Fans are taking a detour
Forget making a film, publishing a book, selling T-shirts, cards, buttons, setting up a museum, a global tour of Michael’s memorabilia, and even an auction of his portrait—guess what... a Michaelology tour is also underway!
Everything we read about these days on this page, according to many people, started in a small town in the northwest of Indiana. A town where, they say, time has stopped—and if you walk its streets, you can feel the history of Michael Jackson and the musical Jackson family. In other words, without Gary, there would be no Neverland. Gary is Michael’s birthplace and the home of the Jackson family.
Less than two months after Michael’s death, two women from Chicago—about 30 miles from Gary—have prepared a bus, fill it with tourists, and drive around the city of Gary. From Joe Jackson’s workplace and the hospital where the family’s children were born, to the elementary school they attended, and finally to Jackson Street 2300, where their small two-room house is located. Nearly four decades ago, a family with nine children lived in this house with white walls. The Jacksons’ music began in this house, and Michael first sang in this house.
The tour lasts four hours. While one of these two women, Tekora Rogers, sits at the wheel to start the tour, her colleague, Dennis Walker, the tour guide, says: “This tour is driven by motivation and inspiration.”
To begin, a video of the Jackson Five plays on the bus’s TV. The bus leaves Chicago and heads south along the highway. Michael sings with his childlike voice: “I’m going back to Indiana. I’m coming to Indiana. I’m going back to Indiana. My dear, Indiana is my home.”
Walker says they’ve always thought about running a Gary tour, but instead they focused on a jazz music tour in Chicago. The overflow of demand after Michael’s death is what started the engine of this bus.
“We want to introduce people to the Jacksons’ everyday lives so they know where they came from.”
The bus passes through an industrial area. A former steel mill that is no longer active used to be Joe’s workplace, the father of the family. The bus continues its route to the hospital where the children were born and to their elementary school, and finally to Lucky Man’s rest stop—where the Jackson Five first performed in public—and to the house where they recorded their first song, “Big Boy,” for a local steel company in 1967. In front of the house, you can still see toy animals, cards, and handmade items that fans have left as memorials for Michael Jackson. The doors to the house are closed. But the house on the other side, which is part of the tour, opens its doors so people can go inside and get a feel for the atmosphere of the home. This house sits opposite the Jackson house like an image in a mirror. After that, tourists notice the tent set up next to Roosevelt High School. Michael studied at this school. On the fabric it says, “We celebrate Michael Jackson’s life.”
Michael’s songs are the spice of the tour. Tourists shake their heads to the rhythm of the songs, stomp their feet on the ground, and when they say “ooooh,” they sing along with him: “ooooh.” Tourists also ask small questions: “Who was Michael Jackson’s first wife?” or “What is the name of the song about his favorite pet?” The answers come: “Elvis Presley” and “Ben.”
One tourist, a 58-year-old woman, says: “This tour provides a glimpse into the early years of this famous family, and it helps us understand where they started and where they ended up.”
A 21-year-old tourist also says that she attended a Michael Jackson memorial event, and seeing his childhood home formed a picture of his career in her mind:
“To understand Michael, you have to go to the place where everything began. In Indiana. It was really calming because I knew it was where he grew up. But you also feel a sense of longing and loss.”
They have set up a website to accept tourists: www.thekingofpoptours.com
Tour days are Saturdays and Sundays at noon. Adult tickets are $55, and children over 5 pay $45. But what are the travel souvenirs? T-shirts and buttons with printed designs of Michael, framed photos of him, and CDs of his songs available for purchase.
Walker, the tour guide, says: “Michael is bigger than big. But he had to come from somewhere. He had to have dreams. Without Gary, there wouldn’t be Neverland.”
Source: eMJey / AP