Archive - 2012

The Tecumseh High School Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is planning a special concert at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts on Wednesday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m. and members hope the community will come and hear them play. Admission to the preview concert will be free giving locals a chance to experience the music that students have been diligently working on for their performance at this year’s Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids on Friday, Jan. 18.

“This is a huge honor for them, one of the highest honors a high school orchestra can get,” said Theresa Powers, who oversees The Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation which supports the Tecumseh Public Schools strings programs. “They were only one of three groups invited to do this. The concert is a way to say ‘thank you’ to the community for its support and to afford them a chance to go and see them perform,” Powers added.

The Friends of TSO commissioned Bob Phillips, TSO’s first teacher, to write a piece that will be debuted to the public at the January 9 concert.

“It’s a gorgeous number and the name of the piece is ‘Aspire — a dream fulfilled,’” said Powers. At the top of the music is written, “Commissioned by the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation in memory of Elizabeth, and dedicated to the vision of Theresa Powers, the students of the Tecumseh Schools Orchestra Program and their directors, Amy Marr and Michael Bough.”

Powers said a special keepsake program is being printed for the occasion and includes a photograph of Wilson’s personal violin.

In addition to the Phillips piece, music by Grieg, Phillips, Balmages, Ellington, Holst, Bruch and Whitacre will be performed. Marr will serve as guest conductor and Senior Soloist Kali Snead will also be featured.

Students have been preparing for several weeks for the Michigan Music Conference and the preview concert, Powers said, with various teaching guests working with them, including Val Palieri from Adrian College.

Following a relatively mild early winter on par with last year’s whole season, a snowstorm that came blustering in on the day after Christmas on Wednesday, Dec. 26, served as a reminder that winter can still come to Tecumseh after all.

Residents are reminded that during winter months, if there is an accumulation of two inches of snow or more, a snow emergency is in effect.

During a snow emergency, parking on the street is prohibited. The city’s street department needs all vehicles off the street to clear the snow.

According to the city’s website, if the forecast calls for snow overnight, residents are asked to park all vehicles in the drive. Those who do not have driveways are encouraged to park them in the downtown city parking lots. Officers may ticket vehicles that are parked on a street during a snow emergency.

The city ordinance states, “No automobile, truck or trailer shall be parked on any street or alley in the city between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. on those days when an accumulation of snow requires that the city snowplows clear such streets and alleys.”

The ordinance further notes: “The parking or standing of a motor vehicle on a public street or highway in the city shall be prohibited during the term of such emergency. A snow or ice emergency shall be deemed to exist when snow, ice or a combination of the two exceeds the depth of two inches on city streets or highways.”

National news stories report that American consumers spent cautiously this year, disappointing many retailers, but Tecumseh seems to have run counter to the “weak sales” trend this holiday season.

Nationally, sales of electronics, clothing, jewelry and home goods in the two months before Christmas increased a mere 0.7 percent compared with last year according to a MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report. Analysts said that put sales below the healthy three to four percent growth they’d expected, and called it the “worst year-over-year performance since 2008.”

“I can’t say it’s been that way at all for us,” said Barb Bindus, co-owner of J-Bar Hobbies, 117 E. Chicago Blvd., in downtown Tecumseh. “I would say it was even better for us than last year.”

On Thursday, two days after Christmas, J-Bar had not experienced any returns, but customers were bringing in gift cards to be redeemed.

“A lot of people come in right after Christmas for that,” said Bindus. Customers were purchasing trains and more track, lighthouses and other goods.

“We’ve sold a lot of puzzles,” she said. “Also our wind-up toy replicas. People love them.”

Nanci Prezioso, who owns The Wild Iris at 101 W. Chicago Blvd., said sales were down in November, but December sales were up. She expected there would be some returns over the next few days. The research company MarketTools reports that 62 percent of returned gifts are clothing and shoes.

“Things come back largely due to sizing, but also because of a mis-match,” said Prezioso. “The gift just doesn’t match the person. It’s hard to buy some items for other people.”

The Wild Iris did well on its sale of gift cards this season.

“We had tremendous gift card sales in December, and that was probably up at least 40 percent over last year,” Prezioso said. She added that she also expected to see some of the gift card redemption to take place later. “Some people will wait until we do our sales in mid-January,” she said.

Ben R. Joseph, 90, of Adrian, formerly of Tecumseh, passed away Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, at Bixby Medical Center.

Born August 15, 1922, in Port Huron City, Mich., Ben was the oldest child of Abraham and Beulah (Broadstone) Joseph.

During World War II, Ben served in the Army as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division.

On June 30, 1962, Ben married Kay Wieland in Bay City. Kay, his wife of over 50 years, survives.

Ben’s career began in his family business, Normandy Dress Company in Bay City. He later moved to Tecumseh to work at Fisher Body in sewing machine repair where he retired in 1984 with 20 years of service. After retiring, Ben continued repairing industrial sewing machines independently. He enjoyed working on projects in his garage, target shooting and fishing. Ben attended Bethany Assembly of God.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by their children, Laura Joseph of Adrian and Lisa Wellinski of Westland; grandson, Joe Wellinski; and sister, Mary (John) Cambron of Novi.

He was preceded in death by two brothers, Raymond and Norman Joseph.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, at Wagley Funeral Home with Pastors Steve Samonek and Ron Sparks officiating. Burial will follow at Brookside Cemetery in Tecumseh. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, from 2 to 5 p.m.

Contributions in memory of Ben may be made to the Christian Mission or Wounded Warrior Project.

Condolences are welcome at www.wagleyfuneralhome.com.

Marilyn J. Briggs, age 83 of Tecumseh, formerly of Ypsilanti, passed away Saturday, December 22, 2012 at home under the loving care of her family and Hospice of Lenawee. Marilyn was born May 17, 1929 in Ypsilanti, Michigan the daughter of Raymond and Irene (Paulsen) Bassett. On November 29, 1952 she married Ralph L. Briggs of Ypsilanti.Marilyn is survived by her sister Joanne (Bassett) Bates of Ypsilanti; five children, Dianne (Richard) Marsh of Tecumseh, David Briggs of Alabama, Carol (Paul) Dornan of Tennessee, Janet (Charles) Hilscher of Clio, Joseph Briggs of Tecumseh; ten grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents, and a grandchild Nathanial E. Dornan.

At Marilyn’s request cremation has taken place. A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held on May 18, 2013, at the Tecumseh Chapel of Handler Funeral Homes from 2-4 p.m. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Lenawee or to a Charity of the Donor’s Choice. Condolences may be offered to the family and a full obituary may be viewed at www.handlerfuneralhomes.com.

Student safety has always been a priority for schools, but since the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, school districts have been educating themselves on stronger safety measures. Training and evaluation of school safety is regularly done with the Lenawee Intermediate School District. The Lenawee County Emergency Manager helps LISD members evaluate and address areas of safety and make changes when needed.

“We all have the same procedures that way, and the responders know that,” said Britton Deerfield Superintendent Chuck Pelham.

This uniformity of training and response has been a benefit to Britton Deerfield and Clinton Community Schools. “I’ve been heavily involved in this process for five years now,” said Clinton Community Schools Superintendent David P. Pray said. “It’s something you have to keep up on.”

A priority is to identify anyone inside the school buildings who don’t belong there. Not far behind in importance is practicing accurate response in emergency situations.

Both Pelham and Pray praise the dedication of teachers and staff in being aware of people coming and going in the buildings. Staff is trained to notice any stranger in the building and keep him or her from traveling throughout the building.

Pray routinely brings unknown law enforcement into the district building to observe how far they can get into the building before being stopped by staff. He remembers when safety awareness first started being emphasized in the district, his decoy people were able to make it almost all the way through the buildings before being stopped. In the last test done by Pray the person was stopped by the second staff member he passed and then immediately directed by the teacher to an office.

Pelham has noticed similar changes in the buildings in Britton and Deerfield. He regularly brings in deputies to go through the BD buildings at random times.