unnamed cci eps · contact naomi r. patton: 313-223-3327 or [email protected] photos by mandi...
TRANSCRIPT
Zachary Davis, a rathergregarious and spirited fel-low with a spiky haircut,wanted no part of a trip to Ha-waii or to Universal Studios.
His wish was to have a golfcart to drive around in — likethe ones he saw driven in thepit at the motocross races ofhis big brother Dominic andhis father, Tim.
But he was too young atage 8. He had to wait until hewas 10, the legal age to drive agolf cart in a private area. Heturned 10 in November, thenwaited three more longmonths.
On Valentine’s Day, he gothis wish, courtesy of theMake-A-Wish Foundation ofMichigan, in front of his fami-ly, friends, teachers and thewhole Bishop Foley footballteam at the Catholic highschool in Madison Heights.
Zachary has Duchennemuscular dystrophy, a genet-ic, degenerative disease thatrapidly weakens muscles. Hismuscles continue to weakenand he is cognitively im-paired.
The disease’s symptomsoften include impaired motorskills, cognitive impairmentand muscle weakness. Chil-dren with the disease can liveinto their mid-20s.
Wearing funky black
glasses, Zachary squealedwith delight as his proudlysmiling brother and anotherteammate carried him ontheir shoulders to the cafete-ria for the official presenta-tion.
Steve Vecellio, who deliv-ered the golf cart, had onemore surprise for Zacharybefore the big reveal — a
Monster Energy motocrossjersey and helmet. And Za-chary knew there was onlyone thing left: “Keys,” he said.
The golf cart was donatedby Vecellio, Keith’s MichiganAuto & Golf Cart Sales ofWarren and the Dan HillerMemorial Golf Outing.
“Zach is king,” Zacharyyelled as he was carried to hisgolf cart in the parking lot.
“Guys, hop in,” Zacharysaid to Dominic, 14, and his fa-ther. “Watch out,” he yellednext, giving the crowd of
about 100 people the chanceto clear a path.
Zachary — no stranger tothe road — has won first placein his age division in four-wheel motocross races. Pic-tures of him with a trophy andon his four-wheeler wereposted in the Foley cafeteria.
“Yeeeaaahhh,” he yelled atthe wheel of the golf cart as hesped to the opposite end ofthe parking lot with his broth-er and father aboard.
“He just means so much tome. I can’t say no to him,” TimDavis, 33, said, smilingthrough tears, marveling atthe freedom the cart gives hisson, whose muscles are tooweak for him to ride a bike.“He just melts me.”
After sending Dominic toget his jacket, and donninghis helmet, Zachary, a fifth-grader at Keith BovenschenSchool in Warren, took a fewof the Foley players for a spin.
“He’s pretty much our No.1 fan,” Mike Rossman, one ofthe players, said. “I love see-ing the smile on his face.”
His parents hope stem celltherapy can prolong Za-chary’s life.
“It was amazing to actuallysee it come to life,” Tori Rus-so-Davis, 30, said of her son’swish. The family lives in St.Clair Shores. “We’re just soblessed for him … to see whatan amazing kid he is.”� CONTACT NAOMI R. PATTON: 313-223-3327 OR [email protected]
Photos by MANDI WRIGHT/Detroit Free Press
Zachary Davis, 10, of St. Clair Shores receives a teddy bear and a card from the Bishop Foley football team before his big wish is revealed.
ZACH GETS WHEELS Wish for a golf cart is fulfilled for boy with muscular dystrophy By NAOMI R. PATTONFREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Taking his new golf cart for a spin, Zachary Davis gets some helpfrom his brother Dominic, 14, and dad Tim Davis, 33, in back.
WayneDETROIT
Clothes, books,food collectedat Winter Blast
Not only did 75,000people celebrate the sea-son at the Motown WinterBlast this weekend, theydonated more than500,000 pounds ofclothes, books and foodfor needy people in De-troit, organizers said.
The Grosse PointeRotary Club organizedRotarians from through-out the region to collectitems that are to be dis-tributed through MatrixHuman Services in De-troit.
The event ended Sun-day.
Motown Winter Blastproducer Jon Witz saidabout the same number ofpeople attended the eventas last year, judging bycrowd estimates and thesale of food and carnivalride tickets.
SaginawSAGINAW
Biden to visit,discuss jobs atDelta College
Vice President JoeBiden is to discuss howRecovery Act investmentsare improving communi-ties and creating jobs inMichigan at 11:45 a.m.Tuesday at Delta College,1961 Delta Road, Universi-ty Center.
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin,D-Mich., also is to speak.
RegionAcross metroDetroit, Hindusmark Shivratri
Hindus across metroDetroit gathered in tem-ples this weekend to markShivratri, one of theirholiest times of the year.
At the Bharatiya Tem-ple in Troy, about 500people gathered Sundayfor special prayers andservices.
Similar services wereheld at temples during thepast three days in Canton,Detroit and Pontiac.
Shivratri means Shi-va’s night.
What’s closed,what’s open onPresidents’ Day
Today will be observedas Presidents’ Day. U.S.government offices, fi-nancial markets and mostbanks will be closed.
There will be no maildelivery. State offices willbe closed. In Oakland andMacomb counties, theclerks’ offices and courtswill be closed.
In Wayne County, theclerk’s office will be open.
Most City of Detroitoffices will be closed be-cause of a furlough.
Buses and the PeopleMover will run on regularschedules. Local govern-ment offices might beopen; contact the city,village or township clerk.
� MONDAY, FEB. 15, 2010 WWW.FREEP.COM 3Ax x
�313-222-6600 [email protected]
METRO
-- COMPILED FROM REPORTS BY TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA,
NIRAJ WARIKOO AND NAOMI R. PATTON
BREAKFAST BENEFIT: NBC News correspondent Anne Thompson isto be the keynote speaker at the 17th Annual Women’s PowerBreakfast to benefit Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeast-ern Michigan. The program is set for 8 a.m. April 14 at the SomersetCollection, 2800 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy. Gleaners hopes to raisefunds for 1 million meals. Tickets are $100 to $1,000. For tickets, callOmari Taylor, 866-GLEANER, ext. 272 or visit www.gcfb.org.
Rochester Hills is consid-ering constructing waterstorage reservoirs and betterenforcing its lawn-wateringordinance to improve its wa-ter rates.
The two, 3-million gallonreservoirs, if approved, wouldcost about $17.5 million — in-cluding $6 million in interest— and would be funded bybonds that would be repaidthrough the water and sewercosts paid by residents.
City officials say the above-ground tanks would pumpwater from Detroit duringnonpeak hours and then outto residents during peaktimes — primarily in the sum-mer, when usage is up be-cause people are wateringtheir lawns.
The storage tanks could re-
duce water purchase ratesfrom the Detroit Water andSewerage Department by38%, according to the city.
If approved, the city wouldjoin communities like Bir-mingham and PittsfieldTownship, which use waterstorage facilities.
Rochester Hills City Coun-cil President Greg Hoopersaid Thursday that the coun-cil likely will wait to make adecision until after the city re-negotiates rates with Detroitthis summer.
Based on new rates pro-posed by the Detroit Waterand Sewerage Department,Rochester Hills’ rate could in-crease by 11.5% for 2010-11.Detroit officials have said wa-ter consumption is down 20%over the past two years and60% since 2002.
Several residents at the
council meeting Feb. 8 ex-pressed concerns about thecost and locations of the pro-posed aboveground reser-voirs — one in Eugene S.Nowicki Park, east of Adamsand south of Tienken, and theother on the east side of JohnR, between Bloomer andAvon.
“This isn’t monopoly mon-
ey,” resident Martha Blacksaid to the council, urgingthat the city be more prudentwith spending.
For decades Birminghamhas used two, 500,000-gallonwater towers managed by theSoutheastern Oakland Coun-ty Water Authority.
In 2004, Pittsfield Town-ship constructed a 5-milliongallon tank to accommodatethe growing community. MikeLuptowski, utilities directorfor Pittsfield Township, saidthe tank — which joined anexisting 750,000-gallon watertower — has kept rates stablefor residents.
Rochester Hills officialssaid they also may considerbetter enforcement of the ci-ty’s ordinance requiring auto-matic lawn-watering systemsto be used only between mid-night and 5 a.m.� STAFF WRITER STEVE NEAVLING CONTRIB-UTED TO THIS REPORT.
Rochester Hills considers 2 reservoirsBy GINA DAMRONFREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
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Detroit Free Press
Store water, save costs?
Salvation Army EasternMichigan Division officials saidthey plan to break ground asearly as spring on the organiza-tion’s new Pontiac headquar-ters. The project was stalled fora year because of a land dispute.
Pontiac and Salvation Armyofficials finalized the sale of theWallace E. Holland Center onJan. 29, about a year after thePontiac City Council approvedthe transaction. The formercommunity center has been va-cant for five years.
The project was stalled afterorganization officials learnedthat a portion of the parking lotwas owned by a private busi-ness, not the city.
After months of negotiationswith the owner, Salvation Armyofficials decided to redesign theplans for the building to avoidusing the private property. Cityofficials did not return callsseeking comment.
“It became very clear that wewere not going to reach anagreement, so we had to goahead with our plans,” said
Capt. HeathSells, com-manding offi-cer of the Sal-vation ArmyPontiacCorps.
The orga-nization paid
about $645,000 for the centerand plans to spend $2 million forrenovations. The organizationis to offer social services, educa-tional programs and recreationto low-income residents in thecity and nearby Oakland Coun-ty communities.
The 24,834-square-footbuilding, at 469 Martin LutherKing Jr. Blvd., is to be expandedby at least 10,000 square feet,officials said.
The Salvation Army’s cur-rent 37,000-square-foot Ponti-ac headquarters at 34 OaklandAve. is a two-story building thatlacks interior and exteriorramps for those with disabili-ties. The building would costmillions more to renovate thanthe Holland Center, officialssaid.
Many residents did not knowthe project was at a standstilluntil the sale of the Silverdome,which sold in November for$583,000 — about $62,000 lessthan the Holland Center. Whenresidents demanded to knowwhy the Silverdome sold forless, officials disclosed the landdispute.
“I’m glad the Salvation Armywas still interested in the build-ing and didn’t give up, becausewe need them in the city,” saidLaShon Jones, 22, of Pontiac.“It’s just one more thing thatcould have slipped through thecracks.”� CONTACT MELANIE D. SCOTT: 586-826-7267OR [email protected]
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34 Oakland Ave., current Salvation Army headquarters
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SalvationArmy HQis backon track Ground-breakingcould be this spring By MELANIE D. SCOTTFREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
THE GROUPPLANS TOOFFER SOCIALSERVICES,EDUCATIONAND RECPROGRAMS.
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