Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud was one of the featured guests at the Dearborn Parks and Recreation Commission’s 69th Annual Sports Awards Ceremony, conducted June 12, 2022 in the Michael A. Guido Theater. The Mayor congratulated Elizabeth Kowalsky and Joseph Marano, both seniors at Edsel Ford High School, who were named the High School Athletes of the Year by the Dearborn Parks and Recreation Commission. Kowalsky was a standout performer with the Thunderbird basketball, soccer and volleyball teams, while Marano excelled as a member of the school’s football and wrestling teams. As the High School Athletes of the Year, Kowalsky and Marano received the Van Patrick Memorial Award, named after the late local sportscaster Van Patrick. Patrick, a Dearborn resident, was an acclaimed radio and television personality who broadcast college and professional sports—including Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions games—from the late 1940s until his death from cancer in 1974. Patrick was a member of the Dearborn Parks and Recreation Commission and a long-time supporter of the Dearborn Parks and Recreation Department.