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Westland Area Jaycees are here to
serve our community.”
To receive the funds, these local
organizations provide the volunteer
manpower to make the event a suc-
cess. The volunteers these groups
provided served as greeters, grounds
crew, and ID checkers, among a vari-
ety of other roles in an effort to cost -
effectively operate the annual event.
“Being able to hand out the
checks is my favorite part,” said
Westland Chamber of Commerce
CEO Brookellen Swope. “I always
love seeing our civic groups, and
being able to hand them money
instead of asking them for something
is a great feeling. We are blessed in
our community to have so many
great organizations and volunteers.
This community event would not be
possible without all of these wonder-
ful people.”
Benefits
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Safety first
Police presence is safety precaution
Westland Police Chief Jeff Jedrusik
is confident that those attending
Blues, Brews and Barbecue this year
will enjoy a family-friendly safe event.
“We haven't had a police incident
in several years,” he said. “This is a
community-friendly event.”
Jedrusik said a factor in the safety
and family atmosphere at the Blues
Brews and Barbecue could be due to
the lack of a carnival attraction during
the event.
“As the years have gone on, we
have gotten away from the carnival
type of event. As I said, we have had
no real police incidents in several
years.”
Jedrusik said there would be a
strong police presence at the event
with 30 to 40 officers onhand for “high
visibility.”
“We'll be working on traffic details
and pedestrian safety,” he said. “I
really encourage visitors to use the
off-site parking at John Glenn High
School, the VoTech Center and the
Senior Friendship Center. There is a
free shuttle from the Marquette Road
and Friendship Center locations,” he
said, and added that use of the off-site
parking would help eliminate the
danger to pedestrians and parking
and traffic concerns.
The shuttles run from 6-11:30 p.m
Friday and 5-11:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We haven’t had an incident in
years and we want to keep it that
way,” Jedrusik added.
