Michigan Week and 2007 Michigan Week Celebrations


Michigan State Capitol Post Card by Marxchivist

Michigan Week is an annual celebration that seeks to to embrace, explore and celebrate the history, resources and opportunities that set Michigan apart as an ideal state to work, play and thrive.

Recently retired Michigan Week director Jim Schultz wrote an article on Michigan Week (PDF) that tells how Michigan Department of Economic Development director Don Weeks (who was also instrumental in the creation of the National Cherry Festival and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame) started Michigan week in 1954 along with a number of citizens.

It was the intent of the committee that Michigan Week would begin within state government. The first Michigan Week in 1954 used the tag line "This is YOUR Michigan!" and prided itself as "a seven-day celebration for 7 million citizens."

Spring was chosen over fall as the right time of year for Michigan Week so that summer tourism could be promoted. The inaugural Michigan Week began with the first week of May, gradually giving way to mid-May as northern communities complained that snow curtailed a number of outdoor Michigan Week activities.

Each day of Michigan Week was given a name that celebrated a particular reason or resource that made Michigan a special place to live, work or raise a family ... Spiritual Foundations Day, Mayors Exchange Day, Hospitality Day, Our Livelihood Day, Education Day, Our Heritage Day and New Frontiers Day.

Michigan Week 2007 begins this Saturday (May 19) and you can learn about the celebration at the State of Michigan's Michigan Week page, find out what's planned for your area at the Michigan Week event calendar and if you have any ideas for how to celebrate Michigan, post them in the comments below!



Related Posts

This is program that compares articles on Absolute Michigan. Sometimes the results are a little odd.

This entry was written by farlane and posted on May 16, 2007 at 7:45 am and filed under Articles, Arts & Entertainment, Chambers of Commerce, Community, Community & Nonprofit Organizations, Festivals, Attractions & Event Calendars, Government, History & Libraries, Michigan, Museums & Collections, Organizations, Schools & Education, The Michigan Pages, The Michigan Pages: Michigan Week. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

2 Comments

  1. farlane
    Posted May 17, 2007 at 8:56 am | Permalink

    Great editorial titled It's Michigan week, what does that mean? from New Hudson resident Doug Curry of the South Lyon Community Schools Board of Education:

    ...Now I am an adult living in Lyon Township. Michigan is still my home and the third week of May is still "Michigan Week." But instead of the celebrations of old that I experienced as a young child, my state is in a state of mental depression. Gone is the celebration of pride in the state I and many others call home. Instead of school events and civic presentations focused on the uniqueness of Michigan and of the achievements of our citizens that produces a sense of fulfillment, we hear the drumbeat of despair and defeat.

    All we hear about is people losing jobs, automobile companies failing, politicians that can't make decisions, schools that are not educating our children and people moving away. The state motto seems to have changed from "Tuebor" - ("I'll Protect"), to 'Will the last one to leave please turn out the light.'

  2. farlane
    Posted May 21, 2007 at 7:42 am | Permalink

    From today's Michigan in Pictures:

    In celebration of Michigan Week, Mark Houston over at 360Michigan has posted new panoramas from four locations: the National Trout Memorial (downtown Kalkaska in front of the Kalkaska Historical Museum), the Michigan Fireman’s Memorial (near Roscommon), the Manistee River and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum (Belle Isle, Detroit).

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