Manchester residents make a difference during a challenging time
by Marsha Chartrand
Last week, the Mirror asked for stories from readers who had been the recipients of good will among the community during the ice storm and subsequent power and internet outages, lasting from February 22–27 (and, in some cases, beyond!).
During this past week, we have seen the community bonding yet again as a heavy snowfall on Friday afternoon and evening, lasting into Saturday, caused more power outages, more downed trees, more inconveniences, and more interruptions to everyone’s daily lives.
Among all of this turmoil, several residents took time to send us their messages of thanks to neighbors, service providers, and friends, who helped them through a difficult time. We know there are many more.
From Pat Vailliencourt: “Thank you, Village DPW, for coming in at 4am to make sure roads were safe, clear downed trees, block access to downed wires, and spreading salt.“
Linda and Lexie thanked friend “Barb W for last Friday bringing me (Linda) a big cup of hot coffee, a warm bowl of oatmeal, and for (Lexie) the cat — a warm pad to cuddle up with! And thank you R-L Tree Service for working on the weekend to clean up all the branches that fell in my yard.“
Char Major was grateful to the congregation of Manchester United Methodist Church (“on the hill”) for their hospitality to Emanuel United Church of Christ and Bethel United Church of Christ during the power challenges. “The pastor, church, and congregation hosted the two other churches for a service on Sunday, Feb. 26 when both other churches were without power. And they also hosted us for coffee hour — this after having hosted a large funeral and luncheon on Saturday for Webb Seegert. What a fine example of ecumenism!”
Daniella Kippnick said, “Thank you to our wonderful fire department for all of their extra hard work and time with the ice storm. We know many had issues of their own at homes to deal with while they were putting in extra time in the community. Thank you!!!“
Sue Allen wanted to thank “friends who helped by giving me water, extra firewood, and a place to warm up! Thanks to all the front line workers who cleared the roads and restored power. Thanks to Consumers Energy for the community breakfast. Grateful!!!“
David, Marsha, and Stuart say a huge “Thank you to our neighbor Tom Morelli. Tom and his family are ‘new‘ to Manchester and fit right in with the community spirit. Tom helped us get a large tree off our old shed and we’re very grateful!“
Theresa Herron shared that their neighbors in both directions, Rob Hunter and Stach Schiabella, “helped us with chainsaw lessons and also with wood removal when we lost massive heavy chunks of trees on every side of our house. I might have been able to do it after Rob got my chainsaw up and running, but it turns out I don’t use those arm and back muscles all that much and Stach’s help was very much appreciated.“
Ginny Johnson wished to thank Lynn Niehaus, who moved the large branches from her yard to the edge of the road. “Thanks so much, Lynn!“
Louise Purfield-Coak said, “I would like to thank our new Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. She didn’t have to come to Manchester, since I saw her on the news with (Wayne County Executive) Warren Evans that afternoon, stopping the trucking of toxic waste from New Palestine, Ohio, into Michigan by Norfolk Southern. But she did come, and when I informed her that Woodhill Senior Apartments were without electricity and heat, she immediately turned to the V. P. of Consumers Energy and told her to get a priority on our address, while wagging her finger at them. She was shocked to find out that a senior living facility wasn’t required to have a priority. Consumers had said we would be hooked up by Monday noon on their outage hotline. After her intervention we had power by 6:15pm Saturday evening! Again, I want to thank Ms. Dingell for coming to Manchester, when she already had a hard day of business ahead of her. Being here made a world of difference to the Seniors at Woodhill.“
Janice Little: “I want to thank the village for getting out so early in the morning of the ice storm. They were able to get my huge limbs out of the road. Also thanks for the cleanup from Mike Meranuck’s troops. One last shout out to my neighbor, Mike, for picking up huge branches after the snow! What a great place to live.”
Making a difference is what it’s all about. We all know many other neighbors and friends who took time to make a difference in someone else’s life during those difficult days. Take a moment to say thanks in any way you are led! Your words — and deeds — will be appreciated as much as the original actions.
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