Friday, 12/19

Hi, I'm Jim and I, apparently, have a problem.

Now, before you go and say to yourself “Jim, you definitely have more than ONE problem”, let me explain.  I bring food to work with me each week.  On occasion, I don't eat it all, leaving some in the station refrigerator to munch on the next week.  On occasion, I forget what I have in the fridge, and am surprised (usually pleasantly) by what I find in there.

On occasion, I've forgotten about what's in there so much that I amass quite the collection of, oh, say...yogurt.

If you're curious, that's nine containers of yogurt sitting in the work refrigerator.  The past few weeks, when I've gone grocery shopping, I seem to recall wondering if I needed more yogurt for work.  I wasn't sure, so I bought a few more containers.

Note to self—you don't need to buy ANY yogurt when you go shopping tomorrow

Some days, I amaze even myself.  And usually, it's not in a good way.

8-)

*****

Yesterday I had written about the nice comments people had been sharing about the latest “Pieces of the Past” video.  Here's one more--

I should really be snarky right now and say “what's a phone book?”  But as it is, I'll take the compliment.  Glad everyone's enjoying it.

On that note, enjoy your weekend.  I hope you get all the holiday stuff you need to get done...done!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 12/18

I didn't know it would have quite in the impact that is seems to have had.

This week's “Pieces of the Past” video is actually a riff on one of the segments I did at “Legends & Lore II” at Kaufman last January, the story of how downtown Marquette was once home to five national chain department stores, making it pretty much the shopping epicenter of the UP.  I figured it would be a good topic around this time of the year, and stuck it online and on the History Center's You Tube site yesterday morning.

And then the messages hit.

Unlike some of the videos I make, this one seems to have triggered fond memories in people.  I guess that's not a surprise, as the time period I'm describing was well within the lifetimes of most area residents (heck, I even remember some of the stuff I talk about).  And several people shared those memories with me, saying things like “(this) Brought back so many memories. Thanks!”, or “This was an excellent piece! A wonderful remembrance of my childhood. Thank you!”

Some people even got a little more specific--

“I fondly remember the hustle and bustle of downtown Marquette as a child. Getting Cub Scout gear and clothes at Penneys, shopping in Ben Franklin for candy and comics, "Monkey Wards" for clothes (I bought a model of the Starship Enterprise there in 1968!) Great times, and this was a great piece!” 

I've always thought nostalgia's a powerful emotion.  I guess the responses I've received from the video so far goes to prove that.  One of the reasons I make these videos is to preserve Marquette history.  Another is to teach.  And if, in the process, people get to relive part of their lives that are now long gone?

Well, that's just a bonus.  And a very good one at that.

Wanna check it out for yourself?

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 12/17

Beer and/or pasties would not even be the strangest of the flavor combinations. Trust me on that.

Yesterday I was talking some possible Christmas cookies combinations, and someone sent me a note saying they've actually had a cookie with a beer-infused frosting, a cookie they said they would probably not try again.

I would probably have to agree with them on that.

That got me to thinking--which, as we all know, can be a very dangerous thing—about some of the strange cookie flavor combinations I've tried over the years. Some have worked, some haven't, and some have become Jim staples. We're talking things like--

Double chocolate with red pepper flakes.

Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies

Triple chocolate with crystallized ginger cookies

Blackberry cinnamon cookies

Lemon rosemary cookies.

Lavender sugar cookies

Maple pecan bacon cookies.

And others.

Like I said, not all of them were successful, but several (like the whole wheat chocolate chip and the lavender sugar cookies) have become staples. Sometimes I just like to experiment; sometimes I'll eat a combination in a non-cookie setting and wonder how they'd work together a cookie.

So I conduct an experiment and find out.

The one thing I've wanted to try in a cookie but haven't yet found the perfect partner for is (and try not to gag here) curry powder. I love curry; whether or not it would work in a cookie has yet to be explored. But if I ever think of a way in which it might work, you can be sure that I'll give it a shot. I have no idea what the end result would be like, but I promise to give it a shot.

And, if that's the case, maybe I'll have enough guts to try cookies that taste like beer or pasties. Even if I received some good advice that I shouldn't.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 12/16

 No, I've never tried to make cookies with those two particular ingredients.

Although it might be fun to see how they'd turn out.

My TV piece last night dealt with Christmas cookies, and how they're woven into the fabric of an Upper Peninsula.  One of gags in it dealt with making cookies that might reflect a UP palette; namely, cookies that taste like beer or pasties.  In it, I may have insinuated that I've tried making them before, but in all honesty, I have not.

I mean,  I sometimes like to experiment while baking.  But I've never had the guts to go that far.

There are a couple of problems with the concept, the biggest being that neither beer nor pasties lend themselves to sweet cookies.  Theoretically, I suppose, you could whip up some some kind of beer-inspired frosting to stick on a sugar cookie, and you might get away with it.  But pasty flavored cookies?  Uhm...that's a hard pass.

Unless, of course, someone comes up with some kind of revolutionary process to make onions and/or rutabagas taste okay in baked goods.  And if someone were actually able to do that, they'd probably make a mint out of it.

At least here in the UP.

Admittedly, I HAVE tried a few interesting cookie flavors over the years; in fact, maybe I'll write about them tomorrow.  But there is a line that I probably wouldn't cross, and, sadly, on the other side of that line sits two of the iconic foods of the UP.

Here's the whole bit, if you're curious--

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 12/15

A couple of years ago, we ran a commercial that asked a very timely question--

What would you rather have this time of the year, more time or more money? I’ve always agreed with the answer the commercial gave, perhaps no more so than this year.

I would MUCH rather have the extra time.

That’s become OH so apparent the last week or so as I’ve I tried to cram in the thought of cookie baking, shopping, more baking, more shopping, writing and delivering a weekly TV piece, preparing for a Kaufman history show, posting a weekly history video, and a few non-essential items like eating and sleeping (and working) in each 24-hour day. As I realized last night while lying in bed unable to sleep, the time for all of that is rapidly running out.

After all these years, you’d think we’d figure out how to budget time around the holidays, but it never seems to work. Every year, things seem to get added onto our schedule, and what we may have been able to accomplish before the holidays LAST year now mocks us as we cry while looking over our “to-do” lists.

I’ve taken to adding something onto my Christmas list every year. For the past 20 or so years, when anyone asks what I want for the holidays, I’ll list a couple of things I think people will want to get me, and then a couple of other fanciful items that I’d like but I know I’ll never get, which usually consist of world peace and my own spaceship. Since 2005 (I think) I’ve added a third item--a 25^th hour in the day.

Well, a boy can dream, can’t he? And while I have, in various forms, received “world peace” and “my own spaceship” over the past few years (on T-shirts, toys, and trinkets) Santa has yet to slip that extra hour per day into my stocking.

If you happen to visit Santa before next Wednesday night, wanna drop a hint or two for me? I’d sure appreciate it!

*****

Speaking of not having enough time, if you don’t have enough time (or gas) to drive around and look at Christmas lights, try THIS.

You can thank me later.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 12/12

I think I finally get it.

Here's a fun fact about me.  When asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, I've only ever had three answers.  One was “astronaut”, another was what I'm doing now, and the third, apparently. was the first career field to which I ever aspired...

Garbage collector?

I don't remember this at all, but according to my dear  mother (hi down in Florida, Mom!) when I was a little kid I wanted to be a garbage collector.  There was apparently a very specific reason for it, in that  when I was young I was enthralled with the sound and the clatter that a garbage truck would make.  According to my mom, every single garbage day I would eagerly await the arrival of the truck, and then stare in wonder as the workers tossed cans in and the machinery within made a ruckus that would raise the dead.

As we've all figured out by now, I was a very special child.

I've always kind of chuckled at that story, really believing that I wasn't mesmerized by the racket made by the garbage truck.  But then I walked to work Wednesday.  On my daily stroll down to the station I pass a day care center where kids are always running around outside, burning energy, and most days even waving at me.  However, on Wednesday they weren't doing any of that, because their attention was placed elsewhere.

They were watching a garbage truck's mechanical arms pick up a bin and placing its contents into the top of the truck.

Now, I'm not talking just one “very special child” doing this.  Nope; a dozen kids—boys & girls—all under five years old, stood staring intently at the truck, mesmerized by what it was doing.  I don't know why; after all I was thinking, much like a cranky old man in training, that it was probably almost too loud for a city street.  But the kids were just rapt, staring at what they perceived as an awesome sight.

Apparently much like I did when I was young.

Now I have no idea if any of those kids would answer “garbage collector” when asked what they want to be when they grow up.  But if one of them were to do so, I guess I would kind of understand.

Because apparently there's just something about kids & garbage trucks.

Have a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 12/11

To quote a great American philosopher, “Oops...I did it again”.

Sigh.

All this year I've been writing about a strange habit I've picked up, the habit of writing newspaper articles for the History Center, turning them in, and then promptly forgetting about them until weeks later when I open the paper and am shocked by what I see.

I'm thinking that maybe I should just stop reading the Mining Journal. That way I won't be shocked by myself.

8-)

So I'll once again re-purpose something I wrote weeks ago and then totally put out of my mind. This time of the year, we can always consider it the gift that keeps on giving.

That's okay. You can thank me later.

(jim@wmqt.com)

*****

Let’s Go To The Mall

By Jim Koski

Marquette Regional History Center

Up until the early 1970s downtown was the center of Marquette commerce. From national chain stores to mom & pop outlets, from banks to grocery stores, when you needed to buy something, including all the holiday shopping one usually does this time of the year, you went “downtown”.

That all changed when the Marquette Mall opened.

In 1971 three developers announced plans to build one of the UP's first enclosed shopping malls on the city's west side. That area of Marquette was being rapidly developed, and in the previous few years had seen the building of several major projects, including a Holiday Inn and a ShopKo store. The Marquette Mall, sitting right alongside US-41, was set to cost four point six million dollars, and in promotional materials was being labeled “a park under a roof” with plans for up to 40 stores inside and free parking for almost 2,000 vehicles outside.

Construction started on the Mall in early 1973. Just a few months later, several stores had already opened, while the Mall itself held a grand opening November 7^th, 1973, set to coincide with the public unveiling of its main anchor store, Woolworth's. To reinforce the “park” theme of the new facility, palm trees from Florida were flown in for the event, while live music was offered while shoppers explored what the mall had to offer.

Woolworth's, which took up almost 40% of the project’s total square footage, was just one of the businesses that relocated from downtown Marquette. The other mall anchor, Angeli's Super Valu, also made the move west, as did other stores ranging from Stern & Fields Clothing and Jean’s Jewelry to The Sound Center.

The opening of the mall had an immediate impact on local shopping habits. With so many stores under one roof consumers no longer had to make their way through bad weather or traffic going from store to store on Washington and Front Streets. That soon led to an exodus of department and grocery stores and other shops from the downtown area. The mall's center court also offered a gathering place for many different community activities, ranging from exhibitions by the Boy Scouts and radio fundraising telethons to a visit in 1978 by then Vice President Walter Mondale.

However, the heyday of the Marquette Mall didn't last for long. The Mall didn't have the high ceilings and wide aisles of most malls, and the store that took up almost half the space of the building, Woolworth's, only had about half the sales per square foot of other area department stores like ShopKo or K-Mart. When the Westwood Plaza expanded into the Westwood Mall in the late 1980s many Marquette Mall stores and shoppers migrated there. It was just a few years later that both original Marquette Mall anchor stores–Woolworth’s and Angeli’s–closed, and traffic in the facility fell drastically.

By the turn of the 21st century the mall had undergone several ownership changes, and large sections of it were closed off to the public. In fact, the biggest tenant remaining in the building was a car dealership run by the mall’s then-owners. Once that dealership relocated to Marquette Township, most of the original mall building was torn down. All that's left today is an empty space in the section of the building that used to be Woolworth's, along with an empty restaurant building and a still functioning car wash in what’s left of the parking lot. But during its heyday in the 70s and 80s, the Marquette Mall had a big impact. For the most part, Marquette area shoppers no longer went downtown to do your Christmas shopping or pick up whatever essentials you needed. Instead, you just hopped into your car, and you “went to the mall”.