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“Friends” called destructive
To the editor;
Friends of the Rouge was found-
ed in 1986, about 26 years ago.
The technique they use to sam-
ple animal life is destructive.
They take living creatures and
count them. Often the creatures
die. Clams, oysters, crayfish and
Stone fly are their quarry during
several bug hunts. These forays
destroy the thing studied.
Some creatures take a long time
to reproduce. When these delicate
areas are invaded by people with
heavy boots and nets, they are dis-
rupted and destroyed. Turtles,
birds and fish get easier treatment.
They do feed on the creatures that
the Friends destroy, however, and
so don't escape completely. The
wildlife declines on the river are
not caused only by the Friends, but
these 26 years havehad an impact.
Her is their mission statement:
“To promote restoration and stew-
ardship of the Rouge River ecosys-
tem through education, citizen
involvement and other collabora-
tive efforts, for the purpose improv-
ing the quality of life for the people,
plants and animals of the water-
shed.”
They promote work. They very
rarely do any actual work. The
source of pollution has changed
over the years from industry to
municipal governments and
municipal governments are appar-
ently responsible for more than 90
percent of the pollution in the
River Rouge-with volume increas-
ing each year.
With over $300 million spilled
into the Rouge River-the dirty
water is still there.
Recently, the Friends raided
Johnson Creek----they neglected to
mention that there is still mercury
in thewater of JohnsonCreek.
WithFriends like that…
AlfredBrock
Wayne,
A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
March 29, 2012
If you met a person carrying a
large sack of heavy stones over his
shoulder, on his back, would you
help? Or would you walk by, busy
with your own concerns of the
moment?
Would you even think to reach
in the bag and take out one of the
stones, because you could lighten
the load, just a little?
Or would you be afraid of invad-
ing his privacy or being accused of
stealing his precious rocks?
Likemost of life these days, it's a
dilemma.
It was, however, sort of an Ah-
hah moment for me recently when
I reconnected with a very dear
friend from years and years ago.
During our conversation, she told
me that these days, she feels that
everyone she meets is carrying a
heavy bag of troubles, like stones,
on their shoulders, and what she
wants to do is just take one of those
rocks out of the bag, if she can.
If you think about that, it will
bring all sorts of things to mind.
People you know, or knew, things
you could have, should have or
meant to do, but probably didn't get
around to because of your own bag
of rocks.
In the spirit of full disclosure
here, my friend is a former nun,
and her gentle good heart and ten-
der soul are the things about which
books and songs arewritten. She is,
without a doubt, one of the finest,
gentlest and most compassionate
people I've ever had the honor of
calling my friend. Lest you get the
wrong idea, though, she also tells
the filthiest jokes and has one of
the most ribald senses of humor
I've ever encountered. That and
her vocabulary that could send a
longshoreman to confession, are
probably the reasons we get on so
well. She personifies the word
dichotomy.
She's also smart, well educated,
articulate and the person I want to
be if I evermanage to growup.
I've loved and cherished her as a
friend since we first met many
decades ago. We've grown apart
during the past years with our lives
going in separate directions, but
she is now enjoying retirement and
we found time to catch up in a long
phone conversation recently. That's
when she toldme her little parable
about the rocks.
What kind of a world would we
live in if we all took on her atti-
tude? Seriously, what would it be
like?
What if strangers started being
really nice to one another, opening
doors for those loaded down with
packages, letting pedestrians walk
across the roadway in the rain,
moving aside so that others could
have a turn? Small, simple courte-
sies that can often make a real dif-
ference in someone's day. Simply
doing favors for people because we
can?
My friend finds somany of these
things to do for others, without
every really making her own life
more complicated. If she sees
something she can do, she simply
does it. The remarkable thing to
me is that she never, ever expects
anybody
to
notice or repay
her in any way.
Thank yous
aren't even necessary. Often, peo-
ple have no idea she is the person
whohas provided thehelp.
She left the convent to pursue a
professional career and is no
longer a religious person, but she
honestly believes in andpractices a
life of empathy and help for others.
Every single day she finds some
kindness, some favor, some service
she can do for someone else. That's
theway she lives her life.
But don't get the wrong idea,
here. She isn't a person to be taken
advantage of or ill- used. Nobody is
ever going to manipulate her or
take her for granted, and anybody
who disrespects her has my sympa-
thy. She doesn't tolerate fools, big-
ots or bores too well, and tends to
speakhermindway too freely.
At the same time, she will
always reach in and take at least
one small stone out of the bag on
anyone's back, no matter how dis-
Last week, the Michigan Association of School Boards
took time to honor several trustees who serve local school
districts.
Honored were board of education members who have
taken classes and completed courses to improve their knowl-
edge of school district finance, administration and even cur-
riculumand somewhohave served for several years.
We, too, would like to applaud these people for their
efforts to improve and guard the education of area students.
The people who serve on school boards are, we find, usually
a different kind of public servant. Most of them are actually
there to serve, to help, to try and improve the quality of edu-
cation that children receive.
When we are constantly barraged with the misdeeds and
arrogant self-interest of others who hold public office, it is
more than refreshing to watch school board trustees in
action. While, like any other classification, there is always
room for improvement and there are some who simply don't
truly understand the non-partisan, non-political basis on
which schools should operate, most of these people are a
breathof freshair.
While they often disagree about issues, many times have
dissenting opinions about policy and often argue for their
position, school boardmembers are usually not disagreeable.
They talk, they discuss, they ask for expert opinions and
advice, come to a consensus and then they move on to other
issues. Many times we have seen one or another of them suf-
fer real disappointment at not being able to persuade the oth-
ers to their way of thinking. We have yet to see, however, any
of them become vindictive or nasty about the issue. They
may, and often do, disagree, but they are very rarely, in our
experience, disagreeable about it.
These people serve with very little, often no reward, other
than knowing they are providing an essential and needed
service.
They are asked, however, to take on administrative and
policy tasks as significant, if not more so, than many who
serve in municipal government. They make decisions that
affect the education that our children receive----look at the
recent controversy in Plymouth-Canton about which books
students should or should not be allowed to read. That was
an issue of serious and genuine concernhandledwithdignity
and efficiency by board members who attempted to hear all
sides of the issue and make the best decision for all involved
without letting personal aggrandizement, prejudice or arro-
gance rule the day.
We could go on and on citing issues that have faced all of
the board of education members in this area recently.
Particularly the budget deficits and reduced financing that
face eachand every one of them.
Smart
moves
pay off
What kind of a world would we live in
if we all took on her attitude?
Seriously, what would it be like?
”
Our troubles can be just like stones in a bag
”
Underpaid, unappreciated trustees are invaluable
These people serve with very little, often no
reward, other than knowing they are providing
an essential and needed service.
In the current political climate,
news of sound financial manage-
ment is like a breathof spring air.
That's the condition in the City
ofWaynewhere the administration
has been able to leverage about
$2.8 million during the past five
years into $28 million in street and
road repairs. That's a great deal for
the taxpayers, especially in the
current financial condition of the
state and the city itself.
Wayne residents approved a 1-
mill road millage for 25 years in
2007. Since then, the city has care-
fully used those roadmillage funds
to provide the local portion of fed-
eral and state grants that have
been used for more than 24 differ-
ent projects.
City Engineer Ramzi El-Gharib
told the members of city council
recently that they had already
done the majority of what they
promised the citizens they would
dowhen they sought themillage.
Good for them.
There are few communities in
the state that don't desperately
need infrastructure and road
repairs. Even the past mild
Michiganwinter has taken a toll on
local roads. For a small community
like Wayne to be able to leverage
funds to get repairs done on both
main roadways and side streets,
along with ramps from Michigan
Avenue to Wayne Road, is truly
worthhighpraise.
Officials have been watchful
and prudent, applying for grant
funds and keeping the road mill-
age money on hand to help pay the
local portion of many of the proj-
ects. They've been fiscally prudent
and used this money very wisely
on projects that benefit residents
and those traveling along the main
roadways alike.
When a community can find a
way to complete a $1.4 million
project using only $200,000 of local
funds, it's worthy of note. The city
will only pay $100,000 toward a
future Michigan Avenue project
See
Trustees,
page 7
See
Rocks,
page 7
See
Smart,
page 7
Letters