Category Archives: Chelsea

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.)

Photo of the Softball Now: 21 April 2012

On a cold, windy, cloudysunnycloudysunnycloudysunny Saturday, Chelsea hosted a full day of softball. The day concluded with a game against Manchester, Chelsea’s neighbor to the south.

It’s always nice to see former CHS athletes coming back to cheer on the Bulldogs. One such athlete showed up to cheer on her former teammates on Saturday.

Remember how I said it was a cloudysunnycloudysunnycloudysunny day? Those days are a nuisance for photography because the light is changing significantly and frequently. Take a look at the next two photos from one inning. One is cloudy, the other sunny. The light shifted back and forth like this all day.

The game was close for a while, but Chelsea eventually pulled away for a 15-5 win.

Photo of the Faculty & Friends Show Now: 10 March 2012

Each year the Chelsea School District holds its Faculty and Friends Show to raise money for the Chelsea Music Boosters. The show is always entertaining. Always.

This year’s show started with the Swager boys.

Next was Rob Knopper. Mr Knopper is a CHS graduate who went on to study at Juilliard and is now a member of the MET Orchestra. Here’s an understatement: the man knows what he’s doing.

Next was a performance of “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by three…not-girls. This performance brought the house down.

The one in the middle is a county commissioner. You may remember him from last year, when he showed up dressed as a lion. Do we have some very likable public officials here in Washtenaw County? You bet we do.

Next was a clarinet performance.

The ever-popular North Creek Fiddlers then took the stage.

A performance from the musical Wicked followed.

Next, two of Chelsea’s excellent music teachers played a duet.

Until someone proves otherwise, I will continue to believe that the gentleman on the left, known locally as Jim Otto, is actually noted actor Hector Elizondo.

Next up was John Zainea.

If you’re curious about the music of Mr. Zainea, you can hear him here.

The Chelsea Chamber Players followed.

The Brian Brill Trio next confused the audience by being a trio of four people, bringing to mind Douglas Adams’ famed trilogy of five books.

That’s Mr. Brill on the piano. He’s an accomplished composer.

Concluding the show was The Quill, a group featuring CHS students.

Photo of the Hockey Semifinals Now: 9 March 2012

For the second time in three years, Chelsea hockey arrived at Compuware Arena to play in the state semifinals. This year’s opponent was fancy-pants private school Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, an institution whose yearly tuition for full-day kindergarten is more than I paid for my car. FOR ONE YEAR OF KINDERGARTEN. No, I’m not kidding.

The game was at noon on a Friday, but Chelsea students turned out to support the hockey team.

When the game started, it was easy to see the contrast between Chelsea’s first-ever trip to the semis two years ago and this year. Two years ago the big stage seemed initially intimidating, but this year the team seemed comfortable in the semis. So comfortable, in fact, that the Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead. And the students rejoiced.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs eventually started taking penalties, and those penalties started turning into Liggett goals. That 1-0 lead turned into a deficit before too long.

Since hockey is such a Canadian game, it seems appropriate that a Tim Horton’s ad would be prominent.

Another photographer on duty that day noted that it was difficult to get a good shot of the coach without having it look like a Tim Hortons’ ad.

As time wound down in the third period, Chelsea’s frustration began to boil over. This resulted in an avalanche of penalties.

This also resulted in several ejections.

When the game ended, the coach gathered the team together for a word before the handshake line.

The team saluted the fans before heading off the ice following the 5-1 loss to Liggett.

Take note of the player all alone at the top of that photo. That’s the starting goalie. As a senior, he was preparing to leave the ice for the last time in his high school career. Those can be hard moments to watch and even harder moments to photograph, but the resulting images can be deeply meaningful.

This is how it looked when Chris left the ice for the last time.