Winter seeds flourish at SCA
By Scott SullivanEditorThe hand-sewn “seeds” shown above, part of Kayla Powers’ exhibit “Interwoven: The Art of Flourishing Together,” can be shared and sown at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts through May 8.Michigan-rooted textile artist Kayla Powers, 37, notes they…
New Baldy restrooms now near-complete
By Scott SullivanEditorSaugatuck City Council Monday approved Fleis & Vandenbrink Engineering-recommended change orders for its now substantially-completed new restrooms at Mt. Baldhead Park.This city last spring contracted low bidder Midwest Construction to do the work for $298,000, budgeting contingency costs…
Life as Performance Art
The year that my late wife Pat turned 95, MENSA sent a reporter to interview her about her nine decades as a professional artist and writer.The writer first asked who or what inspired her to become an artist. Pat explained…
Mike’s Musings: It’s 2026. Why Is the IRS Still Stuck in the Past?
Not long ago, I set aside part of my workday to ask the Internal Revenue Service a simple question. This wasn’t a complicated audit issue or a dispute over taxes owed. It was a basic inquiry that should have taken…
Douglas man is pickleball champion
Peter Colvin of Douglas and doubles partner Mark Mark Kenworthy of Grand Rapids, who qualified for the U.S. Senior Pickleball Nationals Dec. 5-9 in Daytona Beach by winning the Northern Regionals Doubles Tournament. But they placed just ninth. “It wasn’t…
Douglas OKs Wildwood entry sign
By Scott Sullivan Editor The Wildwood Lane Association can place a new monument sign at its entrance after Douglas City Council Monday a planned unit development amendment allowing it. The site condominium development, city planning and zoning administrator Sean Homyen…
Eder joins Trail Friends board
Bob Eder of Saugatuck Township has joined the Friends of the Blue Star Trail board of directors. Eder and his wife Janet relocated here from Chicago in 2020, moving into a vacation home they have owned since 2008. He is…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorMr. Sunshine“In the depth of winter, I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus Good ol’ Al, Mr. Sunshine. Camus’ opening for “The Stranger”: “Mother died yesterday. Or perhaps today. I’m not sure,”…
Downhill duck
Not all ducks fly, though this one did at least metaphorically down the Schultz Park sled hill last week. (Photo by Scott Sullivan
Last call for old Red Barn Playhouse
By Jim HaydenCorrespondentThe final curtain call for a Saugatuck barn that hosted summer plays for almost 50 years is coming in 2026.The former Red Barn, at 6357 63rd St. northeast of town, is expected to be razed and replaced with…
Mike’s Musings: Airing the Grievances: The Worst of Washington’s Waste
Every December, Sen. Rand Paul releases his annual Festivus Report, a nod to the fictional holiday made famous by Seinfeld. The tradition includes an “airing of grievances,” and for taxpayers, there is no shortage of them.I just got the opportunity…
Life as Performance Art
When the holiday season began to wind down I checked the little recipe box that contained the names and addresses of people on our Christmas card list. Every year a few new names are added. Every year a few more names get…
Fiery semi crash closes roads
By Scott SullivanEditorMonday’s blizzard brought chaos to local roads when a northbound semi slid off I-196, plunged down the Old Allegan Road overpass and caught fire there.First responders — who battled whiteout conditions, heavy snow and 45-60 mph wind gusts…
Isely is new Coastal Alliance head
By Scott SullivanEditorNew Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance executive director Elaine Sterrett Isely no stranger to nonprofit environmental leadership.Isely took over as the SDCA’s fulltime director Nov. 1 on heels of the group’s 17-year co-founder and board president David Swan’s announcing…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorBowl BingeThey said it was impossible — watch every holiday college bowl game — and dumb to boot, which meant somebody had to do it. Why not me?First things first: head to Tiny Giant to stock up on…
Life as Performance Art
In the 1950 movie “Harvey” Jimmy Stewart plays Elwood P. Dowd, a certifiable eccentric befriended by 6-foot invisible rabbit named Harvey.It’s a light comedy, but at one point Dowd says something meaningful: that in order to be liked, one had…
Mike’s Musings: When Silence Walks Louder Than Shouting
In a world addicted to outrage, the most radical protest I’ve seen lately involved no slogans, no megaphones, and no demands shouted into the air. It was a line of Buddhist monks walking.I first noticed this on Facebook. The monks…
Laskowski, Simpson lead Trailblazers past Clippers
By Jason WesseldykSports EditorSenior Natalia Laskowski and junior Mylah Simpson were expected to lead the offense for the Saugatuck girls basketball team this season.That was definitely the case when the Trailblazers hosted Martin on Friday, Dec. 12.Laskowski scored a game-topping…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorCall of the WildThere’s a monotony to monogamy but things could be worse. Say you’re Sherrone Moore, fired as Michigan football coach last week for having a years-long affair with a staffer, then breaking into her apartment and…
What boy
… small or alledgedly grown up, can resist watching electric trains and meeting friendly sled dogs at Christmas time? The Saugatuck-Douglas District Library offered both at its Tracks & Tails event Saturday. Lakeshore Model Railroaders (the big boys) set up…
