Take That singer Gary Barlow has given the shoes he wore for the Queen's Jubilee concert to a Sussex orthopaedic charity to put up for auction.
The Horder Centre is trying to raise funds to create new woodland trails around its grounds in Crowborough.
The signed shoes were specially made for the singer songwriter and have the union jack and lyrics of Sing, the Jubilee song, inscribed on the sole.
A number of other celebrities have also donated shoes to the charity.
They include DJ Norman Cook, tennis player Ana Ivanovic, Olympic ice skating gold medallist Jayne Torvill, ex-England and Bath rugby captain Lewis Moody, singer and TV presenter Kim Wilde and Dame Vera Lynn.
Mr Moody donated a pair of world cup rugby boots.
"Playing a physically demanding sport like rugby at the highest level for many years, I understand the importance of great medical care and what a difference it makes," he said.
"When I was asked to be part of this campaign it was an easy decision to make."
Gary Barlow recently received an OBE in recognition of his efforts in organising the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert and his work on the commemorative song Sing.
During the three hour concert, which took place outside Buckingham Palace, a host of stars including Barlow performed for the Queen and the concert was broadcast to millions of TV viewers worldwide.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Aldi's grocery project inches forward - Brattleboro Reformer
BRATTLEBORO -- The owner of a Putney Road plaza has received all of the necessary state and local permits and is making plans to tear down the vacant movie theater on the lot.
Unison Realty Partners, a Cambridge-based company that owns the Royal Square Plaza on Putney Road, received its Act 250 permit last week and hopes to begin tearing down the former Kipling Cinema as soon as a few additional local approvals are in place.
Unison needs to get final approval for the demolition project and traffic reconfiguration from the existing tenants in the plaza.
Once the other tenants have signed off on the plan, Unison will begin demolishing the former cinema and making way for a proposed 16,000-square-foot Aldi's discount grocery store at 762 Putney Road.
Unison Realty Partners owns the property and will be leasing the site to Aldi's.
"Everyone involved with this project, including us, the town and the tenant, is excited to get started," said Unison Realty Partners Investment Officer Joe Molle. "I think you are going to see us out there sooner as opposed to later."
Molle would not make any predictions about how long demolition and construction could take, though he said he expected the Kipling Cinema to come down in the coming months.
Unison had its Act 250 application held up after the Vermont Agency of Transportation objected to some of the company's plans to change the way traffic flows into and out of the parking
lot.Aldi's wants traffic to be able to enter its parking lot without going all the way down toward Staple's, as the parking lot is currently laid out.
VTrans thought the new plan would back traffic up onto Putney Road, but the Act 250 Commission allowed the new plan, with the stipulation that traffic studies be conducted for five years.
The Act 250 Commission issued its permit on July 5.
"It's great to have all of our state and municipal permits, and there are only a few things that still need to transpire before we commence construction," Molle said. "We just have a few last steps before we can put the shovels in the ground. I hope to begin Phase One very soon."
Aldi's discount grocers is based in Germany and has more than 3,000 stores across Europe and Australia, and about 1,000 stores in 31 states in the United States.
The store specializes in offering a small selection of each item, and sells international foods.
The closest Aldi store to Brattleboro is in Bennington.
The estimated cost of the Brattleboro project is about $1.2 million.
The Brattleboro Development Review Board has already approved the project and Brattleboro Planning Director Rod Francis said now that the Act 250 process is over there should be activity out near the vacant Kipling Cinema, which closed in March 2011.
"It looks like this project is going to go ahead. We're happy there is a new use for a building that has been vacant for some time," Francis said. "I would expect them to be making plans to begin very soon. I think they are eager to move quickly."
Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 279
Source: www.reformer.com
Discount grocery chain coming to area - Traverse City Record-Eagle
TRAVERSE CITY — Florence Watkins likes to walk to the grocery store, so having a new one close to home is fine with her.
The worldwide Aldi discount food store chain will make its first venture into northern Michigan and take over the former Circuit City store in the Grand Traverse Crossing Mall off South Airport Road in Garfield Township.
Watkins lives in a subdivision near the mall and suspects she'll check out the new store.
"I go to Walmart right now because it's close," she said. "I like to walk, so it's something I would take advantage of."
The new Aldi store will be its 57th in Michigan, following one under construction in Mount Pleasant.
"We've wanted to be in Traverse City for a long time," said David Kapusansky, Aldi's director of real estate for Michigan. "We look at it as a strong, year-round market. It's not a just a destination market."
The chain cuts costs with a no-frills approach to food shopping. Shoppers bring their own grocery sacks and bag their purchases, and pay a 25-cent deposit for shopping carts. Stores feature bulk displays and offer pre-packaged meats and groceries, most of it under its Aldi brand. A typical store has 10 to 15 employees, Kapusansky said.
Aldi operates more than 1,200 U.S. stores, with its national headquarters located in Batavia, Ill., near Chicago. It's part of an international grocery chain launched by two brothers from Germany in 1961 that's grown to rank among the world's top 10 retailers.
The store received preliminary approval from Garfield Township but a final site plan is still needed, township building official Carl Studzinski said.
Circuit City closed in early 2005, among a number of its Michigan stores shuttered years before the electronics company went into bankruptcy. The site also hosted a seasonal Halloween store. A real estate listing dates the building to 1998.
Aldi recently secured Visser Brothers Inc. of Grand Rapids as its general contractor for renovating the store, which should be open by year's end, Kapusansky said. It will include a 16,000-square-foot grocery and another 4,000-square-foot space for a national or local retail tenant not yet determined. Development costs have not been finalized.
"A lot of changes need to be made to get a grocery store in there," he said.
The company hopes to continue expanding in northern Michigan. Its officials are scouring the U.S. 131 corridor from Grand Rapids north for potential development sites.
"That's the direction we're moving," Kapusansky said. "We'd like to be a regular player in all the major markets up north."
Source: record-eagle.com
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