Category Archives: Photos

Photo of the Sounds & Sights Now: 16 June 2011

On Thursday evenings during the summer, downtown Chelsea gets a little more lively thanks to Sounds & Sights on Thursday Nights.  What’s that, you ask as you don’t click on that link?  (Hey, it worked last time.)  That’s a weekly festival that brings a variety of live music, entertainers and art to the streets of Chelsea.

Thursday the 16th marked the first Sounds & Sights of 2011.

The library has started to bring in comedians to perform on its front lawn.

Comedians like to smile.

As usual, there were lots of musical sounds, like those from Bill Bynum.

Dave Boutette and John Latini were there, too.  This is John:

And this is Dave:

For the kids, there were various balloon creations.  Take note of the hat on the right side of the photo:

Is that hat amazing?  Yes.  Yes it is.

Photo of the Alumni Field Softball Now: 14 June 2011

After winning its first-ever regional championship, Milan softball advanced to the state quarterfinal to face Grand Rapids South Christian.  Chelsea was still the host school, but the game was played at a site more suitable to the special occasion: the University of Michigan’s Alumni Field.

As you might expect, the players were looking forward to playing in a facility like that.  However, their excitement may have been exceeded by that of their coach, who played softball for Michigan and who was thrilled about being able to come back as a coach.

Early in the game there was a rough play at home plate.  A Milan baserunner approached home with a full head of steam and collided with the catcher, who was standing at home looking for the ball.

The ball arrived late, and the catcher reached over the runner as she touched home plate.

The catcher then collapsed in great pain.

Because of the way the runner had collided into the catcher’s knee, we in the dugout thought she’d injured her knee.  But after watching her interaction with the trainer, and after looking through the photos, we realized she’d hurt her left shoulder as she’d reached over the runner.

Fortunately, the injury was mild enough to allow her to remain in the game.

It was a beautiful day for a softball game.

Milan was expected to be considerably stronger than Grand Rapids South Christian, and that became reality when the Big Reds scored five runs in each of the first two innings to build a 10-0 lead.

That huge lead prompted a loose, cheerful mood in the Milan dugout.

When the mercy rule-shortened game ended, the Big Reds were ready to celebrate their first-ever trip to Battle Creek.

Photo of the (Milan) Softball Now: 11 June 2011

Milan worked its way past Pennfield and Riverview to claim the regional championship.

This Big Red had two home runs on the day:

She received a warm greeting at home after her second home run:

This Big Red caught a barely foul fly ball for the final out of the championship game, clinching Milan softball’s first-ever regional championship:

Her teammates were pleased:

Michigan high school playoffs involve a lot of trophies:

When a softball team wins a state championship, they actually end up with three trophies: district, regional and state championship trophies.

Coaches tend to be happy about receiving trophies:

So do players:

The Big Reds make a point of singing the school’s fight song to the crowd after each win.

Before leaving the field, the Big Reds gathered around to put a finger on a heart-shaped rock they found on their home field earlier in the season:

Photo of the Playoff Soccer Now: 10 June 2011

Dexter soccer faced Livonia Ladywood.

Dexter was down 1-0 with only a few minutes to play…

…which caused anxiety among the Dexter players.  But with a minute to play…

Ladywood scored a second goal to effectively seal its win.

Unless I happen to be covering the state champions, the end of each sports season becomes the Sad Pictures of Sad Athletes Season.  Dexter’s loss gave me more sad pictures.

Photo of the Pomp and Circumstancin’ Now: 5 June 2011

Chelsea High School graduated another class of young whippersnappers.  Before I get to the photos, you should go listen to this to get you in the mood.  (No, really.  Do it.  Skip to around 50 seconds if you want.)

Yes, they were playing that song.  Over and over and over and over and over again.  Is it time for another song to be associated with graduations?  Maybe a song longer than five seconds?  Yes.  In fact, that time came right around the moment that song was written.

Anyway.

Graduation is a happy time.

See?!

Because the graduates’ brains are so full of accumulated knowledge that they might not be able to remember the current year, the tassels feature a reminder.  It’s very helpful.

Occasionally, faculty members or administrators have the privilege of giving diplomas to their graduating kids…

…and this year’s ceremony had a particularly notable such moment featuring outgoing athletic director Wayne Welton.

I told you graduation is a happy time.

As one final test, the graduates were asked to test the continued existence of gravity.

Obviously, their tests confirmed gravity’s presence.

Photo of the Library Pergola Now: 4 June 2011

Remember the photos of the tile installation at the library’s new pergola?  It’s all done, and the library held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the pergola.


Ribbon cutting action shots: for professionals only.  Please don’t try this at home.  Unless you’re having a ribbon cutting at your home, in which case…well, go for it, I guess.


If you think it’s strange that they’d install clay tiles on a white plastic table, you’re right: these are the leftover tiles.  They’ll be given homes somewhere around the pergola.