CHEBOYGAN — The legacy of former Cheboygan County Commissioner Tony Matelski, who passed away last year, is alive and well at the Cheboygan County Humane Society.
After Matelski passed away following a brief fight with cancer, Humane Society Director Mary Talaske had asked Matelski's wife, Roberta, if there was any way she would be willing to donate a pair of his iconic bib overalls to be bronzed and placed in the building's foyer.
"Tony's iconic bibs. You never saw him without his bibs," said Talaske.
Talaske got the idea to bronze the overalls from the traditional bronzing of a baby's first pair of shoes, to serve as a memory. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to go about making that happen, but she wanted some kind of a memorial at the animal shelter to serve as a tribute for everything the Matelskis had done.
So, Talaske and the staff at the animal shelter purchased around 20 cans of the bronze color spray paint and the guys took the overalls outside. They made a form and stuffed them full of newspapers to get them to fill out.
"They sprayed them, coat after coat after coat. Then we sprayed the boots and filled them with sand. They made the form for it to stand up," said Talaske. "And that's to honor Tony, and Roberta was kind enough to give us one of his name tags."
Talaske said when the building is finished after the second phase of the renovations, there are plans to putting the overalls and Tony's boots in a display case in the foyer. The humane society also has plans to dedicate the building to Tony.
"We'll talk to some county commissioners and we're hoping that it will be dedicated as the Tony Matelski Animal Shelter," said Talaske. "I think he would like that. So, that's our start to our memorial to Tony. He's always with us, he always was, he always backed us, he was always there when we needed him and we miss him."
When the staff comes in to the shelter every morning, they always greet Tony as their way of honoring him and everything he did for the facility.
Tony always had such a large presence and he was always so warm and grateful, always spreading that warmth everywhere he went. His wife continues to carry on his legacy as well, continuing with all of the work he was doing while he was still with us.
"Tony's here with us and someday the building will hopefully be named after him," said Talaske. "All these animals will be cared for in his memory. What a cool thing."
The animal shelter is currently waiting for the cement floors in the new kennel area to be poured. It also ran into a snag with the epoxy that needs to be placed on the walls of the kennels. This epoxy is very expensive, and there isn't a contractor in Northern Michigan who can do the work.
The epoxy needs to be put on the walls so the dogs cannot scratch them and allow bacteria and other diseases to get into them.
"So we're all on hold, waiting to find a company that will come up here and do that," said Talaske.
The county is currently in the process of trying to contact the company who was recently awarded the bids to do the flooring and epoxy work on rest areas to see if they are willing to do the project at the humane society.
The humane society has the kennels ready to go in, but cannot put them in and move the dogs until the epoxy is put in.