Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 129

4P DETROIT FREE PRESSSUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1995 1 jDetroiters should rediscover Eastern Market How do the prices at Eastern Market compare with 1 1 i groceries around Detroit? We shopped for peppers, celery, i lettuce, tomatoes, corn and cut carnations on a Saturday ii late September. The stuff at the market was bought from various I I Eastern market, from Page IP you, five days to sell to supermarkets and restaurants, hospitals and hotels. I The market actually is busiest between I midnight and 6 a.m. on weekdays. I Saturday, for many, is a lark a way i- to make extra money.

For vendors I about one in four people selling in the fc five sheds is a vendor the market is a "safety valve," Eastern Market vet--; i erans explain. Some vendors are sell-. ing produce to you that's very ripe. You buy, they don't have to pitch. You can tell who they are because much of their stuff cant grow in rv-.

I farmers all growers, not wholesalers with a stall. The other stores: Meijer, Kroger and 4 Nino Salvaggio's, a produce superstore in 4 St Clair Shores. Michigan, like oranges. Or strawberries out of season. Generations of Detrokers, stretch- Nino Salvage" 89 cents Eastern Rbrket 50 cents Keljar 99 cents Kroger $1.29 (TcelerD I ing back a century, have shopped at Eastern Market at Russell where Vemor once ran strolling those At Meijer, Kroger and Salvaggio's, the celery was crisp and nicely packaged.

The celery bought at Eastern Market was fresh and crisip, too. But it had dirt on it, remedied with a good faucet dousing. Advantage: EASTERN MARKET i Eastern Nino oraer sneas wnere izo tarmers ana about 10O vendors each pay $900 a year to market their goods. At least 15,000 people shop at Eastern Market on Saturdays, city officials sav. Some davs crowds swell tn 1 40,000 or 50,000, like on Flower Day Karitct Meijer Kroger Sahrags' $2dozen NA 1 5 Meijer didn't have corn, The ears at Kroger and Salvaggio were shucked and packaged.

The corn I from Eastern Market was loaded with corn worms; 4.. five of the dozen were pitched. The remainder tasted delicious, but the worms were a downer. ADVANTAGE: SALVAGGIO'S ROY PILLSBURYDetrort Free Press By the time this photo was taken in 1933, Eastern Market had existed for more than four decades. Eastern Market Meijer Kroger 75 cents $1.29 $1.29 Nino Salvaggio's I $1.29 I Sure, parking is a bummer.

And you need good shoes and a strong shopping bag. If it rains, you'll get wet It's not wide-aisled Meyer. But it's what it's supposed to be something we can hold onto as a link to what always has been at least back to 1891. Before then? It was a city graveyard; 6,500 bodies were exhumed and moved by 1891. A hay market stood on the site, too; so did the Detroit House of Correction, before the facility moved to western Wayne County.

Belle Starr, the notorious Oklahoma outlaw, was incarcerated there around 1880. The farmers today come from the fertile fields of Huron County and the thumb as as far west as Paw Paw. A no-brainer. The head from Eastern Market was large and home-grown. Again, it needed a thorough vashing.

Advantage: EASTERN MARKET Eastern Nino roe, Belleville or Utica. Lawrence Zienert has been selling at Eastern Market since 1927, when his fathe first brought him to market from their farm in Washington in northern Macomb County. He may be the quintessential farmer there is an air of humility to him and a cherished pride. He doesn't want people to know that his fanning put five children through college, but it did. And if you ask him why, after nearly 70 years, he keeps bringing his harvest to Eastern Market, Zienert will pick up his head and smile: "I love it.

You plant. You see things grow. You're with nature. I just love nature. I love dealing with people.

It's been my life. It's all I've ever done." The shed where Zienert sells his eggs and tomatoes was built in 1898. When you walk through it, when you buy from the fanners there, imagine how many have walked there before you; imagine the farmers who have come and gone in 100 years. "We don't want to change it much," says Dave DeVries of the market where his family has operated R. Hirt Co.

for mere than 100 years. DeVries' grandfathe Rudolph Hirt, founded the company that now specializes in cheese. "We ant the market to be old and frumpy and fun," DeVries says. It is old and frumpy. It is fun.

It is yours. 4 I Market Meijer Kroger Salvaggio's oc rir oo rn 0: PEPPERS? 4j z7 tenia oo cciiia ov tenia each pound each each 4 ioome journey irom unio uauanas ana others from nearby Armada or Mon- You could find peppers 6 for $1 at Eastern Market biflt they were mush. The peppers were small, bu( firm. Kroger peppers were larger and firmer. I How To improve Eastern Market ADVANTAGE: KROGER BY PETER GAVRILOVICH Free Pres Staff Writer qomtoeJ Eastern Nino Market Meijer Salvaggio's 20 cents 89 cents $1.29 79 cents pound pound pound pound Imam By far the market's best deal: There were flats of 1 tomatoes 20 to a flat for $3 at Eastern Market An most of the tomatoes were just right too ripe.

i AdvantagkvEASTERN MARKET CLEAN-UP: It's amazing that a city-operated place that at times draws ,40,000 people a weekend is so littered. If anyplace deserves a full-time cleanup crew, it's Eastern Market More litter barrels (try to find one) might cut down on the trash, too. POLICE: There used to be a mounted 'officer trotting through the market. Bring that officer back. Add a partner.

Include a Saturday foot patrol. ENTERTAINMENT: Encourage street corner bands. One recent Saturday a cnsnel sinoer arttmnanied hv a steel Nino Kroger Salvagglo'ij time, chances are the dealer will walk away from the produce. Then it's the city's garbage. State or city inspectors patrolling the stalls every Saturday would drive those dealers away.

POST FARMERS' NAMES: Some are, but most aren't. It's also nice to know where the stuff you're buying was grown. 1 Information Booths And Fliers: The unused kitchens in some sheds could be opened to community groups to share information with shoppers. Updated handouts, strategically placed, could tell about the history of the market promote upcoming events or include consumer tips on buying produce. More Tables, Benches: ah that walking gets tiring.

Art Fair? But NO flea markets. 'WEEKEND WALKING TdllRS: There should be at least two tours each Saturday one at 9 a.m., one at noon. ANOTHER BAKERY: The one bakery is woefully understaffed and overcrowded on Saturday. MUSIC: Put up speakers in sheds and play CDs. Not Muzak.

Not rap. Not Tony Bennett. But Vivaldi. Aaron Cop-land. PLAN AHEAD: Is there a way to tie in Eastern Market with the new Tiger Stadium? Should there be? How about a Market-Greektown shuttle? Touch Up The Chicken: And the Pig.

murals probably Alex Pollack's greatest Detroit accomplishment need some paint. Eastern Market $3two dozen For years, Eastern Market has been a Detroit gem. But it could be better. Oh, you could pump millions into the place, repave the streets and parking lots, build comfort stations, maybe throw in a movie theater and, aw heck, how about a health club But let's be people of the '90s realistic. None' of that's going to happen.

Instead, here are some easier steps the city, the farmers and the business owners could take to improve Eastern Market Patrol For Freshness: a person with a crate of very overripe oranges can rent a stall and sell the fruit The price may be low, but the fruit may be lousy. And if the dealer doesn't sell out by closing $2 $5 $4 dozen dozen dozen A It The Eastern Market carnations had loads of buds just opening. Tlie Meijer flowers were pretty, but the; stems were shorter. Advantage: EASTERN MARKET was spellbinding. Si 's 2 Soitroa: Free Press wsearcrt- r.

SPECIAL DAYS: Flower Day at the Market, usually in early May, is a great success. How about a Seniors Craft Day? A Things Made of Wood Day? Ah MARTHA A. THIERRYDetrolt Free IJress Michigan men prepare for march if I MARCH, from Page IP John Cherry, 41, of Ecorse plans to be with them. He sees the march as an S(yJOT TOD gMLLl important step on his own road to recovery from street life. "My life ain't been that straight," he freelv admits.

He said he's smoked HUGE FACTORY DIRECT SAVINGS ON YEAR END INVENTORY! a crack, sold drugs, committed burglar- ies and worked the streets of Chicago doing what he called "security enforce- ment," protecting the turf and proper-? ty of gangs. He fathered five children by three different women and says his relation- ship with his children has been just like his life, "off and on." "I've been arrested lots of times, "1 Ffrtnrv Direct Sr.ts cn a Kl3 fcrcttrv Cr We Am TJw Fnrtnrwh Lifetime Guarantee Maintenance Free time to show America that our people can unite for a common cause which is positive." She was at the mosque Wednesday afternoon to register her husband because she feared that by the time he got off work, all the bus seats would be filled. "Every time we top out one bus, we have to order another one," said 'Thomas Muhammad, chief of security the mosque. March organizers want all black (people to recognize Monday as a holy day, a day of prayer and fasting, a day to reconcile differences, atone for past sins and stop destructive behavior. Some people are skeptical of.he march because the idea originated with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrak-han, who some critics have branded a jracist Neither the national NAACP nor the Urban League, for example, has endorsed the march, but local NAACP and Urban League leaders, including Detroit NAACP President Rev.

Wendell Anthony, are ardent supporters and key local organizers of it. A few of the men registered say jt's 'precisely because of Farrakhan that they are going. "I'm going because Minister Farrakhan called for black men to go to Washington, D.C. So I'm going to see what he wants," one man said. Whether the march will have a lasting impact depends on what happens there and afterward.

"I hope it helps," John Cherry says. 'It ain't gonna hurt." Men can register as late as 2 p.m. today at the Michigan State Fairgrounds but should have their own transportation to Washington; organizers cannot guarantee bus seats for those who have not already reserved them. Buses are scheduled to depart by 4 p.m. For information, call 1-313-531-5980 until noon.

ri14 I i 1 mm ml iririMi WHEN YOU THINK OF SUN ROOMS SPAS THERE IS ONLY TWO NAMES ton for the march. "There's been so much negative stuff said about black men. This is all positive. This is all good black men coming together to show unity and support for each other and our families." Thomas Merriwether, 39, and his co-workers at Badgett Industries, a black-owned electronics firm in Detroit, rented an entire bus. "We already have one filled and we're trying to get another," Merriwether said.

"It's about time we came together as one We have to stop this self-hate that's been going on too long." Because men are traveling by planes, cars, vans and independently chartered buses, it's difficult to get a fix on exactly how many Michigan men will be among the million. By late Thursday, more than 1,000 were registered for buses chartered by Fellowship Chapel alone. Organizers urged Detroiters trav-. eling by bus, car or van to meet at the State Fairgrounds on Woodward Avenue no later than 2 p.m. today to receive specific instructions on where the Michigan contingent will gather in Washington, D.C.

In Washington, the men will gather in the mall near the U.S. Capitol building to pray, listen to speakers and discuss an agenda for uplifting their lives. George Holmes, 57, says, "If nothing else, maybe it can bring some semblance of unity to African-American males." "We need to show our brothers that life doesn't stop at the corner liquor store," says 32-year-old Terrance Cole, who registered along with his brother, Stanley Mitchell, 35. Gary' Watkins, 35, agrees. "We need to start caring more for each other, for our children and all the children out there who are fatherless." Nationwide, more than 50 percent of black children live apart from their fathers.

Women registering friends and family members said they were happy to encourage their men to take part Lynn Joseph, 40, of Southfield, registered her husband, Ezekiel Joseph HI, and encouraged four male cousins to attend the march. '1 don't want to see any men in my family on Oct 16," Joseph says. "I think this is the perfect but I never been to jail," he says. "I always got off. That was part of the problem.

The more I did, the better I got, and the easier it got. And who cares, as long you're doing black crime in black neighborhoods?" Now, he has two nephews in jail. '1 think they were trying to emulate me," his says sadly. "That street life ain't it. You make money, but you don't gain anything from it" Cherry left Chicago a year ago to start anew in Detroit "I just woke up one day and looked at where I was at," he says.

He was in a crack house. "I got up and walked away. I told them I was going to the store, but I never went back." He came to Detroit because he has family here and was able to find work, the legal kind, as a steel worker at an Inkster company. 'Tin not totally clean," he acknowledges. "But, I'm working on it" Working on it is part of why he's I i II jy i I TONY VfS Ct TEMO RETREAT MARQUIS (1) WhiteBlue 2.6 HP Jet Pump, 20 Jets, Seats 93 93 37 Reg.

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He believes the nwrh will deerjen his resolve to clean (1j Charcoal, (1) Emerald Green, 1-14 HP-Jets Pump, 14 Jets $3995 mm rnVi a-CTTTTVvrKWrcTJrar I Monday-Fridav 9-8 -rvCAiJNI-KfVy I Rat 1fi.fi-5i in 11.il up his Me. "I have kids and I haven't been right by them," he says. He also wants to steer younger black men from the mistakes he made in his life. For other Detroit-area men who plan to be among the million, the march is a chance to be a part of history, to show that not all black men are dope dealers and crooks, and to be a part of a movement toward self-help and self-empowerment 'Tm really pumped up," says De-troiter Isaac Bright 36. He and 12 ether friends plan to fly into Washing ElV V0 OHNR00WO GPA0 YOUR MONEY Financial information, insights and advice.

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