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No. 27
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
July 3 – 9, 2014
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
City of Wayne officials have
taken a page from the cable
networks and will institute a
sort of pay-per-view program
next year----only taxpayers
won't have an option.
See page 4.
The Romulus Police
Department is $1,000 closer to
outfitting a new rapid
response vehicle thanks to a
donation from Johnson
Controls.
See page 5.
The Plymouth-Canton
Community School District is
nowa limited School of Choice
district despite a petition
signed by more than 900 resi-
dents.
See page 3
.
Groundbreaking cere-
monies took place last week
for the second phase of the
Northville Park Place project
at Haggerty and Seven Mile
Road.
See page 3.
Members of the Van Buren
Public Schools Board of
Education
unanimously
approved Fredrick Abel as the
new principal at Edgemont
Elementary School.
See page 5.
Vol. 129, No. 27
Vol. 67, No. 27
Vol. 67, No. 27
Vol. 14, No. 27
Vol. 129, No. 27
Vol. 67, No. 27
Vol. 67, No. 27
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The 5th Annual Westland
Farmers' Market will be open
from 3-7 p.m. every Thursday
through October and offer
shuttle service to residents.
See page 4.
The Plymouth-Canton
Community School District is
nowa limited School of Choice
district following a vote of the
boardmembers last week.
See page 3.
Vol. 14, No. 27
The Leanna Hicks Inkster
Public Library will host a used
book sale, special speakers and
a reading program this sum-
mer.
See page 4.
Two of the most popular
Independence Day parades will
take place in downtown
Northville and Plymouth tomor-
row.
Celebration of the 4th of July
will begin in Plymouth tonight
with a free patriotic concert by
the Community Band in Kellogg
Park at 7:30 followed by fireworks
at Township Park beginning at
10:15 p.m. The fireworks event is
free, but there is a $5 parking fee.
Gateswill open at 7:30 p.m.
The park is located at 46640
Ann Arbor Trail. For information,
call (734) 453-3840.
Tomorrow, the annual
Plymouth Fourth of July Good
Morning America parade will
take place down Main Street
from Theodore to Hartsough
beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at
11. The parade usually features
about 85-90 groups, floats and
entertainment including the Fred
Hill Brief CaseDrill Team.
The annual Plymouth
Township picnic will take place
in Township Park from 11 a.m.
until 4 p.m. with hot dogs, chips
and ice cream all priced at five
cents. There will also be games
and entertainment.
The annual Northville
Community
Foundation
Independence Day Parade,
which draws an estimated 20,000
spectators to the town, will step
off fromNorthvilleDowns staging
area at 10 a.m. sharp. The parade
includes floats, sports team mas-
cots, characters, bands, classic
and vintage cars, veterans, fire
trucks, bikes, dance troupes,
school groups and even live ani-
mals on some of the floats.
The theme of the Northville
event this year is Celebrating
America's Heroes, and veterans
of the armed service will be
among the heroes honored. The
Nearly 100 residents who live
near Plymouth Township Park
met last week at the Plymouth
District Library to discuss options
and plans to halt a planned
amphitheater in the 80-acre park.
Plymouth Concerned Citizens,
an ad-hoc group of residents and
businesspeople, that meets each
month to share information and
discuss critical issues, hosted the
meeting.
The only agenda item at the
meeting was a discussion of the
impact the controversial township
project will have on the lifestyle
and property values of homes
adjacent to or near the park. Many
of the attendees live in Beacon
Hill, an upscale subdivision near
Ann Arbor Trail east of Beck Road
that adjoins the park property and
golf course.
Homeowners Chris Hunter and
John Stewart addressed the stand-
ing roomonly crowd.
Stewart, an attorney, is a former
state representative and past
township trustee. Hunter, also an
attorney, presented a timeline of
the events, which led to the cur-
rent state of the project planned
for construction this summer.
Hunter and his wife, Sybil,
whose home is adjacent to the
township park, recently voiced
their concerns to Plymouth
Township officials and board
members at boardmeetings and in
written correspondence.
Sybil Hunter told the board that
such construction in the township
park would be nearly in her back
yard. She told them her research
indicated that the township was
acting inappropriately in spending
bond funds for the amphitheater
and questioned why the township
officials would authorize the
spending for construction without
the approval of voters.
KenMehl, 67, a former member
of the Westland City Council and
well-known community activist
and veterans' supporter, died
Saturday, July 26 inAnnArbor.
Mr. Mehl succumbed to a long
battlewith cancer.
Mr. Mehl served on the
Westland City Council for 12 years
and served as council president,
for six years. He also served on the
Westland Planning Commission
where he served as chairman for
three years.
He was a graduate of Lawrence
Institute of Technology where he
earned his Bachelor of Science
degree in engineering. He was
retired fromGeneralMotors Corp.
Mr. Mehl was active with the
Westland Dads Club and the
Westland
Youth
Athletic
Association. Mr. Mehl was a mem-
ber of the Westland Festival
Committee for 30 years, including
10 years as chairman of the group.
Mr. Mehl chaired the committee
that brought the Vietnam Moving
Wall to the city in 2006 and was
regarded as the main force in the
city monument to Vietnam
Veterans erected on City Hall
grounds onFordRod.
Mr. Mehl was chairman of the
Residents’ group opposes recreation plan
Former city councilman Ken Mehl mourned
See
Mehl,
page 2
See
Meeting,
page 3
When the 35th Art in the Park
comes to downtown Plymouth
next week, it will be bittersweet
for founder Dianne Quinn who
recently announced this will be
her last festival before her retire-
ment.
“I've had the time of my life. I
feel so special to have been a
part of this, but it is time,” Quinn
said. Her retirement is, she said,
anothermilestone in her life. It is
also a tribute to the success of the
art show and to her daughter,
Raychel Rork, who will succeed
her at thehelmof the event.
“It's not about finality, but blos-
soming new growth for both of
us,” Quinn said. “I'm very proud
and ready for Raychel to take the
leading role. We have been plan-
ning thismove for some time.”
Quinn began the show with a
few artist friends gathered in
Kellogg Park 35 years ago, mainly
she said, because she just
thought it would be fun and
wouldbe “like a big party.”
She and her mother had
attended an art show in Lake
Odessa and she “got the bug” to
bring an event like it to
Plymouth.
Quinn was a physical therapy
assistant and registered electrol-
ogist with offices in Plymouth,
Livonia and Westland when she
started the event. She also had
her own line of greeting cards
and posters which featured her
artistic calligraphy.
“I admit, I had no idea what I
was doing when I started,” she
saidwith a laugh. “I handprinted
the first few programs and did
everythingmyself,” she said, with
the help of her kindergarten-age
daughter and a few volunteers
who offered to come to the park
andhelp out.
Quinn's “party” continued to
grow and attract more and more
artists and now the show annual-
ly brings more than 400 juried
exhibitors, including child
artists, to the streets of Plymouth
one weekend in July every year.
The show is now rated as one of
the top art shows in the country
by Sunshine Artist Magazine and
as one of the Gems of the Great
Lakes byAAAMagazine.
The success of Art in the Park,
both Quinn and Rork agree, is
due to the constant growth of the
event over the years and to their
attention to every detail of the
show.
“This isn't done by a commit-
tee,” Rork said. “This is it. It's us.
We are responsible for every
aspect of every detail and we
take responsibility for every-
thing. That makes a big differ-
ence,” she said.
“We have a different focus, a
different idea of what this show
is,” Quinn said. “We don't do any-
thing else. You have to be proud
of yourself, of what you have
done. Every little detail is impor-
tant. Everything.”
Quinn also credits the volun-
teers, some of whom have been
with the show since the very first
gathering in the park.
“We couldn't do this without
them” she said. “There are so
many people who help us. I can't
say enough about our volunteers
or City Manager Paul Sincock or
the
Municipal
Services
Artwork
Founder of Art in the Park
will retire after this year
Dianne Quinn
Parades mark 4th celebrations tomorrow
See
Quinn,
page 2
See
Parades,
page 2
Don Howard
Staff Writer