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31
Dec 2008
Goodbye 2008, part III, or rememebring those that inspired
Posted by Scott Spielman
at 4:07 PM | Comments
Lost in all the economic doom and gloom of 2008, there were plenty of inspirational stories.
I keep coming back to one large one and one smaller one and I’m sure there are plenty that simply escape me at the moment.
On a large scale, it was inspirational to watch a relatively small, unorganized group of citizens, outspent on all sides, take on a large developer and the City of Livonia and win. The people that helped out with the Taxpayers for Responsible Government and Citizens for Northville—Carol Poenisch, Laurie Marrs, Fred Shadko and others—deserve recognition for their successful effort to defeat the proposed annexation of the former Northville Psychiatric Hospital to Livonia. It also showed that a small group, through grass roots activism, can still make a difference.
On a smaller scale, I am reminded of Kimberly Loveless, owner of The Acorn Shop in Wayne, and her idea to turn a tragic event into a positive legacy. Rather than close down her shop on the one-year anniversary of the attack that nearly killed her (which was her first idea), she hosted a ‘survivor’s night’ and candlelit vigil. Her quiet courage in returning to her shop every day should serve as inspiration to us all.
One of our goals in 2009 is to find more of these kinds of stories, because there are plenty of them out there. Everywhere we turn nowadays we are reminded of the difficulties we face and I’m getting more than a little bit sick of it. It’s well past time to highlight those among us who remind us that challenges help us grow.
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