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Page 1: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages
Page 2: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

Since St. Patrick's Day is soonupon us, I thought it would be inter-esting to look at the Irish heritage inWayne. If you look at the great in-flux of immigrants from Ireland, itreally began because of the great po-tato famine in the mid-1840s. Be-tween 1830-1860 approximately 2million Irish immigrants arrived inAmerica. So by 1850 the Irishstarted to show up in Wayne.

One of the more prominent Irish-men was Jeremiah O'Connor whowas born in County Kerry in 1828and immigrated by 1845. He owneda general store at the corner of Michi-gan Ave. and Wayne Rd. Mr. O'Con-nor donated the land for theconstruction of St. Mary CatholicChurch.

Another prominent Irish busi-nesswoman was Suzie Doolittle. Sheoperated a photography studio for39 years and was a very active in theMethodist Church. She passed awayin 1951 and is buried at WestlawnCemetery. She was the child of Irishimmigrants who owned an 80 acrefarm on Michigan east of Howe.

The O'Brien name goes hand inhand with Irish. O'Brien's Drugswas in business from 1908 to 1967.The store was started by Jack's fa-ther who was also a pharmacist.Jack ran the store for many years,enjoyed singing in a barbershopquartet and was the father of fourchildren: Karen, Judy, Pat, and

Mike. Karen became Karen Nortonwhen she married Pat Norton an-other proud Irishman and the Mayorof Wayne for many years. Mike be-came the Fire Chief in Wayne, begin-ning his career with the FireDepartment in 1969.

The Cullen Family has been inWayne for years. John F. Cullen wasthe Village Attorney in 1890 and wasthe child of Irish immigrants. Johnmade a run for the state senate in1900, was a Judge and the grandfa-ther of our former City Manager PatCullen. The Cullens were friendswith the Fitzgeralds, Doyles, and Mc-Cartys all proud Irish families.

Friendships developed and theIrish stuck together in this new coun-try. But their contributions to the de-velopment of Wayne should not beforgotten and should be celebratedthis St. Patrick's Day.

I really encourage you to stop atthe Historical Museum and to do-nate to the Window Fund. The mu-seum is open each Friday andSaturday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00p.m. or call 734-722-0113.

YOUR SOURCE FOR POSITIVE COMMUNITY NEWS2 · March 2011

O’Brien Drugs in the 1920’s. Photos Courtesy of the Wayne Historical Musuem.

Four Irish Wayne residents Kitty Fitzgerald, Mrs.Cullen, Mrs. Fitzgerald and Mrs. Doyle.

A bit of blarney - I say no!

John F. Cullen

Page 3: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

March 2011 · 3

By Jenny JohnsonThey make a difference everyday

in their hometown. Jennifer Cham-bers and Valerie Orr are both WayneMemorial High School graduatesand from Wayne. Today they walkthe halls as principal- Chambers atHoover Elementary School and Orrat Wayne Memorial.

Chambers attended Taft-Gal-loway for pre-school and kinder-garten and then Elliott ElementarySchool, Franklin Junior High andshe graduated from Wayne Memorialin 1993. Orr attended Walker Ele-mentary, Franklin Junior High andalso graduated from Wayne in 1993.

“Jen and I knew each other inhigh school. We were friends,” saidOrr.

Chambers was active in band inboth junior and high school. She isproud that she still knows theFranklin and Wayne Memorial fightsongs.

“I also was very involved in classevents such as; building the classfloat, planning homecoming andcominghome and attending almostevery football and basketball gameboth home and away,” she said.

Orr played softball and was amember of the student government.She was also the only student repre-sentative on the School Improve-ment Team.

“This is where I learned you cancontrol what happens in yourschool,” she said.

After high school Chambers at-tend Eastern Michigan Universityand earned her Bachelor degree ineducation. She got her Master degreeat Marygrove College and returned toEastern to get her educational lead-ership certificate.

Orr got her Bachelor degree fromWayne State University and herteaching certificate in math fromEastern Michigan University. She at-tended graduate school at Universityof Phoenix.

Chambers began her career withWayne-Westland 14 years ago as a

paraprofessional for a boy who hasAutism.

“He was a great kid who taughtme to ‘stop and smell the roses’.Then, I was a classroom overloadaide and a substitute teacher in thedistrict and completed my studentteaching at Edison,” she said. Shehas taught at Taft, Hicks and Hamil-ton. Last year she was promoted toprincipal at Lincoln and when thebuilding closed in June she becamethe principal at Hoover.

”I meet the most wonderful chil-dren who teach me so much aboutlearning. It’s really hard to complainabout anything when you are alwaysaround resilient children who con-stantly flash their gorgeous smiles atyou. I work with a staff that caresdeeply for children and their well-being. They work so hard every day.We also have support from our par-

ents who come in and volunteer theirtime,” she said.

“A long way down the road Iwould like to work in Central Officeor be a consultant. That’s hard forme to think about though because Ilove working with children everyday.I am enjoying being in my secondyear as an administrator. I want tofocus on learning more about chil-dren and how to inspire them toreach their fullest potential. I am ex-tremely blessed with my career,” shesaid.

Orr has been with the Wayne-Westland School District for 10years. She taught math for five yearsat Franklin and was then promotedto assistant principal at Wayne Me-morial and has been the principalfor three years.

“I always wanted to come back toWayne. But it never crossed my mindthat I would one day be principal,”she said.

Orr didn’t settle on a career inteaching right away. She first thoughtshe would pursue politics but she re-alized she couldn’t fix all of the

See Ladies, page 4

Hometown girlsWayne Memorial alumni lead their own schools

WMHS students L-R: Amber Munguia, Makia Edison and Jasmine Jackson were thrilled to run into Val Orr in the hallway. Brendan Craske shows Jennifer Chambers hisclass work. Photos by The Wayne Dispatch

“I always wanted to come back to Wayne. But it never crossed my mind that

I would one day be principal.”

Valerie Orr

Page 4: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

4 · March 2011

world’s problems. She then began topursue finance and accounting but itwas when she was tutoring a middleschool girl named Tammy in maththat she realized her true calling.

“I connected with her and herfamily and she turned it around andI loved that feeling,” she said. In factwhen she married her husband,Brent, in 1999, Tammy’s parents didher flowers.

When she took her first educationclass in college, “I just blossomed.”

Today as the leader of Wayne Me-morial she wants to make sure all ofthe students, staff and parents feellike Wayne is their home.

“My vision is to promote thestakeholders of Wayne, give them avoice and teach leadership,” she said.“There are a lot of kids who are un-derserved and they need a voice.”

“This was a safe haven for me (asa student) and I want it to be for mykids. I always felt I owed a lot to thisschool. I had great support and greatteachers. School was my safe haven,”she said.

Her staff works hard to makesure the environment is a positiveone for everyone. “The staff here isso amazing. They never cease toamaze me with their ideas to bringnew things for kids,” she said.

She is proud of her team’s im-provements. Scores continue to in-crease and parent involvement is upby 100s of hours. Suspensions andbehavior problems have decreased.

“It’s a good culture for the kids,”she said. “I feel very blessed to servemy kids here and work with mystaff.”

Before Orr began her career withthe Wayne-Westland School District ,she worked for the City of Wayne.She credits her skills she learned as

a City of Wayne 911 dispatcher withhelping her become a successful ad-ministrator.

“It took me eight years to get myundergraduate degree. I worked as a911 dispatcher in Wayne for three orfour years when I was going throughcollege,” she said. She appreciatesall she learned in that position.

“That job really prepared me foradministration. I use the skills Ilearned like how to remain calm incrisis, handle irate people, decisionmaking and problem solving. Butthe biggest skill I use every day ismulti-tasking,” she said. As a longtime resident and former employeeof the City of Wayne, Orr appreciatesthe connection she has to the com-munity she serves.

Orr and Chambers agree thattheir connections to Wayne only helpto enhance their job. They both ap-preciate all the Wayne communitydoes for the students in the schooldistrict.

“In December we had over 20families adopted by different com-munity organizations. One day agroup of ladies came to our school

and dropped off over 150 hand knit-ted hats they made. The Wayne Ro-tary recently dropped off brand newwinter coats for children,” Chamberssaid.

Both women feel proud to still bea part of the Wayne-Westland com-munity and have a chance to giveback to a community that has giventhem so much.

“I had such a wonderful child-hood growing up in the City of Wayneand attending Wayne Westland

schools. Both of my parents are re-tired educators here and my sister isa counselor at Wayne High. My par-ents are also both graduates onWayne High. I could not imaginebeing anywhere but a part of thisamazing community,” Chamberssaid.

Editor’s note: There are manyemployees of the Wayne-WestlandSchool District who are also alumniof the district. Here are the membersof the administration who are proudWayne-Westland graduates:

Greg Baracy, Superintendent –WMHS; Shannon Blick, Principal ofWildwood Elementary School –JGHS; Mark Cesarz, Co-Principal ofAdams Upper Elementary School –JGHS; Kevin Galbraith, Sr. Execu-tive Director of Technology – WMHS;Charley Hallman, Director of HighSchool Special Education – JGHS;Mike McCusker - Supervisor ofMaintenance and Operations –JGHS; Tony Spisak, Executive Direc-tor of Maintenance and Operations –WMHS; Dyanne Tilley, Director ofMiddle School Special Education –WMHS; and Sue Wilk, Assistant Prin-cipal of the William D. Ford Career-Technical Center - JGHS

Ladies, Continued from page 3

Jennifer Chambers spends a lot of time in the classroom. Here she is with L-R: Mau-rella Murphy, Jaylin Wara, AJ Sherman, Aaron Beneteau, Denyell Camp, BrendanCraske, Jobe King, Drake Miller, Ethan Bartush, and Kevin Lail.

Page 5: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

March 2011 · 5

CERT Team helps in time of needDear Editor,

I, Pamela Brown-Steffen, wouldlike to thank every CERT memberand persons who helped or calledabout helping during our recent “dis-aster.” I heard and felt the explosionas did many of you. I went rightdown to Wayne Road and seeing theneed, just started working. The fol-lowing people responded:

Tabetha Cummings, Victor Os-borne, Kristena Brown, Anne McKo-lay, Bill Steffen, Tom Bucci, WarrenLeake, Doug Beasley, Wally Ka-vanaugh, Denise Lake, Jessie Lutzand Jason Hood.

Officer Randolph, Unit 449 and

Det. Schmidtke checked on us oftento make sure we were ok and to seeif we were in need of anything. TheDPW responded quickly when askedfor cones or barricades for trafficcontrol. The Salvation Army vancame around to make sure weweren’t hungry and were kept hy-drated.

Again even though we did nothave a formal notification system ineffect, we all pulled together and gotthe job done. Thank you very muchfrom myself, the neighbors of thetree streets and business owners forhelping and keeping our neighbor-hood as safe as possible.

Pamela Brown-SteffenWayne CERT Team Leader

Wayne’s Largest Euchre tournament will be held on April 9 at the WayneCommunity Center. The Wayne Rotary would like you to be a part of it.Check in begins at 6:15 p.m. and the tournament starts at 7 p.m. The costis $20 per person. Prizes will be awarded for the top five point totals. Therewill be food, beer, pop, coffee, raffles and more.

Bob Gilbert, event organizer, said they hope to have 300-400 people play-ing Euchre.

“Our hope is to raise close to $10,000 and this can be achieved with peo-ple who want to come enjoy themselves and give back to the community,”Gilbert said. The event is a Wayne Rotary fundraiser. To pre-register forthe tournament, please e-mail: [email protected].

Be a part of Wayne’s largest Euchre tournament

Page 6: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

6 · March 2011

By Jenny JohnsonThe Cities of Wayne and Westland

are more than just neighbors. Theyare now partners in the pursuit ofparks and recreational opportunitiesfor residents of both cities. TheWayne City Council approved theNeighborhood Acceptance Programwhich will allow Westland residentsto receive resident rates at all City ofWayne recreation facilities, classesand special events. This includesmemberships, programs and serv-ices.

In turn, Wayne residents can alsoreceive resident rates on all recre-ational programs in the City of West-land. This includes programs andamenities available at the Bailey Cen-ter and the Westland Municipal GolfCourse.

“We all have to work closer to-gether as communities,” said RobertEnglish, acting city manager. “This isthe first of what I hope will be manyjoint agreements between the cities.”

“We are going to work together totry to keep the quality of servicesbeneficial to both communities and

to reduce costs,” said Mayor AlHaidous.

The benefits of this program aretwofold. Wayne and Westland resi-dents will have more recreational op-portunities at affordable prices andboth cities are hoping to see an in-crease in revenue to their parks andrecreation departments.

Both cities offer a plethora ofrecreational opportunities for allages independently. By combiningservices they will have even more op-portunities for their residents to findfun, healthy and family friendly activ-ities at reasonable rates.

“We hope to merge other servicestogether. We want to join hand andhand and reduce our costs andmake sure both communities areserved,” said Haidous.

“We look forward to this neighbor-hood Acceptance Plan, We hope it isthe first of many agreements,” saidWestland Mayor William Wild. Theplan will be presented to WestlandCity Council on March 7. If ap-proved, the plan will go into effectMarch 8.

Cities of Wayne and Westland join forces

Students “Spread the Love”

By Jenny JohnsonPrayers have been answered.

Paul Franks, owner of William C.Franks Furniture Store, was re-leased from the hospital on Feb. 25.He is recuperating at his home, inPlymouth, with his family by his side.

“He’s doing fantastic and adjust-ing to being at home. He’s doing re-ally well,” said Franks daughter,Stephanie Christesen. “His spiritsare very good we’re motivated to getback to normal life.”

Franks will begin outpatient phys-ical and occupational therapy threetimes a week for six weeks, Christe-sen said.

Franks had been in the TraumaBurn Unit at University of MichiganHospital recovering from burns andother injuries he sustained in theDec. 29 explosion at his store.Franks was pulled from the rubble.Two other employees, James Zelland Leslie Machniak, were killed inthe blast.

The furniture store was leveledand the staff has been working out oftheir warehouse on Michigan Avenuesince January. They have been ableto deliver furniture to customers

who had already placed orders andeven place a few orders for cus-tomers who knew exactly what theywanted.

Christesen said they do plan torebuild their store in town and arecurrently looking for a temporary lo-cation in Wayne to house a show-room.

“We have not made any final deci-sions yet, we are still looking at all ofour options,” she said. “We want todo what’s best for Franks.”Christe-sen said her dad is involved in thedecision making. “We’ve discussedit. He is an active part of everythingthat’s going on,” she said.

Paul Franks home

Paul Franks

The Rev. Susan Mozena (left) and Teresa Jackson (right), patient representa-tive at Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne, accepted more than 100 blan-kets for the Spread the Love program from Wayne Memorial High Schoolstudents Hailey Diehl, Jesse Sullivan, Robert Parker (kneeling) and DestinyBaker. Marguerite Foshee (back row, right) and Katie Sullivan (back row, left)coordinated the program, in which more than 100 students chipped in.

Page 7: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

By Jenny JohnsonActing City Manager Robert Eng-

lish has had a busy two months. InDecember he became the fifth citymanager in the City’s 50 year history.Since then he has dealt with the af-termath of the Franks Furniture ex-plosion, negotiations with FordMotor Company, reduced fundingfrom the state and the closing of theaquatic center. And he’s taken it allin stride.

“I try to stay steady especially attimes like this,” he said.

English began his career withWayne in 1984 as a water meterreader. In 1985 he became the super-visor of the water dept. He has helddual titles with the city since 1991when he was promoted to assistantpersonnel director while still keep-ing his job as water department su-pervisor. From there he waspromoted to personnel director andassistant city manager. He also spentsix years as Department of PublicWorks director. Today, in addition tohis duties as acting city manager, he

also serves as the personnel director. “I’ve always worked at this pace,”

he said. He noted Pat Cullen had thesame career path. He too began as ameter reader and worked his way upto city manager.

When English first began histenure with the City of Wayne he had“no career goal to be city manager.”

“I owe a lot to John (Zech). Hehad faith in me,” he said. In the past27 years English has seen just abouteverything but “nothing like the lastfew years of budget struggles.” Hesaid times were lean in the 1980sbut not like this.

“This is a whole new situationand it is challenging but we can do it.We’re going to do it,” he said.

English said he commends thecity employees for their dedication tothe city through these tough times.The sacrifices they have made in-clude pay cuts, paying more for theirbenefits and being reduced from fulltime to part time.

“Our strongest assets are our em-ployees. They’ve been great throughthis and they want to do what’s bestfor the community. I tip my hat to theemployees, they’ve kept us going,” hesaid.

“Revenue coming in is not gettingbetter. We have to find new ways tomake income,“ he said. One of thoseways is through joint services.

“We have to work a lot with othercommunities and that’s my back-ground,” he said. English has beeninvolved in cooperative benefits pur-chasing for dental and life insurancewith neighboring communities. Hesaid the concept is simple. Having alarger pool of employees makes pre-miums less for each participatinggroup.

“I’m used to going to other com-munities and working cooperatively,”he said. His administration is cur-rently working on other ways to joinservices with other communities. Hecited the sanitation authority and the

firefighting testing consortium as twoways Wayne has worked with othercities in the past.

Some of the changes Englishwants to implement include usingmore technology.

“Technology should work foryou,” he said. The city council pack-ets are now available on the city’swebsite for the public to review. Eng-lish said he would like to put moreinformation on the website too.

“We should be more transparent,”he said.

He is also planning to “restore aworking relationship with the busi-ness community,” he said. Anotherarea he wants to develop is “to relyon citizens and volunteers to help usin areas we can no longer provide.The City cannot do everything any-more. We need citizen involvement,”he said. “You’ve got to involve every-one.”

These efforts take a lot of timeand English said he is lucky to havean understanding family. Englishand his wife, Barbara, have beenmarried 13 years. They have fivekids, five grandchildren and twomore on the way. Spending time withhis family is his favorite pastime.Most of them live within walking dis-tance.

”It gives you a great relief,” hesaid. “Relaxing with my familyrecharges me.” He makes sure he isavailable for the grandkids schooland sporting events.

English said one of the benefits ofliving in the community where youwork is the short commute. It’s veryeasy to spend quality time with hisfamily.

“You should live in the commu-nity. Any decision you make shouldaffect you as well. This is my home-town and I want to give back to mycommunity,” he said.

English graduated from WayneMemorial High School in 1973 andhas lived in Wayne or Westland forhis whole life. All five of his kids alsograduated from Wayne Memorial. Athird generation of the English fam-ily is now attending Wayne Westlandschools.

How long does he hope to staywith the city? He said, “My goal is totake it a day at a time and move for-ward. I want to see us get back towhere we were and we will.”

YOUR SOURCE FOR POSITIVE COMMUNITY NEWS March 2011 · 7

English faces challenges ahead

Acting City Manager Robert English working in his office at city hall. Photo by The WayneDispatch

Page 8: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

8 · March 2011

By Erica PerdueSeveral students at Wayne Memo-

rial High School were given new mo-tivation to get good grades and theresults are paying off.

The Champions of Wayne pro-gram is a program to help studentswork past their normal academicachievements by setting them upwith a mentor. The students metwith their mentors regularly through-out the semester to keep up ongrades and problems.

Students who met their goals re-ceive a $200 check. The checks werepresented at a banquet last month.

“It gave me stability and supportto make me see that I could be suc-cessful. It gave me a reason to get mygrades up,” said senior Carli Bailey.

Champions of Wayne was initi-ated by WMHS school psychologistBill Gray. Gray asked for assistancefrom a former Distinguished Alumni,Richard Helppie. Helppie graduatedin 1974. He is the founder and man-aging partner of Vineyard CapitalGroup.

Helppie and his wife, Leslie,started a foundation to help meet theneeds of medically and educationallychallenged children. The HelppieFamily Charitable Foundation iswhere the money for the Championsprogram comes from.

“My favorite thing is seeing thepositive impact on the students.Their personal stories are testimonyto the strength of the human spiritand special testimony to the grit ofWayne,” said Helppie.

At the banquet, the students wereallowed to speak in front of family,friends, mentors and Helppie. Thosewho spoke showed their gratitude

for the program. Helppie spoke be-fore the presentation of the checks.

“I get it. I was a student here.Everyone needs someone to make adifference in their life,” Helppie toldthe crowd.

Wayne Westland CommunitySchool District Superintendent,Greg Baracy, was a mentor in theprogram.

“This program gave me a great op-portunity to connect with students

throughout the school. It allowed meto connect with a young man who isvery special to me,” said Baracy.

Baracy served as a mentor forEric Pohl. He thanked Pohl in frontof the crowd for allowing him to behis mentor.

“It was great to know a guy likeDr. Baracy could find time to comeout to see me,” said Pohl. “I had a lotof support from other people too, es-pecially St. Mary’s.”

Pohl exceeded his grade point av-erage goal. Baracy said he was im-pressed with Pohl’s success in sucha rigorous curriculum.

Pohl spoke in front of the crowdof his fellow classmates, his mentor,his mother and Helppie.

“I understand times are tough soit’s really great that this could hap-pen. God bless you, Mr. Helppie.This sure was helpful and meaning-ful,” said Pohl.

Helppie said that it was Gray,WMHS principal Valerie Orr, the dis-trict’s support and just a little timeand funding from the Helppies.

“In a broad sense, Wayne Champi-ons is about community. Adult spon-sors – champions – giving their timeand energy to teach young peopleabout the disciplines needed to pur-sue a goal,” said Helppie.

He said that program is realisticand teaches student about the realworld that awaits them after highschool.

“Goals are set and pursued.Achievement levels are not compro-mised. Students are learning thatthere is no guarantee. Students learnthat no one gets any place by them-selves,” said the donor. “The real-lifelesson taught is if the right combina-tion of talent, effort and luck cometogether, one can receive recognitionand reward.”

Every student who received acheck was smiling. Every time a stu-dent’s name was called the crowdcheered. Some students raised theirGPA’s from below 2.0 to 3.0 andsome students earned 4.0s with thenew motivation and support they re-ceived from the Champions ofWayne.

Champions program pays off for many

(Above) Richard Helppie con-gratulates Alex Driessche forhis success in the Championsprogram and presents himwith a check for $200. (Left)Dr. Baracy and Richard Help-pie listen to how the Champi-ons program helped AleshaStarr. Photo by The Wayne Dispatch

Page 9: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

March 2011 · 9

Page 10: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

Dueling Piano ShowThe Wayne Chamber of Com-

merce is hosting a Mardi Gras Duel-ing Piano show on March 18 at theWayne Community Center. Ticketsare $15 each or $120 for a table of10. Doors open at 7 p.m. and theshow starts at 8 p.m. For more infor-mation or tickets, please call thechamber at 734-721-0100 or [email protected].

Dairy Queen opensThe wait is over. It’s been a long

winter without favorites like bliz-zards, peanut buster parfaits andwaffle bowl sundaes. The DairyQueen on Wayne Road will kick offtheir 53rd year of doing business inWayne this week. For the first weekhours will be weather permitting.Regular hours are from 11 a.m.- 10p.m.

Safari NightThe Wayne Memorial High School

Z-PAC is hosting a Zebra Safari from6-10 p.m. on March 25 at the DyerSenior Center on Marquette in West-land. The safari is an annualfundraising dinner to raise moneyfor the farewell dinner for the seniorclass.

There will be silent and live auc-tions, raffles and door prizes. Tick-ets are $30 per person or $200 for atable of eight. Tickets are available atthe office of Wayne Memorial HighSchool. The culinary arts program atthe William D. Ford Career TechnicalCenter will provide dinner.

RetirementsThey will be missed. Wayne West-

land School District Deputy Superin-tendent Charlotte Shermanannounced her retirement at the Feb-ruary school board meeting. Sher-man began her career with theschool district in 1974. She will re-tire effective June 30. Wayne City At-torney Richard Clark announced hisretirement at the February 15 citycouncil meeting. He will also retirethis spring. He has practiced law for38 years in Wayne and been the cityattorney for 20. “This is the onlyplace I’ve ever practiced law,” hesaid. “It’s the best job anyone couldhave.”

Health & Wellness Expo in Wayne

Spring into Health! DorseySchools is sponsoring a FREEHealth and Wellness Expo on Satur-day, March 26th from 10 a.m. - 2p.m. The expo will be held at theDorsey Schools campus located at35005 West Michigan Avenue indowntown Wayne. If your New Year’sresolution to get healthier hasn’t pro-gressed much, or you are worriedabout summer creeping up on you,come join us! You can learn impor-tant tips on getting and stayinghealthy, prevention through easylifestyle choices, and meet a multi-tude of health and wellness expertsfrom the community to help you onyour quest for a fitter, healthier you!A variety of health, fitness, nutrition,and medical information will beavailable. Everyone is welcome to at-tend this FREE event!

City qualifies for SAFER Grant

The City of Wayne Fire Depart-ment has been approved to receivethe SAFER Grant in the amount of$1,179,455. This grant will cover aportion of wages and benefits for upto six additional firefighters for twoyears. If the City accepts the grantthey will have to cover the rest of theexpense through the 2011-2012 and2012-2013 budget.

Wayne 1947The Wayne Historical Society is

presenting a slide show titled “Wayne1947” at their meeting on March 10at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free andrefreshments will be served.

AARP Tax Assistance Pro-gram for seniors

The Senior Services Office is tak-ing reservations for this year’s taxprogram. This FREE program willbe held at the Wayne Activity & Ban-quet Center (old senior center) at thecorner of Sims and Wayne Road.Dates of preparation will be eachWednesday through April 13. Assis-tance is done by appointments only.All tax returns are e-filed for yourconvenience. Donations to the pro-gram are appreciated. Please call734-721-7400 for appointment.

Kid’s ZoneThe Wayne Community Center

now has an area for your childrenwhile you exercise or participate inany event in the building. It is forwalking toddlers to children nineyears old. Kid’s Zone is in the view-ing area and offers an interactivearea including a soft play structure,five-sport play station, GEO traxtrain set, legos and more. Please call734-721-7400 for prices and moreinformation.

Coming soonThe City Council approved the

site plan for Baba’s Kabob andChicken a new Mediterraneanrestaurant that will open in Waynenext month. It will be located onwestbound Michigan Avenue at thesite of the former Lia and TJ’s Donutshop. The restaurant will seat 48and have a limited menu offeredthrough their drive thru. Their hourswill be 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily. In addi-tion to the restaurant, they will offercatering.

Board of ReviewOn March 21-23 the Board of Re-

view will hear appeals on 2011 as-sessed value, tentative taxable valuepoverty exemptions and propertyclassification. To schedule an ap-pointment, please call 734-722-2000. Wayne residents shouldreceive their notice of assessmentsthe first week of March.

Dorsey Schools Complimentary “Lunch & Learn” Event

What direction is your life going?Dorsey Schools will host its compli-mentary Lunch & Learn presenta-tion on Saturday, March 12, 2011,11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the DorseySchools campus located at 35005West Michigan Avenue in Wayne.Enjoy a complimentary lunch, freecareer exploration, campus toursand hands-on demonstrations.Learn about opportunities that couldmake your future a more successfulone! For more information, pleasecall (734)595-1540.

Unistrut expands in WayneWith a $606,263 tax credit ap-

proved by the Michigan EconomicGrowth Authority, Unistrut Interna-tional Corp. will be able to expandits Wayne facility and create an addi-tional 86 jobs over a five year period.Unistrut makes barbed and razorwire, structural solutions for electri-cal distribution devices, HVAC equip-ment, refrigeration, plumbing andother structural support products.

YOUR SOURCE FOR POSITIVE COMMUNITY NEWS10 · March 2011

Michelle Langa, teacher, 2011 Spelling Bee Winner Sydney Watson, Dr. Greg Baracyand Franklin Principal Sandra Brock with the middle school spelling bee winner.

Do you have news that you want to share in theNews Brief section of the Wayne Dispatch? Pleasesend your requests to us at [email protected] or call 734-641-6550.

Page 11: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

March 2011 · 11

Achieving financial goals sometimes requires making ad jus tments to your fami ly budget . Qui te o f ten, cutting back on expenses can generate the largest results in the shor tes t period of time. It’s not how much you earn in your lifetime, but how much you spend that can keep you from achieving your goals.

So, if you have a financial goal in your life, take a look at your spending as a way to save the money to achieve that goal. Here are just a few helpful tips:

Need help getting started? To take advantage of this great offer, become a member of the Credit Union today. As a member of Wayne Westland Federal Credit Union , you will have ful l access to the Accel p rogram, a FREE financial education and counseling program. If you already are a current member of Wayne Westland Federal Credit Union, you can call Accel directly at

1-877-33ACCEL (332-2235).

“Moving Toward Your Financial Success”

FEDERALLY INSURED BY NCUA

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500 S. Wayne Rd. Westland, MI 48186

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• Reduce grocery expenses• Cut down on meals out, vacation travel, and expensive hobbies• Cut consumption of non-nutritious beverages• Do home maintenance and repair jobs yourself• Spend less for clothing and personal care• Reduce trips to the beauty or barber shop • Purchase a more economical car • Use the public library instead of buying books and magazines • Give fewer gifts or spend less on gifts

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By Jenny JohnsonIf you’ve got a computer problem,

they can fix it. ICON Computer Solu-tions owner Brian Ewanciw andcomputer technician Nick Schuetterepair about 100 computers amonth. They do anything from virusremoval to installing new programsto replacing batteries and muchmore. And they have same day serv-ice for most repairs.

ICON has been open since Octo-ber on westbound Michigan Avenuein Wayne. They were previously lo-cated in Ypsilanti. Ewanciw said helives in Wayne and had driven pastthe building numerous times. “I hadmy eye on it,” he said. “I love this lo-cation.”

They provide a wide range ofcomputer services for laptops anddesktop computers as well as in-home repairs and set up. They spe-cialize in both residential and

commercial customers. ICON ismore than a computer repair shop,they sell monitors, desktops, lap-tops, chargers, keyboards, speakers,accessories, parts and security cam-era systems. If you are looking for acustom built computer, they can dothat too.

“Tell us what you are going to useit for and we can build what youneed,” he said.

“I’ve always been in electronics.My family owned a satellite businessand I started working at 14,” Ewan-ciw said. “I like that it’s somethingnew every day.”

If you have a computer problemor question or are in the market fora new system, stop by ICON Com-puter Solutions. Their hours are 10a.m. - 7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday. Checkthem out at 734-729-4266 orwww.iconpcsolutions.com .

ICON Computer has the solution

Brian and Nick at ICON Computer Solutions are ready to help you with all your com-puter needs. Photo by John P. Rhaesa of The Wayne Dispatch

Page 12: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

12 · March 2011

By Erica PerdueU.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda

Solis, visited Wayne to show supportof the Wayne LiUNA training pro-gram and the Union’s “Build Amer-ica” effort.

LiUNA is the Laborers’ Interna-tional Union of North America. Theyhave three training institutes and ap-prenticeships in Michigan includingthe one in Wayne.

Solis has been the secretary oflabor since February 2009. Creatingclean energy jobs is one of her toppriorities. The Department ofLabor’s mission is: To foster, pro-mote and develop the welfare of thewage earners, job seekers, and re-tirees of the United States; improveworking conditions; advance oppor-tunities for profitable employment;and assure work-related benefitsand rights.

“The skills these young people aregaining will help conserve energy,which is something we all need todo,” said Solis.

The “Build America” programwas started in 2010. The cause is torestore America’s competitiveness,create jobs and ensure a positivelegacy for future generations. Theprogram is focusing on school facili-ties, highways, bridges and water re-sources.

Solis started her visit by speakingto six students, the first six in theweatherization program. They toldher about what they hope to achievein the future. One student wants to

open her own hair salon after she fin-ishes the weatherization program.She said the program has helped herlearn how to save money in her busi-ness. Solis told the students thatthey all have potential.

“The president wants to see moreof this. [The president] is pushing forgood demonstrations of training andbuilding skills like this in young peo-ple,” Solis said.

The LiUNA weatherization pro-gram trains students in energy effi-ciency in homes across NorthAmerica.

It is a hands-on program that hasreceived college credit recommenda-tions from the American Council onEducation.

“The recession has hit manufac-turing jobs the hardest. I’m happythat these opportunities are avail-able, it’s important to have programslike these,” she said.

LiUNA employees did a haz-ardous material (HAZMAT) demon-stration to show Solis what they doin the program training. Several em-ployees have been working with HAZ-MAT for over ten years andexplained to Solis that safety is thetop priority in this and all of theircourses.

“So many were nay-sayers aboutmaking investments [into these pro-grams] but they’re living proof that itis worth it,” said Solis.

“This is a preview of what is tocome. This is a growing industry thathas taken off,” she said.

Member of Obama’s administration visits city

Congressman Hansen Clark and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis meet with Represen-tatives from Liuna. Photo by John P. Rhaesa of The Wayne Dispatch

Page 13: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

March 2011 · 13

By Jenny JohnsonThe Ripple Effect has made

waves in Wayne. They raised $2200at their first fundraiser, a Hops andSchnapps, at the Avenue SportsGrille.

Jennifer Rickard, Ripple Effectboard member, said the goal of thegroup is to create a vibrant walkable, visually appealing downtown.

“This is absolutely a grass rootscitizen’s movement. We are all prop-erty owners and we need to do whatwe can,” she said.

Members of the Ripple Effectwere thankful for those who sup-ported their fundraiser.

Sherrie Brindley told the selloutcrowd their participation is just help-ing to “build momentum for the revi-talization effort. This is just thebeginning of what you’re going to seein downtown Wayne. “

“This is truly a community event,”she said.

“Goals cannot be attained withoutfunding,” Rickard said.

Their goals include attracting andretaining businesses and residentsin Wayne.

“We need to bring the City of

Wayne closer to its full potential,”she said. Later this year the RippleEffect will send in an application forWayne to become a Michigan Main-street community. The Mainstreetprogram works with communities tohelp revitalize their downtown dis-tricts.

In the meantime they plan tostart making small differences in thedowntown area. They are looking forsuggestions on how to enhance thedowntown, support for theirfundraisers and ambitious and posi-tive volunteers to help with their ef-fort.

“We love the city we live in andwant to beautify it,” Rickard said.

“We can make a difference in thiscommunity. When we work togetherwe can make big things happen,”said John Rhaesa, Ripple Effectboard member.

For more information you canvisit www.waynerippleeffect.com.

They meet at 6:30 p.m. the thirdThursday of the month at the Cham-ber of Commerce on Michigan Av-enue. Their meetings are open to thepublic, stop by and share your ideason revitalizing downtown.

Ripple Effect hostsfirst fundraiser

Rocks represented ripples of support for the revitalization of downtown Wayne.

Page 14: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

14 · March 2011

By Erica PerdueThe stripe print of the zebra mas-

cot represents the pride in WayneMemorial High School students,which is why in late 2007 when thenewspaper was reborn they chose totitle it ‘The Zebra Print.’

The first issue came out in Janu-ary of 2008. It’s a free newspaper. Inthe beginning there was not a news-paper class so the staff was freelanc-ing. At that time there were twowriters, a graphics guy and the advi-sor, Heather Koch. At the start of thenew semester in early 2008 a news-paper class was formed.

The Zebra Print won nine awardslast year from the Michigan Inter-scholastic Press Association: thegold for overall newspaper produc-tion, five awards went to the artistand other awards for photo storiesand various articles.

"When I came here five years agoI volunteered to start a newspaper. Idid newspaper and yearbook atGlenn and I missed the rapport ofhaving a newspaper staff," said Koch.

This year there are 18 studentson the staff: an editor-in-chief, sec-tion editors, reporters/photogra-phers and an artist.

"I’ve been really amazed by thisgreat group. It’s small but I’m im-pressed," said Koch.

The Wayne Westland School Dis-trict Superintendent, Dr. GregBaracy, said the paper is impressive.

“It resembles a high-quality news-paper. The articles are fair, balancedand credible. The appearance is likethat of a national newspaper,”Baracy said. “The student reportershave always demonstrated maturityand are respectful. Those are bothgood qualities of any reporters.”

During newspaper class the staffplans the paper on the white board.A few students stand at the boardwith the magic wand of a markerand draw out their ideas for stories,layouts and photos. Then the rest ofthe staff shouts out in agreement ordisagreement.

"We have a wide range of topics tocover here and I really enjoy it," saidJ’entill Neal, entertainment co-editor.

The story-planning process is or-ganized chaos and the product is anewspaper they are proud to pro-vide.

"My favorite part of the newspa-per is definitely the staff. We’re like afamily - loud, dedicated, friendly andreliable," said Samantha Kilburn, ed-itor-in-chief.

Koch describes Kilburn as her"go-to" girl for good stories.

Andrew Laitinen is the infamousstaff artist. He has a reputationaround the building for being theonly staff artist. His cartoons are fea-tured every month and he draws“Wayne” the zebra, the newspaper’sown version of the school mascot.

“I like seeing my work printed,”Laitinen said.

Koch said that she is proud of theartist and he is very creative.

“He’s one to watch. He will makeit far with his incredible talent,” saidKoch.

Shane Kommer is the sports edi-tor and said that deciding to join thepaper was one of his best decisions.

Baracy said that the Zebra Printis an “outstanding program … onegood enough for other districts to im-itate.”

Students who were staff on theZebra Print in 2008 and 2009 havegone on to pursue journalism and

graphic design careers. The very firsteditor-in-chief of the newspaperwrites for the Wayne Dispatch News-paper and is approaching gradua-tion with her bachelor’s injournalism.

With Koch’s leadership, talentedstudents and the school’s admira-tion for the newspaper, the Zebra

Print will continue to report newsand entertaining stories to all ofWMHS.

Editor’s note: Prior to the Zebra Print, the Hi-Lite was a student run newspaper printed monthlyat Wayne Memorial and supervised by Bill Brooks.If you remember or wrote for the Hi-Lite, tell uswhat you remember on our Facebook page, face-book.com/thewaynedispatch.

Zebra Print earns its stripes

Front row, left to right: Samantha Kilburn, Samantha Grubb, Marion Castaldini. Sec-ond row, left to right: Amber Frost, Derrick Lipke, Valarie Green, Kyle Saavedra,Kaileen Horvath, Jennifer Troost. Third row, l to r: Heather Koch, Sarah Taylor,Alec Lee, Dan Malcolm, Courtney Hooper. Top, left to right: Demarrea Johnson,Andrew Laitinen, Shane Kommer. Not pictured: J'entill Neal.

Page 15: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

YOUR SOURCE FOR POSITIVE COMMUNITY NEWS March 2011 · 15

They call it “A Zebra Safari”, andit’s a fundraising dinner to benefitmany student activities at Wayne Me-morial High School. On March 25,you can experience a culinary delightat the Dyer Adult Senior Center,36745 Marquette. Prepared by staffand students at the William D. FordCareer-Tech Center, the dinner willstart with hummus and pita, cheeseand crackers, fruit and veggies, co-conut chicken and sweet and sourmeatballs. Michigan salads withnuts and dried cherries will be fol-lowed by the main course: PrimeRib and fish. You can have pastawith a choice of sauces and a varietyof vegetables. Or you can skip all thehealthy food and go right for thedesserts---French pastries andchocolate covered strawberries!

Seventy people turned out for thefirst Zebra Safari in 2006. Last yearthere were 200.

The committee (Chairperson:Chris Spehar; Co-Chair: ColleenWilliamson; Treasurer: Beth Gen-dron; Secretary: Sheri Bartz; andparent volunteer co-coordinator:Sue Webb) have great hopes that thisyear’s dinner will be even more suc-

cessful. Tickets are $30.00 or$200.00 for a table of eight. Doorsopen at 6:00 p.m. with dinner at7:00 p.m.

The Zebra Parent Advisory Coun-cil (Z-PAC) is also seeking gift dona-tions to be used for the silentauction, raffles, and live auction, tobe held throughout the evening.

Wayne Memorial’s Principal, Va-lerie Orr, a 1993 graduate of WMHS,has many tickets and would love tosell you one---or many more. Callher at (734)-419-2206. She doesask that you purchase your ticketsby March 15.

Another event, which will raisefunds for scholarships, is plannedfor March 15.

Each year The Ladies’ LiteraryClub offers $1000 to a young lady

from Wayne Memorial and the sameamount to a John Glenn graduate.Both young women are always out-standing students and it’s the Club’spleasure to award them with collegefunds.

After years of rummage sales andbake sales Ladies’ Literary decidedjust to have a fun evening filled withword games, prizes, delicious re-freshments, and a chance to enjoythe company of your friends andneighbors. You’ll take home a bookof your choice, some homemadebaked goods and an up-to-date read-ing list of best selling books.

No need to buy a ticket---your do-nation to a splendid cause will helptwo deserving young women getstarted on their chosen career path.

We hope to see you at the FirstCongregational Church, at 7:00 p.m.on Tuesday, March 15th.

A Detroit Institute of Arts docentwill present “Fakes, Forgeries andMysteries” at our Wayne Library onMarch 29. As the radio commercialsays about it---“is it Rembrandt orRemblandt?” The speaker will ex-plain how museum experts work be-hind the scenes, using science,including x-rays, and also art historyresearch to reveal the DIA’s greatestmysteries. Many of the discoveriesare from the museum’s own collec-tions. As an example, they are cur-rently examining works by Monetand Van Gogh to determine if theyare by the artists, or are forgeries.Please make a reservation for theTuesday evening program by calling(734) 721-7832.

Wayne’s Garden club will present‘The Petticoat Ladies’ as their Marchprogram. Called “Charmers andCranks” the ladies will featurewomen who are in each category.

The performers dress in the cos-tumes of the era they represent, andfor this program one of the ‘Cranks’,will be Carrie Nation complete withhatchet. This will be one of the lasttimes to see these gals perform, be-cause they will be disbanding in May.If you’d like to attend, please give mea call---729-1203. It’s at the WayneLibrary, on March 9 at 12:30 p.m.

An overflow crowd---friends andrelatives of Sharon and Ron Gilbertcame to the J R Bar last month.They will be raising their one-year-old grandson, Trevor, after the sud-den death of their daughter, Chelsea.J R’s held a 6-hour benefit to raisefunds for the family’s expenses.Sharon’s sister Karen was on hand,as were their dear friends, Marilynand Jeff Bayer. A large group of theGilbert’s neighbors came from Bid-dle St: Jean Smoes, Pam and TomDobrowolski, The Wootton-Ham-mons families, Karen and Don Ta-laga, and Marilyn and Bob Sawyer.

If you were unable to attend thebenefit, and would like to contribute‘a little something’ for Sharon, Ron,Trevor, and the memory of Chelsea---the Wayne-Westland Credit Unionhas set up an account. It’s TheTrevor D. Gilbert Trust Fund.

Remember, life is brief, but loveis long.

Many ways to help in the community

Dee Ryan

Footprints

of Wayne

MR. POSITIVE ON WITH BUDA CHANNEL 95.5 FM MONDAY NIGHT BETWEEN 7:30-8:00 PM

Page 16: Wayne Dispatch MARCH 2011_Wayne Dispatch Pages

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