A reader of DeepsaidWhat.com sent this news along, asking us to inform the greater community of a new Christmas tree lighting tradition being started this Thanksgiving weekend in Dearborn.

The Church of the Divine Child in west Dearborn will be hosting a Community Advent Tree Lighting Ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. on the front lawn of the church, 1055 N. Silvery Lane, marking the start of the four week Advent season. All are welcome to the tree lighting event.

The Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations observe Advent as a time of preparation and joyful anticipation of the birth of Jesus. Christmas trees and other traditional decorations are typically not displayed in Catholic churches until the vigil celebration on Christmas Eve, which officially begins the Christmas season for the Church.

“This Advent tree is going to be different,” says Divine Child Pastor, Rev. James Bilot. “It symbolizes the anticipation of Christmas and will serve as beacon throughout the weeks of preparation; a reminder of what the season is really all about. We hope that residents throughout our neighborhood will pause to enjoy it and will be intrigued by what it represents.”

The festivities will include caroling and refreshments leading up to the lighting of the 50-foot tall live blue spruce. The evening concludes with Advent Night Prayer inside the church at 8:00 p.m., which will last for about 15 minutes.

“Night Prayer involves a recitation of traditional psalms which really allow an opportunity to reflect,” says Fr. Bilot. “Everyone is welcome to join us just for the tree lighting or also for the prayer time, whether they are Catholic or not. If you haven’t attended church in a while, take this opportunity to join us for a brief service. If you’re curious, come have some hot chocolate and check it out. There’s no need to worry; it’s a very simple service.”

Since its founding in 1950, the Church of the Divine Child has been a strong Catholic presence in Dearborn and an anchor in the Levagood Park neighborhood. The parish serves over 2500 member families and the elementary and high schools have the largest coeducational Catholic school enrollment in Michigan. For additional information call 313-277-3110 or visit www.divinechild.org

Pay-what-you-wish is expected to soon begin at Dearborn's Panera.

Dearborn’s Panera will soon become one of the company’s nonprofit restaurants where customers pay-what-you wish.

Panera, which operates 1,400 franchised and corporate-owned bakery-cafes across the country, opened its first pay what you wish restaurant in Clayton, Mo., earlier this year.

Dearborn is now preparing to join this small non-profit experiment and will now be called Panera Cares.

We aren’t sure what to make of this move but some employees at the Dearborn Panera aren’t happy with the switch. Perhaps worth noting is that in the first experiment of pay-what-you-wish, nearly all baked goods were day-old from other stores. We are not sure how that will sit here in Dearborn.

In Clayton, cashiers tell customers their orders’ “suggested” price based on the menu. About 60% to 70% pay in full, Panera says. About 15% leave a little more and another 15% pay less, or nothing at all. A handful have left big donations, like $20 for a cup of coffee.

Panera’s Clayton store is run under the company’s St. Louis Bread Co. banner by a nonprofit organization called Panera Cares that publicly traded Panera Co. supports. But Panera won’t bear the nonprofit’s losses if the experiment fails. In an earlier story, Panera said the nonprofit is considering locations that, like Clayton, are upscale but accessible to lower-income customers. In Clayton’s case, St. Louis County’s offices and court house are nearby.

An earlier news article said “The Clayton Panera has hardly turned into a soup kitchen. Its longtime business clientele kept the lunch hour busy last week, with well-dressed workers clustered around laptops and talking on cellphones.”

To control freeloaders in the Clayton store, signs remind customers that “You’re on your honor.”

If it moves forward in Dearborn, it should be an interesting experiment.

We have written here a few times about Artspace and the work the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority (EDDDA) is doing with this organization to perhaps bring affordable living and work space for artists to Dearborn.

Well, we all can help in this project by spreading the word to anyone within a 50 mile radius of Dearborn. The bottom line is if this project even has a remote chance of taking place in our city, we need people to take the survey at www.artspacedearborn.org  The survey can be taken from now through Jan. 4, 2011 – and it only takes 10 minutes to complete.

Below is from the EDDDA, requesting our help:

At the request and on behalf of the EDDDA, who has partnered with Artspace projects (a national nonprofit developer) to study the space needs of the creative community in Dearborn and the surrounding Detroit Metro area, we’re reaching out to YOU to assist in the development of affordable new spaces where artists may live, work, and pursue their art as well as space where organizations and business can exhibit, perform, rehearse, teach, create, and conduct business in Dearborn .

If you’re an artist (or you know an artist) working in any discipline (graphic design, sculpting, dance, music, writing, fashion design, painting, theater, crafts, etc), you need to participate in this survey. The results will help Artspace developers understand the living, studio and business space preferences for the creative community in metro Detroit , and demonstrate to funders how important new space is to artists and organizations in the region.

And if you’re not an artist but work with a cultural arts organization or business that serves the creative community (coffee shops, art supply and paint stores, galleries, theater companies, book stores, publishers, design firms, social service organizations, etc), your two cents are wanted too!

So how do you take the survey? Go to www.ArtSpaceDearborn.org between now and Jan. 4, 2011

Please be sure to pass this email along and tell your friends and colleagues about these surveys.

The Dearborn Atrium, formerly Adams Jr. High School, apparently has been sold for somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.6 million.

Sold in 2005 for $19 million, the Dearborn Atrium is said to have sold for about $1.6 million.

Several city officials have now confirmed to DeepsaidWhat.com that the three structures – the school, a parking deck and a third building (also formerly a school) – were fetched for the bargain basement price of $1.6 million. This is the same building that in 2005 traded for $19 million.

The big question on the table is who purchased the building and what will move into the building.

There has been much speculation that the building would be used for a charter school, but the property currently is not zoned for such a use. That at least means the city would have control on whether to approve such a use or not. As it stands now, city planners would not be in favor of such a use.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., says the city understands the buildings will be used as the primary operations for a business that wants to move into Dearborn. O’Reilly couldn’t provide any more detail beyond that as the city apparently does not know much about the purchaser yet.

A new business moving into that building would be great news for business owners that surround that area. Business owners near the school took a big financial hit when automotive supplier Plastech closed shop and filed for bankruptcy.

There are lots of possibilities for this building that was built in 1916. The former school was completely renovated to the shell in 1994.

The property consists of two three-story office buildings and a covered parking structure consisting of 90,774 square feet and 307 parking spaces. The two office buildings consist of 133,001 net rentable square feet and 154,104 square feet of gross building area and sit on 4.09 acres.

Back in August after the primary election, we wrote that former Dearborn council-candidate David Bazzy would indeed be joining the city council, despite his earlier election loss.

That was because Dearborn Councilman George Darany and Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini were competing for the 15th District seat in the Michigan House of Representatives. With Darany’s victory on Tuesday, Bazzy will now join council in January. Bazzy you will recall finished just 548 votes shy of landing a seat on the Dearborn City Council in the last general election, finishing just behind Councilwoman Nancy Hubbard.

David Bazzy

DeepsaidWhat.com  caught up with Bazzy on the day of the election to get his thoughts on what he views are the biggest issues facing our city and what he hopes to accomplish when he finally does join city council. He says he is excited about joining the council.

”I ran because I felt I had some value to add to the city during these tough economic times, certainly the toughest in my 52 years living here in the city,” he told DeepsaidWhat.com.

Bazzy says while he may make some mistakes on council, he will always act and vote in a way that is best for the city.

He says the city’s two biggest problems right now include managing a huge budget deficit with a declining tax base and finding a way to fill the many vacant building in our city.

“These vacant buildings are detrimental to us being able to move the city forward. That is both vacant commercial buildings and residential housing. We have problems on both fronts.

“We need to focus on being a consumer advocate on individual owned homes,” Bazzy added, referring to how mechanisms in place today create an area of more foreclosures because of those who short-sale homes in our city.

“We have to get smarter and more creative to get younger couples to move into the city. We need to put things in place to attract them to move here and then work with them to help them become owner-occupants of homes.”

Bazzy said he will “work hard and I will listen” on council.

“Public service is not unlike a private business,” he said. “There is a process. The city has to move things at a faster pace because business is moving at a faster pace.”

Bazzy, 52, is a life-long Dearborn resident who graduated from Edsel Ford and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Wayne State Univesity. Today, he is the President of Kenwal Steel and Kenwal Pickling in the east side of the city. He and his wife of 26 years have three boys, all of them now in college (two of his sons graduated from Divine Child, one from Dearborn High School). He was elected to the Dearborn Charter Commission in 2005 and served as its president. He formerly served on the Zoning Board and Recreation Commission.

Bazzy wouldn’t say who he voted for State House because he said whatever the outcome, he will need to work with one of them on City council. “Whoever gets elected, I know they will do what is in the best interests of our city and the state.”

Spoken like a true politician.

The City of Dearborn wants residents to know that homeowners can lease an additional 96-gallon trash or recycling cart from the city for a one-time $55 fee.

To lease an additional cart, residents must complete and sign a request form at www.cityofdearborn.org on the Department of Public Works page, or by calling the Department of Public Works at 943-2085.

Residents will be billed the $55 per additional cart when they return their completed and signed request form to City of Dearborn, DPW, 2951 Greenfield, Dearborn, MI 48120.

The city says carts, which remain the property of the City of Dearborn, will be delivered within two weeks from when the order is received.

There is no additional charge for weekly curbside pickup of an additional trash cart and no additional charge for biweekly curbside pickup of a recycling cart.

The Dearborn Education Foundation’s annual Pizza Day program is back.

For years this campaign has been successful in helping to raise awareness and dollars for the Foundation and local pizzerias. This summer the team of Foundation volunteers worked hard to bring Pizza Day back and make it even better.

This year the effort has been extended to each Wednesday throughout the month of November. This change adds value and efficiencies for the proprietor and the Foundation, said Eddie N. Fakhoury, executive director of the Foundation. A minimum donation was requested up front with many contributing more, and in return those who signed up will be promoted during the month of November throughout the entire school district.

“We understand that small business owners are hit most in these economic conditions and their time and resources should be respected. For that reason this year we made some changes that provides added value and benefits for everyone that participates,” Fakhoury said.

The Education Foundation is a licensed 501c3 non-profit organization that helps enhance the education that students receive from Dearborn Public Schools through grants to fund technology, equipment and innovative programs not funded by the school district’s budget. Since its inception the organization has funded more than $1,200,000 million in grants.

All funds raised by the Foundation go to fund teacher grants that are submitted throughout the year.

You can show your support for our schools and our community pizzerias starting on Wednesday, Nov. 3 by placing your order at one of these outstanding participating businesses:

Antonio’s, 26356 Ford Rd,  278-6000

Dearborn Italian Bakery, 24545 Ford Rd,   274-2350

DeMarco’s Pizza, 24943 Ford Rd,  562-6770

Dino’s Pizza, 2801 Monroe,  274-1750

Jet’s Pizza, 3945 S. Telegraph,  359-5387

Jet’s Pizza, 23541 Ford Rd,  274-2600

Joe & Renos, 2311 Monroe,  274-9810

Little Ceasar’s, 18500 Outer Dr.,  565-3505

Paisano’s, 5511 Schaefer, 581-4000

Pizza Papalis, 22022 Michigan Ave.,  724-7722

Pizza Hut, 2941 S. Telegraph,  562-0549

Pizza Kitchen, Michigan Ave.,  582-8500

Roman Village, 9924 Dix,  842-2100

Sarieni’s Pizza, 3313 Greenfield, 441-1500

Two of Dearborn’s high school teams are in the running for the WDIV Ch. 4 Football Frenzy Game of the Week.

Dearborn High will host Fordson in the opening round of high school football playoff action. If WDIV selects this matchup as the game of the week, both of these fine schools have a chance to be highlighted.

So this is where all of us come into play. Whether a resident, Dearborn High, Fordson High School parent, student, alumni or a fan, you need to vote early and vote often to help land this game on local TV.

Just follow the link HERE and vote!

With just over a week to go before the election, the race between Dearborn Council members George Darany and Suzanne Sareini for the 15th District seat in the Michigan House of Representatives is getting ugly.

Darany’s Democratic Party recently mailed a flyer to homes that labeled Sareini “Suzanne Chapter 7 Sareini,” claiming she had to file for personal bankruptcy twice. “And she thinks she knows how to fix Michigan’s economy?,” the flyer states.

On the other side of the ticket, Sareini’s Republican Party called out Darany for voting against a project in Dearborn (the Dearborn Town Center at Michigan and Schaefer that is nearly complete) “to keep and create over 500 jobs . . . Darany now claims that jobs are his top priority.”

It’s hard to determine just how severe damage from either flyer will be to the candidates’ respective campaigns but it’s likely the flyers will cost each candidate some votes on Nov. 2.

Separately, Sareini, who has been endorsed by the Detroit Free Press, recently picked up the endorsement of The Detroit News, as well. The News said “Republican hopeful Suzanne Sareini should succeed term-limited Democrat Gino Polidori.

The Michigan Depression Glass Society’s 38th annual show and sale will be held November 6 – 7 at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.

Depression Glass show comes to Dearborn Nov. 6-7.

Show organizers say Depression glass continues to grow in popularity because the vintage glassware can be frequently spotted on the counter and table tops of Rachel Ray, Martha Stewart, Sandra Lee and Alton Brown as they plate their delicious dishes.

While celebrity chefs have assistants scour flea markets and antique stores for these items, show organizers say nothing compares to the vast array of sparkling glassware that can be found at the Michigan Depression Glass Society (MDGS) Annual Show & Sale.

“We’ve been seeing a significant increase in 20- and 30-year-old collectors attending our annual glass show looking for the fun and funky retro glassware of the 1950s to 1960s like martini shakers, wine glasses, ice buckets and other serving pieces for hosting parties at home,” said MDGS President Barb Cruz. “We attribute much of this new found interest to television cooking programs, combined with the eco-friendly trend to go green with glassware.”

The show features nearly two-dozen glass dealers from across the country and authors of books on depression and era glassware.

“It’s hard to describe what can be found in the aisles and aisles of glassware at this event,” Cruz added. “This show is a fun weekend activity to attend with friends and to search for great finds to use at your next dinner gathering, cocktail party or cooking marathon; because in the end, it is all in the presentation.”

Hours for the Nov. 6 and 7 show are Saturday from 9 a.m.– 5 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m.– 4 p.m. Admission to the event is a $5 donation; parking is free. For safety reasons, strollers are not permitted.

For more information, click HERE.