The
Wayne County Community College Downriver District Campus and the School of
Continuing Education will present a Back to School Rally from 11 a.m. until 2
p.m. Monday, August 24, at the WCCCD Campus, 21000 Northline Road. The rally
will feature youth and parenting workshops, vendors, community resources,
dental education, giveaways, entertainment and more. Free backpacks, school
supplies and food will be available (while they last). For more information,
call (313) 496-2704 or click on www.wcccd.edu.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
CORN ROAST continues until 6 p.m. August 22
The
Democratic Club of Taylor will hold its 70th Annual Corn Roast on Saturday,
August 22. It is open until 6 p.m. Good food, children's activities and
entertainment. The public is welcome. The club is located at 23400 Wick Road.
Call (313) 291-8060 for information.
NEW SPLASH PAD is on the way to Heritage Park
Get ready, kids. A new splash pad is on the way to Heritage Park!
The
City Council on Tuesday, August 18 approved funding for the next
phase of the Sheridan Center Open Air Pavilion project and dedicated the
planned new splash pad to the late Mayor Jeffrey Lamarand.
Councilman
Alex Garza read the proclamation that dedicated the planned new facility to Mr.
Lamarand, who died last October at the age of 45. His wife Mishelle, daughter
Jillian and son Nash attended the council meeting, as well as other family and
friends.
It
was late mayor who originally started the Sheridan project. Under his
administration, the former recreation center and indoor hockey rink was
renovated into an open air pavilion during the first phase of the project,
which ended in June 2014. The open air pavilion has been used for summer festival
concerts, special gatherings like the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Downriver
Senior Olympics and most recently for the 2015 Taylor Farmer's Market sponsored
by Oakwood Healthcare.
The
new splash pad site will be located to the south end of the center, off of the
patio/fireplace. Part of the same phase will include the installation of a new
huge playscape and decorative fencing around the area. Behind the Sheridan
Center is a newly created asphalt pad, which will house an inline skating rink.
That rink is currently at Northwest Park, but is underused there. As part of
the current City tree installation program, the front of the center is being
landscaped.
The
new splash pad will be customized as a baseball diamond, thanks to Taylor's
deep tradition of Little League baseball and also honoring the Junior League
World Series, which is held in Heritage Park every year (and is currently being
played there). It will feature a scoreboard, elevated baseballs, bases and base
paths and much more. This phase of the project will be funded out of the buildings
and grounds fund. The usage of those funds is restricted to things like
construction and building improvements, and building debt.
The
splash pads will use a regular water feed -- the water will not be recycled
within its system. Earlier designs of splash pads featured recycled water and
some locations had difficulties with bacteria buildup and other such
difficulties. This model should have not any of those problems.
"When
we are done with this, it should be a very nice fit to Heritage Park,"
Mayor Rick Sollars said. "Jeff started this process, so it makes plenty of
sense to dedicate it to him. It was his vision, and we've continued to run with
it and hopefully improve on it. When they customize this splash pad layout, I
think our residents will really impressed."
The
former mayor was first elected to City Council in 2005. He served on the
Planning Commission and the Master Plan Steering Committee, along with the Tax
Increment Finance Authority and the Brownfield Redevelopment Board.
He
campaigned for mayor against then incumbent Cameron Priebe in 2009 and won a
resounding victory, marking the first time that Priebe had ever been defeated
in an election. During his only term in office, Mayor Lamarand faced financial
difficult challenges as the City – like many other Michigan municipalities –
lost more and more revenue. Eventually, Mayor Lamarand made large cuts to
staffing in City government and instituted a State of Michigan-approved Deficit
Elimination Plan.
Current
Mayor Sollars defeated then-Mayor Lamarand in the November 2013 General
Election.
Mr.
Lamarand graduated in 1987 from the old Taylor Center High School and continued
his education at Eastern Michigan University. Originally he planned to pursue a
degree in Sports Medicine, but his path changed. Working his way through
college, he completed his degree in Physical Education in 1996 along with
minors in Marketing and Political Science.
While
job searching, he continued to work in the construction industry with his
brother, Gary. In 1997, he decided to further advance his education and entered
the graduate program for Public Administration at EMU. While studying at EMU,
Mr. Lamarand began work with the Taylor School District as a substitute teacher
and realized a passion for teaching.
He
completed his requirements while substitute teaching in Taylor and in 1999 was
hired by the Crestwood School District in Dearborn Heights. While at Crestwood,
he coached a variety of sports and spent nine years as the varsity softball
coach. He also eventually completed his graduate degree in School
Administration through Central Michigan University in 2003.
JUNIOR LEAGUE WORLD SERIES continues at Heritage Park August 22-23
Teams
from Chinese Taipei, Puerto Rico, Iowa and Virginia have earned spots in the
final four of the Junior League Baseball World Series at Taylor’s Heritage Park
.
On
Saturday (August 22), the Asia-Pacific champions from Tai Chung, Chinese
Taipei, will play the Puerto Rico national champions from Caguas for the
International championship at 3 p.m.
At
6 p.m., USA Central Region champion Johnston, Iowa, will play Southeast Region
champion Frederick County, Virginia, for the USA championship.
The
winners of those two games will play at 1 p.m. Sunday (August 23) for the
ultimate prize: the world championship. This is the first time in the 35 years
of the World Series that the final game will be played on a Sunday.
The
championship game of the World Series will be broadcast live by ESPN.
Admission
to Saturday’s games and the Sunday game is $5 per carload per day. Parking is
included.
The
Junior League World Series is the international tournament for the best teams
of 13- and 14-year-old baseball players. It’s the “older brother” of the more
famous Little League World Series for 12-year-olds in Williamsport,
Pennsylvania.
The
Junior League World Series has been held in Taylor since its inception in 1981.
This is its 35th year.
Teams
win national and/or regional championships in tournaments around the globe to
qualify for the weeklong international World Series.
The
four remaining teams emerged during round-robin pool play that took place this
past Sunday through Thursday. Chinese Taipei (4-0) and Puerto Rico (3-1) placed
first and second, respectively, in the International Pool. Iowa (4-0) and
Virginia (2-2) earned the top two spots in the USA Pool.
Virginia
actually finished in a three-way tie for second with Ridgewood, New Jersey, and
Pearl City, Hawaii. The teams remained tied after the first tie-breaker:
head-to-head competition. The next tie-breaker – total defensive runs given up
divided by the number of innings played on defense – is computed for each team
involved in the tie. The team with the lowest run differential advances. As a
result, Virginia qualified to play Iowa.
Crossover
consolation games are scheduled for today between the third-place teams from
each pool (Panama vs. Hawaii), the fourth-place teams (Czech Republic vs. New
Jersey) and the fifth-place teams (Canada vs. Texas).
The
annual Home Run Derby is scheduled for noon Saturday.
Games
on Saturday will be streamed on www.vaughnlive.tv/jlws.
FINAL POOL STANDINGS
International Pool
Chinese
Taipei 4-0
Puerto
Rico 3-1
Panama 2-2
Czech
Republic 1-3
Canada 0-4
USA Pool
Iowa 4-0
Virginia 2-2
Hawaii 2-2
New
Jersey 2-2
Texas 0-4
THE REST OF THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, August 22
Home Run Derby, Noon
International
Championship Game, 3 p.m.
USA
Championship Game, 6 p.m.
Sunday, August 23
World
Championship Game, 1 p.m., Broadcast Live on ESPN
Closing
Ceremonies
THURSDAY GAME SUMMARIES
Johnston,
Iowa 9, Weslaco, Texas 5: The Central Region champions remained undefeated
(4-0) and on top of the USA Pool by scoring eight unanswered runs to erase a
5-1 lead by the Southwest Region champs. After Texas scored four runs in the
third, Iowa scored four runs in the sixth inning and the game remained tied at
5-5 after the regulation seven innings. In the top of the eighth, Iowa erupted
for four more runs. Iowa’s Andrew Nord hit a three-run home run to tie up the
game in the sixth, doubled in the first and hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth,
knocking in four runs in all. Cade Moss went 2-for-3, scored twice and had an
RBI. Adam Burns pitched two-hit ball the last 4 2/3 innings to earn the
victory. Angel Castellanos had three of Texas’ six hits. The USA Southwest
champs finished 0-4 in pool play.
Tai
Chung, Chinese Taipei 10, Oakville, Ontario 0: Huang Ching Yo and Gu Lin Ruei
Yang combined on a six-inning one-hitter as the Asia-Pacific champions finished
4-0 in the International Pool. Chinese Taipei scored in five of the six innings
before the 10-run mercy rule went into effect. Yo went 2-for3, scored two runs
and had two RBI. Lee Cheng Ling was 2-for-3, scored once and knocked in a run.
Nicolas Jaeggin had the lone hit for the Canadian national champions (0-4), a
single in the second inning. No other Ontario player reached base. Chinese
Taipei outscored its four opponents 45-7 in pool play.
Caguas,
Puerto Rico 10, Brno, Czech Republic 3: The national champions of Puerto Rico
earned a spot in the International title game with a seven-run rally in the
fifth inning. Puerto Rico had 11 hits. Lead-off hitter Kevin Bermudez went
2-for-3, scored a run and knocked in four runs. Hector Rodriguez went 2-for-3
and scored three runs. Yavier Caraballo went 2-for-2. For the champions of
Europe and Africa, Tomas Chadim went 2-for-4 and scored twice and Lukas Hlouch
knocked in three runs. Puerto Rico finished 3-1 in pool play. Czech Republic
finished 1-3.
Ridgewood,
New Jersey 6, vs. Frederick County, Virginia 1: David Kleiman had three hits
and Kevin Seitter pitched a three-hitter to lead the USA East champions to
their second win of the World Series. New Jersey never trailed, taking a 1-0
lead in the second inning, adding two runs in each of the fourth and fifth
innings and closing it out with a run in the sixth. Both teams finished pool
play 2-2. Virginia emerged from a three-way tie (with New Jersey and Pearl
City, Hawaii) to finish runner-up in the USA Pool after the World Series
tie-breaking system was applied.
NOTEBOOK
Home Run Derby
The
annual Home Run Derby is scheduled for noon Saturday on the Senior Field at
Heritage Park. Players compete by hitting baseballs off a tee. The players who
hit the most home runs win prizes. All players in the World Series are allowed
to enter.
Sponsorships Available
The
World Series operates on the generosity of sponsors, fundraising efforts and
other donations, along with an all-volunteer staff. To make a tax-deductible
donation or to become a series volunteer, contact Greg Bzura at (734) 306-3113
or bgregbz@att.net.
For More Information
For
more information about the Junior League World Series, visit the website www.cityoftaylor.com/worldseries.
Also, follow the World Series all year long on Facebook at www.facebook.com/juniorleagueworldseries
and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jlwstaylor.
The official Instagram account of the World Series is @jlws_Taylor.