By GABRIEL GOODWIN
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE — Since his death in 2012, residents have wanted to honor former Mayor Clifford “Skip” Clack, and Monday the City Council passed a resolution to name the city’s annual fishing derby after him.
Mayor Joseph Peterson’s office and special event staff have received many requests to honor Clack by changing the name of the fishing derby. From now on, the fishing derby will be known as Skip’s Fishing Derby in honor of the former mayor and long-time volunteer around the city.
Wyandotte Municipal Services Cable Operator Larry Tavernier spoke highly of Clack during Monday’s council meeting. He made sure to note he was one of the residents asking for the name change and held up a copy of the letter sent to Peterson’s office.
“Last year was the first year Skip wasn’t with us,” he said. “So, the judges got together afterwards and said, ‘Why don’t we name this derby after Skip Clack,’ and it was a wonderful idea, so I took that on.”
Tavernier said Clack was mayor and a councilman for the city and remembered when Clack ran the Green Box program. Clack also did a lot for the Police and Fire Commission, was the Boy Scouts master for the Kiwanis Troop 1758 and a supporter and volunteer at the Salvation Army, which Tavernier said is “just to name a few things he did” around the city after he retired.
“Skip had a way about him,” Tavernier said. “He was always trying to get a little dig in, so we all got to love and laugh with him. In this city we’ve named streets and buildings after people, so let’s name this after someone else. A mentor.”
Clack served as mayor in 1969, and taught in the Wyandotte Public Schools for 32 years. He spent 17 years as a physical education teacher and 15 years as the athletic director before he retired. He died June 25, 2012, at the age of 87.
(Gabriel Goodwin can be reached at [email protected].)