Marche du Nain Rouge, Detroit
Sunday marked the third year running that a group of Midtown residents in Detroit celebrated a once forgotten character in the city’s history.
Accountant by day...
La Marche du Nain Rouge is the brainchild of Francis Grunow, a midtown resident and a big player in the turnaround of the historic Cass Corridor neighborhood. When I was in high school the area (which is part of greater Midtown) was #1 on the list of neighborhoods that you didn’t want to venture into at night. Today, however, it boasts some amazing new residential loft developments, authentic retail shops, great restaurants, and an energy approaching what you might find in some of the more well known “comeback” neighborhoods in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.
The Marche itself is the product of energy, vision, and plain-old guts. Francis and his many compatriots didn’t ask permission to do the event, nor did they wait for someone to tell them that “it would be all right” (although I did notice that the city’s finest helped with traffic and street closures so the appropriate permits were eventually pulled). They just did it. With attendance topping 3,000 this year, the event seems destined to be here to stay- along with the fabulous neighborhood that plays the happy host.
The banner hailing the dreaded dwarf hangs from the Masonic Temple
What’s the lesson we can learn from this event? If you care about a place, then celebrate it. If you have a passion for it, then find others who share it. Then… let it all hang out!
The Story…
“Over 300 years ago, around the same time the city of Detroit was founded, an evil was discovered in and around the city. An evil that has plagued the people and the city, and even wrecked havoc upon the founder of Detroit, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. This ‘evil’ was said to have been a Nain Rouge, other wise known as the “red dwarf of Detroit.” This malevolent spirit cursed generations and brought ill tidings for many Detroiters. It wasn’t until La Marche du Nain Rouge, held the Saturday closest to the vernal (spring) Equinox, did the people of Detroit come together to abolish the Le Nain Rouge — until his fearful return the following the winter Solstice.” -http://marchedunainrouge.com/
My two guys assist in ridding the city of the red menace
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PROSPERITY AGENDA
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D.
I hear ya.
I struggled with how to describe the whole Cass Corridor/Midtown deal. Kind of like Hell’s Kitchen/Chelsea in NYC. I came up with CC being a singular place within greater Midtown. Not perfect, but geographically correct.
Thanks for reading and thinking enough to comment.
Minor/major quibble, re: placemaking-
As someone who went to school there, this reader expects you to know that it is “Midtown” that’s subordinate/a part of the “Greater Cass Corridor,” not the other way around. Especially during an event that draws from historical stories hundreds of years ago, it’s important to recognize that “Midtown” as a name isn’t even older than the internet, much less the Cass Corridor. Without the Cass Corridor, there would be no Midtown.
And besides, every place has some sort of Midtown.
There’s only one Cass Corridor, the same way there’s only one Nain Rouge. I know they might seem interchangeable, but a very old writer told me that every time she saw the word “Midtown” she saw someone trying to unwrite her Cass Corridor. Part of place-making is legend creation, and this legend was started in the Cass Corridor, the neighborhood, in some parallel or skew universe next to Midtown, Incorporated.
Todd,
I am sure that they did, too. The thinking and planning was all their own though.
I’m pretty sure I saw their event permit on a City Council agenda this year. If so, they did get permission, which probably explains the DPD help.