Category Archives: Chelsea

Vintage Base Ball in Chelsea: 26 July 2014

The Monitor Base Ball Club of Chelsea played a home match against the Wahoos of Royal Oak.

As always, the match began with a bat toss to determine which team would bat first.

(That ball was fair just inside the third base line.)

The match was very close the whole way, but the Wahoos held the Monitors scoreless in the ninth to preserve an exciting 12-11 victory.

This is what a postgame huzzah looks like:

You may have noticed “Tallies for Charity” at the bottom of the scoreboard. The Monitors were collecting donations for Smile Train, an organization that provides cleft lip and palate surgeries to those in need around the world. After the huzzahs, the Wahoos surprised the Chelsea captain with a very generous donation.

It was a great moment.

In fact, the whole afternoon was a rousing success: a large crowd — the largest crowd yet! — showed up to cheer on the teams, the match was exciting, and a worthy cause benefited.

After the postgame photo, they gave kids a chance to hit the ball and run the bases.

Would you like to join the fun? More spectators are always welcome! The Monitors’ next home match is the afternoon of Saturday, August 23, after the fair parade. Come check it out! (The rest of the schedule is here.)

Old Tree Fights Gravity And Loses: 28 July 2014

A severe storm stomped through Chelsea Sunday evening. Its effects were minimal in my area outside town, but that wasn’t the case in the city. A number of large trees went down, some of which used houses to cushion their fall. When I was driving through town, I noticed a crew hard at work dealing with one such tree:

I don’t know if you would go home, grab your camera, and head back to watch the crew work, but obviously, that’s exactly what I did. What? Leave me alone. IT’S NEWSWORTHY.

The size and position of the tree made it a more difficult job requiring heavier equipment, so they brought in a large crane to lift the tree off the house piece by piece.

All of that got lowered to the crew on the ground running the chipper.

That rather large machine made quick work of the tree.

Not once but twice while I was there, a Google Street View car drove by.

Once enough of the smaller foliage on the house was out of the way, the crew got to work on removing one of the large limbs precariously bridging the gap between the tree and the house.

As they approached the ground, they revealed the reason the tree had been susceptible to the storm: it was hollow.

With one limb on the ground, the crew began preparing to work on the second limb.

The work drew a crowd.

As the crew cleared more and more of the tree, some of the damage to the house became visible.

The house withstood the tree’s assault surprisingly well! It removed a few bricks from the chimney (as seen in the above photo), it rumpled a few shingles, and it cracked a few rafters. Despite that, the roof still kept out the rain! Let’s hear it for well-built houses.

Finally, the crew began to remove the last big limb.

With the heavy sections of the tree on the ground, the man in the bucket raked the rest of the tree off the roof.

Sounds & Sights Festival Car Show: 25 July 2014

The Sounds & Sights Festival included a classic car show. The show drew a good crowd.

The Dorkestra was providing music for the car show, and they enjoyed some audience participation.

My dad worked more than 30 years in the auto industry, and he enjoys a good classic car. He owned a Triumph a few decades ago, and thanks to a local acquaintance who had his Spitfire on display, my dad got to sit in a Triumph once again. (The Spitfire isn’t the model my dad owned, but it’s still a Triumph.)

He was pleased.

Thanks for opening your car for us, Gary!

Elsewhere in the show, we found the same model he owned a few decades ago.

It’s not often you see this on a car:

Why does a car have a watercraft registration number on it? Well, because it IS a watercraft. That’s an Amphicar, an amphibious car built in the 1960s. As the current registration sticker shows — and as the sign on the windshield stated — the owners still take it in the water! (An image search for Amphicar will turn up marvelous photos of Amphicars in and out of the water. It’s worth a few minutes of your time.)

Sounds & Sights Festival: 25 July 2014

The annual Sounds & Sights Festival continued Friday with fun in the KidZone.

Chelsea Lanes brought its portable bowling alley.

The bear from the Chelsea Teddy Bear Company was out and about.

After that photo, the bear got a big hug.

As always, the balloon creations tent was popular.

This little one waited very patiently for her balloon creation!

The matchbox car derby track provided plenty of action.

The bubble pond was lots of fun. I mean, who doesn’t love bubbles?

Friday’s KidZone fun concluded with an appearance by PAWS, the mascot of the Detroit Tigers!

Young Tiger fans were happy to see him.

PAWS accompanied a reading of Casey at the Bat with his hilarious antics.

Then he borrowed one young fan’s hat, just to see how it looked.

After handing out prizes to kids who correctly answered a few questions…

…he spent some quality time with fans.

He posed for pictures, too.

One of the littlest fans was fascinated with PAWS’ chin.

If you’re wondering if I took the opportunity to get a photo with PAWS…I did. I mean, it’s not every day you get to meet PAWS!

Thumbs up to you, too, PAWS. Thanks for visiting Chelsea, and go Tigers!

Sounds & Sights: 24 July 2014

This week’s Sounds & Sights served as a kickoff for the annual Sounds & Sights Festival, but the sounds and the sights were much like those we’ve gotten to enjoy on the other fun Thursdays we’ve had so far. Like what? Well, like this:

She was having fun dancing to the music of Sel de Terre.

She wasn’t the only one dancing!

This little one preferred to sit and enjoy the music with her balloon.

Elsewhere, there was an artist getting all artistic.

Cold Tone Harvest was by the clock tower.

One little fan was having fun with bubbles.

Tree of Life was at the clock tower gazebo. When Tree of Life brings out its drums, it’s always a party!

Jeff Wawrzaszek was back performing magic by the fountain.

From Grace was at the Sylvan.

As always, the chalk cube was in the middle of downtown.

Blues Dog Inquisition was on the library lawn.

They had some young fans, too.

The Sounds & Sights Festival runs through Saturday night. We’ll be back to regular Thursday night Sounds & Sights events after this weekend, and there are only a few left in 2014! Join us in downtown Chelsea next Thursday from 6:30-8:30pm to enjoy more of the fun.

Sounds & Sights: 17 July 2014

Another summer Thursday in Chelsea, another Sounds & Sights.

The Bluesmatics were on the library lawn.

Even though the weather was beautiful, Stormfront was by the courthouse.

This gentleman appeared to be hungry enough to eat his microphone. He probably should have gone across the street and gotten a Piggy Parfait from Smokehouse 52 instead of snacking on the mic.

Wait, what? He’s playing his harmonica? Oh. Well then, never mind. Carry on.

The Devil Elvis Show was on Middle.

One little music lover was having the best time dancing to the Devil Elvis Show.

He wasn’t the only one.

McLaughlin’s Alley was in the parking lot by the clock tower, which is not an alley. But I guess there’s an alley right next to the stage, so it works. Also, McLaughlin’s Parking Lot doesn’t have the same ring.

The Town Band was under the gazebo.

The Town Band was FUN. It’s like the musical version of a vintage base ball team.

There was face painting by the clock tower fountain.

Who doesn’t enjoy tossing coins into a fountain?

Liquid Plasma was at the Sylvan.

There are only a few Sounds & Sights left in 2014! They happen every Thursday evening from 6:30-8:30 in downtown Chelsea. And don’t forget: next weekend is the Sounds & Sights Festival, with live music through Saturday evening, an art market, and more.