Fiends of City Hall held its first meeting since February
on Saturday June 27. Seating was spaced for social
distancing and eveyone wore masks. The meeting
was held in the Mason Room of City Hall.
We decided to hold our next meeting on Saturday,
July 25, at 10:00 A.M. in City Hall.
Some news from our agenda:
- landscaping for waterline installation starts late July
- Brenner Electric has chosend to donate electrical work for the lamp post
- An anonymous donation of $5,000 was announced
- Installation of the sprinkler system resumes in July
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First of all we extend our wishes for good
health to all our friends and supporters.
During the 'stay at home' period we have
cancelled all monthly meetings and the
construction work on the fire suppression
system has been halted.
We have cancelled charity poker fund raising
work and are rethinking our usual fund
raising dinners. We are also giving thought
to significant revisions of Heritage Days
in September.
As restrictions are lifted we will announce
our plans on this site and on our Facebook page.
Till then take care and stay well.
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| New Water Line is Installed |
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| The equipment arrived March 5, 2020. |
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| The new water line will supply the fire suppression system and domestic use. |
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On December 6, 2019 Friends of City Hall received
an anonymous grant for $50,000.00. It is the largest
grant we have received thus far. It is specifically intended
for the restoration of City Hall. The grantor has requested anonymity
and we will honor that request. These funds allow us to begin
moving forward on the installation of the fire suppression system.
Our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the grantor for this award.
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| A Very Special Art Piece for the Blue Denim Silent Auction |
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| Male cardinal on a twig over driftwood |
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| James Durow holds the cardinal carving while standing outside City Hallin front of City Hall. |
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James Durow, nationally know carver of North American bird species,
as given this life size carving of a male cardinal to be a
pecial Silent Auction piece at the Blue Denim Ball.
Valued at $1,500, we will be setting an auction
bid total minimumfor the evening.
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| Michigan Council for the Arts Matching Grant |
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Fire suppression work in progress was
funded, in part, by a grant from
Michigan Council for the Arts
and Cultural Affairs.
Our sincere thanks to MCACA
for their support.
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| HERITAGE DAYS September 21 and 22 |
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| James Durwood |
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| Juliet Faber |
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| Paintings and photos by George Crown |
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| Operational Grant Awarded |
Friends of City Hall has been awarded an operating grant worth $5,000
by the Detroit Free Press, USA Today and the Gannett Foundation.
This is part of the "A Community Thrives" grant program offered
by the Gannett newspapers. Part of this grant application involved
online fund raising via CrowdRise which raised an additional $3,000.
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| VG's Rewards program pays off for Friends of City Hall |
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Crair Vermette, Manager of VG's in Marine
City, presents a check for $1,000 to Board
Member Georgia Phelan.
VG's pays charities $1,000 for every
$150,000 in collected VG receipts.
Georgia Phelan manages this funding
effort and this is the second check
Friends has received from VG's
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| How to make a contribution that won't cost you anything..... |
Friends of City Hall is due to receive its first donation check from Amazon Smile. Amazon gives 1/2 of 1 % of a sale on Amazon Smile to a charity of your choice. Checks are sent to charities quarterly. Amazon Smile sells pretty much everything available on regular Amazon. Prices for goods are not higher on Amazon Smile. Please consider joining other Friends of City Hall supporters and shop Amazon Smile This link is our custom connection to Amazon Smile. See: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/38-3843080
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| We have met and exceeded our goal! Thank you! |
We met and exceeded the required $3,000 fund raising challenge.
Donations reached $3,000 well before the April 12 deadline and
gifts continued to be given till the donation button was shut down
on our Crowdrise page. The total raised was $3,726.
Our sincere thanks and gratitude to everyone who gifted us.
Your support means a great deal more than just dollars and cents.
Of course we can't do anything without dollars but it is very nice indeed
to know we have kindred spirits rooting for us.
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| ~ for history buffs a short essay on the origins of City Hall ~ |
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| This picture was a gift from Morley and Bower Company builders to George Mason. |
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| ~ some pictures from Blue Denim Too 2019 ~ |
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| One of many of the raffle baskets. |
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| There was an amazing variety of goods in those baskets. |
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| Thanks to all who donated for the raffle baskets. |
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| Our Keynote speaker Dr. Joseph Vaglica who is also the architect for the restoration of City Hall. |
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| Past Ptesident and Co-Founder, Becky Lepley |
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| A table full of amazing artists - all champions of City Hall. |
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| Blue Denim Ball of 2018 helped fund the restoration of these stairs. |
Meetings are held at the Great Lakes Art and Antiques Shop
123 N. Belle River Rd. in Marine City
meetings begin at 6:00 P.M.
~ meetings are always the fourth Thursday of each month ~
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| Michigan Council for the Arts Grant Awarded |
Today, September 11, 2018, Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA)
announced Friends of City Hall has been awarded a grant of $36,000.00
to be used for interior restoration of City Hall. It is the first grant awarded
for City Hall restoration and it will help to pay for architectural restoration
drawings and the intitial phases of a fire suppression system intallation .
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| Our thanks to MCACA for their generous support. |
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| Three Ways You Can Make a Contribution to Friends Online |
Before we can occupy the building we are required to install a fire suppression system (sprinklers) and a platform (porch) lift for ADA compliance. The cost is $96,000. We continue to have fund raisers and write for grants but we need your help too.
1. AmazonSmile: If you shop on Amazon consider looking at AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile is like a "branch" of regular Amazon and sells almost all the same products but donates a portion of a sale to a charity of your choice. Products on AmazonSmile do not cost more and Amazon does not charge any fees. Friends of City Hall is registered with AmazonSmile and donations for Friends have started to accumulate. AmazonSmile donates 1/2 of 1% of the price of your purchase. It seems a small amount at first but multiply that by many sales and a charity makes needed cash without cost or labor. If you are going to buy it anyway get it through AmazonSmile and be a Friend of City Hall. Simply type in Friends of City Hall when asked to name your charity.
2. PayPal Giving Fund: Friends of City Hall is a registered charity with PayPal Giving Fund. You may make donations at this site by typing in Friends of City Hall, Marine City, Michigan or by simply browsing charities by interest or state. PayPal charges no fees to either the charity or the donor. We have received almost $800 from supporters via this platform. 3. CrowdRise: CrowdRise is affiliated with GoFundMe and provides a global outreach for a charity. Friends of City Hall used CrowdRise to qualify for a USA Today/Gannet grant. We didn't get the grant, over 500 charities submiited applications, but we did raise over $3,000 via this playform. CrowdRise, like all global platforms, does charge a small fee which the donor can pay or the charity can cover. That is the cost of reaching tens of millions of people with your charity's campaign. See: https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/be-a-friend-of-city-hall/
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| Historic District and National Register Signs |
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| The Historic District sign was erected August 23, 2017 and has garnered quite a bit of attention. |
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| Friends of City Hall is pleased to be able to share some of the history and achievements of Marine City. We welcome your contributions to assist us with this expense. |
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| Although City Hall has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982 vedry few people knew about it. Friends of City Hall hope this investment will do a good job speaking for the building and telling of its place in history. |
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| History Preserved in Bronze |
In 1981 a representative of the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) came to Marine City to analyze City Hall and do research on its history. An application was then written and submitted to the United States Secretary of the Interior requesting City Hall be added to the National Register of Historic Places. That application was granted and City Hall was placed on the Register in 1982. A copy of that application and the acceptance letter are on file with city government. A few people who know some of the history of City Hall are aware of its placement on the Register and Friends of City Hall makes a point to mention this honor wherever possible. But, there has never been an effort to memorialize this special status with any kind of sign or plaque. The general public and casual visitors to City Hall do not learn of this.
In 2008 Heritage Square and City Hall became the first Historic District in Marine City. However, no effort was made to erect an Historic District sign. Historic Districts are a matter of community pride in the history and culture of its past. Having an Historic District identifies a community as aware of its heritage and mindful of preserving it. Of course Friends of City Hall makes constant mention of the Historic District but a formal, permanent sign is truly what is required.
Neither the federal government or state government pay for Registry plaques or Historic District signs.
To correct these oversights Friends of City Hall has started a fund raising campaign to purchase and install a bronze plaque on City Hall which will tell of its listing on the National Registry of Historic Places. In addition, a traditional Historic District sign will be purchased and installed to face the street. Bronze was chosen for its durability and lasting beauty.
Both the plaque and the free standing sign will be illuminated at night.
If you agree that City Hall and Marine City needs and deserves this recognition please make a donation to Friends of City Hall to help fund this signage. Friends is a 501 (c) 3 corporation and all donations are tax deductible. Your gift of $10, $20 or more will be a big help in completing this project.
Please send your donation to:
Friends of City Hall
P.O. Box 283
Marine City, MI 48039
Please write 'Plaque' on the memo line of your check.
Save your check and stamp and donate by PayPal below.
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| To see more photos of the restoration process see the Restoration page. |
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| South facade of City Hall with damaged bricks removed. |
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| The Doyenne Begins to Reveal Her Secrets
Bit by bit, as the sealant is removed and the damaged brick taken away, the grand old gal is beginning to tell us fascinating snippets of her life story. The most surprising so far is what we are learning about the brick laying technology employed in her construction. Removing the outer layer of brick revealed no air gap/weeping space between the inner core of bricks and the skin. Instead, a very unique bonding method was employed. Where ever you see a row of darker, more reddish brick, it is the site of a clever technique for uniting the core to the skin, i.e. a bonding of two wythes (widths). Those darker red bricks are shaped to have a point jutting out the back. Bricks of the same course in the inner wythe are set in on a diagonal to form a v shape recieving gap. You can see a partial row of this "dog tooth" technique to the right of center in the photo. Just above you can see the end of a newly revealed iron restraining rod. This one was not decorated with an escutcheon (decorative face plate). To see more pictures of the restoration go the the Restoration page.
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