Members of the Taylor Police Department and Taylor Firefighters Local 1252 will take the field in a softball game today benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The competition will begin with a home run derby at 6 p.m., followed by a nine-inning game at 7:30 p.m. at Rotary Park, located behind the Michigan State Police Post, 12111 Telegraph Road.
Tickets, $5, are on sale at the Taylor Police Department any time, and at the Midtown Taylor Fire Station from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Both are located on Goddard Road east of Telegraph Road.
The Early Bird Gang meets at 10 a.m. tomorrow at The Nature Center in Oakwoods Metropark near Flat Rock for a morning of birding. It's free of charge, but donations will be gladly accepted.
Advance registration is required. Participants in "Home School Monday" at 10 a.m. Monday at the nature center will explore "Butterflies and Metamorphosis." Cost is $2 per child, and advance registration is required.
The 100-Mile Hikers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Aug. 18 at the nature center. There is a one-time fee, and advance registration for this fitness program is required.
Paddle the river in a replica of a voyageur canoe at 10 a.m., noon or 2 p.m. Aug. 19 at the nature center. Cost is $3, and advance registration for the Sunday Canoe Tours is required.
To register for any of these programs or learn more, call 1-734-782-3956.
A Saturday Sunset Stroll is slated for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Marshlands Museum and Nature Center at Lake Erie Metropark in Brownstown Township.
Join an interpreter for a leisurely nature walk and discover how birds, plants and insects come to life in the early evening. Cost is $2.
Learn to draw nature at Sketchpad Pals from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Thursday at the museum. The class is for children ages 5 to 12. Bring a No. 2 pencil and a sketchpad.
Critter Contact for preschoolers and kindergartners is set for 10:30 a.m. Aug. 18 at the museum.
Kids can get a close look at a live marshland creature and learn about it through observation, experiments and a craft. Cost is $2.
Make it at the Marsh-Cattail Creations is set for 2 p.m. Aug. 19 at the museum. Learn the secret behind making traditional cattail leaf crafts. Fee is $2.
Advance registration is required for all these programs. Call 1-800-477-3189 or 1-734-379-5020 for registration and information.
Waddle to Lake Erie Metropark for the Wood Duck Dash 5- and 10K runs. The starting gun goes off at 9 a.m. Aug. 18.
Registration is required. The entry fee is $15. Registration the day of the event will take place from 8 to 8:45 a.m.
Awards will be given in eight age categories and to overall winners.
Register in person or by calling 1-734-397-5020 or 1-800-477-3189. Request an entry form by e-mail at Kelly.turner@metroparks.com.
Biker Bob's Motown Chilifest Car & Bike Show, a fund-raiser for Penrickton Center for Blind Children, is set from noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 19 at Biker Bob's Harley-Davidson Motown, 14100 S. Telegraph Road, Taylor.
The chili and salsa cook-off is a state championship in its 29th year, and it's sponsored each year by the Trenton Lions Club. Watch the chiliheads in action starting at 11 a.m., and try samples of prize-winning concoctions at 3 p.m.
Contact Leo Buk at leobuk@wowway.com or 1-734-231-0618 for more about the cook-off. Register cars and bikes for $10 each for the show at 11 a.m. Visit www.BikerBobsHD.com for more about the car and bike show, which is presented by the Wanderers.
The Trenton Parks and Recreation Department is seeking acoustic guitar players and groups who'd like to perform, as well as people who'd like to buy or sell guitars and related gear.
The event is the third annual Gathering Acoustic Guitar Festival, set from 7 to 10 p.m. Aug. 24 and from noon to 8 p.m. Aug. 25 at the Trenton Cultural Center, 2427 West Road.
Performers and acoustic guitar enthusiasts can get together to share styles, stories and skills, as well as buy and sell equipment. The festival is open to the public free of charge.
The event is co-sponsored by the Music Workshop. For more details or to perform at the festival, call 1-734-675-7300.
The fourth annual Downtown Monroe Fine Art Fair is taking place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday in Loranger Square, at Washington and First streets.
More than 40 artists from around the Midwest will be selling sculptures, photography, jewelry, pottery, glass, wood, fiber art and paintings.
The event is running adjacent and simultaneous to the River Raisin Jazz Festival. Free shuttles will be offered to transport people between parking lots (parking also is free), the art fair and the jazz festival at St. Mary's Park.
This summer, take a ride on the wild side at the Henry Ford Museum and find out what truly drives rock stars with the hot new exhibit "Rock Stars' Cars & Guitars" through Sept. 30.
See John Lennon's "psychedelic" Rolls Royce, a sports car owned (and shot) by Elvis Presley; the actual "Little Deuce Coupe" of Beach Boys fame; a "Dukes of Hazard" 1969 Dodge Charger owned by Kid Rock; a 1969 GT 350 Shelby Mustang owned by Bob Seger; and many more rock star vehicles, along with more than 30 guitars owned by some of the most legendary performers to pick up a pick.
The exhibit is free with regular museum admission. Henry Ford Museum is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. Admission is $14 for adults, $13 for seniors and $10 for youths. Members and children 4 and younger are free. For more information, call 1-313-982-6001 or visit www.TheHenryFord.org.
"Our Body: The Universe Within," an eye-opening and educational exhibition of actual human bodies and organs, is making its Midwest debut at the New Detroit Science Center, 5020 John R St.
Including approximately 20 bodies and 135 other anatomical displays, the exhibit exposes the inner workings of human anatomy by presenting actual human specimens, reproductions of historic anatomical artwork and much more.
In an artful, compelling and dignified environment, guests will be able to connect with the human artifacts on a personal level that will help them to better understand their own bodies.
The exhibition has been held over through Sept. 3. Tickets are $24.95 for adults, $22.95 for seniors and $19.95 for children. The cost includes Science Center general admission. Children ages 12 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.
Visitors can add the IMAX Dome Theatre film "The Human Body" for an additional $3 for adults and $2 for children and seniors with the purchase of a ticket to "Our Body: The Universe Within." Advance tickets are available at www.detroitsciencecenter. org.
Bacon Memorial District Library, 45 Vinewood, Wyandotte, hosts a drop-in chess game night from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursdays.
Find new and challenging opponents and pick up a move or two.
Heritage Decorative Artists of Southeast Michigan, a chapter of the International Society of Decorative Painters, meets bimonthly at the Westfield Activities Center, 2700 Westfield Road, Trenton.
The group shares ideas and new painting techniques in addition to sponsoring painting seminars with well-known teachers. All levels of painters are welcome.
For more information, call Debi Keeling at 1-734-422-9382, or visit www.heritagedecorativeartists.com.
The Downriver Council for the Arts, 20904 North Line Road, Taylor, has a book club, which meets from 1 to 3 p.m. the first Thursday of every month.
Snacks are provided, and donations are accepted. To learn more, call 1-734-287-6103 or e-mail dc4arts@cs-net.net.
Preservation Wayne again is offering walking tours through five historic districts of Detroit.
The tours take place at 10 a.m. Saturdays. Tours include downtown, the Eastern Market, midtown, auto heritage and the Cultural Center. Tours of the New Center are available by appointment.
Each tour costs $10 and takes two to three hours, looking at the area's past and present.
There also are Tuesday After Work Walking Tours at 5:30 p.m. starting from the Hotel Pontchartrain, 2 Washington Blvd. Each focuses on a different aspect of downtown — skyscrapers, restaurants and bars, sculptures and fountains or the buildings of Albert Kahn and Louis Kemper.
The evening tours also are $10 and take about two hours.
For more information, call 1-313-577-3559 or visit www.preservationwayne.org
See the birthplace of the Model T with a tour of the historic Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, 461 Piquette, Detroit.
Walk the same floors as Henry Ford, the Dodge brothers, James Couzens and other auto pioneers, where the first 10,000 Tin Lizzies were manufactured before the advent of the assembly line.
A National Historic Landmark, the Ford Piquette Avenue plant is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. the first and third Saturdays of every month through October. Admission is $10, with free admission for ages 16 and younger.
Tours for groups of 10 or more are available by appointment. Call 1-313-868-2377 for reservations. For directions, visit www.tplex.org.
Take a tour of the Henry Ford Estate-Fair Lane on the campus of the University ofMichigan-Dearborn, 4901 Evergreen Road.
Tours are at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
The price is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors (62 and older) and $6 for children ages 5-12. Children 4 and younger get in free.
Call 1-313-593-5590 for details.
The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House, 1100 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Shores, has several Behind the Scenes and Specialty Tours slated for summer.
Tours include:
"Staff Life on the Estate," at 11 a.m. today and 7 p.m. Aug. 22. Guests will have the opportunity to explore the spaces where staff lived and worked while hearing about the large loyal staff that helped make the estate a home for the Ford family.
Behind the Scenes Tours cost $10. An optional general tour of the house's interior can be added for $7. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 1-313-884-4222.
GO
Generalinfo
