NORTHVILLIANS,
We continue our “Fall Series” today, talking about last week’s homecoming parade and festivities. Next week, we will feature coverage of the latest inductees into our Athletic Hall of Fame. We’ll wrap up the month with Autumn Colors, concluding with our Norman Rockwell Halloween extravaganza in town.
I appreciated seeing many of you this weekend supporting The Northville/Novi 36th annual CROP Hunger Walk. The Wayne County Sheriff’s office assisted in traffic control, augmenting their efforts with their horse patrol unit where the route crossed into Hines Drive. Custard Time donated ice cream treats and many in the community shared their time, talents, and treasures in making the CROP Walk the success that it was.
Also, celebrating last week was Orin Jewelers who gathered for their 90th anniversary with music, a classic vehicle display and festivities downtown. Additionally, the Beautification Commission with support from the Rotarians held their annual awards banquet, celebrating the efforts of many of our community businesses. The event held at Genitti’s was well attended.
Before looking into Homecoming activities, let's see what's going on today…
- Visit Northville’s Parmenter’s Cider Mill, Celebrating their 150th season – Link
- Tipping Point Theater – Live productions scheduled for the rest of the year – Link
- Farmers’ Market (7 Mile/Sheldon) – Take in Northville’s 100-year-old Award-Winning Thursday Market through October. Link
- Skeletons Come Alive event 10/7, starting 6PM Downtown Northville – Come see the Skeletons (120+ of them!) on display around the Ville through Halloween – Link
- Witches Night Out – 10/12, 6-9pm, Downtown Northville – Spook-tastic evening of shopping at your favorite downtown small businesses. Giveaways, Music, Costume Contests, and More!
- Oakwood Cemetery Tour – 10/14, 11-2pm & 5-8pm – Hear actors share the storied pasts of those in our oldest cemetery; sponsored by the Northville Art House and Historical Society. The Mayor will be on guide duty. For details and tickets, see Link
- 10/14 Cars and Coffee Saturday, 8-10 AM – Join our last gathering of the season, behind Old Village School next to the library (212 W. Cady Street) - Bring a car/bring yourself. Link
- Maybury Farm’s Corn Maze (weekends) 10/6 – 10/29 – Link
- Northville Historical Society’s Halloween Hysteria at Mill Race Village – 10/22, 1-5pm – Halloween Fun for the whole family! Link
- Northville Today features an article on our Victorian Northville - Link
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Now let's look back at some of the ways Northvillians have experienced our Homecoming activities over the years...
Homecoming week, in most communities, centers around the Friday night Football game, followed by dances & social gatherings, with spirit week functions leading up to it. Let’s take a look …
1895 – Football was mentioned in the Northville Record even back in the late 1800s. In one of the first gridiron contests publicized in our local paper, it spoke about the game and the dance that followed. Many of the last names of our early players are on our street signs today.
1916 – Pep rallies were held in front of the old high school on Main Street for the entire community to join in. For the first time, the athletic boosters presented the football team with BOLD ORANGE Northville sweaters, featuring the black block “N.”
1919 – Early Northville football teams were part of the “Four Square Football League” that later transitioned to the “Suburban League,” which included Northville, Farmington, Wayne, Plymouth, Redford, and Dearborn. The entire town would travel to cheer on the TEAM.
1927 – During our centennial year, the Record commented on the most distinctive Orange & Black jerseys ever worn on the gridiron that year, which were solid orange with wild sleeves striped in black and white. And we thought wild uniforms were only for the NFL!
1948 – High School Football games were played under the lights at our very own Ford Field (from the mid-1940’s to the early 1960’s). The Northville Record spoke about a gala celebration planned that year for homecoming, set up by student council who sponsored the dance at the High School gym. All former alumni were encouraged to attend.
1954 – The Record said, “Northville’s homecoming was a decided success which concluded in a win over Brighton.” Before the game, like this past year, there was a parade with floats and the band, pep rallies and general activities ending the night with a dance. Following the parade, all Northville youth gathered at the Community Center for games and activities. After the game, the Community Center transitioned to host the homecoming dance.
1960 – The Northville Record posted a picture of their 5-star quarterback Steve Juday. The caption stated, “Not only did Steve kiss the queen in the traditional half time ceremonies, but in fact, he apparently enjoyed the first kiss so much that he continued on to kiss ALL in the court. This prompted a rousing standing ovation from the Ford Field crowd.” And surprise -- he married one of them…his high school sweetheart and leader of the cheerleaders, Linda Deal.
1961-62 – Like this year’s 2023 TEAM, Northville’s famous undefeated season began! Detroit papers wrote quite a bit about this talented team, of whom many went on to play collegiately. “One of the finest groups of athletes ever assembled from Northville” (according to The Detroit News) which included Steve Juday, who went on to be MSU’s All-American quarterback. The community involvement was amped up this year because both Northville and Novi students attended Northville High (through 1968).
1988 – The Northville Record and The Novi News decided to formally recognize this traditional gridiron clash between Novi & Northville by sponsoring the traveling “Baseline Jug” as part of School Homecoming activities. This year Novi will host the game on October 13.
2023 – The 2023 Undefeated Mustangs Football Team, ranked number 6th in the State in Division One, could be one of the finest group of athletes representing the town in recent history … Go Stangs! A quote from the Record close to 100 years ago is still pertinent today: “If we can teach them to tackle life with football enthusiasm and fair play… this athletic activity shall have served its noblest purpose.”
I congratulate all our students, athletes and volunteers who helped last week in the preparation of the wild and exciting “Homecoming” activities.
We will continue our “Fall series” next week by recognizing the newest inductees into the Northville Athletic Hall of Fame. Don’t miss it!
Stay #NORTHVILLESTRONG!
Keep that Orange & Black Northville Faith!
Brian Turnbull
Mayor – Northville
[email protected] / 248.505.6849
(Reach out to me anytime or forward this communication to others interested.)
Click the following link to subscribe to this weekly newsletter:
https://mailchi.mp/5a31f2ec1a6e/turnbullformayor
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