April 23, 2021 FridayMusings is your source for what we love about Livonia
Alan Helmkamp is Kind.
Delisha Upshaw is Kind.
Brandon McCullough is Kind.
Popular Livonia events take a hit
By now most of Livonia knows that the popular Livonia birthday celebration has been cancelled for another year. Due to COVID 19 the Livonia Spree committee has decided to cancel this years party but to plan for 2022.

Just announced is another cancellation. The increasingly popular Touch-a-Truck sponsored by the Livonia Rotary AM Club will not be held this year but you should plan on 2022.

Wow, the way this is shaping up 2022 will be one heck of a barnburner year with popular programs and projects seemingly scheduled for every weekend.

So come on Livonia. Mask up. Get those vaccinations. Socially distance. Wash those hands. Stay safe.
The Arc of Northwest Wayne County received a generous grant from the Margaret Dunning Foundation to expand its technology capacity and serve more people with disabilities. 

The Arc of Northwest Wayne County (The Arc NW) is growing its technology capacity so it can serve more people with disabilities through the generosity of the Margaret Dunning Foundation. 

The Arc NW has been operational the entire time during the pandemic but not without some technology struggles. Like many companies and nonprofits, staff worked from different locations that required Zoom and other technology not used before. The team soon discovered desktops lacked cameras when trying to join client and community partner meetings. Slow and outdated laptops were difficult to use for the complicated financials that helped manage households for people with disabilities. There was no backup for the server, and surge protectors were old leaving the technology that did exist exposed to risk.

The Margaret Dunning Foundation recognized these needs and granted $16,000 for technology improvements and onsite tech support from Michigan Nonprofit Association Technology Services. 

Gretchen Sanewsky, the Executive Director of The Arc of Northwest Wayne County, shared, “This grant will allow us to remain open during the pandemic as well as expand our programs and outreach. We are so grateful to have this generous support from The Margaret Dunning Foundation at a critical time so we can continue providing lifelong support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.” 
The new strategy in the pandemic year.

Even on the road again the typewriter stops, settles in, and studies up on the fast pace the race for Livonia city council is taking. No primary this year so thinking that if the campaigns play the usual strategy of not starting until the absentee ballots go out in late September we will not hear from candidates for 5 months.

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

With social media taking the place of retail politics we are already seeing the endorsement lists rising to the top of the strategy. Dan Centers is clearly adopting the strategy of former Senator Don Riegle who once met with this then-County Commissioner seeking his endorsement and told the typewriter that the only way to win is to start early, run hard and never let up.

Dan Centers is moving rapidly to establish credibility as a front-running candidate with a list of endorsements that would please anyone running for office.

Right up there with the Centers endorsement strategy is incumbent Jim Jolly who has also released his lengthy list of supporters. Social media is playing a significant role for both Jolly and Centers.

The tragedy in the increased use of social media in a pandemic year is that retail politics takes a back seat. Here is hoping by this typewriter that there will be some workaround and that we will have more than social media and mailings to reach the voters.

I am convinced that the door to door is what won for Maureen Brosnan in the Mayor's race and clearly the two-year door-to-door effort by Representative Laurie Pohutsky helped her win her narrow re-election.

We shall see. But clearly, some think that endorsements provide credibility for a serious candidate. What a start. And with no primary, we have to wait until November to see how it all works out.

Traveling through Kentucky and staying at the Boone Tavern in Berea was a breath of fresh air. It was like the fog that was settling around me for the past 15 months was lifting just enough to see a ray of sunlight showing me a wee bit of normal.

Everyone wore masks. The Tavern had few guests so no crowds. Set and read and wrote in the quiet lobby unimpeded with thoughts of contamination.

Drove the historic Kentucky scenic highway 25 instead of a portion of freeway. A glimpse of the old south and the old way of life without the rush, the chain stores, the franchise restaurants.

Hit Georgia and the reality hit home. Got a message from former Observer reporter Kenneth Abramczyk now living in Woodstock Georgia, "they aren’t wearing (masks) in Georgia. In some businesses, yes, but I see many people without them."

Suddenly the smiles disappeared, the plans to revisit Margaret Mitchell's boarding house where she wrote Gone with the Wind, revisiting the Carter Presidential Library, the iconic Varsity, a fixture in downtown Atlanta since 1928.

I will be spending 7 days either in my car seeing sites from a distance or staying at the home of the bodyguard's sister. Reading.

Her family has all been vaccinated. So feel safe. But I must confess venturing out leaves me with the fog again returning. Enveloping my thought process. Gives me pause and makes me more determined to thank those candidates and leaders in Livonia who step up to the plate and encourage the vaccine and to ignore the anti-maskers and anti-vaccinators who are running for office.


Enough. Time to pick up a book and lose myself in the fantasy world of international espionage.
Help raise $10,000 for 1,000 braille books for blind children!

Seedlings Braille Books for Children’s Spring Online Auction opens this Tuesday, April 20, at 8 a.m. EST!

For every 100 books a sighted child has, a child who is blind has just five! That's because braille books are rare and expensive, often costing hundreds of dollars each. How can a child become literate without books?

Seedlings Braille Books for Children is auctioning off gift baskets, handmade pottery, collectibles, gourmet food items, electronic items and more from 8 a.m. April 20, 2021, to 10 p.m. April 27, 2021, to raise $10,000 for 1,000 braille books for blind and visually impaired children around the world.

View our auction and register to become a bidder:



Lets get behind the Seedlings spring on-line auction so we can get new books into the hands of those who want to read.
Endorsements start coming in for City Council election
As the campaigns begin to announce endorsements FridayMusings will bring them to you first as well as access to websites.

Carrie Budzinski

Former US Senator Carl Levin
State Representative Laurie Pohutski

Dan Centers

Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 2

Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan
Councilman Brandon McCullough
Former Councilman Joe Laura
School Trustee Mark Johnson
School Trustee Colleen Burton
School Trustee Karen Bradford
School Trustee Liz Jarvis
School Trustee Tammy Bonifield
Former School Trustee Dianne Laura
Schoolcraft College Trustee Joan Gebhardt
Schoolcraft College Trustee Terry Gilligan
Schoolcraft College Trustee Brett Gierak
County Commissioner David Knezek
State Senator Dayna Polehanki
Human Relations Commissioner Wafa Dinaro
Zoning Commissioner Tim Klisz
Zoning Commissioner Lisa Fraske
Human Relations Commissioner
Rachel Zuckerman
Civil Service Commissioner Jim Wenson
Library Commissioner Madison Bjertness
Library Commissioner Kacie McCullough

Penny Crider
no current political website available

Robert Donovic
no current political website available

Jim Jolly
no current political website available

Livonia Professional Firefighters Local 1164
Mich. Bldg & Construction Trades Council
Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 2

Mayor Maureen Brosnan
Councilwoman Laura Toy
Councilman Brandon McCollough
Former City Councilman Brandon Kritzman
Former City Councilman James McCann
County Commissioner Terry Marecki
County Commissioner David Knezek
School Board Trustee Karen Bradford
Planning Commissioner Sam Caramagno
Zoning Commissioner Tim Klisz
Zoning Commissioner Michael Testa
Zoning Commissioner Jim Baringhaus
Library Commissioner Kacie McCullough

Scott Morgan
no current political website available

Ken Overwater
no current political website available

Laura Toy
no current political website available
April 24-25
April 25
The Livonia Jaycees will be gathering on Sunday, April 25 at Beverly Park for a clean up.

Sign up to help the Jaycees right here.
April 27
Sustainability Town Hall

Livonia is experiencing the effects of climate Join the Greenleaf Commission for a community dialogue on climate change in Livonia. Share your ideas on how to address climate change in Livonia.

Online: livonia.gov
Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 7 PM EDT – 8:30 PM EDT
Price: Free · Duration: 1 hr 30 min
May 1

Join the many volunteers and the Livonia Parks and Recreation Department throughout the city from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, May 1, for one day dedicated solely to take care and preserve the beautiful parks right here in our own community. Taking pride in LIVONIA is contagious and the benefits are endless!

Immediately following the time in the parks, we’ll end the day with a picnic at the Ford Field baseball diamonds (33841 Lyndon) to thank everyone for their time and commitment.

To be a part of this spectacular event, please contact Billy by email at [email protected].
Parks and Recreation seeking comments on ADA

Livonia Parks and Recreation and WT Group Accessibility Practice are hosting two Zoom meetings Thursday, May 6, to hear feedback about parks and facilities accessibility as part of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan.

Join them at either 2 p.m. or 7 p.m. to review key ADA requirements for parks and facilities, discuss the importance of community feedback in establishing retrofit priorities, share observations of access barriers viewed at park sites, discuss the access preferences and priorities of the members of the public in attendance, and discuss next steps for the City.

Each meeting has a 100-person limit, so register at https://us02web.zoom.us/.../tZAuce2rqDIsGdbByzyoy0V... for the 2 p.m. session or

How you can reserve your
"Congrats" Class of 2021 Banner
When the "Congrats Grad" Class of 2021 banners come down at the end of June, they will be put on light poles at Five and Farmington, Dan MacIver who sponsored the banners will be making them available for you to give to graduates, son, daughter, neighbor, or just a favorite graduate.

The first two banners have already been spoken for, Jim Jolly will take a Stevenson banner and Brandon McCullough a Franklin banner. They met up with MacIver to make the first payment of $50 per banner with the proceeds going to the All Night Senior Party at each of our 4 high schools.

When the banners sell out each High School All Night Party will receive $400, a total of $1,600 and 32 students will get a banner to remember their senior graduation and that the community they call home appreciated and congratulated them.

To reserve your banner simply send a check made out to the school of your choice Senior All Night Party and mail it in care of Bill Joyner, 19514 Bainbridge, 48152. Checks will be bundled and turned over to the committee at each school.
Keeping up with our candidates
Carrie Budzinski on Sustainability: "Happy Earth Day! Sustainability is very important to me and Livonia offers some great resources to residents who want to live a little greener.

"Curbside recycling, Simple Recycling, Drop-Off Recycling Center, community gardens, and farmers market.

"Be sure to tune in to the Greenleaf Commission's Sustainability Town Hall next Tuesday, April 27th at 7 pm. It's a virtual event and I'll be tuned in."
Ken Crider on the campaign status of Penny Crider: "Proud of my wife Penny. She had the courage to put her name in the race for Livonia City Council, bu even more courage to realize now was not the right time and withdrew from the race by the withdraw deadline."

FridayMusings will check back at the deadline on Friday to see if in fact Penny Crider has withdrawn.
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