The Raw Cafe': Detroit's NEW Organic Cuisine and Juice Bar

Tuesday Tidbits

4160 Woodward Ave. 
Call 1.248.790.6111 
www.therawcafe.com 
HOURS: Mon-Thu: 7am-7pm; Fri: 7am-Sundown;  
Sat: 6pm-10pm; and Sun: 10am-4pm.


The Raw Cafe' offers organic "living" foods menu prepared from the finest raw, organic, vegn ingredients; while supporting local farmers, sustainable agriculture and environmentally friendly products.

Founder LaKeta McCauley, certified raw chef, certified nutrionist, author and cancer survivor, first started a gourmet raw food meal delivery service in 2007 out of a desire to bring the message of food healing to other people. She has since established a physical location at 4160 Woodward Avenue corner of Willis Street in Detroit Michigan.

The restaurant, is said to have an eclectic feel and feature savory meals as well as treats such as waffle cones and ice cream. McCauley believes that eating raw, organic, and vegan food goes a long way toward optimum health. The Raw Cafe' provides the city with a wholistic approach to eating by offering delectable foods, literature, workshops and certification classes

McCauley wrote a book on raw healing, titled Taking Every “Bite” Seriously. CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE RAW BOOKSTORE STORE

CLASSES & WORKSHOPS

THE RAW CAFE' Featured

in Detroit's B.L.A.C. Magazine

 

THE RAW CAFE' Featured

in Natural Awakenings Magazine

 

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Detroit's Unique Neighborhoods: Highland Park Michigan

 The City of Highland Park Michigan is unique in that it is completed surrounded by the City of Detroit. Originally a farming community located six miles north of Detroit, Judge Augustus B. Woodward bought the farming ridge in 1818, and in 1825 and platted a village he called "Woodwardville". That village failed, and in 1836, Detroit Judge Benjamin F.H. Witherell, whose father James Witherell was a Michigan Supreme Court Judge, again tried to start a village; that attempt also failed. Finally, in 1889, a village called Highland Park was incorporated was a population of just over 400 residents.

In 1909, the village of Highland Park was chosen by Henry Ford for his automobile plant that featured the first assembly line in America which was completed in 1913. In 1918, Highland Park was incorporated as a city to protect the boundaries and keep it separate from the City of Detroit. With the Ford Plant, and the famous $5 a day wages being paid, the population of Highland Park exploded to almost 47,000 residents by 1920 and 53,000 people by 1930.  However, since the Great Depression, the population of Highland Park has continuously declined; the 2000 census recorded just under 15,000 residents.

 

In addition to having the honor of being the "Home of the Model T", Highland Park is also famous for having the world's first modern freeway, the Davison, which runs east-west through the city and was completely reconstructed in 1997. Highland Park was also home to the first headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation. 

Highland Park was also once known as the "City of Trees" because of the beautiful oak and elm trees which blanketed the area; however, many trees succumbed to "Dutch Elm Disease" in the 1970s. Highland Park is still known for its beautiful homes built in the early 20th century; especially those of the "Arts and Crafts" style. Beginning in the 1990s, Highland Park embarked on a renewal building process, with many new homes and retail shopping areas around Woodward Avenue.




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Joe Biden and Mass Transit in Detroit

Update: Barack and Michelle Obama and Joe and Jill Biden will be in Detroit on Monday at Hart Plaza! 11 am at the end of the Annual Labor Day Parade! See ya there

Last week, I promised that I would find a connection between Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate Joe Biden and Detroit. Betcha didn't know that Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) is one of the staunchest supporters of the development and growth of mass transit options for America!

Here in Detroit, the Motor City, it has been decades since mass transit was a really viable and reliable option. As people moved further and further away from the City Center, highways were built and cars became almost indispensible--except a lot of people don't have cars. The absence of a modern mass transit system has been a detriment to the development of a truly regional metroplex. In 1919, Detroit voted for a bond issue to finance a subway system, but it was vetoed by Mayor James Couzens.

Along the east coast of the United States, especially between the Washington, D.C. area and points north and west, Amtrak has continued to run commuter trains used by millions daily. Senator Biden has for years taken the "train" daily to and from his home in Delaware, and has sponsored several bills to strengthen the funding for Amtrak.

Back here at home, the non-profit group Transportation Riders United (TRU) has been in the forefront to bring back good mass transportation to Detroit, including working with different government organizations and community groups on the two primary plans for light-rail service in Detroit: the publicly -funded DDOT 5-year Plan and the privately-funded Woodward Catalyst Project.

There is also an excellent and complete history of mass transit in Detroit from 1863 to the present on the TRU Website.

On Sunday, Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden, along with their wives, Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, will be campaigning in Michigan. Hopefully we'll hear about future mass transit plans for Detroit and Michigan.

Pictures of Detroit Department of Street Railways credit: Dave's Railpix

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Detroit Staycation: Another Woodward Cruise!

 Last weekend, the Annual Woodward Dream Cruise took place in Detroit and Oakland County, featuring thousands of classic cars and millions of visitors.  This weekend, in Detroit, the 2nd Annual "Detroit Bikes! Cruise" will take place with bike riders from around town "cruising Woodward" on two wheels!

Detroit Synergy, a volunteer grassroots group that works through community participation to help Detroiters explore and enjoy all that Detroit has to offer, have sponsoring a Bike Tour this Saturday, August 23rd.  It is part of a celebration of the 201st anniversary of Woodward Avenue.

Throughout the year, Detroit Synergy has various projects for Detroit enthusiasts to participate in---both for pure enjoyment as well as community involvement/improvement. 

All the information you need to know for this weekend's Cruise is below--from the Detroit Synergy Website... 

Saturday August 23rd, Detroit Bikes! will see you at the Clock Tower on the University of Detroit-Mercy (McNichols) Campus to celebrate Woodward Avenue. Our regions most important avenue is turning 201 years old in 2008 and Detroit Bikes! wants to celebrate Woodward Heritage Days throughout July and August by hosting our own version of the "Cruise".

^{**Credit for first surfacing a rural U.S. public road with Portland Cement Concrete pavement is generally conceded to Wayne County, Michigan. A one-mile section of Woodward Avenue was opened in 1909. As shown in the painting, motorists, farmers, and others users seemed to approve.  - Image copyright: US Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration website | Carl Rakeman Painting}

Tour Start Time

Tour will start @ 10am PROMPTLY at the Clock Tower on the University (McNichols) Campus.  Our tours are beginners' level cycling speeds and we obey all traffic laws.
*Parking fees and sites vary due to events, however free visitors parking is available on the campus grounds.  Parking is at owner's expense.  Ride a bike!

Tour Start Point

Main Tour: 10am at University of Detroit-Mercy, McNichols Campus -- at the north side of the Clock Tower .   The University of Detroit-Mercy is located just east of Livernois Avenue and south of McNichols (6 Mile) Road.  The Clock Tower can be found in the center of the campus, a large limestone structure, near "the fountain" and the UDM Library, Chemistry, and Engineering Buildings. 
For a Map of the University of Detroit-Mercy Campus: http://tinyurl.com/2kdcy6 and look for number 23 tower/powerhouse

Tour Description

Our free tour of Detroit's Automotive and Cultural Time-line, Woodward Avenue, will focus on many of the automotive landmarks that populate the upper Woodward Corridor of the "Motor City."  Take in fabulous views of Detroit's neighborhoods, destinations, and districts that have transformed Woodward Avenue including these sites:  Palmer Park, Merrill Fountain, Highland Park, Boston Edison, Virginia Park, New Center, T-Plex, Arden Park, the former site of Chrysler Headquarters in Highland Park, and the Ford Highland Park Plant which revolutionized Mass Production, the first concrete mile in the United States, and the home of the first State fair in the Country. 
The end of our tour will lead us back to the University of Detroit-Mercy.  This will conclude our "Cruise" tour series. The tour lasts until approximately 2:30pm.
Preview of our projected route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1259579

Tour Guidelines 

• Bike, bike helmet and signed liability waiver (at event location) are required!

• beginners' level cycling speeds, we obey all traffic laws

• personal money optional for stops (i.e. bakery stop or eats afterward)

• Parking fees and availability vary. However free street parking is available in the area and there are several parking lots nearby.  Parking is at owner's expense.  Ride a bike!
  

• one bathroom break scheduled

• bike light and bike lock suggested, but not mandatory

• sunscreen and water bottles suggested

• eat a modest snack or breakfast before participating suggested

• children under age 16 not suggested to ride alone, parental guidance required.

• we want to keep everyone safe, and healthy.  Please feel free to email,  with any questions or concerns detroitbikes@detroitsynergy.org 

Want to help out Detroit Bikes?

• Bike Mechanic Guru (amaze your friends, and impress your neighbors with your super-human skills of fixing a troubled bike) - 1 - 2 people preferred.

• Tour Guide Assistant (a seasoned pro of the urban street scape, or a intermediate level assistant with the special skill of keeping the group together, on the route, and informed of interesting facts on the tour)

• Liability and Legal Waiver Sage (assist with waiver sign-in, and ease the minds of fellow organizers and volunteers)

If you'd like to help out with any of the activities, please arrive 10 minutes early to the start of the tour and introduce yourself to Alex. Please send an email to detroitbikes@detroitsynergy.org, and let us know what special skill you would like to showcase the day of the tour.

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Detroit Staycation: African World Festival and Woodward Dream Cruise

If this is Thursday, it's Detroit Staycation Time! If this is the 3rd weekend of August, it's time for the African World Festival on Hart Plaza! If this is the 3rd Saturday of August, it's time for the Woodward Dream Cruise!

The African World Festival, now in its 26th year, is touted as the largest African-themed festival in the world. Sponsored by the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, features entertainment, artists and artwork from around the world, a market place, storytelling, and food and fun for the entire family. The Festival starts Friday, August 15 and runs through Sunday, August 17.

Special guest artists this year include the O'Jays, Rootz Underground from Jamaica, Mo'Nique, and one of Detroit's Blues Queens, Thornetta Davis, who will be getting married on stage! There will be face painting, arts and crafts, stilt walkers, and martial arts and dancing for the kids; and African drummers and a Step Show for the grown folks. An exciting cultural treasure to experience and celebrate the heritage of the African Diaspora in Detroit! Like all the summer festivals at Hart Plaza on the Detroit River, the African World Festival is free!

On Saturday August 16, the 14th Annual Woodward Cruise rolls down Woodward Avenue, "America's First Highway". Betcha didn't know that Woodward Avenue was the first concrete paved thoroughfare in the world!

The Woodward Dream Cruise, which has grown into the world's largest one-day celebration of America's car culture, originally started as a fundraiser for a soccer field in Ferndale! The Cruise attracts more than one million visitors and over 40,000 classic and custom-built cars every year. The Woodward Dream Cruise will last from 9 am to 9 pm, and the route stretches from Ferndale to Pontiac, Michigan. It is an alcohol-free, family-friendly event. The official Woodward Dream Cruise website has all of the latest news about this exciting--and free!--event.

As everyone in metro Detroit knows, the Dream Cruise actually starts before the Saturday official event; on Thursday at Comerica Park, there will be a Classic Car Show and Musical Entertainment from 4 - 10 pm. On Friday in Ferndale, there will be an "Emergency Vehicle Show", musical entertainment, and the official ribbon-cutting ceremony. Pontiac will be hosting several musical events all day on Friday and Saturday. For a listing of all the events hosted by the nine cities of the Dream Cruise, just check out the website.

If it's summer in Detroit, it's time for fun in the "D"! Did I mention the musical acts? If it's Detroit, you know there will be music!

Shameless Plug: please read my husband's blog The "D" Spot...

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Downtown Detroit Starbucks Stores to Close

The choice was $4.00/gallon for gas, or $4.00/cup for coffee. In Detroit it seems that the gas purchase has won. Three of the four Detroit Starbucks stores will soon be closing, it has been announced by the Starbucks Corporation.

The three Starbucks Stores are all downtown: the Buhl Building, the Millender Center, and on East Jefferson and East Grand Boulevard, across from the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle. That leaves only the Starbucks Store in Midtown on Woodward and Mack as the only Starbucks in Detroit.

Of course, if the oft-proposed, but never-realized modern mass transit system for Detroit would really come to fruition, commuters and visitors to Downtown Detroit would be able to rely less on gasoline and could spend more time relaxing with their cuppa Starbucks Joe...

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Tiger Stadium

Tiger Stadium in Detroit MI was one of the most popular and well-known ball parks in America for almost 100 years. But in the 2nd week of July 2008, the old stadium on the "corner of Michigan and Trumbull", affectionately known as just "The Corner", started coming down.

Way back in 1895, then Tiger Owner Arthur Van Der Beck bought the team, formerly known as the "Detroit Wolverines" and started building the stadium. Originally named "Bennett Park" after Tigers catcher Charlie Bennett, the Detroit Tigers played their first game there on April 28, 1896. Even after several additions, the original ballpark was made almost completely of wood--a great fire hazard. The old stadium was demolished and rebuilt with steel and concrete; and renamed Navin Field.

By 1935, the Detroit Tigers had a new owner, Walter O. Briggs, who again enlarged and improved the stadium and renamed it "Briggs Stadium". The first night game was played in Briggs Stadium in 1948. In 1961, Briggs Stadium was renamed "Tiger Stadium" by another owner, John Fetzer, who proposed building a new multipurpose stadium. However, fans were outraged and no bonds or other financing ever came through.

Although many improvements continued to be made to Tiger Stadium, including new seats, new whiz-bang electronics, a food court called "Tiger Plaza", and luxury seats, by the early 1990s, a new ballpark for the Tigers was coming into fruition. For diehard fans, Comerica Park on Woodward, beautiful though it may be, just isn't the same. The "Voice of the Tigers" for 42 years, sports broadcaster Ernie Harwell, has formed a non-profit corporation to try to save at least some of the old ballpark; but as of this writing, time is running out. The Detroit Tigers played their last game on "The Corner" on September 27, 1999, against the Kansas City Royals.

Shameless Plug for my husband's blog: Read The "D" Spot here...

Campus Martius Park

Campus Martius Park, Detroit's "Town Square", has become an all-season public gathering place for fun and relaxation for the City's residents, visitors, and downtown workers.

Campus Martius, which officially opened in 2004, was developed through a partnership between the City of Detroit and the Detroit 300 Conservancy. There are festivals, concerts, drive-in-like movies, holiday celebrations; even outdoor ice-skating. Free wireless internet access is available...well, it works well sometimes...

But "Campus Martius"? What kind of name is that? I admit, when I first heard that former Mayor Dennis Archer had chosen that name, I thought: "What? That sounds like something from outer space!"

In actuality, "Campus Martius" is Latin for "military ground and was named for the Campus Martius Stockade in Marietta, Ohio. In the center of Detroit's Campus Martius is "The Point of Origin", located at the intersection of Woodward and Monroe.

It was at this point in 1805, after the Great Detroit Fire, that Judge Augustus B. Woodward (after whom Woodward Avenue is named) and the surveyors he hired developed the Coordinate System from which Detroit's streets radiate.


There is always something going on at Campus Martius! Check out the 24/7 Webcam!

Major Events for Summer 2008 include:
The "Summer in the Park" Series of Concerts
The "4th Fridays with Ford" Concerts
The "Comcast Summer Film Series"

Don't be surprised...there is always something to celebrate in Detroit! We've got the Spirit!

Enjoy!