GP Unitarians hold workshops
on GLBT issues, outreach

The Grosse Pointe Unitarian Church (GPUC) has begun a "Welcoming Congregation" workshop series, an introspective and interactive educational journey into the issues surrounding the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The yearlong program developed by the Unitarian Universalist Association is intended to educate the congregation and the community about how to be purposeful in its welcome and outreach to the GLBT community. read more...

Rotary president weighs in
for three million pounds of help

It took Bob Bashara three years to reach the presidency of the Grosse Pointe Rotary Club, and when he arrived in the office, he faced a decision.

“About a year and a half ago, I asked myself 'What do I want to do?’ because presidents can choose a project in the club,” Bashara said. “I saw all these different clubs doing different services and decided to have one large project that all clubs can take advantage of.”

"Large" may be putting it mildly. Bashara initiated the Three Million Pound Challenge, to gather a million pounds each of food, clothing and books for the needy in Detroit.

“While helping Haiti and Africa and these other places is wonderful and a great thing, we have our own issues right in our backyard,” Bashara said. “We got our District Governor Neil McBeth’s blessing on the project, but he told us we’re going to have to run the project.

“I said ‘No problem, Grosse Pointe will take the lead.’”

The Grosse Pointe Rotary Club is teaming up with groups like Red Cross, Crossroads of Michigan and Matrix Human Services, which help poor people in Detroit.

“Rotary just doesn’t have the infrastructure that these groups do, and with their help, we can reach our goal and reach to the community,” Bashara said. “From July 1 until now, we’re at a total of 850,000 pounds. With only five months to go, we’re about one third of the way there.” read more...

Oakland U. professor to lead
class on timely topic–lobbying

Most political junkies know that lobbyists and special-interest groups are important players in the process. But they may be unfamiliar with exactly how lobbying works. A class next week at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial is aimed at making voters better informed at the role lobbyists play, just as a U.S. Supreme Court decision vastly increases their power.

In his program, “Discovering the Ins & Outs of Lobbying in Congress,” Oakland University associate professor David Dulio wants to paint an accurate picture of what these influencers do, who they are and how they work. “People hear about lobbyists and lobbying, contributions, Jack Abramoff, bribery and scandal, but that’s a very misleading portrait of what lobbying is and how it’s done,” Dulio said.

Dulio plans to debunk the myth and correct misconceptions that all lobbyists are crooks, noting that there is substance attributed to their work. “There are bad apples certainly, but lobbyists provide an invaluable service to the legislative process at the national and state level,” he said. read more...

26th Annual Christ Church Antiques Show set for June

The Christ Church Antiques Show celebrates its 26th year as one of the Midwest’s most prestigious collecting events, featuring more than 30 professional dealers who offer a vast range of inventories and price points on items from a broad range of designs, periods, and regions in a fully vetted show. read more...

East-side networking group helps
job seekers with support, leads

No one needs to be told the current recession has taken jobs from workers at all levels on the pyramid, from minimum-wage earners to the CEO of General Motors. Most find themselves back on the market sooner or later.

Eastside Take Control (ETC) is a support group for people who are looking for work, whether through layoff or another transition that has them back on the job market. Mary Ellen Brayton and a few others started the ecumenical group at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church about a year ago to help the local community. Meetings rotate between St. Paul and four other churches. read more...

Bookworms find a new way
to love literature – e-readers

The book has endured in ink-on-paper form since before movable type delivered it to the masses, but for the first time in perhaps centuries, it has some serious competition.

Kindles and other electronic readers are winning the hearts of locals. Many found them under their Christmas trees this year. Sales of electronic reading devices have doubled in the last year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, sponsor of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. It predicts sales will double again in 2010.

The devices are thinner than magazines and weigh less than a pound. They hold thousands of books, newspapers and magazines and run for a week before needing a battery boost. More than 400,000 books are available for downloading, many for less than $10. read more...

Henry Ford Cottage is small,
but offers service close to home

This is the first in a series of profiles of the Pointes’ three hospitals.

Henry Ford Cottage Hospital is the smallest of the massive metro health-care system launched nearly a century ago by auto baron Henry Ford .

Cottage has a modest 87 beds, compared to its main campus Detroit parent, Henry Ford Hospital, which has 802. Still, the red-and-white brick building at 159 Kercheval at the top of the Hill in the Farms offers an intimate, neighborhood feel, and provides the same basic care as any large hospital. read more...

Ask the Doctor: Avoid shoulder pain
with moderation and stretching

We present a monthly question-and-answer session with a Henry Ford Cottage Hospital physician on a specific health issue. This month, Dr. Terrence Lock, on the senior staff at Henry Ford Cottage Hospital, talks about shoulder injuries. These injuries affect young, middle-aged and older people, whether active or sedentary.

First off, what are some common shoulder injuries?

Shoulder injuries can often be divided by age. Younger people and young athletes frequently have instability of the shoulder. Dislocation of the shoulder in young patients often requires surgery. Young athletes, such as pitchers, sometimes tear their labrum, which is the rim of cartilage around the shoulder socket. Those in their 40s and 50s are mostly affected by rotator cuff problems, including tendinitis and tears. The rotator cuff is the group of four muscles with tendons that surround the upper arm or ball of the shoulder. When the tendons are inflamed or torn, they cannot function properly and cause pain.

What causes these injuries?

Younger and older people get these injuries because of overuse and general wear and tear. Young people often develop pain from overuse or specific traumatic episodes. Wear and tear plays a greater role in people over 50. Arthritis can develop in the shoulder joint, usually in older patients, but can form at the end of the clavicle or collarbone in much younger athletes, often related to weightlifting. read more...

Author exorcises her demons in
memoir of life in GP and elsewhere

If things had gone as Sandy Bax planned, her book "Assorted Nuts: A Family Album" would be up in smoke. Instead, she pressed on, published, and currently sells her memoir online.
 
Bax, whose maiden name was Chapel, graduated from Grosse Pointe High School in 1963. Her family moved to Grosse Pointe when she was 12 and she remained here until age 27. She describes her book as a humorous memoir – "an everyday-train-wreck-of-a-life funny-lady story."
  read more...

Henry Ford Cottage offers medical
information card for first responders

Henry Ford Cottage Hospital is offering east side residents a free paper card that could save their life.

The card – called File of Life – contains a resident’s medical information and is kept on the refrigerator to be used in a medical emergency. read more...