Celebrate the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Kalamazoo visit

On August 27, 1856 Abraham Lincoln visited Kalamazoo, Michigan. He gave a speech at Bronson Park near downtown Kalamazoo for the presidential campaign of Gen. John C. Fremont. The occasion was Lincoln's only visit to Michigan. Celebrate all weekend long in Kalamazoo. Numerous events will take place (and have been happening during the week) all weekend long culminating with a reenactment of Lincoln's speech and the rededication of the “Lincoln at Kalamazoo” Michigan Historical Marker.

Tomorrow features such highlights as 'Kid's day in the mid-1800s at Bronson Park' and a picnic in the park at Bronson Park. Bring a blanket and food for a fun family time.

For more information check out www.michiganhistorymagazine.com

Also, for more information about Kalamazoo be sure to visit the Kalamazoo Wikipedia page.

Introducing a new Michigan web gem

I don't know if any of you have heard of Squidoo or not. Squidoo is a site that lets you build a web page (for free) that focuses on a singular topic (i.e. Michigan). I have created one about Michigan (of course). It can be found at www.squidoo.com/bestofmichigan/.

I currently have a poll up asking this question - "Have you ever been to Michigan's Upper Peninsula?" It never ceases to amaze me the number of folks who live in Michigan and have never visited Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Head on over and place your vote here.

For Instance - When I was at Western Michigan University I was talking with someone about going up to "the bridge" Labor Day weekend. They looked at me like I came from another planet and asked, "what bridge?" Well, I was talking about the Mackinac Bridge and just assumed that anyone from Michigan would know what I was talking about.

Feel free to rate the Squidoo page. In the upper lefthand corner there are 5 stars and you can give it a vote by clicking on any one of the 5 stars. I'll be updating it and filling it with more information on a weekly (or so) basis.

Click here: www.squidoo.com/bestofmichigan/

Granholm increases her lead over DeVos

Governor Jennifer Granholm has increased her lead over her Republican challenger, Dick DeVos to 7 points at 49% to 42%. The poll was conducted by Detroit News/WXYZ-TV on Monday and Tuesday of this week. 600 "likely voters" (um, does this mean that they are not all registered voters?) were polled. I would like some information on the demographics for this poll. Are these "likely voters" registered voters? Is there only a fraction of them that are registered?

Polls always bother me. Not just political ones, but any kind of poll. They never really give a lot of information on the people giving the opinions.

This leads me to this question. Has anyone out there ever heard this phrase?

Figures can lie and liars can figure.

Also, 80% of all figures are made up. By the way, I just made that up :). Go figure.

Ford Motor Company might go private

In order to lick their wounds and circle the wagons, Ford Motor Company is considering going private according to the Detroit Free Press. Apparently this is one of the many scenarios the Ford Family is looking into as a means of making Ford better. Ford has been having financial difficulties ever since they hitched their pony up to the truck and SUV market while neglecting their sedans and small cars. Gas prices skyrocketed and people decided they wanted to get more than 18 mpg. Unfortunately, Ford had not done anything revolutionary with their line of cars and the public spoke with their wallets.

Ford Motor Company stock is currently trading at $7.88 (up $.12). Check the current price at Yahoo Finance. Five years ago Ford stock was trading around $20 per share. I know my father-in-law (and every other Ford employee who took stock options over the years) has taken a hit over the years with his Ford stock.

'Frozen Stupid' movie filmed in Houghton Lake premiered

From the studio that brought us the film adaptation of Jeff Daniel's hit play 'Escanaba in Da Moonlight' comes a new film "Frozen Stupid." The premise of the film is that an average joe, Tony Norgard (Joey Albright; Escanaba in da Moonlight), plays hooky from work in order to spend the day ice fishing and has nothing but crummy luck all day. The movie was filmed up at Houghton Lake this past winter. They had a local premiere last Friday at the Pines Theatre in Houghton Lake, Michigan. "Frozen Stupid" is supposed to have showings at 7 and 9 pm all this week. You might want to call the theater at 989-366-9226 to make sure.

Watch a trailer for the movie here. It looks entertaining. It is already available on DVD although I am not sure where you can purchase one at.

For more info on the film visit www.brauer.com/productions.html.

Is the Michigan State Fair the nation's oldest?

Did New York hold a state fair before Michigan? The 2006 Michigan State Fair kicks off tomorrow and runs through September 4th. In performing some research to give a little background information on the state fair I have come across conflicting reports as to whether or not the Michigan State Fair is the nation's oldest state fair. At this page on the Michigan.gov website it states -

The Michigan State Agricultural Society sponsored Michigan's first state fair in Detroit, September 25-27, 1849. It was the second state fair in the United States. The first was in New York.

Then, over on this page of the Michigan.gov website it says -

The Nation's Oldest State Fair was officially first held in 1849, only twelve years after Michigan attained statehood.

The New York State Fair website claims that their fair began in 1841, eight years before Michigan's inaugural state fair was held. This would go with the first quoted statement above. I just find it strange that there are conflicting reports on the same website (Michigan.gov).

So the answer would be that the Michigan State Fair should claim the title of "Second Oldest State Fair" unless someone knows anything that contradicts the above information.

On the subject of the Michigan State Fair I should mention something. I have never been to the Michigan State Fair and wanted so see the fairgrounds so I did a search at Google Maps and used the satellite view. That is where this cool overhead picture from the Michigan State Fair fairgrounds came from.

Apparently, this is a park with the lower peninsula as a fish pond (hard to tell from the picture). According to the map of the state fairgrounds this is designated as the "Outdoor Zone Park."

View a satellite image of the Michigan State Fair fairgrounds via Google.

Check out the Michigan State Fair website for all sorts of information and activities.