My Dad Grew Up on a Farm and Other Tales From the City

He did. It wasn't a lie at all. But as to how that qualified me to operate a bulldozer, I will never know. But let's start from the beginning.

Corktown

When I first began making plans for Corktown in the early autumn, I realized the lack of real community space in the neighborhood. The city owns several parks on both sides of I-75 that are really and truly fields that the city happens to mow twice a year. This leaves a giant void in the heart of a community that is trying to grow and thrive.

Community Initiative

Philip Cooley (the owner of Slows BBQ), along with some friends and local architects, set out to make a difference. They drew up plans, got permission from the city, and set out to renovate Roosevelt Park, a spacious place that lies directly in front of Michigan Central Station. I offered my Herculean might to help move dirt with a shovel. An hour later, Phil asked me if I had ever driven work equipment. "Sure," I said. "Yeah, like what," he followed up. Oops. What had I worked with? It's been a while since I worked construction. I can drive painting vans, manual transmisison orchard trucks, and farm tractors. Bingo, Farm Tractors! My reply? "Well, my dad grew up on a farm." That, my friends, was my epic reply. And then the keys to a bulldozer were placed into my caloused hands.

The Ending, So Far

Our story concludes on the patio of Slows, enjoying a dinner courtesy of the owner mentioned above. My hours of volunteer effort paid off, it seems, as he offered to let me drive the bulldozer on his next project as well. In the meantime, the park work will continue through this weekend, and while the heavy equipment has been returned to its rightful owners, there are plenty of rakes and shovels that need some laborers to assist them.

Help make this pretty this week.