Trenton Times, October 27 – November 24, 2022

Photo by Dave Chapman

TRENTON SCHOOLS

Trenton High School – off to a great start

Ron Diroff

The 2022-23 start to the school year has been an exciting one at Trenton High School.

We have had a great start to the new school year beginning with student orientation meetings at the end of August. At these meetings students are introduced to the THS Administrative Team (Ron Diroff – Principal, Michelle Enochs – Assistant Principal and James Trush – Assistant Principal and Athletic Director), changes to expectations to the new school year and issued new THS Student IDs.

Freshman students participated in a special orientation experience supported by the THS Link Crew team of students and staff, with the intent to prepare them for their transition from middle school to high school.

“Link Crew is a high school transition program that welcomes freshmen and makes them feel comfortable throughout the first year of their high school experience. Built on the belief that students can help students succeed, this proven transition program trains mentors from your junior and senior

classes to be Link Crew Leaders who guide the freshmen to discover how to be successful during the transition to high school and help facilitate freshman success.” For more information on Link Crew: boomerangproject.com

The Link Crew team continues to enhance the Freshman experience by supporting Freshman students in monthly Trojan Pride meetings. Trojan Pride is a program originally developed by THS staff members to provide students additional support in small groups. Each month all THS students meet in groups of approximately 20 students and perform activities to support social emotional learning as well as academics.

The Link Crew Leaders (upperclassmen) lead the activities in each of the Freshman Trojan Pride groups. In addition to this, Link Crew Leaders help to support students on navigating the building during tours at orientation, open lockers and provide guidance the first day of school, and in welcoming students to the Homecoming football game – at a BBQ exclusively held for our Freshman students.

The new school year also welcomes new staff

members to Trenton High School.

We are excited for the following staff members to join our team in October: Melanie Elliott: Business Teacher, Christian Falzone: Virtual Teacher, Connor Wirtz: Autoshop Paraprofessional and Sarah Riley: Career Specialist.

Melanie Elliott, joining us as our new Business Teacher, allows us to support reopening the THS School Store. We are currently building up our inventory to support the change in seasons and plan to sell merchandise at winter events.

We are also working on an online store option (for clothing product purchases: hoodies, hats, shirts, etc) to potentially be rolled out in January. In addition to this we plan to open the school store during the day with the support of Marketing 2 students (Juniors and Seniors) that will staff and manage it. These students are also responsible for meeting with vendors, ordering products and keeping track of inventory.

We are working on advertising for the school store in a combined effort with our THS Digital Media program and developing a commercial to launch the 2022-23 grand opening.

Fifth-grade Career Exploration Day!

The Downriver Career Technical Consortium (DCTC) visited Anderson on Oct. 4. Eighteen DCTC students presented their fields with hands-on activities for the Anderson fifth-graders.

The high school students shared their passion for their programs including fields like dental science, general education, radio and TV broadcasting,

marketing, auto technology, horticulture and culinary arts.

The fifth-graders rotated in groups to see each of the seven fields.

Each group began at a different table and spent approximately 10 minutes participating in a hands-on activity with 2-3 high school students.

What a great way to explore careers!

Goodfellows will benefit from restaurant’s generous gesture

Sheila R. McAfee

An upcoming fundraiser at Truago Restaurant will support the holiday efforts of the Trenton Goodfellows to provide Christmas for local children.

On Tuesday, Nov. 22, the eatery will donate 10 percent from the sales of food and beverages between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. This includes dine-in and carry-out orders.

Owner Jeremy Syrocki and general manager Carrie Hancock surprised the group last year with the opportunity, raising nearly $1,000. They returned to a Goodfellows planning meeting last month with the same offer.

“We did extremely well last year and hope to raise even more this year,” said Hancock.

The Truago event coincides with

the Goodfellows annual newspaper drive taking place that week. The Trenton Times is partnering with the organization to spread the word. The paper’s November edition will arrive in homes the week of Nov. 21, featuring stories about the group’s mission, “No Child Without a Christmas.”

A donation envelope will be included in the paper being mailed to homes throughout the city. Residents are encouraged to send back the envelope with a donation to build the group’s coffers, which are used to provide food, toys and other goodies to celebrate “the most wonderful time of year.”

To help the Goodfellows this year, stop by Truago, utilize the donation envelope in the paper, or call the City Clerk’s office at 734675-8600.

Walter Farrer:

One man’s impact and his legacy

Jeff Wagar

Raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Walt Farrer showed leadership and athletic promise at an early age. He excelled at the only two sports offered at his high school: Football and basketball.

After graduation he continued his education at Western Michigan, earning 12 letters and quarterbacking and captaining the football teams.

Farrer was hired by Trenton in 1926.

Coming to a small school, having only 94 male students, he was able to bring home the school’s first sports trophy. He won the state district championship in basketball. His basketball team won 17 straight games, his football team won seven of eight games and his baseball team posted a 15-2 record.

The following year, 1927, his newly formed track team won the school’s first state championship trophy.

As the head of the physical/health department, he saw it as his mission to provide sports and recreation opportunities to all. He expanded the school’s athletic offerings to include: Track and field, gymnastics, soccer, tennis, volleyball, handball and later, with the completion of the natatorium, swimming.

In 1930, Farrer was successful in urging other nearby schools to form the Suburban League Conference. This coalition of schools allowed for consistent scheduling of future games, assignment of game officials, plus the added feature of creating cross town rivalries.

It should be noted, Trenton’s basketball team

won the league’s first championship. The following year, Trenton’s football team won the league’s first football championship.

Locally, Farrer partnered the school with the village of Trenton creating the first Recreation Department. Later a commission was added to handle the increasing recreational demands of a year round program.

Farrer and his student athletes continued the tradition of each winter constructing an ice skating rink on the unused high school football field.

In 1938, Farrer led his football team to an undefeated and unscored-upon season.

No one, no team will ever beat their record; they can only tie it!

Trenton’s greatest football team. This 1938 team compiled a record season of being undefeated and unscored upon. Coach Walter Farrer is seen at the upper left wearing his fedora. The row below wearing number 11, is Marv Knaf. In 1939, Knaf was named to the all-state team, becoming the first from Trenton to be honored.

FARRER

In 1939 the streak continued until the last game of the season, when Trenton’s opponent scored a lone touchdown. However, their winning ways continued and finally ended after 22 straight wins. The team won the mythical Class B State Championship and also produced Trenton’s first All-State player, Marv Knaf.

Tragedy was to strike Coach Farrer, the school and the community, when in 1941, Trenton football player Don Baughman collapsed in the locker room after a Wyandotte football away game.

He was revived and cleared only to again collapse and die on the bus ride home. Baughman’s death deeply impacted Farrer and pushed him to retire from the coaching ranks. He returned for a shortstint, coaching football as male teachers/coaches were called for World War II duty.

Farrer continued on as the school Athletic Director and Chairman of the Recreation Commission. He retained his position on the state rules committee and still maintained a limited schedule as a football referee, attaining a state recognized rating of No. 1.

Farrer retired as principal of the Slocum Truax Junior High in 1966.

Later reminiscing, he said his only regrets were not being able to build an outside swimming pool and establishing a rowing team.

“He was a remarkable leader,” his son Dick Farrer recalled. “He could elicit more from people than they thought they had.”

So when you’re riding around town, take a look

In 1927, a year after arriving at Trenton, Farrer took this newly formed track team to a state championship. The school’s first state championship. Standing, left to right: Richard Roberts, Don “Bud” Smith, Clarence Swartz, Emerson Sanger, Bill Sutherby, Felix Zempke, Fred Felder. Kneeling: Irving Kemp, Henry LaBeau, Forrest Hoggard, Art Ford

at all the recreational opportunities available in Trenton. Review the athletic programs and state-ofthe-art facilities available to Trenton students and know that these things just didn’t happen. What you see today is the result of one man’s vision and hard work, effort and dedication and how he mentored

others to succeed and carry on the dream.

So the next time you’re at the high school athletic field, look toward and atop the press box and give Walter “Red” Farrer’s name a little nod and a silent “Thank You”.

Go Trojans.

Farrer career highlights:

~ Graduate of Western Michigan University; earning 12 letters

~ 40 year career (1926 - 1966) as an educator, coach, administrator, state rules committee member and referee

~ Co-founder of the Suburban League Conference

~ Coached Trenton basketball and football teams to their first conference championships

~ His first year at Trenton, his football team won 7 of 8; his basketball team won 17 straight; his baseball team won 15 and lost 2

~ His second year, his track team won Trenton’s first state championship

~ Over a 10-year period, his football team won 65 games, lost 12 and tied 3. He had four undefeated teams and four others that lost only one game. One dream season of being undefeated and unscored upon. A streak of 18 games without being scored upon and a 22 consecutive game win streak culminating in 1939 with the Class B mythical state football crown.

~ Coached track and football to their first state championship crowns

~ First to light tennis courts for night-time play

~ Coached Trenton’s first all-stater, Marv Knaf

~ Founder and sponsor of the Varsity Club

~ Sponsor of the Trojan mascot logo

~ 20 year career as football and basketball referee

~ First director of Trenton Parks and Recreation Department

~ Member of the Michigan High School Coaches Assoc. Hall of Fame (1965)

~ Member of the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame (1982)

~ Member of the Recreation Hall of Fame

Walter David “Red” Farrer

Estate Planning 101 Which plan do you need?

Time to clear up the confusion about Estate Planning ... The following definitions lack legal precision, but makes it easier to get a clear picture of what may be needed in your case.

■ Will – letter of intent of where you want your personal property to go – or not go.

■ Living Will – Documents your wishes during your final days including final healthcare choices and possibly your burial wishes.

■ Trust – This is a “company” that you start, and you become the CEO, “Trustee” and “Settlor.” The company outlives you, but continues to manage your assets as if you were alive by the successor CEO – whom you designate.

■ Power of Attorney – Financial and Healthcare – you need both – the first so someone can pay your bills, the second, sometimes called a Patient Advocate, designates someone to make “hallway at the hospital” decisions to take the stress off the family.

■ Ladybird Deed – probably the best thing that has happened to owning a home. I love these deeds – you grant yourself a life estate – in your own property - but retain the power to sell or borrow against the property. If you do not sell before you pass, this “springs” the house out of your estate, and your heirs have instant ownership, subject to any mortgage or taxes owed or similar.

Again, this is just a general description of the more popular terms – no one choice is a “silver bullet” but depending on how your estate gets planned out you can expedite a clean and clear process for the assets you worked a lifetime to save. Why wouldn’t you want to do that? Stop by or call and make an appointment and I’ll tell you what you’re going to need to do this right.

To my numerous former clients – thank you for allowing me to draft your estate plan!

Macomb St, Ste 1 • Grosse Ile

School funding is more than per-pupil allowance

Gail Farrell

The funding for Michigan School Districts goes way beyond the basic foundation allowance per pupil allotment. School districts also receive various grant funds in addition to the funds for each student enrolled on count day.

These grants are both state and federally funded.

Some grants determine the allocation of funds to districts based on a simple per pupil amount, while others allocate funds using various factors (formula funded). Trenton, along with virtually every school district in Michigan, receives some grant funds although the amount may surprise you.

Trenton Public Schools, when compared with other surrounding districts, in many cases receive much less per student from these grant sources. Many of the grants are determined on the “Title I formula” which is explained below and are considered formula funded grants.

The majority of grants received by Trenton from the state and the federal governments are formula funded

versus funded on a per pupil amount.

The Federal grant Title I, Part A (Title I), of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA) provides many LEAs (Local Education Agency) with financial assistance for those that have high numbers or high percentages of students from low-income families.

The funding of this grant uses seven (7) factors that combine to calculate four (4) statutory formulas that are merged together to determine a district’s funding.

The formulas are based primarily on census poverty estimates and the cost of education in each state. This formula is also used with other grant sources to determine the allocation for each district.

In comparison to other Downriver districts, Trenton has one of the lowest poverty percentages and therefore receives a much smaller amount of these grant funds than most other schools in close geographic proximity.

Trenton Public Schools has received many of the Federal grant funds associated with the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Fund Relief (ESSER) including ESSER I, ESSER II (Education StabilizationFormula), and the ESSER III (American Rescue Plan).

These are all formula grants using the Title I formula based on poverty percentages.

Trenton, being a smaller percentage district, received a substantially smaller amount in funds than those

districts with higher percentages.

For example, the ESSER I grant, Trenton received $193,046 while districts smaller in pupil numbers received $214,011 and $240,927.

This trend continued with ESSER II and ESSER III funding. Allocations for ESSER II for Downriver districts ranged from $348,713 to $12,740,064 with Trenton Public Schools receiving $778,377. Allocations for ESSER III for downriver districts ranged from $783,717 to $28,632,720 with Trenton receiving $1,749,368.

Many of the ESSER funds, although allocated on a poverty basis, are allowed to be spent on a wide variety of expenses such as teacher and support salaries, equipment and supplies related to COVID, and even building improvements.

This can be a challenge for districts with low poverty rates to be competitive with districts with higher poverty rates with salaries and building improvements.

Despite this challenge, Trenton Public Schools has been able to continue to serve our staff and students and offer an enviable academic and athletic environment.

Trenton Public Schools, a safety update

Doug Mentzer|

“Climbing the mountain is about believing that it is possible,” Educator Dave Eberwein

For students at Anderson Elementary, they will be focusing on safety during the month of October (I can be safe).

As our children begin that journey, we have continued ours. Since last Dec. 8, we have continuously worked towards being better. Our newly created Executive Safety Council has consistently maintained communication and an adherence to our district wide safety plan.

Mr. Steve Voss has been an excellent addition to our team and has shared his knowledge and experience to help SRO Sean and TPD Lieutenant of Operations Mike Hawkins stay abreast of whatever is happening in our schools. Just last week, we reviewed our district task list and confirmed additional steps that will result in better security across all of our buildings (let’s climb the mountain together).

C-STAG - On Sept. 27, our Executive Safety Council also attended an all day workshop in Woodhaven-Brownstown. The focus was C-STAG

- The Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG), originally known as the

Virginia Student Threat Assessment Guidelines.

It is an evidence-based model for schools to use in conducting threat assessments K-12.

This model was developed by Dr. Dewey Cornell and colleagues at the University of Virginia in 2001 and has been extensively examined through field tests and controlled studies that demonstrate its utility and effectiveness.

CSTAG has been widely adopted by schools nationwide and was recognized as an evidencebased program by the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices in 2013. Ultimately, this guide/training will provide us with a vital language for dealing with risks, threats, and situations that warrant analysis.

I will be presenting an overview session on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in one of our break out/open sessions and TPS will be bringing Mr. Mark Muscat to our district on Friday, November 11 for an all day workshop for our Crisis and Mental Health Teams (let’s climb the mountain together).

Crisis and Mental Health Team meeting – on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2022, our TPS Crisis, Mental Health, and Executive Safety Teams met for an agenda filled morning that covered topics related to current events, scenario training (threat assessments), as well as an in-depth look at Crisis Communications and corresponding action plans.

The dialogue was extremely productive and led to a clear understanding of our next steps to keep our students, staff, and community safe.

Window safety - If you haven’t noticed, TPS has moved forward with our Phase I installation of our vinyl window dressings. This effort is to deter and/ or obstruct the vision of an outside threat.

Additionally, our window “wrap” has been customized to illustrate Trenton blue and gold in designs that include our school mascots, school mottos and some of our core values. Trenton

High School has been a priority due to the significant number of classrooms with side door windows.

Phase 1 will be completed with main office completion scheduled at Anderson, Hedke, and AMS within the next couple of weeks. Phase 2 will begin almost immediately thereafter and focus on similar classroom windows at AMS (let’s climb the mountain together).

Transportation safety - In addition to our safety, fire, and tornado drills, our Golden Apple Recipient and Transportation Director Toni Thomas facilitated our annual bus evacuation drills with our elementary students during the week of Oct. 10 (let’s climb the mountain together).

Trenton’s Executive Safety Council attended an all day workshop in Woodhaven-Brownstown. The focus was C-STAG - The Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG).

The winter sports season is almost here

James Trush

As the fall sports season continues to wind down, the winter season will soon be upon us. In fact, some winter sports may begin before some fall seasons have commenced.

The MHSAA “winter” sports season differs from the fall and spring season in regards to the season’s official start times. Unlike the fall season which has an official start date of Aug. 8 2022 for all fall sports, and the spring season in which all sports will begin on March 13th 2023, the winter sports teams start over a four-week period.

The following sports will have their first practices on the following dates:

~ Hockey: October 31

~ Competitive Cheerleading: November 7

~ Wrestling, bowling, girls basketball: November 14

~ Swimming, boys basketball: November 21

For up to date info regarding these

sports please visit trentonathletics. com. You can also follow us on twitter @OnwardTrenton or Facebook @ TrentonHSSports.

Trenton Public Schools also wants to take the time to introduce the new Trojan Mascot. This project could not have been accomplished without the help of Mr. Vince Porreca, and the generous donations of the Trenton Educational Foundation as well as both the PTO’s from Anderson and Hedke Elementary Schools.

While we are still working on a name for our new friend, we are excited to share him with the Trenton Community. You can expect to see him roaming the sidelines at sporting events, marching in parades, showing up at fun fairs, etc.

Take a picture with the Mascot the next time you see him.

We’d like to thank you for your continued support for all things Trenton and Athletics and hope to welcome you at an event very soon.

GET GREAT NEW GLASSES, SAVE SOME MONEY!

Many people - most, perhaps - go to an optometrist, get an eye exam and then follow the lady in the white coat over to the wall of frames and pick out a new set of glasses.

The story ends with the customer paying way more than he or she ever expected.

If that pretty much describes you, Bob Schmittou says there is something you should know: He can save you money, maybe lots of money.

Schmittou, a proud military veteran, owns New Eyes Optical, located on 1616 Ford Avenue, right at 16th Street in Wyandotte.

There are no doctors at New Eyes, just lots of frames and Schmittou, who can get you into fashionable new glasses for a lot less than all of the other chains and franchises out there.

Just bring your eyeglass prescription to him and see what kind of magic he can work for you.

“I am kind of like what the pharmacy is to your doctor,” Schmittou said. “Your doctor writes you a prescription. He doesn’t try to sell you the drugs. You go to the pharmacy. The same is true with us. You bring us a prescription and we will fill it.”

New Eyes Optical does not accept insurance, but their low prices mean that is often not an issue.

Schmittou has been in the eyeglass game for a long time. He enlisted in the Army after graduating from Lincoln Park High School and Uncle Sam sent him to school to learn how to make eyeglasses.

He did that in the Army for nearly four years and then worked for Lenscrafters and for private doctors after that.

In 2012 he opened New Eyes Optical and has been there ever since.

Schmittou said he has over 1,300 frames in his building and can make arrangements to get others if customers come in with a specific brand or style in mind.

For sunglass lovers, Schmittou said he has the largest selection of Ray Ban and Oakley sunglasses in the area.

If you come in, you will deal with Schmittou himself. He and his wife Pam are the only employees. Schmittou does the fitting of the eyewear, and Pam orders frames and keeps the shop looking fresh by arranging the frame displays and decorating.

So, if you are in the market for new glasses, would like a little personal attention and a really low price, give Schmittou a call at 313-587-4204, drop an email at neweyesoptical2012@gmail. com or contact them through their Facebook page, Facebook.com/neweyesoptical.

Remembering Coach Jack

At halftime of the Oct. 14 Downriver League football game between Trenton and Allen Park, Trenton took time to remember and rededicate the “Coach Jack Memorial’’ in honor of the legendary former Trenton football coach Jack Castignola. Castignola’s son John and Trenton Athletic Director

James Trush spoke to the overflow crowd on hand for the game as the current Trenton team knelt and listened respectfully. The Coach Jack Memorial now has a new home in Trenton’s beautiful new football complex and it is the cornerstone of what will become the “coaches wall” used to remember and honor future Trenton coaches. Coach Jack won many football games during his time on the Trenton sideline, so it was fitting that on a day honoring him, the 2022 Trenton team beat Allen Park 16-8.

Chad Clements

The Rotary-Interact Club at Trenton High School is back in full swing for the 2022-23 school year! Members began signing up in September when the school year started and have continued joining this excellent club ever since!

The Rotary-Interact Club is a community service organization that provides help and services to many local, state, national and international organizations.

Students from Trenton High School are led by advisors from both THS and the Trenton Rotary Club who encourage them to put “service above self.”

The Interact Club had a busy September!

The students were involved in a Grandparent’s Day Ice Cream Social put on by the Trenton Recreation Department.

The Interact members took pictures of those involved and helped serve ice cream and toppings to both grandparents and their grandchildren. It was a great experience for our students to give back to the local community.

The club also helped with the Mother-Son Date Night during two weekends in September. There were memories made that evening for all!

Rob Bovitz

History of Trenton Public Schools

This information comes from the book Truaxton Truago Trenton, Bicentennial Book Committee, 1979 and an excerpt/paragraph from www. waymarking.com was also added.

In the 1830s, a small, crude schoolhouse was built of logs on the banks of the Detroit River. This little log building was about 20 feet by 24 feet, had seats along the wall in the form of benches and in the center of the room stood a large stove near which the master had his desk and all the pupils faced him. This building was used for many years but the time came when more room was needed.

A temporary log structure was built at the corner of Washington (Jefferson Avenue) and Elm Street and was painted bright yellow. This was soon replaced by a frame schoolhouse near the other building and was called the North School.

In the early 1870s, another school, the South

School, a two story building was built at the south end of town below Washington Street (Jefferson Avenue) between the old cemetery and Slocum’s Island.

School board minutes of September, 1876 moved to have a graded school system and upper classes through eight grade were held here in South School.

An election held November 17, 1899, resolved a controversy concerning the need for a new schoolhouse in Trenton. The opposition probably would have won, but the women of Trenton voted solidly in favor of the school.

A lawsuit concerning the site was settled in favor of the board, and the school was built at the cost of $21,320.57. It consisted of five assembly rooms, two recitation rooms, a library, a laboratory, and playrooms.

The school opened Sept. 9, 1900, with established monthly salaries for the Principal / Superintendent

($70), grammar level teachers ($33), and primary level instructors ($30).

This school allowed the first students to graduate from Trenton’s earliest kindergarten through 12th grade system in 1903. Prior to that time, many students had to attend 11th and 12th grade in Wyandotte, where they graduated.

In 1911, a three-room addition was constructed.

With a growing student population, three portable buildings (nicknamed “chicken-coops” by students) were added to the site. From that year until 1923 it was necessary to construct portables for the continually increasing school population.

In 1923, Slocum-Truax High School was built. When the new Slocum-Truax High School opened for the 1924-25 school year, the “first” Trenton High School became a combination grade school / junior

HISTORY

from

high. The building was demolished in 1963.

Since the old high school was being used for the elementary grades and was filled to capacity, provisions were made for a new grade building.

The entire block bounded by Third and Fourth Streets, St. Joseph Avenue and Pine Street (West Road) was purchased and on the corner of Pine and Third, the first unit of the Washington Grade School was completed in December, 1929. The school site cost $65,482 and the eight room building was said to have cost $65,136.

Further additions were made to the “new elementary school”, as it was also called at a cost of $146,000. About half of this money was a Federal contribution as a Public Works Act project and the other money was furnished by the people of Trenton.

The school was formally dedicated on January 20, 1937 and the name was changed to the G. E. Strohm School at that time.

Total school enrollment in 1937 was 1,101 and the student capacity of Strohm was 350.

The old St. Joseph Street Building was used as a school in one way or another from 1900 to 1961.

From 1900 to 1924, when Slocum-Truax was opened, it was used for all 12 grades. From 1924 to 1929, it was an elementary and junior high and from 1929 to 1959, it was used as a junior high school.

In 1963, the old red building that had cost $10,000 to build in 1900 was torn down and a new kindergarten wing was added to the north end of Strohm School.

After Slocum-Truax was built in 1923 at a cost of $165,000; opened in 1924 for students and the swimming pool completed in 1929, the school system seemed adequate until the beginning of the 1950s when Trenton’s population took a tremendous jump.

It is difficult to determine the exact cause for this except that it was shortly following the close of World War II and many people seemed to be interested in moving to the suburbs, plus the fact that a new Chrysler plant was in the process of opening in Trenton with opportunities for employment for many. At any rate this huge increase in students necessitated the construction of new schools.

The first new school building that went up was what is now Trenton High School but in September, 1953 it had 550 pupils attending elementary classes on a temporary basis until completion of Hedke, Anderson, Foley and Owen Elementary Schools which all were finished in the late 1950s.

In 1959, Slocum-Truax became a junior high school for seventh and eighth graders and the school on West Rd. was opened to high school students. It was during this time that a fine athletic facility was completed and the athletic field was named in honor of Walter “Red” Farrer, who was a member of the Trenton School system from 1926 to 1966 and was a teacher, assistant principal of Trenton High, principal of Slocum-Truax Junior High, athletic director and coach.

A new housing development in the south end of Trenton required a new elementary school so Taylor School was built and opened in 1968. About this same time, it was decided to introduce a new concept in the Trenton Schools of the middle school which includes sixth, seventh and eight graders.

In view of the fact that Slocum-Truax was not large enough to accommodate these three grades, Monguagon School was opened in 1971.

Arlene Rose was a localist

My mother died on Sunday, Sept.

She died peacefully, in no pain, with family members there for her. The day before, all of her sons were there, and she talked to all of us.

She was 90 years old and lived a long, happy, good life.

Downriver region that supported our local and independently owned clothing stores.

I can tell you that my mother made a difference to the places she did business with for all the things she needed or wanted.

obsessed with their own visions, all over the top on their commitments to their people and to the services they provide, and all kind, grateful people. The absence of which makes the world I go about in less vibrant and less happy.

PETER ROSE

While I am sad about this, of course, I am also well aware of all of the above and so much more. This was hardly a life cut short, and that life was felt by those around her like a magnetic field or ripples in a pond from the force of her personality.

It just can’t get much better for all of us that loved her and will miss her. This column is not an obituary, though.

Long before I understood the power of localism on local economies, my mother simply preferred to shop at places that knew her name and that appreciated her patronage. My father was and is a man that wanted nothing to do with national chains of any kind, and internet purchases were just a s bad if not worse.

Together, they simply chose the local option instinctively and automatically.

Over a lifetime of spending for appliances, tires, food and well, everything, consider what the sum total of their spending was in the

She was a friendly, happy, and supportive presence. And I can tell you that I continue to feel the glow of all the people that consider Chelsea and Willow Tree by so many people that are those warm and happy faces that always think local first.

Reciprocity is one of the most important concepts to get a grip on in life. It is gratifying beyond words to direct my business to people and the businesses they own that do business with us.

It is connectivity to our community, of course, but first, it is being specifically supportive of specific, impactful people that I like and appreciate, and that I do not want to be diminished in any way by my indifference.

The idea of localism is also tangential to much simpler ideas: Being grateful, and being kind.

As I’ve come to emphasize in my own mind and to share often, I am dazzled by the impact that single humans make in their endeavors.

I’m grateful to each of them for their contribution to the meshwork of our community.

The people I admire and appreciate in this respect are all

In this regard, it is OK to be right up front about recognizing that supporting such people (businesses) is one of the most self-serving things you can do. As your spending decision keeps those people in work, as well as all the people they pay, you get the satisfaction of knowing you are doing business with people that matter to you. People that you would be depressed about losing.

Sometimes we lose these people due to death. Sometimes the people are irreplaceable in terms of what they brought to the table of life. But through their lives, they made a profound impact on how we see the world.

As her oldest son, and one of the partners that made our version of local work for nearly all of my time in business, of course I miss her.

Expressing these emotions at a keyboard is difficult; I’ve had to take more breaks for this column than any other.

That said, most people don’t get the chance to do this, now, do they?

The idea that I expressed in one of my earliest columns was this: If my daughter owned a bakery, nobody would have to urge me to support her. I would be doing my best to

help her succeed in that best damned bakery I had ever been in. So would a lot of other people, for the person herself, as well as for the products she created. It’s a symbiotic thing, it’s a priceless thing.

But other people that don’t think local first (I mean, local only, thanks Mom) would need to be told of that amazing place. They would need to be reminded of just how awesome a place it is, right here in our Downriver homeland. Once they went, they’d never have to be told again.

That’s why I write. But if it helps, imagine my mom telling you that “you know, you really should shop locally. Everyone benefits when you do.”

Bon voyage, Momma. You done good.

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Trenton Rotary participates in Day of Service

Trenton Rotary participated with the Rotary District 6400 Day of Service on Sept. 16. District Governor Traci Sincock celebrated her birthday by visiting 17 projects across the district including Trenton.

Trenton Rotarians planted Trees at Tefend, Lions and Teifer Parks as well as at the Westfield Center.

At the same time, Trenton Rotarians helped the Society of St Vincent de Paul collect clothing and goods that had not been collected for three years because of the pandemic.

The evening had multiple teams of volunteers, cutting and knotting up blankets to donate to the Salvation Army Wyandotte and the Trenton Old Newsboys Goodfellows.

Lauren Jocks and Joe and Mary Hoshaw cut strips into blanket kits to start to make blankets. Eighteen blankets were made.

Past Rotary International Director Michael McCullough was getting the teams ready to go.

Wes Mator, owner of Labadie’s Casual Furniture and Joe Hoshaw help tidy up a tree planted in Lions Park. A total of 20 trees, funded by the Trenton Rotary Foundation were planted.

Playoff-bound Trenton smothers Allen Park

Hank Minckiewicz

The final score of 16-8 was not eye-popping by any means, but anyone who was at the Trenton football game against Allen Park on Oct.14 knows they witnessed total domination.

The Trojans scored on their first possession of the game and on their last possession and during the time in between, the Trojan defense kept its foot on the throat of the Jags.

Allen Park’s only touchdown in the game came early in the third quarter when a Jag defender snatched the ball away from a Trenton ball carrier in the middle of the line of scrimmage and ran it back 81 yards for the score. A successful, if inelegant two-point conversion left the Jaguars with an 8-7 lead with more than nine minutes to play in the period.

A couple of possessions later, Trenton’s defense had an answer.

After an Austin Toth punt pinned the Jaguars on their own one-yard line, Trenton’s pass rush harassed the Allen Park quarterback, who stepped out of the back of the end zone while scrambling, a la Dan Orlovsky.

The safety returned the lead to Trenton, 9-8, and the Trojans never gave it back.

Trenton started the night with a beautiful drive. The Trojans took the opening kickoff and marched smartly into Allen Park territory and scored on a four-yard run by quarterback Ty Norgren. It was the start of a big night for the senior signal caller, who carried 20 times for 147 yards and scored both Trenton’s touchdowns. It was Norgren’s 35-yard scamper on that first drive that got the team into scoring position.

The game was 7-0 at halftime.

How complete was Trenton’s control of that half? Allen Park went three-and-out the first three times it had the ball. For the entire half, Allen Park ran 17 plays and earned exactly one first down.

The second half was no different.

Of Allen Park’s second-half possessions, two ended with the-and-outs, one ended on a pass interception by Dominick Calloway and the other ended on the out-of-the-end zone safety.

Trenton put the game out of reach with 4:39 to play in the game when Norgren went in from a yard out. The 10-play 48-yard drive was the Ty Norgren show as he carried the ball seven times on the march and chewed up 37 of the 48 yards.

The Trojans finished the night with 257 rushing yards. Following Norgren were Nate Ariganello, who carried 10 times for 44 yards; Toth, who carried eight times for 38 yards; and Peyton Culpepper, who carried six times for 23 yards.

On a night when the defense shined, Josh Bogema had 11 total tackles and Calloway, Joaquin Maldando and Derek Anderson each had eight. Anderson also had a pair of quarterback sacks.

The win ended a two-game losing streak by the Trojans against the Jags and avenged last year’s 38-0 setback.

Leading up to the game against Allen Park, Trenton had been on a roll, winning three straight games after suffering their only loss of the year against Carlson.

After the 27-6 loss to the Marauders, Trenton crushed Lincoln Park 28-0, stunned Woodhaven 2114 and clobbered Dearborn Edsel Ford 42-0.

The win over Woodhaven was by far the biggest of the season and maybe the biggest of the past few seasons. Woodhaven had won the last five meetings with the Trojans, including last year when the Warriors won 42-12.

This year Trenton built a 21-0 halftime lead and then held on as Woodhaven scored two fourthquarter touchdowns to make it close.

Quarterback Ty Norgren has been the main man for Trenton this year. He guided the team to seven wins in the first eight games. He scored both his team touchdowns in the win over Allen Park.

Norgren ruished for 103 yards in the game and passed for 117 more. His four completions all went to Toth, including two for scores.

Culpepper, who rushed for 78 yards in the game, scored Trenton’s other touchdown. Trenton finished the game with 313 total yards.

Defensively, the leading tacklers were Maldonado, Calloway and Anderson.

Against Lincoln Park, Arigenello rushed for 127 yards, Norgren passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another and Culpepper rushed for one.

Against Edsel Ford, a huge 28-point second quarter was the difference.

Culpepper carried the scoring load with 93 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Norgen passed for one and rushed for one and Drew Carson rushed for one. Toth caught the TD pass from Norgren.

Trenton finished the regular season at home against Wyandotte on Oct. 21 in a game that was played after the Trenton Times’ press deadline.

Next up for the team is the start of the MHSAA state playoffs.

Photo by Dave Chapman

Fall Admissions Event At Gabriel Richard That You Won’t Want to Miss

What’s happening Trenton ...

Women’s Bazaar

The 49th Annual U-M Women’s Bazaar will be held Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 at Faith United Methodist Church, 2530 Charlton Rd. Trenton from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Carry out lunch and dinners will be available for $9 each from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

There will be one-of-a-kind Christmas items, hand-woven baskets, jewelry and crafted notecards, ornaments, silk and dried flower arrangements, the famous cookie walk, wooden crafts and more.

All proceeds from the event go to local mission work

Call 734-671-5211 for more information.

Kiwanis seeks donations

The Downriver West Kiwanis is looking for help to make it a happy and warm Christmas for Downriver youngsters.

The group’s Stuff the Stockings day of service is Nov. 21 beginning at 6:30 and the Kiwanis is seeking donations of youth socks and youth

gloves to fill those stockings.

The group hopes you’ll stop by the Brownstown Community Center on Nov. 21 with your donation.

Also, check them out on Facebook.

Holiday Glow tree sponsorship Register to decorate a tree at the Trenton Cultural Center!

All Christmas Tree Sponsor forms must be received by Nov. 4. Sponsors will be notified of assigned decorating dates the week of Nov. 7.

No fee for registering and trees will be provided. Tree Sponsor (you) will provide all tree decorations, equipment and tools to decorate their tree.

Guests visiting the Cultural Center may vote for their favorite trees by dropping change in the respective buckets Dec. 5 through Dec.18.

The sponsor of the tree that wins at the end of the competition will receive a Dasher Board for advertisement at the Kennedy Recreation Center. Register through the Recreation Department web page.

As the 2022-2023 school year is now well underway, the Gabriel Richard Catholic admissions office is working diligently to provide insightful and enjoyable events for “Future Pioneers” and their parents this fall.

INTO THE WOODS

Friday, November 11 - Sunday, November 13. The Gabriel Richard Catholic High School Thespian Guild invites you to attend our fall production of Into The Woods, a lively musical about a baker and his wife who set out to reverse a witch’s curse in hopes of having a child of their own. The play intertwines plots from several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, including Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella. Tickets are on sale now for performances on November 11, 12 and 13.

For more information about Gabriel Richard, contact Brendan Johnson, Director of Admissions, by phone, 734-284-3636 or by email, admissions@gabrielrichard.org

SPECIAL ORDERS ON SUNDAYS

Trenton girls still performing well

The Trenton girls cross country team finished eighth in the ninth-team field at the Oct. 15 Gabriel Richard Downriver cross country meet, but Marisa Chuey was one of the top individual performers at the event, Chuey, who has been Trenton’s leader all season and who is among the best female runners Downriver, ran 20:06 on the Young Patriots Park course to finish fourth overall. Winner Patti Scheffler of Woodhaven, Ava Teed of Cabrini and Batoul Hamka of Dearborn were the only runners to finish ahead of Chuey.

Her teammate Devyn Dorey also had a great run that day and she finished seventh in 20:38.

The boys did a little better as a team, placing seventh in the 12-team field. The Trojans ran mostly as a pack, but they finished a bit too far back to have an impact on the scoring.

Ian Kramp was the first Trenton finisher, placing 24th. Robert Gonzalez was 31st, Gabriel Natvidid was 32nd, Owen Hassett was 34th and Charlie Gerometta finished the Trenton scoring.

At the second Downriver League Jamboree at Willow Metropark on Oct. 4, Chuey and Dorey were again both top 10 finishers. Chuey was fourth in 20:30 and Drey was sixth in 20:37.

In the boys race, Gonzalez ran 13th (18:50) and Natvidid was 15th (19:06) as the Trojans finished fifth. Hassett, Kramp and Ryan Bates finished the Trenton scoring.

In two other October meets –the Marauder Invitational on Oct. 1 and the large Wayne County Championships on Oct. 8 – Trenton’s top two female runners continued to perform well.

At the Marauder Invitational run at Lake Erie Metropark, Chuey won the

White Division with a 20:03 run and Dorey was fifth in 21:15.

At the county meet, Chuey was 11th in the 140-runner race. Dorey was 23rd.

The Trojans ran at the Downriver League meet on Oct. 20. Results were not available at the Trenton Times

press deadline.

The Trojans will then run at the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 regionals hosted by Milan High School on Oct. 29.

This year’s state meet is Nov. 5 at the MichiganInternational Speedway.

Trenton netters second at league, regionals

The Trenton tennis team had a fine 2022 season, but found itself just a stride behind Downriver rival Wyandotte in both the final Downriver League standings and the MHSAA Division 2 regionals.

The Trojans and Bears tied with 6-0-1 regularseason league records, but at the league meet, Wyandotte had five flight champions and scored 20 points to win the title. Trentron was second with 15 points.

At regionals, Wyandotte had three flight champs and scored 17 points to win the event. It was Wyandotte’s third straight regional championship and sent the Bears on to the state finals in Midland..

Trenton, which tied with Bedford for second place with 13 points, also qualified for the state

finals, as did Bedford. Gibraltar Carlson (9) placed fourth in the region and Allen Park (4) was next in fifth. Lincoln Park, Riverview Gabriel Richard and Carleton Airport also competed but didn’t score any points.

Trenton had two flight champions at regionals.

Blake Chesney claimed the top spot at No. 4 singles after a battle with Roosevelt’s Brooks Blackledge (6-1, 5-7, 6-4). In the semis, Chesney beat Allen Park’s Matt Price (6-3, 6-2) and Blackledge got by Bedford’s Braden Vineyard (6-1, 6-0).

At No. 3 doubles, Keegan Airgood and RJ Howey outlasted Carlson’s Isaac Kolasa and Preston Eighmey (7-6, 6-7, 7-5) in the finals. Airgood and

Howey had moved to the finals with a win in the semis against Bedford’s Zach Wise and Mason Charlton (6-3, 7-5).

At the league meet, Trenton had two flight champs.

The No. 3 doubles duo of Airgood and Howey won a hard-fought match over Carlson’s Isaac Kolasa and Preston Eighmey to take first-place honors (4-6, 6-3, 10-7).

At No. 4 doubles, it was Joel Mator and Teig Lucidi winning the championship. After dropping just one game in their first two wins on the day, the pair won a hard-fought battle over Carlson’s Matt Vizachero and Ben Witkowski in the finals (6-4, 6-4).

The good, the bad and the ugly Gas vs electric vehicles. Should you take the plunge?

SuSAn PInkOWSkI

For those on the fence about you next car being gas or electric, maybe some further information will help you make the decision. Here are some facts gleaned from multiple sources that get into the murky areas.

You wouldn’t think gasoline-powered automobiles would kill people other than on the road or in accidents, but scientists have discovered a link between car fumes and lung cancer.

This might explain why so many non-smokers develop that disease. It turns out that we all have dormant mutations in our lung cells, “small errors that we accumulate in our DNA throughout life, and which normally remain innocuous,” according to Dr. Charles Swanton of the Francis Crick Institute.

These cells can turn cancerous when exposed to PM2.5 particles, which is the fine particulate matter in air pollution.

He also indicated that “more people are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution than to toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke.”

In 2019 alone, there were about 300,000 deaths

from PM2.5s. EVs, on the other hand, don’t have any tailpipe emissions and won’t cause more air pollution.

Another downside to fossil fuel vehicles is all that additional heat that they unleash in our cities, which are already too hot.

About 70 percent of the energy from the gas in your tank is wasted as heat through the radiator and the exhaust.

Steven Blumenkranz, a mechanical engineer, indicated that the “heat dissipated by a car by all loss mechanisms combined is equal to the heating value of the gasoline burned by its engine. All of the energy in the fuel is eventually dissipated as heat.”

In order to understand the volume of heat added to a city, Lloyd Alter in his article “Cars Add a Lot of Heat to Our Cities. . .” on www.treehugger.com, compared the volume of heat (BTU per gallon) released by the average amount of miles driven by the average cars during only one day in Manhattan, to the average BTUs released by a patio heater.

The result was the equivalent of 157,336 patio heaters driving around Manhattan every day, releasing all that heat into the city. This we can

certainly do without, although picturing it is rather amusing.

EVs have other issues.

According to Brian Leli of www. theprogressnetwork.org, cobalt is a key component of the lithium-ion batteries in most EVs, 70 percent of which is mined out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The ugly part of this is the unfair labor practices and child labor issues in that republic. Further, most of the EV batteries themselves come out of China, which has a whole host of human rights issues.

Fortunately, it has been recognized that there aren’t enough minerals underground in the few countries currently mining them to power all the batteries that will be needed in the not-toodistant future, so alternatives are being sought, and countries are coming together to source these materials under stricter environmental, social and governance standards.

As reported in Bloomberg News on 9/22/2022, the countries involved are Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, the United States and the European Commission.

The developing nations that are also involved are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Zambia. This will truly be a global effort to create batteries in a more humane manner.

But what about the whole life cycle emissions?

From the mining of the components all the way through to the end life of the finished product, emissions from producing EVs are 60-68 percent lower than those emitted in the production and use of gas vehicles, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation.

That’s a pretty big reduction for our planet.

One item that is keeping a lot of potential buyers on the fence is “range anxiety.’”

We’re all familiar with how far our gas vehicles can travel before we have to top off the tank, but can we get that same level of comfort with battery power?

EVs have a simple system to tell you how much power you have left, and it even estimates the number of miles you may still travel. It’s prominently displayed on the instrument panel.

The full range on the vehicle according to the manufacturer is around 259, but if you drive it to the best of the car’s ability (and yours), you can get up to 350 miles per charge. The green will slowly deplete as will the available miles, so you just plug it in then, or any time before. Some owners leave it plugged in all the time when home.

Another concern is charging at home – what if you don’t have one?

Chevrolet was offering up to $1,250 towards a 240v line installed at your home. You can also plug into a standard 110v line, but it will take longer to charge.

A further concern on charging is the source of the electricity from your provider. In the Downriver area, other than Wyandotte, our electricity is coming from DTE. Their power is generated by coal, wind, and solar but you can specify which type of power (coal or green) you want to get your electricity from. You can actually go green all the way by specifying where you want your power to come from.

If you have solar on your roof, you

can even charge your car off that.

Our beautiful state is rapidly installing more chargers than ever before.

With the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure law, chargers will soon be as plentiful as gas stations.

There are different levels of charging though – some are free while others require payment so it’s best to plan your trip up north before you need to find a station.

In addition, the batteries are lasting longer than anticipated.

These batteries are guaranteed under warranties for 100,000 miles or eight

is a battery recycling facility that recaptures usable quantities of metals at a cost lower than conventional mining. And technology keeps on developing. Soon overtaking lithium-ion batteries may be solidstate batteries, as they promise to deliver better across the board: Faster charging, can hold more power, and could last longer.

There’s even talk about wireless chargers and battery swapping stations on the horizon. There’s even a new formula for batteries that MIT is developing that could be a gamechanger if they’re successful.

Woodhaven, has been selling cars for 32 years, and EVs for 11 years starting with the Volt.

Currently, Chevrolet is selling the Bolt and soon the electric Equinox and Blazer.

Ford has the Mustang Mach-E and F150 Lightning, while Nissan has the Leaf.

years of use, and extended warranties are available for purchase.

Nic Thomas, an executive at Nissan, indicated that almost all of their batteries are still in cars, some as old as 12 years. In addition, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, batteries are outliving the life of the vehicle and are being repurposed into large-scale energy storage. Reusing these batteries is common in Japan and growing in the U.K. and here at home. They are being repurposed to store energy from solar panels and wind turbines.

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Another concern that has pretty much been alleviated is the cost of an electric vehicle.

While some were over $100,000 initially, many of them are now in the $35,000 - $65,000 range and getting less expensive all the time. The basic Chevy Bolt has a starting price of just upwards of $26,500 so cost is no longer a deterring factor.

People are finding out that the resale value on used EVs is better than expected.

Where you can buy them is pretty much everywhere now.

Randy Warsop, a salesman with Michael Bates Chevrolet in

There are many more out there and more to come. The problem is that whichever vehicle you decide to buy, it may take about six months to arrive after you order it because the demand is so high now. Car dealers are unfortunately finding they have more customers than available EVs.

Volkswagen also came out with an electric model, the ID.4.

David Howell of Riverview purchased the ID.4 in 2022, as he was concerned about the environment and wanted to be a part of the transition to electric vehicles.

He encourages others to make the switch because of the benefit to our planet, lower transportation costs, the quality of the vehicles and how easy they are to operate.

Howell recently took a 720-mile round trip to Canada in his EV with minimal problem, and another 450mile round trip which was relatively trouble free.

Consumer Reports has even chimed in with an opinion: “Aside from being better for the environment than gas cars, a new or used EV can save you up to 60 percent in fuel costs.” That’s a hefty percentage.

As gas prices fluctuate, always around the holidays, you’ll save even more driving an EV.

According to www. energyinnovation.org, new research has revealed that EVs are now cheaper to own and finance on a monthly basis than gas powered vehicles.

To recap, we see that EVs don’t pollute or emit heat like gas cars, the range isn’t a problem any more with chargers everywhere, the prices have come down, the batteries can last longer than the vehicle itself and the life cycle emissions are less than gas cars, making them better for our environment, our planet, our lungs and our health. No wonder there’s a six month or more waiting list.

If you’re in the market for a new car, hopefully you’ll at least consider an electric vehicle now!

Dave Howell and his electric vehicle.

Rouge River revived

The story of how community came together to save a waterway

Susan Pinkowski

Our favorite Downriver scientist, John Hartig, was asked by the University of Michigan Press to collaborate with other noteworthy professionals on the amazing story of how 48 communities came together to restore our oxygendepleted, polluted, and dangerous Rouge River.

The transformation of our local river was nothing short of tremendous.

Likewise, the literary collaboration among two scientists, two engineers, two journalists, an anthropologist, an architect, a filmmaker, two biologists and four people who have made environmental education their life’s work, is also tremendous.

Rouge River Revived recounts the history that destroyed this river, and how it was slowly brought back to life. Dr. Hartig recently gave a talk to folks gathered at the Dearborn Historical Museum about the factual accounting laid out in this book.

Had we treated the river, and actually our planet, the way the First Nations did, we would have avoided not only the cesspool that the Rouge became, but also could have avoided the increasing climatic changes we are learning how to live through. The First Nations believed that water was sacred, that it was the source of life, and they felt a sense of stewardship towards it. They also believe that land itself is a sacred living being, and it would be to our great benefit to adopt those beliefs.

The book explains how the fur traders came for beaver pelts and pretty much decimated the entire population.

More Europeans came eventually transforming our forests for agricultural use. Then commerce, agriculture and lumbering took off and changed the landscape of our watershed.

If that wasn’t bad enough, industry staked a foothold and rapidly expanded.

The Rouge was dammed for hydroelectric power by Henry Ford between 1910-1920, and eventually a total of 62 dams wound up on the river.

When Henry Ford built the largest manufacturing facility in the world in 1915, the end of the Rouge had to be

dredged to 23’ feet deep to allow in freighters for shipping purposes. He even changed the course of the river to get a straighter shot to the Detroit River, which created Zug Island. Then the war started, and civilian productivity turned into military productivity almost overnight. Things went downhill from there.

All of this industry produced waste in the form of oil and petroleum products that were casually dumped into the Rouge River, eventually totaling up to 5.9 million gallons each year.

That seems scandalous now, but it was business as usual back in the late ‘40s. When 11,000 ducks and geese died in one week, our local duck hunters were outraged. They had had enough and scooped up the dead fowl for a ride to the steps of Michigan’s government in Lansing where they were dumped in protest.

Unfortunately, that changed nothing, and the pollution continued.

In the 1960s 12,000 more waterfowl died. Still no governmental reaction or action.

Then the spark of an acetylene torch caught the Rouge River on fire in October of 1969, shooting flames 50 feet into the air. The Detroit Free Press reported at the time that when you have a river on fire, you have problems. We had definite problems but no solutions.

Around that same time, many residents of Detroit were moving into communities in the watershed, expanding the capacity of the stormwater drainage and sanitary sewage systems. The system would hold until a significant storm would overwhelm it, causing them to dump untreated sewage into the Rouge River. At one time, 168 sewage overflows were identified in the river.

As more people moved to the suburbs in the Rouge River watershed, more ground was paved or asphalted, which increased stormwater runoff and sewage heading to the Rouge.

Eventually, the unthinkable happened – the carp were dying in the Rouge River, and carp are one species that can handle heavy pollution.

The river was so bereft of oxygen that it eventually began to smell like rotten eggs caused by hydrogen sulfide that was being formed in the river from decomposition of sewage.

The stench was horrible. If you didn’t have air conditioning, your only choice to get a cooling breeze was to open your windows, but the smell floating inside the house quickly changed your mind. The people of the cities of Dearborn and Melvindale petitioned their governments in 1985 to eliminate the odors.

Worse than that, a man accidentally fell into the river in the mid-1980s while out enjoying the park with his family. He climbed out, dried off, and continued his event. When they went home later, he fell ill and soon died from leptospirosis, also known as rat fever.

That was the last straw. Wayne State did a study about the quality and quantity of the combined sewer overflows, looking at all 168 points of entry on the Rouge. They discovered that even if Detroit spent millions to fix the problem, it wouldn’t be successful unless all 48 communities in the

ROuGE

Continued from page 32

watershed joined in.

That seemed like an impossible undertaking, but we are fortunate in that one man decided to take the challenge: Jim Murray, a Washtenaw County drain commissioner who had grown up in the watershed and was then chairman of the Michigan Water Resources Commission. He brought the 48 communities, three counties, the general public, SEMCOG, schools and industries, Friends of the Rouge, the U.S. EPA, Michigan’s DNR, and other NGOs together in a watershed partnership to get the job done.

Joining this effort at Mr. Murray’s instigation in a big way was Congressman John Dingell, who managed to get $350 million of funding over the years to restore the Rouge River.

Soon U.S. District Judge John Feikens was assigned a lawsuit started by the EPA to stop pollution from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. The pollution included “stormwater runoff, sewer overflows, illicit sewer connections, failed septic tanks, and a whole host of sources from all 48 watershed communities.”

Judge Feikens worked with Murray and Dingell, and ordered that to get the funding, the communities had to match the federal funding. These communities were, not surprisingly, experiencing difficulties in working together on this vast project but through the leadership of those three, consensus was reached. Communities and other partners contributed another $650 million over time to further the rehabilitation and restoration of our watershed. They worked beyond political boundaries and disciplinary boundaries to solve the pressing problem of the Rouge River being a public health problem. Murray also brought on Dr. William Stapp who transformed the educational approach to this watershed for students in the area communities. His work was so ground-breaking that it became a model for other governments and eventually earned him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. The section in the book on his work and the work of the citizen scientists is very interesting.

The work they accomplished is spelled out in detail in the book, which includes habitat restoration, sediment remediation, reconnecting the Oxbow in Dearborn, creation of a fish ladder, PCB removal and much, much more.

This work literally restored life back into the Rouge River.

There are now 23 miles of the Rouge that can be canoed and kayaked. And you don’t have to worry about falling in anymore.

Kurt Kuban has an entire chapter in the book with

It took cooperation between 48 Michigan communities to bring the Rouge River back to life.

details about all the recreational activities available on the Rouge, which started with his three-day maiden canoe voyage to see if it was even possible!

That grueling trip expanded over time into a group of people dedicated to clearing the logjams and creating the Lower Rouge Water Trail. It’s an enjoyable read.

More kayak and canoe launches were installed as more communities joined into the project. He gives details on Hines Park, Johnson Creek, Carpenter Lake Nature Preserve, the Holliday Forest and Wildlife Preserve, Rouge River Gateway Trail, Rouge Park, Dynamite Park, and the lower Rouge. You could easily spend an entire summer getting acquainted with all the recreational opportunities available in the watershed.

You can get more acquainted with kayaking the Lower Rouge by reaching out to the Friends of the Rouge River. https://therouge.org. They created a 27mile Lower Rouge River Water Trail which connects people, communities, and the history of the area for the enjoyment of all.

We’re not done restoring the Rouge River and we’re certainly not done saving the planet from unknown horrific weather challenges.

John Hartig and Jim Graham remind us to not be complacent, we must realize that our voices and our actions really do matter. They end with a list of personal things that we can do. Please adopt as many as you can:

Value all life and take care of all species, as First Peoples did before us

Make the Rouge River your river, and teach your children and other family members that we are part of the Rouge River ecosystem, and that what we do to our ecosystem, we do to ourselves

Go out to the Rouge River on a regular basis and experience its beauty

Tell stories about the river to your neighbors and friends that show you have a personal relationship with it and have a deep respect for it, a reverence

Get involved in caring for the river. Don’t sit on the sidelines – volunteer with Friends of the Rouge, the Alliance of Rouge Communities

https://www.allianceofrougecommunities.com or a local school, church, or community group working to protect and restore the river

Advocate for the ecosystem approach, and make sure all schools are teaching that humans are part of nature and ecosystems and practice citizen science as described in chapters 7 and 8

Sign the personal letter to the Rouge River watershed [or make one for the planet!] presented at the end of chapter 9, making a pledge to better care for the river for both present and future generations

Start or continue your journey to live more sustainably through your personal choices – recycle, practice energy conservation, carpool, install a rain barrel, build a rain garden or pollinator garden, stop using single-use plastics, become a watershed ambassador and steward.

Please join the volumes of people already working towards these goals.

Check out the Rouge River on your next day off –you won’t regret it. Nature and possibilities will fill your soul.

For more information on rain gardens and climate mitigation, head on over to my web site at www.

PinkowskiBytes.com for some of the earlier articles published in this newspaper.

Trenton’s own John Hartig

Your Elected Officials

Mayor

Steven Rzeppa

Email: srzeppa@trenton-mi.com

Councilwoman

Timber R. Baun-Crooks

Email: tbauncrooks@trenton-mi.com

Councilman

Nelson Perugi

Phone: 734-931-0327

Email: nperugi@trenton-mi.com

Councilman

Richard Benedetti

Email: rbenedetti@trenton-mi.com

Councilwoman

Wendy Pate

Phone: 734-692-7729

Email: wpate@trenton-mi.com

Councilwoman

Dora Rodriguez

Email: drodriguez@trenton-mi.com

Councilman

Scott Cabauatan

Email: scabauatan@trenton-mi.com

Council and Commission Meetings at Trenton City Hall

Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting

October 27, 2022, 7:00 PM

Tra c Safety Commission Meeting

November 2, 2022, 7:00 PM

City Beautiful Commission Meeting

November 3, 2022, 7:00 PM

Council Regular Meeting

November 7, 2022, 7:00 PM

Planning Commission Meeting

November 9, 2022, 7:00 PM

Veterans Day

November 11, 2022

Recreation Commission Meeting

November 15, 2022, 7:30 PM

Council Regular Meeting

November 21, 2022, 7:00 PM

City Department Contacts

Administrator’s O ce

Dean Creech, City Administrator

Phone: 734-675-6500

Email: dcreech@trenton-mi.com

City Assessor’s O ce

Joanie Barnett, MAAO, City Assessor

Phone: 734-675-6810

Email: jbarnett@trenton-mi.com

Building Department

Virgil Maiani, Building O cial

Phone: 734-675-8251

Email: vmaiani@trenton-mi.com

Clerk’s O ce

Debra R. Devitt, City Clerk

Phone: 734-675-8600

Email: ddevitt@trenton-mi.com

Controller’s O ce

Karen Sall, City Controller

Phone: 734-675-6510

Email: ksall@trenton-mi.com

Department of Public Works

Kevin Sargent, DPW Director

Phone: 734-675-8470

Email: ksargent@trenton-mi.com

Downtown Development Authority

Mayor Steven Rzeppa, DDA Liaison

Phone: 734-675-6500

Emergency Management

Paul L. Haley, Emergency Management Coordinator

Phone: 734-675-6500

Emergency: 734-676-3737

Email: phaley@trenton-mi.com

Engineering Department

C.E. Raines Company

Souheil Sabak, Engineer

Phone: 734-675-8251

Email: ssabak@charlesraines.com

Fire Department

Keith Anderson, Fire Chief

Phone (Non-Emergency Contact):

734-676-1314

Emergency: 911

Email: kanderson@trenton-mi.com

Human Resources

Elisabeth Sobota-Perry, Human Resources Director

Phone: 734-675-8585

Email: eperry@trenton-mi.com

Parks & Recreation

Tim Beaker, Director

Phone: 734-675-7300

Email: tbeaker@trenton-mi.com

Police Department

Mike Oakley, Police Chief

Phone: 734-676-3737

Emergency: 911

Email: agilstorf@trenton-mi.com

Treasurer’s O ce

Michael McCullough, City Treasurer

Phone: 734-675-6510

Email: jcooper@trenton-mi.com

Waste Water Treatment Plant

Julie Willison, Superintendent

Phone: 734-676-0646

Email: jwillison@trenton-mi.com

Visit the city website for more information www.trentonmi.org