Residents honored for making Royal Oak a better place

BY SARAH CORMIER
C & G STAFF WRITER

ROYAL OAK " Three Royal Oak residents were honored for their hard work and dedication to the city at the 57th annual Community Awards Banquet held Sept. 13.

Every year since the banquet began in 1948, one man and one women have been given the Citizen of the Year Award, an honor bestowed upon residents who relentlessly give back to the Royal Oak community. Since 1974, the Community Spirit Award, which isn^TMt necessarily given out every year, has honored one resident that exerts a lot of dedicated spirit in the community.

At the banquet " which was sponsored this year by the Boys & Girls Club of South Oakland County " residents Margaret Monroe and Stanley Sherman were honored with the Citizen of the Year Award while Dr. Paul Ehrmann was honored with the Community Spirit Award.

Monroe, Sherman and Ehrmann were all honored with proclamations from both the State of Michigan and City of Royal Oak.

If there is an event going on, these two are there, County Commissioner Dave Woodward said after handing out the state awards.

According to City Councilman Terry Drinkwine, chair of the Citizen of the Year Selection Committee, a group of residents and business people who decide the winners, Sherman has served on numerous committees over the years.

He has served in just about every capacity you can, Drinkwine said.

Sherman said that he has been active in the Royal Oak community serving on various committees and different organizations, such as the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Boys & Girls Club and YMCA, since 1961.

He added that he continues to remain actively involved in the city because he loves the community.

I don't do things to win awards. It was a nice surprise, but I do it because I want to give back to the community, he said.

According to Drinkwine, both Monroe and Sherman were on the selection committee, making it increasingly difficult to keep who was receiving the awards a secret. At the banquet, Monroe admitted that she had been upset when Drinkwine informed her that the selection had been made without her input.

I was a little bit offended, she said.

Yet, after her name was announced as the award winner, she knew exactly why she couldn^TMt vote.

I just had no idea, she said.

Monroe said that she is active with the YMCA, Rotary, Kiwanis, Optimist and Inter Club organizations and is also a counselor in the probation department at the 44th District Court.

It is nice to know I am appreciated for what I do. I never thought I would get this type of honor. I do these things because I enjoy it.

Ehrmann, who has had his family practice on Crooks Road in Royal Oak since 1983, said that he has conducted physicals for all of the high school sports teams for about 24 years. In addition, Ehrmann is known throughout the county for his Children^TMs Health Initiative Program. The program is dedicated to helping prevent obesity in kids.

I am overwhelmed and happy to continue to do what I have been trying to do and that is help the next generation, he said.

According to Mayor Jim Ellison it is people like Sherman, Monroe and Ehrmann that make Royal Oak the city it is.

We commend them and we thank them because these are the people that make it happen here in Royal Oak, he said.

You can reach Sarah Cormier at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it