Local Businesses You Should Know About

My where-did-the-time go sabbatical from the Tales of Royal Oak is officially over.  While I've been unofficially AWOL, I have been busy scouring the globe for more column material that meets my strictly highbrow and highly intellectual criteria. 

For example, the lovely Kathy and I spent over a week in Israel, where we were in the minority as U.S. tourists. Your ever-diligent international correspondent tried to warm up our fellow tourists by volunteering to take pictures of couples together. This has been a tried and true way to meet people in foreign land, get a thank you and maybe start a conversation. 

Something was amiss as every time I volunteered my limited photographer talent, couples would shy away muttering something in a language I didn't understand, yet I surely read the intent...and it's wasn’t complimentary. 

After a few times, our guide said, "I think they're saying: No, you can't take pictures of us naked!" 

Ah well, mortification in yet another part of the world. 

More in later columns on Israel and our first time trip to visit the Grand Canyon as the lovely Kathy and me are getting serious about knocking items off our bucket lists. 

Today, I want to tell you about a couple of local businesses that are very cool and managed/owned by even cooler people. 

At Fuller Life, the water is pure and the conversation fascinating

The first is Fuller Life, a provider of purified drinking water for use in home and businesses. George and Francine Smiley and Francine’s sister, Lynn Schechter, founded the business in 1987. It's a family business and the public face is son Jeremy, who you will meet if you decide to purchase their water. 

But before discussing the attributes about the water, of course, there must be small world angle, here, right? I first heard about Fuller Life from my friend and longtime Nutri-Foods guru, John McEntee almost twenty years ago. I was looking for a bottled water dispenser for my company and John's recommendation was simple: "George Smiley's Fuller Life is the best water you'll ever taste. It's pure H2O." 

I said, "Do you mean Mr. Smiley, our 7th Grade Science teacher at St. Mary's Elementary around 1966?" 

"Yes, the one and only, George Smiley." 

I smiled. I recollected a non-science related quote Mr. Smiley put on the chalkboard. It was by the Irish writer James Joyce and it went something like: The locus of the wild, untrammeled conjecture….  

I also remembered that while I was the Royal Oak City Commission that I had re-connected with George who had attended a commission meeting in 1981. After the meeting, he stopped me for a conversation, which resulted in a much longer conversation and an introduction to several very interesting books and concepts. 

George Smiley is a very bright and interesting person. 

So, when I was thinking about a topic to right a column about, George's son,
Jeremy walked into my office with our supply of water. 

Bingo! 

I hadn't talked to George in years and when I visited the Fuller Life shop in north Royal Oak, I didn't make two feet inside the door before George was introducing me the newest concepts he's working on, focusing on sustainability issues and solutions to big problems that he passionately argued should matter to all of us. 

George is a disciple of R. Buckminster Fuller, an architect, author, designer, futurist and inventor. In fact, "Fuller" Life is name in honor of him. I always think of geodesic domes when I hear "Bucky" Fuller's name, but spend some time with George and you'll learn about the breadth and depth of his work.  What is apparent is that George has a passion for sustainable lifestyles that incorporate food, architecture and much more and he acts on his passion. He is actively involved in projects that are focused on really helping people through sustainable
solutions. 

I realized soon that George had much more interest in having a stimulating discussion than being interviewed about Fuller Life. In fact, he did research on my company and pretty much interviewed me, as predicted by his son Jeremy.

I'm an easy target for lively conversations and with George Smiley, you're
guaranteed that. But here's the deal on Fuller Life: They are "dedicated to providing reliably pure water." The company's philosophy is that water is for hydration and providing "steam distilled, double degassed, ozonated water gives you pure H2o at it's finest." 

If you have an interest in learning more, the website link is: http://fullerlifewater.net and the phone number to order water is 1-800-224-6116. You can also purchase Fuller Life water at the best health food store in the area, Nutri-Foods on Main Street in Royal Oak.

At Fuller Life, the water is pure and the conversation fascinating.

Play and Stay's owner is engaging and high energy

From water I turn to dogs.  Yep: man, woman and child's best friend. 

I was never a "dog" person, probably the result of not having a dog growing up. But the lovely Kathy adopted the highly sociable Zeke, (named after Isaiah Thomas' nickname) and as result, I have developed a canine soft spot.

But as we all know, there are the "real" dog people in today's world.  If you love your dog, or for that matter if your family pet is a bird, cat, ferret or a pot bellied pig, you can often have the need for safe, loving place for your pet to stay when working, etc. 

I found that place. It’s Play and Stay in Troy, Michigan and is co-owned by Royal Oak resident Jodie Ellison. Jodie is an engaging and high energy person and I’m fairly sure that whatever she’s involved in, she’s would be passionate about the endeavor. 

It may have seemed inevitable that a farmer’s daughter raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania would land up working with animals. But, for Jodie, it was a circuitous route that included a tour following her passion for the theatre, working as an equity actor and stage manager in professional theatre in the Detroit area. She was certainly poised as we sat down to talk about Play and Stay with a rather chatty Quaker parrot on her shoulder. 

Play and Stay came into existence when Jodie and her partner Dan Limer thought they could improve on existing pet care facilities in the area.  A requirement for their 15 employees is that they treat the pets in their care with the same care and respects their owners have for their dogs, cats and yes, even a pot-bellied pig.

If Paco, the gregarious dog I was introduced to by Abbie Petrie is any indication, the pets seem quite happy with their time spent at Play and Stay.  He was one happy dog and Abbie, a five year veteran of Play and Stay said, “We try to make the animals that stay with us with feel at home. They all have individual personalities and we have to be good observers and listeners.”

Jodie told me about a lot great stories that come out being in the pet care business, including helping out with difficult situations like dealing with an orphaned pets who are adopted sometimes. Most have happy endings to the stories and it’s clear that Jodie and her staff are passionate about the impact pets have on people’s lives. Play and Stay allows them an opportunity to participate and have a positive influence on pets and their families.

For more information on Play and Stay, the link to their Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/PlayandStayPCC   

Of course, there’s a concluding pet story: Last weekend, Zeke led our daughter Shannon's family dog, Fiona, into a wrestling match with a porcupine under our porch in Empire. The result was over 50 nasty porky-pine quills having to be removed from their sad doggie faces.  Those were two hurting doggies. And now I know how much 50 porcupine quills cost to be removed by the veterinarian! It was a “yikes” experience all around.

I’m glad to be back: Let’s go!