Maybe it is. Or maybe it’s about all the folks coming out and doing the best they can with what they have.
I went to to the Matt Prentice Wine Bar at Shiraz in Bingham Farms tonight. A group of 50+ who were out to learn more about (and really enjoy) green wines. I learned a lot. I learned that the way vineyards grow their grapes is not only making a difference in the bottles that we have the opportunity to purchase now, but also about how their practices are going to keep the land richer and healthier for all of us for years to come. There’s a lesson there for us Detroiters and all of us here in our glorious country struggling right now.
I learned something else. Or maybe I just had it confirmed. Yes, in Detroit, we are still struggling. A lot. If you don’t live near or in the D, then you see it on the news. Abandoned buildings, home values crashing and unemployment still staggeringly high. I see it every day as I drive into the city – boarded up houses on either side of the highway with billboards soliciting people to file for bankruptcy. Honestly, I see it here in my little ideal, Norman Rockwell hamlet of Plymouth, Michigan too. Houses owned by the bank and families who we have known and respected for years walking away. By the way, for the record, we still respect them. Perhaps more than ever. These are unprecedented times. Families need to make the right decision for themselves and their children.And those decisions are God-awful hard to make.
But put the brakes on … at least pause it all for a minute.
We are slowly climbing out. Tonight’s event at Shiraz and others recently are proving this. A whole bunch of wonderful, ordinary people came out tonight at Shiraz in Bingham Farms to celebrate Green Wines. Organic wines. Vineyards that are committed to sustainability and practices that are going to keep our earth healthy. Combined with the best sommelier team in Michigan led by the country’s first female Master Sommelier, Madeline Triffon -we all had a great time and celebrated.
Well it’s about time. It’s been all doom and gloom for a while. But events like tonight tell me that we are on the path to recovery. We are rising above the last few years and the turmoil that has defined those years. And if we are seeing this here in the D, where frankly I don’t think it can get much worse, then you know what? The rest of the country will see this too.
Detroiters are resilliant. We are stronger than we should have to be. We are family-focused. We are brilliant entreprenuers. And we all got thrown a very unexpected and very elongated curve ball. But we are on our way back.
Keep turning out Detroiters. Keep being proud of all that we have. If you come to the D, you will see city assets that rival some of the best cities. True, we don’t quite know what to do with them all, but if we all turn out it will only get better.
My boys and I spent Easter Sunday in the D. Church at Christ Church Detroit, a long walk on our beautiful Riverwalk and brunch at Coach Insignia. If we weren’t so stuffed from that incredible meal, we would have done more. But for the day we were Detroiters. And we were proud.
Be proud my Detroit friends. We will not only weather this – we will be a whole lot stronger from it.
Dot,
To your point about the entrepreneurial spirit in metro Detroit:
AMEN!
Through social media and generally rubbing shoulders with folks, it has been an awesome experience to see the minds that are creating the new economy here in Michigan. Many of these folks are just as passionate about their involvement in the revitalization of the area as they are about their involvement in social media!
There is a #tweetea event, monthly, at the Bean where some of the area’s social media folks gather to chat, share ideas and generally catch up.