wayne’s newest firefighter

2 · January 2017 - The Wayne Dispatch

Learn how to research

your house or propertyOn Wednesday, January 11, at

6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. join the WayneHistorical Society at the Wayne Pub-lic Library to learn how to do re-search on your old house orproperty. Tyler Moll, a recent gradu-ate of EMU’s Masters in HistoricPreservation program, will lead apresentation on how and why peoplewant to research buildings. Topicsthat will be discussed include deedsearches, Sanborn maps, taxrecords, paper archives, city directo-ries and photo archives. Bring a pic-ture of your house and Tyler will tellyou where to start and an approxi-mate age of your house.

Upcoming events at Wayne

Memorial High SchoolTalent show--Wayne Memorial

High School will be hosting a TalentShow on Friday, January 27. Call thehigh school for further details (734)419-2200.

Rival staff dodgeball game--TheWayne Memorial vs. John Glennstaff dodgeball game is on Friday,February 10.

Awards banquet--The first semes-ter awards banquet for Championsof Wayne will be February 8. Theschool administration is working oncoordinating student speakers forthis event to showcase how hard thestudents have worked during thefirst semester.

Quarterly police

community meetingThe next Police community meet-

ing is Thursday, January 26, at 7:00p.m. It will be held at the Wayne Po-lice Department. All are invited tolisten and ask questions.

The Distinguished

Young Women of

Wayne-WestlandThe Distinguished Young Women

of Wayne-Westland will be havingtheir Program Orientation on Mon-day, January 23. It will be at 37995Glenwood at 7:00 p.m. Any highschool junior girl who lives in Wayne

or Westland can participate. No oneis turned away.

Distinguished Young Women is anational scholarship program thatinspires high school girls to developtheir full, individual potentialthrough a fun, transformative experi-ence that culminates in a celebratoryshowcase of their accomplishments.Distinguished Young Women strivesto give every young woman the op-portunity to further her educationand prepare for a successful future.

Any girl can participate! Thereare no requirements that have to bemet other than being a high schooljunior. Most girls who do participateend up with some small form of col-lege scholarship dollars. Any highschool junior girl who lives in Wayneor Westland may register and partic-ipate. Girls can go to www.distin-guishedyw.org and click on “ApplyNow.” There will also be representa-tives who will come to Wayne Memo-rial and John Glenn and help girlsregister.

Jodi Berry and Lauren Perry, Co-Directors for the Wayne-WestlandProgram, are looking forward to hav-ing many girls participate! The showdate will be March 10.

Rotary casino trip Join the Wayne Rotary for a day

of fun. On Saturday, January 14,they will be taking a bus trip to Fire-keeper’s Casino in Battle Creek andthey would like you to travel withthem! The bus will leave the 29thDistrict Court parking lot on Sims Stat 2:00 p.m. Cost is $35 per person.Each participant will receive $20 inslot play and $5 in food credits. Youmust be at least 21 years of age totravel. The bus will leave Fire-keeper’s at 9:00 p.m. for the returnhome to Wayne. If you would like to

make a reservation or get more infor-mation, contact Trish Hampton at(734) 890-6934.

DIA Inside/Out ProgramThe DIA Inside/Out Program,

which brings reproductions of art toa city, will be coming to Wayne in2017. Wayne Main Street applied tobring the program to Wayne. Instal-lation is being scheduled for earlyApril.

WMS has new

executive directorWayne Main Street announced

that Maxwell Cameron will be thenew Executive Director. Maxwellstarted in his new position Decem-ber 12. He introduced himself to theCouncil and community at the De-cember 21 City Council meeting. Ifyou would like to meet Max and seewhat you can do to contribute to thesuccess of WMS, call Max at (734)629-6822 to set up an appointment.He would love to meet you!

Notre Dame Lounge

invites you to join them Come to Notre Dame Lounge lo-

cated at 3144 S. Wayne Rd (nearJack’s Sporting Goods) for dinnerand drinks. The Lounge is open tothe public every Wednesday and Fri-day. Upcoming events include TheUltimate Man Cave (Feb. 3), BigGame Viewing Party (Feb. 5) and AnEvening With Barry Manilow (Mar.11). Wednesday nights feature a Eu-chre Tournament at 7:00 p.m. TheHall is also available for rent for pri-vate events. Call (734) 260-3238 formore information.

The City of Wayne welcomed the newest member of the Wayne Fire Department in

December. Adrian Garduno was hired under the SAFER grant the city received and

was officially sworn in at Wayne City Hall on December 15 by City Clerk Matthew

Miller.

Wayne’s newest firefighter

The Wayne Dispatch - January 2017 · 3

Family business serving area for three generationsBy Carolyn Marnon

The Rediske family aspire to passalong the traditions of providing out-standing service to the community.Continually striving to offer the mostcomplete and compassionate funeralcare and after care possible, the Re-diskes treat others in the way theywould want to be treated. Recentlythe business was handed down toHarold L. Rediske II (Howie), son ofHarold Rediske, Jr.

Uht Funeral Home, located onGlenwood in Westland, had its begin-nings in the 1800s in Huron Town-ship (now known as New Boston).Mantous Uht’s grandfather and fa-ther were cabinetmakers. As manycabinetmakers did in those days,they also built and provided coffinsfor families that experienced a deathwithin their family.

In 1925, Mr. Uht came to the Vil-lage of Wayne and purchased an ex-isting funeral home from WebMorton. The building was near thecorner of Wayne Rd. and Main St. Mr.Uht operated the business until the1940s when he then took on HaroldKennedy as a partner. The businesswas known as the Uht Kennedy Fu-neral Home until late 1951 whentheir partnership terminated.

On March 1, 1952, a new associ-ation was formed with Harold Re-diske, Sr. and continued until thedeath of Mr. Uht in January 1961.The funeral home remained in its lo-cation at Wayne and Main (near towhere the current Wayne Public Li-brary is) with remodels and majoradditions being done. In 1965, theCity of Wayne purchased the buildingand property in order to begin theirUrban Renewal Program. The newUht Funeral Home was built in theCity of Westland, at the corner ofGlenwood and Harvey St. and wasmoved into in March of 1967. UhtFuneral Home is still located there.The Rediske family still maintainsownership.

The RediskesHarold Rediske, Sr. purchased

the business in 1952 and spent nineyears as a funeral director. HaroldRediske, Jr. grew up in the businessand remembers living in the oldbuilding by the library which had aresidence the family lived in.Harold Jr. married to Claudia, who

has also spent many years as a styl-ist for the funeral home. Harold Jr.still comes in to do some of the dayto day operations of the business.He opens the mail and does whatthey call “roadwork” - he gets doc-tors to sign off on the paperwork.

Harold L. Rediske, II (Howie) re-members working at the business asa kid. He would tell people where topark their cars in the lot for the pro-cessional. He says he was so smallhe had to look up to see in the carwindows. One day, there were threeservices held. That was a lot for oneday. When it was all over, he wastaken over to Wild Bill’s where he gotto pick out a mini bike.

Howie did a few other things out-side the funeral business includingcompleting one enlistment with theUS Army where he was deployed toBosnia as a licensed aircraft me-chanic. He returned to the familybusiness in 1996 to complete hisschooling and graduated from WayneState University School of Mortuary

Science in 1997 and received his li-cense. Howie has now been work-ing in the family business for 20years.

Howie has gone through thechairs of the Michigan Funeral Direc-tor’s Association (MFDA) District 2twice and served on the MFDA griev-ance and ethics committee. He be-longs to the Wayne Rotary where hehas served on many committees andprojects. He is also a proud lifemember of the Veteran’s of ForeignWars (VFW) and has served as atrustee for two terms at his localpost. Currently Howie takes over theday to day operations and overseesa staff of 5 licensed funeral directorsand 4 support staff.

Howie is married to Gayle Re-diske and has a daughter, Macken-zie. They currently live inBrownstown after having lived inWayne for 18 years.

Uht is a business that has re-mained a positive force in the Waynecommunity. They are heavily in-

volved with many organizations andsponsor several community events.They’re sensitive to the needs of indi-viduals whose families are in crisisand offer discounted services inthose situations. There is never acharge for infant services, for first re-sponders killed in the line of duty, orfor active duty military members.

When asked about what tradi-tions have carried on at the funeralhome through his time, Howie (son)responded “grey hair and wrinkles”while laughing.

To become a funeral director, youneed to get licensed by the State ofMichigan through a four-year pro-gram. This includes 2 years of pre-requisites, 1 year as an apprenticeand then 1 year studying mortuaryscience. This is a tradition fatherand son shared as they both at-tended Wayne State University.

Grandpa’s day was very “cookiecutter.” People would have a choicefrom a couple vaults, about five cas-kets and about five memorial folders.What made a service special was thesong. There wasn’t anything individ-ualized back then.

Ten years ago with dad Harold,the showroom held about 30 differ-ent full caskets that could be consid-ered. There was no order to theroom. It used to be overwhelming towalk in to the showroom and walkthrough a maze of caskets.

Under Howie, the showroom nowhas partial caskets on the wallsalong with displays of accessorypieces like corners and crosses thatcan be added to the caskets. Fami-lies have more options than ever be-fore. There are boxes and urns forcremains. There are protection fea-tures for vaults. Now you can havepersonalized photos on the memo-rial folder covers.

These days, son Howie says theywill have requests for unusual itemsto be brought in: items like jet skis,motorcycles and even the family pet.Howie says as long as it fits in thedoor and doesn’t tear up the carpet,he will fit it in to the service.

In grandpa Harold’s day, it wasn’tunusual to have a funeral at a house.Back in the old days, farmhouses inNew Boston and Romulus were bigand the doorways were bigger. For 2-3 days, the remains could be at a

See UHT, page 4

Harold Rediske and Mantous Uht look down on Harold and Claudia Rediske and new

owners Harold (Howie) L. Rediske, II, Gayle and Mackenzie. Photo by John P. Rhaesa


house or the funeral home. DadHarold says it’s been about 30 yearssince they have done a home funeral.

Changes in the businessThere are about 60% more cre-

mations now with son than therewas with grandpa. Grandpa proba-bly had less than 5% of cremations.

In grandpa Harold’s day, theremight be 150-175 funerals per year.Now with Howie, there are about 275per year.

During grandpa Harold’s time, hehad a plane which he would use tofly remains from Willow Run to Ken-tucky or Pennsylvania back in the1970s. At that time, Kentucky andTennessee didn’t have major air-ports.

During dad Harold’s time, he hadan ambulance service. He might goto the football game or other event intown with the ambulance. If some-thing happened to someone, the am-bulance either went to the hospitalor to the funeral home.

Back in the 1980s-90s, preplan-ning became a popular thing to do.However, there were no financial in-centives then, so it didn’t take off aswell as it could have. Now, people areable to pay today’s rates to put intoa funeral plan that helps save money

in the long run. I had heard mention of some-

thing called Green Burials. I askedif Uht had dealt with any green buri-als. They have not, although Howiethought there were some special bur-ial grounds in the Metro-Detroit area.He said caskets are biodegradablematerials that go into the ground,there is no embalming and certaintime frames are involved.

Changes in technologyBack in 1996 when Howie came

back to the business, there was onecomputer in the office and it wasused by the secretary. Since 2001,everyone has a computer which areall networked.

The viewing rooms now haveTV’s in them. Pictures can be

scanned into a special system Howiehas and then continuously played onthe TVs.

He used a special software fromKodak that can scan approximately100 pictures in a minute to providea slide show.

KeepsakesBack in the old days, there was

no memorabilia.These days, there are all sorts of

options one can consider to hold aloved one closer. Howie says the

most popular right now areThumbies®. These are fingerprintkeepsakes that are cast in preciousmetal. Other types of cremain jew-elry are also popular.

The Rediske’s long standing com-mitment to the community, valuedtraditions and reputation for com-passionate care are just a few of the

reasons local families have entrustedtheir loved ones to their care fordecades.

If you or a loved one are lookinginto prearranging a funeral or havequestions concerning funeral serv-ices, please contact Howie and heand his staff would be happy to as-sist you.

UHT, Continued from page 3

Harold Rediske, Jr. poses with a new hearse.

The original Uht Funeral Home was in downtown Wayne where the library is today..

Uht Funeral Home is at 35400 Glenwood in Westland.


By Carolyn Marnon

“Motion by Rhaesa, seconded byPorter the motion carried by 4-3 rollcall vote, it was resolved to go withOption #4 for retiree healthcare thatincludes a monthly stipend:$175/single, $400/two person,$485/family and $110/post 65.” Thisis what appears in the December 6city council meeting minutes that areposted on the city’s website.

Prior to this time, insurance wasprovided through Priority Healthwhereby the City paid 70% of the re-tiree’s healthcare while the retireecovered the remaining 30% with acap.

At the December 20 city councilmeeting, after many retirees ad-dressed city council about retireehealthcare, a new motion was made.“Motion by Sanders, seconded byGabriel the motion carried by 4-3roll call vote, it was resolved to placea stay on the motion for Option #4for retiree healthcare that includes amonthly stipend: $175/single,$400/two person, $485/family and$110/post 65 and place RetireeHealthcare Options on the January3, 2017 City Council Agenda.” Thismotion stopped the City from mov-ing forward at all with health carechanges and to stay at the 70/30plan.

At that previous 70/30 plan, if aretiree’s insurance cost $100 permonth, the city paid $70 and the re-tiree paid $30. If the plan increased,the retiree was responsible for pay-ing for the increase in the plan. Nowthat the Dec. 6 motion has beenstayed, the city will have to absorbthe cap of the insurance increases.

With the stay of the “new” motionin effect, Ed Murphy, an insuranceexpert with Plante Moran, attendedthe January 3 city council meeting totry to explain insurance costs andhow it affects the city’s budget. Thesolution proposed at the meetingwas to continue paying the 70/30plan which the city will continue todo for the next 6 months. He figuresthe city will now be paying approxi-mately $75,900 per month for re-tiree healthcare. For now, themonthly stipend is out of the picture.The stipend would have allowed the

retiree to go through the local insur-ance marketplace.

City Manager Lisa Nocerini men-tioned at the meeting that there is aMichigan Supreme Court ruling thatfor retiree healthcare benefits to notchange, the wording in the contractneeds to say “this is a lifetime bene-fit,” otherwise, benefits are for thelife of the particular contract.

John Smith stood before councilto say “You’re driving every retireeinto poverty,” with healthcare reduc-tions. Other citizens were concernedbecause there were apparently 4healthcare options that council hadbeen considering, and yet residentsdid not know what those optionswere. One woman addressed thecouncil with “When I retire, I’m re-tired until I end.” 89-year old JaneMcGill said, “I never knew yourhealth care stopped while your re-tirement was going on.”

At the end of the evening, Council-man Sanders made a motion, sec-onded by Councilman Miller, tosuspend the hard cap for a period of6 months so the personnel directorcould sit down with retirees and alsoto fully fund an HSA for eligible em-ployees. It was recommended thatCity Manager Nocerini meet with theretirees, even though they are not alegal bargaining entity.

Mayor Rowe, who is workinghard to keep the city from bank-ruptcy, thinks that something is bet-ter than nothing for the retirees. “Weare looking at a city of 17,500, notjust 200 (retirees).”

Retiree health benefitsconfusing week by week

By Dave Merchant

Varsity high school basketballcan be one of the best activities towatch on a cold, snowy Friday night.People from Wayne will warm upwhen they see how this team plays.

One thing is for certain this sea-son. The Wayne Memorial HighSchool Zebras men’s basketballteam are not to be taken lightly. Inthe middle of December, the teamwas off to a 3-0 start and rankedeighth in the state in the Detroit FreePress Poll and 15th by the DetroitNews.

Third year coach Nkwayne Youngis excited about his team especiallythe nucleus.

“We have 12 guys on the team andfive of them are seniors,” Young com-mented. “We play in a tough leaguebut I really feel it is up for grabs thisseason (Kensington South League).

Big players for the Zebras thisseason include senior Kevin Epps(six-foot, six inches) who plays wingand has already committed to playcollege hoops at Eastern MichiganUniversity. Three-year starter juniorRashard Williams (6-3) point guardhas had offers from EMU and Cleve-land State. Senior Travez Nyk (6-4)wing man is a starter.

The other starters on the teamare Terance Williams (6-1) guardwho has started for three seasons forYoung. Rounding out the starters istwo-year varsity player Isiah Lewis(5-9) sophomore guard.

The sixth man off the bench issenior forward Natier Bryant (6-3)talented forward who has playedthree years on varsity. Other keybench players are senior guardXavier Moore (5-9) who has playedvarsity for three years. Also, key offthe bench is Kobe Price (6-4) juniorforward.

“It is a good nucleus we have,” hesaid. “I like the fact that eight out of12 guys on the roster are on thehonor roll.”

Of the three games played by De-cember 13th they had beaten DetroitEdison by 22 points; Detroit Corner-stone by six points the Novi Wildcats65-58. Wayne’s only loss was on Dec.26th at at Cass Tech against EastEnglish Village 92-77.

“This team reminds me of the2014 team I coached at Detroit

Fredrick Douglas,” he said. “We hadthree guys go on to play Division 1and seven players all together whowent on to play college ball.”

That team lost in the State SemiFinals.

“Our league is tough,” he said.“You have John Glenn, Canton, Ply-mouth, Livonia Churchill and Livo-nia Franklin.”

Wayne started the league’s seasonon January 5th with a 67-52 winagainst Plymouth. Bringing theirrecord to 7-1. A big game for theteam according to Young is Jan. 24thagainst Clarkston.

Class A districts will be playedDownriver this season for Wayne.The teams in the district are the ever-fearsome Romulus Eagles, the Lin-coln Park Rails, the Allen ParkJaguars, the Taylor Truman Cougarsand the Taylor Kennedy Eagles.Tough competition for sure.

Young said it is a tough districtand the Romulus Eagles are alwaystough to play.


Zebras are a team not to take lightly


HYPE Café now openThe Hoops Café inside the old ice

rink/new basketball courts at HYPEWestern Wayne Recreation Center isnow open! Hours are 3:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. weekdays and Noon-8:00p.m. on the weekends.

Healthy Wayne yogaHealthy Wayne has teamed with

Citizen Yoga to offer free yoga classes,The next free yoga class will beWednesday, January 18, at theWayne Public Library from 5:30p.m.-6:30 p.m. Dress comfortable,bring a yoga mat and enjoy anevening of fun. Future dates includeFebruary 1, 15 and 22; March 1 and8, April 5, 12, 19 and 26.

An opportunity

to meet new womenIt's a new year, and with it comes

new opportunities to make newfriends and help others. The UnitedMethodist Women of the First UnitedMethodist Church of Wayne-West-land (3 Towne Square) have somesmall groups that meet once amonth that you might be interestedin joining.

1st Monday of the month-CharisCircle-7:00 p.m. Learn about womenleaders in the Bible who accom-plished so much in a patriarchal so-ciety.

2nd Tuesday of the month-Esther-Martha-Have fun and learn someBible Trivia.

2nd Thursday of the month-LydiaCircle-10:00 a.m. Meet and pack upBlessing Bags.

Anyone can belong to the Heav-enly E-Circle, facilitated by Kim Mc-Cain. Kim sends out an encouragingmessage that is sometimes verythought provoking. You can alsoshare your concerns in a confidentialsetting at these meetings. Won't youthink about stepping into one ofthese amazing groups of women?

Water warningThe program to replace all the

water meters in Wayne had an ex-pected duration of 18 months. Theprogram is going so smoothly, itcould end well before then if the citycan get more cooperation from about700 households left to change over.

DPW employees are trying to deter-mine how best to get the remaininghouseholds to call PMI, the companycontracted to do the replacement,and set up appointments. One sug-gestion has been to shut off the waterto those homes until the owner/resi-dent calls to set up the appointment,at which time the water would beturned back on. Some council mem-bers believe this is a drastic step andhave asked for DPW to come up withsome other ideas, including possiblesurcharges on water bills for thosepeople who haven’t changed over. Ifyou have not had your water meterchanged, please take the time rightnow to call PMI at (855) 620-7989and make your appointment. Ittakes approximately 20 minutes forthe technician to come in and makethe change. They are also able to setup appointments after regular work-ing hours. If there is some other rea-son you are reluctant to make thechange, please call City Hall andshare your concerns.

Wayne Memorial to host

8th grade parent nightWayne Memorial High School will

be hosting an 8th grade parent nightfor those transitioning to 9th gradeor interested in getting more infor-mation about WMHS for the 2016-2017 school year. Students do not

have to be currently attending aWayne-Westland Community Schoolto attend. The event will be held onWednesday, February 8, at 6:30 p.m.in the WMHS Stockmeyer Audito-rium. Topics covered will includescheduling, graduation require-ments, testing out requirements, di-rect college courses, AP courses,extra-curricular activities and muchmore. All are welcome to attend.Questions are encouraged. Parkingis available in the Glenwood Streetparking lot and guests should enterthrough the front of the auditorium.If you have any additional questions,please call the Counseling Depart-ment at (734) 419-2215.

Healthy Communities

Champions awarded for

their outstanding efforts Beaumont Health is appreciative

of all the champions who make upthe Healthy Wayne community coali-tion for their work above and beyondwhat is expected of them as volun-teers and their commitment to thehealth of the City of Wayne. Beau-mont Health is especially thankfulfor the support of Mayor SusanRowe and her staff as well as theWayne-Westland Community SchoolsDistrict staff from several depart-ments including Assistant Superin-tendent Kelly Bohl who not only

attend local coalition meetings butalso Leadership Coalition meetingsto guide the work of Healthy Wayne.

Beaumont Health recentlyawarded Albert Damitio and AliSayed acrylic Healthy CommunitiesChampion Awards in appreciationfor their significant efforts to influ-ence and improve community health.

One-Stop Health ScreeningOn Wednesday, January 8 from

10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., communitymembers aged 18 or older can ob-tain free blood pressure screening,cholesterol screening and glucose(diabetes) screening sponsored byCommunity Health in partnershipwith Wayne Senior Services. Thescreening will be held at HYPERecreation Center. No appointmentis needed. No fasting is required. Ifyou need more information, you maycall (313) 586-4938.

Wayne Dairy Queen

planning expansionDairy Queen is in the planning

stages of having a small additionmade to their building that would in-clude a drive-thru. Jenn Petrou said,“We are not looking to become a Grilland Chill at this point, but the drivethru would allow us to expand ourcustomer base. We are in the earlystages, having only received approvalfrom the council at this point, butvery excited about the possibility ofbringing more business and morejob opportunities to Wayne.”

Winter Wonderland

craft and vendor saleThere will be a craft and vendor

sale on January 22 from noon-5:00p.m. at HYPE Recreation Center.Confirmed vendors include Tupper-ware, C&F Styles, Younique, Thirty-One, Paparazzi, Scentsy, UsborneBooks, LuLaRoe, Pure Romance,Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef,Gold Canyon Candles, ItWorks, Nor-wex, Katy Gets Crafty, Mae's BodyBlend Soaps, Lilla Rose, Abby &Ann, Perfectly Posh, Plexus, This OldTub, Ellie's Creations, Origami Owl,PartyLite, Jamberry, Wildtree, OhMI Scrubs and Suds, God's WorkClocks and Woodwork and YoungLiving.

Local 900 provided Christmas to over 100 kids in the community Tanyia Dickerson,

Jr. Robinson, Katie Martin, Judy Reynolds, Judy Reynolds, Mike Smith, Jermaine

Harris, Ebony Kennedy, Patty Martin, Delshanna, Ulysses Edmonson II and Lloyd

Allen.


Three years ago I wrote an articlefor this paper about Wayne's Histori-cal Museum, the oldest public build-ing still standing in Wayne andlocated in the heart of our commu-nity. At one time Wayne was full ofold historic buildings and homesrich in history. I talked about wish-ing the walls of these old buildingscould talk and tell us the stories oflife gone by. Stories about how peo-ple settled here, how they lived,worked, ate, dressed, socialized,played, educated and governed them-selves. But walls can't talk so welearn about our past in other ways.We learn from word of mouth, books,newspapers, diaries, letters, objects,council minutes, pictures and histor-ical records. Our Historical Museumholds the keys to our past and an-swers our questions through the ar-tifacts and archives stored there.

But, this building was not alwaysa museum. In the mid 1800's, whenabout 800 people lived in this littlecommunity, the leaders recognized aneed to incorporate into a village. Acharter election was held at theUnion Hotel on April 12th, 1869making our community the “Villageof Wayne”.

Councilmen were elected andthey met in rented rooms in variousbuildings to govern the community.As the Village grew, a need was seenfor a building to hold council cham-bers and house a “lock up” for “va-grants, drunks and tramps”.(Serious offenders were taken to theCounty jail in Detroit.) In 1877, theVillage had a population of 1400 peo-ple and the Council appointed abuilding committee to look intobuilding a Village Hall. A two story

building was preferred that was ap-proximately 20 x 36 feet. After muchdebate, a brick building was orderedto be built on the Public Square at acost of $1300. James R. Lewis ofDetroit won the bid. It featured aFrench Mansard style roof whichwas popular in Detroit at that time.The first meeting was held in thenew building on November 19th,1878. The building was used forboth Village of Wayne and NankinTownship meetings. All electionswere held there, the Justice of thepeace rented space there, and the Vil-lage Band stored their instrumentsthere. It was the center of all Villageactivities and all important commu-nity questions were debated and de-cided there. Public meetings wereheld in the Village Hall, officialproclamations made there and mo-mentous occasions officially recog-nized and celebrated there. It was abeautiful building and the town wasproud of it.

Over the years improvementswere made to this building. Gaslights were installed in 1902, andelectric lights in 1912. In 1916 anaddition was put on the back tohouse fire apparatus so the buildingcould be used as a fire house. In1928 it housed a new AmericanLaFrance fire truck. In 1929 an ad-dition was put on the North side of

the building with doors opening ontoMonroe Street.

In 1926 our Police Departmentwas organized and their headquar-ters were in the Village Hall wherethey could make use of “lock ups” orjail cells in the basement. In the1950's the Village Hall became hometo the Chamber of Commerce andthe Junior Achievement. In 1964,the City Council named the old Vil-lage Hall the Wayne Historical Mu-seum. The Historical Society beganmoving their collections into thebuilding and setting up exhibits.The City appointed a Historical Com-mission in 1969. In 1987 an addi-tion was added to the South side ofthe building to make room for histor-ical artifacts and displays and an of-fice added for the museum manager.

Our museum has had many care-takers over the years. The City ap-pointed managers who loved historyand recognized the importance of

preserving our artifacts and archives.These items are our link to our pastand our story. Mildred Hanchett,Hank Goudy, Virginia Presson andRichard Story were managers of themuseum who grew up in Wayne andwhose families were part of the his-tory of our community. (Virginia'sdaughter Val Latzman wrote a won-derful book on Wayne with manyphotographs.) The Wayne HistoricalSociety has always been an impor-tant part of the museum giving sup-port in many ways. Matt Miller, ourCity Clerk, grew up in Wayne andhas a great deal of knowledge of ourcommunity history. His positions inour City government have had himoverseeing the museum and the His-torical Commission as part of his re-sponsibilities.

As we prepare to celebrate the be-ginning of a New Year, we pause to

See Museum, page 12

What’s old is new again

Tyler Moll is a 25 year old graduate from EMU with a Masters Degree in Historic

Preservation. Photo by John P. Rhaesa


By Carolyn Marnon

The library was full of activity ona recent Tuesday morning as about25 former Champions of Wayne stu-dents came back to their alma materto discuss what their college experi-ence has been like with students whoare currently trying to navigate thenext phase in their educational ca-reers.

These former students includeda Gates Scholar, a Georgetown at-tendee, one who said “The lowestgrade I got was an A-”, one that wasjuggling sports and academics, onethat was the first in her family to goto college, a bioengineering studentat Stanford, one studying ancientlanguages and culture studies, oneraising money for the children of St.Jude’s in her Honors Program, onelearning Arabic, one who had beenin foster care, a few former UpwardBound students, a male cheerleaderand a first generation college studentwho was receiving a full-ride scholar-ship. They were all there to answerquestions and share what they hadlearned so far.

After an introductory periodwhere the former students intro-duced themselves, what year theygraduated, where they were attend-ing (or had attended) and what theyhad studied, they broke into smallergroups for more personal discus-sions.

Renaldo Powell graduated in2009. He had been a Champion ofWayne and a member of UpwardBound. He said Upward Bound re-ally helped him prepare for collegeand what it would be like. It gavehim the opportunity to visit all theMichigan colleges, some in Toledoand even William and Mary College.Renaldo attended Central Michiganand pursued a business degree. Hisinterest was in entrepreneurshipand he tried starting three differentbusinesses while he was there to getreal world experience. Central Michi-gan has new venture programs thatgive up to $30,000 to students tostart a business. Renaldo enteredevery year. One year he won $1000to incorporate a business; that par-ticular business was a website hecreated that would connect aspiringentrepreneurs with those who hadthe resources to help them. Of thethree businesses he started while at

CM, Renaldo’s success story becamePowell’s Pedicabs. He operated abike taxi service around campuswhere he would pick up studentsfrom bars or parties and get themhome safely. He made the whole ex-perience fun for his customers bylighting up the pedicab and havingmusic playing. He engaged with hiscustomers throughout the ride. Thebest part of his business venture wasthat he worked whenever he wantedto.

Collin Hudson graduated in 2015and is now a sophomore at MichiganState. He is studying neurosciencewith a focus on cognition. He enjoyslearning about brain activity andhow humans think. He’s the first gen-eration in his family to attend college.While he was at WMHS, he was partof Champions of Wayne, UpwardBound, on the tennis team and wres-tled. As a Champion who already re-ceived good grades, he had to setextra goals for himself such as study-ing more and writing about his vari-

ous experiences. He is currently try-ing to obtain a research opportunityin neuroscience and belongs to thetennis club. He says tennis helpshim to relieve the stress he experi-ences on campus. Collin likescrunching numbers, so he is plan-ning to get a minor in statistics.

Kelsie Wysong graduated in 2016and headed off to Stanford. She wasasked how she focuses on collegewhen she is so far away from herfamily and friends. “You makefriends fast,” she answered. “You justmake friends.” She also stays con-nected with her family by calling herparents and siblings often and Face-timing (a phone application that al-lows callers to see each other ontheir phones while they chat). Kelsiewas asked if she would attend Stan-ford for grad school when the timecame. She wasn’t sure that shewould. From what she has heardand experienced, the undergraduateprogram at Stanford is great, but shehasn’t heard much that is positive

about the graduate program. “I don’twant to be a doctor. I just want toplay with DNA,” she says. She lovesStanford because people there be-lieve in her dreams. They all have re-alistic dreams and then they havetheir crazy dreams. Kelsie’s realisticdream is to work with and researchextinct animals. Her crazy dream isa real world Jurassic Park. Besidesstudying, Kelsie takes a Stanford tapclass 3 times a week and does re-search with a graduate student. Shesays she was rejected from StudentSenate. Maybe the dinosaurs needher more!

Carmen Mata attends George-town University in Washington DC.She was asked if it was hard for herto move so far from home. Shereplied that she had already doneprograms while in high school atGreen Bay and Princeton, so she wasprepared for the move. The most dif-ficult part of moving was determin-ing what she was going to need tobring. She had to know what theweather patterns were in DC so shecould plan what clothing she’d need.She had to figure out what she hadspace for in her dorm room. Figur-ing out what to bring was not easy.She was asked if it was hard to makefriends. Since she had done a sum-mer program at Georgetown, she al-ready had a small base of friendsand she was able to make newfriends. She did give two greatpieces of advice: “You’re in a bubble.But the people are generally decent,”and “You can’t rely on your parents.You have to do it for you.”

Soon it was time to break forlunch. Teacher Kevin English toldthe students assembled to “Embracethis opportunity” to eat lunch andtalk to each other.

This gave me the opportunity tospeak to a few students directlyrather than just listening in on theirconversations.

Dimitrus Renfroe will be graduat-ing on May 6, 2017 from MichiganState University. While Dimitruswhat growing up, his mom was al-ways a working mom. His dad hasbeen to prison nine times. In highschool, he had a friend who wasshorter than him (Dimitrus is tall)who challenged him to a wrestling

Graduates provide mentorship to current students

See Champions, page 13

Twenty-five former Champions of Wayne students came back to their alma mater

to discuss what their college experience has been like with students who are cur-

rently trying to navigate the next phase in their educational careers.


Kosowski domestic violence legislation signed into lawEarlier this year, State Represen-

tative and Democratic Whip RobertKosowski (D-Westland) saw his legis-lation be signed into law by Gover-nor Snyder.

House Bill 4478 would add com-panion animals to personal protec-tion orders. “Often, in domesticviolence situations, the perpetratorof the abuse will use a family pet asa way to control their human vic-tims,” Kosowski said. “In essence,my legislation would add a checkbox so that a domestic violence vic-tim can include his or her pet whileobtaining a personal protectionorder.”

Currently, twenty-eight otherstates have similar provisions inplace. One of these states, Min-nesota, has been keeping track ofhow many personal protection or-ders have included companion ani-mals since 2010. In 2010, thenumber of personal protection or-ders including pets was 167. In2013, that number skyrocketed to1067. “Statistics such as these show

that once domestic violence victimsbecame aware they could includecompanion animals in personal pro-tection orders, they overwhelminglychose to do so,” said Kosowski.

“This legislation is more than justincluding a check box on a form,”Kosowski said. “Right now, domes-tic violence victims are not leavingtheir dangerous situations becausetheir abuser is using the family petas a pawn. Ensuring victims areaware they can include their com-panion animals in a personal protec-tion order not only can save theanimal from further abuse, it cansave the human victims, both adultsand children, from being controlledand forced back into violent situa-tions. I am extremely happy that theGovernor saw the importance of thislegislation, and acted quickly to signit into law. I’m proud that Michiganwill now join several other states infurthering protections for bothhuman victims of domestic violence,and their companion animals aswell.” Governor Snyder signs State Representative Robert Kosowski domestic violence bill.

look back and realize how manythings have changed. Nothing staysthe same. This is true of our mu-seum at this time in history. Severalyears ago a group of leaders fromour City applied to the State for ac-ceptance into their “Main Street”program which supports communi-ties in revitalizing their downtownareas. We were selected to partici-pate. When looking for housing forthis program and its manager, it wasdecided to use the museum and itsoffice. This would make it possibleto have our museum open to thepublic more hours per week. MainStreet director Lindsey Wooten Dot-son was instrumental in suggestingwe look for professional help withour museum. She contacted East-ern Michigan University where a His-torical Preservation Curriculum wasoffered and asked about locating agrad student who might be inter-ested in working in our museum.Last April Tyler Moll began work andin a few short months has madesome amazing changes.

Tyler is a 25 year old graduatefrom EMU with a Masters Degree inHistoric Preservation. He brings agreat deal of knowledge, expertiseand enthusiasm to Wayne's museum.He is from Ohio, where his familystill lives, but resides in Ypsilanti.He grew up spending time on hisgrandparents property which con-tains a number of historic buildingsbuilt in the mid to late 1800's. Hehas helped his family research andwork on these buildings while work-ing on his degree. Along with a num-ber of dedicated volunteers from theHistorical Society, Tyler has madesome exciting changes to our mu-seum. He started working in the of-fice archives, organizing and sortingdocuments and books. He learned agreat deal of Wayne's history as heworked at rehousing material in newacid free folders and boxes pur-chased for him by the Historical So-ciety. Everything in the office (180feet of shelving and 13 file cabinets)got new labels and a good cleaning.He and his volunteers sortedthrough tens of thousands of piecesof paper to achieve this task. In Sep-tember he began going through themuseum displays, cleaning, sortingand researching objects. This in-volved finding the objects accessionnumber and matching that to thepaper work that was filled out when

the object was donated. Upon check-ing the original paperwork, he couldread where the object came from,who donated it and if it was relatedin any way to Wayne. If an object hasno connection to Wayne it is put in

storage until its fate is decided.Using this method , the display wascleared of clutter and simplified.Next, the museum was organizedinto chronological order going clock-wise outside the rooms. It begins

with the early settlement of Wayneand goes through farming, early in-dustries, later businesses and eventsand brings us to the 60's and 70's.It will take more time and effort tobring the displays to the present.

The new arrangement of artifactsbrought the need for new signage totell what the objects are and whythey are important. Tyler designed anew logo and informational card thathas been placed on or near most ob-jects telling of their history. This re-quired quite a bit of research butgives a professional appearance tothe displays. Space was left for dis-play boards which will be profession-ally designed and printed. A newprogram called “Adopt a Display” isnow running where a family or busi-ness can adopt a display board andhave their name or logo printed onit. The cost ranges from $45 to$160.

Another addition to the museumis the new welcome desk and giftshop at the main entrance. Displaycases were cleaned and painted andnow house an expanded selection ofWayne photos and local historybooks.

Tyler has cleaned and organizedthe basement and is now tackling thesecond floor which has always beenused for storage of objects not ondisplay. This will be a big undertak-ing for him and his volunteers but helikes the challenge and sees a littleprogress already as they clean, sortand research.

Tyler enjoys his work in our mu-seum and has opted to renew his in-ternship so that he can see thecompletion of what he started here.He has also taken on the job of theWayne Historical Society Facebookpage and writes weekly historicalblurbs and uploads pictures fromour archives. We are very fortunateto have Tyler working in our mu-seum and bringing it up to date.WHAT'S OLD IS NEW AGAIN!!! Ifyou have visited the museum in thepast, you have to come back andhave a look at all of the changes!!!! Ifyou have never visited the museum,please make a New Years resolutionto come visit and learn more aboutthe history of your community. Youwill be glad you did!!!! The museumis open Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m.to 7:00 p.m. and Thursdays from10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. or by ap-pointment. Call 734-722-0113. Ifyou would like to volunteer, givethem a call.


Museum, Continued from page 8

Residents line up to vote at the old Fire Department seen in Life magazine in 1952 .

The Wayne Historical Museum.


Wheatley, James W Age 87Beloved husband of Carolyn for 65 years.

Loving father of Gary, Douglas (Maria),

Yvonne Perry, Esther Smith and David.

Cherished grandfather of 10 and great

grandfather of 9. Dear brother of Jerry.

Jim was a spiritually devout and humble

man. He enjoyed travel and was a life-

long learner. Jim was an inspiration and

role model to his children, grandchildren

and great grandchildren. Because of his

wry sense of humor, he has left all of

them with happy memories and stories

to share.

Visitation Sunday, December 18th, 2-6

pm and Monday, December 19th, 10 am

until the time of service at 11 am at

Harry J. Will Funeral Home 34567 Michi-

gan Ave. in Wayne. James will be laid to

rest at Cadillac Memorial Gardens West

in Westland. In lieu of flowers, contribu-

tions appreciated to Gideon International

Wayne Southwest Camp P.O. Box

74565 Romulus, MI 48174.

match and if he could beat Dimitrus,Dimitrus would join the wrestlingteam. Dimitrus already played foot-ball and had figured if he went to col-lege, he would go to some smallcollege in the south to play. As itturned out, Dimitrus lost the matchwith his friend and joined thewrestling team. He did well atwrestling. It turned out if he wantedto go to college, he would have to en-roll in online classes while in highschool so he could increase his GPA.He wrestled at MSU; however, he isnot wrestling this year as he pre-pares for graduation. He is studyingCriminal Justice as it relates to juve-nile delinquents.

Marcel Trinity says when he at-tended WMHS, the school was con-

sidered an underdog. Nothing wasexpected of the students but the bareminimum. He graduated in 2012and went on to the University ofMichigan-Dearborn. He is currentlyworking on a double major in ac-counting and finance. “You knowwhat you’re capable of-your self-worth. Don’t let anyone tell you youcan’t.” He used the Champions ofWayne program to meet his goalswhile using the positive reinforce-ment of the $200 financial incentiveas a tool to help him succeed. He cur-rently works for Frito-Lay. He saysFrito-Lay is a $96 billion business.His curiosity and analytical mind arealways thinking “Where does all thatmoney go?” In the future, he wantsto be someone who knows all thoselittle details that make up the big pic-ture.

Champions, Continued from page 10

Effective January 9, 2017 Cap-tain Fred Gilstorff will be Wayne FireDepartment’s new Deputy Chief.

According to Michael Stradtner,Wayne-Westland Fire Chief, Fredbegan his career 22 years ago inJune, 1994 with the Wayne Fire De-partment. Fred is an instructor forthe Rapid Intervention Team andFire Fighter Safety. He has spentmany hours planning safe and edu-cated training for the four automaticaid communities involved. Fred hasassisted in coordinating secure sim-ulations of emergency situations thatfire fighters may face in their careers.His input was engaged in the MABAS(Mutual Aid Box Alarm System) and

our Auto Aid policies. Safety andtraining are a large part of Fred’sgoals. He manages a shift of firefighters prepared to respond to anyemergency. Fred has also securedmuch needed equipment throughgrant writing and fundraising.

During his career, Fred has exhib-ited the professionalism and enthu-siasm that all fire fighters strive toachieve.

Fred’s desire to excel and furtherhis knowledge is observed daily inhis eagerness to share his progres-sive thoughts. While engaged inemergency situations, Fred displaysconsiderable courage, knowledge,strength and determination.

New Deputy Chief named

Wayne-Westland Fire Chief Michael Stradtner and Mayor Susan Rowe introduce new

Deputy Chief Fred Gilstorff at the January 3rd City Council meeting.


Ford bringing back the Ranger and Bronco to WayneFord is bringing back the Ranger midsize pickup truck to its North American vehicle lineup in 2019 and Bronco midsize SUV to its global vehicle portfolio in 2020. Both

vehicles will be manufactured at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan. “We’ve heard our customers loud and clear. They want a new generation of vehicles

that are incredibly capable yet fun to drive,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of The Americas. “Ranger is for truck buyers who want an affordable, functional, rugged

and maneuverable pickup that’s Built Ford Tough. Bronco will be a no-compromise midsize 4x4 utility for thrill seekers who want to venture way beyond the city.” Pictured

above are the new logos for the Ranger, Bronco and rendering of the 2020 Bronco.


By Carolyn Marnon

Amid cuts by the Wayne WestlandCommunity School District to adulteducation last summer, Tinkham Ed-ucational Center moved from wherethey were located on Venoy Rd. to awing of Wayne Memorial HighSchool. Since the move, Tinkham’salternative high school has been ableto increase enrollment from 60 stu-dents to about 180. Two teacherswere added to help keep the classsizes small at approximately 20 stu-dents.

The 18-week semesters like theregular high schools have were re-duced to 9-week quarters. Duringthose 9 weeks, students at Tinkhamtake four classes that are 1 ½ hourslong each.

Kim Doman, Director of Tin-kham Educational Center, has foundthe school now has a higher successrate for the students. During the2nd semester last spring under theold system, 29% of the Tinkhamhigh school students passed zeroclasses. Zero! None! Nada! SaysKim, “We had students that last yearpassed zero classes and this yearpassed all four classes.”

Students come to Tinkham be-cause they are referred by eitherJohn Glenn or Wayne Memorial.Often, it is because they are in jeop-ardy of not graduating on time. At-tendance issues would account formost of that. Students were havingdifficulties at school, weren’t gettingthe help they needed, and eventuallywould just give up on going to school.If it is found that a student is not at-tending while at Tinkham, educatorsreach out to the students to find outhow they can help. Whereas therehad been a cap of age 20 on beingable to work toward a high schooldiploma, the new system allows astudent up to age 22 to get adiploma. A student must be age 16to attend Tinkham. It had been dis-covered that most behavioral issueswere coming from 14 and 15 yearold students who weren’t matureenough to handle the alternative set-ting.

Students at Tinkham are notgiven a special curriculum to gradu-ate. They must adhere to the Michi-gan Merit Curriculum, the same asthe regular high schools. What helpsthese students is that because of thesmaller class size, there is more one-

on-one time with the teachers. Teach-ers are better able to tell when a stu-dent is struggling with the material.Classes start at 9:15 a.m.; school isout at 4:05 p.m.

Tinkham has a youth mentorshipprogram. Students who are partici-pating in this program spend ½ theday attending classes at Tinkhamand the other ½ of the day at Green-field Village where they do awork/study program. To participatein the mentorship program, studentshave to interview with the director.Currently, four students are in theprogram.

Adult education classes wereeliminated at Tinkham. The only gen-eral classes available now are GEDpreparation and English as a SecondLanguage, both taught out of JohnGlenn.

Tinkham has open enrollmentwhich means you can begin attend-ing at any time. However, most stu-dents start with the beginning of thequarter. They practice a blendedlearning technique. Half of a stu-dent’s time is spent learning onlinewhile the other half of learning isthrough their books. Tinkham hasthe most up-to-date technology in

the district. They have smart panelflat screen TVs, google chromebookcarts (which are carts with laptops)and a computer lab with chrome sta-tions. Homework is more embed-ded into the classroom setting, so astudent, if they use their time wiselyin class, would have minimal outsidehomework.

There can still be drama with thestudents like what is found at theregular high schools. However, thatis reduced by not having the 14 and15 year old students.

A student council group wasstarted recently. The school is alsolooking into getting into an alterna-tive athletic league.

Seventeen year-old Trontay Byrdis finding success at Tinkham. Hewas introduced as an honor roll stu-dent, but he was quick to add “andstudent council!” He had come toMrs. Doman’s office to drop off apaper showing that he had com-pleted his U.S. History class for the2nd quarter period. The 1st quarterhad recently ended on November 4.

Trontay enjoys his English class.He likes to make music. English hasshown him the different ways he canmanipulate words. “English is just

talking,” he says. He has found thathe has no trouble bringing up hisgrades in this environment. Thatparticular day, the first meeting ofthe Community Café/Spirit Weekawards had been held. Trontay re-ceived recognition for his efforts.The school has helped him becomemore focused and disciplined. Hewent to the college and career fairthat was held several weeks priorand was impressed with SpecsHoward School of Media Arts inSouthfield. He would like to majorin graphic design and minor in film-ing. What motivates him to keepmoving forward with his education isseeing the happiness on teacher’sfaces. “This school helps you findyour identity,” said Trontay. “If any-one puts in effort, you’re going to seeresults.”

“I’m seeing a lot of good change inkids,” especially in their maturity,says Kim. After the first quarter, tenstudents made the honor roll with3.0 or higher GPA. Eight studentstook more than the required fourclasses. 53 students passed all fourof their classes. Eight students hadexcellent attendance, and eight stu-dents were able to graduate.

Tinkham students succeeding despite move

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