A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
November 5, 2015
R
OMULUS
- W
ESTLAND
Stepping up
City Veterans Parade welcomes all
Westland celebrates success of Blues, Brews and BBQ
Council approves 12-year tax abatement for business
The second annual Romulus Veterans
Day Parade is planned for 9:30 a.m. Nov.
11.
Individuals and organizations are wel-
come to participate in the parade, accord-
ing to a city spokesperson. Veterans and
parade entries with a patriotic theme
should all have a patriotic theme canmeet
at 8 a.m. at the Romulus Progressive Hall,
11580OzgaRoad, for the lineup.
The city will provide floats and motor-
ized vehicles onwhich veterans can ride if
theywish.
The parade will begin at the
Progressive Hall, head north on Goddard
Road, east on Bibbins and end at the
Romulus Veterans Memorial located in
front of the Romulus Municipal Complex
at 11111WayneRoad.
At the memorial, a Veterans Day
Ceremony will take place with involve-
ment from local VFW Post 9568 and other
community members. The ceremony will
recognizeWorldWar II veterans as well as
highlight the new bricks that were pur-
chased and engraved at thememorial dur-
ing 2015.
“Spectators are needed along the
parade route and at the Veterans
Memorial Ceremony to give the veterans
the appreciation and honor they deserve,”
said Robert McCraight, director of Public
Services and chair of the city Veterans
OutreachCommittee.
Last year, Mayor LeRoy D. Burcroff
formed the committee to facilitate veter-
ans programs and outreach in the city.
“The freedoms we share and live today
are a result of our heroic veterans and for
this we should continue to support them
wheneverwe can,” said Burcroff.
Throughout the year the Veterans
Outreach Committee conducts clothing,
blanket and food drives to support the
local veterans, as well as coordinates the
Romulus VeteransDayParade.
For more information about the
Veterans Day event, to register for the
parade or for other suggestions on ways to
help local veterans, call (734) 955-8960.
The 5th annual All-American
Blues, Brews & Barbecue in
Westland was another event for
the record books, according to
MayorWilliamR.Wild.
Wild said the event raised
more than $30,000 for 13 local
non-profit organizations for the
second consecutive year. The
event has generated $150,000 in
total for community organiza-
tions during the past five years.
Checks were presented to the
volunteer organizations at the
regular meeting of the City
Councilmembers lastmonth.
Blues, Brews & Barbecue
attracted thousands of attendees
from Westland and surrounding
communities, as well as a record
number of sponsors,Wild said.
“I want to thank all of our vol-
unteers, the participating
restaurants, our sponsors and
the performers for another
remarkable event,” said Wild.
“This annual event has recently
started to put Westland on the
map formusic and great food.”
The 13 non-profits who will
receive donations from the
event include: the Westland
Chamber of Commerce,
Goodfellows, Lions Club, the
Westland Citivans, TheWestland
Rotary Club, The Westland
Community
Foundation,
Westland Jaycees, Grange, the
Westland Historic Commission,
Warm Hearts, the Westland
Youth Assistance Program,
Police Explorers and The Fire
Fighters Public Awareness
Committee.
To receive the funds, these
local organizations provided vol-
unteer manpower to make the
event a success, serving as
greeters, grounds crew workers,
and ID checkers, among a vari-
ety of other roles in an effort to
make the event cost neutral to
the city.
Attendees were treated to
music from some of the area's
best musicians, mouthwatering
barbecue from some favorite
local establishments, and a vari-
ety of Michigan craft micro
brews,Wild said.
Members of the Westland City
Council have approved a 12-year
tax abatement request from
Williams-Bayer Industries, Inc., a
Westland-based, Tier 2 automo-
tive supplier that currently
employs 80 people at its existing
factory.
Williams-Bayer, which has
had a presence inWestland since
2005, considered a number of
surrounding communities to
locate their second plant but
decided to utilize vacant land
adjacent to their current 40,000
square foot factory, according to
Wilbert Williams, president of
Williams-Bayer Industries.
“We choseWestland to expand
our business becausewe are able
to share resources with our exist-
ing facility and Mayor (William)
Wild and his Economic
Development team have been
very business friendly, highly
competitive and have a history of
expediting building permits,”
commentedWilliams.
Williams-Bayer makes CNC
bent tubing, catalytic converter
shells, metal stampings, compo-
nent assemblies, suspension
bushings and stamped, staked
and welded assemblies. The
company is anOEMsupplier.
Total investment for this proj-
ect is approximately $8.5 million
which includes $4 million for
land and building and $4.5 mil-
lion for machinery and equip-
ment.
The investment will generate
approximately $50,000 in new tax
revenue for the City of Westland.
It alsowill result in 55 new jobs.
Romulus VFW Post 9568 Honor Guard marching in the parade.
