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September 14, 2023 ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS OF MICHIGAN PAGE 5

PLYMOUTH
PLYMOUTH

Penn Theatre awarded Dunning Foundation grant

”
Friends of the Penn has project. We host a mental health was a major supporter of many
received a grant of $19,000 from lecture series for the Plymouth- We are grateful to the Dunning Foundation Plymouth nonprofits, including
the Margaret Dunning Canton Community School the Plymouth District Library
Foundation to support the District that benefits our for their assistance in helping us and the Plymouth Historical
upgrade of house lighting at the youngest citizens. continue with our charitable mission. Society. In addition to her per-
Penn Theatre. “We also collaborate with the sonal philanthropy, Ms. Dunning
Built in 1941, the Penn was Plymouth District Library to was a classic car enthusiast and
built exclusively as a movie the- schedule author lectures and “This improvement will pro- historic Penn Theatre,” Elliott was a regular participant in the
ater. The current house lighting other events for people of all vide a more desirable environ- said in a prepared statement. Woodward Dream Cruise with
offers adequate illumination ages. We work with other non- ment, allowing our guest speak- The Margaret Dunning her 1930 Packard 740 Roadster.
when films are featured, but profit organizations, including ers to see their audiences and Foundation was founded by Ms. Ms. Dunning died in 2015 at the
presents a challenge for events the Plymouth Historical permit the audience members to Dunning in 1997. She was born in age of 104. Her estate provided
that are not film-based, Museum, Plymouth Pollinators, actively participate in a well-lit 1910 in Redford Township, and additional funding for the
explained Ellen Elliott, execu- Keep Plymouth Leafy, and space. We are grateful to the moved with her mother to Margaret Dunning Foundation,
tive director of Friends of the Plymouth Community Arts Dunning Foundation for their Plymouth in the 1920s. During which continues to support her
Penn. Council, to schedule program- assistance in helping us continue her lifetime, Ms. Dunning was a charitable interests and legacy.
“The whole community has ming that educates and inspires with our charitable mission of successful businesswoman, phil- For more information: www.mar-
the potential to benefit from this our residents. preserving and maintaining the anthropist, and civic booster. She garetdunningfdn.org.
Museum exhibit offers look into history of community

Almost every small town in America
can claim some skeletons in the closet
and Plymouth is no exception, historians
agree.
This Plymouth story begins with the
Old Village Inn, at left, that stood at the
junction of Mill Street and the railroad
tracks. A hotel or boarding house stood
on this location as early as 1875, accord-
ing to researchers.
Names changed through the years,
including San Francisco House,
Commercial House, Hotel Victor, Hotel
Anderine, Hotel Nelson, and finally the
Old Village Inn.
Because of its location just east of the
train depot, the establishment was fre-
quented by rail workers and later by
transients and renters.
While murder was not entirely
unknown at the Old Village Inn, the bru-
tal murder of Stacey Hurrelbrink on Aug.
23, 1981, was the beginning of the end for
the hostelry. Hurrelbrink's body was
found under brush next to the tracks The Old Village Inn stood at the junction of Mill Street and the railroad tracks where a brutal murder took place in 1981.
near the Inn. She had been beaten exten-
sively with a hammer, which was found ond-degree murder in January 1984 and Eugene Leblanc, lost the property when This is only one of the historic revela-
by a police dive team in Wilcox Lake he was sentenced to 13 to 35 years in it reverted to the Plymouth Community tions in the current exhibit, "Hidden
about two weeks into the investigation prison. Federal Credit Union in 1983. Plymouth," at the Plymouth Historical
into her death. The Old Village Inn was repeatedly In 1985 the building was razed and Museum at 155 S. Main St. Museum
A resident of the Old Village Inn, cited with building violations and experi- there is now a warehousing building at hours are 1 - 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday,
Ronald Hartwig, was found guilty of sec- enced numerous fires. The owner, the site, historians noted. Saturday and Sunday.