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Ryan Eashoo
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Madonna museum, tours are what Bay City group hopes to launch
by Ryan J. Stanton | The Bay City Times
Saturday December 06, 2008, 12:26 AM
In downtown Bay City, you can stop into the Bay City Motor Co. and find Madonna memorabilia like the framed copy of the "Like a Virgin" record on display.
The Material Girl's image is just one small piece of Gary Johnson's growing collection of Michigan rock and roll artifacts.
At Gypsies, 510 Third St., "smelly little town" coffee beans are sold with a smile and Marianna Super has Madonna's natal astrology chart painted on a 100-square-foot wall.
Elsewhere, there's not a lot of recognition that Madonna was born and semi-raised in Bay City, population 34,000.
"I think the people of Bay City let the goose that laid the golden egg get away," laments Edward Sierras of Essexville.
Sierras appeared before the Bay City Commission recently to present a gift to Mayor Charles M. Brunner: a coffee mug his group picked up while visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, listing Madonna as one of this year's inductees.
Sierras, 69, is a member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Saginaw Valley State University, a group of older adults -- mostly retirees -- with a desire to stay engaged socially, culturally and intellectually.
Sierras and other OLLI members traveled to the Rock Hall in October.
"We wanted to see the exhibit about our Material Girl," Sierras said. "Gosh, it was really great. They have a lot of her memorabilia."
OLLI came back proud to report there's only one city mentioned on Madonna's biography: Bay City, which the singer still considers her hometown to this day.
"We said, 'Boy, that is really going to motivate people in Bay City to try to get some things organized,'" Sierras said.
Uptown Girl?
OLLI members suggest Bay City officials seriously examine the possibility of setting aside acreage at Uptown at RiversEdge, a 48-acre industrial site that's been vacant along the Saginaw River for several years.
Sierras thinks it'd be good grounds for, say, a Madonna birthplace museum, attracting visitors from all over the world.
"She is the most successful female entertainer of all time," he said.
At the very least, Sierras thinks city officials, with the Bay City Convention and Visitors Bureau, could establish and market a tour of all the landmarks that represent parts of Madonna's Bay City past.
That might include the hospital where Madonna was born, the house where she spent her childhood summers, the park where she played, the Catholic church where she and her family attended or the cemetery where her mother of the same name is buried.
Essexville resident Gary Johnson, known to many as "Dr. J," guided OLLI's tour through the Rock Hall. He's a retired schoolteacher who now lectures on the history of rock at SVSU through OLLI and maintains the Web site, www.michiganrockandrolllegends.com.
Johnson is responsible for the exhibit at the Bay City Motor Co., where Madonna is one of 35 inductees voted into a quasi-Michigan rock hall of fame through his Web site.
Johnson said he actually laid out a proposal about six years ago to have an official Michigan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum built at Uptown, thinking it could be a way to highlight the city's connections to Madonna and draw tourism. City leaders never responded, but now they're pushing the idea of a maritime heritage center to recognize the city's shipbuilding past, which a consultant estimates could cost $20 million.
"There's a saying -- you're never as big in your hometown as you are everywhere else," Johnson said. "I don't think there are too many cities that have produced a star the magnitude of Madonna and have steadfastly ignored the fact as Bay City has."
Getting over it
Johnson says it's time to forgive and forget what happened in the 1980s, when a former Bay City mayor publicly chastised Madonna and refused to give her a key to the city. Madonna responded by calling Bay City a "smelly little town" on national television, a gaffe she later apologized for, but many residents have never forgiven her.
"It just left a bad taste, I'm sure, in a lot of people's mouths," said City Commissioner MaryJane Gorney, 5th Ward, bringing up the remark again at a recent city meeting.
Mayor Charles M. Brunner and Commission President Christopher J. Shannon, 1st Ward, both are calling Madonna home to accept a key to the city.
"I'm sure there's some affinity and affection there, we've just got to be able to tap into it," Brunner said of Madonna's love for Bay City, which he believes is evident in her still considering Bay City her hometown.
Johnson looks forward to the day when somebody at City Hall calls him back on his idea to bring rock and roll to Uptown.
"I would love to work on it," he said. "That's kind of what I established my Web site for, to keep alive the flame of Michigan rock and roll. And Madonna is as big as it's ever gotten in Michigan as far as rock and roll goes."
Sierras said OLLI, about 1,100 members strong, is primarily an educational organization, so it cannot put money behind any economic development efforts.
Johnson, however, thinks anything the city can do would pay for itself.
"I think the city over the past 23 years has probably missed out on millions of dollars in tourist business. It's just a shame."
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:53 pm |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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See this is our chance for a Michael Moore Museum!! Anyone wanna help?
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:50 am |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
See this is our chance for a Michael Moore Museum!! Anyone wanna help?
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_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:00 am |
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Adam Ford
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Ryan Eashoo schreef:
See this is our chance for a Michael Moore Museum!! Anyone wanna help?
Maybe you and Kevin could put one in Davison. |
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Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:07 am |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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Adam are you saying you don't want our museum in Flint?
quote:
Adam Ford schreef:
quote:
Ryan Eashoo schreef:
See this is our chance for a Michael Moore Museum!! Anyone wanna help?
Maybe you and Kevin could put one in Davison.
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_________________
Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:14 pm |
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andi03
F L I N T O I D
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What about the days of old when a person had to be deceased for a building to be named after them or a museum erected in their honor.......just feeds the ego. Majority of celebrities don't need any more ego....sheesh.
I won't be going...especially if they show pictures of her with armpit hair......ick.... |
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Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:22 pm |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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Okay Andi, so the Madonna Museum you wouldn't go to on a HOLIDAY! But what about the Michael Moore museum? It would be in Flint, and all profits would go to Flint Charities!!
quote:
andi03 schreef:
What about the days of old when a person had to be deceased for a building to be named after them or a museum erected in their honor.......just feeds the ego. Majority of celebrities don't need any more ego....sheesh.
I won't be going...especially if they show pictures of her with armpit hair......ick....
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:34 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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Lets hope they dont show any Fatmikey armpit hair either. 
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:54 pm |
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andi03
F L I N T O I D
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No, I actually don't like going to "people" museums. Normally when I do go the people are dead...<shrug>
I didn't like naming some of the newly built schools in my area and my old hometown after people that were still living.
I even told my gramps when he was still alive...why in the h*ll did **you** name a street after **you** in Fenton?! I have other relatives in Fenton whose name appears on a street sign...but they're all deceased.  |
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Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:03 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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Hang on to your ass than cause theirs a bunch of stuff coming up thats about to be named Obama , Barack or Hussein. Well maybe not Hussein  |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:20 pm |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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Twotap can we put your name down to be a docent at the Michael Moore Museum otherwise known as M & M & M?
quote:
twotap schreef:
Hang on to your ass than cause theirs a bunch of stuff coming up thats about to be named Obama , Barack or Hussein. Well maybe not Hussein
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:39 pm |
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Adam Ford
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Ryan Eashoo schreef:
Adam are you saying you don't want our museum in Flint?
How long did he live in Flint for? |
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Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:22 am |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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Adam are you saying you don't want our museum in Flint?
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:04 pm |
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Adam Ford
F L I N T O I D
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| I guess it would be a good thing (jobs) if you could keep it open as a for profit. I think Mott and others should focus on other things though. I'm not sure how big the interest would be for a MM muesum or whatever. |
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Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:06 am |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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Michael Moore is bigger than life, wether you love or hate him, people love talking about him. Look what he is doing for Traverse City Michigan, that Theatre is getting NATIONAL attention. The likes of Madonna, Kid Rock, Bruce Springstein, MADONNA, Pamela Anderson and others are going there.
They run films there that no little theatre could ever run. Because of MM that place is being restored and brought back to live. ( along with the other volunteers too ).
quote:
Adam Ford schreef:
I guess it would be a good thing (jobs) if you could keep it open as a for profit. I think Mott and others should focus on other things though. I'm not sure how big the interest would be for a MM muesum or whatever.
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:41 am |
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