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JUDGE DAVID ALLEN TO RECIEVE 2012 TERTZAG PURPLE SPORTCOAT

SENATOR CARL LEVIN KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT FEBRUARY 23, 2012 EVENT

The friends and family of the Honorable Kaye Tertzag will host the third annual Tertzag Tribute Dinner in his honor on Thursday, February 23, 2012. Judge Tertzag passed away on February 4, 2009, having established a great legacy of integrity and service to the State of Michigan, as well as a great example of love and devotion to his family and legion of friends.

The Tribute Dinner Committee is pleased to announce that the 2012 recipient of the Purple Sportcoat Award is Judge David Allen.  Past honorees Hon. James Rashid and attorney Joseph Lujan will present the sport coat to Judge Allen.  Judge Allen’s  career exemplifies Judge Tertzag's motto: Be Prompt. Be Prepared. Be Polite.  And his signature parting words, Be Well.


The committee is truly honored to have Senator Carl Levin as our kenote speaker.  Senator Levin has spoken up for working families, held powerful institutions accountable and worked to build an America that lives up to the ideals of its founders. He has become one of the nation’s most respected leaders on national security, a powerful voice for equality and justice, and a fighter for economic fairness.

We will end the evening by continuing the tradition started by Kaye's daughter, Kara, at the memorial- the Sambuca toast.

The Dinner will be at the Park Place Banquet Hall in Dearborn from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Park Place is located at the corner of Park and Outer Drive, just south of Michigan Avenue. Tickets are $35.00, and include dinner, and an open bar.

Checks should be made payable to: Tertzag Tribute Dinner, LLC, and sent to 26815 Winslow Drive, Flat Rock, MI 48134. Spouses and/or significant others are welcome.  This event will sell out, so please buy your tickets now. 

Attendees are encouraged to wear purple to the event.  Those who wear purple will be entered into a drawing for a door prize to be awarded at the end of the evening.

Please direct questions to Kara Tertzag Lividini at 313.645.9511, or ktertzag@gmail.com.  Please feel free to send this message to anyone you think would be interested in attending the event.  Please note- this is not a political fundraiser. 

CIVILITY IN POLITICS--A LOST ART?

 
  Many people, including me, bemoan the lack of civility in political discourse.  We seem to think that in former times they did things differently.  We believe, at least I did, that our Founding Fathers were more polite than we are now (and had this government thing all figured out besides).

Well, on July 2, I bought a little book called "Distory", by Robert Schnakenberg.  It is subtitled, "A Treasury of Historical Insults".  On this Independence Day, it might be interesting to read what some of our beloved Founding Fathers said about each other:

"That George Washington was not a scholar is certain. That he is too illiterate, unlearned, unread for his station is equally beyond dispute"--John Adams on George Washington.

"Insane."--James Monroe on George Washington.

"Always an honest man, often a great one, but sometimes absolutely mad."--Benjamin Franklin on John Adams

"I should be deficient in candor were I to conceal the conviction, that he does not possess the talents adapted to the administration of government, and that there are great and intrinsic defects in his character which unfit him for the office of Chief Magistrate."--Alexander Hamilton on John Adams.

"Petty, mean, egotistic, erratic, eccentric, jealous natured, and hot tempered."--Alexander Hamilton again on John Adams again.

"Instead of being the ardent pursuer of science some think him, he is indolent and his soul is poisoned with ambition."--John Adams on Thomas Jefferson.

"A slur upon the moral government of the world."--John Quincy Adams on Thomas Jefferson.

"I do not like his looks any better than I like his administration."--Daniel Webster on James Madison

"A mere tool in the hands of the French government."--George Washington on James Monroe.

"One of the most improper and incompetent that could be selected (for President).  Naturally dull and stupid;extremely illiterate; indecisive to a degree that would be incredible to one who did not know him...he has no opinion on any subject and will always be under the government of the worst men."--Aaron Burr on James Monroe.

"That bastard brat of a Scottish peddler."-John Adams on Alexander Hamilton.

"A man devoid of every principle."--Adams on Hamilton again.

"(His inveteracy is profound, and his mind of that gloomy malignity which will never let him forego the opportunity of satiating it on a victim."--Thomas Jefferson on John Marshall, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

"He is our wise prophet of chicanery, the great buffoon."--William Carlos Williams, US poet on Benjamin Franklin.

Well....I think I'll go listen to Rush Limbaugh for a little bit of taste and decorum.

Happy 4th everyone.

 

HARRY S. TRUMAN BIRTHDAY MAY 8

 

Harry S. Truman was born on this date in 1884.  He died in 1972. He served as President of the US from 1945-1953).  He has been the only President since 1897 to serve without having first obtained a college degree.  In fact, after serving in World War I, he opened a haberdashery (that's men's clothing store, for you youngsters).

He once said this about Richard Nixon: "Richard Nixon is a no good, lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he'd lie just to keep his hand in."  (Got to admire that eloquence.)

Here are a few more sedate quotes:

A bureaucrat is a Democrat who holds some office that a Republican wants.

A leader in the Democratic Party is a boss, in the Republican Party he is a leader.

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

A politician is a man who understands government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead for 15 years.

A President cannot always be popular.

A president either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him. I never felt that I could let up for a moment.

A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.

Actions are the seed of fate deeds grow into destiny.

All my life, whenever it comes time to make a decision, I make it and forget about it.

All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.

Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it.

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.

Any man who has had the job I've had and didn't have a sense of humor wouldn't still be here.

2011 TERTZAG TRIBUTE DINNER ALBUM NOW ON-LINE

 

Over 100 photos of the February 24, 2011 Honorable Kaye Tertzag Tribute and Purple Sport Coat Award Dinner are now on-line.  Taken by photographer Beth Hoxie, prints of the photos can be ordered by contacting Beth at bhoxie@me.com . 

The album can be found here.

Pictured above is the 2010 honoree, Judge Jim Rashid, and the 2011 award winner, Joe Lujan.

TERTZAG TRIBUTE DINNER 2011 ANOTHER GREAT SUCCESS

JOE LUJAN AWARDED PURPLE SPORT COAT AT SECOND ANNUAL EVENT

 
BEFORE THE EVENT HONOREE JOE LUJAN (CENTER) POSES WITH HANK COONEY, STAN PROKOPP (MR. PROKOPP'S COAT COURTESY OF LOST AND FOUND VINTAGE OF ROYAL OAK, I BELIEVE), JOE'S WIFE MARY, AND DAUGHTER, JENNIFER

On Thursday, February 24, 2011, over 200 people gathered at Park Place Banquet Hall in Dearborn for the Second Annual Judge Kaye Tertzag Tribute and Purple Sport Coat Award Dinner.  Quite a title.

John Minnis, of the Detroit Legal News wrote a great article about the event, which appeared in the March 1 edition of the paper.  The text of the article, without pictures can be found here.

An album of pictures from the event will be posted when the disk is received.

The program, emceed by yours truly, featured former Michigan Governor Jim Blanchard as keynote speaker.  It was Governor Blanchard who appointed Judge Tertzag to the Wayne County Circuit Court Bench.

Here are a few quotes from the Legal News article:

"Tertzag is fondly remembered for his selfless commitment to family, friends and the law. His motto to attorneys coming before him was "Be Prompt. Be Prepared. Be Polite." His parting words to everyone were "Be Well."

"In an era when we are short on civility, Judge Tertzag exemplified civility," Butler said."

Describing Joe Lujan's acceptance remarks:

"Lujan became choked up after last year's recipient, Judge Rashid, helped him on with his own purple sportcoat in honor of his old friend.

"This coat is not just a coat,' Lujan said. "It is an obligation, a responsibility. It is my obligation to live up to that, and I will to the best of my ability.'

'He had the ability to make you feel better. You felt he truly liked you,' Lujan said. "He exhibited mutual respect. When we lost him, it was a great void. You people help fill that void. You carry a part of him in each of you. He set the standard, and we have some obligation to carry on that legacy."

The Tribute Committee hopes that we are on our way to making this event a permanent Southeastern Michigan tradition.

TERTZAG TRIBUTE DINNER FEBRUARY 24, 2011-PURPLE ATTIRE ENCOURAGED

The second annual Judge Kaye Tertzag Tribute and Purple Sport Coat Dinner is less than 4 weeks away.  The dinner will take place on Thursday, February 24, 2011, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m, at the Park Place Banquet Hall in Dearborn.  Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by check payable to: Tertzag Tribute Dinner, LLC, and sent to 26815 Winslow Drive, Flat Rock, MI 48134. Spouses and/or significant others are welcome. Please direct questions to Kara Tertzag Lividini at 313.645.9511, or ktertzag@gmail.com. 

This year's award recipient is attorney Joe Lujan, and the event's keynote speaker is former Michigan Governor Jim Blanchard.

This year we would like to encourage guests to wear purple to the dinner.  Those wearing an article of purple clothing will be entered into a drawing for an Andiamo restaurant gift certificate.  To borrow language from one of my least favorite line of Michigan Appeals/Supreme Court decisions, the article of clothing must be discoverable on casual inspection by an average reception table worker of ordinary intelligence.  For instance, representations that one is wearing purple undergarments will be insufficient to qualify for the drawing, and any associated "offers of proof" will be declined.

One drawing ticket per customer, though anyone attired as shown in the picture above may recieve a second ticket.

 

OFF TO HIATUSVILLE-MERRY CHRISTMAS-WIZARDS IN WINTER

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA CLASSIC. 

WORLD WAR II-BOB HOPE FOR CHRISTMAS SEALS

 

I love Bob Hope.  (I also love Frances Langford, shown in the picture.)  I love 40s era stuff.  Here is a advertisement by Bob for Christmas Seals done during the war.  Below that is a sound clip from one of his World War II shows,entertaining the troops.  No video, but great to listen to.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

 

 

 

NOSTALGIA-A BANKER'S/WALL STREET/TORT REFORMER'S CHRISTMAS

From Burr Shafer's great J. Wesley Smith:  "It's a new story by that Dickens fellow-about a worthy banker named Scrooge who finally degenerates into a sentimental weakling."

 

DETROIT NEWS-DETROIT CHRISTMAS PAST GALLERY

The Detroit News website has a gallery of photos showing scenes from past Christmas seasons in the city.  A few of the photos, shown here, go back to a time when most people did their Christmas shopping downtown, where Hudson's and Kern's were the city's signature department stores.  There are also several photos from the annual Christmas show at the Ford Rotunda, a mainstay of Detroit Christmas until the building burned down in 1962.

 
Along Woodward, near Hudson's.

 
Crossing Woodward.

 
Hudson's outdoor Christmas display visible in the background. 

 
And.....the Ford Rotunda.