Farmers markets have more to offer than just the run of the mill fruits and veggies.  The outdoor marketplaces are also a great spot to find artisan goods, crafts and beverages.  The cornucopia of available items includes flowers, herbs, homemade jam and preserves, seasonal goods and decorations, honey and fresh eggs to boot.  The Ann Arbor Farmers Market even has its own beverage garden featuring beer and wine, which is sponsored by various non-profit organizations, during their Wednesday evening market.  Many of the outdoor markets begin in May and will be open for business once or twice a week through October.  Other markets stay open until Christmas and a few actually remain up and running all year round.

Here is a list of several farmers markets in the Metro Detroit area.  Be sure to check them out and support your local farming friends!

Ann Arbor Farmers Market
Kerrytown District, 315 Detroit Street
Saturday, year-round and Wednesday evenings, May-December
www.a2gov.org

Birmingham Farmers Market
City Parking Lot No. 6 on N. Old Woodward Ave.
Sunday, May-October
http://www.birminghamfarmersmarket.org/

Chelsea Farmers Market
Park Street, downtown Chelsea
Saturday, May-October
www.chelseafarmersmkt.org

Detroit’s Historic Eastern Market
2934 Russell St.
Saturday, year-round
www.detroiteasternmarket.com

Dexter Farmers Market
Alpine Street at Main Street, downtown Dexter
Saturday morning and Tuesday early evening, May-October
www.farmersmarketonline.com

Downtown Rochester Farmers Market
Corner of East Third and Water Street, downtown Rochester
Saturday, May-October
www.downtownrochestermi.com

Farmington Farmers and Artisan Market
Parking lot on Southfield Road between Fort Park and Lafayette Street
Sunday, May-October
www.downtownfarmington.org

Northville Farmers Market
Northville Downs parking lot, downtown Northville
Thursday, May-October
www.downtownnorthville.com

Plymouth Farmers Market
“The Gathering”, downtown Plymouth
Saturday, May-October
www.ci.plymouth.mi.us

Royal Oak Farmers Market
316 E. 11 Mile Rd.
Saturday, year-round; Friday, May-Christmas
www.ci.royal-oak.mi.us

South Lyon Farmers Market
Municipal lot at corner of Pontiac Trail and Liberty Street
Wednesday, May 23-October 10, 2 – 7 pm
www.southlyonmi.org

Warren Farmers Market
Warren Civic Square
Sunday, May-October
www.cityofwarren.com

Ypsilanti Depot Town Farmers Market
Depot Town
Saturday, May-October
www.facebook.com/ypsidepottownfarmersmarket

Walled Lake Farmers Market
E. West Maple Street
Wednesday, May-October, 7 am – 1 pm
www.local-farmers-markets.com

Though he is definitely one of the most popular features of The Moose Preserve, Jackson is not the only thing the bar & grill has to offer.  They also have “one of the nicest patios in the area”, says general manager, Lisa O’Shea.  “When you walk onto the patio you feel like you are in a garden”.  The garden effect is accentuated by the live Sugar Maple Tree that lives in the middle of the patio.  To accommodate the fickle nature of Michigan weather, The Moose Preserve patio not only offers areas in the shade and sun, but has plenty of heaters for guests who want to sit outside when it’s not 80 degrees and sunny.

The Moose Preserve definitely lives up to the name, showing their love for animals with the “Mutt of the Month” club.  An entire wall is dedicated to the pictures customers bring in of their dogs.  Once a month, two to three dogs are selected to be the “Mutts of the Month”.  The pooches’ pictures are then framed and they are the lucky recipients of a “doggie bag” that is actually theirs for once!  In it they’ll receive a ribbon for being awesome as well as dog toys and bones straight from The Moose Preserve kitchen (a delicacy in the dog world).  And a dog doesn’t have to be a winner to enjoy one of these delicious bones; anybody can ask to have a bone wrapped up for their pup before they leave.

Dogs aren’t the only ones enjoying the products of the kitchen.  The Moose Preserver offers delicious American-style food and a well rounded menu that features wild game specials and fantastic barbeque.  And no matter what you do, do not leave without getting the baked to order chocolate chip cookies!  They take about 10-15 minutes to bake so you might want to be proactive and order them while you are still finishing your meal.  But before you order those cookies, definitely check out the wild game dishes that make The Moose Preserve menu so unique.  Plates like the Road Kill Grill, a selection of roast venison, broiled quail and wild boar sausage topped with Michigan game gravy and the Buffaloaf Meatloaf will satisfy even your fiercest hunger.

Great drinks are available as well and the bar & grill is now debuting a brand new 3-3-3 Happy Hour special.  $3 drinks, $3 appetizers, 3 hours a day (Monday through Friday).  There are also evening drink specials every Monday and Thursday along with free pool all day on Thursdays.

With such great food and atmosphere, The Moose Preserve Bar & Grill is a perfect place for a lunch with friends or a big birthday dinner.  They are happy to accommodate large parties and if you want to go all out, you can utilize their banquet facilities located next door at The Iroquois Club.  The banquet facility was built with the Motor City in mind, as the doors can be taken off so cars can be driven inside.  The club has hosted many car kickoff events as well as sweet sixteen’s complete with a car and a bow.  The Moose Preserve family also includes locations such as Deadwood Bar & Grill in Northville and Camp Ticonderoga in Rochester, all with the same great food and attitude.

So, whether it’s today or tomorrow, make it a point to check out The Moose Preserve Bar & Grill.  Jackson can’t wait to meet you.

For more information go to www.moosepreserve.com or www.facebook.com/themoosepreserve.

Interface 36 / Scene 04  at The Works

KMS 25 at St. Andrew’s Hall

Rare Form at Waterfalls

Voyage Royale IV on the Detroit Princess

Soul Foundation at Foran’s

Afrojack with R3hab & Bobby Burns at The Fillmore

For more information go to www.blakeandrewmusic.com.

Sisters, Sarida Scott Montgomery and Crystal Mott, along with their cousin Kimberli Heard, grew up in a family that loved popcorn.  Always on the lookout for good, quality popcorn, the women would order popcorn from Chicago via the internet because they could never find popcorn they liked in Detroit.  It didn’t take long for them to realize that this was a niche the city was missing; one they were prepared to fill.  You may ask, “why the name Good People?”.  Well, it was Crystal and Sarida’s father who came up with the idea while they were all sitting around brainstorming and it’s evident that his opinion of the women shows through in the title.  The ladies thought “it had a nice ring… and we all aspire to be good people” says Sarida, so the name stuck.
Good People Popcorn offers 10 different flavors of popcorn, ranging from the more traditional, such as caramel corn to the more adventurous stuff like Chili Cheese and White Cheddar Salsa.  According to Sarida, their most popular flavor has got to be the Caramel Cheddar Cheese blend which has that perfect mixture of salty and sweet.  However, the Chocolate Drizzle is an extremely close runner-up.  Additional flavors include Bacon Cheddar (that’s right, bacon!), Caramel Apple Pie and Cinnamon Crunch.  The kitchen at Good People never stops trying to expand their popcorn varieties and welcomes requests for new flavors.  Right now Sarida, Kimberli and Crystal are trying to perfect their new barbecue flavor and a white chocolate peppermint flavor for the holidays.  Yum!  The staff in the shop is also encouraged to play around with new flavors as well, which is how they came up with the White Cheddar Salsa popcorn.  The yummy popcorn (I speak from personal experience) is available at their Detroit location, online and through several different gourmet grocery stores across Metro Detroit.

The staff at Good People doesn’t just stop with good popcorn.  “Being a responsible business is important to us”, says Sarida and they have emulated the practices of Zingerman’s and Ben & Jerry’s in their effort to be an environmentally conscious company.  By using paper bags from recycled paper, recycling their sample cups and composting all mistake popcorn, Good People Popcorn is doing their part.  The company is also considering donating their compost materials to community gardens.  And they do more than just look out for the environment, they are watching out for the city of Detroit too by offering fundraiser opportunities to local businesses and organizations.  The women, Sarida says, “are excited about the growing entrepreneurial movement in Detroit” and they want to help support other small businesses by “being a part of that network and revitalizing the city”.

With Good People Popcorn you not only get a great product, you get to help support local Detroit businesses.  So get downtown and see what’s poppin’ today!

For more information about Good People Popcorn, please visit www.goodpeoplepopcorn.com.

Shades of Pink Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization founded by breast cancer surgeon Dr. Pamela Benitez and her friend Susan Krueger, is dedicated to helping newly diagnosed breast cancer patients pay their bills. The annual Shades of Pink Walk provides the lion’s share of the funding for the nonprofit, and Benitez is able to say one thing most nonprofit event organizers cannot.

“Every dollar you spend at our events goes directly to a client,” Benitez said. “We have no overhead or money that goes to salaries or anything like that.”

Benitez, who says she’s “always been a Chevy girl,” realized several of her Shades of Pink dreams during this year’s walk – which is actually the sixth annual walk, even though most media sources are reporting it as the fifth.

“I’ve done seven Komen walks,” she said. “I really wanted to bring the walk back to the zoo after Race for the Cure went downtown. I always had a dream of bringing the walk back and it was so weird that the Foundation allowed me to do that. My dream was always to have 1,000 walkers, to have some real press so people would know about us and to have one of the major car companies be our sponsor. I got them all this year. I am tickled pink.

“We are thrilled at the sponsorship of Chevrolet and the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers. We look forward to many more years of working together for the Motor City … since ‘Chevy drives the Motor City.’”

With the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers, among other local companies, providing a collective $64,000 in sponsorship for the spring walk, and with 90-plus volunteers running the event, every dollar accumulated in registration fees and walkers’ pledges goes directly to local breast cancer patients. That’s not the case with most other breast cancer fundraisers, Benitez said.

“All the money goes toward clients in need. We don’t fund any research. We don’t pay any medical bills. We’re simply allowing people to allocate the funds they have to be able to pay for their care and we’ll help them out with utilities, mortgage, car payments, transportation, food, daycare, just so they don’t have that burden upon them when they’re going through their treatment.”

The organization works through local social workers to alleviate the stress of non-medical bills when women are first diagnosed with breast cancer. “You’re focusing so much on how am I going to treat my breast cancer that this whole idea of having the financial difficulties sort of derails you,” Benitez said. “It’s really at a time when everything seems to be crashing down on you.”

Once a social worker contacts Shades of Pink and determines what and how much a patient will receive, it’s only a matter of days before the woman has the money – or resources, such as grocery gift cards – in hand. “People have their needs met within a week,” Benitez explained.

So for anyone who’s ever wanted to open his or her purse to help a breast cancer patient handle mounting bills, Shades of Pink is the answer. The organization hosts two annual charity events, and several other events organized by local companies and individuals benefit Shades of Pink as well.

Patients can choose to remain as anonymous as they would like to be, Benitez said, but many publicly thank Shades of Pink for its support. What do they say? “It took that worry off their plate and they could move forward,” Benitez said. “They are really, truly so grateful.”

Benitez is not only moved to help breast cancer survivors because of her work as a surgeon, but because of her personal connections to breast cancer. “My sister will be an eighteen year survivor next year. She’s my hero. It’s something that we’re very passionate about.”

With more than double the number of registered walkers, plus a host of press the walk never had before, Benitez is hopeful that Shades of Pink Foundation will continue to grow and help more women. Since 2007, the organization has helped approximately 160 women in the amount of $160,000 dollars, Benitez said.

Shades of Pink has a spring fundraiser coming up May 16 at 10:30 a.m. at the Birmingham Community House. Entitled “An Uplifting Event: Because Some Girls Need a Little Extra Support,” the event will provide information about women’s health issues. “It’s going to be our ‘Ask the Doctors’ show, Michigan-style,” Benitez said. “We’re going to be doing a Q&A just like the TV show.”

Register for the event at http://anupliftingevent-auto.eventbrite.com/.

If you’re moved to donate or volunteer for Shades of Pink, or if you just want more information about the organization, visit www.shadesofpinkfoundation.org.