Community Luncheon celebrates fellowship across the Grosse Pointes, Harper Woods

GROSSE POINTE FARMS — One day each year, leaders from various agencies in the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods — including government, schools, churches, hospitals and nonprofits — assemble to interact and share a meal.

The 15th annual Community Luncheon — organized by Helen Srebernak and Alicia Carlisle — took place April 22 in Cleminson Hall at Grosse Pointe South High School in Grosse Pointe Farms.

“It’s my favorite event of the year,” Grosse Pointe Public Library Director Jessica Keyser said. “It’s really fun to see leaders from all different aspects of Grosse Pointe come together to celebrate our community.”

Farms Public Safety Director John Hutchins said he’s attended several of these luncheons now and, like Keyser, looks forward to them.

“It’s a great way to get all of the community leaders together every year,” Hutchins said. “It’s a chance to touch base with people we haven’t seen in a while.”

Cleminson Hall, which was the original library for what was then Grosse Pointe High School when it opened on Feb. 1, 1928, features three murals painted in 1938 by Michigan abstract artist Edgar Louis Yaeger. Commissioned by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration — a Great Depression-era program launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to add art to public buildings — the murals feature medieval scholars, classical Greek writers and philosophers, and symbols of education.

“It’s great to see so many members of our community gathered at such a special place,” South Principal Cindy Parravano said.

Guest speakers this year included Denis Karic, provost of Wayne County Community College District’s Mary Ellen Stempfle University Center in Harper Woods, and Edsel and Eleanor Ford House President and CEO Mark Heppner. Henry Ford Health President and CEO Robert Riney — a Grosse Pointe Farms resident — served as the keynote speaker.

“It’s my first time (at this luncheon), so I’m interested to hear from the speakers,” Grosse Pointe Board of Education member Tim Klepp said.

The luncheon served as a chance for the community to honor Grosse Pointe Public School System Superintendent Andrea Tuttle, who has served as superintendent since February 2024. She will retire from the district effective Aug. 31.

Grosse Pointe Board of Education member Sean Cotton, who was the board president when Tuttle was chosen as superintendent in 2023, said Tuttle leaves them “better as a district,” and credited her with saving their schools during a time of fiscal challenges.

Deputy Superintendent of Educational Services Roy Bishop — who has been named to succeed Tuttle — said Tuttle “helped stabilize the district” and “unify us as a team” with her “innovative mindset.”

“I am deeply grateful for her mentorship. … I’m a better person and leader because of her influence,” Bishop said.

Tuttle insisted that they accomplished a lot as a team, thanking the officials and educators she’s worked with during her tenure.

Tuttle, who spoke about excellence in education, said that when she arrived in the district, she met with then-South Principal Moussa Hamka to talk about the windows at Cleminson Hall, which needed to be replaced. They were going to get standard windows, but the South Mothers’ Club — which has been active in preserving the space — stepped forward to have the original windows re-created, at a cost of roughly $200,000 to $300,000 — much more than the price for regular windows, but in keeping with the historic appearance.

“In Grosse Pointe, we value tradition,” Tuttle said. “We love our majestic facilities. And we support public education.”

Out of 232 Olympians from the United States at this year’s winter games, Tuttle said 15 hailed from Michigan. Of those 15, two were from the Pointes.

“It’s expected in Grosse Pointe that we achieve excellence in every regard,” Tuttle said.

She noted that this excellence was evident also in the long streak of wins on “Jeopardy!” by Grosse Pointe Shores native Jamie Ding, a Grosse Pointe North High School graduate.

“I love watching him and knowing he’s from a town I’m now a part of,” Tuttle said.

Karic, who lives in Grosse Pointe Park, said WCCCD believes “in the potential of every student,” including neurodiverse learners.

“Our mission … has always been to empower,” Karic said.

Heppner said Ford House — which has undergone a major transformation in recent years — wants to be more engaged with and connected to the community. During strategic planning, he said, they arrived at four core values, one of which was love — love of self, love of family and love of community.

Riney said Henry Ford Health’s $3 billon investment around its hospital in Detroit is the largest since the Renaissance Center was constructed about 50 years ago. It includes 8,000 new housing units that will be occupied by high-income and low-income earners living side by side that’s gotten support from Tom Gores and the Detroit Pistons, and a 400,000-square-foot research facility in cooperation with Michigan State University. With support from the Gilbert Family Foundation — which provided a gift of $375 million — Riney said there will also be a new inpatient rehabilitation hospital in partnership with the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, as well as two floors dedicated to neurofibromatosis research; that was the disease that claimed the life of Dan Gilbert’s son, Nick. Interspersed throughout the housing and medical campus will be roughly 30 acres of park, Riney said.

“To us, it’s a story of partnership,” Riney said. “We don’t believe we can — or should — do this alone.”

After hosting the luncheon in a different school building each year, Carlisle said they’ve now been at all the Grosse Pointe Public School System facilities and are looking at holding next year’s event at the Ford House.