Detroit Moxie is excited to give away a family 4 pack to this fun family event. I know many of you have young kids, or in my case a husband that acts like a 6 year old, so I hope you enjoy this.
Thomas is celebrating his 65th birthday and wants to celebrate with all his fans, young and old alike. Hop on the train and take a ride on a 15-ton replica of Thomas the Tank Engine. Children will also have the opportunity to meet Sir Topham Hatt, Controller of The Railway, and participate in other fun activities.
Day Out With Thomas will be at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan on April 23-25, April 30-May 2, and May 8-9, 2010.
The Loot
One winner will receive one family 4 pack of tickets to Day Out With Thomas™ valid for the date of their choice. Yep, that's 4 tickets in total. Tickets include admission to Greenfield Village.
To Enter
Simply tell me in the comments why you would like to go see Thomas the Tank Engine™ at Greenfield Village. Please use a valid email address, as this is how I will contact the winner.
Legal Gobbledygook
No purchase necessary to enter. The winner will be picked randomly from random.org. Only one entry per person. Specific date and time of tickets is subject to availability. Disclosure: Tickets for a Day Out With Thomas were provided for review. The opinions in this post and subsequent posts about this event are mine and are not influenced by anyone.
Contest ends on 4/22/2010 at 11:59:59 p.m. EST. The winner will be contacted and announced on 4/23/2010.
So get to it! Tell me why you and your family or friends want to go see Thomas™!
I spent Friday and Saturday at FutureMidwest 2010 at the Royal Oak Music Theatre. I was inspired. I was told it’s ok to go crazy, or at least have crazy ideas.
Pretty cool, right? But here’s the thing, just about everyone that attended the conference has already seen that video. And most of us that were there already feel this way.
We’re preaching to the choir, people!
The people of Detroit need to see this. Heck, people around the world need to see this. We need to start sharing this energy and convert the non-believers, the naysayers, and Chris Hanson. I’ll get to him in a bit.
"In Detroit, we have more talent and more technical expertise concentrated in one region than anywhere else in the United States," he said. "And we're stuck in this because we're told we're supposed to be stuck in this."
"If you want to make a difference in Detroit, I would say think about those limits that have been set for you -- anything you've been told is impossible -- find one and break it, because there's no people better qualified to do that than the people in this room"
So, I walked away from the conference with a spring in my step, with the confidence that the ideas that have been swimming around in my head are worth investing in.
It didn’t show us anything we don’t already know. We know Detroit has problems. The national media has been showcasing Detroit’s ruin porn and the “burnt out Detroit” for a long time so the rest of the country knows too. The heartbreak was the focus of the program while the hope was glossed over.
Chris Hansen, another hometown boy, thought he could come here and get the story right because he’s from here. He didn’t offer anything new to the equation; he didn’t bring any solutions to the table.
Watching my twitter stream and the #detdateline hashtag was interesting. It was split between people who thought it was fantastic and people who thought it sucked donkey balls. I’m on the donkey balls side.
Did it show an accurate picture of Detroit? Yes. Did it show the whole picture? Most certainly not. It was a lost opportunity for a hometown boy to do the job right, to actually make a difference in the way the world sees our city.
Action: Time to get your hands dirty
So, where does this leave me? Did FutureMidwest inspire me? Yes. Did Dateline piss me off? Yes.
Now, what do I do with that fire, that anger, that something-something?
I act. I get a little crazy.
I’m just one person who is doing what I can to encourage people to explore Detroit, to embrace this city. But that’s not enough.
I’ve had this crazy idea to start a community outreach/volunteer aspect on Detroit Moxie for some time now. I’ve found, through this little ole blog of mine, that there are many people out there who love this city as much as I do and who want to do something to make it better.
What can we do?
Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, Detroit won’t be fixed overnight. But we can make a start.
I’m open to suggestions. I’ll start making the phone calls today. I just need you to show up.
The big question is: Are you in? Were you all talk while watching Dateline or are you ready to get your hands dirty and make a difference? I’m rolling up my sleeves and heading in.
I hope someone joins me. I hope I’m not all alone.
I started making my first search story and I did what anyone else would do. I kind of Googled myself in this new way. Narcissistic, yes, but still cool.
Then I thought about what else could be done with this new tool. Earlier in the week at Tweetea we were sharing some of our favorite places. So, I made this video of some of my favorite places in Detroit.
Yes, I started to get a bit carried away.
The Search Stories Video Creator is about sharing our own stories. So, I thought I should actually make one that told a story.
What if we all shared our favorite places in Detroit? Or told our own Detroit stories through search?
I want to know your favorite places in Detroit. I want to know your Detroit story. Tell a story or share your favorites or both using the Google Search Stories Video Creator.
Tag them in the description with Detroit and Detroit Moxie (put a link in the comments too as I’m not having much luck with their search function). I’ll look through them all and share my favorites in a future post.
I had a conversation with some folks the other day about events in Detroit. Sometimes, there are two events you want to go to at the same time. Unless you have access to a fantabulous cloning device, you end up missing out on one of them.
Individually, this situation sucks. For the greater Detroit community, however, this is awesome. I love that we have such a diverse assortment of events going on here in the D.
Oh, and if by chance you do have access to a cloning device, hook a girl up!
Weekend Roundup
1. Belle Isle Kite Day (Facebook Link) - Head down to our lovely island park and go fly a kite! The annual kite day takes place at the Belle Isle Athelic Field at The Strand & Vista Way from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. April 17th.
2. Detroit Music Awards - The 19th annual DMA's feature performances by Ro Spit and Monica Blaire. The Fillmore. April 16th.
3. Three Stooges Festival - Moe, Larry, and Curly (and possibly Shemp) hit the big screen at the historic Redford Theatre. Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk. April 16-17.
Image courtesy of threestooges.net
4. Lettuce Rock! - This benefit for the Royal Oak Community Farm features live entertainment, food & alcohol, and activities for the kids. And it's only $5. April 17th.
The spring addition of Detroit Restaurant Week begins at the end of the week, April 16-25, 2010. People have been buzzing about it for the last month, perusing menus and making reservations.
The inaugural Detroit Restaurant Week (DRW) last September was a rousing success; serving over 27,000 diners in the 17 participating Detroit Restaurants.
Each participating restaurants will offer a three-course dinner for the economical price of $27 per person (excluding beverages, tax, and tip).
Historic Roma Café in Eastern Market is a welcome addition this spring and all of the restaurants will feature spring-inspired menus.
The promotion runs for 10 days and is great opportunity to try out one of Detroit’s upscale restaurants without putting a huge dent in your wallet.
Prelude Party
To kick off the 10-day promotion there is a Detroit Restaurant Week Prelude Party on Thursday, April 15th from 5-9 p.m. at Iridescence & Amnesia at the MotorCity Casino Hotel. The Prelude party will benefit Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan.
The Prelude Party is free but attendees are encouraged to bring canned goods or make a monetary donation to Gleaners. Complimentary appetizers will be served and there will be a cash bar. If you’d like to attend the Prelude Party you must R.S.V.P. at rsvp2010@detroitrestaurantweek.com.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 12:27AM | 
Thomas the Tank Engine™ is rolling into Greenfield Village for the Day Out With Thomas™: The Celebration Tour 2010.
