NEWSPAPERS Special Edition
TWO ROYAL OAK LEPRECHAUNS SELECTED IN MLB DRAFT
BY SCOTT BENTLEY sbentley@candgnews.com
ROYAL OAK — On July 14, Aidan Cremarosa and Jake Shelagowski became the seventh and eighth players in Royal Oak Leprechauns history to be selected in the Major League Baseball Draft.
In the 20-round event, the two standouts were selected in the eighth and 13th rounds respectively.
“It’s an awesome feeling seeing all these guys get picked up and perform and then go play in pro ball,” Leprechauns manager Chris Faust said. “It’s cool being a small piece in all of these players’ successes.”
Cremarosa played for the Leps in 2024 and recorded a 2.70 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched. During the school year, he pitched at Fresno State University and racked up several accolades including Mountain West Pitcher of the Year, Mountain West strikeout leader (112 in 2025), and was the team’s Saturday starter in his senior season. Cremarosa was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays with the 237th overall pick in the draft.
Shelagowski is a 2025 Leprechaun and was selected with the 390th pick by the St. Louis Cardinals. Shelagowski’s talent was obvious, despite not having a long playing history as a redshirt sophomore at Saginaw Valley State University. He struck out 10 batters in just 5.1 innings pitched and topped
Faithful dog leads
‘Rookie of the Year’ to finish line
BY GENA JOHNSON gjohnson@candgnews.com
FARMINGTON HILLS — Samantha LaLonde, 29, a Farmington Hills native and graduate of Harrison High School, was named “Rookie of the Year” in the 2025 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race by finishing with the best time for the first-time mushers.
A musher is the rider who controls the sled. Samantha completed the race in 12 days and 14 hours.
Her parents Jim and Sally LaLonde, of Farmington Hills, were in Alaska from the start of the race through when she crossed the finish line in March.
“I’ve been through all kinds of emotions, from being very proud to nauseous and all the feelings in between,” Sally said about her feelings watching her daughter race.
Sally and Jim took solace in the fact their child was doing what she loves to do.
“A lot of times, I prayed,” Sally said of how she handled anxiety.
See LALONDE on page 10A
Pitcher Jake Shelagowski winds up for a pitch in the Northwoods League this season. Shelagowski was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Aidan Cremarosa pitches in the 2024 season for the Royal Oak Leprechauns. Cremarosa was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the MLB Draft.
Photos provided by Mark Stowers
Samantha LaLonde, a Farmington Hills native, shares a moment at the finish line with her dog Gibbs during the 2025 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The race started in Anchorage, Alaska. Photo provided by Jim LaLonde
SPORTS
Brother Rice wins lacrosse state title in overtime
BY SCOTT BENTLEY sbentley@candgnews.com
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Brother Rice is back on top of Division I boys lacrosse after earning the program’s 17th state title in a 9-8 overtime victory over Detroit Country Day at U of M Lacrosse Stadium in Ann Arbor.
There have now been 20 Michigan High School Athletic Association Division I boys lacrosse state championship games, and Brother Rice has won all but three (2018, 2022, 2024) and participated in all but one (2024).
This season, after missing the state title game for the first time in program history last year, the team bounced back and was named champion yet again.
“I think this is a huge year for us,” Brother Rice boys head coach Ajay Chawla said. “We’ve obviously lost state championships in the past, but we’ve never not come back the following year and won.”
The return to the top wasn’t an easy one, however. Brother Rice won its semifinal match against Rockford by a score of 9-8 and proceeded to win the state championship by the same score, but in overtime.
“Rockford has been getting better every year and gave us a tough fight in the semifinals,” Chawla explained. Detroit Catholic Central “in the finals was a familiar foe. We played them twice in the regular season. Lost
Beverly Hills resident’s organization supports grandfamilies
BY MARY GENSON mgenson@candgnews.com
BEVERLY HILLS — Over 2.3 million grandparents in the United States are raising their grandchildren, and over 20% live below the poverty level.
Craig Nash, from Beverly Hills, began It’s a Grand Life to help support grand families and kinship caregivers.
Nash is part of a grandfamily himself — he and his wife have been raising his granddaughter after his daughter left.
Award-winning support
At Generations United’s Global Intergenerational Conference with the GrandFamilies Award, Nash was awarded the Grandfamily Award for the support he has provided grandparents who are raising grandchildren.
Jamarl Clark, the assistant director of the National Center on Grandfamilies through Generations United, said, “Generations United is the only national organization dedicated to improving the lives of children, youth and older adults through intergenerational collaboration, public policies and programs that unite and strengthen all generations.”
Nash is part of the group of caregiver advocates for Generations United — titled Grand Voices.
Beverly Hill’s Craig Nash is the founder of It’s a Grand Life, a recent award winner. Photo provided by Catherine Curry
Brother Rice celebrates the program’s 17th Division I boys lacrosse state title at U of M Lacrosse Stadium after a 9-8 overtime victory June 6.
Photos by Patricia O’Blenes
ABOVE: Ben Waechter runs to his team after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime. BELOW: Head coach Ajay Chawla smiles in front of his team during the award ceremony following the game.
Lacrosse
from page 3A
both times by a goal … so coming into that game we felt that we could compete with them.”
Detroit Catholic Central was a perfect 23-0 going into the state title game and was the favorite to win states for most of the season.
“Obviously, anytime you play Catholic Central it’s a big day. … We were coming in as the underdog,” Chawla said. “It was great, for once, to think that the other team had the pressure.”
Even more impressive, Brother Rice won despite allowing three unanswered goals to start the game.
“We let up the first three goals, and I think it was that calmness (that helped the
Grandfamilies
from page 3A
“We provide that platform for them to come together as a community to develop skills and work together and connect,” Clark said.
The podcast
The “It’s a Grand Life” podcast started in 2023.
Some of the episodes include interviews with Julie Braciszewski, of Monarch Behavioral Health, who discusses “Anxiety in Children and Guidelines For Social Media Use,” author and psychotherapist Elaine K. Williams on “Grand Family Advice,” and Cyndi
team recover),” Chawla said. “We came back and eventually tied it up. … It kind of went back and forth all game. I thought that game was one of the more exciting games that I’ve ever coached.”
In sudden death overtime, sophomore Ben Waechter scored the game winner to send Brother Rice home with another title.
“In the end, you had two really good teams, and it came down to one faceoff,” Brother Rice assistant coach Mark Hamilton said. “We broke a guy free, and Ben Waechter came down and scored the goal.”
The biggest point that both coaches praised the team for after the final game was the poise and confidence in the moment. This was one of the closest games of the season, and it was on the biggest stage, yet Brother Rice treated it as any other game until the game-winner was scored.
Brother Rice was able to keep compo-
Pettit of Neighborhood House on poverty prevention.
“We just thought we were going to be a podcast until we interviewed so many folks and realized that many grandparents that are raising their grandkids did not do an adequate job preparing for their own retirement, and now they’ve got one to three additional mouths to feed, and they’re just really struggling,” Nash said.
The Grand Fund
Last summer, Nash decided to start a 501(c)(3) to further assist grandfamilies, The Grand Fund. Since the launch, they have assisted over 125 families.
The Grand Fund supports Michigan families and plans to extend its reach to
sure thanks to a battle-tested philosophy from the program. No team has a harder schedule year in and year out than Brother Rice lacrosse, and that’s intentional.
“I go, ‘Look, I see who won the state championship in every state that we can play,’” Hamilton explained. “And we try to make it work. This past season, I think we did as good a job scheduling out-of-state games as we possibly could. We played every single state champion in the surrounding areas that we could.”
The program faced off against state champions in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and for the first time ever, Kentucky. Rice also played Michigan’s Division II state champion, East Grand Rapids, and finished the year 19-5.
“All of those one-goal games that we had throughout the season really prepared us for the final minutes of the state championship,” Hamilton said. “There was no fear,
other states.
“It’s just been a labor of love. I can’t wait to see where this takes us in the years ahead. But there’s, there’s no real joy like helping folks who really need it,” Nash said.
Some of the families helped are featured on the website. Among the many families
and there was no panic. We knew the job we had to do. … They were ready for it.”
The 2025 state title is a reminder. There was a lot of talk about Brother Rice not being the same team that the program once was, or that the rest of the field has caught up to them. The team got back to the top and reminded everyone who the favorites are.
“Last year when we lost in the semifinals everyone kind of, around the state, started talking about … Brother Rice and the fall from grace,” Chawla said. “Proving, not only to other teams but to everywhere around the state that that wasn’t the case … this was a great proof point to show that.”
This is Chawla’s eighth state title since taking over as head coach in 2014. Next season, the team will look to win titles in backto-back years for the first time since 20162017.
helped is one who received a washing machine; a grandmother in Pontiac who received assistance with repairing her minivan; and a family who received a new wheelchair ramp at their home. To assist many of these families, It’s a Grand Life partners with other organizations that support the local community.
Attorney general says Ferndale businesses were targets of ‘cloning’ scheme
BY MIKE KOURY mkoury@candgnews.com
FERNDALE — Two men have been sued by the Michigan Department of Attorney General for an alleged scheme that targeted Ferndale businesses.
According to a press release, Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a lawsuit in the 3rd Circuit Court in Wayne County against 17 limited liability companies and two individuals, Eric Vander Ley and Daniel Vander Ley. The suit alleges that Eric Vander Ley harassed small business owners in the Ferndale area using the LLCs to coerce payments with the help of his brother, Daniel Vander Ley.
The press release further states that the Department of Attorney General alleges that Eric Vander Ley exploited lapses in business registration with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to form clone corporations, or new companies using the same names of existing Ferndale businesses. With his brother, Daniel, they used the cloned entities to target and harass the original business owners in an attempt to extract money from them, Nessel alleges.
The businesses listed in the lawsuit include Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop, Urbanrest Brewing Co., The Detroit Bubble Tea Co., Bags & Beads, Beau’s Grillery, Como’s Restaurant, Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters, Detroit Martial Arts Institute, Found Sound, Got Pho and Tin Can Cocktails. There is also one Bloomfield Hills business, Mex Restaurant.
According to the complaint, Eric Vander
Ley worked at the Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop in the summer of 2022, but he wasn’t brought back the following year. This led to the owner of the shop, Jon Hughes, receiving harassment from the brothers.
In November 2023, Hughes found the shop wasn’t in good standing with LARA. Around the same time, he also found that an LLC was using the same name as his bike shop, Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop LLC, with Daniel Vander Ley as a registered agent. This prevented Hughes from bringing his business back into good standing, because LARA wouldn’t accept past-due reports because the business name was being used by Vander Ley, which led to Hughes changing the corporation’s name to “Original Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop Inc.” to get back into good standing.
Last year, Hughes received a cease-anddesist letter from Eric Vander Ley alleging his client is the exclusive owner of trademarks and copyrights of “Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop,” according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General. Eric Vander Ley demanded Hughes sign an agreement that would pay him $2,500 in lieu of litigation, according to the complaint. Vander Ley also contacted the bike shop’s landlord and made allegations of trademark infringement and demanded $5,000, also in lieu of litigation, according to the complaint.
The complaint also alleges that after Hughes refused, Eric Vander Ley would drive by the bike shop while Hughes walked
Sue M
Photos by Patricia O’Blenes
LEFT: According to a lawsuit that the Michigan Department of Attorney General filed, there were 11 Ferndale businesses targeted in a cloning scheme that sought to coerce money from them, including Como’s Restaurant. RIGHT: Found Sound was one of the 11 Ferndale businesses that were targeted in a cloning scheme, according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General.
BY CHARITY MEIER cmeier@candgnews.com
NOVI — People came out in droves for the 40th annual Festival of Chariots in Novi on July 20.
The annual festival celebrates happiness as the Hindu deities of Lord Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra are paraded through the streets of the city in a 40-foot chariot that is pulled by worshippers and other festival attendees.
“It was crazy. We had so many people there. It was insane,” said Madhu Mahadevan, festival spokesman.
Mahadevan said the crowd at Fuerst Park was so large this year that parking was scarce, and as a result, some people were unable to attend the festival. He said some of his friends told him that they had tried to attend but were unable to find a parking space. They told him there wasn’t even a spot behind Novi High School.
“We had people that couldn’t come into the site be-
cause it was so full they couldn’t find parking,” Mahadevan said. “I mean it was packed.”
City Councilwoman Priya Gurumurthy said that it is not surprising that the crowd was so large this year. She said that she believes that only 1 in every 5 people who attended the event was from Novi.
“It’s just expanding. So, people from all over, they drive and come here — Sterling Heights, Royal Oak, even (from) Auburn Hills I saw someone,” Gurumurthy said. “So, people
are coming from all over, which is a great thing.”
As part of the festival, free food that had been blessed was handed out to attendees.
Mahadevan said there were so many people in attendance that for the first time in its 40-year history, they ran out of complimentary sanctified meals. He said they didn’t just run out, but they ran out in approximately three hours.
The festival organizers determine the approximate
See FESTIVAL on page 10A
ABOVE: Festivalgoers surround a chariot that carries the Hindu gods Lord Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra as it arrives at Fuerst Park near Novi High School July 20. TOP LEFT: Shrestha Pandey, 9, of Novi, performs the Kuchipudi, one of the Indian classical dances.
Photos by Patricia O’Blenes
out at nearly 100 mph as a right-hander on the mound.
“With Shelagowski getting drafted, we had thought about that before he even came in,” Faust said. “He shows up and throws 100 (mph) in the spring.”
These two right-handed pitchers, and the other six players in team history who have been selected in the draft, represent a massive win for an organization whose main goal is developing talent.
“Ultimately it’s about the player,” Faust said. “The development is incredibly important. … They come in as skilled players already. They’re top guys … they just have to overcome the mental barriers and go out and perform every night.”
The Northwoods League is built to give playing time to college-level players, and that playing time is one of the most important assets the Leprechauns can offer. Faust played in the league himself and understands the importance of providing a routine to talented players.
“Mentally overcoming playing every night and finding a way to win and get the job done and finding trust in the process, all of these little pieces are small details that
go into the performance on the field with a game every night,” Faust said.
The more players that are drafted, the more opportunity the Leprechauns will have to bring in and develop high-end talent in the future.
“The bottom line is this is why we’re here, this is why the Northwoods League exists, to have a place for these players to play, to polish their skills, and to make the next level,” Leprechauns’ Director of Media and Public Relations Mark Stowers said.
The priority of putting the players first starts at the top and extends throughout the organization.
“We’re excited as heck for our organization, but also looking at these kids,” Stowers said. “We want to have the coaching and the organization where guys do want to come to Royal Oak.”
The more talent that Royal Oak is able to put on the field, the more fun Leprechauns games are going to be for the fans and the community.
“A big goal is getting these guys to where they want to be and I know that pro ball is a goal for all of them,” Faust said. “Hopefully we can keep getting guys looks and keep sending them to better places.”
For more information on the Royal Oak Leprechauns, visit northwoodsleague. com/royal-oak-leprechauns.
State proposal aims to decriminalize psilocybin use for those with PTSD
BY ANDY KOZLOWSKI akozlowski@candgnews.com
HAZEL PARK — A proposal by state Rep. Mike McFall aims to decriminalize possession of the psychedelic drug psilocybin for people who have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.
McFall, D-Hazel Park, the city’s former mayor pro tem, unveiled House Bill 4686 at a press conference June 25. He was accompanied by Michael G. Smith Jr., a retired sergeant first class with the U.S. Army.
The military veteran said that psilocybin could dramatically improve the quality of life for those with PTSD — and even save lives.
“As a veteran with PTSD, I am encouraged by the legislative efforts to decriminalize psilocybin since it has been clinically proven to mitigate and eliminate the symptomatology related to PTSD,” Smith said during the conference.
“This is important considering the vast field of studies over 25 years that identify that PTSD can lead to coronary vascular diseases, atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter,” he said. “There is an awesome opportunity to prevent veterans from developing life-threatening heart conditions with the treatment of psilocybin.”
Psilocybin is one of numerous psychedelics that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has begun researching as a potential treatment for veterans with PTSD.
Preliminary research suggests that more than 80% of the veterans in the study experienced improvements in their symptoms after
just a single psychedelic program, according to a report by the Heroic Hearts Project.
At the local level, Hazel Park decriminalized psychedelics in 2022 when McFall still served on the council, making Hazel Park the third city in Michigan to decriminalize psychedelics, preceded by Ann Arbor and Detroit. Ferndale followed in 2023. Psychedelics remain a controlled substance at the federal level.
“I am concerned that we aren’t using every tool we have to help people with PTSD live productive lives — especially our veterans with PTSD,” McFall said in a follow-up interview. “My concern is stopping veterans from ending up homeless, addicted to harmful drugs and alcohol. My biggest concern is that we aren’t doing everything we can to prevent veterans from killing themselves when they have lost all hope. We have a tool that can help, and people shouldn’t fear getting arrested for using a plant-based treatment to improve their lives.”
Hazel Park City Councilman Luke Londo helped spearhead the city’s own decriminalization of psychedelics. He praised McFall, his former colleague on the council.
“I don’t know that there is a legislator in Lansing more dedicated to improving mental health outcomes than Rep. McFall,” Londo said. “It was a huge platform of his campaign, and it is a huge aspect of his work in Lansing. He is always looking for ways to improve mental health, and when it comes to different populations, I’m hard-pressed to think of one more vulnerable than our veterans suffering from PTSD. This is going to be a godsend for a lot of people who have served
our nation.”
Madison Heights City Councilman Sean Fleming is a past Veterans of Foreign Wars post commander and a veteran who served with the Signal Corps in the U.S. Army during Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia and Croatia. He said he supports McFall’s proposal.
“To be clear, I don’t support psychedelics for recreational use, but this proposal is
purely for medicinal use,” Fleming said. “I have (veteran) friends who were affected by PTSD, and I’ve lost a friend to suicide caused by it after he served in Afghanistan. So, I really think that any approved treatment by the VA shouldn’t be illegal for those veterans who need it. I know people who have used this treatment, and it has helped them. Anything that helps out my fellow veterans is worth it.”
Michael G. Smith Jr., a retired sergeant first class with the U.S. Army, looks on as state Rep. Mike McFall, D-Hazel Park, introduces a proposal June 25 that would decriminalize the use of psilocybin for individuals diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Photo provided by Mike McFall
Scheme
his dog and filmed the shop with his phone.
Eric Vander Ley filed a complaint in September that claimed he was a “sole proprietor doing business as Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop; when in reality, he was a temporary employee at the bike shop and was not (given) any ownership interest in the business.”
Similar problems arose for Urbanrest Brewing Co., where the owner, Zach Typinski, also found his business was not in good standing with LARA and that another LLC had been formed with Eric Vander Ley as the agent, according to the attorney general.
Typinski’s counsel reached out to Eric Vander Ley and asked to “cease and desist” from using the Urbanrest name. Vander Ley responded by stating he would not discuss the matter unless he was paid a “non-negotiable
rate” of $500 per hour, according to the complaint. The business also received harassment from both Vander Ley brothers in multiple incidents that led to police involvement, the complaint states.
“These fraudulent LLCs were created to sow confusion, harass, and extract money from hardworking small business owners in Ferndale,” Nessel said in a prepared statement. “Such conduct is not only reprehensible but illegal, and these sham companies must be dissolved. My office remains committed to protecting Michigan businesses.”
Nessel is seeking to dissolve the 17 LLCs listed in the complaint.
The brothers’ methods of capturing the business names were similar in nature, according to the attorney general, as LLCs with similar names were filed in the state.
Several attempts to reach businesses involved in the case for comment were unsuccessful. No attorneys were listed for either
Vander Ley in the 3rd Circuit Court online records.
Ferndale Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Jennie Beeker declined to comment on the lawsuit and the local businesses involved, but for small businesses seeking advice or help, she suggested reaching out to Oakland Thrive, a small business solution provider and incubator in Oakland County that can connect small businesses to professional consultations and help with anything from legal guidance to contract review.
Beeker also said the DDA is working
with Ferndale to update guides for starting a small business in the city and how to navigate challenges.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy,” she said. “They employ people locally, they support families, they support our communities by having fantastic places that we can go and enjoy. So, we always encourage people to support small and local businesses, and this is an example of just one of the … challenges that a small business can face compared to larger corporations. … It can be really threatening for a small business to have legal challenges like this.”
CANDGNEWS.COM
THE ONLINE HOME FOR ALL C & G NEWSPAPERS
Authentic African Safaris with Purpose Moments That Matter
I’m Tanya Hewitt-Patel Founder of
Heli Safari Adventure
Gorilla Trekking
Sightings
Wakati Travel
LaLonde
Jim said, “We experience all the emotions from being proud parents — amazed, relieved. It was just very cool.”
He described seeing their daughter reach her goal as “surreal.”
Samantha described her mindset going into the race.
“My first and foremost goal was to finish the race, and I am happy with it,” she said. “Then my second goal was to get ‘Rookie of the Year.’ I’m so happy and proud of the dogs.”
She started the race with 16 dogs, as did all the mushers. She ended the race with nine dogs.
Veterinarians are at every checkpoint and evaluate the dogs. If a dog is hurt or there is a concern that continuing the race will cause physical damage to the dog, it is taken out of the race. Other dogs cannot take their place. Dogs can only be eliminated from the race but not added, Samantha explained.
The race was initially slated to begin in Anchorage, Alaska, but due to the mild winter, there was no snow, so the race was moved to Fairbanks, making this year’s race 1,128 miles compared to the usual 1,000 miles.
Samantha’s team of dogs included her dog Gibbs, 3 1/2 years old. The 15 other dogs were borrowed from six-time decorated Iditarod winner Dallas Seavey.
“The dogs can cover about 100 miles a day with rest in between. It takes about four and a half to five hours of runs to go 40 miles,” Samantha said.
The rest time is part of the race.
“That’s where strategies come in. Those veteran teams who have done the race before may take shorter rests, and it also depends on their dogs.” Samantha said.
With a team of young dogs, she wanted to give her dogs the rest they required.
Resting for the musher can mean sleeping on the side of a trail in a sleeping bag
Festival
from page 6A
number of attendees based on the number of plates that they give out. As a result, they said it is hard to say this year how many people attended the festival.
According to Mahadevan, the large crowd could be attributed to Grammy-nominated singer Gaura Mani performing at the festival for the first time in at least five years, an increase in the festival’s social media pres-
with the dogs. Or at some checkpoints, there are buildings where mushers enjoy the quiet, sleep, get warm and eat.
“We are racing 24/7,” Samantha said.
Veterans warned her that she might become sleep deprived.
“I wish I would have believed them,” she said.
In addition to training physically, which she does while she is training the dogs, she trained herself to make good decisions while being sleep deprived to protect herself and her dogs.
Veterans also advised her about the emotional highs and lows she would experience during the race, which she did.
A high came when she did a run across the bay.
“It was incredibly beautiful. The dogs were extremely excited. I was just having a good day in the sun,” Samantha said. “Weather made a huge impact.”
A low came when the weather was windy. She was leaving the second to the last checkpoint at White Mountain and came across a silt storm, which to Samantha is rare in the winter. There are usually blizzards.
Silts are a granular material that comes out of a body of water. They were blowing in the air and the winds were high, which blew away the trail markers. Samantha had navigation, but the map was not working.
“You can rely on navigation,” Samantha said. “But you can also rely upon the dogs.
“Gibbs was hooting and hollering and wanted to go, while the other dogs just sat, so I put him in the lead,” she added.
Gibbs ran in a particular direction and Samantha trusted him.
“I truly think that’s how we found the trail. She sniffed out the scent of the other dogs that went through before us,” Samantha said.
Gibbs led the sled and brought the team in with the best finish of all the rookies.
After the race was over, Samantha’s parents’ anxiety turned to exuberance.
“I wasn’t nauseous anymore,” Sally said. “My baby girl is as tough as nails.”
ence, and other media attention.
The festival also featured a helicopter rose-petal drop, several local musical and dramatic acts, and approximately 20 vendors offering traditional Hindu and Indian clothing, jewelry, henna tattoos, and more, along with food vendors, yoga and children’s activities.
“It is a beautiful way to bring us all together for almost the whole day,” said Gurumurthy, who participated in the opening ceremony. “It’s a colorful, community kind of event. It’s a colorful way to bring us all together and celebrate as a community.”
