Chelsea in the news: Big charm in a little package

Article from Lansing State Journal
November 17, 2008

The Lansing State Journal website featured an article about our own little town of Chelsea, Michigan yesterday - Chelsea: Big charm in a little package.

"What [Chelsea] lacks in population, it makes up for in culture and character," writes Stacy Hanna. I couldn't agree more.

The article is a nice, if brief, introduction to many of our local and tourist favorites, including: (click for contact info and links)

• The Common Grill
• Jiffy Mix (Chelsea Milling Co.)
  
• Timber Town Park
• The Chelsea Gallery
• Purple Rose Theatre

Don't forget the SRSLY meeting tomorrow

A Message from Reily Lewis, Executive Director of SRSLY
NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Hi everyone - Just a quick reminder that tomorrow night is the SRSLY Community Forum. Here are the pertinent details:

When: 6:30 - 8pm, Tuesday, Nov. 18th
Where: Washington St. Education Center cafeteria
Why: Because you care about Chelsea youth and want to do your part to keep them safe and healthy.

Plus, we'll have free food and child care, so why not make it a date night, and bring your significant other? Everyone can play a role in prevention!

Btw (that's text-speak for "by the way"), if you have or know kids that wanted to come to the youth meeting on Thursday night but couldn't make it, they are totally welcome to participate tomorrow night. The child care is for the wee-ones. (Also btw, I think it's important for us, as adults, to be able to communicate with kids. So I'll be incorporating more text-speak as we go along. If anyone has any examples they find particularly amusing or important, please feel free to send them my way for inclusion in future emails.)

See you tomorrow night!

Reiley Lewis, MPH
SRSLY Program Director
Chelsea Community Hospital
775 S. Main St.
Chelsea, MI 48118
Phone: (734) 475-4078
Cell: (734) 660-8864
www.srslychelsea.org

Action. Prevention. Seriously!

Shopping: Good. Cheap. Convenient. Local. Can we have it all?

There is a well-known saying: Fast, cheap or good. Pick two. In my realm of expertise, this is often repeated to describe the website design process. What brings me to this topic today is in thinking of gift buying and shopping locally.

We have family members from coast to coast, and during the holidays it is always a challenge to find the perfect gift that is fun and unique, fits into our budget, and is easy to ship. It would seem that online shopping at Amazon, Best Buy or Toys R Us is the answer. But I'm throwing a wrench into the scenario. Small communities and formerly vibrant downtowns are disappearing all over the country. To do my small part to help preserve the Chelsea community, I have a strong desire to shop locally. But my own personal needs inevitably outrank the needs of the nebulous "community", and sometimes it does come down to taking the easier, cheaper or more convenient option. But then I feel guilty that I didn't try harder, start sooner, or pay a couple bucks more to support a local store owner. So my corollary for holiday shopping is:

Good, cheap, convenient, or local. Pick three.

My question is... do we really have to choose? Admittedly, it is not always easy to accomplish these goals. But I think with some creative thinking and asking around, we will find some excellent options. It will be my goal this holiday season to provide tips and suggestions for how you can find gifts that are good, affordable and convenient to purchase while still supporting local businesses.


COMING UP: Toys and books ... you know where this one is going, don't you?

Wine Women and Shopping... Fun!

Saturday, November 8 from 10 am until 8 pm.
The annual Wine, Women and Shopping event is going on in Chelsea today. What started as a pre-holiday sales in the downtown area has really caught on and become a "must do" event that we look forward to year after year. Merchants in Chelsea are offering fun activities, wine and snacks, great sales and demonstrations throughout the day, from 10 am until 8 pm. [click here for full details]

Get a head start on your holiday gift list and bring your friends along for a fun day of shopping and festivities. You may even want to go for dinner and cocktails afterwards at one of the local restaurants or bars. To join in, just come and visit downtown Chelsea and start wandering around! Participating merchants will have signs and/or balloons on display.

P.S. It's not just downtown merchants, so check out some of your south town favorites, too!

MORE Chelsea businesses moving in and around town

In addition to the updates and moves mentioned in my previous post, here are more news tidbits regarding Chelsea businesses moving around:

• Accountant Susan Jacobs, CPA, recently announced that she will be moving at the end of November from the Sylvan Offices (upstairs from Scooples) to the previously mentioned iconic office formerly occupied by Bill Ballagh's State Farm Agency. I'm very glad that a Chelsea business will be filling this spot so quickly. It would be a shame if it sat empty. [Source: letter from Sue Jacob's office].
  
• Aberdeen Bike and Fitness will be moving from their current location next door to Chelsea Lanes, across the street to the former Polly's store.
  

Sounds like that old grocery store of ours is going to be quite a busy place, what with the bike shop, scrapbook store and post office all moving in.

Chelsea businesses moving in and around town

There are a lot of businesses moving in, out and around in Chelsea. Some of the news is not so new, but the moves themselves have either only recently happened or are still pending. Please note that I haven't personally verified all of these news tidbits, so take my updates as community chit-chat rather than hard news. :) Here is a summary of the ones I'm aware of:

• Chelsea's Post Office will be moving to the space formerly occupied by Polly's. This building, located at the corner of Main and Old US-12 has been vacant for quite some time. It was hoped that the move would take place before the holiday season, but that remains to be seen. [Read story: Chelsea Post Office will move, Ann Arbor News]
  
• Scrapbook Memories will be moving in to the other half of the old Polly's location. This move will bring them from one side of the strip mall to the other. The owner describes the move in her online newsletter as a smaller space, but improved store. [Read more: Scrapbook Memories newsletter]
  
• It is rumored that the Chelsea Pharmacy will be moving to the space that Scrapbook Memories is vacating, but I have not been able to verify whether this is a fact or not. Interestingly, this space was originally set up to be a pharmacy/store and was occupied by Rite Aid (?) Arbor Drugs some years ago.
• Fabulous Finds, a resale clothing store located upstairs from the Chelsea Market, is moving to Saline. Too bad for us! I'll be sorry to see them go. [Read story: Fabulous Finds leaving Chelsea for Saline, Chelsea Standard]
• The New Chelsea Market continues to work on expanding their store to occupy the space next door, which was formerly occupied by the Chelsea Gallery which moved to a larger location a few doors down. [Verified by casual chat with the owners]
  
• The new party store is now open in the Oak Tree Plaza, near Bearclaw Coffee. My husband is from the East Coast, and he would call this a package store. I'm told they sell beer, wine, liquor and convenience grocery items. Have yet to stop by myself, but it is a handy location to pick up a gallon of milk on the way home from work if you use the Fletcher Rd/Old US 12 exit off I-94.
  
• Also new to the Oak Tree Plaza is Bill Ballagh State Farm Insurance, who recently moved from their iconic location at Main/Middle.
• The Potting Shed is moving from their current location on Middle St., to a new location literally across the street where the Chelsea Collection was located.
  
• The Chelsea Collection antiques stores is moving to a new location on Sibley Rd, next door to the Tree of Life Studio, not far from Timber Town Park.
  

Please let know if any of this information needs updating -- or if you know of other news in and around town that you'd like to share with Chelsea Blog readers. You can comment below or email me at contact@chelsea-mi.com if you'd prefer.

Election Results for Chelsea and Washtenaw County 2008

By the time you are reading this blog, you will undoubtedly know who won the presidency. Here are the results for the other candidates and issues we voted on yesterday:

• (As of yet unofficial) Election Results for Washtenaw County (eWashtenaw.org)
  
• Election news coverage (MLive.com)

According to the Washtenaw County Election Results, 69.33% of registered voters in Washtenaw Country cast their ballots yesterday. Full results are available on the eWashtenaw.org website, but here are a few highlights:

• U.S. President: Barack Obama
• U.S. Senator: Carl Levin
• Congress 7th district: Mark Schauer
• Supreme Court Justice: Diane Marie Hathaway
  
• State House 5nd district: Pam Byrnes
• State Board of Education: John Austin and Kathleen Strauss
  
• County Commissioner District 1: Mark Ouimet
• County Sheriff: Jerry L. Clayton
  
• Michigan voters approve stem cell research measure
• Michigan voters approve medical marijuana measure
• Washtenaw County Parks Proposal A - YES (65%) / NO (35%)
• Washtenaw Community College Proposal H - YES (66%) / NO (34%)
  

What a whirlwind of activity the last few months have been. I for one am looking forward to no longer receiving junk mail, unsolicited phone calls and visits to my house from political activists.

Whether or not we agree on the candidates or the issues, I think this election has been outstanding for getting people of all ages and economic statuses interested in what is going on with local, state and national government. The high numbers of people voting in this year's election is very encouraging. Now just remember to vote NEXT year, too! :)

Voting Guide 2008 - Get out and vote!

Just in time for some last minute studying and cramming before election day, the 2008 Voting Guide for Chelsea MI is now available on the Things To Do In Chelsea website.

Included in this annual guide is information about where to vote as well as links to resources and articles that provide (hopefully) non-partisan information about the candidates and the issues.

If you're short on time and aren't able to review all the links in the Voting Guide, check out michigan.gov/vote to see a sample ballot before you go to the polls. This is a big election year, and it's not just U.S. President that we will be choosing.

Hope you find it helpful!

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emzee/180639714/