MAR APR 1955 - River Rouge Historical Museum

said. The initial battery of 55 fluorescent fixtures as put into service on February 28 and
has already come through the test of the fog and rain with flying colors. The new
installation, which will now extend the length of Jefferson from Orchard to the River
Rouge bridge and along Coolidge from Jefferson to Campbell, will more than double
night visibility and help make River Rouge one of the best-lighted cities in Michigan. In
addition to the illumination, which is immediately noticeable, River Rouge may soon
discover some other benefits which seem to go hand-in-hand with better street
lighting. According to a recent report prepared by the Office of Nationwide
Information Services in Cleveland, Ohio, many cities have found that good street
lighting stimulates community growth, inspires community spirit and pride,
promotes business, cuts traffic accidents, reduces crime and actually saves more
money than it costs. Cities that have lighted some of their streets report that modernized
street lighting has reduced after-dark crime as much as 90 per cent. More than half of the
night traffic deaths in some of these cities were prevented by improved street lighting.
Merchants said they believe that the modern lighting will have a permanent good effect
on their business. Bird‟s Eye View – One of River Rouge better known citizens, E. H.
Gilbert, President of Gilbert Motor Sales, is here to say that the new fluorescent
lights are sensational, to say the least. Returning home by plane from the south,
Gilbert chanced to glance down on what he thought was Belle Isle. He saw a street
laminated so effectively that he could make out the colors of the cars. It took him a
couple of seconds before he realized he was seeing, for the first time, River Rouge‟s
new street lights. “We were flying at 5,000 feet,” Gilbert said, “And I could see our
showroom as thought it were daylight. Talk about being impressed – these new
lights are sensational!”
Shinner‟s & Shearer's Hold Joint Grand Opening – A Joint Grand Opening celebration
was held yesterday by Shinner‟s Meat Market and Shearer‟s Bakery, in the new
remodeled building at 10545 West Jefferson, R.R. The two businesses will continue to
be operated under separate management, although they are located in the same building.
Glass panels form a partition between the stores which are connected by two doors. Both
have entrances from West Jefferson and at the rear of the building, which will be
convenient to the proposed city-owned off-street parking lot, construction of which is
scheduled to begin this spring. Shiner‟s Market has been managed for the past two
years by Robert Beaudrie, a graduate of Our Lady of Lourdes High School, who has
been associated with the Shinner Company for 15 years. He is a self-employed, part
owner of the business, one of the 36 in a chain of Shinner Meat Markets in Michigan,
Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio. Since 1943, when E. G. Shinner of Chicago
established an employee‟s profit-sharing and retirement fund, each employee has been
eligible to participate in the retirement program after a full year of service. Employees
are not required to contribute to the fund. In November 1952, 175 Shinner Co.
employees used the original fund to buy the company. Each year up to 15 per cent of
the equivalent of employee‟s salaries, if the profits, permit, is paid into the
retirement fund and credited to each employee. The Shinner Co., also has a cash
profit-sharing system established by Shinner, which annually pay employees up to as
much as 22 per cent dividend, based on their total year‟s wages. As a local Manager,
Beaudrie is a shareholder with equal voice in the management of the concern. Shearer‟s
Bakery has been in business in River Rouge for 13 years. When the late Patrick
Shearer, a baker of 35 years experience, died in January, his wife, Barbara and son,
Crawford, assumed ownership of the business. Mrs. Shearer, of 89 Maple, came to
River Rouge with her husband 28 years ago from Scotland. Crawford attended
River Rouge High School. The newly remodeled building designed by Arthur Greig
and Associates, Architects, has a structural glass front in a modern black and white
decorative design. The entrance floor is of colored terrazzo and the floors of the stores