NEWSPAPERS Special Edition
NOVEMBER 6, 2024
candgnews.com
Macomb County and Grosse Pointe papers
FIBER ARTS GROUP CREATES TIGHT KNIT COMMUNITY
BY ALYSSA OCHSS aochss@candgnews.com
METRO DETROIT — Fiber arts help soothe the mind, and, in this group, they bring people together and create a sense of community.
Amy Romanoski, a founding member of the group, said she started the original Facebook page, Macomb Area Yarn Addicts, after a not-so-great experience with another similar page. Since its creation in 2018, the group grew from around 40 members to 120.
The fiber arts group at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library welcomes all kinds of arts. Members crochet, knit, needle point, spin yarn and much more.
The Sterling Heights Fiber Frolic at the Sterling Heights
Public Library is called the Knit and Crochet Meetup. The group used to meet at the main branch of the library, but they temporarily meet at the South Branch.
“It’s a neighborhood group. Everybody meets here,” Romanoski said.
Romanoski was working on a project that used Tunisian crochet, but she said she personally prefers regular crocheting. She said they engage the community by bringing in excess material and yarns to share.
“I wasn’t using any of the stuff I brought in today. Here you go,” Romanoski said.
Romanoski said she and Katie Kruszka, another founding member and Romanoski’s friend, were looking for ways to get involved with crafts in the community and it brought
See FIBER ARTS on page 9A
LAKESIDE PLANS SHOOT FOR THE SKIES
CURRENT CONCEPT ENVISIONS BUILDINGS UP TO 6 STORIES, CONTAINS LONG-TERM FLEXIBILITY FOR 50-STORY BUILDINGS
BY ERIC CZARNIK eczarnik@candgnews.com
STERLING HEIGHTS — The long-term plans for the Lakeside City Center could truly put the “heights” in Sterling Heights.
During an Oct. 8 workshop, the Sterling Heights Planning Commission heard the latest details over zoning code and design guidelines for the Lakeside redevelopment project.
The project plans to transform Lakeside Mall — which closed at the start of July — into a mixed-use district including multiple neighborhoods.
During the workshop, representatives from the planning, architecture and engineering firm Arcadis shared those guidelines. They explained that the goal is to make the Lakeside site adaptable to the future and the community’s needs.
Erich Dohrer, from Arcadis, talked about the need for a mix of uses at the new Lakeside, including retail, residences, offices and more.
“That’s what comes together to create the vibrancy and the dynamic kind of city center,” Dohrer said. “But it’s also important that it also helps to promote economic sustainability over the long term.”
Dohrer said the current plan envisions 2,359 multifamily residential units, over 560,000 square feet of retail anchor space, almost 162,000 square feet of new retail space, 70,000 square feet of office space, a 20,000-square-foot community center, and a hotel with 80-100 rooms. There would also be 400 units for independent senior living and 350 units for active adults ages
Members work on their individual projects in a group.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
‘One stop shop’ softball facility a ‘safe space’ for local athletes
BY JONATHAN SZCZEPANIAK jszczepaniak@candgnews.com
SHELBY TOWNSHIP — Walk through the doors of Advanced Sports Performance on any given night during the week, and there are three things you’re guaranteed to notice: smiles on numerous faces, softball players perfecting their craft and owner Leslie Heisler’s vibrant personality.
“It’s nice having that personal touch of hers, and you sense it when you’re there,” said Bob Hall, Utica Eisnehower’s varsity softball coach and an Advanced Sports Performance team member. “You see her around the place because she has a lot of pride in her facility and what we’re doing in her facility. It’s nice to have that personal contact with not only the facility, but the owner of the facility. It’s a win-win situation to be honest with you.”
Located in Shelby Township at 47959 Van Dyke Ave. between 21 Mile and 22 Mile roads, Advanced Sports Performance has become a haven for softball players in the surrounding area since its grand opening on Aug. 17.
It’s a place where softball is the focal point for obvious reasons, but it’s so much more than just a field and a couple of cage rentals.
“It’s a one-stop shop,” Heisler said. “I always say that I want the girls to come in and kind of get whatever they need. Do you need a referral for a sports performance coach? What do you need and let’s try and get that for you. It’s not just physical with how we can help them — it can be emotionally, spiritually and mentally.”
Services range from cage and field rentals to hitting and fielding and pitching lessons, but ASP also offers massage therapy, integrated manual therapy that focuses on specific injuries or dysfunctions, speed and agility training, and mental performance.
While the field and cage are primarily catered toward softball, massage and integrated manual therapy cater to anyone. Training is for all ages.
ASP has quickly morphed into the idea that Heisler first brainstormed while watching her daughter, Sam Heisler, a freshman next year at Armada
ABOVE: Advanced Sports Performance, a newly opened softball facility, holds a team practice for the 13U Michigan Batbusters travel softball team Oct. 10.
FORD HOUSE SHORELINE RESTORATION PROJECT GEARING UP
ABOVE: This
BY K. MICHELLE MORAN kmoran@candgnews.com
GROSSE POINTE SHORES — The Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, which includes land in St. Clair Shores as well as Grosse Pointe Shores, is doing its part to try to make its expansive lakefront property more attractive to native creatures, including birds, insects, fish and frogs.
Using funds from a federal Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grant, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the historical nonprofit estate is undertaking a shoreline habitat restoration project.
Ford House officials and their partners on this project provided an update and an outline of tentative plans during a public meeting Sept. 14.
Shannan Gibb-Randall, lead landscape
architect with InSite Design Studio, said they’re trying to come up with solutions that work for nature as well as people.
“It’s been a very collaborative approach,” Gibb-Randall said.
The first phase of the project will address a largely unused wooded wetland adjacent to the parking lot of the Ford House visitor center and administration building. Using grading, Gibb-Randall said they’ll create vernal pools — which are wet in the spring — to create a habitat conducive to salamanders and frogs. She said these pools need to be separated from the lake to protect young salamanders from getting eaten immediately. Gibb-Randall said they’ll be putting in a boardwalk as well for people who want to observe wildlife or engage in research.
RIGHT: The 13U Michigan Batbusters travel softball team spent some of its time at the facility decorating pumpkins.
Photos by Erin Sanchez
See SOFTBALL on page 10A
RIGHT: The shoreline around the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House — seen here in its current state — will be softened and made more amenable to native fish, birds and other wildlife as part of a shoreline restoration project.
rendering — produced by InSite Design Studio — shows an observation dock that’s planned as part of shoreline restoration at the Ford House.
Photos provided by Edsel and Eleanor Ford House
Future Leader Dogs stand together with their raisers in public. Raising puppies that will become seeing eye dogs is one way people can volunteer at Leader Dogs for the Blind.
Volunteering an option for those seeking to bond with animals
BY DEAN VAGLIA dvaglia@candgnews.com
METRO DETROIT — For those who seek to build bonds with animals, getting a pet is one way to go. But not everyone has the time or space to commit to a furry friend for years.
For those whose love of animals runs against their time or spatial commitments, volunteering may be a better approach.
Volunteering at an animal shelter is one way to help a variety of animals. At shelters like the one operated by Macomb County Animal Control, volunteers are able to work with or for the benefit of animals in many roles including working at adoption events, photographing pets, grooming animals, walking dogs, taking part in the feline friends group and helping greet people as they arrive.
“For people who can’t have an animal at home, I think it is the best of both worlds here because it is really hands-on,” Macomb County Animal Control operations assistant Lori Hampton said. “You can take dogs for a walk. You can help with enrichment. There are so many opportunities here that are just like owning a pet at home.”
Volunteers tend to vary in the pet-owning backgrounds, ranging from those who have never owned an animal to those who have spent their whole lives around them. Volunteering at the shelter allows people to interact with a wider number of pets than they may be used to. Aside from cats and dogs, the shelter houses birds, reptiles, pigs, rabbits and other such animals. Volunteers
can also see what being around more common pets is like.
“A lot of (volunteers) are animal lovers,” Hampton said. “Perhaps they have recently lost a pet, and they are not ready to make that commitment to them, so it is very fulfilling to them to come in and fill that void of having a pet at home. They are also able to take pets for pets’ days out. A lot of our volunteers will take them to Metro Beach or Partridge Creek to socialize them.”
Getting involved with Macomb County Animal Control as a shelter volunteer involves filling out an application available at macombgov.org/departments/animal-control and going through orientation.
For those who are able to keep animals at home but may not be able to have pets for long periods of time, volunteer opportunities through Rochester Hills-based nonprofit Leader Dogs for the Blind can be a way to make connections with four-legged friends.
“We have more volunteers than we do team members, so we really could not do what we do without them,” said Christina Hepner, Leader Dog’s digital marketing manager. “The things that (volunteers) do for our mission is incredible. Volunteers really mean the world to us, and we are so thankful for them … They’re really essential to what we do every day.”
Leader Dog’s volunteering opportunities with animals fall into two categories: raising puppies and hosting a breeding dog.
“Raising a future Leader Dog is when you have the dog for 12-15 months and you’re going through basic obedience (train-
Photo provided by Leader Dogs for the Blind
Shoreline
Shoreline restoration is expected to be the second phase of this project.
The Ford House is in Macomb County, with most of the estate property being in Grosse Pointe Shores and the remainder being in St. Clair Shores.
Of the 32 miles of Lake St. Clair shoreline in Macomb County, GEI Consultants’ Senior Water Resources Engineer and Project Manager Scott Dierks said only about 2,140 feet are in their natural condition. That’s a far cry from the Canadian side, where more natural coastline remains.
“(On the) American side, most of the shoreline is hardened,” Dierks said.
That’s because so many residents and businesses along the coast have protected their properties from erosion and wave damage with rocks and concrete, as well as steel seawalls.
Removing the seawall around Ford House property — which is part of shoreline restoration — means finding alternate ways to minimize wave energy. Dierks said high and low lake levels can vary by as much as 6 feet, and waves can be 3 to 4 feet high.
“These kind of forces are quite strong,” Dierks said. “One of the challenges for us is managing these waves in a natural way.”
Ford House officials are looking at a variety of possible solutions, including using native water plants and wave attenuation structures in the water, on the lake side of Bird Island.
Dierks said there’s “a science and an art” to determining which native plants might best meet their needs here.
The wave attenuation structures, which are sometimes called breakwaters, take most of the energy out of the wave before it hits
the shore, Dierks said. This allows for native plants to get established and thrive, which will, in turn, create a habitat for nesting and wading birds, fish and other wildlife.
The wave attenuation structures “would be primarily built of stone but can have precast underwater habitat structures as well as above water habitat like sections of trees and other bird nesting areas,” said Karl Koto, director of landscapes and project executive for Ford House, via email. “At this time we do not know exactly how they will be constructed, the number, or where they will be placed. We can say that we intend for them to serve as habitat above and below the water and break up the wave energy to allow for native vegetation to establish behind them to create a softened shoreline. They will be visible both in high and low water periods.”
Lake St. Clair anglers might benefit from the Ford House project.
In a 2021 fish survey of the United States and Canada, researchers on the Canadian side caught 10 times more fish than their counterparts on the American side.
“A big part of this project will be to get back more native fish,” Dierks said.
The addition of a smaller boathouse on the spot where the Ford family once had their boathouse is planned as a place where people can get out on the water for educational purposes. Gibb-Randall said the design is inspired by the architecture of the original boathouse.
A separate observation dock will enable visitors to look out across the lake as well.
A berm along the shoreline that’s hazardous due to holes, collapsing sections of adjacent concrete seawall and not being level will be transformed into an accessible walkway using Americans with Disabilies Actcompliant materials, Ford House Project Manager Kevin Drotos said.
“One of the goals, of course, is public
access to the shoreline,” Ford House President and CEO Mark Heppner said.
The berm is still needed to protect estate assets and people walking along the shoreline, but Gibb-Randall said adding boulders and places that fish can nest under will make the area more friendly to wildlife as well as people.
One of the changes that will be most visible to visitors will be the addition of what Gibb-Randall called “anchored trees” in Ford Cove, which will be dead trees that have branches above and below the water. The branches in the water give fish a place to breed and hide from predators, Gibb-Randall said. Drotos said trees in the water also create a good habitat for turtles.
“For me, it has multiple levels of importance,” Heppner said of this project. “It really does tie into our core values and mission. … It’s just the right thing to do.”
Heppner said Ford House believes it’s critical to promote environmental sustainability and be responsible stewards of the natural world. By increasing the number and diversity of native species, this project connects to those goals.
Dierks said they’ve started the process of filing for permits for this work. He said all aspects of the project are contingent on obtaining all the necessary permits from state
and federal agencies.
Dierks said they hope to start construction on the wooded wetland circa spring 2025, with possible completion in summer or fall of 2025.
Around the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026, Dierks said, they hope to commence work on shoreline restoration. It wasn’t known at press time how long that might take, but Dierks pointed out that for roughly six months out of the year, they can’t do work on the shoreline because it would interfere with fish spawning.
As they go along, Dierks said some plants will need to be replaced and others may need to be replanted or changed to different species.
“Instead of us controlling the elements, we’re trying to accommodate the elements. … There’ll be a period of getting things right,” Dierks said.
Because they recognize that visitors want to continue to enjoy scenic views of the water, Gibb-Randall said they’re looking for natural plants that don’t get too tall when considering what to add around the shoreline.
Drotos said what they’re doing could be replicated by lakefront property owners, who would be able to visit the estate and see the shoreline changes for themselves.
Office: 13650 E. 11 Mile Road Warren, MI 48089 (586) 498-8000 facebook.com/candgnews @candgnews candgnews.com
Editors: Brian Louwers | (586) 498-1089 | brianlouwers@candgnews.com
Annie Bates | (586) 498-1071 | abates@candgnews.com
David Wallace | (586) 498-1053 | dwallace@candgnews.com
Sports: Jonathan Szczepaniak | (586) 498-1090 | sports@candgnews.com
Artroom: (586) 498-1036 | ads@candgnews.com
Automotive Advertising: Louise Millar | (586) 498-1054 | lmillar@candgnews.com
Real Estate Advertising: Paula Kaspor | (586) 498-1055 | pkaspor@candgnews.com
Classifieds: For ad rates (586) 498-8100 For retail ad rates: Karen Bozimowski | (586) 498-1032 | kboz@candgnews.com Legals and Obits: (586) 498-1099
management. Copyright © 2024 C & G Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.
LOCAL NEWS CANDGNEWS.COM
UPTON HOUSE TO HOST PHOTO EVENT
STERLING HEIGHTS — The Sterling Heights Public Library and the Historical Commission will hold a holiday photo fundraiser event 1-4 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Upton House Museum, 40433 Dodge Park Road.
Participants may dress casually, dress up for the holidays, or wear available Victorian-era costumes for the photo session. Historical Commission members will take the photos using the participants’ own cameras. Admission costs $10. RSVP by visiting sterling-heights.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=116785, or call (586) 446-2665.
FRIENDS OF LIBRARY TO HOST HALF OFF SALES
ST. CLAIR SHORES — The Friends of the St. Clair Shores Public Library will be hosting half off sales on the first Saturday of the next three months.
On Dec. 7 and Jan. 4, patrons can enjoy half off books in the used book store attached to the library. The sale takes place during regular library hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The St. Clair Shores Public Library is located at 22500 11 Mile Road.
DETROIT AUTO SHOW TICKETS ON SALE
DETROIT — Tickets are now on sale for the Detroit Auto Show.
The public show is scheduled to take place from Jan. 11-20 at the Huntington Place in Detroit. The show is set to feature a lineup of new products, along with emerging technologies, handson experiences and educational programming.
The show will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 11-14, 1-8 p.m. Jan. 15-16, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 17-19, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 20. Tickets are $20 for adults, $12 for seniors 65 and older, $10 for children 3-12, and $50 for a family pass, which covers two adults and three children. Children 2 and younger can enter for free.
According to a press release, tickets for Charity Preview, a “Motor City signature event” that helps raise money for children’s charities, cost $400 each or $700 for a pair. It is scheduled for 5-9 p.m. Jan. 10. Industry Days, which features “exclusive industry access,” according to the release, is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 15 and Jan. 16. Tickets are $40. For more information, visit detroitautoshow.com.
VETERANS TO BE RECOGNIZED
The War Memorial, 32 Lake Shore Road in Grosse Pointe Farms, will hold its annual Veterans Day breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Nov. 11. It will include live music, a keynote speaker and presentation of cards made by local students to veterans. New this year is a coffee hour in the community room from 8 to 9 a.m., presented by the Louisa St. Clair Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. This event is free for veterans and $15 for others. This year’s breakfast is being presented in collaboration with The Helm at the Boll Life Center. For tickets or more information, click on the Veterans Day link on The War Memorial’s homepage, warmemorial.org.
Once I get the right diagnosis for the cause of your heel pain, I will provide you with a tailored treatment plan, which outlines exactly how we can fix your heel pain and keep you free from future foot pain. If you are ready, call me for an appointment to start your journey back to normal life, free from heel pain.
File photo by Brian Wells
File photo by Deb Jacques
ing) with that dog,” Hepner said. “You’re teaching the dog to sit and stay and basic obedience, and you have so much support. You don’t have to have ever had a dog.”
Puppy-raising volunteers are backed by a counselor from the organization and the wider community of fellow Leader Dog volunteers. After the 12-15 months are up, the dog is returned to Leader Dogs for the Blind to begin its formal training to serve as guides for people with visual impairments. Some dogs are deemed “career changed,” meaning they may become a different kind of service dog or become available as a pet.
Puppy raising can be done as a singlehousehold endeavor or it can be done by a group. Primary and secondary raisers can split rearing responsibilities, while corporate volunteers and some college campuses can raise a puppy as a team. Puppy raisers are given the opportunity to name their puppy as well.
Hosting breeding dogs allows volunteers the opportunity to live with a matured animal for a number of years and is more in line with traditional pet ownership.
“Once a breeding dog retires, they actually become a permanent member of your family. They retire and they get to be your house dog,” Hepner said. “We specifi cally need hosts who will host a Leader Dog mom, and the responsibility of that is about two years and the dog will have four litters in your home.”
Prior whelping experience is not re quired, and the Leader Dog vet team and breeding department are on standby to help volunteers, though ample space and the ability to provide regular exercise and care for the dogs is required. Puppies are kept for seven weeks after birth before being brought to the campus. Volunteers are also able to volunteer for a partial period; they can be non-whelping or specifically whelping volunteers, as well as host a breeding dog for a limited amount of time.
To volunteer with Leader Dogs for the Blind, interested people are asked to attend monthly informational sessions on the first Wednesday of each month for puppy raising and the third Wednesday for breeding dog hosting. Applications are available at www. leaderdog.org/volunteer.
Informational sessions are held remotely and in person at the Rochester Hills campus.
Lakeside
from page 1A
55 and older, he explained.
A sector of the development called The Lakeside Heart would be in the city center’s center, overlapping the mall’s historical footprint. James Mellor, from Arcadis, said this area would feature a 1-acre central park, and the area could host movies in the park and farmers markets.
Four neighborhoods would surround the Lakeside Heart: The Crossroads to the northwest, The Urban Green to the northeast, The Senior Social for active senior living to the southeast, and The Suburban Retreat to the southwest.
All those neighborhoods will be surrounded by a 1 1/2 mile-long green belt park, the Lakeside Legacy Loop, in the area of today’s Lakeside Circle. Developers expect to design that area for cycling, running and more.
“So everybody who works and lives here is a three- to five-minute walk from this space that takes you all the way around the site,” Dohrer said concerning the loop.
If the property were like a hamburger, residentially focused property would mainly make up the buns while commercially focused property would make up the meat in a central belt that spans all but the westernmost portion of the district. But Dohrer explained that the framework still offers enough flexibility to potentially put an office, coffee shop or residential development in a commercial zone.
According to Arcadis, as far as building heights go, the mainly commercial areas would be one or two stories while the resi-
dential areas would be mostly four or five stories. An exception would be the senior area in the southeast, which could have sixstory buildings.
For the long-term future, zoning height restrictions would limit Lakeside’s northern third to 50 stories, the middle third to 35 stories and the southern third to 10 stories, Dohrer’s presentation explained.
“And again, you can say, ‘No one is building a 50-story building in Sterling Heights.’ But in 25, 30 years, is that the case? We don’t know,” Dohrer said. “So we want
ABOVE: Lakeside’s developers want the district to flexibly commingle multiple uses — such as commercial, office and residential — in the same area while offering walkable streets.
Rendering provided by the city of Sterling Heights
LEFT: This conceptual map shows the breakdown between the Lakeside City Center’s residentially focused areas, in yellow, and commercial focused areas, in red.
Rendering provided by the city of Sterling Heights
to have that flexibility that this can grow and adapt as the city does.”
When public speakers spoke at the meeting, Rick Williams said he looks forward to seeing Lakeside’s future.
He said while he liked the idea of the ring around the perimeter, Lakeside has historically been commercial with some added entertainment attractions. He said he was concerned about the density and how much residential property is being proposed for the site.
“It’ll bring quite a bit of traffic with that much residential area,” he said.
When it was time for Planning Commission members to respond, Pashko Ujkic said the plan “looks like a mini city” but questioned whether it would be entirely walkable within minutes.
Commissioner Geoff Gariepy wondered how the area could conceptually handle parking for 50-story buildings.
Sterling Heights City Planner Jake Parcell noted that the presentation is still a concept plan and not the final product. But Parcell said while 50-stories may not happen “anytime soon,” one way parking could theoretically be handled is ground-floor commercial with three stories of parking above and then residential on top.
Nathan Inks, from the Planning Commission, liked the concept and said the city is thinking about ways to integrate existing businesses with the new Lakeside development. He allayed concerns about the timing of 35- or 50-story buildings, if they ever happen at all.
“I think it’s important to keep in mind that this is a very long-term plan,” Inks said. “We’re not going to turn around in two years and put up a 50-story building at Lakeside.
“But we need to be forward-thinking about how the development is going to progress because if developers have to come back before the Planning Commission, before City Council, every five years … that’s not conducive to good development,” Inks said.
Parcell said the Planning Commission is expected to next take up the Lakeside district proposal for a public hearing during a Nov. 7 meeting.
Learn more about the Planning Commission by visiting sterlingheights.gov and typing “Planning Commission” in the search bar, or by calling (586) 446-2489.
WE CARE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR CAR
Honest and Aff ordable Auto Body Repair Services
Fiber arts
from page 1A
them to the group.
“It’s nice to see other people that have kind of the same interests that we do,” Romanoski said.
The members don’t just work in silence. Romanoski said they talk about everything from their projects to random events and more. She said she tries to keep religion and politics discussion off the Facebook group due to the differing beliefs of the members.
“I want to be all inclusive. I want everybody to feel welcome,” Romanoski said.
The group welcomes participants of all ages. Romanoski said they’ve had high school students who made fashion show pieces completely out of fiber arts.
Members help each other with their skills. If someone gets stuck on a certain stitch, another member will lean over and help them out.
Jenn Towianski, a member of the Sterling Heights Fiber Frolic, spun dyed wool into yarn. The wool she used she bought in its raw state as dirty sheep’s wool. She then went on to prepare the wool by carding it and making sure it’s smooth. Her spinning wheel was made in Poland, and she painted
it herself. Towianski also crochets and knits.
“I’ve always wanted to spin, but I put it off until after I’ve had my kids grown up,” Towianski said.
The Sterling Heights Fiber Frolic has been around since about 2021. She’s been in the Clinton-Macomb group for around two years and said she loves it.
Susan Stephens, a member of the group, said she started attending meetings when she was working on a cross-stitching project. She read about the group in the library’s newsletter.
“I was looking for something to do, so I thought I would try it,” Stephens said.
She said she has a lot of fun in the group.
“We’re very open, we talk about stuff. We have several teachers in the group, so we talk (about) teaching stuff,” Stephens said. “I’ve made friends here and I’m a very nervous person so that was a big step for me.”
Working on fiber arts such as cross stitch and crocheting helps to keep Stephens’ mind and hands busy. She said she usually has a couple projects going at the same time.
“One of the best parts about this group is if you’re stuck on a pattern or what to do, they’re very helpful,” Stephens said. “They’ll help you figure out the stitches, or they’ll help you find a pattern.”
The Road Ahead YOUR FINANCIAL CHAMPION FOR
With market-leading loan rates and personalized guidance, we’ll get you behind the wheel faster this fall. Whether you’re upgrading or buying your first car, our team is here to steer you in the right direction. Apply today.
Open to all Michiganders.
ABOVE: Amy Romanoski uses a technique called Tunisian crochet.
LEFT: Jenn Towianski spins wool into yarn. She bought it in its raw state, carded the wool and dyed it all on her own.
Photos by Patricia O’Blenes
Softball
High School, play travel softball at 8 years old.
“It started to develop as I watched her with the inconsistencies of what a boy’s experience is in athletics versus a girl’s experience in athletics is, and I started to see that so clearly that the girls needed a spot,” Heisler said. “They needed a place to play.”
Heisler, a Shelby Township police officer for 25 years and former military police officer, is somewhat of a local celebrity in Shelby Township for her 10 years as a D.A.R.E officer in the local elementary schools and a school resource officer at local schools as well.
Because of her familiarity with the area, Heisler, who lives in Armada, said she wanted somewhere that would provide a closeknit feel, and she felt Shelby Township was the perfect fit.
“I didn’t want it to be flashy or bougie — I wanted it to be comfortable,” Heisler said. “I want the girls to come in here and feel like this is comfortable. Sometimes after speed and agility, the girls will stay after and just pepper the volleyball. I’ll sit in here doing paperwork and I can just hear them giggling, and then they take control of my spotify.”
Sure, Heisler isn’t up-to-date on the newest rap songs the girls play or a fan of the Christmas music that gets blasted at times, but it’s all part of the dream she envisioned coming to life. Although if anyone remembers, the Shelby Township Police Department did a carpool karaoke video back in 2018 featuring Heisler, who sang some rap and rock.
For the incoming softball players, ASP has surrounded itself with knowledgeable trainers, from high school and travel coaches to collegiate softball players.
Aside from their experience and what
they can bring to the table from a technical perspective, they’ve walked a similar path as the players walking through ASP’s doors.
“Everywhere that I went when I was younger was a baseball facility that could also be used for softball,” trainer Eryn VanderVlucht, the varsity softball coach at Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, said. “It was run by baseball guys, and it was just different. When I was growing up, the softball teams that were coming in were just extra money for them. They didn’t really care.”
Dr. Savvy Ferstle, owner of Savvy Performance Consulting, parlayed her collegiate softball career at University of Detroit Mercy into a career of performance consulting with athletes of all ages, focusing on the mental aspect of their games.
Mental performance coaching has seen a massive uptick the past several years at both the high school and college level for athletics, and Heisler made sure her girls had the same opportunities at their disposal.
“Leslie is amazing, and I think what really drew me to working with her and to help her build what she is trying to achieve at ASP is that she is really focused on building the culture first,” Ferstle said. “As someone who comes from an organizational psychology background, I know how important building a really healthy and supportive culture is in any type of environment.”
On weekends and weekdays, ASP has become a second home for softball players at both the travel and high school level, but the ASP family will only grow as time goes on.
It’s just getting started, but the foundation Heisler and her team have laid is strong and looking to last a very long time.
“It was so obvious that she had a passion for helping the kids and wanting to have this safe space for the girls coming into her facility,” VanderVlucht said. “As a female in coaching, I can really respect that. It’s so obvious that she has such a big heart.”
For more information on ASP, visit www.advancedsportsmacomb.com.
