Detroit, MI
Auto shop hosting free oil change giveaway in Detroit on Christmas for those in need
DETROIT (WXYZ) — FastLane Oil Change in Detroit is giving back this holiday.
The shop on W. 8 Mile Road near the Soutfield Freeway is gifting 25 free oil changes and wiper blades for people in need Wednesday on Christmas Day.
And it doesn’t end there. Customers in line behind the first 15 cars will get half off a regularly priced oil change.
To add to the holiday giving, the business is helping a mother of nine get her car back on the road with new brakes, rotors, pads and filters for free. It’s something that she says significantly help her this holiday.
“A stress that was lifted off of my shoulders because this was something that was gonna need to be done sooner than later, but I was putting it off because it wasn’t in the budget, especially right now,” Rashanda Martin said.
In addition, the Blazin’ Grill right next door to the car shop is giving away 100 free meals on Wednesday. The free and half-off promotions will run from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. The offers are good for Christmas Day only for families and individuals in need.
DETROIT (WXYZ) — More than 150,000 fans pack the Detroit Grand Prix each year, but it’s a team of 1,000-plus volunteers that keeps the three-day event running at top speed.
Among them is a father-daughter duo with a combined 18 years of service to the race — and a shared passion for showing Detroit at its best.
Watch Faraz Javed’s video report below:
Detroit Grand Prix father-daughter volunteers help make winner’s circle moments shine
Patrick Grace has been volunteering at the Grand Prix for 16 years. His daughter, Colleen Grace, is in her second year. Together, they manage pre- and post-race event ceremonies — everything from coordinating the national anthem to staging the winner’s circle.
“We get the big flags in the right place. We get the people who sing the national anthem. We get the trophies ready. We get the champagne ready,” Patrick Grace said.
WXYZ
“All the fun stuff,” Colleen Grace said.
That includes hauling the trophies to the podium, which is no small task.
“I guess they’re 50 pounds. They’re heavy. And there’s 16 of them for each race,” Patrick Grace said.
For Colleen Grace, the appeal of volunteering took some time to appreciate. Growing up, she heard her father rave about the event every year.
“My dad growing up, he would come home and tell my sister and I how great this was every year and we’d go OK, yeah, sure dad. But now as an adult, I see the allure and it’s been so much fun,” she said.
WXYZ
Colleen Grace served in the Navy for about 7 1/2 years, and the time apart made their reunion at the Grand Prix even more meaningful.
“I didn’t get to see her from like 18 to 25 (years old),” Patrick Grace said.
“Now that I moved back to Michigan, I get to hang out with him. Turns out, he’s cool,” Colleen Grace said.
When asked whether volunteering at the event made her father cooler, Colleen Grace didn’t hesitate.
“It’s certainly a contributing thing,” she said.
“It can’t hurt,” Patrick Grace said.
Related video: For the Detroit Grand Prix, two best friends turn race day into a 23-year tradition
For the Detroit Grand Prix, two best friends turn race day into a 23-year tradition
Colleen Grace’s military background has also started to shift the family dynamic — at least when it comes to sun protection. After noticing her 62-year-old father’s sunburned nose at the end of one race day, she’s taken a more hands-on approach.
“Well, I asked him 17 times if he has sunscreen,” Colleen Grace said.
“And I did have sunscreen. She did not ask me if I put it on,” her father said.
WXYZ
“Last night, I’m looking at him and I go Dad, your nose is so red. Did you wear the sunscreen? And he said no,” Colleen Grace said.
She’s already planning ahead for next year.
“Dad, I’m the captain,” she said.
Related video: Detroit Grand Prix ‘Free Prix Day’ draws fans from across Michigan and beyond
Families flock downtown for Free Prix Day
Despite years at the event, neither of them had the chance to sit and watch the races as spectators. But Patrick Grace said that’s not really the point.
“It would be fun to be able to sit, sit and watch the race, but I get to see so many things that other people don’t see,” he said.
Both plan to return next year. For Patrick Grace, the motivation is simple.
“My legs hurt tomorrow, my back will hurt, you know, kind of I’m getting old, but I’ll do it every year I can,” Patrick Grace said.
WXYZ
Colleen Grace sees it as something deeper than a weekend commitment.
“I mean, this is our heritage. I mean, the tire marks, the sound, this is the best,” she said.
For Patrick Grace, it all comes back to Detroit.
“I just like to be part of showing off… what a wonderful thing. I want to put on the best event possible. I want people to say Detroit was cool,” he said.
The Detroit Grand Prix is expected to return next year on the weekend after Memorial Day. Volunteer registrations open Spring 2027.
—————
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Angelette Green has sold newspapers in Detroit for many years. But lately the news she has shared has focused on one person, the late David Woods, who sold papers for Woods at an iconic location.
The story of the late David Woods lives on through Angelette Green
Angelette Green says the late David Woods was a dependable hawker of the Sunday Detroit Free Press and a dear friend who always delivered.
In today’s world, where most Americans and people around the globe get their news from digital devices, Detroiter Angelette Green represents something much different.
And in the process, she’s providing living proof that old school printed newspapers still have a dedicated audience.
On most weekdays, often during odd hours, while working for an independent contractor, Green plays an important role in making printed newspapers — including the Detroit Free Press — available in the Detroit market by delivering papers to area gas stations and other businesses that sell the papers.
Then on Sundays, Green can be found outdoors across the Detroit area, at newsstands that primarily sell the Sunday Free Press, which each have “hawkers” (salespeople) that work for Green, who drives her team members to their locations in a van.
Green provides chairs for her hawkers at each newsstand, but says sitting is not exactly a recipe for success when it comes to selling Sunday newspapers.
“If I come by and see one of my people just sitting, I’ll say: ‘If I was a lion, huntin’, I wouldn’t miss my meal, because you’re not moving,” stated Green, a 1974 Mackenzie High School graduate who worked in the electronics department for Texas Instruments in two Texas towns for 19 years before returning to Detroit in 2002, which set the stage for her newspaper journey.
Green continued: “Mostly, people work for the tips. I pay them, but they make more money with the tips, especially if you’ve been at a spot for a long time. That’s why you need to move around so the people can see you.”
But it’s what (or rather, who) folks didn’t see Sunday, May 24, on the corner of Seven Mile Road and Livernois, in the heart of the Avenue of Fashion, that had folks talking.
David Woods, the gentle giant hawker who worked for Green, stood watch over the newsstand on that corner for years. He died May 13 at the age of 37.
“Dave was a giving person and a quality human being,” Green said fondly of her friend, who became a part of her Sunday newspaper hawking team around 2009 and later became a familiar face and presence for drivers, bikers and pedestrians alike. “Dave didn’t wave the papers around, but he built up a clientele here on this corner because customers always knew that he would be here — through rain, sleet, snow and any other kind of weather.
“We could always count on Dave every Sunday. And he was the same way when it came to his family and friends. Dave’s mother passed when he was 14 and he was kind of incorporated into another family. Dave became like a father figure to the younger children, and when that mother passed, Dave stepped all the way up for the younger kids. He was just an awesome man and I’m going to miss the heck out of him — Dave, Dave, Dave.”
Green’s respect for Woods drove her to take on yet another responsibility on May 24 as she stood in for Woods at the newsstand, informing everyone she knew with a connection to Woods about his funeral service, which was scheduled to take place on May 27 at the Hutchinson Funeral Home in Detroit.
In one instance, the person Green informed was as close to Woods as she was.
“Big Dave was like family and we were cool from Day 1,” Green’s brother, Orlando, recalled about the impression Woods made on him, his sister and their late father David Green, when Woods joined the Green’s family newspaper business.
“Big Dave was just a loyal, cool, giving, gentle giant. The people loved Big Dave. And once he settled in at Seven Mile and Livernois, nothing bad ever happened at that corner.”
It was at that corner, which decades ago was the home to two former anchor businesses on the Avenue of Fashion — Revco drugstore and B. Siegel Department Store — where a Detroiter, who wished to be known only as Dexter F., learned from Angelette Green that Woods had died.
“I met Dave about seven or eight years ago, right at this corner, as he was giving out papers and he received me,” said Dexter F., whose Detroit Tigers cap featured a miniature Dexter Avenue street sign attached to it. “Dave was a giver, a good spirit and a love spirit. And I’m going to miss him.”
As Dexter F. spoke during the morning of May 24, the voice of Misty Taylor could be heard in the background when drivers made quick stops at the corner to purchase newspapers.
Taylor said she was more than happy to give her cousin, Angelette Green, a hand with selling papers. And when the traffic near the corner became less busy, Taylor also was happy to share her thoughts about Woods.
“I’ve been around David several times through the years dealing with these papers and he was a wonderful, spiritual young man,” the 64-year-old Taylor recalled. “He was warm at heart with an intelligent mind. David was just an outward good person.
“I’m happy to come back and fill in, but he will be missed.”
Later in the morning, Taylor was in need of a restroom break, so she borrowed some of the goodwill that Woods had established somewhat recently with Lily’s & Elise Tea House, at 19037 Livernois, where retired Detroit fireman and Vietnam Navy veteran John Miller would bring water out to Woods on Sundays when Miller was helping out at his granddaughter’s business.
Those who knew Woods well say it was only fitting that Miller helped to take care of Woods’ hydration needs on Sundays because giving was something that Woods specialized in — particularly away from his appointed newsstand.
“When it came to taking care of people with food, Dave always came through,” said Ron Goss, who sells Sunday newspapers at the corner of Curtis and Myers in northwest Detroit and also is Woods’ cousin. “Even if there wasn’t enough food to make an extra plate for someone, he would find enough.”
Like Goss, Detroiter Tiara Boyette had a longtime relationship with Woods that spanned more than 20 years. During that time, Woods no doubt shared his food with Boyette on many occasions. But on Memorial Day evening, Boyette wanted to talk about another form of nourishment that Woods, a proud father of two, provided.
“Though we did not share blood, we shared a bond built on love, loyalty, and years of memories that I will cherish forever,” Boyette said. “David was someone who protected the people he loved, showed up when it mattered, and made those around him feel cared for.
“Losing him has been heartbreaking, especially knowing there were still so many plans, conversations, and moments ahead of us that will never come. I will always be grateful for the time we shared and for the love he gave so freely. David will forever hold a special place in my heart and will never be forgotten.”
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott’s stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.
4Warn Weather – After a gorgeous Saturday, wonderful weather will continue for Metro Detroit for the second half of the weekend and into next week.
Don’t forget to check out the Blue Moon this evening; our sun sets just after 9 p.m. It’s named the Blue Moon not for color, but because it’s the second full moon of the month.
It’s also a micromoon, meaning the moon is at its farthest point from the earth that it will be all month. It will reach peak fullness at 4:45 a.m. Sunday morning.
Having two full moons in one month only happens once about every 2 to 3 years.
Also, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury will line up in the western sky.
If you’ll be sitting or standing outdoors for a bit, temperatures will be comfortable tonight, falling to near 60° by 10 p.m. before dropping to the low 40s to near 50° overnight.
That leads to a beautiful Sunday with sunshine and highs in the low to mid 70s.
UV levels will be in the Very High range tomorrow, so if you’ll be outside you may want to grab the sunscreen.
Southeast Michigan will continue to have plenty of sunny days into the coming week. The next chance for rain holds off until late Friday.
Highs will warm to around 80° for Monday for most areas. Closer to the shoreline you’ll find more 70s if not the 60s. Tuesday and Wednesday will feature highs back near 80° before we see mid 80s Thursday and Friday.
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
-
Los Angeles, Ca44 minutes agoMan found stabbed to death in Huntington Park
-
Detroit, MI1 hour ago
Detroit Grand Prix father-daughter volunteers help make winner’s circle moments shine
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoTony Vitello just lost the only Giants allies he has left
-
Dallas, TX1 hour agoFatal crash on LBJ Freeway in Dallas leaves 1 dead, multiple people hospitalized, police say
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoDeputies searching for 2 men accused of shooting man during attempted robbery in SW Miami-Dade
-
Boston, MA1 hour agoFriend of Worcester woman killed in Virginia I-95 crash ‘cannot believe she is gone.’ – The Boston Globe
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoDenver hockey’s Johnny Hicks wins DU Pioneers’ Male Athlete of the Year
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoVikings stealing Nolan Teasley from Seahawks might be even worse than it appears
