Talking Taylor Schools: 2015-08-30

Thursday, September 3, 2015

FREE BRUNCH AND FISHING with your grandparents at Heritage Park Sept. 13

Angler's Marine Prop & Sail, Penn Station and Dunkin' Donuts are sponsoring the first annual "Free Brunch & Fishing with Your Grandparents Day" at Heritage Park on Sunday, September 13.

The event, created by the Ecology Center and the City of Taylor, will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Everyone interested should meet at the Activities Building.

September 13 is Grandparents Day, and this will be a great opportunity for grandparents and their grandchildren to have a quick bite to eat at the Heritage Park Activities Building (next to the Sheridan Center and behind the library) before going out to Coan Lake for a little fishing.

Penn Station will be providing sandwiches and bottled water, and Dunkin' Donuts will be providing donuts, coffee and hot chocolate.

The Ecology Center will provide fishing instruction, equipment and bait. If you have your own equipment, please bring it along.

Some gift baskets will be raffled off.

For more information, call (734) 306-5235.

COMEDY NIGHT to benefit key programs and organizations

The Taylor Public Schools Foundation for Educational Excellence and The Taylor Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force are holding a Taylor Comedy Night Fundraiser to be held at 7 p.m., Friday, September 25, at the Taylor Knights of Columbus Hall, 24900 Brest Road.

The proceeds of this fundraiser will benefit the following programs:

The Foundation’s Project Support Program to assist the Taylor School District with high quality projects and programs for grades K-12 in Taylor schools.
The Taylor Summer Arts & Prevention Academy which provides art instruction, drama, dance, exercise, nutrition, gardening and substance abuse education to at-risk youth in grades 6 through 12 in Taylor.

Tickets are $20 each and will feature nationally known comedians Kevin McPeek and Sal Demilio.

Tickets are available during regular business hours at the Taylor School District Administration Office at 23303 Northline Road, Taylor, or by calling (734) 374-1200, ext. 4 or (313) 295-7313.

Basket raffles, a 50/50 raffle, soft drinks, beer, wine and pizza will be available.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and showtime begins at 7 p.m.

TAYLOR ON WAtCH to hold second neighborhood watch meeting at Northwest Park Sept. 10

Taylor on Watch is an educational program that focuses on crime prevention and teaches residents and businesses how to make it more difficult to become the victim of crime.

Blocks and neighborhoods who want to become more invested in their immediate community can learn crime prevention and security tips via Taylor on Watch meetings. Small groups of neighborhoods can join together and learn what to watch for to protect their families and their neighborhoods.

Police Chief Mary Sclabassi held four regional meetings last year that served as a great introduction to the program.

This year, she plans on more in-depth development of the anti-crime education.

A Taylor on Watch meeting is scheduled in the Northwest Park outdoor pavilion near the swimming pool at 7 p.m. on September 10. Northwest Park is located off Van Born Road between Beech Daly and Inkster.

Another is scheduled at Clarence Randall Elementary School at 7 p.m. on September 23. The school is located at 8699 Robert.

Crime prevention programs like these are a priority of both Chief Sclabassi and Mayor Rick Sollars.

"We can all sit down, hear about best practices when it comes to neighborhood safety efforts, and also share concerns about specific parts of our city," Mayor Sollars said about the program.

Police Chief Mary Sclabassi agreed. “The police cannot be everywhere, all the time,” she said. “We need eyes and ears in the community. We are constantly aided by what concerned residents see and hear. And, given the proper education in what to look for, they can make their own neighborhoods safer. It’s all a learning process.”

For more information, contact the Taylor Police Department at (734) 287-6611.

READING CORPS holds second annual Oktoberfest Oct. 34

The Taylor Reading Corps, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that recruits, trains and supervises adult reading mentors that aid Taylor School District students preschool through third grade, is hosting its second annual Oktoberfest at the Taylor Conservatory & Botanical Gardens on October 3.

The event will run from 2-9 p.m. and is only $2 to enter.

Food stations featuring Chicken Coop, Jay Ray's and Malek Al Kabob will be available.

Live bands will feature the Gasoline Gypsies, Social Bandits, Mom Barley, The Tom Toms, John Bardy and the Keys to Your Heart and Jay Fry.

There will be plenty of games.

College football will also be playing on the big screen.

Sponsor packages and in-kind donations are still available. If you are interested, please contact the Reading Corps at (734) 225-1213.

NORTHWEST POOL to remain open through Labor Day

With an extended forecast calling for very hot weather through Labor Day weekend, the City of Taylor is keeping the Northwest Park pool open Friday through Monday.

The pool was originally scheduled to close, but weather forecasts are calling for temperatures in the high 80s and sunny days on the weekend.

The pool will be open from noon-6 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, September 4-7. After Labor Day Monday, the pool will close for the season.

Attendance has tripled at the pool after 2014. Mayor Rick Sollars and the current administration reopened the pool in 2014 after it had been closed for three years, due to budget restrictions. It is the only outdoor pool in the City.

After the Labor Day closure, the City plans to finish resurfacing the entire pool deck.