Michigan LEGO® Users Group

Attendees:

Layout:

• James Garrett
• "Purple" Dave Laswell
• Chris Leach
• Sandy Leach

Overall Picture Galleries:

Show Report:

Setup

MichLTC was invited back to display a layout during the DSO Home for the Holidays concerts. Dave Laswell, the Leach family, and I arrived on the evening of Wednesday, December 12th at the "Max". and put up the 7.5 x 15 foot display (slighly larger than last year's display) in about three hours. In sharp contrast to the show in Lansing (see report by Larry Pieniazek) last month, the DSO show is in considerably more upscale accomodations (warm, carpeted, and with high ceilings for the tallest Lego skyscraper). The staff at the music center were quite helpful. Chris designed the layout to maximize the number of Detroit related items; all buildings were replicas of Detroit structures except for the small train station. The layout also features Campus Martius park with Christmas tree and skating rink. The elevated Detroit People Mover (DPM) ran around the David Stott building and the Detroit Public Library. Peter Guenther's Kean Apartments and Chris Leach's 1001 Woodward rounded out the city display.

The Concert

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Alastair Willis was joined by soprano Jenn Raithel Newman, the Andover High School Choir, and the Stoney Creek High School Chorus to perform the annual "Home for the Holidays" pop concert in the acoustically superior Orchestra Hall. The program features some Christmas carols, some insturmental music deamed to be holiday related, the Hallelujah Chorus, and a Hanukkah overature. Considering the material, singer Jenn Newman gave powerful and emotional performances; even Chris was impressed (he is more of a rock and roll guy). Mr. Willis was entertaining (in an English sort of way) as he introduced the performers and the works about to be played. His animated conducting style was fun as well. Each participating MichLTC member (and family if applicable) was able to attend a performance of the concert.

The Show

The four days of the show went quite well; Chris estimated that perhaps as many as 1,000 people saw our layout over the four day period. At least one ticket checker was commenting "Lego display on the third floor" to anyone arriving for the concert. The DSO management even allowed people who did not have concert tickets to enter the building just to view the MichLTC display. The demographics of the people viewing this layout differs just a bit from the usual crowd we get at train shows; there were some children of course but the average age of the adults was higher and we usually do not see men in black tie or women in sequined or silk dresses and fur coats at train shows! I was answering questions from one gentleman who was looking at the Lego replica of the Detroit Public Library who causually mentioned that he owned the 12 story apartment building (among other buildings) just to the northeast of the real DPL. Some people remarked that they remembered enjoying our display at last year's concert. One or two others mentioned that they used to work in 1001 Woodward. A couple of people mistook Dave's Batwing for a spaceship while others were fully aware of what it was. A nice aspect to displaying a layout for the concert was the fact that a crowd would show up before the concert, during intermission, and after the concert for about a half hour at most each. In other words you get a respit from the questions such as "How long did it take to build!"

A Minor Mishap

On Sunday Chris decided to allow a young boy run the trains for a few minutes. After telling him to run the Detroit People Mover (DPM) at a maximum of half speed, Chris decided to take a break. When he returned one of the DPM cars was in pieces in the tracks and on the floor. An examination of the train controller revealed that it was set to FULL SPEED! The carpeted floor reduced the damage and we had the DPM put back together and running in a few minutes. Ironically, a guest had remarked earlier that the Lego DPM was more reliable than the real one.

Teardown

Teardown after the last concert ended at 5:30 pm on Sunday was routine.... except for one trifling aspect: on that day a massive snowstorm clobbered the entire midwest and notheast United States (including southeast Michigan which got 8-12 inches of snow) so we had to contend with hazardous driving conditions with our cars and van loaded to the roof with Lego buildings and trains. Fortunately, everyone made it home safely without incident.