Contributed by Dave Jensen

When we would sing "Michigan my Michigan" in Mrs Car's music class I never
knew how great and unique "The right Hand" really represented. Note how The
city of Novi was named! Also Wayne County the oldest. Also standing anyplace
in the state a person would be less than 90 miles from at least one of the
Great Lakes.

THIS IS MICHIGAN ...

Detroit is known as the car capital of the world.

Alpena is the home of the world's largest cement plant.

Rogers City boasts the world's largest limestone quarry.

Elsie is the home of the world's largest registered Holstein dairy herd.

Michigan is first in the United States production of peat and

Magnesium compounds and second in gypsum and iron ore.

Colon is home to the world's largest manufacturer of magic supplies.

The state Capitol with its majestic dome was built in Lansing in l879.

Although Michigan is often called the Wolverine State
There are no longer any wolverines in Michigan.

(However, one was spotted in 2007, so there are some.)

Michigan ranks first in state boat registrations.

The Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit manufactured the first
Air-conditioned car in 1939.

The oldest county (based on date of incorporation) is Wayne in 1815.

Sault Ste. Marie was founded by Father Jacques Marquette in 1668. It is the
third oldest remaining settlement in the United States.

In 1817 the University of Michigan was the first university
Established by any of the states. It was founded by priests. Originally
named Cathelepistemian and located in Detroit, the name was changed in 1821.

The university moved to Ann Arbor in 1841.

The city of Novi was named from its designation as Stagecoach Stop #6 or
No.VI .

Michigan State University has the largest single campus student body of any
Michigan university. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the
state and one of the largest universities in the country. Michigan State
University was founded in 1855 as the nation's first land-grant university
and served as the prototype for 69 land-grant institutions later established
under the Morrill Act of 1862.

It was the first institution of higher learning in the nation to teach
scientific agriculture.

The largest village in Michigan is Caro.

Michigan's state stone, The Petoskey is the official state stone. It is
found along the shores of Lake Michigan.

The Mackinac Bridge is one of the longest suspension bridges in the world.

Connecting the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. It spans 5 miles over
the Straits of Mackinac, which is where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet.

The Mighty Mac took 3 years to complete and was opened to traffic in 1957.

Gerald R Ford grew up in Grand Rapids and became the 38th president of the
United States . He attended the University of Michigan where he was a
football star. He served on a World War II aircraft carrier and afterward
represented Michigan in Congress for 24 years.

He was also an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Boy Scouts.

The Kellogg Company has made Battle Creek the Cereal Capital of the World.

The Kellogg brothers accidentally discovered the process for producing
flaked cereal products and sparked the beginning of the dry cereal industry.

The painted turtle is Michigan 's state reptile.

The western shore of Michigan has many sand dunes.
The Sleeping Bear Dunes rise 460 feet above Lake Michigan. Living among the
dunes is the dwarf lake iris the official state wildflower.

Vernor's ginger ale was created in Detroit and became the first soda pop
made in the United States. In 1862, pharmacist James Vernor was trying to
create a new beverage when he was called away to serve our country in the
Civil War. When he returned, 4 years later,

The drink he had stored in an oak case had acquired a delicious gingery
flavor.

The Detroit Zoo was the first zoo in America to feature cageless,
open-exhibits that allowed the animals more freedom to roam.

Michigan is the only place in the world with a floating post office.

The J. W. Westcott II is the only boat in the world that delivers mail to
ships while they are still underway. They have been operating for 125 years.

Indian River is the home of the largest crucifix in the world. It is called
the Cross in the Woods.

Michigan has the longest freshwater shoreline in the world

Michigan has more shoreline than any other state except Alaska.

The Ambassador Bridge was named by Joseph Bower, the person credited with
making the bridge a reality, who thought the name (Detroit-Windsor
International Bridge) as too long and lacked emotional appeal. Bower wanted
to symbolize the visible expression of friendship of two peoples with like
ideas and ideals.

Michigan has more than 11,! 000 inland lakes and more than 36,000 miles of
streams.

Michigan has 116 lighthouses and navigational lights. Seul Choix Point
Lighthouse in Gulliver has been guiding ships since 1895. The working light
also functions as a museum, which houses early 1900's furnishings and
maritime artifacts.

Forty of the state's 83 counties adjoin at least one of the Great Lakes.

Michigan is the only state that touches four of the five Great Lakes.

Standing anywhere in the state a person is within 85 miles of one of the
Great Lakes.

Michigan includes 56,954 square miles of land area; 1,194 square miles of
Inland waters; and 38,575 square miles of Great Lakes water area.

Sault Ste. Marie was established in 1668 making it the oldest town between
the Alleghenies and the Rockies.

Michigan was the first state to provide in its ! Constitution for the
establishment of public libraries.

Michigan was the first state to guarantee every child the right to Tax-paid
high school education.

Four flags have flown over Michigan -- French, English, Spanish and United
States.

Isle Royal Park shelters one of the largest moose herds remaining in the
United States.

Some of the longest bulk freight carriers in the world operate on the Great
Lakes . Ore carriers 1,000 feet long sail Michigan 's inland seas.

The Upper Michigan Copper Country is the largest commercial deposit of
native copper in the world.

The 19 chandeliers in the Capitol in Lansing are one of a kind and designed
especially for the building by Tiffany's of New York. Weighing between
800-900 pounds apiece they are composed of copper, iron and pewter.

The first auto traffic tunnel built between two nations was the mile-long
Detroit-Windsor tunnel under the Detroit River.

The world's first international submarine railway tunnel was opened between
Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada in 1891.

The nation's first regularly scheduled air passage service began operation
between Grand Rapids and Detroit in 1926.

In 1879 Detroit telephone customers were first in the nation to be assigned
phone numbers to facilitate handling calls.

In 1929, the Michigan State Police established the first state police radio
system in the world.

Grand Rapids is home to the 24-foot Leonardo Da Vinci horse, called Il
Gavallo. It is the largest equestrian bronze sculpture in the Western
Hemisphere.

The State Motto (written in Latin) translates to:

"If you seek a pleasant peninsula, Look about you.."

Was that interesting or what?

With all the negativity due to poor economics and housing market these days

Let us all try to remember and say something positive about our beautiful
and interesting Michigan!

We will strive to thrive once again!