A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
June 14, 2018
Winners
Annual scholarships awarded at
meeting of Westland Rotary Club
W
AYNE
- W
ESTLAND
Council chooses candidate to complete term
Free bicycle safety inspections set in Wayne Saturday
Members of the Wayne City
Council have chosen Kevin
Dowd to fill the remaining 5
months of the council term of
JeremiahWebster.
Webster will complete the
term of Christopher Sanders
which expires in 2020. Sanders
was recalled from the council
in a special election lastmonth.
The council interviewed
four applicants for the vacancy
including R. Eric Cleereman,
Lenard Fisher and Michael
Wilson II.
Numerous votes were taken
among council members before
Dowd was announced as the
successful candidate. After
multiple voting, Dowd received
five of the eligible six votes.
His
selection
was
announced to the council mem-
bers by City Clerk Matthew
Miller as the end of the repeti-
tive balloting.
Dowd told the council mem-
bers that he understood the
current financial situation in
the city. He said that as a 19-
year resident of the city, he is
familiar with the history of the
community. He said that as a
resident he has felt the impact
of the current financial prob-
lems facing the community.
He suggested that listening
to new generations of employ-
ees should be a factor in
attempting to move the city for-
ward and that it is important to
accept change and not continue
to operate in the samemanner.
His appointment was imme-
diate.
Westland Rotary Club members have
ensured that the future of some graduat-
ing seniorswill be a little brighter.
“All the winners should be very proud
of beating out a lot of stiff competition,”
Rotarian Mark McConnell, a Westland
District Court judge, said at a June 7
awards program. “We have a lot of great,
deserving students.”
The James E. North Memorial
Scholarships are awarded annually by the
late auto dealer's family to honor hismem-
ory. In addition, longtime Westland
Rotarian and retired Wayne-Westland
educator Don Douglass presented a schol-
arship in memory of his wife, Arlene, who
taught at a district elementary school.
This year, EthanCarl-Thomas Bynumof
Vandercook Lake School in Jackson, was
the winner of the Douglass Scholarship.
Wayne-Westland honorees included: the
William D. Ford Career Technical Center,
Jasmin Perry (Rotary) and Madison
Williams (North); of John Glenn High
School, Casey Cozart (Rotary) and Tiffany
Vanner (North); and Wayne Memorial
High School, Alyza Hogston (Rotary) and
ChristineDewyer (North).
Tom North, whose family owns the
North Brothers Ford dealership on Ford
Road in Westland, said of his late dad,
“He'd be happy to know that we're helping
out the kids in our community. This is a
long-term way to give back. We help the
kids with their education and send them
on to adulthood.”
Don Douglass, the eldest Rotarian,
spoke briefly of his latewife's commitment
to Schweitzer Elementary students where
she taught. He noted that members of the
Westland Rotary Club now volunteer at
Schweitzer.
The University of Michigan, Central
Michigan University, Wayne State
University and others are among schools
the scholarship students will attend, in
fields ranging from psychology/pre-medi-
cine to nursing, art therapy and journal-
ism.
McConnell, who joked that his grade
point average was below that of honored
teens, said, “The more education you
have, the better job opportunities you're
going tohave.”
Wayne-Westland Superintendent of
Schools Shelley Holt praised her own
ninth grade honors English teacher for
instilling life lessons.
Wayne Main Street has part-
nered with the Wayne Bicycle
Club and Wayne Bicycle Shop
to host bicycle safety inspection
events this month. The events
will take place from noon until
4 p.m. Saturdays through June
30 at the Wayne Bicycle Shop,
located inside Icon Computer
at 35858 W Michigan Ave,
Wayne.
The shop will be offering
free bike tune-ups toWayne res-
idents who present proof of city
residency and the clinics are
open to residents of all ages.
The clinics are an offshoot of
the Wayne Bicycle Club which
was founded in 2016, to pro-
mote biking in Wayne. The club
hosts weekly rides beginning at
7 p.m. every Thursday at the
State Wayne Theater. Earlier
this year, bike club founder
Brian Ewanciw was inspired to
open a pop-up bicycle shop in
downtown Wayne inside his
computer business.
Last year, Wayne Main Street
launched a crowdfunding cam-
paign through the Michigan
Department of Economic
Development to purchase and
install 30 bike racks in down-
town Wayne. That project
included hosting a number of
cycling promotion events and
led to the bicycle clinics this
month.
“Wayne Main Street is excit-
ed to host these events in part-
nership with the Wayne Bicycle
Club and Wayne Bicycle Shop
this June, and hopes to promote
more pop-up events/retail in
Wayne to inspire small busi-
nesses and retailers,” comment-
ed Wayne Main Street
Executive Director Maxwell
Cameron.
Westland Rotary Club scholarship winners are all smiles following the presentation of
their awards during the regular club meeting June 7.
