Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorOfficialI can’t tell you how pleased I am that President Donald Trump has named English America’s official language. Now politicians may actually speak it. Trouble is, there’s a flip side.To start, so long to “Saugatuck” and “Michigan” whose…
Douglas outdoor dining will return
By Scott SullivanEditorDouglas City Council — urged by 51 letters or emails to expand outdoor dining in public rights-of-way — agreed to do so Monday.Members at their last meeting Feb. 18 tabled doing so “for additional clarification,” city planning and…
Saugatuck courts state grant to upgrade courts
By Scott SullivanEditorSaugatuck, which last year replaced children’s playground equipment in Village Square Park, is now seeking funds fund to improve its tennis and basketball courts.City council Feb. 24 approved paying engineer Fleis & VandenBrink $3,600 to prepare a Michigan…
Life as Performance Art
American psychiatrist William Glasser, mid-1960s founder of Reality Therapy and author of “Choice Theoryy,” died more than a decade ago. He was never well received by followers of Freud, Jung and others in his field. According to one story, Glasser…
Mike’s Musings: Send us those $5000 checks, DOGE
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has received a lot of attention in the news lately. Led by Elon Musk, his minions of young computer nerds have found billions of dollars of waste and fraud taking place in our vast…
Saugatuck girls clinch second straight divisional title
By Jason WesseldykSports EditorIt appeared as though the Saugatuck girls basketball team was going to have a tough game on Friday, Feb. 21, as visiting Gobles jumped out to an 8-0 lead.But as is so often the case, appearances can…
Obituary: Yvonne Joyce Koppenaal
Yvonne Joyce Koppenaal, age 91, passed away surrounded by family on Feb. 21, 2025.Growing up, Yvonne entered the workforce at age 15, working as a “pinky” at Holland Hospital. She eventually began a long retail career in Saugatuck, where she…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorGonePresident Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should heed Saugatuck, which formed a board that never met.The city 15 years ago appointed a Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area Management Board charged with overseeing the then newly-acquired…
Beard nominee hews to local roots
By Scott SullivanEditorFrom Chicago to Me., Chicago to Me. to here. So’s the road gone for Missy Corey, who, with help from Pennyroyal Café and Provisions partner Ryan Beck, has won a James Beard Award semifinalist designation.While growing up in…
Cook Park willow gone, still gives
By Scott SullivanEditorThere will be no tying yellow ribbons around Cook Park’s old willow tree now that all but its stump is gone.Saugatuck Department of Public Works Supervisor Scott Herbert told city council Monday leveling of the 150-year-old icon, partially…
Mike’s Musings: How do our public servants amass their huge new worths?
I often wonder if I chose the wrong profession. Don’t get me wrong I love my work, but sometimes toiling 60 hours a week becomes kind of a drag at my age.I should have run for election and become a…
Life as Performance Art
I find it hard to keep up with all the executive orders being signed by our President, then trying to understand how they might impact my life.One of Trump’s orders that caught my attention directed the people in charge of…
Noodles dish wins prize
Saugatuck’s new Singapore Room restaurant won first place for its Dan Dan Noodles at the 2025 Great Rotary Asian Noodle Cookoff Feb. 1. Seven Asian restaurants ranging also from Holland to Grand Rapids took part in the competition, which raised…
Conservation group cites Baldwin
RiverWood Council, a group dedicated to the conservation and stewardship of natural areas, has presented its inaugural Environmental Action Award to Helen Baldwin. The seventh-year group cited Baldwin’s dedication towards those ends while serving on Saugatuck City Council. As chair…
Saugatuck girls post three victories in four days
By Jason WesseldykSports EditorHOLLAND—In 2010, DJ Khaled released the song “All I Do is Win,” with a little help from T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross.Given the way the Saugatuck girls basketball team has been playing this season, that…
Douglas seeks $ selling surplus sites
By Scott SullivanEditorDouglas efforts to prop up coffers for a new city hall/police station were set to take steps Tuesday with city council hearing the first reading of an ordinance to list 16.4 acres at 6825 Wiley Road as surplus…
Tribute Rosie to speak here for Armed Forces Day
By Scott SullivanEditorMichigan woman Clair Kitchin Dahl will offer her “Rosie, the Riveter” synopsis as keynote speaker during the 13th annual Saugatuck-Douglas Armed Forces Day Luncheon Saturday, May 17, at Community Church of Douglas.“Rosie” was literal poster girl for United…
Mike’s Musings: Engaging with scammers- don’t follow my son’s lead
I was talking with my son recently, and somehow we got on the topic of these pre-recorded prank calls he used to get. Unlike most of us he enjoys engaging with these pranksters. He know they are fraudsters but gets…
Life as Performance Art
BY G.C. STOPPELI came to know John Thistle when we played bagpipes in the Fourth Battalion of the West Mosby Volunteers Band. The name came from a tiny village a few miles outside of Mosby, Mont. He was a good…
Saugatuck boys drop three games
It was a busy stretch for the Saugatuck boys basketball team, with the Trailblazers playing three games in four days.Unfortunately for the Trailblazers, they dropped all three of those contests, falling to Muskego Catholic Central (67-22 on Tuesday, Feb. 5),…
