Basic HTML Version
The Soul Men, a Blues Brothers tribute
band, and a slate of other popular local
bands will put the “blues” into this year's
All-American Blues, Brews, and Barbecue
event inWestland thisweekend.
This year, the event will take place at
the new Farmers Market Pavilion, located
at 1901 S. Carlson.
The Friday entertainment schedule
includes TheRandy BrockGroup at 6 p.m.
The band was formed in 1996 as a power
trio with Randy Brock on guitar, Mike
Rowe on Bass and Brian Deming on the
drums. The line-up now features Felice
Bernardara on drums and Karl Goebel on
keys.
At 8 p.m. The Soul Men will perform a
tribute to Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues.
The Soul Men's persona is an uncanny
resemblance to The Blues Brothers.
Dressed in black fromhead to toe, display-
ing finger tattoos, The Soul Men's perform
all the favoriteBluesBrothers songs.
At noon Saturday, The Big Bill Harwell
Band, fronted by singer/guitar player
William“BigBill”Harwell, will perform,
At 2 p.m. The Chris Canas Band will
take to the stage. Canas wants to take the
blues to the younger generation and keep
it alive for veteran fans.
The Alligators will entertain beginning
at 4 p.m. The band has been playing the
blues, in their own unmistakable way, for
28 years. This “attitude” they bring to the
stage each night has everything to do with
their respect for the blues and their love of
playing it together as a band.
The Boa Constrictors, an International
touring act, hand-assembled band from
Detroit's very best musicians, will play at 6
p.m. All of the members came from the
cores of many of the very best Blues bands
that Detroit has to offer.
At 8 p.m. Big Ray and The Motor City
Kings, a Detroit Area musical group per-
forming soul, rock, blues and Motown
favorites, will entertain crowds.
Friday night is also Bike Night at the
All-American Blues, Brews, and Barbecue
event. Bikes will get front row parking
privileges on Friday and non-bikers are
welcome to view all the bikes in the desig-
nated bike lot, according to a prepared
release fromthe city.
Reflections Custom Cycles of Ypsilanti
also plans to debut some of their best work
yet for the opening night of Blues, Brews,
andBarbecue.
Participating restaurants this year
include Ashley's Beer and Grill; Hickory
BBQ, Beaver Creek, Kona Ice, Max &
Erma's, Famous Dave's, Longhorn
Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse and Biggby
Coffee.
A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
September 11, 2014
P
LYMOUTH
- W
ESTLAND
City receives upgrade in fire safety rating
Blues, Brews and Barbecue begins tomorrow
TheFriday night storms took a
heavy toll on the activities at the
Plymouth Fall Festival sending
visitors scurrying for shelter to
avoid heavy rain, high winds and
lightning.
Festival President Eric Joy
said it was necessary to close the
rides and all the attractions at
the event and clear Kellogg Park
when high winds and rain began
about 8 p.m. Shortly after, a 30-
foot tree at the edge of the park
was felled by the winds, narrowly
missing a children's ride and a
nearby booth.
Joy said the city DPS arrived
on the scene almost immediately
after the rain stopped and had
the large tree trunk, almost 3 ½
feet across in places, sawed into
manageable lengths and carted
off.
“We weren't going to take any
chance on anybody getting hurt,”
Joy said. “We closed all the rides,
themidway and all the booths.”
The Taste Fest, a highlight of
the community celebration, was
scheduled to end at 8 p.m. but
Rob Costanza, owner of Station
885 in Old Village, which hosted
the event as a benefit for the
Civitans, said he had restaurants
pack up a little early because of
the weather. Costanza had also
planned to have the Wile E.
Coyote band continue to play in
the outdoor garden setting until
10, but sent everyone home as a
safety precaution.
The Party Tent, behind E.G.
Nick's restaurant was also rained
out on Friday night due to the
weather, noted owner Frank
Agostini, who is also the vice
president of the festival commit-
tee.
“We had a great night on
Saturday,” Agostini said. “It cer-
tainly didn't make up for Friday,
but wehad a nice crowd.”
James Geitzen, the owner of
JAG Entertainment, who booked
the bands and professional
entertainment for Kellogg Park,
agreed. “It was a good crowd
Saturday night,” he said, “not
enough to make up for Friday,
but Saturday was a good day and
Sundaywas very steady all day.”
The A.M. Rotary Club served
a recordnumber of spaghetti din-
ners on Saturday and the Noon
Rotary Club sold more than
10,500 chicken dinners Sunday,
according to initial reports.
Funding for the festival, pro-
vided primarily by both sponsor-
ships and a revenue split with
the amusement rides is depend-
ent on crowd participation.
Without large crowds, paying the
expenses for the festival can be
difficult, Joy explained in an ear-
lier interview. Geitzen, who
directed the sponsorship efforts
this year, noted that those dona-
tions had increaseddramatically.
“I think we'll make it and be
very close to breaking even,”
Geitzen said Sunday afternoon,
“but we have to wait until all the
numbers are in.”
The City of Plymouth recently
received an improved rating from
the Insurance Service Office, Inc.
(ISO) following an evaluation of
the city fire services.
Mayor Dan Dwyer said that the
city rating had been upgraded
froma 5 to a 4.
“The improved ISO Public
Protection Classification Code as
a result of our partnership for fire
services may help residents and
businesses as most insurance
companies use the ISO classifica-
tion as one factor in their rate
determination formulas for per-
sonal and business insurance,”
Dwyer said.
The ISO, a subsidiary of Verisk
Analytics, is a provider of data,
underwriting, risk management
and legal/regulatory services (with
special focus on community fire-
protection efforts and Building
Code Effectiveness Evaluation) to
property-casualty insurers and
other clients.
According to City Manager
Paul Sincock, this is the first time
that the City of Plymouth has been
independently evaluated by the
ISO since the city formed a part-
nershipwith the City of Northville
in January 2012 to provide fire
services.
According to the ISO, the com-
pany has rated just over 49,000
fire departments nationally and
the new rating for the City of
Plymouthwould place the city fire
services in the top 17 percent
nationally.
Sincock indicated that the ISO
did a comprehensive review of
not only the fire department, but
also the City Department of
Municipal Services Water
Division and the Emergency
Communications Center that the
city shares with Plymouth
Township.
“This improved rating is a
result of the team efforts and pro-
fessionalism in all of our opera-
tions of the fire department,
municipal services, Huron Valley
Ambulance and township dis-
patch center,” he said.
This improved rating would
not have been possible without
the dedication of everyone
involved.”
He added that the administra-
tive team in the city will be
reviewing the ISOReport indetail
in the coming weeks as well as the
2013 ICMA (Inter City/County
Management Association) report
to continue to develop a long-term
strategic plan for city fire services.
Weather closes Fall Festival early Friday
Photo by Michelle Demers
The Soul Men