2008 Year In Review

JANUARY

 

• Tecumseh Public Schools sought a $2.9 million school operating millage renewal on 18 mills for Non-Homestead. This figure provides12 percent of the district’s total budget. The measure was supported by area voters.

• A Kiwanis Club of Tecumseh Pasta Project brought almost 200 pounds of pasta to the St. Peter’s Episcopal Food Pantry.

• Benjamin Alan Best, of Florida, stopped in Tecumseh on his 5-year bike journey in honor of lost soldier Staff Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin,of Batavia, Ohio.

• Don Martin, who founded Martin’s Home Center in downtownTecumseh, passed away at the age of 96.

• The father/son team of Dwayne and Jesse Pizana teamed upto head the Relay For Life in Tecumseh.

• Schmidt and Sons Pharmacy was awarded accreditation by theJoint Commission’s National Standards for Health Care and Safety.

• Nick Royal and Casey Harvey were named Tecumseh Indians Celebrate Winter Sports Season king and queen during the boys’ varsity basketball game against Bedford. The Indians won the southeastern Conferencecontest 45-33.

• Tecumseh School Board members reviewed a draft application that preceded bringing two bond proposals before the voters for facilities maintenance and improvements, with the proposed package estimated at $32million.

• Newsong members raised $10,000 for a well-drilling projectin Kenya, Africa.

• Dr. Dana Gillin and Dr. Eric Ankin opened a new Eye CareCenter at 904 W. Chicago Boulevard.

• Senator Cameron Brown visited the Village of Clinton, calling it a “ bright spot,” as he toured Eden Foods and Pilkington and Michigan Pallet, noting that the companies were showing positive growth while others were scrambling.

• Communities in School of the Tecumseh Area made plans forits 12th annual Taste fundraiser at Tecumseh High School.

• Tecumseh City Council amended a sign ordinance, requiring all new freestanding business signs to be monument type signs rather than on polls. The change also allowed real estate businesses to have larger signs for largerparcels of land.

• U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg meets with constituents atThe Diner.

• The Tecumseh School Board considered consolidating the business office functions as an option to creating a full-time post. William Wright was hired as Interim Business Manager through April.

• A dog census was to be taken in Tecumseh, conducted by the city’s animal control officer.

• An arbitration hearing was scheduled for June for TecumsehMiddle School teacher, Ernie Palmer, who was accused of rapping a stick in classroom, with one student later reporting that he had lied in stating thatthe teacher struck him with the stick.

 

FEBRUARY

 

• Tecumseh School Board members heard disciplinary reports that concluded the addition of security cameras at the high school helped spot problems.

• Close to 350 people came out to enjoy the 12th AnnualTaste held in Tecumseh, while many also attended the Savor the Experience wine tasting event hosted by United Bank and Trust. Both brought in just under $38,000 for CIS of Tecumseh.

• Tecumseh resident Mark Deming received the Boy Scouts Silver Beaver Award for his accomplishments as a scout leader.

• The Tecumseh City Council discussed debt repayment options for a state revolving fund loan of approximately $1,965,000 for Waste Water Treatment Tertiary plant upgrades. Principle and interest payments due twice a year, with a scheduled debt service over 20 years.
• Tecumseh businessman, J. Gilbert Purse, who founded the J. Gilbert Purse Funeral Home after purchasing the former Dunn Funeral Home in Tecumseh, passed away at age 68 at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor following a brief battle with cancer.

• Kids in the HOPE reading program sent letters to children in foreign lands as part of a literacy project.

• The City of Tecumseh made a $1.1 million commitment in matching funds with a federal grant from the Economic Development Administration toward infrastructure work on the Tecumseh Business and Technology campus.

• Todd Amstutz was named as Tecumseh’s new UtilitiesDepartment Superintendent, replacing Mike Bearinger, who is retiring.

• Recalled beef was pulled from Clinton Community Schools since Aramark had received some of the affected products. An Aramark official assured the public that none of the affected beef had been served.

• Tecumseh Herald unveiled its new interactive website at tecumsehherald.com with more community friendly news and information.

• The Tecumseh Board of Education moved ahead with plans to place two separate proposals on the May 6 ballot, seeking a total of $37million for facilities projects.

 

MARCH

 

• The Tecumseh High School varsity girls bowling team won the Division 2 state championships.

• The court set a new date in a murder-for-hire case in which Clinton resident Brad Rounds, 47, was accused of planning a murder. Bond was set at $500,000.

• Tecumseh School district officials set about educating the public regarding two bond proposals: Proposal 1 for $12,280,000, and Proposal II for $24,450,000, for work the district believes to be necessary, from replacing boilers, upgrading technology and remodeling elementary school buildings to taking on some projects that would make the district more competitive in drawing students, such as adding an auxiliary gym at the high school, adding a music room, ad providing $1.99 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for 22 years. District officials stated that the bond program did notincrease a taxpayer’s current millage rate.

• The Lenawee Intermediate School District delayed demolition of the Sutton School after a group of historic preservationists made pleas to postpone the decision so that the group could put together a preservation plan for the site.

• Tecumseh Products issued a press release announcing plans to move its headquarters out of Tecumseh to Pittsfield Township, taking 200 jobs and $100,000 in annual taxes to the city with it.

• Tecumseh Public Schools officials state that “safety, environment, security” are the key issues addressed in the school bond proposals, which officials said do not increase the current millage rate of 7.20 mills.

• Tecumseh Country Club was taken over by Dave Richards Resort and Golf Marketing of Bloomfield Hills, and golf pro Ryan Leitner was hired.

• Four government employees of Saudi Arabia visited Tecumseh.

• As the community absorbed the news of Tecumseh Products leaving the community, the Herald published a retrospective of the company.

• Humanitarian Sompop Jantraka, who won the Wallenberg Medalat the University of Michigan, spoke to Tecumseh youths about human trafficking in Thailand at the Tecumseh District Library.

• Miss Michigan Elisabeth Crawford met with several Tecumseh students for March is Reading Month.

• The Susan Whitney Studio opened its doors at 113 W.Chicago Boulevard, with proprietor and artist Susan Whitney Johnson envisioning a gathering place for artists and the arts.

• TLC Credit Union broke ground for a new branch on Wes tChicago Boulevard for a 4,983 square feet facility.

• The Golden Age of Radio returned to the Tecumseh Center for the Arts with the popular WTCA Radio Show.

 

APRIL

 

• A ribbon cutting was held at a new location for the Wild Iris on the corner of Chicago Boulevard and Evans Street.

• Herrick Park Elementary School marked its 50th anniversary with a series of activities and an open house.

• Baseball’s “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” marked a 100th anniversary.

• The Tecumseh City Council authorized a study to explore the feasibility of expanding the Tecumseh Community Center, which could include a gymnasium for indoor youth programs.

• Renovations at Herrick Medical Center were nearing completion, to include a new main entrance.

• Former Peace Corps volunteer and THS grad Brooke Caterina receives a fellowship at Columbia University.

• Tecumseh youth Abigail Mendez threw a “kitty shower” to benefit the Community Cat Coalition.

• Gloria Dei Lutheran Church celebrated 50 years of worship in the Tecumseh community.

• A new Young Fives program was approved by the Tecumseh School board for developmentally young children.

• Tecumseh High School baseball players lost their practice field in Ridgeway as John Rowe’s property was foreclosed on at 8710 Mills MaconRoad.

• An Art Trail project was “on track” after approval byTecumseh City Council which authorized an agreement with Midwest Sculpture Initiative to perform contractual services in the amount of $15,250 for the display to run May 2008 through April 2009.

• The life and times of Macon’s Clare Camburn were honored in concerts and an exhibit at the Tecumseh Area Historical Museum.

 

MAY

 

• Tecumseh Public Schools conducted information sessions throughout the district to inform the public about its two bond proposals,hoping to find support for the approximately $36.7 million proposed projects.

• Tecumseh School Board considered selling the Tipton building after a request by Franklin Township, which is seeking a site fortownship offices.

• Most pieces for the Art Trail Tecumseh arrived in the city the first week of May.

• Voters rejected two school bond proposals during the May 6 election which sought funding for new boilers and roof repairs as well asremodeling at all elementary schools, the middle school and administrative center, as well as technology upgrades. Three new school board members were elected: Jason Sines, Karen Januszak, and Kevin Packard.

• The city adopted its 2008-2009 budget which included total appropriations form the General Fund of $5.7 million, with a tax rate set at14.3966 mills.

• The Third Annual Lenawee Northeast Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society kicked off at Indian Stadium.

• Walgreen gains site plan approval from the TecumsehPlanning Commission, which requires the razing of Boomer’s Burgers and Destiny Christian Books on the city’s west side.

• The Tecumseh Education Association issued a statement expressing the membership’s frustration with lack of progress at the bargaining table. Their contract expires in July of 2009, but the teachers can reopen salary discussions each school year.

• Relay for Life nets $60,000 for cancer research.

• The Reverend Robin Smith was welcomed as the new rector at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and St. John’s Episcopal Church with a special service and visit by Bishop Wendell N. Gibbs, Jr. of the Episcopal Diocese ofDetroit on May 20.

• THS grad Angela Wyse was awarded a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship, advancing her dreams of potentially becoming a Foreign Service ambassador one day.

• Plans were announced to construct a $4.7 million women’shealth center at Herrick Medical Center.

• Lenawee County faced a record number of home foreclosures, rising sharply over a three year period. The Register of Deeds office predicted 720 foreclosures by the end of the year.

• Pentamere Winery took home eight medals at the 13th annual Great lakes Wine  competition.

• Albert Kahn Associates shared a Master Plan and design guidelines for the Tecumseh Business and Technology Park with Tecumseh City Council and Tecumseh Planning Commission members.

• Tecumseh businessman Joe Mannino passed away at age 93. Mannino was employed at the Tecumseh Products and operated Joe’s Market for 19 years and later co-owned the Tecumseh and Brooklyn Big Boy restaurants.

• The Tecumseh School Board hired William Wright as full-time director of Business and Finance. Wright outlined steps the board could take to fund critical repairs and maintenance by applying for an energy bond through the State Treasury Department since the bond proposals did not pass. The board would work on an estimated $1.6 million in bonds for projectsrelated to energy savings.

• A ribbon-cutting was held at Curves, under the ownership of Nicki and Troy Wright, in the Tecumseh Plaza.

• Special tribute was paid to Donald Rudd, a Vietnam veteran who lost his life in that war, during annual Memorial Day services at Brookside Cemetery.

 

JUNE

 

• An open house was held at Herrick Medical Center to showcase the second of two phases of a $13.1 million renovation of the hospital which opened a new emergency department last year.

• Tecumseh is considering an ordinance that would allow dogs to be on a leash. Current ordinances require the dogs to be under “reasonable control,” but do not require leashes.

• Tecumseh Public Schools face a potential $1.5 million deficit, which meant notification of layoff was given to 18 employees. Declining enrollment is a concern, since schools receive a per student allowance to  operate.

• Tecumseh City Council chooses to go with a flat fee as the method through which residents will repay a $2 million bond over the next 20 years to fund tertiary treatment improvements at the wastewater plant.

• The Knights of Columbus Council #9937 of Tecumseh celebrated its 20th anniversary naming the Philip T. Marvin family as the family of the year.

• Nearly 300 teen participants affiliated with Group Workcamps Foundation came to Tecumseh, sponsored by the Tecumseh First Presbyterian Church, to aid residents with construction projects.

• Lenawee Stamping Corporation plans to add machinery valued at $4,954,790, helping to retain 306 existing jobs, and sought an industrial facilities tax exemption for the project.

 

 

JULY

 

• The Tecumseh School Board adopted a $25.2 million budget for the new school year, and voted to remove malfunctioning clocks from the high school facility.

• The City of Tecumseh adopted a business/technology park plan designed by Albert Kahn Associates, to develop initial infrastructure on the former Eaton Farm property as part of a state grant.

• Debbie Johnson-Berges was elected as the new Tecumseh School Board president. The board also reviewed some estimates on proposed costs for roof repairs that needed to be done on several buildings in thedistrict.

• Tecumseh Middle School student Jordyn Norkey follows her dreams toward singing on Broadway by performing The National Anthem at several sports venues.

• Tecumseh High School grad Matt Felkey, a former Tecumseh Youth Theater performer, received a call back audition for the national tour o fthe Tony Award Winning Broadway musical Spring Awakening.

• Tee Pee Learning Center changed hands with Amanda Duval assuming ownership.

• State Senator Matt Schauer kicks off his campaign for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District seat with a stop in Tecumseh.

• A group of Isle of Man Boy Scouts from the United Kingdom visited Troop 632 of Tecumseh and other local scout troops.

• Heart transplant recipient Kyle Aiuto, son of Clinton native Mark Aiuto, took home a gold medal in bowling at the Transplant Games in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

 

AUGUST

 

The Tecumseh Area Chamber of Commerce named ShelleyHickman 2008 Musgrove Evans Award.

• Richard Johnson was chosen for a Business Leadership Award by the Lenawee Economic Development Corporation.

• Gail Dotson and Jack Welsh entered the race for LenaweeCounty Sheriff.

• A Clinton woman confesses to embezzling $7,000 from the Clinton Youth Wrestling Program.

• The LISD Board of Education voted to move ahead with a potential plan to lease the old Sutton School, built in 1859, to a group of county historical preservation representatives who made up a new foundation.

• Herald staffer Cristina Trapani-Scott took second place in a National Newspaper Award competition for her column, “Just Another Day at the Spa” which described her battle with breast cancer.

 • Opal Stroud,a Cambrian Assisted Living resident, celebrated her 100th birthday on Aug. 22.

• Hospital workers held a two-day picket at Herrick Medical Center to protest the hospital’s plan to increase healthcare costs for healthcare workers without providing cost of living adjustments.

• Harry Stanifer, who wrote a memoir, From the Heart of Harry, held a book signing at The Daily Grind.

• Lightning was blamed for causing an electrical surge that prompted a sewage overflow from Clinton into the River Raisin.

• The Tecumseh School Board extended Superintendent Mike McAran’s contract four more years.

• Raisin Township’s Board of Trustees continued to study possibilities for road repairs for deteriorating road conditions in the township, desiring to find the “right” solution, rather than just turning the dollars over to the Lenawee County Road Commission.

• Tecumseh Schools introduced a Young Fives program to accommodate the needs of developmentally young children in the district.

• A bad hail storm affected the crops of area orchards, including Kapnick’s, which produced a light crop of peaches and other fruit this year.

• Former Superintendent of Tecumseh Public Schools, Robert S. Duhan passed away at age 79. Duhan served 33 years as an educator in the community, also working as an assistant principal of Boysville.

• The Tecumseh City Council established a Brownfield Redevelopment Authority in order to smooth the way for incentive programs to conduct environmental assessments or clean up contamination on sites that could be redeveloped.

• At Brookside, vandals broke 37 monuments, including marble columns from the 1800s. A group of area teenagers volunteered their time to help repair markers that could be restored.

• An arbitration decision ordered that a letter of reprimand be removed from the file of Tecumseh Middle School fifth grade teacher Ernie Palmer. The decision noted that the district could provide counseling regarding methods acceptable to the district for gaining classroom control.

• The Tecumseh School Board began consideration of a new track for Tecumseh High School students after a group of parents brought a request and plan before the board.

• Congressman Tim Walberg kicked off his bid to retain his 7th Congressional District seat with a stop in Tecumseh.

• The LISD Tech Center installed solar panels and a residential sized wind turbine to study sustainable energy.

 

SEPTEMBER

 

• Both the Tecumseh and Britton-Macon School Districts kicked off their school years with sessions on food allergies for teachers and other employees. Research indicates that 84 percent of children who have food allergies will have them in school.

• A potential leash ordinance was to be reviewed by the City Attorney.

• A Model T Tour celebrating the auto’s 100th anniversary made a stop at the Hayden-Ford and Macon Creek mills.

• Designer birdhouses, fashioned by area artists, went on sale for the Flights of Fancy event to benefit the Tecumseh Center for the Arts.

• At the start of the new school year, there were 3,215 students enrolled at Tecumseh Public Schools, bettering a projection of 3,190,which officials had used as an estimate for budgeting purposes.

• Tecumseh businessman Harold Gene Tuckey, who owned theTecumseh and Brooklyn Big Boy Restaurants, passed away at 78.

• A special tribute was held at Michigan International Speedway to honor veterans and heroes and victims of 9/11. David Beamer, father of Todd Beamer, who led a group of passengers who overtook terrorists on Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 before it crashed, gave the keynote speech.

• Consolidated Biscuit Company announced plans to locate at the former Tecumseh Products site, with the potential of creating 500 new jobs.Efforts to secure a $5.4 million tax credit from the State of Michigan succeeded with approval by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority for a 10-year credit along with an anticipated 12-year tax abatement from the city valued at $867,000.

• Boysville/Holy Cross celebrated 60 years of operation inMacon.

 

OCTOBER

 

• Ken Kirchoff, Sr. was given a patriotic welcome home from Iraq by his family and neighbors in Tecumseh after serving for a year.

• Comcast held a meeting to explain changes that would becoming to local cable involving digital cable migration.

• New First Student Transportation manager Sue Dieter settles into new role of supervising school bus drivers and working with Tecumseh Public Schools.

• Tecumseh infant Madeleine Elizabeth Casteel fights a rare skin condition and area fundraisers were held to help the family defray surgery and treatment expenses.

• Raisin Township presents law enforcement officers with citations for heroic actions during last year’s December house fire at the Heal residence. Lenawee County Sheriff Deputy Ben Oram saved the life of Shirley Heal, who was disabled. Tecumseh Herald staffers Deb Wuethrich and Mickey Alvarado received a second place award from the Michigan Press Association for the story and photos about the sameincident.

• The Tecumseh School Board approved a motion to authorize staff to evaluate current athletic facilities and to develop and seek bids for a proposed Tecumseh High School athletic complex, at an estimated cost of $2.1million. Officials said the project would be financed from capital project funds, use of an Installment Purchase Agreement (IPA) loan for equipment,potential grants and fundraising.

• The Tecumseh Downtown Development Authority received agrant of $8,000 from the State of Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs for the 2009 Art Trail Tecumseh exhibit.

•A benefit for the Tecumseh Schools Orchestra was held at the Masonic Lodge to help raise funds toward a new orchestra room at the high school.

• Herrick Medical Center broke ground for a new women’shealth center, estimated to cost $4.7 million.

• Tecumseh’s Evans Street Station opened its Glass House Café at Palmer Commons on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.

• THS grad-gone-Hollywood Robert Maverick brought his makeup artistry before Tecumseh High School students as he talked about career goals and dreams.

• The Tecumseh School Board continued to move forward on its plan to develop a new athletic complex, especially in the light of a recent condemnation of the district’s stadium seats near the middle school facilities. Superintendent Mike McAran said the complex actually had its roots in a Master Plan developed in 2001.

• Whimsey Hill, a unique boutique that retails items for babies and small children, opened at 116 W. Chicago Boulevard in the former Chocolate Vault.

 

NOVEMBER

 

• Tecumseh City Council members Jack Baker and Gary Naugle were reelected to their seats this fall, and former council member Troy Wright beat out another former member, Ron Wimple, for the open seat vacated by Mary Deming. Mayor Harvey Schmidt also was reelected to a new term of office.

• Tecumseh Public Schools plan for an “Instant Alert” system to notify parents of weather delays or closings and other school activities.

• A THS student was apprehended for making a bomb threat ina boys’ bathroom at the school.

• The Vietnam experiences of area residents Joe Caterina and Kent Naugle are shared via a feature story about their time of service and their return home to Tecumseh.

• Author and former Tecumseh resident Pam McCombs shares experiences at the Tecumseh Community Center with a talk about her book, A Walk with Boppa — A Portrait of Early State Alzheimer’s.

• Tecumseh resident Sue Ives proposes realignment of football field at current site to Tecumseh School Board rather than develop a new athletic complex. The Board accepted a proposal from Foresite Design authorizing the development of a contractual agreement for professional design and construction management services for the complex. Board member Jason Sines opposed the resolution, stating that he thought there still could be other options to explore.

• An Evian affiliate sought approval for a bottling plant in Raisin Township, near Comfort Enterprises.

• Local police chiefs rallied to oppose new employment standards that required a minimum of 520 hours for officers to qualify for “regular” employment. The chiefs said the standards were too restrictive.

• Clinton High School graduates Elspeth and Kylista Geigergave a final plea at the Clinton School Board meeting to change the school’smascot. The young women stated that the mascot is offensive to Native Americans. A petition circulated in the community at the direction of Clinton Supt. David Pray showed more than 90 percent of signers were in favor of keeping Redskin as Clinton Community Schools mascot.

• Sports Hut, featuring sports-related items including Tecumseh Schools logos, opens at 214 E. Chicago Boulevard.

• Sutton Elementary School students gathered school supplies for a sister school, the Zenobia Elementary School, in Eastern Baghdad, Iraq,by partnering with a military unit in that area.

• The Tecumseh Service Club continues to seek groups and individuals to sponsor families in its annual Adopt-A-Family program, as the state’s economy brings even more people in need to the Club’s attention.

• C.J. MacDonald donated royalties from a song, “A Peaceful World,” to the Lenawee County Foundation, which will benefit Lenawee County kids.

 

DECEMBER

 

• An effort by the Sutton School Preservation Foundation to save Sutton School on the Milton C. Porter campus was temporarily stalled when a smoking policy was presented to the Lenawee Intermediate School District Board as part of a proposed contractual agreement. Language was yet to beworked out that would allow the Leh-Nah-Weh group and other Native Americans to use tobacco for ceremonial purposes as part of a religious practice.

• Tecumseh City Council members approved a contract with Engineering Services of Saginaw for work on the Tecumseh Business and Technology Campus. The contract is not to exceed $81,110.

• Former Tecumseh resident Chuck Gillies’  book cover illustrations are inspired by his Tecumseh upbringing.

• The Herrick Foundation filed a lawsuit over a stock splitby Tecumseh Products. The suit sought injunctive relief for a 3-for-1 stock split by the company.

• Jan Shuster of Raisin Township represented Tecumseh United Methodist Church, visiting a sister church in Liberia earlier this year.

• Tecumseh artist Judith Holcomb has wildlife art on displayat the Croswell Opera House Gallery and the Tecumseh Center for the Arts.

• A new Communities in Schools program taking business entrepreneursinto the school for lunch hour chats with students is kicked off at Tecumseh High School when Pat Van Camp of the Daily Grind visited the school.

• The Tecumseh School Board moved ahead with a contract with Foresite Design for a proposed athletic complex to be constructed at Tecumseh High School to include a football and lacrosse field and a new 8-lane track.

• Consolidated Biscuit Company is continuing its due diligence studies of the former Tecumseh Products facility, while the city asks the state to pick up costs on Maumee Street improvements that would benefit the new business.

• Carol’s Hallmark closes its doors at the Tecumseh Plaza.

• Improvements to LISD Tech Center help showcase work of students taking classes there.

• Tecumseh Middle School received recognition at a state luncheon for coming off the state “watch” list for not making Adequate Yearly Improvement.

• The Tecumseh Police Department will receive six new TASERs at a cost of $8,479.