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Livonia Art Commission brings art to all ages with successful

Kids Art from the Heart

This past weekend, the Arts Commission held one of its most successful annual events: Children's Art from the Heart, which was a delightful experience.

The Arts Commission extends its thanks to all the families that participated, "A huge shout-out is given to our volunteers who made the event a tremendous success, including the SHS Dance Club, Livonia Public Library crafts, and Motor City Theatre of Livonia-Redford.

"We also thank Valentino's Pizza for providing delicious pizza for the attendees. Performances by KJ Arts and The Music Lady Beverly Meyer kept the families thoroughly entertained. Lastly, we thank Livonia Parks and Recreation for setting up and dismantling all the tents and the stage."

It was indeed an exceptional community event, and everyone in Livonia, whether with kids in the family or not, eagerly anticipates making it even better next year! Thank you, Livonia Arts Commission. Job well done.

Not only do service clubs provide the satisfaction of community service while engaging in helping community organizations, but they also provide the opportunity to make friends and enjoy social outings. The Rotary Noon Club is no exception to either service or fellowship.

Last week the oldest service club in Livonia enjoyed an evening at the Whole Hearted Winery in New Hudson. If the smiles are any indication it was a fun field trip headed up by President Laurie Pohutsky.

With thousands of wines and hundreds of wineries in the market, you can waste a lot of time and money only to end up with bad wine. Whole Hearted Winery Provides great market-tested wines at great prices. They provide guided tastings to help you find wines you love. All while supporting your community with 1 dollar from every bottle purchased.

   Since 2012 we went on a quest to mystify wine. They made 1,000's of bottles of wine from every grape varietal from dozens of grape suppliers. Performed tastings and market research with hundreds of people. Comparing the wines side by side at different ages.

   In 2010 Dan and Brenda started Giving 360.  They have connected with several large retailers and pick up any clearance and returned items and give it away for FREE to people in need or to people that just need a little help with a tight budget. All we ask is that they pay it forward in the world. With the consistent help of countless volunteers over the years, thousands of people have been helped with millions of dollars worth of items given away for free. Continuing this mission to this day, $1 from every bottle sold supports this cause. 

Sounds like the Rotary Club was satisfying their pallet while supporting a good cause. What a combination.

Vote. Run. Serve, a service initiated by Carrie Budzinski,

provides a service for those looking for government

operational transparency

This synopsis of the August 12th City Council meeting is provided by Vote. Run. Serve. Musings encourages readers to check out this news worthy Livonia update site. This sample of the 8/12 Vote.Run.Serve. shares the quality and in-depth information provided:

On Monday, August 12th, City Council held the first of a series of meetings related to the 24/25 City Budget. This meeting is an opportunity for members of Council to share their priorities for the city. Committee meetings are not streamed or recorded.

Find the PowerPoint presentation here: https://livoniami.portal.civicclerk.com/.../attachment/14383

The administration will present the proposed budget to the Council by September 15th and there will be a Public Hearing on October 2nd.

City revenue is up by approximately $2.4M. Property taxes increased 6% and state shared revenue was down.

The Budget focus for the year ahead will be the Senior Center project, library updates, new City Hall and preparation for new police department and fire station improvements.

Administration goals include prioritizing infrastructure and doing an internal realignment of the Department of Public Works to better meet its responsibilities and requirements. Establish a position to lead project management for large-scale projects and long-term strategic operations and add a role to the Finance Department to improve budget forecasting and public reporting. Transition to a Priority Based Budgeting system for the 25/26 budget year.

Finance Director, Debra Lichtenberg, shared that the city intends to move towards a Priority Based Budgeting system. This strategy attaches costs to specific programs/services allowing for community-valued items to be better prioritized/protected. A hypothetical example is that if cuts were needed, instead of a unilateral budget cut across a department. Certain programs would be prioritized to maintain their budget while other areas would be identified for restructuring. This is a long-term strategy that allows for more flexibility in addressing city needs.

Learn more about Priority Based Budgeting here- https://livoniami.portal.civicclerk.com/.../attachment/14382

McFarland endorsed for School Board by Councilman McCullough

Very proud to have earned the endorsement of Brandon McCullough Livonia City Council President in the upcoming election for Livonia Public Schools Board of Education!

 He is a tireless city servant with whom I align on our shared desire to see Livonia be the community of choice for families now, and in the future! Thank you for your support!

Alex King appointed to Human Relations Commission

Thursday morning Alex King officially got sworn in by Livonia City Clerk Lori Miller as a member of the Livonia Human Relations Commission! King says he is "So ready to fulfill the duties of this position."

Bruce Tenniswood shows that trash to treasure can be done.

And done well.

Stumbled across a posting from Bruce Tenniswood, one time candidate for Livonia Mayor, that had be stop and wonder why some have this creative skillset and here I am on the computer all day.

Well done Bruce"

"My trash to treasure build is finally done. I dragged this old beauty home, salvaged parts I needed, sold or gave away some good stuff, scrapped everything else of value, and the rest went to the landfill except for the frame.

"Then we went to work and turned it into a really useful mobile storage shed! Hopefully it’s good for many more years of service!

"Thank you to everyone that helped me with the transformation!"

Basilica of St. Mary

Annual Festival through Sunday

Koleszar Makes Public Safety a Priority

Notes from Musings Readers

Emily Ann Griffin Foundation

Thank you for getting the word out about our foundation and posting the information on our upcoming fundraiser! Imagine my surprise when I opened your newsletter today! Thanks for all the great work.

Inger and Matt Griffin

eagf.org

Touch-a-Truck Founder

Hope you are doing great! I want to thank you for the very kind words in your newsletter yesterday. Very grateful for all of your support publicizing Touch a Truck.

As an update, I accepted a new job in Los Angeles a few weeks ago and unfortunately can’t make it to the event this year. I will make sure my calendar lines up for the next one.

Going to miss seeing everyone and being part of the magic. Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Grant Sobczak

Midsummer Night's Dream

My name is Tabitha Porter and recently I was mentioned in an article about the production of Midsummer Night’s Dream. I am not an engineering major (which was incorrectly stated). I am a Creative Writing major and a Musical Theatre major. It would be nice if this information could be corrected so that in the future this isn’t used for anything else.

Tabitha Porter 

Community support continues to come in for the Bentley Marker Dedication

The Bentley High School Marker Dedication continues to influence the community positively as we welcome another supporter to the Marker Dedication Program. Jim McConnell, President of the Livonia Historical Society will continue in each issue of Musings to share the community feelings about Bentley High School.

Today, he extends his gratitude to RockOut Entertainment-Wayne Kinney, for his support of the Livonia Historical Society Marker Dedication Program, scheduled for September 15th at 2:00 PM, with the celebrations starting at 1:00 PM, the program beginning at 2:00 PM, at the former site of Bentley High School, presently the Kirksey Recreation Center.

Other supporters of the marker dedication include Martha Ptashnik, John Larkin, Bill Brown Ford, Ben Tiseo, Jim Jolly, Laura Toy, Terry Marecki, Stephanie Young, AlphaUSA, Drew Buatti, Don Cortez-GPI Printing, Dan MacIver-F&PA, Mary Cavanagh, Alan Helmkamp, Robin Persiconi, Class of 73, 73, 76, 77, Brandon McCullough.

Livonia comes together October 2nd to Celebrate 40 Years of providing braille books world wide and to thank Debra Bonde for her vision in starting Seedlings

Seedlings Braille Books for Children is hosting its first in-person event since before 2020!

This is a special one to honor their 40th anniversary, as well as their founder and Director, Debra Bonde.

The event will feature dinner, refreshments, and some light remarks.

Tickets are only $20 per person.

Mark your calendars! OCT. 2nd, 5:30-8:30 PM at the VistaTech Center.

Follow Seedlings event page on Facebook for more details!

https://www.facebook.com/share/Ru9kX4FsdzeBptts/

To purchase your ticket, visit:

https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/auctionhome.action..

.

Or you can call their office at 734-427-8552 to purchase tickets directly.

Mail Address

19514 Bainbridge 48152

E-mail address

rwilliamjoyner@gmail.com

Cell address

734-674-5871

Archive--Bill Joyner's FridayMusings

The typewriter is not available for phone calls or emails Saturday and Sunday. Mental health and rehabilitation time. Out and about enjoying life.

What motivates FridayMusings:

We can't only define Livonia as taking small steps toward maintaining the way things were. That will give us mediocre outcomes. Our goal needs to be innovative and transformative.