7 Things To Do, 1 Thing Not To Do In Metro Detroit This Weekend

METRO DETROIT, MI — The Motor City Comic Con, the huge cat and dog adoption event and the Kidney Walk at the Detroit Zoo, Flower Day at the Eastern Market, and the hilarious comedy show by funny men Steve Martin and Martin Short are among events going on around Metro Detroit this weekend.

There are oodles of kid-friendly and adult-friendly events going on. We’ve also got a word of caution about something you shouldn’t do; we’re passing along the sage advice of Detroit’s reigning expert on such matters. Read on for that.

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Do this for the what-the-actual-heck factor: People-watching doesn’t get much better than at the Motor City Comic Con, which runs Friday through Sunday in Novi. About 50 actors from fan favorite movies and 250 comic book artists and writers will be on hand, but the real stars are the 50,000 people expected to walk through the doors of Novi’s Suburban Collection Showplace, many of them dressed in elaborate costumes. Everyone is encouraged to shed their drama in “an environment where we can all come together to celebrate worlds where the things that divide us now are so petty, they don’t really matter any anymore, or where we can rely on people to do the right thing,” celebrity guest Wil Wheaton, who plays Wesley Crusher from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” told the Detroit Free Press. Hours are 12:30 p.m.-7 p.m. Friday, 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. For more information on guests, vendors, panels, contests, tickets and parking maps, go to the Motor City Comic Con website.

Do this, because puppies and kitties: Hundreds of dogs, cats, puppies and kittens will be available for immediate adoption Friday and Saturday at one of the nation’s largest off-site companion animal adoption events. The Detroit Zoo and the Michigan Humane Society are collaborating with more than 40 local animal welfare organizations for the 2017 Meet Your BestFriend at the Zoo event. It runs from 1-7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday at the zoo in Royal Oak. Since 1993, more than 23,000 shelter animals have found forever homes at the adoption events, held twice a year. There’s no charge for admission or parking for the event, but regular admission and parking fees apply if you’re planning to visit the zoo. Read more about the event on Royal Oak Patch.

Do this with your kids, or any kid who likes to fish: The 21st Annual Detroit Area Kids Fishing Derby takes place in Palmer Park from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Kids ages 7-14 can toss a line in Lake Francis and compete for prizes. There will be plenty of giveaways in the event hosted by the Detroit Parks & Recreation Department. See more about the Detroit Fishing Derby here.

Do this to help other kids, but leave your own kids at home: Eighteen downtown Royal Oak restaurants and venues are teaming in a Wine Stroll from noon-5 p.m. Saturday. You’ll be able to sample wines and signature hors d'oeuvres. You’ll be supporting a great cause. Proceeds benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of Oakland and Macomb Counties. See more about the Dine Royal Oak event here.

Do this and maybe help another kid get a kidney: The Kidney Walk at the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak Sunday is the National Kidney Foundation’s largest annual fundraiser in Michigan, with 90 percent of the money going directly to programs such as Kid’s Camp, Emergency Fund, Enhance Fitness and many others. If you go, be sure to look for 3-year-old Amelia Hale and her family. Amelia desperately needs a new kidney. She was born with only one, and it’s functioning only at 15 percent. What daily life for her means is pretty awful — endless needle pokes for blood work, isolation from other children, taking nourishment from a feeding tube — but Amelia takes it all without complaint. A humanitarian donor is her best bet. Is it you? For more on the walk, go to the National Kidney Foundation website. And go here to read Michigan Patch Editor Scott Daniel’s story about Amelia.

Do this, even though it’s apparently forgettable: Comedic actors Steve Martin and Martin Short bring their show, “An Evening You Will Forget For the Rest of Your Lives,” to Meadow Brook Amphitheatre in Rochester Hills at 8 p.m. Saturday The comedy show includes stand-up, film clips, musical numbers and conversations about their iconic careers, creative influences and most memorable encounters.The duo will be joined by the Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band, Steep Canyon Rangers and keyboardist, Jeff Babko. Read more on the Visit Detroit website.

Do this so you can go home and get dirty: Make sure you make time Sunday to go to breathe in Flower Day at Detroit’s Eastern Market, a tradition on the Sunday after Mother’s Day since 1967. Growers from Michigan, neighboring states and Ontario, Canada, offer a wide variety of plants that grow well in this region spread across 15 acres. To get the best selections, arrive early. Also, growers will be on hand to give you tips on how to get your flowers and plants to do what they’re supposed to do after you stick them in the ground. For all the details, go to the Eastern Market website.

Do as much of this as humanly possible: New York Times reporter John L. Dorman did a fun piece last week after spending 36 hours taking in the Motor City. His conclusion is that Detroit is a misunderstood city, too often defined by its historic bankruptcy, abandoned neighborhoods and sea changes in the bedrock automotive industry, when the opposite is true in what he called a “defiantly proud” city. Dorman makes a strong case for his assertion that “at its core, residents old and new are injecting a remarkable vibrancy into the city.” You should definitely visit some of the places he recommends in the Downtown, Midtown and New Center neighborhoods.

Don’t do this, just don’t: Detroit Free Press style critic Georgea Kovanis calls it like it is on men’s jumpsuits. The sick and possibly depraved designers behind the new iteration of perhaps the greatest men’s fashion blunder of the 1970s doesn’t call it a jumpsuit, but a RompHims — which, however descriptive, sounds sort of wrong, doesn’t it? Kovanis’ stinging, must-read 10 places men’s rompers are appropriate basically comes down to this: Don’t be wearing them when you’re out and about this weekend. Or ever. You’ll look ridiculous, and people will make fun of you.