Pounding the pavement

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It has been a long (LONG) time in the making, but downtown Lake Orion is looking good. After months of tore up streets, sidewalks and lights; after all the dust, pounding, crumbling and grumbling, the Streetscape Project is wrapping up.
It is time to party!
During construction, the business district suffered most with the loss of paying customers. It is time to help our brothers and sisters get back on their financial feet.
The entire staff of the Lake Orion Review (at 5 S. Broadway Street since the year 1905) has endured the construction as long as any business in town, and we now want to help celebrate and welcome back people to town, proper.
Its our plan to publish a special section on August 10 called, Open For Business! With a press run of 20,000, it will be published in The Review also be delivered to every address handled by the Lake Orion Post office!
We hope to coordinate a grand reopening of downtown/ribbon cutting event on August 17 — before Lake Orion Schools? downtown pep rally, also slated for that evening.
Every downtown business will be contacted in person. Our sales team of ad director Eric Lewis and representatives Debbie Denton, Chris Hoard and Jim Misner will canvas downtown tomorrow (Thursday) morning, July 21, from 10 to noon.
As we hope to give EVERY business equal opportunity to invite the community back to town, every downtown business who has suffered will be offered quarter page ads for only $100.
This section will be a great way to invite new and old customers downtown, a great way to thank all those who continued to support your business during all the dust and confusion — a great time to offer a great deal!
If you cannot wait for our a member of our staff to walk in your front door on Thursday, July 21 from 10 to noon — contact Eric Lewis to reserve your ad space. Call 248-628-4801 or e-mail Eric@ShermanPublications.org

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It has been a long (LONG) time in the making, but downtown Lake Orion is looking good. After months of tore up streets, sidewalks and lights; after all the dust, pounding, crumbling and grumbling, the Streetscape Project is wrapping up.
It is time to party!
During construction, the business district suffered most with the loss of paying customers. It is time to help our brothers and sisters get back on their financial feet.
The entire staff of the Lake Orion Review (at 5 S. Broadway Street since the year 1905) has endured the construction as long as any business in town, and we now want to help celebrate and welcome back people to town, proper.
We will publish a special section on August 10 called, Open For Business! With a press run of 20,000, it will be published in The Review also be delivered to every address handled by the Lake Orion Post office!
It is our hope to coordinate a grand reopening of downtown/ribbon cutting event on August 17 — before Lake Orion Schools? downtown pep rally, also slated for that evening.
Every downtown business will be contacted in person. Our sales team of ad director Eric Lewis and representatives Debbie Denton, Chris Hoard and Jim Misner will canvas downtown next Thursday morning, July 21, from 10 to noon.
As we hope to give EVERY business equal opportunity to invite the community back to town, every downtown business who has suffered will be offered quarter page ads for only $100.
This section will be a great way to invite new and old customers downtown, a great way to thank all those who continued to support your business during all the dust and confusion — a great time to offer a great deal!
If you cannot wait for our a member of our staff to walk in your front door on Thursday, July 21 from 10 to noon — contact Eric Lewis to reserve your ad space. Call 248-628-4801 or e-mail Eric@ShermanPublications.org

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Everyone is feeling the sting of the economic downturn, but none more than those who have lost their job.
In Lake Orion and surrounding areas, that number was double in 2008 compared to 2007, according to statistics from Michigan Works.
The center, which services communities like Lake Orion, Oxford and Clarkston, had 2,586 people register in 2007. In 2008, the number of unemployed coming through their doors rose to 4,603.
It’s necessary to register with Michigan Works in order to receive unemployment benefits from the state.
The unemployment rate in Michigan is, at 10.6 percent, among the highest in the country and the highest it’s been in the state since 1984.
‘It’s been busy ever since 9/11,? said Cyd Hill, program supervisor at Goodwill Industries, where Michigan Works is housed by contract in Oxford. ‘Recently, it’s been insane. They go through their 401ks, their savings, they lose their homes. It’s sad.?
Troubles in the automotive world are partly to blame, according to Hill.
The area, home to GM’s Orion Assembly Plant and Chrysler’s world headquarters just to the south in Auburn Hills–not to mention numerous suppliers–is particularly vulnerable.
‘We’re getting hit from all sides with the Big Three,? Hill said. ‘Since this part of the state is so seeped in the auto industry, everything hinges on it.?
As the downturn seeks its bottom, more and more people seem to be out of work.
‘From November, the numbers have been inching their way up,? she said.
In January 2008, 315 people registered at the center.
This past January, 873 people registered.
Donald Jidas of Lake Orion has been out of work since October, ever since his job as an operating engineer on a construction crew dried up.
‘The hardest thing is keeping up with things, paying the bills, keeping gas in the vehicles,? he said.
Jidas said the job hunt isn’t too promising.
‘It’s been bad. There’s isn’t much out there,? he said. ‘It used to be pretty plentiful, but now it’s dropped off to nothing.?
Chris Walls, who was raised in Lake Orion and now lives in Ortonville, was laid off from Home Depot in December, and hasn’t had much luck either.
‘You can find some things, but it doesn’t pay well,? he said.
Hill said working any job is better than not working at all.
‘Some people are too proud to take a $10 an hour job. Sometimes they find out too late that it was better than nothing,? she said.
There are resources out there for the unemployed in Lake Orion.
Oxford’s Michigan Works North Oakland Career Center, located at 1370 S. Lapeer Road, has Internet-wired computers, fax machines and telephones available to those who register.
They also offer workshops in money management, resume writing and interviewing.
‘The people who make it their job to find a job will find something,? Hill said.
A local group is also getting together at St. Mary’s-in-the-Hills Episcopal Church every other week.
The support group’s organizer Deb Lunney said she started the group after losing her job in December.
‘When I got laid off, I know I was feeling down, feeling worthless,? she said.
The next meeting will be Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall at the church, located at 2512 Joslyn Court.
According to Lunney, the group will discuss dealing with finances and MARVIN, the educational opportunities with the state program called ‘No Worker Left Behind,? fields that are open to job opportunities, as well as various Web sites to use in one’s job search.
For more information, call the church office 248-391-0663.

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