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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A moment to appreciate the history around us...

I'm going to take a moment away from my normal discussion to touch on another subject, which while different, still relates, so please bare with me. I live in Detroit, and while many ask why I moved here (in February of this year), many don't understand the opportunities or the history that surrounds this place and needs to be saved. I moved here to go back to school, and launch my own business, by taking advantage of the falling economy. We bought our home, a rather nice place if I may ad, for a FRACTION of the cost of the same house and land anywhere else in this country. I'm attending school and investing in properties to renovate green, so as to provide low cost living opportunities for low income families, while helping the environment in the process.
I mention all of this because in the interest of cleaning up the community, and preserving our resources and way of life, another group here in Detroit, sought to clean up a local part and stumbled upon a hidden gem... a velodrome. Back in August, a group of renegade landscapers calling themselves "The Mower Gang" hit Dorais Park in Detroit, MI with tractors, hand tools and a fistful of determination. They literally uncovered a relic of a Detroit passed – a Velodrome, or banked racing track, built in the late 60′s amid the tensions and trials of the riots that broke out in the city only a few years prior to its completion.


Now this group is hosting a race, in the spirit of old board track racing (motorized bikes, mopeds, scooters, etc), to raise not only awareness, but also to raise funds for maintaining the park and the velodrome. As an avid fan of board track racers, in fact I'm slowly building one myself, this appeals to my interests, but also as a citizen of Detroit and an avid promoter of "greenovation" and sustainability, this speaks to the very core of us as a people. It stands as proof that we, as a populous, want to create a world where not only do we learn from the past, but preserve it for future generations, and make sure they have a hospitable world for those generations to enjoy such things.
So I take this opportunity to encourage you to do the same, and if your interested, check out www.thunderdrome.com for details on the ongoing project. The race will be held on October 16th,2010 and sadly my bike will not be ready in time (unless theirs a miracle), but i will be in attendance with my family to show my support for such an awesome cause!

19 comments:

David said...

Makes you wonder..

BigBear said...

Who would ever know that they would have that much luck to pull it off.

Keep up the good work man!

Unknown said...

How the heck did they lose the track anyway? Love what you're doing with the community, btw. I was thinking of trying the same thing here, but need to finish my education first.

Ishu said...

Amazing story!!! wow, I thought the people would only care for the profit, but it seems everyone is legit! You have my respect for your noble intentions!

gamefreak3335 said...

what an awesome track!

joanna.elherro said...

going to have to try and incorporate a couple of these tactics.

Anonymous said...

Well I live in New York so I cant help ya out there bro...oh and sorry I havent gotten back to you, I been so busy. In regards to the comment on my story, yea! Do the article on the messenger bag! =D

Sparrow said...

@Nikola Begedin - Sadly it just sat forgotten about, and as time went by, the track was overgrown with nearby bushes, and tall grass and weeds. it literally was stumbled upon while cleaning the area, and it was like "hey, look, its a racetrack"

LoneIslander said...

That is a awesome find bro. Good luck with the race!

Eferhilda said...

Goes to show you that there are hidden treasures everywhere. Just need to find them.

Kid C said...

Hopefully your bike will be ready soon!

David Davidson said...

In response to your inquiry, there's a way to make it so that even though you've changed the name of your blog, it'll unaffect your followers. Make sure to change your feed URL as well.

http://najdesperdu95.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-test-feed.html

That's Naj's blog, he has a pretty indepth post about how to do it properly.

Also, I did a story about my lung collapsing. My first ~8 posts were about that. :)

Arkanyn said...

huh. is detroit a good city to live in?

http://darkesthourreviews.blogspot.com/

Mutefox said...

It's touching to hear about communities taking action like this

infostation said...

Loving the blog man, and yeah it makes you think....How does that get lost?!

troykan said...

makes you reall think!

Kid C said...

Any news on the bike?

Jon Gaskins said...

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Nice blog, looks cool!
Check out my blog some time please.
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kokojesta said...

sweet! your a lucky man, look like heaps of fun :)