115 House Concert

Today I went to a live folk music concert in Manchester...in someone's house. Mike and Kathy Austin have opened their home for house concerts, an event where artists perform inside homes instead of traditional venues. House concerts provide an intimate setting for performers and audience members.

This was the second show for the Austins, hosting Annie and Rod Capps with Jason Dennie. They played two 45-minute sets with time for crowd interaction in-between.
If you haven't attended one of the Austin's shows yet, you definitely should. The music sounded great and all the Austins asked for is a donation of roughly $10, with all the money going to the artist.
The next concert is scheduled for Sept. 24 with blues/folk artist John Latini, who has been nominated for four Detroit Music Awards this year.

The blotter's back: let us know what you think

In going through some old papers, Tanya found some papers with police blotters in them. So we've decided to resurrect the tradition and bring the blotter back to the Manchester Enterprise, starting today.

Each week on Friday, we'll collect blotter information from the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department for the Greater Manchester area that week, and publish the roundup on our website. Then, that list will appear in the newspaper the following Thursday.

We know people are always curious about the police activity in their area, and we're hoping the blotter will clear up some confusion over what's happening in your neighborhood, block, or township. While Nixle, the service the sheriff uses, displays some activity, not everything is sent out via a Nixle alert.

While we know Manchester is a pretty safe place to live, work and play, we realize things happen, and people want to know about them. We hope the blotter will help communicate that to the community. For larger news items, a news brief will be posted to our site, as well as a map showing the area of the crime, as was done with this alert in Sharon Township regarding vandalism to some property.

We're hoping to add on incidents in the some of the townships (Manchester, Freedom and Sharon) that are serviced by the Michigan State Police; we'll be working on bringing those to you in the future as well.

Let us know what you think of the blotter idea. We'll try to get the information out to you as we get it.

A video review: How is the chicken at the chicken broil?

The event came in with high expectations for me.

As I've written before, I've been waiting to try the chicken from the Chicken Broil for about seven months now. I finally got my chance Thursday at about 4:30 p.m.



It was a great-looking plate of food, and the chicken was enormous, as each plate contained half a bird. No added seasonings or sauces, just good old-fashioned broiled chicken.

The first bite was a tasty one, where it was obvious it had been slowly cooked. The chicken was moist mostly throughout, although I think one bit was a bit dryer than what I was looking for. But you get that on nearly 100-degree days.

Even with the heat, the meal was great. I'm looking forward to next year. Here's hoping the temperatures comes down about 10 degrees with it.

Photos from setting up for the Chicken Broil

According to my phone, it's going to reach as high as 101 degrees today for the 58th Annual Chicken. Broil. And it's not stopping the guys from getting the birds on the grills.

The chicken was unloaded from the chicken beginning around noon today, and all 19,000 pounds of it will make it onto the concrete brick grills. This is after all the setup earlier this week.

Today's festivities have even been noticed near Detroit. Radio station 104.3 WOMC published a write-up on the event, after Chris Fegan of the village won a contest on the radio station.

It's quite the process. Take a look at some of the photos from Thursday afternoon's setup at Alumni Memorial Field.

Recall is coming

The Sharon Township recall election is just around the corner. August 2 will be here before we know it. I'd like to say I've personally polled all the residents and can give you an accurate prediction of the outcome, but I haven't. I have, however, been to every Sharon Township board meeting for the last four months, where I've listened to residents' thoughts on the issue. Unfortunately, this is of little help to me as well.
At the board meetings, the residents who usually make reference to the recall tend to be in favor of it. While this may point to a successful recall, it's the voices of the majority of residents, who do not attend board meetings to voice their concerns, who will truly impact the outcome.
I'm anxious to see the results when they come in. I think I'll be surprised either way.

The Manchester Bur Oak tree: A reminder of home

Dave Bishop of Dave's Tree Service uses a chainsaw to cut rings from the Manchester Bur Oak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I arrived at the site of the Manchester Bur Oak tree on Austin Road in Manchester Township Sunday, I was shocked. I could've believe how big the tree was.

I hadn't seen a tree with a trunk that big since I visited the redwoods in California, and that was in 2004. Its size was incredible, and each ring cut by some township residents for preservation and historical purposes, weighed in at several hundred pounds. It was an amazing sight.

These rings were heavy, each weighing several hundred pounds.

Manchester Township resident and trustee Sybil Kolon told me before the tree was cut down, it hadn't been in a single accident, despite being inches from the road, until last year. Of course, it's important to note, the tree was more than 270 years old, dating it to before the American Revolution, and nearly 100 years before Michigan was granted statehood. But it looked like that car crash did the tree in, as burn marks on the bark were visible. Kolon said it was cut down probably sometime in May.

Hearing the story of the Manchester Bur Oak and its demise reminded me of home, which is Royal Oak, north of Detroit. The actual "Royal Oak" was in England, and used by King Charles II in the 1600s to hide from the Scots. Lewis Cass, who became governor of Michigan and made a run at the presidency only to lose, saw a similar tree at what is now the intersection of Main Street, Crooks and Rochester roads, and proclaimed it a "royal oak." Clearly, the name stuck.

But its demise was similar to that of the Manchester Bur Oak. It was hit by a car in the 1980s (I believe) and was damaged and had to be removed. Now, only a plague remains at the site.

It makes me beg the question: What memory will the Manchester Bur Oak have in area residents minds? I know the oak meant a lot to many people, otherwise they wouldn't have fought so hard in the 1980s to keep it standing when the Washtenaw County Road Commission wanted to cut it down.

What memories do you have of the Bur Oak? Leave a comment below, we would love to hear some stories of the majestic tree.

Manchester Community Fair

The Manchester Community Fair kicked off Tuesday night at Alumni Memorial Field. I've put together an interactive slideshow of some of the highlights.

More photos from the Manchester Community Fair parade Tuesday night

Parades around the Fourth of July are a special occasion.

Manchester's parade Tuesday night was no different, as several hundred people lined Main Street to watch the local fire trucks, service organizations, Cub Scouts and local leaders, drive on by.

It also made some of the local dentists happy, since the streets were lined with more candy than Gumdrop Lane in Candyland.

Weren't able to make it down to the parade? We've got some photos from the event last night here:

A call for some Chicken Broil help

I still remember the first thing I noticed about Manchester when I first came here, looking for a place to live.

It was the sign to the village limits on Austin Road, saying "Home of the Famous Chicken Broil." It was one I found slightly ironic, since I hadn't heard of this Chicken Broil before.

It didn't take me long to realize what a big deal the event was, and I've been excited to see it come alive since January.

However, since I am still a Chicken Broil newbie, I need a little help. I'm looking for some Manchester (and non-Manchester) folk to help me understand how important this event is. That being said, I have a few questions I'd like to pose:

• What makes the Chicken Broil such a special event for Manchester, and why? 
• What are some of your favorite memories of the Chicken Broil?
• What are you looking forward to the most?
• And last one (and I need a complete honest answer here): How good is the chicken served at the broil??

If you know anyone else that comes out of town for the broil, be sure to send this link along, I'd love to gain some perspective, as well as include some info for a story for next week.

Way to go Sharon Township

In my last blog I wrote about the lack of public participation during Cherie Vannatter's interview for Manchester Community Schools superintendent. Today, I'm happy to report Sharon Township residents come out in floods during Thursday's special board meeting regarding noise complaints on Peckins Lane.
Over 50 residents packed the township hall and had their voices heard regarding the noise complaint and whether or not a noise ordinance was needed to strengthen the current nuisance ordinance. There was standing room only when the meeting started. To top it off, the meeting was a hot topic with many strong emotions on both sides, however, both sides of the fence remained civil throughout the majority of the discussion. Way to go Sharon Township for making sure your voices were heard, but doing it in a way that was respectful to all involved.