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Vol. XXVII, Issue 47Contact us: 586-716-8100

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JERI PACKERVOICE STAFF WRITER

Flags stood at half staff inMarine City Wednesday fordecorated Pfc. Shane Reifert,23, of Cottrellville Township.

The Cardinal MooneyHigh School graduate died inaction Nov. 6 during anattack by insurgents in theKunar province ofAfghanistan.

He was honored at afuneral service near his for-mer school at Holy CrossCatholic Church as the Rev.Ronald Jozwiak presided overthe service.

Classes at Reifert’s Almamatter were canceled duringthe funeral to allow the stu-dents to attend the service.

Supporters began gather-ing early Wednesday morningand were multiplying fast bythe time visitation began at10 a.m. Before the service gotunderway an hour later, thenumbers had swelled. Bothsides of Water Street in frontof the church and beyondwere soon filled with onlook-ers holding flags to showtheir support for the fallensoldier and his family.

Six pall bearers broughtthe casket into the churchwhile the assembly solemnly lookedon. Family and friends attending theclosed service drove past rows ofsympathetic faces of men, womenand children outside the church.

There was a strong media pres-ence, as cameras were set up in adesignated staging area andreporters wove into the crowd. Dueto the possible arrival of a protestgroup from Westboro Baptist Church

from Kansas, the area wasalso flooded with lawenforcement from MarineCity, St. Clair County and

Solemn assembly at Holy Cross Church for fallen

soldier Shane ReifertKansas church protestors are a no-show at service

Photos by Dave AngellThe casket carrying the remains of Pfc. Shane Reifert is led out of

Holy Cross Church in Marine City. Burial took place at Great LakesNational Cemetery Thursday morning.

Right, students from Cardinal Mooney High School, Reifert’s almamater, turned out for the service.

See REIFERT on page 2

BY JIM BLOCHVOICE REPORTER

”When I think back, I wishwe’d never come to Sarnia,”says resident Jean Simpsonin the opening of PamelaCalvert’s 2007 documentary,“The Beloved Community.”

“My dad had a choice at

the time, but they thoughtSarnia was Imperial Oil, theythought wow, this is a big oilcity - and it was, there was alot of work here. When wegot off the train down at thestation, and they took usdown to where we lived in

Movie makes plea toreign in toxins releasedfrom Chemical ValleyPanel gathers at college auditoriumto discuss local water quality

See VALLEY on page 7

JERI PACKERVOICE STAFF WRITER

Irene Bird was nominatedby her fellow council mem-bers to be the third womanto hold the mayoral office inAlgonac. June Crocker andKaren Cole also served asmayors.

Bird retained her seat onthe council with the highestnumber of votes of the fiveother candidates running forthree vacant seats. That stilldidn’t qualify her to bemayor, she said. A councilmember is required toreceive a nomination fromanother member and, if thenomination is supportedand gets a majority vote, thenominee becomes the nextmayor.

“It is different when youmove over to that seat andlook out at the audience,”she said. “I’m proud of thefact that I’m the thirdwomen to be mayor inAlgonac.

At the organizationalmeeting following the elec-tion, Amy Amiels nominatedBird with Gary Tuzinowski,who was later voted in asMayor Pro Tem, secondingher nomination. The vote

was unanimous for Bird’smove to the mayor’s seat,occupied temporarily by thepast mayor pro tem, HelenMeldrum.

Mayor Jim Wisdom, a 20-year veteran on the council,lost his seat by 33 votes.After the election, heexpressed his gratitude forbeing able to sit on thecouncil since 1990.

“I appreciated serving thecity of Algonac for 20 years,”he said. “I also appreciatedthe 469 voters who voted forme.”

Tuzinowski said he andBird became council-mem-bers about 12 years ago, sohe’s known her for a longtime.

“She’s liked and respect-ed,” he said. “She’s moreuser-friendly.”

He added that Bird washard-working and budget-conscious.

He also said he looks for-ward to a council that willwork together and continueto work on relationshipswith other communities.

“I see it as a good signthat Irene and I were votedin unanimously. It sets upthe groundwork for a goodworking team. Everyone getsdifferent ideas andapproaches things different-ly, but I think we may havemore cooperation.”

Irene Bird elected mayor of AlgonacThird woman to sitin the mayoral seat

Photo by JERI PACKERCouncilman Joe Nugent, Mayor Irene Bird, councilper-

sons Amy Amiels and Mark Thompson at the first councilmeeting after the election.

See BIRD on page 9

Photo by Jim BlochChemical Valley in Sarnia was the subject of the docu-

mentary and Nov. 18 discussion.

Artist of theMonth featuredat library

Page 9

Michigan State Police.Barricades were put up forcrowd control, with officersstationed at all corners.

City Manager John Gaborsaid signs were banned fromthe area outside the churcheither for protesters orcounter protestors out ofrespect for the ceremony.

“We want to keep it asolemn event at the church,”he said. “It distracts fromwhy we’re here.”

Officials provided an area450 feet from the church forWestboro members andother protesters attending

the ceremony to stand. Thelegal distance for a protestduring an event is 500 feet,Gabor added.

The group never showedup, but the suggestion oftheir presence appeared toenhance the size of thecrowd. Many spoke of theiranger and shock at a soldier’sultimate sacrifice beingexploited by a hate group,saying they came out tomake sure the family wasn’tvictimized by their taunts.

Several members of theAlgonac Lions Lioness Clubcame out for the same rea-son.

“When we heard aboutthe group disrupting thisfamily we came right out,”

said President SharonBrewer. “We came to supporta young man for what he didfor our country. This groupcame to shake up the town,but what they did was bringeveryone together.”

Solidarity could be felteverywhere. One lone signamong a sea of flags man-aged to meet the approval oflaw enforcers: “United WeStand.”

Todd May of the SweetTooth, a Marine City shop,passed out flags donated byMarine City VFW 12085Henry Francis Bashore Post.Veteran’s groups from sur-rounding areas were inattendance along with thePatriot Guard Riders, a groupthat regularly escorts fallensoldiers to their restingplace. Capt. Sam Cottle ofthe Patriot Guard Riders ofMichigan said the grouporiginally set out to protectfamilies from groups such asthe Westboro group but soonrealized making sure thefamilies were given the prop-er respect was a vital servicethey could provide. Thenational organization of rid-ers’ mission statement is:“We stand for those whostand for us.”

“Our organization is arespect organization,” Cottlesaid. “At the wishes of the

family, we will meet withthem at the airport whentheir soldier is flown in fromDover. We’ll escort them tothe funeral. We’ll stand at thefuneral home and then we’llstand here like today at thefuneral and escort them alsoto the cemetery. Our placetoday is to honor Shane forhis service. He laid his lifedown for us, for our freedomin America. His family willpay the price for our free-dom every day of their life.”

Gabor was pleased withthe turnout.

“Everything has gone asplanned in regards to itbeing a very solemn eventfor the young soldier.”

Marine City Police ChiefDon Tillery thanked sur-rounding departments fortheir support.

“I am extremely pleasedwith the assistance receivedfor this event. The St. ClairCounty Sheriff’s Office,Michigan State Police,Algonac Police, MarysvillePolice, Marine City FireDepartment, Tri-HospitalEMS, St. Clair CountyEmergency Management,Central Dispatch and MarineCity government all came

together to allow the funeralof PFC Reifert to be arespectful, solemn occasion.All citizens that were at thesite were there to honor aman who paid the ultimatesacrifice for his country,” hesaid.

Reifert was assigned tothe 2nd Platoon, BravoCompany, 1st Battalion,327th Infantry Regiment, 1stBrigade Combat Team, 101stAirborne Division (AirAssault) out of FortCampbell, Kentucky-Tennessee border. He wasthe first from his platoon todie in this deployment. Hiscasket arrived at Selfridge AirNational Guard Base onSunday.

Burial followed at theGreat Lakes NationalCemetery in Holly.

In lieu of flowers, the fam-ily has asked for donationsthat will be used to supportReifert’s surviving fellow ser-vicemen. Donations can bemade online by visitingmyfallensoldier.blogspot.com, which can be found onthe blog section of The Voicewebsite at voicenews.com.The blog states 100 percentof funds given will be used tobuy equipment, gear, cloth-ing or anything else thatwould benefit U.S. troops inAfghanistan.

Contact Jeri Packer at (586)716-8100, ext. 305 or jeri.pack-er@voicenews.com.

continued from page 1

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Motorcycle-riding veterans came out to support thefamily and protect them from the words of WestboroChurch protestors. The Kansas-based church group did notattend.