FentonSays.com Articles

Hello Fenton friends! Planning is humming along for this year’s 175th Celebration! We have already held our first event and our second is just two weeks away!

Our biggest event by far will be the “Family Picnic & Concert” in Bush Park on Tuesday, June 30th. This is going to be a really fun night… more details to follow. What I am looking for right now is a few people who are willing/able to help out with the organization of this event. There are several small/medium jobs available. PLEASE email me ASAP if you can help out! Remember, events like this only come along… well… once every 25 years!

Thanks!

Holly Hodgkin
Special Events Chairman
“Our Town” Fenton – 175th Celebration
hhodgkin@charter.net

Happy New Year! As you can probably see, FentonSays hasn’t had an article posted in over a month. With the busy holiday season, I’m sure sending in your news, announcements and comments about Fenton, Michigan to FentonSays was not your top priority. But it is now 2007 and there is a lot happening in our “little” town. FentonSays is YourSpace. It is easy and FREE to get your news and information pertaining to Fenton published right here. All you need to do is email the information you would like published and we’ll get it done. What would you like to share? Birth announcements, business specials, garage sales (well maybe more of these in the spring), political commentary, thank you messages, complaints. As long as it is related to Fenton, Michigan it is fair game for submission.

E-mail us with your Fenton news and articles at admin@fentonsays.com today!

This is to announce the publication of “The Village Players” – A narrative history of the Village of Fenton, 1937-1941. The book is 307 pages in length and includes over 60 photos of people and places in the old village of Fenton…near the end of the Depression years and just before the nation was plunged into war on December 7th 1941. The title reflects the words of William Shakespeare that “the world is stage” and we all play many parts. The “players” in the many scenes of village government, business, schools, entertainment and social life are presented in this book. The research for the book was conducted through interviews of several persons who were “players” at the time, a detailed review of all issues of the Fenton Independent and the Fenton Courier , the town’s weekly newspapers, for those years, and the review of books, files and other material reposing in the Fenton Museum.

The book will sell for $15 and will be available at the Lil Professor Book Store, the Fenton Museum and at the offices of Harris Financial Corporation. $5 of the proceeds from each book will go to the Fenton Historical Society to support their operations.

Mail orders will be accepted at Harris Financial Corporation, 1115 N. Leroy Street, Fenton, MI 48430. Mail ordered copies will sell for $15 plus $2 for S/H.

The book will be available by December 15th, 2006 and would make an ideal gift for those interested in the history of Fenton. The author is Robert G. Harris, Fenton High School graduate in the Class of 1941.

Occasionally I can find something on the clearance rack at Wal-Mart. But that’s real spotty. When relatives come to visit from out of state, they’d really like to get something with “Fenton” on it as a souvenir. If you have a computer with an internet connection (and I know you do! you are reading this after all), then point your web browser to:
http://www.cafepress.com/fentonmich.

There you will find a selection of cool souvenir items with Fenton, Michigan prominently featured. Check it out! And let them know that UncleFrog sent you!

Do you have a special event to be held in or around Fenton, Michigan that you would like to tell the public about? That is one of the purposes of FentonSays.com! This is your community – your voice – your space. This site is and about what is going on in Fenton. So please do not hesitate to submit your event information to admin@fentonsays.com and we will get it published right away.

How do people find this information? Google. This site gets good traffic from people searching about things in Fenton. Go ahead and try it for yourself. FentonSays had lots of traffic around the time when Target was opening in Fenton. People were searching Google to find out when it was going to open, if there were jobs still available, what was going on with the traffic signals on Owen Road, and a whole host of other topics. Uncle Ray’s Dairyland was mentioned in an announcement for a Relay for Life event recently and we did see people searching for this. Harris Financial conducted their annual Charity Golf Outing and we saw people searching on this as well. Those are just a few examples on how local groups, businesses and charities have increased their exposure for their special events.

All you have to do it email your information to admin@fentonsays.com and you too can get FREE exposure via the internet for your special event or function! If you already have an announcement composed in Word, for example, just attached your Word document to an email to FentonSays.com and your work is done. Please be sure to send it to us in a format that is easy to copy and paste (don’t send us a picture or pdf file and ask us to retype all the information, please).

What about pictures and graphics? Yes, we can have those displayed here on FentonSays.com if you have these pictures or graphics hosted on your own web space. To include a picture or graphic, just let us know the URL of the graphic file with your e-mail contribution.

Often times we get questions about how long the announcement can be. The simple answer is, as long as you want it to be. There isn’t a charge for any of it, so go ahead and provide as much detail as you think the public would want. Be sure to use words that you think people would enter into a Google search to find your information.

It is FAST (just send a quick email) … It is FREE (absolutely no charge to you for these announcements) … It is FUN (read through our archives and you’ll soon agree).

Email your event information to FentonSays.com at admin@fentonsays.com to get your FREE event announcement!

Did you hear the sirens this morning?  Usually they only blare during the testing period on the first Saturday of the month.  Today was not that day.  So it had me a little concerned.  Turns out it was just some “fluke” thing.  What the heck are we supposed to do when we hear a siren and there obviously aren’t any weather related issues (wasn’t it a beautiful day today?!)?  Anyways, we can all relax now.  I know you were on pins and needles.

When: Saturday, August 12, 2006
Where: Fenton Farms
Registration: Starts at 7:00 AM
Shot Gun Start: At 8:00 AM
Cost per player: $50
Local Charity: Avalon Hospice’s Healing Hearts Camp for children

Harris Financial of Fenton, Michigan is proud to be hosting their annual charity golf outing again this year at Fenton Farms. Proceeds will go to benefit Avalon Hospice’s Healing Hearts Camp for children.

The $50 per person is the “Early Bird Special” and is subject to availability. This includes 18 holes of scramble format golf, a cart, continental breakfast, and lunch donated by Woodhaven Senior Community. Some gifts and prizes will also be included. Call Harris Financial at 810-629-4900 for more information or to sign up. Checks should be made payable to “Harris Financial Charity Golf Outing.” Feel free to sign up whole teams, or just an individual or two. Come one – come all – we’ll have a ball !!

Avalon Hospice’s annual Healing Heart Camp is generally held the last week of July at the YMCA’s Camp Copneconic in Fenton. The day camp is an outreach program available to children of Avalon patients and members of the community who have sustained the loss of a loved one.

Attendees participate in specialized age-appropriate activities, intended to help them identify feelings, understand their reactions to grief, share with others who have experienced a loss similar to theirs, and learn to apply healthy strategies for coping.

If you would like more information about Avalon or our Healing Hearts Camp, please feel free to call 810-733-7250.

I’m so mad I could spit nails.  Are we REALLY hearing chatter about a THIRD rate hike in our water bill?  You know what, my water softener was working just fine before all of these so called improvements were forced upon us.  I don’t care if the so called consultants gave the city bad information.   I don’t care about the excuses.  And I don’t care that the decisions makers are too stupid to realize that price increases create a natural disincentive to use their product (water in this case).  THEY NEED TO GO.  Our leaders have lead us by the nose to stinky arm pits, brown lawns and higher utility bills.  That will be your legacy.  Citizens of Fenton, attend the meetings on this and have your voice heard.  Mine is almost gone from screaming so loudly.

Does anybody remember when you could drive from Dibbleville to S. Long Lake

The City of Fenton is considering applying to the State of Michigan and MDOT to take control of Silver Lake Road in Fenton.  The idea is that if the City does not assume control of Silver Lake Road, that the only improvement that is scheduled to be made is a simple repaving and not until 2009.  If the City of Fenton can gain control over Silver Lake Road, it can be widened to three lanes and curbs can be installed to assist with drainage.  All for an estimated price tag of $3.8 million.  I find this interesting especially in light of this recent Water Department project which has put the burden of two significant water rate hikes on the citizens in the last few years.  Unexpected costs due to increased chemical costs first, and then not enough sewer hook ups causing yet another big water rate hike.  Do we have the skills and talents we need to lead this City, who will present accurate information and estimates, and who can manage this mega-projects?  As far as I’m concerned the jury is still out.  I’m personally cautiously optimistic, and admittedly stupidly so, that we are equipped to handle these multi-million dollar projects.

These gas prices are crazy.  I remember when gas prices were in the low teens.  And I mean cents.  Course I can remember when Coke was a nickel and movie didn’t hardly cost a quarter.  Guess that’s what I get for remembering.  Anyways, I have been trying out that gas prices link you have in the left column there under the Fenton links place.  Got to tell you, those prices from the different gas stations in the area are pretty accurate.  That’s a nice service you got here and a nice resource.  Now before I head out to fill up on gas, I can come here and check what the gas prices are in the Fenton area.  Sure beats driving around burning up gas trying to find a better gas price.  Just wanted to say thanks and keep up the good work.  This can be a nice resource for us local Fenton folks.

[editorial note:  You are most certainly welcome.  And thank you for contributing to FentonSays!  All comments and contributions welcome.]

Ran across a web site that tries to match people looking for roommates with people who are looking for a place to live in and around Fenton, Michigan. I cannot attest to the quality of the site, but I thought it was an interesting idea and wanted to share it. Here is the link:

Find a roommate or a room in Fenton, MI

Sure would like to hear from some Delphi workers how things are going.  I know what they say in the paper, but what is the real scoop?  If you work for Delphi, give us a holler.  I’ll check back later to see what you say.

I know this is FentonSays, but I just wanted to let everyone know what a great time I’ve been having at the Linden Summer Happenings this year.  Nice job everyone!  And thank goodness the weather cooperated.