March 7, 2011 by Amy Elliott Bragg

Links for Monday, 3-7-11

PSA: Nothing is better for a hurting heart in winter than 20 minutes at the Conservatory.

It’s been a rough run, and at a time when I would like nothing better than to escape into the rabbit hole of old books, snowy cemeteries, and pre-industrial heroes of early Detroit with you, my time is at the mercy of many other hands.

We’ll try to get back on track this week. Meanwhile, some things you might want to know about:

Atlas Obscura’s Obscura Day is Saturday, April 9, and here in Detroit, your master of festivities is Arthur of Tour de Hood. He’ll be leading a bicycle adventure that includes detours through Indian Village, the Heidelberg Project, St. Anne’s, the former Michigan Theater, the Dequindre Cut & more, time permitting. Yours truly plans to be there, but it’s also the Saturday before yours truly’s wedding, so we’ll see how that shakes out. I do love bikes, and tours, though, and I hope for more of both of them this spring & summer.

Efforts are underway in Hamtramck to put one of the country’s five surviving Negro League ball fields on the National Register of Historic Places. Yes!

Speaking of Hamtramck, today is Pulaski Day. Tomorrow is Paczki Day. That’s a lot of Polish goodness packed into one week. Who wants to drink tatankas with me? Preferably in the streets.

Friends of the Night Train SingleBarrel Detroit are seeking a Kickstart for an ambitious new project that involves making 4 films for one prominent, to-be-disclosed, we-probably-all-know-who-it-is-though lcoal band. If you’re grouchy about the possible loss of the film incentives, this is a feel-better way to support grassroots local filmmaking.

Also on the topic of what a bummer it is to live in a cash-strapped state, please consider contacting your representative to speak up for Michigan’s Historic Preservation and Brownfield Redevelopment tax credits. This should be a serious no-brainer for anyone who cares about Detroit’s history and its present/future recovery and growth. I know Detroit’s empty buildings are super-cool but they’re really much better for everyone when they’re restored and occupied. John Gallagher for the Free Press gets into more detail here.

The Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue is last surviving congregationally-owned synagogue building still operating as a synagogue in the city of Detroit, if I have all of the qualifiers correct. And it celebrates 90 years with an afternoon lunch celebrating Detroit’s Jewish history on 3/27. Golden-throated Noah Ovshinsky of WDET fame hosts. Maybe check it out?

What else? How was Blowout? I was sick in bed for most of it. Detroit Works? It snowed more?

This week: Belle Isle, excruciatingly dweeby history/wedding projects, and maybe it will warm up enough for a field trip.