NEWSPAPERS Special Edition
TRUMP ANNOUNCES NEW SELFRIDGE FIGHTER MISSION
BY DEAN VAGLIA dvaglia@candgnews.com
HARRISON TOWNSHIP — During a stop in Macomb County on April 29, President Donald Trump announced that Selfridge Air National Guard Base would receive a new mission with 21 “brand new” F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets. Announced at Selfridge alongside state and federal officials to an audience of Michigan National Guard members and press, the F-15EX jets will replace the aging and outgoing A-10 Thunderbolt II jets as the base’s offensive mission. The planes are expected to arrive at the base in fiscal year 2028, according to the Department of Defense.
“Well, I guess they think we’re going to save this place,” Trump said to begin his speech at the base. “And you know what? They’re right. A hundred percent right. We’re going to save it and make it better, actually.”
Finding a new fighter mission for the base to replace the A-10 mission has been a priority for Michigan officials in recent years. The state switched its focus to securing an F-15EX mission for the base in 2023 after failing to secure an F-35 Lightning II mission.
U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, described the F-15EX as “the airframe (Selfridge officials) saw the highest likelihood of gaining”
See
Michigan breast cancer fighters come together for annual walk at zoo event
BY TAYLOR CHRISTENSEN tchristensen@candgnews.com
ROYAL OAK — The Shades of Pink Foundation’s annual event, “A Walk at the Zoo,” was a huge success April 26 at the Detroit Zoo.
“It’s our signature fundraising event to provide funds to help our mission,” Dr. Pamela Benitez, co-founder of the Shades of Pink Foundation, said.
Benitez said that the walk at the zoo raised around $315,000 and had an attendance of 2,300 people come to the Detroit Zoo, 8450 W. 10 Mile Road, Royal Oak.
The mission of Shades of Pink is to help relieve patients diagnosed with breast cancer of financial burdens placed on them during treatment and recovery, according to shadesofpinkfoundation.org.
Common issues that patients face can include mortgage, rent, insurance payments, transportation costs, child care and other essentials of daily life.
Since 2005, Shades of Pink Foundation has helped more than 1,600 individuals diagnosed with breast cancer in southeast Michigan and raised $3.2 million of financial support to help cover patients’ costs. Tiffany Easley, a current breast cancer patient, said that her life dras-
See WALK on page 7A
Photo provided by Michigan National Guard
President Donald Trump delivers an announcement before members of the Michigan National Guard at Selfridge Air National Guard Base on April 29. Trump said the base would receive 21 F-15EX fighter jets in the coming years, fulfilling a goal of Michigan officials to maintain a fighter mission after the A-10 Thunderbolt II is retired.
Shades of Pink walkers explore the Detroit Zoo April 26.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
Fire destroys popular restaurant on Cass Lake
BY GENA JOHNSON gjohnson@candgnews.com
WATERFORD TOWNSHIP — A beloved restaurant has gone up in flames.
The Waterford Regional Fire Department responded to a structure fire at the Fork n’ Pint on Cass Lake around 5:50 a.m. May 1. The fire was reported by a passerby.
While units were traveling to the site at 4000 Cass Elizabeth Road in Waterford Township, a second fire alarm came in from the same site, said Matthew Nye, the fire chief.
According to Nye, the first crews arrived within 4-5 minutes at approximately 5:55 a.m. They found heavy smoke and fire rising through the roof of the structure.
“The crews initiated an aggressive interior attack,” Nye said. “However, they were pushed back by heavy fire and the roof collapsing into the structure. So, they had to back out and do what is called a defensive tactic, and spray water from a safe position.”
The fire engulfed most of the structure.
“It was a rather large structure,” Nye said. “It was well involved — close to being fully involved upon our arrival.”
The Waterford crew was assisted by neighboring fire departments.
“We had mutual aid assistance by Independence Township Fire Department, West Bloomfield Fire Department, Bloomfield Township Fire Department, and of course our Waterford Police Department was there assisting us all the time,” Nye said.
FIRE on page 7A
Royal Oak to honor Memorial Day with parade
BY TAYLOR CHRISTENSEN tchristensen@candgnews.com
ROYAL OAK — The Royal Oak Memorial Day Parade will begin at 9 a.m., May 26, on Main Street at Lincoln Avenue.
Mike Sherman, a member of the Royal Oak Veterans Events Committee, said that this year will continue the decades-long tradition of paying tribute to those who died in service to our country and veterans past and present.
Sherman said the parade will include Boy Scouts, flag bearers, veterans and more. Directly after the parade will be a ceremony observing Memorial Day with Sherman as the host.
“It’s a tremendous honor. It gives me goosebumps every time I step up there and talk about our veterans and the people behind me (on the memorial), the 189 people that faced the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom,” Sherman said. “It’s unexplainable, especially being a veteran, when you take that oath and you tell them I am ready to give myself up for this country; there’s no other oath like it.”
An early morning fire ravaged the Fork n’ Pint on Cass Lake. A statement posted to the restaurant’s Facebook page expressed relief that no one was hurt, adding that the loss is shocking and devastating to the staff. Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
A total of 189 flags are planted on the hill at Centennial Commons for Memorial Day each year to symbolize the 189 names listed on the Royal Oak Veterans Memorial.
File photo by Donna Dalziel
The parade will have veteran Lawrence Miller, 37, as a special guest this year.
Miller will be participating in the Trek For Vets, a fundraising campaign he created that includes a 200-mile walk May 15-26 starting at The Boulevard Inn and Bistro in St. Joseph and concluding at the Royal Oak Memorial Day parade.
Miller’s goal is to raise $222 per mile, with all donations going toward providing crucial assistance to veterans in crisis, including legal, mental, physical and housing support.
Each day Miller will be traveling 15-20 miles, with checkpoints every 5 miles.
“We (veterans) isolate when we don’t have the answers or can’t figure out solutions. We just bite our lips and try to figure out in our own head and figure out how to complete the task or objective or mission or whatever it is that we are dealing with in our life, and we don’t always have the answers to that,” Miller said.
Miller shared that he has struggled with mental health issues following his deployment, and at first had a hard time admitting that he needed help. Miller hopes to encourage others going through the same things to ask for help through this walk.
“It’s OK to ask for help. I am just trying to share the story of how I went through a rough spot a couple of years ago, lost my family, just because I couldn’t admit that I needed help sooner with some mental health stuff that I was going through,” he said. “The walk is creating a tribe where you
can go to relate, to share your stories with and get mentorship and hopefully get those guys out of isolation to help them get better.”
Following the parade will be a memorial ceremony located at the Royal Oak Veterans Memorial, 200 S. Troy St.
“We are going to honor some of the people at the memorial. We are going to personalize a couple of them, because they are from our community and they need to be talked about,” Sherman said. “They are not just an etching on the stone, you know. So that’s what we are trying to do.”
During the ceremony and throughout the Memorial Day observance there will be 189 flags planted on the hill at Centennial Commons commemorating the soldiers who are named on the memorial.
Sherman emphasized that the point of this holiday is to truly remember and honor those who have lost their lives.
“I would remind people that every day, everything they do, they go to school, work, is all because of the people that have given and protected this country for the last 250 years,” he said. “Giving an hour or two to say thank you for your service to a veteran is something we should actually all do.”
Miller said that he encourages anybody interested to stop at a checkpoint or join him during his 200-mile trek across Michigan.
“Anyone is allowed to join. … I am trying to have more people unite on the trek, meet at different checkpoints to unite, share conversations, share stories, and I am trying to unite people across the state through this journey,” Miller said.
For more information on the Memorial Day parade, visit romi.gov.
FREE 2025 Memorial Day Weekend Events:
Friday, May 23, through Monday, May 26: White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery invites you and your family to once again honor all those who have served and defended our cherished rights and freedoms. See an inspiring display of over 500 large American flags lining our many causeways.
Starting at 3PM, Sunday, May 25: Enjoy a stirring Patriotic Concert by the renowned Birmingham Concert Band. Starting at 11AM, Monday, May 26: Memorial Day Service, with a special tribute to the Polar Bear soldiers of WWI. See reenactors in authentic WWI military garb salute “Michigan’s Own Polar Bears.” After WWI, they were the first Americans to fight Russians on Russian soil.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Pontiac Transportation Museum gears up for its ‘Phase II Fanfare’ event
MUSEUM PAYS TRIBUTE TO PONTIAC’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE AUTO INDUSTRY
BY MARIA ALLARD allard@candgnews.com
PONTIAC — Walking into the Pontiac Transportation Museum is like spending time in your grandfather’s pristine garage as a kid.
The museum is a leisurely walk back in time that pays tribute to the car manufacturers and assembly line workers who made everything from 19th century carriages to late ’60s GTOs in Pontiac-based automobile plants. That includes the Oakland Motor Car Co., Pontiac Assembly, the Pontiac Tractor Co. and GMC.
Memorabilia tells the city’s auto history, vehicles from different decades are on display, there’s a section dedicated to 50 years of Pontiac coach buses, visitors can view interactive videos, and much more. Volunteer docents are available to answer questions and take guests on museum tours. There’s also a gift shop that sells T-shirts, baseball caps, glassware and stickers.
“Our scope is basically wheel vehicles in Pontiac, either engineered here or manufactured here and or both. Forty-seven companies were here over time. We live in southeastern Michigan. Everybody is related to somebody that worked in the auto business,” said Pontiac Transportation Museum Board Chair Terry Connolly, a Rochester Hills resident. “The nice thing about opening the museum is people walk up almost every day with a box of stuff. You find some artifacts in there that are just amazing that people kept.”
The museum, located at 250 W. Pike St., opened in May 2024 with phase I of its installation. Just a year later, organizers will open the second phase of the museum on May 17, and the public is cordially invited to the “Phase II Fanfare” event.
The day will begin at 9 a.m. with a car cafe kickoff that will include free coffee, doughnuts and cider. Car buffs who drive classic Pontiac, Oakland and GMC brands are welcome to showcase their models on the museum grounds as space allows.
The museum will open at 10 a.m. with “Phase I” admittance prices. At noon, the event will switch gears with guest speakers and a ribbon-cutting to officially open phase II of the museum. From 1 to 5 p.m., the public can enjoy live music outside, and food will be for sale.
“We want people to be proud of what happened in Pontiac. We want to attract heritage tourism to Pontiac,” said Connolly, a retired automobile engineer. “There was a lot of wealth accumulation in Pontiac at one point in time. It happened because of manufacturing prowess and science and technology.”
There are bits of history throughout the museum that highlight all kinds of vehicles made in the city: carriages, sedans, station wag-
LEFT: Pontiac Transportation Museum Board Chair Terry Connolly, of Rochester Hills, reads a map that shows the location of the former Pontiac auto plants.
Photos by Patrica O’Blenes
ABOVE AND LEFT: The Pontiac Transportation Museum, located at 250 W. Pike St., opened in May 2024. Its hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. The public is welcome to attend.
BELOW: Through car displays and artifacts, the Pontiac Transportation Museum tells the story of the city’s contributions to the automobile industry.
Fire
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Due to the extensive fire, the structure could not be saved.
“Unfortunately, it ended up a somewhat total loss,” the fire chief said.
One firefighter was sent to the hospital, where he was treated and released.
“He will be out (from work) for about a week,” Nye said.
After the fire, a statement was posted to the restaurant’s website and Facebook page, attributed to “The Fork n’ Pint Team.”
“First and foremost, we are deeply relieved and grateful that no one was hurt in the fire that destroyed our restaurant,” the statement read. “While we are still in shock,
page 1A
tically changed for the better when she found Shades of Pink Foundation.
“I was diagnosed May 28, 2024,” Easley said. “As you can imagine, it was extremely stressful because of the unknown. I had high anxiety; I was afraid. I was just shocked.”
Easley joined Shades of Pink Foundation shortly after her diagnosis and became an ambassador for the organization. She said that it was a major stress reliever for her.
“When you are in the battle and going through treatment, you worry about everything around you — the fear of the unknown and keeping it all together is so very hard,” she said. “When I finally made it clear to my social worker that I was struggling with keeping it all together, she reassured me that help was on the way. And that’s how I got introduced to Shades of Pink.”
Easley helped out during the Walk at the Zoo event.
“To literally be in it, in real life, it was a surreal feeling,” Easley said. “To actually see these people, touch some of them, to hug some of them, some of them gave me words of wisdom. It just gave me a newfound hope that there are so many people out here to support people like me.”
Benitez said that the walk at the zoo continues to provide hope and camaraderie for people who have had breast cancer affect their lives.
“It provides a wonderful day of camaraderie and support for people who are survivors or people who have lost someone to the diagnosis, to the disease,” Benitez said. “It’s a welcoming, warm, friendly community event where we embrace the journey and share the
the loss is devastating to our entire restaurant family.
“Right now, our focus is on supporting our employees and those directly affected by this loss. Our team is the heart of Fork n’ Pint, and their well-being is our top priority as we begin to process and recover from this tragedy,” the post continued. “For nearly 10 years, Fork n’ Pint has been our pride and passion — a place where we’ve shared meals, memories and milestones with this incredible community.
“We want to sincerely thank everyone who has reached out with condolences, support and kind words,” the statement concluded. “It means more than we can express.
Doug and Burge Young, the brothers who own the Fork n’ Pint restaurant, were contacted but did not respond by press time.
journey and the stories, as well as understanding that we are all there supporting not only those who have gone through the journey or have passed, but also those that have financial need. That’s our mission.”
The day at the zoo with Shades of Pink Foundation included snacks, breakfast, vendors, entertainment and more.
“It’s really a time to just be with one another, all there for one purpose. You can feel that energy, that warmth and camaraderie and the love just by being there,” Benitez said. “We hope that the walk continues to grow every year and really embrace awareness.”
Increasing awareness of the help that the foundation can provide to those going through this disease is the main goal for Benitez and the foundation team.
“It’s our 20th year of the foundation, how people still don’t know about us, and we have money, we have connected to the different social workers, nurse navigators, health care professionals at all of the area hospitals, letting them know we exist, and still our community is not on the tip of everybody’s tongue,” she said. “We are here serving our own community, which is one thing that I find that’s very special and unique.”
Easley encourages women to take action and get regularly checked for breast cancer, even if it does not run in their families.
“To all of the amazing women out there, go get checked anyway, regardless of if it runs in your family. If you feel any different, just go get checked anyway,” Easley said. “That’s exactly what I did. I didn’t have any signs, I didn’t have any background or history of it, and something still showed up. So just go anyway.”
For more information on the Shades of Pink Foundation, visit shadesofpinkfounda tion.org.
Madison Heights plans lantern festival celebrating Asian culture
BY ANDY KOZLOWSKI akozlowski@candgnews.com
MADISON HEIGHTS — The city of Madison Heights is home to many AsianAmerican businesses. To celebrate the fact, the city’s Human Relations and Equity Commission is planning a lantern festival where attendees can enjoy authentic Asian food, music and dance.
The free event is called Paradise Eve, and will take place from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 31 near the bandshell at Civic Center Park, 360 W. 13 Mile Road. The HREC is partnering with Dasian Media and 168 Group, lining up live performers, food vendors and more that fit the theme.
The HREC is also fundraising for the event. Madison Heights City Councilman Quinn Wright serves as the council representative for the HREC. He said sponsors are needed and that sponsorships can be arranged by emailing quinnwright@madisonheights.org.
“We’re looking for sponsors for the lanterns themselves,” Wright said. “We would like the big lanterns, but there might only be the smaller ones, because of the costs of tariffs and shipping.”
He explained that the lanterns are usually made of paper material and vary in size and shape. Attendees will be able to build and customize smaller lanterns with batterypowered lights, which they can place on a stage for all to see. They can then take their lantern home at the end of the evening.
The large lanterns, meanwhile, could reach sizes comparable to a refrigerator or
small car, he said. Those would be preassembled by organizers and set up around the venue for ambiance.
As for the live entertainment, there will be a DJ playing K-pop and J-pop hits, as well as traditional Chinese performers. Food and drink will run the gamut of Asian-Pacific culture, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and more.
But the lanterns will likely be the highlight, he said.
“We want ones that the kids can put together so they can familiarize themselves with the culture by making them firsthand,” Wright said. “The plan is to have some space erected where we can display them and share them with the community. There will be several styles, and everyone will have the opportunity to make them their own by coloring them, or the way they assemble them.”
Wright and the HREC also spearheaded the event “Rev’n in the Heights,” which made its debut last year and will return to Civic Center Plaza this year on Sept. 13. That event celebrates culture in another way, bringing people together over their shared love of cars and cooking.
The event features unique and exotic cars lined up in the parking lot. Chefs square off in a juried barbecue competition, while guests enjoy something to eat and drinks from local food trucks.
“It was such a success,” Wright said. “Rather than going in blind and trying to figure it out ourselves, we partnered with local car enthusiasts and small business owners to make it possible. It’s the same idea with this lantern festival, partnering with Dasian
Media and 168 Group.”
As for the HREC, its mission remains the same.
“We want to make the city a more inclusive place — not only in its programming, but also in its policy,” Wright said. “To be inclusive means to consider all of our residents with particular needs. This could include making sure our policies are inclusive of their culture, or their disability, or their identity. We want to make sure we’re being intentionally inclusive, and that we’re not being unintentionally exclusive.”
This approach can be seen in an upcoming project by the HREC, where special boards will be installed at local parks. The boards feature illustrations and phrases that help nonverbal or less verbal individuals to express themselves. They can point to the elements of the board to communicate their thoughts and feelings in a way that’s more
comfortable for them.
“We’re looking at ways we can be more compliant with (the Americans with Disabilities Act), and also more inclusive with it,” Wright said. “So not just meeting the standard, but going above and beyond. We want to meet the needs of all our citizens.”
Emily Rohrbach is another member of the Madison Heights City Council. She serves as the council alternate for the HREC.
“This lantern festival will bring us all together to celebrate Asian-American culture through food and dance and music and light. People always say, ‘Oh, Madison Heights has my favorite Thai restaurant,’ and ‘Oh, I love the Vietnamese restaurants there.’ So this acknowledges that, and celebrates how we’re an important place for their communities here in southeast Michigan,” Rohrbach said. “It’s really just a very special opportunity for our city.”
$1.8M grant helps Corewell Health Children’s provide more for pediatric patients
BY TAYLOR CHRISTENSEN tchristensen@candgnews.com
ROYAL OAK — Corewell Health Children’s pediatric programs have received $1.8 million in grants from Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
The grants will be used to enhance the pediatric programs at Corewell Health Children’s locations for the spring and summer seasons of 2025.
“Our relationship with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is one of our most valued and impactful partnerships at Corewell Health Children’s,” Matthew Denenberg, M.D., chief, pediatrics, Corewell Health in Southeast Michigan, said in a press release.“Twice each year, our pediatric programs have the opportunity to be renewed and grow through CMNH grants. Specialized equipment and services are enhanced to better serve our youngest patients and their families — positively impacting the lives of more than 200,000 children annually.”
The grant money will be assisting more than 50 programs with special equipment that will enhance the abilities of doctors and nurses, including but not limited to: infant-specific equipment, special education for clinical staff and patient families, pet therapy, playroom supplies, patient family financial support, physical therapy tools, and more.
Tom McGannon, vice president of community engagement with Corewell Health Foundation Southeast Michigan, said that the grant will also be providing funding for two big initiatives that will bring joy to the patient’s lives.
The first program, Launch, focuses on young adults with special needs. The pro-
gram helps them develop skills, gain experience in the workplace and more.
McGannon said the Launch program was pioneered at the Corewell Health Beaumont Gross Pointe Hospital, but now with the grant funding can be expanded to all eight hospitals in metro Detroit.
“The Launch program brings children who might have neuro differences, maybe kids who are on the autism spectrum, to our hospitals as volunteers to learn various career skills,” he said. “It helps them to both learn and connects them to gain full employment as well, too.”
Corewell Health has had a standing partnership with Audacy Media, and with help from the grant, McGannon said Audacy will be bringing some special experiences.
Through Audacy, pediatric patients will be able to meet and learn from experts in the media field and will be tutored by national music artists. The goal is to teach lifelong skills in music, instrumentation, recording and broadcasting.
“Audacy media has been a really strong partner with us for more than a decade. … They have fallen in love with our kids, and the offer that they have presented to us is, ‘We want to help these kids look forward to their futures,’ and so they connected with our Child Life Program, which is funded by Children’s Medical Network,” he said. “This is a program that helps kids feel like kids when they are in the hospital, when they are going through different medical procedures.
The beauty of the Audacy partnership is it’s going to focus these kids forward.”
The Audacy program will give the children hands-on opportunities.
“They will give them experience learning to play the guitar, learning to sing, and they will get that confidence from people
who are not only in the business, but are celebrities who do this,” McGannon said.
McGannon wants to thank the community for these opportunities, given the funding comes from the dollar donations given at the end of checkout at various locations around southeast Michigan.
“The Royal Oak community is very generous to those retailers like Costco and Walmart, and they are contributing those dollars that they are asked for at the register,” he said. “It’s funded by the community, and it helps our patients. It’s a really nice circle of community resources helping kids locally.”
For more information on Corewell Health, visit corewellhealth.org.
Kennedy Shallal is Corewell Health Children’s 2025 Children’s Miracle Network ambassador. Corewell Health Children’s has received $1.8 million from the Children’s Miracle Network to support pediatric programming.
Photo provided by Corewell Health
Selfridge
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and worked to get additional funding for F-15EX production into a draft version of the 2024 federal budget. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was in attendance to greet Trump when he arrived at Selfridge on April 29, pledged to fund a northward expansion of Selfridge’s runway and approved a $13 million allocation to do so in the state’s 2023 budget.
“Since day one, I’ve been laser-focused on securing a new fighter mission at Selfridge and supporting the brave service members who step up for our communities every day,” Whitmer said via press release. “I appreciate the President’s partnership on this new fighter mission that will protect jobs and show the world that Michigan is the best place to pioneer the next innovations in national defense. Because of our tireless work with partners on the ground in Macomb County and on both sides of the aisle, the future of Selfridge is bright, lasting and secure. I’ll keep working with anyone to get things done on the kitchen-table issues and make a real difference for Michigan families.”
Local officials were quick to applaud the announcement with both Macomb County
Museum
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ons, sports cars, convertibles, 18-wheeler trailers, medium-duty trucks, pickup trucks, and buses. Inside the museum is a 1908 Pontiac High Wheel Runabout, a 1912 Flanders Colonial Electric, 1968 Pontiac Firebird Ram Air II, 1940 GMC pickup truck, the very last Pontiac 2010 G6 sedan and more.
“Pontiac had 80% of the transit market in the whole United States for about 40 years,” Connolly said. “The Department of Justice didn’t take kindly to that and took GM to court for about 10 years and said, ‘It’s a monopoly, you’ve got to break it all off.’ So GM sold it all off, but most of the transit buses in the United States were built in Pontiac.”
Also on display are Whizzer motorbikes, which ran on gasoline and became popular during World War II.
“Gas was rationed, and women began working at plants,” Connolly said. “They all bought Whizzers” to get to work. The Pontiac manufacturing plants also supplied vehicles during World War II, including DUKWs, antiaircraft guns, armored cars, torpedoes, parts for tanks and landing craft and artillery ammunition.
Executive Mark Hackel, a Democrat, and Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller, a Republican from Harrison Township, releasing statements of support.
“This is the best possible outcome, better than either F-16 or F-35,” Miller said via press release. “The F-15EX is a refurbishment of the F-15, a major overhaul/upgrade that just entered the active inventory in 2024, so it will be around for a long time, and it is an extremely important mission. It can be configured for air-to-air or air-to-ground operation … With the F-15EX, plus the KC-46s that are in the pipeline for us, the Michigan Air National Guard will be playing a major role in national defense for decades.”
Hackel’s comments in a press release reflected the bipartisan nature of the campaign to bring a new fighter mission to the nearly 110-year-old base.
“It’s fitting that a coalition of this size and scope rallied around Macomb County to help uplift Selfridge,” Hackel said. “This effort went beyond partisanship, and united us in the mission to protect our hometown airbase. I want to personally thank President Trump, Governor Whitmer, the servicewomen and servicemen at Selfridge and all of our military and civilian partners who were engaged in these conversations.”
In another site, volunteers placed two cars next to each other that represent the beginning and end of manufacturing in the city: a 1927 Landau sedan and a 1982 Grand Prix. Guests might also spot the 21-foot 1986 Vixen recreational vehicle on exhibit. Only 587 models were produced in 19861987 at the Vixen Motor Co.; they really didn’t generate much interest.
“My assessment is it was too expensive for its market in the mid-’80s because you could buy a bigger motorhome for the same amount of money,” Connolly said. “These were built right next door to where the Silverdome used to stand.”
The Pontiac Transportation Museum was built inside the former Crofoot Elementary School. Private donors have funded the museum along with support from the city of Pontiac’s Arts and Culture American Rescue Plan Act grant of $250,000. Since opening last year, the PTM has welcomed about 5,000 guests from 16 countries and nearly every U.S. state.
A list of admission prices is on the PTM website at pontiactransportationmuseum. org/visit. Information regarding donation opportunities also is available on the website. School groups are welcome for tours.
STAR LINCOLN: WHERE EVERY JOURNEY BECOMES LEGENDARY AND EVERY RIDE MORE RELAXING.
Since 1970, Star Lincoln has delivered Metro Detroit’s nest luxury vehicles. Founded by the legendary Hoot McInerney, this venerated dealership has curated driving experiences with the “Star Treatment”—where handcrafted American luxury meets personalized service.
Hoot’s sons and co-owners, Bob and Jim McInerney, work hand in hand with his grandsons, Executive Manager, Ryan McInerney and Sales Manager, Patrick Leonhard, to oversee his legacy. e late Hoot started a chain of automobile dealerships across the country 55 years ago, and Star Lincoln continues to celebrate this standard of excellence.
Ryan McInerney explains the standard: “ e Lincoln Motor Company has long been synonymous with luxury, innovation, and comfort. In recent years, Lincoln has expanded its focus beyond premium vehicles to emphasize wellness and a holistic driving experience. Features like adaptive suspension, serene cabin acoustics, and ergonomic seating re ect this commitment to passenger well-being.”
Lincoln’s sanctuary philosophy— designing tranquil retreats from stress— is highlighted by a new feature in all 2025 Lincoln Navigator and Nautilus models called Rejuvenate Mode. With a simple touch of a
button on the display screen while parked, this mode activates:
- **Massage seats** that recline to help you relax and recharge
- **Customizable scents** emitted from the dashboard
- **A tranquil display** that transforms into a serene waterfall landscape.
is advanced wellness technology enhances the in-car relaxation experience by adjusting lighting, scent, sound, visuals, air puri cation, and seating for ultimate tranquility.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the U.S., and Lincoln’s commitment to “driving peace of mind” arrives at just the right time. McInerney adds, “You can relax while waiting in line or picking up your kids from school in your ‘Digital Spa on Wheels.’ e system was designed to help you calm down and recharge.”
Lincoln’s focus on wellness as a health-conscious brand sets it apart from competitors. is advantage aligns with the announcement of Employee Pricing for All on all new 2025 Lincoln vehicles: the Corsair, Navigator, Nautilus, and Aviator.
“Consumers are looking for a better driving experience today,” McInerney concludes.
“ e Lincoln interior is superior to the competition in every way— completely di erent. It’s essential for drivers to care for their peace of mind, body, and soul. Come to Star Lincoln, where you’ll be treated like family and a personal friend. You have to drive a new 2025 Lincoln to experience the exciting di erence— you’ll be truly impressed.”
Come celebrate 55 years of the Star Treatment at 24350 W. 12 Mile Road (@ Telegraph) in South eld. Call 248354-4900 or visit www.starlincoln. com for more information on the Lincoln Luxury experience.
¹Not all buyers will qualify for low-mileage Lincoln AFS