Author: Doug Donnelly

Ottawa Lake native Doug Donnelly is the editor and publisher of The Advance and Overtime, the Lenawee County Sports Weekly.

Parade of Lights, Wassail Festival, Hot-Cha-Cha Run and more light up weekend of Dec. 13-15

There are several Holiday related activities happening throughout the week and weekend of Dec. 13-15.

Following is a list of Christmas and other holiday activities in the community:

• The Blissfield American Legion is hosting a senior citizen party Sunday afternoon. It is a free event from 1-3 p.m. and features food and games.

• Dec. 13-15 — The Light of Christ Parish Knights of Columbus along with several volunteers will be busy sorting food and packing and delivering food baskets to families throughout the greater Blissfield and Deerfield communities. They will also wrap gifts and toys for children from the age of newborns to 12 years old. Volunteers will wrap gifts in the church basement beginning at 9 a.m. Friday morning. The sorting and packing of food donations and gifts will take place 7 p.m. Friday evening. Baskets will be delivered Sunday afternoon.

Wassail Festival & Hot-Cha-Cha 5K Mug Run

• Friday, Dec. 13 – 6-9 p.m. The Third Annual Wassail Festival warms the night Friday. The annual event, sponsored by the Blissfield Rotary Club, also features the second annual Hot-Cha-Cha 5K Mug Run, sponsored by the Miss River Raisin Festival Scholarship Program. Several area businesses will have offer their own special wassail, a hot or mulled cider beverage, to taste. Participating merchants are competing to see who makes the best wassail in town. Everyone participating in the Wassail Fest must purchase a $12 Wassail mug at the Historic Depot where they will also receive a punch card and a map featuring the locations of all the wassail in town. When participants have tasted all the wassail, they can return their punch cards with their votes to the Depot. The winner will be announced at the end of the evening at Mexibilly’s Restaurant . The Blissfield Rotary Club will draw the winner of their raffle at their annual party at B-Town Bar & Grill on Lane Street. For more information visit www.BlissfieldMainStreet.com or call the Blissfield Main Street/DDA at 517-486-3642. The Hot-Cha-Cha 5K Mug run begins at 6:30 p.m. in the center of downtown. Registration on race day begins at 5:30 p.m. Cost to enter the race is $25 and includes a Wassail Fest mug for adults 21-and-up and a hot cocoa insulated mug for the younger runners or those choosing cocoa. The race is $12 for kids 6-15, and a family price of $60 with a two-adult (from the same household) maximum. Costumes are encouraged , but not required. A costume prize will be given. For more information e-mail advance@cass.net or visit www.Blissfield.net Santa in Deerfield

• Saturday, Dec. 14, noon-2 p.m. — Santa Claus will be at the Deerfield Village Office, 101 W. River Street. The Deerfield Township Fire Department will bring Santa from the fire hall down Carey Street to the village office on fire truck at approximately 10 a.m. Santa will be available to visit with children and there will be a bag of candy for all that see Santa Saturday. Madrigal Dinner

• Saturday, Dec. 14 — The Blissfield Community Schools Department of Fine Arts presents a Madrigal Dinner “Night-Night, Knights.”.The traditional holiday festival is set in Medieval Times. This year a “Punch and Judy” Puppet Show and a play entitled Night-Night, Knights” will be performed after dinner. Madrigals and both secular and sacred carols will be performed by the high school choirs, and the show will conclude with a mummer’s retelling of the Christmas Story. There will be a 1 p.m. concert with high tea and a 4:30 p.m. concert with a full dinner. Reservations were required to attend.

Parade of Lights

• Saturday, Dec. 14 , 7 p.m. — Blissfield’s annual Parade of Lights sponsored by Anderson-Rudd Funeral Home brightens up the night Saturday. Floats and farm equipment adorned in Christmas lights and other decorations will pass down Lane Street. Also participating in the parade are the award-winning Blissfield Marching Royals, Miss River Raisin Festival Nicole Miller and Santa Claus himself. Everyone’s favorite mascot, Paws, of the Detroit Tigers will be in attendance courtesy of the Blissfield State Bank. Organizer Randy Kelley said entries for the parade are still being accepted. For more information call him at 517-403-7940 or visit www.BlissfieldMainStreet.com.

 

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: BHS bests WHS; BD defeats state runner-up

Women’s basketball action got started in The Advance coverage area Tuesday, Dec. 3, with positive results for the local teams.

The Lady Royals of Blissfield defeated the Whiteford Bobcats 50-30.

Meanwhile, the Britton Deerfield women’s basketball team kicked off their season with a 35-34 win over last  year’s state runner-up Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes 35-34.

For complete sports results on these games and more winter sports competition, please see the Dec. 11, 2013, edition of The Advance.

 

Hot-Cha-Cha 5K Mug Run, Wassail Festival Dec. 13 in Blissfield

Runners are invited to enjoy the Blissfield Village Christmas decorations and warm up with a hot beverage after the Second Annual Hot-Cha-Cha 5K Mug Run Friday, Dec. 13.

Two of the runners from the inaugural Hot-Cha-Cha 5K Mug Run in 2012. This year’s run is Friday, Dec. 13 in Blissfield, Michigan.

The new event was added to Blissfield Village’s Wassail Festival last year and this year will occur on Friday, Dec. 13. The Hot-Cha-Cha 5K Mug Run will take off from the beautifully decorated downtown, wind through the village neighborhoods, then end up back downtown for either hot wassail or hot chocolate.

The Wassail Fest is presented by Blissfield Rotary and hosted by Blissfield DDA/Main Street Program. The Hot-Cha-Cha 5K Mug Run aspect is sponsored by the Miss River Raisin Festival Scholarship Program and co-sponsored by Blissfield Coney Island and Borchardt Brothers Market.

The runners will actually receive a mug that will enter them into the Wassail Festival’s tour of sites in downtown businesses where competing versions of hot wassail, a wine-and-fruit based holiday beverage, will be sampled. For non-drinkers or runners who are younger than 21, a cocoa mug will be provided for a mugful of hot chocolate at the Blissfield Coney Island. Water will also be provided to all runners.

There are a limited number of official Wassail mugs, which will be awarded on a first-come basis. Late-registering runners may receive an alternate mug if the Wassail mugs are sold out, which will be honored at the Wassail stops.

And just announced, the first 220 runners to register will receive a commemorative flashing light pin for safety through the sponsorship of  Blissfield State Bank.

Runners are asked to wear reflective clothing for safety’s sake. Costumes of the season are welcome. The night run takes off at 6:30 p.m. Registration for the run begins at 5:30 p.m. at the red tent-top on Lane Street. Pre-registration is encouraged. Entries are available at The Advance, 121 Newspaper Street., Blissfield, or can be downloaded at www.blissfield.net. To be emailed a form, please email advance@cass.net.

The Wassail Festival begins at 6 p.m.

The awards ceremony will follow the race with medals to the overall male and female winner and the top two finishers in each male and female age division: 6-12, 13-15, 16-20, 21-35, 36-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-plus.

Those runners opting for Wassail mugs will be able to vote for their favorite beverage along the Wassail Trail in downtown Blissfield.

The Hot-Cha-Cha-Mug Run price is $25 for those 16 and older; $12 for kids 6-15; with a family rate of $60 (limit of two adults per family which must live in the same household; additional runners beyond the two in that household qualifying as adults $25).

Non-runners can register to participate in the Wassail festival for $12 at the Wassail Festival tent. For more information, please email advance@cass.net or call 517-486-2400 during business hours.

Astalosh sentenced for embezzlement

It took nearly three years, but a man charged with embezzling more than $11,000 from a Blissfield business was sentenced Nov. 21 in Lenawee County Circuit Court.

Sam Astalosh, 40, Selden, Kansas, was given two years’ probation and ordered to pay $550 in court costs on a reduced charge of embezzlement less than $200 from Steve’s Hobbies. His sentence also included 56 days already served in the Lenawee County Jail.

For the rest of the story, please the the Nov. 27, 2013, edition of The Advance. The big Holiday Lifestyles section is also included in this week’s Advance!

Dennis Bierman

RIGA — Dennis H. Bierman, 69, lost his long battle with cancer on Oct. 30, 2013, at his home in Makakilo, Hawaii.

Denny retired from civilian service with the US Navy@Naval Undersea Warfare Center Detachment Pacific with 41 years of honorable federal service.

Denny is survived by his loving wife, Briana Anderson Bierman, his mother Arlene Bierman, his sisters Lynette Million and Lynda Yinger, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Cremation has taken place with a memorial service held in Hawaii on Nov. 9, 2013,. A memorial service is planned for Denny at 1 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Riga Cememtery, Riga. There will be a gathering of family and friends following at the family home.

Denny was preceded in death by his father Russell R. Bierman, grandparents Dennis and Dora Bierman and Harold and Freda Smith. During Denny’s years in Hawaii, he owned a motorcycle shop, custom-building Harleys. He was also an accomplished woodworker, home remodeler and contractor. Denny will be sadly missed by his family and friends in both Michigan and Hawaii.

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