Happy Paczki Day: Hamtramck MI

This is a re-post in honor of one of my favorite holidays, "Paczki Day" in Hamtramck Michigan!

Update: One of these delectable treats is called a "paczek" [POON-check]; 

"paczki" [POONCH-kee] is already plural.

Hamtramck is truly unique: a "city within a city". Hamtramck is completely surrounded by the City of Detroit; so "suburb" is not a proper term. Except for a very small borderline with Highland Park, Michigan, Hamtramck is bordered by Detroit, including the I-94 and I-75 freeways.

1915 Dodge Touring Motorcar

Contrary to popular opinion, "Hamtramck" is a French name, not Polish. Although the city has been known as a "Polish" city for decades, the City is named for a French Revolutionary war hero, Colonel Jean Francois Hamtramck (1756-1803). In the late 1700s, Wayne County was divided into four townships: Detroit, Mackinaw, Segeant, and Hamtramck; of which only Detroit and Hamtramck survive. In the early 1900s, Hamtramck was populated mostly by German-American immigrants; it wasn't until the Dodge Brothers opened the Dodge Motor Company plant in 1914 that an influx of Polish immigrants came to Hamtramck. In 1922, Hamtramck incorporated itself as a city, in order to stave off being annexed to Detroit.

Hamtramck is Michigan's most internationally diverse city: although the Polish population has shrunk from 90% to 20%, the Middle Eastern population has increased, with immigrants from Yemen and Bangladesh helping to make up the almost 42% immigrant population (as of the 2000 Census). Schoolchildren in Hamtramck speak at least 26 different languages besides English.

 

Mitch Ryder

Several famous people are natives of Hamtramck, including Rudy Tomjanovich, Jr. ("Rudy T"), basketball player for the San Diego/Houston Rockets; Mitch Ryder (William S. Levise, Jr.), musician; Jane "Peaches" Bartkowicz, championship tennis player; Gail Kobe, actress and producer ("Twilight Zone", "Mannix", "Peyton Place"); Tom Tyler (Vincent Markowski), actor; John Hodiak, actor; and the Honorable al-Imam Warith Deen Muhammad (Wallace D. Muhammad), son of Elijah Muhammad, head of the Nation of Islam.

 

Paczkis with various fillings

The most famous holiday in Hamtramck is "Paczki Day". Paczki (roughly pronounced "poonch-kee") are traditional Polish doughnuts: deep-fried dough flattened and filled with fruit or sweet creams and covered with glaze or powdered sugar. On "Fat Tuesday", or the day before Lent, everyone in Detroit is "Polish" and "Paczki Day" is a day to forget about the diet and just enjoy Paczkis with friends, family, and co-workers. Luckily, "Paczki Day" lasts only one day, as Paczki have about 700 calories or more each! Although many stores around Detroit sell Paczki for Paczki Day, it is traditional to travel to one of the "real" Polish bakeries in Hamtramck on Conant or Joseph Campeau Streets, stand in line starting at 5 a.m., and purchase several dozen Paczki in white boxes tied with string.

The late Bob Bennett, an award-winning veteran TV reporter for WDIV/WWJ (Channel 4) in Detroit, has been credited with increasing the recognition and celebration of Paczki Day in Detroit; reporting every year from various Hamtramck Polish bakeries until his retirement in 2000.

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Tuesday Tidbits: New Yoga Studio in Hamtramck

 

The Yoga Suite Logo

A new yoga studio, focusing on the Iyengar method of yoga practice, has opened in Hamtramck. The summer session will begin on July 20.

The Yoga Suite Center for Yoga Studies, owned and operated by Michele Pearson, is located on Joseph Campau, and offers several classes a week at various levels from beginner to advanced. Michele has been practicing Iyengar Yoga for ten years and teaching in the metro Detroit area for four years. According to the Yoga Suite website:

The Yoga Suite - Center for Yoga Studies is a fully equipped school dedicated to  the study and practice of Iyengar Yoga.  Shri B.K.S. Iyengar developed a systemized practice of over 200 classical yoga asanas and 14 types of pranayamas. We offer beginning and experienced level classes as well as gentle yoga classes and yoga for athletes.  Concise,  systematic instruction allows the student to perform each pose in an anatomically intelligent way for safe and healthy joints. 
The Yoga Suite - Center for Yoga Studies provides an environment for structured, regular yoga practice.  The student will notice increased strength, flexibility, stamina and balance.  As you continue your practice the external body benefits and begins to penetrate inward improving the function of the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and hormonal systems.  Harmony and balance of  the physical body brings emotional stability and clarity of mind.  

 
The Yoga Suite Center for Yoga Studies
www.theyogasuite.com
9631 Jos Campau
Hamtramck MI 48212
313.820.9579
info@theyogasuite.com

Shopping in Detroit: Henry the Hatter

Henry the Hatter Flagship Store in Downtown Detroit

Detroit is known for its fashion sense, and "Henry the Hatter" is one of the reasons. Founded in 1893, Henry the Hatter has hats, caps, fedoras, and even fezzes for every age and taste. President Dwight D. Eisenhower wore a hat at his inauguration; ushering in a change by wearing a "homburg" rather than the silk top hat that had been the tradition, signaling a change to a more austere Federal government. At his 1961 inauguration, President John F. Kennedy did not wear a hat at all; and he is "blamed" for the demise of men's hat-wearing in the 1960s and 1970s' although the times seemed to be changing anyway. Today, such luminaries and celebrities as Run-DMC, L.L. Cool J, Kid Rock, and Steve Harvey go to Henry the Hatter for their headwear.

A fedora from Henry the Hatter

Henry the Hatter has survived several changes of ownership, various downturns in the economy, and several location changes in downtown Detroit. In the 1980s, the store focused more on cleaning and repair, as well as custom-made hats. Today, Henry the Hatter is owned by Paul Wasserman and has two other locations in Hamtramck and Southfield Michigan.

A Greek Fisherman Cap

Henry the Hatter has been recognized as a Michigan Centennial Business by the Historical Society of Michigan, and both Paul Wasserman and his father Seymour Wasserman as Hat Retailer of the Year by the Traveling Hat Salesmen Association of America.

Coleman A. Young, Detroit Mayor 1974-1994 in Homburg Hat

Homburg Hat

Henry the Hatter

1307 Broadway

Detroit MI 48226

(313) 962-0970

Hours: Monday - Saturday 9am - 6pm

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

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Detroit Neighborhoods: East English Village

This week, we go back to the "Eastside" to another old, beautiful, and historical neighborhood: East English Village.

Bordered by Outer Drive on the east, Cadieux on the West, Harper and on the north, and mack on the south, East English Village began as five ribbon farms in the early 1800s; the farms were owned by the Little, Rivard, Fournier, and Tremble families. Eventually, the area was called Hamtramck Township, and then Grosse Pointe Township; although the area was still mostly rural. By the early 20th century, the area was developing into a residential community, and by around 1925 most of the area had been developed into individual homes.

 

 The unique characteristics of many of the homes in East English Village are the result of the homeowners actually hiring their own custom designers, instead of a "subdivision-type" sameness. Then as now, most of the homeowners were professionals, civil servants, and business owners. The name "East English Village" was formalized in the early 1990s.

Today, purchasers of homes along the beautiful tree-lined streets of in East English village after 1997 are eligible for the Neighborhood Enterprise Zone Tax Abatement which could reduce the annual property tax bill by up to 33%. To find out more about living in East English Village, check the website of the East English Village Homeowners Association.

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

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