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things in the community.”Keith McGuire said he has

been the artist behind the art center’s annual piece of concept art for the past several years, but this summer’s endeavor was much different in that the project involved several pieces of wind art throughout the community.

“This year, we decided to put it everywhere,” he said, “and it’s kind of tricky because we have four major pieces.”

There are also about a dozen smaller pieces around the city.

Sandy Webster said she was able to get fam-ily members Chuck and Nancy Webster to donate the primary sup-plies needed for the project, which turned out to be old hot-air balloon material.

“They’re from Cameron Balloons of Dexter,” she said.

From there, the group at the art center contacted Saline Parks and Recreation and asked to have children in the summer pro-grams design the fish in terms of shape and color.

The next task to be done then involved sewing the giant-sized fish, which many involved admit-ted was way out of their comfort zones.

To get it all done properly, arts center officials assembled a sew-ing circle comprised primarily of Karen Losey, Kat Campau, Sandy Webster and Mary McKelvie.

Though McGuire admits it was a daunting task assembling the pieces that ranged from 15 feet to 20 feet in length, he said he had faith, noting, “I knew they could do it.”

McGuire said creating concep-tual art of this nature is also a bit out of his own comfort zone

because he didn’t have physical control in terms of putting the pieces together.

“The whole thing is assembled by the community itself,” he said. “It’s just the vision of the artist.”

Unlike traditional art in which the artist has painstaking control of each facet of production, the installation wind art required a hands-off approach.

“It’s about being able to let go of the circumstances and the materials,” he said. “It’s interest-ing in that regard.”

Once assembled, another chal-lenge pre-sented itself in that flying the wind art required at least a 30-foot flag pole or hardware attached to a building tall enough to fly the pieces.

One was strung atop the former Saline Café building and is flying overhead of the Brecon Grille.

Another was attached to the flag pole at the library, though this installation caused a bit of controversy.

“The one at the library hung for about two weeks before some-one complained the American flag had been taken down,” McGuire said.

The flag, then, replaced the wind art once again, though McGuire admits he hopes to find a way to fly the piece in a similar fashion because the flag pole set up suited the unique balloon-like construction.

“It flew really nice. It was abso-lutely beautiful,” he said. “It’s amazing how much stress those things can put on the flag pole, though.”

McGuire said it would be a dream of his to see all of the large pieces of wind art fly together in one spot, but admits it’s probably not going to happen.

“I don’t think we have the facilities in town,” he said.’

McGuire said the Saline Downtown Merchants’ Association also has been a major factor in getting the wind art project going this year.

The wind art is only one facet of a summer arts program at the center that commenced in early June.

Programs of many varieties will continue through August based upon the “Make a Splash” concept.

For more information, visit www.twotwelvearts.org.

Steven Howard can be reached at 429-7380 or showard@heritage.com. Follow his blog at http://heritagewest-staffblog.blogspot.com.

ARTFROM PAGE 1-C

“I thought I would be so emo-tional on the trip since I had been waiting for this moment for quite a long time. But the trip itself and our time in Ethiopia was such a whirlwind that I barely had a moment to sit and reflect on what was actually happening.

“But the tears finally flowed when our plane touched down in Detroit and I heard the words, ‘Welcome home’ over the speaker from the pilot. I was holding Nora at the time and it was at that point that I finally realized that this was really happening –– this wasn’t just a dream anymore.”

The chil-dren have adapted well to their new home in Saline, where Marty is a sixth-grade teacher for Saline schools and defensive coordina-tor for the Saline varsity foot-ball team. Lana is an at-home mom who works part time from home in quality assurance for Michigan Evaluation Group and also owns a small photogra-phy business.

Lana was anxious about how Evan would react to the family’s two dogs. While in Ethiopia, he had been terrified of dogs that roamed the streets, especially one that stayed out-side the gate of Lana’s hotel.

“The first few days were a little rough for him, but now if he finds one of our (dogs) sleep-ing, he covers them up with a blanket and kisses them ‘night-night,’” she said.

Since Evan loves a crowd, he fit right in with his other three siblings.

“He’s so loving and will stop whatever he’s doing for a hug or cuddle. He repeats every-thing he hears. He’s surprised us with how fast he has learned to communicate and he picks up on things so quickly just by

watching us or the other kids. And he loves music and danc-ing,” Lana said.

“Nora is a tiny little peanut, but full of energy and mischief. She has a beautiful smile and eyes, and also loves to dance.”

All four children have adjust-ed better than the couple could have ever expected.

“They are true siblings, kissing each other and saying ‘I love you’ one minute, then a major tug-of-war over a toy the next. But they look out for each other and truly enjoy each oth-

er’s company,” she said.

With four children from age 1 to 7, life is hectic. But for Lana and Marty, it’s music to their ears.

“It gets very loud and crazy at times, but it’s so much fun,” Lana said. “We recently came back from Disney World,

which was a ton of fun.”When people hear how Evan

and Nora were abandoned in their native country, their first instinct is to say how sad and terrible that is, and their attitude almost turns disgusted toward those who were respon-sible, Lana said.

“It is hard to hear, it’s especially hard for us as their parents to imagine what the children have been through in their very short lives.

“However, after being to the beautiful country of Ethiopia and getting a brief glimpse at what their life is like, what they’re up against, and the huge heart of its people, I remind myself, and others, that it’s not what they did to our children, it’s what they did for our children,” she said.

“Evan and Nora come from a completely different world and what is accepted there may not be what is accepted here, but the one thing we do have in common is that we treasure our children.

“Someone, somewhere, did what they thought was best for Evan and Nora and we have to respect that.”

FAMILYFROM PAGE 1-C

Events continue anniversary celebration

By Gerald LaVauteHeritage Newspapers

Events celebrating Milan’s 125th anniversary continue to take shape, with additional activities set through the remainder of the summer.

Linda Gilson, chairwoman of the anniversary committee, said the BackStreet Cruizers will celebrate its 10th anniver-sary as a group Aug. 7 with Carfest. The event will be held at Wilson Park in Milan.

Across the Saline River, at

what was once Ford Village Industries, the Milan Area Historical Society will hold tours of Ford Motor Co.’s for-mer coil factory, now the site of the Milan Police Station; the powerhouse, now where City Hall sits; and the former soybean mill, currently Milan Community House.

A movie that was filmed in 1938 will show the construction of Ford Lake and the dam dur-ing an open house from 1 to 3 p.m.

The historical society will holds its annual membership drive Aug. 18 at the Hack House Museum. It’s open to members, but Gilson said non-members are welcome to use the oppor-tunity to join the historical

society during the anniversary celebration.

Gilson said a “big party” to celebrate Milan’s 125th anni-versary will be held Sept. 26 in Wilson Park. A re-enactment of the “Sugar Scandal” will be performed, using a script writ-ten by local historian Martha Churchill. Actors and costumes are needed. To help, e-mail lagilson06@comcast.net.

A new time capsule will be buried at the event, with plans to open it in 25 years. The deadline to submit items to be buried in the time capsule is Sept. 15. They will be placed in archival envelopes that are waterproof and tear-proof. The price for an envelope is $1.

Local restaurateurs will pro-

vide food for purchase, and the Backstreet Cruizers will have on display the “Boogie Woogie Choo-Choo.”

Looking toward fall, Gilson said that plans include a view-ing of the VHS movies buried in the time capsule that was exhumed earlier this year, focused on the anniversary cel-ebration that occurred in 1985.

On Oct. 20, the historical society will host a walk at dusk through Marble Park Cemetery, visiting the final resting sites of a veritable Milan Who’s Who, and learn of their impact on the community.

Gerald LaVaute is a staff writ-er. He can be reached at glavaute@heritage.com or 429-7380.

Milan celebrating 125th milestone throughout year

Summertime Fun

Photo by Steven Howard

Amy O’Vell and her daughters Hayley O’Vell, 6, and Alyssa O’Vell, 3, along with Mataya Fortune, 18 months, enjoy the cool waters of an inflatable pool in Milan on a recent afternoon.

The wind art is only one facet of a sum-mer arts program

at the center. Programs of many varieties will con-

tinue through August based upon

the “Make a Splash” concept.

“They are true sib-lings, kissing each other and saying ‘I love you’ one min-ute, then a major tug-of-war over a

toy the next.”LANA WALSH

adoptive and biological mother

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