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August 23, 2012
B
ELLEVILLE
Annual Public Safety Day proves success
Local volunteers help clean up I-275 Metro Trail
Fire trucks, police vehicles, an
armored SWAT vehicle and dive
teamequipment respondedAug. 11
to the Walgreen's location in Van
Buren Township but the visit was-
n't an emergency response.
The vehicles, along with the
police motorcycle and other equip-
ment, was on display as part of the
annual Public Safety Day, which
was organized this year in coopera-
tion with the Downtown
Development Authority (DDA) and
director Susan Ireland.
The DDA partnered with the
Public Safety Department and
Walgreen's this year providing
financial support along with hand-
outs for youngsters and entertain-
ment including face painting and
an appearance from Dee Dee the
Clown, noted Van Buren Police
Capt. GregLaurain.
“Walgreen's has always gener-
ously provided us with the use of
their location and with food and
refreshments,” Laurain said.
The Van Buren Police and Fire
Department associations were
actively involved in the event and
contributed funding for the hot
dogs, chips, cotton candy and pop-
corn distributed to everyone who
attended.
“This was our day to shine as
public safety servants and to inter-
act with the residents we serve.
This also gave thema chance to see
our human side. All of us have fam-
ilies and some of us live here, too,
and we all have a sense of pride in
serving the community,” Laurain
said.
More than 300 people attended
Public Safety Day which began at
10 a.m. and continueduntil 2 p.m.
“On behalf of your Public Safety
Department, thank you for your
continued support and for taking
the time out of your busy schedule
to stop by. For those of you that
couldn't, be sure to put it on your
calendar and we will hopefully see
younext year,” Laurain said.
The I-275 Metro Trail has a lot of
friends.
That was evident last month
when staff members from Canton
Township Leisure Services, the
Friends of the I-275 Metro Trail and
the Michigan Department of
Transportation joined forces with
120 General Electric (GE) employ-
ees
from
the
Advanced
Manufacturing and Software
Technology Center in Van Buren
Township, for a special volunteer
trail clean-upproject.
The Metro Trail clean-up project
was one of the five GE Community
Day projectswhich sawa total of 320
GE volunteers helping organizations
across themetro-Detroit region.
GE volunteers, from the state-of-
the-art research and technology
facility in Van Buren, cleaned up
hundreds of bags of litter and
debris, removed non-native plants,
and provided general habitat man-
agement along a stretch of the I-275
Metro Trail from Joy Road to Van
Born Road in Canton. This marks
the third year that GE volunteers
have contributed community serv-
ice to a trail clean-up project.
Additional support for this project
was provided by Canton Home
Depot, located on Ford Road, which
donated several tools, including four
loppers for tree trimming.
"These dedicated individuals
enjoyed the outdoors and giving
back to the community," said Brad
Sharp, Parks Manager. "Time after
time our volunteers tell us how
much fun they experience while
meeting new people, working on a
project together as teammates, and
accomplishing the task of improving
ourwonderful trail system."
He added that Canton offers sev-
eral volunteer opportunities. They
are listed in the volunteer section
located at www.cantonfun.org.
Volunteers are required to fill out a
Volunteer Application form.
For more information, contact
the Canton Parks Division at (734)
394-5310.
McGruff, the crime dog, brought smiles.
Interim Fire Chief Dan Besson (left) talked to young visitors while probationary Firefighter Justin Mathis (center) demonstrated the use of a fire hose. Dee Dee the clown entertained.