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For more than 20 years, the members of
Middlebelt Baptist Church have been help-
ing to clothe their neighbors.
From9 a.m. until 2 p.m. this Saturday, Dec.
7, the congregation will once again host a
Clothing Give Away and provide clothing,
shoes and even some housewares for their
area neighbors, all at no cost.
Church clerk Myrtle Snow said the ongo-
ing giveaways have been a part of the church
for at least 20 years that she remembers. The
items given away are donated to the church
by members of the congregation and others
and are, Snowsaid, in good condition.
“Of course, we always ask those who
donate to make sure the items are only light-
ly used and clean,” she added.
“I remember, we used to do it (the give-
aways) on Tuesdays, but now it's been moved
toSaturday,” she said.
Snowsaid that the turnout at the giveaway
us usually heartwarming when about 150 or
so people show up to take advantage of the
opportunity for somehelp.
“We get a larage crowd and we get a lot of
calls from people asking about the clothing
giveaways,” she said. “It really is a help to
people.”
“Especially in these times and nearing the
holidays,” Snowsaid.
Middlebelt Baptist also donates to a
women's shelter and helps the less fortunate
in many neighboring communities, Snow
said, and isn't just limited to Inkster.
Churchmembers donate their time, too, to
sort and organize the clothing andmake sure
it is in good repair, if needed, and hung up so
that visitors at the giveaway can find items
theymay need.
“It's about equally divided,” Snow said,
“we havemen'swomen's and children's cloth-
ing for all ages and sometimes we have
housewares, too.”
Snow said it isn't unusual for church
members and others in the community to
donate used pots and pans, linens, sheets,
towels glasses and even curtains and dishes
to the church when they upgrade those in
their ownhomes.
“You would be surprised at the quality of
things people donate,” she said. “We are a
mission-based church, so we get a lot of par-
ticipation.”
Roscoe C. Bolton has been the pastor at
the church for the past 15 years and the
church marked its 50th anniversary as part
of the community this year.
The church is located at 943 Middlebelt
Road in Inkster. For more information, call
(734) 728-3838.
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December 5, 2013
I
NKSTER
- W
AYNE
- W
ESTLAND
Area mourns Warren Attwood
Westland begins Shop and Dine holiday campaign
Inkster church hosting clothing give-a-way Saturday
Warren Attwood, the former
president of the Attwood
Foundation, and a member of the
Attwood family that owned and
operated the Unistrut Corp. in
Wayne, diedNov. 17 at the age of 82.
Mr. Attwood, born July 11, 1931,
was a graduate of Wayne High
School and after serving four years
in the U.S. Air Force, used his G.I.
Bill funding to attend Detroit
Institute of Technology where he
earned his degree in engineering
in 1957.
Following his graduation, he
went to work at his family's busi-
ness onMichiganAvenue inWayne.
He followed in his father's footsteps
at the business where he had been
a fixture since his first job there as
a floor sweeper at about the age of
10, hiswife, Virginia, recalled.
She said that his wage, if he did
a good job at his sweeping duties,
was a ticket to theWayneTheater.
In addition to his engineering
degree, Mr. Attwood became a Tool
and Die Maker while working at
Unistrut. He found his niche at the
company in the Research and
Development department after
working in several different sec-
tions of the company. While there,
he registered several patents of his
own including one familiar to every
motorist in the state. The square
tubing perforated with holes used
to display various road signs
throughout the world was one of
Mr. Attwood's inventions. The tub-
ing is calledTelespar andwasman-
ufactured at Unistrut for many
years.
Mr. Attwood enjoyed hunting,
boating and most of all, motorcy-
cling, his family recalled. He was
the instigator of many motorcycle
trips with his sons and friends and
he made sure his daughters also
learned to ride.
Mr. Attwood was recalled as a
friendlymanwho loved people. His
family said that he became like a
father and a confidant to many of
his children's friends, teaching
them to ski behind the Boston
Whaler he loved at Strawberry
Lake, where his family would vaca-
tion.
Mr. Attwood married his wife,
Virginia, in 1955. In addition to her,
he is survived by their sons, Scott
(Linda) and Greg (Kimberley)
daughters, Jodi (Pastor Dave)
Vercellion, Sandy (Gary) Gerlach
and Kimberly (Andrew) Ingram; a
sister, Marion (Leonard) Downs,
and 22 grandchildren for whom he
careddeeply.
Mr. Attwoodwas predeceased by
his two brothers, Willard and
James.
Mr. Atwood was a long-time
member
of
the
First
Congregational Church of Wayne,
the Gold Wing Road Riders
Association, The Plymouth Elks
Club and the National Rifle
Association.
The Attwood Foundation is an
organization that helps fund many
charities as well as providing schol-
arships forMichigan students.
Funeral services forMr. Attwood
took place at the First
Congregational ChurchofWayne.
His family has requested memo-
rials to Open Door Ministries, 4301
S. Lilley Road in Canton, MI 48188
or to the church.
Westland has officially begun
5th Annual Shop & Dine
Westland Holiday Campaign, a 6-
week multifaceted marketing
effort which promotes Westland's
shopping district as a location
that bears “Everything you want.
Everything you need” for holiday
shopping lists.
Westland's Shop and Dine dis-
trict is anchored by the Westland
Shopping Center and is sur-
rounded by more than 160 shops,
restaurants and services.
Televised commercials began
the week of Thanksgiving with a
huge emphasis on Thanksgiving
Day and a focus on female shop-
pers.
The commercial, starring local
resident and 2008 Miss Michigan,
Ashlee Baracy, will be seen on
cable stations, including, Food
Network, TBS, Bravo, E!, FX and
History Channel. These commer-
cials highlight and encourage
shoppers to spend the day in
Westland and enjoy the large
selection of retail stores, fabulous
restaurants and the state-of-the-
artMJRTheater, officials said.
Radio ads will also be hitting
the metro area air waves, and the
city will also utilize billboards on
major freeways.
New this year is “Wild About
The Holidays!” This new initia-
tive sawMayorWilliamWild play-
ing the role of Santa as he greeted
customers at local stores and
handed out gift cards to unsus-
pecting shoppers on Small
Business Saturday, Nov. 30..
“Small businesses are a cru-
cial part of the success of our fan-
tastic shop and dine district,”
Wild said, “so when you visit
Westland this holiday season, tell
them the City of Westland sent
you!”
Warren Attwood
underinsured, by more than $500,000. We
would have to find a million dollars to
rebuild,” he added.
The devastating blaze that leveled the end
of a strip mall on Wayne Road took the life of
Mr. Woehlke, 29, when a section of roof col-
lapsed while he was fighting the blaze. A
Dearborn resident, he left a wife and young
daughter for whom community groups have
organized several fundraisers during the past
months. He had been with the department
only 10 months at the time of his death and
was the first firefighter in the 47-year history
of the department to die in the line of duty.
Marvaso said that the business had suf-
fered in the economic downturn but had just
begun to turn a profit when the fire occurred.
“We had increased our revenue by almost
triple during the last sixmonths,” he said.
Marvaso said the fire had hurt a lot of peo-
ple and done a great deal of damage, “first
and foremost the loss of the life of Brian
Woehlke.”
He said that the business had about 100
employees who lost their jobs and that the
business traffic at the other places in the strip
mall hadbeen impacted.
“It just hurt the entire city,” he said. “We
had nothing to gain by it. We have seen no
money from the insurance company. This new
investigation will add months to any settle-
ment,” he said.
Marvaso said that due to the financial pres-
sures he and his family face without any reso-
lution or compensation from the insurance
company, three fellowWestland business own-
ers have organized a fundraiser planned for
Dec. 9 at the Westland Char House to help
them.
“God bless them is all I can say,” Marvaso
said.
Fire
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