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Minutes from Ann Arbor
I-94 Exit 159
VOL. 141, NO. 8
2 downtown restaurants close shop
By Sean Dalton
Heritage Media
Dexter village is losing two
restaurants this month – The
Lighthouse Café and North
Point Seafood & Steakhouse,
but for different reasons.
The Lighthouse Café’s last
cooking day will be Feb. 27,
and they’ll begin the moving
process the following week.
However, they will re-emerge
almost immediately as
Varney’s Catering Company,
according to owner Sandra
Varney.
“Honestly we saw this com-
ing around November, so it’s
not shocking,” Varney said.
Varney and her family
opened their restaurant and
catering business in August
of 1998, and for three years
business boomed along with
the construction market in
Washtenaw, but a number of
factors put the breaks on the
restaurant’s success.
“Since the car companies
Sons of Veterans
to join Civil War
event with DAHS
By Sean Dalton
Heritage Media
Sons of Veterans Reserve
member William McAfee is
one of several stewards of an
important part of this nation’s
historical heritage.
McAfee and several fellow
members will be in Dexter June Michigan who served in the
10 through 12 during the Dexter union armed forces.
Area Historical Society’s Civil
War revival, during which the
group, the historical society and also the date that they enlisted
other historians and re-enac-
tors will recreate Gordon Hall’s well as their discharge date or
grounds circa 1861.
The Sons of the Veterans
Reserve will have “brown
books” available so the group’s
genealogists and historians can locations for Grand Army
look up whether revival-goers
had an ancestor in the Grand
Army of the Republic. Folks
who know they have an army
ancestor but lack details will
likely find the answers they
seek, according to McAfee.
“What we have is a vast
amount of information on Civil – the largest Union veterans
War vets, especially those who
were from Michigan,” said
McAfee, who is chaplain of the
local veterans reserve chapter,
which was chartered in Dexter
Photo courtesy of Julia Jackson
The Jackson family poses for a photo while traveling in Greece.
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THE
DEXTER LEADER
and the banks collapsed, busi-
ness has been steadily getting
less ... and with the bridge
shutting down three years ago
our business from the north
pinched off,” Varney explained,
adding that she’s just glad she
is closing down “right” without
failing to meet her financial
obligations.
North Point on the other
hand was shuttered last week
after the Washtenaw County
Sheriff ’s Office seized equip-
ment for $17,178 in unpaid back
taxes, according to signage
posted on their front door at
the face of the Monument Park
building.
According to village offi-
cials, North Point partners
Mark Perry and Bob Heebner
had fallen behind on several
of their financial obligations,
including being in arrears on
their mortgage and water bills
on top of their tax liability with
the village and Scio Township
going back to the 2008 tax rolls.
North Point opened its doors
at the Dexter Area Historical
Society and Museum with the
aid of local historians.
The brown books, so named
because of their worn leather
bindings and the fact that the
man who edited them was
named Brown, keep record of
every soldier and sailor from
“The books not only tell us
where a soldier was from, but
and mustered into the army, as
their muster out date, or their
death location if they died in
the way,” McAfee said.
The group also tracks burial
Republic soldiers and some-
times restores the gravestones
and holds a grand ceremony for
their compatriots.
The Sons of the Veterans
Reserve roots date back to 1881
with the “Cadet Corps” of the
Grand Army of the Republic
organization, which formed in
1866 after the Civil War.
The members of the army
encouraged the formation of
their sons as the Sons of Union
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Library hosts
wildlife show
75¢
in April 2007 and was touch and
go for the first year and a half
until the partners started get-
ting involved hosting events for
the Dexter Area Chamber of
Commerce and other volunteer
organizations in the village.
Last week Tuesday Perry
was running North Point as
usual and had a respectable
dinner crowd, and he seemed
upbeat after running a success-
ful marketing effort selling gift
cards at a reduced price online.
John Evans of Swisher
Commercial represents owners
of the Monument Park build-
ing, and he said that the sudden
closure caught him off guard.
North Point wasn’t supposed
be evicted until the end of the
month, according to Evans.
AnnArbor.com was one of
the two online marketing out-
lets that ran promotions for
North Point.
Those among the 189 custom-
ers who bought $50 gift cer-
tificates for $25 should contact
David Martel, AnnArbor.com
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Veterans Reserve fire off a salute as part of a
memorial salute. The re-enactors will be at Gordon Hall this June as part of a historical society
event.
Veterans of the Civil War in
1881. These units eventually
became known as the Sons of
Veterans Reserve, when the
Sons of Union Veterans of the
Civil War moved toward a more
patriotic and educational orga-
nization in design.
Many of the local Sons of
Union Veterans camps formed
reserve military units, which
volunteered their services
during the Spanish-American
War, World War I and with the
National Guard.
Just prior to World War I,
more than 5,000 men wore the
Family shares value
of traveling the world
By Sean Dalton
Heritage Media
Every family values spending
time together with a common
hobby, but for the Jackson family
of Dexter, that hobby travels the
globe.
From June 2006 to June 2007
the Jacksons – Doug and Julia
Jackson, and their two children,
Heather, 17, and Robin, 14 – trav-
Legacy Assisted Living & Legends Alzheimer’s Center
Page 1-B
marketing director at 734-623-
4652 for a full refund.
Those among the 324 people
who purchased a $60 gift cert
for $30 on LivingSocial.com
can contact the site’s customer
care department at 877-521-4191
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
“LivingSocial works hard
to ensure we are working with
merchants who will provide a
great experience for our mem-
bers,” stated Maire Griffin,
LivingSocial Communications
Director.
“At times there are forces
out of our control, but ensur-
ing our members have the
best experiences is everyone’s
job number one ... we want
to encourage any member
who has purchased and not
redeemed a voucher to contact
us.”
Lighthouse owner Varney
said that going out of business
on her own terms before the sit-
uation got out of hand was not
just important for her credit
rating and business reputation,
blue uniform of the Sons of
Veterans Reserve. As late as the
1930s, several states regarded
their local units as a military
training component.
Since World War II, the
reserve has evolved into a cer-
emonial and commemorative
organization.
In 1962, the National Military
Department was created by
the Sons of Union Veterans
and consolidated the Sons of
Veterans Reserve units under
national regulations and com-
mand.
These days reserve chapters
eled to 32 countries.
“It was a life changing experi-
ence,” Julia Jackson said.
The Jacksons gave a presenta-
tion at Foggy Bottom last month
and are giving another at REI in
Ann Arbor in March and another
this summer at the Dexter
District Library.
In addition to cultural expo-
sure, one of the more remarkable
points is that the family travels
Civic Theatre
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2011
but also for her customers.
“We didn’t get that far and
didn’t want to,” she said.
“Lighthouse Café is an institu-
tion – we had customers bring-
ing their kids in since they
were babies – we wanted to
protect that.”
Given that the catering side
of Lighthouse has carried
the restaurant business and
allowed it to go on for this long,
the Varneys think that Varney
Catering Company can soar on
its own.
“We’re the home of the whole
pig roast – that’s our identity
now,” Varney said.
Varney Catering Company
already has jobs planned with
the Dexter Alumni Association
and other service clubs in the
Dexter area.
“We see the business envi-
ronment out there as an oppor-
tunity and we’re anxious to get
out there for our customers,”
Varney said.
The Varneys’ new company
can be reached at 734-426-2330.
like Jackson’s and the member-
ship in Washtenaw County have
put the brown books online,
but there’s nothing quite like
having one-on-one contact with
an reserve expert with brown
books in hand.
“One of the first questions
I ask people is if they know of
a civil war ancestor in their
background,” McAfee said.
“Some know and just need
help tracking down details and
others want to determine if
their ancestor was in fact from
PLEASE SEE REVIVAL/3-A
for just $100 a day as a result of
a thrifty mindset, saving them
untold sums of money while
exposing them to their own real
culture.
“We not only talk about where
we went, but we also talk about
how we traveled, and how to save
for something like this and we
talked about communication and
transportation,” Julia said.
PLEASE SEE JACKSONS/7-A
presents ‘Doubt’
Page 2-B
Weave the Web:
Make sure to click on www.
heritage.com around the clock
for the most in-depth coverage
of Washtenaw County. Our
“Most Viewed” story this week
is “Taylor Parrish finds his voice
using technology.”
Check out our video:
■ 2 for U
■ Career Counseling
■ Touring the Michigan
Institute of Aviation
■ Moving Forward:
reducing your energy bill
Connect with
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INDEX
Editorial Page 6-A
Sports
Obituaries
Page 1-C
Page 10-A
Calendar
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