Kudos to the Gratiot Avenue Business Association, which has established a positive and energetic presence in Macomb County less than two years after being formed.
GABA created the Let’s Move Festival of Races which is shaping up as one of the premier public events in the county. The April 28-30 festival, which features a half-marathon, has already signed up 760 runners from near and far – Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Toronto and the Upper Peninsula.
Because most runners don’t sign up until just before or upon arrival, GABA is still shooting for at least 3,000 runners. Sponsorships arranged by the group have already covered the cost of the event, including security and traffic control that will be provided by local Police Departments.
GABA has promised that they will distribute any proceeds in the form of mini-grants to local communities for recreation and senior citizens programs.
The group is also helping the homeless by lending support to the Macomb County Rotating Emergency Shelter Team, a network of 90 churches that provides shelter on a rotating basis.
GABA also has aligned itself with the fledgling Roseville Heritage Foundation, a non-profit group that’s raising money to pay for a proposed Roseville car cruise. GABA hopes to eventually create a Gratiot Cruise, from Eastpointe to Mount Clemens, similar to the Woodward Cruise.
Meanwhile, GABA has made its presence known in political circles. Last spring and summer they held a series of luncheon forums that featured most of the gubernatorial candidates. In some cases, the GABA luncheon marked the only time that a candidate held a high-profile public appearance in Macomb.
Last week, the group held an event at the impressive Concorde Inn banquet facilities in Clinton Township which drew about 120 of the county’s movers and shakers. They were addressed by Matthew Maroun, Matty’s son, about the ongoing bridge controversy in Detroit.
GABA represents a sort of resurrection for its founder and director, John Johnson, who has experienced a lot of ups and downs in the business community and in the political arena. Johnson, at this point, is looking like The Comeback Kid.
