The Rock - September 2023

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Chris Soutar

Scott Daugherty

Chris has lived in the Plymouth / Canton community since 1994. Some his local favorites are: Campari’s on the Park, Basement Burger, Mexican Fiesta II, Pizza Vino, Spoons Place, Central City Dance Center.

Chris has lived in the Plymouth / Canton community since 1994. Some of his local favorites are: Campari’s on the Park, Basement Burger, Mexican Fiesta II, Pizza Vino, Spoons Place, Central City Dance Center.

csoutrar@billbrownford.com

Office:(734) 524-2715

Mobile: (734) 765-8980

Scott has lived in the Plymouth / Canton Community since 2002. Some his local favorites are: Crow’s Nest (Canton), Golf at Pheasant Run Golf Course (Canton), Spoons Place, Palermo Pizza, DCFC Soccer.

Scott has lived in the Plymouth / Canton Community since 2002. Some of his local favorites are: Crow’s Nest (Canton), Golf at Pheasant Run Golf Course (Canton), Spoons Place, Palermo Pizza, DCFC Soccer.

sdaugherty@billbrownford.com

Office:(734) 524-2773

Mobile: (555) 555-1212

Local Matters!

Please consider a donation to support The Rock. Since we began publishing more than two years ago, our goal has been to provide our readers with valuable information about the Plymouth community each and every month. Your support will help that mission survive and grow. While The Rock is sent free to every address in Plymouth, it is not free to produce.

Local journalism is the foundation of this magazine. If you find it of value, please consider supporting it. Every little bit helps!

Please send donations to: Journeyman Publishing, 16435 Franklin, Northville, MI 48168

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Thank you in advance.

Publisher

Here is the list of readers who supported local journalism this month:

- Rick & Judy Bantau

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To secure space in an upcoming issue of The Rock, contact Advertising Director Scott Buie at (313) 399-5231, or via email at scottbuie@therockmagazine.com or advertising@therockmagazine.com.

SEPTEMBER 2023

VOL 4 | ISSUE 9

KURT KUBAN – Editor & Publisher

Kurt is an award-winning journalist, having served as a reporter and editor for several local newspapers and magazines, including the Plymouth Observer He has been a journalist for over two decades. He founded Journeyman Publishing, which also publishes The ‘Ville, in 2017.

SCOTT BUIE – Advertising Director/Vice President of Sales

Scott has 20+ years creating advertising campaigns for clients in Metro Detroit. After managing sales for radio stations for 17 years he purchased Street Marketing, where he works closely with a variety of businesses and events. Scott and his family have lived in the Plymouth/Northville area for over 23 years.

JENNY PEARSALL – Creative Director

Jenny has been in the design and print industry for over twenty years, holding various positions in graphic design, print buying, production and print management. She also owns Bovia Design Group, a company specializing in publications and corporate branding.

BRAD KADRICH – Writer

Brad is an award-winning journalist who spent more than 20 years covering the Plymouth community for the Plymouth Observer. He also spent 15 years serving his country in the U.S. Air Force.

BRAD EMONS – Writer

Over the course of his four decades with the Observer & Eccentric, Brad established himself as one of the preeminent prep sports reporters in the state, winning many journalism awards along the way. His greatest joy is interviewing local athletes and coaches, and reporting on their efforts.

LARRY

O’CONNOR – Writer

Larry is a metro Detroit area journalist whose work has appeared in The Detroit News, Jackson Citizen Patriot and the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers. When he’s not meticulously chronicling people or events, he’s avidly rooting for his favorite soccer teams -- Manchester United and Glasgow Celtic.

TIM SMITH – Writer

Tim brings a penchant for telling personal stories that run the gamut from news to sports. During more than 35 years in journalism, mostly with the Observer & Eccentric, he has earned numerous state and national awards. The Wayne State grad is a published author and rec ice hockey player.

MICHELE FECHT – Writer

Michele is a longtime journalist whose first post-college reporter position was at The Northville Record before moving on to The Detroit News. She is an author, researcher, local history enthusiast, and community activist/ advocate.

WENSDY VON BUSKIRK – Writer

Wensdy graduated with a degree in journalism from Wayne State University. Her first job was working as a reporter for The Northville Record. Now, as a freelance writer and editor, she works for a variety of magazines, including The Rock. -Photo by Kathleen Voss

KEN VOYLES – Writer/Photographer

Ken is an award-winning writer, photographer and designer whose career has spanned nearly five decades in and around metro Detroit. He started his journalism career in Plymouth, working for the Community Crier. He is the author of two books on Detroit history, loves to travel and has finished his first novel.

BILL BRESLER – Photographer

Bill arrived in Plymouth in 1977 to work for the Community Crier. He also worked for the Plymouth Observer for many years. Bill, who taught photography at Madonna University, retired from what was left of the newspaper business in 2019 and now freelances. He’s happy to be back in the Plymouth community.

Local Organizations Are Backbone of Fall Festival

Another successful Plymouth Fall Festival has come and gone. The weather was fantastic for the 67th annual event, and the crowds were back in force taking advantage of the music, the carnival rides, game booths, and some great food. Fall Festival is definitely one of my favorite Plymouth events because it seems like it’s a big reunion. Summer vacations are over and the kids are back in school, so it’s the perfect time to hold the event in early September to bring the community together. And that’s

exactly what it does.

Of course, the festival would not be possible if it were not for the participation of all the local service clubs and organizations. Most of the festival activities are sponsored by one group or another. For example, the Plymouth Canton Little League hosted the Bingo event on Friday and the Optimist Club put on the pet show Saturday morning. There are also multiple groups that provide the food over the course of the weekend. The Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 528 served up a barbecue rib dinner on Friday, followed by the pancake breakfast organized by the Plymouth Kiwanis club Saturday morning, and the Rotary Club of Plymouth A.M.’s spaghetti dinner later in the day. It all culminates Sunday when members of the Rotary Club of Plymouth (yes, we have two Rotary clubs in Plymouth) fire up the barbecue pits for their annual Chicken BBQ Dinner. The origins of the festival actually date back 67 years when it was just the BBQ. Over the years it morphed into what we know today, but the BBQ is still a major part of the weekend – and a big draw.

It’s also serious business. Rotary members serve up about 8,500 dinners, which takes a lot of effort and a lot of volunteers. Hundreds in fact. Fortunately, the club gets plenty of help from other groups, including local students who earn public service credits.

The Rotary Club of Plymouth was founded in 1924 and is the oldest service club in town. The Chicken BBQ is definitely it’s most important fundraiser, bringing in around $50,000. So those chicken dinners don’t just taste great, they also help the club fund scholarships for Plymouth students and other local endeavors that help the community. In fact, the very first BBQ in 1956 was held to raise funding to buy equipment for a local playground.

At the end of the day, that’s what Fall Festival is about. All the groups that participate bring in much-needed funds, which they use for their various causes, nearly all of which are here in Plymouth.

So, if you were lucky enough to get some pancakes, like me, on Saturday morning, some of the Rotary’s BBQ chicken on Sunday, or any of the other meals in between, just know that you not only got a great meal but also helped these service clubs survive, thrive and ultimately help our community.

Bravo to all the volunteers who helped out, and make the Fall Festival what we have come to expect and love.

NHL CHAMP BRINGS STANLEY CUP HOME

FALL FEST WAS ‘A COMMUNITY PARTY’

CARDINAL GOLF COURSE HONORS THE ‘GOLDEN AGE’

ON THE COVER: Ryan Lamb (from left), Alison Scott, Lucy Klohs and Tony Vassallo are always happy to pour a beer at the Bearded Lamb Brewery on Liberty Street. Photo by Ken Voyles

Kurt Kuban is the Publisher and Editor of The Rock. He welcomes your comments at kurtkuban@therockmagazine.com.

YOUR VOICE: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Racism still exists

The August edition of The Rock had another round of ignorance attached to opinion letters. Most, if not all, people who wrote in about the Chief mascot controversy are missing the point. Their ignorance is highlighted when one writer wrote his Native American motherin-law wasn’t offended therefore the Chiefs name should remain. Just as ridiculous is the 50 or so white people who voted for Native Americans to continue to be their mascot. It is dehumanizing. Their selfish views lack any kind of real substance.

The name Chiefs should stay because it is part of the school’s legacy, seems to be the sentiment. Those who oppose the change, do not get to decide what is and is not offensive to us. The reality is racism still exists in our country. It’s deplorable enough that the Europeans raped and killed native women and children, took our land, broke treaty after treaty, then placed us on reservations. Every culture in the great United States deserves respect. Having one culture determine what is offensive to another is… well offensive.

Chris Styers

First Nation Iroquois

Leave restaurants alone

I just read your article in The Rock regarding outdoor dining. My husband and I recently moved here within the last year. We’ve had a house in DTP for summer vacations commuting from Atlanta, GA.

Plymouth has something very unique in the downtown dining area. First, very few cities are truly walkable. Second, very few cities have good restaurants and a family feel. Third, very few cities have affordability for parking, food, and entertainment. Plymouth has it all.

Should the city leaders decide to grossly tax our restaurants, increase pay for parking, and bring in pot shops - the beloved town of Plymouth will fall away. Michiganders seem to enjoy eating outsidewhether it’s 50 degrees in spring or 85 degrees in the summer. People actually want to work in these conditions because there is a loyal crowd of patrons that will pay $16 for a salad to sit outside to visit and enjoy people watching.

So leave the restaurant owners be. Let people come and sit outside where it’s healthy and let people find parking where they can. If we don’t, we will be bought out by outsiders putting in the next high end chain restaurant with nothing loyal to our city. See Alpharetta, Ga., Austin, Texas and others.

I am happy to be here and grateful for everything that this city has to offer. Protect the Penn, the restaurant owners, and local shops. Let’s not become an Amazon smart city with no personality.

Julie Stevens

Don’t fix what isn’t broken

I believe the walking space should be left near the street so the restaurants

don't have to compete with the traffic. Don't fix what is not broken. Whatever cost is added by the city, the patrons will end up paying, so I say a $2 per square foot fee by the city is good.

Madelyn Broadbent

Opposed to fee increase

Thank you for the article in The Rock regarding fee changes for outdoor dining in Plymouth. I love downtown Plymouth and am opposed to the fee increases. We have to be realistic in our expectations of the businesses. Look at downtown Northville and their structure. It’s a mess. I hope that we are able to preserve our beautiful downtown.

Brenda

Boyd

Keep Plymouth unique

I read the article concerning outdoor dining and thank you for requesting an opinion. I live in Florida most of the time and in the summer I live in downtown Plymouth. My husband and I moved here two years ago from Novi based on a few factors. The first and foremost was the ability to walk to the heart of the city for dinner or just drinks. This city is very unique in the sense that the park and water fountain are surrounded by several restaurants with outdoor seating, in addition to side streets with wonderful food, boutiques and trinket shops.

If the city overcharges for the space, it may be too

much for the restaurants to handle financially, keeping in mind all the additional fees mentioned in the article that they are faced with. My husband and I have eaten at nearly every outdoor restaurant in Plymouth (except Barrio since we can't ever get outdoor seating). We really enjoy the opportunity to do so.

On another note, pulling the restaurant away from the building is truly taking away from the experience. I know the side streets may have this set-up but their area is not as large and the major foot traffic is in the square. It would be extremely difficult for the servers to be as efficient and productive as they are now. Waiting for by-passers, dogs, etc. while carrying trays can be dangerous.

Romie Bruns

Think about the customers

I believe the City of Plymouth needs these restaurants and bars to help bring business to town.

What would they do without them? Simply put, without these fine restaurants to meet friends, family or new people at, Kellogg Park and Dairy King would be the only other reasons for a visit.

The city should do all they can to accommodate and thank these owners for their long-standing connection with our community. Giving them a high increase will just add cost onto the menu for customers to endure. I think the city commission needs to think about the

customers who visit the city.

Lisa

Wysocki

Outdoor space benefits restaurants

C’mon, Mr. (Ryan) Yaquinto! You balk at a proposed 50-cent increase in the outdoor-dining-space rate, while your Compari’s customers pay $14 for a hamburger and $10 for a glass of baseline Chianti. How much additional revenue does your sidewalk dining space deliver to your bottom line, versus not having that space?

Albert Brooke

Proposed developments welcomed

I am thrilled with the planned proposals for the Five Mile corridor. That area is close to the landfill. It’s not a great area for residential development. A new Meijer and a race track are fine with me.

Marlene A. Czarkowski

Times change

In Kurt Kuban’s column about the National Parks in the July issue, you used the term “foreign visitors.” While this was widely accepted several years ago, it is now considered insensitive. A better term might be “international visitors.” I, too, was reminded about this at the library where I volunteer. We used to call some book categories “foreign languages.” It’s now “world languages.” Times change. Sensitivities change. We have to change, too.

Many thanks for your columns.

Diane Cupps

Fall Festival brings thousands to the streets of Plymouth

By Brad Kadrich | Photos by Bill Bresler

If 1-year-old Brynn Storch had her way, events such as Plymouth’s Fall Festival might be made up entirely of puppies.

Luckily for Brynn’s mom, Courtney Storch, there was a lot more to do during their weekend trip to the 67th annual festival,

with its Rotary Chicken dinner, vendors, game booths and carnival rides.

“Brynn loves seeing all the doggies, so if we could have fairs with all dogs, she would be happy,” said Storch, a Northville resident attending the festival for the first time. “There’s way more

to do here than I thought there would be. People are obviously invested in living here, it’s a sense of community and pride in where you come from. It’s great.”

Storch and her daughter were just two of the tens of thousands of people who filled the streets of downtown Plymouth for the Sept.

8-10 festival, which, as always, was anchored by the Plymouth Noon Rotary Club’s annual chicken barbecue on Sunday afternoon.

The festival started out 67 years ago as the chicken barbecue and has since morphed into what it is today. But the chicken barbecue is still at the hub of it all.

As the Rotary’s biggest fundraiser, “Chief Clucking Officer” Andy Savage said the club had set a goal of selling 8,500 chicken dinners and, as of the Sunday morning of the festival, were on their way to reaching the goal.

This despite a price increase necessitated by rising costs. The higher prices didn’t seem to deter too many people, who Savage said always support the fundraiser, which provides a stipend for volunteer groups and pays for scholarships offered by the Rotary Foundation.

“The community knows Rotary is a good service organization, and every year they come out and buy our chicken dinners,” Savage said. “If we didn’t do it, people would be upset.”

As usual, the festival drew people from all over the region,

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and vendors from around state. One of them was Doggie Deli owner Bruce Ingram, who came to Plymouth from his location in Clinton Township.

Ingram travels to “25 or 30” of these kinds of festivals every year, and has been coming since

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other vendors recommended it to him six years ago.

“The customers love our treats,” Ingram said. “It exposes me to a lot of new people, and it brings me, more importantly, to my regular customers. My sales have been building. It keeps getting busier because more and more people want healthier treats for their pets.”

Mostly, though, it’s the sense of community that festivals like this invoke. Kimberly Link has lived in Plymouth for 11 years and has come out for the festival every year since.

Generally, she comes with her children on the opening day Friday, because that’s when all her kids’ friends come.

“It’s like a neighborhood

block party, we see all the kids from class and all the parents we know…it’s like a community party,” Link said. “It’s a tradition. People cling to those traditions and the core memories that come with them. People want that for their kids. They want to keep going and feel that.”

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NHL champion brings Lord Stanley’s Cup back where his journey began

By Tim Smith | Photos by Bill Bresler

Paul Cotter’s journey to the National Hockey League pinnacle –Stanley Cup winner –began with more than a few slipups on the Plymouth Cultural Center ice.

As a young boy trying to learn how to skate, he almost gave up before he began.

“It happened right at this spot here,” said his mom, Lisa Cotter of Canton, while Paul posed for photos at center ice of PCC with the famed silver trophy which he and the Vegas Golden Knights captured in June. “He sat (on the ice) and their helmets were bigger than their bodies.”

The 3-year-old Paul Cotter urged his mom to come and get him, ending the learn-to-skate session.

“I said, ‘No, let’s skate, you come skate to me,’” Lisa Cotter noted. “So he skated to me (standing by the doorway of the rink’s boards) and I shut the door.

I went around to the other side and said ‘Now, skate to me over here.’ He did and he never looked back.”

Yes, but he never looked down, either.

Some 20 years later, on Sept. 1,

reception (attended by an estimated 1,000). The event at PCC was followed by dinner at the Northville Hills Golf Club and a party at Plymouth’s Post Local Bistro.

and former NHL official Ron Hayes, who along with the late Dick Marnon founded Plymouth’s youth hockey program back in the 1970s.

“I told him (Cotter) that I wanted to cry out there (on the ice), I was so happy,” Hayes said. “It’s such a major thing to get to that level. And as you get closer, the mountain gets steeper. To make it to the top is an awful hard thing to do, awful hard. And he did it.”

Paul Cotter and the Stanley Cup took over Plymouth Cultural Center for a mutual meet-andgreet – part of Cotter’s “day with the Cup” which now is a tradition experienced by current NHL championship players.

First off was the “re-enactment” at center ice for a private photo shoot, followed by an afternoon

Finally, at midnight, Cotter relinquished the Stanley Cup to Vegas teammate Alec Martinez (also from Michigan), whose day with the trophy was Sept. 2. Cotter had some other company out on the ice to witness the photo shoot. Watching with pride were Paul’s dad (also Paul), younger sister, Mileena,

Like Hayes, busting with pride was Mileena Cotter, a 17-yearold who is a Salem High School senior and varsity girls lacrosse player.

“To see your sibling succeed is all you could ever ask for,” Mileena said. “It’s helped me with my journey. I play lacrosse, and seeing both my brothers Paul and Jack (also a hockey player) you see the highs and lows that they go through and how they

You have to keep believing in yourself regardless of what anyone else says. He’s always done that. He’s been an inspiration for all of us and he never gave up.

Lisa Cotter, mother of Stanley Cup champion Paul Cotter

Paul Cotter, a forward for the Las Vegas Golden Knights, poses with the Stanley Cup before greeting fans at the Plymouth Cultural Center on Sept. 1, his day with the famous trophy.

overcome different things. It inspires me.”

Cotter could have taken the Stanley Cup anywhere in the world he wanted to, but he chose Plymouth, and his hometown made sure to come out in droves to collectively say thanks in return.

He was just as thankful to have the opportunity.

“This is where it all started,” said Cotter, getting ready to meet a long line of friends, family, teammates and coaches from the formative years, not to mention today’s youth-league players who might be struggling with their own starts, stops and crossovers.

He recalled the growth he made as a young player, enough

“I was one of these little kids a long time ago. There were a couple (Plymouth) Whalers that came to my school when I was in elementary school. I thought they were god-like creatures.

“So for little kids to see this it’s pretty cool for them. Kind of gives them a jump that ‘Hey, I can do this, too.’”

TALENT EVIDENT EARLY ON

Several of his earliest coaches never doubted he could go far in the sport, after he figured out how to stay on his skates, that is.

“He was definitely the best player on the team at the time, or one of the best,” said Tom Bryans, who with co-coach Laurie Saunders coached Paul in the learn-to-skate program, followed by the Thundersharks (Mini Mites) and Stingrays (Pee Wees).

And Bryans said he coupled that with a tireless work ethic.

(in practice) he’d do a little fake, then backhand-forehand. He’d score on me every time, no matter what.”

THE UNDERDOG FACTOR

There was no denying Cotter’s talent and ability to go “next level” with his work ethic.

the 6-foot-2, 212-pound forward tallied 13 goals and five assists in 55 regular season games.

to be the fastest skater on the ice to get to the post-practice drink table. “The (Gatorade) blue’s went pretty quick.”

Nearby, the Stanley Cup rested on a folding table while a large video screen behind it replayed some of Cotter’s 202223 highlights – such as niftily hanging on to the puck to wait out an opposing goalie before slipping the puck into the cage. Elsewhere in the room was a table filled with youth-hockey memorabilia, such as photos, hockey jerseys and the like.

“Seeing a crowd like this, it’s pretty cool how you can make an impact on a community,” said Cotter, who signed photos for a couple hours, with the long line wrapping around the building.

“Once we taught him how to skate, there was no stopping him at all,” Saunders said. “He was driven. He had family support. I give a lot of kudos to (Cotter’s parents) for supporting him his whole, entire journey. But everything Paul Cotter had to have the Stanley Cup here today was already inside of him when he was little.”

One of Cotter’s teammates on the Thundersharks, Stingrays and Honeybaked (Squirt AAA level), goalie Marcus Morton, said he wasn’t about to miss the hockey reunion.

“It’s awesome, he worked so hard growing up,” said Morton, 24, who these days plays goal in a beer league. “He was small and it took him a while to get big. A lot of people were passing up on him… but his hard work paid off, I’m just so happy for him right now.”

Morton smiled when recalling some of his on-ice encounters with Cotter.

“He always had this one shootout move,” Morton noted. “Every time he had a breakaway

But Lisa Cotter also cited the underdog factor, especially when her son was hitting a brick wall of resistance – largely because he hadn’t experienced his growth spurt yet – when trying to find a AAA Midget Minor (Under-16) team.

“When he was U-16 he couldn’t find a team, nobody really wanted him,” she recalled. “He had to call the AAA coaches every half hour until someone said no or yes. I think it was just because he was a smaller player.”

Finally, coach Rob Kroll of the Little Caesars program gave teenager Cotter a chance.

“And he grew that summer, it was like no mercy,” Lisa Cotter added. “He was able to hit, he’s a physical player. I think him having to battle through when he was little…really helped him. Now, in the NHL, he’s an enforcer. He can score. He can play defense. He can hit.”

All of those skills and characteristics earned Cotter some prime-time minutes in 2022-23 with the Golden Knights, where

Another former coach on hand for the event was Mark Sandora – who helmed the Honeybaked Squirt team (based out of Hazel Park) which won a state championship.

“He would have been probably 10 or 11 (years old),” Sandora recalled. “He was a forward, a center. Obviously, he was really skilled, an unbelievable skater

Continued on page 12

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and puck-handler. But probably more than anything it was his work ethic (which stood out then). He worked so hard, he always wanted to be first in line for every drill.”

NEVER

GIVE UP

Sandora said he stayed in touch with Cotter over subsequent years as the player moved from Brookings of the North American Hockey League

to the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League, followed by a brief stint at Western Michigan University (he played eight games there in 2018-19) and the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

Cotter was drafted in 2018 by the Golden Knights, skated three seasons in the American Hockey League and reached the NHL in 2021-22.

“When he first went to Western Michigan I texted him and he would respond right

away,” Sandora recalled. “The same thing happened all the way up to the NHL. In fact, the night they won the Stanley Cup I sent him a text of congratulations and he texted me right back. I think he’s still very grounded.”

Which is a very impressive character trait considering the way Paul Cotter’s pro hockey career is taking off.

Self-belief is another of his traits. Lisa Cotter said she hoped that was a message others might glean from her son’s

hockey journey.

“You have to keep believing in yourself regardless of what anyone else says,” she stressed.

“He’s always done that. He’s been an inspiration for all of us and he never gave up.”

And he’s not about to, either. Not with a still-young career that already features a Stanley Cup championship.

“You know what? This is just the start,” Lisa Cotter added. “There’s a lot more in the tank of this kid.”

Some may think this is just a story about beer. And perhaps it is. More to the pint (pun intended) it’s about a group of four Gen Xers hard at work creating a community of craft beer lovers in the heart of Plymouth’s Old Village.

The way Ryan Lamb tells it, this really is a story about both beer and people. As the mover and shaker behind Bearded Lamb Brewery on Liberty Street, and Plymouth’s only home grown

brewery, Lamb knows the beer his team creates is as good as anyone else’s.

But he also obviously thrives on how his brewery offers a relaxed place where people meet others, laugh or cry together, share common interests (craft beer among them) and generally enjoy the experience of an “old style” pub when they step through the doors of the 1880s building.

“We wanted a brewery, not a bar,” says the 41-year-old

brewery owner. “We’re trying to create a community and the Plymouth community has been nothing but great from the local business people we deal with, to our supporters and staff, and people at the chamber.”

Simply put for Lamb, a brewery when done right, ends up creating its own kind of community where people are passionate about beer and getting to know one another as opposed to just a place to eat or pound a drink or two.

But he is not alone in this venture. Lamb’s three other “partners” are all of his generation and have added so much to the business that, while his name may be on the brewery, they are as much the heart and soul of the place as the Livonia resident.

There’s Lucy Klohs, from Dexter, considered the business brains behind the brewery –an incredible business savvy CFO type, says Lamb, who helps manage the day-to-day operations. It was to Klohs who Lamb went to when the opportunity presented itself to buy what was then Liberty Street Brewery in the fall of 2020.

“I was living in Plymouth at the time and had become a regular at Liberty,” says Lamb.

“I heard the owners were looking to sell the business and that an offer had fallen through. I didn’t hesitate and called Lucky. It didn’t take much discussing and we knew this had to make this happen.”

Even with the deal done Lamb slowly evolved the business throughout early 2021 and didn’t change the name itself until the Friday after Thanksgiving Day in 2021.

brewery has already hosted a couple of weddings, and he smiles when asked if Klohs and Vassallo, who live in Dexter, will do the same in Old Village.

“I’m sure they’ll have their reception here,” he says, noting that the brewery has an expansive upstairs space with its own small bar and plenty of seating for parties, game nights and other special events.

Last, but certainly not least, is Alison Scott, a Livonia resident and Lamb’s fiancé.

“She’s key to this whole thing,” he says. “She’s the one with all the experience running a bar-like atmosphere. I’ve managed people before but not in this kind of fast paced, high-energy environment. She really knows how to handle everything.”

THE BREWMASTER

“I don’t know how we came up with it (the name). It was on the list but probably the last one. We all liked it,” says Lamb, who has a beard. “We took a long transitional approach to try and hold on to the community already shaping up here. We wanted to keep the vibe but our own stamp on it as well.”

Klohs' fiancé, Tony Vassallo, a teacher in Plymouth-Canton, is another one of the brewery’s four musketeers, and as chief experience officer, handles everything from merchandise to coming up with activities around the brewery’s mug club -- events like trivia, games or comedy nights, bringing in food trucks and more.

“He seems to know everyone,” says Lamb of his PlymouthCanton Schools graduate partner.

Lamb explains that the

Another possibly unheralded but key person involved at Bearded Lamb is the head brew master, Doug Diedrich, who has worked for several other breweries in metro Detroit and is the creator of the place’s popular beers, spouting names like “Soul Geometry,” “Old Village Pub Ale,” and “Bohemians Have More Fun.”

be creative and flexible and we often sell out quickly. He just makes great beer and always seems to surprise.”

Lamb, who graduated from Canton High School, considered a career in astrophysics but life’s

After leaving college he went to work for Busch’s and moved up to store manager. He spent several years at the United Dairy Farmers of Greater Detroit and Bimbo Bakeries USA selling ice cream, bread and baked goods before starting Motor City Trivia, a gaming company offering activities for bars that he eventually sold to Sporcle, Inc.

“It was very successful,” he says. “It offers live bar trivia. We still use it at the Lamb.”

All this somehow led him to Plymouth, and to selling beer.

“Doug knows our system,” says Lamb. “It’s a steam system that runs on a boiler. We make small batches, six barrels to a batch or 12 kegs. It allows us to

journey changed, and though he doesn’t brew he knows the food business.

“I learned through experience,” he says.

“I’ve always loved beer and breweries,” he says. “I love just being an entrepreneur. I like the idea of providing jobs for people, the strategy, the decision making and responsibility in what we do. Lucy is the same way. We love solving puzzles.”

There have been challenges

Continued on page 16

Continued from page 15

along the way, of course. Like hanging on to the good vibe already created by Liberty Street Beer and yet making their own mark; like finding a niche in an ever growing field of breweries; and like continuing to grow without sacrificing those things that make small breweries so special.

“I like to think we’re Plymouth’s home grown brewery,” he says. “We want to grow but keep it intimate and unique. We also have plans to expand and change our systems to make more beer, increase our customer base and turn our upstairs into a great special events place.”

The brewery’s annual output of 350 barrels could double in the coming years, keeping the staff of 10 busier than ever.

“We have a great team of servers. They know what we offer, they know how to serve

a community,” says Lamb. “For me, fun is a Friday night when the place is packed up and down and we’re running around behind the bar taking care of people, listening to the laughs and hearing the conversations. It tells us how much they love this place, our beer and what we offer.”

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Besides expanding, one of the biggest challenges for Lamb is ensuring consistent, high-quality beer is produced every week.

“I had no beer experience but took a crash course that’s for sure,” he says. “The key to making great beer is 100 percent all about cleanliness. Anybody can find a recipe and anybody can put it together but doing it to scale and consistently requires cleanliness like you wouldn’t believe.”

Lamb leans on Diedrich for that kind of beer mastery.

“He is very detailed oriented,” says Lamb. “It take a lot at the

end of the day to make good tasting beer with great color, mouth feel and right layers of flavor.”

As for beer Lamb describes himself as a hops guy. Though he’ll drink a good dark beer in the winter, he prefers IPAs and good pale ales.

“I love the taste of hops,” he says. “It’s the spice of the beer. There’s lots of varieties and we get a lot of our hops from Michigan.” Bearded Lamb also partners with others to create wines and ciders, he noted.

While beer giants like Budweiser may throw away more beer in a day than Bearded Lamb produces in a year, Lamb appreciates what they do when it comes to handling the “mind boggling” struggle to make consistent beer.

“When you drink a Budweiser you know what you’re going to get every time,” he says. “We

cater to people looking for great quality, but also something different, maybe even something they’re not sure about.”

Local beer drinkers wanting a taste of Plymouth don’t have far to walk, or drive, and those looking for a new taste might just find it behind the beautiful wood bar or once they cross the wood floor and settle down at a table in front of 150-year-old brick walls lovingly decorated by the Bearded Lamb’s logo and other beer memorabilia.

And who knows, maybe one day those who gather for a pint will get to see a special wedding between two of the people fashioning this bubbling gathering place.

The Bearded Lamb Brewing Company is located at 149 W. Liberty Street in Plymouth’s Old Village. For more information, call (734) 207-9600 or visit beardedlamb.com.

Investments In Learn I ng

Plymouth-Canton unveiling new projects at most schools

The academic heartbeat of the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools is as solid as ever, with construction projects and educational programs enhancing what the district is and will offer to its students.

“We’re investing in programs and opportunities for P-CCS students to excel academically, physically and emotionally,” said district Superintendent Monica Merritt in a press release. “These projects are all part of our commitment to help ensure every student can learn, thrive and prepare for success in a safe, welcoming and nurturing environment.”

Perhaps the project with the greatest amount of anticipation –especially to a community where swimming is treasured – is a new pool at Plymouth High School, expected to be unveiled this school year.

Part of the $275 million bond approved in 2020, school and community members will have the chance to take advantage of a 35,000 square-foot facility. It will include a natatorium featuring eight, 25-meter lanes; a diving

well; gymnasium and grand corridor.

“Swimming is really big in the community,” said Frank Ruggirello, P-CCS director of partnerships and external affairs. “Not just in our schools, but in youth swimming. You have the giant swim group called Plymouth Cruisers. A lot of those kids end up in our (high school) program.

“We used to have a pool at Central Middle School, and when that went away it made it difficult. So the need for another pool was big and obviously the community supported it with the 2020 bond.”

The PHS swim facility will be the third at Plymouth-Canton Educational Park, joining existing pools at Canton and Salem high schools.

Other significant projects made possible by the bond issue include a 9,333 square-foot addition at Isbister Elementary (featuring a gymnasium and two classrooms plus a new playground) and a 5,000 squarefoot “Innovation Hub” slated for Canton High School (expected to open in early 2024).

The latter will underscore the district’s mission to focus on innovation, flexibility and careers of the future. The Innovation Hub will enable Canton students to gain hands-on instruction about robotics, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), artificial intelligence and more.

For the estimated district’s 16,300 students who either stepped into physical classrooms on Sept. 5 or continue to learn virtually (about 500 students are expected to enroll in the P-CCS Virtual Academy), many other bond improvement-funded improvements await them.

Ruggirello said Pioneer Middle School received “a pretty big facelift,” featuring canopy renovations, main office remodeling and bus-loop updates.

Starkweather Academy garnered mechanical improvements in addition to new additions and parking lot renovations; Miller Elementary’s parking lot was re-paved; a new asphalt surface and metal lockers spruce up Bird Elementary; and asphalt paving was done at Smith Elementary.

By Tim Smith

Meanwhile, there are other not-so-obvious changes and enhancements across the district for 2023-24. Those include additional security and safety improvements, with surveillance cameras stationed in every building. A new management and mass notification system, additional emergency call boxes (both inside and outside buildings) and upgraded visitor management systems are in place.

Ruggirello added that protocols remain in place from 2022-23 to ensure the health of students, important because of the expected uptick in COVID-19 cases due to reported new strains of the virus.

“We upped our cleaning game during Covid and that’s remained the same,” he noted. “And we have more healthcare professionals working for the district now.”

In 2019-20, prior to the initial outbreak of COVID-19, there were five nurses districtwide. For 2023-24, there will be 15 nurses along with a nurse administrator and seven health-care technicians.

Rock

Construction took place this summer at many of the Plymouth-Canton buildings, including Pioneer Middle School.

The gymnasium at Field Elementary School was renovated over the summer.

On the Frontline

Local author shares stories of life on the road and in combat

By Michele M. Fecht

Plymouth resident and local author Pierre (Pete) Major knows firsthand the challenges of being on the frontline in both his career and military service.

For 20 years — from 1993 to 2013 — Major was a long-haul trucker for Contract Freighters Inc. (CFI) racking up nearly two million miles as a solo driver crisscrossing the lower 48 states as well as seven Canadian provinces.

He has chronicled his two decades on the road in the recently published 2,000,000 Miler: Long Haul Trucker, sharing his experiences ranging from nail-biting treks through snow and ice to traffic and border delays, all while chasing omnipresent delivery deadlines.

His book provides a firsthand look at life on the road and illustrates the critical and central link of truckers in the global supply chain. According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), truckers move 10.23 billion tons of freight annually, or 72.5% of total domestic tonnage shipped in the United States.

Having spent two decades steering 70-plus-feet of vehicle across a variety of terrains in every imaginable type of weather, Major has a myriad of stories of life on the road. He provides details on what it was like living in the “micro home” of his truck for weeks or months, the pluses and pitfalls of truck stops, and the natural beauty of landscape viewed on the open road.

Weather tales include a nerve-racking incident in Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, when a stop for preventative truck maintenance occurred at the same time a deadly tornado was bearing down on that area. Major took shelter in a slit trench/grease pit on the shop floor of the maintenance garage, wedging in with the mechanics while the tornado ripped through Joplin. He and the mechanics escaped with only minor injuries, but 160 people died that day with many more seriously injured.

Major admitted that event shook his confidence and made him reconsider driving through storms, high winds, hail and sheets of rain and snow. It was not the first time he tested fate.

A SOLDIER’S TALE

Major’s newly published book on his trucking career is his second foray into writing. His first book, Vietnam Unplugged: Pictures Stolen — Memories Recovered: Reflections on War While Serving with the 101st Airborne Division, details his service in Company C, 2nd Battalion, 502 Infantry Division, First Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. Published in 2018, the book is an insightful and often harrowing telling of his three years in the military, most notably his 1967-68 tour in Vietnam.

Born in Canada, Major moved with his family to the U.S. (West Dearborn) when his father took a job with Marathon Oil. After high school, Major worked as a teamster for U.S. Royal Tires

while attending night school at IBM Institute of Detroit. After completing his courses, he was offered a job at Manufacturers Bank of Detroit (later bought by Comerica Bank). With a double draft deferment, Major settled into a career job at the bank. An acceptance from Wayne State University to study electrical engineering proved too tempting to stay in banking.

“I didn’t have the money to pay the tuition, so I thought why not sign up for the military,” Major said. “For three years of service, I could get four years of college paid for on the GI bill.” Major enlisted.

So how does a 19-year-old Canadian with a Green Card end

Infantry training (a prerequisite for Officer Candidate School that Major considered) to Jump School for paratrooper training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He received his Jump Wings upon graduation, designating his qualification as a paratrooper. He wears a bracelet today made from those wings.

Major’s first assignment was with the 82nd Airborne located at Fort Bragg (recently renamed Fort Liberty), North Carolina, one of two Paratrooper divisions in the U.S. Army at that time. Within a few months he was reassigned to the First Brigade, 101st Airborne Division as a replacement in Charlie Company, 2/502, with the 3rd Platoon, known as “Fletcher’s Fighters.” The platoon was named after First Platoon Sergeant, Larry Fletcher, who would earn the Distinguished Service Cross for Valor.

chapters later with details about the soldier’s rucksack — a critical piece of torment and necessity.

Major was relieved of his combat duty in Vietnam on March 31, 1968. He was eventually reassigned to a desk job in Okinawa to finish out his service.

POST-WAR LIFE

After the war, he took up trucking in Vancouver, sold structural steel and eventually landed back in Detroit in 1992. He became an American citizen in 2002 (he has dual citizenship), married, bought a house in Plymouth in 2007 and continued driving for CFI until 2013.

the frontline in battle and as a long-haul trucker.

As he was finishing his book, 2,000,000 Miler: Long Haul Trucker, Major was contacted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to participate in the Million Veteran Program, a national research program looking at how genes, lifestyle, military

up in Vietnam fighting with an elite U.S. Army division? Despite extreme short-sightedness — 20/400 which could have excluded him from any combat positions — Major went from Advanced

In September 1967, Major found himself on a Boeing 707 heading to Vietnam, where he would spend nine months in combat. “I don’t think I would have made it a year,” he admitted. The keen eye for details that he brings to his book on his 20 years as a long-haul trucker is equaled in his account of his military service. He doesn’t spare readers the horrors of war — and its aftermath on those who fought it — but also delves into the daily grind of soldiering. A harrowing account of the Tet Offensive is followed

He said he “felt too old” and had little interest in heading to college on the GI Bill, although he still is eligible even at 76. He took up skydiving in 2014. Though very different than jumping as a paratrooper, he said he enjoyed the thrill of the jump.

Twenty-five years after leaving Vietnam, one of Major’s former squad leaders tracked him down reconnecting him with the surviving members of his company. They have stayed connected through travels to reunions and sites honoring fallen comrades.

Since leaving his trucking career, Major now takes to the open road on his Ducati motorcycle. He has spent his post-trucking career writing his reflections of his experiences on

experiences, and exposures affect health and wellness in Veterans.

For Major, it’s another journey.

2,000,000 Miler: Long Haul Trucker and both editions of Vietnam Unplugged: Pictures Stolen — Memories Recovered: Reflections on War While Serving with the 101st Airborne Division are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

One of Plymouth’s cultural gems, the Michigan Philharmonic, is preparing for the start of its 78th season with a grand celebration of music.

The Philharmonic is also adding a new venue to its performance halls, playing twice at the historic Marquis Theater in downtown Northville.

The eight-concert schedule blends eclectic music forms for all ages, reminding us everyone that “All We Need is Music.” The music kicks off opening night on Sept. 30 at the Salem High School auditorium, under the musical leadership by the Phil’s Music Director and Conductor Nan Washburn.

An award-winning and nationally recognized conductor for 25 years, Washburn has helped create a regional symphony that showcases a wide array of classic themes and

popular pop music.

“I just want this year to be about great music,” says Washburn. “We have a lot of stuff built into our schedule. It’s not strikingly different than other season, just some new and different music, and some things we haven’t done before. I’m always excited to share our music with the community.”

As for her 25th year leading the Phil, Washburn, who is the second longest running conductor in the Phil’s history, remains reflective.

“I’ve been kind of looking back and thinking about the impact I’ve had and that we’ve had with young people especially,” Washburn says.

“It’s nice to know you’ve had an influence on so many people. I’m glad to say that we have accomplished a lot and have something to be very proud of.”

Here’s the full schedule for the historic 78th season:

oboe and clarinet solos from the Phil’s very own mother and son tandem, Alan and Nancy Ambrose King.

October 21 • 7:30 pm

“Philharmonic PHRIGHT Night”

Marquis Theatre, Northville

The Phil’s annual spooky celebration of Halloween always blends a haunting yet fun array of quirky sounds and features composers like J.S. Bach, John Williams, Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer. There will also be a “time warp” sing-along and everyone will be wondering what costume the conductor plans to don.

November 10 • 7:30 pm

“Music of La Mer”

St. Kenneth Church, Plymouth

September 30 • 7:30 pm

“A Fantastique First” Salem High School Auditorium, Canton

The Phil presents the lush and romantic sounds of Berlioz’s

Waves upon waves of lyrical music, will wash over everyone as the Phil ventures to “la Mer,” and celebrates the sounds of the sea, featuring two local university choirs, a chamberstyle piece by Claude Debussy, Handel’s “Water Music” and captivating music from a Pulitzer Prize winning Chinese-American composer.

December 7 • 6 & 8 pm

“Holiday Pops with the Phil”

First United Methodist Church, Plymouth

“Symphony Fantastique” along with a rhythmic world premiere created by Uruguayan composer Miguel del Aguila that features

December 9 • 7:30 pm

Marquis Theater, Northville

Ring in the holidays with the traditional Holiday Pops concert.

A variety of music featuring several English composers and our own principal violist Jessica Lipon. The evening includes a sing- along.

January 21, 2024 • 2 pm

“Miniature Masterpieces: Captivating Keyboard”

St. John’s Chapel, Plymouth

The Phil’s “minis” are always

masterful, and this year is no different with a focus on keyboards, including harpsichord and organ. Centered around a dramatic J.S. Bach concerto as well as two pieces from a IndianAmerican composer showcasing the St. John’s Chapel organ, the afternoon features three soloists

- Angie Zhang (harpsichord and organ), Dennis Carter II (flute) and Yuri Popowycz (violin).

February 10, 2024 • 7:30 pm

“Motown meets Mama Mia: Here we go again!”

Dr. Edwin J. O'Leary

Performing Arts Center, Garden City

The Phil embarks on an adventurous musical journey through Motown, pop legends Abba and more.

March 10, 2024 • 2 pm

“Tchaikovsky Spectacular!”

First United Methodist Church, Plymouth

All superlatives aside, this

spectacular evening offers Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s beloved “Symphony No. 5” along with the lighthearted overture to Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” and a piece from British composer Anne Clyne featuring internationally acclaimed cellist, Deborah Pae.

April 27, 2024 • 7:30 pm

“Sci-Phonic II –Anime and Adventure”

Salem High School

Auditorium, Canton

This month is a journey through the music of other worlds with an ode to science fiction, fantasy, and the added twist of anime, a popular Japanese book and movie culture. The concert features everything from “Stars Wars” to “Star Trek,” from “Lord of the Rings” to “World of Warcraft” and an anime classic, “My Neighbor Totoro.”

To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.michiganphil.org.

TINY TUNES RETURNS WITH MUSIC FOR “LITTLE EARS”

The Michigan Phil’s unique “Tiny Tunes” program, a special series for children, also returns this fall. The programs begin at 10 a.m. on Saturdays and are held in the Jack Wilcox Theater at Plymouth’s PARC.

The performances and themes will be include:

Saturday, Nov. 18

Musical Stories & Books

Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024

Rhythm & Dance

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Michigan Philharmonic Youth Orchestra

Tickets are $30 for a family performance pack that includes two adults and up to three children. A family series price for all four concerts is $100. Single tickets can be purchased for $10. The series is sponsored by the Michigan Arts & Culture Council, Michigan First Mortgage Company, DTE Foundation, Colonial Kiwanis Club of Plymouth and the Noetzel Family Foundation.

A THROWBACK TO THE Golden Age

The Cardinal merges scenic beauty and shot making into championship course

By Brad Emons

Known around the world as one of the leaders in golf architecture, designer Ray Hearn has crafted another gem with his latest jewel.

Hearn, whose office was previously based in downtown Plymouth before moving his company to Holland, Michigan, will be unveiling a new championship 18-hole golf course as part of the Saint John’s Resort in the spring of 2024.

The Plymouth project is the region’s first high-end public golf development of its kind in more than 20 years and is part of a $50-million resort transformation that began in 2021 under the property’s new ownership group, the non-profit Pulte Family Charitable Foundation.

In Hearn’s latest gem, he has transformed 200 acres of rolling land and its original 27 holes where the nines were called Mark, Luke and Matthew, to build the new course, named The Cardinal. It will also feature a

7-hole, par-3 course along with a 1.6-acre putting course.

“Everything is finished up, it’s growing in now,” said Hearn, who has designed courses as far away as Egypt, Vietnam and Croatia. “The contractor and the maintenance crew are touching up some spots here and there, but really the last several months have just been a grown-in phase. And I think the whole darn place is going to look almost perfect (by fall). But the Pulte family doesn’t want to open it until the grand opening, spring of next year (2024). They want it perfect, perfect.”

No two holes will look the same, or play similar, while being routed in all different directions factoring in the elevation, wind, terrain and scenic beauty to optimize shot making.

Hearn was able to take full advantage of the flow of the land. Many beautiful 100-year-old trees that were saved during the project now frame many of the

holes, which will feature classic Golden Age architecture when it comes to green contours and bunkering.

“We took down a ton of trees, too, to make the angles and options on the holes more viable for risk-reward,” Hearn said. “You’ve got new holes –basically Nos. 4, 5, 6 – part of 17th is a new hole. Everything was basically blown up, start from scratch. We used some old

corridors, but we didn’t use any of the greens, any of the bunkers, any of the tees – everything is brand-spanking new, brand-new irrigation, drainage system.”

Two years ago, when the project was launched, Hearn partnered with LaBar Golf Renovations, one of the industry leaders in golf course construction, to transform the Saint John’s property to the highest standards.

“The Pultes made such a commitment to this that all of the specifications for the golf course, all the materials used like for the irrigation, the bunkers, sand, the greens mix, the tee mix… those were all the same high-high specifications that Oakland Hills South (Course) used,” Hearn said. “Now, we did not put in those sub-air systems for each green. Those are real expensive, but all the other stuff…was done to the highest standards and specifications that money could buy.”

The 18-hole championship course will feature a 5-tee system to accommodate all skill levels from professional, to core golfers, to beginners.

“This is a resort course, and in golf course architecture, in this five-tee system, this is going to have something for everybody from the forward tees,” Hearn said. “Alister MacKenzie was a golf course architect in the early 1920s that did Crystal Downs (in Frankfort), co-designed Augusta National (Ga.) with Bobby Jones, did Cypress Point (Calif.). For the forward tees this is going to be fun for the beginners, super seniors, men and women, the middle tees – the bread and butter for the everyday players –and then from the back tees we’re over 7,000 (yards).”

Hearn also believes The Cardinal could also be a tournament destination stop as well.

“The way this is set up – the tree lined corridors on certain holes, the bunkers, the riskreward…this could host a Michigan Open someday,” the golf course designer said.

Hearn said Hole No. 18 will be the signature hole, a 421-yard, par-4, which features a valley cut fairway.

“You’re hitting through a chute,” Hearn said. “You’re hitting up to this valley that

around the southern edge are right on the edge of the rock line water feature. And then I’ve got this strategic bunker that is short, right of the green, and that kind of defines your pathway in.

“I redo a lot of what I call Golden Age clubs that are 1930s-earlier, and done a lot of Willie Park, Jr. designs. I’m doing Moonbrook Country Club in Jamestown, N.Y. now. Willie was a genius at what I call the

water feature. And that’s all the way down your vista, down the entire hole is one of the towers on the hotel.”

Meanwhile, hole No. 9 is a Hearn designed a tribute to the Church Pew bunkers at Oakmont Country Club (Pa.).

“Every hole has got something special, it’s pretty cool,” he said. “This is what I call in golf architecture lay of the land. The terrain – you’ve got areas that are flat, areas that drop off in a valley, areas that are steep… so the terrain does a little bit of everything. I let the land talk to me and it really dictated the features that I wanted on the holes. I would say it’s more of a lay of the land design.”

Hearn draws his inspiration from the old course designers such as Ross, Park and Tom Bendelow.

“Each hole has its own personality,” he said. “Most architects ask, ‘What’s your signature hole?’ I say, ‘One through 18,’ so that may mean you’re always a little full of yourself. But each of these holes are pretty darn strong, but 18 stands out as the exclamation point.”

kicks your ball – you hit it right or left, it kind of kicks it back to the center of the fairway. Pending on where they put the pin, there’s some strategically placed bunkers. And four of them

short bunkers that Flint Golf Club has,” Hearn continued. “From a second shot you’re going to look at and think that bunker is closer to the green than what it is. And then you have this beautiful

Meanwhile, the 7-hole, par-3 will have British Iles feel. The state-of-the-art short game area will also feature the putting course with memorable green

Continued on page 24

“Every hole has got something special, it’s pretty cool. This is what I call in golf architecture lay of the land. The terrain-you’ve got areas that are flat, areas that drop off in a valley, areas that are steep…so the terrain does a little bit of everything. I let the land talk to me and it really dictated the features that I wanted on the holes. I would say it’s more of a lay of the land design.”

Ray Hearn, designer of The Cardinal golf course

contours. And adjacent to the Saint John’s golf complex remains Carl’s Golfland retail store in Plymouth, which has its own heated and lighted driving range.

“They allowed me to do a 7-hole, really cool par-3 course

for youth and families, before converting to a conference center and hotel.

In addition to the golf course development, the resort will feature 118 updated luxurious hotel rooms, two bars and a restaurant – the upscale FIVE Steakhouse and the brand-new

that I was able to emulate some great holes, the great greens around the world,” said Hearn, who has worked in concert with Mark Pulte and Kevin Doyle for the Pulte Trust on the project. “The putting course is close to two acres. It’s a little like Pinehurst (N.C.), their putting course, and it’s a little like the Himalaya’s Putting Course at St. Andrew’s (Scotland). It’s somewhere in between. They’re going to have food, drink, trailers out there, music and heated patio. It’s just going to be a cool, festive area.”

In 2021, the William J. Pulte estate purchased the former Inn at St. John’s from the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit and donated it to the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, which has since rebranded the property into Saint John’s Resort.

With a rich history that dates back to the early 1940s, Saint John’s Resort originally opened its doors as a seminary. After more than 40 years the seminary closed, and it was re-opened in the late 1990s as a retreat center

Wine Grotto. There’s also 50,000 square feet of event meeting and wedding space.

The resort is part of the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation’s “Humanitarian Hotels” strategy, which will undertake initiatives for employees, guests, and their communities that represent the Foundation’s mission of serving those in need. Additionally, 100% of the net profits from the resort are donated to educational and humanitarian initiatives from Metro Detroit and around the globe.

Meanwhile, Hearn believes The Cardinal will become more than a curiosity once it opens for play in 2024.

“This is the first new (public) golf course – this is new, it’s not a remodel – in the last 20 years since Shepherd’s Hollow was built in Clarkston,” Hearn said. “That is absolutely amazing.”

The Cardinal, which will open in the spring of 2024, is part of the St. John’s Resort located at 44045 Five Mile Road in Plymouth Township. For more information, visit sjresort.com.

Joseph Corriveau Attorney

It’s been a kind of no news plus good news period for the Friends of the Penn.

The nonprofit group that owns downtown Plymouth’s historic Penn Theatre was still waiting (at press time) to hear from the Michigan Tax Tribunal on the final disposition on a property tax exemption they’ve requested from – and been denied by – the City of Plymouth.

On Sept. 8, though, the tribunal did issue orders dismissing the Friends of the Penn’s request for both summary judgment and summary disposition. Further hearings are scheduled later in October.

At issue with the tax tribunal is the property tax exemption that Friends of the Penn Executive Director Ellen Elliott says will save the nonprofit group some $25,000 a year.

It’s the same exemption, she says, that some 16 other nonprofit theaters in the state get. The

support for the theater’s effort with an Aug. 15 public meeting at the theater. She estimated some 250 people turned out for the forum.

“I thought it went really well,” Elliott said. “It was important to be able to present all the facts and ask questions, so I thought it was a good event.

“It’s overwhelmingly obvious the people love the Penn, people have invested their time and money into it,” she added.

Friends of the Penn is getting some support from the city. In a Facebook posting following that meeting, Plymouth City Commissioner Kelly O’Donnell agreed with Sincock’s contention that the city can’t approve the exemption.

But she said she’s “confident” the Friends of the Penn have done what they need to do.

The Penn Theatre was built in 1941 exclusively as a movie theatre. The current house lighting offers a minimum amount of illumination that is adequate when films are featured, but presents a challenge for events that are not film-based.

Friends of the Penn hopes to continue to provide engaging and informative programs and community events. The upgrade to the house lighting will make the space more adaptable for these purposes.

Friends of the Penn, which leased the building in the early 2000s and bought it outright in December 2021, believe full ownership of the theater makes the group eligible for the tax deduction.

Thus far, city officials disagree. The Penn’s application for the property tax exemption was denied by the city assessor, and the board of review didn’t offer a decision.

Plymouth City Manager Paul Sincock said he couldn’t talk much about it because it’s pending litigation, but he did say Michigan General Property Tax Law regulates tax issues.

“We can’t just hand out taxexempt status,” Sincock said.

“It’s a process that ultimately gets decided by the state tax tribunal.”

That’s where the case now rests. At press time, the tribunal’s docket listed it as “pending.”

Elliott tried to gather public

“The Friends of the Penn has followed the process in appealing to the Michigan Tax Tribunal…I expect the tribunal will make the right decision based on the facts of the case, and hopefully soon,” O’Donnell said in her post. “Please know I am committed to doing everything I can, within the confines of the laws governing the process…to support the Penn and its mission.”

The Friends of the Penn did get some other good news recently, when it was announced they had received a $19,000 grant from the Margaret Dunning Foundation to support updated house lighting at the theatre.

“The whole community has the potential to benefit from this project,” Elliott said. “We host a mental health lecture series for the Plymouth-Canton Community School District that benefits our youngest citizens. We also collaborate with the Plymouth District Library to schedule author lectures and other events for people of all ages.

“We work with other non-profit organizations, including the Plymouth Historical Museum, Plymouth Pollinators, Keep Plymouth Leafy, and Plymouth Community Arts Council, to schedule programming that educates and inspires our residents,” she added. “This improvement will provide a more desirable environment, allowing our guest speakers to see their audiences and permit the audience members to actively participate in a well-lit space.”

For more information about the Penn Theatre, visit www.penntheatre.com.

New Lounge Caters to Beauty Inside & Out

By Wensdy Von Buskirk

most times it doesn't,” she says.

When I met Jennifer “Jenn” Nguyen recently for lunch to talk about her salon, Kiss My Lash Beauty Lounge, I quickly realized this interview is more than about a new business.

As we sat down, Nguyen dives deep, talking about her failed marriage, the isolation she felt as a stay-athome mom, her parents’ immigration journey, and how she’s proof of the American Dream.

in Detroit.

He met Nguyens’s mom through an arranged marriage.

“They never finished high school. They had $10 in their pocket. They worked around the clock,” Nguyen says.

Before retiring, Nguyen’s father was a foreman at Quality Pipe Products, and her mom a food runner at Motor City Casino. Their work paid off. They bought their dream home in Allen Park

mom was incredibly rewarding, but it wasn’t fulfilling. I knew God had different plans for me,” she says.

Nguyen took an eyelash extensions course and began offering this service from her home office in 2019. But as her business began to gain momentum her marriage crumbled.

“Having the right circle of people around you is a life upgrade and I can truly attest to that. By the power vested in eyelash extensions I have surrounded myself with strong, talented, and inspiring people who lift me up and keep me grounded. It’s an empowering feeling,” she says.

Nguyen got so busy she had to start turning clients away. She saved her money and rented a space at Salon Omnia in Plymouth, then worked out a deal to move into a larger space in downtown Northville (in Old Church Square).

Decorated in a speakeasy theme, Kiss My Lash features dark wood, feminine touches, and a mysterious, decadent vibe. Nguyen wanted to create a safe space not only so women can relax into a beauty treatment, but so they can build trusted relationships.

As Nguyen explores franchising, offers eyelash extension training, and continues to expand her team, she says she’s thankful for the continuous support from the community, her clientele, the Kiss My Lash girl gang, family, and friends.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to quit – how many tears I’ve shed, how many sleepless nights I’ve had, how many relationships I’ve isolated,

or how many hours I’ve spent away from my kids. One thing I do know–big dreams take time, dedication, blood, sweat and tears to achieve,” she says.

Kiss My Lash Beauty Lounge is located at 149 North Center Street in downtown Northville. Call (248) 826-7698 or email kissmylashxo@ yahoo.com.

According to Nguyen, 30, Kiss My Lash stands for more than the beauty treatments it has to offer. It’s about empowerment. Nguyen begins her story with her parents, who left Vietnam in the aftermath of the war. Her dad tried to flee several times on fishing boats, and after a few failed attempts, he finally found passage to Malaysia where he lived in a refugee camp before arriving in the U.S. in the 1980s and settling

and put Nguyen and her siblings through college.

After graduating from Melvindale High School, Nguyen earned a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from Eastern Michigan University. After managing a physical therapy office in Novi for a short time she got married, moved to Northville, and became a stay-at-home mom to Amelia, now 8, Mason, 6 and Christian, 3.

“Being a stay-at-home

Kiss My Lash Beauty Lounge offers airbrush tanning, body waxing, cosmetic tattooing, eyelash extensions, lifts, tints, lamination, facial threading, professional makeup, spa facials, Hydrafacial MD, and teeth whitening.

“Owning and operating a business isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s a rollercoaster. It’s hard. It’s lonely. It’s confusing. It’s humbling. It’s rewarding. Sometimes it makes sense,