No. 12
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
March 24 – 30, 2016
w w w . a s s o c i a t e d n e w s p a p e r s . n e t
St. Mary Catholic School
in Wayne is hosting Tuesday
Tour Days during the month
of April when parents can
drop in at the school from 9
a.m. until 3 p.m.
See page 5.
What's the Story? is the
basis of the Short on Words
competition sponsored by
Northville dentist Dr.
William Demray as part of
the Northville Arts and Acts
Festival.
See page 4.
Vol. 131, No. 12
Vol. 69, No. 12
Vol. 69, No. 12
Vol. 16, No. 12
Voters in Romulus reject-
ed a millage proposal to fix
local roads earlier this
month on one of the busiest
election days in city history
when about 5,940 votes were
cast.
See page 2.
Vol. 131, No. 12
Vol. 69, No. 12
Vol. 69, No. 12
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The Easter Bunny will
drop more than 20,000
marshmallows onto waiting
children at 11 a.m. tomor-
row. Thousands of children
are expected at the annual
Easter event.
See page 5.
Pheasant Run Golf Club
will begin the 2016 season in
early April under the direc-
tion of Paul Simpson as the
new general manager and
golf professional.
See page 4.
Vol. 16, No. 24
Inkster is among 11
Michigan communities that
will receive a share of a $5.4
million state grant program
that can help fund special
projects.
See page 5.
Plans for a new Kellogg
Park fountain in downtown
Plymouth were presented to
members of the Downtown
Development Authority
(DDA) at a meeting last
month.
See page 3.
Van Buren Charter
Township Trustee Reggie
Miller recently completed
the Michigan Townships
Association (MTA) intensive
Township
Governance
Academy.
See page 2.
Northville Fire Chief resigns abruptly
Northville Township Fire Chief
Richard Marinucci tendered his
resignation, effective last Friday,
March 18.
No reason for the abrupt depar-
ture of the chief was given and he
remained unavailable for com-
ment.
Township Manager Chip Snider
said that the township does not
make public comment on person-
nelmatters.
Marinucci began his tenure
with Northville Township in 2009
after his retirement as the fire
chief inFarmingtonHills where he
had served since 1984.
Northville Township Director of
Public Safety John Werth also
declined comment on the resigna-
tion rumored to have been prompt-
edby a “conflict of interest.”
Marinucci is a nationally-known
firefighter training expert and is
the Executive Director of the Fire
Department Safety Officers
Association, a non-profit estab-
lished to promote safety standards
and practices in the fire, rescue
and emergency services communi-
ty.
A volunteer board of directors
leads the association.
Richard Marinucci
Questions about campaign
tactics of Plymouth Township
Supervisor Shannon Price
prompted a loud and expletive-
filled response following the
regular board of trustees meet-
ing last week.
Police Chief TomTiderington
was forced to step between
Price and Trustee Bob
Doroshewitz to prevent the
exchange of physical blows as
the heated argument escalated
immediately following the
adjournment of the meeting,
according towitnesses.
During
the
meeting,
Doroshewitz had characterized
the most recent township
newsletter as a “nine-page
infomercial” and strongly ques-
tioned the propriety of a note on
township letterhead left by
Price as he went door-to-door in
township neighborhoods. He
went on to criticize Price cam-
paign signs posted at several
polling places during the presi-
dential primary election March
8, mentioning one installed out-
side Northridge Church, where
heworships.
Price maintained during his
comments that the board mem-
bers had the opportunity to sug-
gest changes to the newsletter
prior to the printing. He accused
Doroshewitz of “playing poli-
tics” at themeeting.
Doroshewitz said the copy of
the newsletter he received was
incomplete and that Price's cam-
paign antics “cheapened the
community.”
“Inmy view, it is shadowcam-
paigning and if you were on the
other side of the table youwould
certainly say it was inappropri-
ate, Doroshewitz told Price. He
implied that Price was using
township taxpayers' funds to fur-
ther his campaign efforts.
He said the newsletter page
dedicated to a message from
Treasurer Ron Edwards had
“nothing to do with the treasur-
er's office and was pure cam-
paigning.”
“I call for a moratorium on
newsletters until after the elec-
tion,” Doroshewitz said repeat-
edly.
Price cautioned Doroshewitz
that he was “walking a very thin
line” several times as the trustee
continued to speak.
Apparently, Doroshewitz was
reiterating complaints heard at
township hall last week from
voters who called to complain
about the signs supporting Price
at polling places.
Price was appointed to the
supervisor's position last year
and has yet to declare his candi-
dacy for the office which will be
on theAugust primary.
The signs supporting him,
paid for by “The Committee to
Elect Shannon Price” were in
violation of the 100-foot rule,
according to residents, which
prohibits signs any closer to the
polls. Voters also said the signs
were in violation of the accepted
60-day campaign limit.
See
Argument,
page 3
I call for a moratorium
on newsletters until after the election.
”
Trustee accuses supervisor of ‘shadow campaign’
End of an era
Auction brings end to
third generation farm
The end of an era in Northville
Township took place last weekend as
items from the George family farm went
up for sale.
The third generation family-owned
farm, the last of its kind in Northville, is
ceasing operations after 80 years. Last
Saturday, the 62-year-old grandson of the
man who first broke ground at the family
farm, part of the 13-square mile area that
was dotted with other small farms and
accessed only by then-unpaved roads
where farmers' crops and cattle were the
only means of family support, put the
equipment on the auctionblock.
Milan George, Jr. is selling off his land,
now surrounded by high-end homes and
subdivisions. The George family farm was
started in 1936 by Damon George, an
immigrant dairy farmer from Yugoslavia,
who purchased 30-acres near the north-
west corner of SixMile andRidge roads.
Starting with a small herd of Holsteins,
George moved his family into an existing
old farmhouse on Six Mile Road built
around the turn of the century. The prop-
erty contained a gambrel hay barn that
was moved there from Plymouth in 1910
and still stands alongwith thehouse.
In 1952 George acquired 180 acres,
across the way on the south side of Six
Mile Road and added another barn to his
property.
George's son, MilanR. George, took over
the small dairy farm in 1963 when his
father died. He operated the farmuntil his
death last September at 86. George gradu-
ated from Northville High School in 1946
where he was class president and later
served as president of the Detroit Rescue
Mission.
He and his son, third-generation farmer
Milan “Butch” George, Jr. worked the land
together until the senior George's death.
Butch George has decided it is time to let
go of the land that makes up the western
border of the township.
The dairy farm had become a beef and
crop farm which Butch George, his wife,
Teri, and their 26-year-old son, Damon,
had recently downsized to 24 acres. They
kept the business open in recent years by
planting corn, soybeans and pumpkins
and crop farming 500 acres of leased farm-
land in the surrounding area. In the fall
they sold pumpkins and had a corn-maze.
But nomore.
Part of the last of the family acreage has
been taken over by a utility company and
last week, George hired an auctioneer and
placed everything on the block; his com-
bine, tractors, trailers, tools and equip-
ment and even old tires. More than 50
farmers from out- counties showed-up
early on the damp, chilly morning with
pick-up trucks and trailers to look for bar-
gains and farm implements. The auction
and hauling away of generations of equip-
ment andmemorieswent on all day.
“Overall I'm relieved… and very
pleased,” George said when the last item
was loaded and gone.
Butch George, center, his wife Teri, and son, Damon watch as the auction of their farm
equipment continues. Butch George said the experience was "bittersweet."
Photos by Don
Howard
Farmers from across the state get ready to bid on the equipment and farm implements
during the auction last week at one of the last farms in Northville.
Don Howard
Staff Writer
