• The event's Ford Escort before it was halved by the Meridian Township Fire Department.

UPDATE: MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Meridian Township was filled with football fans dressed in green, white, blue, and yellow during the weekend of October 14th. However, one annual event took the MSU - University of Michigan rivalry to a new level.

The fourteenth's rain didn't prevent Meridian Township residents from enjoying themselves at the eighth annual DeWalt "Great Event."

Local vendors held tents just outside Home depot to showcase their products, and many Meridian residents came solely for that reason. The event, sponsored by Home Depot and DeWalt Power Tools, offered a great deal of activities for all ages.

Hosted by Contractor Supervisor, Frank Belknap, and DeWalt representative Tony Baksa, the event provided live entertainment including a marching band and a singing quartet. Also provided were food, drinks, various contests, and even a stable of horses.

Among the contests held was the screwdriver-based "Ultimate Contractor Challenge," where contractors could compete to win a set of power tools valued at around $3800.

Even with the countless smiles and cheers, no activity drew as big of a crowd as the main event of the day did.

For the past seven years, Meridian Township's fire department, representing Michigan State University, has beaten Ann Arbor's Fire Department, representing the University of Michigan, in seeing which department can cut a car in half in the shortest amount of time. This year, Meridian Township's fire department beat Ann Arbor's car cutting by a full minute and ten seconds.

This means that Michigan State University's representative fire department remains undefeated for the eighth year in a row.


ORIGINAL STORY: MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - What do the fire department, MSU, and DeWalt Power Tools have in common? Find out on Meridian Magazine!