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#8014-0729
FALL 2021
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LIFE IN AND AROUND TECUMSEH
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. - Leonardo da Vinci
MIKE AHLEMAN
BETSY BEIL
TIM BENDER
517.605.6926
517.403.4061
517.605.3666
ADRIAN
TECUMSEH
ADRIAN
TOM & RACHELL BLIESNER TECUMSEH 269.910.4551 734.255.1374
EMILY BROWNING
ZACK BUTLER
THOMAS BUXTON
CHAD CONRAD
DAVID CORDER
517.320.1199
517.960.5920
517.366.1746
517.673.0301
517.403.9710
ADRIAN
CORDER TEAM
TECUMSEH
ADRIAN
TECUMSEH
HomehappensHere KATHY ZMIJEWSKI ADRIAN
517.403.4930
MARSHALL WOOD TECUMSEH
810.334.2356
CHRIS TRAINOR TECUMSEH
734.645.5091
JESSICA STRETCH BLIESNER TEAM
517.960.3178
GREEN. GOLD. SOLD. GLENNA STROUD TECUMSEH
517.403.0455
howardhanna.com
SHIRLEY SMITH
BARB SCHRADER
KAY PRONG
517.605.7050
517.673.6287
517.403.3390
ADRIAN
2
TECUMSEH
TECUMSEH
TECUMSEH | 517.424.4444 145 E Chicago Blvd ADRIAN | 517.263.4100 1514 W Maumee St
CARL & PAM POLING TECUMSEH 517.403.5719 517.403.5720
GLORIA LEONARDMCCLENATHEN ADRIAN/ TOLEDO
517.605.0303
JIM LINDAU ADRIAN
517.605.2005
JENNIFER KERSTETTER TECUMSEH
248.640.5548
SHELLEY HUNT
PATRICK HOFFMAN
517.442.8340
248.342.4604
TECUMSEH
TECUMSEH
GAVIN DOYLE
LAURIE DORSTEN
517.260.1681
517.759.2770
734.945.2531
ADRIAN
TECUMSEH
TECUMSEH
BOB FOX
TECUMSEH
517.605.5206
AMY FULK ADRIAN
517.442.9043
APRIL GUNDER TECUMSEH
517.403.3119
JAN HAMMOND TECUMSEH
517.403.0122
Fall 2021
homefront
MANAGING BROKER 517.206.4867
JAMES NEAR
INSURANCE MANAGER 517.673.5586
ROBIN FAHMIE
MORTGAGE LENDER 734.395.5653
LAURA HAYES POLING TEAM
517.662.9291
FALL HAPPENINGS.............................................................. HAPPENINGS..............................................................6 6
on the cover
SIP & SAVOR............................................................................. SAVOR.............................................................................2 24
Ranked 1 Lenawee County
DALLAS HEIDBREDER BLIESNER TEAM
734.730.1707
CHRISTOPHER HINKLEY
KURT HILLEGONDS
KELLY HEIDBREDER
517.795.5719
517.425.8786
517.920.3754
517.605.9647
TECUMSEH
ADRIAN
TECUMSEH
BLIESNER TEAM
TWO WILD HEARTS. HEARTS.........................................................1 ....................................................... 1 4 WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR?.............. FOR?..............1 16 HELLO AUTUMN (OPEN ADS)...........................1 ......................... 1 8 THIS IS A LOVE STORY................................................ STORY................................................2 21 (ADV). . ...........2 ........... 2
8
(ADV). . .................................3 ................................. 3
2
Photo by Sara Hilton
MEEMIC INSURANCE
Published seasonally by Herald Publishing Company
COLE & CO................................................................................3 ..............................................................................3 8
LEGEND OF KISSING HOLLOW.................. HOLLOW..................3 34 RIVERBEND GARDENS.............................................. 4 0
15,000 MAILED, 5,000 delivered to homes and businesses within a 40 mile radius of Tecumseh, MI Available to out-of-town residents with $16 subscription
PAPERCLIP CONTEST We’ve placed this paperclip in one of our advertisements in this magazine
MIKE HOFFMAN
BURIED TREASURE............................................................. 1 1
PROACTIVE IN A PANDEMIC
Copyright © 2021. All Rights Reserved For reprint and reuse permission, email: homefront@tecumsehherald.com
#
contents
517.423.2174 • 800.832.6443 homefront@tecumsehherald.com www.homefronttecumseh.com P.O. Box 218, 110 E. Logan St. Tecumseh, MI 49286
20,000 total circulation
JERYL VALLIE-CEPIDA
One of the many Little Garden Club projects that keep Tecumseh beautiful. Photo by Nanci Heiney
LESLEY DEMPSEY
A VERY SPECIAL AUTOMOBILE..................... AUTOMOBILE.....................4 42 WRECK ON THE WABASH................................... 4 6 SLEEP INN. INN.....................................................................................4 ...................................................................................4 9 ABLAZE........................................................................................... ABLAZE ........................................................................................... 5 0 LESTER GRAHAM. GRAHAM...............................................................5 ............................................................. 5 2 FROM MY KITCHEN. KITCHEN...................................................... 5 4 ART TRAIL TECUMSEH. TECUMSEH................................................ 5 6 VISIT CLINTON.......................................................................5 .....................................................................5 9 HENRY'S MACON. MACON........................................................... 6 4 SECOND CHANCE. CHANCE....................................................... 6 6 ANTIQUE & RESALE........................................................ 6 6 100 YEARS - HUMANE SOCIETY............... 6 8
Find the Paperclip
Linda Bassett of Tecumseh found the paperclip on page 7 in the Newburg Meadows ad in the 2021 SUMMER issue. Tell us where you found it in this current issue. We’ll draw from all correct entries on
November 8, 2021
and give $100 to the lucky winner. To enter, send your name, answer, address and phone number to The Tecumseh Herald, P.O. Box 218, Tecumseh, MI 49286, or submit online at homefronttecumseh.com
Publisher: Jim Lincoln | Creative Director: Suzanne Hayes Lead Graphic Designer: Nanci Heiney | Production Artists: Cory Mathis, Koda Woodward Writers: Sara Hilton, Jackie Koch, Linda Learman, Renee Lapham Collins, Christine MacIntyre, Mary Kay McPartlin | Advertising Sales: Suzanne Hayes, Sharon Maher Mailing/Delivery: Mary and Marc Hernandez, Nanci Heiney, John Hoffman, Joshua Bridget Photographer: Nanci Heiney | Business Office: Patti Brugger, Bonnie Love 3
Doherty Family Dentistry. Dentistry.......... 32 Doll n' Burgers........................ Burgers........................ 25 Downtown Dempsey's............... 26 Downtown Printing................... Printing................... 69 Dundee Lumber....................... Lumber....................... 23 Eden Foods......................... 19,60 Edward Jones - Clinton. Clinton............. 61 Edward Jones - Tecumseh........ Tecumseh........ 19 Embers Bar and Grill. Grill................ 24 Evans Lake Resort. Resort................... 49 Eve and Annie Boutique........... Boutique........... 18 Experience Tecumseh. Tecumseh................. 7 F & S Landscape Inc................ Inc................ 41 Foundation Realty/Stepp Team. Team. 18 Friends and Family Daycare...... 60 Frye Printing Co. Inc................. 60 Gillin Eye Care. Care.......................... 16 Golden Acres........................... Acres........................... 69 Griffith CAD Service, LLC. LLC........... 12 Handler Funeral Homes........... Homes........... 63 Heart O' the Hills Realty........... 33 Heart Wood Place.................... Place.................... 49 Healthy Carpets....................... Carpets....................... 71 Henry Ford Allegiance. Allegiance................ 8 Hermanowski Law.................... Law.................... 61 Hinesly Orthodontics. Orthodontics................ 45 Holen Family Chiropractic. Chiropractic......... 61 Hometown Pizza of Clinton...... Clinton...... 61 Hopscotch............................... Hopscotch ............................... 32 Hospice of Lenawee. Lenawee................... 6 Howard Hanna........................... Hanna........................... 2 Howard Hanna - Bob Fox......... Fox......... 68 Howard Hanna - Hammond...... Hammond...... 41 Howard Hanna - Kerstetter...... Kerstetter...... 71 Integrity Construction Pros...... Pros...... 70 J Bar Hobbies.......................... Hobbies.......................... 18 Jativa Family Dental.................. 61 Kapnick Orchards...................... Orchards...................... 9
ly theMed events Month !
thank you
t your party here hos !
ated per re! O / d o wne y St ly O Cand i m Fa y Fun rites z ic Favo Cra Nostalg
s/ as Noveltie Specialty Sod 100 Over 75 Bulk Ca ndies Gourmet Choc olate
517-920-4037 Sunday 10-4 T-Th 10-6, F-Sat 10-8 4997 N Adrian Hwy at Sutton Rd | Adrian sweetboutiqueadrian.com
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Kemner Iott. Iott.............................. 55 55.. Kent J. Benham DDS. DDS................. 64 Lancaster Agency..................... 60 Lenawee Fuels......................... Fuels......................... 19 Lev's Bakery. Bakery............................ 55 Lloyd's Repair Service.............. 35 Local Parcel. Parcel............................. 30 Lone Oak Properties. Properties................ 31 Macon Grocery......................... 24 Mammoth Distilling ............. 27,72 Mark Prielipp Greenhouse ....... 35 Martin's Home Center.............. Center.............. 38 Masterpeace Counseling.......... Counseling.......... 46 Meemic Insurance.................... Insurance.................... 32 Michigan Building Specialties... Specialties... 54 Michigan Wares. Wares........................ 32 Musgrove & Company.......... 18,24 Newburg Meadows. Meadows................... 22 Next Generation Automotive. Automotive..... 44 Nite Lites................................... Lites................................... 6 Nourish Juicery and Kitchen..... Kitchen..... 25 Penn Acres Grain, Inc.. Inc............... 63 Pentamere Winery. Winery.................... 18 Premier Bank. Bank........................... 17 Probility Physical Therapy........ Therapy........ 59 ProMedica................................. ProMedica ................................. 5 Radant Electric........................ Electric........................ 64 Raisin Valley Golf ....................... 9 ReMax - Sarah Underwood....... Underwood....... 46 River Raisin Canoe Livery. Livery......... 13 Riverside Deli........................... 25 Route 12 Vintage and More..... More..... 62 Sal's Italian Restaurant............ Restaurant............ 26 Salsaria's.................................. 27 Salsaria's SASS Gift Shop......................... Shop......................... 13 Schafer Hardwood................... Hardwood................... 28 Schmidt & Sons Pharmacy.. Pharmacy.. 32,61 Second Chance Consignment. Consignment.... 57 Sieler's Water System. System............... 68 Smith Kimball........................... Kimball........................... 60 Southern MI Railroad............ Railroad............ 7,60 State Farm - Lisa Wain............. Wain............. 52
State Farm - Scott Campbell. Campbell..... 13 Suburban Chevrolet............. 36,62 Sunderland Insurance.............. Insurance.............. 51 Tecumseh Bread and Pastry.... Pastry.... 38 Tecumseh Brewing Company.... Company.... 27 Tecumseh Camera. Camera.................... 46 Tecumseh DDA......................... DDA......................... 69 Tecumseh District Library. Library......... 16 Tecumseh Inn. Inn........................... 49 Tecumseh/Adrian Insurance..... Insurance..... 45 Tecumseh Parks and Rec........... Rec........... 9 Tecumseh Plywood. Plywood................... 52 Tecumseh Pool. Pool......................... 30 Tecumseh Shoe Repair. Repair............. 32 Tecumseh Veterinary Hospital.. Hospital.. 11 The Apothecary Kitchen........... Kitchen........... 27 The August Company Suite. Suite....... 49 The Boulevard Market............. Market............. 26 The Buzz Cafe.......................... 26 The Clinton Inn.......... 25,27,49,60 The Copper Nail....................... Nail....................... 51 The Dog House........................ House........................ 25 The Greenleaf Mansion............ Mansion............ 49 The Station.............................. Station.............................. 25 The Sweet Boutique................... Boutique................... 4 The Tecumseh Herald............... 64 The Winery North of 12........... 12........... 25 TLC Community Credit Union. Union..... 60 Todd's Garden......................... Garden......................... 70 Topsoils of Clinton................... Clinton................... 62 Tuckey's Big Boy. Boy...................... 24 Twin Pines............................... Pines............................... 57 Two Wild Hearts Sanctuary. Sanctuary....... 63 Union Block Collection. Collection.............. 49 Van Der Sande Plumbing. Plumbing.......... 30 Village Family Dental................ Dental................ 62 Vintage Boulevard Suite. Suite........... 49 Water Wheel Community........... Community........... 61 Waterloo Farm Museum.............. 9 Wayside Veterinary Clinic. Clinic.......... 59 Weeden Orthodontics. Orthodontics............... 51
ADVERTISERS
12 Vintage Market................... Market................... 62 A MAIZE ING Nutrition.............. Nutrition.............. 63 Adrian Monuments................... Monuments................... 48 Alevri Mill Distilling Co.............. Co.............. 61 Anthro Apothecary. Apothecary................... 23 Appleumpkin Festival............... Festival............... 45 Artalicious Fine Arts Fair............ 7 Ashley's Body Shop, Inc........... Inc........... 62 Athletico Physical Therapy....... Therapy....... 62 Bailey's Water Care.................. Care.................. 47 Barrett's Showplace Gardens... Gardens... 48 Basil Boys. Boys................................ 26 Bell Ford. Ford.................................. 14 Best Shine Auto Detailing. Detailing......... 55 BG World Class Gymnastics. Gymnastics....... 62 Black Raven Architects. Architects............. 11 Blissfield Bed & Breakfast. Breakfast........ 49 Boulevard Insurance. Insurance................ 44 British Tea Garden................... Garden................... 25 Burdick Kitchen and Bath. Bath......... 20 Calder Dairy. Dairy............................. 44 Cambrian Senior Living............ Living............ 12 Camp Sequoia. Sequoia.......................... 15 Carpet on Wheels. Wheels..................... 52 Charles Gross Attorney............ Attorney............ 21 Classic Cabinets....................... Cabinets....................... 10 Clinton Chiropractic Wellness. Wellness.... 63 Clinton Community Schools. Schools....... 63 Clinton Fall Festival............... Festival............... 6,59 Companion Animal Clinic. Clinic........... 23 County National Bank. Bank............... 12 CR - Fernando Canales, JR....... JR....... 12 CR - Fonda Bozeman................ 12 Croswell Opera House. House................ 9 D & P Communications............. Communications............. 21 DNA Sales................................ Sales................................ 18 D Printer. Printer.................................. 21 Day-Old Trophies..................... Trophies..................... 59
In this family, we fight together. October is breast cancer awareness month. Early detection with 3-D Mammography, Breast MRI or Molecular Breast Imaging offer the best defense against breast cancer. With our ProMedica family in the ring, the most accurate and advanced screenings are available close to home.
Take a VIRTUAL TOUR of our facilities at
promedica.org/location/promedica-charles-and-virginia-hickman-hospital
5640 N. Adrian Highway | Adrian, MI 49221 5
Hospice of Lenawee
THE AMAZING THROWDOWN ROAD RALLY
October 2 $60/person Road Rally 3pm Dinner at 6pm 517-263-2323
hospiceoflenawee.org
T
his signature fundraising event features an adult scavenger hunt done by way of car, with locations and clues given to lead participants to their final stops where dinner to-go awaits. Auctions provide the chance to win fabulous prizes. Enjoy cars, clues, food and fun while supporting charity care/ community bereavement.
CLINTON FALL FESTIVAL
FALL HAPPENINGS
O
ichigan's largest drive thru Christmas light show opens on Thanksgiving day at Michigan International Speedway. Filled with unique, animated displays along the five mile trail, this awesome light show will put a smile on young and old. A beautiful way to enjoy the holiday season with family/friends. Car, van and tour busses welcome. Also join the 5K Fun Run/Walk! See info below.
Nov 25 - Dec 31 Sun-Th 5:30-9pm F & Sat 5:30-10pm MIS: 12626 US12 Brooklyn
Open Daily 517-937-6426
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More info on our FB page clintonfallfestival@yahoo.com
M
NITE LITES
nitelitesshow.com
September 24-26 Starting at 10 Downtown Clinton SW of Ann Arbor 517-456-7396
1
Kapnick Apple Festival October 9-10 517-423-7419 kapnickorchards.com Over 80 craft booths, cider and caramel apple making, music
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ne of the best festivals in Southeast Michigan! Join us for this annual fall festival. Live entertainment, carnival rides/games, arts & crafts booths, lost art demos, parade, train rides, classic car and truck show, plus kid zone with inflatables, exotic animal and petting farm, and mini tractor pull!
5K Fun Run/Walk Nite Lites November 20 | 517-937-6426 nitelitesshow.com Michigan International Speedway: 12626 US12 Brooklyn
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EXPERIENCE TECUMSEH Appleumpkin Festival October 9 & 10 Downtown Tecumseh 517-424-6818 mytecumseh.org downtowntecumseh.com
F
all is the perfect time to experience all Tecumseh has to offer. Come for the annual Appleumpkin Festival and take advantage of the fun this “Best Community Festival” offers up. You can even fly above the historic town in a helicopter where you’ll see rolling countryside, many waterways and well-kept neighborhoods. Come back down and take the opportunity to go antiquing at many vintage shops. Visit anytime and enjoy hometown brew pubs and wineries complete with live entertainment, and dining for every palate. Shop the boutiques, golf the beautiful courses, hike the parks, and see a show at a world-class theater. Come to stay.
ALL ABOARD SOUTHERN MICHIGAN RAILROAD 301 Bartlett St Clinton 517-456-7677 Saturdays/ Sundays 9am-4:30pm
R
eserve your spot for weekend fall color tours aboard the SMRR that travels between Tecumseh and Clinton. The train also runs during Clinton’s Fall Festival and Tecumseh’s Appleumpkin Festival.
The Halloween Train runs Oct. 30-31, leaves Tecumseh at 10am, 1pm, 3:15pm. Kid-friendly costumes encouraged. Santa Train begins last weekend in November. southernmichiganrailroad.com
ARTALICIOUS FINE ARTS FAIR Downtown Adrian Sat | Sept 18 11am - 7pm 517-403-4469 artalicious.org
Ghost Tour of Tecumseh Tecumseh Parks and Recreation Oct 22 & 23 | 7pm & 9pm Tours 517-423-5602 tecumsehparksandrec.recdesk.com Pre-registration required $5/$6
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Paranormal 101: Ghosts, Spirits and more! October 28 | 7-8pm at TDL: 215 N. Ottawa, Tecumseh Central MI Paranormal Investigations will be here to discuss local cases and more.
5
A
rtalicious is the perfect mix of fine art, food, and entertainment. Featuring talented local and regional artists, on-street live musical performances and tasty food. Located in the heart of historic downtown Adrian, Artalicious is an easily walkable district with plenty of free parking.
Trunk or Treat Thursday, October 28 | 5-7pm 517-456-4181 Suburban Chevrolet of Clinton 1070 US-12, Clinton Dress up and bring the kids! Fall happenings continued...
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FOCUSING ON YOUR HEALTH EVERY STEP OF THE WAY
From strains and sprains to fractures and falls, now you can get immediate care from a Henry Ford orthopedic specialist at our Orthopedic Walk-In Clinic. No appointment is necessary and you’ll be charged only for an office visit. See how we can prevent an injury from cramping your plans.
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Henry Ford Allegiance Orthopedic Walk-In Clinic Henry Ford Allegiance Orthopedic and Neuroscience Center 1201 East Michigan Avenue, Suite 300, Jackson, MI 49201 Open Mondays and Thursdays, 5 to 8 p.m. HenryFord.com/OrthoWalkIn (517) 205–2147
Happenings continued... CROSWELL OPERA HOUSE
S
it back and enjoy ‘Something Rotten’ in Michigan’s oldest theater. Set in Shakespearean times, this lighthearted farce has something for every theater lover! This comedic play is filled with great songs, witty characters and will create uproarious laughter throughout the audience. Purchase tickets online or at the door.
129 E Maumee St Adrian 517-264-7469 October 8-17 Times Vary croswell.org
PIONEER DAY Waterloo Farm Museum
13493 Waterloo-Munith Rd
Grass Lake Sun | Oct 10 10am - 5pm 517-596-2254
waterloofarmmuseum.org
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Open Mic Night Sept 30, Oct 31, Nov 18 • 7-8pm Sponsored by TDL/Musgrove & Co 135 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh Ages 13+, musicians, poets, comedians, other talent. Max 5-minute performances.
Every place has a history. Some told, some purposefully forgotten.
Ghost
7
L
ooking to glance into the 19th century? This museum features an 1850s farmhouse, working forge, log house, outbuildings and one-room schoolhouse just 3 miles up the road! Music, period crafts/trades, cooking and wagon rides. Vendors, concessions, gift shop and flower barn. Come back December 4 and 5 for Christmas on the Farm!
Tecumseh Holiday Open House Fri, Nov 12 and Sat, Nov 13 downtowntecumseh.com Streetscape lighting ceremony and merchant specials. n
Don’t miss the festival! VISIT US DAILY Over 80 Craft Booths Cider and Apple Butter Making Live Entertainment
Tour
Route is 1 1/2 - 2 miles long $5 Residents/$6 Non-Residents Pre-registration Required
of Tecumseh
October 22 & 23
U-PICK APPLES & PUMPKINS
tecumsehparksandrec.recdesk.com
517.423.5602 | 810 N. Evans | AJ Smith Rec Center
have a tee-riffic fall 4057 Comfort Rd, Tecumseh 517.423.2050 | raisinvalleygolfclub.com
PET THE FARM ANIMALS!
WEEKEND S! WAGON RIDE
Parks & Recreation
7pm and 9pm Tours
ALL YEAR ‘ROUND!
42nd
annual
NG AWARD-WINNI
APPLE CIDER!
Oct. 9 & 10
4245 Rogers Hwy, Britton 517-423-7419 | kapnickorchards.com 9
E xperience theDifference c l a s s i c c a b i n e t s a n d i n t e r i o r s. c o m
Tecumseh 118 W. Chicago • 517.423.2600
Adrian 112 N. Main • 517.264.1111
Jackson 807 S. Brown • 517.817.5650
Lisa VanSickle Interior Designer
Betsy Writer Interior Designer
Sarah Mende Interior Designer
• • • • •
• • • •
KraftMaid® Vantage 10
Amie Pelham Owner/Designer
Craig Barnes Owner/Designer
Brian Renaldi Owner/Project Manager
CABINETRY COUNTERTOPS FLOORING LIGHTING CUSTOM WINDOW TREATMENTS
BLINDS WALLPAPER HARDWARE ELECTRIC FIREPLACES • FURNITURE • REMODELING SERVICES
• INTERIOR DESIGN • WINDOWS • INTERIOR/ EXTERIOR DOORS • INTERIOR TRIM • DECKING
Beneath
the soil, there are remnants of stories, remnants of who came before and how they lived, remnants of the first pioneers who settled this land. Britton resident Lucas Wielfaert travels Lenawee County and hunts for these buried remnants. When he finds them, he carefully digs them from the earth and holds history in his hands. On a warm August day, Wielfaert sits in his kitchen with an old plat map of Tecumseh spread over his counter. Atop the map there are old buckles and suspender clips, remnants of porcelain dolls, and an unusually large amount of harmonica reeds. There is a pile of what could be mistaken as pebbles. “These are lead pistol bullets,” he explains. “This one was fired. You can see that it is mushroomed. They handmade these,” he says. “They had a tool that they poured the hot lead into. You can still see the spout where it was poured.” Wielfaert has found all of these pieces by metal detecting properties in the area. “These are some of my favorite finds,” he says as he points to a collection of beautiful Crotal bells. “These bells were hung on carriages and horses so that people would hear them coming.” For Wielfaert, metal detecting is a family affair. “My dad and uncle metal detected,” he says. “I guess my dad’s hobbies kind of wore off on me. Wielfaert received his first metal detector when he was in eighth grade. He used it a few times, found a few wheat pennies, and then put it away and didn’t touch it again for six years. When he found himself with a bit of extra time during the COVID shutdowns, he went out and metal detected a spot where an old church once stood. “I found a couple of wheat pennies,” he says. “I remembered how much fun this is. I found a silver dime, and it took off after that. I just wanted
LUCAS WIELFAERT
Buried Treasure Story by Sara Hilton Photos by Lucas Wielfaert
to keep finding stuff.” Weilfaert posted his finds on a Facebook metal detecting page and asked if anyone wanted to start metal detecting with him. Three men from southeast Michigan responded and suddenly, Weilfaert had a new hobby, new finds, and new friends. His searches are anything but haphazard. Rather, each spot he detects is researched in advance. He looks on old maps for structures that have long since crumbled. This way, there is little mixing of modern material and old artifact within the soil. Once he finds a spot, he contacts the owner for
1860 ABRAHAM LINCOLN CAMPAIGN TOKEN FOUND IN THIS CONDITION AN EXAMPLE OF THE TOKEN IN GREAT CONDITION
permission. Fields, according to Wielfaert, are particularly rich in treasure. “It’s amazing what you can find in a field even after all those years of tilling.” He picks up a button from a Civil War uniform that he found in a field. “I never thought in a million years I’d find this in a field." In addition to the old maps, Wielfaert has a copy of the 1854 Macon Township census on his phone. “I like finding out the history behind stuff,” he says. “Finding out who lived there is like solving a mystery. When I’m metal detecting a spot, the census allows me to see the settlers that lived there. I can see where they came from, what occupation they had, their kids’ names.” On a recent search, Wielfaert found a capped bust coin from the early 1800s. These coins feature Lady Liberty wearing a cap.
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Brenda Rigdon, Principal, AIA 517.577.6992 blackravenarchitects.com
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Buried Treasure continued...
tecvet.com Dr. Edward W. Tritt, DVM 5990 S. Occidental Dr. Lorrie A. Tritt, DVM Tecumseh • 423-2911 Dr. Sarah C. Tritt, DVM
11
Buried Treasure continued...
Summer said in shades of blue, “Let me be young a few days more.” “Walk forward,” Autumn whispered.
“There’s a colorful horizon to explore.”
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517-423-5300 | 333 N. Occidental, Tecumseh | CambrianSeniorLiving.com
FORD TRACTOR EMPLOYEE BADGE FOUND BY FRIEND, DAN ELLENWOOD
UNION ARMY CIVIL WAR NAVAL COAT BUTTON AND INFANTRY CUFF LINK
VARIOUS BUTTONS INCLUDING A NEW YORK STATE MILITIA “EXCELSIOR” BUTTON C. 1820 AND AN UNFIRED BALL FROM A BLACK POWDER PISTOL
1834 MATRON HEAD LARGE CENT AND CAPPED BUST DIME
LARGE CROTAL BELL MADE BY THE ROBERT WELLS II FOUNDRY OF ALDBOURNE, ENGLAND C.1755-1798
1796-1810 US NAVY COAT BUTTON
“I also found a 1796-1810 navy button there, too,” he says. Upon researching the family that first settled the spot, Wielfaert discovered that they were one of the original settlers to the area. “The man was born in 1769, and he settled near Milwaukee Road in the 1830’s,” he says. “So it is pretty cool seeing when someone was born and finding their stuff after 200 years.” While many assume the treasure laid out on Wielfaert's counter is worth a great deal of
money, this is not that kind of treasure. “A lot of times the coins and other items aren’t really worth a lot,” he says. “Because they’ve been in the ground so long, they aren’t appealing to coin collectors.” The items he finds are environmentally damaged and scratched and worn, “Even if they are in good shape for being in the ground for so long, they are still not worth hardly anything,” he said. Yet, worth and value aren’t always measured by money. With the abstract nature
of history, Wielfaert’s finds reveal tangible and intimate remnants of the past — an old lipstick container, hem weights that were sewn into Victorian era dresses, and clips that held a man’s suspenders in place nearly 200 years ago. Wielfaert’s finds reveal the daily life: toys and coins, bells, buttons and bullets. They might not be worth money, but the worth of holding these intimate markers of a life in one’s hands is invaluable and something of extraordinary worth.
SASS Gift Shop
Your hometown home & auto team When you go with State Farm®, you get a neighborly service and a local agent — all for a surprisingly great rate. Give me a call and get a quote today. Scott Campbell, Agent 502 E Chicago Blvd Tecumseh, MI 49286 Bus: 517-423-3820
Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®
scott.campbell.be9o@statefarm.com
2001735
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, State Farm Indemnity Company, State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, State Farm General Insurance Company Bloomington, IL, State Farm County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas, State Farm Lloyd Richardson, TX, State Farm FLorida Insurance Company Winter Haven, FL
sassgiftshop.com 517-266-6100 114 E. Maumee Adrian | M-Sat
VAS CAN table s u et Adj lphab gs A Rin
Get
Personal
Adjustable rings wear alone or stack...
T GIFOP SH
So Wielfaert returns to his search again and again and again. He returns to hunt beneath the soil, looking for the remnants of these stories, the remnants of those who came before, the remnants of the first pioneers who settled this land. And when there is a find, he gently digs these treasures from the earth and is able to hold our history in his hands. n Follow Wielfaerts finds on Facebook and Instagram at Macon Ridge Metal Detecting
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RiverRaisinCanoeLivery.com 734.529.9029 | 4mi E. of Dundee 13
o Tw Jane works with Goose
M
ichelle Wild of Adrian and Jane SarsfieldMagur created the sanctuary at Jane’s farm north of Clinton in late May, with a goal to purchase horses at auction headed for slaughter, give them veterinary care, training, and a place to stay, and ultimately to find them permanent homes. While it’s not legal to use horses for meat in the United States, some buyers acquire horses in the U.S. and take them to Mexico or Canada. The two women got the idea by watching a show called Horse Rescue Heroes and knew the existing farm would be perfect. The sanctuary at 12727 Hogan Road has all the features needed to house and care for six horses, including 10 acres surrounded by rolling farms and lakes.
By Jackie Koch
So far Two Wild Hearts has acquired three horses and has already sent two of them to their forever homes. Goose and Eze were both bought at an auction, while Shadow was an owner surrender. Shadow and Eze have been adopted. “We like to match the horse to the family and what they’re looking for, if we can. Shadow is going to be a pasture pet and the owners are looking for another horse,” said Michelle. Goose has some issues the two women are still addressing. Besides a physical injury to her chest, Michelle said the horse either lost a baby or had it taken away from her before she was taken to auction. She’s wary of people, but is well-trained. “She listens to commands, she’s never tried to be vicious, she’s never kicked, bit or struck out. She
Hearts
has bolted a couple times. Jane has been working with her every day to build trust, and some days she has to start all over again,” Michelle said. “She’s a very nice horse, she just has a lot of fear.” Jane drove to an auction in Texas on the third weekend in August to purchase two more horses, and the women planned to travel to Shipshewana, Indiana in September to acquire additional horses. Attending far-away auctions may become a regular habit a few times a year. “I have people lined up looking for riding horses, but we just can’t find them around here,” said Michelle. Some of the horses are 18-20 years old, which she said is not old, more like a “late teenager.” Owners may send
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Shadow goes home
What began as a love for horses and the desire to save their equine friends has turned into Two Wild Hearts Sanctuary, run by two local women who put their hearts and souls into their mission. horses to slaughter because they are older, they may be arthritic or lame, or have other health issues that prevent them from being used for their original tasks. “Maybe they can’t take care of them anymore and they don’t know what else to do, so they send them off to auction,” she said. The cost of purchasing a horse at auction varies, but two women have set their limit at $500 to $600. Horse adoption fees at Two Wild Hearts range from $250 to $500, and fees will be waived for veterans, military families, active law enforcement and first
responders, and their spouses or children. The sanctuary is registered as a nonprofit animal welfare organization with the State of Michigan and the IRS nonprofit status in the process. “We are really excited. We’re looking at maybe doing a surrender event in the fall,” Michelle said. “I absolutely love it, Jane loves it. We’re just very happy with what we’ve been able to accomplish.” n
At their first adoption Michelle (on right) hands Eze over to her new owner
Those interested in helping save horses may donate to Two Wild Hearts Sanctuary, 12727 Hogan Rd., Clinton, MI 49236, or visit wildheartssanctuary.org for a link to donate through PayPal. The sanctuary also has an ongoing can and bottle drive to continue raising funds. Anyone with returnable cans or bottles to donate may drop them off at Jane’s store, The Cheeky Pony Tack Shop, 520 E. Michigan Ave., Clinton, or at the sanctuary.
OvEr 50?
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Fishing/Lakes Softball Diamond Children’s Playground Enclosed Pet Park Walking/Bike Trail Entertainment Horseshoes Corn Hole Gaga Ball Sand Volleyball
After the summer crowds thin - Camp Sequoia takes on a slower feel. Fall is the perfect time to hike through miles of trails, fish in the lake, sit by the fire, and enjoy a special Halloween. Bring the family to enjoy nightly campsites on 100 beautiful acres! Every 30x60 site includes a fire ring, picnic table, water and electrical hook-up. Enjoy the workout rooms, laundry and entertainment at the band shell. *2022 seasonal camping has spots available for the 50+ crowd. Sign up now and move in after September 15. Come enjoy the last month of fall camping...it’s beautiful here. Offering an easy 12-month payment plan. Come next spring, your ‘home away from home’ will be ready for you to relax in and enjoy camping at its best in this nature preserve-like park. -
Kim Welke
Log Cabin Chapel Campground Store
517.264.5531 campatsequoia.com • 2675 Gady Rd, Adrian Just west of Occidental Hwy in Raisin Township 15
With a new
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FREE personalized one-to-one help in all subjects from 2-9pm everyday. Resume help too.
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TECUMSEH DISTRICT LIBRARY
“I am grateful for family, history, vision, collective preservation, and foundation building.” -Matthew Tommelein
ES LIV ING & ENRICHING
tecumsehlibrary.org M-Th 10-8pm • F-Sa 10-5pm Sunday 1-5pm (Oct-April) 517-423-2238 • 215 N. Ottawa St, Tecumseh
OTHER FREE DIGITAL RESOURCES LIBBY - eBooks, audiobooks ANCESTRY - Reasearch your roots MEL - Michigan eLibrary MANGO - Learn a languge
“I’m grateful for so many things! My fa mily, church, my health, my job, my dog, books, and crochet hooks! -Lorrie Parker
“I am grateful for opportunity, whether it be a moment to serve someone or a chance for a job interview.” -Stacia Serafin
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are you
What l u f e t a Gr for?
“I am grateful for my family, health and happiness. I am also grateful for the prosperity and safety for the residents of the City of Tecumseh.” -Tecumseh Mayor Jack Baker
W
By Sara Hilton
hen I was 16 years old, I hit a patch of black ice while driving to school, slid off the road, down a steep ditch, and into a cow pasture fence post. Glass shattered and my car crumpled. Fortunately, I was uninjured and, being from a small town, was able to hitch a ride back home with a passing neighbor. I walked into my house, saw my mom, and crumpled into her arms and sobbed. That car was my freedom, and I had ruined it. I had even more agony when the repair shop deemed my car totaled. However, the mechanic told me that a car should not crumple so easily. He called my car a death trap and said I should be happy that I hit that fence post and happy that I wouldn’t be driving that car anymore. Just like that, I had gratitude for black ice, steep ditches, and cow pastures. Gratitude is many things. It is an active looking for the wonderful that can be immediately seen. It is the feeling of warm sun in spring, the colors of autumn, or a hot bath on a frigid day. This active looking can change our outlook and perspective and shift our gazes from lack to abundance and blessing. Gratitude is also a retrospective understanding of the circumstance we didn’t want that worked for our good — like totaling a car in the midst of sleepy-eyed cows. And finally, gratitude is memory of those cow pasture moments in the midst of circumstances that are hard and imperfect and not what we imagined for ourselves. It is the memory that understanding can come in the rear-view mirror. It is the memory that times of totaled cars and totaled dreams were never the end of the story. Gratitude is not an excuse for inaction, nor is it a Pollyanna outlook that ignores the wrongs we must right and the life changes we must make. Rather, gratitude transforms us from victims and teaches us to clearly see the tools and blessings and resources and beauty and abundance we have in our hands to make the changes that need be made — whether that be in life or in attitude. Gratitude is not weak. A posture of gratitude is a powerful place from which to live life. Everything changes when we leave our postures of scarcity and injury and enter a recognition of abundance and blessings. n
I’m grateful that I have parents that take care of me. A lot of kids don’t have parents. -Nate
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I’m grateful that I get to go swimming at Lost Lake with my family. - Daniel I’m grateful that I get to sleep in the tent in my backyard. We can even hear the deer around us at night. - Andrew
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*APR = Annual Percentage Rate. APR effective September 1, 2021, and may change based on market conditions and borrower eligibility. The APR will be a variable rate based on Wall Street Journal Prime Rate minus .26 (3.25% - .26% = 2.99%, current as of September 1, 2021) with a minimum APR of 2.99% and a maximum APR of 21.00%. APR may adjust monthly based on the Prime Rate as published in The Wall Street Journal. Minimum FICO score of 700 to qualify. Your rate may also be different depending on credit history, lien position and LTV ratio. Offer not valid for refinancing existing Premier Bank loans. Offer is based upon loans from $25,000 up to $300,000, a loan to value less than 85% on a first lien, owneroccupied primary residence and cannot be a purchase money mortgage. In order to receive the offered rate, a minimum draw of $10,000 is required at funding. An Annual Fee of $50 is waived for the first year. Taxes and property insurance are always required and flood insurance is required where necessary. There is a Draw Period for 10 years after the account is opened during which advances and purchases may be made, and during which reductions to principal are not required (unless credit limit has been exceeded), followed by a 10 year Repayment Period during which the minimum monthly payments amortize the outstanding balance on the line at the end of the Draw Period. Prepayment penalty fee is 2% of outstanding balance or $300, whichever is less. Other rates and terms are available. Subject to credit approval. Interest rates and terms are subject to change without notice. Consult a tax advisor regarding the deductibility of interest. Offer expires November 30, 2021. NMLS #424191. Member FDIC
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Pentamere Winery Try our newest wine; Monarch of the Glen, an off dry red blend. Flavors of black raspberry, mulberry, with a black pepper finish. We produce our own wines in-house with grapes sourced from the Great Lakes. Quantity discounts available. Wine tastings $1 each. Ample parking behind the store. Wheelchair accessible back entrance.
DNA Sales 2100
131 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh 517-423-9000 pentamerewinery.com M-Sat 11-6, Sun 12-5
Lenawee’s largest crystal and rock shop has beautiful and unique salt lamps. Salt lamps are thought to release negative ions and cleanse the air. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. This new age, natural store has it all. Aura photography (schedule online), and Tensor rings, essential oils, teas/herbs. 406 N Pearl St, Tecumseh 517-424-2903 DNAsales2100.com Tuesday-Sunday
J-Bar Hobbies The Stepp Team
Bring the backyard to your table/desk with Schylling’s Table Top Corn Hole. Great for head to head competitions anywhere; conquer the kitchen, dominate the dining room, or battle in the office. Shop early for the holidays! Retro toys/games, ships, planes, robots, historic books, lighthouses, science kits, military, and a whole lotta trains! 117 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh 517-423-3684 jbarhobbies.com Tuesday-Saturday
Musgrove & Company Coffee is Community. Handmade mugs make the drinks taste even better! At Tecumseh’s single source direct trade coffee shop, you’ll find drinks from the traditional drip coffee, espresso, cold brews, local fresh-daily pastries and vegan wraps...Now in downtown Jackson too!
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135 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh | 517-301-4307 musgrove.company Mon-Fri 7-5, Sat & Sun 8-5
Fall is a great time for a new beginning. The Stepp Team of Foundation Realty guides clients through the home buying/ selling process. Committed to giving topnotch customer service and helping in the community. Danielle, Robert, Katelyn and Jeni are available to talk at your convenience. See why Danielle was named Lenawee’s Best Realtor 2019/2020. 116 W Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh 100 Walnut St, Manitou Beach 3282 N Adrian Hwy, Adrian 517-392-3828 | thesteppteam.com
The Eve and Annie Boutique Where style meets Fall. The magic of fashion can transform your day. Bringing you the latest in fashion clothing and accessories. You will love the variety and styles offered at this downtown Tecumseh boutique, or order online anytime. Now in Dexter too! 102 W Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh | 517-438-4290 theeveandannieboutique.com Tu-Fri 12-5, Sat 10-4
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LENAWEE FUELS, INC.
140 W Chicago Blvd Tecumseh, MI 49286 517-423-6967
517.423.6695 800.937.FUEL (3835) 4070 ALLEN RD | TECUMSEH LENAWEEFUELS.COM
The Eden Store for delicious, traditional, real organic natural food. An alternative to commercial food. Store Hours Monday - Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 4pm Sunday Closed
701 Tecumseh Road in Clinton, Michigan
517.456.7457
www.edenfoods.com 19
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P 517.423.8344 • F 517.423.8347 105 Brown St., Ste. 200 • Tecumseh www.chgross.com • chuck@chgross.com
BE THE HERO
This is a story of a grandson and how his two grandfathers loved him. And this is a story of a boy who, because of the love shown to him, grew into a young man with his heart pointed lovingly outward toward others.
This is a story of love. As one ascends the stairs of the home where Wade Ondrovick lives with his parents, World War II era Japanese currency line the walls. The retired marine uniform of Tecumseh City Councilman Austin See hangs at attention, art and war memorabilia become visible with each step up — the stairway a preamble of what is to come. Then the stairs open into a landing and a museum begins. Original newspapers announce war information, the walls are covered in artifacts, tables and cases are full of displays, and suddenly the room begins to tell a story. Wade shows me a picture of his grandfather as a young man in his army uniform and then points me to a display case that holds his grandfather’s World War II items. “It started with these,” he says. From the time Wade was still in a stroller, his family attended the Tecumseh Memorial Day Parade. Wade, who was born on the high functioning autism spectrum,
always took his place at the parade sitting between his two World War II veteran grandfathers. Year after year the Ondrovicks took Wade to the parade, and year after year Wade sat flanked on either side by two men he loved and by two men who loved him back. There at the parade, his grandfathers would tell him how important it was to be there. They would tell him how important it was to stand and honor the veterans when they walked by. “They made sacrifices,” Wade said. “My grandpas taught me to appreciate that and appreciate my freedom.” When Wade’s paternal grandfather passed away, the family entrusted Wade with his grandfather’s possessions from the war. For Wade, these weren’t just antiques from a war gone by. Rather, these were items that told a greater story of his grandpa. These artifacts told the story of a young man who stood up for his country when called, a young man who showed up when he was asked to give more than most of us can imagine. This is a Love Story continued...
OF YOUR HOME
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800.311.7340 21
This is a Love Story continued...
Wade's lovingly curated display of the artifacts of war.
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Wade cherished these items and the story they told. Then Wade met Tecumseh historian Bob Elliot. When Wade saw Bob’s collection of war artifacts, it ignited within Wade a mission to begin collecting and caring for war memorabilia. Bob began to mentor Wade. Together they searched for items. Bob taught Wade how to look for the right things. With Bob’s help, Wade became a collector in his own right. We move past the landing, past a display of World War I items, and past a World War II era radio that looms on display, large and cumbersome and a stark reminder of the weight of communication at the time. We enter a room that feels as if a soldier had simply stepped out for a moment and left behind his things. A rifle leans against a cot, and the boots are lined up at the side. Mannequins from different wars surround in uniform, some with packs of cigarettes in the headbands of the helmets. This isn’t a collection. This is a lovingly curated display of artifacts. There are footlockers from several wars, each curated with original items. Each footlocker speaks with intimate details of soaps and razors, shaving creams and pin-up girls. They are details that make the soldiers of our wars into real men. There is an officer’s table and chair set up with papers. There are shadowboxes on the wall, and display cases organized into artful groupings. As we move through the room, Wade gives each item the respect he feels it is due. He understands that, like his grandfather’s war possessions, each item in his safekeeping tells a story of one person and the sacrifices that person made for our freedom. So he cares for them and cares for the stories behind them.
Wade, a 2014 Tecumseh High School grad, has a busy life. He works at the Clift car dealership in Adrian and takes college courses on small engine repair. However, he continually finds ways to use his passion for collecting to both teach and heal. In high school he set up his first war display to be experienced by both the students and the public. Through this display, Wade wanted to share his grandfather’s legacy and, in doing so, share what it means to be an American. He wanted to share the notion that freedom is a gift born of sacrifice. Since that time, Wade has been asked to put on displays for Veterans Day events, parades, and events like the Adrian College’s Veteran Appreciation Night. This past Memorial Day, he set up a Civil War reenactment in his front yard. “I wanted people to see it as they went by
ing l l e t s Wade i s in his n vetera y that a own w tter. a they m it on their faces. We’ve seen a lot of tears. It’s been really wonderful to see him grow into this.” As we continue to tour the items in Wade’s care, he is extraordinarily pleasant and extraordinarily kind. Yet he is also very quiet. His words are chosen and few, and perhaps that is all part of it. So many veterans find it hard to speak, find it hard to articulate the things they experienced. Yet maybe words aren’t always needed in the presence of these items and in the presence of this young man who curates and cares for the small details and artifacts. Rather the
as a way to honor the veterans,” he says. Many people stopped to look and to talk, including a general who expressed his deep appreciation for what Wade had done. Wade had decided to take donations, and in doing so, he was able to raise over $400 for the Adrian Disabled Vets. “It has been amazing to watch Wade do this,” says his mom Debbie who accompanied us on the tour of Wade’s collection. “It’s been amazing to see this part of his heart. Through this we’ve been able to see who he is by the way he cares for these items and the way he interacts with the vets. They love him because he has such a good heart for them. Wade has such deep respect for them.” She looks at her son and her eyes tear up. “And it’s really neat to see how the vets react,” she says. “You can see
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items themselves speak, telling the story of sacrifice and pain and pride. Without words, Wade is telling veterans in his own way that they matter. That uniform isn’t just an outfit, that footlocker isn’t just a box. Over the years, many veterans have given Wade their uniforms and other mementos from war. Many have told Wade that they worry these things won’t be valued when they are gone. They find a peace in being able to place these items into Wade’s hands and to know that he will love them, treasure them, and care for them. They know that Wade will deeply value the sacrifice and story each item represents. These aren’t just war artifacts to Wade. These are tangible pieces of people’s lives. This is a love story of the very best kind. It is the kind of love that joyfully values and honors and heals and pours forth. It it the kind of love that inspires and brings peace. It is a love of action that doesn’t even require many words. Both of Wade’s grandfathers have passed away, but it seems that even so, Wade continues to stand between their lessons and their love. This is a love story. n
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sip & savor From breakfast burritos to late night cocktails and everything in between - these local cuisines have so much to offer. Eat up. Drink up. Enjoy!
But First...Coffee
Take a warm drink on the road or hang out inside the cafe. This direct trade coffee shop serves baked goods/vegan food options and traditional drip coffee, cappuccino, macchiatos, lattes and cold press juices. Also in downtown Jackson.
MUSGROVE & COMPANY
135 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh musgrove.company M-F 7-5, Sat-Sun 8-5
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Brupper is Served
Hot ‘n Ready
Wings and Things
Enjoy a hardy breakfast for supper...or any time! All your favorites like chicken and waffles, french toast, hotcakes, hash browns, eggs, sauasage, bacon and more! Take home an apple or pumpkin pie for the Holidays! Beer/wine too!
Amazing, ever-changing take away foods like Chunky Potato Cheddar Soup. Sandwiches, soups, dinners, fabulous liquor/beer/wine selection, popcorn, and essentials. Old school country store with modern goods!
Come and watch the game every Thursday while enjoying a basket of wings and a Michigan beer. The best burgers in town along with reubens, steak, and nachos. Amazing Bloody Marys and a full service bar.
TUCKEY’S BIG BOY
MACON GROCERY
EMBERS BAR AND GRILL
(517) 423-7464 | bigboy.com 12701 E Monroe Rd, Tecumseh Sun-Th 7-8, F & Sat 7-9
(517) 423-7275 8160 Clinton-Macon Rd, Macon M-Sat 7-7, Sun 9-6
(517) 423-2601 1370 W Chicago Blvd Tecumseh Plaza | W-Sat Noon-8
German Fest
Try the German Dog! Sauerkraut, shredded pickles, cheddar cheese. Also, paninis, mac ‘n cheese, wraps and delectable desserts. Monday and Wednesday 99¢ coney dogs.
THE DOG HOUSE RESTAURANT
(517) 301-4266 | thedoghouserestaurant.com 107 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh M-F 10-7, Sat 10-4
Nourish to Flourish
Raw cold-pressed juices, nutrient dense salads, snacks, meals. Baked goods made with love and clean ingredients! Vegan, gluten-free, soy-free. No artificial colors/flavors. Catering/custom orders.
NOURISH JUICERY AND KITCHEN
(517) 920-0433 | nourishjuiceryandkitchen.com
Located inside Inner Wisdom
216 E Chicago Blvd, Downtown Tecumseh 636 W Adrian St, Blissfield
Pure Midwestern Quality Burgers crafted with no shortcuts: local black angus beef ground in-house, milk buns baked daily, fresh ingredients. Dine-in, drive-thru, patio seating, order online. Ridiculously good!
DOLL N’ BURGERS
(517) 424-2048 | dollnburgers.com 411 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh Open Daily 10:30-10
Your Happy Place
Amazing Varie•Tea
Wide variety of soups; clam chowder, lobster bisque, philly tomato, spinach and feta...pairs well with tea sandwiches, apple slaw, quiche, desserts. Great gifts/large loose TEA selection.
BRITISH TEA GARDEN
(517) 423-8266 | thebritishpantry.com 112 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh Tu-Sun (lunch) 11-3, (store) 10-4
Wine Down
...in Downtown Tecumseh. Formerly Evans Street Station, this reimagined restaurant offers a tasty & affordable menu with a fun, casual vibe. Stop in or reserve for boozy brunch, lunch or dinner! Full bar, outdoor patio, pool table!
Celebrate the season with wines, craft beer, cheese, fabulous deli. Take home lunch/dinner. The Gammos turned passion for good food, family and friends into small gourmet markets. “From our family to yours, buon appetito!”
THE STATION
RIVERSIDE DELI GOURMET ITALIAN MARKET
(517) 424-5555 | thestationtecumseh.com 110 S Evans St, Tecumseh W & Th 11-8, F 11-9, Sat 9-9, Sun 9-2
(734) 828-6152 | riversidedeli.co 145 Riley St, Downtown Dundee Sun-Th 9-10, F & Sat 9-11
Dangria!
Sip a delicious sangria or other hand-crafted cocktail! Inviting tasting room with two spacious patios and private lake views. Open for tastings, wine by the glass or bottle.
THE WINERY NORTH OF 12
(517) 592-5909 | northof12.com 12775 Knapp Rd, Brooklyn W 2-7, Th 1-8, F&Sat 1-9, Sun 1-6
The Perfect Pair
Who doesn’t love grilled cheese and hot tomato soup? Their Sandwich Shoppe offers delicious hot or cold sandwiches, great soups, and fresh salads. Lunchboxes available to-go! Free deliveries in Clinton.
THE CLINTON INN
(517) 507-5777 | theclintoninn.com 104 W Michigan Ave, Clinton Tuesday-Friday 10-2
Sip & Savor continued...
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Sip & Savor continued...
CA RA M EL AP PL E PI E M
Non-drinkers need fun
OC KTAI L
beverages too. Add liqu
Ingredients: 6 cups apple cider 1/2 cup caramel syrup 3 cups sparkling water 2 tsp cinnamon 2 apples
or if you choose.
Rosemary sprigs, aro und 6 Golden brown sugar for rimming Cinnamon sticks opt ional
Instructions: 1. In a pitcher mix we ll the apple cider with the caramel syrup and add the cinnamon.
2. Cut the apples into thin slices and add the m to the pitcher. Add the rosemary sprigs and let it sit for 20 minute s. 3. After the 20 minute s have passed, pour the sparkling water into the pitcher. Mix. 4. Grab the glasses and rim them with the gol den brown sugar. 5. Pour the caramel app le pie mocktail into the glasses.
Inspired Pizzas
Check FB/website for ever-changing pizza of the month/specialty pizzas. Salads, lasagna, pasta, bbq, wraps, breadsticks, sandwiches. Call at least a week ahead for catering.
BASIL BOYS
(517) 423-1875 | basilboys.com 125 W Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh Closed Sun-M, T-Th 3-9:30, F & Sat 11-9:30
The
Boulevard
Market
Enjoy the Little Things
Hand-crafted, dry-cured Black Pig Salame, Peppalo chocolates, extensive wine/beverage selection and the best hand-cut, artisanal cheeses full of bright flavors with hints of grass and sun. From local to global, fine foods.
THE BOULEVARD MARKET
(517) 423-6000 | boulevardmarket.com 102 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh Tuesday - Saturday 9-6
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We Cater to You
Let them cater your wedding, graduation holiday party or any large/ small event! Dine-in or carry out. Classic lasagna, cold half-pan salads, pastas, pizzas, breadsticks and full bar. Rent the Colosseum Room (holds 45).
SAL’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT
(517) 423-6688 | eatatsals.com 1400 W Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh Open Daily
Fun as can Bee
A friendly and casual spot with madefrom-scratch soups, fresh salads, toasty sandwiches, Michigan-roasted coffee (served hot or iced), espresso, and handcrafted chocolates, caramels and scrumptious old-fashioned fudge.
THE BUZZ CAFE AND MARKETPLACE
(517) 759-3289 | thebuzzadrian.com 110 E Maumee St, Adrian Open Daily
Savory and Sweet
Try the Barbeque Chicken Pizza! Amazing pizzas with option to take and bake at home. Serving a variety of subs, salads, appetizers, seasonal soups, and desserts! Located inside the Gallery of Shops in downtown Adrian. Now hiring.
DOWNTOWN DEMPSEY’S
(517) 759-4334 | downtowndempseys.com 136 E Maumee St, Adrian Lunch: T-F 11-2:30 | Dinner: T-Th & Sat 5-8, F 5-9
A Unique Brunch Experience That Sets Us Apart
Sat and Sun Brunch 9am-2pm 517-507-5777 | 104 W Michigan Ave, Clinton | theclintoninn.com
May I have S’more?
Warm up with Campfire Cookies. Artisanal bakery, cafe/gallery. Keto/gluten-free options, daily lunch/bakery specials. Natural, locally sourced ingredients. Roasted coffee. Carry-out.
THE APOTHECARY KITCHEN
(734) 223-9744 | the-apothecary-kitchen.com 169 Riley St, Dundee F & Sat 11-4, Sun 11-3
Cheers to Beers
Beer. Food. Community. Tecumseh’s own handcrafted specialty brews now in cans. Great eats/brews on tap at both locations! Sit in or out on the patio or biergarten. Weekly entertainment.
TECUMSEH BREWING COMPANY
(517) 815-1726 | tecumsehbrewingco.com 105 E Russell Rd, Tecumseh | W- F 5-9 Downtown Pub: 128 W Chicago Blvd Sun - Th 11-9, F & Sat 11-10
Take Flight
Indulge in a margarita flight in or on the patio or get a margarita to go in a bottle or pouch! Great food and drinks. Quesadillas, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, nachos. Dine-in/carry out.
SALSARIA’S FRESH MEX CANTINA
(517) 423-0018 | salsarias.com 146 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh M-Sat Open at 11am
Up North, Down State Our newest location brings the taste of up north Michigan to down state in Adrian. Enjoy hand-hewn spirits, craft cocktail service and personalized experiences perfect for individuals, couples, groups and corporate outings.
MAMMOTH DISTILLING
(517) 438-8532 | mammothdistilling.com 108 E Maumee St, Adrian Open Daily
Outdoor Seating | No Reservation Required Build Your Own: Waffles, Pancakes, French Toast, Bloody Mary and Mimosa! Specialty Coffees too! 27
ADVERTORIAL Newly completed Schafer V3 flooring for the world’s largest international I.T. company in manhattan
v3 flooring showcased at the DESIGN
Written by Charles Quinn Raab,
CENTER at the
SHFC Marketing Intern and Ross
navy pier IN NYC
School of Business BBA Student ‘23
pro active in a pandemic Tecumseh’s Schafer Hardwood flooring goes to the big apple and beyond
A small farm off Macon
Hwy in Tecumseh is home to a busy boutique hardwood flooring company owned by Scott and Laura Schafer. The phone lines ring like alarms in the office as the labor force works diligently to fulfill orders in the mill. Together, Scott and Laura Schafer have expanded the umbrella under which custom hardwood flooring jobs fall. They have diversified their supply chain well, as Laura likes to say “to make the finest flooring, you must begin with the finest in raw materials.”
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They have developed extensive and meaningful relationships which grant them access to an impressive array of technology, collaboration, and material. Not only can the Schafers proudly say that they only purchase materials from sustainable forests, but they also exercise their immense knowledge of the market to confidently understand which raw materials will best serve any given job. For example, Schafer Hardwood Flooring Company prefers their Walnut from a certain region in Iowa while only purchasing their Maple and Red Oak from the northern half of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Having amassed immeasurable experience as owners of a wood flooring business, the Schafers look at raw material differently than most industry players and, most importantly, with respect.
...finding their stride in big business while staying true to their family values and business ethics... They understand that they must work with the natural product as opposed to against it and they analyze environments by region: assessing each region with metrics of horticultural value, yield, and more. This year alone, they have completed orders all over North America and their commitment to quality is realized more with each order fulfilled. Recently, a developer from Virginia called Laura Schafer to express how impressed he was with the construction, quality, and overall capability of V3 flooring, further extending the reach of V3 to other areas of the United States. The Schafers’ unique, one-of-a-kind product and its patented process have paid off nationally. They have just completed a job for the world’s largest International IT Company. Schafer floors are proudly displayed at the company’s headquarters in Manhattan. Exposure like this has lent opportunities for an expansion of the business model, including V3 flooring showcased in a premier furniture manufacturer’s design center at the Navy Pier, NYC. Schafers will be supplying flooring to the nation’s largest pharmaceutical distributors headquarters in New York City, with a completion date of December, and the jobs just keep coming. Implementing a unique team with diverse backgrounds has helped to expand sales capabilities and strategic planning which have allowed Schafer to move forward with ease in the competitive national marketplace. The Schafers are finding their stride in big business while staying true to their family values and business ethics with the help of their devoted team. Outside the office, in a cluster of industrial buildings, a
hardworking team races to fulfill one custom order after another. The Schafers continuously express their gratitude for their employees’ display of commitment. “We have got to keep working to show our team appreciation,” pleads Scott at a weekly production meeting. Like most of their labor force, Scott spends the majority of his time on the floor with the product. He realizes the mental and physical drain one might feel in working on the floor through the hot Michigan summer. With this in mind, Scott and Laura’s actions support their words, The Schafer Production Team recently revamped their break room and bought new appliances to ensure its functionality. The team also brainstormed a fun, new way to express their appreciation for their laborers by developing a birthday club. On any given day, if needed, you will find Laura, some, or all of the Schafer children, the sales liaison, and sometimes her son, working on the line to meet a deadline. “We are family here, and family works together”, states Laura. Morale is high and climbing at Schafer Hardwoods and one can expect even more growth in the future. This family-owned company was quick to identify the problem of cupping and other performance issues in the hardwood flooring business. Their patented solution of 3-ply engineered flooring is an innovative response to a common industry fault; it has set them up for their current success. Every project is equally valuable to the Schafer company, but they are especially thrilled when able to provide
raw material Slated to be part of the International african American Museum in CHarleston, SC
10” rift White Oak headed for Manhattan
flooring for spaces that educate, unite, and inspire. One job they have had the opportunity to take part in is the developing International African American Museum underway in Charleston, South Carolina. This job is exciting and it is certainly one to watch as museum doors are set to open in early 2022. They have amassed an impressive repertoire and have garnered an ability to work in a variety of spaces. Their wide market capture and high customer satisfaction speak to their product and its competitive advantage. Amidst the growth and success in leading this company, the business has been tested this year by the circumstances of our world and its trajectory. The environment we awake to under a global pandemic
and a climate crisis is affecting all of our lives in different ways. When we look at the Schafer team as business owners today, their nature of perseverance is what we see. The industry is currently being plagued by climbing raw material prices, wildfires devastating large regions of the west coast, and many curing mills closing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is easy to assume that these conditions would place stress on a wood flooring business owner. Had Scott Schafer not had the gumption to partner with two independent sawmills, paired with dedicated loggers to become vertically integrated, he may not have survived. His keen business practices and love for his family business paid off.
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by Schafer 3-PLY ENGINEERED HARDWOOD FLOORING
Laura and scott schafer Founder/ Owners
The Schafers are not immune to these industry dangers but have acted thoughtfully to preserve their family business in these times. Scott noticed things changing in the industry while Laura spoke with her large network and realized it was not only flooring that has been hit, but also the auto industry and many more. Scott had the idea to take control of the kiln process and purchased the kiln-drying operation to extend the capabilities for the company. Laura was hesitant to invest the capital when they did, because of the industry’s plight, but she is so pleased with Scott’s decision to purchase their wood curing kiln system. While a new kitchen was in the plans for the Schafer home, Laura often jokes that “the kiln was not exactly the big oven she had dreamed of.” While
the kitchen will have to wait, this shows the dedication of the Shafer family to the business and their employees. It is sound, timely decisions like this that showcase the team of Scott and Laura Schafer as a proactive, passionate duo always looking for new ways to innovate and integrate. They have made astounding strides since Scott refinished shuffleboards and custom doors out of his coveted parent’s garage here on the Schafer farm, and they have no plans to slow down. They welcome your business and challenge you to utilize your imagination when envisioning your next flooring project. They are confident that they can produce the wooden floors of your dreams.
Schafer Hardwood Flooring Showroom and Tecumseh Headquarters
www.v3-USA.com | 866-SHAFER (724-2337) | 10695 Macon Hwy, Tecumseh
YEP, IT’S FALL...
WE’VE
30
Saturdays 12-3pm
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NOT FAR... JUST TWO DOORS DOWN IN THE SAME BUILDING
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517-423-0995 | Tecumseh vandersande@comcast.net
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517.423.5585 307 N. Maumee St, Tecumseh Tecumseh Compass Learning Center
design the home of your dreams by the water!
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Take a drive and see for yourself! Choose an ESTATE SITE on the water or a CONDO SITE near the water...and start building!
E S TAT E S I T E S • Located on the east (waterfront) side and the center of the property • Single-Family, 1-2 Story Luxury Homes • Lawn/Snow Maintenance Options • Waterfront views/access to Red Mill Pond • Bring your own design/builder or use ours!
CONDO SITES • Located along the west side • Detached Single-Story Luxury Condos • Lawn/Snow Maintenance • Views and access to Red Mill Pond • Choose a pre-made design customized for you! • Access to Private Park, • Overlook and Pond
T E C U M S E H ’ S P R E M I E R E WAT E R F R O N T COMMUNITY ON RED MILL POND 700 Bishop Reed Drive, Tecumseh | loneoakpropertiestecumseh.com Butch 517-442-3011 | Jason 517-206-0856 | info@loneoakpropertiestecumseh.com 31
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517.301.4700 • T-Sat • 154 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh
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116 S Evans Downtown Tecumseh Mon-Fri 9-5 Sat 9-2 517-423-3735
as a dental hygienist, she guided and nurtured her patients. Ready for a career change, Deb knew exactly how to keep helping people – provide Meemic insurance to protect people’s homes and families.
Meemic has been in the business of helping to protect people in education since 1950. It was started by teachers to provide great insurance coverage at a reasonable cost, and Debra is excited the Burton Agency can continue the company’s mission. “I’d been thinking about doing insurance for a very long time, so becoming a Meemic Agent was a no-brainer,” Debra says. “I’m a huge advocate for teachers. I wanted to be able to do something where I can educate somebody to help them make better choices. I want my heart and hands to come together to serve others.” Education has been important to Debra since her days attending BrittonMacon School. After graduation, she continued her education at The University of Michigan, where she received a BS in Dental Hygiene. With two sons attending Saline High School, she and her husband, Aaron, see and appreciate the focus by everyone who works in the school district to help students achieve both academic and athletic goals.
Meemic’s support of those who work in education excites Debra. “It is very exciting to see how much money you can save people,” she says. “Especially when I can provide them with better coverage at a lower price.” As an insurance customer, Debra was often frustrated. “I was disappointed with customer service and agents not wanting to take the time to explain my options,” she says. “They wanted to make all my decisions for me.” She loves providing customers with education of the whole process and what options are available. Her focus is an exciting one for customers of Burton Agency. “It brings a different element of customer service. I earn their trust,” says Debra. “I want to help in every corner of their lives. I want to be their family agent for generations to come. The customers feel more secure in their decisions. It’s their pocketbook, so they should have a say in their coverage.” Many people familiar with Meemic Insurance believe it is only for teachers. “People think you have to
Discounts and savings opportunities subject to eligibility requirements. Coverage is subject to all policy terms, conditions, exclusions and limitations. Subject to underwriting eligibility requirements.
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Lenawee County’s Premiere Real Estate Company
be a teacher, and you have to work in a school system,” Debra says. “It started out just for teachers, but the company has expanded.” People can work in any type of educational field; from select teaching hospitals to preschools, Meemic is ready to serve. Teachers, coaches, office staff and school support workers all qualify. Meemic offers outstanding coverages along with providing Educators specific coverages. • Educator specific coverages • Waived auto deductibles on K-12 school grounds • $500 in pet protection in the event of a covered auto loss The company recognizes it’s important to provide top-notch customer service and works hard to fix problems. “They do try to be the best they can be,” says Debra. “They are pretty darn fair. Meemic wants to
keep everyone happy and bends over backwards for customers.” Don’t work for an educational company? With Meemic owned by AAA - Auto Club Group, Debra can provide other insurance options. Debra is also proud to share the great work done by The Meemic Foundation. Any teacher, customer or not, can sign up for free to be a member of the Foundation Club. Membership means the chance to get grants for everything from Chromebooks and electronics to a makeover for an office space. “Teachers can sign up for grants for their classroom or special project,” Debra says. “There are new grants quarterly and monthly.” Besides the grants and giveaways, the Meemic Foundation offers an online location for teachers to share information and ideas. “It’s a resource area where teachers can go and get fresh ideas,” says Debra. “It’s just so amazing what they do.” All teachers can find a special spot in Debra’s office with several kinds of school supplies they may need. Just stop by her office on the Boulevard in Tecumseh around the corner from Tecumseh Chamber of Commerce. “I try to have anything you can think of,” she says. “It’s just one more way I can help.” For more information on how Debra can help with insurance needs, call 517.424.2025.
THANK YOU, MEEMIC! Insurance underwritten by Meemic Insurance Company, 1685 N. Opdyke Rd., Auburn Hills, MI 48326.
Mini Farm Beautiful mini farm located in Manchester off State Highways, close proximity to Ann Arbor, Saline, Adrian. Well built BOCA modular home in impeccable condition. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, first floor laundry, 2 car garage and basement. All this on 7 acres - great for horses, chickens, garden. A must see!
$424,900 #50046116
Diana Faust 517-270-3646
Commercial Property Zoned C-R Commercial District. Approx. 1.6 acres serviced by electricity, natural gas, water tap included in 10ft easement. Adrian Twp. House and barn on property. House approx. age 1900, Sq. Ft. 1,689 approx. per Twp. records.
$222,900 #31336584
Linda Rudd 517-403-6837 TOM DARLING Broker/Owner 517-403-2679
LORI MORGAN Associate Broker 517-403-9013
MARY CLYMER Associate Broker 517-403-1136
RICHARD KING Associate Broker 517-403-4799
LINDA RUDD Associate Broker 517-403-6837
SUMMER SEXTON 517-416-5737
CHUCK CHRISTENSEN 517-215-4714
KRIS ISOM 517-403-7097
ANGELA MOORE 517-902-5511
DIANA FAUST 517-270-3646
DAVID MCNEIL 517-215-3464
TYLER MORGAN 517-215-2807
CAROL KING 517-403-9473
JONI PARKER 517-270-2426
MITCH SELL 517-902-7167
www.HeartOTheHillsRealty.com 3136 N Adrian Highway, Adrian | 517-266-1324 33
Could it be
True?
It has been said that early
Long before important events were memorialized for posterity, stories from the past were handed down through the generations; sometimes facts faded over time and were contrived to fit a popular narrative. Without verifiable records, it is difficult to determine truth from fiction. After 200 years, it’s impossible to verify these stories but they become part of the community’s psyche and amusing stories to ponder. One such local legend involves the “Kissing Hollow” where Chief Tecumseh took the hand of a maiden who would become his wife; the bride was the daughter of another famous Chief, Red Jacket of the Seneca tribe. There is no hard evidence that Red Jacket’s daughter was one of Chief Tecumseh’s wives, since marriage records simply did not exist at the time. The tale of Chief Tecumseh’s marriage comes from a French soldier, who witnessed the September 25, 1802, meeting at “Kissing Hollow” and the marriage celebration that followed at the dancing grounds. The soldier’s story was passed down through the generations to a Tecumseh resident, Dess Holdridge and was found in her personal papers.
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legend of
kissing
hollow
settlers of Tecumseh often related stories to their children and grandchildren about Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee. He was a frequent visitor to the area, especially around the ceremonial dancing grounds east of the city.
the
By Michael Hrivnak and Gary Naugle Tecumseh Area Historical Society 302 E Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh | 517-423-2374
Fall weather in Southern Michigan typically has a brief period when the days are unusually warm as the trees are beginning to turn from shades of summer green into blushes of orange and yellow; the woods have a distinctive smell that cold weather is nigh. Such was the day in September, 1802 when Chief Tecumseh held his marriage celebration. Chief Tecumseh and his 50 groomsmen were attired in their finest regalia as they set
out on the path from the dancing grounds toward Clinton. At about the same time, Chief Red Jacket, his daughter, and her 50 bridesmaids were making their way toward the celebration from the opposite direction. The two groups met at a creek and approached on either side of a gulley, which was shaded by giant elm and oak trees. Dappled sunlight highlighted an area where two huge logs had fallen side by side across the creek, creating a makeshift bridge.
The French soldier watched as
Chief Red Jacket ushered his daughter to the middle of the stream where they were met by Chief Tecumseh who took her by the hands. Tecumseh raised their arms overhead, planted a kiss on her lips and escorted her to the other side of the stream. Then, one by one, the 50 bridesmaids and groomsmen met on the bridge and exchanged greetings; a kiss on the lips was a sign of a couple in love, a kiss on the cheek was for friendship. The entourage retired to the dancing grounds where a large feast preceded an evening of entertainment. If the story of Chief Tecumseh’s marriage is true, it likely made for a tense relationship with his father-in-law. Chief Tecumseh advocated a transIndian alliance to oppose settlements in the territory and influence by the new government of the United States. Chief Red Jacket was initially aligned with Chief Tecumseh and the British. Eventually, Red Jacket signed treaties with the United States after the surrender of the British at the end of the Revolutionary War. In the late 1700’s, Red Jacket and several of his fellow chiefs of the Seneca nation visited President George Washington in Philadelphia who presented them with medals of honor and friendship. Red Jacket wore this medal for the rest of his life; the medal is now in the collection of the Buffalo Historical Society. When hostilities broke out during the War of 1812, Chief Tecumseh took arms with the British while his fatherin-law aligned with the United States. Perhaps these two chiefs faced each other across the battle lines up until Chief Tecumseh’s death at the battle of Thames in 1813. But for one day in 1802, the two chiefs would set aside any differences and celebrate a marriage on a beautiful late September day in Southern Michigan. The “Kissing Hollow” has been altered by time and development, but the area is still visible about a mile and a half north of downtown Tecumseh, along North Evans Street on the road toward Clinton; a bridge crosses the creek near Aebersold Drive at the city limits. According to the legend, couples who visit the area may be compelled by the spirit of Tecumseh and his wife to share a kiss. n
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Suburban Chevrolet Staff party (L to R) zachAry brewer, sales heath glowacki, sales Manager lindsey atkinson, transportation specialist Charley Rebottaro, Sales mike basham, service manager Ricardo Velasquez, Finance Manager christa echelbarger, service advisor Trevor fowler, sales
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HEATH GLOWACKI Sales Mgr.
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RICARDO VELASQUEZ Finance Mgr.
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We’re an EXPRESS STORE! Virtual showrooms are open. Sales team available for online car info/purchases!
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517-456-4181 suburbanchevroletofclinton.com 1070 W Michigan Ave, (US-12) Clinton Service: M-F 7am-6pm, Sa 8am-2pm Sales: M, Th 9am-8pm, T,W,F 9am-6pm, Sa 10am-3pm
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RECLINE TO UNWIND
Cole and Company 517.260.2488 Facebook: ColeAndCoLLC Dixie Sofa Nouveau Power Recliner
MARTIN’S HOM E CE NTER
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BROWSE ONLINE!
Please place your holiday orders early! - Arlo, Alisyn and Penelope Brandl 517.301.4664 tecumsehbakery.com T-Sa 7-12:30 or until sold out 115 S Evans St, Ste 200, Tecumseh
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MartinsHomeCenter.com
DOWNTOWN TECUMSEH Mon - Sat 8am - 5:30pm 145 W. Chicago | 517.423.2065
Thank you for giving our family the opportunity to share our homegrown baked goods. Everything is hand-crafted and locally-sourced. Make new memories by bringing freshly baked artisan breads and pastries to elevate the Thanksgiving table...or any table!
By Sara Hilton
Cole & Co. I grew up in the country, whittling, carving, and working on projects,” said Brad Cole as he sits in his workshop. Cole is the owner of Cole and Company, LLC, a woodcraft business based in Britton. His workshop is meticulously organized and clean, holding fast to lessons he learned from his service in the military upon his graduation from Clinton High School. While he grew up whittling and carving, he never actually set out to start a woodcraft business. Rather, it seems the woodcraft sought him out.
After the military, Cole participated in the professional rodeo circuit as a bull rider and worked jobs building houses. He liked riding bulls. He liked building things. However, after being seriously injured in several bull riding accidents, the physically taxing job of building houses was taking a toll on his wounded body. He transitioned into a job with a builder in Manchester who was working on the restoration of the Curtis House in Saline. Suddenly Cole had the opportunity to explore avenues of woodworking as a true craft — tasks that went beyond the hammering of things together. “When I started working on the Curtis House, I discovered how much I liked hand carving and how woodcraft could be more like sculpting and art instead of just assembling,” he said. He explained how the top of the Curtis
and allows him to create islands, tables, cabinets, doors, floors, and trim. He also specializes in historic restoration. “We are able to copy cabinets for people if they need a few replaced,” he said. “Whether that’s a cabinet from the 1950’s or the 1990’s we can match it for you.” Cole also specializes in color matching. “So say you put on an addition,” he said. “But all your trim is stained from the 1980’s. It’s in great shape, but how are you going to match that UVA-aged wood? Or if you live in a Victorian or historic home, where are you going to get casing that matches? I’ll remake the exact same trim for people and then color match it. I don’t mean match-ish,” he laughs. “I mean we match it. I want it to be perfect. And for the customer, it’s cheaper to have us match it, rather than for them to have
the projects where you get to know the people, and you get comfortable and just have a great working relationship.” When Cole first started his business, he did a lot of work in the Northville and Ann Arbor areas, but he has slowly transitioned to a point where the majority of his clients are now local. “I try not to be greedy,” he said. “I make my hourly rate affordable for people in my local community. That way they get a quality product, and I get to work locally. I can stay in my community, work with people around here, and I’m home to get to my kid off the bus. I’m so fortunate to be able to work this way.” For Cole, the greater Tecumseh area is a unique and wonderful place to work. “This community is just a place of people working together,” he said. “They aren’t trying to drag each other down. There is plenty of work, so the attitude is one of, ‘Let’s all work together and share.’ When we do that, more people are happy,” he said. The value and appreciation he places on
house tower is topped with angel wings. Cole spent two weeks carving each wing, and he loved it. He found he was really good at it. Slowly, Cole’s life experiences started to merge into a new path. The circumstances of his life — the early whittling, the military training that gave him skills to run a successful and organized business, the bull riding injuries, the Curtis House — they had corralled him to a place where he knew what he wanted. He converted an outbuilding on his property into a workshop and started Cole and Company, LLC. Cole and Company, LLC has been in business for five years, and in that time has transitioned into a successful woodcraft business. Cole does commercial work for flooring companies, architects, stylists, designers, and individuals. His talent is endless
this community is also reflected in his work. This past summer, Cole built bookshelves for Tecumseh Public Schools when supply issues prevented them from purchasing shelves. In 2018, Cole assisted local Boy Scout Shawn Peacock in rehabilitating the wooden statue of Chief Tecumseh that stands outside of the Tecumseh Public Middle School. “Sometimes people my age are worried about keeping things just like they are, but I’m all about handing off to the next generation. I just figure I’m gonna pass on as much knowledge as I can and then let the next generation run off with it,” he says with a laugh. Then he adds, “We love it here. We love this community. We are happy.” n A by-product of woodcraft is wood scraps. Cole continuously finds himself with an abundance of hardwood finished scraps that he is unable to use. “These scraps would be great for hobby or crafts people. It would be great for church or school groups who want to do projects,” he said. Cole is currently searching for an avenue to give the scraps away. “The cost is free,” he said. “If you have a use for the scraps, give me call.”
to redo the trim in their entire house.” Not only did Cole discover that he loved woodcraft, he found that he also loves the balance of solitude and community that this job provides. “I love how I can work alone in the shop, just humming and doing my thing,” he said. “But then I get to go out and see my clients. What I love about what I do is that everyone is just so happy. People are so excited about kitchen tables and mantels and Victorian casing. It’s so fun to have a job that makes people happy.” Cole’s high energy, positive demeanor, and high quality woodcraft has resulted in lasting relationships with many of his clients. “I have a lot of clients who just come back again and again, and I get to do something fun for them about once a year,” he said. “I love 39
“M
anchester has always been the heart of my search because I had lived there as a young man when I first got out of the military,” he said. He had been recruited to take a position at Johnson Controls while he was living in Oklahoma, and they offered to send him to the tiny burg in his home state. “I just fell in love with the village and had promised myself that I would figure out a way to get back there someday.” Wayne said he has always loved growing plants and has specimens in his collection that are 40 years old. He had planned on having a garden at the property he eventually purchased in 2019, and after his transition to native plantings at the family’s home in Farmington Hills, he envisioned the Manchester acreage as a restored natural landscape. His interest in horticulture led to his involvement with Michigan State University’s Cooperative Extension program as a Michigan Conservation Steward and he completed the Michigan Master Naturalist program, as well. That education helped his plans for the property to evolve. Now he and his family, which includes his wife and five children ranging in age from 15 to 35, work to bring the land back to its natural glory. “They all appreciate the garden and our ability to go out there as a family and enjoy the space,” Wayne said. His oldest daughter is now following in his footsteps by enrolling in the Michigan Master Naturalist program. “I’m a father first. John James Audubon said that a conservationist is a man who understands that the land is not given by our fathers, but rather borrowed from our children,” he said. “We’re a consumer society, and we consume so much. This is an opportunity to not consume and to do the opposite and actually put back.”
D
Wayne Oliver
W
hen Wayne Oliver first hiked the 65 acres north of
the Village of Manchester that would become River Bend Gardens, a native plant botanical garden, it was the 47th parcel of land he had looked at from Adrian to Munith in his quest to find land in the country for his family. By Jackie Koch
40
ouglas Talamay’s “Bringing Nature Home” explains the concept of native plants supporting the ecosystem of native insects, birds, and animals so they can thrive. Wayne said that the fields on his property were sown with hay for 40 years, and to see them bloom the last couple of seasons and really take off this year has been satisfying. “The life out there! When it was hay you would have to search for a cricket or a grasshopper,” he said. “And now when you walk through the prairie the grasshoppers fan out in front of you in waves as you move.” He also noted 20 different species of butterflies in the first season of the land’s recovery. He said that if you plant a native oak tree found in Michigan, it will support 550 species of moths and butterflies, but if you plant a gingko from China it will only support five species of moths or butterflies.
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The land has a combination of natural native communities, including an oak opening surrounded by a dry mesic prairie. Along the half-mile of frontage on the River Raisin there is a floodplain forest consisting of beech and maple trees, where they are working on preservation and eliminating invasive species. A dry mesic southern forest of oak-hickory and a wet prairie are also being cared for and restored. A fen on the property has a dozen springs that create groundwater, and contains some very rare species. One of the first things they developed was a three-mile looped trail
ils
that travels around the land’s perimeter and through each of the different habitats. Wayne plans to introduce goats, provided by McLennan Landscape of Manchester, to a fenced-off area in the oak-hickory forest, and is building aviaries for prairie chickens. At one time, Prairie chickens were in 82 of the 83 counties in Michigan and each county had a hunting season for them, but now the Michigan Department of Natural Resources doesn’t recognize the birds as a native species. When the Oliver family obtains the birds for the aviaries, it will be the first time prairie
eet
Bittersw
Greater prair
ie chicken
chickens have lived in Michigan since 1983, and the first time they will inhabit Washtenaw County since 1940. River Bend Gardens’ website and the River Bend Gardens Facebook page were created to inform the community of what’s going on at the property. The land is not currently open to the public, although Wayne did not rule out that possibility for the future. Plans made to open the gardens for a Passport to Manchester event were curtailed due to the massive storm (and downed trees) in midAugust.
He has taken a group of fourth-grade students on a nature hike to teach them about early spring flowers and wants to make people more aware of environmental education. His inspiration for taking on such an extensive passion project is his children. “They say a legacy is a garden the gardener will never see finished,” he said. “It’s for my kids.” n riverbendgardens.org wayneoliver@riverbendgardens.org Follow River Bend Gardens on Facebook
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Gary Keehl with the Packard given to him by country star, Buck Owens
PLANES, TRAINS & A VERY SPECIAL
42
Story by Linda Learman | Photos by Nanci Heiney
Automobile
Way back
in 1934, long before social media, and well before the marketing boom in the 1950s, the Packard car company began using the slogan “Ask a Man Who Owns One” to help convince drivers to buy their cars. Local dealerships even handed out booklets to prospective buyers with the names of people in the community who owned the luxury auto. The last Packard rolled off the production line in 1956, but you can still ask Gary Keehl of Adrian what it’s like to own one. Not only does Keehl have a beautifully restored 1936 Packard, but he has a remarkable story of how he came to own it. Keehl took possession of the 87-year-old car in 2020, driving across the country from Michigan to Bakersfield, California, to pick it up. Arrangements were made in advance for the vehicle transfer, including getting a trailer to bring the car back to Michigan, but Keehl’s journey happened to be on the same day the Covid-19 pandemic was quickly shutting everything down in California and across the country. “It was an interesting trip,” Keehl’s wife, Donna, recalls.
The same might be said of the story over 40 years in the making behind their cross-country trek. Keehl wasn’t going to California to purchase the classic car. He was accepting it as a gift left to him by Buck Owens, country music star and longtime host of the TV show “Hee-Haw.” Owens died in 2006, but when some of his valuables were distributed last year, “I was the chosen one for the 1936 Packard,” Keehl said. Buck Owens and the Buckaroos breakout song, “Act Naturally” hit number one on the Billboard country music charts in 1963, a song The Beatles would record two years later. Gary Keehl, a modest man with a gift for all things mechanical, including small airplanes, model trains, and automobiles, became a valued and trusted member of the country music star’s inner circle not only for his mechanical prowess, but undoubtedly for his down-to-earth authentic values of honesty, fairness, and hard work. A native Michigander, Keehl moved to California in 1969 as a young man in search of better weather and better work than the auto-painting he was doing in Dearborn, not making much money and being exposed to toxins all day. First, he worked in the oilfields in California, doing that “not long, but long enough to find out that’s not what I want to do.” “I knew I could always create work, fix stuff, put together enough scrub work to keep myself alive. I did a lot of different things,” Keehl said. Soon enough, Keehl found work as an airplane mechanic fixing small plane engines, and later opened his own mechanic shop in downtown Bakersfield. “There were no signs, not even an ‘open’ sign. I had plenty to do, thank you—my business was all word of mouth,” Keehl said.
D
riving a 1933 Plymouth at the time, one weekend in 1977 Keehl went to see about a car advertised for sale in the paper. While he was checking out the car, another gentleman pulled up, asked Keehl about his Plymouth, and they struck up a conversation about older cars when the stranger asked if Keehl worked on Packards. “It’s a car,” Keehl said. “I work on cars.” The man said his boss had a Packard and it needed an engine overhaul. “I told him, ‘I can do it.’ So I did it,” Keehl says, chuckling at the memory. “I’ve always messed with cars, and I’ve passed myself off as a mechanic. And
I knew enough to nail this job,” Keehl said. The man Keehl met that day was a Buckaroo, one of Buck Owens’ band members, and their chance encounter led to Keehl becoming Buck Owens’ mechanic, a lifetime of friendships, and some extraordinary experiences for the delightfully ordinary folk that Gary and Donna Keehl are. Keehl began working on Owens’ 100acre horse ranch soon after the chance encounter with the Buckaroo, but it would be two years before he met the man he worked for. “He had trucks and Jeeps and things for the ranch and a big building full of cars, a motor home,” Keehl said. “One of his businesses was a publication advertising cars for sale, and I worked on some of those cars too, getting them ready to go out to various places.”
T
rust takes time, and Keehl earned it in the two years he did work for Owens before meeting him at Buck’s sister’s house, located on the ranch. “Buck was very generous, very kind,” Donna Keehl recalls. “He treated Gary not as an employee but as a family member because he trusted him. As famous as Buck was, sometimes he didn’t know who to trust, but he trusted Gary.” “Buck treated us to a weekend at Kewadin Casino up north when he performed there. He treated us
to Nashville to see the filming of Hee Haw for the day, and we were in some of the episodes,” Donna said. In 1998, Owens even presented Keehl with one of his signature red, white, and blue guitars, complete with the inscription, “To My Friend Gary — If mechanic-ing ever throws a rod maybe you can ‘Pick and Grin’ with us! Buck and the Buckaroos.” Something of a mechanical wizard, Keehl gained a reputation for his knowledge of specialty cars, and Buck Owens had a rotating fleet of them. At any given time, Keehl estimates, Owens had about 25 cars, and Keehl worked on their engines, transmissions, brakes — whatever they needed to run. Besides the 1936 Packard Keehl now owns, there was a red Viper that Owens once let Gary and Donna take for the weekend, a ’59 Cadillac that is still part of Owens’ estate, and a 1972 Stutz Blackhawk Owens bought from his good friend, crooner Dean Martin. Most famously, a 1972 Pontiac Grand Ville, dubbed the Buckmobile, now hangs on display behind the bar at Owens’ Crystal Palace, a music venue, nightclub, and country music museum in Bakersfield, California.
O
riginally intended for Elvis Presley, the Grand Ville’s interior was customized by Nudie Cohn, famed “tailor to the stars,” the man responsible for the many bedazzled outfits worn by the likes of Elvis and country music stars from a bygone era. Keehl’s memorabilia includes one of Cohn’s business cards from the 1970s. “Cars were like toys to Buck,” Keehl says. “Sometimes he drove them but not always.” Keehl’s own ’33 Plymouth was an object of BUCK OWENS UP FRONT fascination to Owens. One day WITH THE ‘HEE HAW’ CAST Owens asked, “How do you start it?” “Stick with me, son,” Gary replied to Owens. “I’ll show you how to start it with a crank.” “But that’s how he got along with Gary,” Donna says with a laugh. “Not too many people would say that because they’re in awe of a star, but not Gary.” The son of sharecroppers during the Dust Bowl, Buck Owens came from very humble beginnings. “One thing about Buck is he never forgot his roots,” Donna Keehl said. “He always appreciated where he came from. He appreciated anybody who did hard work. Hard work was very important to him.” Gary Keehl knows a lot about hard work. A born tinkerer, Keehl also clearly enjoys the hard work he does. “After we picked up the [1936 Packard], I completely disassembled it, took it, had it painted, brought it back piece by piece, reassembled it, Humpty-Dumpty, and there it is,” Keehl said. When Keehl brought the car back to Michigan, it was a return to its roots. Made in Detroit, the car has an inline 8-cylinder engine, a three-speed manual transmission, the original factory radio, a trunk, and a rumble seat, also known as a mother-in-law seat. A fold-down seat located in front of the trunk, the seat is so named as it sits above the low rumble of the exhaust system. Automobile continued...
43
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he Keehls invited me to try climbing into the rumble seat. There are no handles, but two steps — roughly the size of silver dollar pancakes — one on the rear bumper, and another approximately two feet above it on the fender. Balancing on the first step on the ball of the left foot, then stretching up to get the ball of the right foot on the second step, the left leg then must swing all the way up above the trunk to step into the seat. Any mother-in-law would have had to
have been fairly nimble and undeterred by high heels or a narrow skirt to make the precarious climb. Once in the seat I admit I felt compelled to wave like the Queen. Always drawn to the Bonnie and Clyde-type cars from the 1930s, Keehl admires the many features of his very special ‘36 Packard convertible coupe. “The styling. Riding in it, you’ll feel that it’s smoother than any other old cars,” Keehl says with a grin. “It’s a quality car, a luxury liner. It’s just a very fine automobile. They steer easy. They brake easy. Comfortable, rides soft, like a sofa. They were big, beautiful cars. Oh yeah, you go down the road with that, you’re going to cause wrecks the way people look at it. It’s like a little king’s car.”
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Keehl was kind enough to take me for a ride so I could experience it for myself, and it was every bit as smooth as he described. After I’d “asked the man who owns one” what the car was like to drive, Keehl’s generosity was on full display when he said, “Why don’t you ask the woman who drives it?” and pulled over to switch seats with me. The clutch was smooth and easy, and the three gears easy to find on the long stick shift. The large steering wheel had a little play in it, but was easy and responsive, as were the brakes. Looking through the small windshield and over the long front hood felt a little like being in a two-seater airplane.
W
e cruised through some neighborhoods at 25 mph and while other drivers turned their heads as we glided by, I was relieved not to have caused any wrecks before turning the wheel back over to Gary. The Keehls take the Packard to about three car shows a week this summer, and it most recently won “Best in Show” in Tecumseh. Both Gary and Donna enjoy sharing their knowledge of the car with others. “I love using it as a learning tool, to show people the differences between cars today,” said Donna, a retired teacher. “Children are just so fascinated by it, and many of their parents don’t know about things like rumble seats.” Gary agrees. “It’s funny the reactions you get,” he said. “One little boy ran his finger along it, then licked it as if he thought the car was frosting. Women want to sit in it. Men like to reminisce about someone they knew who had one, a grandpa, or someone
they were raised with. Rarely do you find anyone who knows that era.” Earlier this summer, the car was used in some scenes for a movie “The Adventures of Yamashita’s Island,” currently in production by a local independent film company, PapeTon Pictures. “They’re gonna put me in the movies. They’re gonna make a big star out of me... and all I gotta do is act naturally,” sang Buck Owens in the song that rocketed him to fame almost 60 years ago. Gary Keehl is happy to have his car in the spotlight rather than himself. His eyes light up when he talks about his work on airplanes, his model trains, and especially his car. His stories about the people and things he’s surrounded himself with come with an easy laugh and genuine affection. I couldn’t help but think there’s kind of a magical Santa’s workshop feel to the spaces where Gary does his work. But to Gary, it may be less work than just acting naturally. n
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ON THANKSGIVING EVE, NOVEMBER 27, 1901, ONE OF THE WORST RAILROAD DISASTERS IN MICHIGAN’S HISTORY OCCURRED IN SOUTHERN LENAWEE COUNTY. ITS LESSONS ENDURE.
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The (Italian) immigrants were tr ying to get out of the cars as the fire raged hotter and hotter. Mr. Elliott rescued a woman and her daughter from the wreck but the fire became so hot he couldn’t do any more...I saw people raising up their eyes in agony and cr ying out for help. Some of those in the cars didn’t seem to be able to break through the windows. They seemed to tr y it and then fall back. It was awful.” -Wreck on the Wabash These are the recollections of A.W. Ely, 70, who was the first on the scene of the wreck on the Wabash Railroad, November 27, 1901. The crash between two powerful steam locomotives occurred just past the Seneca depot platform, where Ely had gone to wait for the 6:45 p.m. Continental Limited to pass by on its way to Detroit. It was one of the deadliest rail disasters in Michigan, but it wasn’t until historian Laurie Perkins started researching the Wreck on the Wabash that the true death toll was revealed. Her history of the crash is based on newspaper reports, oral histories from survivors and local rescuers, and primary railroad documents, according to the prologue from her 2000 book, “Wreck on the Wabash.” Perkins, who grew up in Sand Creek, inherited a passion for trains from her father, Roy Dickens, and a fascination with local history from Doris Frazier, an accomplished historian and museum builder. “I started volunteering when I was 14 at the Lenawee County Museum,” Perkins recalls. “Doris was also a great storyteller. She taught me the stories of Lenawee County, including the Wreck on the Wabash.” Perkins earned her bachelor’s degree in history in 1982 and landed her first job in the museum profession in Lima, Ohio, working
for the Allen County Historical Society. After two-and-a-half years there, she decided to pursue a master’s degree in American Studies at Notre Dame University. Her focus always has been on local history and she had “collected bits and pieces of the history over the years.” After earning her master’s degree, Perkins worked at a county museum in Muskegon and then became a collections historian for the state of Michigan in 1987, where she remains today. One day in a conversation with a coworker about train wrecks, she commented that there had been 100 deaths from the Wabash crash, that it was well known where she grew up. “My colleague pulled out death certificates from 1901 and there were only 23 reported dead,” Perkins said. “I said that the state was wrong, that there had been at least 100, and he challenged me to prove it.” Her early research became a paper presentation at the 1997 Michigan Railroad Historical Society bi-annual conference, which she used as her essay for admission to the MSU graduate school in 2010. She would eventually earn her doctorate in American Studies. Perkins’ research did uncover evidence that the state’s record didn’t tell the whole story. Wreck on Wabash continued...
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Wreck on Wabash continued...
Thanksgiving Eve 1901
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The crash occurred the night of November 27, 1901 on the Wabash Railroad, which ran between Kansas City, Kansas, and New York City. Stops along the route included Milan, Holloway, Adrian, Sand Creek, Seneca, and North Morenci. Train #4 was eastbound from Kansas to New York while train #13 was headed west. The latter included a large number of Italian immigrants who were headed to mining jobs in Colorado. Perkins’ research showed there likely were many more than 23 immigrants on the train; the Wabash Railroad Company maintained fewer, but a number of eyewitnesses who survived the crash and others who had seen the railcars carrying the immigrants testified that the immigrants were packed into the two railcars along with their baggage. At that time, the railcars were lit by oil lamps and constructed of wood. The railcars with the immigrants aboard telescoped on top of each other at the impact of the crash, then caught fire. In a railway accident, telescoping occurs when the underframe of one vehicle overrides that of another, and smashes through the second vehicle’s body. Witnesses to the crash could do nothing but listen to the screams of the people burning to death. “It was the custom of many railroads at the turn of the century to pack the lower-
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class fares into day coaches without food or water,” Perkins writes in “Wreck on the Wabash.” “The railroads were also intentionally building rail cars with the immigrant passenger in mind. Passengers with immigrant fares were not allowed access into either the ornate Pullman sleepers at the end of the train or the dining car. Immigrant coaches were also built lighter and came very close to being little more than glorified boxcars with seats.” The remains of the immigrants were buried in five unmarked graves in Oakwood Cemetery in Adrian. Largely through the efforts of Kyle Griffith, Lenawee Intermediate School District assistant superintendent, the graves were located in 2016 and a memorial placed on the site, 115 years after the tragedy. There was no real way to determine if 100 immigrants died in the crash but, Perkins said, “there were more than 23.” She writes in her book that the most conclusive evidence she found to indicate there were more than 23 victims of the crash was found by comparing newspaper reports with the manifest of Le Champagne, the ship which carried the immigrants to the U.S. earlier in November 1901. “Only by comparing the ticket lists from the Wabash Railway Company with the ship’s manifest and the lists of the known survivors and the known dead would, once and for all, answer that question,” Perkins concludes in her book. “Unfortunately, no records exist of the tickets sold or the names of the passengers on the two trains on that fateful night. Was the number of the dead close to 100 as many sources have claimed? We will never know. Could the death toll be greater than the official number of 23 claimed by the railroad? Definitely yes.” n
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STRA
It is almost
unnoticeable when it begins, arriving with a shift in the light and with the orange edges of scattered leaves — miniscule signposts of what is to come. And then, like a spark catching, the world becomes ablaze with a brilliance of yellow, orange, and red. Leaves fall from the sky and shower down like hot embers as the trees become a bonfire of color which does not consume, but rather they declare that the sticky hot summer has parted and change has indeed come.
M ac
UE BL
Story and photos by Sara Hilton
ERRY WB
on Tow nship
Toasty
As the nights turn cool on our little hobby farm, we often gather beneath the canopy of fiery trees to warm ourselves around crackling bonfires. There, in the crisp and cold air, snuggled into blankets and snuggled into conversation, our hearts become ablaze in the midst of autumn.
How Do I Love Thee?
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Life is short, buy the shoes. From bottom clockwise Warm Me - Blankets draped over a gate are ready to warm chilly guests. Crisp Air - Hippie welcomes the crisp fall air — a relief that the Dog Days of Summer have ended. How Do I love Thee? - How do I love thee, straw bales? Let me count the ways. A bale of straw is my favorite go-to for outdoor gatherings. A bale can be a seat, a couch, or a coffee table. And at the end of the season, the bales become warm bedding for my sweet sheep. Toasty - Hot cocoa topped with toasted marshmallows keeps our cold hands toasty warm. Final Burst of Color - The trees aren’t the only things blazing with autumn color. Dried pasture grass tied around a vase with burlap ribbon holds the final burst of zinnias and marigolds from my cut flower garden. Chili not Chilly - While roasting food over a fire is always fun, it can be a chaotic way to feed a group. I often turn to the warm simplicity of a chili and cornbread dinner. A crockpot keeps the chili from getting chilly. Simple sour cream and cheese toppings quickly turn the chili into creamy comfort food. And while we may not win any fine dining awards, our family firmly believes that nothing tops chili better than good old corn chips.
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IF
you listen to talk radio, you may be familiar with Lester Graham, the host of The Environment Report at Michigan Radio. As a journalist, photographer, painter, and co-author of a book on craft cocktails, Cheers to Michigan, his endeavors provide countless stories and experiences of interest. But, more importantly, his contributions to journalism through reporting on essential topics attest to his heartfelt desire to make a real difference in the world. Graham is a Tecumseh resident since moving there in 2009 to live in his wife’s hometown. While he has worked from his home studio for the last 18 months, something he says he’s done during different periods of his 23 years with Michigan Radio, he misses certain aspects of working at the main studios in Ann Arbor, which he will return to in October. Since cutting his teeth in journalism in 1985, Graham has reported on public policy, politics, environmental issues, and issues regarding race and gender inequity. Graham has served as a news director for public radio stations, as a board member of Public Radio News Directors Inc., and as President of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association. In addition, he has consistently remained a member of various professional groups, including the Radio-Television Digital News Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Boasting 15 first-place national awards for journalism excellence and more than 100 awards at the state, regional, national, and international levels, his contributions through quality journalism have received widespread praise.
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ournalism matters – even in the age of technology and social media, where it seems that everything you could want to know, see, read, or listen to is at the tip of the finger. Quality of journalistic content is crucial to its survival, and that has remained Graham’s focus throughout his career. His approach is simple, “I always strive to be better than expected.” Graham says he strives to be better and do more than his editors expect of him. His willingness to go above and beyond is evident through his work. Now a seasoned and respected journalist known throughout Michigan and beyond, Graham continues to dig deep into little-known issues, as well as popular topics and often overlooked incumbrances. He posits that high-quality journalism revolves around the drive to dig and uncover truths. “Journalism gives hope – there are
transform his writing to sound natural to his listeners. These nuances lead to an interactive program that grasps listeners’ attention and interest.
A
Lester Graham Story by Christine MacIntyre Photo submitted by NPR Michigan Radio
journalists out there who seek truth every day because they want to produce unbiased reports. I’d rather think of a story that nobody else is doing at all and shine a light on what people don’t know about.”
A
s a testament to the potential for journalism to truly count, Graham’s previous article on lead abatement led to an increase in the state budget for the hazard. In addition, after completing a series regarding pollutions’ negative effect on asthma, he received a note from a state representative thanking him for his work. “You don’t know what kind of difference you make. This kind of thing makes me happy because it shows that you’re hitting the right buttons and making a real difference,” Graham says. The Environmental Report explores the relationship between the natural world and people’s everyday lives in Michigan, investigating issues such as oil spills in lakes, harmful invasives, pollution, and climate change and how they affect the Great Lakes. Additional topics include
coal ash contamination or how cities are turning to natural infrastructure to deal with extreme rain events, to name a few. Graham began college with the desire to be a disc jockey. “Everyone wants to be a DJ. That’s the cool job that everyone wants,” he says. However, after completing his first news course, he switched gears to news broadcasting and journalism. “[News] was attractive to me – it’s more important. That’s where it started. I kept taking news courses,” he says. Common to many occupations, the best education and training was his first job with the station WBGZ Illinois. “I had a good news director. He really pushed me hard; it was an invaluable experience.”
M
entors throughout his career include the late Tim Emmons and the late David Candow. “[Tim Emmons] had an excellent feel for how to communicate news better. David Candow became known in public radio and coined as the ‘host whisperer,’” Graham says, adding that
Candow held training programs during which time the two became close. “Both of these gentlemen taught me how to communicate better,” he says. He learned how to make a news story something to which people would want to read or listen. “When you’re an early journalist, it’s all about facts; you are dead set on getting the facts down. There is no greater context; there is no analysis of any kind,” he says. With time and practice, journalists such as Graham learn to spend time setting the scene, focusing on sound, and amping up the story’s overall quality through such details. Apart from the fact that his job involves talking or telling the story on air, it is all about writing. “The trick is to learn to write the way you speak so that when you tell the story, it sounds like a conversation rather than sounding like you’re reading a report,” he says. Humans learn to write one way and talk another. We know to write in different ways that allow the content to read naturally; however, Graham has learned to
fter 35 years, feeling bored or feeling as though the work is dry and mundane is inevitable. However, Graham says there are always new ways to tell a story. “If it’s important enough, you’ll find a way.” Being involved with the environment beat is paramount to his career because he is passionate about the topics. “There’s science and facts involved and not as much politics,” he says. “When it comes to science, there’s an evolving science, sure, but you also know at least it has been researched and peerreviewed, and you can be confident in the information. So while people may not be fond of everything Graham reports, it isn’t wrong – it isn’t merely an opinion. While fresh, young reporters straight out of college may have a bit more pep in their step or fire under them, Graham holds his own in his profession. “What helped me get where I am today is I would do the story, then take it two steps further than anyone else to make it better. I wanted to exceed my editors’ expectations every chance I got,” he says. As he advanced in the field, people have sought him out for mentorship. “It’s been fun working with some people who I was fortunate enough to have sought me out,” he says. “There are limits to our knowledge, both of the professional and knowledge of the world in general, especially when we’re young.” Graham strives to give those seeking advice “big feet.” He hopes to instill a sense of passion in them and teach them the technical aspects of the business, including audio quality, equipment, audio production, and more. “I hope to give young people a broad knowledge of the world,” he adds.
W
hile his career is a priority, Graham is passionate about photography and consistently captures magnificent photographs of nature and wildlife. “Photography is the pursuit of beauty – even if you never find exactly what you’re looking for or what you’ve set out to take photographs of, you can still find beauty,” he says. His social media page is sprinkled with photographs taken in Tecumseh and the surrounding area often portray his interest of the natural world. Graham has demonstrated through his lengthy, productive career in radio news broadcasting and reporting that journalism matters. Moreover, his achievements in life, both professional and otherwise, set the bar high. Fortunately, much can be learned from him, as he blazed a path for those of us just starting out to learn from and follow. n
53
Story by Renee Lapham Collins
FROM MY
KITCHEN Cooking with Jeff Lake
Jeff Lake loves collecting knowledge and sharing it. It’s the same with his cooking. In fact, you might say his cooking is one more way this biology professor shares the knowledge he collects-kind of a recipe for life.
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54
“Cooking is about nurturing others and yourself, and is best when shared with those you care about,” Lake explains. “In that, too, I’m always exploring new approaches, new techniques, new cuisines, and combining flavors in new ways.” Lake, who lives in Tecumseh with his wife, Julie Whiston, is a biology professor at Adrian College. He grew up in Iowa and discovered his love for plants, gardening, science, and the great outdoors at an early age. “I was very curious about how things worked,” Lake said. “That continued on throughout my life.” He attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, just east of Des Moines, majored in biology and went on to the University of Georgia in Athens where he earned his doctorate in Plant Biology and Botany. In addition to biology classes, Lake teaches four of the classes in the AC Environmental Studies program. He also handles all of the live animals in the department, including snakes, which are part of the school’s Track and Explore program at Michigan International Speedway. “At Grinnell, I saw the real impact a great professor can have on their students,” he said. “I knew from that point I wanted to teach in a small college setting where education is really valued, and you can get to know your students and really make that impact.” His interest in cooking evolved more slowly. “I had some interest in cooking even as a kid,” he said. “We had a big garden and would do homemade jellies and put up garden produce. But food was a pretty simple thing growing up in rural Iowa, and a sort of rotation of foods were a big part of life.” Once he finished college and was living on his own, he confesses to being a bit clueless about nutrition and eating good food. “I soon decided I wanted to improve what I was feeding myself,” he said. “So, through a mix of reading, cookbooks, and some judicious use of Food Network, I started to teach myself to cook.” But his food journey didn’t end there. In graduate school in Georgia, he remembers noticing wine could be more than just an
alcoholic beverage — it could be a very real part of a good meal. “I started going to tastings, and I was very lucky,” he said. “Hugh Acheson (the Canadian chef and restauranteur) was then a very good, largely unknown chef whose only restaurant was in Athens. He would do wine events at the restaurant, and Julie and I attended, got to know him, and learned more about wine and incorporating it into a meal.” Lake said the first big wine dinner he attended at the restaurant featured a winemaker from Chateauneuf du Pape in France. The winemaker highlighted the difference vintage can make with side by side tastings, and how those differences affected pairing wine with food. “I just continued from there,” he said. “For me, wine is also a very academic pursuit. There is so much to learn about wine — each region, type of grape, vintage, and so on — you never get bored.” Lake also prefers to cook “seasonally,” that is, using whatever local produce is available in any given season. In summer, he is cooking with tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, corn, and melons. In spring, he looks forward to morels and asparagus. “I am very passionate about the cooking season and what is available locally,” he said. The Chateauneuf du Pape was on the menu when Lake and Whiston brought over his South-of-France meal, which included a baba ghanoush appetizer, ratatouille, and roasted lamb slow-cooked at 300 degrees until it practically fell apart upon serving. For dessert, Lake prepared a stone fruit pie from a recipe by Anthony Bourdain, the chef and host of “Parts Unknown” until his death in 2018. Lake said he is always exploring new approaches, new techniques, and new cuisines and combining flavors in new ways. “There is a fascinating mix of mastery of traditions and creative exploration that very much appeals to me,” he said. “I have some ‘standbys’ that I like to return to, like the ratatouille, and in the winter, cassoulet. But I really need to always be trying new things.” n
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RATATOUILLE Lake developed this recipe over time after following a number of other recipes. “I think of ratatouille as more of a process than a precise recipe,” Lake writes of this recipe. “This was a peasant stew from southern France — it is decidedly not ‘high’ cuisine. But it is very flavorful and delicious. Ingredients 1-2 eggplants, peeled and diced or sliced 2-3 medium zucchini, sliced thin 1-2 onions, diced 1-2 garlic cloves, minced 3-4 pounds tomatoes, peeled and diced 1-2 sweet red peppers, diced Basil, chiffonaded or thinly sliced Salt and Pepper Before I begin cooking, I do all my prep work. This starts with peeling the eggplants, dicing or slicing them if narrow, and salting them, then setting aside in a strainer. Then, I cut up the remaining ingredients. Sweat the peppers and garlic to taste in olive oil (or any other oil you prefer). In a Dutch oven, build a “stew base” with one or two diced onions, a few minced garlic cloves, the diced red peppers and the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. You want more or less similar amounts of diced onions and peppers. Add tomatoes — if they aren’t in season, 3 standard cans of diced tomatoes will work. Add some white wine, chicken stock or water to thin the stew a bit if needed. While this is cooking and coming together, squeeze the excess moisture out of the eggplant and then sauté it in batches separately until lightly browned, then add to the stew in batches. Do the same with zucchini. Aim for about the same volume of zucchini, eggplants, and tomatoes. Add the basil, cook for a few minutes, and serve.
BABA GHANOUSH This Mediterranean dip is based on eggplant and tanini, which is a sesame paste, essentially. Again, this is a recipe built over time based on my experience and my own taste. The recipe has way more lemon in it than some may like, but since I love acidic flavors, I enjoy the extra lemon. Baba Ghanoush is great served with pita bread or vegetables as an appetizer or snack. Ingredients One large eggplant 1/3 c. tahini Juice and zest of two lemons 1 head of garlic, roasted, plus 2 cloves raw Salt and pepper Smoked paprika to taste ½ t. cumin Olive oil
Andrea Willis
Cut eggplant in half, coat generously with olive oil. Add salt and place cut side down in an ovenproof dish. Peel skin off garlic head, remove tips, and wrap in foil with a dollop of olive oil and a few drops of water. Seal foil packet and put packet and dish with eggplant into a 350-degree oven. Roast 1-1/2 hours, until very tender. Remove eggplant flesh, and squeeze garlic cloves into a mixing bowl or food processor. Finely mince two fresh garlic cloves, and add to eggplant and roasted garlic. Add zest and juice of lemon and tahini, along with other ingredients. Mix by hand or pulse to desired texture. I prefer more texture than comes from hand mixing; the food processor allows a smoother dip. If mixture is too thick, add olive oil to desired texture. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with raw vegetables or pita.
55
Visit Manitou continued...
14TH ANNUAL
ART TRAIL TECUMSEH
N TS W TO HIBI N X W E O D EH S UM C TE
11.
5. The Mary Jo Mensing Sculpture Garden on the TCA grounds is available for group and organizations to use and enjoy!
56
8. 15.
TECUMSEH CENTER FOR THE ARTS: 400 N. Maumee St.
4. COMPASS LEARNING CENTER 307 N. Maumee St. CHIEF TECUMSEH Artist: Dr. Emil Szkipala
*5. ADAMS PARK
309 E. Chicago Blvd. ANCESTRAL GUARDIAN Artist: Glen Zweygardt
6. OLD NATIONAL BANK 205 E. Chicago Blvd. ILLUSION Artist: Bernie Dominque
7. TECUMSEH DISTRICT LIBRARY 215 N. Ottawa St. BIRDS OF A FEATHER Artist: Pam Reitmeier
*1. INVERTED ARCH SEVEN Artist: Ken Thompson *8. BASIL BOYS 125 W. Chicago Blvd. *2. HARDWOODS ICOSAHEDRON DEEP WATERS Artist: Sam Soet Artist: Kirk Seese *3. HARP THE MARKET ON EVANS: Artist: Mike Sohikian
3.
5.
DOWNTOWN TECUMSEH OUTDOOR SCULPTURE EXHIBIT
1.
213 N. Evans St. 9. ALIVE Artist: John Bucher, Alex Zoltowski & many community volunteer artists 10. HISTORIC TECUMSEH MURAL Artist: Tecumseh High School art students
*11. CONVERSATION REDUX Artist: Robert Garcia
NTER TECUMSEH CE FOR THE ARTS
2.
12.
*Pictured are just a few of the many sculptures around town to view.
23.
*12. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 211 W. Chicago Blvd. BLUE ZIG ZAG Artist: Ken Thompson
13. CARNEGIE ARTIST STUDIOS 304 W. Chicago Blvd. WOOD MUSE Artist: Mark Chatterley Donated by: Carnegie
14. SOUTHWEST BLOCK 102 W. Chicago Blvd. BLUE MIGRATION Artist: Toni Lucadello
*15. SOUTH EVANS STREET
Alleyway by Muk’s Sports Pub THE JONESES Artist: Todd Kime
ON THE WALL OF BOULEVARD MARKET CORNER OF CHICAGO BLVD & S EVANS 16. BEYOND THE EDGE Artist: Pat Bogusz 17. SELF PORTRAIT Artist: Tyler Witt 18. SPACE TURTLE Artist: Pat Bogusz
19. THE DEPOT
TECUMSEH HIGH SCHOOL SCULPTURE GARDEN: 760 Brown St.
*20. OPEN HEART Artist: Jim Bundshuh *21. UNTITLED Artist: Tom Rudd 22. SPLIT TOO Artist: Ken Thompson
*23. SMALL FISH IN A BIG WAVE Artist: Maria Kuenzer Gifts from the artists to the Tecumseh High School Art Dept.
21.
160 E. Chicago Blvd. HERDING CATS #1 SOCKS, CHEESE & ZIGGY Artist: Todd Kime Donated by: Community Arts of Tecumseh
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57
“Hope” is the Thing with Feathers. -Emily Dickenson
HF: How has this job changed the way you live? Anne: Everybody has things they have a difficult time talking about and everyone has disruptions in relationships. But anytime you can say or do something, do it. It doesn’t even have to be a difficult conversation with someone you love. It is also about that thing you always wanted to do. I say don’t wait. Go do it while you still can. We always say, I’ll do it later, I’ll do it when I retire, I’ll do it when I have enough money. Stop looking at it that way.
Anne Davies
Recently, Homefront sat down with Tecumseh resident Anne Davies to discuss her role as a social worker for Hospice of Lenawee. “There are a lot of medical social workers,” she said as she began to explain her role in Hospice. “Yet in those roles, you are fighting against death. If death happens, it is a defeat. Hospice is the opposite. You expect death so you want to make it as good as you can. There is such a thing as a good death.” As our conversation continued, we talked about how she goes about guiding patients and their families through the difficult process of dying. And in turn, we also discussed living, reconciliation, and the constant need for hope.
HOMEFRONT: How do you help people to do death well? Anne: I think it begins with the questions I ask. I ask about their history. I ask about the kinds of things are they into. I ask about what things they still like to do and what things can they still do. Do they like music? Do they like to read? Do they like to be outside? I am trying to get to know them as more than just an illness that they have. I’m not asking, what’s your admitting diagnosis? But rather, I’m asking, who are you? What are your interests? As I do that, I learn about their family and friendships and their past relationships. From there, if they are open, we discuss things like, is there anything that you feel like you left undone? What’s important to you right now? What are you concerned about right now? And usually, when you understand that you have a terminal illness and your time is limited, those are the things that are on your mind. Things like, I haven’t talked to my sister in six years. I want to tell her something. Or there is something their children need to know. I think being able to die well means people being able to talk about it. Dying well also means looking at what they are grateful for and what they’ve had in life. HF: What is one of the hardest aspects of this process?
58
know someone is going to walk through it with you. People don’t just call us because someone is in pain. Sometimes people call just to say, I don’t know if I can do this or if I can handle this. I think everyone just needs someone to tell them, “Yes, you can do this, and we are here for you.”
Dying Well By Sara Hilton
Anne: The lack and loss of control around death is the scary thing. You don’t know the exact moment it will happen or what it will feel like. You can’t control death, but if you can control things around it, it gives you a very peaceful feeling. For instance, you can make basic plans like where you want to be buried and what you want on your tombstone and how you want your memorial service to go. These are ways to have some control over what is happening. It really helps people when they can do this planning so their children don’t have to handle it all. HF: What about the person with dementia or Alzheimer’s who can’t work through those undone aspects of their life or plan their memorial service? How do you help them? Anne: Then it’s about being there with them. You can sit with someone for 30 minutes and not say anything and still communicate. There is eye contact, touch, and so many ways to connect. In nursing homes, there just isn’t the staffing for a nurse to be able to just sit with someone for a half-hour. So what is nice about hospice is the ability for me to be able to just sit with someone. That person is aware that for a moment in time that someone is with them. They don’t know who I am, but it doesn’t matter. There is another human being with them, and that gives a feeling of comfort and companionship. It’s a message of: You aren’t alone. Think about little babies. They
don’t understand English when they are first born, but they need someone there to hold them. It’s kind of like that with elderly and dementia and Alzheimer’s. You can’t leave them alone and isolated. COVID taught us that. HF: Do you find that patients need permission to die? Anne: Absolutely. We tell families all the time to let their loved ones go. Yet I know that is just so hard to do. So many people can’t say it or do it. So often we have patients that we think will die within the next day, but they will hang on for weeks. Then the family will say, “OK, I did it. I told mom or dad that they can go and that it’s OK.” So often within a day or two, the person is gone. So there is something to giving permission. When you are close to death and no longer responsive, you can’t speak. But I believe you can hear. I can’t verify that, but I believe it. I tell families all the time to just talk. Say everything. HF: What advice do you have about supporting people who are going through this process? Anne: Just ask simple questions. There is no secret formula. Just keep asking: What can I do? What do you need? How can I help? I’m here when you need me. I keep going back to the importance of knowing you are not alone. You can go through anything if you know that you aren’t alone and if you
HF: How has this job changed your view of death? Anne: I’m able to see it as more of a part of life. We plan for birth and celebrate birth. You can do that with death, too. Celebrate is a touchy word here, but it means you are acknowledging the importance of that person and the fact that they are leaving you. Now the sudden deaths and deaths of children that’s different and really hard. But if it is an older person who lived a long life and had a lot of experiences, we can celebrate that. Death is such a dirty word in our culture. I wish we could be more open and friendly with it so people wouldn’t fear it so much. It’s going to happen to all of us. If we could be more open about discussing it, we’d feel better about it. HF: Is there anything you want to say about the process of dying that we didn’t talk about? Anne: Yes. Hope. When you have a terminal illness, you still need hope. At every point in your life you need to have hope. Your hope just changes and you learn to hope for different things. Initially, before you get your diagnosis you hope you can get better. You hope there is treatment. Then you hope your pain can be controlled. Then you hope you can complete your business with your people. Hope changes but it doesn’t go away. No matter the circumstance, we all need hope. n Hospice of Lenawee 1903 Wolf Creek Hwy, Adrian 517.263.2323 | hospiceoflenawee.org
Fundraiser: Hospice of Lenawee The Amazing Throwdown Road Rally October 2 at 3pm $60/person (See page 6 for details)
CLINTON Fall is a great time to visit the village of Clinton which serves as the ‘Gateway to the Irish Hills.’ This is a small community with a big heart filled with rural charm and history galore. Take a train ride. Antique to your heart’s content. Dine at a landmark inn. Relax at a distillery. Attend the popular Clinton Fall Festival (held this year Sept. 24-26). The fun goes on and on...
CLINTON FALL FESTIVAL
47th
Clinton, MI 517.456.7396 Find us on Facebook Sept 24, 25 & 26th Celebrating 47 years this 3-day extravaganza brings 10’s of thousands to enjoy food, fun and festivities! Live entertainment, antiques, inflatables, bungee jumping, arts & crafts, carnival and rides, lost arts and exotic animals round out the fun! Shuttle busses.
Clinton, Michigan
VISIT
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DAY-OLD TROPHIES
Day-Old Trophies
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Showroom is filled with all types of ideas for your event. Engraving on leather, cloth lettering, beer mugs, stemware, steel water bottles, wood, mirrors and flat glass. Also offering a wide array of plaques, medals, ribbons, trophies and all wedding specialty engraving.
PROBILITY PHYSICAL THERAPY
Tecumseh-Clinton Highway
Full service veterinary clinic provides wellness and sick exams, soft tissue surgery, spay/neuter, vaccinations, digital x-ray, dentistry, ultrasound. Dr. Cotner treats dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters and other small pocket pets. Accepting new clients and patients.
11775 Tecumseh-Clinton Hwy 517.545.5340 probilitypt.com M&W 9-6, T,Th,F 7-4 Located next to IHA, the new Clinton clinic serves the residents of Clinton, Tecumseh, Manchester, Adrian and more. This friendly, caring and dedicated staff makes a difference in people’s lives by providing outstanding therapy services through one-on-one care.
Turn the page to discover Clinton...
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villageofclinton.org | facebook.com/villageofclintonMI
Tecumseh-Clinton Highway
SMITH
KIMBALL COMMUNITY CENTER
211 Tecumseh Rd 517.456.6528 voc-skcc.org voc.smith.kimball@gmail.com Open Daily 9-10
Providing an atmosphere that encourages social, emotional, physical and intellectual growth for every child. Diverse learning environments for infants, toddlers, and preschool. Fun and creative programs like music, art, language, mathematics and more!
Rent the 1st floor, 2nd floor, whole building and grounds or just the outside. Reservations can be made through the Clinton Village Office for banquets, showers, graduations, weddings, parties, meetings, and regularly scheduled events.
FRYE PRINTING CO. INC.
517.456.4466 fryeprinting.com 11801 Tecumseh-Clinton Hwy johnfrye@fryeprinting.com Monday - Friday 8-5
SOUTHERN MICHIGAN RAILROAD
301 Bartlett St 517.456.7677 southernmichiganrailroad.com Saturdays and Sundays 9-4:30 Experience Michigan’s beautiful fall colors as you ride along the tracks. Take the Fall Color Tour most weekends in October from Tecumseh. Catch a ride during Clinton’s Fall Festival as well as Tecumseh’s Appleumpkin Festival. Please call ahead for dates/times.
TLC COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION
THE CLINTON INN
TLC is always striving to serve members and community as much as possible. Offering flexible loan terms, low-cost accounts and higher dividends helping to achieve and maintain financial wellness. Bank anywhere with TLC’s mobile banking app.
Within the Clinton Inn, you’ll find a plethora of offerings. Coffeehouse and sandwich shoppe serves specialty drinks/pastries/soups. Build your own Bloody Mary’s and waffles at Sat/Sun brunch. Check FB for upcoming events like Octoberfest, James Bond Night and Euchre Night!
EDEN STORE
LANCASTER AGENCY, INC
517.456.7457 edenfoods.com 701 Tecumseh Road M-F 10-5, Sat 10-4 Real organic local grains and beans, pasta, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, processed fruit, and imported specialty foods. Eden Store is a local natural food store with the most reliably pure food available in the country. World famous quality and selection. Free recipes at edenfoods.com/recipes.
104 W Michigan Ave 517.507.5777 clintoncoffeehouse.com theclintoninn.com | T-Sun
144 W Michigan Ave 517.456.4675 lancasterins.com Monday 8:30-5, Saturday 9-12 The Lancaster family has operated business in downtown Clinton for over 100 years. They are now the main provider of insurance to the Clinton area. Did you just buy a new car or home? Is your business expanding? Lancaster will help you find an insurance solution.
West Michigan Avenue
With a broad range of business services, owner John Frye and his team can help you stand out with quality, commercial printing. Specializing in printing for schools, colleges and industries. Proudly serving Southeast Michigan and Northwest Ohio for over 50 years.
Bartlett Street
Tecumseh Road
COMMUNITY CENTER
11701 Tecumseh-Clinton Hwy 734.845.9212 friendsandfamilydaycarellc.com Monday - Friday 6:30-6
11839 Tecumseh-Clinton Hwy 517.263.9120 tlccu.org M-F 9-5, Th 9-5:30, F 9-6, Sat 9-12
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SMITH KIMBALL
Tecumseh Road
FRIENDS AND FAMILY DAYCARE
VISIT the VILLAGE ALÉVRI MILL DISTILLING CO.
HERMANOWSKI LAW
Wonderful, laid-back atmosphere with a wide selection of tasty concoctions. Lancaster Vodka, Four Vagabonds Silver Rum, and Alévri Little Gin are handcrafted and distilled in-house, being the base for a delightful craft cocktail menu. Hang out inside or get some to go!
Alexander Hermanowski is a local attorney helping people with their legal needs. He is passionate about helping his clients. He focuses on Estate Planning, Criminal Defense, and Car Accident cases. Please call him for a no-obligation FREE consultation.
SCHMIDT & SONS PHARMACY
HOLEN FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC
140 W Michigan Ave 517.456.4150 schmidtpharmacy.com Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-1
301 W Michigan Ave 517.456.7411 holenchiro.com M&W 9-7, T&Th 7-5
Family-owned, full-service pharmacy offering free delivery throughout Lenawee County and Manchester. Nutritional and home health care products, immunization provider and health information in a fun, comfortable, clean, safe environment. Gifts and cards too.
Dr. Karen Holen has 20+ years experience. She implements a variety of techniques to improve posture and function; Nonsurgical spinal decompression, sports chiropractic, active release technique, prenatal, pediatric. Family plans, free consultations.
HOMETOWN PIZZA OF CLINTON
WATER WHEEL COMMUNITY
131 W Michigan Ave 517.456.7477 clintonhometownpizza.com Sun-Th 3-9, F&Sat noon-10
316 W Michigan Ave 517.456.4167 waterwheelcommunity.com M, T, TH 12-5, or by appointment
Only the freshest ingredients and the best value! Dine-in, carry-out and delivery everyday after 3pm. Specialty pizza, wings, breadsticks, mac ‘n cheese bites, desserts, pasta, subs, calzones, salads, wraps and more. Gluten-free options available. Order online.
Live on the water! Riverfront lots available for lease in a beautiful, quiet neighborhood. This family owned and operated mobile home community has it all; pond to go fishing, woods for hiking, community pool, community center. Clinton’s hidden gem.
JATIVA FAMILY DENTAL
EDWARD JONES MARK MAZUR, FINANCAL ADVISOR
147 W Michigan Ave 517.456.7471 jativadental.com Monday - Thursday 8-5
517.456.5157 edwardjones.com 1671 W Michigan Ave, Ste A Monday - Friday 8-5
Dr. Wendy Jativa’s team is dedicated to creating a comfortable experience for patients of all ages. Tooth-colored fillings, crowns, bridges, porcelain veneers, dental implant restoration, teeth whitening, routine cleaning, extractions, cosmetic dentistry. Accepting new patients.
Mark Mazur serves individual investors and businesses. He uses an established process to build personalized strategies based on what is important to clients and then partners throughout their life to help keep goals on track. Schedule a consultation today!
West Michigan Avenue
West Michigan Avenue
147 W Michigan Ave 734.887.6079 hermanowskilaw.com Schedule an appointment
West Michigan Avenue
West Michigan Avenue
148 W Michigan Ave 517.456.5624 alevridistilling.com Friday 5:30-9:30, Saturday 4-10
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West Michigan Avenue
ROUTE 12 VINTAGE AND MORE
1671 W Michigan Ave, Ste D 517.409.1183 athletico.com M&W 8-6, T&Th 8-5, F 7-1
1937 W Michigan Ave 517.701.1112 Find us on Facebook Friday - Sunday 12-5
Offering physical therapy and orthopedic rehabilitation services focusing on back/neck pain, muscle strains and sprains, and sports/workrelated injuries. They’ll create custom treatment plans for eliminating pain and reducing the risk of future injuries. Schedule a free assessment!
Looking for a one-of-a-kind treasure or something that has history? You’ll find what you’re looking for on U.S.12. Offering a plethora of retail, antiques, toys, knick-knacks, vintage home decor, books, collectibles, furniture, jewelry and consignment!
Route 12
VINTAGE and more
VILLAGE FAMILY DENTAL
ASHLEY’S BODY SHOP, INC
1671 W US Hwy 12, Ste B 517.456.9972 villagefamilydentalclinton.com M 9-7, W 10-7, Th 9:30-4, F 9-4
1965 W Michigan Ave 517.456.4866 ashleysbodyshop.com Monday - Friday 8-5
Dr. Dennis Kaechele and his caring staff strive to make your experience the best it can be. General dentistry, teeth whitening, root canals, crowns, implant crowns, bridges, bite splints, cosmetic bonding, dentures. Restore your confidence and your smile.
Ashley’s Body Shop is known for honesty, integrity and skill! They work directly with you and your insurance company to make sure there is no gap in communication. Specializing in making your vehicle look like new! Auto body and repair shop that uses enviro-based paints.
BG WORLD CLASS GYMNASTICS
12 VINTAGE MARKET
1706 W Michigan Ave 517.456.9626 bgworldclassgymnastics.com M-F 4-8:30, Sat 9-noon
2751 W Michigan Ave 517.701.1005 Find us on Facebook T-F 11-4, Sat & Sun 11-5
Owned/operated by Gantcho Totkov, former Bulgarian National Team Member, 30+ years experience. Classes for 18mo and up for boys/ girls, cheerleaders/tumbling/ competitive teams. Have your birthday party here / open gym. Free trial class for new students.
8,000 sq ft showroom! Refurbished vintage furniture, unique antiques, hand-crafted goods, pillows, wall hangings, signage, vases, wicker baskets/furniture, architecturals, Dixie Bell Paint, vintage toys, home/ lawn decor and inspiration galore! Hand-crafted Amish furniture.
TOPSOILS OF CLINTON
SUBURBAN CHEVROLET
The Faust family has filled residential/ commercial needs for decades. Enviro mulch, red, black, brown, hardwood and cedar mulch. Sand/gravel, limestone, rocks, boulders, beach sand, plant mix, compost, screened top soil, drain stone. Bagged materials too. Excavating services also!
From your first car to your dream car, the professional Suburban team is honored to serve you and your family. The best local choice to find brand-new, used, and certified pre-owned Chevrolet models. Auto financing, service, parts, and more. Stop by and take a test drive today!
1810 W Michigan Ave 517.403.2431 faustsandandgravel.net M,W,F 8-5, Sat 8-4
1070 W US-12 517.456.4181 suburbanchevroletofclinton.com M&Th 7-8, T,W,F 7-6, Sat 8-3
West Michigan Avenue
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ATHLETICO PHYSICAL THERAPY
West Michigan Avenue
West Michigan Avenue
villageofclinton.org | facebook.com/villageofclintonMI
HANDLER FUNERAL HOMES
302 Jackson St 517.456.4164 handlerfuneralhomes.com Open Daily They are here for you before, during and after the need. Offering comfortable and home like environments to memorialize and pay tribute to your loved one. They guide you through the difficult decision making so you can celebrate the life of your loved one.
102 E Michigan Ave 517.701.1015 brianmorris.goherbalife.com M,W,F 7-3, T&Th 7-5, Sat 7-noon
East Michigan Avenue
Looking to lose weight/gain weight/re-build strength/gain muscle? These meal replacement shakes, teas and aloes will help reach your goals. 35 flavors of shakes with 24g of protein/21 essential vitamins. Brian Morris prepares individual health plans.
12727 Hogan Rd 517.438.0706 wildheartssanctuary.org Visit by appointment
This new sanctuary is a safe haven for rescued, surrendered and adoptable horses. They are a diverse team of equine professionals and volunteers, who work endlessly to impact the lives of every horse that comes through their welcoming doors. Visit the farm, adopt a horse.
PENN ACRES GRAIN, INC.
Parts, Service and Delivery
6830 Clinton-Macon Rd 517.423.5955 pennacresgrain.com Call for hours
Go to source for clean corn, wood pellets, and clean burning coal. Sales & service of Woodmaster furnaces and indoor corn and/or pellet stoves. While you wait hydraulic hose assembly. Pickup or delivered topsoil, mulch, & driveway stone. Tractor/Ag Equipment repair.
CLINTON CHIROPRACTIC WELLNESS CLINIC
Clinton-Macon Road
A MAIZE ING NUTRITION
TWO WILD HEARTS SANCTUARY, INC
Hogan Road
Jackson Street
VISIT the VILLAGE
136 E Michigan Ave 517.456.4033 drjamestsheneman.com M,W,F 9-6, T 12-4 Dr. James T Sheneman and Dr. Grant Clark offer you the latest technology in Chiropractic care! Offering manual/computerized treatment (The ProAdjuster) along with laser/ massage therapy. Call today to schedule a free health consultation and a free, first-time laser treatment!
CLINTON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS 341 E Michigan Ave 517.456.6501 miclintonschools.org
Their vision is to inspire and empower endless possibilities for every person. Great things are happening here — including their "Five Star" Preschool, a strong pre-K-12 academic program, caring staff, and award winning athletic, fine arts, and extracurricular opportunities. Why aren’t you here?
VISIT
Soon! 63
Kent J. Benham, DDS Let us keep you smiling! Quality Dentistry for the Whole Family We Welcome New Patients Most Insurance Accepted
517.447.4123 • 164 Raisin St. • Deerfield Mon, Wed & Th 8am - 5pm • Tues 7am - 2pm
radantselectric@comcast.net
CALL US
BEFORE
YOU GET YOUR WIRES
CROSSED
In the 1920’s, Henry Ford set out to find suitable farmland for his soybean growing experiment. After his success with the Model T, Ford began to focus on transforming farming, both through the use of new equipment, but also through soybeans, a crop that could be grown and processed into automotive parts. (By 1941 Ford had figured out how to make a car out of soybeans). However, Ford also considered this venture as a way to support, preserve, and save the rural country that he loved. As he searched for land, By Sara Hilton he became smitten with the historic architecture of Macon and purchased 10,000 acres of farmland in the area for his soybean venture. As a result of
H HENRY'S
MACON
IN THE 1920’S, HENRY FORD SET OUT TO FIND SUITABLE FARMLAND FOR HIS SOYBEAN GROWING EXPERIMENT. AFTER HIS SUCCESS WITH THE MODEL T, FORD BEGAN TO FOCUS ON TRANSFORMING FARMING, BOTH THROUGH THE USE OF NEW EQUIPMENT, BUT ALSO THROUGH SOYBEANS, A CROP THAT COULD BE GROWN AND PROCESSED INTO AUTOMOTIVE PARTS. (BY 1941 FORD HAD FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE A CAR OUT OF SOYBEANS). HOWEVER, FORD ALSO CONSIDERED THIS VENTURE AS A WAY TO SUPPORT, PRESERVE, AND SAVE THE RURAL COUNTRY THAT HE LOVED. AS HE SEARCHED FOR LAND, HE BECAME SMITTEN WITH THE HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE OF MACON AND PURCHASED 10,000 ACRES OF FARMLAND IN THE AREA FOR HIS SOYBEAN VENTURE. AS A RESULT OF BOTH HIS INDUSTRY AND PHILANTHROPY, MACON WAS TRANSFORMED. FORD EMPLOYED WORKERS, BUILT A STORE, A SCHOOL, AND A GRISTMILL. IN DOING SO, THE COMMUNITY FLOURISHED AND WAS SAVED FROM THE HARSH EFFECTS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION.
Licensed & Insured 517.423.4455 3133 W. Russell Rd., Tecumseh
to us... it’s personal.
free online subscription with a print subscription
110 E. Logan St., Tecumseh 517-423-2174 • tecumsehherald.com 64
PENNINGTON/FORD HOME In 1829, John Pennington and his family were the first settlers of Macon. Although his first home was no more than a shanty, around 1845 the family built the Greek Revival home that still stands on Clinton-Macon Road. Henry Ford later purchased and restored the Pennington homestead, and frequently used it as his home while working in Macon. Ford would often summon his executives to his country home for meetings after which they would play softball on the front lawn. According to writer David L. Lewis, Ford ordered that electric switch plates be hidden in the walls of the house and hidden with wallpaper to preserve the old-fashioned nature of the home. It is said that he also hid the telephone in the closet as it clashed with the feeling of antiquity. Ford also built tunnels leading from the basement to the summer kitchen in the farmyard. The tunnels were a welcomed convenience during bad weather, and they also accommodated and made it easy to maintain steam and water pipes and electrical wiring. However, it is also said that Ford installed tunnels as a means of escape if confronted by an enemy.
This property is currently on the market.
MACON MILL Dynamic Kernels Mill, located on Mills-Macon Road, was the last vintage gristmill built by Henry Ford. It was named Dynamic Kernels Mill and built in 1944 to commemorate the final harvest of a religiously inspired wheat tithing project. The mill was built in Greek Revival style and powered by a small undershot water wheel. Due to Ford’s poor health and later death, the mill was shut down before it went into full production. The mill is currently privately owned and not open to the public.
FORD SCHOOL/ BOYSVILLE
Now a private residence, this stone house was once used as a Ford elementary school
Former Ford High School
Upon Henry Ford’s arrival in Macon, he started schools for the children of his employees. Ford furnished everything free to the pupils. In addition to providing basic and core subjects, he arranged for teachers from the Dearborn Detroit Edison Institute to come to Macon and instruct students in home economics, dancing, music, craft, and drama. In addition to education, Ford provided free medical, dental, and hospital care to all the students. The school flourished for nearly 18 years until Ford’s death in 1947. In 1948 the property became Boysville, which began as a boarding school for Catholic boys with home issues. Over the course of decades, Boysville grew into a haven for troubled boys and housed and
MACON GROCERY Now houses The Hive Project
educated minors convicted of a range of crimes. Boysville closed in 2015. In 2021 the property was purchased by The Hive Project which empowers artists, educators and entrepreneurs (young and old) united by a common desire to share, teach, innovate, and compassionately serve.
Macon Grocery was built in 1941 by Henry Ford. The frame is made of solid oak timbers that were hewn at the Ford sawmill (Located on the current Hive Project property.) Ford employees were offered merchandise at a discount. The grocery remained open after Ford’s death and has passed through various owners. Today it is owned by John and Erika Alyward and continues to serve as a community gathering spot. n 65
By Renee Lapham Collins
Second Chance
Consignment
and Boutique
If you look up at the walls of Tammy Drouillard’s consignment shop, you will see a little bit of Tecumseh history: photos of the corner location as it evolved over the years. Drouillard, who is very proud of the historical aspects of her building, has made the most of a layout that once housed a mechanic’s garage and a furniture store. Drouillard has been in Tecumseh four years. She spent 11 years in Adrian with the same kind of shop — a place where folks could buy and sell gently used clothing. Since she’s been at the corner of Evans and Logan streets, just a block off downtown, she has expanded to include home decor, furniture, new and used clothing, accessories, jewelry, and plenty of gift ideas. “We are also a boutique,” Drouillard says, opening a drawer on an upcycled dresser stuffed with trendy ball caps. A library table painted a pale aqua and sporting jewelry displays catches the eye at the front door. Throughout the store, Drouillard has repurposed antique and vintage furniture, and used it to display an eclectic selection of home and personal goods. Most of the furniture and other decor are staged in the back of the store, with clothing and accessories in the front. “There is something for all ages here, and all sizes, too,” she said. “I’m trying to carry more plus sizes, for example. If you come in a couple of times and we don’t have it in stock, you aren’t going to come back. So, I pay attention to my inventory and make sure I have what you are looking for.” Any clothing that she cannot sell she donates to charity. In the meantime, she is covering a lot of ground at Evans and Logan. “Every day I’m getting new stuff in here,” she said. “We have a lot of great gift ideas, literally something for everyone.” n
Second Chance Consignment and Boutique
100 E Logan St, Tecumseh | 517.424.2013 | M-F 10-6, Sat 10-5 second-chance-consignment-boutique-inc.business.site
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Pickin'
time to go
clinton
12 VINTAGE MARKET
clinton
12
2751 W. Michigan Ave., Clinton (517) 701-1005 • T-Sun 11-4 Vintage Over 8,000 sq ft showroom! Market Refurbished vintage furniture, unique antiques hand crafted goods, home decor and inspiration!
saline
THE RESALE BOUTIQUE
along the antique and resale trail
206 W. Michigan Ave., Saline (734) 295-3030 • Shop online 24/7 Th-Sa 12-5 • theresaleboutique.com theresaleboutique@gmail.com Specializing in casual everyday wear, jewelry, handbags, shoes & more! Open by appointment.
ROUTE 12 VINTAGE & MORE
1937 W. Michigan Ave., Clinton Route 12 (517) 701-1112 • F-Sun 12-5 Offering antiques, retail and and more consignment. Vintage home decor, toys and collectibles! Look for the Model T in the front yard!
VINTAGE
tecumseh
ANOTHER VICE & COMPANY
101 W. Chicago Blvd., Tecumseh (517) 815-1270 • T-F 11-5 / Sat 10-5 / Sun 12-4 Home decor, refurbished furniture, vintage clothing, shabby chic, antiques and more! Fabulous gift ideas!
dundee
CK ANTIQUES & RESTORATION
141 Riley St., Dundee • (734) 747-1318 W-F 11-5 / Sat 11-6 / Sun 11-4 An eclectic array of antiques and vintage items in Downtown. Offering restoration of antique wood furniture and craft workshops.
tecumseh
ANTIQUES & VINTAGE ON THE BOULEVARD
138 E. Chicago Blvd., Tecumseh (517) 301-4747 • M-Sat 10-6 / Sun 12-5 antiqueboulevard@yahoo.com Antique, farmhouse, mid-century modern, industrial, vintage, shabby chic.
Your guide to auctions, antiques, vintage, resale, and consignment shops! chelsea
CHELSEA ANTIQUES
407 N. Main St., Chelsea (734) 475-7131 • W-Sat 10-5 / Sun 11-4 • chelseaantiques.net chelseaantiques@att.net We buy silver, gold and coins! Inspiring those passionate about vintage home and antiques.
grass lake
THE COPPER NAIL
111 E. Michigan Ave., Grass Lake (517) 522-8514 • T-Sat 10-5 coppernail.org • Antiques, furniture, resale items, home accessories, jewelry, toys & more! Accepting quality donations.
tecumseh
DS AUCTION SERVICE & ANTIQUES 5315 S. Occidental Hwy.,Tecumseh (517) 424-7653 • auctionzip.com dsauctions@live.com Auctioneer #4023 • Call or check Facebook for upcoming auction fun. Buying/selling one item to full estates.
adrian
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY RESTORE 1025 US 223, Adrian (517) 266-0746 Tues-Sat 10a-4:30p Free Donation Pickups. The Store that Builds Homes!
chelsea
CHELSEA ANTIQUES MALL
1178 S. Main St. (M-52), Chelsea Chelsea (734) 562-2190 • T-Sat 10-6 / Antiques Sun 11-5 • 41 vendor booths quality antiques, collectibles, Mall vintage farm relics, paintings, mid-century modern treasures.
jackson
JACKSON ANTIQUE MALL, INC.
201 N. Jackson St., Jackson (517) 784-3333 • M-Sat 10-5:45 / Sun 12-4:45 • 4 floors of collectible and antiques! Layaways and dealer space available. Scan QR Code to visit website!
tecumseh
HITCHING POST ANTIQUES MALL
1322 E. Monroe Rd.,Tecumseh (on M50 at M52) (517) 423-8277 • Open Daily 10-5:30 www.hitchingpostantiques.com 8,000 sq ft of antiques, furniture, victorian items, oil lamps, military, dolls, toys, jewelry, banks, books...
b r o o k ly n
FOUR FRENCH HENS
124 N. Main St., Brooklyn (517) 592-2233 • W-Sat 10ish-5 fourfrenchhens@frontier.com Ever-changing, eclectic blend of vintage, new and pre-loved - furniture, fashion, jewelry, home decor & more!
b r o o k ly n
THE CORNER COTTAGE
107 Monroe St., Brooklyn (517) 938-8487 • W-Sat 10-5 Adorable shop with everything for home decor. Vintage, cottage, rustic, repurposed, interior design. Beautiful displays and well priced.
chelsea
chelsea
THE COTTAGE RABBIT
115 W. Middle St., Chelsea (734) 562-2084 • T-Sat 10-5 / Sun 12-4 • thecottagerabbit.com An eclectic array of vintage, antiques, home decor, re-purposed and upcycled furniture, ladies clothing and jewelry.
manchester
RIVER RAISIN MERCANTILE
138 E. Main St., Manchester (734) 649-2993 • W-F 12-6 / Sat 10-4 • riverraisinantiques.com Your source for local art, natural body products, candles, home decor, antiques, and Melissa & Doug toys.
tecumseh
TECUMSEH ANTIQUE APPEAL 101 E. Chicago Blvd., Tecumseh (517) 424-2152 • M-Sat 10-5:30 Open 4th Sun. of every mo. 11-4 3,000 sq ft storefront of antiques, primitives, vintage collectibles, vintage and antique furniture.
THE FIND
118 S. Main St., Chelsea (734) 593-7044 • W & Th 9-5 / F & Sat 9-7 • TheFindChelsea.com Upscale resale shop. Small home decor, family apparel, and more! Everything $20 or less! Find us on Instagram @TheFindChelsea
milan
NORTHERN CHICKS
32 E. Main St., Milan (734) 508-6350 • M 12-3 / T,W,F 11-5 / Th 11-6 / Sat 10-4 / Sun 12-4 • Vintage farmhouse and cottage home decor. Artisan gifts, home furnishings, antiques & Made-in-MI products!
tecumseh
TECUMSEH COINS
116 S. Evans St., Tecumseh (517) 423-7972 • tecumsehcoins.com TC teccoins@tc3net.com Dealing in old and collectible coins tecumseh coins along with a full line of supplies. “Coins, where art and history merge.”
b r o o k ly n
IDK CREATIVE DECOR
146 1/2 N. Main St., Brooklyn (517) 938-8147 • Th-Sat 12-6 / Sun 1-5 • idkcreativedecor.com idkcreativedecor@gmail.com Artistic recreations, vintage finds home decor and so much more!
chelsea
MORAN’S CONSIGNMENT
104 E. Middle St., Chelsea (734) 433-9730 M,T,W 10-5/Th,F,Sa 10-6/Su 12-5 moransconsignment.com Specializing in women’s clothing, shoes, jewelry and accessories and home decor.
o n s t e d / ro m e c n t r
SIMPLY FOUND CREATIONS
9991 Stoddard Rd., Adrian (517) 467-5736 Jan-Feb: F & Sat 10-5 March-Dec: W-Sat 10-5 Upcycled, vintage & ReThunk Junk Paint by Laura • simplyfoundcreations@gmail.com
tecumseh
SECOND CHANCE CONSIGNMENT & BOUTIQUE 100 E. Logan St., Tecumseh (517) 424-2013 • M-F 10-6/Sat 10-5 New and gently used clothing for the whole family at an affordable price! Name-brand designer wear and an array of furniture and decor to fit any budget!
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With this wild market, you need a Realtor who has the experience and the know-how to take the lead. Bob’s ‘go with the flo’ attitude means less stress for you and more possibilities to enjoy the ride.
howardhanna.com 517-605-5206 145 E. Chicago Blvd Tecumseh
“At Sieler’s — We Make it Perfectly Clear”
THE GREATEST TREASURE IN THE
WORLD IS PURE
WATER
Residential/Commercial Lease-To-Own • Sales/Rentals Water Softeners • Sulfur Removal Systems Iron Filters • Purified Drinking Water Systems
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Dura-Cube Salt: In-Store Pick-Up or Delivery Bottled Water for Water Coolers & Professional Grade Salt
In the Gallery of Shops in Adrian 517.265.2029 • 800.93.WATER 136 E. Maumee • sielerswater.com We Service Most Makes and Models
100 Y
cele
H
brating
ope Lowry and Hildreth Spencer would be very pleased to visit the Lenawee Humane Society (LHS) today. Lowry, language professor at Adrian College from 1924 to 1964, and Spencer, the daughter of Lowry’s much-older AC colleagues, were the driving forces behind the county shelter, according to Marcie Cornell LHS executive director. “As a youngster, Hope would find animals and want to help them,” Cornell said. “She would take the animals door-to-door, asking for money so she could find them a home. As she grew up, she decided to create this organization to do just that.” In 1921, Lowry established the LHS. She was its founder, president, and executive director. “Hope was much younger than Hildreth’s parents, so when there were parties, Hope would hang out with the kids rather than the adults,” Cornell said. “Hope mentored Hildreth and was a role
OF
SAVING
model for her. When Hildreth grew up, she eventually became board president and executive director.” Lowry died in 1981, and one of the campus residence halls is named for her. Spencer, who died in 2018, left a trust that will take the LHS into its next 100 years, Cornell said. Spencer Hall is named for Spencer’s parents, James, a music professor for more than four decades, and Cornelia, voice teacher and dean of women. LHS will mark its centennial with its 18th annual Howl-AWeen Ball, set for Friday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. in the Adrian Tobias Room on the campus of Adrian College. It seems fitting to celebrate the two most important women in the history of the Lenawee Humane Society in a place where they also had so much of an impact on students — an impact that continues today. “We planned all kinds of things over the course of the year and here we are in August and we haven’t done any of it,” Cornell said. “Because that’s the kind of year it has been, a little crazy. We’ve definitely faced our struggles, but it’s been a journey and it’s been a good one.”
D
espite the pandemic and a slowdown in adoptions, animals are thriving, in part because the LHS has embraced change, according to Sasha Wilkerson. Wilkerson has grown the social profile of the shelter by leaps and bounds since stepping into the communications manager role, a position she created eight years ago, just after Cornell arrived.
LIVES
lenawee humane society
By Renee Lapham Collins
“Sasha said she loved the shelter but she hated her job,” Cornell said. “I laughed when she told me what she wanted to do. ‘So you want me to pay you to take pictures and play on social media?’ And Sasha said, ‘Yep.’ I told her it was the craziest thing I’ve heard in my life and it’s probably not going to happen. But I told her to go ahead and write up that job description and tell me how it’s going to make money and why it’s important.” ilkerson returned after the weekend with the job description and pay, and Cornell said, “We’ll try it.” It was a huge payoff for the shelter. Wilkerson grew the LHS presence on social media and revamped the website. “Eight years ago, everyone had visibility on the internet, but we didn’t,” Cornell said. “As a nonprofit, we rely on donations from the community so we had to become more visible.” Wilkerson increased Facebook followers from less than 2,000 to more than 20,000. The shelter also is on all of the other platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Cornell said one of the biggest benefits is greater transparency. “This piece is huge because there were lots of myths surrounding LHS and ‘no kill’ and how that plays out,” Cornell said. “So I told Sasha, let’s pull the numbers and show them. Even as we looked at the data, we had no idea it was that transformational.”
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The numbers didn’t lie. “Nine years ago, we were at 32 percent euthanasia and the shelter was considered ‘nokill,’” Cornell said. “Now it is less than one percent and that is strictly animals who are suffering.” This year, she said, there have been “lots of cats and kittens literally coming to us dying after being hit by cars, with severed spinal cords, all of these things, and we have to put them out of their misery.” The impact report this year, Cornell said, reveals that of the 20 animals euthanized, 17 were neonatal kittens. “So, those numbers add up to us. I think in the past, they didn’t want to include them,” she said. “But, we’re never going to hide the numbers, we’re going to include them and then if we have to explain, we do. Because we’re about the animals, not the numbers.” The average stay for a shelter animal is about one month, Wilkerson said. “That is the reality of a no-kill shelter,” she said. As a result, the LHS has become much more proactive with its shelter residents and potential pet owners, according to Wilkerson. “We invite folks to come in and date a potential pet. We have foster programs, and we partner with animal rescues and transfer services,” she said.
P
eople may foster a dog or cat to see if it will work out as a pet in their home, or they can foster for medical reasons, that is, care for an animal with special needs until the animal is adopted. Volunteers can come by and spend a day or a weekend with a dog or cat, even stop by Starbucks for a “puppaccino,” made from whipped cream and topped with a Milk Bone biscuit. Potential adoptees often are taken on tours around town, sporting their “Adopt Me” vests. “This is a great way for us to learn about the animals in places where we cannot observe them,” Wilkerson said.
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Shehan and his wife have four dogs and a cat, and all but one dog are rescues. Shehan has had two dogs adopted from LHS and the shelter has been very important to him and his family. “I really wanted to give back and when Millie Pruitt invited me to join, I jumped at the chance,” Shehan said. Pruitt is a board member and an old friend of Shehan. “It’s such a great organization,” he said.
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hundred years ago, a dog pound was a dark and dismal place. Today it’s bright and cheerful, people aren’t coming in feeling bad about the animals anymore. They are seeing the animal as part of the family. You see a dog at Starbucks with an “Adopt Me” vest, you might think, ‘That could be my life.’” Cornell said the social exposure is important, too. “People at Starbucks love it when volunteers bring a shelter dog,” she said. “They video it and we post it to the Facebook page.” Dr. Steve Shehan, professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Adrian College, is a member of the LHS board. “We are doing some really great work for the animals,” he said.
ornell said the county shelter is a good way to see just how animal welfare has evolved over the years and how it’s evolving today. The debate over “breed labels” is just one indicator of the importance of being ready for change. “Sasha wanted to drop breed labels and I said, ‘No way are we doing this,’” Cornell said. “Do you see a pattern here?” Cornell said Wilkerson had reasons but wasn’t making herself understood. “I said, ‘If we don’t have breed labels, we’re being disingenuous to our community,’” Cornell said. “And Sasha said we already were being disingenuous to our community because we’re saying Fido is a pit bull mix when we don’t even know if he is. “Every time we would have this discussion, Sasha would come back with a reason. ‘You lost your dog, Fido and you’re looking for a Boxer mix, but it came into our shelter and we’re calling it a pit bull mix and you never get the chance to make a connection
because we have what you’re not looking for, even if it’s your dog.’” Cornell said this conversation went on for some time. Then she attended a conference and went to a presentation about dropping breed labels. When she returned, she told Wilkerson, “You won.” Cornell explained that a shelter does a great disservice to its community by telling people that an animal is a particular breed without a DNA test. “We don’t label our cats,” she said. “Why can’t dogs be dogs? So instead of labeling, we focus on the dogs and making the right match. That’s one of the things that we have changed.” The shelter also aims to assist people who need temporary assistance with things like pet food or behavior issues. There also is the Reina Day fund, named for Reina, one of the dogs rescued from the Shepherd Road puppy mill. Her owners started a fund to allow people to keep their pets rather than being forced to surrender them when they are faced with hospital stays or other difficulties. “Our goal is not to take your pet, but to help you keep your pet,” Cornell said. “Our goal is to keep a pet and its family together, no matter what it takes.” Other shifts in the culture of the animal shelter includes getting certified as a “no fear, no stress” shelter for animals, volunteers, and staff. There are now animal play groups
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and more attention paid to matching those seeking pets with the right pet. The application process also is much more open. “In the past, if your cats or dogs weren’t up to date on shots, if you didn’t have a fenced-in yard, these are all things that would disqualify you from adoption,” Cornell said. “But the reality is, are these animals better off in our shelter than in your home? Probably not. So let’s look at what you do well and find the animal that does well for you.” n Lenawee Humane Society 705 W Beecher St, Adrian lenhumanesoc.org 517-263-3463
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