Unknown Newspaper 1923
The 75th birthday celebration of Maria Yelliott was covered in a local paper in 1923. Mrs. Yelliott was the wife of Luke Yelliott III. He was the son of early Bethel area settler Luke Yelliott. Mrs. Alice Dolbow and Mrs. Clara Baldwin arranged a delightful surprise party for their mother on Saturday evening in celebration of her 75th birthday. The surprise was given at Hazeldene, the beautiful country home of the Yelliotts, northeast of Detroit. Mrs. Yelliott had spent the day in Pittsfield, and arrived home after nightfall, after the guests had arrived. The cars in which the visitors came were all hidden, the guests secreted in the house with all the light turned out. When Mrs. Yelliott came in the invading hosts fairly bewildered her. Sixty or more friends from Detroit, Griggsville and Pittsfield were present. An oyster supper with coffee, candies and fruits was served. The house decorations were of chrysanthe­mums and feathery ferns. Mrs. Yelliott received numerous flowers, including roses, and other gifts in token of the anniversary. As a note of interest, Hazeldene was named for the old country estate of the Yelliott family in England. (From the 1998 Bethel Church Reunion Program)