">

Weird Michigan Column for November 12, 2006

<%FloatImg "images/flinn/weirdmichiganbook.jpg", "Cover of book 'Weird Michigan'", "right", "http://amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/102-3895500-6782569?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=weird+michigan&Go.x=7&Go.y=5&Go=Go"%> The woman behind the http://www.weirdmichigan.com web site, Linda S. Godfrey, has written a book which is titled "Weird Michigan" with Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman, the guys behind the book "Weird U.S." The top weird thing about the Wolverine State is that wolverines have not been common in Michigan for at least 200 years, the wolverine found near Ubly notwithstanding. The man who found the Ubly wolverine, Jeffrey Ford, has his own web site, http://www.wolverineguy.com <%FloatImg "images/flinn/hellfromweirdmichigan.jpg", "Hell, Michigan (used with permission)", "left", "tourist.asp"%> The first half of the book is devoted to local legends, ancient mysteries, fabled people, unexplained phenomena and bizarre beasts. One notable place mentioned in the first half of the book is Hell, Michigan which is about 666 miles from Paradise, Michigan. The second half of this book fits right into this web site with chapters about personalized properties, roadside oddities, roads less traveled, haunted sites, cemeteries and abandoned sites. You don't need to travel to England to visit Stonehenge as it's duplicated in Nunica, Michigan. Two bottle houses are found in Kaleva and Matherton. Silvio Barrie created interesting sculptures in Redford, one of which adorns the cover of the book. Detroit's Heidelberg Project is naturally mentioned in the book. <%FloatImg "images/flinn/christmasmichigan.jpg", "It's always Christmas in Christmas, Michigan. (used with permission)", "right", "flinn.asp"%> <%FloatImg "images/flinn/cherrybowlweirdmichigan.jpg", "The giant hot dog and the car in the fence at the Cherry Bowl DI. (used with permission)", "left", "http://www.cherrybowldrivein.com/"%> Among the roadside oddities are the familiar ones in the Detroit area such as the giant Garland Stove and Uniroyal Tire. The neon kielbasa adorning the Kowalski Sausage Company in Hamtramck is mentioned. You can enjoy Christmas anytime you want to up in Christmas, Michigan. The Cherry Bowl Drive-in Theatre near Honor has its oddities such as the car stuck in the fence, the giant hot dog and chicken and the pink VW beetle with a clown head on its roof. There's the Paul Bunyan statue I recall in Oscoda. A religious shrine for scuba divers is the underwater crucifix in Little Traverse Bay near Petosky. The Big Boy resturant in St. Ignace has a statue of a moose wearing Big Boy's wardrobe. Among the haunted places are lighthouses in Gulliver, Ontonagon and Presque Isle. Haunted theaters are the Capitol Theatre in Flint, the Calumet Theatre in Calumet, the Howell Theatre in Howell, the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre in Kalamazoo and the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee. <%FloatImg "images/flinn/orangehouses.jpg", "Detroit abandoned houses painted orange (used with permission)", "left", "http://www.detroityes.com"%> <%FloatImg "images/flinn/remodeled_marquee_2005_from_gary_flinn.gif", "The Capitol Theatre in Flint is haunted.", "right", "location.asp?id=840&type=5"%> The abandoned sites include ghost towns and former state hospitals which are still standing in Kalamazoo, Traverse City and Westland. The book concludes with the tale of Detroit abandoned houses which are painted Disney Tiggeriffic orange by four people who have a knack for painting buildings which are later torn down. The pictures taken from the book are used with permission of the author whom I thank. The book is available at bookstores and on line. The Amazon link for the book is available here. The Barnes & Noble link is here.

">