Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Fenton resident humbly gives hope, inspiration and new perspective to lives across the nation.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in 2012. It is just one example of the many people making a difference in Fenton. She wanted to overcome the torture of other students teasing her, spit wads being thrown at her and the debilitating disease that weakened her. Gabrielle ‘Gabe’ Ford refused to use a wheelchair despite her stuggles to walk and wanted to move across the stage for her 1998 Lake Fenton High School graduation on her own two legs. When she went to do it, however, she fell and many students laughed. Ford, now 31, said that moment was a pivotal one in her life. She blamed herself and decided to become a hermit - rarely venturing from her room. The one escape she had, dancing, was no longer a possibility. Her rare …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Hometown Hero Jim Hajec has delivered mail and parcels to nearly 500 Fenton homes daily for 40 years.
While many mail carriers fear dogs, Fenton resident Jim Hajec considers them friends. “I haven’t carried dog spray for 25 years because I know my dogs,” he said. “Besides, a little biscuit is all it takes.” For 40 years Jim Hajec has visited nearly 500 Fenton homes a day and handled area residents important documents and packages. Yes, "The mail must go through," but for Hajec those days are finally coming to an end as he is set to retire from his post as a letter carrier for the Fenton Post Office. Watch out for dogs...and their owners Hajec's long career did have a couple run-ins with canines, however. He was once trying to make a delivery to a house with a dog that was known to be mean. He knocked on the door and the dog charged out at …
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Fenton fifth-grader Jaden Williams placed posters around Tomek-Eastern Elementary School to try and stop people from bullying.
When 10-year-old Jaden Williams noticed some of her fellow Tomek-Eastern Elementary School classmates being bullied, she decided to do something about it. Williams formed an anti-bullying group with seven of her friends and began placing posters around the school urging students to stop bullying. The posters have different messages such as "bullying is wrong" and "stand up and help others." "It wasn't good to see people hurting," Williams said. "It feels awful to hear that all my friends have been bullied." Williams started spreading her anti-bullying message before 17-year-old Linden student Josh Pacheco commited suicide last month and his parents blamed bullying and schools started to take a deeper look at the issue. "I try to tell …
Monday, November 5, 2012
Hometown Hero and Fenton resident Bob Wisniewski has volunteered countless hours to helping the community.
- LOCAL CONNECTIONS
- Renee Hard
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Monday, November 5, 2012
Bob Wisniewski heard the whistle of the train. He tried to stop as his car slid on ice toward the tracks. After the train demolished his car, he was trapped inside and feared the vehicle would burst into flames. As the thoughts of getting out were racing through his mind, he thought he was spitting out his teeth, but it was actually glass from the windshield. “As I looked out, the firemen were running over to help. They were able to force the door open and get me out,” the Fenton resident said. “The firemen came to my rescue. "I have always had that in the back of my mind to help others when they are in need.” The horrific train collision occurred in 1963 and since then, Wisniewski has spent countless hours giving back to others knowing he…
Monday, October 1, 2012
Marcy Watters opened Ms. Ali's Gluten Free Treats in Twelve Oaks Mall after spending years baking goods for her daughter.
When Marcy Watters found out that her 2-year-old daughter had been diagnosed with Celiac disease, she had to make some major changes to her grocery list. Ali could no longer have gluten, a protein found in many foods processed from wheat and other grains. When Watters, of Fenton, couldn't find what she needed in stores, she began baking her own gluten-free goods for her daughter at home. Now more than a decade later, Watters and her daughter still find it difficult to find gluten-free offerings everywhere they go. "Gluten-free has come a long way in the last 12 years, but it's not where we could walk through the mall and she could get a pretzel or a cookie or something like everybody else," Watters said. Until now. Two weeks ago, Watters …
Monday, August 13, 2012
Uncle Ray’s Dairyland serves handmade ice cream and smiles to generations.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Renee Hard
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Monday, August 13, 2012
Uncle Ray’s Dairyland hasn't just been serving ice cream in Fenton for more than 30 years, they've been putting smiles on peoples' faces. Uncle Ray Durant was teaching Industrial Arts at Lake Fenton High School when a local real estate agent asked him what he was going to do the other 180 days of the year. He loved ice cream so the answer was simple for him, he started the family business of Uncle Ray’s Dairyland in 1978. It was a way for him to have fun and spend time with family. Today, Uncle Ray's Dairyland is a family fun center serving up handmade ice cream, that attracts people from all over the area. But the Durants have done so much more for Fenton. According to co-owner Dave Durant, Uncle Ray’s Dairyland is always committed to …
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Fenton resident started Sloan Auto Fair, volunteers for Back to the Bricks.
Bob Sovis' uncle, an auto repairman, promised him that his first car would be ready by prom night. But when Sovis picked up his date, his 1950 Chevrolet didn’t run quite right. So he drove back to his uncle’s shop and pleaded with him to fix it. As he watched his uncle do just that with a simple hammer to the carburetor, Sovis’ love affair with classic cars began. The Fenton resident, now 77, started the Sloan Auto Fair, which just celebrated its 40th year, and has volunteered with Back to the Bricks since it began in 2004, allowing him to share his car knowledge and passion all over the state and country. “It’s what we grew up with,” Sovis said of classic cars. “It’s our chance to relive it.” Sovis’ uncle owned a car repair shop in New …
Monday, May 28, 2012
Captain Stefanie Roberts is one of many who we honor this Memorial Day.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Renee Hard
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Monday, May 28, 2012
Stefanie Roberts sat in her eighth-grade math class at Sherman Middle School in Holly on September 11, 2001, two weeks into a new school year, when a moment in time changed the course of her life and the history books for her students. After terroists attacked the United States, Roberts picked up the telephone. She didn't call friends. She didn't call family. She called all branches of the United States military to find out how she could help. The United States Army returned Roberts’s call and the Army Reserves swore her in just a month later and shipped her out for training in November. “I came from a military family but I never wanted to do it. When 9/11 happened, I knew I was going to defend our country and that I would have the full …
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Fenton resident walking his way to health and inspiring others along the way.
Fenton resident Mike Purzycki first noticed David Archibald on the street having trouble with his wheels. Not wheels on his car or bike, however, but on his walker. Purzycki invited him into his garage to see if he could help. “He needed an alignment. The wheels on his walker just aren’t meant for the number of miles he walks,” Purzycki said. Archibald, 65 of Fenton, walks a minimum of 20 miles a week and has logged as many as 50 miles in one week. He had spinal surgery last year after suffering from back pain for more than 10 years. Soon after the surgery, he began a walking routine and a diet and lost 90 pounds in nine months. The Navy veteran and retired Army Tank Arsenal worker is limited in what he can do physically, but he can walk …
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Fenton resident strong-willed, caring and was also a quick thinker during emergency.
- LOCAL CONNECTIONS
- Renee Hard
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Tuesday, March 27, 2012
She catches lightning bugs faster than they can blink. She handles snakes that could make a grown man scream. And bugs and turtles are among her favorite things. Abby Jade Diener, 7, spends as much time as possible riding her bike and playing outside. She enjoys warm weather activities, yet had a winter experience she won’t soon forget. She helped save a man’s life. On Jan. 15, 2012 Abby was staying with her grandparents, Wayne and Cheryl Collard, who live a few houses down from her home on Runyan Lake in Tyrone Township. “Abby and I had just arrived at my house and she looked out the window at the lake and noticed that our neighbor’s dog, Bella, fell through the ice," Abby's grandmother said. Cheryl Collard called neighbor Dennis …
Brandon
9:21 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
A very inspiring story, Gabe. My sister has Asberger's Syndrome and is often bullied at her high school because of her social awkwardness relating to it. I'm going to print out your story and show her what a person came become when they develop that fighting spirit you have! Thank you so much! more ›