Sunday, February 10, 2013
Royal Oak resident humbly looks after his neighborhood at age 86.
If there is a bright spot in the aftermath of nasty winter weather, it is the way neighbors look out for each other. Who doesn't rejoice discovering a neighbor has plowed your walk after a storm? Bill Burgess, of Royal Oak, is a fellow who is used to taking care of his neighbors. A World War II vet, he was out cleaning leaves off sewer grates on Farnum on Thursday before the snow hit. At nearly 86 years old, he was poking leaves with a long stick and picking up trash so the street won't flood once the snow melts. He was not grousing about the handful of garbage he was holding while he worked at cleaning those sewers, nor did he seem to mind a reporter asking him why he was outdoors on such a bitter cold day. After more than an hour of …
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Rain or shine, snow or sleet, letter carrier and activist John Dick does more than drop letters in mailboxes - he delivers friendship to the Royal Oak residents he serves.
Letter carrier John Dick, of Royal Oak, remembers meeting Gregg Glowacz along his route more than seven years ago. Glowacz, a former director for ambulatory services at Beaumont Hosptial, was in his Royal Oak yard when Dick delivered his mail and asked him about his motorcycle. The two men started shooting the breeze and discovered they had a lot in common. They bonded, Dick said. "Gregg's a very friendly guy. We always chatted and then he had an aneurysm (in 2007) that left him a quadriplegic. He had everything going for him - a great job, a great house and a great wife." Gregg's wife of 27 years, Vicki Glowacz, remembers the day her world changed when she found her husband on the floor in pain. "He said he felt like he was shot in the …
42.46887
-83.391509
34900 Grand River Ave, Farmington Hills, MI
/articles/hometown-hero-royal-oak-letter-carrier-delivers-mail-and-friendship
/locations/7731405
42.39186
-83.05962
2403 Holbrook St, Hamtramck, MI
/articles/hometown-hero-royal-oak-letter-carrier-delivers-mail-and-friendship
/locations/7731406
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Wounded in 1969 in the Republic of Vietnam, Arnold Spencer receives a long overdue military decoration at the VFW Hall in Royal Oak.
Royal Oak resident Arnold Spencer was a teenager when he served in the Army during the Vietnam War and for years he didn't care to talk about it very much, according to his wife Madeline. That hesitancy had to somewhat change today, when the reserved Spencer, now 62, was awarded the Purple Heart. Sen. Carl Levin presented the medal to Spencer, a 40-year resident of Royal Oak at the VFW hall in Royal Oak on the Fourth of July in a small presentation attended by about a dozen people, including Spencer's wife Madeline, son Jeffrey, of Oak Park, daughter-in-law Holli and granddaughter Rian, both of Plymouth. Spencer's son Erik was unable to attend. After Levin pinned the medal on the soft-spoken former soldier's chest, Spencer gave brief …
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Guild members make handcrafted wooden toys to benefit patients of Detroit Medical Center Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
- VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS
- Judy Davids
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Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Dozens of members of the Royal Oak-based Michigan Woodworkers' Guild received the Community Craftsman Award in recognition of the guild’s partnership with the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Janet Krakow, vice president of Minwax, presented the award along with an oversized check for $5,000 and $1,000 worth of Minwax products. “We are proud to recognize the volunteer members of the Michigan Woodworkers’ Guild for their outstanding community service and impressive body of work in support of the children of DMC Children’s Hospital,” Krakow noted. The woodworkers have maintained a relationship with the Detroit-based children's hospital for more than 15 years, said William Gayde, of Royal Oak. Over the years they have built toys, memory boxes…
Thursday, May 3, 2012
When Muriel Versagi welcomes visitors to the Royal Oak Historical Society Museum, they end up sticking around as volunteers.
Knowledgeable, well-read, organized, dedicated and kind are just a few of the adjectives that quickly come to mind when people are asked to describe Muriel Versagi, the curator of the Royal Oak Historical Society Museum. “She is one in a million,” said Mary Pineau of Berkley, who volunteers at the museum a few days a week. “I have never met anyone as knowledgeable about her community.” Pineau stopped by the museum two weeks ago and is now a volunteer. Versagi is a past president of the Royal Oak Historical Society (1988-2001), which was founded in 1939. She has always loved and studied history. Throughout her life she read every how-to and preservation book she could get her hands on, she said. In 2004, after retiring from a consulting …
42.51132
-83.16128
Royal Oak Historical Society
1411 W Webster Rd, Royal Oak, MI
/articles/hometown-hero-museum-curator-s-kindness-is-legendary
710764
/locations/6947215
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Covering his eyes and wearing a bright orange T-shirt, this Royal Oak pet salon manager is hoping to get noticed to raise awareness.
If you see a man walking around downtown Royal Oak wearing a mask, don’t be alarmed – Brian Lane is not a bank robber. For 30 days, Lane – who works at Bingo Pet Salon on Fourth Street – will be sporting various masks and bright T-shirts that say, “Ask me why?” Lane is wearing the mask to raise money and awareness for the sight impaired. “When I was a senior in high school my mom fell and hit her head,” said the 31-year-old Madison Heights resident who has full vision. “She lost her memory and then a few months later she lost her sight in her right eye.” Terry Lynn Lane of Waterford was on crutches when she fell in 1997. "I was protecting a broken ankle and not my face,” she said. She hit her head so hard in the spill that she lost her …
42.487278
-83.1443
Bingo Pet Salon
108 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI
/articles/hometown-hero-brian-lane
2031566
/locations/6525520
Cbgb
10:38 am on Monday, February 11, 2013
Happy Birthday--and God Bless you and Opal!! more ›