Archive - May 2011

Several of Tecumseh High School’s games have been rescheduled and a list of makeup dates and times have been announced by THS Athletic Director Casey Randolph.

Today’s (5.27.11) events include:
• Varsity girls soccer is rescheduled at Adrian starting at 4:30 p.m. Tecumseh’s seniors will have their senior night in conjunction with Adrian’s.
• Freshman Baseball at home has been canceled and will not be made up.
• JV Baseball at Monroe - has been canceled and will not be made up.
The varsity boys lacrosse round two regional game has been rescheduled to Saturday, May 28, at 1 p.m. at Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard.
The boys freshman baseball team is at Ann Arbor Pioneer on Wednesday, June 1 with 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. starts.

The Indians contests against Dexter are being made up as follows: all Dexter games are Wednesday, June 1, with 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. starts.
Boys varsity baseball and softball games are at home against Dexter.
Tecumseh’s JV softball and baseball teams play at Dexter.

The schedule for the Indians’ Tuesday, May 31, contests are as follows:
• Varsity baseball has a double header against Hanover Horton with 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. starts.
• The JV softball games are at home against Milan with 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. starts.
• Girls and boys track at Adrian for the DTII’s starting at 4 p.m.

By DEB WUETHRICH

Tecumseh is set to host the annual Memorial Day Tribute Service and parade on Monday, May 30.

Beginning at 9:40 a.m., the VFW and American Legion Auxiliaries will place a commemoration wreath at City Hall. The Memorial Day parade will begin at 10 a.m. downtown.

Following the parade, special services will be held at Brookside Cemetery, including music and an invocation. T-Tones of Tecumseh High School will perform the National Anthem, and Mayor Richard Johnson will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

This year’s speaker will be Bob Elliott, historian and re-enactor. Parade Marshal and event organizer Gary Naugle said that Elliott will speak about the 150-year commemoration of the Civil War.

“There will also be re-enactors portraying soldiers from the different wars,” Naugle said. Wreaths will be placed upon the monuments in the front of the cemetery.

This year, the flag folding ceremony will be dedicated to Sergeant Louis Rebottaro, who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and Colonel Leon Williamson, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Rebottaro entered World War II at the age of 18, and served in the 783rd Bomb Squadron of the 15th Army Air Corps. On his third mission, his B024 Liberator Bomber was shot down over the Austrian Alps.

Rebottaro was able to parachute to safety but was captured by the Germans the next day and spent six months as a POW in both Poland and Germany. He was liberated in Berlin by the Russians in May of 1945. He received three Bronze Stars during the war. Sgt. Rebottaro passed away in 2005.

Colonel Williamson was born in Tecumseh in 1917 and graduated from Tecumseh High School in 1935. He was a pilot in Squadron 241 of Marine Air Group 22. He was at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked. At the Battle of Midway in June of 1942, he would be one of only two survivors of his squadron.

By DEB WUETHRICH

The Tecumseh School Board approved a resolution Monday night that made what Chief Financial Officer Bill Wright called, “a significant step,” toward working to curtail health care costs in the district. The Tecumseh Public Schools is now designated as the policyholder for the insurance benefits, allowing the district to seek bids from different insurance carriers.

Previously, the Tecumseh Education Association, MEA/NEA were provided with health insurance coverage under the Choices II plan through the Michigan Education Special Services Association (MESSA), an agent of the Michigan Education Association, of which the TEA is an affiliate.

The resolution also directed Supt. Mike McAran to notify MESSA of the decision and to request that MESSA advise, in writing, whether the Tecumseh Public Schools can be designated as the policy holder for the MESSA group insurance products, programs, and benefits currently provided to members of the bargaining unit. If MESSA says the district cannot be named policyholder for those products, programs and benefits, other comparable health insurance products will be considered.

Wright said the district would allow MESSA some time to respond, however, health care bids, including from MESSA, already have been sought in anticipation of the change. On March 14, the board took action to comply with Public Act 106, which requires school districts to bid out health insurance.

While he was unable to disclose the bids and name potential carriers at this time, Wright said that the district could save money as its own policyholder, which brought in a number of bids.

“We are having another negotiation session [May 26], and we will be proposing a change in insurance carrier,” said Wright. “We will be proposing the same level of coverage to our TEA that would result in a projected savings of $534,000 for the 2011-12 school year.”

By DEB WUETHRICH

One of the things Mel Wegner, of Clinton, learned a long time ago was how to properly fold an American flag. Wegner is Chaplain of VFW Post 4187 and American legion Post #34.

“You have to know how to do it right,” said Wegner, who has taken part in many a military funeral, along with public ceremonies and meetings, and will provide a prayer at Tecumseh City Hall on Memorial Day when a wreath is laid there on behalf of veterans.

Wegner served with the Army Corps of Engineers in the heavy equipment division in the Southwest Pacific from 1943-1945.

“I was overseas 33 months and eight days,” he said. Two years ago, Wegner was surprised when he was voted as Veteran of the Year for Lenawee County. “Everyone knew but me.” He has served as Chaplain for the VFW and American Legion for more than 30 years now, and in this role, provides opening and closing prayers at meetings, and attends to the needs of fellow veterans who may be sick or in need of encouragement.

He said he learned “a long time ago” how to properly fold a flag for the military funerals.
“Oftentimes, it’s already done, but sometimes they want the flag to drape the casket, and then we have to do it and present it to the family,” Wegner said. “You’ve got to be real careful with it, because those big flags can be stretchy, and it has to come out just right.”
Like most veterans, Wegner likes to see respect for the flag at the many events he attends, including parades and other public events.

There are rules set forth in the U.S. Flag Code, adopted by the National Flag Conference in Washington, D.C., in June of 1923, which explain how one should properly do that.

Anita Hursey, 65, of Onsted, died unexpectedly on Tuesday, May 10, 2011, at Herrick Medical Center in Tecumseh. She was born April 1, 1946, in Detroit, to Ronald and Thelma (Settle) Gross. On Sept. 12, 1964 in Trenton, Mich., she married Darryl Melvin Hursey and he survives.

Anita retired from Ford Motor Company in December of 2000, after 32 years of service. She was an active member of Grace Point Evangelical Free Church. Anita was a member of the Christian Women’s Club and Love Inc. She volunteered for the Daily Bread, the Lenawee Mission and sponsored numerous children for years with World Vision. Anita loved tennis, bike riding, and was an avid reader. She also enjoyed traveling with her husband. Anita was a loving mother, grandmother and dedicated wife.

In addition to her husband, Darryl of 47 years, she is survived by two daughters, Susan Humphries of Tecumseh and Teresa Hursey of Howell, Mich.; three brothers, Dale (Judy) Gross of Phoenix, Ariz., Dennis Cole of Lincoln Park, Mich. and Randy (Sheila) Cole also of Lincoln Park, Mich.; and three grandchildren, Patrick, Ethan and Kyle Humphries.
She was preceded in death by her parents.

Funeral services for Anita were held on Saturday, May 14, 2011, at Grace Point Evangelical Free Church in Adrian with the Rev. John Trimble officiating. Burial was in Lenawee Hills Memorial Gardens, Tecumseh. Visitation was held at the Tecumseh Chapel of the Anderson Funeral Home.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.andersonfuneralhomeadriantecumseh.com.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Hursey family to be distributed to her favorite charities. Envelopes are available at the Tecumseh Chapel of the Anderson Funeral Home.

(Jonathon) Scott Thomas, 43, passed into Heaven peacefully on May 18, 2001, at his home in Asheville, N.C. Scott was a 1986 graduate of Tecumseh High School and a 1991 graduate of Western Michigan University, as well as earning a Master’s Degree from the University of Michigan in 1995.

Scott was an all-star football player at Tecumseh High School and also competed in track and wrestling. He was an All-Mid American Conference football player at WMU and played in the National Football League after college with the Houston Oilers. He served one football season as an assistant coach at U of M. He also served as an assistant football coach at Kalamazoo College.

Scott had an entrepreneurial spirit and owned and operated his own ceramic tile business and a restaurant, The Block, and was a person of many skills and talents. He enjoyed reading, trivia, sports, fishing and spending time with his family and his many friends. He particularly enjoyed the climate in Asheville which became his second home.

Scott’s gregarious personality and unconditional generosity were two of his hallmarks. The loyalty of Scott’s friendship was without question and was demonstrated among his many friends.

Scott joins his mother, Karyn Forbes-Thomas at home in Heaven. He is survived by his father, John Thomas; sister, Karianne (Dale Epkey); brothers, Jeffrey (Erica) and Jim (Jen); four nieces, Justine, Quinn, Rebecca and Emma; four nephews, Ian, Jeffrey, Christian and Caleb; several aunts, uncles, cousins; and his close friend, Nicole, in Asheville. Scott will be greatly missed by his family, friends and by all whose life paths intersected with his.