Humanities News
Legislative News
MHC In the News
NewsBytes
Newsletters
Press Releases Home

click here for pdf release

visit www.michiganfoodways.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- December 10, 2007
CONTACT: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer,
shirko [at] mihumanities.org, 517-372-0029 ext. 25

Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways Arrives In Frankenmuth

Frankenmuth Fifth of Six Stops in Michigan through March 2008

 Key Ingredients is a Smithsonian exhibit depicting our national food culture. Michigan Foodways is a Michigan State University Museum exhibit exploring our state's food story by examining Michigan’s rich agriculture, its diverse ethnic cuisines, and its special culinary traditions.

“The Michigan Humanities Council is pleased to bring to Frankenmuth a pair of excellent exhibits which examine and explore our cultural and historical connections to food,” said Janice Fedewa, executive director of the MHC.  “We are pleased with the programs developed by the Frankenmuth Historical Museum that complement the exhibits and explain the rich German food traditions of the area.”

“Frankenmuth has always been synonymous with food, whether you’re talking about our deep-rooted agricultural heritage, our traditional German cooking, or our famous Frankenmuth Style Chicken Dinners,” said Jonathan T. Webb, Director, Frankenmuth Historical Association. “These exhibits are a perfect fit for our community as it gives us an opportunity to compare our unique food heritage with that of other communities throughout the state, region, and country.”

The exhibits are at each site for approximately a six-week period through spring 2008. Each community hosting Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways adds its own local flavor to the exhibits’ larger, national and state stories. Frankenmuth is the fifth stop on the tour; the tour’s previous four stops were at Chelsea, Calumet, Cheboygan, and Whitehall.  The remaining schedule is:

•   FRANKENMUTH: Frankenmuth Historical Museum. Dec. 7, 2007 - Jan. 27, 2008
•   DUNDEE: Old Mill Dundee. Feb. 1 - Mar. 16, 2008

Additional events scheduled in Frankenmuth include Schmeckt Gut!: A Tribute to Frankenmuth’s Culinary Heritage, a local exhibit in tribute to its own culinary and agricultural heritage. Additional mini-exhibits include: an apron display prepared by 4-H; a history of cookies sales from the Girl Scouts; 1950s artifacts from the Bavarian Inn Restaurant; flour and bean display from Star of the West Milling Co.; and milk advertising signs of the World War II era from the Michigan Milk Producers. 

Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways can be viewed at the Frankenmuth Historical Museum during its operating hours: Mondays through Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Fridays, 10:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m; and, Sundays, 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.  The museum is closed on Dec. 25 (Christmas) and Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day); please contact the museum for special holiday hours.  Exhibit entry is included in the regular museum admission price: $2 for adults, $1 for students and $5 for a family pass.

Those interested in attending the exhibit or events can contact the Frankenmuth Historical Museum at (989) 652-9701 for more information.  To learn more about Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways and for a complete event listing, please visit www.michiganfoodways.org.

The Michigan Humanities Council, founded in 1974, is a private, non-profit organization funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways Sponsors

Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways has been made possible in Michigan by the Michigan Humanities Council. Key Ingredients is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United State Congress, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and The Hearst Foundation. Michigan Foodways is presented by the Michigan Humanities Council and MSU Museum, with support from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Select Michigan, Schoolcraft College, The Common Grill, Michigan Sugar Company, MSU Agricultural Experiment Station, MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and MSU Extension.

####