“THE FACE OF ANN ARBOR” — VOLUME 3, NUMBER 17 75¢

Inside
School holds
1-B OUR CALENDAR
Exhibition Night Inside: March for Babies scheduled
Page 2-B for May 1 at Hudson Mills Page 4-A Inside
Nonprofit hosting
Bowling for Bunnies
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Page 1-B

Local therapist On the

RAIL

dies in Florida
while snorkeling
Ronald Harrison
remembered for
helping youths
By Art Aisner
Special Writer
The greater Saline commu-
nity is mourning the loss of a
man who dedicated his career
to helping teens and their
families battle through drug
addiction.
Ronald Harrison, 69, died
Thursday while snorkeling in
the Florida Keys, according to
the Monroe County Sheriff ’s
Department in Florida.
He was snorkeling offshore
near Key Largo April 21 when a
witness saw him struggling in
the water, a news release stated.
The first mate of a chartered
vessel jumped in the water, fol-
lowed by the captain, and they
pulled Harrison to the back
platform of the boat, where
they began CPR and called for
help.
They could not revive
Harrison, who was transported
to shore and met by paramed-
ics. He was pronounced dead at
snorkeling trip with his teen-
age grandson. He was wearing
a life jacket, according to police
reports. He was in Florida with
his wife, Barbara, whom local
family members traveled to
see on Friday and could not be
reached for comment. Funeral
and memorial arrangements
are pending. Sports
Harrison lived in Saline, but Area teams struggle to com-
was known across Washtenaw pete in the midst of wet
County for the seminars and weather spell
counseling work he did with Page 1-C
drug-addicted teenagers for
nearly 30 years.
The tragic loss reverberated
among the social workers,
healthcare professionals and
ON THE WEB
volunteers who worked along-
side him as news of his death
spread Friday.
“We’re shocked, and we,
and this entire community,
are really going to miss him a
lot,” said Jess Antanaitis, who
worked alongside Harrison as
a volunteer for 12 years with
the “Teens of Drugs: What To
Know and What To Do” semi-
nars. Become a fan of A2 Journal on
“There are hundreds of Facebook (474 fans) and follow
young people that have been us on Twitter (2,642 followers).
helped by the program and by Also, check out our blog,
him personally over the years,” including ideaLabHeritage and
Antanaitis said.
Inside the Newsroom. Links are

6:30 p.m., according to reports.
An autopsy to determine the
exact cause of death was sched-
uled, but results were unknown
Friday. Foul play is not sus-
pected.
Harrison was part of a
larger group on a chartered
Harrison began his work in
drug rehabilitation in 1971 and
eventually became a therapist,
program administrator and
rehabilitation trainer. Before
establishing a private prac-
PLEASE SEE HARRISON/3-A
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home page.
Weave the Web:
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Ivy Reed, 3, collects eggs to exchange for candy at the Ann Arbor Jaycees “Spring Eggstravaganza” www.heritage.com around
Easter Egg Scramble April 23 at Buhr Park in Ann Arbor. the clock for the most
in-depth coverage of
Washtenaw County. One of

Theater to hold fundraising concert

our “Most Viewed” stories is
“Local therapist dies while
snorkeling in Florida.”

By Sheila Pursglove
Special Writer
Local musicians will perform
in “A Night of Ann Arbor’s
Best,” a benefit concert for Wild
Swan Theater, 7:30 p.m. May 1 at
The Ark, 316 S. Main St., in Ann
Arbor.
Performers include Kitty
Donohoe, Tyler Duncan of
“My Dear Disco,” Gemini with
Emily Slomovits, David Mosher
and Theresa Smith, Frank Pahl,
Peter Madcat Ruth, and Dick
Siegel.
Grace Morand of The
Chenille Sisters will serve as
emcee.
Tickets, available at The Ark
and at the Wild Swan Theater,
410 S. Maple Road, cost $30 for
general seating, $15 of which
is tax deductible. For $100, of
which $75 is tax deductible,
concertgoers will also enjoy a 6
p.m. wine and appetizer recep-
tion, and special seating for the
concert.
“This is our second year
doing this fundraiser at The
Ark,” said Sandy Ryder, the
theater’s co-artistic director.
“It’s honestly one of the best
concerts I’ve ever attended.
“All of the musicians are
incredible, and nearly all have a
connection to Wild Swan in that
they’ve played or composed for
past shows. Our shows always
have live music, and the major-
ity of the shows also have origi-
nal music specially composed
for that show.
“We feel very lucky to have
such good friends in the music
world.”
Among those musical friends
are San and Laz Slomovits, the
musical duo Gemini, who have
been friends with Ryder and her
husband, Attila, for many years.
In 1984, when the twins
wanted to do something special
for their 10th anniversary of
playing at The Ark, they asked
Ryder –– at the time the owner
of Say Cheese Cheesecakes
–– to make a cheesecake large
enough that it could be cut it
into bite-sized pieces for each
member of the audience.
“Sandy made a spectacular
cheesecake, delivered it to the
Ark that night, all cut into
1-inch squares, and a near-
capacity crowd at the old Hill
Street Ark all got a piece,” San Check out our video:
Slomovits said. “When I went ■ 2 for U
in the next day to settle the bill, ■ Marijuana moratorium
she refused to let me pay. I feel ■ State police cell phone
we still owe her, even after we searches
play this concert.” ■ Dearborn unites in
When his daughter, Emily, peace against Pastor Jones
was younger, the family attend-
ed nearly every Wild Swan
production for years, Slomovits
said.
PLEASE SEE CONCERT/3-A
Click on the “jobs” tab on

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the home page of our Web
site or go directly to http://
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pitch ideas at showcase Second Front

Editorial
INDEX
Page 4-A
Page 6-A
College students offer up In the spotlight were members of 17 TechArb
companies who took turns pitching everything Obituaries Page 12-A
their business proposals from an online baby clothes rental service to a
business making toys for children with disabili- Calendar Page 1-B
ties.
What started as an experiment in 2009, Sports Page 1-C
By Lori Maranville
Special Writer TechArb offers co-location space for technol-
ogy-related business ventures associated
Take a few “crazy ideas,” some late-night with U of M. It’s managed by the Center for
power working sessions, a mix of talented col- Entrepreneurship and the Zell Lurie Institute
lege students and you could get the next big thing and is quickly gaining traction as a viable stu-
in business. dent business incubator.
Photo by Lori Maranville Attendees of the University of Michigan’s During his opening remarks at the event,
University of Michigan students Hung Truong and Allen Kim Student Startup Showcase saw some of these Doug Neal, managing director of the Center
display information about their TechArb company, Bebarang, ambitious, student-driven ideas take center stage for Entrepreneurship, said he is proud of the
during the Student Startup Showcase April 21 in Ann Arbor. April 21 in the basement of the McKinley Towne success of TechArb, so far, and wants to see the
The company seeks to provide an online baby clothes rental Centre in Ann Arbor.
service. PLEASE SEE SHOWCASE/3-A Printed News Tip
on Hotline:
recycled 877-995-NEWS
Like what you see? For subscriptions to the A2 Journal, call 877-837-1118 paper (6397)

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