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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
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AGE
6
July 3, 2013
B
ELLEVILLE
- R
OMULUS
Retiring fire fighter honored by township
Credit union official wins school district honor
Romulus Library joins state program
Dan Wilson has seen a lot of
changes during his 30-year career
as a Van Buren Township firefight-
er.
Wilson announced his retire-
ment from the department and
was recognized for his service this
month by the Van Buren Board of
Trustees during a recentmeeting.
Wilson joined the Van Buren
Township Fire Department as a
volunteer firefighter in 1983, when
the township fire department
served 19,000 residents. There
were no state-of-the-art fire sta-
tions, just Station #1 and Station
#2 located at the north and south
ends of town, according to Fire
Chief DanBesson.
No duty crews were on staff at
the stations. Firefighters hadmon-
itors at home, and a tone would go
off when there was an incident
located at their end of town. They
would head directly to the fire sta-
tion to change into their uniforms
and set off in the trucks to assist.
Wilson was known to be almost
always on the “first truck,” which
means he was one of the first fire-
fighters to arrive at the scene in the
big red truck.
Wilson served through many
major incidents, which included
the tragic airline crash on I-94 in
1988, landfill fires, and several
Lemontree (now the Providence of
Harbour Club) apartment fires.
Summer was the busiest time for
calls with fires set off by cigarettes
thrown carelessly by drivers and
railroad track fires from train
sparks that igniteddry grasses.
Besson noted that Wilson was
well-respected by his fellow fire-
fighters. “He was known best for
his infectious smile andwitty sense
of humor, but hewas also an excep-
tional driver of the fire truck, due
to his professional experience as a
truck driver,” according to Besson.
The chief noted that Wilson
trained most other firefighters to
maneuver and operate the then
stick-shift (manual) engines. In
whatever spare time he had in
addition to his busy family life and
agendas, he also participated in
many hot rod car shows and
enjoyed dejaying with fellow fire-
fighters and friends with his spe-
cialty “doo wop” oldies, Besson
noted.
“Danny has always served the
community well - responding to
their calls for help at all hours of
the day and night. I will have a dif-
ficult time replacing his experi-
ence and love for the community
and the job. People like Danny
Wilson just don't fall into fire serv-
ice every day. It has been an
absolute honor to have worked
side by side with him and to have
him serve under my command as
the fire chief.
Dean Trudeau, CEO of Public
Service Credit Union (PSCU)
located in Romulus, received the
Kern Humanitarian Award for
Romulus Elementary Schools
financial Literacy Program
recently.
Trudeau shares the award with
Mary Foster who administers
PSCU's program in the
Elementary Schools in Romulus.
Some of the previous awardees
are Governor and Ambassador
James Blanchard, Justice Patricia
J. Boyle, Hon. G. Mennen
Williams, Justice Damon J. Keith,
Hon. Edward J. McNamara, and
Hon. MaureenPulteReilly.
The award was presented to
Trudeau May 15, at the
Rattlesnake Club in Detroit
Michigan. He was honored for
helping students in the elemen-
tary schools learn financial litera-
cy, teaching them how to run a
branch and further share their
financial literacy lessons with
other students who have not been
exposed to the program.
Dorothy West, principal of
Halecreek Elementary School
praised PSCU for their important
contribution of their financial lit-
eracy programin the schools.
“Dean Trudeau's commitment
to this program has changed the
children's concept of the power of
money, and they have learned the
value of saving, spending and set-
ting financial goals for their edu-
cational future,” she said.
Public Service Credit Union
has been serving members for 56
years and offers a wide array of
financial services and access to
more than over 30,000 ATMs
nationwide, serving 26,000 mem-
bers.
For more information go to:
pscunow.comorFacebook.
Fire Chief Dan Besson, left, congratulates Van Buren Firefighter Danny
Wilson on his retirement and long career during a recent township board
meeting as Battalion Chief David McInally and Battalion Chief Ron Folks
look on.
The Romulus Public Library
will be among the libraries partici-
pating in the “Michigan Activity
Pass presented by The Library
Network,”whichdebuted recently.
The Library Network, the
Institute of Museum and Library
Services, the Library of Michigan
Foundation, and CultureSource
will partner on the program with
the nearly 400 public libraries and
60 arts and cultural organizations
in Michigan. The program is
designed to enhance the learning
experience for people of all ages
through books and other library
materials, and to provide reduced
cost or complimentary access to
arts and cultural organizations
across the state of Michigan, from
Monroe to Mackinaw City to
Marquette, and all points in
between, a spokesmannoted.
“The Library Network is
thrilled with the response to the
program from our cultural part-
ners and we're pleased to be able
to present this program in con-
junction with the Institute of
Museum and Library Services, the
Library of Michigan Foundation,
and CultureSource,” said Jim
Flury, Technical Services manager
and Michigan Activity Pass admin-
istrator at The Library Network in
Novi. “We're thankful to the many
generous participants from the
libraries and arts, cultural and his-
torical organizations who have so
warmly embraced this program.
We encourage Michigan's public
library patrons to 'Soar and
Explore' all the unique opportuni-
ties that are available to them in
the Michigan Activity Pass pro-
gram.”
“Michigan Activity Pass pre-
sented by The Library Network”
will be available at all Michigan
public libraries. Some of the par-
ticipating cultural partners
include the Detroit Institute of
Arts, the Upper Peninsula
Children's Museum in Marquette,
the Monroe County Historical
Museum,
the
Icebreaker
Mackinaw Maritime Museum in
MackinawCity, andmany others.
Library users with a valid
library card can print a pass,
either from home or at the library,
to one of the nearly 60 participat-
ing institutions at the http://michi-
ganactivitypass.info website. Some
cultural partners offer complimen-
tary or reducedprice admission.
Sworn in
Van Buren Township Supervisor Linda Combs recently appointed
Karin LaMothe, right, as deputy township supervisor. LaMothe was
sworn in by the Honorable Judge David Parrott of 34th District Court.
“I am honored to appoint Karin LaMothe as my deputy, as her leader-
ship, professionalism, and commitment to public service are unrivaled
by many. The official ceremony for her to serve in this capacity solidi-
fies the important role she holds and the duties she performs on my
behalf in my absence.” LaMothe said, “I am honored to serve in this
capacity. Serving the public is my passion, and I am delighted to do
so. Supervisor Combs has a remarkable vision for Van Buren
Township and alongside the wonderful employees here, I am thrilled
to be able to aid in the fulfillment of that vision.”
partners with a major local auto-
motive supplier and will be servic-
ing customers throughout the coun-
try.
Barr said the company is
already struggling to keep up with
demand.
“They have already hired 35
people. There are plans to hire 65
more next week and to continue
hiring throughout the year,” he
said. “They'll reach at least 300
next year and it could possibly be
more than that. Hopefully, we will
outperformour expectations.”
The bulk of the initial hires will
be unionmembers laid off from the
Sheldon Road plant, said Colah.
They include general production
workers, skilled tradesmen and
team leaders. After their initial
commitment to those workers is
complete, any positions open
wouldbe available to the public.
The tax abatement request may
be moot in two years, if legislation
proposed to eliminate the personal
property tax is approved by the
Michigan Legislature this year. If
approved, that plan would go into
effect in 2016.
Council President Leroy
Burcroff he was in favor of helping
the start-up company.
“They're well over the require-
ments (for the abatement),” he said.
“These jobs are important.”
Tax
FROM PAGE 1
Birthday
graduate
Daizha Williams received a birth-
day present early this year when
she was awarded her diploma
from Romulus High School one
day before her birthday. She will
attend Adrian College to study
dentistry. Williams won her first
beauty pageant at the age of 4
and has been modeling since
she was 12. She is the daughter
of Rodney and Jenice Williams
and the granddaughter of
Barbara Underwood and Beverly
Williams.