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“I just started to have panic attacks in the aisle of Home Depot,” he says. “I was just like, ‘I can’t take it anymore and it can’t be this bad Up North.’”
In September, Andy and his fiance Becky packed their stuff (including their dozens of plants they are avid collectors) and moved to Traverse City, like many people who left cities in the pandemic for the tranquility of northern Michigan.
The transition was simple. Andy and Becky quickly found new jobs: Becky at a bank, Andy at a distillery. They lived three blocks from Grand Traverse Bay and enjoyed ordering vegan takeout.
9 & 10 News
A local Facebook group is a place for people to share plants, knowledge and friendship.
February 8, 2021
It all began when Andy McQuillen created an Instagram account for a recurring vegan potluck.
He and his fiance Becky Polzin were living in Ypsilanti when Andy created @YpsiVeganPotluck. The page took off and became a way for him to meet, create and connect a network of locals who became friends.
He and Becky were also members of a plant exchange Facebook group, and his success with the potluck page sparked inspiration to create a tandem Instagram account for the plant exchange too. It was a place for people to ask questions, share plants, seeds, knowledge, and enjoy a sense of neighborly friendship.