2008 A year in Review: | Lake Orion Review

July 2
~ Ken Gutman signed a three-year contract to serve as superintendent with the Orion school district. Until then, he served as an assistant superintendent and the Scripps Middle School principal.
~ Village council approved at 2.1 percent increase to their fee schedule to compensate for the Consumer Price Index (rate of inflation) rise.
~ M&B Graphics opened its doors. The store is a full-service print shop owned by Robert and Donna Reighard.
~ Scripps eighth-graders used leftover wood from Moon Valley Rustic Furniture to design new products. Four designs were selected for production.

July 9
~ Orion celebrated the Fourth at the Lions Club annual Jubilee and the Fireworks Association’s Friday night show.
~ Scouts from Troop 128 helped clean storm drains with the Clinton River Watershed Storm Drain Project. They learned about preserving clean water sources by keeping the drains free of garbage and debris.
~ The Oxford/Orion Boys and Girls Club raised funds to send to two Iowa clubs destroyed in area flooding.

July 16
~ PFC Byron Fouty was finally found in an Iraqi town south of Baghdad. But his family’s hopes of a happy ending were dashed with the news. Fouty’s remains were found more than a year after he went missing.
Fouty was a member of Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum. He was kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents May 12, 2007.
Family and friends said he will be remembered for his giving spirit.
~ Former Waldon Principal Heidi Kast was named the new Assistant Superintendent of Eduational Services for the Orion district. Julie Stucky officially became Interim Director of Special Education. She unofficially held the position for the previous year.
July 30
~ The DDA planned to makeover Eastlawn Cemetery and Green’s Park. The makeover included a quarter-million dollar lighting and fencing project.
~ Jennifer Goethals was named the new principal at Blanche Sims Elementary.
~ Ron West taught Tiny Tunes summer music classes to children. The CERC Center hosted his program which welcomed three- to seven-year-olds.

2008 A year in Review: added by on December 31, 2008
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August 6
~ Construction of a water and sewer transmission line began in parts of Orion Township. Detroit Water and Sewer Department ran a 72-inch concrete pipe along parts of Joslyn, Judah, Baldwin, Morgan and Rohr Roads.
~ Orion Township Parks and Recreation hosted the annual Big Rig Gig. The event allowed guests to explore trucks, tractors, diggers, dozers, buckets, backloaders and much more.
~ A team headed by Lake Orion’s Randy Emert took a top-four finish at the FHA 2008 Culinary Challenge held in Singapore. Emert is the executive chef at Great Oaks Country Club in Rochester.

August 13
~ Bill Walters was elected Orion’s new School Board President. Walters is a retired schoolteacher and long-time resident of the community.
~ Lake Orion resident Lisa Jander wrote Dater’s Ed: The Instruction Manual for Parents. The book hit shelves in July and Jander spent the fall traveling and promoting the book. Her website is www.datersed.com.
~ Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard made an appearance at the Otion Township Public Library to talk to residents about keeping their identities safe. According to Bouchard, identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation.

August 20
~ Ken Rossman won a silver medal at the Transplant Games hosted by the National Kidney Foundation. Rossman was part of a three on three basketball team and played in PIttsburgh. The Orion resident received a kidney from his sister, Bonnie.
~ Chic Antique and Kerry’s Dance Stages opened their doors in downtown Lake Orion. The DDA honored them with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
~ Preschool students at the CERC participated in a monarch butterfly habitat preservation effort by planting milkweed gardens. The plant is the only place monarchs lay their eggs.

August 27
~ Lake Orion’s David Barnes biked from Traverse City to Chelsea with the Michigan Wish-A-Mile bicycle tour. In the process, he raised $5,785 for a Romulus girl who suffered from pustular psoriasis.
~ Carl Zoolkoski and Phyllis Bengry created a CD to benefit Lubys Boobies Three-Day-Walk. Kathy Luby was a 40-year-old mother of five and Oakview Middle School teacher who died from breast cancer in March. The walk benefits breast cancer research.

2008 A year in Review: added by on December 31, 2008
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