Michigan - Lireo Designs

Habitat for Humanity Detroit: Archer/McNamara Blitz Build 1997

October 25, 2023 by Deborah Edwards-Oñoro

A group of over 40 volunteers stand and kneel in front of a partially built house, holding a horizontal white banner that reads United Methodist Church (West District). Two ladders are seen in front of the house.

Cleaning out old file folders I found a paper copy of the journal from my first Habitat for Humanity Detroit volunteer experience: a weeklong volunteer activity at the Archer/McNamara Blitz Build 1997.

I forgot about my journal (it’s been over 25 years), but remembered how excited I was to publish updates each day on the church website (which I managed) as part of mission outreach to our congregation.

Sadly, I only found the printout of day 4 of the blitz build.

Continue reading Habitat for Humanity Detroit: Archer/McNamara Blitz Build 1997

Picturing Michigan’s Past: Transcribing Handwritten Postcards

October 18, 2023 by Deborah Edwards-Oñoro

Postcard depicting two white boat on the greenish-blue waters of the Saginaw River. Several people in canoes can be seen on the river. In the background are several homes and large green trees along the shoreline.

For the past few months, I’ve been looking for a volunteer opportunity. Something that I feel connected with and where I can contribute an hour or more at a time.

A project that doesn’t require huge blocks of time.

In the past, I would volunteer at a local school library. But I haven’t done any in-person volunteering since before the Covid pandemic.

What I wanted was a virtual volunteer opportunity. And my goal was to find something local to my community or state.

Which is what I found when I discovered Picturing Michigan’s Past, a Zooniverse volunteer project at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan.

Given my background working at and volunteering at libraries since I was a teenager, I’m not surprised I found a research project at a library.

Continue reading Picturing Michigan’s Past: Transcribing Handwritten Postcards

Photo of the Week: Red-eyed Vireo

September 10, 2023 by Deborah Edwards-Oñoro

Small, slender, olive-colored bird with white eye stripe, dull red eye, and whitish underbelly looks to the right in a profusion of tree branches and green leaves in the shadows.

A slender sparrow-sized bird I typically hear long before I see it, the Red-eyed Vireo is a small bird that forages in tree canopies of forests and woodlots.

Making for a more difficult time finding them in the dark shadows in the high branches of deciduous trees.

Continue reading Photo of the Week: Red-eyed Vireo

Habitat for Humanity Detroit: Archer/McNamara Blitz Build 1997

Picturing Michigan’s Past: Transcribing Handwritten Postcards

Photo of the Week: Red-eyed Vireo

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