This year’s Saline Celtic Festival – July 7, 8 at a new location, the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds—has two ‘legal eagles’ volunteering and working hard to make the event a success.
Michigan State University student Evan Thomas, currently interning for Judge Erane Washington in Washtenaw County’s 14B District Court, is Chairman of Social Media Marketing and Festival Promotion. A Saline High School graduate, Thomas is studying Social Relations and Policy at MSU James Madison College, with a minor in Philosophy and Law.
Festival treasurer Terri Murphy previously worked as Education Coordinator for the Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys (MAMA), and together with MAMA Past President Peter Letzmann—a leading expert on municipal law—coordinated speakers and programming at events all over the state. She also played a key role in the establishment of the AMA—Academy of Municipal Attorneys—a certification program developed by MAMA in 2010.
A Saline resident, Murphy worked on various MAMA projects with the late Allan Grossman, former Saline City Attorney, who was involved in the Saline-Brecon Friendship Guild that led to the founding of the Saline Celtic Festival.
Murphy is looking forward to the festival’s new location, and many new events, and also has worked diligently to make the festival ‘dementia-friendly.’
“ We see ourselves as a community festival – and we know not everyone in the community has the same mental or physical abilities so we’re doing everything we can to make it an event for everyone,” she says.
The new location has made it easy to address many accessibility issues—including free onsite parking, accessible bathrooms, smooth walking paths, and a quiet space, and volunteers on hand to assist people. There also will be braille-embossed schedules for those with sight issues. “This is a new service being offered by the Ann Arbor District Library and I was thrilled to find them,” Murphy says.
For complete information on the Celtic festival visit https://www.salineceltic.org.
