Detroit, MI
Preparations underway before annual Christmas tree lightning in downtown Detroit
(CBS DETROIT) – Downtown Detroit is about to get a lot brighter, just in time for the Christmas season.
“The countdown is officially on here at Campus Martius Park,” Laura Dean, director of Parks and Public Spaces at Downtown Detroit Partnership.
It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year for Detroit, especially with a tree standing 66 feet tall. It made its way to Motown via the City of Manton, Michigan.
“We found it in August, and we cut it down yesterday on private property, and it was donated to us to serve as our centerpiece this year,” Dean said.
The Norway Spruce sits high for all to see. Over the next two weeks, a process will begin, to get it all dressed up. It takes 10 people to make it happen.
“Twenty-five thousand LED lights that go on here, and sparkling bulbs that light up,” Dean said. “We start wrapping our trees at the end of August, and it takes until about tree lightning day for everything to finish.”
The city is getting ready, from Cadillac Square to the ice skating rink. But this year, the Downtown Detroit Partnership is adding a new attraction called Chalet 313 to the park.
“There will be a bar and light appetizers served there, you will basically be able to go into the structure, go upstairs, and then look into the tree,” Dean said.
An estimated 100,000 people will show up for the tree lighting.
CBS News Detroit learned that the tree has a few bald spots, so teams will climb in to fill the gaps before it’s time.
“These are cut from the bottom of a tree, and they just help fill in where maybe we aren’t looking the best,” Dean said.
The 21st tree lighting is on Nov. 22 in the heart of Downtown Detroit at Campus Martius Park.
Detroit, MI
Brother Nature at Night: Jack’s backyard & kayaking the Huron River
Detroit, MI
Detroit Sandwich Party returns to Eastern Market on Sept. 6
(WXYZ) — The third annual Detroit Sandwich Party is coming to Eastern Market on Labor Day weekend, bringing a massive free festival for sandwich lovers.
The festival is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 6 at Eastern Market. It’s organized by Carlos Parisi, Will McDowell and Bekah Galang.
Watch our 2025 interview with Carlos in the video below
Detroit Sandwich Party returns to Eastern Market with an expansion on Aug. 31
Organizers are looking for vendors, volunteers and sponsors for the 2026 event. You can learn more and sign up to be a vendor, volunteer or sponsor here.
The event is free to enter, and each vendor will be selling smaller-sized sandwiches for purchase, so people can try as many sandwiches as they want.
Below are some sandwiches from the 2025 festival from Leña, Tall Trees Cafe, Bar Chenin and more
WXYZ
WXYZ
WXYZ
WXYZ
WXYZ
Detroit, MI
Around 400 pairs of shoes intended for charity giveaway stolen from Detroit nonprofit, organization says
Shoes intended for an annual charity giveaway in Detroit were recently stolen from a local nonprofit organization’s warehouse. Now, the group is asking for your help.
NW Goldberg Cares was set to give away 1,000 pairs of sneakers at its annual Hoopfest, a community event tied to Mayor Mary Sheffield’s “Occupy the Summer” initiative, but on Friday, the nonprofit’s founder made a surprising discovery at their warehouse.
“I just happened to notice that something seemed very off about how many shoes were in the warehouse. Sure enough, I went to the back of the facility, saw a bunch of big boxes, as well as some bags that previously had sneakers in it, completely empty,” Daniel Washington, founder and executive director, NW Goldberg Cares, said.
Washington says a person or group stole about 400 pairs of shoes.
“From the looks of it, it looks like they were somehow able to pry up the door on the backside of the building, crawl underneath, and while somebody else was in, somebody was able to hand shoes out underneath the door,” he said.
Washington says a report was filed with the Detroit Police Department, but so far, they don’t have any leads.
“DPD staff is working on the case right now. We’ve been in contact with several sergeants on the issue, and at this point, we’re just hoping for some type of information on it or recovery of some sort,” Washington said.
The custom-designed brand shoes were donated by Social Status Detroit and USA Basketball. The value is more than $40,000.
“Depending on what shoes you’re talking about, you could go as up to $45,000 to $75,000. Because again, shoes, depending, were as much as $220 a shoe. So, a lot of loss,” Washington said.
Since the news broke, the community has stepped up to help.
“We have about over 130 pairs of individual shoes that were donated via our Amazon wish list, which has truly helped us in so many ways because, you know, without those types of donations, without people stepping up, you know, we would be up a creek without a paddle, as they say,” Washington said.
Hoopfest gives hope to kids and teens.
“For so many kids across this great city, they might not have ever had a brand new pair of shoes, right? Money is tight in the household, and at the end of the day, we want to give them that level of confidence or give them that little boost to say, ‘Hey, you deserve the experience of opening up a brand new pair of shoes,’” Washington said.
Washington shared the following final message with CBS News Detroit on Sunday:
“I encourage anybody who needs help, just reach out before you make it or do an act like this that compromises the integrity of an event like ours. Just reach out. Say, ‘We need help.’ Express your needs. Say, ‘Hey, we’d love some support in this way. Is there any way we could work alongside you?’”
The nonprofit founder says they’re resilient and they’re not going to let the incident stop Hoopfest from being a success. The event runs Friday through Sunday at Curtis Jones Park.
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