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FEBRUARY 6, 2025 Vol. 44, No. 3
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Woods man in running for national business award WOODS — A Grosse Pointe Woods businessman and inventor is in the running for a chance to be named an Entrepreneur of Impact by the national NAACP. Burgess Foster, owner of MIDIGITEL, was one of about 80 business owners from across the country who were selected to compete for the honor — which comes with a $25,000 prize, mentoring from Daymond John of “Shark Tank” and a full-page ad in Forbes magazine. The only metro
Detroiter chosen for this contest, Foster has made it through the first round of voting — which whittled the field down to 20 contenders — and is now in the second round, which ends Feb. 6. At press time, Foster was second in the voting, which will determine the 15 businesses that go on to round three. Round three — to reduce the candidates to the top 10 — will last until Feb. 13. The public will then decide who among the top 10 make it to the top four, from which a winner will ultimately be chosen by the end of February. “Everything’s been exciting about this,” Foster said.
Patrick Lane and Samantha Teter play King Henry II of England and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, in Grosse Pointe Theatre’s production of the drama “The Lion in Winter.”
Foster, who taught fifth grade for about eight years at Duke Ellington Elementary in Detroit, was a college professor in the business department at Wayne County Community College District when his Introduction to Marketing students asked him why he didn’t start his own company when he was giving them advice and encouragement to start theirs. The challenge inspired Foster, who launched MIDIGITEL in September 2018 “from the mud,” as he puts it. “I started my company in my garage,” Foster said. Foster holds a bachelor’s degree in history and political See FOSTER on page 10A
GP Theatre warms up February with heated family drama ‘The Lion in Winter’ BY K. MICHELLE MORAN kmoran@candgnews.com
WOODS — Britain’s current royal family might appear to be full of drama, but their issues seem trivial compared to those of the family of King Henry II of England. Grosse Pointe Theatre’s new production of “The Lion in Winter,” set in 1183, looks at the fractured family dynamics among the king, his strong and conniving wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their three sons, all of whom want to inherit their father’s crown and everything that comes with it. The show will run Feb. 7 to 16 at Parcells Middle School in Grosse Pointe Woods. “It’s a highly dysfunctional family,” said Samantha Teter, of Detroit, who plays Eleanor. “Everyone has their own agenda. They’re all out to get each other.” Henry wants his favorite son, John, the youngest, to become the next king, while Eleanor wants her favorite, Richard, the oldest surviving son, to ascend to the throne.
Photo provided by Grosse Pointe Theatre
See LION on page 14A
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