The Crystallettes Senior Synchronized Skating Team, representing the Dearborn Figure Skating Club, is looking for sponsors for their Team USA team.

The group is sending skaters and coaches to Goteborg, Sweden to represent the U.S. in this ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships, April 12-14, 2012. Travel to this event is very expensive for the athletes and their families so the group is selling t-shirt advertising spots to help with expenses.

•  For $50 your business will receive two lines on the t-shirt. These t-shirts will be worn by the skaters at these events and in your community and the surrounding communities once the events are over.
• For $100 your business will receive two lines on the t-shirt as stated above as well as ¼ page advertising in the team’s 2012 Ice Show Program. This is a full color program.
• For $250 your business will receive three lines on the t-shirt as stated above as well as 1/2 page advertising in the team’s 2012 Ice Show Program.
• For $500 your business will receive four lines on the t-shirt as stated above as well as full page advertising in the team’s 2012 Ice Show Program.

Those interested please contact:  Holly Teets, 14900 Ford Rd. Dearborn, MI 48126. Checks payable to “DFSC”. Please also include the exact verbiage or artwork you would like on your ad. Dearborn Figure Skating Club is a IRC 501 © 3 not for profit organization.

The Dearborn City Clerk’s Office is accepting applications for election inspectors (poll workers) for the Tuesday, Aug. 7 State Primary and State general election to be held on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Applicants should be at least 18 years of age and a registered voter in the County of Wayne. Interested parties may fill out an application at the City Clerk’s Office in the Dearborn City Hall, 13615 Michigan Ave., by Friday, June 1.

This position pays $120 for the day and an additional $10 for attending an hour-long election inspector training class.

The hours of work will be 6:15 a.m. until approximately 9 p.m. on election day. (Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. that day).

The duties of an election inspector include helping with the set up of voting booths and equipment, processing voters, offering instructions, completing the poll book and helping with the closing of the polling location.

For more information, call 313-943-2030.

Best Buy is beginning to acknowledge that its big-box business model, which dominated electronics retailing for much of the past two decades, is no longer working.

The electronics chain said it would close 50 big-box stores this year, test new store formats in San Antonio and Minneapolis, and lay off 400 corporate and support workers as part of a plan to trim $800 million in costs and restructure its ailing business.

It isn’t clear what that means for the Best Buy store on Ford Road and Mercury Drive in Dearborn but the hope here is that it will survive this round of store closures.

The company outlined the following moves:

• It will cut $800 million in costs by fiscal 2015.

• Close 50 big-box stores this fiscal year.

• Open 100 Best Buy Mobile and small stores this year.

• Boost online revenue by 15 percent.

• And Best Buy will change its employee compensation model to revolve around customer service and business goals.

It doesn’t have a title yet, but there’s a sequel in the works to the Museum Guild of Dearborn’s paperback “best seller,” Best Dearborn Stories: Voices From Henry Ford’s Hometown.

The Dearborn Historical Museum announced preliminary plans for the sequel this week.

The 382-page Best Dearborn Stories anthology sold more than 500 copies in the first month after its release in early December, a number believed to rank in the upper 20 percent among new U.S. books. We ran excerpts of the first book here on DeepsaidWhat? You can read the last entry HERE.

“I have to say the book’s reception was a pleasant surprise,” said Kirt D. Gross, the museum’s chief curator. “By our standards, it was certainly a best seller. We hope that plans continue to come together for the sequel.”

Overall, the book has sold more than 800 of its initial run of 1,300 copies, earning gross receipts of more than $16,000. All proceeds beyond the Museum Guild’s initial publication cost go to support the Historical Museum.

L. Glenn O’Kray, vice chair of the Dearborn Historical Commission and coordinator of the publishing project, said editors expect to come up with a title for the sequel within the month.

“It could simply be Best Dearborn Stories, Part II,” O’Kray said. “But there’s been some support for choices like Return of Best Dearborn Stories and Son of Best Dearborn Stories. And we haven’t ruled out popular favorites like Revenge of Best Dearborn Stories.”

He said editors have begun soliciting stories and hoped that publication details could be ironed out within several months.

As with the first book, residents and former residents are being asked to write up to 700 words describing a favorite Dearborn experience or person to help create a sense of place about Henry Ford’s hometown. The 152 authors who contributed stories for the first book covered categories such as Henry Ford, Mayor Orville L. Hubbard, Camp Dearborn, growing up, family, schools, neighborhoods, recreation, cops, diversity and activism.

The first book was published on a tight deadline that covered only 65 days from O’Kray’s original concept to delivery of the printed books.

Those interested in writing for the second book are asked to e-mail their stories by June 1 to lglennokray@cavtel.net. O’Kray said he is willing to assist those who have a story to tell but have a rough time putting it on paper. For an appointment with O’Kray, call 313-724-8203.

Authors may submit photos for their stories to O’Kray at 752 Wagner Ct., Dearborn 48124. Photos will not be returned.

The price of the new book is expected to be $19.95, the same as the first book, O’Kray said.

Based on sales to date, O’Kray said he hoped to sell the remaining 500 copies of the first book “by the end of summer.” It will be sold during Dearborn’s Homecoming weekend, Aug. 3-5, and is currently available for sale at the museum’s McFadden-Ross House, 915 S. Brady, as well as the Henry Ford Centennial Library, the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce, the Dearborn City Hall and Hair Designs North, 841 S. Military.

O’Kray and his wife, Jane, also staked out Westborn Market one weekend to sell books.

“We were pleased not only with the number of books sold,” he said, “but also by the number of positive comments we got from shoppers who had already read it. I frequently run into people who say they had tears come to their eyes on reading some of the stories.”

The book project is one of several initiatives under way to help keep the Historical Museum’s doors open despite funding cutbacks imposed by the City Council for the current fiscal year and beyond. The Museum Guild, a nonprofit group of more than 20 clubs that support the museum, is planning a major fund drive to augment a museum membership campaign begun last year.

For information on Best Dearborn Stories, call the Historical Museum at 313-565-3000.

Public Service Days starts again the week of April 2, 2012 and last through Nov. 30, 2012.

The city of Dearborn wants to avoid having to issue tickets during Public Service Days and has again issued a notice to remind residents that all vehicles must be off the streets on trash days.

Public Service Days starts again the week of April 2, 2012 and last through Nov. 30, 2012.

During this time period, Dearborn provides critical services, such as street sweeping, tree-trimming, and sewer maintenance in your neighborhood on your trash day.

To ensure these services are provided in a safe, effective manner, residents are warned to not park on residential streets from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on your trash day, which is also your Public Service Day.

Tickets will be issued to vehicles parked on the street during a trash day/Public Service Day.

If you are parking in a neighborhood that is not your own in Dearborn, check street signs to determine if it is that neighborhood’s Public Service Day.

As we have mentioned before here, residents can no longer park vehicles across the sidewalk on Public Service Days. You will be ticketed if you park across the sidewalk. In addition, you must not park on lawns or any other unpaved areas or you will be ticketed, too.

You must also keep your trash and recycle carts and yard waste containers off the street on your Public Service Days/trash days.

Additional information is available at www.cityofdearborn.org. For parking issues related to Public Service Days, call 943-2276.

Got a buck?

The Friends of the Library Dearborn (FOLD) has a deal for you.

FOLD is offering videocassettes for five for $1 and audiocassettes four for $1 at its monthly book and media sale Wednesday, April 4 at the Henry Ford Centennial Library, 16301 Michigan Ave.

The sale is 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Also for sale will be books, compact discs, DVDs, and magazines.

Check out the great selection and keep in mind that proceeds from the FOLD sales are used to support popular library programs. So every dollar you spend helps your local library.

The League of Women Voters of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights will host a public forum on Monday, March 26 to discuss the results of Michigan’s 2011 redistricting and how to improve the process moving forward.

The program will feature presentations on the 2011 redistricting process and approaches used by other states, followed by a facilitated discussion about ideas for reform. The featured speaker is State Sen. Morris Hood III, who represents Dearborn and neighboring communities.

This event is the latest in a series of discussions hosted by local Leagues around the state to examine the different ways that states draw political districts and how voters’ interests are affected.

Where: Christ Episcopal Church, Room 213, 120 N. Military St., Dearborn

When: Monday, March 26, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Who: Event sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights

For more information, call Mary Bugeia at 313-278-6476

Henry Ford Community College will officially open its new Welcome Center in April.

Henry Ford Community College will open a new welcome and enrollment center for incoming students next month in a renovated building purchased from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers organization.

New signage on the building was recently installed and renovations to the interior of the building are nearly complete.

HFCC purchased the building from SME back in 2008. SME consolidated its business operations into one building on the 10-acre parcel of property at Ford Road and Evergreen, which is also owned by HFCC and located just behind the new community college welcome center. SME rents back about two-thirds of the building space from the college.

HFCC has been enjoying record enrollment thanks to the changing economy. Enrollment this fall was just over 18,000 students, up from 13,700 in 2006.

Responding to numerous traffic complaints at the onset of the spring season, Dearborn police on April 2-4 will be conducting a traffic enforcement initiative, targeting moving violations on major streets and around schools.

The Dearborn Police Department reminds citizens that safety on our roadways and around our schools is everyone’s responsibility. While Dearborn police are committed to improving safety by increasing compliance with traffic laws through education and enforcement, Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad says his department relies on the cooperation of the public to be aware of and to follow all traffic laws, whether as a pedestrian, bicyclist or motorist.

Chief Haddad reminds Dearborn citizens of the following:

• Please remember to drive safely and to wear seatbelts. State law allows police to stop a vehicle when the driver is observed not wearing a safety belt.

• Keep in mind that 20 percent of all injury traffic crashes are the result of distracted driving, especially while texting and talking on cell phones.

• State law requires vehicles to yield right-of-way to pedestrians in crosswalks.

• Forty percent of all crashes in the City of Dearborn are rear-end collisions. Keep your distance and don’t drive while distracted!

• Finally: please do not drink and drive!

“If our entire community works together to promote safe driving, we can ensure that Dearborn remains a safe place to live and work,” Haddad said.

Tom Lewand, president of the Detroit Lions, will be the keynote speaker at the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce’s Business Builder Breakfast, Wednesday, May 16, 7:30 am at the Doubletree Hotel Detroit/Dearborn, 5801 Southfield Service Drive, Detroit. The event is sponsored by Oakwood Healthcare System.

The Detroit Lions 2011/2012 season was a cavalcade of historic moments and emotional highs. While the season may have ended in the first round of playoffs, fans were still treated to numerous nationally televised games this year, and this Lions unit proved they were not the same pushovers from years prior. They became a force in the NFC and a likely fixture in playoff race for the foreseeable future. Working alongside General Manager Martin Mayhew and Head Coach Jim Schwartz, Lewand is leading one of the NFL’s most improved teams.

“We want business owners and executives to be motivated and inspired by comeback stories such as the Detroit Lions,” said Chamber President Jennifer Knott Giering. “Lewand has proven to be a creatively aggressive business force. In addition to the transformation of the Lions’ business operations, he has helped position Ford Field as a cornerstone in the area’s urban renewal and revitalization efforts.”

Since taking the helm, Lewand continues to evaluate and review opportunities to grow the team’s operations to impact it’s ability to win on the field. In 2010, the team sold out seven of eight home games and introduced numerous fan-friendly and family-oriented ticket options. Overall attendance in 2010 increased 14 percent, the largest increase by any NFC team. Detroit was one of only two teams in the NFL to experience a double-digit increase in ticket sales. Under Lewand’s guidance and direction, Ford Field has been host to Super Bowl XL (2006); NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four (2009); NCAA Men’s Hockey Frozen Four (2010) that not only set NCAA Frozen Four records but world indoor hockey records as well.

Lewand received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1991, and earned both his Juris Doctor at the University of Michigan Law School and his Master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan Business School in 1996. Lewand aided the Michigan football program in various capacities on a volunteer basis while attending the school. He and wife Suzanne have four daughters and maintain several close alliances to community organizations.

The Dearborn Chamber offers this breakfast series as an opportunity for members to engage with newsmakers and key opinion leaders who make significant impact on the business community. The Business Builders Breakfast in May is the first of these breakfasts scheduled for 2012. Previous speakers included Ford Motor Company’s Alan Mulally and U of M Athletic Director David Brandon. Individual tickets are available ($30 for members; $35 for non-members) as well as corporate tables ($400) by going to www.dearbornchamber.org.

The Dearborn Chamber of Commerce provides 500+ members with the opportunities and resources to engage and network with other businesses, enhancing financial growth, professional development, and the ability to contribute to a thriving community environment.