The public is invited to attend a free photography lecture-workshop series to be presented by award winning Dearborn photographer Teresa Lousias. The series is part of the Oakwood Arts for the Spirit program and will be held in the Rotunda Room of Oakwood Common, located at 16351 Rotunda in Dearborn.

The four-part lectures and workshop series will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays and include:

Photography Travel Lecture, August 31

“The Art of Seeing” Workshop, September 7

“The Zen of Photography” Workshop, September 14

Framing and Exhibiting Your Photos Lecture, September 21

 Photography workshop participants will have an opportunity to showcase their photos at an Exhibition Day event to be held in the Rotunda Room at Oakwood Common on Sunday, October 23, 2011.

“This will be a fun and informative experience that will help to enhance your photography knowledge,” said Delfina Mauricio, Activity Director for Oakwood Common.

For more details and to make a reservation, please call 313-253-9597 or send an email to donna.brandt@oakwood.org.

About Oakwood Common

Oakwood Common offers one and two bedroom apartments located within a beautiful 29-acre retirement community that includes exquisite landscaping, nature trails and scenic views along the historic Rouge River Gateway in Dearborn. Oakwood Common apartments, available with flexible payment options, offer exceptional amenities for independent living and can be readily customized. Assisted living and a comprehensive rehabilitation and skilled nursing center are also available for those with additional needs. For more information and to arrange tours, call 800-642-4663 or visit www.oakwoodcommon.org

The building that once housed Kroger in East Dearborn will soon have a new tenant that will offer retail and some groceries, Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., says.

Not all of the 56,000 sq. ft. building will be used, at least not initially. At a Council meeting this week, O’Reilly said about 40,000 sq. ft. will be used as retail/grocery and the remaining space would be set aside for future use.

City officials aren’t yet naming the tenant moving into the new building but we have heard the new occupant is connected to the Cash & Carry chain store at 6661 Chase Road. It appears the former Kroger building is a better location for the Cash & Carry than the Chase Road building.

The new store could open for business in about one month, O’Reilly says.

Iversen's is opening a second location in West Dearborn, just off of Michigan and Military.

Some good news for those with a sweet tooth. Iversen’s , one of Dearborn’s best-known bakeries for cakes and cookies, is opening a second location in West Dearborn on Michigan Avenue called Iversen’s Express.

In the strip mall owned by Norm Newman (yes, you read that right), Iversen’s – a family owned Dearborn business for 50 years – plans to open in September. We haven’t had a chance yet to talk to the owners of Iversen’s but we did hear the Outer Drive location (22041 Outer Drive) will still do most of, if not all, of the heavy baking on a daily basis.

With the Biggby Coffee shop just two doors down, we can’t think of a better combination . . .

Military Avenue in Dearborn will be closed beginning on Aug. 8 and lasting through Aug. 22 from just south of Alexandrine to 100 feet south of the Rouge River Bridge.

The road closure is to allow for sewer and water main construction.

The city originally planned to start the construction just before Dearborn Homecoming (Aug. 6 and Aug. 7)  but made the good decision to postpone the work until after that busy homecoming weekend.

Detour signs will be posted.

Family Dollar will soon open a store in West Dearborn.

Dearborn’s ACO Hardware and LaPita restaurant will soon have a new retail neighbor on Newman Street.

While we can debate whether it’s the right kind of retail for West Dearborn, the addition of a Family Dollar store to fill a long-vacant building (not owned by Norm Newman who has his share of vacant buildings in our town), might help ACO and other businesses in this particular strip mall.

The owners of Family Dollar have been talking about moving into the former fabric store for about two years, according to one city official. We mentioned two months ago it was coming here.

Now, it appears the owners are a bit more serious having installed a Family Dollar sign on the building. Along Michigan Avenue, a new fixture has been installed to hold another sign for Family Dollar.

Inside the vacant building  there isn’t much going on just yet.  But it probably won’t be long. Installing shelving to stock rows and rows of made in China products shouldn’t take long . . .