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March 10 — April 11, 2021 • Gi-GrandNews.com

Superintendent Joanne Lelekatch to retire

Michigan Leadership Institute to help find successor BILL STEVENSON Grosse Ile Grand

At the February 5, 2021 meeting of the Board of Education, Grosse Ile Township Schools Superintendent Joanne Lelekatch notified the school community that she would be retiring effective June 30, 2021.

After 42 years in public education, and the last six as the superintendent of Grosse Ile, Lelekatch, decided to close the book on this aspect of her career and begin writing a new chapter in retirement.

A native of River Rouge, Lelekatch graduated from the venerable Our Lady of Lourdes High School, the “incubator of educators,” having been taught by IHM nuns calling their students to a life of compassion, courageous spirit, and Letekatch service.

She initially attended Eastern Michigan State University. She further advanced her University and earned her Bachelor of expertise in Special Education with her Science degree, certified in Elementary Master’s degrees in Emotional Impairment education K-8, Social Science, Cognitive and Physical Impairment from Wayne and Learning Disabilities.

Superintendent Lelekatch began her teaching career as a substitute teacher in the Dearborn school system, later teaching middle school for five years in the Detroit public schools.

She came to the Grosse Ile Township schools in January, 1986, teaching World History and Special Education, where she made a difference in the lives of her students for nineteen years.

Armed with an Education Specialist credential in Administration and Supervision, Lelekatch left Grosse Ile schools to become an administrator in the East Detroit school system, serving as an elementary principal, curriculum director, and later superintendent.

After twelve years in East Detroit, Grosse Ile beckoned her back, where she has been at the helm since the 2015-2016 school year.

One of the first challenges she met was the passing of a $10.6 million bond issue SEE RETIRE, Page 3

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Continued from page 1 for building and classroom remodeling for student safety and energy efficiency, as well as updating the instructional technology infrastructure.

She also inherited a district with a $150,000 or negative .75 fund balance at the time. Grosse Ile schools were placed under state watch, and had to create and follow a stringent deficit reduction plan, forcing the schools “to look at how we do business, differently,” said Lelekatch.

“I am very proud of the work we have done with the continued commitment of the parents and community in financially supporting the district. We were able to get the district out of debt.

“Our teachers and administrators have faithfully implemented PLCs (Professional Learning Communities), focused on individual student growth.”

Lelekatch continued, “With the COVID-19 pandemic, we know how hard this has been on students, parents, teachers, and administrators. It has been absolutely crazy. There is no constant, and it’s always changing.

We have done a great job at mitigating the spread of disease, putting safety protocols in place, implementing with fidelity the return to schools requirements. We are focused on meeting the challenge of all remote, hybrid, and synchronous in-person learning.

“We know and understand the pain that’s out there for everyone. We are deeply concerned about the socialemotional development of our students and the learning loss that has taken place. The challenge is ‘how do you continue to offer quality education for all students in the midst of a pandemic?’”

Lelekatch was effusive in her praise of the teachers and parents.

“Our teachers are such a great dedicated group of people who are constantly working to maintain the high standards of student achievement that Grosse Ile is noted for,” she said.

“Our parents and the community are so supportive, even when they question or criticize what’s happening in school.

Everyone just wants what is best for their kids.”

Longtime Board member and President Dan Murphy recounts, “Joanne is an incredible superintendent. She is passionate, dedicated and hard-working. She started when the finances of the district were pretty dismal and made the necessary cuts to get us back to solvency. I have worked with several of the superintendents of the years and she is one of the best. I wish her well in this up-coming new chapter in life and hope she is successful with this chapter as she has been as our superintendent.

“Next up is seeking out another great fit for our district,” said Murphy “The Board recently hired a superintendent’s search firm, Michigan Leadership Institute, to help us find the right person to replace Ms. Lelekatch.

This is usually a 13 week process.

The Board will start with a three hour planning session. Afterwards we will be seeking staff and community input to find out what both groups hope to see with the incoming superintendent.

We value their opinion and look forward to working together to find the person.”

In reflecting upon her more than four decades in public education Joanne Lelekatch fondly mused, “I want to be remembered as an educator who always put students first. As a teacher, principal, curriculum director and superintendent, the students were always my priority focus. My memories of my students will be what I take into my retirement as I look back on my career.”

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March 10 — April 11, 2021 • Page 5

Bees: Help keep our friendly neighbors safe There is a famous misquote that circles social media from time to time.

That misquote is attributed to the likes of Einstein, Darwin and whomever else one might imagine.

Whether true or not, the quote inspires pause and for a moment, consideration of the plight of our own human existence. The power of this quote motivates the James human condition to take Lee Grosse Ile into consideration how Grand inextricably connected to a tiny stinging insect we really are.

The quote, something like “if honey bees were to disappear from earth, humans would be dead within four years,” most certainly makes one consider his or her mortality and maybe sparks a desire to help save the honey bee.

Do the honeybees need saving?

What could someone who has no knowledge of the species do to influence a change so dramatic that the delicate human-honeybee balance finds equilibrium?

Although the quote is indeed considered a misquote, it doesn’t matter that Einstein or whomever might not have said it.

Principally, if we did lose all the honeybees, humans would likely not go extinct in whole.

However, there would be a great deal of global starvation due to loss of the pollination accomplished by this magnificent little creature.

We also would lose a great deal of our flower diversity, as many depend on pollinators like the honeybee to aid in their propagation and without it those flowers ultimately will meet their demise.

With the loss of those flowers, the domino effect also would impact other pollinators. Thus, chaos would ensue.

Save the bees!

People have long responded to the plight of our beloved honey bee with that proclamation. Documentaries and information campaigns have been more abundant since Colony Collapse

Disorder (CCD) became more widely known to the general public. But honey bees actually have shown little to no decline.

While a noble feat, running out to purchase bees and start a colony to save them could have the opposite effect. The last thing anyone wants is to destroy a colony due to ignorance, when in fact the full intent was to help bees and ultimately humanity. If you want to help the honey bee, study for a season, find a mentor and attend local bee club meetings before going full tilt.

One of the evidences that bee colonies are doing well in an area is that they are present, whether

January and February. By March and April their numbers can begin crowding their homes, and through the magnificent democracy of bees, they decide to send some packing.

Those evicted bees and a queen take flight to a potential home identified by scouts who have picked out a site beforehand. On the way, they may stop in your yard, porch, car, fence, light post or any other area they deem adequate to take a break.

Now mind you, these stinging insects do indeed sting, but swarms that have left home in search of new digs are not typically interested in overt acts of aggression. They have gorged themselves with honey and

they are kept in someone’s managed populations or they are wild bees that have taken up residence in a cavity of someone’s humble abode or outbuildings or a tree in the vicinity.

You might also see them foraging on plants in your yard or buds and flowering trees in the neighborhood.

One thing is for sure, honey bees are not the black and yellow critters that hover around your picnic or patio gatherings seeking sweet sips of soda.

Another evidence that bees are in the area and doing well is called swarming.

Springtime is almost here and that means honey bee swarms are, too.

Honey bees build up their numbers as the weather starts to warm in

have no home to defend, thus allowing them to focus on important matters.

These matters —sheltering the queen and arriving safely at their next location — are at the top of their list.

Usually swarms will not stay long.

They will eventually get to where they are going.

In most instances, these swarms will come from someone’s bees who have grown beyond their boxes and they have lower chances of success in the wild, as “kept” populations of bees are dependent on beekeeper interventions that treat them for viruses and pests regularly, hoping to increase their chances of survival.

Some swarms will go on to propagate beyond the interventions of

man, and though once domesticated critters (kind of) they become feral through adaptation to the wild without these treatments.

Swarms can be easily removed by a local beekeeper.

They could be served well to be captured and re-hived in a colony somewhere where they will be cared for and serve the much-needed task of pollination and provide the benefit of honey production.

Many people are uneducated on the plight or dangers of these fantastic stinging insects, and fear can result in unnecessary eradication of a swarm through pest spray or dousing it with garden hoses.

Though honeybees are easily attained through bred stock that is shipped into Michigan, there are still some beekeepers around interested in retrieving the swarm in your yard or the ones you saw on the fence on the corner. Some will even perform a removal of bees from the interior of your home, because sometimes that happens.

Removal from buildings or interior locations may result in an unwanted expense, however there are other problems that occur if they are not removed.

So, to help save the bees, help them find good homes.

Call a local beekeeper to remove the spring swarms that will be happening any day now!

April, May, and June are prime swarming times.

Many beekeepers will provide free exterior removals and others for a nominal fee. Either way, it is worth it.

We help them and they help us. But whatever you do — don’t spray them!

They eventually leave. If they take up more permanent residence and cannot be removed, Michigan winters often take care of them, as well.

Beekeeper James Lee of Romulus can be reached via his website www. mibeeswarmremoval.com or via his Facebook page, Bee Benevolent Swarm Removal. Almost all swarm removals are free

Page 6 • March 10 — April 11, 2021

GROSSE ILE GRAND

Island travel travails

Off-Island orange barrel season is upon us Editor’s Note: This story is the second installment exploring road repairs on Grosse Ile. Ashen lady, Ashen lady Give up your vows, give up your vows Save our city, save our city Right now Roadhouse Blues by the Doors

First, the relatively “good news.”

On Feb. 4, 2021, the Wayne County Commission voted unanimously to approve an emergency $9,334,055 contract to repair and reopen the Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge by the fall of BILL 2021.

STEVENSON The “bad news” Grosse Ile Grand is that the Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge may not be open until the fall of 2021. Or, even later. Construction is set to get underway in early April.

In the meantime, Island residents and other travelers will have to endure further stress, continued inconvenience and additional economic burdens. Beside the household costs of paying to cross the toll bridge, the economic impact on the local economy and small businesses has been particularly troubling.

And, as we play Dodge ‘em Potholes both on and off the island, and try to modulate our collective blood pressures, there are some harsh realities we all have to face. Much as we want to “fix the damn roads,” no major road project on Grosse Ile will begin until the Free Bridge is completed. We couldn’t even imagine having the Free Bridge closed and doing heavy construction work on Meridian Road.

We all know there is no such thing as a free bridge.

According to their website, the Wayne County Public Service Department states, “Counties and their townships have a unique relationship on the issue of road construction and maintenance. Unlike unincorporated cities and villages, townships do not receive gas tax revenues for roads and therefore must rely on their county to provide nearly all roadrelated activities.

“Wayne County Townships include Grosse Ile, Brownstown, Canton, Huron, Northville, Plymouth, Sumpter and Van Buren.

“Wayne County Roads Division is responsible for the maintenance of approximately 1,440 county primary and local roadways and 462 miles of state trunk lines and freeways.”

As reported in an earlier article, Grosse Ile roads, and particularly Meridian Road were not on the

2020 County Roads “Heavy Maintenance Paving Schedule” and due to COVID-19 construction delays, much of the 2020 list was pushed into 2021.

Grosse Ile Township Department of Public Services Director Derek Thiel said, “We have been told by the County that Meridian Road may be on the list for 2022. There’s no mention of let’s say East River Road, Church or Bellevue.”

The .4 mills local street maintenance millage that Grosse Ile residents have reapproved this past November generates a $260,566 budget. Of that, $40,000 is dedicated to dust control; $65,000 goes to snow removal; $30,000 is targeted for mowing, leaving $115,000 for some limited “mill and fill” SEE TRAVEL, Page 7

GROSSE ILE GRAND

TRAVEL

Continued from page 6 work or crack repairs.

Public Act 51, passed in 1951, is Michigan’s primary highway revenue sharing program for state and local road agencies. It is funded by a stateraised fuel tax and vehicle registration fees.

“In my professional opinion,” said Thiel, “Act 51 needs to be re-evaluated as to how the state of Michigan allocates monies to the Michigan Transportation Fund.

It does not take into account the economic impact of poor roads on local communities. Its formulas do not allow us to be proactive in attacking our distressed roads.”

Money deposited in the Michigan Transportation Fund is divided up based on fixed percentages: Thirty-nine percent goes to the state Department of Transportation.

Thirty-nine percent goes to county road commissions.

Twenty-two percent goes to cities and villages.

“In addition to reliance on the

March 10 — April 11, 2021 • Page 7

County for our roads, we also don’t necessarily receive any more money specifically for the number of bridges you might need to repair or refurbish in your community,” added Thiel.

However, it should be noted that in addition to the Grosse Ile Parkway bridge over the Trenton Channel being on the Engineering Division’s 2020 Bridge Projects list, Wayne County has completed the East River Road bridge over the North Hickory Island canal and the “little bridge” on Grosse Ile Parkway over West River Road.

Still, in serious condition are bridges on Parke Lane, Swan Island and Ferry over the Thorofare Canal.

Governor Whitmer’s 2021 budget proposal includes using $300 million from the general fund to help local governments fix crumbling bridges.

Within the last few weeks, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Michigan) and Governor Larry Hogan (R-Maryland) testified at the United States Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the subject: “Building Back Better: Investing in Transportation while Addressing Climate Change, Improving Equity, and Fostering Economic Growth and

Innovation.

Both governors called on Congress to advance “long-term federal surface transportation legislation with funding that is both predictable and sustainable, the needs which take multiple years to plan and construct, especially during this time of financial duress.”

After Michigan lawmakers rejected Gov. Whitmer’s request for a 45-centper-gallon hike in the fuel tax in 2019, the Governor initiated a $3.5 million road bonding plan, which did not need legislative approval. Many critics argued that the move would increase the state debt, and the money raised through the sale of bonds could only be spent on major highways in the state, not local roads.

Just this past January, State Sen. Michael MacDonald (R-10th District) and Sen. Paul Wojno (D- 9th District ) introduced SB-32 which would amend Act 51, and require all motor fuel taxes collected stay in the county in which the fuel was pumped instead of being sent to the state for distribution statewide. SB-32 has been referred to the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for

consideration.

Down the road on a local level, Township Supervisor James Budny and the Township Board may soon be asking the DPS Commission to put together a plan for road repairs and resurfacing, hoping to put the issue before Grosse Ile voters.

And, looking forward, when the mighty howl of “Hallelujah” is heard throughout the land as the Wayne County free bridge is finally open, we know fixing the damn roads on Grosse Ile will take political will, time and money. Then the fun begins with major construction.

So, buckle up.

“Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel.”

If you would like to read the entire SB-32, please visit: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/ documents/2021-2022/billintroduced/ Senate/pdf/2021-SIB-0032.pdf To contact our state legislators: Rep. Darrin Camilleri at: darrincamilleri@house.mi.gov Sen. Stephanie Chang at: senschang@senate.michigan.gov

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GROSSE ILE GRAND

Atlas is newest member of Grosse Ile Police Department The Grosse Ile Police Department recently announced and introduced the newest member of the force.

Atlas, a 16-month-old German Shepherd from the Czech Republic, is a multi-purpose canine.

Patrolman Greg Carrico and Atlas recently completed a comprehensive training program, receiving certifications in both narcotics detection and tracking.

Carrico is a 13-year veteran of the department and said he is excited to have his new partner.

Together, their goal is to use their skills to find individuals that are missing or lost, or find the drugs that are hidden.

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March 10 — April 11, 2021 • Page 9

GI pets

FROM THE TOWNSHIP

The free bridge.

The repairs.

The facts.

Carl Bloetscher

Hello Grosse Ile. My name is Carl Bloetscher, a trustee on your Township Board. I authored this month’s Township News article to update and keep you informed on the County Bridge repairs. These are my thoughts and my thoughts only.

Repairing the Trenton Channel Bridge has become a lightning-rod for speculation which begets rumors which become accepted as fact.

From the government you have a right to expect information and action based upon deliberation and facts. The following analysis is submitted to dispel the misinformation that has become conventional wisdom.

Conventional Wisdom: We pay a lot of taxes to wayne county to maintain our our bridges Fact: We do pay a lot of taxes, but not for roads and bridges. Look at your 2020 Winter Tax Bill (due February 16, 202l) for the following taxes:

S’up Coop?

Cooper, a 10-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel, lives on Grosse Ile with his human, Michele.

Description For Wayne County

[Wayne] County Operations:

[Wayne County] Jail:

Wayne County Parks:

HCMA (Huron Clinton Metro Authority): [Detroit] Zoo):

DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts)

WCCC Wayne County Community College: RESA (Regional Education Service Agency): RESA Enhancement:

Description For Grosse Ile Schools School (Grosse Ile) Operations: School Debt:

School Sinking Fund:

Hey, Billie Jean

Billie Jean. a 6-month-old Berniedoodle lives on Grosse Ile and enjoys walks in the open space woods with her human Dorothy Burns

Would you like to see your pet pictured in one of our monthly community publications? If so, simply send a photo of your pet, the pet’s name, your name and the community in which you live to Sherry@gobigmultimedia.com and we will take care of the rest.

[Grosse Ile] Police Drainage: [Grosse Ile] Road Maintenance: Judgment Bond:

Description For Grosse Ile Township Township Operations: [Grosse Ile] Fire Operations: [Grosse Ile] Fire Equipment: Library: Recreation: [Grosse Ile] Bike Path Maintenance:

Total For County, School and Township: Total Mills For County Roads And Bridges:

SEE TOWNSHIP, Page 10

Mills 0.98970 0.93810 0.24590 0.21040 0.10000 0.20000 3.24080 3.46430 2.00000 11.38920 Mills 8.12900 2.23990 0.49750 10.86640 Mills 3.13920 1.48030 0.49540 0.20000 0.86640 0.14810 2.71960 0.32650 0.39660 1.10000 11.74310 33.99870

0

Page 10 • March 10 — April 11, 2021

GROSSE ILE GRAND

TOWNSHIP Continued from page 9

Fact: One mill generates approximately $657,000 in tax revenue. The current Grosse Ile Road Maintenance millage (0.39660) raises approximately $261,000 per year for roadside mowing, snow and ice removal and dust control on eight miles of gravel road, leaving the balance for repairs, maintenance and replacement of the remaining 130+ miles of improved roads.

Unfortunately, replacement of one mile of road can cost $700,000 or more.

Conventional Wisdom: We pay a significant amount of gasoline taxes to the state and county to maintain our bridge Fact: Michigan Public Act 51 established the Michigan Transportation Fund to receive and disburse gas tax and vehicle registration fees. By law, those funds are divided by fixed percentages: State Highway Department: Cities and Villages: 83 County Road Commissions: Townships:

39% 22% 39% 0.0%

Wayne County uses its portion of those funds to maintain, repair or rebuild 300 bridges and 2,400 miles of roads within the county, including 130 miles of roads and 12 bridges on or connecting to Grosse Ile. During the past three years Wayne County has spent $500,000 for West River Road repaving, the new Meso Island bridge ($2,500,000) and Parkway bridge over West River ($2,500,000). 2021 repairs to the “Free Bridge” are contracted for $9,100,000 in addition to the 2020 engineering studies and repairs.

Conventional Wisdom: The repairs to the county bridge won’t last.

Fact: And there are no guarantees.

The original timber crib foundations lasted 140 years. Repairs made 15 years ago were largely to the deck of a now 90-year-old structure.

The bridge swings hundreds of times for water traffic during three seasons and is salted during the fourth. It carries thousands of vehicles each day as well as concrete haulers, refuse trucks, fuel tankers, semi-trailers, buses, etc. The bridge takes a beating.

Bridge repairs are determined by the owner, Wayne County. In this case the repair project is being designed by a nationally recognized bridge authority and internationally respected contractor. The expense of repeated repairs and cost of a replacement bridge makes it in the owner’s and contractor’s best interest to make repairs that work and last.

Conventional Wisdom: We are being kept in the dark about progress.

Fact: Incorrect. The prior and current Township Supervisor and other Township officials have met frequently with Wayne County officials during the last three years as they have defined structural failures, planned repairs and search for state and federal funding.

Updates have been provided to this community on the Township’s web site, Facebook, Grosse Ile Connect and articles in this paper.

Sometimes an update may be as mundane as “no new information since last week” or as exciting as “a repair contract has been proposed” to a contract has been signed” to “work will begin in April and last until October.”

The Township and the County have scheduled weekly Wednesday contractor

and engineer meetings for progress reports and updates. Information will be direct from the contractor and timely from a source that has a vested interest in providing quality work without jeopardizing future MDOT or federal projects because of complaints of shoddy work.

Conventional Wisdom: We can buy the bridge and operate it ourselves.

Fact: This is simply unfeasible. The bridge is the most expensive quarter mile of road in Wayne County. Operating the bridge requires management, administration, 24-7 staffing, maintenance, repairs and eventual replacement. That requires a toll bridge or a new and heavy millage.

A 2002 study found the then annual cost of administration and operating a toll bridge to be $1,300,000. Assuming an average inflation of 1.5% per annum, the cost would now be $3,034,000 (4.6 mills). Estimating the cost of a replacement bridge at $90,000,000 and bonding the principle at 3.5% over 30 years requires annual payments of $4,893,000 (7.4 mills).

That is in addition to maintenance, repairs and insurance, which will continue into perpetuity. Building and operating a new bridge as a toll bridge burdens taxpayers with 12 new mills (4.6 + 7.4). This will cost the average homeowner with a home having a taxable value of $125,000 an additional $15,125 per year for 30 years.

In closing, bridge repairs are expensive. Very expensive. And there are no simple or cheap solutions. I encourage each of you to watch GI Connect, look at the Grosse Ile website (grosseiile.com), follow the Township’s Facebook page, listen to the Supervisor’s Report during each Township Board meeting and read articles in the Grosse Ile Grand and other media presenting credible information based upon fact.

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Home Sweet Home When Lisa LaRowe was a little girl working in a restaurant with her mom, people called her “Smiley.”

“I still get that type of reaction today,” she said. “Yesterday, someone said, ‘Oh, you’re Lisa, the one that’s always happy.’ It feels nice to have that kind of response from people I meet.”

LaRowe is a real estate agent, and the agent development and training manager for the Trenton office of eXp Realty, and she’s in charge of the company’s new office in Grosse Ile, where she lives with her college student daughter.

“I actively sell real estate, train new agents and help develop experienced agents by helping them build their business,” LaRowe said.

In a way, her life has come full circle since she was attending Henry Ford Community College to become a teacher about 20 years ago.

“I had friends that were opening a new brokerage, and I decided to put my college education on hold and give it a try,” she said. “I never looked back! It’s funny that my original calling was to teach, and here I am doing my absolute dream job — selling real estate and teaching others to do the same. I am currently training 15 new agents within our Trenton and Grosse Ile offices.”

After many years with other firms, she joined eXp in 2018, and she’s glad she did.

“We are a technology company, so we have all the tools we need to stay ahead of the web-based future of real estate,” LaRowe said. “Real estate is a way of life for me. I love what I do and love my clients. It’s addicting. I think my favorite part of being a real estate agent is when I see my clients get so excited about a home they are about to own. I love being a part of helping make their dreams come true.”

She is a 2-time cancer survior and has learned from that experience.

“I think others can learn from me to keep going despite life struggles, health issues, family struggles, market conditions,” she said. “Do not give up! Keep your goals in front of you.”

To keep that happy outlook, LaRowe has learned to start each day with positive affirmations about herself and the day ahead.

“I focus on being very thankful for my life and the people in it,” she said. “It’s imperative to take care of yourself and have fun every day. If you are not happy, it’s difficult to give your clients the best of you.”

She serves as a bellringer for the Salvation Army every holiday season, and also enjoys almost anything that brings her outside and into nature.

And she has advice for people who want to buy or sell a home.

For sellers, she advises having someone professional look around the house for defects that can be easily fixed before an inspection.

For buyers, she advises preparation.

“Be ready to go,” LaRowe said. “Be preapproved with a trusted lender, have proof of funds, and take the advice of your experienced real estate agent.”

March 10 — April 11, 2021 • Page 11

Best Service, Best Rates Jacque Gorris loves being able to help people buy a home for the first time.

And he loves being able to help someone struggling financially to leverage their home to ease that burden.

Gorris is a senior loan officer with Supreme Lending. He has an office in Trenton and recently opened a satellite office on Grosse Ile, where he also lives.

The part of the job he’s not so crazy about is when he has to tell someone no.

“When I have to say, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you,’ that’s hard,” he said. “You see the heartbreak of those people sometimes — the first-time home buyer, the newly divorced mom or dad.”

A former Marine, he’s direct and up-front if he has to deliver bad news.

“I don’t sugar-coat a lot of things,” Gorris said. “I’m just a straight shooter when it comes to business, and I do everything by the book.”

He likes working for Supreme, a top mortgage banking company that is privately owned, handles only residential loans and is licensed in 40 states, because he can have a “personal touch” with his clients that a different firm might not allow.

“Right now, I’m there from start to finish — from the first hello to sitting at the closing table,” he said. “I’m always available to them seven days a week.”

Gorris grew up in Brownstown Township and attended Gibraltar schools, where he played a lot of sports. He started working at the age of 13 at South Winds Golf Course in Southgate, and has worked ever since. In his junior year of high school, he signed up to the join the Marine Corps.

“Literally 10 days after high school graduation, I was in the Marines,” he said.

Gorris served for eight years. He left the military at the end of his contract after he had recently returned from Iraq and learned that the Corps planned to send him back for another deployment of 13 months. His first son was 7 months old at the time, and he decided it was time to move on to something else.

He studied finance at the University of Michigan and never looked back.

Today, he’s a single dad of two sons, ages 15 and 10. Gorris coached freshman Junior Devils football for two years until the pandemic pulled the plug on the sport, and hopes to coach again someday.

And he wants to help put more people into more homes or help them out financially whenever he possibly can.

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March 10 — April 11, 2021 • Page 13

ObituarY

Downriver loses famed artist Death of Patty Izzo is a shock to many friends, fans PAULA NEUMAN Grosse Ile GRand

Patricia Izzo-Kulczycki of Wyandotte touched countless lives through her art, her kindness and her charismatic ability to inspire people and make them feel loved and special.

She died peacefully surrounded by family members on Friday, Feb. 12, of throat cancer.

Her death came as a shock to her many friends, who called her Patty, and to the art world, which knew her as Patricia Izzo.

She was diagnosed about 18 months ago, but kept her illness very quiet, not wanting a fuss or a lot of questions about it.

“She just wanted it to be very private,” said her husband Stan Kulczycki. “A lot of her family members didn’t even know about it.”

Ms. Izzo had chemotherapy treatments initially, and then more intense chemotherapy over the last few months. But until the last 10 days or so before her death, she didn’t let her illness impact her life very much, Kulczycki said.

“She was so incredibly strong,” he said. “She really was. She was very kind, always for the underdog. She always looked for the good in people.”

Ms. Izzo, daughter of Patsy James Izzo and Stella Mlostek, grew up with her three brothers — Jamie, Thomas and Michael — on Oakdale Street in Southgate and sometimes talked about how blessed she was to have had a wonderful childhood.

She had many passions in her full and active life, and family was right at the top of that list.

Her niece Rachel Louria said, “She never, ever missed an opportunity to get our family together and remind us that family is the most important thing in the world. She made everyone feel beautiful and special.”

Ms. Izzo was proud to carry on the traditions of her parents and grandparents on both the Italian and Polish sides of her background, and passed that love of family traditions to her daughter Stasia Jade Izzo Convery of Southgate and granddaughter Lily Patricia Convery.

A graduate of Schafer High School in Southgate, Ms. Izzo attended Northern Michigan University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine art painting and photography. At NMU in 1968, she began the political activism that she continued throughout her life, protesting the Vietnam War and for race equality and women’s rights. In January 2017, Ms. Izzo took part in the Women’s March in Lansing.

“The message was the same as it has been over

and over again,” she wrote after the march. “In all its forms, in all its loose ends, in all its colors, in all its bruised and glorious ways, the message was equality regardless of gender, race, religion or creed.”

Her friend and fellow artist Georgette HeronWilloughby of Canadian Lakes, formerly of Huron Township, said Ms. Izzo had the “soul of a warrior with armor of pure love and creative imagination,” and friend and fellow artist Erica Chappuis of Grosse Ile described Ms. Izzo as “a monumental and important American artist; a fierce advocate for women; and the dearest, most loving friend anyone could wish for.”

After college, Ms. Izzo worked for more than 20 years for the Renaissance Club and ClubCorp, working her way up in two years from waitress to regional service director. She loved to travel with friends and family then and throughout her life, always passionate about new adventures and new vistas.

She opened the Patricia Izzo Fine Art Photography Studio and Gallery in the early 2000’s on the third floor of River’s Edge Gallery in Wyandotte.

“I will miss Patty, my dear friend, my confidant, my soother, my inciter,” said Patt Slack of Monroe, owner of the gallery. “And I will miss Patricia Izzo the artist. Her work always thrilled me. I could not

and the Florida and Southern Review.

Her images can even be seen in the 2011 movie A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas.

Her work has been awarded with many honors.

Twice she was presented the prestigious Gold Medal in the annual state of Michigan Photographic Competition. In 2006, she was recognized by American Photo magazine as one of the “hottest new talents” and as “an artist destined for big things.”

Ms. Izzo has been a member of the Detroit Scarab Club, the National Women’s Caucus of Arts, the Feminist Art Project, Detroit Focus, and served on the boards of the Scarab Club and the Downriver Council for the Arts.

She also mentored — she didn’t like to be called teacher when it came to art — cancer patients and survivors in the Josephine Ford Healing Arts program in Brownstown Township, and led art classes at the Wyandotte-based ARC Downriver, a nonprofit serving people with developmental disabilities, for more than 10 years.

One student in the Josephine Ford class wrote this online after learning of Ms. Izzo’s death: “The world has lost a talented, giving, artistic, compassionate and brilliant human. I met Patty seven years ago when I was in remission. She donated her time and energy for years instructing cancer survivors to paint. Patty believed everyone was an artist and through her tutelage and encouragement, everyone was.”

Ms. Izzo’s friend Eliza Johnson of Lincoln Park said: “She saw the true beauty in people. She made people want to be creative.”

Jay Ray, owner of Jay Ray’s BBQ Catering in Wyandotte said: “I’m forever thankful for the fact that she was a mentor and someone to look up to for my daughters and my wife. She was a fighter for women, a fighter for anyone being wronged. She spread her love everywhere. She made people feel exactly how someone should make you feel — like you matter, like you belong and like you’re loved.”

On her biography page in the River’s Edge website, Ms. Izzo wrote: “It is this artist’s hope that my work captures what is needed most and serves the viewer well. My work is my gift and it is what I was meant to do.”

“She saw the true beauty in people. She made people want to be creative.” ~ Eliza Johnson wait to see her new work. Many times I would sit in her studio at River’s Edge and then text her that she was a genius. Her studio will remain open as she left it and be open to the public. We also plan on proceeding with her two-year planned show in September with Martine McDonald, who showed with her every other year.”

An Allen Park resident and celebrated artist, McDonald counted Ms. Izzo as one of her best friends.

“She was kind and generous and I was a better person and artist having had her as a friend,” McDonald said. “Patty’s bright light touched so many.

She had a big heart and an abundance of kindness.”

Ms. Izzo’s art, including hand-illustrated photographs using archival photo oils and inks, has been exhibited many times nationally and internationally, including at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Bibliotheque du Paris, the Women’s Historic Hall of Fame in Lansing, the Henry Ford Hospital Art Collection in Detroit and the Mira Goddard Center for Photography at Reyerson University in Toronto. Her art has been featured in many publications, as well, including American Photo Magazine, Woman’s Day

Page 14 • March 10 — April 11, 2021

GROSSE ILE GRAND

Four ways to love your spine

Here are a few ways you can show your back some love starting now.

1. Do something active. Your spine was designed to move! In fact, a brisk hike or walk with your loved one is a great pre- or post-dinner activity.

2. Stay hydrated. When you don’t consume enough water, the fluid-filled sacs in your spine deplete, making it harder to move.

3. Be conscious of your posture, whether it’s sitting at a desk or moving around. Incorrect posture places a great deal of stress on the body.

4. Book a chiropractic visit.

Eating Well in 2021 Hopefully 2021 marks the end of fad diets Typically, these diets are hard to follow and sometimes not nutritionally balanced.

Instead of jumping on the latest trend, try incorporating the following when it comes to your food: Add more color to your plate.

Aim to fill half of your plate with fruits and veggies, ¼ with whole

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Savor it.

If you tend to eat quickly, you likely never truly enjoy your food. Slowing down when you eat can help create a better relationship with how you fuel your body.

Find ways to swap sugar.

Reducing your sugar intake doesn’t have to mean cutting out sweets completely—instead, make small changes like eating plain yogurt over sweetened options or choosing reduced sugar condiments over regular dressings.

Finding Your Natural Rhythm Ever wonder why we have good days and bad days?

Or why we can be extremely productive one afternoon with focused energy and struggle to complete basic tasks the next?

It all has to do with our natural rhythm.

And while we aren’t all on the same schedule, there are steps that can be

taken to ensure we have more happy, productive days than not.

Here’s how to do it without the need for excess caffeine and sugar: • Set monthly goals vs long term goals. Our bodies thrive on 28-31-day rhythms. Take what worked into the next month, and so forth.

• Prep your meals ahead of time.

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March 10 — April 11, 2021 • Page 15

LISTENING IN ON THE ISLAND

Macomb Street has new businesses to give it new life Our Downtown Development Authority has invested in a master plan with the ultimate goal of making Macomb Street so attractive and dynamic that Island residents are drawn to our main street to carry out their business, eat and shop.

Under the leadership of DDA director Trish Eblin, they are hoping to make Lyons Park a destination, install some public art PAMELA A. FRUCCI and tidy up the street.

Grosse Ile Grand There are already several new businesses located on Macomb Street. When three major banks vacated the street and their old buildings lay empty for a time. At least two of them have been occupied with new tenants.

The former Fifth Third Bank was bought by our Urgent Care doctor Dr. Mourir Khaled. He’s rented the building, now called Grosse Ile Professional Offices, which houses attorney Jeff Forrester, Lisa LaRowe Realty and Supreme Lending headed by Jacque Gorris.

Jeff Forrester spent 30 years at Ford Motor where he spent his working years there in telecommunications. Now a practicing attorney with a former office in Southfield, he said he’s happy to be located on Grosse Ile where he makes his home.

Another new business is located in an historic former home and was once used as the local post office.

Now it’s owned by Dr. Christine Crawford, a chiropractor, who’s happy that folks needing her help find her office conveniently located on Macomb Street. (By the way, she’s also happy that the windows in her historic office that were as old as the building just got replaced with new much more Dr. Christina Crawford has opened her new attractive windows.) chiropractic office on Macomb Street.

Also fairly new to Macomb Street is the Public Service Credit Union. They are located in a former There has been an amazing interior makeover at bank building and find that business is now picking the former Lloyds Bar & Grill. up. The main office is in Romulus and they have 13 The popular gathering place was recently offices in Michigan. purchased and the new owners have kept the old

name of Lloyds, but completely modernized the interior.

The chef is new, but the wait staff used to work at the old Lloyds.

The new owners all live on Grosse Ile and are buddies who decided to pool their money and buy Lloyds.

The new owners are Francis Brooks, Chris Laura and Jeremy Syrocki.

When my husband Jack and I had dinner there last week, we found out by talking with Chris Laura that when the weather improves, the plan is to construct a front “porch” on Macomb, which will feature fourseason dining.

He added that “business in good,” which was evident by the large crowd there on a Friday night.

There is also an interesting fire hall-shaped building on Macomb.

It was designed by Mark Stanko, who lives on the upper level with his wife and daughter.

Stanko said he plans to turn the lower level into a cafe. He is currently collaborating with the Promenade in Trenton to bring their tasty treats to the Island.

About in the middle of Macomb Street is the interesting building designed by the owner Mark Stanko. He and his wife and daughter live in the upper level but he plans on making the lower level into a café. He’s collaborating with the Promenade in Trenton to offer their kind of tasty treats. What makes the building so interesting is that it resembles a fire hall.

Another store, Island Goods, owned and operated

by Island resident Emily Wellman, sells a variety of items from clothing to jewelry to sunglasses and what she calls the “men’s corner.”

It’s a first venture into retail for Emily, but it’s been a desire of hers for a long time. She thanks her mother Joyce Tecmire, long time Islander, for her Referencsaid support and helping run theMbusiness. e is fr she onth’s HappyEmily om his T also wants to thank the community for their support since Island Goods opened last May.

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Page 16 • March 10 — April 11, 2021

GROSSE ILE GRAND

Grosse Ile welcomes new police dispatcher PAULA NEUMAN Grosse Ile GRand

When you’re in the throes of an emergency and you dial 911, the dispatcher who answers that call becomes the most important person in the world to you.

On Grosse Ile, one of those people who picks up your call will be Jamie Lenden.

She started the job Jan. 25, and is still in training, but she’s Lenden got nearly 20 years of experience as a dispatcher in other communities. She’s still learning the island emergency department’s specific procedures, but Lenden already has mastered the most crucial aspects of the job: • assessing the nature of your emergency • finding out where you are • determining and sending the right responders to help you.

And all of that has to happen quickly and calmly.

One of the most important things about working dispatch is being able to think fast, Lenden said. Another important ability is knowing how to help upset — sometimes hysterical — callers calm down and offer the right information so she can send help.

“It’s easy to tell people to remain calm when they call 911, but until you’re in whatever situation has led to the call, it’s easy to say and not so easy to do,” she said. “Every scenario is different.”

One thing 911 callers can and should do is know where they are, Lenden said.

“We can’t always get an accurate location when you’re calling on a cellphone,” she said.

Not all emergencies happen at home, and sometimes callers just don’t know exactly where they are. And that makes her job much harder. She’s trained to help you figure it out if need be through

landmarks or nearby establishments.

That ability is going to be extra important when calls come in from boaters on the water, and that will be new for Lenden.

“I’m learning about dispatching the police boats,” she said.

The island community has its own police vessel, and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Marine Division and the U.S. Coast Guard also could come into play, as well.

“Every community has its own type of calls that you get more of,” Lenden said. “When I worked at Wyandotte, a lot of their 911 calls were night-time police calls at 2 a.m. because they had so many night-club type bars back then.

When I worked in Huron Township, the type of calls were more rural.”

She also worked for more than 10 years with the Brownstown Township Police Department and has taken a number of specialized training courses along the way.

The 911 calls from boaters on the river are pretty much exclusive to Grosse Ile, and so are calls that might require a dispatcher to contact a bridge to hold traffic for a priority ambulance dispatch, she said.

Lenden, who lives in Brownstown, loves working as a dispatcher, and has from the first time she did the job.

“I enjoy working with law enforcement, and I enjoy helping people,” she said. “I just enjoy that aspect of first responding. But it’s not for everybody.”

What does she want residents to know about her?

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’m getting very good training here,” she said. “I’m pretty confident that I’ll be capable here on Grosse Ile.” An estimated 240 million calls are made to 911 nationwide each year — about 650,000 every day, according to the National Emergency Number Association.

A certificate of appreciation presented to Grosse Ile Police Department dispatchers in 2020 by the State 911 Committee called them “those who are rarely seen yet always heard, the heroes behind the scenes, the link that holds it all together.”

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Two extraordinary soups that helped me survive frigid February have been added to my collection of favorite bowls. The first is from the cookbook “Supper with Sharon, a Shumate Family Cookbook,” which is dedicated “to all those who not only enjoyed the cooking of the late Sharon Shumate, but also her warmth in family and friendship . . . in whose kitchen magic was made.”

EVELYN Sharon, who grew CAIRNS Grosse Ile up and was married on Grand Grosse Ile, was well known on the island for her outstanding cooking ability and baked goods. Her husband, the late Tom Shumate, was recognized throughout the Downriver area and nationally by duck hunters and artists for his realistic carved wooden duck decoys.

The hard-cover, ring-bound cookbook was lovingly compiled by Sharon’s granddaughter, Madison Thomas of Wyandotte, who arranged to have more than 100 recipes in Sharon’s own handwriting published with an adjacent printed version of each.

I was intrigued by Sharon’s recipe for Fork Soup, which I cut in half when I made it. The soup really is thick enough to eat with a fork, which I did, and loved every bite. Because in March the average temperature is only 37 degrees, you may want to serve a hearty bowl of soup. Sharon suggested serving it with buttered pita sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and toasted in the oven. I sprinkled the soup generously with Parmesan cheese instead.

SHARON’S FORK SOUP (Adapted Version) 1 pound ground beef, browned 1 cup slivered onions 1¼ cups diced celery 14.5-ounce can whole tomatoes, smashed 1 cup V-8 juice ¼ cup barley ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1 raw potato, cubed ½ of a 12-ounce package frozen mixed vegetable Brown beef and onions, adding additional cooking oil if necessary.

Drain well. Add remaining ingredients, except frozen mixed vegetables. Cook over low heat for 3 to 4 hours. Stir frequently to prevent barley from sticking. Thaw the frozen vegetables in cold water and drain well. Add the vegetables and cook about 5 minutes just before serving.

••• My other new-favorite bowl is a slow-cooker chicken soup recipe shared by Shelley Dalley, of Grosse Ile, who is known for her awesome gourmet main dishes and desserts.

Shelley stopped by on Valentine’s Day with a huge serving of the scrumptious soup, the recipe and her melt-in your-mouth heart-shaped cornmeal buttermilk biscuits. Because I don’t have a 6-quart slow-cooker, I used my 3½-quart Crock Pot with no problem. I substituted dried thyme and rosemary flakes for fresh (you can find equivalents on the web) and chopped frozen spinach for fresh.

SHELLEY’S LEMON CHICKEN ORZO SOUP 1½ tablespoons canola oil 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 6 cups chicken stock 1 medium-size sweet onion, diced 3 medium-size carrots, peeled and sliced 2 celery ribs, sliced 3 cloves garlic, minced 3 springs fresh thyme 1 sprig fresh rosemary 1 bay leaf ½ cup orzo pasta, uncooked 4 cups fresh baby spinach 2 tablespoons lemon juice Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Add to skillet and cook until golden, 4 to 5 minutes.

Place chicken in a 6-quart slow cooker.

Stir in stock, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and cook on low heat for 5 to 6 hours. Uncover and stir in pasta; cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes or until tender. Stir in spinach until wilted. Add lemon juice, season with salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!

HAPPY COOKING! (Contact me at Evycairns@aol.com.)

Page 18 • March 10 — April 11, 2021

GROSSE ILE GRAND

Please support our local restaurants

Restaurants doing all they can during pandemic The restaurant business is very much a family affair for Jeremy Syrocki of Grosse Ile. He was raised working in the restaurants of his father, chef Anthony Syrocki, including Syrocki’s in Illinois and Studebaker’s in Pennsylvania.

Jeremy earned a business degree from Oakland University, and although he didn’t pursue formal chef’s training, he grew up in the industry and he cooks — and cooks and cooks and cooks.

“I cook every single day somePAULA where,” he said.

NEUMAN He opened Truago, an upscale seaGrosse Ile Grand food and steak restaurant in Trenton, about five years ago.

Then about two years ago, Jeremy — with his brother Jeff and sister-in-law Christine — opened Major Biddle’s in Wyandotte, specializing in ribs, barbecue and comfort food such as meatloaf and lasagna, but also offering sandwiches, steaks and seafood.

And on Feb. 1, Jeremy and his Grosse Ile friends Chris Laura and Francis Brooks re-opened Lloyd’s Bar & Grill on Macomb Street of Grosse Ile, and have revamped it from stem to stern with help from Jeremy’s wife, Kristina.

“She has helped me design all the restaurants,” he said. “We do all the construction and design work ourselves. At Lloyd’s the whole interior is redone and we’re putting a big outdoor patio on, half-enclosed, kind of like Truago. We plan to put bike racks out front, too. We want it to be a community gathering place, where you go after the football game or the cheerleading competition — that family destination spot for the island.”

Lloyd’s offers more casual dining than Jeremy’s

Trenton and Wyandotte restaurants.

The bar’s menu includes house-made pizza, burgers, hoagies and a wide assortment of appetizers, entrees, soups and salads. Already, the bar is selling 50-100 pizzas a day, counting carry-out and dine-in sales, he said.

The pandemic and state-ordered shutdowns have not helped Michigan’s hospitality industry.

The state’s restaurants first were shut down for indoor dining on March 16, 2020. That lasted until June 8, when the eateries were allowed to reopen at 50 percent capacity. But when Covid case numbers surged over the summer and fall, the state again shut restaurants down for indoor dining on Nov. 18 across most of Michigan.

Now, as of Feb. 1, restaurants are allowed to open again for indoor dining but at 25 percent capacity up to 100 customers total and with many other restrictions.

Michigan restaurants that have survived so far — more than 2,000 have had to permanently close, according to the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association — are happy to welcome back their customers, but many owners wonder how long they can keep going.

Carry-outs helped Syrocki’s restaurants through the first pandemic shutdown, but now that part of his business is about half what it was before, Jeremy said. So inside dining — limited now by the state to 25 percent of capacity — is very important.

Restaurant owners everywhere, especially those with family-owned eateries, are struggling to survive the pandemic shutdowns and limitations.

“We’re all doing the best we can to follow the rules and keep everybody safe,” he said. “Twenty-five percent is not enough to pay the bills — not even close.”

But he’s enthused about the future, and about serving the restaurants’ loyal customers and enticing new ones in the doors of all three eateries.

“I do all the menu planning,” Jeremy said. “I’m trying to make sure we’re not overlapping each other because the restaurants are so close to each other.”

All of the core recipes he uses are from his father.

“He’s retired now, but he was a chef for 50 years,” Jeremy said. “He actually works for me now in the summers. He’ll make soups and sauces, cut steaks and filets for me.”

And all three restaurants specialize in making almost everything on the menu from scratch.

“We’re hand-cutting our own steaks, pounding our own chicken,” Jeremy said. “We buy the best products we can buy, and that makes good products at the end.”

His children Brianna, 16, and Christian and Braydon, 14, also work in his restaurants.

It’s a family tradition, after all.

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March 10 — April 11, 2021 • Page 19

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February 10 — March 9, 2021 • Page 25

Current crisis is an overlay on bigger problems It’s hard for me to envision her for the convenience of the merchant brings.

My heroic advocacy of themselves, but they need a reality in which small towns internet. My priorities and But with the internet came organization is ILSR, the to be regulated and controlled. are obsolete. Where the values predetermine what a whole different breed of Institute for Local Self There need to be guidelines unique character and make-up I’d do, and I promise you, it threat.

Reliance. and rules and consequences is no longer relevant enough would not be to contribute to In Congress, there is a They’ve gotten the for breaking them. Pretty to be a viable environment for her detriment. growing acknowledgement attention of Congress and much the precise thing that independent On the broader scale, it’s all that antitrust laws have been are working with legislators is wrong with the way we stores to fill about just exactly how much nearly completely ignored now to achieve meaningful manage just about everything: local niches. each of us views the vitality in favor of “hands off the change.

Leave it to big business to Hard of our own community. market” thinking.

There is talk of splitting self-regulate, which means because I Community in this case being Reports have been released, Amazon and Google. There not regulate. And then scratch don’t like that defined as Downriver. and action looms to reign in is now a possibility for new our heads and exclaim “Boy, vision at all.

I’ve been sharing various big tech in particular. Google, laws by which to govern, not never saw that coming.”

Peter Yet I see Rose Grosse Ile it happening, Grand feel the inexorable pressure being exerted by technology and corporations so large that the castle cannot be defended forever.

The latest figures tell us that independent retail is now 45 percent of all USA retail, and employment in this field is 48 percent indie.

These are pre-covid figures.

These numbers don’t include the 400,000 small businesses that closed by September due to the economic reality of a pandemic. They don’t take into account that while virtually all small businesses experienced devastating drops in retail sales in the fourth quarter of 2020, Amazon sales were up 60 percent.

So who knows where we Because of their size and dominance, Amazon and other online behemoths are drawing attention from some in the U.S. are now, or where we’ll be Congress concerned about monopoly and antitrust violations. when some semblance of normalcy returns. angles and takes on this issue Facebook and Amazon are be governed. The capture The question had been If you look at these things since I began writing this the targets. The size and of more tax dollars and a asked and answered in as I do: As a huge-stakes war column. Before that, I was scope of these entities is massive reduction in tax another way, so I punted to for retail square footage and obsessed with the concept of a mind-numbing. The power subsidies by which the simply comment that so many market share, in which the shared “pushing back” against and control they assert, with government chooses winners of my fellow indie owners well being and employment national, for the sake of the virtually zero oversight, is and worries not about the are every bit as passionate of millions is at stake, and effect on our community incomprehensible. consequences of a severely as I am about the failure choice and price fixing are at of our little businesses that Twenty-two years ago, damaged small business of government to actually huge risk for consumers, the employ so many, and how we there was no Google. Fifteen network across the country. control the tool of capitalism, numbers matter a lot. all tend to keep our money years ago, no Facebook.

I was invited by ILSR to and that not surprisingly, I understand the reality of circulating locally to the tune Amazon was founded in participate in a Zoom call we’re more than a little jaded not wanting to go out, and of roughly three times as 1994. In such a short time, recently with their leaders, about the prospects for real the incredible ease of getting much as national chain stores. the value of these companies Congressman David Cicilline, and substantive change down what you want at the push of I hate seeing boarded up is staggering, and Congress Zephyr Teachout, and this path. a send button. towns that no longer draw has paid virtually no owners of many independent But I’m thankful that there But if my daughter owned a people to eat, drink, bank, attention. There didn’t use businesses across the country. are some that really do care, shop and needed every sale so shop, get things done and to be a concern about single I was invited to ask a that are also appalled, and that as to feed my grand kids and just mingle with the rest of companies having dominance question, which was intended intend to affect change. pay her mortgage, I wouldn’t the world that relies on the in many realms; now it’s to point out that these be quite as quick to bypass personal touches that each routine. companies are not evil in and

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13801 S. Telegraph • Taylor, MI 48180 • North of Eureka Rd. 734.287.2600 TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT OR ASK A QUESTION, EMAIL US 24/7/365: SERVICE@TAYLORCHEVY.COM

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Two women with a strong interest in sports and fitness have joined forces to open Island Athletics in the former Grosse Ile Tennis Center building, 9251 Groh Road.

The new business in the 40,000-square-foot building will offer five indoor tennis courts; tennis clinics; four pickleball courts; half-court basketball; a fitness center; cardio classes; personal training; space to rent for team practices, birthday parties or whathave-you; and much more.

“We have a spin room with 10 spin bikes ready to launch as soon as the governor allows group fitness to come back,” co-owner Bobbie Haidy said.

Haidy is the varsity competitive cheerleading coach at Roosevelt High School in Wyandotte, and her partner in the business, Bobbi Parsons of Wyandotte, is a friend and mother of one of Haidy’s cheerleaders.

“We were looking for a small building to do space rental for practices, and then we landed this,” Haidy said with a laugh.

The large Grosse Ile facility, owned by the township, was built in 1942 to house military aircraft, and converted into a tennis facility in 1972, then majorly renovated in 2003.

According to Island Athletic’s website: “The capital improvements initiated in fall 2003 were funded through the efforts of private donors. With these funds Phase I of the redevelopment of the Tennis Center has transpired. Phase I focused upon reopening the tennis courts and limited amenities. Phase II will initiate the construction of new infrastructure, new locker rooms and the development of a full service fitness area.”

Island Athletics has done a lot of renovating and refreshing since the women started working in November, including remodeling the building’s lobby.

“We’ve repainted the whole building, put in new floors, new trim, a new ceiling and renovated the men’s and women’s locker rooms,” Haidy said.

Both women’s husbands have done a lot of work on the facility, too, as have Haidy’s parents.

“They’ve been a huge help,” she said. “This is two families coming together to better Grosse Ile and the surrounding communities. When we made the commitment, we didn’t just want to bring tennis back. We wanted to bring in as much as we could. The idea is to work with the community and give them a diverse selection of fitness. This 40,000-quare-foot building can be utilized for just about any sport, fitness activities or personal use.”

Memberships, to begin after Covid restrictions are lifted, are available for purchase, as are one-time uses for all aspects of the facility. For prices and more information, visit www.island-athletics.com.

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hErE to KEEP you covErEd February 10 — March 9, 2021 • Page 27

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Page 28 • February 10 — March 9, 2021

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Grosse Ile’s Janet Dyer sits at the long arm quilting machine she uses to create her dozens of beautiful, colorful hand-made quits

TELESCOPING THE TOWNSHIP

Grosse Ile Township has is own Michelangelo

W

hereas Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling back in 1508-12, right here on Grosse Ile in 2021 we have an equally creative artist.

But rather than using paint, Janet Dyer uses colorful fabric to design beautiful quilts. Her sewing room at her home on Dallas is loaded with drawers of fabrics she’s accumulated through the years. Many of PAMELA A. FRUCCI her creations grace Grosse Ile Grand the bedrooms or are hung over stair railings Janet said she first became interested in creating quilts in the 1970s when teaching in Rose City.

She loved visiting the Mennonite shops and admiring their quilts. Back then she took classes in quilt making, bought books and subscribed to a quilters’ newsletter. In a short time

Janet became what could easily be called a “professional” quilter!

Included in the three or four wall hangings she creates each year, she has stitched baby quilts for family members, has created 20-30 full length quilts and has 10 “in the works.”

Becoming a professional quilter, she and her husband David decided she needed a quilting machine. That’s why the Dyers now have a gigantic long arm quilter that takes up a third of their living room.

The machine was pretty “pricey,” according to the Dyers.

Now Janet can do a quilt from tiny pieces of fabrics to all the layers needed for a complete quilt.

Lucky recipients of Janet’s quilts include her son’s girlfriend, the youth room at the Grosse Ile Presbyterian Church and a retiree from the GIPC’s Children’s Nurture Commission.

When not quilting, Janet donates her time to working in the Taylor office of Fish & Loaves, which provides food

for the needy.

A retired elementary teacher, she volunteers as a tutor at Harms School in Detroit, does her own yard work and likes to go bike riding A family heirloom is passed on On a visit a few months ago, my husband Jack’s sister in Lansing brought Jack’s old baby blanket up from the basement.

It happens to be over 90-years old and looked it!

With a washing in mild soap, repairing a couple of holes, and buying a brand new binding that exactly matched the blue and white checked blanket, it looked brand new.

So I wrapped it up and sent it to our granddaughter in Pelham Manor, NY where she’s expecting her third child a baby boy.

Just the other day on a family Zoom call, she reported that it had arrived and was happy having a family heirloom for the new arrival in May.

Charles Dickens responsible for term we still use Since I’ve been referring to our new location on East River Road’s water-front as our “digs,” I thought I’d Google the source of the term.

Google explains that it goes way back to Charles Dickens, the famous English writer who wrote in the mid 1800s.

He called living quarters in his time “diggings.”

Funny, all this time I thought digs was a contemporary term!

A 9-year-old Grosse Ile girl makes a touching offer When Stella DeMare, 9, found out that a little boy in Africa needed a walker to help him navigate, she wanted to help. Stella, who uses a walker, was getting a new walker to replace her old one, so she offered it to the boy.

Both TV channels Ch. 2 and 4 covered her act of kindness.

February 10 — March 9, 2021 • Page 29

HAVE AN EVENT OR FUNDRAISER? LET US KNOW AT 734-282-3939

GROSSE ILE GRAND

Some of Janet Dyer’s quilting work

Page 30 • February 10 — March 9, 2021

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Members of the police department began training on the LUCAS device that is designed to give mechanical chest compressions to patients in sudden cardiac arrest. Courtesy of Facebook

Grosse Ile Police receive new life saving device Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation or CPR is a time tested way to revive and keep alive patients suffering cardiac arrest.

Traditionally CPR is administered manually by a caregiver.

But, like anything else, as time goes by, new and better ways to perform tasks are developed. So it is for CPR The LUCAS chest compression system, developed by Lund University in Sweden, is a mechanical CPR machine that offers advantages that can help both caregiver and patient.

Recently, thanks to the generosity of the medical staff at BeaumontTrenton Hospital, the Grosse Ile Police Department received a $14,000 LUCAS device. The donation was facilitated by Dr. Zachary Lewis, Kurt Kobiljak and the Medical Executive Board.

The LUCAS device has been shown to improve quality of chest compressions and be able to sustain life-saving circulation during prolonged resuscitation attempts.

LUCAS has been studied extensively, shown to be safe and effective and to save patients that would otherwise have been considered futile.

The machine enables and facilitates:

extended CPR, high-quality CPR during transport and treatment of the underlying cause, such as myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism and accidental hypothermia.

The device has shown to: provide consistent quality of chest compressions during resuscitation attempts, create life-sustaining perfusion of the brain and heart of the patient and create good neurological outcomes.

The machine also Improves operational efficiencies.

With the LUCAS device, fatigue, individual variations or psychological factors are removed from CPR and there is no longer a need for switching CPR providers every two minutes.

LUCAS helps provide high-quality and safer chest compressions in situations such as patient movement and transportation during prolonged CPR, thus helping first responders like the Grosse Ile Police Department save more lives.

Specifically, LUCAS helps first responders by: freeing up hands and reducing chaos around the patient, calming down the scene and buying time to make decisions and providing CPR guidance and data for feedback

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February 10 — March 9, 2021 • Page 31

Kiwanis plans 2021 All-Island Clean-Up

Spring is around the corner, and our Island needs help.

Every year for the past 20 years or so, The Kiwanis Club of Grosse Ile has hosted the All-Island Clean-Up, where volunteers and community service groups come together to beautify our island once winter has gone away.

Sadly, last year we were not able to host the event due to COVID restrictions. Now here we are again, winter is fading and our island needs to get clean.

Please join us on Saturday, April 24 in our modified All Island Clean-Up, where we will scour the streets of Grosse Ile to remove trash from our roadways.

You can volunteer by either signing up on the event page on the Grosse Ile Kiwanis Facebook

page or meet us in front of the VFW on April 24 from 10 am until 1 pm to sign up and be assigned a zone and given thrash bags.

Due to the pandemic, we will not be able to provide gloves or safety vests this year.

The zones will be along the main streets of Grosse Ile that Kiwanis club members will be driving around picking up full bags and delivering empty ones.

If you would like a no contact approach, then sign up on our Facebook Event page and a zone will be assigned to you, but you will have to begin with your own bags.

If it rains on April 24, then the event will be moved to May 1.

Please watch our event page for updates.

AAUW offers $2,500 academic scholarship The Wyandotte-Downriver branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) is offering a scholarship in 2021 through its foundation for all eligible applicants. The foundation arm of the organization was established in 2010, and is classified as a 501(c)3 entity.

The intent of this scholarship is to provide financial support, including tuition, fees, books and supplies.

The $2,500.00 award will be paid directly to the chosen college or university on behalf of the student.

The scholarship is for the Fall Semester 2021.

Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident residing in any of the following communities: Allen Park, Brownstown, Ecorse, Flat Rock, Gibraltar, Grosse Ile, Huron Township, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, New Boston, River Rouge, Riverview, Rockwood, Romulus, Southgate, Taylor, Trenton, Woodhaven or Wyandotte.

The applicants must have earned a minimum of 12 college credits and

must be currently enrolled as a fulltime student.

All interested students who wish to apply for this scholarship should send an email with the subject: “Scholarships” to aauwwd@gmail. com to receive the application form and guidelines.

The completed application, required essay and a copy of the applicant’s transcript must be sent to AAUW-WDF, P.O. Box 127, Grosse Ile, MI 48138 or via email to scholarship committee chair Bebe Hartman at: sharkhart31@gmail.com.

The application deadline is March 15, 2021.

AAUW Wyandotte-Downriver supports leadership, education, equity and economic security for women through scholarships, training and political advocacy. Information about the branch and our activities can be found at https://downriver-mi. aauw.net/ and or by calling Sheila Blair at 734-674-2246 or Sue Stoll at 737-692-4919. Address email to aauwwd@gmail.com

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GROSSE ILE GRAND

Page 32 • February 10 — March 9, 2021

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As a Ford Motor Company early retiree and an experienced 20-plus year attorney, Jeffrey Forrester brings practical, hands-on experience to his cases.

Forrester has been a Grosse Ile resident for 30 years and was named Attorney of the Year by the Michigan Community Resources group in 2012. He received that honor after he negotiated - pro bono - a beneficial deal for SafeHouse Center, a nonprofit organization in Ann Arbor that shelters battered and abused women and children.

He is a past Grosse Ile Township Trustee and a two-time commodore of Elba Mar Boat Club.

Forrester has worked with attorneys from both Michigan and Florida as many of his clients have homes in both states, so he has a firm grasp on the working of regional legal machinery in both states.

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Will Evans Publisher

Sherry Evans Publisher

Hank Minckiewicz Editor-In-Chief

Blair Temple Graphic Designer

Larry Caruso Writer/Photos

Patrick McComb Graphic Designer

Peter Rose Writer

Dave Gorgon Writer/Photos

Evelyn Cairns Writer

Bill Stevenson Writer

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David Dyer Writer

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February 10 — March 9, 2021 • Page 33

Photo by Jim Jacek

(LEFT) Presenting our fall donation of $12,760 to the Gibraltar Food Pantry. Thank you to member Leeanne Schultz for nominating the food bank, and to member Carol Woggon for all the great work you’re doing in our community to help combat food insecurity. (CENTER) Presenting our donations of $12,850 to Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital for the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. Pictured are Cindy Czarnik (100 Women Who Care Downriver), Jennifer Eslinger (President of Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital), Lori Hawkins (100 Women Who Care Downriver), and Kevin Rourke (Development Manager of Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital). Many thanks to our members for their generous donations, and our gratitude to all front line workers helping with COVID-19. May 2020. (RIGHT) Denise Ochmanek and Lori Hawkins were able to present our 100 Women Who Care Downriver donation to Ann Rudisill of DFV.

100 Women Who Care Downriver donates thousands to charities

Pooling dollars, making a difference Tom Tigani Grosse Ile Grand

Giving to others has become increasingly important in a time of economic stress, but a group of Downriver women has been ahead of the curve for some time.

Since its founding in February 2016, 100 Women Who Care Downriver has donated $139,810 to multiple local charities. The first donation was $1,700 to Vista Maria in Dearborn.

“We meet three times a year, vote on a local charity, and everyone writes a $100 check to the chosen organization,” said Riverview resident Lori Hawkins, the group’s founder. “It’s simple! When we all work together, we can make a bigger difference in charities that do such great work in our own communities.

“It’s really a giving circle. I read about one in the Albion College alumni newsletter and thought it was an interesting concept.”

Of about 135 active members, 100 Women Who Care Downriver boasts 18 from Riverview, 30 from Grosse Ile, eight from Southgate and 10 from Wyandotte. Members range in age from the 20s on up.

“We started with 12 after I called a couple of friends,” Hawkins said, “and from then on it got bigger and bigger.

Even though I put it together, our advisory board members put in a lot of time and effort. It wouldn’t work without all of the members.”

It’s now a chapter of an international group, as are other such groups all over Michigan.

“Since we began, a couple of women from Monroe County joined and eventually started their own,” she said. “ It’s really taken off.”

While members can and do donate individually, Hawkins said that collectively, the group makes a much greater impact on local charities.

“When you get a big group, that $100 turns into significant amounts of money,” she said.

A recent example is the $18,000 donated in late 2020 to Downriver for Veterans. A donation currently is being collected for ChristNet, a Taylor-based seasonal shelter program open from October through May. Meeting attendees who want to bring a charity for group consideration make a five-minute presentation, the charity’s name goes into a hat and members then pick three. The No. 1 criterion is that

the charity is based Downriver or has some scope of business in the area and is a 501(c)(3) organization.

Often the presentations are a chance to hear about charities that previously were unknown. Even charities that don’t “win” sometimes receive donations beyond the $100 or donations of time from group members..

“We also ask what sort of project would be funded, or what wouldn’t they be able to do without donations,” Hawkins said. “People really like that it provides a way to give back to our community when people are busy. It’s very quick, and our actual meetings are always finished in an hour.”

Before COVID-19, the group met at places like the Riverview Public Library or Fiorelli’s restaurant in Flat Rock, and some members would stay on after the vote.

“It’s a really nice night when we could meet, socialize and network,” Hawkins said.

As one might expect, however, meetings currently are virtual.The generosity level, however, is unchanged; a recent Facebook live event collected nearly $13,000 for the Gibraltar Food Pantry.

“I am humbled and thankful for the

generosity of all of these women,” Hawkins said. “It will be really great when we can meet again. Those meetings are so inspiring. People don’t know where to donate, and this makes it easy and has a greater impact.

“I come home from meetings on a high. People are excited to be there and want to give back, but are not always sure how or where. To have this camaraderie is really fantastic.”

Recipient charities 2016: Vista Maria ($1,700), ACTS ($1,600), Mimi’s Mission ($2,200) 2017: Bottoms Up Diaper Bank ($3,500), Rudy’s Sock Drive ($4,500), Debbie’s Closet ($5,100) 2018: Mimi’s Mission ($7,600), Mi Cookie Project ($8,600), ChristNet ($13,600) 2019: Enchanted Makeovers ($15,300), Penrickton Center for Blind Children ($16,150), Metro Detroit Share ($16,150) 2020: Downriver for Veterans ($18,000), Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund ($12,850), Gibraltar Food Pantry ($12,960) 2021: ChristNet (final amount pending)

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GROSSE ILE GRAND

Page 34 • February 10 — March 9, 2021

GROSSE ILE GRAND

Stay at Home Care LLC has been helping the elderly and disabled in the privacy of their own homes for 7 years. The business started as a result of both co-owners Brenda Rademan and Diana Cain having Diana Cain & Brenda Rademan difficulty finding the means to care for their own parents at home.

“You speak with the owners; we aren’t a franchise like the rest of them.” said co-owners Brenda and Diana.

When talking about your loved ones, there is nothing worse than dealing with impersonal care.

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GROSSE ILE GRAND

February 10 — March 9, 2021 • Page 35

Devil cagers in good shape in early going Tom Tigani Grosse Ile Grand

The Grosse Ile High School boys’ basketball has bounced back from a couple of tough early losses and as of press time stood at 5-2 overall and 5-1 in Huron League action.

“The season is going really well right now, considering our late start (because of COVID-19 restrictions) and us not having enough time to practice,” Coach Mohamed Elhaj said.

“I’m really impressed with this group so far. We’ve had very little time to figure things out, but this group has come together and are playing really well.”

Keegan Mott and Michael Madrigal are the Red Devils’ top scorers, but Elhaj is quick to point out that the entire team is looking good.

“This is a special group I have this year,”” he said. “They all care for each other and they all play their roles really well.”

Elhaj knew going into this season that this group would be “very special,” with seven returning players, and a promising upcoming junior varsity group.

“I expected good things to happen Photo by Larry Caruso with this team,” he said. “I’m very Junior Ty Garza and the Red Devils got the season off to a 5-2 start.

impressed with our game play right now. “This group of guys all cares for each other, they all want to see each other succeed.

“They all show up to practice, work hard and try to get better every day. I can tell how well they are improving through these games.

“They are very fun to coach and watch.”

It was especially fun watching them in a 64-40 win last week over Riverview, who Elhaj said is a good team.

“We played very well together,” he said. “That was the best we played in a very long time, defensively and offensively. Our defense impressed me the most. We were all on the same page.”

Elhaj said the Red Devils have a very good chance of winning their league this year.

“I think we can pull it off,” he said, noting that despite the tough Huron League matchups, Grosse Ile was able to finish strong.

“This team showed me how well they can finish close games,” he said “We have to continue to play well and together, because we know teams will be coming after us.”

COVID-19 cases stall Red Devils hockey season HANK MINCKIEWICZ Grosse Ile Grand

Coach Jason Durbin has one piece of advice for his team - work hard and good things will happen.

And so far this season, when the Red Devils have worked hard, good things have happened. And when they haven’t, well, that’s why their record is just 3-2-1.

“If these guys go out and work hard every shift, the coaches can live with whatever the results are,” Durbin said. “I’ve told the team, if they go out and really work we have a good chance to play with and beat even the real good teams on our schedule.”

Ah, the schedule. Grosse Ile stands at just 3-2-1 as the calendar turned over to May because the team was hit with some cases of COVID-19 and forced to quarantine and cancel a few games. In all, they lost five games during the shutdown, including rematches with Riverview and Divine Child.

Grosse Ile’s last game was a 2-2 tie with Gabriel Richard on Feb 20. The Devils were scheduled to return to the ice March 6 against Cabrini. Assuming that happened and there are no more shutdowns, Grosse Ile will play four more regular-season games for a total of 10 before heading into the Michigan High School Athletic Association state playoffs, which begin March 15.

The Red Devils will be in a regional tournament at the Yack with archrival Riverview, defending regional champ Gabriel Richard, Wyandotte, Carlson, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central and Bedford.

During the month of February, Grosse Ile beat Huron 6-1, Monroe St, Mary Catholic Central 7-2 and Divine Child 5-0. They lost to Riverview 5-2 and Woodhaven 3-2.

Freshman goalie Wyatt Thompson got his first high school start against Divine Child and made the most of

it, stopping 32 shots and earning the shutout.

“That was the most fun game I have been a part of in a long while,” said Durbin. “The kids were so into it and so excited for Wyatt. It was a lot of fun.”

Pat Karn had two goals against the Falcons and Travis Symons, Aiden Hennessey and Adam Kargenian had the others to help make Thompson’s life a little easier.

Senior goalie Owen Bonham got the wins over SMCC and Huron and was also in net for the tie with Richard.

Against Huron, Karn again had two goals and Jack Cislo, Jack Czarnik, Presley Hubler and Ben Carter had the others.

Against SMCC, Karn, Carter and Luke Miller each had two goals and Kargenian had the other. And in the draw with Richard, Kargenian and Luke Auger scored for the Devils.

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February 10 — March 9, 2021 • Page 37

Grosse Ile girls still looking for consistency Tom Tigani Grosse Ile Grand

At this point in the season, the Grosse Ile High School girls basketball team is in the same boat as other Huron League teams.

“It has been a struggle to get consistency,” Coach Bill Fleming said.

His Red Devils at press time were 4-3 in league play and 4-5 overall.

“We are all just happy to be playing.” he said.

After a week of tryouts, things were completely shut down for two months.

Fleming kept his team engaged with twice-weekly remote workouts and twice-weekly video reviews. They returned to the gym in mid-January for distanced workouts -- “a lot of shooting and running, but nothing that involved defense” -- before resuming full practices early last month.

That gave them just four days to prepare for their first game, instead of the usual four weeks.

The Red Devils started on a high note with their first win at Carleton Airport in several years, but since have played very well in spurts while struggling at other times.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the roster has been larger in case players became ill, which has happened.

“We knew going into the season that we were going to be relying on quite a few girls with no varsity experience, and that it would be an evolution during the season,” Fleming said. “The shutdown hurt us in that development, especially with three games per week limiting our practice time. But again, especially for the seniors, we are all grateful to have the chance to play and compete.

The competition has been led by junior guard Natalie Christnagel, the Red Devils’ highest returning scorer from last year’s squad. Fleming said she has really elevated her game to a new level, leading the team in scoring and steals while also being its secondhighest rebounder.

Just ask the Monroe Jefferson Bears, who on March 1 spent much of the game trying to limit Christnagel. That meant the other Red Devils needed to step up and fill the void -- and they did. Ten of their 11 available players

Senior Melanie Ferguson pushes the ball up court

Photo by Larry Caruso

scored to give Grosse Ile a 45-32 win.

Sophomore guard Natalee Kirk led the way with nine points, followed by senior guard Melanie Ferguson with eight. Senior Emmi Pinkowski had eight rebounds followed by Christnagel with seven.

Pinkowski has been the team’s other consistent contributor and always draws the job of guarding the opponent’s best player. She has started

to contribute more offensively and is the Red Devils’ third-leading scorer and second in assists.

“We have had contributions across the board at different times from the rest of our roster,” Fleming said. “We need to look for more consistency as we move forward. Truthfully, I thought we would be farther ahead at this point.”

Instead, growth now will have to

come as his team plays games.

“Districts are only three weeks away (starting March 22), Fleming said, “and we have a very competitive district.”

Grosse Ile’s district site has not yet been determined, but the Devil will be in a draw with Riverview, Southgate, Taylor, Trenton and Wyandotte.

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GROSSE ILE GRAND

Page 38 • February 10 — March 9, 2021

GROSSE ILE GRAND

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Meijer gets an ‘A’ for vaccine rollout PAULA NEUMAN Grosse Ile Grand

“Efficient” is the word you’re most likely to hear from those who’ve received a first Covid vaccine shot at the Meijer Southgate store when they talk about the experience.

••• • “My husband and I both went. In and out in 30 minutes. Very organized and efficient.” — Donna Pear of Wyandotte • “Very efficient.” — Deborah Eldredge of Southgate • “No problems whatsoever. So efficient.” — Donna Marbrey of Southgate • “It’s very organized. Moves fast even though the line looked long.” — Jenni Weihmiller of Romulus • “Went real smoothly.” — Stan Kulczycki of Wyandotte • “Very quick and organized.” — Melissa Dyer of Wyandotte • “Meijer in Southgate did a great job. No waiting, no overcrowding, professional. In and out in 35 minutes. Great experience.” — Cora Kidd of Southgate ••• During the last few weeks, Meijer stores throughout the state have administered up to 1,200 vaccines per day, depending on the store, according to a Feb. 8 press release from the superstore chain based in Grand Rapids.

“Since its first clinic on Jan. 15, the retailer has administered more than 20,000 doses in Michigan and more than 30,000 doses overall, primarily to seniors 65 and older,” the release states.

The vaccine doses are provided by the state of Michigan and the Centers for Disease Control. Health systems throughout the state, including Henry Ford and Beaumont, and other sites also are holding vaccine clinics throughout the state. Many hopeful seniors have signed up with as many locations as they can, and are just waiting to get the texts, emails and phone calls setting up appointments.

Here’s how it works with Meijer: Text COVID to the number 75049 for a link to register, or visit clinic. meijer.com to register. Seniors also

can sign up in person at individual stores.

On the day and time of your Meijer appointment, when you walk into the store, an employee will direct you to another worker at the clinic, who will hand you paperwork to fill out and send you on to the vaccine line. Signs and employees direct you every step of the way.

As you move through the line, where everyone is six feet apart, you can fill out your paperwork.

“It moved very quickly,” said Patricia Rydzewski of Wyandotte.

“The process was well organized, and in spite of there being about 30 people in line, it only took 15 minutes,” said Joanne Dalla Santa of Lincoln Park. “I would recommend seniors with arthritis to bring their canes or walkers or grab a cart for support while in line.”

At the top of the line, an employee will take your paperwork and ask for your insurance cards, look all of that over quickly and direct you to a table where a pharmacy worker is waiting to swab your arm, give you the shot, hand you a vaccine card and make you an appointment for your second dose three weeks from the first one.

Then you’re directed to seats — all spaced six feet apart — where you wait for 15 minutes (or 30 minutes depending on your health status) to

make sure you don’t have any sort of allergic reaction. And then you’re done. Before you’ve walked out of the waiting area, an employee is cleaning your chair for the next person.

“I was very impressed and happy about the whole experience,” said Helen Guerra of Southgate. “The workers were so kind, friendly and helpful.”

“My husband and I just received our first Covid shots at Meijer in Southgate,” Pat Trenton of Taylor wrote online. “I’m posting just to let them and everyone know what an outstanding job they are doing. The line moved quickly, the entire team was friendly and professional, and even the waiting area chairs were cleaned as soon as someone left. You realize that almost all of us in line are seniors, a great many with health issues, and to stand in a long line can be very daunting. No problem today.

Kind workers and well organized.”

“I’m extremely proud of the amazing work our store and pharmacy teams have done to create a quick and efficient process for our vaccine clinics,” said Jason Beauch, Meijer vice president of pharmacy. “The importance of these clinics is not lost on our team members and patients.

It’s a very emotional experience for everyone involved.”

As more vaccine doses become

available, Meijer will expand vaccine administration, according to a press release. Nationwide, about 46 million people have received the first dose of a Covid vaccine, according to Feb. 11 news reports. Vaccination is not complete until two doses have been received.

If you know a senior without a cell phone or Internet access, consider helping that person register to get a vaccine, some people recommend.

“I registered my older sister for an appointment and used my phone number,” Dalla Santa said.

“One of the most important things Michiganders can do right now is to make a plan to get the vaccine when it becomes available to you,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “Remember, it takes some time to distribute the vaccine to all Michiganders, so please be patient .… The state of Michigan is proud to partner with Meijer to help distribute the safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine to Michiganders across the state.”

The systems used to get vaccine shots into arms vary from state to state.

Meijer is a family-owned retailer with 256 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin.

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