Pure Michigan is a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in Lansing. The MEDC exists to help foster and promote positive economic activity statewide.
We are honored and delighted to be featured on the calendar.
Pure Michigan (courtesy of Pure Michigan)
Fun factoid of the day:
Michigan has the world’s longest freshwater coastline (3, 288 miles).
In celebration of the annual Detroit Festival of Books (aka Detroit Bookfest), EMBC will be opening early on Sunday, July 16th for the Official Detroit Bookfest Afterparty!
Located three blocks southeast of Shed 5, Eastern Market Brewing Company (EMBC) is one of the most popular destinations in the Eastern Market district.
Currently, the street they’re on, Riopelle, is closed to vehicle traffic. It is pedestrian-only and they will have tables in the street, food, live DJ, and of course beer.
Shed 5 to EMBC Detroit
Some of their most popular beers are:
Wunderboi (kolsch), Elephant Juice (hazy IPA), Pineapple Market Day (fruited session IPA). And they now offer pepperoni pizza slices inside!
MI Geek Scene is run by Joe Hubbard and based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Joe is “Head Geek” and started MGS in 2014 as a “positive geek culture website”. Joe also takes great photos and conducts engaging interviews with his guests.
They consistently feature one of the best calendars of cool pop-culture related events in the state of Michigan.
We highly recommend listing your event, if applicable, on their calendar.
Aerial photo of Mettetal Airport Canton (photo courtesy of Mettetal)
Mettetal Airport is a non-towered airport (ie: no control tower) that was founded in 1939 on 63 acres in Canton, Michigan. One of the hangars contains a rare resource in the form of Paulson Aviation Library.
John Maxfield, VP of EAA Chapter 113, graciously answered questions and provided a fascinating tour.
“We have about 3,500 volumes. The library was started in 2002 and is hyper-focused on all things aviation. Our main librarian is Barb Cook but she’s on vacation right now. And yes, this is a functional library, Dewey catalogued and everything.”
Paulson Aviation Library @ Canton’s Mettetal Airport (photo by Ryan M. Place)
“The library features mostly books. Non-fiction, biographical, military, reference & technical manuals. We also have vintage journals, flight manuals, various ephemera, photos, DVDs and VHS tapes.”
“Some classic standard books we have are Stick and Rudder (1944), We (1927) Lindbergh, and Carrying the Fire (1974). I’m currently looking for a decent copy of Sled Driver (1991) by Brian Schul.”
“The founder of our library, Robert Paulson, was a Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol. He was a CAP Chaplain, lived in Dearborn, and was parish priest at Church of the Holy Cross in Novi. He was also a book enthusiast and initially started this library by donating his own personal collection. He didn’t own an airplane, so this was his main project. And it’s grown over the years mostly via donations.”
“Mettetal Airport was started by Bob Mettetal. He was a bomber pilot in WWII. His brother Marv (Marvin) was also a pilot. The Mettetal family owned the land since 1920 when it was purchased by Bob’s dad Raphael (Ray) Mettetal. They had a greenhouse and decided to build an airport. Currently, Mettetal is mostly a recreation airport for enthusiasts, and it’s also used by corporations and air ambulances. It’s owned by MDOT Office of Aeronautics.”
Robert Mettetal @ Mettetal Airport Canton (photo courtesy of Google Archives)
“The State of Michigan has made a couple of incredible historic contributions to the field of aviation. In the 1920’s-30’s, Ford Motor Company invented commercial airline travel with the Ford-Trimotor Airplane. What is now Ford Proving Ground (Oakwood Blvd, Dearborn) used to be the Ford Airport, which had one of the world’s first paved runways. The Dearborn Inn across the street was one of the first air travel hotels. And the other contribution was of course the Willow Run Bomber Plant in Ypsilanti during World War Two.”
“Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is the world’s largest recreation sport aviation association. EAA Chapter 113 was founded here at Mettetal in 1961. Our nickname is the Backyard Eagles. Anyone from the general public can join. Legally, the chapter cannot own an airworthy airplane but flying clubs can form within. Our chapter has 4 flying clubs with 7 airplanes, mostly single-engine Cessnas.”
“We host interesting speakers monthly every 3rd Thursday. We’ve had authors, parachute riggers, aviation medics, astronauts, military personnel, etc. And our Young Eagles program offers free airplane rides for those aged 8-17. We do this four times per year.”
Paulson Aviation Library @ Canton’s Mettetal Airport (photo by Ryan M. Place)
Donate your aviation books (they may possibly purchase exceptionally rare items)
Paulson Aviation Library is available by appointment and also during regular gatherings (3rd Thurs of the month, 7:30pm) and events (see calendar on their website).
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