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Located in southeast Michigan, Eastpointe is typical of many suburban cities of middle America. During its development phase, Eastpointe's businesses and residents became involved in work or services related to the automotive industry. Structural changes occurred at a rapid rate as population density and diversity, technology, and economic changes impacted the community in rapid succession. When the automotive industry slowed, the income to Eastpointe residents, schools, and the city also slowed, yet the resiliency of the community allowed the city to survive.

Holland, Michigan, has a provincial feel while being cosmopolitan, offering the best of both worlds to residents and visitors alike. In 1847, emigrants from the Netherlands founded Holland. For 85 years, the city has remembered its heritage with Tulip Time, a festival that attracts 250,000 visitors each May to view six million tulips. Clinging to tradition, the residents of Holland dress in Dutch costumes to scrub streets and dance in wooden shoes as they are joined by parading bands in the shadow of a 200-year-old windmill. Over the last 50 years, Holland's cultural diversity has evolved along with an outstanding business community in which numerous industries and unique retail outlets flourish. The city is home to Hope College, has won America in Bloom floral honors, contains an award-winning hospital, and features sugar sand beaches.

Fueled by a massive immigrant influx in the early 20th century, Hamtramck went from being a small farming village to a major industrial town in the space of 10 years. This phenomenal growth attracted national attention and set the city on a sometimes precarious path toward the future. Despite often teetering on financial ruin, the city has always managed to right itself. Once predominantly Polish, Hamtramck has recently turned in a new direction to become one of the most diverse cities in the nation. This human tapestry--intertwining memorable people, places, and events of the past and present--is woven with the many colors that are so richly evident on these pages.

June 10, 2006, marked the beginning of a new era. In a one-of-a-kind ceremony, the original U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw was decommissioned, followed by the commissioning of the new Great Lakes icebreaker that carries the same name. The old cutter's legacy would be carried through to the new ship's multi-mission capabilities of ice breaking, buoy tending, search and rescue, oil-spill response, and maritime homeland security. The new Mackinaw's sophisticated propulsion package, computer-based navigation and steering, and state-of-the-art dynamic positioning system bring new technology to its mission as "Guardian of the Great Lakes."