May 30, 2024 - The City of Ann Arbor is thanking all who helped celebrate Ann Arbor's actual anniversary last month and the organizations who contributed to the festivities. The celebrations are continuing! Be sure to visit A200 online to keep up with happenings throughout the summer, including:
50th Dexter-Ann Arbor Half Marathon
Sunday, June 2
7:15 a.m.
13.1 mile course from Dexter to Ann Arbor
Since 1974, the beautiful shaded backwoods of the Huron River region provide the setting for the annual Ann Arbor Track Club's, Dexter to Ann Arbor Half Marathon. Runners will start the half marathon in the picturesque town of Dexter, Michigan, and head east for a scenic, rolling 13.1-mile course along beautiful Huron River Drive to the finish in historic downtown Ann Arbor. Learn more https://dxa2.com/
A2ZERO Week
June 9-14
In June 2020, the city's plan to achieve a just transit ion to community-wide carbon neutrality, known as A2ZERO , was unanimously adopted by Ann Arbor City Council. Each year, the Ann Arbor Office of Sustainability and Innovations organizes A2ZERO Week to commemorate the passing of the plan and to celebrate the work done by the city and its many sustainability collaborators. Join the celebration and learn how Ann Arbor is continuing to build on the past 200 years of rich history and cultural heritage for a community that is and continues to be transformative, equitable and sustainable for all. View the online event calendar.
Have you enjoyed attending an Ann Arbor Bicentennial event or will you be attending an event in the future? The city wants to include your community images in a year-end video collage. Please send your images with expressed permission to share via city channels to [email protected].
Bentley Historical Library Announces Digitized Ivory Photo Collection
Thousands of historical photos of Ann Arbor and surrounding communities are now available digitally as part of the Bentley Historical Library's contribution to the Ann Arbor Bicentennial.
Mel Ivory, co-founder of Ivory Photo Engraving Company, began his photography career doing photo finishing at both his father's and his uncle's drug stores. This early work led him into a career in photography that began in the mid-1920s when he was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Many of his earliest photographs capture the University of Michigan campus and life in Ann Arbor in the 1920s and 1930s.
After graduating, Ivory continued his photo finishing work and began providing photography services to the local community, and his work continued into the 1970s. Ten years later, the Bentley Historical Library acquired Ivory's extensive collection of photographic negatives documenting the built environment, local businesses and community life in Washtenaw County in the middle of the 20th century.
As Ann Arbor celebrates its bicentennial this year, the Bentley Library wanted to make the Ivory Photo collection available online, to the entire community. Staff worked to prepare more than 10,000 photo negatives for digitization, many of which were delicate and even combustible due to a nitrate component, and therefore required special handling.
The first batch of 2,700 images comprising mostly photos of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan is now available. The Bentley Library is grateful for its partners at U-M Library, who are hosting the images on their digital collections platform at https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhl10ic
The remaining photos from the collection will be available sometime in fall 2024.
Rotary Club of Ann Arbor Contributes to Bicentennial Park
Located at the corner of Ellsworth Road and Platt Road, Southeast Area Park was renamed Bicentennial Park with an improvement plan in place. The primary enhancement will be Ann Arbor's first universal-access splash pad, updated playground, pavilion and restrooms, all of which will be solar powered. Additional items being considered are a new building and shelter to support park operations and programming, trail improvements and more. By supporting these enhancements, the park will see an increase in accessibility that will offer a vibrant, innovative and inclusive environment where neighbors, friends and families can connect. The City of Ann Arbor hopes to raise funding to ensure the design, construction and completion of the projects.
The city expresses thanks to the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor for its $20,000 donation to assist in Bicentennial Park enhancements. “The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor works on projects that are local, national and international with the goal of 'Making a Difference' in the community," said Joyce Hunter, incoming Rotary Club of Ann Arbor president. “The Bicentennial Park Project will definitely 'Make a Difference,' and that's why we are so happy to be a part of this very special project."
Fundraising Projects
Opportunities are available to support the following projects:
# # # # #
