A thrilling adventure in modern day Milan, Michigan PROLOGUE Friday, OCTOBER 22, 2010 – 5:58pm (the following is conjecture based on police reports) The dead man held the steering wheel with one hand and the bleeding hole in his stomach with the other. His vision began to weaken but he could not stop, not yet. His only impulse was to keep moving. The time he bought himself to get away offered only the merest advantage. He knew his murderer would be on his trail by now and close behind. “Jerome, you stupid bastard, what have you done to yourself?”  “Gotta do something with this data…” His thoughts twisted with the lines on the road.

The next sign off the highway read: Willis Rd. exit 31 but as he scanned the approach, he saw no real commerce nearby. No commerce meant no authorities at hand. He no longer knew who would end up with the information he held but he figured any authority would be better protection than simply dying at the side of the highway, awaiting his murderer to catch up and take what he was after.

“Why did my contact not show?” His thoughts assailed him as he picked the data up in his hand. Why? Had he only been there I might have gotten away with this.” The dead man took the bottle of water from the cup holder and in one heavy, laborious gulp he swallowed the balloon wrapped data chip. “How did the killer find me? I’d been so careful.” His car swerved again, he was losing focus rapidly. “Bastards will have to dig for that damned data now.”

His head swam, cast in a dripping sheen of sweat, and his vision blurred but he kept his foot on the accelerator. Eighty, eighty-five, ninety, were there no damned state cops patrolling this section of highway? His car swerved like a drunken rummy after an all-nighter. Thankfully, the traffic was sparse on this part of US-23 south so there were few obstacles to move around at 6pm.

The dead man played the scene at the restaurant over again in his head. He saw the man with the gun walk into the building, heard the muffled cough of a gunshot hidden by a sound suppressor and he bolted. He did not even realize he’d been hit until he was on the highway, when the shock of pending capture abated and the intensity of pain began.

He had his window rolled down in the hopes the cool October air would keep him focused enough to make it to…somewhere, wherever this highway would take him in the few minutes he had left.

His left hand sweated profusely as he gripped the steering wheel. He could feel sweat running in rivulets down his face as his body grew feverish from the infection of the bullet that passed through his midsection. He could not imagine how he did not at first feel the bullet tear through him. So riddled with pain he was now, like a thin molten hot iron rod as it’s shoved through his stomach.

He’d not even seen the man raise the gun but then, professional assassins could probably shoot from the hip with accuracy like those in the old westerns.

Hot acrid bile welled in his esophagus. It felt like boiling acid being pored down his throat. He could not draw breath until it passed.

With each new agony, his sight and thoughts dimmed. His face twisted in pain.

What did that sign to the right say? He squinted trying to make it out but his loss of blood weakened him by the second and the seconds streamed by.

Milan – Carpenter Rd. exit 27

He could see signs that told of commerce: restaurants, gas stations, even a car dealership. Cops could not be far from that level of activity. He had to hold on for less than two miles. He swerved again, not madly but dangerously. He knew at these speeds he could loose control in a fraction of a second.

The pain coming from his stomach grew so bad, so encompassing, it was a full body pain. It was the kind of pain that reaches every nerve in a person’s system. From the ends of his hair, right down to his toenails, his body screamed. He winced but could not double over as his body fought to do. He had to keep his eyes on the road.

He glanced at the blood gushing between his fingers. It was sticky and left his fingers cold. Blood was supposed to be warm as it left a person’s body. With the winds of October blaring through the open window, it felt only cold.

Bullets never leave clean passages as they slice through one’s body. The majority of bullets are designed to spread open on impact like a blossoming lotus flower. But there is nothing beautiful about a bullet as it shards, splinters, and cuts through a human body. Had this round been a target round like a wad-cutter, it likely would have left a nice clean piercing straight through the dead man’s left side stomach. It would have hurt like all hell but he might have lived. No this was a silver tipped hollow-point round designed to tear into a human body, splinter apart, twirl and cut its way through the body’s soft tissue like a blender blade ripping organs apart as it slices. There simply was no coming back from a wound like this and the dead man knew it.

He drove, his heart thudding hard for every beat. How he’d held out this long was beyond him. He was a self-proclaimed computer geek and proud of it. He was not a spy, not a proper field-agent. Why had he volunteered for this insane assignment?

His cover story had held long enough for him to complete his task but he never thought getting away would be this difficult. It was a senator’s officer for goodness sake. He should have been able to walk right out the front door and then back to his handler. But oh no, not him, he had to uncover something deeper, something darker and more sinister by far than a senator messing about.

The chases in Chicago garnered him some very important data and proof his handler would need. Chicago proved to him that if he kept his head, he could get away from his professional pursuers. But now, in Michigan, they’d finally caught up to him. He’d been so careful, but in the end, they’d been just a little better.

He only chose Michigan because he knew places here that he could lay low until the feds got their heads together and took these shadows out completely. That was the only way this would have worked in the long run, the shadows had to go down.

Slowly, his face no longer winced uncontrollably with each new surge of pain. As it all seemed like pain, there was now no lull. His body began to accept the pain as normal with every passing second. That, or as he came closer to death and his body weakened, his mind no longer registered the waves of agony shooting through him. His body was giving up.

He figured this is what approaching death really was – acceptance.

The exit came up faster than he anticipated. There was a part of him that was amazed he could still make calculations like how much pressure he had to exert on the brake pedal to slow his vehicle as he glided off the exit ramp. He figured it was just muscle memory.

He wondered if there was a chance, even a slim chance that he’d find help in time for someone to save his life, but as he slowed to turn right off the highway and onto this Carpenter Rd exit, his vision began to shadow, blur, and dim, his eyelids grew heavier with every moment. He knew time was about to run out. He was far away from friends. He had run and now he crawled but never once thought he would die in a place where there was no one he knew to carry him home. That’s where he really wished this road led him, he wished it led him home.

He once again pushed the accelerator and drove the car forward. He saw two traffic lights both green. He focused on the second, furthest away, deeper into this area of commerce, furthest from the highway. The first light turned red but he sped through without a pause. Thankfully, no other vehicles moved through the intersection. He did not want his last act in life to injure some innocent schlep just trying to make their way home.

The second light came up fast and at the last minute it too turned red. He saw a sign just past the intersection and his eyes locked on it:

CAMPFIRE family restaurant

There were other signs he might have aimed toward. There were signs all around him, but in his haze of blurred, double vision, he locked onto this one. With only minutes, perhaps seconds left he stomped the accelerator.

His car bucked hard as it jumped the curb and rammed into a dirt mound. His forehead hit the horn as the momentum carried him forward. His head spun wildly and he could feel his own heart rate begin to slip away. As he lay slumped forward in his seat, restrained by his safety belt, he thought how strange that he could feel his death approach so tangibly.

If he was going to die anyway why did any of this matter? Why did he still care who got the information, the data? He just held on because some part of him said – he cared, Jerome Kirkwood cared enough to see his part through, his last act. It cost him his life and in the end he prayed that would count for something.

Dale Osborn 7/16/11 Live Saturday with a Folksy Flair -By Duane Donald July 16^th – Ken Eby’s, Live Saturdays at the Lighthouse Coffee Co. this week featured folk guitarist/vocalist, Dale Osborn. Dale has played at the Lighthouse many times and is always entertaining. Dale plays two beautiful Canadian made, Larrivee guitars. One a six-string, the other a twelve-string. Why Larrivee guitars, I asked. “I really like the way the Larrivee sound,” Osborn said. “They have a different bracing than most guitars, with a little smaller chamber so they have a little different resonation to them. Plus I kind of like using a guitar that not everyone is playing.” How long have you been playing guitar and performing? “Ahh, many years. I began playing guitar when I was seventeen so I’ve been playing for something like thirty-five years.” I detect some formal training in your music. “Yeah, many years ago I studied classical guitar,” Dale Osborn told me. “It was never my intention to play classical music but I wanted to learn the technique so that I could incorporate it into the styles that I enjoyed playing.” What exactly is your style? I hear several different influences in your sound. “As far as placing a label to it, I am a folk artist. But I enjoy music from several different genres and I then incorporate covers from those different styles into my folk style. Putting my stamp on them I guess you’d say.” While I listened, Dale played several different covers of varying styles music, including a folk’s version of “Message in a Bottle” by the Police. Dale plays many instrumental numbers as well. Here he shows off some of that classical training he spoke of. Have you recorded any of your original pieces? “I have. In 1999 I produced a CD of my music called, “On the Edge of Our Town”. Where could one buy your CD or just listen to some of your music to check out your style? “One can buy my CD at Amazon.com, and also they can hear it or buy it on i-tunes. There is also a website called CDBaby.com where hear can hear my music.” Dale began playing at the Lighthouse during the Wednesday night, “Open Mike”. When Ken Eby started the “Live Saturdays” concert series, he asked Dale if he’d contribute his time and talent and he has repeatedly. If you haven’t checked out the “Live Saturdays” shows, I urge you to drop into the Lighthouse on Main St. on any Saturday and have a listen. DMN carries the concert line-up in the paper. Even if you’re not sure if you like folk music or coffeehouse concerts, I think you’ll enjoy yourself at “Live Saturdays”. Ken Eby is your host and there is always good ice cream, muffins, and yummy coffee drinks to be had while you sit back and listen to some good music. So come on down and enjoy some of what Milan has to offer. (To learn more about Live Saturdays or the Lighthouse Coffee Co. please visit them online at lighthousecoffeeco.com) 01 Sands of the Kalahari 02 On the Edge of Our Town dosborn@provide.net All Kinds of Fun 7/2/11 — Rod Hill Ken Eby’s LIVE Saturdays started off July with a night of truly unique sounds. The Potter’s Field is a duet of Rochelle Clark and John Natiw. They start off sounding like the kind of classic folk music that evolved into what we now think of as Classic Country. Twangy vocals counterpointed with soft guitar in this spare but nourishing musical package. The contrast of the two vocal tonal qualities sneaks up on you. John’s fairly standard and forthright but when Rochelle comes in, sometimes sweet like Emmy Lou, other times quirky like Kasey Chambers, the songs take on a whole different dimension. Their playing virtuosity is spot on. John will go through six different tunings during a set. “My guitar hates me in the summer time” he admits. “With so many temperatures, and different tunings, by this time of the night, I can just hear it say ‘enough, already!’” It’s clear that they’re having all kinds of fun with their performance. Most all of their works are original and they cover just about every American folk motif. They bring a couple of innovations that I’ve never heard before. On some of their pieces you’ll swear you hear a harmonica and it takes a bit to discover that it’s Rochelle with just her voice. Talk about “twangy”! She smiles at the impression her effect has on the room. Another thing that took awhile to figure out was something John calls a “Porch Board Base”. If you can’t see what he’s doing you might think he’s pounding a base drum with his foot. “I picked it up in Australia. You can tune it to sound like a drum or crank it up to castanets.” Think of playing out on Grandpa’s front porch and keeping time with your work boots. The group has been together for about two years, but they are not a couple. Rochelle and her husband live in Chelsea, John is from Plymouth/Canton. “We were both playing at an open mic, and we just sort of caught each other’s attention.” Say’s Rochelle. “It’s been a very organic thing, kind of two solo performers melding together.” And why “The Potter’s Field” you may ask? “We’ve both got a playful dark side, like Kasey and Shane Nicolson. It’s Americana but sort of Creepy Americana.” You missed them in July but they’ll be back in October. Maybe it will be a special Halloween performance! ————————————————————————————————————————– Classic Electric 7/9/11 — Rod Hill Between Generations returned to the Lighthouse Coffee Co. last Saturday evening with their expanded duet and classic guitar Americana. Earl Hyde and Terry Buist, from Kalamazoo, brought their Les Paul electric melodies and a repertoire of favorites to the July 9 session of LIVE Saturdays. Ranging from California beach ballads to some interesting renditions of Big Band standards, BG demonstrated what two master guitarists with an ear for the creative, and an electronic ensemble, are capable of. There’s always a different sound on these LIVE Saturdays. We had a version of Glenn Miller’s One O’clock Jump where their two guitars took the place of ranks of trombones and saxophones. It was pretty effective but that was only one of the many creative interpretations. BG’s range runs from Big Band to 70’s Rock and Roll. Whether it’s the Eagles, the Ventures, or even Benny Goodman, Terry and Earl play them for keeps. Most of their pieces are pure instrumental but every once in awhile Terry will come in for a vocal that is perfectly balanced to the music they play. Their mellow renderings always make it seem as though there are many more instruments in the room. Even when it’s just the two of them they can still fill the place with their beautiful sound. This is Between Generations’ second LIVE Saturday and they’re sure to be back again so don’t miss.

Business Today

– Duane Donald This week, I looked into rumors of a big commercial makeover going on out at 525 S. Redman Rd. Owners Herman and Christine Marquardt are indeed planning an expansion of their store, Sarah’s Bridal & Prom Boutique. They are expanding their boutique into an adjoining room. This expansion will more than triple the store’s square footage. It is a huge room with an extremely high celling to display their vast array of bridal gowns, prom dresses, and formal wear. So very soon (in just weeks in fact) you’ll be able to shop at Sarah’s as it rivals any like kind dress and formal wear boutique. If that were all the Marquardt’s were doing at their property on Redman Rd, that would be impressive but it’s not. Christine and Herman own a massive, 80,000 sq. ft. industrial complex at that site. So what made you choose this site for you bridal boutique? “We moved our parts manufacturing business here to Milan from the Pittsfield Township area about eight or nine years ago. We were producing steel wire and rod products for the automotive industry,” Herman Marquardt said. “Things like brackets and hangers for muffler assemblies and similar items.” So how do you go from manufacturing automotive parts to a bridal boutique? “I had thought of doing something like this for about a year,” Christine added. “We were watching so many industrial contracts move overseas and our orders dwindling that we knew we had to do something else. So about a year ago we started, Sarah’s.” The couple named their formal dress boutique after their daughter, Sarah, now five. “She’s our CEO, wondering where her cut is,” Christine laughs. “The kids play in an area up front and they love to see all the beautiful dresses and how happy our customers are when they try them on. It’s just a very relaxed, unencumbered atmosphere at, Sarah’s.” So has the struggling economy affected you as much as you thought it might? “Well, we’re actually doing pretty well,” Christine said. “We cut our prices as much as we could while still offering a very high quality gown or dress to women for their most special occasions. We understand our market and supply exactly what they are looking for.” Herman added, “We are expanding in fact because our customer base has grown so much that our current square footage is just no longer enough to properly display our selection.” Where did they have to expand? The Marquardt’s still own this massive industrial complex attached to the back of the boutique. So essentially, they plan on building a whole city’s worth of businesses in this one giant complex. The couple took me on a tour of this gigantic complex and pointed out what was going where and how much room was going to go to this or that. In the first section, they showed me they were putting in an ice cream/grill/coffee shop/pizza parlor. Quite a combination but that is all going into just one of the big areas available to them. They hope to have the ice cream parlor going within just a couple of months. Next, the Marquardt’s showed me the place they were putting in their Mexican restaurant. “We plan on seating 150 people at a time here but we have room for a lot more than that,” Herman said. “Christine and I love Mexican food so that’s why we chose that cuisine. We are going to have a liquor license and the atmosphere will be casual and inviting.” Again, the area they have designated for the restaurant is massive. The couple is hopeful for an October opening. But I had to know, how is the city government helping with all this expansion? “Oh the City was great. When we wanted to open Sarah’s Boutique, they had no problem rezoning us for that use. The City has really made it easy for us to get started,” Christine told me. The couple was not done yet. We continued on, through the mammoth complex. “Here we have plans for an indoor baseball diamond, with a series of batting cages over on this end,” Herman pointed out. “And then over here is that area (a fair distance from the baseball diamond), we want to put in a classic car restoration garage.” They had several classic cars in that particular area of the complex. It looked like they had a fair amount of knowledge about classic vehicles already. These five expanded businesses alone would have constituted a major commerce center. But the Marquardt’s still own a further forty thousand square feet of space left to add any number of other businesses and commercial sites in just this one complex. They are looking for anyone who has good business ideas and the backing to pull it off to contact them about further development. I had to ask, how the City could help bring things like this commercial complex to fruition. “If I could think of one thing I suppose it would be some sort of tax incentive to both new businesses and also to businesses that want to expand,” Herman Marquardt told me. “Unfortunately, if you expand or make major improvements to your business, the government increases assessed value which increases your taxes. That keeps some people from making those improvements. I think the City does pretty well and I’m not sure how much control they have over assessed taxes, but we need to try and get new business and general commerce into Milan using every means available.” “Another thing I’d like to see changed is, if you do not live in Milan, you are not allowed to vote in city elections,” Herman went on. “I’m not sure if the City can do anything about that either, but if they can, they should really offer that equal voice to business property owners as well. Anyone that pays taxes to a city should be able to vote in that city.” “I’d like to run for local office but I can’t because we live just outside the city limits,” Christina added. What would you like to say to your Milan customer base? “We want everyone in Milan to know how thankful we both are for all their support,” Christine said. “The kids we worked with during prom were just fantastic. Everyone here in Milan has been very kind and encouraging.” DMN will keep you abreast of future developments with Herman and Christine Marquardt’s commercial complex on Redman Dr. Next, I popped over to a longtime fixture in town, Joe Ray’s Platt Rd Greenhouse. Joe has been doing business for 37 years but about 27 yrs. ago, he bought a farm here in Milan and opened his current greenhouse. Joe began working for another greenhouse back in 1974 where he met his wife, Pamela. The couple bought that greenhouse when the owner was ready to retire but eventually found they needed to expand and moved the operation to Milan. Joe’s wife went on to teach first grade children for the past thirty years and Joe continued on build up the Platt Rd. Greenhouse. So how is business going these days? “It’s bad. Business is way down,” Joe admitted. “The big conglomerates (like Lowes, Home Depot, etc.) buy in such bulk that they can offer extremely low prices. I keep my prices just as low as I possibly can to compete.” Has business improved at all? See any signs of the economy turning around? “Yeah, even with all the heavy rain we’ve had this season; sales are up a little bit over last year,” Joe Ray said. “We started working with the “Community Support Agriculture” program a couple years back. That’s where the customer buys an early share of their flower and vegetable plant starters earlier in the year, then when the plants are ready for the customer to put at their own home and gardens, we are able to sell them to that customer for 20% off the regular price. It helps us not have to take out loans and such to buy seed and it saves our customers considerable money.” Is the bulk of your business, flower sales? “We sell a lot of flowers but over half our business are vegetable plant starters,” Joe Ray told me. Joe also creates some very lovely looking garden benches, flower boxes, and other woodworked garden products. I had the pleasure of relaxing on one of his benches during the interview. What do you think the City could do to help move commerce forward in Milan, Joe? Joe Ray thought for a moment then hit on a very good idea that I’ve heard others repeat. “I know the city does a fair amount to promote local business but if they would start a wide spread campaign on, “Shop Local” I think that would really help the various businesses and companies in Milan.” Joe continued, “People live here for years but never really learn of everything that is right around the block from them. They are so conditioned to go to the big stores to find things, they don’t realize local stores offer just as much and usually at the same prices. By shopping local, you support local commerce, keep businesses alive and help strengthen our tax base so the City can offer all the services everyone needs. It’s a win-win strategy. So the City government should really push for a “shop local” campaign.” I think that was an excellent idea. It would be fairly inexpensive to instigate yet I should think the yields would be well worth the effort. I am certain our City officials will do everything they can to carry out such a program (I’m talking to you City Council). My last stop this week was the Milan Medical Clinic on Main St. I met with office manager, Felicity Thompson. How long has Milan Medical Clinic been in business? “We’ve been here for just over a year now,” Felicity said. “We saw a need for an accessible medical clinic in town so decided that’s what we would offer. We have same day appointments and will take people at a moment’s notice.” As I later discovered. Does the current economy have much of an effect on the medical profession? “Oh yeah,” Thompson continued, “We’ve noticed a lot more people coming in without insurance. People that use to have insurance through their jobs have lost either the job or their health benefits and that reflects in how clinics in general do their billing. As a result, we try to keep our fees as reasonable as possible and we offer payment plans to those that need them.” What do you think the City government could do to help businesses like yours? “Well for our part, I would like to the see the City do even more to promote health awareness issues and education on health issues,” Felicity said. “We have a health walk trail here in town but without proper promotion, people are not aware of it. Walking is very good for healthy living and really should be more highly promoted. We could have maybe things like ‘hypertension day’ or any number of potential health risks highlighted through City supported promotions.” That did seem like a reasonable idea. I should think such promotions would be at minimal cost to the City. As to how much health promotion actually helps limit health risks I suppose is a matter of statistical study. Perhaps such analysis presented to the Council could help move future health promotions forward in Milan. What makes Milan Medical Center different from any other clinic? “We do not just treat the ailment, we try to identify and treat the root cause. We find out what our patients do and what environment they are going back to that might have caused their condition. Plus we always check up on our patients to make sure our treatment is having the desired effect.” I know when I was there doing this interview, Felicity insisted on having one of her doctors look at a sore elbow that I have. Geez, you can’t get anything past these doctors. Remember Milan, if you need any service or merchandise; please check to see if our town offers that product first. It will help all of us in the end if we all shop local. (For more information on Sarah’s Bridal, please visit their website at sarahbridalandprom.com – you can contact Milan Medical Clinic online at milanmed@att.net) If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact Dave at dmn@discovermilannews.com. Please enjoy!