Chelsea Football vs Lincoln: 4 October 2013

Chelsea’s last home game of 2013 brought Lincoln to town.

With 5:55 left in the second quarter, lightning arrived in the area and brought the game to a halt. Officials opened the old gym so fans could take shelter from the lightning and rain.

The rain passed quickly, but the players had to wait for the lightning to move out of the area before the game could resume.

Much to everyone’s relief, this lightning delay was nowhere near as long as was the one during the Sexton game.

An interception got the Chelsea defense all fired up.

A few Bulldogs have been sidelined by injuries. Just before the second half started, they got my attention because they wanted a picture.

When Lincoln fumbled the ball, I got a fun look at what can happen in the pile before the referees can sort things out. This is how it started:

There’s a Chelsea hand on the ball, but it looks to be firmly in Lincoln’s possession.

This is how it ended up.

Chelsea fans got to cheer a pretty spectacular catch. Follow the ball:

Football is a rough game, and it’s a little bit rougher when your helmet comes off. On one carry, Ty took a hit that dislodged his helmet, and he hit the turf hard.

The score was close the whole game, but Lincoln managed to open up a late 9-point lead, and an interception at the goal line ended Chelsea’s hopes for a comeback.

The seniors took the loss hard.

It wasn’t just the players who had a hard time with the loss.

The Bulldogs are back in action Friday. The game is at 7pm in Tecumseh. Join us there!

Chelsea Fair Parade: 24 August 2013

The Chelsea fair parade was on Saturday, the last day of the fair. For as long as I can remember I’ve sat with my family and watched the parade go by, but this year…well, this year was just a little bit different. Okay, it was a LOT bit different. Because I was named the citizen of the year, I was invited to ride in the parade. How crazy is that?! THAT’S SO CRAZY.

I planned to take two things with me in the parade:
1: Candy, because anyone who grew up in Chelsea knows candy is an important part of this complete parade, and
2: My cameras, because I had one particular photograph in mind — I’ll let you know which one — and because…well, because that’s why I got to be in the parade in the first place.

(I ended up having my nephew Clayton ride with me, and that turned out to be wise because throwing candy in the Chelsea fair parade is a full-time occupation.)

The helpful people at the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce had called me to let me know where I needed to be and when I needed to be there. I wrote down the details:

At the appointed time, we arrived at the designated spot on East Street to find a lovely red Mustang waiting. (Varsity Ford was kind enough to provide a car and a driver — thank you, Varsity!) Here’s the car:

And here’s the sign on the side so people would know why that random guy was smiling and waving in the parade:

I also discovered my friends the Van Hoeks had made a fun sign for me:

As we were waiting for the parade to begin, Howdy Holmes — the man in charge of the company responsible for Jiffy Mixes — stopped by to say hi. When I mentioned that I was just a tiny bit sad not to be watching the parade because it meant I wouldn’t get a box of Jiffy, he walked to the Jiffy truck waiting on the next block and came back with not one but THREE boxes of Jiffy Mixes!

I know it’s easy to buy Jiffy at the grocery store, but I’ve always enjoyed getting the box from the fair parade. Having Howdy hand-deliver three boxes? It doesn’t get any better than that. Thanks, Howdy!

You may have noticed the odd symbols on my shirt. Those are old shorthand symbols from my grandmother’s Munson Shorthand Dictionary. Not too long ago I made a shirt featuring the Munson symbol for Michigan, and because of that, my friend Sara — a fount of awesomeness — said I should make a shirt with the symbols for “citizen of the year” and wear it in the parade. I wasn’t sure if she was joking, but I couldn’t resist that idea. Here I am with Sara and the shirt she suggested:

As 1:00 drew nigh, Clayton and I climbed into the car and waited for the parade to start. This was our view as we waited:

When we started moving, I thought hey, why I don’t I just take a bunch of pictures down the whole route? So I did. What follows is a sampling of those photos (with a more complete set compiled into a gif at the end of the post).

Here we are on Middle Street:

I was happy to discover who was directly in front of us in the parade: none other than the Monitor Base Ball Club of Chelsea! They were accompanied by a club from Northville — they had a match after the parade.

We continued on Middle…

…and approached Main…

…and turned onto Main.

The next photo is the reason I took my camera with me:

Here we are approaching the old post office:

And then the library:

Just past Summit Street:

At the now-vacant Federal Screw Works property:

It’s still a little strange to see that property without a huge factory building on it.

Just past Lincoln Street:

See those folks off in the distance on the left? I know those people. It has been alleged that I am related to those people.

Those two camera-wielding people on the left are my parents. Here’s a better look:

Here’s the rest of the rowdy crew:

We kept driving south:

We passed Pierce Park:

Somewhere in that crowd on the left are my friends Chris and Aubrey from the fabulous Chelsea Alehouse. They’re very friendly.

See?

When we reached Old US 12…

…we turned right and headed past the Wolverine toward the fairgrounds.

We turned left onto Old Manchester Road and stopped in front of the fairgrounds, and that was the conclusion of my first ride in the Chelsea fair parade.

As promised, here’s an animation of the series of photos I took down the parade route:

I thoroughly enjoyed my ride in the parade. Many thanks to all who had a hand in giving me that opportunity!

Monitor BBC: 28 September 2013

The Monitor Base Ball Club of Chelsea concluded its 2013 campaign with an exhibition against a team assembled by the Chelsea Alehouse.

The match drew a good crowd of cranks. This crank made lots of new friends:

His name is Hank. When the match concluded he wandered near the field and got comfortable:

That’s it for vintage base ball in 2013, but Hank hopes to see you at next year’s Monitor matches! (The team would enjoy seeing you there, too.)

Chelsea Football vs Adrian: 27 September 2013

Friday was Chelsea’s homecoming football game against Adrian. I ended up with too many pictures for one post, so today is just football pictures. The next post will feature photos of the fun around the football game.

Hey, look who showed up for homecoming:

That’s former Bulldog standout Nick Hill, now playing football at Michigan State. (Just to be clear: Nick is on the right. Also, he’s not the Arena Football League quarterback.)

Sometimes people pose for me:

The above catch on Chelsea’s first drive was good. The following sequence on the same drive was even better.

See if you can spot the 15-yard penalty in this next sequence:

Did you see it? The referees didn’t.

Chelsea blocked an Adrian field goal attempt in the first half. The block sent the kick sailing off to the side just past the line of scrimmage, where this gentleman grabbed it out of the air and took off running:

He made it deep into Adrian territory before they tackled him.

There was a video crew filming the game, and they brought with them a small remote controlled helicopter that carried a camera. It wasn’t supposed to venture over the field, but at one point it did end up over the action. Here it is hanging out above the players between plays:

This gentleman would like you to know that the Bulldogs have taken possession:

These gentlemen are pleased that the referee agrees with their ruling on the play:

After the above Chelsea touchdown happened, the Bulldogs were trailing 27-21. But then the defense forced a three and out with a set of nice plays:

And when, on fourth down, the Adrian punter couldn’t handle a bad snap, Chelsea recovered and took over in great field position.

The next play was…well, here, take a look:

The extra point gave Chelsea a 28-27 lead.

Late in the fourth quarter, Adrian drove down the field, even converting a fourth down in Chelsea territory. But when another fourth down presented itself, the Maples decided to try a field goal. The good news for Adrian: unlike the previous attempt, the field goal wasn’t blocked. The bad news for Adrian: the kick sailed wide left.

The Chelsea defense was maybe a little bit excited.

Chelsea was able to gain a first down and run out the clock.

Nick Hill was pleased to see a Chelsea victory.

The Bulldogs were pleased to have won.

Is winning exciting?

WINNING IS EXCITING.

As I was leaving the field, a very different scene caught my eye.

There are always players on the opposite side of jubilation. It was fun to finally see the Bulldogs on the pleasant side of things this year.

Chelsea next faces Lincoln. The game will be in Chelsea on Friday at 7pm. This will be the final home game of this season — be there!

Chelsea Fair Tractor Pull: 23 August 2013

With the demolition derbies done, the Chelsea Fair moved on to the Friday night tractor pull. The name tells you most of what you need to know: different classes of tractors pull a huge sled, and the longest pull in each class wins.

The next tractor is Canadian. It runs on maple syrup and its engine sounds like Don Cherry yelling “NOW YOU KIDS OUT THERE.”*

*(This sentence may or may not be completely false.)

Chelsea Football vs Ypsilanti: 20 September 2013

Chelsea football traveled to Ypsilanti to take on the ~~Braves~~ ~~Phoenix~~ Grizzlies. This is the first year for Ypsilanti Community High School — formed as a result of the merger of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run districts — but the school is at the old Ypsi facility, so the football stadium is the same old stadium. Of course, that means it’s the same marvelously old-school scoreboard that has been in use for…well, for a long, long time. Here, take a look:

I hope that scoreboard stands for another 50 years. That thing has character!

Ypsi is one of the few Ann Arbor-area high schools with a real grass football field. That meant Chelsea had to bring this:

As you may have seen in the first sentence, Ypsi has had a few different mascots in recent years: after being the Braves for many years, they switched to the Phoenix only a few years before merging with Willow Run and becoming the Grizzlies. However, the water tower overlooking the stadium prefers to stick with the longtime Ypsilanti High School terminology:

Chelsea dug a bit of a hole in the first half, but this touchdown narrowed the gap:

If you weren’t sure if it really was a touchdown, this may help:

The game started dry, but at some point in the first half it started raining, and that rain persisted the rest of the evening.

Another Chelsea touchdown narrowed the gap even more:

There were a number of turnovers in this game. Defenses tend to get excited about turnovers:

Chelsea’s punter can beat up your punter:

As I said, there were a number of turnovers. Here’s another fumble Chelsea forced:

Artificial turf has its advantages, but from my perspective as a photographer, grass and mud stains make pictures just a little bit better.

Chelsea next faces the Adrian Maples. The game is in Chelsea on Friday at 7pm. There are only two home games left this year — be there!

Chelsea Fair MMMAAAAAAAHHHHHH: 23 August 2013

The Chelsea fair features sheep shearing demonstrations throughout the week. By that I don’t mean there are people protesting sheep shearing — though that would probably also be fun, with signs like “SHEEP SHEARING IS BAAAAAAAD” and “FORCED HAIRCUTS: SHEAR LUNACY” and “WOOL! HUH! YEAH! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! SAY IT AGAIN Y’ALL” — but that there’s a sheep shearer who shows fairgoers how the whole thing works.

Through the process, the sheep pretty much just hangs out and lets it happen, with the occasional “MMAAAAAHHHHH” thrown in (roughly translated from sheep to English: “Hurry UP man, the Tigers game is about to start!”). Here’s the sheep looking svelte and dapper partway through the process:

If sheep could talk, this one would be saying “How YOU doin’?” right now.

Like middle schoolers, sheep have the remarkable ability to look astoundingly bored no matter what’s happening:

When the whole thing was done, here’s what was on the floor:

Chelsea Fair Lumberjack Show: 23 August 2013

The Chelsea Fair offers lumberjack shows throughout the week. I have yet to see a full show, but on Friday I arrived in time to catch part of one.

This chainsaw was craaaaaazy loud:

This chainsaw was just regular loud:

He was carving a chair for the crowd between events.

The last event was the boom run. This involved the two lumberjacks running across a set of logs. Here’s how it looked:

Notice the spiked shoes. The logs are held in a line by a rope, but they’re free to spin and bob, and they’re (obviously) wet, so the shoes are important.

For the spectators, part of the fun of this event is that the lumberjacks don’t always make it across the logs.

Sometimes the falls are…a bit more cringeworthy.

Mostly, though, they run across and back in a big hurry without incident.

Chelsea Football vs Saline: 13 September 2013

Saline traveled to Chelsea to take on the Bulldogs. The students had fun customizing their wardrobe before the game.

It was Future Bulldog Night, so the middle school football players watched warmups from the sidelines.

There were also miniature cheerleaders in attendance.

The band joined in the colorful theme.

In keeping with the apparent theme of the season, there was another minor snafu during the entrance:

The Bulldogs next travel to Ypsilanti. The game is on Friday at 7pm.

Chelsea Fair Figure 8 Demolition Derby: 22 August 2013

Thursday night was the figure 8 demolition derby. I’d never been able to see a figure 8 derby, but my schedule finally allowed me to get to this year’s derby to see what it was all about.

As it turns out, the figure 8 derby is substantially different from the regular derby. The point of the regular derby is to be the last car running, and the method of removing other cars from the running is repeatedly smashing into them until they stop running (and hoping your car doesn’t give out because of it). On the other hand, the figure 8 derby is a race. It’s a full-contact race, but it’s primarily a race. The cars drive in a figure 8 pattern around two large tires for 12 laps. The first car to complete 12 laps wins. There were far fewer collisions in the middle of the 8 than I expected; most of the contact occurs around the turns. It’s highly entertaining, but in a different way than the regular derby. It certainly seemed faster paced!

Here’s one of the tires marking one of the turns: