Happy Birthday

Public safety officers help
celebrate kids’ special days

Blakely Cates and her dad, Doyle Cates, Jr., enjoy
the arrival of the Sumpter Fire Department trucks
and police cars to celebrate her 8th birthday.

As the coronavirus continues to rage across the state, isolating families and curtailing usual holiday celebrations, some local police and fire departments have found a way to brighten birthdays for area children.
The Sumpter Township Public Safety Department helped Blakely Cates enjoy a very special 8th birthday celebration last week, despite the limits of the current public health crisis, when township police cars and fire trucks drove by the Cates' Sumpter Road home with lights flashing and sirens blaring, all to let her know that this was, in fact, her special day.

Jack Howard, center, along with mom, Jill, and dad, Aaron,
enjoy the attention from Northville Township
Public Safety vehicles on his birthday last week. 

Sumpter Township Public Safety Director Eric Luke said he had to give credit to the Dundee Fire Department for the idea.
“I saw it and I thought, that's something we can do here.”
The Northville Township Public Safety Department is also visiting area homes to help brighten up children's birthdays with a special lights and siren tribute to youngsters who have been kept at home for several weeks.
Doyle Cates, Jr. said his daughter really enjoyed the special attention, “She was ecstatic,” he said. “She told me that this was the best day ever.”
Luke and his family have lived in Sumpter since 1996, right after his graduation from high school. His parents now live about eight houses away, so they could enjoy the special birthday tribute, too.
Neighbors also stepped outside to send birthday wishes and the nearby Duncan family even made a Happy Birthday Blakely sign they drove around the yard on a wagon.
Luke said that the police and fire officers have done several of these birthday drive-bys since he first posted the opportunity on the Sumpter Township Police Facebook page. The lights and sirens tributes are available for children ages 3 through 10 while the governor's current Stay at Home Order continues, Luke said. 
Requests for children slightly older with special needs will also be considered, he added. The officers typically make the birthday runs between 10:30 and 11 a.m. The police officers meet the fire trucks at the station and they head out to deliver the extra-special good wishes.
“These are strange times,” Luke said, “and this brings a lot of joy to a lot of people. I think it benefits us as much as them. The officers and firemen get out and see the reaction of the kids, and the parents,” he said.
Parents can simply message the details of the birthday to the public safety department and the officers will make the drive-by happen, if possible, Luke said.
“Our police department is just the greatest. They do so much with us and work with the whole community,” Cates said. “This brings a lot of tears to a lot of people.”
The Northville Township Police cars and fire department trucks visited several birthday events last week, two at Plymouth Township homes on Ivywood.
At one home, 5-year-old Jack Aaron had stopped by his grandparents' home for a remote visit where he found his gift, a brand-new battery-operated miniature Jeep, waiting for him in their garage. He was eager to take the miniature vehcile for a spin.
The public safety tribute was appreciated, too, by Jack's parents, Aaron and Jill Howard. To request a visit in Northville, access communityrelations@ twpnorthville.mi.us, and if they can, the public safety staff will help youngsters celebrate safely on their special day.