Between waiting for the shoes to drop from Lansing, trying to figure out if web site building is going to be taxed under the new service tax and buffing up Absolute Michigan, it's been a busy few days! Be sure to check out home page look and Word of the Week (if you have suggestions for words, send us an email or post a comment!).

1957 Detroit Lions Remembered in Style

The Mackinac Bridge isn't the only thing having a 50th anniversary. Last Sunday, the Lions honored members of the 1957 championship team that beat the Browns 59-14 at Briggs Stadium ... then they proceeded to honor their memory in style by smashing the Bears with an NFL record 34 points in the 4th quarter. The team featured Hall of Fame players including Joe Schmidt, Yale Lary, Lou Creekmur, Jack Christiansen, John Henry Johnson, Frank Gatski and the colorful and charismatic Bobby Layne. The Detroit News really put together a nice tribute to the team: check out 1957 DETROIT LIONS: Their impact is still felt 50 years later, be sure to watch this awesome audio slideshow on the '57 season and also see Rearview Mirror: Bobby Layne and the Lions' glory days in the Detroit News.

Detroit's Pewabic Pottery

Model D TV producer-director Tom Hendrickson presents a cool video tour of Detroit's Pewabic Pottery, which was founded in 1903 during the Arts & Crafts Movement. They are on the National Historic Register and operate as a non-profit ceramic art education center. For more, see the Pewabic Pottery web site!

Going Up ... a little

The Michigan Business Activity Index compiled by Comerica Bank rose 3 points in August to 107. Dana Johnson, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank says "I am becoming more optimistic about Michigan's medium-term economic prospects given that GM and the UAW have agreed on a new contract and a state budget accord has been reached. However, in the near term, the local economy is likely to remain pretty stagnant, given the distress in the local housing market, and the backdrop of sluggish national growth."

Mr. History presents The Saline Mill

The aptly named Mr. History has some nice photos and history on the Saline Mill (including this 19th century view of the mill pond). He relates: In 1947 over 8 inches of rail fell near Saline and the Saline River overflowed its bank tearing up the embankment and draining all the water in the pond. it was thought that the Mill would wash away. The owner of the Mill a women named Fanny Friss decided to blow the dam up with dynamite and the mill ceased to function. Go figure.

Saline, Michigan

The Saline Historical Society says that even before the name Saline was given to the river by French explorers, Native Americans came the area to hunt & acquire salt (more on the Salt Springs) and also that a significant find of mastodon bones and footprints was made near Saline. The City of Saline agrees with Wikipedia's entry on Saline, Michigan that the population was 8,034 in 2000. Wikipedia adds that the Saline River is a tributary of the River Raisin and introduced me to the Saline Fiddlers, a school music program that looks so cool I can barely stand it! More at Absolute Michigan keyword Saline.