Aug 17 2008
Irish Hills/National Park Service Plan Auto Tour
I just drove from Monroe to Tipton along M-50. This was more interesting than normal because the race at MIS in Brooklyn is now over and thousands of automobiles are moving east on M-50, US-12 and other area roadways. Many area residents take part in the odd hobby of traffic-watching. They set up lawn chair, paint signs and wave to the visitors on their way out of town.
The Adrian Daily Telegram reports that a group of Irish Hills boosters are working with the National Park Service to create a series of roadside exhibits from which area visitors can learn about the region. Excerpts and link:
The Irish Hills Stewardship Community has scheduled a meeting from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday at Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 W. M-50. The purpose of the meeting is to select the specific themes for the exhibits, propose their locations, identify funding sources and appoint individuals or teams to shepherd each exhibit to completion, Bob Kellum, chief steward of the community, said in a news release.
The stewardship community had an organizational meeting March 29 to brainstorm ideas for wayside exhibits that tell the stories of the Irish Hills. Representatives from MotorCities National Heritage Area, an affiliate of the National Park Service whose mission is to preserve, interpret and promote the automotive heritage of Michigan through roadside exhibits, were on hand to answer questions. They also displayed sign samples and helped guide the committee with the preliminary process of selecting signs for the Irish Hills area.
The $400-per-sign expenses to create each exhibit will be shared with MotorCities, with the additional expenses of installation and maintenance being handled locally. Each exhibit sign will measure 3 feet wide by 2 feet tall and will briefly describe that location’s historical significance. The signs, more than 1 inch thick, will be made of weather-resistant laminate material and mounted at a 45-degree angle to a 43-inch-tall metal pedestal.
Participants at Saturday’s meeting expect to create a priority list of exhibits that, Kellum said, the community “feels we can complete, find a location for and finance.” A secondary list of exhibits will be assembled to consider exhibits that could be completed as time and money permit.
Full story:
http://www.lenconnect.com/homepage/x1822517655/Exhibit-ideas-to-be-explored
Interesting concept.
My Michigan International Speedway tailgate crew has long left Monroe at 6 a.m. to beat the traffic; and set up a second tailgate party after the race to wait out the traffic. We travel through Ottawa Lake and Adrian so to end up in the correct side of the track for our tickets, so there’s enough of a drive to begin with.
By the way, do you think the city of Adrian could re-time their traffic lights on race days? The only backups and delays we ran into on the way home resulted from those traffic lights!