The Ann Arbor News
Workers labor to set up carnival
By Pamela Appea
Jaycee-sponsored event runs through Sunday in Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School parking lot.
It takes 150 people to put together and run a carnival the size of the annual event sponsored by the Ann Arbor Jaycees at Pioneer High School.
The carnival opens today and runs through Sunday in the high school parking lot. Hours, carnival workers said, are 3-10 p.m. through Friday, then noon to midnight Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.
The workers have been on the site since Monday, unloading more than five dozen trailers and converting the contents into 19 rides, assorted games and various food booths.
It’s like being on tour—every week you go somewhere different,” said John Marquette, a W.G. Wade Show manager.
On Tuesday, most vendors had set up and spent some of the afternoon moving from their trailer homes to outdoors.
Marquette, 51, a Michigan native employed in the carnival business since 1957, said families come to carnivals expecting a professional, yet customer-oriented affair.
That, said Marquette, is exactly what they will get this week at Pioneer High School.
“We try to bring safe family entertainment to people’s backyards,” he said.
In addition to the rides and games, Marquette said all the “traditional” carnival foods, including cotton candy, Polish and Italian sausages, and caramel apples will be sold.
The Ann Arbor Jaycees also will offer children face painting, chalk for sidewalk art, and juggling demonstrations.
Rides include a double-edge Ferris Wheel, a merry-go-round and bumper cars. Other rides include the “gravity defying” Zen Dar; “The Zipper,” a water ride; and children’s rides.
Ride safety, said Marquette, is an issue constantly on the minds of the staff. He noted that the carnival company does daily machine inspections.
Admission to the annual event is free, with tickets sold for rides.
Concessions manager Corky Jones said his priority is to make sure each patron leaves happy. The 35-year carnival veteran said the key to having fun at a carnival is not spending money “all in one place.”
“Not that we don’t want people to spend their money,” he said with a smile.
Photo caption: Ronald Wright, left, and a co-worker who didn’t give his name install one of the horses on the merry-go-round in preparation for the opening of the annual carnival sponsored by the Ann Arbor Jaycees at Pioneer High School. It opens today.
Originally Published Wednesday, June 30, 1999
Wednesday, June 30, 1999
Saturday, June 26, 1999
Runners carry torch for peace
Runners carry torch for peace
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Kapila Castoldi is modest about her two-mile daily running habit.
But the Ann Arbor resident can take pride in her efforts to coordinate Peace Run volunteers who have been running longer distances--eight to 10 miles a day, every day--for the past three months.
“Peace run 1999: the run to 2000” started with a team of European runners in Portugal on Jan. 1. U.S.-based Peace Run athletics started passing the torch April 17 at New York City’s U.N. building, where the team will conclude its segment on Aug. 17. Participating runners from 119 other countries will continue the run until Dec. 31.
The runners--who take turns carrying a lit peace torch symbolizing world-wide peace--trekked Sunday through Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
“It’s a simple idea, but we get enthusiastic responses from many people,” said Castoldi, a visiting Oakland University assistant physics professor.
Peace Run volunteers, a 12-person team with U.S. and international members, visit various schools, community centers and city halls, where they talk to local children and community groups.
“It’s exciting for the kids and it puts a seed in their mind about .. Peace,” said Castoldi, who coordinators the Michigan and Tennessee runs.
Tom Taylor, a Peace Run captain and a carpenter in New York City, said he took the time off work to focus on ways of being a peace-oriented person.
“I don’t think about peace every day when I’m working. (But now) I think of peace every day, 100 times a day when I am running … an I meet good people (who also care about peace),” he said.
During the runners’ stop in Gallup Park at 10:40 a.m. Sunday, the volunteers were joined by U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers D-Ann Arbor, who walked a half-mile.
The group also was joined by Ann Arbor YMCA runners along with some local citizens.
In Ypsilanti, where the runners stopped at 12:40 p.m., a few Eastern Michigan University students ran three miles with the team toward Depot Town.
“I really liked the idea of getting people involved in peace,” said G. Summer Scarbough, an EMU senior and the student body vice president.
“People don’t get involved unless it is reactionary like the protest against the … (1998) Khan (rally) in Ann Arbor. (the Peace Run) is proactive, and something positive,” she said.
Castoldi who couldn’t run with the group due to a recent injury, said that since the event fell on the weekend, it was low-key.
She predicted that the Peace Run shop in Detroit today might have a higher attendance.
Mary Roberts, YMCA senior program executive, said even if the Ann Arbor event was on a smaller scale, the principles of peace are still important.
“(Peace Run) is something that we believe in,” she said.
Originally published Monday, July 26, 1999
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Kapila Castoldi is modest about her two-mile daily running habit.
But the Ann Arbor resident can take pride in her efforts to coordinate Peace Run volunteers who have been running longer distances--eight to 10 miles a day, every day--for the past three months.
“Peace run 1999: the run to 2000” started with a team of European runners in Portugal on Jan. 1. U.S.-based Peace Run athletics started passing the torch April 17 at New York City’s U.N. building, where the team will conclude its segment on Aug. 17. Participating runners from 119 other countries will continue the run until Dec. 31.
The runners--who take turns carrying a lit peace torch symbolizing world-wide peace--trekked Sunday through Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
“It’s a simple idea, but we get enthusiastic responses from many people,” said Castoldi, a visiting Oakland University assistant physics professor.
Peace Run volunteers, a 12-person team with U.S. and international members, visit various schools, community centers and city halls, where they talk to local children and community groups.
“It’s exciting for the kids and it puts a seed in their mind about .. Peace,” said Castoldi, who coordinators the Michigan and Tennessee runs.
Tom Taylor, a Peace Run captain and a carpenter in New York City, said he took the time off work to focus on ways of being a peace-oriented person.
“I don’t think about peace every day when I’m working. (But now) I think of peace every day, 100 times a day when I am running … an I meet good people (who also care about peace),” he said.
During the runners’ stop in Gallup Park at 10:40 a.m. Sunday, the volunteers were joined by U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers D-Ann Arbor, who walked a half-mile.
The group also was joined by Ann Arbor YMCA runners along with some local citizens.
In Ypsilanti, where the runners stopped at 12:40 p.m., a few Eastern Michigan University students ran three miles with the team toward Depot Town.
“I really liked the idea of getting people involved in peace,” said G. Summer Scarbough, an EMU senior and the student body vice president.
“People don’t get involved unless it is reactionary like the protest against the … (1998) Khan (rally) in Ann Arbor. (the Peace Run) is proactive, and something positive,” she said.
Castoldi who couldn’t run with the group due to a recent injury, said that since the event fell on the weekend, it was low-key.
She predicted that the Peace Run shop in Detroit today might have a higher attendance.
Mary Roberts, YMCA senior program executive, said even if the Ann Arbor event was on a smaller scale, the principles of peace are still important.
“(Peace Run) is something that we believe in,” she said.
Originally published Monday, July 26, 1999
Saturday, June 19, 1999
Program teaches children safety basics, The Ann Arbor News
Program teaches children safety basics
By Pamela Appea
The Ann Arbor News
Despite some lingering sniffles, after most of the parents have left, a group of 15 or so future kindergartners listened attentively to first-grade teacher Cheryl Schroeder talk about how safety can be fun.
Standing in a Bryant Elementary School classroom, Schroeder calmed the group by reaching the group a story.
It prepared the children for learning such things as “stranger danger,” their home phone numbers and addresses, and why everyone should wear a bicycle helmet and seat belt.
Over the next two weeks, as many as 800 children ages 5 and 6 in Ann Arbor will go through the Safety Town program, which the Ann Arbor Police Department and the Ann Arbor Public Schools System has sponsored since 1979.
The classes are at Bryant Elementary School, and participating schools include Haisley, Allen, Mack, Burns Park and Logan.
Ann Arbor Police Officer Tom Hickey, who helps run Safety Town, said children get to practice making 911 calls and rehearse fire drills in a “simulated smoky environment.”
Hickey helped get grants and donations for 800 new bike helmets and 16 tricycles, which Safety Town leaders will use in program exercises this year. Children also color and review worksheets to reinforce safety techniques.
Hickey, who has helped lead the program for about four years and has a son in this year’s class, said on the first day of the program, there is usually some crying.
But by “graduation” day, he said, “kids are sorry they have to leave.”
“I’ve heard so many parents talk about the program … I wanted to make sure my son was part of it,” said Vickie Malcolm of Ann Arbor.
Malcolm said her son Xavier, 4 1/2 , will attend Bach Open School this fall.
“I don’t want to overwhelm my son, but now is definitely the time (for this kind of class),” she said.
“We have to teach our kids and make them more aware.”
The program requests that parents register in advance and pay $40, although some scholarship are available.
For more information, call (734) 994-8587.
Originally Published Tuesday, June 19, 1999
By Pamela Appea
The Ann Arbor News
Despite some lingering sniffles, after most of the parents have left, a group of 15 or so future kindergartners listened attentively to first-grade teacher Cheryl Schroeder talk about how safety can be fun.
Standing in a Bryant Elementary School classroom, Schroeder calmed the group by reaching the group a story.
It prepared the children for learning such things as “stranger danger,” their home phone numbers and addresses, and why everyone should wear a bicycle helmet and seat belt.
Over the next two weeks, as many as 800 children ages 5 and 6 in Ann Arbor will go through the Safety Town program, which the Ann Arbor Police Department and the Ann Arbor Public Schools System has sponsored since 1979.
The classes are at Bryant Elementary School, and participating schools include Haisley, Allen, Mack, Burns Park and Logan.
Ann Arbor Police Officer Tom Hickey, who helps run Safety Town, said children get to practice making 911 calls and rehearse fire drills in a “simulated smoky environment.”
Hickey helped get grants and donations for 800 new bike helmets and 16 tricycles, which Safety Town leaders will use in program exercises this year. Children also color and review worksheets to reinforce safety techniques.
Hickey, who has helped lead the program for about four years and has a son in this year’s class, said on the first day of the program, there is usually some crying.
But by “graduation” day, he said, “kids are sorry they have to leave.”
“I’ve heard so many parents talk about the program … I wanted to make sure my son was part of it,” said Vickie Malcolm of Ann Arbor.
Malcolm said her son Xavier, 4 1/2 , will attend Bach Open School this fall.
“I don’t want to overwhelm my son, but now is definitely the time (for this kind of class),” she said.
“We have to teach our kids and make them more aware.”
The program requests that parents register in advance and pay $40, although some scholarship are available.
For more information, call (734) 994-8587.
Originally Published Tuesday, June 19, 1999
Friday, June 18, 1999
Knot a Bad Idea, The Ann Arbor News
Knot a Bad Idea
Baker’s patrons trade ugly ties for free loaf of bread
By Pamela Appea
The Ann Arbor News
Customers this week at the Great Harvest Bread story in Ann Arbor are feasting their eyes on more than bread and cookies.
Ties of all colors, sizes and less-than-pleasing designs adorn the walls of the bakery’s beloved life-sized cow figurine.
In honor of Father’s Day on Sunday, bakery owners and husband-wife team Dan and Janene Centurione will give a loaf of freshly baked bread to each customer who brings in an ugly tie until Saturday.
Janene Centurione said she came up with the idea for an ugly tie trade-in last year. She knew many fathers who received ties on Father’s Day that were, in her opinion, less than fashionable.
“We were trying to think what would warm the hearts of fathers, and we just thought it would be funny to see what ugly ties would come in,” she said.
Centurione feels the ugly tie trade-in will “help people give dad an interesting gift for Father’s Day by taking away one of his ugly ties and giving him some great bread.”
By Thursday, at least 50 people had dropped off ties, which are all worthy of winning an ugly-tie contest, she said. Last year’s Father Day ugly tie trade-in attracted 300 to 400 people to the store at 2220 S. Main St., in the Woodland Plaza.
Pointing out some of her favorite ties, Centurione said that many of the ties give her customers an amusing overview of tie fashions from years or decades ago. Her favorite ugly ties are the “power ties” of the early ’80s, the polyester ties of the ‘70s, and ones which she said she feels belong in a category of its own: a 15-year-old Australian tie that shows several koala bears holding flowers.
Many Great Harvest employees at Woodland Plaza have amusing stories why customers trade in their husband or father’s ties. Employee Becky Smith said one woman saw a tie in the store that she really liked for her husband. So she brought in another of her husband’s ties and replaced it for the tie she liked, getting a tie and a loaf of bread.
Photo Caption: Mollie Mintz, 3, trades a necktie for a loaf of bread at the Great Harvest Bread Co. in the Woodlands Plaza shopping center Thursday. This is the second year the company has sponsored the pre-Father’s Day promotion calling for ‘ugly ties’ in trade for bread. Last year, all the ties were donated for an art project. Lauren Foley, a customer service representative, makes the trade. Photographer Robert Chase, The Ann Arbor News
Originally Published Friday, June 18, 1999
Baker’s patrons trade ugly ties for free loaf of bread
By Pamela Appea
The Ann Arbor News
Customers this week at the Great Harvest Bread story in Ann Arbor are feasting their eyes on more than bread and cookies.
Ties of all colors, sizes and less-than-pleasing designs adorn the walls of the bakery’s beloved life-sized cow figurine.
In honor of Father’s Day on Sunday, bakery owners and husband-wife team Dan and Janene Centurione will give a loaf of freshly baked bread to each customer who brings in an ugly tie until Saturday.
Janene Centurione said she came up with the idea for an ugly tie trade-in last year. She knew many fathers who received ties on Father’s Day that were, in her opinion, less than fashionable.
“We were trying to think what would warm the hearts of fathers, and we just thought it would be funny to see what ugly ties would come in,” she said.
Centurione feels the ugly tie trade-in will “help people give dad an interesting gift for Father’s Day by taking away one of his ugly ties and giving him some great bread.”
By Thursday, at least 50 people had dropped off ties, which are all worthy of winning an ugly-tie contest, she said. Last year’s Father Day ugly tie trade-in attracted 300 to 400 people to the store at 2220 S. Main St., in the Woodland Plaza.
Pointing out some of her favorite ties, Centurione said that many of the ties give her customers an amusing overview of tie fashions from years or decades ago. Her favorite ugly ties are the “power ties” of the early ’80s, the polyester ties of the ‘70s, and ones which she said she feels belong in a category of its own: a 15-year-old Australian tie that shows several koala bears holding flowers.
Many Great Harvest employees at Woodland Plaza have amusing stories why customers trade in their husband or father’s ties. Employee Becky Smith said one woman saw a tie in the store that she really liked for her husband. So she brought in another of her husband’s ties and replaced it for the tie she liked, getting a tie and a loaf of bread.
Photo Caption: Mollie Mintz, 3, trades a necktie for a loaf of bread at the Great Harvest Bread Co. in the Woodlands Plaza shopping center Thursday. This is the second year the company has sponsored the pre-Father’s Day promotion calling for ‘ugly ties’ in trade for bread. Last year, all the ties were donated for an art project. Lauren Foley, a customer service representative, makes the trade. Photographer Robert Chase, The Ann Arbor News
Originally Published Friday, June 18, 1999
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