Telescoping The Township

Former Islander was an actress, sculptress and artist

Word reached us back in Michigan of the passing of Florence Kaufman, who died on Sept. 12 at the age of 93 at the home of her son Alan, in Maui, Hawaii. She had been living in Florida, and although she was Jewish, we exchanged cards and news of our families every Christmas.

She and her husband Daniel (past member of the school board) lived on Swan Island until they moved to Florida. It was Florence

Kaufman who answered the call of the newly organized Island Beautification Committee back in1975 to create their logo of an island with a tree and images of fish and birds.

Her talent included art, acting, and sculpture. She did the kneeling soldier in front of the Flat Rock City Hall, portraits of our children, Marti and Jay when they were kids, and she was an actress appearing in local theater. An enlarged copy of her IBC logo is hanging in the township hall.

Dump the Junk; find the treasure a success

Over 750 Island residents took advantage of the once-a-year Dump the Junk; Find the Treasure opportunity offered by the Open Space Committee at the DPS yard on Groh.

Manned by both volunteers from the committee and the Grosse Ile Nature & Land Conservancy plus paid DPS workers on Sat., Oct. 13, residents could unload items that couldn’t be picked up by Waste Management on trash day and disposed of them in large dumpsters.

One dumpster was delivered by Fritz Enterprise which collected metal items which were then returned to their yard in Taylor, weighed, and a check is sent to the township. The money is then donated to a good cause on the Island. Another disposable item were 64 tires which Waddles Tires picks up at a cost of $2 a tire. Many residents found items they could use in the Find the Treasure section of the yard and any leftovers were picked up by the Salvation Army.

Bikes left at treasure event find new homes

Island resident John Urban III drove off from the DPS yard on Groh Road on Sat., Oct. 13 with 10 to 11 bikes in his pick-up truck. Destination: Back Alley Bikes on Cass Avenue in Detroit.

This organization has been in operation for 15 years working with youth and adults, teaching them skills in taking bikes and restoring them to working condition.

John calls the procedure: “repurposing” the bikes. In return for their restoring the bikes, the workers get to keep the bikes.

The adults in the program learn skills they can use in the work world. Back alley Bikes calls their program: Earn a Bike. John has been on the look out for discarded bikes on his trips around the Island. John suggested having a yearly collection of bikes no longer wanted. A call to Back Alley Bikes alerts them to pick up the bikes for re-use. As John commented: “It’ll put a smile on some kids’ faces!”

New idea for learning history from the water

In April 2018 Julie Cortis and Trista Redfield launched Ducky Baby Charters, any opportunity for up to six passengers to tour Grosse Ile on their pontoon boat. This gives them not only a two-hour guided tour, but a chance to enjoy nature and the beauty of the Detroit River, thanks to Julie’s long association with Island history.

A special treat is because of Julie’s piloting tugboats working delivering mail to freighters, she’s able to get her pontoon boat up close to freighters plowing the river.

Ducky Baby Charters doesn’t do outings for fishing or serve food, but passengers can bring food, drinks and snacks on board. The couple have closed for the season, but Julie says they’re pleased with how well their first season worked. They dock at Hoovers Boat Livery and can be reached on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Their website is duckybabycharters.com, a take-off on “rubber ducky” and their phone number is (734) 546-6000.

Shop the Christmas Boutique Nov. 23-Dec. 22

The popular Grosse Ile Historical Society’s Christmas Boutique will open the holiday season on Fri., Nov. 23 from 12 noon to 6 p.m. At the opening gala there will be food and drink for those who want to get their early shopping done with a choice of handmade crafts and gifts from 30 local artisans.

From Nov. 24 to Dec. 22 the boutique hours are from 4-8 p.m. on Fridays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. As a fundraiser for the G.I. Historical Society, the boutique is chaired by Ann Loftus and Sue Zink with those who contributed to the boutique acting as hostesses. The sale takes place in the Customs House at the corner of Parkway and East River Road.

Celebrate little known national days

You may not have known it, but Oct. 25 was National World Pasta Day, first celebrated in Rome, Italy in 1995. National Days came to my attention listening to WRCJ, the classical music station, when the DJ announced that day Oct. 2 was National “Name your Car Day.”

In using Google for more information on National Days, I found out that Oct. 10 was National Handbag Day, and Oct. 16 was National Dictionary Day

(celebrated on Noah Webster’s birthday,) and Oct. 17 was “Wear Something Gaudy Day.” But the National Day that really caught my attention was Oct. 9. Ada Lovelace Day is always celebrated on the second Tuesday in October. The day honors women in science and technology since Ada Lovelace published the first computer program back in 1843. If you attended the Open Door Theater’s production of Ada and the Engine, it was all about Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, whose mind was so advanced back then that she understood the workings of what would become our computers today.

Protecting Heritage trees is a GINLC project

A project that started in 2014 and is finally culminating in a list of what has been termed as Heritage Trees, is in its final stages before the list is submitted to the township board to be included in the Woodlands Protection Ordinance. Trees in the ordinance are protected from being cut down unless there’s a compelling reason to do so, and there’s a clause to plant a replacement tree.

A target date of Nov. 26 has been set by the Heritage Tree Committee of the Grosse Ile Nature & Land Conservancy, chaired by Pam Frucci. Several residents have already submitted trees on their property which they want added to a list that was written into the ordinance in 2008.

Trees to be included in the list are memorial trees, big trees, endangered, and historic trees. Back in 1963, Howard Harvey, one of the founders of the Grosse Ile Historical Society, initiated the idea to do a tree survey of historic trees to save them from being cut down since they were part of our Island’s history.

The list was published in 1964 and 22 trees were identified. The current Heritage Tree Committee is surveying the old list and the list from the Woodlands Protection Ordinance to ID which trees are still standing.

These, plus the trees currently submitted by residents, will be presented to the township board for inclusion in the Woodlands Protection Ordinance.

If residents who haven’t filled out the form would like to add their tree to the list, please contact Pam Frucci at (734) 671-0170 or by email: jpfrucci@yahoo.com to pick up a form before Nov. 14.

Heritage tree in the yard of John and Sarah Speer.

Memorial tree honoring the marriage 28 years ago of Bob and Kathy Campbell.

100 treated to tour of lighthouse

If you didn’t have a chance to ride a tour bus with a guide to the 1906 lighthouse on the property of the Peter Mans, you will have to wait until the second Sunday in September 2019. It’s the traditional date of the only official tour of the lighthouse. Those who went on the 2018 tour walked across the dock and up the stairs to view the Detroit River as the former lighthouse keeper did before the lighthouse ceased operation. The Grosse Ile Historical Society sponsors the yearly tour of the lighthouse.

Important former resident passes away

A recent obituary noted the passing of Felix Rotter in Farmington Hills, age 99. When living on Grosse Ile, he served as clerk of the township from 1976-78 and was named Citizen of the Year by the Rotary Club in 1981.

Mobil station to have new look

The familiar Mobil station at the corner of Macomb and Meridian, which had been operated also as Shell and Sunoco gas stations/repair shop for 40 years by Dave Hill, will have a new look by the end of 2018.

According to Nassar Choucair, of NC Designers and Contracting out of Dearborn, he’s designed a station with a more modern look, which will sell coffee, snacks, magazines, and groceries. Although it will include a tire pump and the sale of gas, it will no longer be a repair shop and Dave Hill is still the owner and operator.