Automobiles from bygone eras, mounted police, and James Bond watches were your 2020 Instagram favorites here

Following two years of ambivalence on the Instagram platform, Saline Journal settled into using it to make original image contributions that follow “National Day Calendar” styled proscriptions. [1,2]

Following that lead, some “days” aren’t days at all — with labels that can span an entire week, even month.

Admittedly, further liberties are occasionally taken as well. Last November 15, Detroit Institute of Arts did in fact open a limited engagement gallery featuring the works of photographer Russ Marshall. But (to the best of our knowledge) there is no formally or officially recognized “Russ Marshall DIA Photograph Exhibition Opening Day.” [3]

And if there were to be a “Juneteenth Film Festival Week,” it is doubtful that timing for that would fall mid-October. But if that’s when Paul Glantz got it on the calendar for his Royal Oak Emagine Theatre (against unbelievable opposition), then we are going to celebrate it among “days with names” here. [4]

Thus having cast with Instagram to these ends, each Saline Journal was additionally blessed (or cursed) with the opportunity for readers to make note of particular favorites by way of heart-shaped icon to be clicked to show that they “Like” it.

Now in the closing hours of 2020, following is a countdown of the top eight.

8. “Consider Christianity Week,” March 29 through April 4

John 1:1-5 from a New Living Translation (NLT) Study Bible. With occurance of a once-every-century pandemic, it should come as no surprise that faith saw renewed appreciation in role and importance through this posting. [5-8]

7. “International Drive Your Studebaker Day,” September 12

Model year 1963 Gran Turismo Super Hawk. Exotic as it might seem that there actually is such a day, that’s only the beginning of this reference. This was in fact driven to the location shown, locally, for a 2018 “Saline Cars & Coffee” gathering at Brewed Awakenings in Pittsfield Township. [9,10]

6. “National Plan for Vacation Day,” January 28

Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island. Posted a month-and-a-half before (the first) “15 days to slow the spread,” options for any sort of vacation planning, anywhere, were all but totally wiped out by COVID-19. So, too, was the 2020 Mackinac Policy Conference during which the photograph was taken the year prior. [11-14]

5. “National Blood Donor Month,” January 2020 [15]

Dodge half-ton ambulance from World War II, produced in 1941. Timing of appeal championed by Daliah Wachs MD, among others, turned out to be fortuitous as novel coronavirus infections spread. Ironically, effects of that same outbreak led to cancellation of “Motor Muster,” of which this truck was a part, at Greenfield Village. of which this truck was apart. [16,17]

4. “National Crime Prevention Week,” February 2-8

Sergeant Cindy Flint of the Washtenaw County Sheriff Mounted Unit on site at the local center for 2019 Saline Senior Conference hosted by Mayor Brian Marl. The first of two popular law enforcement equestrian references favorited this year, these “service horses, specially trained to serve in a variety of operational settings, provide a unique form of alternative patrol and response capability, often unmatches in its effectiveness.” [18,19]

3. “National Time Refund Day,” February 29

“James Bond Originals” display in Wristwatches Gallery at National Watch & Clock Museum in Columbia Pennsylvania, opened 2017. Due to COVID-19, this “bonus day” was one of a severely limited on which this building would actually be open to the public in 2020; release of anticipated last outing for Daniel Craig as Agent 007 was delayed altogether, until April 2021. Saddest of all from this photograph, Sir Sean Connery has since died, on October 31. [20-22]

2. “National Horse Protection Day,” March 1

Detroit Mounted Police, in front of “TCF Center.” This shot was captured on August 27, 2019 during the ceremony at which Cobo Center was renamed. [23-25]

1. “International Ford Mustang Day,” April 17, 2020

Model year 1965 Mustang. Fitting on any number of levels, this is the photograph that those who viewed the =Saline Journal Instagram Feed ranked as their 2020 favorite. In 2013, local historian James Roth produced a freely accessible video that nicely documents the ties between Henry Ford himself and our community. [26,27]

The image itself was taken during the 2017 Saline Street Machines Car Show — also memorialized, on Vimeo. Longer-term residents remember the business behind at 105 North Ann Arbor Street for having been The Drowsey Parrot coffee shop. But in a much earlier, earlier incarnation, it served as library for the City of Saline.

To catch up on all of our “Original images focused on days with names,” Like your own from then, and as they are posted several times each week through 2021 and beyond, Follow Saline Journal on Instagram.

References

1. Saline Journal (Instagram feed).
2. National Day Calendar (home page).
3. “Russ Marshall: Detroit Photographs, 1958-2008” (November 15, 2020 through June 27, 2021) DIA: Detroit Institute of Arts.
4. “With Executive Order 2020-183, Governor Whitmer has allowed cinemas to again prove their community value” Dell Deaton (September 28, 2020) Saline Journal.
5. Coronavirus (COVID-19) (home page).
6. “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
7. “Novel Coronavirus Reports” CDC.
8. “COVID-19 vaccines: Get the facts” (December 24, 2020) Mayo Clinic.
9. Studebaker Drivers Club (home page).
10. “Recently Driven to ‘Saline Cars & Coffee’ at Brewed Awakenings: 1963 Studebaker Gran Turismo Super Hawk” Dell Deaton (June 6, 2018) Saline Journal.
11. “Trump Releases ’15 Days to Slow the Spread,’ but the Fight May Last Many Months – and Don’t Play Poker” Alex Parker (March 16, 2020) Red State.
12. “Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism for 2020 focused on importance of defining our own location brand” Dell Deaton (February 20, 2020) Saline Journal.
13. “Michigan governor has given green light for August 2020 Mackinac Policy Conference following COVID-19 outbreak” Dell Deaton (March 25, 2020) Saline Journal.
14. “Regional chamber chancels Mackinac Policy Conference, other events” Breana Noble (June 9, 2020) The Detroit News.
15. “January is National Blood Donor Month” ADRP.
16. Daliah Wachs MD, FAAFP (home page).
17. “Motor Muster” The Henry Ford.
18. “It’s worth taking a step back to assess annual Saline mayor’s ‘Senior Conference’ as much more than sum of offerings” Dell Deaton (June 18, 2019) Saline Journal.
19. “Mounted Unit” Sheriff’s Office: Washtenaw County Michigan.
20. “National Watch & Clock Museum” NAWCC: National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors.
21. “No Time to Die Trailer – In Cinemas April 2021” James Bond 007 (December 4, 2019) YouTube.
22. “Sean Connery, Oscar Winner and James Bond Star, Dies at 90” Richard Natale and Manori Ravindran (October 31, 2020) Variety.
23. Detroit Mounted Police (Facebook Page).
24. “History of The Detroit Mounted Police 1893 1993” Patrick Muscat (September 5, 2016) YouTube.
25. “It’s official: Cobo’s new name is TCF Center” Breana Noble (August 27, 2019) The Detroit News.
26. “1965 Ford Mustang: Ultimate In-Depth Guide” Mustang Specs.
27. “Henry Ford in Saline, MI” James Roth (July 25, 2013) YouTube.
28. “Saline Street Machines Car Show Marks 35th Year (with Local Videos)” Dell Deaton (August 15, 2017) Saline Journal.
29. “Saline Street Machines car show 2017” Dell Deaton (August 15, 2017) Vimeo.