Oct. 27, 2005

The Michigan Historical Center is offering one lucky history lover the opportunity to keep warm this winter with the "Michigan Name Quilt" – a unique queen-size creation displaying the names of more than 200 famous Michiganians, interwoven with a variety of colorful fabrics.  The quilt is just one of many unique and valuable items available for bid at silent auction through the Odyssey 2005 All-Star Celebrity Gala (www.michigan.gov/odyssey).

The (look-alike) star-studded gala – Saturday, Nov. 5, from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Michigan Library and Historical Center in downtown Lansing – is a celebration of this year's Odyssey Award winners, four creative educators who excel at teaching Michigan history in the classroom.   Guests can mingle in high style with celebrity impersonators of Madonna, Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross, to name just a few!  With the red carpet rolled out, top-notch entertainment from Global Village and sumptuous hors d'oeuvres all for a great cause, Odyssey 2005 is sure to be a grand night to remember.

In addition to the quilt, Odyssey guests can cast their bids for other prizes including Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings tickets, a weekend at Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel, and several golf and ski packages. 

According to Laurie Catherine Perkins, an education historian at the Michigan Historical Museum, the Michigan Name Quilt was truly a collaborative effort.  Several current and retired museum staff members assisted with research, fabric preparation and donation, and sewing.  Everlasting Stitches, based in Holt, Mich., completed the quilt for the museum.

"Without the generosity and good will of a great many people, we wouldn't be able to offer the quilt for auction this year," said Perkins.  "The person who submits the winning bid for this quilt will inherit a unique piece of work that creatively and comfortably reflects Michigan's history."

Names on the quilt include George Custer, Eminem, Gerald Ford, Rosa Parks, Gilda Radner and Sojourner Truth, among many others. 

Staff at the Michigan Historical Center chose the names to follow a time line of Michigan history, not necessarily to represent every famous person with ties to Michigan.  Therefore, some governors are included but not all; some entertainers and artists are included, but not all.  The staff sought to represent an equal amount of men, women and minority and ethnic groups.

The winning bidder on the quilt will also receive an accompanying booklet, with brief biographies of all those named on the quilt.  The quilt and book together will provide a unique keepsake that helps tell the stories of many Michigan-connected people who helped write a chapter in history on the local or national stage.

Although this is the first Michigan name quilt created by the Michigan Historical Museum, Perkins said it's modeled after several similar signature or album quilts in the museum's collection.  A similar Michigan Name Quilt is currently in the works.  That quilt is expected to be completed in early 2006 and will remain in the museum's collection, for use in the museum's education programs for children.

Reservations for the Odyssey 2005 All-Star Celebrity Gala are currently being accepted by the Michigan Historical Center.  Tickets for the event are $100 per person.  For more information or to make reservations, visit www.michigan.gov/odyssey or call (517) 373-2565.

Proceeds from the event – which includes the presentation of the Odyssey Award to this year's four winning teachers – are used to expand the Michigan Historical Center's award-winning education programs, which reach more than 70,000 Michigan students every year.

Guests at the Odyssey 2005 All-Star Celebrity Gala will have the opportunity to:

• Stroll under the spotlights, down the red carpet and through the "Walk of Fame"
• Meet and have photos taken with impersonators of Michigan celebrities Madonna, Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross
• Dance to music performed by Global Village
• See the presentation of the 2005 Odyssey awards
• Get a sneak preview of the new "A Soldier's Life" exhibit coming to the Michigan Historical Museum, which explores the daily lives of troops who lived at various Michigan forts over the last two centuries
• Enjoy an array of hors d'oeuvres, Michigan beer and wine, and a martini bar
• Have a caricature drawn

The Michigan Historical Museum is located inside the Michigan Library and Historical Center, 702 West Kalamazoo St., Lansing (two blocks east of M.L. King Jr. Boulevard). There will be valet parking for the Odyssey event.  The Odyssey 2005 All-Star Celebrity Gala is presented by the Michigan Historical Center Foundation (MHCF).  The MHCF is the private, not-for-profit organization that raises private donor funding for the history education programs of the Michigan Historical Center, an agency of the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL). 

Read more press releases from the Department of History, Arts and Libraries.