Motor City Blight Busters Recap

I was and still am touched by the fact that you would thank me for two reasons:

First off:  it is, was and shall be I who thanks you and everyone who took time out of their Saturday to come make an impact.  We did an an absolutely wonderful thing yesterday.  How cool was it to see that house fall over??!!!  What a great scene. 

Folks who were there (no offense, I am not going to name you all, but you know who you are) worked their butts off and near as I can tell had a great time doing it.  Seriously, you guys rocked.  Thank you all.

Secondly:   I was just the messenger, a conduit if you will.  The other thanks goes to John George and Blightbusters for the fact that they do that six days a week.  SIX DAYS A WEEK they are out there making a difference in our community for ALL OF US to enjoy.  Thank you blightbusters.

I would also like to quickly thank Mark Vansaw and BDs Mongolian Grill in Royal Oak.  We had some hungry troops by the time that stir fry showed up.  It was cool to try a new recipe...I'll be sticking with mine ;-)

Again, thank you all for your participation.  We are looking for a new challenge (read community project) in July.  I, for one, would be happy to go back to blightbusters, but I am open to spreading the love.

Enjoy today!

Terry Bean

Everybody worked hard and should feel good about their efforts. Anytime you can rid a community of a threat to it's moral fiber and lay the groundwork to turn it into a destination point, you're helping it move in the right directiuon.

It was a good day!  The bat vault was amazing.

It was great to finally meet you all in person...  and thanks again for holding on to my keys, Walt.

It's an amazing feel to give back to the community.  Being born and raised in Metro Detroit, I take great pride in seeing improvement in the city and state not only for our economy, but also in the rich tradition Detroit can boast about even if we get our fair share of negative publicity.  It was great to see so many people out there, making a difference and giving of their time.  Sometimes we all need to step back from the grind and smell the roses.  Thanks to Blightbusters and their dedication, there will be more and more roses for all of us to smell. 

My parents' first house was only a few blocks from the demolition site, and many in our group expressed fond memories of growing up in the area. It was great to see the galleries and the little, brightly painted courtyard - to see what a huge difference John and his people are making, and to be part of such an amazing group of people - those from MCC and those from the church group that were also there.

For me, the coolest part was watching the roof and studs sway and shiver, then finally fall, and the cheer that went up from the crowd. I loved the guys yelling "brick!" as they tore down and tossed the chimney bricks to the ground, where one lone man (with occasional assistance from me and Natalie) stacked them carefully and artfully into a neat pile. I loved how carefully Duane and his partners loaded the red truck, making use of every spare inch, and how mindful John was in making sure the street was swept clean before we broke for lunch.

I also loved that Blightbusters is turning that site into a community garden, and was blown away when John said they have built more than 200 homes in the area over the last 20 years.

Oh, yeah - and Rachel's boots. It was an amazing day. What's next?

Thanks, Terry for being the conduit for this amazin' day.  It was an incredible experience...visual, visceral, physical, heart-warming, and a wonderful example of hearts and hands joining to make our city more vital. John George is a true visionary (and he drives a mean Bobcat! .) He and the BlightBusters team have accomplished incredible things.

I grew up nearby, have fond memories of the theater, went to Redford High School, and was saddened by its closing. Blight Busters is  a shining beacon in that same community. Can't wait to see the gazebo, garden, pizza oven and barbeque they're building! 

I hope we'll join together and do this again soon. 

Terry is an amazing conduit - and it's great work putting it together.

It was an honor sharing this experience with all of you!

I think you all are missing the whole point of Walt's post: the wonderful smell of fresh baked goods.

I can't wait to see what this awesome group does next.

Great things are ahead!

The dust has cleared out of my nose now. I feel much better. Looking forward to similar cool projects. I agree that the leadership of MCC should be thanked for coming up with this.

BTW: Tricia and I were already full by the time the stir fry arrived. The church just south of Grand River served up BBQ and pizzas. Very, very gracious group of people attend there. So there was no way anyone was going hungry.

For those that missed this terrific day: If you needed food, fun or fellowship in your life, this event provided something for everyone. Be sure to consider July's event. Bring a servant attitude and you will reap rich personal reward/satisfaction.

This day was amazing in so many ways. 

If you look at what I actually DO all day, it's a lot of sitting, typing, meeting, talking, driving, etc.  Not very active.  And pretty clean.  I got to be outside, in the sunshine and breeze, get DIRTY (REALLY dirty...), make big piles of debris, destroy something, haul big long pieces of wood all over the place, be a "girl" in the midst of all that testosterone (and be proud of it!), and be part of a community for a day that was making something wonderful happen.  It was a blast! 

I got to play with people.  I got to be instant friends with people I had never seen before and probably never will see again.  I got to appreciate and acknowledge people that I normally might be a bit wary of - and probably most importantly, to know that under our differences, we are all the same.

I got to celebrate the human spirit, and if that's not worth a Saturday, a couple of scratches and a lot of dirty skin and clothing, I don't know what is. 

Count me in for the next time.  I can't wait!

Sorry to have missed this - you guys are great for spending your day helping make a difference in the lives of our community! 

If you couldn't make it, or would like to "re-live" the experience, there's a "movie" of the highlights of MCCers demolishing the crack house on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE2_F34YWj8

Mark Besh

Visual IMPACT!

Great job Mark!

Being there was wonderful. Having your awesome video, Mark, makes me really happy - we need this in a permanent MCC archive!

Mark-

This was totally awesome of you to do.  I think the footage you shot encapsulated the first part of the day with absolute precision.  I love the 3-d quality of the chimney bricks coming at you.  I actually remember watching you filming that  and thinking "that dude's gonna get hit, crazy cameraman".

Thanks for adding your skills to our day of subtracting blight.