Old Town - Lansing, MI

LSJ: Old Town Donates Feast For Hungry on Thanksgiving

This article was posted on Tue, Nov 20 2007 | Permalink

Published November 20, 2007

Old Town donates feasts for hungry on Thanksgiving
Season of giving celebrated in Lansing

Ryan Loew
Lansing State Journal

Efforts are under way to ensure no one goes hungry Thanksgiving Day.

On Monday, the Old Town Commercial Association collected and packaged food items for complete Thanksgiving dinners for 110 local families.

As part of its annual Compassionate Feast Thanksgiving program, the association bought a laundry list of food items, including turkeys, potatoes, stuffing and milk from the West Saginaw Highway Meijer store.
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Old Town Dickens Village-A Victorian Holiday Celebration

This article was posted on Fri, Nov 16 2007 | Permalink

Believe it or not, the holiday season is quickly approaching! Old Town Commercial Association is bringing the holiday cheer to Old Town in a new way this year by hosting the first Old Town Dickens Village, Saturday, December 1, 2007 from 12-6 p.m. The event will take place along Grand River-from Washington to Cedar, and on Turner St.-north to the Turner Dodge House.
Patrons can sit back and relax with a carriage ride through Old Town while enjoying the calming aroma of roasted chestnuts and listening to holiday music provided by bell choirs and carolers. The Greater Lansing Gay Men’s Chorus, The Great Lakes Pride Band of Michigan, Delta Presbyterian Bell Choir and the North Presbyterian Bell Choir promise to delight all with the sweet sounds of the holidays. Characters will walk around Old Town and perform scenes from Charles Dickens’ classic novel, A Christmas Carol. At 2 p.m, 4 p.m., and 6 p.m., Scrooge will lead a parade of people from Turner Mini Park to the Turner Dodge House.
Everyone is encouraged to get into the holiday spirit along with Old Town by wearing traditional Victorian-style clothing, where they are promised not to feel out of place.
If this wasn’t enough holiday fun, patrons can enjoy kid’s crafts at North Presbyterian Church and a Holiday Market featuring homemade goods and gifts and offering a chance to get a head start on gift wrapping.
For more information, easy Victorian costume ideas or questions about this event please contact the OTCA at 517.485.4283.

NOISE: Old Town turns over a new leaf

This article was posted on Wed, Nov 07 2007 | Permalink

Old Town turns over a new leaf
Influx of businesses, IKEA makeover help to rejuvenate historic Lansing neighborhood

Published November 7, 2007
Christian Czerwinski | NOISE

Arminda Presgrove remembers walking through Old Town Lansing as a child.

“It was my downtown,“ she said.

Presgrove waited for years to own a gallery in Old Town. She finally realized her dream in September when she opened Walking Horse Gallery & Gifts.

She’s one of the many new business owners in Old Town, an area that has seen rapid growth in 2007, attracting about 20 new businesses and organizations. Another business, Zander’s Old Town Brewery, plans to open in August 2008 (see sidebar, lower right)...
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CITY PULSE: Unicorn Owner Hits Milestone

This article was posted on Mon, Nov 05 2007 | Permalink

Unicorn owner hits milestone, shuns spotlight  
Lansing City Pulse
Written by Lawrence Cosentino  
Wednesday, 31 October 2007

On a regular Wednesday night, Anastasios Malvetis — Tommy to his friends — patrols the smoky Unicorn Tavern, greeting regulars with a leathery bag of old lines.

“Next time you come in here, bring a woman!” he tells a man at the bar.

Malvetis, who will be 85 today, has owned the landmark North Lansing bar 29 years.

That’s greasy North Lansing, not artsy Old Town. In a neighborhood filling up with pottery, scented soaps, doggie sweaters and “antiques” half Malvetis’ age, the Unicorn remains a working class den with live blues, a pool table and NASCAR-themed pinball.

At the far end of the bar, patron Jack Loynes nurses a Miller Lite. In his teens, Loynes came here each day after work at a foundry near Motor Wheel. Now he’s certified white-collar — a psychiatrist and professor at Michigan State University — but he’s still here…
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NOISE: Mama Bear’s ‘conscious cafe’ in Old Town

This article was posted on Mon, Nov 05 2007 | Permalink

Published October 31, 2007

2 for $20: Mama Bear’s ‘conscious cafe’ in Old Town

Emily Smith | NOISE

For months NOISE photographer Jeremy had been telling me to check out Mama Bear’s in Old Town as soon as it opened. But before I even had the chance to eat lunch there, he started bringing in pastry after pastry from the place and myself along with the rest of the staff was hooked. I decided I needed to eat something besides sweets there so I asked Manny to join me for lunch.

The mood

Mama Bear’s is on Turner Street in the heart of Old Town. Wood tables and chairs fill the place. A chalkboard menu hangs above a counter and pastry case.
Around 1 p.m., we found the place pretty full…

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