If you were planning to take part in the Friends for the Dearborn Animal Shelter’s 5K for K9s walk/run on Sept. 20 you’ll have until May 2010 to get into shape.

The Dearborn Animal Shelter and GoodBoy Events have cancelled the Sept. 20 event and have now decided to hold the run next May in conjunction with the Mutt Strut, which will celebrate its fifth year in 2010.

The good news is the Dearborn Animal Shelter will be holding another event on Sept. 24 called what “Must Love Dogs Singles Event.”

This event takes place at the Buffalo Wild Wings on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.  Cost is $20 and includes appetizers, nonalcoholic beverages and a chance to win a date for two at Buffalo Wild Wings. All proceeds will benefit the Dearborn Animal Shelter.

To register, visit www.DearbornAnimals.org  or call 313-943-2697. The event is limited to 40 singles (21 and over) and their dogs.

Kelle S. Sisung, development director, Friends for the Dearborn Animal Shelter, says the event is part of the Dearborn Animal Shelter’s “Dog Nights in Dearborn.”

“Kiernan’s Steak House launched Dog Nights in August and the event brought almost 200 people (and some pooches) to their Silky’s patio and they raised $5,300 for our shelter,” Sisung said. “It was great to see so many people out and about on Michigan Avenue. Buffalo Wild Wings is now generously opening their patio for singles and their pooches.

“Dog Night is part of the nonprofit’s continued attempt to infuse some energy into our downtown business district, which so desperately needs,” Sisung said.

So at what point does the West Village Commons development emerge from the intensive care unit? Sadly, that much needed assistance feels a long way off now after seeing the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory quietly close its doors this week and quickly remove the equipment responsible for those tasty, pricey chocolates.

The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is the latest business to close in the Burton-Katzman developed West Village Commons project in Dearborn.

The Burton-Katzman team that sold the City of Dearborn and our elected officials on a project that seemed too good to be true has turned out to be just that — a project that so far hasn’t lived up to the hype. All that remains in the courtyard portion of the near vacant two-story structure is La Cigar and a struggling Maestro’s Restaurant.  A new bar called The Well is expected to open soon but that has been delayed, caught up in the bureaucracy of liquor licenses. It is doubtful this Burton-Katzman development will fill any time soon as the Bingham Farms developer is being sued by the City of Dearborn for failing to complete the very project it promised the city.

To be fair, there is a bright spot in the West Village Commons development. The portion of the building facing Michigan Avenue houses a Cold Stone Creamery, Sattva Yoga, a UPS store and the Kabuki restaurant. Those businesses, thankfully, seem to be holding on and they are doing it despite paid parking, which is another reason paid parking cannot be blamed for the current state of business in Dearborn.

We’ve lost track of the number of businesses that have closed on Michigan Avenue between Outer Drive and Brady. And, quite frankly, it is just too depressing to tally them up. It feels as if West Dearborn is sitting in this perfect storm — a devastated state economy, surrounded by other cities that are struggling even more (minus, the city of Allen Park, of course), and a string of empty, unkempt buildings that makes this stretch of Michigan Avenue even more unsightly and depressing to passersby.

Making matters worse is the fact no one can predict how many more businesses, such as the recent Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory closing, we are going to have to witness in West Dearborn before things get any better.

Let’s hope our elected officials have a plan to stop the hemorrhaging.

Golfers Jim Ives and Toni Tront were the lucky players to sink hole-in-one shots at the Dearborn Hills Golf Course.

We don’t normally write about golf results here but when we heard about the Dearborn Rotary’s recent golf outing yielding two hole-in-one winners, we thought we’d share it here.

Golfers Jim Ives and Toni Tront were the lucky players to sink hole-in-one shots, both on the first shots of the day. The two prize winners were participants in the Rotary Club of Dearborn’s Hugh Archer Golf Outing at Dearborn Hills Golf Course in late August.

“We promised golfers a fun event,” said Roger Miller, chairman of the fourth annual golf outing which helps raise scholarship funds in memory of the late Rotarian and Dearborn resident Hugh Archer. “We just didn’t know it would be quite this exciting.”

Event organizers were prepared with prizes for both hole-in-one winners who received golf trips–Ives to Las Vegas, Nevada and Tront to Garland, Michigan.

Other winners of the outing included the men’s team of Rick Goward, Pat Jensen, Randy Knight and Joe Guido who earned prizes and recognition as the overall winners. Women’s team winners were Julie Pucci, Pam Leshinsky, Sharon Langen and Corrine Celeski. Mixed team winners included Tim Peck, Lucy Peck, Maureen Wall and Jan Clarey.

Proceeds from the golf outing will help provide a scholarship award of $3,000 to a 2010 high school senior attending a public or private high school in Dearborn. Additional scholarship information and an online application are available on the Club’s website at www.dearbornrotary.org

The 27th Annual Festival of Quilts and Crafts will be held at First United Methodist Church on Friday, Oct. 2 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 3 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The church is located at 22124 Garrison at Mason.

Quilt Exhibit admission is $3.00. Lunch served daily 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. for $7.00.

The show includes a silent auction, demonstrations, crafts, and bake sale.

For more information, please contact: Claudia Nickel cjnickel@wowway.com or Saranne Good saranneg@comcast.net

Mark your calendard for Sunday, Oct. 4. That is the date for the Dearborn Education Foundation’s Annual Golf Outing at TPC Michigan, one of metro Detroit’s best golf courses.

To reserve tickets, send an email to Education Foundation Executive Director Eddie Fakhoury at fakhoue@dearborn.k12.mi.us

The cost to participate is $225 per golfer and includes 18 holes, cart, lunch, dinner and an awards ceremony.

The Dearborn Community Arts Council presents the the Fall Into Dearborn Art Fair, which will be held in the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center Oct. 3-4.

A Preview Party for the Fall Into Dearborn Art Fair will be held Friday, Oct. 2.  You can purchase a ticket to both the Preview Party and the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra’s season opener for just $40.

For tickets call the Symphony office at 313-565-2424.

As part of the weekend of activities for the upcoming “Fall Into Dearborn”, an antique appraisal clinic will be offered from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 3, at the Dearborn Historical Museum’s McFadden-Ross House, 915 Brady St.

The clinic is open to the public and is sponsored by the Museum Guild of Dearborn.

The clinic will operate on a first come, first served basis.  Those interested must register at the event by 3:30 p.m. in order to participate.

Robert Du Mouchelle from Du Mouchelle Art Galleries will evaluate antiques, collectibles and whatever else participants deem as valuable.

The cost for appraisal is $10 per item and there is a limit of five hand-carried items per person.  Please do not bring musical instruments, furniture or weapons for appraisal. Proceeds from the event will be used for Museum restoration projects.

For information about the antique appraisal clinic, call 313-565-3000.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office is expected to announce charges Thursday in the case involving the housing of hundreds of Chihuahuas.

According to the paper, one charge that could result from the investigation is aggravated animal cruelty, a felony that carries a penalty of up to 4-years imprisonment.

More than 100 live and dead Chihuahuas were discovered in a house packed full of debris and animal waste on Orchard in Dearborn in July. The man who lived in the house, Kenneth Lang Jr., 56, was taken for psychiatric evaluation after the discovery, but recently has been living in a group home in Oakland County, his attorney told the Free Press.

For the earlier story, please click HERE.

Au Bon Pain, Caribou Coffee, Hot Spot and Super Cuts are all businesses that were once located in the Burton-Katzman development known as West Village Commons. Today they are closed and the development that promised such hope for west Dearborn now sits nearly empty.

And Burton-Katzman, the Bingham Farms developer, that sold the project to our city leaders is now being sued by the City of Dearborn for failing to complete what they promised (for that earlier story, click HERE.)

All that remains in the West Village Commons is the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, a new bar set to open soon called The Well and two businesses owned by Najib Rizk: La Cigar and Maestro’s Restaurant.

Maestro's Restaurant is one of many along Michigan Avenue offering meal specials in hopes of attracting more customers.

Like many businesses along Michigan Avenue, Mr. Rizk is doing all he can to keep his business open. While La Cigar is doing relatively well, the restaurant that he and his cousin opened a couple of years ago is struggling, he freely admits.

“We tried to work with our landlord Burton-Katzman to get our rent lowered but now with the city lawsuit Burton-Katzman isn’t doing anything,” Mr. Rizk says. “We are advertising in Hour magazine, the Detroit papers and WNIC radio. We have done a lot of advertising but it hasn’t helped. I don’t know what can be done. And my landlord seems to be okay with having an empty building.”

Mr. Rizk has cut back the hours at Maestro’s, serving just dinner from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. On Friday and Saturday he offers entertainment and is open until 2 a.m. Two weeks ago he began offering bargain prices on all of his entrees: half off on all entrees or essentially $7 for a good dinner.

Hoping to attract customers, Mr. Rizk approached the city with the idea of offering valet parking. He says Dearborn officials killed that idea saying they were worried about traffic backing up onto Michigan Avenue. His suggestion to move the valet parking location drop-off to the rear of the parking lot farther away from Michigan Avenue or even on to Village Road also was rejected.

“Trying to get things done in this city can be so hard,” says Mr. Rizk, a Dearborn resident. “The dispute between the city and my landlord has put a clamp on things. We are stuck in the middle.”

The impact of Michigan’s struggling economy isn’t just hurting Maestro’s. All along Michigan Avenue, restaurants are struggling and doing all they can do to stay afloat, offering both lunch and dinner specials. Bob Evans is offering free Internet and special prices on all its meals, Mr. Pita is offering $1 sandwiches, Kiernan’s Steak House, Parisian Bistro Post Bar, Crave and many others are also offering great specials, as well.

We realize there are many food options available to all of us but if you are going to go out and dine let’s at least try and include Dearborn restaurants on our consideration list, too.

Mark your calendar for Sept. 15 that is when the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and Music Director Leonard Slatkin present a free concert in Dearborn at 8 p.m. in the Michael A. Guido Theater at Dearborn’s Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

Tickets are free but reservations are required. To reserve tickets for the Sept. 15 performance, call The Center’s box office at 313.943.2354. Parking at The Center is free.

The DSO also is performing for free on Monday., Sept. 14 at 10:45 a.m. and 8 p.m. at Seligman Performing Arts Center located at 22305 W. 13 mile, Beverly Hills; Thursday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center located at 1627 W. Fort St., Detroit and Friday, Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Detroit School of Arts located at 123 Selden St., right behind the Max M. Fisher Music Center, Detroit.

These concerts will culminate with a sixth free concert held at 3:00 p.m. during the DSO Open House running from 1 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Max M. Fisher Music Center on Sept. 20.

“In these difficult times, bringing music to a larger public is more important than ever,” said DSO Music Director Leonard Slatkin. “The DSO is committed to expanding its audience and it is my hope that as we reach out to different constituencies, they in turn will come to visit us as well.”