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A
SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
P
AGE
8
April 18, 2013
Volunteers to be honored
To the editor;
April is National Volunteer
Appreciation
Month
and
Compassionate CareHospice wish-
es to recognize their dedicated vol-
unteer force for paying visits to
patients, assisting with operations
in the office, helping with special
events such as bunny, dog and cat
visits at care facilities, providing
musical companionship and sitting
vigil withpatients at the very end of
life.
The following volunteers are
appreciated by the staff and
patients of Compassionate Care
Hospice: Barbara Adkins, Gloria
Arreguin-Ison, Steve Avery, Billy
Brooks, Barbara Burleson, Deanna
Call, Mollee Chowen, Su Mei
Dixon, Marita Dyer, Jeanne
Edwards, Kayla Evans, Greg
Green, Heather Gruszczynski,
Marie Guglielmotti, Renee Greger,
Bruce Hanks, Hwa Kwon, John
Harris, Jake O'Connor, Ben
Iacoban, JoAnn Mackrain, Maggie
Maly, Kim Messer, Brian O'Connor,
Kirstie Lowe, Nick Pisano, Tiffany
Porter, Carl Quinn, Judy Rea,
Sonali Reddy, Simran Reddy, Jana
Riutta, Kira Schwartz, Harvir
Singh, Pat Theisen, Anita
Thompson, Jerry Austin, Deborah
Morgeson, Sanaa Uddin, Lisa
Wright, Chelsea Miller, Mary Ellen
Navin, Carol Parkinson, Carol
Riley, Mary Ann Schrock-Hoffman,
Elizabeth Seiler, Sam Watters,
Susie Zaroni and pet therapy ani-
mals Bonita the bunny, Lilly the cat
and dogs Ginger, Chester and
Cooper.
These volunteers will be for-
mally recognized at Compassionate
Care Hospice's Annual Volunteer
Recognition Event on Thursday,
April 25. They will need to dodge
the paparazzi on the Red Carpet at
the Emagine-Canton Movie
Theater as they will be enjoying
pop and popcorn while in a private
auditorium watching the 2004 film
BigFish.
Anyone wishing to join the vol-
unteer program may contact
Justine Galat, MSA, volunteer coor-
dinator, at (888) 983-9050. The next
orientation is fast approaching
JustineGalat, MSA,
Compassionate CareHospice
CantonTownship
Last week, the Van Buren
Township Fire Chief issued a
warning to the public about the
presence ofMRSA in the area.
For those who are unaware of
why this would be an issue, MRSA
is the commonly used abbreviation
for
Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus, otherwise
known as the flesh-eating disease.
It isn't pretty.
It is a drug resistant staph infec-
tion that has caused very serious
healthproblems for thosewho con-
tact the disease which usually
begins at some break in the skin
and spreads fromthere.
Because of the severity and dire
consequences that sometimes
result from the infection, health
professionals usually attempt to
keep any such infection quiet, so as
not to panic those exposed to the
disease, and take Herculeanmeas-
ures to sanitize and destroy any
trace of the virus that causes the
infection.
We think Van Buren did exactly
the right thing in this instance by
letting people know that a firefight-
er-Emergency Medical Technician
was infected by a patient he treat-
ed on an emergency run in the
township. The chief pulled no
punches about when the initial
contact occurred, how long it took
for the infection to manifest itself
and the immediate treatment the
firefighter received to attempt to
control the situation.
The situation was reported
immediately to the Wayne County
Health Department, too, as
required by law. Reports were
filed both at the time of the initial
contact and the confirmation of the
firefighters' diagnosis.
Letting the public know that this
danger exists and that there is a
slim, almost negligible chance of
this infection spreading was the
Apparently, my grandchildren
and I are no longer welcome at
Target.
Now, I have already admitted to
some of the adventures the three of
us have had on our little “shopping
expeditions” when their parents are
out of townand I get to be in charge.
We haven't done any harm on
our adventures and have provided,
I think, a level of entertainment for
other shoppers which a smart retail-
er would appreciate. But, contrary
to that theory, the rather rigid man-
agement sent me the following letter
regarding our recent visits.
DearMrs.Willett;
During the past few weeks, you
and your grandchildren have
caused several unfortunate inci-
dents in our store. Your continued
antics and behavior can no longer
be tolerated as it is disruptive and
uncomfortable for both our staff
and other shoppers. Therefore, we
have no choice but to ban both you
and your grandchildren from the
premises.
Should you wish to challenge
this decision, please remember
that each of the incidents listed
below is documented on our store
surveillance cameras and you and
the children have been positively
identified.
1. Feb. 15: You and your grand-
daughter took 24 boxes of condoms
and randomly put them in other
people's carts when they weren't
looking.
2. Feb. 17: Your grandson set all
the alarm clocks in Housewares to
go off at 5-minute intervals.
3. Feb. 20: You took a can of tomato
juice from the grocery aisle and
made a trail on the floor leading to
thewomen's restroom.
4. Feb. 21: You walked up to an
employee and told her in an offi-
cial
voice,
“Code three in
Housewares.
Get on it right away.” This caused
the employee to leave her
assigned station which resulted in
a reprimand from her supervisor.
She subsequently sued us for cre-
ating a “hostile working environ-
ment.” Our corporate attorneys
are now handling that matter
which has cost thousands of dol-
lars in legal fees.
5. March. 4: Your grandson went to
the Service Desk and tried to
reserve a bag of chips.
6. March 7: Your granddaughter
moved a CAUTION - WETFLOOR
sign to a carpeted area.
7. March 9: The three of you
A Wayne resident is circulating petitions to change the
formof government inhis community.
The city manager, city clerk and city attorney invited him
to a meeting at city hall last week to discuss the language
and form of his petitions in a polite meeting of people who
obviously have some basic disagreements about how things
in their community should be done. Those disagreements,
however, didn'tmake themdisagreeable.
The resident, Ron Roberts, said after the meeting that he
felt it was productive and that it was courteous and profes-
sional.
We say, good for himand good forWayne.
Treating Roberts with courtesy and listening to his con-
cerns is exactly what local officials should be doing. This is
the kind of respectful, polite treatment that residents should
expect from their elected leaders andmunicipal employees.
We know that is exactly the manner in which they would be
treated in some of our communities where courtesy and
service to residents is one of the primary directives and a
condition of continued employment. In some others, not so
much.
It is especially comment-worthy to note that one of
Roberts' proposals would do away with the current cityman-
ager position and yet, Bob English, the man who fills that
role for the city now, was one of those reviewing the petition
language andmeeting with the man seeking to eliminate his
job. That, we think, is the mark of a level of understanding
and competence in municipal government, lacking in some
other communities.
We cannot help but compare this to the City of Inkster
where residents are actually told to 'shut up' at public meet-
ings or other communities where residents are interrupted
with a curt 'your time is up' when trying to ask questions or
explain a situation to their elected officials. The ghastly
treatment the local superintendent of schools received last
week in PlymouthTownshipwhere hewas rudely treated by
elected officials when he spoke at their meeting speaks vol-
umes about the lack of respect afforded the public in that
community.
We are reminded, too, of several community activists who
appear regularly at meetings to berate board or council
members about one thing or another. These are the folks
who are constantly vocal, often in error, and very long-wind-
ed. They appear at nearly every meeting and always have
something critical to say about something.
InWestland, there was the lateMildred Evans who rarely
missed a meeting and never missed an opportunity to
demand to know what the council members there were
doing andwhy theywere doing it. Shewas, in fact, somewhat
of a pest.
But she was probably the best friend the council people
had. Because critics and activists who stand up and speak
out can provide elected officials with a real insight intowhat
others are thinking about themand their actions. It is people
like these who give officials a chance to really educate and
explain the reasons for actions. And occasionally, these are
the people who present an alternate opinion or viewpoint of
a situation that officials hadn't considered. Mildred Evans
did a great deal of good for her citywith her tenacity and her
determination.
It is these critics, these activists, who help improve com-
munity government by asking the difficult and often repeti-
tive questions. Sure, they may appear a little paranoid, but
that doesn'tmean they arewrong.
We appreciate the local officialswho understand that crit-
icism is not necessarily their enemy and that often we can
learn a great deal about ourselves and our mistakes when it
is offered.
As was most recently demonstrated inWayne, it is always
more productive and professional to be courteous, even to
thosewhomay not share themajority point of view.
She was, in fact, somewhat of a pest.
But she was probably the
best friend the council people had.
”
Listening to the public is part of the job
A little
fresh air
2. Feb. 17: Your grandson
set all the alarm clocks
in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
”
Things parents just never need to know
Letter
See
Target,
page 9
See
Warming
, page 9