Bill Joyner's FridayMusings 8/29/22

August 29, 2022 When we are not limited, we all thrive

Ask these Livonia children if they had fun at Touch-a-truck. The answer is on their face.

7,000 folks gathered at Greenmead for a home grown, hometown awesome day.

The 7-year-old girl walked up to Mike Ladwig, past President of the Rotary AM Club, and with a smile on her face said "this is the best day of my life. . .ever."

A father walking hand in hand with his young son stopped at the Hot Wheel table and asked the typewriter to come over saying "please thank the Rotary Club for the quiet time at the start of Touch-a-truck. This is my first child. He is autistic and has trouble with noise so he wears his ear muffs. I have always wanted to take my son to events just like my dad did. This morning was special because we were out enjoying the trucks and having a good time. Please convey my appreciation to Rotary for giving me this special morning with my son."

I had trouble holding back the tears as he reached out and shook my hand. "Please pass this along to the Rotary Club." Absolutely. Your story is the story of Touch-a-Truck Year 5.

Touch-a-truck. 60 Rotary and Interact Club volunteers. 32 Hot Wheel volunteers. 7000 plus attendees. Over 50 vehicles.

So many. So happy.

Everywhere you looked there were smiles galore, parents, children, grandparents. Talk about a community. Talk about a community to be proud of. Livonia was where it happened on Saturday.

Two helicopters flying in, taking interior tours, and then lifting off and heading out. The crowd waved and applauded. Laughing. Pointing skyward. Kids, young and old, yes, parents included in that kid category. Me too as I was waving, applauding, shouting out "love it. love it."

From the time I pulled in, the second car in the lot, 6:30, there was Bob Carris, the master at lining up more vehicles to display, and Bill Fiske, already setting up tables and canopies. There was Grant Sobczak, originator of this Livonia project as a student at Churchill and President of Churchill Interact, back here at the University of Michigan fresh from a summer Florida internship. (Carris and Sobczak pictured up top.)

By 8:15 the line was already forming for the 8:30 opening. So cool to see so many, so early, so happy.

My only responsibility was seeing that 2,000 Hot Wheels were passed out along with 2,000 coloring books. It was much easier with the volunteers who jumped right in and made the morning pass by so quickly as all the cars were handed out by 11:30. 3 hours. Blew me away as the line of parents and children just kept coming.

So cool to see so many, so happy.

Rotarians working so diligently to show families a good time. President Tammy Bonnefield is proud of her club.

There was Jim Baringhaus, and Brandon McCullough working the 8:00 shift at the Hot Wheels table.

The 15 Amazon Fulfillment Center volunteers kept me organized while they danced, laughed, and talked with the children, Amazon was wonderful. Simply amazing.

So many. So happy.

County Commissioners Terry Marecki and Glenn Anderson arriving for their 9:00 shift. The Amazon volunteers singing Happy Birthday to Marecki. Anderson brought candy suckers that were a big hit when we ran out of cars.

Dawn Dyer Margretta, pictured with Tammy Bonifield and Pat Zucal, from the Schoolcraft College Foundation was on hand helping promote Schoolcraft.

My next-door neighbor Cathy Karasinski, signed up for an hour and instead stayed for 3 hours and worked every minute of those 3 hours.

Kellie Whitlock, Rosedale Presbyterian Church, took her turn passing out coloring books, while Kate Mackie, also of Rosedale, pulled her shift with Rotary as a new member of the Club.

Mary Cavanagh pitched in to pass out the cars as did Laurie Pohutsky. Nice to see our representatives from the Michigan legislature helping out. Not a child walked past without getting a smile, a greeting, and a welcome.

The bodyguard came early and stayed late. I don't know who was more tired. The typewriter or the bodyguard. But it wasn't about us. This was a day when all was said and done to thank the Rotary Club. Thank you Rotarians.

Liz Jarvis and Madeline Acosta from our school board helped out. They were there volunteering. Helping families create memories for years to come. Mark Johnson stopped by the Hot Wheel distribution to say hello to everyone. He was working on the Education Foundation table.

The Livonia Fire Department was out in full force with the 100 ft ladder and a drone flying overhead taking video of all that was going on. Chief Robert Jennison stopped by the Hot Wheels table and signed up to be an honorary corn roaster at the Good Old Fashioned Neighborhood Corn Roast, on September 18.

So many. So happy.

With 100 volunteers shaping the foundation for a successful Touch-a-truck one has to wonder what put the most smiles on this typewriter's face. Volunteers? Families?

With the Rotary. With Interact. With volunteers. Add those three components and you have a template that makes the entire project work. This was indeed a day of synergy that helps define Livonia

So many. So happy.

It's not just the typewriter. Others shared their impression:

Laura Perlowski says that her "grandson had a great time."

Barb Iovan who volunteered to pass out Hot Wheels described the day as "What an amazing event - my 1st Touch a Truck though it's in its 5th year. I am so impressed, so well organized & run! Trucks & vehicles went on for miles including a real race car!

"I've never seen so many cars at Greenmead!! It's all about the kids and all of them were smiling!"

Lauren Szabo says "It’s one of our favorite Livonia family events!"

Carrie Budzinski offers a "Thank you to Livonia AM Rotary, Livonia Parks and Recreation, and all the community partners for hosting the best Touch-A-Truck event in metro Detroit.

"Lots of little dreams came true including my Sam who can't wait to go to school and loved going on the bus.

"The Salvation Army's emergency truck was another hit bc this kid loves a kitchen. Lucas' favorite was the helicopter."

So many. So happy. So successful.