Welcome Comfort Farm

Hey...Where can I get a FACE like that??

Patricia Polacco Presents…
Meteor Festival!
Union City, MI
Saturday, July 12, 2008
10am-5pm
$10.00 admission
(12 and under free!)

Tour Patricia’s home at Meteor Ridge Farm,
Her Art Studio, The Graves House, and
The GAW Center for the Arts.

“Tales and Talk” presented at 10 AM at
The First Congregational Church,
 Union City.

Book Signing at the GAW Center
Throughout the day.
 Book Sales @ Hensley’s Variety Store,
Downtown Union City.

"Fi Fi" the Clown will be at festival doing super dooper face painting!

Come join us for a "Meteoric" day!

For More Information visit www.patriciapolacco.com or better yet,
Look right here at my blog under “meteor festival!”
or call Donna @ (269) 317-7723

Open for Tour on Meteor Festival!

THE STUDIO OF PATRICIA POLACCO
118 Barry Street

(Patricia's studio, Meteor Ridge Farm, and the Graves Home are all open for tour the day of festival, Sat, July 12, 2008)

It is believed that this stately Georgian brick home was built in 1878 with bricks imported from England. Through the years, this home has had many owners, including a doctor who lived upstairs and used the downstairs as his office. At one time, the home had been divided into apartments and in doing so; the staircase had been compromised to allow for a wall. Patricia hired Amish craftsmen to redo the staircase, returning it to its former glory. A wrap around porch was added and remodeling done upstairs, to accommodate an office for staff.

Patricia thought this stately old home would be perfect for an art studio. She does her writing in an office at her home on Calhoun Street, but needed a space for office machines, office staff, and her art equipment, archives and drawing tables. This house suited her needs perfectly.

She shares this space with 9 cats…Stripey, Blackie, Angel kitty, Big Foot Eddie, little Blackie, tripod kitty “Hope”, Tiger Boy, Pinkie, and Pocket. Yes, Patricia is a great lover of cats!

Donna Claar, Patricia’s Executive Director, has her office here as well. Donna has worked for Patricia for over 7 years now. She has a rescue farm for cast off and disabled critters a few miles outside of town that includes a horse, 4 donkeys, 13 goats, 3 sheep, 2 pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, cats, and a cockatiel.

Married and the mother of 5 grown children, Donna also welcomed two young boys into her home. You can only image what a busy household she has! Often times, kids and nursing critters follow her to work, making for interesting days for Patricia as well.

THE GRAVES HOUSE!

It was a dark and eerie night. There was a full moon. Dogs howled. The town clock ran backwards and struck chimes wildly. The water in the village fountain ran crimson red. Shrubs and house plants mysteriously dried and withered…

This was the night that Doug and Shalleaux Graves and their five children arrived in Union City. Patricia Polacco’s neighbors were here!

A rather odd family, some say. Doctor Graves is a scientist, inventor and entomologist…specializing in collecting very rare and exceptionally LARGE varieties if spiders. They are given free run of his house! “A happy spider is a welcome guest,” Dr. Graves says. They also keep bats as pets…

Mrs. Graves is a gourmet cook as well as having a veritable “green thumb” when it comes to raising the largest species of Venus flytrap in recorded history. She has even managed to domesticate her flytraps and requires them to do household duties from babysitting the quadruplets to helping prepare meals.

This family and their home are the stars of two books by Patricia called “The Graves Family” and “The Graves Family Go Camping”. Every year on Halloween night, the Graves family opens their home to trick or treaters from 6 to 8 pm for those brave enough to enter! But you can also tour it in daylight at the Meteor Festival!

Meteor Ridge Farm.

WELCOME TO METEOR RIDGE FARM

(Open for tour on Meteor Festival!)

Patricia Polacco purchased the home that was formerly known as “The Plantation” in 1994. After moving to the house in 1996 after two years of renovation and restoration, she renamed it “Meteor Ridge Farm”.

Col. Thomas Mosley built this stately home in 1856. His family owned the steel mill that once thrived here in Union City. Unfortunately Col. Mosley died before the house was completed. His wife and children then maintained the home by making it an Inn. U.S.60, which you can see running behind the pasture, was the original stagecoach route between Jackson and Kalamazoo. The Inn was the half waypoint and travelers were invited to dine, rest, and stay if they wished. But for the most part, this was simply a stopping point of refreshment; horses were exchanged for fresh ones and the stagecoach continued on its journey.

It is said that Abraham Lincoln stopped here as he was in the stage coming from Jackson with his destination being Kalamazoo. He “took a ladle of water, then went into the front yard and played catch with his son, Robert Todd Lincoln, who was accompanying him on the journey.

If you look above the doors in the second vestibule down the main hall of the house, you will notice faint lettering above both doorways. One says “Baggage Room” and the other is marked, “Stage Office”.

Mrs. Polacco enjoys this home with 9 goats, 3 sheep, 2 weimeraumer dogs (Faye and Blanche), and numerous cats. Patricia recently built a “cattery” on her property to house several of her feline friends. Located in front of the barn, you are welcome to peek in the windows!

As you walk the grounds and visit with the goats and sheep, please do not enter the outbuildings or the animal pens.

OUR IDEA of TRANSPORTATION!

Horse and carriage rides are free the day of Meteor Festival! Ride from the GAW Center (downtown) to Meteor Ridge Farm (Patricia's home) by your choice of several horse drawn vehicles. 

Horses are transporting from 11 AM to 4 PM.

Have You Touched The Meteor?

Riverside Cemetery

Having rested in the front yard of her grandmother’s farm for many years, Patricia’s family believes the meteor is very special, indeed! It was moved to the cemetery to become the family headstone in 1949. That is where it is to this very day…all except a small piece that Patricia takes to schools for children to see.

Patricia wrote a book about the meteor story, aptly named, “Meteor!” It was Patricia’s first book and as we know, was followed by almost 50 more! The special thing about the meteor is that when you make wishes on it, they come true! The thing is, the family became worried that someone with a cruel heart would make a wish that would hurt people. So they came up with three wishes that you CANNOT make. Are you ready?

1) You cannot wish for money! OK, kids, think about all the harm that can come from wishing for and getting money. ..It carries a price you are not willing to pay. Nothing wrong with EARNING it!

2) You cannot change other people. Yes, we have issues with people….but did you know you already have the power to change other people? Yes! You change other people by how you treat them! When someone is being less than wonderful to you, respond with kindness.

3) You cannot wish for toys, possessions, or things, another words, you cannot wish for anything purchased with money.

Now, when Patricia’s grandpa told her the three things she could not wish for, she pouted and thought hey, those are all MY wishes! He was disappointed that she did have an imagination. Patricia did so have an imagination, she thought. So she began to think of what she could wish for for other people. Instead of what people could do for her, buy for her; she began to thing of wishes of what she could do for other people.

Go ahead, try it! By all means, have all the wishes you can make!

Join us for "Meteor Festival 2008!"

Patricia Polacco presents
Meteor Festival!
Sat. July 12, 2008         Union City, MI
10am to 5pm- Tour the World of Patricia Polacco!

$10.00 Admission
Children 12 and under Free!

Tickets available in advance. Please make check out to Babushka, Inc.
Send to: Babushka, Inc. – Meteor Festival, 118 Barry Street, Union City, MI 49094

*Tickets w/map available at asterisked sites the day of festival.

*Meteor Ridge
120 Calhoun Street
Union City

*Patricia's Art Studio
118 Barry Street
Union City

The Graves House
611 Park Street
Union City

*GAW Center for the Arts
106 High Street
Union City

*Hensley’s Variety Store
217-219 N. Broadway
Union City

*10am- 11am Patricia Polacco presents "Tales and Talk"
@ The First Congregational Church, 410 N. Broadway, downtown Union City

 “Tales and Talk”- Patricia brings into play the real life stories that inspired the books Meteor!, The Keeping Quilt, and Thank You, Mr. Falker. She will inspire and entertain you as she regales about family, heroic teachers who influenced her life, teachers as heroes, while also touching on her learning disabilities, teasing, and how this made her feel growing up. 

Book Signings: (Due to long lines, signature only)
Noon-1:00 pm Book Signing @ GAW Center
1:30 pm- 2:30 pm Book Signing @ GAW Center
3:00 pm- 4:00 pm Book Signing @ GAW Center

Books available for purchase through "Hensley's Variety Store”,
Union City's own old-fashioned five and dime store. Hensley’s carries every
book by Patricia that is available in print! Pay a visit to this special place, complete with tin ceilings, original wooden floors, and most importantly the owner and living legend, John Soncrant. Hensley's is the subject of one of Patricia’s books called, “Something About Hensley’s”.

Hensley’s Variety Store (517) 741-7150
Will hold books until 1pm day of festival.
Accepts M/C, Visa, Discover.

Musical group “Bitter Sweet” performing 11 –4 pm.

Scott Ladd from Union City's "Broadway Grille" will be grilling lunch on the back deck at the GAW Center from 11 am to 2 pm. 
(Lunch meals w/beverage available at good prices)

We look forward to meeting you and having you spend the day with us!

Union City Accommodations:
The Victorian Villa
“Michigan’s Most Celebrated Victorian Inn”
www.avictorianvilla.com
1-800-348-4552

Welcome Inn
8004 M-60
Union City, MI
(517) 741-8201
1 (800) 674-3218

Nearby Accommodations available at this blog and www.patriciapolacco.com.

For more information, contact Donna Claar at (517) 741-5019,
cell (269) 317-7723 or babushka.inc@verizon.net

Area Accommodations.

UNION CITY ACCOMMODATIONS
Welcome Inn Motel
8004 M-60
Union City, MI 49094
(517) 741-8201

The Victorian Villa Inn
601 N. Broadway
Union City, MI 49094
(517) 741-7383
______________________________________

Branch County Tourism Bureau
20 Division St.
Coldwater, MI 49036
800-968-9333
www.discover-michigan.com

Coldwater Michigan Lodging

HOTELS/MOTELS

Comfort Inn & Suites*            Cadet Motor Inn                   Red Roof Inn
1000 Orleans Blvd.                443 E. Chicago St.                 299 S. Willowbrook Rd.
Coldwater, MI 49036            Coldwater, MI 49036            Coldwater, MI 49036
(517) 278-2017                        (800) 900-3399                     (517) 279-1199
www.choicehotels.com        www.cadetmotel.com            www.econolodge.com

   

Econo Lodge                                   Super 8 Motel                          Holiday Inn Express*       
884 W. Chicago St.                       600 Orleans Blvd.                  630 E. Chicago St.
Coldwater, MI 49036                    Coldwater, MI 49036            Coldwater, MI 49036   
(517) 278-4501                               (517) 278-8833                       (517) 279-0900
www.econolodge.com                   www.the.super8.com            www.holidayinnexpress.com

Hampton Inn*
391 N. Willowbrook Rd.
Coldwater, MI 49036
TBA

To get to Union City from Coldwater hotels: Take (Business) US 12 West (also called East Chicago Street) to Marshall Street and turn Right (North). Go approximately 6 miles to Girard Road. Turn Left (West)

Go approximately 5 miles to Union City Road and turn Right. This takes you into Union City (about 3.5 miles) to a 4-way stop. Turn right and you will be in the downtown.

BED AND BREAKFASTS

Chicago Pike Inn & Spa               The HideOut Bed & Breakfast Lakefront         The Victorian Mansion
443 E. Chicago St                           260 Stevens Shores Drive                                     90 Division St.
Coldwater, MI 49036                    Coldwater, MI 49036                                             Coldwater, MI 49036
(517) 279-8744                               (517) 278-4210                                                        (517) 924-0020
www.chicagopikeinn.com            www.hideoutbnblakefront.com            www.1870victorianmansion.com

       

*  Indicates property has a swimming pool

For visitor information contact the Branch County Tourism Bureau at 800-968-9333 or dyee@discover-michigan.com or visit us on the web at www.discover-michigan.com.

CAMPGROUNDS

Just outside of Union City is POTAWATMOMIE RECREATON AREA.

A family oriented park, they are a very clean and tidy park with restrooms, showers, laundry, full hook up to no hook up sites, swimming, fishing, boat and canoe rental.

Located at 1117 Bell Road in Union City, MI 49094-9766 *Branch County (517) 278-4289

For another local campground, try the one below. It is only 20 minutes or so from Union City. We have not personally camped there, but my daughter and her family have and they really enjoy it. I found info on line by searching RoadCamping.com, but the name of the place is:

Tri-Lake Trails Campground.
Driving Direction GPS Coordinates:
42.186143 -84.962170

Campground Phone Number:
Phone: (269) 781-2297

Campground Address:
219 Perrett Road
Marshall, MI
49068

Pokagon is an Indiana State park, also excellent, Probably 40 miles from Union City. Just Google Pokagon State park. They are at:
450 Lane 100 Lake James
Angola, IN 46703
260-833-2012

These parks fill up fast, so don't hesitate to reserve a spot.