Events

The Southfield CommUNITY Cup Challenge, an annual summer event that brings businesses in the Southfield City Centre together for some friendly competition and to raise funds and awareness for a good cause, is happening this summer. This year marks the fourth year for the Southfield Community Cup Challenge, but the first year the event has gone online.

“Despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we know that the Southfield CommUNITY Cup Challenge is a much-loved event, and something that really marks the summer for companies that participate, so we worked to make it happen,” says Shelly Freeman, business and economic development director for The City of Southfield. “Now more than ever, we depend upon events that will unite us and encourage us to have fun together.”

Organizations in the Southfield City Centre are encouraged to connect, reconnect, meet new business neighbors and find some fun this summer to build #SouthfieldStrong spirit. In all, 18 organizations are taking part in the virtual one-day event.

Typically, the CommUNITY Cup Challenge brings together businesses, city departments and educational institutions in the Southfield City Centre to compete in a variety of fun challenges, like trivia nights, bingo and scavenger hunt races. This year, the events are compacted down into a one-day competition with two virtual events held on Thursday, July 23.

From 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., players will face off online for “guess the destination” and bingo. From 3 to 4:30 p.m. players will compete in an online trivia and scavenger hunt in teams of five. Due to limited programming, play will be for fun only and a new cup winner will be announced in 2021.

Most importantly, collections and donations for the Stronger Warrior Foundation – this year’s selected charity — are open to all and will be ongoing until August 31. Stronger Warrior is a local nonprofit organization that supports the needs of active men and women in the military as well as veterans. The foundation’s flagship initiative, Mission Resupply, assembles, stocks and ships custom-designed crates to military men and women who are deployed overseas.

“The Stronger Warrior Foundation feels so grateful to be the charity supporting the Southfield Community Cup this year,” says Katelyn Abell, co-executive director of the foundation. “I think there’s a lot of great companies involved and willing to help donate toward our Mission Resupply program.  The biggest thing we would like to do is raise awareness about our organization and how we can help support our military personnel especially during these uncertain times.”

Through partnerships with organizations and individuals, the Stronger Warrior Foundation collects donations, selects platoons and sends crates to each member of the platoon. The organization was founded by sister-brother team Katelyn and Bryan Abell. Katelyn Abell led her team at Southfield City Centre-based IHS Markit to victory in the 2019 CommUNITY Cup Challenge and received the Cup trophy at the Southfield City Council meeting on September 23.

Learn more about the Southfield CommUNITY Cup on the event’s Facebook page. Donate at the GoFundMe page for the event.

Following our first-ever Eat To The Beat VIRTUAL program in June, the Southfield City Centre is pleased to announce the July event, which will debut on Thursday, July 9, 2020.

This month’s virtual event will feature Larry Lee & The Back In The Day Band, and Skye Island (with Mike Talley).

Larry Lee & The Back In The Day Band is a collection of professional musicians from The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Spinners and many more. The band plays an upbeat mix of original music and cover versions spanning the genres of soul, blues, hip-hop, disco, rock, pop, R&B and funk. Their website calls the Larry Lee & The Back In The Day Band “Detroit’s hottest Party Band.”

Skye Island (with Mike Talley) plays music with a “relaxed, positive and energetic vibe” that is influenced by George Benson, Sting, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder and many more.

Eat To The Beat, the Southfield City Centre’s signature summer food truck and live music monthly event looks a little different this summer, in response to COVID-19. This creative effort was pulled together as a safer alternative to the traditional Southfield City Centre gathering.

Grab your lunch and a cool beverage and enjoy Eat To The Beat VIRTUAL on one of these platforms:

The Southfield City Centre Facebook page (on demand, any time) or the Cable 15 live page on the City of Southfield website (broadcast at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 9 with a special rebroadcast on Thursday, July 16 at 11:30 a.m.

Planning is in the works for a summer drive-through food truck event, so watch for additional information to follow.

The Southfield City Centre’s Eat To The Beat Events this summer are going virtual in response to COVID-19. On Thursday, June 11, the very first Eat To The Beat event of 2020 was aired on Cable 15 through the City of Southfield website.

The virtual event was an hour-long concert featuring singer-songwriter Angela Davis “up close and personal,” and Alise King & the Pure Nastiness Band, recorded live at Aretha’s Jazz Café in Detroit.

If you missed the first event, you can watch it on demand at the Southfield City Centre Facebook page.

“We recognize that everybody wants to enjoy themselves outside, listening to great music and sharing some great food with friends, family and coworkers. That’s why we are making our Eat To The Beat events virtual for the summer schedule,” says Terry Croad, director of planning for the City of Southfield, in a recorded introduction to the virtual Eat To The Beat events.

If you missed the first event, please tune in for a special rebroadcast, whenever and wherever you might be. It’s available right now at the Southfield City Centre Facebook page.

Mark your calendar for the next Eat To The Beat VIRTUAL event with all new bands for lunchtime enjoyment: July 9, 2020 at 11:30 a.m.

Planning is in the works for a summer drive-through food truck event, so watch for additional information to follow.

Eat To The Beat, the Southfield City Centre’s signature summer food truck and live music monthly event will take on a different look this summer, in response to COVID-19.

On Thursday, June 11, everyone can tune in to the first virtual Eat To The Beat in the Southfield City Centre.

“We recognize that everybody wants to enjoy themselves outside, listening to great music and sharing some great food with friends, family and coworkers. That’s why we are making our Eat To The Beat events virtual for the summer schedule,” says Terry Croad, director of planning for the City of Southfield, in a recorded introduction to the virtual Eat To The Beat events.

This creative effort was pulled together in record time in response to the rapidly changing environment surrounding stay-at-home orders in Southfield and across the state of Michigan.

“With the stay at home order, we have been trying to figure out a way to bring music to residents and those who work in the City Centre. Originally, we didn’t want to promote live gatherings so we came up with the idea to do a virtual Eat To The Beat experience and premier it on Facebook as if it is live, without it being live,” explains Samantha Jenkins, recreation programmer for Southfield Parks and Recreation.

Eat To The Beat VIRTUAL on June 11 will feature Alise King & the Pure Nastiness Band, recorded live at Aretha’s Jazz Cafe in Detroit and Angela Davis, recorded “up close and personal,” from her studio.

Here’s how it works:

Between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 11, grab some lunch or snacks and tune in to Eat To The Beat VIRTUAL through one of these methods:

• The Southfield City Centre Facebook page,
• The City of Southfield Facebook page,
• The Cable 15 live page on the City of Southfield website.

Take advantage of beautiful almost-summer weather while working at home or wherever you might be, and join in June’s Eat To The Beat VIRTUAL in the Southfield City Centre.

Planning is in the works for a summer drive-through food truck event, so watch for additional information to follow.

While the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation can’t conduct its signature fundraising Take Steps walk live in the Southfield City Centre this summer, it is reserving June 20 for a fun virtual walk with everyone invited to participate.

On June 20 at 12 noon, 53 communities across the country will combine efforts in a virtual walk to raise awareness and funds to support research into the causes, treatments and cures of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). This virtual walk event will take place on Facebook Live, with no Facebook account necessary to participate.

All participants can access the Take Steps Facebook page to connect with fellow walkers, learn more about events and get tips for fundraising. Or connect directly with the Southeast Michigan Take Steps event by searching “Southeast Michigan Take Steps + Virtual 2020” on Facebook. No matter where you are, you can help the Southeast Michigan Chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation reach its fundraising goal of $185,000.

“We know that IBD doesn’t quit, especially during this time when it’s even more challenging. We are here to serve our Michigan communities,” says Sarah Arminiak, manager for fundraising campaigns & volunteer engagement at the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Michigan Chapter.

“Now is the time to come together to support one another and focus on a time filled with positivity and community and now more than ever we need the continued support of our volunteers and community to keep moving forward! We sincerely hope that our supporters will walk virtually with us, from wherever they are. We’re all in the this fight together, and only together can we find cures for IBD!”

The 2019 event was the second year Take Steps was held in the Southfield City Centre. The 2.6 mile loop made good use of Southfield’s City Centre Trail, a larger shared-use path that makes getting around the City Centre enjoyable and safe. The extra-wide path encourages event participants to walk side-by-side, even include a wagon or stroller, and the placement of benches allows walkers to take a rest when they need to. The Southfield City Centre is pleased to support the event, even if it won’t take place live on the City Centre Trail this year.

Locally, the Southeast Michigan Chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation will host a kickoff event just prior to the official virtual walk on June 20. Starting at 11:30, participants can hear from local honored heroes and local medical experts about the critical importance of supporting research and raising awareness about ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Want to know more?

• Attend the virtual Kickoff Rally on Saturday, May 30 at 12 noon to learn just how the Take Steps virtual walk will work.
• Visit the Michigan Chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation at crohnscolitisfoundation.org/chapters/michigan.
• Register at cctakesteps.org/southeastmichigan2020.
• Or contact Sarah Arminiak, manager for fundraising campaigns & volunteer engagement
  at sarminiak@crohnscolitisfoundation.org.

For a full week beginning June 15, the Southfield City Centre will burst with activity to celebrate Juneteenth 2020. This week-long event recognizes “Freedom Day,” honoring the emancipation of the last enslaved African Americans on June 19, 1865, when abolition of slavery in Texas was announced.

A collaborative effort between Southfield Mayor Ken Siver and Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc., the event will offer participants the chance to learn the history of the Southfield City Centre and its important role in the Underground Railroad movement, enjoy jazz, blues, art and other types of entertainment, food trucks and much more.

“We are partnering with the City of Southfield and Mayor Siver to initiate our first annual Junteenth Week celebration,” said Zena Kyles, president of the Pi Tau Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc., during an initial presentation to the Southfield City Council on Dec. 9, 2019. “This is a cultural event we want to bring to Southfield and to Oakland County.”

Juneteenth Week offers residents, family, friends and visitors a chance to enjoy the numerous amenities of the Southfield City Centre and explore the many public art installations, shared-use trail, bikeshare program, and many gathering places within the City Centre district.

“We presented the Mayor with our ideas, and we really just wanted a day of celebration, but the Mayor was enthralled and enthused and had so many ideas for a weeklong agenda of events,” said Kyles. “There were already events happening in Southfield, but we are renaming them or bringing them under the package of Junteenth Week.”

Beginning on Monday, June 15, the week will feature:

• An Underground Railroad & Juneteenth History event with the Southfield History Museum at Burgh Historic Park.
• A health fair, “Come Out & Play” event with Oakland County Parks, a jazz & blues concert with the Southfield Public Library, a local talent show and food trucks.
• A Southfield student art show and adult art show in conjunction with the Detroit Breakfast Club, both at the Southfield Pavilion.
• The AKA Juneteenth Black Tie Banquet.

Warmup events for the celebration begin the week prior with the first of the Eat to the Beat lunchtime concert series and food truck event on Thursday, June 11, followed by the Saturday, June 13 Take Steps walk for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, an annual affair that raises funds and awareness.

Juneteenth Week will culminate in the Mayor’s Juneteenth Fun Walk on the morning of Saturday, June 20. Kicking off at the Southfield Municipal Campus on Evergreen Road, the walk will guide participants on a fun community-building walk along the City Centre’s shared-use trail through Civic Center Drive and along the Northwestern Hwy. service drive, right through the iconic Red Pole Park interactive art installation.

Various Junteenth events target service goals of AKA, including awareness of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, women’s health, economic empowerment and celebrations of the arts, dance and theater, Kyles said.

In the audience of the December 2019 Southfield City Council meeting were members of AKA and numerous other service fraternities and sororities to pledge their support and volunteer commitments for Junteenth Week.

Mark your calendar and visit this site often for forthcoming updates on Juneteenth Week 2020 in the Southfield City Centre!

Through a unique collaboration between higher education and a faith-based community, student entrepreneurs challenged themselves to bring their best business ideas forward in what may well be the first ever business pitch contest of its kind.

On March 7, teams of high school students pitched their concepts on stage at Lawrence Technological University’s campus in the Southfield City Centre during an event sponsored by Centrepolis Accelerator and Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit, funded by a grant from the New Economy Initiative (NEI).

“NEI was looking for innovative ways to share and spread awareness of entrepreneurship among youth. There are many programs trying to get into the schools, but never in faith-based organizations, which are entrepreneurial by nature,” said Ross Sanders, manager of corporate partnerships with LTU, who has been working with youth entrepreneurs for about 15 years. “Essentially, faith-based communities are communities, and that’s what entrepreneurship is all about: creating community and connections.”

The competition allowed students to gain plenty of business know-how, Sanders says.

“When you learn about business, you learn math, computer science, how to work in a team, finances, pitching, developing a website, funding, equity, and investment. So regardless of whether you go on to launch a business, you’ve experienced a lot of learning through this event,” he says.

In first place was a product called Scholarship and Homework Aid Finder, or SHAF, an app that helps students get ready for college through support for finishing homework, and searching for colleges and financial aid sources. The winning business concept took home $1,000 in cash and $5,000 in LTU scholarships.

The second place award of $500 in cash and $2,500 in LTU scholarships went to StressLess Funerals, a website designed to support families who have lost a loved one. In third place, winning $375 in cash and $1,750 in scholarships is a product called Slashguard that helps stop toilet flush splashing.

Other pitched ideas ranged from toys embedded in soap to encourage bathing for small children, an online network for suicide prevention, a biometric gun lock to prevent accidental shootings, and a shoe-leasing business for high-end designer footwear.

“I was surprised by the ingenuity of the pitches,” says Sanders. “The students came up with a lot of innovative stuff, in my opinion.” The footwear leasing concept was an exercise in applying one business model to a new segment, as the students intuited that people who like to drive high-end vehicles will lease, thereby creating an additional market for the sale of those used cars. “The kids said ‘why can’t we do the same with shoes?’ It was an interesting thought, and a business model that fills a customer need.”

Sitting on the judging panel were Lee Gaddis, founder and CEO of Gaddis Gaming, a Detroit-based gaming table manufacturer; Lee Gorman, owner of Barton Consulting Services LLC, an Ann Arbor business consulting firm; and Belinda Turner-Dubois, loan officer at CEED Lending, a small business lending center of the Center for Empowerment and Economic Development, an initiative of the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council.

Part of the business pitch experience were four Saturday bootcamp-like coaching sessions with Jackie Stavros and Matt Cole, who are professors in Lawrence Tech’s College of Business and Information Technology, and Sibrina Collins, executive director of LTU’s Marburger STEM Center.

Business students from LTU also volunteered to act as team coaches. “The student coaches were major contributors to this event. It would not have gone off as well as it did without them,” says Sanders. “Each team was assigned a student coach, who worked with them and helped come up with and refine their business ideas.”

The high school participants toured LTU’s campus, visited the Detroit Food Academy at Eastern Market to learn about youth-run food businesses, and stopped off at Tech Town, the midtown Detroit-based startup accelerator.

“Tech Town is within a few minutes of Tabernacle Church, and it really exposed the students to all the entrepreneurial resources available there,” says Sanders.

Overall, the faith-based student pitch contest highlighted the need for more engagement with high school and middle school youth in entrepreneurship. The high turnout for this event is an indication of its value for the educational, business, and faith communities.

“These kids now know more about business than a lot of adults,” Sanders says. “They learned about scaling, leveraging, building platforms, multiple revenue streams, and a lot of other deep concepts.”