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Photo of the Pomp and CircumSTOP PLAYING THAT SONG Now: 3 June 2012

Chelsea High School held its graduation on Sunday. Do you know what that means? YES YOU DO. That means an entire gym full of people had to suffer through the seemingly endless repetition of that infernal little slice of Pomp and Circumstance. Here, this photo might help you get the song in your head so you can properly enjoy this post.

You know who the real victims are in this tragedy? The poor high school musicians who have to PLAY that little nugget of music over and over again. Who will stand up for them?

Okay. Now that I’ve gotten my legally-required traditional graduation music complaint out of the way, let’s check out the rest of the graduation ceremony.

Some graduates put a great deal of effort into their caps.

Others take a simpler approach.

He wrote “Be The Change,” but when I look at it there’s a 50% chance I’m going to read it as “Bet He Change.” I’m sorry, man. It’s not your fault.

The impending retirement of superintendent David Killips has led to a substantial change in the high school’s administration. Julie Deppner is moving to another position in the district, making this her last graduation as CHS principal.

Both student speakers were entertaining.

The vocalist was senior Lottie Prenevost, someone who has made several prior appearances on this blog.

Deppner appreciated the performance.

Before Deppner read the high school phone book, Killips gave his last graduation speech as superintendent of Chelsea schools.

Hey, if you think about it, graduation is an act of diplomacy. (If you laughed at that, we can be friends.)

Some of the more memorable moments of graduation occur when faculty or school board members have the opportunity to give their own children their diplomas.

Other memorable moments occur when a graduate’s tassel achieves sentience and goes on the offensive.

As usual, at the end of the ceremony the graduates tested gravity.

I’d say gravity passed with flying colors, but gravity is all about keeping stuff down, so…gravity passed with walking colors.

Also as usual, after the ceremony the CHS commons was packed with graduates and their families.

Photo of the Vintage Base Ball Now: 2 June 2012

On Saturday, Dexter’s Union Base Ball Club welcomed the Royal Oak Wahoos to Dexter for Union’s first home match. No, not its first home match of the season. Its first EVER. I traveled over to Dexter’s historic Gordon Hall to get a few photos of the notable occasion.

The Union captain addressed the spectators — called “cranks” — before the game.

Under the 1860s rules these vintage clubs follow, the home team is determined not by geography but by a bat toss. Whoever gets his hand on the top of the bat gets the choice.

With all the preliminaries out of the way, the game got underway. Since the game took place on the front lawn of Gordon Hall, the field had a beautiful backdrop.

After each inning, the umpire wrote the inning’s tally on the scoreboard.

The field at Gordon Hall has many, many quirks, one of which is a small drainage pond off the first base line. Naturally, in the middle of the game a foul ball plunged into the pond.

Play resumed with another ball, and eventually a clever crank managed to fish the ball out of the pond.

Here’s a good look at the cranks’ view.

When a player scored a run, he walked over to the tallykeeper and rang a bell.

After the game, the captains again addressed the cranks.

The Wahoos offered three cheers to Union…

…and Union offered three cheers to the Wahoos.

The teams then gathered around the scoreboard to commemorate Union’s first home match.

Finally, we took a few team photos in front of Gordon Hall.

With Union now up and running, both Chelsea and Dexter have vintage base ball clubs. The games are fun to watch; if you can, I’d encourage you to get out to a game this summer! It’s a great way to spend an afternoon.

Geek the Library, vol. 1: Yes, I know the Muffin Man

Over the next few…uh…months, I’ll be posting some of the photos I’ve been taking for the Geek the Library campaign here in Chelsea. First up: Howdy Holmes, the man in charge of Chelsea Milling Company, the manufacturer of the famous Jiffy Mix baking mixes.

FUN FACT: both the muffin and the facial expression were Howdy’s idea. Those of you who know Howdy likely aren’t surprised by that.

I geek, you geek, we all geek…

For the past few weeks, I’ve been working on a project with the fabulous Chelsea District Library.* If you follow me on twitter or stalk me on Facebook, you might have seen the photo I posted last week:

Once you’ve gotten over the shock of seeing me in a photograph — !!!!! — you might notice the text on the photo. The Chelsea Library is participating in the Geek the Library campaign, and they’ve asked me to shoot a whole bunchity-bunch of portraits of local residents who have elected to share what they geek. (I didn’t take the above photo, but it was taken by my camera. Anna helped.) The photos will be displayed online and elsewhere to encourage all y’all to show your support of the library.

I’m posting this photo now because while a few of the photos have been revealed, the official launch of the campaign is PRETTY MUCH RIGHT NOW. By which I mean from noon through 2pm on Monday, June 4, 2012. You can drop by the library to see what it’s all about, to check out some of the photos we’ve done so far, to pick up some Geek stuff — What do you kids call it today? Swag? — and even to sign up to have your photo taken so you can be a part of the Geek campaign. (We’ll be having regular photo sessions at the library.) Are you going to show up? OF COURSE YOU ARE. Don’t be silly. All the cool kids are going to be there.

*(Well, to me it’s still the McKune Library, but you might not understand that if you’re not a longtime Chelsea resident. Longtimers REPRESENT! Yes, we can stop by the old high school on the way to the Methodist Home. If you’re lucky we’ll even have dinner at Schumm’s.)