Wise Words From Tom Runyan
“My name is Tom Runyan. I live on White Lake Rd. My purpose is to discuss the future of the historical Township Hall, currently situated on Center Rd. I know Mike, you have a 3-minute limit on speakers, but I hope you will allow me to finish what I have to say. Ever since we received your letter of 1/13/2020, stating that the board was not going to move the old building to the new site and there was no interest in the community for keeping it, I have been troubled. I am only one person, but I am still one person on a mission. I should have addressed the board a year ago. It is intimidating to address this board or any other board.
The spirit was willing, but the body was weak. I am currently secretary-treasurer of the Tyrone Township Historical Society and before that, the president for 5 years.
Historical Societies are formed to preserve, protect and promote the history and the heritage of the community where they serve. This is what we do. If we turn our backs on what is happening here, then we are not doing our job.
Daniel Runyan came to Tyrone Township in 1836, one year before Michigan became a state. He came from Elmyra, NY. We have been here ever since, paying our taxes and supporting various boards through the years.
I’m here to ask this board to work with the Historical Society, to help us, to partner with us to save that building. Because you are a government body, you have access to resources that we don’t have. We owe it to all the people who built that building, who paid for it and who used it in the exercise of self-government for almost one hundred years. When it was built, it was a giant leap forward from what they had. Before that, they would have conducted business and elections from their homes.
Some years ago, the Township was notified by the State of Michigan that all historical records possessed by Townships, were now the property of the State of Michigan and had to be forwarded. I didn’t understand how this was possible or legal, but we didn’t have any money to fight it. The State did this simply because they could. After that, I concluded that all levels of government are not our friend. One night at a Historical Society meeting, Beth Hammond who was the Township Clerk at the time, brought all the old death records to the meeting for us to examine. The next day, they were sent to Lansing.
If you ever have the opportunity to walk through the cemetery, realize that under each gravestone is a story that for the most part will never be told because there is no one left to tell the story. When Connie Ridell put the history book together, she gave a voice to the people that no longer had a voice. She and all her friends who helped her used information from Bibles, scrapbooks and verbal history passed down through the generations to document the history of their families.
Today, history is viewed as what happened yesterday and ancient history as what occurred last Thursday. This Township board is to be excused for not embracing our history as we do. They simply do not have the roots here that some of us do.
Let me be clear, if this Township board decides to abandon this historical artifact, SHAME ON YOU. If this community allows this to happen, SHAME ON US.
I will be 80 years old shortly. I have seen a lot of history, I have experienced a lot of history and I have lived a bunch of history. Every new generation thinks they are the greatest generation that ever came down the pike. I hate to shock you, but you are not, although I’m amazed at what you do with your cell phones. Tom Brokaw once wrote a book maintaining that the World War II generation was the greatest. I wouldn’t argue with that. They were. But I would also say that the people who tamed this wild land in the early years and made it into the community that we enjoy today, are a close number two. They were simple people who didn’t have a college degree, but they worked extremely hard with the wives working just as hard or harder than the men. I know for a fact that some could neither read or write. My great grandmother signed a legal document with an “x”.
I believe history is not dead, it is alive and vivid and is to be embraced and celebrated. My history is set. There is a road named after me and a lake named after me. Not bad. To the board, please we want to work with you not against you. Let us find a way to preserve this building for future generations to come. This is an asset of the Township not a liability.
Old geezers like me do some things really well. We have learned many valuable lessons traveling down life’s journey. One of the things we do religiously is VOTE!”
Written By Tom Runyan, Statement given at the June 2, 2021 Board Meeting