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Weekend Roundup: Paczki, Music, Mardi Gras and More!

by Amy Kuras

February 20, 2009

I just heard it's supposed to snow, a lot, this weekend. Bye-bye thaw! Nice knowing you!
But assuming we can get out a little bit, there are some things this weekend to tempt you out from underneath your Snuggie:
Elmo's Birthday ! Okay, I always thought Elmo's birthday was Feb. 3, and yes I am deeply embarrassed I know that. Fans of the eternally three-year-old, fuzzy red monster can celebrate at Borders stores this weekend with an Elmo birthday party. There will be stories, games and giveaways, all celebrating the little red guy kids love to love and grownups love to grumble over.

Mardi Gras: If an independent bookstore is more your thing, the fabulous folks at Ladels in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit are helping kids create Mardi Gras masks and flags for a Mardi Gras parade.

Mardi Gras, Detroit Style: In other parts of the world, the last Tuesday before Lent is all about festivity and food and color and letting loose. In Detroit, we go crazy for what's essentially a jelly doughnut --although  being Polish myself, I can tell you exactly why the paczki is different than your standard issue Dunkin's fare. Just for starters, there is more egg and fat in the dough and it's generally more rich. And a real packzi has things like prune or custard, none of this happy fruity filling!
If you haven't introduced your kids to this goofy Detroit tradition yet, you can avoid the crowd on P-Day itself with the Countdown to Paczki Day event in Hamtramck on Saturday. Sample free paczki, see tradtional Polish dancers, play the paczki toss, and enjoy polka music. Buses will take revelers around to the different bakeries later in the day. It's in the Hamtramck Town Center parking lot at Holbrook and Jos Campau.
Perhaps a little music is more your thing. the Jewish Community Center hosts its annual Stephen Gottleib Music Festival. Sunday is Family Day, and a highlight for families of young children would be the Kids and Strings Concert Sunday at 2 at the Jimmy Prentis Morris Center in Oak Park. The concert features the Ambassador Quintet of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and tickets are only $7 for adults and $4 for children over 3, or $18 for a while family.
So dig out and have fun!
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