Mike’s Musings: STR’s Are They good or bad?
STR’s, or in layman’s terms, Short Term Rentals are a hot topic all over the United States, and even abroad, but nowhere are they a heated topic of discussion than in resort communities.In the areas, some of my newspapers cover,…
Clare freshman posted impressive softball season
By John RaffelCorrespondent CLARE – Clare’s softball team had a memorable season which led the Pioneers to the state Division 3 semifinals where they lost 1-0 to Ottawa Lake Whiteford.Among the key reasons for the Pioneers’ success was the play…
Former Marion athlete performs for Michigan rowing
By John RaffelCorrespondent MARION – Georgia Meyer was an extremely successful athlete at Marion in sports such as softball, volleyball and basketball before graduating in 2023. But this most recent season she had a unique and successful career on the…
Obituary: James “Jimmy” Travis Harville
James “Jimmy” Travis Harville, beloved father, grandfather, and friend, passed away on July 1, 2024, at the age of 77. He was born on October 14, 1946, in Glen, MS, and most recently resided in Farwell, MI.Jimmy had a deep…
Obituary: James Peter Ritsema
James Peter Ritsema, age 65 of Marion passed away at his home on July 1, 2024 following a short illness. He was born on April 9, 1959 in Grand Rapids to Peter and Lois (Quist) Ritsema.He had worked at Herman…
Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Mid-summer – fairs, festivals and reunions!
Another holiday is over and the middle of summer – on my calendar anyway – is almost here.Actually that is kind of depressing.I count the summer season as three months long: June, July and August. The 15th of July is…
Postcard from the Pines: Still rockin’ after all these years…
In the ‘Where has the time gone?’ department, it was just the sixtieth anniversary of the release of the Beatles first album in Britain. It was swiftly followed by the Meet the Beatles album here. I own that album, all…
May I Walk with You? SYMPTOMS
When a person gets a cold they have symptoms. Usually they have a fever, runny nose, congestion, fatigue, chills, and sleepiness. The common folk diagnosis is that they have a cold, and the symptoms point to it. One of the…
Downtown Clare crash knocks out power, leaves two injured
By Pat MaurerCorrespondent Downtown Clare was “in the dark” Saturday night after a two-car crash around 9:45 pm caused a power outage that lasted about eight hours, according to Clare Police Chief Dave Saad. He said the traffic light was…
MyMichigan’s Clare hospital to break ground on expansion project
MyMichigan Health will break ground on MyMichigan Medical Center Clare’s Expansion and Revitalization Project on Monday, July 15. The community is invited to join in the celebration set outside the Medical Center’s Emergency Department from 4 to 5:30 p.m.“MyMichigan Health…
Misunderstanding leads to tense meeting in Village of Marion
By Genine Hopkins What started as a misunderstanding between the new campground manager and citizens trying to utilize the park and path on the village owned portion of the fairgrounds in Marion, blew up Facebook and resulted in an extremely…
Redding Township sees changes in Transfer Station contracts
By Genine Hopkins At the June 19th regular board meeting in Redding Township, a vote was made to sign new contracts with Waste Management for the eight, 8 yard dumpsters that provides the township with free recycling, but a move…
Mike’s Musings: Assange finally freed, but more accountability needed
One could not escape all the clutter on the airwaves and internet concerning the debate between Biden and Trump this past week. The subject was pontificated on at length, everywhere. How badly did Biden, lose, everyone asked. Will he pull…
Clare baseball infielder earns All-State honors
By John RaffelCorrespondent CLARE – Junior infielder Ryan Louch from Clare earned all-state honors from the Michigan High School Coaches Baseball Association and for good reason.Louch played a huge role in the Pioneers drive to district and regional baseball championships…
Local softball team stays busy
By John RaffelCorespondent MARION – Marion softball coach Ryan Raymond is coaching a Michigan Expos summer team which was in action last weekend in a Traverse City tournament.Raymond’s team includes his daughter Malley Raymond and seven girls from Evart plus…
Obituary: Martin James Scott
Martin James Scott, age 74, of Farwell, passed away peacefully on Monday, June 17, 2024, at his home. Per Martin’s wishes, cremation has taken place at Daisy Hill Crematory in Mt. Pleasant. A Celebration of Life will take place at…
Obituary: Richard Lee (“Dick”) Snyder
Richard Lee (“Dick”) Snyder, age 95, died Wednesday, April 17, 2024, nine days short of his 96th birthday.Dick was the eldest child of Raymond and Esther (Winship) Snyder. He was born April 26th, 1928, in Buffalo, New York and spent…
May I Walk with You? MORAL CONFUSION
Recently, I’ve been talking about morality with some people who are confused. They tell me that the advice they get depends on the educated opinion of the person they are seeking advice from. They complained that even ministers, clergy, offer…
Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Summer Nights – I’m missing living on the Tobacco
This time of year the newspaper business is pretty hectic.Even though I do all of my work out of this “home office” now, some weeks it seems like I am just about glued to this computer chair.I find I have…
Postcard from the Pines: A chip off the old Block
It’s no secret that I am fond of old things and have, through the years, gathered a rather unusual collection of bits and pieces of Marion memorabilia. For example, I have a galvanized piece from a windmill ‘tail’ with Morton’s…
