NORTHVILLIANS,
First, I want to again thank each of you for assisting our community in having a safe and enjoyable Halloween celebration in town. Additionally, a lot is going on with the new street bollards that allow us to easily open and close the streets for festivals, parades, events and to support seasonal closing. We reopened the streets to traffic November 1st, in accordance with the plan decided 6 months ago. Also, we held elections on November 7th with four outstanding candidates for City Council. The two electees will be inducted onto City Council November 20th.
During this week, I will focus on remembrances in the Ville for Veterans Day. This month, the Chamber of Commerce will honor our Northville Military Veterans through the community banner program, which features close to 250 of our veteran heroes pictured on light poles around downtown.
Also, ceremonies will be held at the VFW Hall, American Legion and Senior areas, which I will be involved with. We will pay homage to our Veterans from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, WWI, WWII and the conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan – all those who served in the military, both in wartime and peacetime. In our two final resting places in town, we have veterans from all these conflicts. At Rural Hill, our Veteran Memorial area was established over 70 years ago to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our liberties, and at Oakwood (Close to 200 years old) we even have a Revolutionary War Vet.
Before we take a deeper historical look, I wanted to offer a backdrop on the beginnings of Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day until 1954). It is a federal holiday observed annually on November 11th to honor military veterans (this year, Friday 11/10 is the observed holiday). This day marks the anniversary of the truce signed at the end of WWI, which formally ended the Great War (“The War to end all Wars”) on November 11th, 1918. In addition to this great event, this was the actual day my mother was born. Growing up, the front page of The Detroit News was prominently displayed and framed under glass at our home, commemorating the end of WWI and also my mother’s birth (an ending AND a beginning).
LET’S LOOK AT VETERANS DAY CELEBRATIONS IN THE NORTHVILLE COMMUITY OVER TIME…
Northville has always had a great sense of national pride. As mentioned before, the Military Banner Program is sponsored by the Chamber and highlights our local heroes on pole-mounted flags around the Historic District.
In WWII, my father was a proud Marine (is there any other kind?) and my mother was a “Rosie the Riveter” at the Willow Run B24 Liberator plant, part of the “Arsenal of Democracy”.
Northville was an immense contributor to the national war efforts over the years. Going back to the time of WW1, Northville was ranked 2nd economically in the state of Michigan.
My brother, who served in the Vietnam era, ended up being the Dean of Culver Military School in Culver, Indiana. A banner in his memory, along with that of my father, is displayed downtown.
We in the community are truly indebted to everyone at the VFW Post and the American Legion for their patriotism and for all they do in our community. Additionally, Northvillians truly owe our veterans a great debt for their commitment and sacrifice to protect our freedoms.
The VFW Post historically sponsors the annual Memorial Day parade and maintains the Veterans portion of the Rural Hill Cemetery, which includes placing flags with the Legion on all our fallen heroes’ gravesites each year. It is truly Northville’s Arlington-like memorial area.
Northville’s American Legion has been serving veterans in our community for 104 years. Personally, I will always be grateful for their sponsorship of “Boys State” in which I participated in 1978, and that experience inspired me to become your servant mayor (40+ years later!).
During this month, please slow down and thank those in uniform as well as family & friends who have served to keep the freedoms we enjoy today. Those who defended our liberties and ideals should never be forgotten.
Keep that Northville Community Patriotic Faith!
Brian Turnbull
Mayor – Northville
BTurnbull@ci.northville.mi.us / 248.505.6849
(Reach out to me anytime or forward this communication to others interested.)
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