Saugatuck/Douglas Commercial Record

Easter fun returns

Easter fun returns

Editorial StaffApr 20, 20221 min read

Traditional Easter festivities — bonnet contest, parade and kids’ egg/candy hunt — returned to Douglas Sunday courtesy Ruoff Mortgates. For more pictures, see inside. (Phtoo by Scott Sullivan)

Saugatuck expands Social District year-round

Saugatuck expands Social District year-round

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20223 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Remember Saugatuck’s off-season Social District, launched two years ago to help licensed downtown alcohol-selling businesses to deal with indoor Covid-19 social distancing strictures? Now, as in neighbor Douglas, it will extend year-round. City council Monday agreed…

Douglas Easter festivities return Sunday

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20221 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Easter festivities will return to downtown Douglas this Sunday after two years off due to Covid-19 restrictions. Fun, sponsored by Ruoff Mortgages, will include a bonnet contest, parade and egg hunt in the downtown area. The…

Hutchins Lake marina hearing set

Hutchins Lake marina hearing set

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20223 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR A developer’s marina proposal for Hutchins Lake two miles southwest of Fennville will be subject of a state online public hearing Monday, May 9, starting at 6 p.m. David DeGroot of the DeGroot Family is seeking…

Campbell work to cost cities more

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20224 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Dig in, who knows what you’ll find? Such is the case with Campbell Road improvements being shared by Saugatuck and Douglas, project engineers say. Saugatuck’s council Monday approved the city’s additional $17,400 share of the $39,500…

Mistake from lest week

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20221 min read

Last week’s story “City OKs plan for structure already built” was based on erroneous Douglas Planning Commission draft minutes posted by the city accidentally. The Dunes Resort did demolish a pool onsite lacking proper permits — because of a miscommunication…

Obituary-Linda VanderLaan

Obituary-Linda VanderLaan

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20222 min read

Linda Jane VanderLaan, age 81, of Fennville passed away Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at Douglas Cove Healthcare Center.  Born to William and Virginia (Bierly) Lucus of Columbus, Ohio on Jan. 31, 1941. Linda was raised as the oldest of three daughters…

Colleges should focus on more practical, less theory

Colleges should focus on more practical, less theory

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20223 min read

By Mike WilcoxPublisherI read a report a few days ago that lamented the decline in college enrollment in the state of Michigan, and the United States for that matter.Here, Central Michigan University was down nearly 50 percent over the past…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20225 min read

By G. Corwin StoppelRobert “Bob” Ingersoll died just before the 20th century started and his name soon slipped into obscurity. Like his father, Congregationalist Rev. Robert Ingersoll, he was a target and magnet because of his outspoken and frequently unpopular…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20225 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorOops …We are all heirs to being human. Divine is another matter. Last week’s front page had not one but two stories sharing misinformation based on errant sources.As a journalist I can get away with, “I guarantee it…

Made in the Shades

Made in the Shades

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20221 min read
Campbell Road work to cost cities more

Campbell Road work to cost cities more

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20224 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorDig in, who knows what you’ll find? Such is the case with Campbell Road improvements being shared by Saugatuck and Douglas, project engineers say.Saugatuck’s council Monday approved the city’s additional $17,400 share of the $39,500 added engineering services…

Setting things straight …

Editorial StaffApr 13, 20221 min read

Last week’s story “City OKs plan for structure already built” was based on erroneous Douglas Planning Commission draft minutes posted by the city accidentally.The Dunes Resort did demolish a pool onsite lacking proper permits — because of a miscommunication with…

Mike’s Musings: U.S. Congress needs term limits

Mike’s Musings: U.S. Congress needs term limits

Editorial StaffApr 6, 20223 min read

By Mike WilcoxPublisherI’ve been a proponent of term limits for a long time. I believe at too many federal level lawmakers make politics a lifelong career, which was not the intention of our Founding Fathers.Don Young, Alaska’s congressman for 50…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffApr 6, 20224 min read

By G.C. StoppelIf your vacation plans this year include Washington, D.C., be careful. Folks at the National Archives Museum are making sure you will not be traumatized, outraged or otherwise disgruntled by displays of historic documents.Next to an original copy…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial StaffApr 6, 20224 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorInformation ParadoxWe all know black holes are all-devouring dead star corpses made of millions of tons of stellar ash compressed into an infinitely-dense point whose gravity is so strong it warps space and time; not even light can…

Springing to life

Springing to life

Editorial StaffApr 6, 20221 min read

Few things better than spring on the shore in the spring of life, when you can wear cool clothes and be photogenic to boot. (Photo by Scott Sullivan)

City OKs plan for structure already built

Editorial StaffApr 6, 20224 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorBetter late than never may be the case with The Dunes Resort, where an accessory building’s site plan review was approved by the Douglas Planning Commission after it had been erected, with conditions.City council Monday scheduled a special…

Douglas man sentenced for hit-and-run

Douglas man sentenced for hit-and-run

Editorial StaffApr 6, 20222 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorA Douglas man who pleaded no contest to a June 20 hit-and-run that killed an 88-year-old woman was sentenced last week to one year in jail and three years of probation for failure to stop at the scene…

Safe Harbor Marinas buys Tower, SYS

Safe Harbor Marinas buys Tower, SYS

Editorial StaffMar 30, 20224 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Tower Marine of Douglas and Saugatuck Yacht Service have been sold after 65 years in the Peterson family to Safe Harbor Marinas. Safe Harbor, the world’s largest owner and operator of marinas, with more than 130…