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Take a tour of the lost Village of
Fairview, the municipality that existed for
four years between Detroit and Grosse
Pointe Farms, before Detroit annexed the
area and the city of Grosse Pointe Park
was created in 1907.
Nick Sinacori, historian and author
of the book
The History of the Village of
Fairview
, will guide bus tours of the area
including sites of historic race courses and
locations famous in automotive history.
Railroad and streetcar historian and au-
thor Ken Schramm will help participants
“ride the rails” into the past. And local
historian Kiki Herfert will give a history
of the forces and times that developed
Windmill Pointe and its mansions during
the roaring twenties.
Tours will take place on Saturday,
September 25, at 10:00 a.m., 12 noon,
and 2:00 p.m., with buses leaving from
the Ewald Branch of the Grosse Pointe
Public Library.Tickets are $7. For
information, contact Kiki Herfert at
822-9199 or kikiherfer@gmail.com
.
Tickets are available at the Grosse
Pointe Park city offices.
More than 400 guests from all over metro Detroit celebrated
Grosse Pointe history and raised over $30,000 for the Grosse
Pointe Historical Society at the group’s annual summer party
held onThursday, June 24.
The event, called
La Fete d’Ete (A Summer Party)
was held
at the gracious, French Manor-styled home of Roosterail
owners Tom and Diane Schoenith. Guests dined on fabulous
fare prepared by the club’s Chef Dave including beef tenderloin,
lamb chops, shrimp, and oysters from Massachusetts. They
listened to swing music by the 18-piece Saline Big Band Orchestra playing on the
balcony of the home. Inside, Jack McCormick entertained at the grand piano. Schoenith
also turned his garage into a black-and-white disco, equipped with mirrored balls and
flashing lights, which opened at nine.
All four floors of the home were open for the party including a Margarita station in
the attic and champagne in the basement Adventurer’s Club. Schoenith’s beautiful yard
was entirely tented, with tables draped in purple, orange, and fuchsia silk setting the
mood for an exotic evening. Guests lingered under the tents and on the patio well into
the evening.
Money raised at the event will fund the Grosse Pointe Historical Society’s education-
al programs, archives, and Resource Center. Sponsors included Detroit Public Television,
Beaumont Hospital, Gandelot and Associates, John A. & Marlene L. Boll Foundation,
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Cracchiolo, Carolyn Candler and Charles Leahy, Dr. and Mrs.
Peter C. Dodenhoff, Maud Lyon and David Tarrant, the Charles Whitney Foundation,
Citizens Bank, Northern Trust, and Russell Development Company.
Pictures of the party can be viewed on GPHS website www.gphistorical.org.
Tour the Historic Village
of Fairview
400 Guests Celebrate GP History,
Raise Over $30,000
Grosse Pointe
Historical Society
established 1945
Fall 2010
Vol. 27. No. 2
the
Moorings
Talking Headstones Returns with all
New Stories September 10-12
History comes to life once again with the immensely popular
Talking Headstones
collaboration between the Grosse Pointe Historical Society (GPHS) and the Grosse
Pointe Theatre’s (GPT) Historical Pointes. Produced on a stage in historic St. Paul’s
Cemetery, performances are Friday-Sunday, September 10-12 at 8:00 p.m.Tickets are
$15; $10 for members of the GPHS and GPT. Free parking is available at the church
across the street.
This year’s production is an entirely new script, according to GPT Education Direc-
tor and show producer Harry Burkey. It will cover the years 1890-1930 in the Grosse
Pointe area and features stories of the Alger,Martens, Scanlon, and Van Teim families,
among others.There’s even an encounter between temperance advocate
Carrie Nation and Mary Alger, who fought to repeal Prohibition. Episodes include “The
Legend of Windmill Pointe,”“Miss Kitty Scanlon,”“AThirst for a Change,” and “Life at
the Moorings.”
Noted Michigan playwright Kim Carney has returned to head up the writing of this
year’s production. Jane Burkey is the director.