By Tim Younkman, The Bay City Times (Michigan)
What: Project Blue Light, a ceremony that honors fallen police officers.
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: First Presbyterian Church, 805 Center Ave., Bay City.
Cost: Free and open to the public.
Also: Residents are encouraged to display blue lights during the holiday season.
Several local law-enforcement personnel will help honor the fallen police officers of Michigan during the third annual Project Blue Light ceremony on Wednesday.
Project Blue Light, part of a nationwide effort to honor police officers, is put on locally by law-enforcement students at the Bay Arenac ISD Career Center, said Courtney Moore, student organizer and a senior at Bay City Western High School.
Organizers hope residents get involved at home, too, by displaying blue lights in their Christmas decorations to honor the fallen officers, Moore said.
The Bay City ceremony features speakers from the Michigan Sheriff’s Association, area police agencies and the local courts, she said.
It begins at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 805 Center Ave.
One of the main speakers is Terry Jungel, executive director of the Michigan Sheriff’s Association. Other speakers include Bay County District Judge Timothy Kelly and Pinconning Police Chief Thomas Tober.
The national anthem will be sung by Katelyn Philpot, daughter of Detroit police officer Jerry Philpot, who was killed by a gang member with an AK-47 in 1995.
Students of Career Center instructor Mike Wiltse’s criminal justice-law enforcement program have helped put together the program and students from other classes also have volunteered. Refreshments will be provided by the Career Center food program.
Students also created a number of wreaths to be given to families of fallen officers and to representatives of any police agency attending the ceremony.
Wiltse said he is urging all area departments to send officers or for officers to come to the ceremony on their own to honor their fallen comrades.
“It is our duty as the citizens of our community to support our law-enforcement agencies,” he said in a letter to area police agencies and community leaders. “They give so much.”
The entire community can show support by displaying blue lights in holiday decorations, especially outdoors, Wiltse said. Motorists also can tie a blue ribbon on their radio antennas to show support.
The project also is endorsed by Bay City Deputy Police Chief Christopher Rupp and former Bay City officers John Buczek, executive director of the Michigan Fraternal Order of Police, Wiltse said.