Saline Community Fair kicks off next week

From thrills and spills to livestock and carnival rides, there will be much to see and do next week at the Saline Community Fair. Check out the Saline Fair Tab supplement inside Thursday's Saline Reporter and additional stories inside the newspaper for more information about the annual event.

Among the highlights will be two pre-fair events, with the cement slab tractor pull 10:30 a.m. Sunday, and goat show 1 p.m. and Auto-Enduro Derby 7 p.m. Monday.

The fair official kicks off Tuesday at the Farm Council Grounds near Saline and has a $5 Value Day admission. The price is $7 the rest of the week. Gates open at noon Tuesday. Livestock judging will be going on throughout the day, with a talent show 6 p.m., mini-rod tractor pull at 6:30 p.m. and Miss Saline Pageant at 8 p.m. See The Saline Reporter for a feature story on the pageant’s history.

Gates open 9 a.m. Wednesday and midway rides will be available beginning 3 p.m. Among the highlights Wednesday will be a show by the Hermanns’ Royal Lipizzan Stallions 4 and 7:30 p.m. on the track.

Thursday is Preschool Children’s Day from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The $5 admission includes children’s rides from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Gemini will perform at 1 a.m. Regular price and gate admission begins at 2:30 p.m., with Pedal Power Pull at 2:30 p.m., Haflinger Hitching at 6 p.m. in the horse arena, junior livestock auction at 7 p.m. in Building B and regional/national tractor pull at 7 p.m.

Friday is Old Settlers/Ladies’ Day, with senior citizens 65 years and older admitted for free until 1 p.m. Gates open at 9 a.m. Among the events will be an antique tractor pull at 9 a.m., Ladies’ Day recognition at 1 p.m., Haflinger halter class at 3 p.m., tractor pulls at 7 p.m. and Fourth Avenue performance at 7:30 p.m. in Building B.

Saturday will include a parade at noon and rides opening at 1 p.m. the demolition derby state finals will be held at 7:30 p.m. and include an additional $5 admission fee at the track entrance. Fiddlers ReStrung will perform at 7:30 p.m. and a merchant drawing is set for 9:30 p.m. on the stage.

The Saline Reporter will be there to capture the Miss Saline Pageant and other events on video, and get lots of photos for our next edition. Hope to see you there!

New Sports Repoter Joins Staff

As our faithful readers will learn tomorrow, we have a news sports reporter at The Saline Reporter and Milan News-Leader. Jana Miller, a 2004 Saline High School graduate who earned a bachelor's degree in sports management with an English emphasis from the University of Michigan, started Monday, succeeding Jerry Hinnen, who was at the helm for two years and was my first new-hire for the papers while I was serving as interim editor in the summer of 2006.

Jana started Monday and has been introducing, or in many cases reintroducing, herself to coaches in Saline and Milan. She has a column that will appear in tomorrow's editions and next week will be her first sports section on her own. I am sure readers are just as excited to have her as I am, in particular since we've limped along since Jerry left in mid-August. In fact, poor Milan sports fans, have a young boy throwing a ball at a milk jug as their main art on the sports front in tomorrow's edition. Sorry about that. I know Jana will do better.

Jana is a former high school athlete, a four-year varsity letter winner in high school golf and tennis, and captain of the golf and tennis teams during her junior and senior years of high school. She previously served as Web site editor at Fans Know Best, and was an intern at the Golf Association of Michigan in Farmington Hills. She also served as a coach for Girls on the Run in the fall of 2004. Diners may recognize her from the Travis Pointe Country Club, where she worked as a hostess and server from 2003 to 2006.

Like Jerry did previously, Jana will be in charge of the Saline and Milan sports sections, writing sports stories, formatting and editing sports submissions, taking photographs, designing both sports sections weekly, producing video of high school athletic events and posting to this blog. If it sounds like it's a lot, it is. So, be patient with her as she adjusts to this new position. It's a big responsibility and I am confident she's up for the task.

Please join me in welcoming Jana to our staff.

Good luck, Jana. I am happy to have you on our team.

Grants available in Saline area for arts, fun, education

Did you know there are funds available for non-profits working in recreation and arts? Read this and scoot on over to the Saline Area Schools admin office or go online to get a grant application. They are due FRI AUG 29, 2008. These are funds ripe for the picking. Plus, we need to be sure to renew this millage when it comes on the ballot (poss, 2009).

The purpose of the CARES Millage is to provide funding for recreation programs and facilities that enhance the life of residents within the Saline Area School District community.
Download the 2008-2009 CARES Request for Proposals (Adobe PDF format)
In 1999 the Saline Area Schools and the Coalition for a Quality Community (CQC) cosponsored the Saline Community Wide Planning Process in which approximately 150 community members met for 15 months to answer the question: What needs to happen in the Saline area to address growth and improve the quality of life?
In September 2000, as a result of the recommendations of the Community Wide Planning Committee, voters passed the CARES Recreation Millage for 0.85 mills for 10 years. The millage will provide annual funding for five specific programs and also create a Discretionary Fund which may be allocated annually through a grant process to meet additional recreation needs.
The five specific programs funded annually through CARES are:
Saline Area Senior Citizen Center
Saline Area School Pool
Saline Area School Theater Management
Teen and Adolescent Program
Saline Community Education Recreation and Enrichment Programs
The Discretionary Funds are expected to be more than $50,000 each year and may be granted to any worthwhile projects which enhance the quality of life in the Saline Community through new or expanded programs and/or facilities for the Cultural Arts, Recreation, Enrichment, and Senior Citizens.

Old-fashioned fun

Imagine adults and children walking on stilts and playing old-fashioned games, ladies carrying parasols and an old-fashioned school lesson being taught in a one-room schoolhouse.

All of this was going on Sunday on the grounds of the Weber-Blaess one-room schoolhouse in Saline as part of an old-fashioned ice cream social organized by the Saline Area Schools Historic Preservation Foundation. The event was organized as a fundraiser to maintain the schoolhouse and its programs supporting the history of Saline schools, particularly the history of one-room schoolhouse era. View my video on our Web site.

The event attracted a fairly good-size crowd and the weather was perfect. There was a silent auction, antique cars, ice cream cake, watermelon and a bucket brigade. In addition to bringing the community together, the event provided an education about local history. I learned a lot and saw a number of familiar faces rooted in the community. It's always inspiring to see people come together and volunteer their time to make a better community, a close-knit community steeped in tradition and history.