Say Yes To Michigan! / Places to see, things to do in Michigan / General Interests Forums

Michigan Photo Tour Video

Patrick — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:51:01 GMT

Community Event

Weseye — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:03:13 GMT

[size=4]Tomorrow is Tuesday, Nov, 4. Cast your

Vote![/size]

Tax Rebates

mamalisa2006 — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:59:46 GMT

$300 to any adult who earned an income, but did not earn enough to
file taxes.

$600 to any adult who earned an income, and had to file taxes.

$1200 to any married couple who filed jointly with either 1 or 2
incomes.

$300 to any child you cliamed on your 2007 taxes as a dependant.

If you are a single filer, and earned over $75,000, you lose 10% of
the rebate per $1000 over the $75k.

If you are a married couple filing jointly, and earned over $150k,
you lose 10% of the rebate per $1000 over the $150k.

People who receive SSI will receive the $300-$600 per adult,
depending on income aside from SSI.

Anyone who owes back child support will not receive the check- it
will go to the person the money is owed to.

Anyone who owes back taxes will not receive the check- it will go
towards the balance remaining on back taxes.

Anyone who has a tax lein will not receive the check- it will go
towards paying the lein off.

None of this has actually been 100% signed through, though- keep
that in mind, it could still get dropped. No one thinks it will
happen with the backing of both parties, but it IS a possiblity.

It's also possible that the rules of the rebate could change- who
gets it, the amount it'll be, etc.

Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk Fundraiser

Alwaysjules — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:15:15 GMT

Julie and Cliff's Breast Cancer Bowling Fundraiser

When: Sunday April 27th, 2008
1-4 pm
Where: Mayflower Lanes
26600 Plymouth Road
Redforrd, Michigan 48239
Price: $20 for Adults
$10 for Children under 12
Price includes 3 hours of bowling, shoes, pizza and 1 raffle ticket.
Tickets need to be purchased in advance. Please send an email to Alwaysjules@yahoo.com for more information or to purchase tickets.

There will be a 50/50 raffle and theme baskets raffle. Raffle ticket will be $1.00 each, 6 for $5, 12 for $10 or an armms lenghth for $20.

Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk Fundraiser

Alwaysjules — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:13:30 GMT

Max and Erma's Fundraiser for Breast Cancer

Alwaysjules — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:26:19 GMT

My husband and I are having our first 2008 fundraiser for the Michigan Breast Cancer 3 Day walk. We are trying to raise our minimum donations of $2,200 each. This is an easy way for you to support the cause and have a nice dinner out. We hope you can attend.

What: Max and Erma's Fund Raiser
Where: 31205 Orchard Lake Road
Farmington Hills, Michigan
248-885-0991
When: March 25th all day

What: You need to go to Max and Erma's anytime during the day on March 25th and bring a flyer (you can email me at Alwaysjules@yahoo.com and I will send you one). Just give the waitress the flyer and order your meal. My Breast Cancer account will get 20% of the food bill.
Thanks and hope to see you there!!

The Dearborn Womens Expo

Alwaysjules — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:32:09 GMT

The Women's Expo will be Sunday March 9th from 10-9 At the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center ( on Michigan Ave . next to the police station. You will find The Breacst Cancer table outside the main room near the ticket table. The admission price is $3.00 but if you stop by out table we will have a flier for a dollar off. We will also have a beautiful Easter basket we are raffling off along with a bake sale, pink ribbon chocolates, Breast Cancer items and an assortment of craft items for sale. We hope to see you there!!

Property Tax & Slump in Home Prices

Patrick — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:11:36 GMT

I have watch my property tax go up and up over the last few years in Canton. The tax was around .99 cents per sq foot when I purchased my home in 2000 and today is is around $1.40 per sq foot. Today the home prices are about the same as they were four years ago.

I am looking at getting my property re-assess to see if this will reduce the tax. There have been so many businesses in Michigan, including automotive, that have moved out of state you would think Michigan would start doing something with the high property taxes here. I visited a friend in Tennessee a few years ago and there were homes over 3000 sq feet price 30% less than homes in Michigan and property tax of around .50 cents a sq foot.

There is so much in the news about the economy slowing and what can be done to boost the economy. What if locally or state by state at least a reduction in property tax. This may not help folks that rent but I am sure this would still give a boost the economy, and maybe help out some small business owners.

Downtown Detroit - Will It Come Back?

Patrick — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:17:22 GMT

I wanted to check out some of the changes in Downtown Detroit such as the new Casino - Hotels.

My wife and I went to MGM to take a look at the hotel and to eat breakfast at Wolfgang Puck. The Hotel is really awesome. MGM did not cut any corners. The public restrooms have marble floors, stainless doors, and really high end fixtures. I was really surprised to see how nice it was.

Eating breakfast at Wolfgang Puck was a typical hotel restaurant breakfast, nothing special except for the price. I am sure dinner there would be much better. We walked around the casino area and it was small compared to Vegas but very well done. I was surprised that such a small first floor the hotel had two Star Bucks. Since I hate Star Buck's coffee it did not matter much to me.

Overall it was really nice to see something going on for Detroit. Hopefully it will be more than a mini-Vegas but at least some improvements are taking place. Another hotel, the MotorCity Hotel-Casino opened. I drove by it and it is a really sharp building. I would like to go there to check it out one weekend.

Food Poisoning Outbreak in Metro Detroit

Patrick — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:30:59 GMT

My family and I ate at a new restaurant New Years Eve and both my wife and daughter had food poisoning. The USDA issued a press release for a meat recall for resturants. This was for E. coli O157:H7 which is worse than what my family came down with.

See the press release below for the types of meat to avoid.
[hr]
USDA Web Site

Recall Release	CLASS I RECALL
FSIS-RC-001-2008	HEALTH RISK: HIGH

Congressional and Public Affairs
(202) 720-9113
Amanda Eamich

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2008 - Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., a Detroit, Mich., firm, is voluntarily recalling approximately 13,150 pounds of various cuts of steaks and ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

The steak and ground beef products subject to recall were produced on Dec. 20, 21, 24 or 26, 2007, and were distributed to restaurants in the metropolitan Detroit area. These products were not available for purchase by consumers in retail establishments.

Preparing Ground Beef For Safe Consumption

USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHOTLINE or visit www.fsis.usda.gov

Wash hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw meat and poultry. Wash cutting boards, dishes and utensils with hot, soapy water. Immediately clean spills.

Keep raw meat, fish and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry and egg products and cooked foods.

Consumers should only eat ground beef or ground beef patties that have been cooked to a safe internal temperature of 160°F.

Color is NOT a reliable indicator that ground beef or ground beef patties have been cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7.

The only way to be sure ground beef is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature.

Refrigerate raw meat and poultry within two hours after purchase or one hour if temperatures exceed 90°F. Refrigerate cooked meat and poultry within two hours after cooking.

FSIS has received no reports of illness related to these products at this time. Anyone who consumed these types of products at Detroit area restaurants and is experiencing an illness should contact a physician immediately.

The following products are subject to recall:

Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BALL TIP STEAKS."
Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BEEF NY STRIPS."
Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BEEF T-BONE STEAK."
Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BEEF PORTERHOUSE STEAK."
Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BEEF TOP SIRLOIN STEAKS."
Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BULK GROUND BEEF."
Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, GROUND BEEF PATTIES."

Each shipping label bears the establishment number "Est. 8951" inside the USDA mark of inspection.

The problem was discovered after the recalling firm submitted a product sample that tested positive at a third party laboratory.

Consumers and media with questions about the recall should contact the company General Manager Jack Fudge at (313) 554-2500.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. The very young, seniors and persons with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.

Web Site & eCommece Development (ASP.NET, C#, SQL Server, Oracle)

Patrick — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 00:34:48 GMT

I have been in Information Technology for over 15 years. The last five years I have been exclusively performing Web Site development. All of the Web Sites I design and develop are built on the most current Microsoft Technology which includes ASP.NET, AJAX (when required), SQL Server 2005 Database backend, user friendly Web Sites that are used to maintain the primary site. My development experience also spans many other business applications (inventory management, insurance, order management, content management, CRM)

Below are just some of the Web Sites that I designed and developed.

1. Search Engine: www.SURFThru.com This is a search engine I developed around four years ago. This search engine includes a SURFThru.com search and a "search the search engines" where I search Google and Yahoo! filter out any duplicates. I also have a book price comparison search engine that searches major book sites for best prices on books.

2.eCommerce Site: www.OverallWellBeing.com This is a custom site that does not run on the package we discussed. It was a lower entry site with very specific requirements and little changes will be done, so a non-package custom site was a good choice for this site.

3. eCommerce Package: http://www.surfthru.com/DEMO/Default.aspx I developed this is a base package for smaller businesses to sell items online. The shopping cart is PayPal standard but I have an integrated shopping cart under development for mid to large size companies.

In order to maintain the site in #3 I developed a "Site Manager" Web Site that allows the store owner to add new products, prices, inventory, images, and create new web pages on the fly. There are no limitations to the number of products or web pages that can be created. This will give you an idea of the flexibility we design into the web sites.

If you would like to see how to manage the online store in #3 please email me and I will send you a demo login and password.

4. eCommerce Package: www.FashionDivasBoutique.com This site is based on the package discussed in #3. The owner of this site has not launched yet so images are not correct and descriptions are very short. They wanted the site up but did not publish the link to any search engines yet.

I have also developed various other eCommerce sites and other custom Web Sites for various companies in Michigan.

If you are interested in custom Web Site development please contact me via Email or PM. I can be reached via email at Patrick @ SayYesToMichigan.org

Rockford Corner bar and Grill

mamalisa2006 — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:57:18 GMT

Has been a fav of mine since i was a child... new owners nowadays and well chikli dogs are no where as great as i recall them as a kid but still great food and munchies , plus they normally have a game or two on and if its nice outside you can doggie bag it and walk on down to the damm and relax...smiles country girl here doesn't fit real well into the amway grand... not really my tastes

Sweet Connections

sweetconnections — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:13:45 GMT

We are a new shoppe located in the center of the universe, 909 Cherry St., Grand Rapids, 49506. We have Kemps Ice Cream, Mary Ann's Chocolates, Candy, Frozen Yoghurt Shakes and Tart-n-Tangy Frozen Yoghurt. In January, All Occasion Gift Baskets will be joining us! There's no better place to get a gift basket for a special occasion or just because, some chocolates, and ice cream! We have fast and friendly team members to make your visit enjoyable. Check us out!:D

Grand rapids N.E.

ladyred49525 — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:27:21 GMT

Weekdaymornigs at CHeers,, Great Breakfast and Big Tv's. Bud And Satanelys saturday nights for Karaoke and nice people.

Local Forums in your area

Yoda — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:56:17 GMT

I wanted to say I like the local forums idea. Cool way to network with people in your part of MICH! :D:D:D

Amway Grand Plaza Hotel - 1913 Grill

Patrick — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:50:11 GMT

The Amway Grand Plaza Hotel has a great selection of restaurants. Click here to see them all.

My wife and I ate at the The Grill at 1913. This was our second time at the restaurant. We both had fillet mignon. The meat was very tender but found the quality to be a little less than what we had on our first visit. The dining area is very comfortable, with a direct view of the city street where you can watch horse drawn carriages pass by. The wait staff was very attentive but on this particular day they appeared to be understaffed. It was the weekend before Christmas so they may have expected a smaller clientèle that day.

Overall a good place to eat if you stay at the Amway.

Info on the 1913 Grill from the Web Site
[hr]

The Grill at the 1913 has been called the best steakhouse in the city. Take advantage of the luncheon buffet with its array of salads, breads, soups, and roast beef and poultry carved to order. The restaurant also features pasta and stir-fry stations with fresh vegetables, meats or seafood, and unique sauces.

For dinner, The Grill at 1913 specializes in USDA Prime Steaks, serving only the finest cuts of beef, lamb, veal, and pork. Excellent seafood and chicken selections are also available, along with a complete wine list and full bar service. All served in a comfortable and inviting setting.

Amway Grand Plaza Hotel

Patrick — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:45:02 GMT

I stayed at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel on a couple occasions. My wife and I stated at the hotel late December in 2007. This second trip we decided that we wanted to stay in the "new" section of the hotel.

Since we stayed the weekend before the Christmas holiday we were greeted with a very quiet hotel. I have to say it was really nice. We purchased a bed & breakfast package for around $180 a night. I asked for a non-smoking room on a high floor. Well we checked into the room and even though it was non-smoking someone must have smoked a few packs. I called the front desk and they moved us to the Concierge level. The rooms on that level where $209 a night, but the hotel did not charge us for the upgrade.

If you look at staying at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel plan check into the newer side and pay extra for the Concierge level, it is worth it. The rooms have better furniture, a larger bathroom, and you get access to the 25th floor Concierge level. There are free drinks, a nice lounge area, and if you want get free pop and water.

Fitness Center - Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
The fitness center was comparable to fitness centers in some Vegas hotels. The work out area is behind a glass wall overlooking the pool. There are around 10 high end tread mills, 4 elliptical machines, a ton of free weights on dumbbells, and barbells, Olympic bench set, and some very smooth Nautilus workout machines.

Pool Area
Large pool that you would expect to see at an outdoor park. At the end of the pool is a hot tub that is all stainless steel. It probably seats around 30 people. I thought a stainless steel hot tub was very unique, but you could not lean back and relax since the surface is slippery.

Locker Room
The locker rooms have all hardwood cabinets to store your items. There are large private showers and a hot sauna. The hotel provides combs, shaving cream, q-tips, and other necessities.

Other Features: The fitness area offers racket ball and outdoor tennis and basketball.

The Five - Plymouth Michigan

Patrick — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:38:40 GMT

I was looking for a restaurant in the Canton-Plymouth area, something new, at least for me.

I drove by The Inn At St. Johns off of 5 mile and Sheldon. I have never seen The Inn At St. Johns before or even heard of it.

Driving into the complex opens up a beautiful setting with a golf course, hotel, church, and restaurant.

I made reservations at the Five after reading on-line regarding the food and menu. When we arrived at the restaurant we were surprised to find it fairly small, but at the same time this made for a very nice and dining experience. I ordered the fried perch and it was the best in the area. Typically I only each perch when I am closer to the U.P. since it is typically fresh and the best (like Scotties in Lundington).

Here is some information on the restaurant and a link to the site.

The Five

At Five Restaurant and The Inn at St. John's, celebrated executive Chef Tom Mackinnon combines his creative flair and extensive culinary experience to make every dining experience exceptional.

Mackinnon also is culinary director of the conference, event and special occasion operations at The Inn at St. John’s. He believes that great food is integral to every gathering – from weddings to corporate meetings, banquets and board meetings. Delicious selections with impressive presentations are the common theme to all of Mackinnon’s menus, and guaranteed to delight guests, no matter the event or celebration.

The menu at Five Restaurant is based on inspired, innovative, eclectic updates on American classics. At Five Restaurant, Mackinnon has taken many traditional menu favorites and married them with fresh and flavorful ingredients that elevate each dish to a dynamic new level, evident in selections such as Seared French Lamb Chops Arugulerette, Stuffed South African Rock Lobster Tail, and the Five’s Signature Grill, with Grilled Piedmontese Tenderloin, Braised Maple Leaf Duck, Fresh Vegetable Terrine, Mango Demi Sauce and Fresh Garlic Béarnaise Sauce.

Mackinnon received his culinary training at Schoolcraft College of Culinary Arts in Livonia, MI and also in Europe, where he trained under world-class chefs including Pierre Romeyer in Belgium and Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France

Gratzi - Ann Arbor

Patrick — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:53:57 GMT

Wonderful setting, beautiful restaurant, and probably the best Italian food in the area.

This is a must for anyone that wants a nice night out, nice atmosphere, and great food.

www.gratzirestaurant.com

Ludington Michigan

Patrick — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:26:03 GMT

My wife and I have stayed at Synders many, many times.

The view is awesome. Right off of your porch you can see Lake Michigan. If you want to hit the public beach at Ludington just walk out the door and take a 5 minute walk to the beach.

The rooms are very clean, typically we have found it to have very quiet clientèle. The pool does not face the water but I have to say it is one of the nicest pools I have see at an inn. Very clean, very well maintained.

The rooms are a little of the pricey side, but when you factor in the views and the water it is worth it. There is no other place in Ludington with views like these.

I will be posting some photos of our stay.

Visit Synders Web Site at [url]www.snydersshoreinn.com[/url]

Regards,
Patrick

Lake Superior Pictured Rocks - Is Awesome!

Patrick — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:58:00 GMT

My wife, daughter and I took a trip to Pictured Rocks last year. It was Awesome!

We took a tour boat from the Pictured Rocks Cruises. There is parking near the dock so it is really easy to get out of your car, and take a tour. I

Here is a link to tour boat web site www.picturedrocks.com

Here is one of the photos...:D