Tom Jacobson Featured in The Graphic

Northern Michigan Artists Market wood turner Tom Jacobson was featured in the May 28th issue of The Graphic, the local Petoskey weekly.

In the interview, Tom explains how he creates his beautiful turned wood pieces including burl bowls, sculptural pieces like this vase of tulips, wooden pens and pencils and pierced wood marvels. The article includes a photo of Tom hard at work at his craft and shots of many of his excellent creations.

You can read the article online or pick up The Graphic at locations all over Petoskey and the surrounding area. Of course the best thing to do is to come in to the Artists Market and see many of Tom's works in person, touch them and, if you wish, buy one to take home or for a gift.

Thanks and kudos to The Graphic's Maggie Peterson for another revealing article about a local Northern Michigan artist. By the way, Maggie says Tom does not consider himself an artist and feels more comfortable being described as a wood turner. He certainly is an outstanding wood turner but visit us and judge for yourself whether he is also an artist.

Work Begun on Petoskey Breakwall

As we reported here a couple of months ago, The Army Corps of Engineers is going to repair Petoskey's damaged breakwall this spring and summer.

Well, work has begun. The work barges are in place in the Petoskey harbor and the damage done by the ice storm a couple of years ago and by years of wear and tear is about to be fixed.

The Corp of Engineers will conduct Phase One of reconstruction this spring. The 300-foot outer section of the wall from the lighthouse in to the end of the damaged portion will be replaced first. Construction is expected to last the rest of the year.

You may remember a couple of summers ago when the breakwall looked as it does in this pastel by Artist Market artist Jan Vandenbrink. The gap was temporarily filled in later that year.

People's Path Update

This week we found out that the Powers That Be had a different plan for the People's Path across Pennsylvania Park. Rather than coopting the will of the people by paving over the natural, foot-worn diagonal, as we suspected in our previous post, they have resorted to repressing the rightful and democratic will of the people by resodding that venerable trail worn by the feet and the perseverance of the masses.

I note that even the mighty Powers-That-Be were unwilling to provoke the public ire further and wisely did not take any additional futile measures like roping off the fresh sod or posting Stay off the Grass signs.

In the end, these misguided tactics will be defeated as the people continue to vote with their feet. Before long, the People's Path will rise again in all its revolutionary and muddy glory!

The People's Path

One of the many purposes of this blog is to help keep you up to date on the major and trivial goings on in our town, particularly for those of you who only spend a part of the year in Petoskey but still feel a spiritual connection to our special corner of the earth. I'm not sure where this event ranks on on the trivial-to-major scale but it meant something to me so I pass it along for whatever it is worth to you.

This week they have been repaving the pathways through Pennsylvania Park in the middle of Downtown Petoskey. Today I walked by on my way to lunch and saw that, at long last, they are paving the long, diagonal path that cuts across the park from northwest to southeast.

If you don't spend much time walking in Downtown Petoskey, you may not instantly appreciate the significance of this. That diagonal is, without a doubt, the most common route people take across the park. It goes roughly from American Spoon Foods across the park to Meyer Ace Hardware (an then on to the Northern Michigan Artists Market). Until today it has been one of those natural routes that, despite all the plans of the experts, never gets officially established but is the creation of the people literally voting with their feet.

Over the years the grass along this path has been beaten down by thousands of feet in all sizes that refuse to follow the establishment guidelines and instead strike out on their own spontaneous, leaderless people's revolution. It is a meek, humble path, in some places little more than a size double-e flip-flop in width and often deep with mud. Grass seed has not conquered this path. Mud puddles have not kept the people away.

I must say, I have some mixed feelings watching all this spirit paved over. But in the end I will not miss the mud. Thank you to the powers-that-be for giving in to the will of the masses by officially sanctioning, and paving, the people's path!

UM's Lloyd Carr to Speak in Petoskey

As some of you may know, one of the many hats I wear is as President of the University of Michigan Alumni Little Traverse Bay Spirit Group. I normally don't discuss alumni events here but we are putting on a pretty spectacular luncheon next month and I thought you might like to know.

Join us on Wednesday, June 24, 2009, in the Rose Dining Room, Stafford's Perry Hotel in Petoskey for a luncheon featuring Lloyd Carr, Associate Director of U-M Athletics and former Head Football Coach. There is a no host bar at 12:00 noon, and the luncheon begins at 12:30. The cost is $25 per person, which includes entrée, salad, dessert, beverage, tax and gratuity.

Please send your check payable to "U-M Little Traverse Bay Spirit Group" by Friday, June 12 to Marty Scott (masarts@gmail.com), 406 W. Lake Street, Petoskey, MI 49770. Send your check today, space is limited!

GO BLUE!