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History of Monroe Fair on exhibit See Page 3-A

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Milan News-Leader
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011 Weave the Web:
Make sure to click on www.heritage.com around the clock for the most in-depth coverage. See most popular stories.... Ride-along with Ann Arbor police reveals a department that is proud, understaffed and feels underappreciated.

The

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VOL. 129, NO. 31

Monroe County fair starts

same location, which had also been sponsored by The Guardian. The alligator show will be right out there in farm machinery row. Both attractions are free. We still have Christian By Dennis Oblander Special Writer music on Saturday night in Glenn Stock Arena. Thats Last time, it took 17 years free, Siebarth said. for the Monroe County We are still doing the Fair to break its attendance guitar contest. Every night record. This time, only one. they pick a winner, and then on Saturday we have A record 179,109 people the finals. And we are still cleared the gates at last doing the mixed martial years fair, narrowing arts with Bronco McKart. surpassing the 2009 record The rodeo is crowd of 179,087. not returning. In Not bad at its place will be all, fair manager USLMRA lawn Warren Siebarth mower racing. said of last years This is racweather. We had ing, not the garrain either late in den tractor pullthe day or early ing, Siebarth in the morning. said. There are It didnt hurt us about 25 fairs in at all. Michigan doing This week, that this year, so fairgoers will it is becoming enjoy several new quite popular, attractions. and it is priced We have an quite reasonEntertainment ably. Tent that will The fairs pritake the place of ority is to find New Odyssey in things that are the white tent, affordable and he said. Standing will draw people, Siebarth at the northeast corner of said. the grounds, the white Thats why we do the tent was a fixture for many sponsorships to keep the years at the fairgrounds, prices down. and a regular venue for the But I think we will have musical variety band, New about the same number Odyssey. and, hopefully, a few more. The new tent is leased But people are watchfrom a Belleville-based company that acquired the now- ing their money. Ticket sales are not real great, but defunct company that had steady. We are happy with owned the white tent. Dierks Bentley. We have Its 60-by-100 feet, sold about 1,500, but there Siebarth said. The other is no incentive to buy early tent was 60-by-90. The tent is located across because it is general seating from the MB&T Expo center or standing. As for volunteer labor, in the area formerly used by we are in good shape, the Kelly Inflatables attracSiebarth said. tion. The inflatables will We still have a volunteer move east, to the location of program. They are assigned the former white tent. to the grandstand and parkEvery evening, we will ing lots and the history have two shows in there, museum the volunteers he said, and every one is often are people who are different. There will be a variety of shows, all differ- retired and want something to do. ent. Some of those volunteers People wanted a change. They got tired of seeing the will man the new Fair History Museum. Located same thing every day. The inflatables didnt like being in the former Mothers Kitchen eatery, the renoon the blacktop, so we put them where the old Odyssey vated building holds memorabilia and artifacts that tent was and put the new document the history of one up here where the fairs in Monroe County, datinflatables were. ing back to 1830. Also new this year are The Little Brown the acrobatic K-9s in flight Bear House, which hosts dog show and Kachunga childrens story readings and The Alligator Show. throughout fair week, has K-9s in Flight is sponbeen repainted and outfitsored by The Guardian ted with new windows. and takes the place of the Star Family Circus, in the PLEASE SEE FAIR/3-A

Exhibits and childrens rides among the fun

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The fairs priority is to nd things that are affordable and will draw people, Siebarth said.

Photo by Kevin Doby

Bill Ortell stands behind the counter D & R Coins, which he recently purchased from Ralph Lefer. Although hes been working at the store for a few weeks, Aug. 1 marked the rst day the store was ofcially his own.

Milan native buys D&R Coins downtown

Ortell excited to be pursuing his passion
After he and his wife were married, they moved to Saline, where they lived until eight years ago, when their four children had moved out. The house was empty, so we decided to build a home of our own out on Platt By Kevin Doby Heritage Media Road, Ortell said. Ortells passion for coin collecting started 45 years ago, when he got marill Ortell has been collecting and ried. He started with a small penny colselling coins privately for 45 years. After he retired as an elec- lection that he had built while growing trical engineer at Black & Veatch up. His wife had a similar collection, so in Ann Arbor last June, he decid- they combined their coins. But Ortell didnt get serious about ed to turn his passion into a second career by purchasing D&R Coins on Main buying and selling coins until he met Street in downtown Milan. Ortell officially took over the store Monday. I thought Id look for something to do when I retired except sit around and watch the grass grow, Ortell said. Ortell purchased the store from Ralph Leffler, who has owned it for the past eight years and has been in the coin shop business since the 1960s, when he owned a large coin store in downtown Ypsilanti. In addition to the store, Ortell also bought out the stock of coins that Leffler had in the store at time of purchase, and said he has a collection that can basically match that of Lefflers. Leffler is not going to be gone from the store, however, as he plans to stay on and Frenchie Monroe, who operated a big coin shop in Monroe, his wifes homework part time and help Ortell out with town. some things around the store. When she would go downtown to While I havent had a store, Im basishop, I would have her drop me off at cally going to be combining two stores Frenchies coin store, Ortell said. into one, Ortell said. It was from Frenchie that Ortell bought Leffler said the store now boasts the his first coin, paying $80, an amount he biggest coin collection in the threesaid he couldnt afford at the time. county area. But Frenchie said that if I bought it, Ortell, a Milan native, graduated from I just needed to go to a convention in a Milan High School in 1966. He spent couple weeks and he would buy it back three years at Eastern Michigan and from me for $100, Ortell said. the University of Michigan wile pursuing a bachelors degree in engineering. PLEASE SEE BUYS/3-A

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In addition to the store, Ortell also bought out the stock of coins that Lefer had in the store at time of purchase, and said he has a collection that can basically match that of Lefers.

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by the Friend of the Court. All lectures are free and open to the public. Registration is required. To register, call 764-9466. Hack House holds open house: The Milan Area Historical Society opens the Hack House, located on County Street, to guests from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sundays through October. A fall festival will be held Oct. 9, and will feature news displays and demonstrations. For more information, call 645-5311

BRIEFLY...

Campbell, club president, at 439-7727 for more information and to reserve a seat. Workshop deals with kids and Garden Club to meet: The next Milan divorce: A workshop will be held to help Garden Club meeting will be held 6:45 p.m. parents understand their childrens needs as Aug. 10 at the Marble Memorial United parents separate from their marriage. It will Methodist Church, 8 Park St., in Milan. Judith Condon will speak on heirloom toma- offcer specic suggestions for creating the most benecial post-divorce parenting relatoes, teaching the group how to start the tionships. The presentation is an approved seeds, maintenance, tips and hints on growing heirloom tomatoes. Call Doris Ann alternative to the SMILE program presented