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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2054
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Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 9:14 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Detroit News has published the first in a weekly Woodward: A Journey through 200 years series that is to run until the Woodward Dream Cruise August.

Here's the link to the first article (3/12/07): http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070312/M ETRO/703120330&theme=Metro-Woo dward
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Douglasm
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Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 11:05 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Saw that article and had a bit of a chuckle over the picture of "Woodward at 9 Mile" from the early '60's, in as much as it's actually the corner of 9 Mile and Allen, looking east. Woodward is another block east where Sports Outlet and Federals is. Hack's Shoes (where the Florsheim Shoes sign is) is where I got my first job.

Must admit thought it was good to see that picture of Ferndale 40+ years ago. I doubt if any of the stores pictured exist today.....
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Kathleen
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Post Number: 2096
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Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 - 7:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #2

Politics on tap: Historic Foran's holds stories of Detroit political machine

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070319/M ETRO/703190369&theme=Metro-Woo dward
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Kathleen
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Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 - 8:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #3

Woodward: Avenue of escape: From jazz clubs to dance halls, Woodward had it all
by Susan Whitall

"Joe Zainea credits the bachelors.

They mostly worked at Burroughs, General Motors Corp. or one of the downtown banks, and on Monday mornings in the 1940s they would arrive at Detroit's East Grand Boulevard train station from the suburbs and stash their bags in tiny hotel rooms. After work each night, they tore up the town, hitting the clubs, ballrooms, bowling alleys and taxi-dance halls. "I can't tell you how busy they made Woodward," said Zainea, whose family owns the Majestic Theatre complex. "Without a doubt, this was one of the busiest areas in the Midwest. We were jammed because this area had so much employment."

Detroit was hopping, and anyone who could crawl, walk or jump on a streetcar to Woodward Avenue was in for a night of revelry. With dozens of auto companies in production, the teens and 1920s were prosperous years on Woodward, a time when Grand Circus Park was ringed with new movie theaters and a slew of ballrooms opened, driven by the national fox trot craze. ..."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070326/M ETRO/703260389&theme=Metro-Woo dward
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2162
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Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 7:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #4

Parades, protests, rallies march down Woodward

"In Michigan, all roads lead to Woodward, especially when it comes to rallies, parades, protests, promenades, celebrations, demonstrations or the first visit of a pope.

For 200 years, untold millions of Detroiters have swarmed to Michigan's M-1 to party hearty over the ending of the Civil War and two World Wars -- not to mention the repeal of Prohibition.

If you like parades, politics and patriotism, Woodward has had them to spare, including the 1932 Shriners Parade, which drew an astonishing 500,000 spectators; the annual Thanksgiving Day parade, enjoyed by millions in person and on TV; a 1936 speech by President Roosevelt, which filled Woodward to overflowing; as well as the World War II victory celebrations.

Two of America's greatest passions, politics and sports, also have erupted on the avenue when thousands came to protest or support the war in Vietnam, peacefully push for the overdue arrival of equal civil rights and celebrate championships on the diamond, the court or at center ice. Woodward has served not only as Michigan's No. 1 road, but as a magical path that has brought us together to parade, protest, proclaim, exclaim or to just "strut our stuff." ..."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070402/M ETRO/704020387&theme=Metro-Woo dward
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

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Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 8:20 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #5

Neighborhood Grandeur

"...The prosperity that Detroit generated in the early 20th century was, of course, dizzying. Hard on the heels of Boston-Edison came other luxury developments on upper Woodward, including Arden Park, Sherwood Forest and Palmer Woods -- eventually reaching into Bloomfield Hills.

"The wealth grew so rapidly," says Stephen Vogel, dean of architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy, "that the auto barons kept moving further and further out" to escape congestion and factory smoke.

The city's top architects brought their talents to bear upon these "suburban-style" houses, with their extravagant detailing and extensive maids' quarters, including Albert Kahn -- who would later design the paradigm-busting Ford Rouge complex -- and the firm of Malcolmson and Higginbotham, which designed Ford's home on Edison.

The result was a formally gracious neighborhood of arching elms (now mostly replaced by other trees), straight streets edged by sidewalks, and narrow, grassy malls running down a couple of the most spectacular avenues. ..."

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070409/METRO /704090384/1005/LIFESTYLE
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Kathleen
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Posted on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 - 7:10 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #6

A stylish auto hub: Ford, Chrysler created bustling, urban suburb -- and brought it down

"HIGHLAND PARK -- In this tiny community straddling Woodward Avenue, the managers and workers of the burgeoning auto industry found an urban oasis -- small neighborhoods of tidy bungalows and tree-shaded lanes. Even the street names -- California, Pasadena, Buena Vista -- seemed to reflect their dreams of upward mobility.

As the automotive hub of the globe in the early 20th century, cranking out millions of Model T's, Highland Park could afford to nurture those dreams.

With its move up Woodward from Detroit, the Ford Motor Co. had transformed the sleepy, pastoral farm village into a bustling community. Ford opened its innovative manufacturing complex on Woodward and lured thousands a few years later with the promise of $5 a day in wages.

Bounded mostly by Detroit and a bit of Hamtramck, Highland Park also would become the seat of the Chrysler Corp.

But Highland Park was more than just a company town. It was a model American suburb, home of leafy streets with distinctive bungalows, thriving main streets and community-minded corporations.

The residential streets that fanned across Woodward and other main roads were never more than three blocks long. Never mind that the city was the home of Ford -- the company that put the world on wheels -- the city was designed as a streetcar community, with public transportation never being more than a block and a half away. Residents could hop on a streetcar to downtown and other parts of Detroit, but they could shop, work or play in their own community.

"Back then you had people living and working in Highland Park. You had people living above the main street businesses," said Harriet Saperstein, chairwoman of the Woodward Avenue Action Association and former president of HP Devco, a nonprofit economic development agency. "You talk about the new urbanism. Highland Park had it a long time ago. It truly was a city in itself, with a separate identity from Detroit." ...."

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070416/METRO /704160318&theme=Metro-Woodwar d
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Swede1934
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Posted on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 - 5:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

In talking about parades,I am really surprised that no mention was made of the 250th celebration in 1951. That was a huge parade the went down Woodward and the out Jefferson.
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Detroitrulez
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Posted on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 - 5:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I enjoy reading those articles, even if Susan Whitall is involved in some of the writing.
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Waz
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Posted on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 - 7:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sorry for the ignorance Detroitrulez, but why the dislike for Ms. Whitall? I remember her from the Creem days and thought she was a decent writer.
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Detroitrulez
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Posted on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 - 10:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

that is between me and Lester.
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Fareastsider
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Posted on Thursday, April 19, 2007 - 9:54 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It look like there is an error in the interactive timeline, on 1870 Ecorse Twp is labeled as East Corces???
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

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Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 12:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #7

The seedy side of town: Stretches of Woodward have been havens for crime, vice

"In the shadow of La Renaissance Hotel, which boasts XXX movies and a three-hour rate of $28, a young manon a cell phone tried to flag down passing cars on a recent rainy night.

When an SUV pulled over, the man handed the driver a small package and received something in return, never interrupting his phone call as the vehicle left and he began looking for another one.

The burlesque houses and porno palaces may long be gone from Woodward south of Seven Mile, but the seediness remains.

It's slathered over the run-down storefronts and gaudy strip clubs. It also has moved undercover with the sale of illicit drugs and sex to locals and suburbanites.

Although some parts of the roadway reflect the beauty and riches of Metro Detroit, other stretches feature its underbelly, a procession of flophouses, abandoned stores and hourly hotels. ..."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070423/M ETRO/704230376&theme=Metro-Woo dward
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

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Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 7:09 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #8

Roller-coaster ride at the state fairgrounds:
102-year-old site has had its ups and downs


"Leases, lollipops and leaky roofs.

The state fairgrounds on Woodward just south of Eight Mile is more than the site of Michigan's annual late-summer blend of farm, food and Ferris wheels. There's the giant stove. A veterans' memorial. A rich horse-racing heritage that gave way to hockey, basketball and baseball diamonds. Circus memories and the echoes of melodies belted out by artists from Duke Ellington to Donny & Marie, Alice Cooper to Raven-Symone.

Today's caretakers battle sievelike ceilings in some of the old fairgrounds venues, worry about fundraising and try to find a relevant year-round, 21st-century use for land that J.L. Hudson sold for $1 to the Michigan State Agricultural Society in 1905.

Sixty or 70 years ago, and every decade in between, fairgrounds managers were doing pretty much the same thing. Records abound with proposals to lease, or even sell, the land for everything from an Olympic venue to an antique car museum to an auto racing oval or golf dome. Some notions evaporated in the idea stage; others -- like the 1970s-era Softball City -- lasted for years until tastes changed or other plans usurped them.

In recent years, the fairgrounds served during its off-season months as a car lot for Chrysler's excess inventory. A church group regularly rents out an auditorium, and the coliseum's ice rink is home to hockey players for the Wayne State University Warriors and a Little Caesars amateur program. Other events range from a gun-and-knife show to The Parade Co.'s annual Hobnobble Gobble fundraising ball.

The 1930s-era Agricultural Building has been transformed into a snazzy branch of Joe Dumars' Fieldhouse, where kids can get coaching in basketball skills.

Newly installed general manager Steve Jenkins is grateful for the current tenants but says the fairgrounds -- owned and managed by the state but not eligible for tax dollars -- continues to need more help. Just last week, he met with groups of master gardeners and Boy Scouts about doing gratis landscaping. For a place that celebrates the state's agricultural heritage, the 164 acres are lacking in flowers, shrubs and young trees. ..."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070430/M ETRO/704300345&theme=Metro-Woo dward
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Kathleen
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Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 6:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #9

Pride and prejudice: Eight Mile/Woodward corner symbol of region's racial conflict

"Ask people if Michigan Highway 102 or Baseline Road means anything to them and you'll get mostly blank stares. Ask them what they think of Eight Mile, as it's better known, and the images are clear. Black and white, you might say.

It's here, at the corner of Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile that Metro Detroit's conflicting feelings about race are parked.

It's the intersection that most symbolizes the good will and ill will that ebbs and flows between city and suburbs in this region -- the divide between a predominantly African-American city and its overwhelmingly white suburbs.

Former Mayor Coleman Young put Eight Mile, and hence Woodward, on the map in 1974 when he famously said: "I issue a warning to all those pushers, to all rip-off artists, to all muggers: It's time to leave Detroit; hit Eight Mile Road!"

Eminem did him one better and increased the "8 Mile" street cred with his 2002 movie by that name.

But you've got to dig deeper than that to understand the legacy of Woodward and the neighborhoods leading up to Eight Mile. ..."

http://www.detroitnews.com/app s/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200705 07/METRO/705070375&theme=Metro -Woodward
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Kathleen
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Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 7:28 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #10

Funky Ferndale: Cool vibe draws shop owners to Nine Mile

"Fashionable. Fabulous. Funky.

These days, fashionable again applies to Ferndale. With eclectic shops and boutiques selling everything from high-end designer apparel to vintage clothing, Ferndale's thriving business district at Woodward and Nine Mile is certainly avant-garde.

Fabulous? That works, too. Where else in Metro Detroit will you find a bank that devotes more floor space to the works of local artists than, well, banking? Or a store like Beautiful Home, where owner Violeine Oliver puts her contemporary touch on mahogany and teak furniture made in Africa?

And funky? Well, these days that's the F-word most commonly used to describe Ferndale, which has undergone a remarkable transformation in the past decade. Underscoring the funkiness are places like Boogie Fever on Woodward, a nightclub that pays homage to the music of the 1970s and 1980s, and American Pop, a small shop selling nostalgia to baby boomers.

"My store motto is, 'Visit my American Pop store in Ferndale and see how Royal Oak was before it became Birmingham,' " says Wyll Lewis, who opened his emporium in a former shoe store 18 months ago. "There are not a lot places anymore where you can walk around in a friendly downtown."

But Ferndale is more than that. It's a vibe. It's something in the air, something visitors, shoppers, business owners and residents feel whether they're browsing storefronts, discoing at Boogie Fever or taking in a concert at the Magic Bag.

"Ferndale has a Bohemian feel," observes Keith Priemer, who owns Contempo Home, an accessories and furnishings boutique on Nine Mile that also sells fresh flowers. "It's very artsy. It's very earthy. It's eco-friendly, which is real cool. People who live here care about where they live and support local businesses. It's got that small-town feel." ...."

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070514/METRO /705140324&theme=Metro-Woodwar d
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Douglasm
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Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 3:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well, at least they identified the photo taken at Nine Mile and Allen correct this time. First time they published it they the label was "Woodward and Nine Mile".
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Kathleen
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Posted on Monday, May 21, 2007 - 2:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #11


Treasures of Woodward: From everyday to extraordinary, artifacts abound

"From Pissarro paintings to potbellied stoves, Woodward Avenue is home to a smorgasbord of cultural riches and historical artifacts. Certain objects, like the cowbells in the collection at the Royal Oak Historical Society Museum and the Diego Rivera murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts, reflect the evolution of Metro Detroit from an agricultural region to an industrial juggernaut.

Many items are world-class treasures collected for their artistic or historical significance; others are curiosities or the tools of everyday life. On Woodward, a carefully persevered child's letter to Abraham Lincoln dwells just across the street from a 700-year-old Chinese religious sculpture and a 20th-century royal Nigerian carving.

Some of Woodward's treasures, like the zoo's Arctic Ring of Life or the Glancy trains at the Detroit Historical Society, prompt spontaneous grins and squeals of delight. Others evoke reverent silence or head-shaking admiration. ..."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070521/M ETRO/705210383&theme=Metro-Woo dward
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Cman710
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Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 10:27 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks, Kathleen! Somehow I've missed all these posts until now. When I get a chance, I will have to read all the articles.
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Kathleen
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Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 7:20 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #12

Signs of the times: Exterior ad paintings are century-old ghosts

"The ghosts don't hide on Woodward.

There are plenty of specters to haunt this historic stretch of road, from the downtown riverfront to Pontiac's Wide Track Drive. Boarded-up buildings, vacant lots, neglected storefronts all are reminders of Metro Detroit's heydays.

Hovering over them all are the ghost signs: the faded and peeling ads painted on brick walls up and down the street.

Some might call them eyesores. Others call them art.

"They were painted by professional artists who did nothing but paint signs," says Jerry Herron, a professor of American studies at Wayne State University. "Each was the work of an individual artist painting on the wall."

Besides their decorative appeal -- from hand-painted gilt lettering with flourishes to mural-sized illustrations -- ghost ads become a part of the local landscape in a way that's far different from modern printed billboard ads.

"All these walls last a long time and they become part of the town's history," says Tod Swormstedt, president of Cincinnati's American Sign Museum. "It's a memory and it's always a fond memory."

And, at one time, big business.

Starting just before the end of the 19th century, national firms leased building walls in towns all across the country and splashed them with advertisements for whiskey, tobacco, patent medicines and more. Teams of sign painters -- called "wall dogs" -- journeyed by train from one city to another replicating the ads, from those for Mail Pouch tobacco on country barns to Coca Cola's script on city tenements. ..."

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070528/METRO /705280340&theme=Metro-Woodwar d
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Kathleen
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Posted on Monday, June 04, 2007 - 12:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #13

Keeping Watch: Landmark Shrine pulls people in
"For Bill Sullivan, the imposing limestone tower with a massive bas-relief of Jesus Christ along Woodward symbolizes the cycle of life and death.

The 66-year-old Sullivan spent his formative years attending Shrine of the Little Flower schools, took his wedding vows on the Catholic church's altar and plans to say his final goodbye there at the corner of 12 Mile and Woodward.

"It's a beautiful church," Sullivan, co-owner of the Sullivan Funeral Home in Royal Oak, said of the renowned Art Deco structure. "Shrine has a pull on people. So many people have been married and buried there. And being right on Woodward, it's a landmark that attracts a lot of attention."

The legendary tower, which stands 104 feet above bustling suburban traffic, and the adjoining granite and limestone church stand as a reminder of a remarkable chapter in Michigan's history. It's a story once known around the world: A parish built with nickels and dimes during the Great Depression by a controversial radio priest, who espoused a blend of venom and compassion during his nationally broadcast Sunday shows.

Today, several decades after the Rev. Charles E. Coughlin captivated the nation with his attacks on giant corporations and world leaders, the Shrine remains one of the most noteworthy churches in Metro Detroit, with 12,500 members and nearly 3,000 visitors a year. ..."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070604/M ETRO/706040369&theme=Metro-Woo dward

Shrine boasts stunning Art Deco interior
"At the National Shrine of the Little Flower, stone angels guard every exterior door and are carved into the doorways of the four entrances to the church proper.

Visitors who pass through these doors are greeted by the drama of the stunning interior. The ceiling soars 38 feet above the altar in the center of the octagon-shaped church. Seats are arranged in the surrounding space. The altar is on an elevated platform of heavy walnut timbers, accessible by emerald-pearl black granite steps. ..."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070604/M ETRO/706040379

No mention of Parducci at all!!

Coughlin's show drew fans, foes
"The Rev. Charles Coughlin was loved and hated, perhaps one of the most feared and admired men of his time, when his Sunday radio broadcast reached an astonishing 40 million listeners worldwide.

In the days of the Great Depression, Coughlin stirred the nation's masses. He used a simple formula to rouse his listeners: He preached against political and financial leaders who he said were the cause of people's suffering.

Known as "The Voice," he earned a reputation as a social watchdog, Nazi, saint and anti-Semite. Stations in London, Rome and Madrid carried his program. Listeners cheered, sent money and tuned in again and again. Coughlin's targets included a group he mostly referred to as "the international bankers," widely understood code words for Jews.

He denied being anti-Semitic, but he so outraged Jews and Catholics that he was silenced in the early 1940s by Cardinal Edward Mooney of Detroit. ..."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070604/M ETRO/706040356
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

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Posted on Monday, June 11, 2007 - 7:58 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #14

Eternally Woodward: History comes to life in avenue's cemeteries: From the forgotten to the fabled, many Metro Detroit residents choose Woodward Avenue as their final address"

"It was a most unorthodox funeral.

The casket was carried on a horse-drawn hearse, with mourners -- and a Dixieland band -- following on foot in summer 1982. As the deceased descended into the ground, the grieving passed around a bottle of whisky, each taking a swig, and then they splashed the remainder onto the coffin.

Steven Stanley, Detroit's notorious "prince of the Gypsies," was lowered and lost to the ages.

Perhaps the ghosts of the automotive titans buried nearby -- the Fords and the Dodges among them -- looked askance at that send-off and tut-tutted over the decline in standards that had overcome Woodlawn, their beautiful little city of the dead.

From the forgotten to the fabled, many Metro Detroit residents choose Woodward Avenue as their final address.

The roadway is home to several landmark cemeteries, starting with Evergreen and Woodlawn north of Seven Mile. Past Eight Mile lie Machpelah, Nusach H'Ari and Beth Tefilo -- all Jewish burial grounds. And at 12 Mile, a long-ago pasture now is elegant Roseland Park. ..."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070611/M ETRO/706110347/1003
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Kathleen
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Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 10:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #15

Worship on Woodward

"The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, the Old Testament says: "Brighter and brighter until the daylight has come."

Churches on Woodward have led the faithful of Metro Detroit along the road to enlightenment for 200 years.

From the presidency of John Quincy Adams, through the industrial revolution and into an era of new technology, Woodward Avenue has provided a prominent place for worship.

Beginning in 1824 when Episcopalians established St. Paul's Church on Woodward between Congress and Larned streets, through 1999 and the dedication of the Detroit Michigan Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bloomfield Hills, the faithful have built dozens of worship houses along the grand avenue.

Today, there are 34 churches, from storefronts to cathedrals, on the 25-mile stretch of Woodward, from the Detroit River to downtown Pontiac.

"One of the things you notice about these churches is that they draw from well beyond their area," said Dennis Archambault of the Ecumenical Theological Seminary, which is on the site of the renovated former First Presbyterian Church, just north of Interstate 75. "They are magnet churches."

The avenue reflects much of the wide diversity of religious practices in the region: African Methodist Episcopalians, Baptists, Catholics, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, evangelicals, Greek Orthodox, Latter-day Saints, Methodists and nondenominational.

Indeed, around the start of the Civil War, the area from Grand Circus Park to Mack Avenue was dubbed "Piety Hill" because of the presence of a cluster of institutions that eventually included Central United Methodist Church, St. John's Episcopal Church, First Universalist Church, First Presbyterian and a synagogue, Temple Beth El.

Efforts to stay on Woodward have led some congregations to extremes. In 1936, amid the Depression, the Episcopalians dug under St. John's, near Comerica Park, to move the behemoth 60 feet so the city could widen the central artery. Just down the street, the Methodists were slicing up Central United Methodist and putting it back together like some giant jigsaw puzzle to accomplish the same feat.

Islam never rooted along the thoroughfare. But the first mosque in Detroit was just two blocks east, on Victor Street, near Henry Ford's Model T plant, where Muslims helped build autos and a metropolis.

Of all of the churches, today, the most diverse congregation is likely at St. Vincent de Paul in Pontiac. Blacks and whites worship there in large numbers, as do Filipinos and Hispanics. And the Hispanics are a diverse group unto themselves, with parishioners of Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban and Caribbean descents.

"You get a sense of the whole church when you look at our congregation, and when they look back up at the ministers," said the pastor, the Rev. Sean Sylvester. "You see an image of the church that is truly all of God's people."

The rich seek the divine on Woodward, along with the poor; the immigrants, with those of long-settled families.

As he helps guide a visitor on a tour of the recently renovated St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Bloomfield Hills, Angelo Mago points to the brilliantly painted icons of the faith that adorn ceilings and walls and the display of the relics of saints. Mago describes the sensuality of Orthodox worship. "Not only are you hearing the liturgy, but the icons help visually to bring you into communion not only with other people but the history of the church," Mago said. "In the liturgical richness of the church, one of the things that's important in the Orthodox faith is that all of the senses be filled."

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070618/METRO /706180360

Temple Beth El lives in Detroit landmarks
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070618/METRO /706180359

Mormon roots run deep along Woodward
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070618/METRO /706180358

Highland Park churches reach out to community
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070618/METRO /706180357

Welcoming cathedrals keep diversity thriving
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070618/METRO /706180356

Woodward Churches Photo Gallery:http://info.detnews.com/pix/ph otogalleries/newsgallery/woodw ard-churches_06182007/index.ht m
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Kathleen
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Post Number: 2364
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Posted on Wednesday, July 04, 2007 - 5:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #16

Woodward: the dividing line

Joanna Firestone, West-sider: I'm drawn to the west side's sweet siren song
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070625/METRO /706250368&theme=METRO-WOODWAR D

Mike O'Hara, East-sider: My heart remains on the sunrise side
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070625/METRO /706250365/1003
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2365
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Posted on Wednesday, July 04, 2007 - 5:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #17

Eat up Woodward: It's been a dining destination for generations

"Woodward has long been known for cars, cruising and concrete, but when it comes to food, glorious food, M-1 could easily be called "Mmmmmm-mmmmm-1."

From Detroit to Pontiac, Woodward has been the home of hundreds of restaurants, drive-ins, coffee shops, grills, greasy spoons, cafes, cafeterias, coney islands, pizzerias, sandwich shops, hamburger huts, hash houses, breakfast joints, pancake houses and chicken shacks.

Many, if not most, of the establishments have gone to restaurant heaven, but longtime favorites are still hanging in there.

As for the dearly departed diners of yesteryear, well, the memories linger on.

"Going out for dinner was a big deal at our house," said former Clawson resident Dave Urban, now of Santa Barbara, Calif.

"We liked to go to the Tel-Way on Woodward. They had these great little burgers. I always thought I could eat a dozen, but could actually only slam down four or five."

Michael Witty, a University of Detroit Mercy business professor, knows why so many restaurants have called Woodward home over the past two centuries: location, location, location.

"It's a main-line road for Michigan, much like Market Street is for San Francisco," said Witty.

"For decades dining on Woodward was part of the 'shopping on Woodward' experience for Detroiters. You shopped at Hudson's or Kern's or Crowley's, then you ate at an area restaurant. This went all the way up Woodward." ..."

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070702/METRO /707020377&theme=Metro-Woodwar d
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Douglasm
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Username: Douglasm

Post Number: 872
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Posted on Wednesday, July 04, 2007 - 5:39 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I wish they had used an earlier picture of The Flaming Embers. They had the one of the best neon signs on Woodward. They also mentioned Aunt Fannies. I remember a family style chicken place on the SW corner of Woodward and 10 Mile that was torn down to make way for the donut shop....
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2373
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Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 6:23 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Catching up...now that I'm home from vacation!

Installment #18

Elmore Leonard's Woodward Avenue: His life and books are woven with street's grit and glory

"It was 7 cents to catch the streetcar to the base of Woodward Avenue, all the way to the river, and then a nickel for the ferry to Windsor.

They'd stay on the boat, Elmore Leonard says; what could sixth-graders do there that they couldn't do here? It was just chug across, turn around, come back to Woodward and pop over to the Vernors plant for a free ginger ale.

That was a fine afternoon. And that was the past.

The present finds Leonard in the living room of his house in Bloomfield Village, working in longhand on what will become his 42nd book. Or maybe 45th; after some short story collections and a kids' novel, he's not sure how to stack them up.

The latest is a sequel to "Out of Sight," which introduced Jack Foley -- the George Clooney character from the movie version -- as a bank bandit who heads to Detroit to rob a shady businessman in the northern suburbs.

And there was Woodward again. ..."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070709/M ETRO/707090373
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2374
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Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 6:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #19

A vision for Woodward: Avenue connects Detroit to rebirth

"Austin Black II can see it now: A Woodward Avenue filled with pedestrians, diners, shoppers and residents. The sidewalks crowded. The restaurants packed. Businesses abound.

For now, reality is a somewhat hazy version of Black's vision, but the 26-year-old insists Woodward is on its way. Living in a one-bedroom loft near the Detroit Medical Center, one of several residential projects popping up along the historic byway's 27 miles, Black said he and his friends often walk downtown to hit a Tigers game or get a drink. He rides his bike to the riverfront. And the nearest Starbucks is on the ground floor of his building.

"You get that critical mass and more stores will come, and we'll have the vibrant street that it used to be," said Black, a Realtor who grew up in Okemos and Troy but chose to buy his first home in Detroit.

Residents like Black see a bright future for the beloved avenue.

More than a dozen loft and residential projects are under construction or in the planning stages, many along Woodward's southern end in Detroit and Ferndale. Detroit's first major open-air mall is set to break ground this fall or winter. And one of Metro Detroit's biggest employers is eyeing a downtown site on Woodward, according to some sources.

The changes reflect Metro Detroit's continued economic evolution. Empty, broken-windowed plants and factories from the auto industry's infancy -- facilities that laid the foundation for the region and nation's 20th-century growth -- still dot Woodward's landscape in Detroit and Highland Park. They're stark reminders of a manufacturing way of life that continues to shrink, even as new industries crop up. ..."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070716/M ETRO/707160308/1003
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Xd_brklyn
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Username: Xd_brklyn

Post Number: 258
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Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 9:23 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for putting all the articles in one thread. Wouldn't have had a chance to read them otherwise.
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2401
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Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2007 - 7:55 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I've been remiss in adding the new installments...so am catching up!!

Installment #19

Driving Woodward: Those who travel the road for a living say it is always changing

"To some, Woodward Avenue is a night on the town in Ferndale, or a trip to the zoo. For others, the thoroughfare is a straight shot to a downtown skyscraper, or the scenic route to a ballgame.

The avenue looms large in the lives of many Metro Detroiters, but perhaps means the most to those whose livelihood is intimately tied to its rutted pavement and undulating yellow lines.

Larry Sykes makes it look easy as he guides his 35-foot, 285-horsepower diesel SMART bus along Woodward. The driver has piloted a coach up and down Woodward for 28 years. He feels the ebb and flow of the region's life force based on the shifting view through his giant windscreen, the variety of his clientele and the changing traffic patterns he must navigate.

Starting his workday at 4:30 a.m., Sykes clocks at least 200 miles a shift, plying the Woodward route from Detroit as far as Pontiac. He has observed the work-a-day bustle along with sides of street life that are shared only by cab drivers, street cleaners and insomniacs.

"It may sound contradictory, but the one constant about Woodward is that it's always changing," he said.

"There are a lot of empty buildings, but there are also a lot of new businesses. In Highland Park the old Ford plant and Sears store are gone, but you've got the new 'Model T' shopping mall plus condos and lofts going in.

"The library in Highland Park is boarded up; that's a sad sight, but there are lots of little strip malls springing up on the avenue. There's always something happening on Woodward."

Metro Detroit's economic strata unfold along the side of the road for Sykes as he travels his route, from the raccoons and rabbits frolicking in pastoral Bloomfield Hills to homeless men keeping an eye out for cops in Highland Park.

He thinks back a couple of decades when portions of Woodward were notorious for seamy strip joints and risque nightclubs, and says things are tamer now.

"Woodward is the nucleus of it all," Sykes said. "It brings everything together." ..."

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070723/METRO /707230340&theme=Metro-Woodwar d
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2402
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Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2007 - 7:57 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #20

The Cranbrook story: Renowned institution is legendary in art and education

"One of the wealthiest men in Michigan, he died nearly penniless -- well, "penniless" by the standards of a very rich man.

Upon his death in 1949, George Gough Booth -- founder of Cranbrook, publisher of The Detroit News, and the man responsible for many of the riches at the Detroit Institute of Arts -- had given away his entire fortune.

The only exception was a life-insurance policy that, according to his grand-nephew, paid out about $200,000 after taxes.

"He was very proud that he'd given everything away," says Grosse Pointer John L. Booth II, "and had to borrow taxi fare from his children."

The elder Booth's principal creation -- the five institutions called the Cranbrook Educational Community -- is famous, though the man is not.

"When we bring up the Booths in our Detroit class," says Jerry Herron, director of American Studies at Wayne State University, "nobody's ever heard of them."

Most Metro Detroiters have heard of Cranbrook, however -- even if they don't know precisely what it is, or how in the world it landed just west of Woodward Avenue in Bloomfield Hills.

Yet Washington Post architecture critic Wolf von Eckhardt once called Cranbrook "the most enchanted and enchanting setting in America."

Tucked in that rolling landscape are a handful of some of Michigan's most remarkable schools and cultural institutions. From kindergarten through the upper schools, the academics at Cranbrook are renowned. ..."

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070730/METRO /707300371&theme=Metro-Woodwar d
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2403
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Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2007 - 7:58 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Keep checking back at the main Woodward Then & Now: A Portrait of Detroit's Main Thoroughfare page for links to additional photo galleries, videos, and related articles!!

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/99999999/METRO /703120301&template=theme&them e=Metro-Woodward
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2411
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Posted on Monday, August 06, 2007 - 8:31 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #21

The Woodward Connection: Woodward memories from a few well-known people for whom the avenue, near or far, still resonates

"Woodward Avenue often is called a dividing line in Metro Detroit.

But it's also the common denominator in the lives and times of many who have known the region -- whether their ties were transient or are rooted by several generations. ..."

Check out the full article for memories shared by Helen Thomas, Aretha Franklin, Roger Penske, Chad Smith, Dan Mulhern, Jim Blanchard, Bruce Campbell, Bob Seger, and others.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070806/METRO /708060351&theme=Metro-Woodwar d
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2428
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Posted on Monday, August 13, 2007 - 7:02 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Installment #22

Michigan's main drag: Woodward's cult of cruising lives on

"The wide-eyed 9-year-old perched quietly in the back seat of the black '59 Ford Custom coupe. Bobby Karakashian knew the drill. His brother Jack, 19, would rumble down the block from their Highland Park home, then turn north on Woodward.

There, Jack would step on the V-8, trying to make it sound like more than just a strip-o, cheap-o ride. They'd stop at the Big Boy at 10 Mile, then the Totem Pole and, eventually, Ted's at Square Lake Road. Onion rings were consumed. Then a loop, head south and start all over again.

It was 1959, and cruising Woodward was becoming a teenage obsession for Metro Detroiters.

It wouldn't become an officially sanctioned event until nearly four decades later, when city officials tried to clean up an outlaw teenage pursuit and transform it into the G-rated Woodward Dream Cruise. This year's official Dream Cruise begins Saturday. But in a Zen way, cruising never ended, so there is no need for a beginning....."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070813/M ETRO/708130352/1003

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