Past Tense: Class Picture Day 34

By Michele Fecht

In a month when Northville usually pulls out all the stops to celebrate its history, COVID-19 restrictions have meant the cancellation of one of our most iconic events, the Heritage Festival.

While the absence of the traditional parade, games, nonprofit booths, Mill Race Village activities and beer tent will mean a less public celebration, the Northville Chamber of Commerce is continuing its History Makers’ program celebrating individuals who helped shape our community.

Initiated in 2018, this year’s celebrant Sarah Ann Cochrane joins previous History Makers Francis R. Beal, Dr. Mary E. Lapham and David Clarkson. Images of the honorees can be seen on downtown banners; their stories are highlighted on flyers available in downtown businesses.

“There is so much history to celebrate in Northville,” notes Chamber Executive Director Jody Humphries. “Though we cannot have the festival, we can celebrate those whose stories inspire us.”

This year’s honoree Sarah Ann Cochrane exemplifies the fortitude and character of those who helped shape our community. The following is her story.

Sarah Ann Cochrane was born July 28, 1832 in East Poultney, Vermont, to Sylvester and Hannah Cochrane. Sylvester was a circuit-riding minister with an itch to travel west. The Cochranes left Vermont for the Michigan territory in 1837 (the same year Michigan would become the 26th state) heading through Canada and entering the U.S. in Detroit.

In her written reminiscences, Cochrane relayed the arduous trek of the early pioneers:

“It goes almost without saying that the roads on the route were simply appalling . . . For days we walked more miles than we rode, my mother carrying me on her hip with one arm while with a long pole in the other hand she tested the depth of the mud before each step. My father was obliged to lead his team over corduroy roads where the logs floated and rolled in liquid mud.”

From Detroit, the family spent five weeks traveling to a small community near Lansing that would become the “Vermontville Colony” named by the new minister, Sylvester Cochrane. In 1842, the family left Vermontville for a brief stint in Howell before the

Photo courtesy of the Sarah Ann Cochrane Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

Reverend Cochrane was called to minister a new Presbyterian church of the “new school” variety in Northville. It remains today as the New School Church in Mill Race Historical Village.

In her writings, Cochrane noted that Northville in 1842 “was past the pioneer stage and quite attractive, and the community of excellent repute . . . my mother was contented to live in Northville from the day of her arrival to the last days of her life.”

The New School Church lasted only a few years, at which point her father established the Northville Academy, where young men studied before entering university. Cochrane and her brother, Lyman, helped with the teaching until 1857 when the school closed. In 1858, Cochrane graduated from the Young Ladies Seminary in Monroe, and returned to Northville to reopen the Northville Academy as a school “for young ladies.” It closed in 1860.

She worked for the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War, and was later

a devoted advocate for the temperance cause.

In 1883, following the death of her parents and brother, Cochrane joined the Detroit Public Library. She made an in-depth study of the Dewey Decimal System and it was under her supervision that the library was cataloged. When she resigned from the staff in 1906, she was the second assistant librarian.

Before her death in 1917 (she is buried in Rural Hill Cemetery), Cochrane wrote several papers of her family’s history. Among those papers — now housed in the Burton Historical Collection at the Detroit Public Library – are her invaluable reminiscences of the arduous trek to Michigan, and Northville’s early history.

When it organized in 1926, the local National Society Daughters of the American Revolution named its chapter after Sarah Ann Cochrane, a descendant of five Revolutionary soldiers. The local organization continues to meet today.

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(Left) Northville’s Sophia Tuinman was runner-up in the 200-yard backstroke in the Winter Nationals last December in Atlanta. (Middle) The recent Northville grad was signed, sealed and delivered early on for the Michigan women’s swim team. (Right) Tuinman is all smiles after a workout in her wet suit in cold Whitmore Lake.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, swimmer Sophia Tuinman became really creative with her training regimen and was willing to go to great lengths in order attain her lofty goals.

The 2020 Northville High grad and 2021 Olympic Trials qualifier wanted to remain ready for her upcoming freshman season at the University of Michigan, so she improvised.

Once things began to thaw in the early spring, Tuinman no longer felt like a fish out of water as she decided to venture out into frigid waters of Whitmore Lake to train due to all indoor pools being closed by government order.

“It was still actually pretty cold out, so the lake was kind of frozen,” Tuinman said.

“We tried to check it out a few chilly waters. times, so I actually picked up “The lowest we had gotten running and I did my dry land was 50 degrees, it was so cold,” training. Once Tuinman everything said. “When started I first started to melt, I training, I decided it tried to stay would be in until I was better for me either out to get in the of breath or water because I was out of running is the water for only fun for so so long, or it long. We got was too cold our wet suit. to handle. At And I’d say first, I was around early Representing Club Wolverine, Northin there for April, it was ville’s Sophia Tuinman has earned an U.S. Olympic Trials cut in the 200-me45 minutes so very cold ter backstroke. and actually in the water, worked my but it was all liquid. It wasn’t way up to an hour-and-a-half. solid ice.” Each time I added 10 minutes to

With her dad Roeland’s boat stay longer.” in tow, Tuinman braved the When outdoor pools began to open back up in June, Tuinman was glad to return to any type of normalcy. But the Whitmore Lake experience was a challenge. Wearing a wet suit was an adjustment to say the least.

“It’s a lot heavier than a normal one-piece suit when you’re in the pool,” she said. “There’s a lot more drag. You’re not swimming as fast as you’re used to.”

Tuinman was very fast as a high school swimmer at Northville during her first three seasons before opting out of her senior year to train with Club Wolverine in Ann Arbor.

The goal was to earn a qualifying cut for the U.S. Olympic Trials, which was postponed until 2021 because of the worldwide pandemic with the scheduled 2020 Tokyo

Olympics postponed for a year.

As a junior at Northville, Tuinman was runner-up in the 100-yard backstroke and a fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:50.50) at the 2018 Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Division 1 championships at Eastern Michigan.

All told, she earned AllState (top eight) honors six times individually for the Mustangs and was a member of Northville’s first-place 200 medley relay (1:43.10) in 2016. She was also All-State five times in relay events and was a threetime USA Swimming Scholastic All-American.

The decision to move to Club Wolverine wasn’t an easy one for Tuinman, who was expecting a stellar senior year with the Mustangs. Her younger sister Julia was also a freshman on that 2019 team.

“It was a hard decision to make because I was named captain as well,” Tuinman said. “And we had goals as a team. My team supported me and I decided to go train with my club.

“I just missed the team

bonding and the team atmosphere of high school. The swimming portion is very fun and stuff, but being with the girls just makes it more fun. We have our senior night, going to ‘states,’ on the relays and all that stuff . . . those are fun.”

But Tuinman believed the benefits far outweighed any of her doubts even though a normal day consisted of a 5:30 a.m. practice in Ann Arbor, return to Northville High for classes and following by another 4-7 p.m. workout.

Through it all she was able to maintain a 4.0 grade-point average despite missing weeks of school to travel to national and regional meets.

“Moving to Club Wolverine, I was able to find training partners,” she said. “And people on a highly competitive (club) team are extremely driven. And it creates a really great atmosphere to work out in. Club Wolverine specifically has team goals every season, which is really cool because swimming can be such an individualized sport sometimes.”

At the 2019 Speedo Junior Winter Nationals East meet

Sophia Tuinman, surrounded by her Club Wolverine teammates, signed an NCAA Letter of Intent with Michigan last November. In the spring, Sophia Tuinman resorted to training in the chilly waters of Whitmore Lake.

held Dec. 11-14 in Atlanta, Tuinman was runner-up in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:55.19, posting an Olympic Trials cut, along with a 10th in the 100 backstroke in a personal best 53.97 (where she is just half-second away from another Trials cut).

In 2019, Tuinman ranked in the top 100 in the world for 18-and-under swimmers.

Tuinman committed to Michigan in February of 2019. In November of that same year she signed an NCAA letter-ofintent with plans to major in computer science.

“To be honest it was Michigan all along,” Tuinman said. “I did look at other schools when I was being recruited, but I think my heart really lied with Michigan throughout the whole process.”

In August she returned for workouts at U-M where she is part of another heralded recruiting class.

“Obviously indoor pools are not open yet in Michigan, so we are practicing at outdoor pools at several different country club locations so we can spread out as a team and maximize the distance between ourselves,” Tuinman said. “We have about two swimmers per lane, so we keep that social distancing protocol. We wear our masks, two to a lane and stuff like that.”

She checked into her dorm on Aug. 23 and started virtual learning online Aug. 31 for her inaugural semester.

“We all get tested before we can enter the dorms,” Tuinman said. “The student-athletes have a temperature check every day in order to enter the facilities.”

Ironically, her last competitive meet before the COVID-19 shutdown came Feb. 7-9 at the Michigan Open at Oakland University where she placed first in the 200-meter backstroke (2:18.74), second in the 100 backstroke (1:03.07), third in the 400 individual medley (5:05.44) and fourth in the 200 IM (2:23.52).

But once the pandemic shutdown occurred and she had more time off, Tuinman had to reinvent herself in-and-out of the pool where she developed a few new hobbies.

“I actually picked up piano again,” Tuinman said. “My mom (Kim) was very thrilled. She loved hearing music throughout the house. I’ve also have been baking a lot. I make a lot of cookies, do deserts, also like muffins, banana bread, stuff like that.”

But now it’s back to the business of swimming, and as Tuinman says, “We’re back into the swing of things.”

No more wet suits in chilly Whitmore Lake.

As the Coronavirus pandemic swept the globe earlier this year, Northville students experienced a drastic change to their day-to-day schedules from their pre-COVID norms. The remainder of the 2019-2020 school year took place online, with teachers and students having new technology forced upon them without warning. However, this new structure also allowed many positive changes to be made in students’ lives.

Junior Sameer Torke found the flexibility of the online environment to have hidden benefits.

“I had troubles with my sleeping schedule in the normal year, so I mainly focused on fixing that,” Sameer said, noting these changes positively impacted his mood and health.

The quarantine has also brought opportunities for students to help their communities. Junior Sanjana Vadrevu actively volunteered with the American Red Cross as well as the Michigan Indian Community Service Organization. Her club, Anybody Can Dance, hosted a series of virtual dance workshops through Zoom, which taught a wide variety of dance styles and raised awareness for the Know Your Rights Camp COVID 19 Relief Fund.

Students also explored new opportunities and hobbies that they would not have otherwise tried. Whether it was learning a new language, improving musical skills, or researching an interesting topic, these hobbies were outlets for students to relieve pent-up frustrations from being isolated.

Over the summer, senior Gina Karkoski launched a websitebased company that designs and sells handmade hair scrunchies. She noticed how popular they were becoming and decided to begin using her creative skills to start a business. The young entrepreneur intends to continue managing her business beyond quarantine, as well as expand the scope of her

Junior Isabelle Brissette took up painting during quarantine.

merchandise.

“Obviously more patterns and colors for scrunchies, but hopefully in the near future, I’ll be selling other different products that I create as well,” Karkoski said.

Though the summer provided a brief respite from online learning, the beginning of the school year is upon us. To keep students and staff safe, Northville High School is having classes fully online for the first month before switching to a hybrid model.

Many students, including

Junior Rebekah Weiskopf learned how to embroider over quarantine, including putting an Avatar character on this shirt. junior Maggie Chen are approaching the situation with a wait and see attitude.

“The school is trying to make the best out of the situation, but...there’s a lot of risks for both students doing online and in-person. None of these are pleasurable situations,” she said.

As we move into the school year, we need to remember the lessons that quarantine has taught us.

“People need to change and learn to think more about each other than just themselves. We need to challenge ourselves to change for the better,” said junior Isabelle Brissette.

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Matt “Wheels” Wells (right), one of Northville’s favorite bartenders (at Poole’s), was sworn in this summer as the new president of the Northville Eagles Club (Post #2504). Here he’s pictured taking over for longtime Eagles President Jim O’Brien (aka “Rooster”).

Wells said one of his main goals is to increase membership at the club, which is located in downtown Northville at 113 Center Street, south of Main Street. He said the club does plenty of charitable work in the community, and he hopes club members will be even more involved in the future.

For more information about the club, call (248) 349-2479, email northville.eagles@outlook.com, or find them on Facebook.

If you were wondering about the blue ribbons on the light posts in downtown Northville this month, they were put up to recognize Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Molly Goodman (left), an ovarian cancer survivor since 1996, and Terrie Karebian, a survivor since 2003, tied the ribbons up, with the help of friends and family members. It’s the same group that has put up the ribbons the last couple years.

According to Karebian, the goal is to get women to think about ovarian cancer, and to know the symptoms, which include bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating and urinary issues. She said the earlier the diagnosis, the better the prognosis for survival. For more information, visit MIOCA.org.

Once again a group of Northville residents will partner with Detroit’s Life Remodeled for their 2020 Six-Day Project, which takes place Oct. 5-10. The group is seeking volunteers to help out for one day on Wednesday, Oct. 7, to work on beautification/blight removal projects in Detroit.

Life Remodeled (https:// liferemodeled.com) is a non-profit organization that has worked to bridge people across divides to help transform each other’s lives since 2011.

The focus this year will be on removing blight from the front yards of vacant properties which includes removing debris and cutting down overgrown grass, weeds and brush around Detroit Central High School. Each group of volunteers will be preassigned their work location of one block and volunteers will drive directly to that location. Each group will work from 1-5 p.m. and maintain social distancing of 10 feet. Community residents will work alongside volunteers. All tools will be provided and sanitized.

To volunteer or for more information, contact Marianne Barry at mgbarry1020@gmail.com.

Last month, the Northville Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name the park on 7 Mile (the former psychiatric hospital property) Legacy Park, as part of the Name the Park Contest.

The Legacy Park suggestion was submitted by two Northville Township residents, Sharon Hayden and Pam Norcutt, who will share the $200 prize for the winning entry. More than 100 entries were received, according to Clerk Margie Banner.

The Legacy Park name stood out because voters in Northville Township approved a 2009 millage to buy the property to preserve and protect the area, Banner said. “It is a legacy for future township residents, a legacy for our children.”

Pictured at the ribbon cutting for the park’s trail system earlier this summer are Fred Shadko (from left), members of the Motor City Mountain Biking Association, Bill Sivy and Banner.

The Northville Township Beautification Commission is asking for volunteers to help clean up the Bennett Arboretum Pathway ‘living’ retaining walls (adjacent to Sheldon Road between Six Mile and Seven Mile) from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26. This popular nonmotorized pathway is well traveled by walkers, joggers and bikers.

Volunteers will be pulling weeds, cutting back overgrowth and adding crushed stone to the retaining wall bricks. Beautification members will be available to help volunteers identify weeds and will also be working to beautify this portion of the pathway.

For the safety of everyone, they will be following social distancing guidelines and requiring that all volunteers wear a mask. Volunteers are asked to bring their own garden tools and work gloves, but refuse bags will be provided. Long sleeved shirts, long pants and closed toed shoes are strongly suggested. Middle school aged children and older are welcome to attend.

To volunteer or for more information, contact Beautification Commission Co-Chair Lynne Mosteller at northvilletwpbeautification@ gmail.com.

The Northville Woman’s Club kicks off its 128th year on Oct. 2. The club, founded in 1892 and one of the oldest organizations in Northville, will offer this year’s programs virtually online due to COVID-19. The club will meet at 1:30 p.m. on the first and third Fridays October through March.

Highlights of this year’s programming include “Behind the Scenes from Camelot to Kent State: Pop Art 1960-75” with Connie Corrigan of the DIA; The Vagabonds: Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone; The Faygo Story presented by author Joe Grimm; and a program on Michigan Women in the Lighthouse Service by author Patricia Majher.

Of local interest will be an update on Northville news by government leaders presented at the Oct. 2 kick-off meeting.

The club supports higher education through scholarships awarded to Northville High School seniors, and contributes to local causes. You do not have to be a resident of Northville to be a member. Anyone interested in attending a meeting or learning more about the club may contact Carol Zinser at (248) 348-7017 or czinser@ameritch.net.

There is no doubt that 2020 is one for the history books, and won’t soon be forgotten. When you think back to the different historic events of Mark Isaac in 2001 (with firefighter Larry Kozmolski) and today. our lifetime, most of us remember 9/11 in Birthday, 2001. I was on my treadmill Mark. I hope watching the Today Show and you study history – you have live coverage of the attacks on personally lived it. Although, the twin towers. I think you’ve got an in at the

Northville’s Tom Isaac has firehouse. quite a memory of that day -- the birth of his son, Mark. He remembers it was a foggy day, as they awaited delivery. “Nurse #1 enters and states a plane has hit. I thought there must be a tragedy like 1987 at Metro Airport. Then nurse #2 enters and says another plane has hit. The obstetrician demanded no more discussion and to re-focus Kyle Banter and Jim Roth at Good Time Party Store. on the task at hand, and Mark Milestone events do not was born.” take a break in a pandemic.

Mark just graduated from Jim Roth is celebrating 50 years Northville High School. He as the proud owner of Good was looking forward to a trip Time Party Store. He bought to the 9/11 Memorial in NYC the business from the Altman before his graduation, but family, who had received one another historic event changed of the first liquor licenses in that plan. The sweetest part of Michigan after Prohibition. this story is that for 19 years How have things changed in a (minus one), the Isaac family half century? has celebrated Mark’s birthday “Back then for every one by visiting the Northville bottle of vodka, we sold 15 Township fire station, as a way bottles of gin. Today we sell one to honor our first responders. bottle of gin to every 15 bottles

Mark will attend Schoolcraft of vodka,” says Jim. College in the fall. Happy Honestly, I don’t think it

matters what’s in the bottle. “We’re not a family business -- we’re one big family,” Jim said. A perfect example is Kyle Banter. He’s worked at Good Time for 19 years, since he was a teenager. He’s been the manager for the last six. Kyle told me they’ve always prided themselves on customer service.

Roth has made some changes over the years. In my humble opinion the biggest change came in 1976 when he added on to the building, and brought us Custard Time. Thank goodness! (FYI: The Custard Time season ends on October 4th).

Pumpkin Patch. Tickets are by reservation only, social distancing is enforced and folks will need to mask up when appropriate.

“The Corn Maze was designed this year by the Ford Motor Volunteer Group,” said Diana Wallace, executive director. “They did a terrific job. We want the community to come out, enjoy and feel safe.”

Full details, including times, are available at www. mayburyfarm.org.

scent of cider and donuts. Parmenter’s is open, drive thru only this season. You will need a mask when you drive up to place your order. The Donut Squad runners will be delivering donuts. Please be patient and cautious. There is an option for online ordering. Phone orders will be for five-dozen or more. Complete details can be found at www.northvillecider.com.

Beck is quite a community. The centerpiece of the development is a one-acre park for the residents. However, it will be open to the public for music, picnics, a farmers market and other activities. Local artists, Nancy and Russell Thayer, were commissioned to create two very unique sculptures. The ribbon cutting for the park was in July and they hope to have a community event before the end of the year. Stay tuned.

sale. Longtime owner Christine is hoping someone will come along and live out their dreams as she did years ago. If that’s you, contact Dave Owens at (734) 432-2600. There’s a new restaurant coming to Six Mile in the former Brann’s location. It’s called Art and Jakes Sports Bar & Grill. They have several locations on the east side. This is their first in our neck of the woods. At a quick glance, the menu seems to have a little something for everyone. For more information, visit artjakes. com.