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A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
8
August 23, 2012
Talk about grace under pres-
sure.
They are something like swans
seen gliding along calmly across a
lake or pond.
Nobody knows how fast they are
paddling underneath the water, out
of view.
That's the impressionwe have of
somany community volunteers and
civic groups about this time every
year as they begin to ready for
some of the biggest events of the
season.
Sure, we know, many of them
have run their particular event so
often, they have reduced the orga-
nizational effort to a minimum, but
they still get the jobdone.
Every year we are amazed at the
military-like precision and organi-
zation that goes into the Saturday
evening building of the fire pits,
packaging station and distribution
center of the PlymouthRotary Club
for the annual barbecue chicken
dinner onSunday.
These guys have this so organ-
ized, they can build a full produc-
tion and distribution operationpro-
duce 11,000 chicken dinners, tear
all the equipment down and be
homewith their feet up in 48 hours.
The Kiwanis members, too, who
produce their famous pancakes the
same weekend during the
Plymouth Fall Festival, are an
amazing crew. The details and
planning that are necessary to
bring each of these events to the
festival each year would over-
whelm just about anybody, but
every year, these groups are effi-
cient, organized and disciplined
enough to ensure success.
Perhaps the secret is that they
are all volunteers and only take on
this responsibility once a year. But
the logistics of organizing the Fall
Festival Taste Fest every year sim-
ply boggle the mind. Contacting all
the restaurants, finding out what
equipment theymight need, talking
them into donating food and staff
and all the other details that
accompany setting the event up in
the parking lot of Station 885 is no
small task indeed.
The Victorian Festival in
Northville, too, is another example
of volunteers taking any and every
situation as it comes and each year
producing a parade and week-end
trip back in time that delights
crowds from across the area.
Volunteers from the historical soci-
ety there even host a weekend sale
of Victorian costumes and clothing
before the event so that everyone
in the community can participate
garbed as theymight have been 100
years age.
In Westland the city is sponsor-
ing a Blues, Brews and Barbeque
that attracted a huge crowd last
year and will probably see even
If you want to send me an
anonymous letter, it's best not to
put your return address on the
envelope.
Just a friendly tip there for the
person who sent me the note
about some poor soul living as a
prisoner tied up in his mother's
basement. His existence was
allegedly discovered by an organ-
ized group of kind neighbors who
dropped in to fix the holes in the
walls and doors, patch windows,
paint, clean and deal with years of
spoiled food good only for the
rodents and insects in the cup-
boards and closets.
Normally, stuff like that gets
one quick look and then lands in
the circular file. If you won't put
your name on it, there's no way I'm
going to take it seriously. But
something about this one nagged
at me. I guess I was more impact-
ed by the Jaycee Dugard story
than I thought, because all I could
think about was what if I ignored
this and there really was some
poor soul tied up and helpless in a
rat and cockroach filled cellar
somewhere inCanton.
It wasn't a good feeling.
I copied and faxed the letter,
and the envelope with the return
address, to the Canton Police
Department. I figured they are
much better able to deal with this
stuff than I am.
Then I got to thinking about the
amount of this foolishness I throw
away. I may be missing a real
financial opportunity here.
There is no way I could ever
hope to be as creative as some of
these people and many of the con-
spiracy theorists who think I need
to hear about the latest nefarious
plot by the aliens who have taken
over our government to listen to
our thoughts. I should be taking
advantage of this stuff and write a
novel. (In case you were wonder-
ing, those tin foil hats no longer
work, according to folks who are in
the know. What you need now is a
very large aluminum or tin can
that you can slit
open to fit over
your leaking
b r a i n .
Evidently the aliens have the sci-
entific knowledge to now pene-
trate foil, so a thicker protective
coating of hard metal is necessary
to protect one's innermost
thoughts. Just in case you might
need that information some
time…one never knows.)
I've written before about some
of the inside scoop that comes my
way----the CIA spy station in
Inkster where prisoners too dan-
gerous for Guantanamo are being
held and probably tortured. I don't
really know about the torture, I
just sorta added that, as it was
clearly implied. I didn't even send
that one along to the Inkster cops
This week, the cities of Wayne andWestland officially ded-
icated the new headquarters of their combined fire services
department.
Wayne and Westland will now be serviced by one depart-
ment, managed by one chief, a move that will save Wayne
about $140,000 a year and Westland about $180,000 a year
when all costs are factored into the equation.
We cannot help but applaud this combination of services,
particularly in these economic times. Whilemany other com-
munities don't seem able to give up the autonomy of a locally
managed fire department, the wisdom of this move provides
the residents with far more service for their tax dollars than
was previously available.
First the two communities joined their recreation depart-
ments, which was also an astute financial move, and now the
fire services. We wonder, perhaps, if this is a not a portent of
the future for the two communities whichmay soon see some
type of amalgamation into one municipality, which has been
the object of plenty of speculation.
We honestly had to smile some time agowhen themerging
of the two police departments was suggested and one of the
reasons given for not having that happen was the distance
residents might have to travel to the police station. Obviously,
the police stations in both communities could remain open
and very little would change in police operations, other than
some deep cuts in administration costs and perhaps some
increased availability of service for residents. We recall one
critic of that merger declaring it was impossible because the
police station was a 24-hour operation. We didn't find any
value in that argument then and we still don't, today. The fire
department is also a 24-hour operation and this consolida-
tion seems to be going verywell.
This merge of the fire services demonstrates that the
administration in both communities, particularly Westland
Mayor William Wild, Wayne Mayor Al Haidous and Wayne
City Manager Robert English, understand the realities of the
economy of today and seewhat the future could bring to their
respective communities as they continue tomerge services.
We applaud their efforts and those of the respective city
councils in eachmunicipality who apparently see that public
service often requires making the best decisions for the com-
munity rather than themost advantageous personal choice.
We do regret the loss of Mel Moore, the former fire chief in
Wayne, who was one of the casualties of themerger. He dedi-
cated decades of service to the department and his loss was
in no way due to any lack of ability or service. Like so many
others today, he was a victim of economic uncertainty and
change.
As these communities continue to move forward, there
may be other individuals who face the same fate, which is
regrettable. Good people who have worked many years and
demonstrated their loyalty and capability may be faced with
some difficult consequences. We don't believe anyone in
these communities takes that impact lightly and we are cer-
tain they aremoving deliberately and carefully to cause as lit-
tle disruptions as possible as they move toward even more
centralized operations.
We cannot help but wonder, however, if some of the elect-
ed officials in the two communities would handle such a situ-
ation with as much grace as others whose careers and liveli-
hoods have been so drastically affected.
We congratulate both the communities for this forward
thinking move which put the best interest of residents and
taxpayers first.
Festivals
require
hard work
Letters
In case you were wondering,
those tin foil hats no longer work,
according to folks who are in the know.
”
We congratulate both the communities
for this forward thinking move which put the
best interest of residents and taxpayers first.
”
Once again, advice from another planet or two
Fire consolidation is blueprint for success
Fundraiser details provided
To the editor;
We would like to invite the com-
munity to come out and support
Richard Willick and Shelly Brown
Willick and their family of four
children. Everything they own was
destroyed in a devastating fire.
They lived in the apartment above
the David C. Brown Funeral Home
which caught on fire on the
evening of Sunday, Aug. 5. Thank
God they all areOK. Their two cats
did not escape the fire, sad to say,
and they had no time to get any-
thing out of the apartment.
Each year the Brown Funeral
Home has been there to support
the community in a number of
ways including “Thunder Rolls in
Belleville” for veterans and their
families, “Tree of Remembrance”
for grieving families during the hol-
idays and “Angel of Hope” for those
mourning their beloved children.
Shelly and Richard have been
instrumental in all of these events
and much more throughout the
community.
Please take the time to come out
to the Belleville Moose Family
Center Lodge 934 on E. Huron
River Drive for a fundraiser
spaghetti dinner from 4 until 7 p.m.
on Saturday Aug. 25. For $12 you
will get a delicious all-you-can-eat
spaghetti dinner and all the pro-
ceeds will go to the family. So let's
get together and help them
because they really need our help
during this time of such loss.
See
Letter,
page 9
See
Advice,
page 9
See
Festivals,
page 9