Organized by Phil Crutchfield
JAGM was well represented in Marshall, MI on Saturday, September the 15th, with thirty people attending this single-day event. The weather cooperated with mostly sunny afternoon temperatures reaching eighty-five degrees. The attendees met at the American Museum of Magic at around 11:15 AM, with a few early arrivals taking in the local shopping up and down East Michigan Avenue.
Our museum guide, Phil Hagarty, a magician himself, led us through two floors of magic props, a multitude of posters, and a few books, some dating back to the 16th century. He seemed to have an interesting "story" about every magic prop we saw. Following the tour, we experienced the magic of Joe Bennett, a magician from PawPaw. Joe's magic tricks and delivery style had some audience involvement, and also drew a few loud cheers. Lunch followed at Schuler's Restaurant. It gave us an opportunity to sit and catch up with what people had been up to since we last saw them, and enjoy a nice meal. The Honolulu House Museum is an opulent example of how well-to-do people from the 19th century lived. With a design reminiscent of the Hawaiian Islands, the house had very tall ceilings, tall windows that open from the bottom, a staircase to nowhere (for decorating and cooling with tropical winds) colorful and patterned rugs, and gold-gilded paint on the ceilings. The two young docents seemed to be well informed on the history of this house. It wouldn't be an "official" JAGM trip if it didn't involve a scoop, or two, of ice cream, so our last stop was at the Ice Cream Dream. Everyone enjoyed the day-trip and the opportunity to enjoy each others company in the process.