You haven’t lived in Milford until you’ve…

September 1, 2012

Visited the Milford Feed Store. Yes, Milford has a Feed Store; it’s actually called the Milford Feed Company and it is tucked away at the end of Houghton St (south off Atlantic), just before you’d reach the river. It actually looks like a place that would be called The Feed Store and has a barn out back, too.

In the past almost every small town and village in America had a feed store, especially the towns that were oriented around agriculture, as Milford was originally. In many cases the feed store was associated with the local grain elevator. Feed stores didn’t start out to be pet food stores, either; they were the places where you could get feed for the livestock on the farm. You can still do that at the Milford Feed Store, in addition to getting lots of different and mostly all natural foods for your domestic pets.

The Milford Feed Store has been around since the early 70’s and at one time was in the building that now houses Club Pet on Commerce Rd. That building was apparently the VFW hall at one time before it was the Milford Feed Store. The store has always been owned and run by Kathleen Percy. Kathleen is a very knowledgeable person about  the food needs of various animals and about how to identify and deal with food allergies that your pet may have.  She is also a joy to talk to about your pets or anything else. Unlike a hired clerk in some chain pet store, Kathleen works with a passion about what she’s doing and shares that passion with pet owners or livestock owners who venture into her store.

The Milford Feed Store is really one of those old-fashion, small town stops that have all but disappeared in most areas. Milford is fortunate to have retained both its small town flavor and many of the unique little stores that characterized small town America for decades. I’ll be writing about more of Milford’s small-town stores in future articles. For now, try the adventure of visiting the Milford Feed Store. Plan to spend a little time looking around at things you won’t see in the typical pet food store and spending some time talking to Kathleen. She’ll want to know all about you and your pets and you’ll leave feeling better about what you’re doing to meet their food needs. If you need a chew toy or other pet supplies, she’s got that, too. Try the cow knee caps. She’ll tell you that dogs love them.

Leave a Comment » | About Milford Michigan | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

You haven’t lived in Milford until…

August 23, 2012

You’ve seen the waterfalls of Milford. Yes the plural is correct. There are at least two waterfalls in the Village of Milford. The most obvious and best known waterfall is now called the Mill Valley Falls, which is located behind the Mill Valley Strip Mall on Main street right where it branches off into Main street to the north and N. Milford Rd to the northwest (at the Flatiron Building with the waterwheel and geese statue).

Thousands of cars a day pass by the Upper Mill Pond just north of the Mill Valley complex and see the Upper Mill Pond. I’m sure that they wonder where the water goes. They can actually see the top of the falls at the south end of the pond as they pass by; however, I wonder how many have actually seen the falls. It is now quite beautiful, due to the efforts of the Mill Valley owners, who spend quite a bit to have it totally landscaped and a new stairway to the top installed. There are little seating areas along the path to the top and an area to sit and listen to the falls at the top too.  It’s really quite soothing to sit there and listen to the water falling over the concrete stepped falls. This falls is about 20-30’ in height, so the water has some force behind it. After heavy storms and during the spring thaw the water flow can be quite rapid and the falls become almost a raging torrent. It has a pretty good waterfall roar almost all the time.

The other waterfall within the Village is not nearly so dramatic. In fact it is so peaceful and pleasant that it is one of those places that you just want to lay out a blanket and take a nap. It is off lower Mill Pond, next to the Pettibone Creek Powerhouse. You can’t really get to this falls, but you can get close enough to see it and hear it. You can either go in through Central Park (to the upper parking lot) or come in off W. Liberty, which is reached from Commerce by turning left (South) onto Cabinet St at the entrance to the Prospect Hill shopping center (The Kroger Shopping Center) and then east on W. Liberty until you get to the Pettibone Creek Powerhouse (itself to be the topic of another of these missives). The Lower Mill Pond Falls is right next to the Powerhouse, on the west side. It is probably only a 10 foot drop. But is makes a nice sound and is quite pleasant sit and watch and listen too.

So, there you have the waterfalls of Milford. If you haven’t ever taken the time to go behind the Mill Valley Center, to the lower level, or deep into Central Park to the Power house, then you haven’t really lived in Milford. Take the time to go find these wonderful little places and enjoy them. Take the whole family. Kids love waterfalls.

Next time I’ll talk about the Pettibone Creek Powerhouse, which you will see, if you visit the Lower Mill Pnd waterfall.

Leave a Comment » | About Milford Michigan | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

A slice of Americana right here at home…

August 19, 2012

I recently spent a few days meeting with most of the local merchants and businesses while soliciting support for the upcoming Milford Home Tour. The experience gave me pause to reflect on how idyllic a setting the Village of Milford really is. I got to meet with the Butcher and the Baker, the Barber  and the Feed Store proprietors, because we still have all of those things in our little Village. I met the shoe store owner, several clothing store owners and a couple of our jewelry store owners, too. Then there were the furniture stores, the candy store, the local photographer and the kitchen/cooking store. Of course the more prosaic stores are there too – the auto parts stores the drug stores and grocery stores. Finally I got to meet with most of the owners of our great local restaurants. See the header at the top of this page for a composite view of some of the stores of our downtown.

The thing that stood out for me was that all of these little, individual businesses still existed right here in the Village of Milford and that, for the most part, you could park once and walk to all of them by going up and down Main St. You just don’t find such a great assortment of stores and businesses in small towns anymore. Milford is far enough off the beaten path to have avoided the fate that so many small towns suffered when so-called “big box” stores moved in and took all of the customers away. Milford also had a good master plan for growth and strong and visionary leadership who carefully managed what and where growth took place, in order to preserve a strong downtown.  It worked and we still have a viable downtown that takes advantage of the great historical buildings that are there and the small town feeling that permeates everything.

Many of the local merchants that I talked to have had a tough time recently, with the down economy taking its toll, even here. Every one of them said there’s no place else that they’d rather be than in Milford, even in this economy. That says a lot, too.

Several of the local businesses decided to support the Milford Historical Society and its 36th annual Home Tour during the third weekend of September. The fact that we have the local Milford Historical Society, with its museum and a Home Tour that’s been going on for 36 years also speaks volumes about small town America and our little Village. People in Milford value and have preserved the fine old housing stock that grew up during the mid to late 19th Century. Milford was never a rich town, but it has preserved the bigger, nicer homes that were built by its early merchants and businessmen, as well as the smaller homes that were occupied by the workers of the day. There are no real mansions in Milford, but there are some fine old homes that have the best features of homebuilding of that era. Some of them are on display each year for the Home Tour.

So, if you get the opportunity to get out to Milford for the Home Tour, try to come on September 15th so that you’ll also have time to wander around our beautiful downtown. Most of the downtown stores are not open on Sunday, but on that weekend some will be, because there is also the big Milford Car Show downtown, too.  You’ll be able to easily find our Butcher and Baker and many of the other businesses that I’ve mentioned. The Feed Store is a little harder to find, but it’s there, tucked away off a residential side street (Houghton St) on the south east side of town. If you have an animal of almost any type you can find feed and other things for it there, along with a proprietor who’s more than happy to chat with you about your pets.

Leave a Comment » | About Milford Michigan | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

Local bits and pieces…

August 16, 2012

Things can’t be that bad in the economy – I’ve heard from Kim Galbraith, owner of 2 Moms & a Mop,  a few times lately that she can’t find people to work on her cleaning crews. You would think that with an unemployment rate stuck near 9% it wouldn’t be all that hard to find people who want work. I guess you’d be wrong. Perhaps it’s that last word – WORK – that scares people off. Kim pays well and even extends a benefits package to full-time employees. She is looking for reliable workers who will show up for work and work to the standards that she has set for her business. If you or someone you know is looking for employment and are not scared off if it involves work, click here for an application that you can send in to Kim.

An opportunity to support a local tradition – I’ve spent the last two weeks soliciting support for the upcoming Milford Home Tour. Milford has one of the only successful home tours in Oakland County. Our Milford Home Tour, which is presented by the Milford Historical Society, is now in its 37th year. I’ve got lots of sponsor packets out and I hope that things have improved enough in the economy that local businesses can spend a couple hundred dollars to support the Milford Historical Society and this traditional fall event. Call or email me if you’d like to be a sponsor or a support of the Milford Home Tour. Supporter packages start as low as $200.

The third weekend in September (14th and 15th) will be another of those busy weekends in Milford. The Home Tour is on both days; however, Sunday is crammed full of things to do. There is the Milford Car Show, the largest annual car show in this area, that takes up all of Main St and runs from about 8 am (check in time and positioning cars on the street) until 4 pm. The actual display time and voting time for the public is 11 am until 4 pm. For more on the Milford Car show and how to register a car, click here.

Then there’s the Tractor Show out at the Huron Valley State Bank parking lot at the corner of Milford Rd and GM Rd. Tractors of all vintages and type will be on display there.  That show runs from 11 am until 5 pm on Sunday only.

Finally there’s the annual Rotary Club of Milford Duck Race. Thousands of yellow rubber ducks will be dumped into the Huron River east of the Village and will be swimming frantically for Central Park where the first duck across the finish line will win a big prize for its owner. To find out how to get a duck in the race click here.

Milford honored to host the 2012 Oakland County Heritage Conference – The Annual Oakland County Heritage Conference will be held in Milford this year on September 19th at the Milford Presbyterian Church. This conference, which is sponsored by the Oakland County Economic Development and Community Affairs Office will be focusing upon what makes someplace a “Place”, a destination. Milford was chosen for its strong integration of its historical downtown and Historic District into the fabric of the community. The meeting attendees will be taking walking tours of the historic downtown area and of a portion of the Historic District. The group is particularly interested in how Milford has been able to successfully conduct the Home Tour for 37 years. For more on this conference, click here.

Of course to keep up on a daily basis with what’s going on inthe Milford/Highland area, go to my web site http://www.movetomilford.com for the complete upcoming events calendar.

Leave a Comment » | About Milford Michigan | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

Up next in Milford – the Home Tour and Car Show…

August 14, 2012

The warm afterglow of a successful (albeit a bit wet) Milford Memories is fading fast and we turn our attention to the next big thing – the third weekend in September when the Milford Home Tour is the weekend event. That same weekend, on Sunday only there is the biggest car show in the area – the Milford Car Show – and a Tractor Show. In addition the local Rotary Club holds their annual rubber duck race on the Huron River on Sunday. It’s a fun-filled weekend for the whole family.

The 36th annual Milford Home Tour will feature tours through 5 Milford homes, as well as having the Milford Historical Museum, the log cabin next to the firehouse and the Pettibone Creek Powerhouse open to tour. Go to the Milford Historical Society Web site for more details on the Home Tour as they become available. Tickets are available ahead of time at the Museum for $15.

The Car Show takes place on Sunday and takes up most of Main Street and features hundreds of cars from classics to cruisers. The Car show is judged by the attendees in several classes and the best in each class wins an award. Then there is the Sponsors Award, which is usually given to the car judged by the event sponsors as the best in the show.  For more on the Car Show and to get a registration form, if you’d like to be in the show, go to the Web site – http://www.milfordcarshow.com

The Tractor Show is held on Sunday out at the Huron Valley State Bank on the corner of Milford Road and GM Road. Tractors of all vintages and from all around the area are featured. The Tractor Show is run by Bill Crawford, a local farmer who lives and works on the Crawford Farm,  a  Sesquicentennial farm in Milford Township that has been in the Crawford family for the entire time.

The Duck Race is a fund raiser event for the local Rotary Club and features thousands of yellow rubber ducks dumped into the Huron River upstream of Milford’s Central Park. The numbered ducks then “race” down the river, with the owner of the first duck to the finish line in Central Park winning a cash prize. It’s always a lot of fun to root for your duck in the frantic race to the finish. For more on how to buy a duck for the race go to http://www.milfordducks.com/

So mark your calendars now for September 15 & 16 and plan on spending the weekend in Milford. Come out from the events and visit some of our local stores and fine restaurants while you’re there. The newest restaurant on Main St – The Palate – will be open by then.  All of our restaurants will be open in Saturday and many will also be open Sunday for the Car Show. It’s always fun to visit Milford and even more so when there are so many things to do.

Leave a Comment » | About Milford Michigan | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

Stop by Granny’s Garage Sale

August 7, 2012

Garage saleThe Milford Historical Society will conduct a Granny’s Garage Sale on the front porch of the Milford Historical Museum during the first two days of the Milford Memories Festival. The sale, which features collectibles, antiques and garage sale items (but no clothing), will run from 9 am until 4 pm on Friday, Aug 10, and Saturday, Aug 11.

In addition to the garage sale the Historical Society will have two tents on the front lawn of the museum. One tent will contain a display of items that are normally displayed in the museum, including native American artifacts that were collected by a Society member. The other tent will be used to sell the items that are normally sold inside the museum, including rare photo prints and the Historical Society book “Ten Minutes Ahead Of The Rest Of The World”, the history of Milford, Michigan.

People planning on visit the Milford Memories Festival are encouraged to stop by the Museum and get acquainted with the Milford Historical Society. Perhaps you will find a treasure among the items on sale at Granny’s Garage Sale.

The Milford Historical Society was founded in 1973 by a group of citizens who recognized the importance of the heritage of their community and wished to share it with their contemporaries and preserve it for those who will follow. To these ends, the members have established a museum, a research and archives room, and have sponsored, in conjunction with the Milford Township Library and the State of Michigan Library, the microfilming of the Milford Times newspaper beginning with the first issue in 1871. The Society’s continuing projects include an annual home tour, various research projects and an effort toward local architectural preservation.

Leave a Comment » | About Milford Michigan | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

Getting ready for a huge weekend

August 2, 2012

Milford’s summer festival Milford Memories may not be at the level of the Ann Arbor Art Fair, but for a little Village the size of Milford it’s HUGE. It’s also huge with the various arts ads crafts vendors who attend every year. It is such a success that there is a waiting list of vendors trying to get a booth slot at Milford Memories. I’ve talked with many of the vendors who tell me that this is one of their favorite street festivals of the year and a very good one for business for them. Even during the very down years of the “Great Recession” they were still selling their wares to the visitors at Milford Memories.

The Milford Memories Festival draws crowds estimated at over 100,000 people into Milford over the three days – Friday through Sunday. That’s a lot of people for a small village to accommodate and getting a parking slot close to the downtown area can be tough. Since I only live two blocks from the north end of the festival, I get lots of requests to park at my house from friends and church people in West Bloomfield and Orchard Lake, where we lived before moving to Milford in 1999. We try to accommodate them all and certainly welcome people to visit us while they are out for the festival.

My house also happens to be right on the primary detour route for getting people around the closed off streets of downtown. That makes it tough to back out of my own driveway during the weekend, but we still manage. We also get lots of foot traffic by our front and side yards during the weekend, which, again, I don’t mind. I just hope that passers-by don’t use my yard as the dump for their empty water bottles or food wrappers.

There are lots of events planned for the weekend – 5 & 10K races; blind canoe races; a civil war encampment, with canon firing daily; an Art in the Village art show and much more. Click here to see a schedule all of the events associated with Milford Memories over the three days. The Milford Historical Society will be holding a Granny’s Garage Sale Friday and Saturday from 9 am until 4 pm on the front porch of the Milford Historical Museum. We also plan on having a display of museum items in a tent out front and another tent to sell some of the items that the museum normally sells when it is open. If enough docent volunteers can be found, we’ll also have the Museum open on Friday and Saturday.  The Museum is on Commerce Rd just a block east of Main Street, so it will be an easy detour for you if you are walking the whole festival.

Believe it or not there are a few other things going on in the Milford/Highland area that weekend, if street festivals are not your bag. One event of interest to history buffs might be Kensington Colonial Days out at Kensington Metropark.  For the list of other things going on, go to my web site www.movetomilford.com and check out Upcoming Community Events.

So rest up this weekend and early next week and get yourself ready for three days of fun and shopping  in Milford at the Milford Memories Festival or participating in some or all of the events going on during the weekend. And remember to stop by the Granny’s garage Sale at the Museum. I’ll be there most of the day on Friday.

Leave a Comment » | About Milford Michigan | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

Scenes from the Crit…

July 30, 2012

Action from the Milford Crit

If you missed this weekend’s Milford Crit; you missed a good time and some good bicycle racing. If you just didn’t know what a Criterium is all about, here are some scenes that I shot at the event.

The racing is fast and furious, especially on the last lap. The turns are especially exciting when the pack is bunched up. Enjoy this short YouTube video and plan on attending next year’s Milford Crit.

http://youtu.be/3TLtZPZ3QXA

You can actually get fairly close to the action at a Crit and when the bikes go through that corner at speed it’s a little tlike that NASCAR shot where rhe cars are zooming by – you hear it and feel it.

Leave a Comment » | About Milford Michigan | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

Ignorance rears its ugly head in Milford…

July 30, 2012

Over the weekend ignorance made an ugly appearance in Milford. Some disgruntled person without the intelligence to figure out a positive way to channel what is apparently a large load of hate against one of the local candidates for office took out that hate on his campaign signs with a spray paint can. I sincerely hope they catch this miscreant and prosecute him/her to the fullest. Hopefully the perpetrator  will be required to pay for all of the damaged campaign signs.

There are ways that people of any intelligence at all can express their displeasure with a candidate. The most obvious way is to work to help another candidate elected. People of lower intelligence resort to things like heckling at campaign rallies or speeches; or perhaps just emailing a rant or two to the candidate. Really ignorant people resort to physical acts like the spray painting of campaign signs aor the theft of those signs.

So if you know who the low-life is who did this deed over the weekend, let the Milford Police know. Destruction of campaigns signs is against the law. Idiots like this will be spray painting graffiti or racial slurs on building next . They need professional help and a trip to the woodshed. Usually people who are this stupid are also dumb enough to like to brag about their vandalism, so keep an ear out for a braggaing fool and report him/her to the police.

Leave a Comment » | About Milford Michigan | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

Git to the Crit…

July 27, 2012

There are lots of things to do this weekend in the Milford area; however, only one is a must see spectator event – The Milford Crit. Milford is fortunate to be hosting its fourth Criterium on the streets downtown and through Central Park. Criteriums (Crits for short) are high speed bike races that are usually held on relatively short tracks in urban settings. Crits are very big in Europe and are gaining favor here, since they give the spectators more of a chance to see the riders and the race progressing than longer road courses. They also allow the spectators to walk the course and see the race from various different views. The Milford Crit course is .92 miles and laid out along the entire downtown area – to see the course map, click here.

Crits involve high speed s and the occasional big wreck at sharp corners as everyone in the pack tries to get the best position for the turn. The race usually involves a big pack of riders, with perhaps an occasional break-away boy one or a few riders. There is drafting involved and lots of strategy by the riders. Then there is the sprint to the finish, which is sort of like the last lap of a close NASCAR race.  All the while, the spectators are only a few feet away from the activity, so you get great views of all of the action.

The event will also have various cycling vendors setting up shop to sell cycling clothing and bicycle racing parts. There will be refreshment stations, too. The event will kick off with three fun races for kids in three age groups. The younger kids will race down Main St. The older kids ( 11 to 14 years old) will get to make a lap of the actual race course. All kids who race must wear a CPSC bicycle helmet and there will be a waiver to sign. Click here for more details on the kids race. There’s even a Healthy Lifestyles Expo on Main Street in the CarQuest Parking lot, presented by DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital, with representatives from various health and fitness clubs, local bike shops, and even a Farmer’s Market.

The Milford Crit is special again this year because it is also the Michigan State Championship for Criterium riders. There are over $5,900 in prizes for the winners of various classes and races. The race is presented by the Huron Valley Athletic Club and is held under a permit from the US Cycling organization. So come on out to Milford on Sunday for some exciting bicycle racing. For all of the information about this must see event, click here to go to their Web site. Your mantra for this weekend should be “Let’s all git to the Crit.”

Leave a Comment » | About Milford Michigan | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »