, John McCain has eight houses and he doesn’t like to share. [Full Story]

A wounded scooter, after being hit by a van outside of the Old Town. Not to worry – the owner of the scooter wasn't on the scene when it was hit.

Let’s say you’re out walking and you see a scooter parked on the street get creamed by a van. And then, let’s say the van drives off. What would you do? To be clear, it’s not your scooter. And the scooter’s actually parked illegally. And it’s raining – not cats and dogs … but you’ve got your dog on a leash along for the walk. What would you do?

Or let’s say walking at 8:30 p.m. in downtown Ann Arbor, a young (and in your estimation, scruffy-looking, down-on-their-luck) couple who are seeking shelter from the rain under the Clover Leaf awning asks you, “Do you have a cell phone?” What would you do? [Full Story]

An organizational meeting for the Alliance of Neighborhood Associations was held at the downtown library tonight. We’d been encouraged to attend and file a report by any number of people throughout the community.

On signing in, however, we were told firmly and very politely that this was a meeting for representatives of neighborhood associations only: No. Media. Allowed. We didn’t have the energy to pursue it beyond confirming that we were indeed, as media, being refused entry. That’s why this piece is so short.

Women's winner, Nadia Baadj.

At the Big House Big Heart Run, runners don’t throw their arms over their heads at the finish line. That victory salute typically comes a little more than 100 yards before the finish – right as runners hit the bottom of the tunnel entrance into Michigan Stadium, a.k.a. The Big House. What’s the big thrill? Oh. Come. On. You don’t think that’s a thrill? [Full Story]

Graffiti in the alley next to Michigan Theater.

The alley next to Michigan Theater transformed pretty quickly over the summer from a colorful, artistically-coherent mural to a colorful collage of random graffiti – prompting Mr. Limpet to ask, “Where’s the Art?”

In early July, someone painted a swath of white over part of the mural called “Infinite Possibilities,” which had been created there in 1999. The Ann Arbor News ran an article about the incident, interviewing the artist, Katherine Tombeau Cost, who now lives in New Orleans. She said it had taken her five months to complete, but she wasn’t ticked off by the graffiti: “The thing about public art it is an exercise in letting go. You put it out there and you know it is not forever. I have to remind myself this isn’t my family room. That is the element of public art. It will be great and it will be gone.”

And now it’s really gone. [Full Story]

A customer buys flowers from the Pleasant Lane Farm stand at Thursday's West Side Farmers Market.

A customer lingers indecisively over the collection of honey jars, then picks up the smaller one for $3.

“You’re gonna like it so much you’ll wish you bought the $6 one,” jokes Mike Smith, handing her some change.

Smith is one of about a dozen vendors at Thursday afternoon’s West Side Farmers Market, set up in the parking lot next to Zingerman’s Roadhouse at the corner of Jackson and Maple. They’re selling pumpkins and potatoes, mums in all shades of autumn, eggs, garlic, tomatoes – the harvest is bountiful.

But though it’s hot and feels like summer, it’s the final day of the season for this market. [Full Story]

Candidate cookies at Jefferson Market & Cakery. The Chronicle did not ask why McCain's name is printed and Obama is written in cursive.

Combining politics and buttercream frosting – brilliant!

Jefferson Market & Cakery’s Cookie Vote ’08 pits Obama against McCain in the form of sugar cookies iced with red, white and blue frosting and emblazoned with each candidate’s name. As of Wednesday afternoon, Obama was outselling McCain by 66 to 5. [Full Story]

Just to be clear: You can't park here ... but love and kisses to you anyway.

When I am faced with tough choices about what to invest The Chronicle’s time in covering, sometimes an interesting sign beats an emailed press release.

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