April is here, crocuses are appearing in front yards, green shoots are pushing their way up through the earth, Hermanns have put out their patio. Spring is coming people!
It’s a great time to Spring Clean and sort out your stuff, my home has been through some changes recently, the eldest moved out before Covid, the youngest moved out for college and that just left me, Mark and the dogs looking at each other thinking “Wow this house is a lot bigger than I realized” then the youngest came back with all her stuff… so not so big anymore. All this coming and going has me looking at things and thinking “Do I need you anymore?”
Saturday April 29th brings the annual Old Village Yard and Trunk Sales, this is a great way to sustainably move your unwanted things out AND make a few dollars in the process. This event always brings a lot of foot traffic to Old Village (please weather be kind to us).
Please share this image with friends and family on your social media!
If you are an Old Village resident and would like to hold a yard sale – let us know by emailing plymoutholdvillageassociation@yahoo.com – let us know your address and a brief description of what you are selling and we will add you to our walking map – we do not include residents names on the walking map.
If you are an Old Village business owner and want to hold a special pop up during the sales we can add you to the map too!
If you are not a resident or do not have yard space then the Masons on Farmer and Amelia can help you! They have a large parking lot opposite their lodge and will rent a space 20’ x 10’ for $20, if you need extra spaces they will be $10, they also have a limited amount of tables that can be rented. Spaces are allotted on the day of the event on a first come, first served basis from 7am
If you have any questions feel free to contact us plymoutholdvillageassociation@yahoo.com
The Yard sales are our first event of the year, if you’ve never held a sale – please consider it – maybe team up with your neighbors and hold a joint sale, it can be a lot of fun! If you are not selling, you can still support by spreading the word and taking a walk around the neighborhood – you never know you might find a treasure!
Big thanks to Carly from our friends The Plymouth Pollinators for taking the time to write a blog post for The Old Village Voice.
It was June of 2020, and the world was still in lock-down from the pandemic. While most people were sheltering in place and working from home, the City of Plymouth Department of Municipal Services (DMS) were still coming in everyday to take care of the city. To prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 to the entire team, the DMS workers split into two groups and worked 13.5-hour shifts for six straight days. After, they went home to their families for a week while the other team took over. Since there wasn’t nearly as much activity going on in the city, the workers found that they had a little extra time on their hands and wanted to do something fun and positive to keep morale up during such a difficult time.
A few of the guys had been over to our house the previous summer and were quite taken with all the pollinator gardens that Dave and I had installed in our backyard. They thought it was pretty cool that we were trying to help the pollinators and loved all the bee and butterfly activity that was going on at the Cirilli house. It was quickly decided, “let’s do a pollinator garden in the city!”
When Dave came home and told me, I was absolutely thrilled. One of the things that was getting me through the pandemic was being outside working in my garden, creating a little pollinator haven. Adding a pollinator garden to the city would a) help to create awareness about pollinator decline and habitat and b) would give me the excuse to plant more plants.
The first location chosen was a space across the street from Lions Club on Burroughs and Hartsough. The weather was hot,and the work was hard, but soon enough the space was cleared,and plants were installed over a few weeks’ time. We were so proud with how the garden turned out and it felt so good to do something positive during this time of despair. We knew we had to keep going.
Another garden location was quickly identified in Old Village in the fire station park located on Spring and Holbrook. The DMS crew got right to work clearing out the space. The garden was going to be fairly large, so the task of filling it was a bit daunting.
Before picture of the garden with weeds and invasive plants.
Some of the guys thoughtfully pitched in and bought a few plants. However, it was the federal stimulus checks that came in handy the most. Since Dave and I were lucky enough to still be working, we wanted to use that money towards the greater good; so off to the nurseries we went (fully masked and social distanced, of course). The rest of the summer was spent watering and tending to the garden and imagining what it would look like once it was mature. Since we couldn’t go out for date nights, we spent evenings at home painting little wooden pollinator critters to add to the garden for fun.
Firestation garden in Old Village August 2020 with garden critters.
As people began emerging from their homes later that summer, the garden started to get a lot of interest. We got all kinds of questions from passersby. “Why did you do this? What kind of plant is that? How do you find a butterfly egg?” We started to see that this was becoming something bigger, so we started the Plymouth Pollinator Facebook group where people could ask garden and pollinator questions and share tips and tricks. It was all very exciting. Three years later, Plymouth Pollinators is now a 501c3 nonprofit working to increase community awareness around pollinator habitat.
When we look back on that summer, we think about how lucky we were to stay safe and healthy. But most of all, we think about the gardens. They gave us hope and a chance to focus our attention on something beautiful and optimistic. We are so verygrateful to DMS workers Chris Helinski, Nick Johns, and Aaron Micek (now our Plymouth Pollinator board VP) for all of their dedication and hard work. We will be forever bonded by the pandemic gardens from the summer of 2020.
Since the that summer, Plymouth Pollinators has added a lot more native plants to the Old Village fire station park garden and even installed a butterfly bench last year. The garden has also been certified as a Monarch Waystation. In addition to this garden, several other smaller pollinator gardens have been added around three of the Welcome to Old Village Signs.
Carly and Dave hanging out in the garden.
Firestation garden in Old Village summer of 2022.
Happy gardening,
The Cirilli’s
Do you have an Old Village story? We are looking for guest bloggers! We would love to hear from you!
This blog post has been written by Old Village residents Marie and Darren McCormick
We Live on Holbrook!
In late 2020, during the height of the pandemic housing craze, our family jumped on the crazy train and bought the 1910 burgundy brick, Dutch Colonial [Sears Kit Home] on Holbrook in Old Village. The deep and wide front porch, eclectic neighborhood, walkability to local businesses and a stone throw from Wilcox Lake helped seal the deal on our forever home. We spent most of 2021 entrenched in renovations to the house – from the sanitary sewer to plaster removal, to upgrades to ancient knob and tube electric and overall working to maintain or mimic the historical architectural integrity. . As we came up from the dust, we greeted neighbors, browsed shops and began to understand the incredible fabric of community pride in Old Village.
Hard at work!Making progress.Welcome home!
Now fully indoctrinated into Old Village, we enjoy popping into Meridian for a chat and an Americano, checking out new vinyl selections at Finders Keepers or camping out on the second story of Bearded Lamb for “beer daycare” with other local parents to play games and catch up. We practice yoga at White Buffalo, take the kids to Crawford’s Kitchen for their absolute favorite pancakes and sausage and unleash them on the playground at Knights of Columbus Park or what locals call “Pollinator Park” off Spring and Holbrook. Some days, we just wander around Wilcox Lake to admire the incredible natural asset that our community has embraced as our own. Over the past year, Old Village Association – in partnership with the Plymouth Pollinators [of which Marie is a board member], as well as Wayne County Parks and the City of Plymouth – has led two invasive species removal projects. You can check out details of those in previous OVA blogs. Locals may notice a huge difference in visibility of the lake and a safer pedestrian walking route made from the removal of roadside invasive brush along the Northville Road side of the lake. In the coming year, we are looking forward to a major habitat restoration project at Wilcox Lake and upstream at Phoenix Lake. Details for that project can be found in previous blogs and in the December 2022 issue of The Rock, p. 14-16. OVA plans to host another invasive species training and clearing event in either late May or early June 2023 – so stay tuned for details if you are interested!
The connection between Hines Park, Wilcox Lake and Old Village geographically seems so simple. Yet, as parents of young children – we have been terrified at times to just walk from our home [four houses away!] down Wilcox Road to Hines Drive. As a narrow, assumed pass-through commuter route – motorists fly up Wilcox hill to Old Village blindly. Taking the kids by bike down that road is out of the question. To bike, we pack up our van, drive .5 miles around the corner to GunsollyMills, park, and then bike. It feels absurd to be next door to miles of incredible recreation and feel so disconnected.
Darren and the Mini McCormicksThe whole family love being so close to Wilcox LakeShowing our lake and community some love.
We hope to find ways to contribute in our own way to this awesome community. We love our neighborhood and we love Old Village.
2022 was a bumper year for the OVA, a return to a sort of normalcy pre pandemic saw the return of the Spring yard sales, Bumpers, Bikes and Bands and the Halloween Block Party to Liberty St. We also managed to hold a Chili Cook Off. All of these events were well attended and supported by residents and business owners – as we always say – it takes a Village!
So here we are at the start of 2023 – what will this year bring to Old Village?
First up is a very special OVA meeting.
Wednesday January 11th 2023
6.30pm – 7.30pm
Bearded Lamb Brewery (second floor)
149 W. Liberty Street Plymouth MI 48170
(please note that the meeting room does not have universal access
Background:
Wayne County Parks and Alliance of Rouge Communities [ARC] representatives will be providing an overview of the upcoming restoration projects at Wilcox and Phoenix Lakes. Some planned improvements include dredging contaminated sediment, removing invasive species and establishing spawning habitat for native fish to name a few.
These historical impoundments [called lakes locally] are roughly located in the north end of Plymouth’s Old Village, north central end of Plymouth Township and the central south edge of Northville Township. The late Henry Ford used these two impoundments as reservoirs to harness hydroelectricity as a method to power the two adjacent manufacturing facilities that produced parts for airplanes and vehicles.
These projects are being funded by the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The Rouge River is one of 25 remaining Areas of Concern. These projects will help make steps to remove them from this federal designation. To learn more about the project, visit The Rock, December 2022 issue p. 12-14 for more details and sketches of the draft improvements.
Article written by Tim Smith in the December issue of The Rock
This is an important opportunity to learn more about the project and provide feedback to Wayne County Parks specifically regarding these projects for consideration.
Please RSVP on Eventbrite so we can make sure to have enough room for everyone who wishes to participate.
This public meeting will be held at the regularly scheduled Plymouth Old Village Association’s monthly meeting time. Regular OVA business will follow the conclusion of this public meeting.
About the Projects:
Wilcox Lake , roughly located in the north end of Plymouth’s Old Village, and Phoenix Lake, situated on the line between Plymouth and Northville Townships, are historical impoundments used by two of Henry Ford’s manufacturing facilities to harness hydroelectric energy for use.
These projects, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, will improve the health of the lakes and Rouge River by removing contaminated sediments and invasive species, and by establishing spawning habitats for native fish.
The completion of these projects will help make steps to remove the Rouge River as a federally designated Area of Concern, a list which it as occupied since 1987. Removal from this list will mean that the communities of the Rouge River watershed will have a healthier Rouge to enjoy for the first time in generations.
To learn more about recent Area of Concern projects that have been completed recently in the Rouge, visit [DredgingToday.com FOTR post]
The Summer edition of the Old Village Voice is hot off the presses! Hard copies will be distributed over the next week – but here is the color copy and a printable PDF for your perusal.
BIG BIG THANKS to Dr Kyle Farr of Detroit Medical Spa in Old Village and Kyle Farr Aesthetics & Wellness in DTP for this wonderful raffle prize.
This amazing Summer Party Kit has EVERYTHING you could possibly need to hold a wonderful Summer get together, valued at over $1200 this bundle is jam packed with Yeti products, alcohol, soda and snacks as well as cups and Red Bull merch – you do not want to miss out on this fantastic prize!
Tickets are $10 or for $20 you can get 3!!!! You must be over 21 to purchase tickets.
Tickets will be on sale at Bumpers Bikes and Bands July 17th at the OVA tent – but if you can’t make Bumpers this year you can purchase tickets in advance from The Bearded Lamb, My Little Needle Tattoo shop and both of Dr Kyle’s establishments – WE WILL NOT BE SELLING TICKETS ONLINE – BE AWARE OF SCAMMERS!!!!
Advance tickets are only available from the mentioned businesses or from the OVA tent on the day of Bumpers.
A winner will be drawn at Bumpers, Bikes and Bands
I didn’t sleep too well the night of June 10th. I was worrying. If you ask my husband Mark I worry about everything so this was nothing new, but I was particularly anxious that night as I smashed my pillows and turned over for the 100th time and tried to turn my brain off.
WAS ANYONE GOING TO SHOW UP?
For a couple of weeks I had been appealing for volunteers to help out with a clean up project around the top of Wilcox Lake – the tree line along Mill and Wilcox was overgrown and dense, many of the native trees were being crowded out by invasive species. We were partnering with our friends the Plymouth Pollinators who have undertaken a number of beautification/pollination projects in Old Village and I really really really didn’t want to let them down. A couple of folks had signed up to the Google form, a couple of folks had told me by text or on social media that they would be there – but you never really know do you?
The City of Plymouth were providing us with tools and cones and safety signs, they had also committed to chipping all the cuttings – what would it look like if there was only a handful of people? I really didn’t want to be troublesome and bring all these resources and city workers out for nothing.
So there I was staring at the ceiling at 4am working on my apologies.
I walked down to Point Park just before 9am on Saturday, muttering to myself “Please let there be people, please let there be people”. As I rounded the corner I could see tables being set up, the City were unloading tools, and there were people!!!!
Just a few of our wonderful volunteers!
All in all nearly 20 people came to help! Our group was made up of residents, business owners and friends of the Village – everyone brought their A game and really got stuck in to the project. We focused on cutting down Buckthorn and Honeysuckle which was growing out of control. We cut these down to waist height with the plan to return in the Fall to cut them down further and apply herbicide.
Thank you to Pete Mundt Plymouth photographer for taking so many wonderful shots of the day!
If you get the chance to walk down to Point Point you can see the lake now!
If you would like to help out with future work in this area leave a comment on this blog post! i can’t thank everyone involved enough for all their help – every time i drive home from Northville Road I smile as I can glimpses of the lake – a job well done everyone!
Spring has most definitely sprung in Old Village. We have had beautiful displays of blossom, lilacs and oh my goodness the magnolias this year! The trees are leafy once more and after that long winter we can now start to look forward to the summer.
We have an upcoming beautification project that we really need some volunteers for.
On Saturday June 11th, between 9am and 1pm, we will be joining forces with our friends the Plymouth Pollinators and The Friends of the Rouge, with help from the City of Plymouth and Wayne County to clear some invasive species in and amongst the trees and bushes that grow along the top of Wilcox Lake – that also run along Mill and Wilcox roads.
We are hoping by thinning out the density of the growth here, we might be able to create something of a lake view – maybe a glimpse – from Point Park.
Just imagine – sitting here and maybe seeing Lake Wilcox! How lovely!
Many hands will make light work! If you can spare a few hours on June 11th – meet us at 9am in Point Park – where Northville Rd splits into Starkweather and Mill for a short introduction presentation of what we will be removing. Bring gloves, safety glasses, hand tools – pruners, loppers and hand saw, water to stay hydrated and sunscreen. We will be working until 1pm.
Mark and I live on Mill just up from Point Park, we would like to invite all the workers back to our yard for well earned refreshments and eats afterwards.
Let’s make this a fun community event and make an improvement to our little part of the world. If you can help us on June 11th please fill out the Google form below, so we know how many people to expect. Even if you can spare just a couple of hours come and join us – you will make a difference!
Now is a great time to have a good sort out and make some cash from those items you no longer want!
Flyers have been going out to Old Village households and businesses this past week. If you are able please spread the word! Below is a printable link to our flyer that you can display or pass on. If you are a social media user please let your followers and friends know about our event!
