The Wayne Rotary Club was honored
as the Service Organization of the Year
by the Wayne Chamber of Commerce at
an awards presentation earlier this
month.
The honor, a new award for the cham-
ber, was presented along with the annual
selections of Business Person of the Year
which went to Don Nicholson, the owner
of Don Nicholson Enterprises LLC and
the Business of the Year awarded to the
Wayne Dairy Queen, owned by Michael
and JennPetrou.
The Rotary Club nomination for the
honor came after a review of the club
web page which detailed the activities of
the group during the year. Among the
many activities and civic contributions
listed were the delivery of 278 dictionar-
ies to local elementary schools: the
installation of free libraries at several
locations in the city; scholarships pre-
sented to local students; the community
picnics at Rotary Park; sponsorship of
free concerts in Goudy Park; the dona-
tion of video equipment to the police
department; more than $1,500 in warm
clothing donated to the Wayne Westland
Family Resource Center and the organi-
zation of the Holiday Night at the
Museumevent.
Chamber President Pastor Dave
Furno strongly recommended the Rotary
Club award to the selection committee.
Nicholson was also named as
Westland Business Person of the Year
earlier this year. His company organizes
several automotive events and car cruis-
es in the area, including the recent All
American Cruise in Westland. He also
does a lot of volunteer work in Wayne
and serves on 16 boards and commis-
sions. He was nominated by Community
Living Services inWayne.
Nicholson said he was not expecting
the award and thanked his wife, Gayle,
for her help inhis efforts.
The Petrous succeeded Anna and
Michael Petrou, Michael's parents, as
owners at the 55-year-old Dairy Queen.
They have remodeled the building and
“beautified the city” and have continued
to employ local students and donate to
community schools and organizations.
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January 7, 2016
C
ANTON
- W
AYNE
- W
ESTLAND
Talking TED
Westland student featured in
2 national computer ‘talks’
Wayne Chamber of Commerce honors businesses
Cyclist killed in crash
State appointments announced
John Glenn High School senior
Brandon Allen has become a familiar
face to thousands of viewers of the popu-
lar TEDTalks.
Allen, who is part of the Eastern
Michigan University Bright Futures pro-
gram at John Glenn, was selected to
speak at the national TED Youth
Conference inNewYork last fall.
That wasn't his first brush with fame,
however. Through the college program,
he did a TED-ED Talk two years ago
titled Debunking the Black Male
Stereotype. He was selected from stu-
dents around the world to present his
platform at the national TED Youth
Conference where he spoke in front of a
few thousand teens, and his presenta-
tionwas broadcast around theworld.
The Eastern Michigan University
Bright Futures program facilitated the
TED-Ed Club at John Glenn High
School.
TED-ED is a way to celebrate the
ideas of students, 8-18, around the
world. Students can identify and
research ideas that matter to them the
most and then work on their storytelling
and communication skills. Then they
frame their idea and present it in a TED
talk. The talks are uploaded to the TED-
ED YouTube channel and some, like
Allen's, are selected to be featured on
theTED-EDwebsite.
More than 1,000 students in more
than 20 countries participate in TED-
EDClubs.
In addition to public speaking, Allen
currently holds a state office in DECCA,
is a founding member of the Male
African American Scholars (MAAS)
group, participates in the Champions of
John Glenn mentoring program, has a
3.5 career GPA, is taking three
Advanced Placement classes and would
like to attend Syracuse University in
New York to study broadcast journal-
ism.
His first TED Talk can be found at
tyDlXwp0&app=desktop and his pres-
entation at the New York TED Youth
Conference canbe found at
9 ldtuu /Brandon%20Al l en%20 -
%20NYC%20TEDYouth.m4v?dl=0
John Glenn High School student Brandon Allen has participated in two TED-Ed talks
worldwide.
CantonPolice are continuing to investi-
gate the traffic accident that took the life
of a 78-year-oldbicyclistMondaymorning.
According to police reports of the inci-
dent, dispatchers received a call at
approximately 7:51 a.m. Sunday, and offi-
cers responded to reports of a traffic acci-
dent on Canton Center Road south of
Cherry Hill Road. The bicyclist was
severely injured and was immediately
transported to St. Joseph's Mercy a local
hospital by theCantonFireDepartment.
The cyclist was pronounced dead at
the hospital, according to police reports of
the incident.
The motorist was released at the scene
and has provided full cooperation with
investigators, police said.
The Canton Police Department
Accident InvestigationTeam is continuing
the investigation into the incident, police
said.
Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed Lisa
Gray, of Northville, and Kaushik Nag, of
Grand Rapids, and reappointed Jamie
Hsu, of Troy, and Toshiki Masaki, of
Canton, to the Michigan Asian Pacific
AmericanAffairs Commission.
The 21-member commission, housed in
the Michigan Department of Civil Rights,
advances the full and equal participation
of AsianPacificAmericans inMichigan.
“I thank these individuals for their
willingness to serve on this important com-
mission and look forward to their contri-
butions on behalf of Michigan's Asian
Pacific American community,” Snyder
said.
Appointees will serve four-year terms
expiringNov. 30, 2019. Their appointments
are not subject to the advice and consent
of theSenate.
