Son of: It ain't braggin' if it's true...

The following was submitted by The View staff reporter Jerry LaVaute:

In the last week, I submitted 20 separate stories for publication, a personal record for me. I’m feelin’ pretty good about it.

But…what are they about, you ask?

Seven of them were on the upcoming Strawberry Festival in Belleville, for a special insert we’ll place in next week’s newspaper.

They are stories about where you can find what event, what kinds of food or entertainment is available, or other helpful items like getting around town.

In the paper yesterday, I had two stories describing how the festival is planned, and how its leaders measure its success when it’s over.

The story about Betty Ditzik and the Old English Sheepdogs was published; I thought it looked good.

I’m currently working on a story about the digging up of a time capsule buried for 13 years at the Bessie Hoffman Elementary School on Willow Road.

This is their last year at the site. In September, they will join the rest of the Lincoln schools on the central campus.

I’m working on some additional stories on the Strawberry Festival, including one on how everyone’s safety and security is being planned. I will talk with the chief of Police in Belleville a little later this morning.

I’ll see him after I attend for a short while the Conference of Western Wayne. It’s being held at 9:30 this morning at the PNA Hall in Sumpter Township, for the first time. I’m going to look in on the proceedings, just to see what’s goin’ on.

On Sunday, I’ll spend a little while at the Washtenaw Farm Council fairgrounds, reporting on “Grillin’ for the Poor.”

Yesterday, I began working on an interesting project with Van Buren Township Treasurer Sharry Budd on the property tax reductions that VBT residents are seeing in their tax bills recently – point is to explain why this is happening, and to accentuate a little good news for taxpayers.