Oak Park based MJR Digital Cinemas announced today that they, in conjunction with the acclaimed Star Wars:  Episode 1 the Phantom Menace movie in 3-D will host the Great Lakes Garrison, the Michigan chapter of the 501^st Legion in the theatre lobby at their newest venue, the Westland Grand Digital Cinema 16 located at 6800 N. Wayne Rd. Westland, MI 48185.

The various Star Wars characters will be in their lobby on Saturday, Feb. 11^th from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in full garb.  BRING YOUR CAMERA! You can have your picture taken with your favorite character.  This is Free of Charge to all patrons, but donations will be accepted with all proceeds going to the Make a Wish Foundation.

The Legion consists of volunteers most of which hold full time jobs outside of the Legion activities.

WATERFORD DIGITAL CINEMA · 16 7501 Highland Rd. Waterford, MI 48327   BRIGHTON TOWNE SQUARE DIGITAL CINEMA · 20 8200 Murphy Dr.                                                   Brighton, MI 48116                                                                                                                                       CHESTERFIELD CROSSING DIGITAL CINEMA · 16 50675 Gratiot Ave. Chesterfield, MI 48051

WESTLAND GRAND DIGITAL CINEMA ● 16

6800 N. Wayne Rd.

Westland, MI 48185

MARKETPLACE STERLING HEIGHTS DIGITAL

CINEMA · 20

35400 Van Dyke

Sterling Heights, MI 48312

Partridge Creek DIGITAL Cinema ▪14

17400 Hall Rd.

Clinton Twp., 48038

SOUTHGATE DIGITAL CINEMA · 20

15651 Trenton Rd.

Southgate, MI 48195

WATERFORD DIGITAL CINEMA · 16

7501 Highland Rd.

Waterford, MI 48327

BRIGHTON TOWNE SQUARE DIGITAL CINEMA · 20

8200 Murphy Dr.                                                  

Brighton, MI 48116                                                      

CHESTERFIELD CROSSING DIGITAL CINEMA · 16

50675 Gratiot Ave.

Chesterfield, MI 48051

Mark your calendar to attend this free annual event in Rochester.  The event will be held on Friday-Sunday, February 24 through February 26^{th.  This event is normally held in January but due to the mild winter so far it was pushed back.}

This year there will be snowboarder demonstrations, clinics and a competition.

Dog sledding rides will now be offered both Saturday and Sunday! We still have three runs for the Tubing Hill, but have now added double tubes, so the little ones can ride with their parents. Some other fun activities include snow shoeing and cross country skiing (Sat. only), ice skating (entire event – BYO), and snow play area.

There will be trolley rides in the downtown, shopping, ice sculptures, and a live ice carving demo on Saturday (street level).

Special activities at the ice rink include a Broomball Competition on Saturday from 12-1 and a figure skating demo on Sunday at noon. The Taste-fest Beer Tent will be open and serving all weekend.  Stay tuned for updates to this site!

Thanks to two main sponsors Soave Enterprises and Hour Detroit, there will be fireworks again on both Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 PM.

For more information please visit: http://www.downtownrochestermi.com/

The Lions Club will be offers free eye screenings for children on Friday, January 13^th at the Chesterfield Township Library.  The library is located at 50560 Patricia Avenue.  The screening will take place between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Children must be accompanied by an adult.

For more information please call 586-598-4900.  Check out www.chelibrary.org for more information.

Every year, the weekend after Thanksgiving, the Potters Market takes place in Madison Heights.   This year over 130 Potters will be offering their pieces to the public for purchase. The 12,000 square feet of the United Food and Commercial Workers Building off 13 Mile Roadwill be brimming with handcrafted ceramic items.  According to their website, they sold over 33,000 pieces at last year’s sale.  You’ll find everything imaginable including: sculptures, teapots, birdhouses, house wares, tiles. Christmas ornaments, jewelry, mirrors and picture frames the list goes on and on.  I have quite a collection of ornaments from this sale.  It never disappoints.

This is a great opportunity to pick up some handcrafted gifts for the Holidays.  There is no admission charge and the parking is free!

The Potters Market takes place at876 Horace Brown Driveoff 13 Mile road betweenStephenson Highwayand John R.  Here are the hours of operations for this event

Friday, December 2nd from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, December 3rd from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 4th from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

For more information please visit:  www.thepottersmarket.com

What a treat!  I had heard many positive comments about this event prior to attending last night’s kickoff event.  I was not disappointed!  We had the privilege of a sneak peek prior to it’s opening on November 25^th. TheMeadowBrookMansion is decked out to the hilt in holiday decorations.  Beautiful Christmas trees can be found around every corner, even an upside down tree! Fireplaces with festive mantels and period lighting throughout the home add to this very enjoyable event. This place is absolutely gorgeous.  The Holiday Walk Home Tour is a great way to kick off the season. This year’s theme of “The Games People Played” will amuse the kids…..what, toys with no batteries??  Read on for the details.

First a little background on the estate. Meadow Brook is the historic home built by one of the automotive aristocracy’s most remarkable women, Matilda Dodge Wilson, widow of automobile pioneer John Dodge, and her second husband, lumber broker Alfred Wilson. Constructed between 1926 and 1929, for $4 million, Meadow Brook represents one of the finest examples of Tudor-revival architecture inAmerica.

For the 40^th anniversary of the Detroit area’s classic Holiday Walk, the estate will have the theme of “The Games People Played”.  They will be showcasing games of days gone by like Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, card games and various board games from the Meadow Brook collection.  The Games People Played is open to the public from Friday November 25^th through Thursday December 22^nd.  Tour hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (last admittance is 4:00 p.m.).

Visitors can stroll down a decorated path to the Knole Cottage where evening tours will be available. On the weekend children of all ages can decorate holiday cookie to take home or enter a coloring contest.

In addition to the Holiday Walk there are several other events going on including a chamber music concert, breakfast with Santa, Supper with Santa and a holiday tea and many more.  Note that some events require a reservation.

For more information on this wonderful event please visit www.meadowbrookhall.org or call 248-364-6200

Come out and join in on the FREE fun on December 3^rd in downtownPontiac.

Where:          30 N. Saginaw Street

When:                        December 3^rd from 8:30 to 10:30.  Parade at 11:00

What:              Children’s crafts

Face Painting

Horse Drawn Carriage Rides

Petting Farm

HotCocoa

Gallery of Ice

Art Action Experience

The Parade starts at 11:00 heading east on Huron to Saginaw Streetand then ending at the PhoenixCenter. For information please visit:  http://www.holidayextravaganza.org/

Hopefully we will still have some nice weather here in Michigan, but we all know the cold snowy stuff is right around the corner.  Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Announces Coats for the Cold Coat Drive November 1st-November 30th.  Please donate your gently used, clean or new coats at one of our 50 drop-off sites throughout Oakland County. Why not take a look in your closet and see if you have any gently used clean coats to donate to this great program, or you can also donate a new coat.  The two in the picture came right out of my closet and are headed to the nearest drop-off location.

Smashburger, the nation’s fastest growing “better burger” restaurant, is opening its first Detroit suburb location on Monday, October 31, 2011. The restaurant will open in West Bloomfield at 6919 Orchard Lake Road (south of Maple).  We by Friday night for a special sneak peek at the new restaurant and to see what they were cooking up.

What they were cooking up was GREAT food!  The burgers were perfect – juicy and full of flavor.  They use fresh never frozen 100% Certified Angus Beef.

The menu was full of tempting burgers and sides – I chose the signature Michigan Olive Smashburger while my husband went with the Swiss and Mushroom Smashburger.  You can choose between 1/3 pound or1/2 pound burger – we went for the smaller size since we were going to be sampling quite a bit from the menu.   As for the sides, we went with chili cheese fries with jalapenos, onion and cheddar and fried dill pickles.  My husband couldn’t stop raving about the chili fries.  The fried dill pickles were a big hit too – something you don’t see everyday.  Later on we sampled the onion haystacks, they came with a tangy dipping sauce and were yummy too!    To cap off the meal we shared a handspun Häagen-Daz shakes.  They also have a children’s menu, my less adventurous son went with chicken and fries and gave it two thumbs up.

Here are the things that I think make this place special:  the fresh never frozen beef, unique and tasty side dishes, toasted buns that aren’t your normal run-of-the-mill bun, and a super friendly staff.  I was told my one of the employee’s that they are planning on opening quite a few new restaurants around the Detroit metro area in the near future…….. I hope one is coming to my neighborhood!

For more information on Smashburger or to see the complete yummy menu click here.

Disclosure:  Our meal was complimentary that evening – but you should know that all views and opinions are honest and strictly my own.