The outpouring of community support of the Blissfield Township Fire Department has been tremendous.
“We have had so many offers for help, it’s overwhelming,” Chief Dale Fruchey said at the Dec. 11 Blissfield Township Board meeting.
That night was the first monthly meeting and training session for firefighters since the Saturday fire.
“Tonight we are meeting at Coach Light Estates,” he said. Both Riga and Palmyra fire departments have offered their facilities for training and meeting purposes if need be.
“It will be a week-by-week situation until we can get back in our own station,” he said.
Contractors and insurance claim adjustors have been combing over the Blissfield station and looking at equipment and vehicles this week.
It has been a very tough and busy week, Clerk Nancy Cranor said. She has watched Fruchey deal with it.
“He has been so calm I am very proud of … Read More »

Of the teams in The Advance coverage area, both Blissfield and Whiteford earned spots in the postseason playoffs which begin Friday. Whiteford will be defending its 2018 state Division 8 championship.

A full preview is included in the Oct. 24 edition of The Advance’s “Destination Detroit” special section. Here is a brief intro to stories included in that section:

BLISSFIELD

For the second straight year the Blissfield Royals have earned a berth in the Michigan High school Athletic Association football tournament. While not an automatic contender, the Royals had enough play-off points to get one of the coveted spots in the district tournament in Division 6.
Teams with six wins on the regular season were received automatic berths in the playoffs across eight divisions. Once those were determined teams with 5-4 records were selected based on playoff points and
strength of schedule.
While many predictions suggested … Read More »

HALLOWEEN
CORRECTION
The time for the Blissfield Halloween Parade was incorrect in the Oct. 24 edition of The Advance. Following is the full schedule for Halloween events in the village of Blissfield:
October 31
5:30-7 p.m. — Trick-or-treating with hot chocolate being served at Schultz-Holmes Memorial Library until 7 p.m.
The parade will assemble and start from the Library at 7 p.m. SHARP! It will continue to Ellis Park, following the Blissfield Marching Royals around the bonfire for costume judging.
After the parade there will be hot dogs, cider, donuts, cotton candy, popcorn, games,
celebrity characters, a balloon artist and inflatables!

The defending state champion Whiteford Bobcats varsity football team hosted and roasted the Blissfield Royals 48-6 in the opening night of Friday night lights football.

Meanwhile, the Madison Trojans started off on a positive note with a 35-14 victory over visiting East Jackson Friday night.

Britton Deerfield had some moments where they looked good on offense and made some quality stops, but fell to Lenawee Christian School 26-12 in their away opener.

For the complete stories and photos from the games, please see The Advance’s Aug. 29 edition.

Following are Advance area primary election results from Tuesday, Aug. 7:

Lenawee County Election Results
Republican
Governor
Brian Calley 1,768
Patrick Colbeck 2,021
Jim Hines 1,094
Bill Schuette 4,350

US Senate
John James 6,096
Sandy Pensler 2,762

D7 US Congress
Tim Walberg 8,457

D17 State Senate
Dale W. Zorn 8,421

D57 State Representative
Bronna Kahle 7,895

D7 Lenawee County Commissioner
Robert P. Knoblauch 1,209

Blissfield Township Trustee
Unresolved Write-In 34

Blissfield Township Precinct 1 Delegate Vote for 2)
Anatoly Ermakov 17
Natalia Ermakov 34
James Hart 73

Blissfield Township Precinct 2 Delegate Vote for 7
Charles Cory 210
Timothy L. Watters 177

Ogden Township Precinct Delegate (Vote for 3)
Kenneth L. Staup 54
Joshua Van Camp 58

Palmyra Township Precinct Delegates (Vote for 6)
Laura Brown 194
Kathryn Eisenmann 169
Tom Eisenmann 175
Galen Engel 165
Sydney Ann Engel 160

Riga Township Precinct Delegates (Vote for 4)
Carol J. Knoblauch 98
Robert P. Knoblauch 105
Kevon Martis 79

Democratic
Governor
Abdul El-Sayed 2,103
Shri Thanedar 717
Gretchen Whitmer 4,112

US Senate
Debbie Stabenow 6,463

D7 US Congress
Gretchen Driskell 5,506
Steven Friday 1,171

D17 Michigan Senate
Bill LaVoy 6,702

D57 Michigan Representative
Amber Pedersen … Read More »

By Melissa Burnor

The Lenawee County Election Commission approved on Friday the wording on recall petitions submitted by Gregory Gaw to remove four Britton Deerfield school board members from their seats on the board. The other three members of the board were not targets of the recall because there seats are all expiring in November. Michigan law does not allow elected officials to be recalled in the first or final six months of their terms.
Lenawee County Clerk, Roxann Holloway said approximately 15 people attended the June 22 clarity hearing. Three of the four board members, Yvonne Thomas, Brian Bartush and Douglas Mayher Jr. spoke during the hearing. Vice-President Ben Allshouse did not.

For the complete story as well as a report from the Britton Deerfield Schools Board of Education meeting, please see the June 27, 2018, edition of The Advance.

The 36th annual Lenawee Hospice Run, Walk Eat event on Sunday, June 24, will raise money
for the Kathy Goetz Endowment Fund allowing bereavement services to be
offered to community members at no cost.

The run is in memory of Dr. Bruce Jones and Goetz for the first time this year. Goetz passed away
in December 2016. She was the bereavement director at Hospice of Lenawee and a tireless advocate
for end of life care for the patient and families. Registration
begins at 7:15 a.m. Sunday and the race begins at 9 a.m. after a short
memorial service on the Blissfield Community Schools campus. A
pancake breakfast will be served to runners and is also available to
the public for a small fee.

Blissfield Royals head Coach Larry Tuttle has led his teams over the years to many titles, but it was 2010 when his Royals last won a district crown; that is, until Saturday.

Blissfield High School brought home the baseball district title after the Royals downed Dundee in the championship game played at home.

The Royals took down the Madison Trojans earlier in the day 4-0, while Dundee beat Monroe St. Mary’s Catholic Central 4-1 to set up the title bout which saw Blissfield emerge victorious in a 4-0 win.

Next up: The Royals will play in regionals at Clinton Saturday.

For the complete story, please see the June 6, 2018, edition of The Advance.

OTTAWA LAKE — After both the Whiteford Township Board of Trustees and the Whiteford Agricultural Schools District approved to split the costs of housing a police liaison deputy officer at the school district, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners finalized the cost sharing plan by approving to have the deputy at the school district.
According to information relayed from Whiteford Schools officials, a March 20 meeting of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners was held and the commission approved 9-0 to provide a deputy sheriff at the school district for the next three years. The county commission also announced during the meeting that it would cover at least one third of the cost of having the deputy with the school.

For Brad Heineman’s complete story, please see the April 4, 2018, edition of The Advance, which also had a Whiteford Township board … Read More »

It is likely contracts for the construction of the newly proposed pool will be on the agenda at the village’s April 23 council meeting.

Contracts were contingent on the amount of savings that could be found in value engineering with the projects as both the pool and general construction bids along with the cost of engineering, architects and bonding the project have come in over the $2.1 million available in funds from a special millage to be levied and a March 31 closing on the property on Sugar Street to be purchased from Patrick Farver.

For more as well as all the latest Blissfield Village Council news, please see the April 4, 2018, edition of The Advance.