By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – An open house for Niles City Councilmember Robert Chute was held before the start of Monday Night's Niles City Council meeting.
Chute, a 12-year councilmember, sat for a council meeting one last time Monday before his retirement. Chute is giving up his council seat and moving out of the city limits. He said he plans to sit back, relax and enjoy his extra time.
"Actually, I'll probably be doing a lot of remodeling on the new house as it is in a major remodeling stage right now," Chute said.
Chute is a retired Michigan State Police Officer and currently is the Lead Court Security Officer at the Federal Courthouse in South Bend, Ind.
Board members took time to thank Chute for his years of fine services and Chute talked about what a neat trip it's been since joining the council.
"It's one of the better decisions I've made. When I joined, the city was really going downhill. There were 38 vacant stores downtown, now there are only eight.
"Slowly we have turned things around and I hope we can keep it going. I enjoyed this and want to thank all of you very much," Chute said.
Mayor Michael McCauslin said the board wanted to do something to honor Chute for his time with the council. However, Chute's request was to have all the money from a gift donated to the American Cancer Society in honor of his late wife, Colleen.
In his final night as a councilmember, Chute and others approved the 35th annual Apple Festival to indeed take place from Thursday, Sept. 27, to Sunday, Sept. 30, with the Grande Parade being held Saturday, Sept. 29 from 1:30 to 4 p.m.
The annual Apple Festival Youth Parade will be held on Saturday, Sept. 22, from 1-2 p.m.
Also, Niles High School's annual Homecoming Parade will be held Friday, Sept. 21, beginning at 12:50 p.m. That night, the Vikings football team will host St. Joseph at 7:30 p.m.
Good news for the Niles-Buchanan YMCA is that the board approved a one-year extension to the Niles-Buchanan YMCA to allow for the construction of a recreational trail. The deadline for the project was closed this month and a lack of funding put a major hold on the project.
It was also approved that the YMCA will hold its annual Thanksgiving Day Run on Thursday, Nov. 22 beginning at 8:45 a.m.
In other news, Support the Fort Inc. will conduct the Education Days event at Riverfront Park by the French Paper Dam beginning at noon on Oct. 17 through Oct. 22.
Also, the Ferry Street School Resource Center will hold an Awareness March and Rally on Saturday, Sept, 22 beginning at 11 a.m. along a route from Eagle Street to N. 15th Street to Ferry Street and concluding at the center.