The weeks after a three day holiday always seem a little weird, but in a good way. This week in particular is strange because the schools started in this area today; so, traffic was up significantly as those parents with 
little princesses and princes who can’t walk to school or ride the buses are transported by dads on the way to work or moms still in their pajamas. Perhaps many of them are “schools of choice” kids who can’t ride the buses, but I doubt it. More likely, they are our local versions of Honey Boo-Boo. I guess the short week helps make the transition back into the school routine a bit easier for the kids.
Short work weeks are always a bit confusing, because the start feels like it should be Monday, even if it is Tuesday. By the time you get used to that, it’s already Wednesday and the week’s half over already – Yea! Wouldn’t it be great if every work week were only four days? There are some European countries that have proposed doing just that. They are looking at having four 10-hour workdays and then three day weekends every week. I could see that, since many already work 10-hour days (most without the benefit of overtime).
The people who really don’t like these short weeks are the garbage collectors, who have to make up that lost collection day by doubling up somewhere. Of course they will start entering the fall leaf collection period soon, which really doubles up their work with recycling bags of leaves.
Also this week…
The new minimum wage increase started in Michigan yesterday and so far the world has not come to an end.
The wage for our food servers and other minimum wage jobs moved from $7.40 an hour to $8.15. It will continue to gradually increase to $9.25 hour in 2018. Of course there was grousing about this by many small business owners who fear that raising prices to cover the new costs will drive away customers. The bottom line; however, is that this increase will impact only 4-5% of the workforce. Meanwhile, a new study commissioned by the Michigan Association of United Ways finds 40 percent of Michigan households with at least one worker don’t make enough money to meet basic survival needs.
The countdown to the next big weekend in Milford started on September 1. The big Home Tour Weekend is September 20 and 21. The 38th annual Milford Home Tour will take place on that Saturday and Sunday, with 5 historic Milford homes offered for public viewing on the tour. Tickets for the Tour are on sale now at several locations in Milford – Acorn Farm, Main Street Art, Your Nesting Place, the Milford Township office and of course at the Milford Historical Museum. Tickets are $15 for adults and $13 for youth and seniors. The tickets are good for both days and include visits to the Log Cabin in South Side Park, a visit to the Milford Historical Museum and a walking tour of Oak Grove Cemetery. For more on the Home Tour, click here.
In addition to the Home Tour, the big weekend includes The Milford Car Show on Sunday all down Main 
Street and into Central Park, with over 300 cars on display; and a Tractor Show out at the Huron Valley State Bank parking lot near the corner of Milford Road and GM Road. On Sunday the Milford Rotary also stages its annual rubber duck race in Central Park, this year expanded to include a family fun picnic event starting at 10 AM. Several hundred bright yellow rubber ducks are dumped into Pettibone Creek, which leads to the Huron River; with the first few 
ducks to make it to the catch net at the end leading to prizes for the duck owners. The first place duck earned its owner $2,000 last year. Events for the kids, plus food are part of the family fun day. Plan on spending the day in Milford on that Sunday. There will be something going on for everyone in your family.
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