Announcing The Once A Month Pinckney Market

The Village of Pinckney's Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has configured the Farmers' Market and their successful community yard sale into a combined, once per month market.

Expected vendors will range from produce, baked goods, arts and crafts, flowers, home goods and more. Non-profit organizations can also have booths.  Each month will have its own theme and the market hours are 10am-4pm.  

Announced dates and themes are:  

• May 9th - Mother's Day/Flower and Starter Plant Day
• June 13 - Dads and Grads
• July 11 - Pinckney Picnic Days
• August 8 - Summer Harvest
• September 12 - Fall Fun

Vendor application and yard sale applications are available on their web site at: http://villageofpinckney.org

Realtors' Annual Food Drive for Gleaners

For the last 13 years, the Livingston County Association of Realtors (LCAR) have been collecting food and money for Gleaners Community Food Bank (GCFB).  It started out with just a downtown Brighton location at the millpond and was/is still called 'Fill The Gazebo'. But a number of years ago, we branched out to locations in Howell.  Some large markets gave permission for us to collect, too, and if you hit the main intersections of Brighton or Howell you'll see volunteers with containers to collect that pesky loose change that accumulates in your vehicle console.

Gleaners can amazingly provide 3 meals for 1 dollar. And by donating money instead of non-perishable food, there's less handling and loss.  But the food items are greatly appreciated, too. Livingston County is viewed by some as not needing this type of event, but the need is actually so great that we don't collect enough food within the County to serve our residents.  That's right, food has to come in from other Gleaners locations to meet the need.

So please plan to donate something.  A few bucks in loose change, a generous check made payable to "GCFB", or drop off food at these locations from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm on Saturday, May 2nd.

• Downtown Brighton's Millpond Gazebo on Main Street
• Howell Gazebo near the Livingston County Courthouse on Grand River
• GFS Marketplace in Brighton
• Kroger in Brighton, Howell, Hamburg and Hartland
• Wal-Mart in Howell and Hartland

Suggested items to donate: tuna, Spaghetti O's, canned meat, and chunky soup.   

You can also drop off food and checks at my office, Preview Properties, 130 W. Grand River, Brighton 48116 if you can't make the food drive.  Or you can make a monetary donation online that will get credited to our food drive and is tax deductible at:  www.gcfb.org/FilltheGazebo

Last year, we collected 5,300 pounds of food in addition to $11,431 in cash donations. This provided a grand total of 38,692 nutritious meals.

image courtesy LCAR

Howell Opera House Events - Weekend of April 25-26th

There's plenty to do at the Howell Opera House this weekend.  Today, beginning at 6pm is 'Opera Art Live', an evening of Hor d'oevres, cocktails and observing 30 artists creating ART LIVE on site.  Silent auctions of that art and an artist afterglow will conclude the evening.  Admission $12 in advance or $15 at the door.  Proceeds will go towards art programs at the Opera House.  Call the Livingston Arts Council office at 517-540-0065 for more info.

Go home, get a good night's sleep, then come back at 10am on Sunday for the last Howell Winter Market. This every-other-Sunday event takes up the slack left by the absence of the summer Howell Farmer's Market.  Billed as a family oriented marketplace, there are arts and crafts, baked goods, and other small production food items.  No admission fee.

Image courtesy Bob Smith

Ask For An Invitation To A Personal Home Buying Class

Free Personal Home Buying Class

Because you are thinking about buying a home, and you may be a bit nervous sitting in a room full of strangers, I’m offering a personal home buying class.

There’s no obligation for this free one hour overview of the home buying process, and we’ll schedule it at a mutually convenient time.  After this session, you’ll have an improved understanding about buying a home. You will learn about potential challenges and pitfalls, discover how to manage them, and understand the most powerful concepts of the home buying process. As a bonus, you’ll receive my exclusive, free Home Buyer Information Kit.

Sometimes prospective home buyers haven’t compared loan types or are unaware of available mortgage loan programs that are beneficial.  For this reason, you can choose to have an experienced mortgage lender attend to answer specific financing questions.

Work with full-time, experienced professionals to get the best results.  We know how to help you get on the road to celebrating your first anniversary in your new home at this time next year! Contact me today at 810-220-1478 or through my facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/MichiganRE

KFC Coming To Hartland

Got a craving for KFC?  If you're in the Hartland area, soon you'll be able to satisfy your taste buds with a shorter drive.  The only other KFC in the area is on Grand River just west of Latson Rd, across the street from Meijer's.

The Livingston Daily reports that the Hartland Township planning department has already given approvals, although there are still other procedures that need to be followed before construction starts.  This restaurant would feature a drive-through with both indoor and outdoor seating, and would be on the north side of Highland Rd (M-59), adjacent to and just west of the Hartland Pointe Plaza, which has a Biggby Coffee, Snap Fitness, Sherwin WIlliams paint store and other businesses.

image courtesy kfc

Downtown Brighton Imagination Station Park Clean Up On May 9th 2015

For the fourth year in a row, community volunteers will converge on the downtown Brighton children's park, the Imagination Station to get it ready for the play season.  Situated next to the millpond and easy walking to Main Street shops and restaurants, this is a great way to give back to your community.  Duty is relatively light and all tools needed are available - all that is needed is YOU!

The shift starts at 9am and ends at noon.  This main jobs to accomplish on May 9th are spreading 60 yards of mulch, miscellaneous spring clean up, trimming shrubs, pulling weeds, picking up litter and some painting.

Volunteers receive a goodie bag with great incentives from downtown merchants, like free ice cream, free custard and much more. Email brightonimaginationstation@gmail.com for more information or visit the facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brighton-Imagination-Station/

Livingston and Washtenaw County Parade of Homes 2015

Save the date!  June 12^th through the 14^th is the 2015 Parade of Homes.  A $10 ticket can be purchased at any of the homes and is good for all locations. Ages 16 and under are free.

Take a look at the best of the newest homes in the area.  Meet the builders, get ideas on decorating, whatever.  The location of homes is still being updated so check the website often for most recent information.

National Hostess Twinkie Day - April 6th

I'm not kidding, today is National Hostess Twinkie Day!  A few years ago we lost the Twinkie because of bankruptcy proceedings, but they came back about 6 months later.

The original Twinkie used a banana cream filling, but due to banana rationing during WWII the company switched to vanilla cream.  Twinkies have been scorned by healthy food afficionados, and there are a myriad of jokes about them, too.  Contrary to the urban legend that a Twinkie can last forever, their shelf life is ideally 10 days at the most, although a maximum shelf life of 45 days has also been noted.

The Texas State Fair introduced deep fried Twinkies, which met with popular acclaim. They are now sold in some ballparks. I've never tried that, and it's been a long time since I've had a Twinkie in any form, but I think if you eat sensibly most of the time you can indulge in a guilty little pleasure now and then.  I may just celebrate National Twinkie Day today! The Detroit Tigers have their home opener today and have a lot of new items on their menu, but sadly, deep fried Twinkies did not make the cut.

Image courtesy hostesscakes.com