Troy Zoning Board of Appeals - June 2014 Meeting Recap

City staff has posted the video recording of the 6/17/14 Troy Zoning Board of Appeals meeting to YouTube. At the bottom of this post is the video. (The meeting actually starts at around the 2 minute mark of the video.)

Click here to download the entire Agenda Packet from the June 17th meeting.

I-75 Widening Project - June 9th Update

Image via MDOT

As I've mentioned previously (click here and here), the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is conducting a series of Hands on Aesthetics Workshops in preparation for the future widening of I-75 through Troy and other Oakland County Communities.

If you didn't see it, the Troy-Somerset Gazette provided an update on the I-75 widening project in their 6/9/14 issue...

Talk of whether or not to widen I-75 has been going on for decades. Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson was lobbying for the widening to ease congestion in the county as far back as 2004. SEMCOG had given its approval for the widening at this time last year. Let's be honest, Oakland County has grown significantly all along the I-75 corridor over the past 40 years. Even the Troy City Hall site was a farm when the original path for the freeway was laid out in the 1950s.

Click here to read the complete article.

D-Day and Donald Bennett

As most everyone knows, yesterday was the 70th Anniversary of D-Day. Reflecting on the events of that day reminded me of Donald G. Bennett, my uncle on my Dad's side of the family. Uncle Donald, who passed away in 1988, served in the Army of the United States during World War II. He participated in the North African and Sicilian invasions. He also came ashore at Normandy on the day after D-Day. According to my late father, Uncle Donald was awarded a Purple Heart and either a Bronze Star or a Silver Star during WWII. I started doing some research last night to see if I could find my uncle's Army service record. After around 30 minutes, all I could find was what I believe to be his enlistment record in the online National Archives. As I enter my "golden years," I'm very interested in doing more research on his military record.

Below is the only photo I can find of my Uncle Donald. Yes he's eating a cookie. Pictured with him is my Aunt Marge, my brother and me. Looks like it was taken in 1959!

I've watched this short scene below from "Saving Private Ryan" many times. It's still hard to watch. What makes it more remarkable is that most of these guys were not professional soldiers. They were regular guys who just wanted to get the job done and return home to live a normal life. I can understand why my Dad and uncles never really wanted to talk about it.