Helping children safely cross Milan’s streets has become a family tradition for the Haag and Blackburn family, with three generations serving as crossing guards while supporting one another through illness, loss and life’s challenges.
Four members of the family serve as Milan’s fulltime crossing guards at key spots across Milan City.
Spreading joy
The quartet of community helpers offer smiles, daily cheer and sometimes a visit from one of their own geese or cats who live on their farm just outside the city.
Drivers smile from their cars and wave as they go by the crossing guards after school, a pleasantry their supervisor, School Resource Officer Brandan Marshall appreciates.
“I just pass by and they are waving,” Marshall said. “Everyone’s waving at them, everyone knows them.”
Sky Haag (left) started helping her mom, Amber Haag (second from left), this year while her mom has been undergoing dialysis for kidney disease.
On holidays these crossing guards even dress up, donning antler headbands, Halloween costumes and bunny ears.
“I know the kids enjoy it,” said Amber Haag, who was the first of the family to become a crossing guard in 2021.
A Job Advertisement
She saw an ad from the Milan Police Department after she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and left her fulltime job.
“The doctor didn’t want me to do anything,” Haag said, adding, “I’m not the type to be idle.”
Haag said her post on North Street, just south of Milan Middle School, provides a little bit of money for groceries and gives her interaction with other people, which she loves.
Recruiting Helpers
When she noticed the struggle the city had to fill new openings for crossing guards she began to recruit her family members for the positions.
Her mother Bridgette Blackburn, 67, started in 2022, serving on Platt Road by the crosswalk near Symons since she thought that would be a little easier at her age. She covers the 30-minute morning and afternoon shifts in between her fulltime job she says nobody knows about. She works as an underwriter putting in the commercials at Detroit Public Television and WRCJ, sometimes remotely and sometimes in person.
Bridgette Blackburn takes the time to personally greet the different students who cross on the way to Symons Elementary.
Blackburn knows the kids on the route and looks out for them, though there are moments of waiting.
“It gets boring out here sometimes,” Blackburn said, as she watched kids walk toward her, “but it can be fun. It’s fun to watch and see how many people wave back at you.”
Blackburn said early on she was waving at the bus drivers and then a kid waved at her. It made her smile and so she started waving to see how many people she could get to wave back at her. The joy she spread returned to her during her own challenges.
“This job was my salvation when my mom passed away,” Blackburn said. “I was just out here in tears, but they waved and smiled at me.”
Blackburn took a break earlier this year due to surgery, but has returned to work for two shifts a week.
“Next year I’m hoping to come back fulltime,” Blackburn said.
Star Haag has learned what children to expect to see at her spot as a crossing guard and they say they look forward to seeing her.
The Third Generation
The third generation of the family joined in when Star Haag, now 20, started two years ago, as soon as she was old enough, and covers the spot on Marvin and Michigan Avenue. She was part of the Early College Alliance at Eastern, but took a gap year when her mother’s health rapidly deteriorated. Now she’s now looking into certification as a dialysis patient care technician.
“I do a lot of that work anyway,” Star Haag said.
Star’s sister, Sky Haag, 22, started this year on North and Michigan Avenue assisting her mom Amber Haag while she’s undergoing dialysis five days a week for Stage 5 renal disease. Amber Haag’s currently active on the transplant list.
Sky Haag helps children cross the road safely.
Sky Haag has gradually added more days since March.
“It’s really nice to see all the kids and they’re smiling,” Sky Haag said. “I do my best to make sure none of them are crying.”
Sky Haag said her corner tends to have younger kids and she makes sure to clip stuffed animals to her vest, which she says often cheer children when they’re sad.
Star Haag is the primary handler of whatever animals they bring, usually for special occasions—with permission from the local police department. Star has sometimes brought a goose, which she now keeps on a harness to keep it from running away. Usually, she brings a cat in their special cat stroller because cats are better behaved.
On the last day of school, Crossing Guards Star (l) and Sky (r) Haag brought their cat Stormy for the kids to see. The mom, Amber Haag, brought a black cat named Venus.
Public Service
“You never know what you are going to get,” Marshall said, commending the Blackburn and Haag families for their public service, along with crossing guards Larry Biederman who has covered the spot at Symons and Grace Lovelace, who has served part-time for approximately 30 years.
“It’s hard. It’s a lot harder than I think people think,” said Marshall, who sometimes fills in as a crossing guard himself when someone is out. “It doesn’t matter how cold it is. If there’s school they’re there. I have a lot of appreciation for what they do.”
Members of the Haag and Blackburn family serve as Milan’s full-time crossing guards.
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