Here Be Photos: Baseball Semifinals (15 June 2012)

Every June, high school baseball and softball teams descend on Battle Creek for the state semifinals and finals. It’s two great days of high school sports, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to shoot at least one team for the past several years. This year I had two teams in the semifinals: Saline and Divine Child. Saline played first.

The Hornets jumped out to an early lead, but it slipped away, and they ended up losing 4-3.

Here Be Photos: Ale have another (19 June 2012)

This fall will see the opening of a new business in Chelsea’s clocktower complex: the Chelsea Alehouse Brewery. It’ll offer beer brewed on-site, as well as a variety of sandwiches, soups, and appetizers. Oh, and live entertainment, too. In other words, it’s going to be pretty fantastic. You’ll want to go to there.

Why am I talking about the Alehouse? Because the folks in charge of the Alehouse asked me to be there to photograph the arrival of their beer tanks from Marks Design and Metalworks. (Marks is in Vancouver, WA, which is most notable for being nowhere near Vancouver, BC. Whose idea was THAT?)

The truck arrived early, but we had to wait for the forklift to arrive.

That’s where the Alehouse will be.

That’s the door through which the tanks entered the building.

Eventually the lift arrived, and the work could begin. And when the trailer was opened, Aubrey might have been a little bit excited about the tanks. Just a tiny bit. A skosh, perhaps.

That’s Chris, the head brewer, taking photos of the tanks. Here’s another look at a happy Chris:

Chris was all smiles.

Okay, EVERYBODY was all smiles.

With the unveiling complete, the unloading could start.

In the background you can see Chelsea’s iconic clocktower. Chelsea folks, if you’re still a little fuzzy on the Alehouse’s location, here’s an easy guide: it’s right next to the Teddy Bear Factory.

The lift made its way carefully toward the door…

…and just like that, the first tank was inside.

The lift set it down…

…and the crew prepared to stand it up.

Once they had the first tank upright, they had more work: there were seven more tanks to be delivered.

I think this is my favorite shot of the whole batch:

This is what it took to get the bright tanks upright:

Here are two of the four bright tanks upright, with the third just being set down:

Oh, hey, look: Marks has a good-looking logo!

After the four bright tanks were in, they brought in the fermentation vessels. These were a bit taller.

It took a bit of mechanical help to get the fermentation vessels upright.

Once the delivery work was complete, Chris took a better look at his new beer tanks.

Again, the Alehouse is planning to be open in the fall, and you’re going to want to be there. YES YOU ARE. Don’t argue. Just be there.

Oh, and one last thing: if you’re really excited about the Alehouse, you can become a founding member! In fact, you probably ought to go do that now while you’re thinking about it. No, don’t wait. Waiting is for squares. Don’t be a square. (If you’re determined to be a shape, be a heptagon. Everyone knows those are the coolest cats.)

Photo of the Playoff Baseball Now: 9 June 2012

After winning its district, Chelsea baseball came back home to play in a regional at its own stadium. First up was Carleton Airport.

Chelsea put up five runs, but Airport managed to narrow it to an uncomfortably slim 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the seventh — the Jets’ last chance — Airport had a man on with two outs. The batter hit the ball hard enough to left field that practically everyone thought it was going to be a walk-off home run…and it almost was. But it fell mere feet short of the fence, and the left fielder caught it for the game’s final out.

In the regional final, Chelsea faced Trenton.

The Bulldogs had a slow start to the game and found themselves down 2-0 after two innings. But they scored six runs in the third and never looked back, eventually winning 12-6. They might have been slightly happy.

The team enjoyed celebrating its regional championship.

The win was even better at home.

After accepting the trophy, the team decided to help first-year head coach Adam Taylor cool off.

It’s hard to see him in there, but trust me: he’s there.

Geek the Library, vol. 6: Think about it

Next up in Chelsea’s Geek the Library photos: Charlie.

Charlie was kind enough to explain why he geeks brains, too. HINT: it’s not because he’s a zombie! (If that were the case, he would geek BRAAAAAAAAAINS.)

Do you live in the Chelsea area? Would you like your own Geek photo? OF COURSE YOU WOULD. Contact the Chelsea Library to schedule your session!

(Click here to see the rest of the Geek photos on the blog.)

Photo of the Sounds and Sights Now: 7 June 2012

Last Thursday marked the return of Chelsea’s popular Sounds and Sights on Thursday Nights events.

I started my evening at the library, where there was comedy happening on the front lawn.

Take a close look at the comedian’s shirt. Since he’s cracking wise on the library lawn, he’s wearing a Geek the Library shirt. If you’ve been paying attention to this blog, you know about the Geek the Library campaign. If you haven’t been paying attention…well, it’s about time you showed up. Anyway, you can get a little info about the local Geek campaign here and see some of the photos here. What’s that? You want your own geek photo? Contact the library to sign up!

The rest of the downtown locations featured a variety of music.

There also were balloons for the kids.

Okay, back to the music.