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PAGE 2 ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS OF MICHIGAN January 10, 2019

PLYMOUTH

Technology ‘Petting Zoo’ draws large crowd

Julie Brown ” “Books aren't going away. I do
Staff Writer Books aren't going away. personally get a little concerned
with the screen time,” said Page.
Virtual reality lived up to the I do personally get a little “You need to give them (children)
hype for 9-year-old Gavin concerned with the screen time exposure to regular books. We
Borensik last week at the need the distractions as well as
Plymouth District Library. the serious things.”
“It felt like I was flying. I felt so for the holidays. The event drew library on Main Street in down- Borensik was with his family
dizzy,” Borensik, said of his expe- a crowd of all ages although Page town Plymouth, agreed technolo- from Plymouth and said he liked
rience with cutting edge technol- noted it was geared for begin- gy should have limits for young the Technology Petting Zoo expe-
ogy on display during a library ners. children. rience.
program Dec. 29 and 30. “If you get dizzy, you just take “That's just it, to connect the “That's pretty cool. I feel like
Librarian Katie Page advised it off,” she instructed a child two things together,” he said of I'm really flying. Does it have any
Borensik to, “look at it briefly” as using the goggles. “It goes over books as well as “the connection functions besides flying?” he
he used goggles to watch the my bulky glasses.” to the outdoors.” asked.
monitor screen. Page said, “We've got a lot of “You can travel the world,” “No, this is a simple one,”
“Good job,” Page added as cool stuff” at the library. “It's just Page said of the virtual reality Page said. She gave varied
encouragement. a fun thing for people to do on experience. She's a gamer and instructions, as did the other Gavin Borensik, 9, of Plymouth
tries out virtual reality.
The “Technology Petting Zoo” the weekend.” sees value in that although she staffers, based on student ages.
took place Saturday and Sunday She and Charlie Stratton, a added that is her personal opin- Stratton said children and “is what piques their interest and
when students were out of school technology assistant at the ion. teens need variety and the key gets them going.”
Lawsuit claims 5-year-old assaulted at church

First Presbyterian Church in who put all the children in ” the suit was filed which stated:
Plymouth has been sued by the grades K-5 together in one class. The police investigation continued for 17 months “The Church was made aware of
family of a 5-year-old girl, claim- When the 5-year-old was excused a claim involving a child on Palm
ing the church was negligent in to use the lavatory, she was but was subsequently closed pending Sunday in April 2017 and imme-
protecting the child from a sexu- allowed to leave unescorted and any new evidence or information in the case. diately commissioned an investi-
al assault. was gone from the room for 20 gation. The Church has fully
The lawsuit was filed last minutes, according to the lawsuit cooperated with, and provided
week in Wayne County Circuit which also claims her absence had been wearing and unidenti- the case. information to, the Plymouth
Court claiming that the child was went unnoticed. The suit claims fied male DNA was found in her The lawsuit alleges the family Police in connection with the
sexually assaulted at the church that an unknown man assaulted underwear, according to the law- is worried about the welfare of police investigation. The Church
on Palm Sunday in 2017. The suit her sexually while she was in the suit. other children in the community has not seen any lawsuit involv-
identifies the girl only as a Jane church lavatory and exposed The only description the 5- and that the church was negli- ing this matter and was not
Doe to protect the identity of the himself to her. year-old was able to provide was gent in the care of the child. The aware of the filing.
family. The same evening, the child that the man was an adult wear- family attorney said the church “The Church is deeply sad-
The suit, filed on behalf of the told her parents what had hap- ing a cross on a chain, according did not inform anyone in the con- dened by this claim and contin-
family by attorney Monica Beck, pened earlier in the day and they to the suit. gregation that the assault had ues to pray for anyone involved.”
alleges that the child attended reported the incident to the The police investigation con- taken place for more than a Anyone with information is
Sunday school at the church on Plymouth Police Department the tinued for 17 months but was sub- month. asked to contact the Plymouth
the day of the incident under the next day. The parents supplied sequently closed pending any A statement from the church Police Department at (734) 354-
tutelage of substitute teachers police with the clothing the girl new evidence or information in was issued Jan. 3, the same day 3232 or (734) 453-8600.
Festival dren play in the ice. “but this one of my real favorites. It is a everybody, the visitors, the merchants,
“We do a lot of festivals,” Geitzen said,
the community. Don't miss it.”
He added that the festival wouldn't be
great time and a terrific excuse to get out
complete for many local visitors without
(A complete guide to the Ice Festival
FROM PAGE 1 the traditional Party Lot behind E.G. in the cold and walk the downtown attractions is included with this edition of
Nick's restaurant on Forest Street, where streets of Plymouth. This event benefits The Eagle.)
will explain the gear, help suit people up there will be cold beer, drink specials,
and give them the chance to experience a and live music. The Party Lot has become
mini-winter wonderland on the cross- “The Place” to be for nightly entertain-
country skiing trail built in Kellogg Park. ment - along with the ice bar in front of
Another highly-anticipated attraction the restaurant where visitors can enjoy
of the festival, Geitzen said, is the Ice some Stolichnaya Vodka specialties.
Playground. This interactive space is This year will feature live entertain-
filled with games carved out of ice and ment by Smokin' Mirrors on Friday,
numerous ice sculptures providing plen- Jan.12 and Power Play Detroit on Sat.,
ty of opportunities for pictures while chil- Jan. 13

Fire destroys home

An early morning fire New Years Day in
Plymouth Township had community fire fight-
ers from four departments battling the blaze for
almost four hours, according to township fire
department officials. According to firefighters at
the scene, the fire at the unoccupied single-
family residence, located at 50081 Shefield
Court, was fully involved when the first fire
company arrived and took two hours to bring
under control. Firefighters from all three
Plymouth Township fire stations were called on
to respond at the time of the initial 9-1-1, call at
2:15 a.m. Firefighters from the City of
Plymouth, Northville Township and Canton
departments provided mutual aid. The cause
of the blaze remains under investigation. The
home, according to Zillow.com, was listed for
sale for the past 62 days for $395,000. There
were no reported injuries in the incident.