Bees! Giant bees outside the window! And hot air balloons! That could mean only one thing: the Jubilee’s in town.
Work around our office last weekend was a circus, pun intended. Rides in psychedelic colors, sticky cotton candy and squealing children packed the streets of downtown Lake Orion for the Lions Club annual Jubilee.
The Tilt-a-Whirl was, as always, a popular ride, and the Ring of Fire proved a thrilling success. But the best ride was the one where riders got to drive a forklift and take out pieces of private property at will.
Err, wait. That wasn’t a ride. That’s what Mid-American Shows Inc. did to our parking lot.
Wednesday afternoon, during the carnival’s setup, we looked out of the windows in our building into the parking lot we share with Bill Kirchner’s State Farm insurance agency. The same parking lot The Lake Orion Review generously allows Mid-American to use for four days while customers and staff scramble to find parking elsewhere. And what did we see? Carnival workers on a little forklift using the two prongs to pry up and out a private parking sign from its cemented-in, paved-over footings.
That’s right, a forklift. Needless to say, one of our staff ran out immediately, attempting to explain that the sign is on private property and shouldn’t be removed without permission. In the end, the police chief was called over for a little assistance.
Workers said they had permission to remove the sign (though they certainly didn’t) and needed the extra space to finish putting up a ride there. In the end, they’re paying for a new sign since the bottom is bent.
Private property plans foiled, Mid-America chose to take out a lamppost on the sidewalk instead, which gave them the room they needed.
We watched as three DPW workers came with a truck to unhook and take down the pole. They spent nearly two hours taking it down and another hour and a half putting it back up on Sunday.
The whole reason the Lions Club kept with Mid-America even though the company was only available the weekend before the Fourth was because of its professionalism and strict no-nonsense policy. A lot of people in town are upset the events have been split over two weekends.
Not to say that, after 30 years of Jubilee tradition, the Lions Club should nix the whole thing, but one would expect more courtesy when downtown business owners deal with rollercoasters outside their doors while trying to conduct business.
Courtesy–that’s all we want. Some elephant ears wouldn’t hurt either. The Jubilee is a great community event. Let’s keep it fun for the whole gang.

Checked out the bottom of page three lately? A big black line found its home there, featuring one-liners from LO residents on shopping local.
‘Shop local or die,? was our Assistant Publisher Don Rush’s contribution to the new spot.
What would mine be? How about, ‘Wal-mart ain’t got nuttin? on this??
Or, ‘local dollars make ‘cents???
Or maybe, ‘sending dollars away casts the economy astray??
Regardless, I don’t even live here, but I shop here all the time.
During the Christmas-shopping rush, I found gifts for five of my friends. Tesori Gifts and Elements have seriously cool, I’ve-never-seen-anything-like-it-before gifts and I only had to dig about $15 deep in my wallet to buy them.
Lately, I feel like I’m single-handedly boosting the economy with all the big-ticket items I’ve bought for the house. Turns out, big-kid toys, like new refrigerators and TVs, are a lot more expensive than hula-hoops and sidewalk chalk.
But the majority of my moolah ? or should I ‘our? moolah ? is going toward the wedding fund. For those who haven’t seen our announcement in the The Review or The Leader, my fianc? and I are getting hitched this September.
There is no place I would recommend more for wedding shopping than Lake Orion.
Our engagement photo was taken by none other than LO’s own Scot Orser of Orser Studio. Per my request, he tried traditional poses with us first, but we weren’t happy with the results. Then Scot had an ‘artist’s moment? and tried the pose readers eventually saw in the paper. It turned out beautifully. Somehow, Scot knew how to jazz it up just enough to be timlessly contemporary.
My fianc? and I bought our wedding invitations at Ink & Paper and have gotten so many compliments on how awesome they are. We got enough invitations made of recycled paper to invite 265 people for just over $200. Tonya and Elichia were helpful and patient even when we hit some snags with the design. And did I mention the invitations are awesome?
Our wedding bands are coming from W. R. Mason Jewelers. I literally laughed out loud when we discussed the price ? both rings are very inexpensive. We ordered my fianc?’s out of a catalogue and it’s, in a word, perfect. My band is totally custom ? molded, designed and crafted in their shop ? and both rings cost less than half of what we budgeted.
So shop local so you can benefit from the same great businesses!
There are thousands of neat finds and good bargains downtown that you won’t fin shopping at the mall or in huge, cookie-cutter department stores. Plus, boosting the local economy feels pretty good on the conscience.
And for those interested in sending in their one-liners, email them to ShermanPub@aol.com.
Featured submissions will get a free 10-word classified in the paper. We’d love to hear from you.

There really was no conspiracy when it came to Lake Orion High School Principal Todd Dunckley being demoted.
Firstly, if Superintendent Ken Gutman really has a personal agenda guiding his school decisions, he hides it well, and I mean really well. When I first met him, I assumed his seemingly permanent smile and cheery outlook was just his schtick. But I’ve talked to him after he’s been publicly bashed at board meetings, and he’s still smiling, still cheery. Optimism from anyone after that has got to be sincere. He truly believes in doing the best he can at his job and for students and his attitude never falters.
Secondly, even if there were some secret plot to take over the school district, what’s the point? It’s a school district, not a nuclear-bomb-launching country. What’s Gutman going to do if he does take it over? Run it into the ground or bankrupt it, and he’s straight into unemployment which is pretty poor motivation for a conquest.
As it stands right now, LO schools are doing pretty well under his leadership. MEAP scores are fantastic and all but one school has been tagged as Blue Ribbon Exemplary. So maybe the ‘invasion? is working out all right.
I do take issue with the administration and the board on one thing, though. It seems as though all of the recent drama ? all day, everyday kindergarten, Dunckley, autistic students, the May elections ? has to do with communication. Or more specifically, a lack thereof.
Board meetings and minutes are open to the public and schools send home newsletters packed with all sorts of information, but the community is caught off guard pretty often these days on school issues.
Whose fault is the communication problem? I don’t know, but something has to be done or boardmembers are going to start dropping like flies in coming elections.
As for the most recent drama ? Dunckley ? I was surprised at the kids who spoke in his support at school board meetings, especially those who said ‘no one asked us about firing Mr. Dunckley.?
Students are not a part of hiring and firing school staff, principals included. What should the board have done, send around individual surveys? ‘Do you like Mr. Dunckley, check ‘yes? or ‘no.??
Why choose this moment to stand up and demand a voice? Buying a new school bus directly affects you, too, but your opinions are not a part of that decision-making process. That’s what administrators are exclusively for ? to make those kinds of choices.
I have an idea for the next 700-signature petition: a skate park. That’s something to sink your teeth into and actually make a difference. Start fundraising, show up to a village council meeting with $1,000 and a proposal. Officials love when residents are proactive and they especially love when residents show up with money.

Sorry, school board, I’m not buying it.
How they came to the decision to keep elections in May seems a little sneaky to me. A little shady.
The board discussed the possibility of swithcing election dates at a November meeting, and again in December.
But at the end of each discussion ‘more information? was needed, even after Boardmember Tiffany Weber-Phillips compiled information from numerous area schools on the subject, many of whom recently switched to the general election format.
The bulk of the board’s discussion was apparently during their winter workshop because at the next regular meeting they were ready to vote without any hesitation or further discussion.
The winter workshop, by the way, was technically open to the public but was held on a Tuesday at 8:45 a.m.
School Board President Bill Walters admitted that the public was never invited to participate in the issue from the beginning.
‘We hadn’t advertised the election date as open for public comment,? he said.
Even if the topic had been advertised, how many tax-paying community members would have been able to attend?
I’m guessing not many, which leaves the board to discuss the issue alone.
The meeting minutes vaguely state, ‘the board discussed pros and cons regarding changing the date of our school elections.?
Lately, I’ve been pondering why Clarkston citizens have been writing letters to the editor for weeks, chattering about their school board election date and the lack of action by the board, but Orion residents don’t seem to be bothered with the topic.
I haven’t found an answer, yet. But I hope that after this week, Orionites will find their voice on the issue.

As a 23-year-old, I’ve discovered something that shocked me: people my age are incredibly underprepared to begin adult life.
When I left for college I thought I was independent and ready for responsibility, but when I graduated, I realized I really didn’t know much either.
And then when I moved to this area, I again felt ‘grown-up.?
But I’ve lived here almost a year and am only now learning what responsibilities like home and car repairs, IRAs and medical insurance fully entail.
Granted I knew of these things, but didn’t really ‘know,? if you get my drift.
I have a friend who doesn’t understand the value of saving money, and another friend who had never done a load of laundry until graduating college.
When I heard that, I felt I was a little better off than they were. I thought, at least I know that much. But I find that nearly each week I stumble across something new about ‘everyday life? that I don’t know how to deal with.
Maybe this doesn’t shock you older generations. Maybe you have the when-I-was-your-age mentality and laugh at us naively foolish kids.
These hurdles are problems you may not blink twice at because you’ve jumped them once before.
But we need you to teach us that home buyers will need around 20 percent for a down payment, and that even at 23, life insurance isn’t a bad idea.
My $60,000 college education taught me how to write a thesis and do calculus, not how to avoid getting cheated by the furnace repairman.
I think the newest generation needs a serious lesson in life, especially in today’s economy where little missteps can become life-long messes.
It’s a simple concept, but as far as I can tell, I don’t see many parents or schools doing it.