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

click here for pdf release

click here to visit MichiganFoodways.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- January 25, 2008
CONTACT: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer,
shirko [at] mihumanities.org, 517-372-0029 ext. 25

Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways To Make Last Stop in Dundee

Exhibit on food history concludes in Michigan at Old Mill Museum:  Feb. 1 – Mar. 16, 2008

(LANSING)----The history of American and Michigan food culture will make its last stop on a 10-month, six-site Michigan tour in Dundee beginning February 1.  The Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways exhibit will open to the public on Friday, February 1, at the historic Old Mill Museum (242 Toledo St., Dundee) and will remain on display through March 16, 2008.  An invitation-only reception will be held to preview the exhibit on January 31, and the public grand opening will occur at 6 p.m. on February 1. Before it heads to Dundee, Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways will remain open to the public this weekend (through January 27) at the Frankenmuth Historical Museum in Frankenmuth.

 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 that Dundee will host a pair of excellent exhibits that explore our cultural and historical connections to food,” said Janice Fedewa, executive director of the MHC.  “The people in Dundee can also be engaged in an wide array of  interactive activities that complement the exhibits and help to explain and learn about the food traditions of the area.”

“We are very pleased to be able to bring KIMF to our area,” said Meg Heinlen, Dundee’s project director. “We are grateful for the cooperation of the Michigan Humanities Council and the Smithsonian.  We also think that people will become more aware of local food sources through our local programming.”

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

A variety of presentations will be held at the Old Mill Banquet Hall, including presentations about cooking with herbs (Feb. 10); the history of Monroe County hunting (Feb. 16); eating locally (Feb. 23); food preservation (Feb. 27); wine and chocolate (Mar. 8); and, demonstrating chocolate candy making (Mar. 8). Also scheduled in Dundee are: a wild game and wine tasting event (February 2; $20 admission at the door), food-themed movies (February 12, 22, 26), ice carving (February 9), a Native American luncheon (February 13, $11 admission); a table-setting contest (March 7-9); and much more. 

Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways can be viewed at the Old Mill Museum during its operating hours: Sundays, noon to 4 p.m.; Mondays, 7:00 a.m. to noon; Tuesdays, 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.; Wednesdays, 7:00 a.m. to noon; Fridays, noon to 8:00 p.m.; and, Saturdays, from noon to 4:00 p.m.  The museum is closed on Thursdays.  Those interested in attending the exhibits or events can contact the Old Mill Museum at (734) 529-8596 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.