Saugatuck/Douglas Commercial Record

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffFeb 16, 20225 min read

It’s the time of year when aspiring writers get out pens and big legal pads of lined yellow paper. Others find their grandparents’ manual Underwood or Royal type-writer, spray WD-40 on the ribbon to refresh it after dec-ades in the…

Mike’s Musings: Release Assange now, he has endured enough punishment

Mike’s Musings: Release Assange now, he has endured enough punishment

Editorial StaffFeb 16, 20223 min read

There are so many innocent people jailed for crimes they haven’t committed. I worked for a time, helping to expose some that were incarcerated, yet innocent. One of those, a man I truly admire is Julian Assange, and I hope…

Saugatuck girls drop close game

Editorial StaffFeb 16, 20222 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor SAUGATUCK—Playing for the third time in four nights, the Saugatuck girls basketball team dropped a 40-37 decision to visiting Galesburg-Augusta on Friday, Feb. 11.Down 30-26 after three quarters, the Trailblazers had the opportunity to tie the…

Let it Snow!

Let it Snow!

Editorial StaffFeb 16, 20221 min read

Pause global warming and enjoy while we can what comes naturally during Michigan Februaries. The Brown family did as much exploring and sliding on Mt. Baldhead Park/Oval Beach dunes last week. (Photo by Scott Sullivan)

Fifth Blue Star pot shop planned

Fifth Blue Star pot shop planned

Editorial StaffFeb 16, 20223 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorSoon there may be five marijuana providers near each other on Blue Star Highway.The Saugatuck Township Planning Commission Jan. 24 approved a special land use application from Be Positive, Best Buds to create a new dispensary on 4.86…

Douglas seeks to clear PCB block holdup

Douglas seeks to clear PCB block holdup

Editorial StaffFeb 9, 20225 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” has nothing on the ex-Douglas Haworth Plant. Melching Demolition, which in December began razing the 150,300 square-foot ex-factory and two utility buildings above ground at 200 Blue Star Hwy.,…

Township Defranco operations coordinator

Township Defranco operations coordinator

Editorial StaffFeb 9, 20222 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Resident and planning commission member Daniel DeFranco has been hired by the Saugatuck Township Board as operations coordinator on a month-to-month basis to fill the staffing gap left when members parted ways suddenly with ex-manager Joe…

Township weighs multi-color brand

Editorial StaffFeb 9, 20222 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Could the above be Saugatuck Township’s new logo? The board, after close to six months of deliberating, was slated Wednesday, Feb. 9 — too late for this week’s Commercial Record print deadline — to decide. The…

City ranks Felkers, Main projects tops

Editorial StaffFeb 9, 20224 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR So little money, so many needs. Douglas City Council, not alone facing said situation, has prioritized a Main Street water main and Felkers water, road and sewer issues tops amongeight projects members  have discussed addressing in…

New vendor to float Douglas boats

Editorial StaffFeb 9, 20224 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Douglas will have a new kayak and stand-up paddleboard rental vendor at Wade’s Bayou after 18 years. Council Monday approved granting St. Joseph-based Third Coast Surf Shop a 3-year lease to operate out of the waterfront…

Mike’s Musings: A day I don’t want to repeat

Mike’s Musings: A day I don’t want to repeat

Editorial StaffFeb 9, 20223 min read

Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. One of those days was last week, when I boarded anairplane in Orlando to Detroit.Now all I had heard days before is how this once-in-a-decade blizzard was blanketing Michigan. Iassumed…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial StaffFeb 9, 20224 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorReuleauxThe Washington Football Team formerly known as Redskins and perennially as losers has a new nickname, and I’m offended. As a woke and sensitive soul, the last thing I need is steroid-fed giants wearing pistols and bling pretending…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffFeb 9, 20225 min read

By G.C. StoppelOn a Saturday morning two somewhat related messages came across my computer.The first was from owners of Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris reminding me there would be a reading of James Joyce’s novel “Ulysses” in commemoration of the 100th…

Douglas to change kayaks in midstream

Douglas to change kayaks in midstream

Editorial StaffFeb 9, 20224 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorDouglas will have a new kayak and stand-up paddleboard rental vendor at Wade’s Bayou after 18 years.Council Monday approved granting St. Joseph-based Third Coast Surf Shop a 3-year lease to operate out of the waterfront park after its…

Into the light

Into the light

Editorial StaffFeb 9, 20221 min read

Sure it’s cold out and nights still seem to last forever. But days have been getting longer — really — for seven weeks now. This father and son took in Oval Beach last week. (Photo by Scott Sullivan)

Trailblazers fall to Watervliet, West Michigan Aviation

Trailblazers fall to Watervliet, West Michigan Aviation

Editorial StaffFeb 2, 20222 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports EditorDespite facing a 19-10 deficit at the end of the first quarter against SAC-leading Watervliet on Friday, Jan. 28, Saugatuck boys basketball coach Brian Ward had reason to be pleased.His team shot 50 percent from the field…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial StaffFeb 2, 20225 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorButterflies Are Free?Add to the Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned annals Tasha Adams, who last week released photographic evidence of elaborate escape tunnels her estranged ex-, Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes, built in their backyard.“Folks,”…

Mike’s Musings: Transgender athletes should not compete with females

Mike’s Musings: Transgender athletes should not compete with females

Editorial StaffFeb 2, 20223 min read

It took years to pass Title 9, which essentially put women’s sports on an even keel with men’s. Now female athletes enjoy the same funding, facilities, etc, that male athletes have had since high school and collegiate sports were popularized…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffFeb 2, 20226 min read

“Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me. And may there be no moan-ing of the bar when I put out to sea,” wrote Alfred Lord Tennyson. His poem, often used at funerals, came to mind after reading…

Elementary rebuild nears Completion

Elementary rebuild nears Completion

Editorial StaffFeb 2, 20222 min read

Douglas Elementary School construction Phases 1-3 are completed. “Students and teachers,” said Saugatuck Public Schools Superintendent Tim Travis last week, “are excited to begin learning in the beautiful new art, music and science rooms and four renovated early elementary classrooms.”…