Last Sunday was the first-ever Chelsea History Fest at Timbertown. There were antique cars and craft demonstrators…and vintage base ball! It may come as no surprise to you that I spent most of my time watching base ball.

The first match was an exhibition between the Monitor Base Ball Club of Chelsea and a collection of locals given the name Scrub Nine. This is the Scrub Nine:

The team included representatives from Chelsea schools, the Chelsea library, Vogel’s & Fosters, and the Chelsea Alehouse. None of the players had experience with the vintage game, so Honest Jon game them an overview of the rules.

After the usual intros…

…the game got started.

(That’s Chelsea library director Bill Harmer swinging for the fences. Well, he would have been swinging for the fences had there been fences. Don’t worry: he doesn’t carry a bat in the library.)

The second match was against the Lumber City Base Ball Club of Flint. Here are the two captains having a chat during the exhibition match.

Are vintage base ball uniforms the best? Yes. Yes they are.

There were other cameras out, but unlike the ones at Sounds & Sights, they weren’t pointing at me!

After a break, the intros for the second match started. Uniform + mustache = YES.

They modified the bat toss just slightly for this match:

Then the match started.

As I mentioned at the beginning, there were other events happening, too. Many of the other events were wrapping up by the time I pried myself away from base ball, but there were still a couple demonstrators working.

The above gentleman was weaving the official tartan of the state of Michigan. Did you know there was such a thing? There is!

Another week of Sounds & Sights. This time I felt like I was being watched:

No need to call the police, though. That’s just one of our marvelous librarians getting photos of the happenings on the library lawn.

Hey, guess who was there again? That’s right! Kevin Kramis! Hi Kevin.

Comedian faces:

Seriously though, Kevin is great. I’m always glad to see him here.

Did you notice Kevin’s shirt? I have one of those shirts too. It’s one of my favorite shirts, even though I feel like I should have to give it back because I got it from the library and everything from the library has a due date…right? (I’M NEVER GIVING IT BACK.)

Los Dingos Del Norte was down the street.

They decided to take my picture too. WHAT IS GOING ON.

Also entertaining the crowd was Creole du Nord.

One member of the audience caught my eye.

Stroller Dog: just chillin’.

Liquid Plasma was at the Sylvan building.

The Anthony Lai Band was by the clocktower.

Do you know what’s across the street from the clocktower? Why, only another iconic Chelsea structure:

The Jiffy silos: always deliciously standing watch over Chelsea.

Under the clocktower gazebo was the Michigan Academy of Dance and Music.

Finally, Mitchell Curley was in the East Alley.

Sounds & Sights will continue this Thursday from 6:30pm-8:30pm in downtown Chelsea.

Look! It’s more Sounds & Sights! Once again, let’s start at the library with Kevin Kramis.

I enjoy seeing the expressions comedians make while they’re working.

I’m sorry, Kevin. I couldn’t resist.

Elsewhere, The North Creek Fiddlers were hanging out by the courthouse.

This member of the audience was especially enthusiastic.

Others were enjoying the music more sedately.

And others were taking pictures.

(What, were you expecting a picture of me? Dream on.)

Up on East Middle was the Dorkestra.

When I arrived, they had a volunteer helping with percussion.

Kari Holmes was in the alley on Main.

She was singing…

…and singing…

…and then she saw my camera…

…and she was singing and smiling for the camera! #multitasking

Back at the library, Mike Green was making the crowd laugh.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I enjoy comedians’ expressions.

Sounds & Sights will continue in downtown Chelsea this Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30.

On Sunday the Monitor Base Ball Club of Chelsea, our local old-school (okay, okay, vintage) base ball team, played the Union Base Ball Club of Dexter.

The flag was historically accurate:

(And I think we can all agree those hats are marvelous. I like the hats so much.)

If you’re wondering if these sideburns are real…

…it has been confirmed that they are indeed gloriously real. That’s what I call dedication to the team.

Spectator — or “crank” — break:

Okay, back to the action.

Honest Jon was involved in a close play at third:

The throw was low and a bit late, though, so he was safe.

What is it about Honest Jon and close plays? He was involved in one at second, too.

This was one a much tougher call, but they decided he was safe. (In the vintage game, the umpire makes only fair/foul calls. Safe/out calls are made by the players.)

It was a tight match for a while, but eventually the club from Chelsea pulled away and won 21-9.

At the end of the match, the Monitor Base Ball Club gave hearty huzzahs to everyone.

If you’d like to check out one of the club’s matches — and I hope you would, because vintage base ball is a fun game to watch! — there’s a home match coming up at Timbertown on June 23. The full schedule is here.

On Sunday the Chelsea Area Fire Authority held its annual open house. It’s always a lot of fun for kids.

There was a talking ambulance that was pretty hilarious.

Kids got to try out the hose, too.

And you know what really made me jealous? They got to chop up a car!

After the homecoming parade and before the football game, CHS students took to the high school parking lot to make a mess. But not just a mess — an OFFICIALLY-SANCTIONED mess! Don’t worry, it’s a good thing. If you’re familiar with the idea of a color run, the students essentially had a color run without the run. If you’re not familiar with it…CLICK THE DOGGONE LINK ALREADY, Lazy Jones.

Despite the less than ideal weather — cold and rainy, like a postcard from Seattle! — the students had fun. Or you might say they had a…blast. #horatiocaine

I wasn’t the only one taking pictures:

When the color was well-distributed, the students headed over to the football stadium.

One final note: I tried to stay out of the action, but apparently I didn’t try hard enough.