Best of the Net 3/3-3/10

8-year-old boy feeds his peers

Cayden Taipalus, an 8-year-old elementary school student in Howell, was upset when his peers who did not have sufficient funds in their lunch accounts received a cold cheese sandwich instead of a hot lunch. The Huffington Post reports that Cayden started a grassroots campaign to raise money for his school that soon raised enough money for 34,000 meals, allowing Cayden to share the wealth with other local schools.

Young Detroiters cultivate gardens

The Detroit School Garden Collaborative allows students at 51 Detroit schools to cultivate gardens while also cultivating their minds. Michigan Nightlight explains how the program exposes some children to natural foods they have never tasted while allowing children to learn about careers in agriculture that they otherwise may not have considered. 

Michigan Tech's innovative research

Michigan Technological University is conducting groundbreaking research in the U.P. Upper Peninsula's Second Wave highlights the university's leading research in 3D printing, a bionic foot for amputees, and a snow grooming machine that allows snow to be "paved" into usable roads.

Detroit poem gains recognition

The New York Times featured a poem about Detroit in its "Poetry Pairing" on March 6. "There Are Birds Here," a poem about Detroit by Jamaal May, is paired with a Times article about blight in Detroit.

Traverse City makes another travel list

Travelpulse.com has named Traverse City as one of its "Best Wine Vacations in the U.S." The travel site praises the region's wine industry's "fruity and award-winning flavorful antiques."

Michigan basketball rises to the top

The University of Michigan men's basketball clinched its first outright Big Ten championship since 1986 with a victory over Illinois last week. They then beat Indiana on Saturday to finish the season with a three-game lead over the two teams tied for second place.

Finding the Perfect Paczki in D.C.

Photo by Brian Mulloy

Growing up as a Polish-American kid in the Detroit area, there were things I assumed were the norm throughout America: 1) Polish surnames with multiple consonants in a row, whether they ended in "ski" or not; 2) kielbasa at every family gathering; and 3) Paczki Day. After leaving the Midwest, I saw Polish names less often; ate less kielbasa; and realized that most East Coasters sadly have no idea what paczki are.

What's Paczki Day? Well, it's known as Fat Tuesday or Mardis Gras everywhere else. Traditionally, Fat Tuesday is the last day before Ash Wednesday when Lent's fasting begins, so Polish tradition called for one last hurrah of eating bad things before Lent began. In Poland, they actually eat paczki on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, but Polish immigrants to the U.S. often baked and ate the treats on Fat Tuesday, making the holiday also known as Paczki Day in heavily Polish regions like Detroit and Chicago. In Detroit and especially its neighboring city of Hamtramck, it has become the Polish equivalent of St. Patrick's Day.

So what's a paczki? Technically, "pączki" is the plural of "pączek," but most Americans just call it a paczki. Paczki are a deep-fried dough ball glazed or powdered with sugar, often served with a jelly filling. They are kind of like jelly donuts, but they are far superior. Authentic paczki have dough made with eggs and have a lighter texture similar to brioche or challah bread.

How do you pronounce paczki? Since Polish letters are not always pronounced in similar ways to English or Romance languages, the answer might not be intuitive to native English speakers. I'm not sure if it's the result of different Polish dialects or Americans butchering the Polish language, but I've heard three primary pronunciations in the U.S.: 1) Poanch-key; 2) Poonch-Key; and 3) Punch-key. I interchange "poanch-key" and "poonch-key."

This year, I decided that it had been too long since I had a paczki, so I did some research and found three possible sources in the D.C. area: 1) Giant Supermarkets; 2) the Kosciuszko Foundation's Center near Dupont Circle; and 3) the Kielbasa Factory in Rockville, MD.

Best of the Net 2/25-3/2

Holland to Star in a New Movie

Hollywood movie makers again will be coming to Michigan to film a new movie starring Bryan Cranston and Naomi Watts. "Holland, Michigan" is scheduled to be filmed in Holland and is currently in pre-production. The Grand Rapids Business Journal describes the film as a Hitchcock-like thriller set during the tulip festival.

Eight Women Who Are Transforming Detroit

Huffington Post Detroit features eight women who epitomize the energy of Detroit's resurgence. The article highlights an artist-musician, a blight buster, a music teacher, and more women who give back to the city in different ways.

Kids Honor Their Classmate by Donating Jeans

Quiniece Henry,  a 13-year-old at Forrest Hills Middle School, recently passed away from Burkitt lymphoma. Her classmates, teachers, and friends remembered her as a young girl who wanted to help others, so they decided to honor her by helping the homeless. MLive reports that a Girl Scout troop and the school's student council organized a jeans drive to collect jeans for Grand Rapids-area homeless. The drive collected 151 pairs of jeans, despite bad weather shortening the week of the drive.

Stand Up and Tell 'em You're From Detroit

Joe Louis's Fist

Ellen Creager, a travel writer for the Detroit Free Press, asks, "Do you tell them you're from Detroit − or hide it?" 

It's a legitimate question. Detroiters who have traveled or moved out of state, or out of the country, know that answering the question "Where are you from?" with "Detroit" can lead to a myriad of negative responses.  

Creager, exasperated with Europeans' negative views of Detroit (no doubt a result of the international reach of the "ruin porn" narrative of our national media), decided to experiment by saying "Michigan" instead. She found that the Europeans' responses generally were more positive (so I guess that's good PR news for the rest of the state).

When I was a kid, I either said Detroit or the Detroit area when asked where I was from. Eventually, I stopped saying Detroit and started saying Michigan because I was tired of the predictable negative reactions toward the word "Detroit."

I moved out of Michigan but never stopped paying attention to what was happening in Detroit. Somewhere along the line, watching the media and East Coasters who had never even been to the city tear apart my hometown from afar made me want to stand up for Detroit. It was as if I was witnessing a gang of bullies gang up on a kid who had no one else there to defend him. If I didn't step in, Detroit would just keep getting pummeled.

I started telling people I was from Detroit again. If I saw a negative comment about Detroit on Facebook, I would intervene and tell the errant commentator why he or she was wrong about the Motor City. Eventually, I started this blog to defend and promote both Detroit and Michigan. I may not have the readership of the Wall Street Journal, but if I can change one mind or make one former Detroiter proud of his hometown again, I am doing my part.

And that's why Detroiters (and that includes suburbanites) should not shy away from saying "Detroit" when asked where they are from. You can control the message...one person at a time. Go on Twitter and follow Detroit corporations, nonprofits, and, most important, people who are making a difference in the city. They will give you the talking points to combat the narratives of bankruptcy and ruin porn.

Detroit is getting better. It still has a long way to go, but the trip will be a lot easier if you can stand up and tell them you're from Detroit.

Or you can sing it loud for the world to hear like we did in 1985:

Best of the Net 2/18-2/24

I have been battling a nasty cold/cough the last several days, so here is an abbreviated "Best of the Net." As always, these are just a few of the many good stories coming out of the Great Lakes State.

Grand Rapids is Healthy

Grand Rapids always seems to be on lists of healthy places to live. MLive reports that the city ranks in the top 10 nationally for places to get healthy and to stay healthy according to Livability.com.

Wolverine Merits Recognition

Michipreneur reports that former University of Michigan basketball team captain David Merritt has started a fashion line, called Merit, that gives 20% of every purchase to fund college scholarships for underserved youth. Merit has one store in Ann Arbor, and shoppers can also visit the company's website at meritgoodness.com.

A U.P. Revolution

Upper Peninsula's Second Wave features Revolutions, a program in the Marquette area that aims to inspire kids to enjoy biking, snowshoeing and skiing. Revolutions is open to children between the ages of 11 and 18.

Inspiring Girls in Grand Rapids

BitCamp is a program in Grand Rapids that hopes to inspire young girls to pursue careers in science, technology, and computer science. Rapid Growth features the program's efforts to give hands-on technology experiences to girls here.