The Friends of Macomb County Library are pleased to announce a new ongoing Silent Auction. Place bids during library hours at 16480 Hall Road, Clinton Township (by Garfield), on great books and other items. New items are added regularly. Visit the library’s website here for a current list of auction items as well as auction start and end dates, or call 586-286-6660 for more information.

If it has been a while since you’ve seen the Big Nail in person, fear not. The next few weeks provide no less than four (4) opportunities to see the Big Nail AND support some great local causes, including:

• MADD Lifesaver Award
  Monday, November 20, 2006 at 9:00 AM
  Visit http://www.madd.org/mi/macomb for more information
• 31st Annual Mount Clemens Santa Claus Parade
  Friday, November 24, 2006 at 10:00 AM
  With 20-foot balloons, marching bands, and floats, this year’s event will be a spectacular addition to the annual tradition. Visit http://www.cityofmountclemens.com for more information.
• Garden City’s 45th Annual Santaland Parade
  November 25, 2006 at 10:00 AM
  For more information, visit http://www.gardencitymi.org/department.asp?ID=157 for more information.
• Care House Dinner
  Monday, December 4, 2006 at 6:30 PM
  The Macomb County Bar Foundation and Care House will hold its annual Christmas for Kids fundraiser at the beautiful Mac & Ray’s Banquet Center in Harrison Township. As always, there will be fabulous food provided by more than 25 of the area’s finest restaurants, with wine and spirit tasting as well. For more information, visit http://www.macombbar.org.

If you would like to inquire about booking the Big Nail for your next charity or community event, please click here or call 586-751-0000.

This Saturday, September 9, the Macomb County Food Program will host a fun-filled day of entertainment while promising hope and so much more for Macomb County families in need. For the 5th straight year, the L.E.T.S. E.A.T. (Leaders Emerging To Secure Emergency Aid Together) Food Drive–which takes place at Freedom Hill County Park in Sterling Heights–will feature live entertainment, a magic show, face painting, a petting zoo, moon walks, and lots of vendors with food and refreshments.

In 2005, the L.E.T.S. E.A.T. Food Drive raised $51,000 and 13,700 lbs. of non-perishable food items for families in need.

The schedule for this year’s event (Saturday, September 9, 2006) includes:

Noon - Opening Ceremonies with color guard and vocalist
12:30 pm - Entertainment: My Bedbugs
1:00 pm - Vocalist: Theresa Randazzo
1:15 pm - Starlight Dance Center & Dancers Only
1:30 pm - A Tribute to the King (Elvis, of course)
1:45 pm - STAND Strength Team
2:30 pm - Magic Show
2.45 pm - Andrea Redmond Dance Academy
3:15 pm - Entertainment: My Bedbugs (2nd Show)
4:00 pm - Lutheran High School North Dance Team
4:45 pm - Entertainment: Bluz Brothers
5:00 pm - Entertainment: My Bedbugs (3rd Show)
5:30 pm - Raffle Drawing
6:00 pm - Fade To Grey
7:45 pm - Closing Remarks and Thank You

Admission and parking are free with a donation. Visit the Food Drive website at www.letseat5.com for more information. Freedom Hill County Park is located at 15000 Metropolitan Parkway in Sterling Heights, Michigan, between Schoenherr and Utica Roads. For information on the Park, call (586) 979-7010 or visit www.freedomhillcountypark.com.

The Big Nail doesn’t watch a lot of television, but if it did, one show it’d certainly make sure not to miss is ABC’s ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.’ Much to many people’s surprise, the show is now filming right in the Big Nail’s backyard. Earlier this week, ABC, with assistance from our local Habitat for Humanity volunteers, surprised a local family by providing them with an extreme home makeover of their own.

From Christy Arboscello at The Detroit Free Press:

In the first months after David Gilliam and his family moved into an 1886-era farmhouse in Armada Township, he ripped out some cabinets, installed a new well and began other improvements.
But he never finished the work. He died suddenly on Christmas Eve 2005, just 41.

“He started to renovate it. That was his dream,” said Armada Township Fire Chief Steve Jerzewski, who has fond memories of Gilliam and his work as a firefighter and paramedic in the community.

On Monday, ABC-TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” surprised his widow, Maryann Gilliam, 32, and her six children with a promise to fulfill David Gilliam’s dream and tear down and rebuild the home over the next week.

The show’s producers whisked away Maryann Gilliam and the children — whose ages range from 8 months to 12 years — from her sister’s home in Mt. Clemens to an undisclosed vacation spot. On Monday, they are expected to return to a newly built home on their 1-acre lot. The show’s air date has yet to be determined, but it will appear in the upcoming season.

Click here for the rest of the article.

The Big Nail will have more on the Gilliam’s much deserved gift in the days and weeks to come. In the meantime, we salute ABC, the producers of ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,’ and the hundreds of local Habitat for Humanity volunteers for their hard work and dedication. In reality, this family–like all of the others the show serves–really needed your help!