The Toymaker By Susan Bromley Brandon Twp.- Harold Dean makes toys. The 70-year-old retired welder stands in his workshop, next to a bench and shows works in progress’an airplane, a tractor, a race car, and several trucks. Inside his home are more finished toys, including trains, more trucks and cars, and games. His toys are […]
Brandon Twp.- The Brandon High School show choir is New York bound. The choir has been selected to perform at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in June as part of the Ron Winans Tribute Concert. ‘It’s the ultimate experience,? said Debbie Sebetic, choir director. ‘It’s a wonderful way to cap off the experience with the […]
Ortonville- A fire suppression system for the Old Mill will be installed following the village council’s designation of $6,400 in Community Development Block Grant funds for the project. The council unanimously approved 80 percent of the $8,000 in funds they will receive in 2006 from the federal government to go to the nearly 150-year-old building. […]
Brandon Twp.- Christine Gatton says Christmas wouldn’t have happened for her family without the help of the Ortonville Community Emergency Fund. Gatton, a single mother and Ortonville resident, works both a full-time job in Rochester as a direct-care provider and a part-time job to make ends meet and support her four children, aged 9, 3, […]
Brandon Twp.- Voters will be asked in August 2006 to approve the restoration of .3981 mills to the township’s operating tax rate on property. Approval would bring the total mills that the township could levy to 1.41, the amount voters authorized in 1978. The Headlee Amendment, which limits property tax revenues to the rate of […]
Solutions for the library By Susan Bromley Brandon Twp.- The police are out, but a ‘Center for the Afterschool Crowd? is in. The Community Afterschool Taskforce is out, but a taskforce to consider a community center is in. The Brandon Township Library staff and community members have been busy working on solutions to the library’s […]
Brandon Twp.- During a special meeting Dec. 14, the township board adopted a $2,170,345 operating budget as well as approved a 2.5 percent raise for elected officials and all township employees. Both the budget and the raises were approved by a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Ron Lapp, Clerk Jeannie McCreery and trustees Tom Stowell and […]
Community Emergency Response Team By Susan Bromley Brandon Twp.- In the event of a terrorist act or natural disaster, the community has a new line of defense in addition to traditional professional emergency services. The Community Emergency Response Team program was begun shortly after Sept. 11, 2001 as part of President George W. Bush’s Citizen […]
Brandon Twp.- Mathew Daigle grew up during the Great Depression. He was one of three senior citizens at the Edna Burton Senior Center and others who recently shared their memories of Christmases when they were children. Toys weren’t plentiful for Daigle during Christmas in the 1930s, in fact, they were pretty rare. Daigle felt fortunate […]
Coming soon to the big screen: a Brandon High School graduate. Adam Rickabus recently returned from New York where he was filmed as an extra in ‘Super Ex-Girlfriend,? a movie to be released next year starring Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson. ‘It was a really, really good experience,? said Rickabus, a 2004 BHS graduate. ‘It […]