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October 16, 2004
How much is that dog food in the window?
By Shelly Yeager
Sun contributor
A familiar sight as she walks briskly along the roadside with one of her canine clients, Dawn Fitch braves the elements while caring for area pets. Through rain, snow or blistering heat, one can expect to see her out and about as she makes her thrice daily rounds. Recently, Dawn of Dawn’s Tender Care Pet Sitting, decided to expand her business and now operates her own pet supply store conveniently located in the heart of Maple City. Situated between Pegtown Station Pizza and the gas station, Dawn’s Tender Care Pet Supplies & Sporting Goods opened for business on March 1 of this year. To envision the new store, picture a cross between Petsmart and McGough’s with a selection of live bait and tackle added for good measure.
Originally, Dawn’s love of animals led her to dream of becoming a veterinarian. The expensive reality of attending veterinary school caused her to redefine her goals and she chose to open a kennel. She soon realized, however, that pets experience unnecessary stress in a kennel environment and resolved to adapt her business so that the animals could be kept in familiar surroundings. For 11 years now, Dawn has traveled to client’s homes to care for their pets while they are away. She also walks dogs whose owners work all day or are otherwise unable to exercise them enough. In addition to dogs, Dawn cares for a wide variety of animals including cats, birds, horses, lambs and pigs. Some more unusual critters she has cared for over the years include donkeys, snakes and even tarantulas. Her human customers value her reliable services, knowing that their animal family is well cared for in their absence. Her animal friends enjoy the lavish attention and, of course, the treats she brings,
On a typical day, Dawn starts her morning rounds as early as 4 a.m. and finally finishes at 10 p.m. after completing her evening rounds. She visits some pets in the middle of the day as well, for a total of three stops, if necessary. She drives her red ’99 Toyota pickup 350 miles (over 700 miles on holidays) as she travels her route. The truck’s odometer just turned over 200,000 miles. Her service area includes Glen Arbor, Empire, Cedar and Maple City with a few far-flung clients in Leland and Lake Ann.
Dawn recognized the need for a pet supply store in the area when customers would leave notes for her saying something such as, “I couldn’t get to Traverse City, could you pick up some of Spot’s special dog food for me?” Instead of acting as a delivery service for stores in town, Dawn began to consider opening a local store of her own. After three years of searching and waiting for affordable, well-located space to become available, the opportunity in Maple City presented itself. Although Dawn is a savvy business woman and had educated herself on the requirements to be successful, the decision to go ahead was not an easy one. However, today Dawn says, “I realized here was my chance, so I took the big jump. It’s going really well.” In order to operate the new store in addition to her pet sitting responsibilities, her mother Joyce Chipman helps in the afternoons during the week. Her friend Helen Newman, tends to the store on Saturdays.
Experience gained by caring for pets in their own homes, seeing what they need and what their owners want for them, has helped Dawn in stocking her store. Her motto, “one call – we feed them all”, puts it in a nutshell. Her extensive inventory includes horse, chicken, rabbit, fish, pig, wild bird and tame bird food and supplies, in addition to dog and cat needs. She also carries farm fresh eggs, animal-oriented stationary, cards and even bird-safe candles. If a customer should need something, maybe a particular brand that Dawn doesn’t have, they can tell her and she will almost always be able to get it. Dawn takes pride in keeping her prices in line with those in Traverse City.
Dawn enjoys having pets visit her store with their owners. While shopping, they may meet one of her animals and receive some petting and a treat. Typically Dawn’s beautiful green parrot, Isaac, is in residence along with one of her five dogs. The newest addition to her pet family is Jasmine, a black lab puppy. Jasmine joins another black lab, a German shepherd, a French pointer and a little Jack Russell terrier.
Due to her affinity for the four-legged set, Dawn has achieved her goal of working with animals. Her new endeavor is off to a good start, satisfying the need for locally available pet supplies, while her pet sitting service continues to thrive.
Posted by editor at 11:47 PM | Comments (0)
Steven Matthew Brown: Glen Arbor Art Association Artist in Residence 2004
By Norm Dagen
Sun contributor
I often wonder why at a particular time, a noteworthy individual will magically appear in my life. I have found myself wondering this about Steven Matthew Brown, Artist in Residence of the Glen Arbor Art Association.
The GAAA will hold Brown’s art opening at Thoreson Farm on Tuesday, September 21 at 6:30 p.m.. — Ed.
During the school year, I am a substitute teacher and spend my summers working at Anderson’s Market in Glen Arbor. Meeting Steven was a chance incidence. Masses of people waft through Anderson’s and most seldom engage in conversation. That wasn’t the case with Steven. He instantaneously engaged in a dialogue and was bursting with inquiries about the community. Steven had just arrived to begin his month long commitment as artist in residence.
Immediately likeable with a cheerful manner, you cannot help getting caught up in the energy this young man projects. According to Brown, “art” is what he does for his emotional livelihood.
“Art?” The dialogue finished at this moment, as another customer waited in the check out line, and thankfully a patient one. An extensive online Google search revealed a link to Steven’s website and a statement, penned by Brown regarding his work.
“The mystery of spatial perception is a large part of what compels me to create. There is an ephemeral and fleeting beauty in the act of experiencing natural or manmade volume, structure or space that I enjoy trying to capture and manifest for the viewer. Most recently I have exhibited formal sculptures made of thermoplastic that deal with the phenomenal aspects of sight and depth perception, as well as mixed media drawings that observe in more accessible visual language the tenuousness of human structures and divisions of space. I am interested in all materials and processes, and value uncertainty and discovery most highly.”
Brown is a native of Michigan, born in Fenton. He graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts and honors from the College for Creative Studies, Detroit. His catalog of awards and achievements are very significant for a young man of 23. At 19, Brown was presented the Outstanding Student Achievement Award from The Rhode Island School of Design, as well as the Walter B. Ford Competitive Scholarship from the College for Creative Studies. The subsequent years were rewarded with a range of honors and accolades from the Detroit Institute of Art, Crooked Tree Art Center, Petoskey and the College for Creative Studies.
Upon completion of his education, Brown also received the Outstanding
Fine Art Graduate Honor from his Detroit based college. In 2003, Brown was again acknowledged with the Outstanding Student Achievement Award by the International Sculpture Center, Hamilton, New Jersey.
So what about the “art?”
Sitting on the concrete between the open barn doors, at Thoreson Farm, Steven talked. Steven is very fond of conversation but be forewarned, you may need a dictionary. There is a difference between talking and having a dialogue of substance. The topics of conversation naturally revolved around his work. Obfuscating, spatial, ephemeral, tenuousness, in situ, intaglio, juxtaposition, installation — Brown uses these words like old friends.
The conversation jumped from issues to topics. Education was a focal discussion since Steven also substitute-teaches in the Oxford and Avondale School Districts.
Something jogged a memory of a lyric from a favorite October Project song and a lively discussion about music was in motion. History, geography, languages, grammar, the problems with television and pop culture, hunting and famous quotations. It is clear that there is nothing that Brown cannot discuss and he does so with intelligence and insight. He is a self-professed reading junkie. In retrospect, each topic actually came back around to Steven’s works. Being multi-faceted, whether he is painting, sculpting, drawing, welding or installing cascades of fabric in a meadow behind the Thoreson, there is a passion to express himself. Steven has an ability to find the potential in a wide and unusual variety of medium.
While conversing at Thoreson Farm, he wandered the farm estate and revealed two completed works, but the artist isn’t positive they are complete.
Suppression is being exercised, noting too much detail will spoil the eventual revelation of the work. One piece entitled “Infestation” makes use of the former dairy shed and a multitude of hand-painted glass in pastel shades.
Seeing the creation for yourself is to understand the implication of the title. The second piece, entitled “Less Than Zero” makes faultless sense. This installment employs a corncrib, a weight scale and cleverness.
Steven doesn’t actually label his creations for concern that a scripted title will restrict the physical boundaries of what viewers are to consider as part of the installation. The four horizons are the walls of the installations container. Currently, Brown might be spreading himself a little thin.
Coinciding with accepting the residency position through the GAAA, he is also mounting an exhibition of mixed media drawings on paper, as well as other two-dimensional work from September 10 through October 23 at the College for Creative Studies Alumni Gallery. Additionally, Steven is participating in the Detroit Artists Market “Biennial.” At the conclusion of Brown’s Glen Art commitment, he heads back home for a brief stay and then onto another residency from November to January in Oregon.
The wisdom of the Art Association and their selection of Brown is absolutely understandable. It’s clear that his opening will be, for many, the first exposure to this type of work. Brown’s opening takes place at the Thoreson Farm on the evening of September 21. The opening will also include an address by the artist to the community.
Which takes us back to the beginning of our narrative, why do we meet certain people at particular times in our lives? Someone once said that knowledge is power. Being an educator, I believe that knowledge is the only true power and all other forms of power are human fabrications. We should make it our daily aspiration to acquire power and share the power with those around us. Personally, there was a requirement for more power and Steven has a perfect resource to explore.
If you would like to learn more about Steven Matthew Brown or see some of this work, Please check his website at www.stevenbrownfinearts.net. For more information regarding Steven’s presentation, contact the Glen Arbor Art Association at 231-334-6112 or visit www.glenarborart.org.
Posted by editor at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
Together in the same Big Apple, the delegates and protestors lived a world apart
By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
This journalist traveled to New York to cover the Republican National Convention for Utne Magazine, and chronicled both the perspectives of delegates as well as the anti-Bush protestors who took to the streets to show their opposition to the administration’s policies.
NEW YORK — For the delegates who gathered at Madison Square Garden at the Republican National Convention earlier this month to officially nominate George W. Bush to defend his throne in the upcoming presidential election, New York City was an unnerving place, and not just because America’s cultural Mecca lay thousands of miles from home for many of them.
Here, rats owned the subway tracks, homeless men owned the benches at night, mad-dashing foreigners in yellow taxicabs owned the streets, and, for the most part, stories of suffering outside America’s borders owned the newspapers’ pages. Worse, for the visiting delegates, much of New York’s populace viewed them as ignorant, inferior and everything short of arboreal. That is not uncommon of many large countries. Parisians look down on their fellow Frenchman. Londoners loathe watching a football match with someone from Manchester. And Madrideños know that the best Tapas bars are found in their own city.
But residents of the Big Apple openly consider themselves New Yorkers, first, and Americans, second, when they are traveling abroad, in the words of my friend Anthony, a playwright and actor who lives in Brooklyn. A framed poster of the well-known cartoon in The New Yorker, featuring the five boroughs in the foreground and little more than a flat wasteland between New Jersey and the West Coast, hanging in the kitchen of the apartment where I stayed this week on the upper-west side of Manhattan hammered home this point.
Pain endures at Ground Zero
It should come as no surprise, then, that there were only two places where the visiting delegates felt at home here. The first was inside the Garden, which was sterilized of all that’s liberal and worldly in New York, and cordoned off for several city blocks in each direction before the convention began on August 30 to keep the hundreds of thousands of anti-Bush protestors — from New York and the rest of America alike — at an arm’s length. The second was the area in lower Manhattan conspicuously absent of any buildings. Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center towers stood before terrorists rudely toppled them three years ago this month, was the obvious attraction for the Republican Party to hold its convention here since the event ushered in a new chapter in world history and gave Bush a license to plunge the country into two wars, and maybe more. He has also deprived American citizens of many civil rights and kept the nation in a state of paranoia. As such, many delegates have flocked to the sacred ground this week to weep and pay homage to the fallen.
Bush’s supporters from the heartland hark back to the attacks of September 11, 2001 compulsively, as if their right to continue breathing fresh air after this November depends on it. But many of the outsiders swarming the streets didn’t seem to get the message that New Yorkers had for them: “Don’t use our pain for your political gain!” (More than 80 percent of all New Yorkers registered with political parties are Democrats.)
The gaping hole here left a void in the hearts and psyche of many locals. Most cried; many screamed; some chanted “USA, USA, USA” when the commander in chief visited the wreckage three days after the attacks; and many supported the Bush administration’s decision to invade Afghanistan to root out the culprits. But a Republican National Convention boasting an oversimplified message to reelect an incumbent who is very unpopular in this city blending into New York City’s worldly, progressive and complex culture is like oil and water mixing. Don’t count on it.
“If using the legacy of September 11 is a publicity stunt, it’s a bad stunt,” Dorsett Santos told me during the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign march on August 30. “This is the only thing Bush can write on his presidential resume. But New York does not want to be known for that.”
Larry Nodarse touted a sign at Ground Zero the next day reading, RNC delegates, Stop exploiting the mass murder of 2,749 people on September 11, 2001. He talked to me about his rage as a homeless man nearby played “Amazing Grace” on his flute:
“Using the deaths of people to further a political cause is disgraceful. I don’t think that any political party should have held their convention here. Still, it wouldn’t be quite as appalling if the Democrats had, because they’ve done it before. At least they have a history of embracing New York.
“The Republicans have never embraced New York. I’m not talking about all conservatives, but a good majority of conservatives, especially in the heartland, have always looked down on New York, seen it as sin city: Sadom and Gomorrah — a lefty, pinko, Commy town. Suddenly when September 11 happened they tried to embrace New York and make it their own, and tried to adopt it as the symbol of their party. I think it’s sick that they tried to push the calendar as far back to nearly coincide with the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
“[Former New York mayor] Rudolph Giuliani’s speech [on the convention’s opening night] really offended me, talking about a guy who jumped out of the 102nd floor [of the World Trade Center]. How dare he use somebody’s death to push forward George W. Bush’s re-election. Who knows who that guy was.”
Mass arrests of protestors
At St. Paul’s Cathedral next to Ground Zero on August 31, protestors from New York and all over the United States clashed head-on with the black-and-white message the Bush administration has forced on the people since that awful day three years ago: “You are in constant danger. Obey orders, and above all, conform.”
New York City Police arrested upwards of 200 activists who sought to march from St. Paul’s Cathedral, next to the epicenter of the post-September 11-world, to Madison Square Garden to protest the Republican Party’s abuse of this city’s pain as a means to get reelected in two months. Though they didn’t have a permit to march, organizers were given temporary permission to do so by the NYPD as long as they stuck to the sidewalks and didn’t disrupt traffic. After walking one block, the arrests began. Ironically, the police used the pretext of marchers crowding the sidewalks to shut the march down in its infancy stage, as they closed off the street, themselves, to facilitate the arrests.
In what then became ordinary scenes all over New York during the convention, the police roped in protestors with an orange net, slowly condensing the crowd as if they were rounding up cattle, then made them wait for hours as paddy wagons and tour buses with NYPD labels on them came to take the activists away. Some were not even part of the march, just unlucky pedestrians caught up in a police action whose message was handed down through the Secret Service in Washington D.C., which takes over for local police whenever the president comes to town. Representatives of the National Lawyer’s Guild in their light green baseball caps were also among the fenced-in.
A young man wearing a F—— Censorship shirt yelled to journalists, “I don’t think Bush should be here manipulating 9-11” as the police handcuffed him. A policeman nearby was overhead admitting that he has the same shirt at home.
All over the city, anti-RNC activists were getting the picture. Now that the convention had started, there would be no more permits, no more marching, no more opportunities for mobile free speech. The successful and peaceful half-a-million-man march held the day before the convention began was a thing of the past. A four-block area around Madison Square Garden had been closed off, and the city’s police force had been ceded to the Republican Party. Battle lines had formed.
Police arrested more than 900 on August 31, alone, The New York Times reported — at the New York Public Library, at a “Die In” protest on 28th Street just south of the convention, at Ground Zero, even inside the Garden, where Medea Benjamin, a member of the feminist, anti-war organization Code Pink, got within spitting distance of Dick Cheney before she was subdued.
By the time Bush arrived on stage for the convention’s final evening on September 2, the NYPD had detained some 2,000 people, forcing most to sleep on cement floors reeking of oil, other chemicals and asbestos in the now infamous Pier 57 on the Hudson River, and feeding them a paltry few apples and stale bologna sandwiches during their ordeal. Many, though, were vegetarians.
The incarcerated found other uses for the unwelcome gifts. They reportedly played soccer, using the bologna sandwiches as goalposts and paper cups rolled up into soccer balls. The protestors also sang and danced with each other to keep their spirits high.
Protestors register moral and legal victories
Activists were released en masse from the Criminal Courts Building on the convention’s final day as New York judge John Cataldo ruled that the city was in contempt of court for denying thousands their legal rights during cruel incarcerations that lasted as many as 60 hours. He fined the NYPD $1,000 for every protestor jailed during the week without charges who had not been released by 6 p.m. on September 2.
A crowd of hundreds congregated near the Courts Building on Centre Street in lower Manhattan that morning to show their solidarity with fellow activists, and cheered as they exited, one by one, onto the street. “There was a big crowd of protestors in the courtroom who weren’t allowed to cheer because it was a court environment, but after my hearing took about 30 seconds, I turned around and they all gave me a thumbs up and a smile,” said John Cheatwood, an activist who traveled here from Florida and missed his ride home because of his incarceration that lasted almost two days. When Cheatwood exited onto the street, cheers and hugs from strangers were there to greet him instead. “It really helped being in there knowing that all of these people were out here fighting for us. We weren’t just forgotten.”
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union explained to the crowd waiting outside the Courts Building for the release of their friends and family that the detainees essentially “didn’t exist” and “had no rights as citizens” until they were formally charged by the city. Once they regained their rights as citizens, some protestors faced prosecutors for as few as14 seconds before they were released onto the street, uncharged.
Americans inside the convention are a world apart
Perhaps the Republican delegates shouldn’t be faulted for misunderstanding how they were perceived by New Yorkers who either left town in dismay, took to the streets in protest or simply sucked in their pride and waited out the storm when the invaders converged in Manhattan. Large tour buses carted the delegates around all week, from their hotels, to Madison Square Garden, to Times Square, shielding them from the public, as they took in Broadway shows. How were they to know how New York really felt? And how were they to know that the Big Apple largely opposed the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq, using the gaping hole at Ground Zero as its impetus, when their young stallion from Texas had beaten the horrors of September 11 into their brains over and over again for three years?
Two hours before Bush was to speak on Thursday night, I noticed Johnny Horn, staring toward the arena of Madison Square Garden with tears streaming down his cheeks. Horn is an African American, a Vietnam veteran and a candidate for state representative in Chattanooga, Tennessee on the Republican platform. “My emotions were set off out watching the protestors,” he said candidly. “I’m perplexed that we’re not all one accord like in every other war we’ve fought except for maybe Vietnam. The Republicans are saying we have to proactively fight terrorism. The others are saying we have to take a softer approach. But what happens to the guy in the middle? Many people have no idea how ruthless our enemies really are.”
Horn applauded Bush for going into Iraq because now the terrorists “are busy defending their home turf, so they can’t focus on us in New York.” Horn is convinced that if John Kerry wins the election in November, “they” will strike within six months.
On the prowl before the gala was to reach its climax, I asked other delegates about the decision to invade Iraq given what information we have now, and most of their answers always seemed incredibly rehearsed, as if they had recited them each morning upon waking up … or heard them rehearsed on Fox News. Nowadays, most delegates paid as much attention to the question of the Weapons of Mass Destruction as they would a tip jar at a café.
“So what if we didn’t find the WMD’s. Freeing 25 million people is justification alone,” said Bruce Motheral, a delegate from Texas.
Helen LaRue, an alternate delegate from New Jersey, said she didn’t want to get into a discussion over the war in Iraq, just seconds after admitting to me that, “we do lack debate here” at the convention. “Iraq is a tough topic,” she said. “I don’t want to discuss it because I know that not everyone agrees with me, and I don’t like to debate. But I do have my personal feelings.” She followed that with, “I’m not saying we shouldn’t talk about it, but my personal opinion is that we have very good elected officials who know all the ins and outs of this situation. They’re the ones who should be on top of it. I believe in George W. Bush.”
And with that, the commander in chief walked onto the stage and encouraged his constituents to continue supporting him in the war on terror.
Posted by editor at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)
Demystifying what’s “FREE!” for the taking
By Jen Semanco
Sun contributor
This summer I have had an ongoing debate with a good friend of mine who wants a kitten. Not just any kitten, mind you, but a pedigreed “pixie-bob” tail-less kitten. These cats run between $600-$1200, not including the cost of shipping it to Michigan. So why pay that much money when there are so many “free” kittens in need of good homes? Well, a month ago one of these “free” kittens found its way into my home. My “free” kitten, Sid, came to me injured. Some other animal had probably attacked him, and the end of his tail hung limp.
The first round of veterinarian bills weren’t too steep — vaccinations and antibiotics for the dead tail. The first time I got out the antibiotics, I accidentally knocked the bottle over and watched my $15 literally go down the drain of my bathroom sink. I went back to the vet the next day for a refill. But as the days went on, the tail got worse — much worse. We returned to the vet to have a closer look and came to the conclusion that an amputation was unavoidable (I also got more antibiotics to last him until the day of the surgery).
Sid went in to the vet a few days later to lose his tail and to be neutered. The next day I picked him up, along with my bill, and for the first time thought about how much my “free” kitten had cost me. My tail-less cat has at least a $500 price tag when I consider veterinarian bills, food, toys and litter, not to mention the gasoline I’ve burned driving back and forth from the vet’s office (six trips in three weeks) which is about 20 miles away.
(So maybe one should look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth. — Ed.)
But kittens aren’t the only free offerings in Glen Arbor this summer. I’ve seen plenty of old boxes sitting at the end of driveways full of stray objects. The word “FREE!” is always scrawled in big letters on the cardboard, beckoning the attention of passersby. I’m always tempted to slow my car down for a closer look, but then I think of what would fill my own “FREE!” box, if I were to have one — old clothes, my Walkman from 8th grade that only plays cassettes backwards, sunglasses with lenses so warped that they cause headaches, and many other objects that have rendered themselves useless in my life and are only causing clutter. These things all have just enough sentimental value to them that, year after year, I’m prevented from pitching them in the trash.
When we give away our stuff for free, we truly hope that someone else will find use, pleasure or beauty in the things we no longer want. We receive free things throughout the year that make us very happy, especially on holidays, yet we don’t refer to these treasures as “free stuff.” Instead we call them “gifts.” I’m rarely skeptical of any gift given to me, but I can’t help but wonder when I read the “Freebies” section of the classified ads. Why are you trying to find a new home for your two-year-old old Border Collie who is so sweet and great with kids? What’s wrong with the refrigerator that’s free if I come and haul it away? Perhaps it’s the doubt that comes from too many telemarketing scams, too many Internet pop-ups promising free vacations, too many infomercials selling overpriced gadgets.
“There is no such thing as a free lunch,” but we are often offered free kittens, free garage sale leftovers, and, of course, free advice. You never thought you would need another outdated computer printer that prints only in purple ink, but if it’s sitting in a beat up cardboard box at the end of someone’s driveway with a “FREE!” sign attached, there must be some use for it. Getting stuff for free is the ultimate bargain. After all, no one will pay you to take junk off of their hands, that’s the job for garbage collectors.
Posted by editor at 08:57 PM | Comments (0)
No more politics, please
We always pick up a copy of the Glen Arbor Sun. It has been a wholesome paper with informative human interest articles. Truly a pleasure to read. Not so with the August 26, 2004 issue. I was surprised and disappointed to see it go political. It apearrs the article regarding President Bush was intentionally mean spirited. Some information was not factual. The President was at the Grand Traverse Resort, but did not play golf as [the editor] states. (I called the pro shop) [The editor] refers to President Bush as the "ACTING" commander in chief. In truth, he is the "ACTUAL", not the acting commander. Was it intentionally degrading or an error? I hope the Sun does not become a place for political debate, or political support for any political party. If such were to happen, I fear the Sun may be frequently used as a garbage wrapper.
Continue the good old times please.
Regards, Jim Dorsey
“We all live downstream”
To the editor,
My husband and I enjoy the Glen Arbor Sun. It is an excellent newspaper and a great addition to the area. We wish you many years of continued success. Two of our children have worked as professional journalists. We know it is a challenging profession!
The article titled, “’Not in my backyard’ — Homestead sewage issue seeps to the surface” is of particular interest to us (great headline).
We live at 5014 S. Wood Ridge Road in the Skippers Woods section of The Homestead.
We have been visiting the area since about 1970 and built a home in The Homestead about 1980.
We share the concerns mentioned in your article as expressed by representatives of AFSDWAL. We have not met the members of that group, however.
I left a message on the voice mail of AFSDWAL president, Pamela Murphy, to let her know that contrary to her statement quoted on page 1 of your 8/26 article, there is at least one Homestead house that is on a private well. It is ours.
It is our belief that other Homestead properties were on private wells at one time. We do not know if all have converted to The Homestead water system. We have not.
We own several wooded lots adjacent to the one on which our house is located. Our eastern boundary is the SBDNL (National Lakeshore). We have been deeply concerned for some time about the wastewater treatment facility of The Homestead and the spray fields they are using that are within SBDNL. Those spray fields are north and a little east of our property.
Our concerns are not limited to our personal interests. We believe that a high quality natural environment should be maintained throughout the area because it is in the best interests of us all. "We all live downstream", as they say.
Sincerely,
Ann T. Hackett (John)
Keene, NH / Glen Arbor, MI
Posted by editor at 07:59 PM | Comments (0)
Haughn’s keep it local
By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
Dave and Susan Haughn are the new owners of the Maple Lane Resort on the south shore of Little Glen Lake. Residents of Burdickville, Dave (a teacher in the Traverse City school system) and Susan (a social worker/therapist) are delighted to be moonlighting at Maple Lane Resort on Dorsey Road. “We are happy to be able to keep a local business in the hands of locals,” Dave said. The Haughns bought the popular resort from Kent and Laura Smith, the owners for 23 years. “It has been a motel/resort since the 60’s when it was owned by Mr. Hodge,” Dave explains. Originally just a 10-unit motel, the Maple Lane Resort added a second story in 1987. “The office and manager’s quarters are in the main Victorian house, and there are three bed & breakfast guestrooms upstairs. Bob and Linda Turner of the Lakeshore Inn are our managers. We also feature a carriage house with apartments,” Susan continues, “a ‘gathering room’ with toys, books, and a player piano, and a kitchen for the guests who don’t have a kitchenette.” So there are now 26 units in all.
Besides offering quality rooms and apartments, the Maple Lane Resort hosts small weddings, wedding and baby showers, and office parties in the 200 square foot ‘gathering room.’ Dave continues, “We have a website with 360 degree views of rooms, all of which are uniquely decorated. One, for example, has a Victorian theme with a sleigh-style day bed. The web address is www.maplelaneresort.com. We’ve been getting 250 hits per day!”
How has the transition to summer resort owners been for Dave and Susan Haugh? “We closed on June 11, and it has been a mad sprint since then, like the movie Groundhog Day. Time stood still! It wasn’t really painful, but it was exciting, fun work getting ready for high season. June was a long month of work.”
Because it is under local ownership, Maple Lane Resort will be open throughout the year and offer docent-led hikes, cross-country ski trips and menus from all of the local restaurants. The Haughns know every trail and eatery in these parts, so visitors who stay will be pointed or led in all of the right directions.
Posted by editor at 06:02 PM | Comments (0)