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July 18, 2013
C
ANTON
Liberty Fest numbers show increased visitors
New Rotary president takes reins in Canton
More than 40,000 people visited
the 22nd Annual Canton Liberty
Fest last month, a record crowd for
the community celebration.
This year, the event drew record
crowds during the three-day event,
June 13 through 15. Organizers
said the wide-range of entertain-
ment that provided almost 20
hours of performances on multiple
stages throughout the weekend
may have contributed to the
crowds this year.
The Liberty Fest International
Stage featured 327 performers rep-
resenting 12 countries through a
myriad of performances. Choral
acts featured Barbershop music,
Chinese and Italian opera, classi-
cal Chinese, classical Indian and
songs
from
the
Polynesian/Hawaiian islands.
Instrumentals were represented
by sitar with Tabla, piano, and
ukuleles. Dance performances
included Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical
Ballet, Tap, Chinese, Indian,
Steppers, and Traditional Irish.
All of the cultures came together
when the Canton Multicultural
Committee led the crowd in
America the Beautiful, according
to a prepared statement from Jon
LeFever, Canton Recreation and
Facilities supervisor.
Throughout the festival, guests
enjoyed festival food provided by
some of the local eateries who par-
ticipated in the Taste of Canton,
sponsored this year by Twisted
Rooster. Included at the festival
were: Albasha Pizza and Subs;
Canton Coney Island; Chopstick
House; Fat Chef in aLittleCoat; La
Sharm and Papa John's Pizza. The
winner among the participants,
chosen based on menu selection
and taste, was Canton Coney
Island, 8533 N. Lilley Road in
Canton.
This year Canton's CERT
(Community Emergency Response
Team) assisted Canton Leisure
Services and Public Safety during
the festival. These volunteers are
trained in light search and rescue,
basic first aid and emergency pre-
paredness. The volunteers provid-
ed extra eyes and ears in the
crowd to assist festival-goers with
activity information, searching for
lost children/teens/adults, as well
as watching for any suspicious
activities. In all, 15members assist-
ed in the event including one from
theLincolnParkCERT.
For more information on the
Canton CERT program or to
become a trained CERT volunteer,
contact Kathy Rich at krich@can-
ton-mi.org.
Area civic groups also served up
festival food, serving record
crowds. The Canton Lions Club
prepared plenty of pancake break-
fasts while Canton Firefighter's
#2289 Charity Foundation 14th
Annual Spaghetti Dinner generat-
ed more than $4,000. The Canton
Rotary Club also helped staff a suc-
cessful adult beverage tent provid-
ed by West Side Distributing that
helped raised funds for their local
charities. The Zumba Party in Pink
was also a big success collecting
more than $700 in a short amount
of time for the Susan B. Komen
Foundation, according to the
release.
Some of the most popular fea-
tures were the three unique ani-
mal attractions featuring exotic
and barnyard animals; 200 classic
cars on display at America's Most
Wanted Car Club - setting a 22-year
record; and more than 50 vendors
including arts and crafters.
This year, the festival was spon-
sored by: Atchinson Ford;
Community Financial; The
Goddard School For Early
Childhood Development; Health
Alliance Plan (HAP); Red Holman
Buick GMC; SYSCO; Twisted
Rooster Restaurant; The Village
Dentist; West Side Beer
Distributing and Xfinity by
Comcast.
Liberty Fest ended with a fire-
works display that featured nearly
9,000 shells, including a grand
finale. Next year, the Liberty Fest
will take place June 12 - 14. For
details, call (734) 394-5460 or visit
www.cantonlibertyfest.com.
The newest president of the
Canton Rotary Club won't have
any trouble organizing events for
the group.
Abe Vinitski's been helping
organize and coordinate events
like the Canton Cup Soccer
Tournament, the Liberty Fest and
even the Relay for Life since 2000
as the supervisor of Canton Parks
and Athletics. He currently over-
sees theCantonSports Center.
Vinitski was sworn into his new
position as president of the
Rotary Club on July 8. A Rotarian
since 2009, he will serve a one-
year term and will be responsible
for strengthening the group's par-
ticipation in community and
international service projects
while attracting new member-
ship. The club meets every
Monday at 12:05 p.m. at Antonio's
Cucina Italiana Restaurant, locat-
ed at 2220 N. Canton Center Road
inCanton.
"It is a great honor to serve as
president of the Canton Rotary
Club,"
said Vinitski. "During my time
in office, we will continue to
uphold our 'Service Above Self'
mantra through humanitarian
efforts supporting local charities
as well as the Rotary's global ini-
tiatives.
“I'm looking forward to the
challenge and opportunities of
the next year and to continuing
Rotary's history of dedicated serv-
ice to the community."
The Canton Rotary Club's past
projects have included helping to
establish the Canton Public
Library as well as creating the
Heritage Park's Clock Plaza. In
addition to the annual Kiddie
Rock and Candy Canes event at
The Village Theater at Cherry
Hill, Canton Rotary Club mem-
bers also make Christmas baskets
for senior citizens, donate back-
packs to the Plymouth-Canton
Clothing Bank, host international
exchange students and award
vocational scholarships to
Canton-areahigh school students.
Vinitski and his wife, Debbie,
have three daughters: Kylie 16,
Kaitlyn 13, and Madison 11. they
areLivonia residents.
New Canton Rotary President Abe Vinitski is congratulated by Past
District Governor Mary Kehoe of District 6400.