Mark your calendar for May 7 Spring Clean-Up
The City of St. Johns Spring Clean-Up is set for Saturday, May 7, 2022. Please do not place items out to the curb prior to Saturday, April 30.
Items must be placed out by 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 7. Items placed after the contractor has passed will not be picked up.
Clean-up is limited to 3 cubic yards of material (approx. the size of a regular pick-up truck box). Pickers be courteous and keep areas tidy. Do not leave a mess!
Do put out:
-Appliances (appliances containing ANY food will not be picked up. Doors must be removed from refrigerator or freezer unit).
-Electronics (T.V.’s, computer and stereo equipment)
-Lawn mowers (must be drained of fuel and oil)
-Hub caps
-Copper or brass tubing and wiring
-Large toys
-Bicycles
-Furniture (indoor and outdoor) and mattresses
-Scrap metal (bed frames, aluminum lawn chairs, file cabinets, etc.)
-Odd pieces of lumber under 4 ft. long (must be bundled)
-Carpeting (bundles less than 6 ft. long)
Please box, bag or bundle (50 lb. limit) your items when possible.
Do Not put out:
-Household trash or recyclables (cans, bottles, etc.)
-Liquids or hazardous waste
-Automobile components
-Yard waste including stumps
-Batteries (can be recycled)
-Books, magazines and newspapers (can be recycled)
-Construction or demolition materials from major household repairs.
-Dirt or sand piles
-Latex paint (can be dried out and placed in weekly trash pick-up)
Any refuse that contains contaminated items, may be only partially picked up or left behind by contractor.
This is available for city residents whom live in a one to four unit dwelling. A refuse fee is applied to the summer tax bill to pay for this service. Any non-resident placing refuse illegally is subject to a $500 fine.
Spring Fling is back May 7
There will be so much going on for the St. Johns Spring Fling, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Downtown, on Saturday, May 7.
What you’ll find in Downtown St Johns:
– Tie dyeing at Maehem
– T shirts decorating at Hot Prints
– Free kids crafts at Studio Retreat
– 11 to 1 live music by Jim Pontack
– Touch a truck 9-2
– Craft vendors 9-2
– Senior Center Craft Show
– Art Projects with many of our ART facilities downtown 9-2
– Plein Air Event at the Art and Soul gallery happening from 12-5
– The Legion will be grilling and have a specialty drink available
– Relay for Life Friday May 6 – Saturday May 7
– Royalty for a day at Briggs Library from 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
– Womens Health and Wellness Expo at the UAW
– Food! So much to do for families.
Hosted by the St. Johns Area Chamber and The St. Johns Principal Shopping District (Downtown)
Meet Mint Festival Royalty at the Briggs
Hear ye, hear ye! Calling all princesses, princes, knights, and court jesters!
Join the Mint Festival Royalty at Briggs District Library for an afternoon of royal fun from 2-4 p.m. on May 7. Enjoy storytime, a magical craft and royalty lessons from our Mint Queen and court.
All are welcome, and a suggested donation of $10 per child will support fundraising efforts for renovations of the library and Mint Festival royalty float. If you cannot join, consider making a Fairy Godparent donation to support two great causes.
Visit the library website to register and make a donation:
Advance registration is recommended, but walk-ins are welcome.
St. Johns Rotary Helping Hands Dinner Raffle a success
The annual Helping Hands Dinner and Raffle sponsored by the Rotary Club of St. Johns was held on Saturday, April 23 with nearly 350 community leaders and residents in attendance at Most Holy Trinity Activity Center.
Towne promoted from Firefighter to Lieutenant
During a recent department training night Vince Towne was promoted from Firefighter to Lieutenant.
Vince has been in the fire service since 1997 and with the St Johns Fire Department for 10 years. He is a valuable asset to the department having put in a lot of time and dedication to earn this position.
Regional Transportation Plan public meeting is May 3
Do you drive to work? Do you hate potholes? Do you ride your bike on trails or walk through parks? Maybe you ride the bus or other public transportation? Have you ever been in a traffic incident? Do you go shopping or operate your own business?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should care about the 2045 Regional Metropolitan Transportation Plan. Join them for a public meeting in conjunction with our Capital Area Regional Transportation Study meeting on May 3 at 8:30 a.m. to learn about our upcoming Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Participants can join virtually via Zoom or in person at Tri-County’s office. An overview of the TIP document will be provided with an opportunity to comment or ask questions following the presentation.
This comment opportunity will kick off the public comment period for our draft TIP for fiscal years 2023-2026. The TIP, which will invest over $425 million into transportation projects throughout Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham counties, plans improvements to our roads, bridges, highways, bicycle and pedestrian system, and public transit services over the next several years.
Interested individuals who are unable to participate in the public meeting are invited to review the draft document at mitcrpc.org/tip, and make comments from May 3-17 using Tri-County’s online comment form. All comments will be reviewed and presented to Tri-County’s Board of Commissioners ahead of the TIP’s anticipated adoption at their May 25 meeting.
For more information go to https://www.mitcrpc.org/events. Questions may be directed to info@mitcrpc.org.
SJ Call-In Coalition addresses today’s issues
A group aptly named the St. Johns Call-In Coalition is tapping into a vast resource of richness through the acknowledgement and celebration of the diverse backgrounds, gender, race, class, sexuality and disabilities of its citizens.
And in so doing is following the advice of a Baptist minister and social activist who once walked this earth: “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King Jr., ‘Strength to Love’
According to founder and resident Andrea Ryan the vision of the St. Johns Call-in Coalition, established in 2020, is to call in the community to celebrate differences, create relationships, empower disenfranchised groups and to foster diversity.
The SJCIC, which is in the process of attaining non-profit status, calls in the community through its Call-in Café, a monthly virtual Facebook platform that invites residents to share their views, concerns and experience with issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. The ‘call-in’ process engages in dialogue, awareness, education, objective truth and affirms the importance of bridging differences in order to move the community forward. “This allows residents to realize and appreciate the composition of our unique whole as a community”, says Ryan.
The call-in technique is a concept created by human rights practitioners to challenge the toxicity of cancel culture. Calling in, as opposed to calling on or calling out a person, is speaking up without tearing down and seeks common ground within our differences, even if it means that we agree to disagree – because that of itself is a measure of progress, notes Ryan.
“We may not all have the same perception or ideas, and that is normal, but we can strive to find common ground that we can stand on to work toward the greater good of our community”, says Ryan, adding that the calling in technique is done with love and understanding to encourage hope and possibility.
Coalition members are current and former area residents. “We have great people living in St. Johns with good intentions, which we feel isn’t highlighted enough,” says Ryan. “It would be a great opportunity to get our residents in the same space and have these same hearts work together to build a positive outlook of diversity and inclusion.”
St. Johns is growing and the SJCIC extends a welcome to its new neighbors with open arms and hearts to show them that the community is a safe and flourishing environment, ideal for anyone.
The Call-In Café is held the third week of each month, 7:30 p.m., day to be announced through a live Facebook feed @sjcallincoalition. Topics of discussion are normally selected in advance, however, other concerns can be voiced. It is encouraged that callers engage in dialogue with respect and understanding for others so the same respect can be returned.
Look for a special event coming up in June, but more about that next week.
For more information please contact either Ryan at 734.489.1035; sjcallincoalition@gmail.com or Tim Hulliberger, community/media relations, 517.819.2936; timhulliberger@yahoo.com. Besides Facebook also checkout Instagram@sjcallincoalition and their website.
South Bingham Cemetery Annual meeting is May 9
The South Bingham Cemetery Annual meeting will be held on Monday, May 9 at 7:00 p.m.
The public is notified and invited to attend the meeting at the cemetery at 1324 W. Taft Road, St. Johns.
Annual reports and election of officers will be held at this time, along with any new business to be discussed.
For more information contact Holly Phinney, Secretary 989-224-7629.