Saline Salutes Jeff Dowling, Citizen of the Year

When you think of a prototypical “Citizen of the Year,” you might think of a lifelong resident who has been involved in local service clubs and event planning for decades.

Then there’s Jeff Dowling, the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year for 2013. Dowling has only been in Saline for just over five years. But it seems like he’s packed a lifetime of community service in those five years.

That’s what staring down leukemia will do for you.

“You can’t say that battling cancer doesn’t change you. At my core, I think I’ve always been who I am, but when you’re given a 30 percent chance of survival, it does make a big impact and change the way you look at things,” said Dowling, who will be honored at Friday night’s Saline Salutes banquet at Saline High School. “I love life and I love all the people that God has brought in my life, so I try to make the most out of everything I do.”

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Dowling has been active in the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce and Saline Main Street. He helped develop the Saline Athletic Wall of Fame. He is a driving force behind Saline’s Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society, now starting its third year. He’s helped with fundraisers for Saline Fiddlers and assisted with the Saline Community Fair. And he volunteers time for nearly every major Saline event or festival.

Mayor Brian Marl said Dowling was a fine choice for Citizen of the Year.

"I'm so impressed with how active and involved Jeff has become in our community, in addition to his professional responsibilities,” Marl said. “Specifically, his leadership in Winterfest -- he contributed greatly to the event's success. I think this is an outstanding choice, and a well deserved honor."

For Winterfest, Dowling built a wagon that transports people from downtown to Henne Field. The wagon has also doubled as a stage used during the Winterfest opening ceremony. But what might separate Dowling from your regular dedicated Saline volunteer, is Dowling’s jovial nature.

The first Winterfest in downtown Saline was a smash, with hundreds of people at Henne Field to enjoy the wintery fun, and dozens participating as Saline won the Snowman Building Championship of the Free World. Organizers were anxious to build on the success of Winterfest in 2012, but the weather didn’t cooperate. There was no snow on the ground the day before the event, and many of the wintery events, including the snowman building and decorating contest, were canceled by disappointed organizers. Some snow did fall on the day of Winterfest, however, and Dowling went to Henne Field and built a snowman anyway.

Art Trapp, coordinator of Winterfest that year, was inspired by Dowling’s work.

“He kept the spirit of Winterfest alive,” Trapp said at the time.

Last year’s Citizen of the Year was Jill Durnen. She’s worked with Dowling on many events, including the Summer Music Series. Durnen said the Saline Salutes Selection Committee couldn’t have picked a more deserving person than Dowling

“Whenever I need any help with any volunteer effort, Jeff is the first person I call and is always the first person to say ‘Yes!’  Last year, when Saline Main Street took over the Summer Music Series, I called Jeff to see if we could borrow a truck from LaFontaine to pick up the stage and chairs each week.  Not only did Jeff say ‘Yes!’ to loaning us a truck, he also volunteered to set up and tear down the entire event each week,” Durnen said.  “We truly couldn’t have pulled off such a great music series without him!”

Part of what makes Dowling special, Durnen said, is the affable, fun-loving attitude he brings to whatever he does. Durnen has become videographer for a series of zany promotional videos for Relay for Life.

“He always makes any job a fun job.  From moving the Saline Main Street office, to creating a living snowman feature at Saline Winterfest, to making videos to promote Saline Relay for Life, he always comes up with crazy ideas that no one else would take on,” Durnen said. “And brings them to life with an attitude that is unparalleled! “

Dowling said he’s always approached life with a sense of humor. He gladly recalls the way he and his new friends found humor in the things they went through in the hospital while fighting cancer.

“It’s easier for me if I can laugh at something. If I can laugh, no matter how difficult it is, I can get through it,” Dowling said.

His humor, Dowling said, comes from faith.

“I love making people laugh, because life can be very difficult. I think you need to take the time to appreciate one another,” Dowling said. “God’s worked in my life in a big way. So I’m looking at things from an eternity perspective. So I live before other so that that might see that within me.”

Dowling, a Jackson native who lives in Scio Township with his wife Lorenda, has two grown daughters, two stepsons and four grand children.

Dowling wouldn’t have believed you 10 years ago if you would have told him he’d be Saline’s citizen of the year one day. In the 1990s, he divorced his first wife and left the business he owned, Toms Food Distributorship, to start all over again. They weren’t easy times for Dowling, and he relied on his faith to get him through it. He wound up working for Matt LaFontaine at Arbor Dodge in Ann Arbor.  The dealership was sold, but in 2006, Dowling was reunited with LaFontaine at the Chevrolet dealership in Dexter. Only a few months into the job, Dowling was diagnosed with leukemia. When he returned to work a year later, he moved to the LaFontaine dealership on Saline’s west end. A big part of Dowling’s job was community outreach.

“We knew that being on the outskirts of town, we had to make sure people knew we were out here,” Dowling said.

Dowling started by promoting a $9.95 oil change and the outreach grew into support of Saline High School sports, music, and local events and organizations.

Dowling credits his employer for a lot of what he’s able to do.

“I estimate that I work more than 50 hours a week for LaFontaine and then volunteer another 10 or so hours for myself,” Dowling said. “It’s a lot of time, but I love what I do.”

And, Dowling said, he’s grown to love the community.

“I began to get involved and suddenly I began to feel like I belonged. And a lot of that comes from the great people I’ve work with here,” Dowling said.

Dowling said he loves spending time with all his friends who volunteer around the community – because they have fun while they work on projects.

“Having a good time is up to you. Anyone can make something miserable. But if you can go in and have fun and do your best and not worry about what people think, you’re going to get a lot more out of it,” Dowling said.

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