to lessons every Sunday afternoon. I have
so many great memories of playing ball
and I feel so privileged to be able to
return to Western to be inducted into the
Hall of Fame,” LauraStewart said.
Since the inception of women's softball
at Western Michigan University, Stewart
is the only pitcher named to the Midwest
University All Star Team. She played
against the USA Women's Olympic
Softball Team in May of 2004 and pitched
two shutout innings, six batters up and six
batters out.
Stewart will be inducted into the
Western Michigan University Hall of
Fame Sept. 30 during halftime cere-
monies, honoring her designation as a
scholar athlete with a 3.6 Cum Laude
grade point average and her outstanding
performance as a women's softball player.
Stewart holds the record for single season
wins (23); shutouts (11); complete games
(29); strikeouts (236 or one per inning) and
an Earned Run Average of .177 in 2003
and .179 in 2004.
Stewart earned her bachelor of sci-
ence in education at Western and her
master's degree in 2011 at Montreat
University in Charlotte N. Carolina. She
taught for a year in Shanghai, China
before returning to theU.S.
Stewart earned National Board
Teacher Certification in 2013. She has
now been teaching for 11 years at
Pinewood Elementary, a Title One School
in Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District
and continues to coach softball pitchers
on the high school and collegiate level.
“I am so honored. I had such an amaz-
ing experience playing softball and
attending classes at Western,” Stewart
said.
“I felt well prepared when I left and 12
years later I am still using techniques and
apply things I learned from my classes at
Western. I also use many skills I learned
from being on the softball team,” she
added, noting that she teaches students
about goal setting and teamwork.
“My coaches were wonderful at
Western and I am still friends with many
of my teammates,” Stewart said. “My won-
derful friend and former teammateMarie
McCarthy is back coaching at Western so
it is great to have updates on how the pro-
gramhas continued to growanddevelop.”
Beth Stewart said she is confident that
none of her daughter's athletic talent is
fromher gene pool.
“When I played softball in high school,
I would throw the ball in from the out-
field, and still be the closest one to it,” she
said.
A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
August 31, 2017
P
LYMOUTH
Fall Festival Taste Fest
tickets are now on sale
Love tropical treats? Wild about pizza
or craving Asian food? Really have a taste
for a great cupcake or piece of pie?
Wonder how real Kobe beef or genuine
Mexican street food tastes?
All that andmanymoremouth-watering
treats can be found at the Plymouth Fall
Festival Taste Fest this year when more
than 21 restaurants will offer some of their
finest menu items, all to benefit the work
of the Plymouth Canton Civitans Club. The
event, which has become the traditional
opening of the Fall Festival, will once
again take place in a huge 40 by 120-foot
tent erected in the landscaped and mani-
cured lower parking lot at Station 885
restaurant in Old Village from 6-8 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 8.
Rob Costanza, owner of 885, has been
helping the Civitans organize the Taste
Fest for five years and donates heavily to
the organization.
"They do so much good in this commu-
nity," Costanza said. "Really, this is such a
good cause and these restaurants every
year just knock themselves out with the
dishes they bring."
Costanza also praised the number of
others who volunteered to help at the
event and the number of donations of plas-
tic tableware, cups, napkins and other
needed items for the event. Again, this
year, there will be bar service during the
Taste Fest and Vintner's Winery in Canton
will be offeringwine tastings.
Costanza has also booked one of his
favorite bands for the evening, Paul Hicks
and the Classics, and will have them con-
tinue on after the Taste Fest so people can
enjoy the music and bar service until 11 in
the outdoor patio-like atmosphere created
by Serene Surroundings Landscape
Group.
The cost for the Taste Fest which offers
unlimited access to the menu items of all
21 restaurants is $15 for adults, $5 for chil-
dren ages 5-10 and those 4 and younger are
admitted at no cost with an adult.
Tickets are already on sale at the
Plymouth Chamber of Commerce and at
Station 885.
Participants include Bahama Breeze,
b.d.'s Mongolian Grill, Beyond Borders-
Latin Street Food, Busch's Fresh Food
Market, Cupcake Station, Detroit Jamz,
Edible Arrangements, Grand Traverse Pie
Company, Happy's Pizza & Ribs,
Jamerican Grill, Jimmy John's Sandwich
Shop, LaBistecca Italian Grille, Rocky's of
Northville, Rusty Bucket, Scramblers,
Station 885, tony Sacco's Coal Oven Pizza,
Vintner's CantonWinery, WestbornMarket,
WokAsianBistro ofNorthville andZoup!.
Citvitans member Kathy Turnquist who
organizes the Taste Fest said that there
may still be more restaurants participat-
ing.
"We're really proud to be sponsoring this
event," she said. "These restaurants and
food and drink establishments donate all
the food, as well as donate the time to pre-
pare and serve. We are so thankful to
them," she said.
All the funds made at the Taste Fest are
used for the efforts of the Plymouth-
Canton Civitan Club, which is celebrating
45 years of service to the community this
year. The club donates to Special
Olympics; provides scholarships; donates
to The Devoted Barn a facility for abused
animals; donates groceries to less fortu-
nate families for Thanksgiving and
Christmas; helps fund Multiple sclerosis
research; donates to Cooke School for spe-
cial needs students, provides sanitizing
products for elementary schools and helps
provide holiday gifts for 125 children in
foster care.
Civitans fund the cleaning of FordRoad
between Lilley and Canton Center, provide
flowers for Kellogg Park and are Salvation
Army bell ringers. They pack food boxed
for Focus Hope and organize and work at
Camp Cititan, a camp for special needs
children, along with their contributions to
UnitedWay.
Last year, the Civitans were honored as
the Salvation Army Service Club of the
Year.
Station 885 is located at 885
Starkweather, near the railway tracks, in
Old Village. For more information, call
Turnquist at (734)459-1896 or Costanza at
(734) 459-0885.
More than 21 restaurants will bring menu items to the annual Civitans Taste Fest
planned from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 8 at Station 885 restaurant. Tickets are now on sale.
would alter the scientific reliability and/or
the results of the survey, officials said.
The plan is to complete 325 surveys to
ensure amargin of error of 5.7 percent.
The next phase of the planning process
will include additional input from resi-
dents through public meetings and focus
groups.
More information is available at
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Survey
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