1961-08-09; Saline Reporter

              Saline may not have/a public lynching, or an Indian attack, or a train robbery during
Frontier Days next week . . .
but Chamber of Commerce
members won't guarantee it.
They've planned some excitement for everyone. The two-
day program  will  include:
Stagecoach rides on a rig imported from Frontier City on
Friday.
Street performances by the
famed Washtenong Indian Dan
cers on Friday and Saturday.
N. Ann Arbor St. between Michigan and McKay will be
blocked off for such occasions.
Street decorations reminiscent of the Old West. Store
clerks in jeans, 10-gallon hats.
A near-sighted, old-fashioned
police force, convinced that Saline's parking meters are really hitching posts . . . and not
in need of feeding during the
two-day event.
)    A cowpoke and cowgirl con-
\
(test and parade Saturday, with
prizes for the best-rigged costumes   among   contestants   12
years and under.
The Friday - Saturday program will also include some modern frontier features:
Free snow cones at the Corner Drug Store, all day both
I days.
j    Radio  Station WOIA broadcasting  from  a  mobile  studio
jboth days.
I    Exhibits  on safety and law
enforcement put on Saturday
by Trooper Johnson, Ypsi post,
Michigan State Police.
A Coke trailer to be parked
at Estes Pharmacy Saturday.
An electric organ demonstration by Keyboard Piano of Ann
Arbor, in Gamble's window
both days.
The   Jaycee   popcorn  wagon
in action . . . the famed Saline
jice cream cart . . .
I    And bargains in every store!
I    Split-second   scheduling   de
tails for Frontier Days will be
announced in next week's paper . . . along with other added
attractions which C-C committee members still hope to corral.
The Chamber of Commerce
group planning the August 18-
19 program includes Eathern
Roark, Dorothy Walker, Bob
Estes, Carl Lamb and Bob La-
Rose. I
«      *      *                   I
Frontier Days,  according to'
C-C  explanation,  is  a  descendant  of  last year's  Hawaiian
; Sidewalk Sale . . . and of the
other successful Sidewalk Days
held *here in the past. The an-
Icestry may be hard to follow,
the C-C admits . . . but the bargains will be easy to find.
That's   Frontier  Days,   next
■week Friday and Saturday in
Saline.
j -if -vf -ft-
Better be there, pardner.
Frontier Days mean fun!
aline Reoorte
VOLUME 14, NUMBER 47 - WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1961
'First With All the Local News'
10c PEE COPY — $3 PER YEAR
Council Considering
New Parking Site
At Ross Adair Lot
The Adair building at 113 W.
Michigan Ave. has been offered
for sale to the City of Saline.
The business district lot and
building became available this
week when Ross Adair closed
the doors of his paint and wallpaper store and took a job with
the City of Ann Arbor.
George Johnson, chairman of
a council committee appointed
to investigate the possibility of
purchasing the property, reported his findings at Monday
night's council meeting.
"The site would be ideal for
our purpose . . . off-street parking," said he. "With the alley
which runs along the side of the
lot, we would have ample space
for seven or eight parking spaces . . . and this would also
give us access to additional
space at the rear which might
be bought at a later date.
"Entrance  and  exit  for  the
parking lot would be right on
fcaVfichigan Ave. We feel this is
a critical need in our off-street
parking program.
"And since the present trend
for shoppers seems to be toward the east end of the business district, where we already
have a parking lot, this addition would tend to balance
things and benefit businessmen
west of Ann Arbor St.
"Cost of the parking lot, in
addition to the purchase price,
would have to include razing
the building and filling in the
half-basement.
"But I feel this would be the
best possible use for the site.
The building itself is 125-150
years old. It will likely stand
idle unless we acquire it and
put the lot to work for park-
"The city can handle the purchase from our parking meter
fund."
ing.
Council postponed action on
Johnson's report until the next
meeting, August 21.
Schild's to Honor
Parents on 50th
Mr. and Mrs. John A. (Tony)
Schild, of 610 S. Ann Arbor St.,
will host a Golden Wedding Open House in honor of Mrs.
Schild's parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Erman O. Scott, of Crooked
Lake.
The event will be held from
3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, at the
Schilds' home. Mrs. Schild's
sister, Mrs. Wesley Fuller of
Detroit, will also serve as hostess for the occasion, as will
the honored couple's three
granddaughters, Miss Nancy
Schild, and the Misses Ann and
Katherine Fuller of Detroit.
Mr. and Mrs. Schott spend
their summers at Crooked Lake
and their winters at Terrace
Gardens, Lakeland, Fla. Guests
from Detroit, Ann Arbor, Toledo, Salem, Ore., and Speddon,
Ontario, are expected at the
Open House. A family dinner
will be held Saturday evening
in Ann Arbor.
TRUCK FIRE CAUSES
MINOR DAMAGE
Minor damage to the wiring
in a truck belonging to Jack
Steiner, 312 N. Harris St., resulted when the truck's engine
caught on fire about 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday. The incident occurred
when gasoline leaking from the
sediment bulb ignited the engine,  firemen  said.
Saline Volunteer Firemen
were summoned and quickly extinguished the blaze. The truck
caught fire in the street in
front of 210 E. Henry St.
They all swim like fish now . . . more or less. The beginners' swim group, which has, taken lessons this summer
at the Ann Arbor "Y" under the auspices of Saline's Sum-
;<£VK*V*:~''-*"^"-^.f
mer Recreation Program,  lines up  for  their  "graduation
photo" on the final day of the season.
~ Photo by Lanny Robbins
■ *,o •*:.< «"•• •*ii^fi^-^fg^up^r.-V-'y
The team above", who dubbed themselves "The Sluggers",
this season battled their way to the top of the Girls' Softball League. Left to right, front row: Gloria Brackney,
Vicki Shuster, Marcia Gokee, Heidi Wild, Sally Quick, Car-
lene Hertler, Marjorie Quick, Debbie Carr and Anita Lar
son; second row: Carol Gregg, Gail Mittendorf, Wendy Livingstone, Beckie Ealy, Georgia Kosander, Sharon Zurlinden,
Karen Krempel, Jean Wilson; back row: Beth Volz, Betsy
Burkhart, Susan Leonard.
The second photo shows the entire girls' league.
Car Thieves
Thorough..
"This is the most complete
strip job I've ever seen," says
Police Chief Earl Kirby. "We
have had some remarkable ones
in the past, but nothing to "rival this."
Kirby's referring to the sky-
blue skeleton, of a new 1961
Mercury 4-door Hardtop which
has stood on blocks at Ted's
Service since its arrival there
Tuesday.
The remains of the car registers 15 miles on its speedometer. It's brand-new. But it lacks
a "hood, engine,, transmission,
radio, back seat,'-"battery, tires,
wheels .;, . and a*T***hole catalog
of otherassorted* parts.
"The car must have*been* stolen and-stripped by some**=*real
pros," says Kirby. "This .-pule."
n't have been done by a Dunch,
of kids. They were experts."
Discovered in a field on Ma-
'ple Rd., the Mercury was
brought to town to await (1)
location of its owner, (2) instructions from the owner's insurance carrier, and (3) its
(Continued on Page 5)
irOh, By the   Way*
Any discussion of new businesses that have started up in'
Saline this year should not
omit the Saline Cab Co.- which
is within a hair of breaking
even in its first year of business, according to the owner,
Paul Arms. And of course,, it's
always the first year that's the
toughest. "We're starting better than we figured," said Paul,
"and things look good."
*      *      *
The school system has found
a new transportation manager,
to replace Dwight Reynolds,
who found it was more than he
could handle along with being
principal of. the Intermediate
School. Hereafter, the buses
will roll under the direction of
Francis Lockwood who will also
jdo.'some accounting in the
school superintendent's office.
You'd never recognize City
Hall . . . at least from the inside. It how sports still more
fresh "paint, waxed floors, washed windows, and a general shiny
look. Also sprucing up with
fresh paint this week was Estes
Pharmacy.
Ross Adair is working for
the City of Ann Arbor now, as
a sign painter in the parking
and traffic engineering division.
His store here closed as of Saturday noon, and much of the
stock has been purchased by
Bob   LaRose   at   the   Gambles
store.
* *      *
Since her motor accident in
July, Matilda Braun has' been
staying with Mr. and Mrs. Harold Howe, at 706 Pearl St., Ypsilanti. She has recovered from
the cuts and bruises suffered
in the crash but her granddaughter, Mrs. Stanley McFad-
den, is still at University hospital (room 4-West), with a
broken knee-cap. She's getting
along "pretty well".
* *      *
On the farm, you never really win. The corn, for instance,
is thriving in all the hot damp
weather — but the grain is beginning to rot. Local farmers
tell us* they can't take it in
now, because of the high moisture content.
*     •     *
For the Lewis Belleau family,  August 2  is the date to
Firemen Add a Fan
Istrict Residents
Voice Protests
At Assessment
watch. This year, Louis, Jr.,
left on that date for San Antonio, Texas, where he will take
basic Air Force training (he
intends to specialize in jets).
Seventeen years ago, on August
2, Lewis, Sr., was discharged
from the Air Force ... at San
Antonio. He had entered the
service on August 2. And, finally, the senior Belleaus were
married on August 2.
* *      *
HS Band Director Art Katterjohn has just completed a
seminar at the U-M school of
music on Marching Band Arrangements. The course is
taught by Jerry Bilik, professional arranger from New York
City who writes all the arrangements for the University Marching Band. ".
* *      *
The city is getting more
driveable all the time. Scheduled for completion this week
are the new blacktop jobs on
S. Ann Arbor and Hillcrest
streets (the latter is in Hi-
View subdivision) and contracted to be done before the fair
are sealcoat jobs on McKay and
Owen Place.
by Jackie Tull
Hearing Ross Adair's account
of the fire, which started in
the back of his paint store on
West Michigan Avenue recent-
kettle of water, to put out the
fire.
The fellow who had first told
Ross about the blaze pitched
right in to help, but was having
jhis troubles too. He had found
ly, was almost like sitting a big dish pan, or something
through one of the Laurel and!0f the kind, filled it with water
Hardy movies way back when 'from the sink in the back room.
. . . . then   headed   toward  the  fire,
According  to  Ross,   he  was only   to   find   the" back   door
just returning from his after- closed.   Since his pan had no
noon cup of coffee when a
friend casually mentioned that
his store was on fire. Ross ran
for a bucket ---he says he always keeps several around —
under the counters, by the sink,
up on the shelves, over in the
corners.
But now that the building
was on fire, do you think Ross
could find one single bucket?
Course not.
Finally, though, he did lay
hands on a teakettle and stood
handle, he had to set it down
in order to open the back door
. . . which opened, all-right, but
in the next instant, closed again — night latch and all —
with the pail of water INSIDE
and the,, man OUTSIDE.
-Now the man did just what
anyone else would have done
. -'. he took off just as fast as
he could, around the building
toward the front door. But before he could, get through to
the back of the store again to
by the sink wondering if the ^turn the night latch to open the
fire were out of control yet. The door to pick up his pail- to ex-
water   pressure   seemed   lower tinguish the fire the Fire De-
than usual. While he held the partment arrived!
teakettle under the faucet, he     Ross   and   his   friend   were
fumbled around with the other
hand,  found the number,  and
dialed   the   fire   department.ving.
Then he raced outside, with his       (Continued on Page 10)
nearly   worn   out,   and  plenty
glad to see replacements com-
City Hall was filled to near-
capacity for council* meeting
Monday night. Most of the
council chamber and city office
was taken up by residents of
the Bennett St., Highland Dr.,
Linden Ct. area. Most were
there to protest various features of Special Assessment
District 35, set up to "Build a
storm sewer line from the west
end of the existing sewer, which
dead-ends on W. Bennett, to
the North Branch of the Saline
River.
The sewer will cost an estimated $10,692. Council last
month set up District 35 to
spread the cost on a square
foot.basis among residents and
property-owners in the area to
be drained.
Opening shot for the opposition was fired by attorney Pat
Roesch, who presented a petition signed by 40 property-owners protesting the assessment
on two counts:- (1) The assessment district had been unlawfully set up, and (2) the cost
had been spread unevenly.
Roesch, representing the petitioners, refused to reveal
the legal basis for the two objections, explaining that this
would be brought out in later
action.
Mayor Jack Bennett then
asked for individual objections
. . . and received an ear-full.
Sample comments:
Robert Stevens, E. Highland
Dr. — Obviously this new drain
is being pushed to satisfy someone planning a new building
project. But there's no present
need for it. I'm low man in the
area, and I've never had a drop
of water in my basement.
Alvin Lewis, W. Bennett St.
— My land drains east. The
sewer runs west. How can I be
included in the district? Water
doesn't run uphill!
Arthur Zurlinden, W. Bennett
St. ~ Several of my neighbors'
.lots drain into my garden, then
into a drain, then to a sanitary
sewer. How do we figure participation on that basis?
Howard McCann, W. Bennett
St. — My lot is being assessed
for 100 per cent of its area. But
only half of it drains into this
district.
Douglas Elfring, W. Bennett
St. — I want my lot checked
again. I'm not sure which way
it drains. Let's check it again.
Neil Hurja, Highland Dr. -
Mike Strait, next- 'time i.t
rains, come over and see where
my water runs. It doesn't. It
stays right there.
Mrs. Winifred Gall, Linden
Ct. - I'd like to have my drainage checked again. When I
bought up there, I was assured
there would be no drainage problem.
A request for a re-check of
drainage area was also filed by
William Kealy.
"But," asked Hurja, "what's
the sense 'of going through ail
this re-checking, when Pat
Roesch says the whole thing
is illegal?"-
"That's his opinion/' replied
Councilman George Johnson.
"It's ourstajo/' said Hurja
son to explain the council's reasons for setting up the district.
Said Johnson: "This is a dif-
(Continued on Page 10)
Yellow Light
To Signal
Cops No More
Saline Police Department's
yellow call light, which hung
for years over the Michigan
Ave.-Ann Arbor St. intersection, is about to come down . . .
and with it will come the de-.
partment's wall telephone, on
the outside of the Citizens
Bank.
- Both light and phone were
installed to serve Saline citizens as* their quick contact
with the local police.
Only sometimes it wasn't so5
quick.
When you called the police
under the yellow- light system,
the light went on, signaling the
man in the squad car that he
was wanted on the phone. The
system was somewhat better
than non, but it had loopholes.
If the squad car was elsewhere,
for instance, you might become
discouraged after a few minutes' wait at the phone. You
would hang up. Meanwhile the
squad car would cruise within
sight of the light, spot its yellow beam, and race to the phone
, . only to find the line dead,
with no way of tracing the call.
Luckily, that dead line was
the only fatality under the old
system. "But," says Police
Commissioner Glenn Clark,
"this all seemed kind of useless
to me."
So a new set-up has been
devised for immediate contact
with the police.
With the cooperation of
County Sheriff George Petersen
and his department, Salinians
can now reach the local police
by phoning the sheriffs office
in Ann Arbor. Messages will be
relayed by radio immediately to
the Saline squad car.
"Now, when you call, you get
action right away," says Clark.
The   police   should   arrive   at
your home within three or four
minutes of your call."
When the Saline patrolman
on duty has to leave the radio,
he checks out with the control
center in Ann Arbor, and leaves
a phone number at which he
can be called. So even then,
contact is quick and effective.
Sheriff Petersen confirmed
this service-in a recent letter
to Clark. Says the letter: "I
feel that if the call light is disbanded, the citizens of Saline
will receive much better police
service."    .
' The sheriff's department service will' be available on a 24-
hour-a-day basiSi The number
to call is NO 2-2504.
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the
police may also be reached, as
before, >y phoning HA 9-7000
or HA 9-9330, These phones are
located at Saline City HalL and
;*the** staff*5 there can *kiso reach
Major Bennett asked\ John-^the squad car by radio;