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They've come a long way from
Miss Cow Chip and the Cow Chip
Flinging Contest at the Liberty
Festival inCanton.
In the more than two decades
since the event began, it has grown
from a celebration of the farming
history of the township to an event
that celebrates the diversity and
population of one of the most for-
ward-thinking and most American
communities in the country.
If anything were to "go viral" on
YouTube, we wish it would be the
Liberty Fest which begins tonight
and continues through Saturday in
Heritage Park. We wish everyone
across America could see what the
future of their country could be if
they could embrace the basic prin-
ciples of equality, tolerance and
opportunities dreamt of by our
FoundingFathers.
The organizers now promise
something for everyone, and from
what we can see, they are certainly
poised to deliver exactly that this
weekend. As the population of the
township has changed and grown,
so has the event which now
includes an International Festival
as part of this celebration of all
things American.
We think this is a real tribute to
what an American community
should be, diverse with a respect
and curiosity about other cultures
while celebrating the unique free-
doms and opportunities of
America.
While across the country a con-
troversy rages about immigration,
we would like all those who disre-
spect or who doubt the principles
of equality espoused by our
Constitution, to take a walk
through Heritage Park and see
what a real American community
will look like within the next few
decades. There will be people who
have traveled here from countries
around the globe to make their
homes and raise their families.
People who live next door to fami-
lies that might once have been con-
sidered as exotic and foreign as
extra terrestrials. They live in the
same Canton neighborhoods, their
children go to the same schools
and participate in the same extra
curricular and sports activities and
they don't ever give a thought to
skin color, religion or ethnic her-
itage. These people areAmericans,
they are a neighborhood, a com-
munity and they live in an environ-
ment of tolerance, curiosity and
respect.
This year, along with all the free
entertainment, carnival rides,
foods, children's games and crafts,
there will be an International
Festival on the stage Saturday.
There will be opera performers, a
A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
June 14, 2012
Whendid I become invisible?
I think it was a gradual disap-
pearance starting in my 40s. But
now that I'm considered a “woman
of a certain age,” I have become
invisible to clerks, other drivers,
waiters and construction workers.
The only ones I don't mind are the
constructionworkers.
Seriously.
Here's just amild example.
During my most recent visit to
one of my all-time favorite stores,
rather than clerks jumping out of
the woodwork to ask to help me,
nobody greeted me and asked how
I was that day. Nobody could inter-
rupt whatever they were doing to
flash me a plastic smile and
inquire if they might help me find
something. They were there, but it
was as if Iweren’t.
I was almost glad about that,
really, because sometimes these
people can really be annoying, so I
figured I'd just do what I came for
and get myself home quickly with-
out having to socialize about it.
All I wanted to do was buy, well
we don't have to discuss what I
went in to buy because it might
embarrass my beloved spouse for
whom I was doing the purchasing.
Make that, attempting to do the
purchasing, because I couldn't
complete my errand without risk-
ing incarceration by becoming a
shoplifter. Not one of the many
clerks in the 13,000 square feet of
high-end Novi real estate could be
troubled to takemymoney.
As I carried my purchases from
register to register, searching for
help, I spotted what looked suspi-
ciously like an employee in the
men's shoe department. As I raced
to the counter, I noticed that hewas
solicitously helping a blond woman
with her selection. No problem,
thinksme, I canwait.
Oh, I waited all right. I waited
while he asked the gorgeous
blonde about her selection. Could
he get her anything else? Did she
find everything? Was she enjoying
the nice weather? Did she shop
there often?
Was there any
way, any way at
all, that he
might helpher?
Were the shoes for her hus-
band? “Nooooooooo,” she cooed,
“just a friend.”
“Well, he's a lucky friend,” the
googly-eyed salesperson comment-
ed as he attempted to wipe up the
testosterone-laced drool he had
slobbered on the counterwhile gaz-
ing at her rather prodigious anato-
my.
“Oh, aren't you sweet. Do these
come in any other color?” she
gushed breathily through what I
am sure were artificially enhanced
lips. Either that, or Mick Jagger has
a granddaughter he is unaware of
or perhaps Angelina Jolie has a
What youdon't knowcanhurt you.
What people in Plymouth Township don't know has
already hurt some people in the Lake Pointe subdivision, the
largest in the township.
What people don't know is that, despite the disingenuous
claims of the township officials, they do not have the level of
fire and emergency medical service so many believe still
exists. They won't understand the level of misinformation
they've believed until they need the emergency services they
thought they could count on.
The Plymouth Township Board of Trustees has gutted the
fire department and the medical emergency services staff in
the township. Township residents now depend on a group of
on-call fire fighters, Huron Valley Ambulance and the mutual
aid offeredby neighboring communities, when available.
These on-call volunteer fire fighters can live as far as 15
miles from the township, so when they are alerted to a fire, if
they are not at their regular jobs, they can drive to the fire sta-
tion, get into a fire vehicle, if there is one operating, and then
get to the scene of the fire. Unfortunately, this scenario is tak-
ing longer and longer, and if there is a real emergency, is sim-
ply too long towait while a home burns, people are trapped or
a stroke or heart attack victimneeds immediate help.
The aid offered by neighboring communities, like
Northville Township, has averted real tragedy and loss of life
so far, but if these firefighters and paramedics are on a call in
their own city, they won't be able to offer the necessary equip-
ment ormen to complywithnational standards.
The township administration tells anyone who will listen
that the response times are as timely as they ever were on
these runs. That is disingenuous at best and inmany opinions,
an out-and-out lie. What the township officials currently call
response time is when the first police car, or public safety offi-
cer, or the fire chief, arrives at the scene in a patrol car or
township vehicle. The "official reports" of response times do
not indicate the delay in the arrival of the actual fire fighters,
equipment ormedical personnel.
If they did, peoplemight understand the peril they are now
facingwith the lack of a professional, fully staffed, trained and
properly equipped fire department.
Plymouth Township no longer offers that service to resi-
dents, and those who still labor under the false impression
that such a service exists may be faced with serious disillu-
sionment and tragedy when they attempt to call on that serv-
ice.
The fire department has been reduced to a staff of four at
two fire stations to serve 28,000 residents. In addition, there is
a lieutenant and a fire chief. The fire station at Lake Pointe is
closed. The pumper truck, the only one with a ladder func-
tion, is gone, returned to the City of Plymouth as part of the
settlement of the now defunct joint service agreement
between the township and the city.
Plymouth Township fire fighters have one 20 year-old
truck which needs brakes, as they failed on the way to a fire
last month and another 1989 model that stopped working at
the scene of a fire recently, forcing firefighters to attempt to
What
‘Liberty’
is really
all about
”
What residents don’t know can (and does) hurt
The aid offered by neighboring
communities, like Northville Township,
has averted real tragedy and loss of life so far.
See
Invisible,
page 7
See
Liberty,
page 7
Not one of the many clerks in the 13,000
square feet of high-end Novi real
estate could be troubled to take my money.
See
Residents,
page 7
”
Words to the wise from an invisible woman
Letters
Event participants thanked
To the editor:
An event like Thunder Rolls in
Belleville cannot go on without the
hard work and dedication of many
individuals. We would like to take
this time to give a heartfelt thank
you to the following: Chief Gene
Taylor and the Belleville Police
Department, Sgt. Fred Yono and
the Van Buren Police Department,
Sumpter Police and Fire
Departments and Washtenaw
Police Department for providing a
safe and smooth ride for our bik-
ers. Darryl and Lorraine Dooley
and the Chapter G, Gold Wings
Touring Association for their dedi-
catedwork in registering the riders
(there were 234 motorcycles this
year), getting them lined up and
leading the way. Always a great big
thank you goes out to the Honor
Guards of Belleville VFW #4434
and Belleville PLAV #167. The
Canton Young Marines, especially
Todd Israel who led us off with the
Pledge of Allegiance. Elyse Losen,
Miss SouthCentral Michigan who
graced us with her lovely voice in
singing the National Anthem and
another tear jerking song at the
end. Pastor Robert White of Grace
Baptist Church who led us in
prayer and recognized the
"National
Moment
of
Remembrance" which was estab-
lished by Congress and asks that
Americans wherever they are at 3
See
Letters,
page 7