The Dearborn Animal Shelter is hosting a new fundraiser evening event at Park Place on Friday, Sept. 17 called the No Beast Feast.

According to organizers, the idea behind this vegetarian feast is to bring traditional comfort food favorites to the table made from vegetarian ingredients.

“People are seeking healthier food options for their families today and offering a traditional meal using imaginative vegetarian ingredients is a fun way for us to share in that trend,” said Elaine Greene, executive director of the Friends For the Dearborn Animal Shelter. “Many members of the community and our organization’s supporters are vegetarian, have vegetarian friends or are curious about expanding their food choices. This dinner is one way for us to bring everyone to the table to share in a meal.”

The No Beast Feast provides pre-meal snacks, a hearty meaty (meatless) entrée, potatoes and gravy, vegetable sides, fresh breads and delicious desserts. The evening’s activities also include door prizes, a tin can raffle, entertainment and more. Attendees will receive take home recipes to try vegetarian specialties in their own kitchens. All food is prepared to vegan.

The Friday, Sept. 17  event runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Park Place, located on the corner of Park Street and Outer Drive, just south of Michigan Avenue. Tickets are $45 in advance, $50 at the door and include dining, soft drinks, beer, wine and entertainment.

You can purchase tickets from the Shelter online at www.DearbornAnimals.org or by calling 313-943-2697. Proceeds benefit The Friends For the Dearborn Animal Shelter.

Earlier this year, Dearborn announced that residents could create community gardens on city-owned vacant property in their neighborhoods.

The community garden in Dearborn's Aviation neighborhood was one of the first in the city.

While on the surface that seemed like a nice move by our city leaders, it appears city lawyers baked in so many conditions into the required permit that at least a couple of residents in one neighborhood were afraid to sign the document needed to begin a garden.

This resident sent Deepsaidwhat.com a detailed e-mail about their experience with the city when they went to inquire about whether city officials might consider amending the garden permit. Their concerns with the permit centered around several areas including these:

1. The person who signs the permit is responsible to compensate the city for whatever dollar amount it takes to restore the property to its original condition.
2. The permit is revocable at any time and for any reason.
3. Perennial crops are forbidden (e.g. no strawberries raspberries. blueberries, blackberries, or perennial herbs and flowers that attract pollinators, such as butterflies and bees)

Building a community garden takes a lot of time and effort, which is why this resident, an avid gardener herself, was reluctant to sign her name to the permit in its current form.

Her story about the experience she and her neighbor had with our city when they inquired about a community garden begins below.

Earlier this year, my neighbor down the street heard/read about permits available for residents interested in starting community gardens. To inquire further, she was put in touch with a person in the city’s neighborhood services department. She has several years experience gardening and is living next door to a vacant lot (there was a fire in the house that was there and the city later came and removed the remains of the house).

My neighbor was on board to sign the permit and move ahead, however, the permit appeared too risky and she decided against signing it. I heard about her desire to do this project, several months later, and I, also an avid gardener with an interest in community gardens, was interested in this project, too. I was enthusiastic about going ahead with a garden here until I too saw the permit.

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The Quality Inn at Michigan and Brady in Dearborn will soon be razed.

Say good-bye to the Quality Inn, the long-vacant, badly decaying building at the corner of Michigan and Brady.

If all goes as planned, the building will come down by the end of September, according to officials in Dearborn’s economic development department. City officials this week are expected to meet with the demolition company to go over some final details so work can begin.

The property, owned by the Dearborn Historical Museum, will be used to expand the museum’s space and a portion will be put on the market for interested parties to develop with light retail. At one point, the site was considered a possible site for student housing for those who attend the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

With the economy still weak in the knees and banks tight-fisted with loans these days, it is hard to image the property being quickly developed. Even so, removing this eyesore will go a long way to improving the look of west Dearborn.

Now, if we could just get some of those other rotting buildings along Michigan Avenue in west Dearborn removed . . .

Dearborn’s outdoor warning system will be receiving four new sirens as a way to address city and resident complaints that the present Wayne County-installed system is inadequate.

In March 2009, we wrote how the 12 sirens installed by Wayne County weren’t enough to cover the same geographic area that the city’s 28 “old” sirens previously did.

At that time, Wayne County promised the city four more sirens would be forthcoming as a way to fix the sound shortage.

Now, more than a year later (following pressure from Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. , with support from Wayne County Commissioner Gary Woronchak) four additional sirens are expected to be installed this fall.

The city says the four additional sirens will be installed in these areas:

•  Whitmore-Bolles school area
•  near the Oakwood Common retirement community
•  near the Dearborn Hills Golf Course and
•  near Cherry Hill and Outer Drive

These are many of the same areas residents complained they were unable to hear sirens following heavy storms in June. Click HERE for that story.

In addition to those four new sirens, Dearborn will benefit from the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s installation of four sirens to serve its campus on Evergreen between Ford Road and Michigan Avenue.

Further, the city will be pursuing two to four more sirens through federal Homeland Security grants. These sirens will have voice capabilities to alert people to seek cover indoors, or provide other specific directions.

The plan is to install these additional sirens in areas where large crowds typically gather outdoor, such as for athletic events, at visitor attractions or during festivals.

Even with the additional sirens, Dearborn public safety officials continue to say that the sirens are “meant to get the attention of people who are outdoors to alert them to seek shelter” and “not meant to be the primary warning for people already inside. In fact, they may not be heard inside houses or buildings.”

Dearborn advises residents to monitor TV and radio reports if weather conditions seem threatening and invest in weather radios or all-hazard radios to better ensure they remain informed.

The Dearborn City Council on Monday is expected to officially approve a plan to extend public swimming at Crowley Pool for an additional two weeks, a decision that could cost the city as much as $4,500, according to one city official.

The measure was approved at a council committee meeting Thursday evening and will become official during a vote at Monday’s meeting.

The Save our Pools neighborhood group that organized to save Crowley and five other neighborhood pools (Summer Stephens, Ten Eyck, Whitmore, Lapeer & Hemlock), was again the driving force to convince Council to keep Crowley open for an additional two weeks. Historically, the city has only kept Levagood and Ford Woods open until Labor Day.

While the city needs to do some fiscal belt tightening this year, this was one check approval elected officials weren’t going to deny.

Ticket Prices Lowered, Sales Extended Through Aug. 16

Here is a great way to help our Dearborn libraries continue to provide the great services they do to our community.

The Dearborn Public Library Foundation is having a luncheon fundraising event at Park Place on August 21 at noon.

All proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the Foundation, which of course helps provide the additional funds necessary to enhance Dearborn’s library’s programs, services and facilities. The update of the Children’s Area at the Henry Ford Centennial Library is an example of the work completed by funds given to the library from the Foundation.

Now here is even better news: due to the generosity of the many sponsors of this event, the Foundation is lowering ticket sale prices and extending ticket sales through August 16.

Tickets are available at all Dearborn Library locations or by calling 313-943-2330.

Sponsors for this event include: AWE Computers, The Henry Ford, Century 21-Curran & Christie, Oakwood Healthcare, Hatteras Printing, Fidelity Bank, State Farm -Bob Zakar, Library Design Associates and Greenfield Village T-Drivers.

Dearborn estimates Homecoming weekend will draw about 150,000 people over the weekend, which means driving and trying to find a parking space could be challenging.

The good news is the city is offering free shuttle service and free parking.

Two options exist: free parking and free shuttle service from Dearborn High School, sponsored by Henry Ford Health System, and free shuttle service from the west Dearborn business district along West Village Drive, from Military to Monroe.

All shuttles take visitors to the festival grounds at Ford Field Park in Dearborn.

The Dearborn High shuttle will pick visitors up at the school parking lot, on the west side of Outer Drive, north of Michigan Avenue. It runs from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, and noon to 11:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday of Homecoming weekend. Parking is free.

The shuttles are Dearborn Public Schools buses and include handicapped accessible buses and will make continuous loops between the festival grounds and the school. There is no established time schedule.

Another free shuttle is available on West Village Drive, from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The City of Dearborn shuttle vans will stop along West Village Drive from Monroe to Military. Parking fees may apply, except on Sunday. On Friday and Saturday, parking is at a special festival rate of $1 in the West Parking Deck only.

The Ford Field parking lot also provides a limited number of spaces, including handicapped parking, for $5 per car.

For complete details about Homecoming, including a schedule of events, visit www.cityofdearborn.org or call 943-2285.

This year’s Dearborn Homecoming will have a different sound, at least from the entertainment side as attendee regulars will notice the absence of a big name national entertainer.

Forget K.C. and the Sunshine Band, The Commodores or Rick Spingfield. This year it is “Big Shot with Michael DelGuidice–the Ultimate Billy Joel Experience,” who will headline this year’s Homecoming festival August 6-8.

Dearborn was trying to land Motorcity rocker Mitch Ryder but scheduling conflicts kept him off of center stage and the city instead went with Michael DelGuidice and his band, who will perform Saturday, Aug. 7, from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Michael DelGuidice and band will perform music of Billy Joel, the Beatles, Elton John and many others. DelGuidice has played with Billy Joel himself, as well as being featured in Joel’s Broadway musical, Movin Out. He has also shared the stage with Donna Summer, Roger Daltrey and many others. For more on the band, click HERE.

There will be great musical entertainment all three days of Homecoming on three stages: the Main Stage, Stage B and the Food Court Stage.

Starting off the Main Stage festivities on Friday will be Horizon, backed by the Two and a Half Deep Band. This popular Motown review will be jamming out from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday features Emerson Drive, a country music ensemble that has earned countless fans and critical acclaim with their fresh style. They take the Main Stage at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday and play until 10 p.m. For more on the band, click HERE.

On Stage B, audiences can hear local favorites The Bomb Squad from 6-8 p.m. on Saturday night, and on Sunday, Fifty Amp Fuse will play from 6-8 p.m.

Oakwood Healthcare System is the presenting sponsor of the 2010 Homecoming.

For a complete list of entertainment at Homecoming, as well as schedules for children’s activities and strolling entertainers, events at the Living History Hill, car cruise, art fair and contests, click HERE.

It appears the 'dream' may not be over.

It appears “The Dream” isn’t over after all, which could be good news for downtown west Dearborn.

In an article in Sunday’s Dearborn Times Herald, reporter J. Patrick Pepper reports that Hakim Fakhoury has a new proposal for a west downtown development on city-owned land.

According to the paper, the proposed plan was submitted to the city in February. Preliminary rough plans call for a four-story, 160-unit complex comprising residential and commercial components with an estimated development cost of $31 million. The paper reports that Fakhoury’s potential partner in the enterprise is developer Jeff Helminski of Moravian Companies.

As for the demolition of several eyesore buildings owned by Fakhoury, the Times-Herald reports that city officials agreed to halt demolition proceedings on the former Giuliano’s restaurant, Brother’s Tuxedo and Bally’s Vic Tanny. In exchange for the delay, some aesthetic work would be conducted on the buildings, including “power washing, construction material cleanup and covering the windows with opaque film,” the paper reports.

And those signs that proclaimed “The Dream is Over – For Sale”? The city required Fakhoury remove them as part of the agreement. The signs, the Times-Herald says, were a “public proclamation” of Fakhoury’s frustration with city officials.

You can read the complete Times-Herald story HERE.

We spoke of chickens here once before, so we thought it might be appropriate to share this story in today’s Detroit News about a rooster that is getting the boot from a residential neighborhood near Petoskey after a 16 month fight.  For that story, click HERE.

No hens in Dearborn.

As for the chicken case in Dearborn, resident Syeda Akbari, who had been hoping to keep her chickens, has been denied the right to do so at her home in Dearborn. That earlier story is HERE.

Dearborn City Council decided to punt the matter to the city attorney’s office.  The legal team simply sent a letter to Akbari saying “City Council would not take any further action on the subject at this time.” Attached to that letter sent to Akbari was a copy of a paper the legal department sent to Council members simply containing the relevant city codes on chickens and a recommendation to draw up a new ordinance if the council wanted to permit Akbari to keep chickens as pets.

The council’s decision to take no further action means there will be no chickens, at least not until a homeowner some day decides to challenge the current ordinance in court.