East Downtown Dearborn hosts the jazz series in July and August, along with V98.7 Smooth Jazz HD and WWJ News radio.  Concert co-sponsors include Oakwood Healthcare, the Dearborn Community Fund, the Dearborn Times-Herald, Dearborn Press & Guide and Metro Timesnewspapers. The outdoor concerts take place at Dearborn City Hall Park, 13615 Michigan Ave. at Schaefer. Bring lawn chairs or blankets and stake out a good spot for great music in the park.

Area restaurants will be open nearby, as well, providing concert-goers tasty carry-out dinners to eat in the park before the concert.

Here’s the schedule to mark your calendars:

- Wednesday July 28: Rayse Biggs Band

- Wednesday August 11: Thornetta Davis Band

- Wednesday August 18: Kimmie Horn Show

- Wednesday August 25: The Brothers Groove

PLEASE NOTE: In the event of inclement weather, the concerts will be moved inside the Arab American National Museum located directly across the street from Dearborn City Hall. No food or beverages are permitted inside the auditorium and seating is limited. Stay tuned to the EDDDA website for location updates as rain is in the forecast for tomorrow Wednesday July 28.

Woodworth becomes Woodsboro High School in the movie Scream 4.

Dearborn’s Woodworth Middle School will be named Woodsboro High School when it appears in the upcoming Scream 4 movie, which is expected to open in the spring of next year.

We wrote about the school’s starring role in the movie a week ago (see earlier story, HERE).  Well, now we have some official photos of what the school will look like in the movie.

The Woodsboro name also appears inside Woodworth Middle School.

For the next four days (Tuesday, June 29 – Friday, July 2) Dearborn will have a “fourth” high school with the addition  of Woodsboro High School in Scream 4. The photographs show how the front of the school has been changed for the movie.  Film crews also have done some work on room 208 and in the hallway outside the classroom.

The school will return to Woodworth Middle School once filming wraps up.

For those wondering, the school is being paid $500 per day for each prep and take down day and $1,000 a day for each filming date.  While we don’t have the exact number of days right now, school officials say film crews currently are scheduled for four film days and about eight days of prep and take down. So that would be a check to the school district of $8,000.

Rima Fakih

So congratulations to Rima Fakih who on Sunday was crowned Miss USA and at the same time helped shine a positive light on Dearborn for the many national media outlets covering this story. (Worth noting that at the time of this post, Rema Fakih was the number one most popular search on Google. The Internet search engine called the volume of searches for Fakih as “volcanic”.)

The Detroit Free Press had a nice feature story about Fakih in Saturday’s edition. You can read that story by clicking HERE.

Born in New York to Lebanese-American parents, and raised in Dearborn with her parents and her younger brother, Rami, Fakih is a graduate of St. John’s Preparatory Catholic High School. The 24-year-old earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with a minor in business administration from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Well done Rima and best of luck on your next pageant step, the Miss Universe contest.

The movie is based on Larry Beinhart's book of the same name.

Get ready for some celebrity watching in Dearborn.

Pierce Brosnan, Ed Harris, Jim Gaffigan, Jennifer Connelly and Greg Kinnear are among those starring in a new Mandalay Entertainment film called Salvation Boulevard that is expected to begin filming sometime in May in Dearborn and metro Detroit, sources tell Deepsaidwhat.com. The film is directed by George Ratliff.

We are told movie crews will be staying at the Ritz and the Hyatt in Dearborn for about a month once filming begins for the movie, which is expected to be out sometime in 2011.

The movie, adapted from Larry Beinhart’s novel of the same name, is about a private detective investigating the killing of a professor and it becomes a clash of faiths: The detective is a born-again Christian, the dead man an atheist, the accused killer an Islamic foreign student and the D.A. is Jewish.

Should be interesting.

Have you ever watched an episode of “The Antiques Road Show” and wondered how much money is collecting dust in your china cabinet, jewelry box, attic, or basement?

If you answered “yes” to either question, you’ll want to take part in an April 30th fundraising event for the Dearborn Symphony that provides an easy way to donate what we call “Precious Collection” items without taking a road trip.

The “Precious Collection” event at the Fairlane Woods Clubhouse also gives those of you who want to keep your heirloom items a great opportunity to find out how much they are really worth, while helping the Dearborn Symphony.

Here is how it works:

1.)  If you have an item to donate that you believe is worth $50 or more, contact Margaret Schaefer at 313-565-2366 or e-mail her at: margaretsch@wowway.com by Monday, April 5, 2010. She will arrange to pick up your donation, which will be appraised, then sold at the Precious Collection Sale to be held on Friday April 30, 2010 from 3-8 pm at the Fairlane Woods Clubhouse, on Auto Club Drive, just south of Ford Rd. in Dearborn. A donation letter, suitable for IRS purposes, will be provided following the sale.

 2.) If you don’t have an item to donate, come to shop for “Precious Collection” items, bid on Silent Auction items, and enter hourly prize drawings—all while enjoying wine and cheese.

3.) Advance sale tickets are available for $15 each, payable by check made out to “WADOS.” Checks must be mailed or delivered before April 23rd to:

Patti Mack, 3501 Monroe, Dearborn, MI 48124

Tickets will be $20 at the door.

Admission price also includes verbal appraisal of up to two items you might bring along.

Best of all, proceeds go to support the Dearborn Symphony.

Dearborn singer-songwriter Jeff Karoub

Dearborn singer-songwriter Jeff Karoub is helping to kick off the second installment of the Guinness World Record-holding Assembly Line marathon concert.

The Assembly Line-Second Shift gets started at 5 p.m. March 19th at AJ’s Music Cafe, 240 W. Nine Mile, Ferndale. Karoub takes the stage at 7 p.m. for an hour set.

The singer, guitarist and violinist first found his way to AJ’s stage in December 2009, when he shared a bill with Maine’s finest folkie, Putnam Smith. Karoub signed up then and there for the Assembly Line sequel, and shortly thereafter heeded AJ’s call for an original song that best fits the theme of the concert designed to raise awareness for the U.S. auto worker and industry. His candidate was the direct and personal ‘Made by Motown,’ honoring the made-in-Detroit foundation built for him by his forebears.

Karoub, who got his musical start while growing up in Allen Park, also credits genetics for his musical passion: His father is a longtime local music teacher, Detroit Symphony Orchestra veteran and Motown session man sonically responsible for the killer French horn lick at the top of Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard it through the Grapevine.’ Karoub made sure that little history lesson made its way into ‘Made by Motown.’

Either solo or as part of the duo ‘jar’, he’s been writing songs and performing them for more than a decade throughout Michigan. Gigs of note have included the Flint Folk Festival, Baseline Folk Society, Manchester’s Gazebo Concert Series and Riverfolk Festival, as well as many of the region’s finer caffeinated establishments.

Karoub is a professional journalist by day who is proud to make both his living and life in Michigan. He lives in Dearborn with his wife, three daughters and dog.

To check out his songs, including ‘Made by Motown,’ and learn about upcoming gigs, go to www.reverbnation.com/jeffkaroubjar

For more on the Assembly Line concert, click on this link: www.assemblylineconcert.com

Where: Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave., Dearborn MI 48126

Admission: $3.00 – Children 12 and under FREE and parking is free.

Proceeds Benefit Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan

Special Events on Stage include:

11:30 a.m. – MetLife speaker: “Financial Independence and Security, for Every Stage of a Woman’s Life”

12:30 p.m. – Zumba Fitness by Elements of Exercise

1:30 p.m. – Bridal and Prom show by One Stop Wedding Shop, hair and makeup by Hair Designs North

2:30 p.m. – Fashion Show by Shining Diamond Accessories

For more information and a discount admission coupon, click HERE.

The AANM’s popular annual event presents short and feature-length films made by Arab American and Arab World filmmakers on topics of interest to all movie fans.

One documentary being shown at the museum is a semi-finalist for an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary Feature. Called Garbage Dreams the film is about the tale of three boys who make their living in Cairo’s garbage trade and their confrontation with a waste conglomerate. The film is one of 15 from a field of 89 entries to be named an Academy Award semi-finalist. Five finalists from this category will be chosen on Feb. 2, 2010 for a chance to win an Academy Award on March 7.

The screening of Garbage Dreams is Dec. 5 at 8:25 p.m.

Garbage Dreams closes out the AANM’s 2009 Arab Film Festival with a screening at 8:25 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5.

The complete December 3-5 festival schedule, advance tickets and weekend passes are available online at www.arabamericanmuseum.org; tickets and passes also available at the door. All screenings take place in the 156-seat auditorium on the AANM’s lower level. The museum is located at 13624 Michigan Ave., just west of Schaefer Road, in Dearborn. Call 313-582-2266 for more information.

Free, lighted parking is available in the municipal lot behind the museum. For driving directions, click here or call the museum.

The event has the makings of a fun night with both city and school officials taking part in lip syncing their favorite song all in the name of raising money to benefit the nearly 20 scholarships that the Rotary Club awards each year to graduating seniors from private and public schools in Dearborn.

Scheduled acts include Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., Dearborn City Councilman and Rotarian George Darany, Dearborn Councilmen Bob Abraham and Mark Shooshanian (the new Beetles?), Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, Debbie Dingell, City, Dearborn Public Schools Supt. Brian Whiston and members of his cabinet (is that the Blues Brothers up there?) along with Joe Shannon of Fordson High School, Dan Blessing and Barbara McAuliff of Edsel Ford High School, Oussama Baydoun and Martha Burch of Dearborn High School, and Librarian Serge Danielson-Francois of Divine Child. Renault Arseneau, neighborhood services coordinator with the City of Dearborn, is expected to reveal his theatrical talents along with Dearborn residents Jacqui Rivait, Sharon Dulmage (we heard a Dolly Parton song from the former school board member and council candidate) and Dearborn Lawyer Morris Goodman.

“Captain” Dennis Neubacher, a Dearborn native and pilot of the WXYZ-TV’s News Chopper 7, has volunteered to emcee the fundraiser.

“We have an outstanding line-up of performers who are giving it their all to be hilariously entertaining,” said Amy Bazzy, event chair and “lip sync” performer. “Only the audience reaction will affirm whether any of us should plan to give up our day jobs and become professional entertainers.”

Tickets to attend the anticipated sell-out event are $10 each for adults and $7 for seniors and students. Tickets will be available for purchase at the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce, Massage Green, Fishers Flowers, Spectrum Signs and the law offices of Dagher Goodman Dagher in Dearborn.

For more information, please email Amy Bazzy at ajbazzy@comcast.net

Dearborn's Automotive Hall of Fame, which opened in 1997, is stuggling to keep its doors open

Dearborn’s Automotive Hall of Fame is struggling to keep its doors open because of a massive budget shortfall that severely jeopardizes its future, according to a leading automotive trade publication.

Southfield-based Ward’s Automotive reports that the Dearborn museum, which opened in 1997 next door to the Henry Ford museum, is struggling because of what is happening to  the automotive industry today. The museum gets most of its funding from auto makers and suppliers.

“We’re a microcosm of what’s happened in the industry,” said Jeffrey Leestma, president of the Automotive Hall of Fame, tells Ward’s. “As the industry goes, so we go.”

Here are some excerpts of what the Ward’s article is reporting:

“Budget reductions have become a way of life at the museum, where some staff cuts have been made and positions eliminated. There are only three paid employees, including Leestma, and a half-dozen volunteers to keep the building open seven days a week through summer and five days a week the rest of the year.

Leestma says his organization is seeking new revenue streams, such as affordable family memberships, and making the building available for private events. But the Hall of Fame can count on only a handful of those a year.

Attendance also is down. Some 20,000 people have visited the hall annually since 1997, but this year Leestma expects about 15,000.

Leestma shudders when asked if the Hall of Fame is at risk of closing its doors.

“I’m not ready to raise the white flag yet,” he says. “The Automotive Hall of Fame is worth saving. The industry is down on its luck, and everyone is feeling it. But this is a great repository of great stories and great people, and it’s worth keeping. If it were to go away, it would go away forever.”

For the complete story from Ward’s, click HERE.