Everything You Need to Read About Downtown Rochester

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5 Things You Won't Want to Miss This Week

We have Santa on the farm, holiday tea, yoga and a girls night out.

Our Events calendar is overflowing with things to do this week. Here are five highlights. Did we miss something? Feel free to tell us about it in the comments! 1. Old-time Christmas on the Farm: The Old Fashioned Christmas at the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm will show you what it was like to celebrate Christmas back in the day. Tickets are $4 for museum members and $7 for non-members; you can buy a ticket for $10 the day of the event. Call 248.656.4663 to register. Saturday from 1-4 p.m. 2. Time for tea?: The Holiday High Tea at Meadow Brook Hall will feature traditional teas, savory bites and sweet treats. The afternoon begins with a tour at 2 p.m., followed by tea at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased …

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We Spy: The Millenium Falcon, 81 Pieces of Spam and a Purple Rock Star

Patch got a sneak preview of the Brookwood Flea Market. It coincides with Make a Difference Day and opens to all tonight.

There's something for everyone for sale at the Brookwood subdivision clubhouse starting at 4 Friday. Saturday is the national Make a Difference Day, and for the 20th year, Brookwood residents have organized a weekend flea market event to do just that. Organizers are hoping to make a difference by raising money for several local charities, including Paint a Miracle in downtown Rochester.  This year's effort follows last year's national recognition: the flea market was one of 10 Make a Difference Day projects awarded $10,000 by USA Weekend. The flea market features about 10,000 items, including jewelry, clothing, books and household appliances. An early bird sale is from 4-8 p.m. tonight; admission is $4. The sale continues from 9 a.m.-4 p.m…

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Laura Cassar

5:08 pm on Friday, October 21, 2011

That Star Wars stuff looks pretty sweet!   more ›

On a Ride Through Rochester, Lessons About Accommodating Bikes

The city streets were the classroom for a recent exploration of designing more bike-friendly roads and intersections.

Most Rochester residents agree on two things: First, the city has great trails for walking and biking. Second, the city has a great downtown. Where there's room for improvement, though, is in finding creative ways to bring those two features — the ones that many say make Rochester such a desirable place to live — more in sync with each other. "Our challenge is how to get people off the trails and into downtown and then back to the trails again," said Jaymes Vettraino, Rochester's city manager. "They are parallel features of the town — but yet separate." This challenge was one reason Vettraino and other city leaders spent a recent fall day in Rochester with planners, engineers, architects and public safety officials from across southeast …

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Scot Beaton

2:17 pm on Thursday, January 19, 2012

Love all the comments in the patch about bike lanes for both Rochester and Rochester Hills. Unfortunately there doesn't seem on either council the desire to build them. They have in recent month passed non binding resolutions to support the complete streets coalition...but that's it! There road plans don't reflect that groups good intentions. In Rochester Hills quite the opposite; just last year …   more ›

For the 20th Year, Brookwood Neighborhood Set to Make a Difference

The annual Brookwood Flea Market coincides with national Make a Difference Day on Saturday.

It started as a garage sale. It was 1992, and Joanne Marcil and some close friends and family had some things to sell. So they set them out in Marcil's garage in the Brookwood Subdivision of Rochester Hills. Marcil's sale brought in $150, and she used the money to buy three high chairs for the Baldwin Center, a Pontiac crisis center that feeds, clothes and educates  the needy. At the time, Marcil worked one day a week at the center, and she thought getting rid of some of her own things in a garage sale was a great way to help give back to those in need. And then came the snowball. That's the only way Marcil can describe the event that has grown into a subdivision flea market that supports five local charities and received national …

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A Beloved Children's Bookseller Still Sharing His Favorites

A month after Rochester Hills Borders closes up, Don Powers reflects on years of recommendations.

It's been one month since the Rochester Hills Borders closed its doors for good. And even though Don Powers is gone from the store's children's section, he's still full of book knowledge and recommendations. After working for the Ann Arbor-based company for 26 years — the last 12 of those in Rochester Hills — he has both a fondness for and a large scope of knowledge about books catering to the younger generations. Today he is working part-time at the Bloomfield Township Public Library; now that he has left the company, he has time to reflect on his long career there. To Powers, Borders was the visionary company that brought him to Michigan. Powers had always been a book enthusiast, studied English at college and even owned a bookstore at …

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Kristin Bull

7:45 am on Thursday, December 8, 2011

Former Borders employee Don's "best kids books" recommendations make great Christmas ideas, too!   more ›

Around Town

Through 'Om Squad,' Updog Owner Brings Yoga to Those in Need

Duane Utech and crew provide yoga outreach to Neighborhood House and others in need.

It all started with David Letterman and a dream. "I had a dream I was on the David Letterman show — and I haven't watched that in years — and I was getting interviewed and telling him about Om Squad," Updog Yoga owner Duane Utech said. "I woke up and wrote it down. My friend told me, 'If you dream it, you have to do it.' " And that was the start of Om Squad, a traveling yoga outreach program for those in need. At one time in his life, Utech was one of those in need.  Thirteen years ago, while he had the physical comforts of life, Utech was newly sober and in need of something to fill the void. He had been attending yoga classes with his mother but now his practice took on a new intensity. "I needed to find something to do at 4:30 when the…

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Laura Cassar

12:59 pm on Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Om Squad is offering free (with donation to Baldwin Center*) yoga classes at The Village of Rochester Hills on Saturdays in December. For more details, visit The Village website at www.thevorh.com. No experience required. Must be 16 years or older. *The Baldwin Center is in need of toiletries, canned goods and warm coats.   more ›

Around Town

Eat Ice Cream, Make History in World's Biggest Ice Cream Social This Week

'There's the ice cream man!' and he's serving up free treats tomorrow at Cold Stone.

Get out your spoons, Rochester, and get ready to make history with the world's biggest ice cream social. Cold Stone Creamery is hosting its annual Make-A-Wish Foundation fundraiser Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m. The restaurant will be serving 3-ounce cups of a special Make-A-Wish Creation — sweet cream ice cream with brownie, rainbow sprinkles and fudge — for free, although donations to Make-A-Wish are accepted. How much ice cream are they serving? Owner Todd Frerichs prepared 16 gallons of the Make-A-Wish Creation for tomorrow night. That's enough to serve 400 people. "Last year it was a super, crazy, busy night, but manageable," Frerichs said. "This year we are doubling our staff for the night to keep people moving through." This year's ice …

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Lions' Suh Hosts Wheelchair Basketball Game at OU

Ndamukong Suh and other celebrities coach and play in the10th annual benefit for the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan

So you think you can play basketball?   What if you were in a wheelchair? Celebrities, athletes and a wheelchair basketball team gave a demonstration at Oakland Universtiy on Thursday. Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh hosted of the 10th Annual Celebrity Wheelchair Basketball Game to benefit the DMC Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan. Suh also helped coach the Detroit Jam, one of two teams of celebrities and former athletes who played alongside members of the Detroit Diehards, a wheelchair basketball team. All of the proceeds from the event benefit the Detroit Medical Center  Institute's SportsAbility program, which allows wheelchair athletes to participate in everything from basketball to waterskiing. The Jam's celebrity …

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