
To the residents of Amherstburg,
Yesterday I learned of the passing of a friend of mine, Mike Vossen. Mike has a fantastic wife, Patti and a great family. Mike loved this community and I will tell you a little about Mike and his impact on it.
I met Mike when I was a member of Rotary. When we started the Amherstburg Rotary Ribfest, Mike was one of the 12 on the committee. He was a hard worker and we all learned to change things yearly to make it better. Mike always had a smile on his face and positive comments. Unfortunately for us, Ribfest is no longer a Rotary event, even though it was a huge money maker and signature event.
Mike was from Minnesota and a huge Minnesota Twins fan. There was an official opening of a ball diamond in Minnesota and some Twins players were going to be there, so Mike went to meet them. This was a new Miracle Field. This gave Mike an idea.
Mike was president of Rotary one year and the President usually picked a project for us to work on. Mike proposed that we raise money and have a Miracle Field in Amherstburg. This would be a huge project for us, but one that was well worth the work. We all got behind this great idea.
Shortly after this the Town wanted to build a new arena. They were going to try and get provincial funding. They wanted us to partner with them and include the Miracle Field in the proposal. When all was said and done, the grant was approved. When the Premier came to town to officially announce it, he said “the reason you have received this money is because you are going to build a Miracle Field, the first one in Canada.” Mike’s dream was coming true.
If you look at what is at the Libro Centre and what will take place there, it all happened so quickly, all because of Mike’s dream.
This all should have been said before Mike’s passing. I feel bad that I didn’t put all of this in writing when Mike was alive. It would be fitting for the town to honour Mike by having his name somewhere in a prominent location at the Libro Centre.
—Carl Gibb
Past member of Rotary
Past chair of the Ribfest committee
Former Rotarian mourns loss of colleague
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