Ten Fun Facts For Michigan's 180th Birthday

Anybody have 180 candles handy? Michigan became the 26th state of the union on this day, January 26th, in 1837. To celebrate here's ten facts about the Mitten State.

• You can stand anywhere in Michigan and never be more than 85 miles from one of the Great Lakes.
• At 6 quadrillion gallons, Michigan's Great Lakes account for one-fifth of the freshwater surface on the entire planet.
• Because Michigan has so much fresh water it is destination for fishermen and watercraft enthusiasts from around the world and ranks first in state boat registrations in the country.
• Michigan has the longest freshwater shoreline in the world. 
• The only state that has more shoreline than Michigan is Alaska.
• The Blue Water Area, from Algonac and Harsens Island to the south to the tip of the Thumb in Port Austin in the north is over 140 miles of shoreline.

Fort Gratiot Light Station
photo by Dale Merrill

• Michigan has 116 lighthouses and navigational lights.  
• The Fort Gratiot Lighthouse in Port Huron is the oldest light still in active service on the Great Lakes. 

 

• Michigan's motto is the Latin phrase "Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice." It means "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you."  
• The word Latin "Tuebor," in the shield means "I will defend" which refers to Michigan's frontier position and spirit. 
• The shield itself held by two animals of noble prominence: the elk on the left and the moose on the right.  

Happy Birthday Michigan!

Tell The Best Legend and Be Declared the Laureate

Do you have a way with words? Are you keen on making a twist of phrase or making a simple story sound much more lyrical? If so, have you ever wondered what it would be like to be declared the poet laureate of a city?

With a new year underway, St. Clair is looking for someone to bestow such an honor upon. On Wednesday, January 25th, men and women will take the floor at LaCroix's Riverside Pub and compete for the title at the 2017 Bootlegger Balladeer & Poet Laureate Contest. Both poets and songwriters will compete on who can write the best song or poem for this year's legend, The Mystery of the Cadillac Bear, from Chuck Homberg’s book ST. CLAIR, MICHIGAN.

Both the winner of the poetry and songwriting contests will be invited to the St. Clair City Council meeting on February 20th where the mayor will proclaim them with their title of St. Clair's Poet Laureate and Bootleg Balladeer.

The contest is open to all amateur and professional songwriters and registration for the event up to the day of the event. Read the legend and find the contest rules and entry form here.

TBT: Port Austin "The Beach" Postcard

 

 A fun day of splashing at "The Beach" in Port Austin during the 1940s.
Photo courtesy of The UpNorth Memories.

Holiday Fun For The Family

The hustle and bustle of the season is a upon us. Decorating, shopping and baking are just a few things on many peoples vast lists of things they have to get done in the next few weeks. Sometimes though, a person just needs to take a break from all that, take in a show with the family and immerse the mind in something being presented on a stage. Be it music or a play, the Blue Water Area has many options of the sort happening in December.

Back before television was in every home the family would gather around the radio and let the "theater of the mind" make the scene of the sounds crackling over the speakers. Of course a telling of the Charles Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol" was standard then as it is now.

The Port Austin Community Playhouse will bring to life as a live 1940s radio broadcast on stage. Complete with vintage commercials and the magic of live sound effects and musical underscoring, a handful of actors will bring dozens of characters to the stage of the familiar and beloved story of Ebenezer Scrooge for two weekends, December 2nd through the 4th and the 9th through the 11th. For tickets and more info call the Port Austin Community Playhouse at 989-738-5217.

The Riverbank Theater in Marine City will also being doing a musical take on the curmudgeon Scrooge too.

Running three weekends over the month of December, this production based on the Dickens play features music by Alan Menken, who's musical scores include the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast and lyrics by Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Lynn Ahrens. Tickets are available here.

If you are in Marine City on December 3rd, enjoy a Merry Time Christmas. There will be music in the streets, carolers caroling and brass horns serenading plus a whole lot more!

After taking more than a year to prepare for their first production in 1990, The Nutcracker Ballet Theatre Company has been presenting The Nutcracker Ballet in Port Huron every December since.

Consisting of dancers and performers from all over the Blue Water area and beyond, along professional student couple to dance the Grand pas de Deux, this local production of the story of Clara, her favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, an evil Mouse King, a magical kingdom populated by dolls and sugar plum fairy, this famous ballet has delighted families at Port Huron's McMorran Place for nearly three decades.

Showtimes for the Nutcracker this year are December 2nd through the 4th. Advanced tickets are available from Ticketmaster or the McMorran box office on the days of the performances.

While The Carpenters are known for over a dozen chart topping hits, they also won over their fans with their Christmas celebrations. 

Based on the music of The Carpenters’ two holiday albums and Christmas variety shows, singer and playwright Lisa Rock and her 6-piece backing band are keep The Carpenters’ holiday traditions alive for two shows at the Lexington Village Theater on Saturday, December 3rd. 

On Thursday, December 8th, enjoy Christmas tunes in Motor City Solid Gold style at Port Huron's McMorran Place.  

Featuring an all-star line-up of vocalists and musicians assembled from the ranks of the Capitols, the Miracles and former members of the Temptations and backed by a 12-piece orchestra of live strings and brass, A Motown Christmas Spectacular with The Motortown All-Stars celebrate the music and the magic of Motown in Holiday style.

To find out more about these happenings and many more things going on around the Blue Water Area for the month of December, check out our events page.

Diggin' The Bones at the Port Huron Museum

Over the next month or so kids will be on break from school. It wont be uncommon to claim that they are bored. Many parents will be thinking of things for their children to do that is fun but also educational to break that boredom. For the youngsters (and the oldsters too) that are into dinosaurs, Port Huron Museum's Paleomania exhibit has just the thing for an interesting outing.

Entering the main floor gallery of the Carnegie #Museum in #PortHuron. Join us here throughout this week to check out some of the things on display at their #Paleomania exhibit running now through the end of February. #fossils #discovertheblue #dinosaurs

A photo posted by Discover The Blue (@discoverthebluewaterarea) on Oct 17, 2016 at 5:24am PDT

From its celebrated showings at the World Trade Centers in Boston, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, the Dinosaur Discovery Center at Colorado National Monument and the Natural History Museum of El Paso, Paleomania will be on display at the museum's Carnegie Center through Feburary 5th.

One of largest (and last known) species of #trilobites, Phacops Africanus, can be seen at the #Paleomania exhibition at #PortHuron's Carnegie Center museum through Feburary. #discovertheblue

A photo posted by Discover The Blue (@discoverthebluewaterarea) on Oct 17, 2016 at 9:33am PDT

Starting with some of the first known and discovered living organisms, the exhibit is real life time as to how living beings have evolved through the early years of the planet.

Primitive #reptiles of the #amphibian sort. One of the many fossils you can see at the #PortHuron museum's #Paleomania exhibit.

A photo posted by Discover The Blue (@discoverthebluewaterarea) on Oct 17, 2016 at 1:31pm PDT

An early ancestor of the modern day #alligator, the #eryops is thought to be the earliest of true amphibian. This artifact, along with many others, is on display at the #PortHuron Museum's #Paleomania exhibit through February 2017. #discovertheblue

A photo posted by Discover The Blue (@discoverthebluewaterarea) on Oct 18, 2016 at 6:54am PDT

Everything from tiny creatures to big toothed cats will be seen.

Ever leave for work and forget to feed the cat? They get pretty mad about. Just be lucky he isn't a #sabretoothtiger like this one on display at #PortHuron Museum's #Paleomania exhibit. #discovertheblue

A photo posted by Discover The Blue (@discoverthebluewaterarea) on Oct 21, 2016 at 9:15am PDT

Along with a raptor soaring in and looking for prey.

Don't ask it to bust a rhyme. It's a #raptor not a rapper. On display now a #PortHuron museum's #paleomania exhibit. #dinosaur #discovertheblue

A photo posted by Discover The Blue (@discoverthebluewaterarea) on Oct 20, 2016 at 1:42pm PDT

And what would be an exhibit that has dinosaurs without a Tyrannosaurus Rex flashing a big smile?

The #TyrannosaurusRex was one of the largest known predators to have walked the earth. This one greets you with a huge smile as you enter #PortHuron museum's main lobby for the #Paleomania exhibit. #dinosaur #discovertheblue

A photo posted by Discover The Blue (@discoverthebluewaterarea) on Oct 20, 2016 at 11:53am PDT

Along with the displays, the museum will be offering some special Saturday programs as well. The Port Huron Museum's Carnegie Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am-4pm. For more info on the Paleomania exhibit call them at 810-982-0891.