Dear Northvillians,
Governor Whitmer has lifted the Stay Home, Stay Safe order! (See updates below for details.)
Beyond the governor’s news, it’s been a very eventful week – with graduation parades, preparing the Claude Ely Community Award, businesses gearing up to re-engage, and thoughtful social-distancing gatherings starting to take shape. Life will start to get back to some type of normalcy (albeit the New Norm).
A tribute to our 2020 grads
One huge community event seen by many – Northville High School Seniors participated in a historic 600+ vehicle celebration parade. It was technically a “drive-by” down Six Mile ending at the High School, but what a tremendous show of support by hundreds of spectators (socially distanced).
Congrats again to all the seniors! The first day of the rest of your life is just ahead of you. We all have the same amount of time in a day, and it’s how we use that time that makes a difference. “Carpe Diem” and use your time wisely sharing your time and talents with the world.
The Claude Ely Community Award
As part of the high school graduation activities, I’ve been asked to present (virtually) the esteemed Claude Ely Community Award to a deserving '20 senior. This award, presented in Claude Ely’s memory since 1959, has historically been the City’s top honor. The winner will be announced next week, so stay tuned!
A little history – this award is named after Claude “Pete” Ely, who was a friend of our family and the last Village president, first Village mayor and the first City mayor of Northville. Claude was also a councilperson, very active in Rotary, a Mason with my grandfather, and a devoted Presbyterian. Notably, Claude was a member of the VFW Post and dedicated the Veterans Memorial Section of Rural Hill Cemetery in 1952. He was forever loyal to the community he loved and all the people he represented. The Claude Ely Community Award is a fitting tribute to his Northville legacy.
Updates
•
Click here to view the 5/28 virtual Town Hall Q&A (link to come)
• On June 1, Gov. Whitmer lifted the stay-at-home order for the entire state – some key highlights:
o Retailers can open with social distancing on Thursday, June 4
o Restaurants can re-open to dine-in service on Monday, June 8
o Outdoor groups of up to 100 can gather
o In-home services, such as house cleaning, are allowed immediately
• Indoor theaters, gyms, hair salons, tattoo parlors and casinos will remain closed, watch for the next announcement.
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Click here for further details on stay-at-home lift
• I was encouraged to see a socially distanced “pop-up gathering” in Orchard Heights this weekend when the Shawn Riley Band performed a driveway rehearsal. Homeowners in the Orchard Heights neighborhood came out on their porches to listen while a few gathered in driveways. Our police officers even drove by and gave a thumbs up.
• In total, the City has had just 42 COVID-19 cases, with five fatalities. My condolences to those who have lost a loved one. Michigan is at 58,000 cases/6,000 deaths and the nation is at 1.8 million cases and 105,000 deaths.
• Clearly, life will be different going forward as it relates to our work environment, socialization and personal spacing. My commitment to you has been and will continue to keep you connected and safe, communicating daily, publishing weekly and through Town Hall meetings.
Actions
• Continue to walk for your mental and physical well-being and engage intelligently.
• Downtown Events – the concert series, all festivals and other events are still being reviewed. Know that we are fully supportive of working within the State’s new directives and policies.
• On Downtown business openings – I encourage you to support your local businesses in Northville – the well-being of your favorite stores could be dependent on our patronage.
• We appreciate all the front-line workers: first responders, medical personnel and those who have shared their time and talents throughout this pandemic – thank you!
Again, thank you all for your support of our local Northville Civic Concern, our seniors, our youth and our businesses. I especially thank you for your compassion for others.
Continue to share your time and talents with those in our community as we work through these extraordinary times together. Many Northvillians have worked together tirelessly to help our town get through this time in our history, now it’s up to us to get Northville back up and running.
Be safe and continue to Keep that Northville Faith!
Stay #NorthvilleStrong!
Brian Turnbull
Mayor, Northville
BTurnbull@ci.northville.mi.us
248.505.6849