Saugatuck/Douglas Commercial Record

Trailblazers suffer first loss in hard-fought game

Editorial Staff Jan 28, 2026 3 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports EditorMUSKEGON—It’s been said that all good things must eventually come to an end.For the Saugatuck girls basketball team, the end of its season-opening winning streak ended at the hands of host Western Michigan Christian on Thursday, Jan.…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial Staff Jan 28, 2026 4 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorAm I Dead Yet?Hell froze over last week, along with the rest of Michigan. Trees were exploding everywhere. That’s right. “During spells of extreme cold,” notes the National Forest Foundation, “when trees haven’t had time to acclimate, the…

Snow day

Snow day

Editorial Staff Jan 28, 2026 1 min read

There’s no day like a snow day. Local students and others had plenty of opportunity to bundle up and head into an Arctic outdoors last week. Where’s global warming when we need it? (Photo by Scott Sullivan)

Saugatuck pub crawl calls heat up

Saugatuck pub crawl calls heat up

Editorial Staff Jan 28, 2026 3 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorIt looks like another banner year for banners advertising pub crawls hung under Saugatuck’s iconic pallet sign at Lake Street and Blue Star HighwayCity council Monday approved requests from the Red Horse Center inviting all to the Saugatuck…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial Staff Jan 28, 2026 6 min read

It’s been a quarter-century since the death knell sounded for those old chests of drawers in libraries.Were you card-carrying member of the Olds era, you remember them. Three sections of cards, alphabetically organized according to author, subject, or title.We started…

Mike’s Musings: Greenland Matters to U.S. Security — But Its People Should Choose Its Future

Mike’s Musings: Greenland Matters to U.S. Security — But Its People Should Choose Its Future

Editorial Staff Jan 28, 2026 4 min read

My son and I have always toyed with the idea of living in Greenland. I being drawn to the heat, couldn’t survive 50 degrees below zero. My son on the other hand is drawn towards the cold and has fancied…

Saugatuck boys earn first victory of the season

Editorial Staff Jan 21, 2026 2 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports EditorIt’s been said that good things come to those who wait.That was the case for the Saugatuck boys basketball team.After dropping their first eight games of the season, the Trailblazers broke into the win column thanks to…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial Staff Jan 21, 2026 4 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorTrumping the SharkThere’s go big or go home, then there’s stealing a shark out of an aquarium. Three sharknappers did so in San Antonio last month, smuggling it out in a baby stroller.Viewers’ knee-jerk reaction to coo at…

Proposed Enclave would add 36 township homes

Proposed Enclave would add 36 township homes

Editorial Staff Jan 21, 2026 4 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorThe Saugatuck Township Planning Commission was scheduled Tuesday, Jan. 20 to weigh a proposed 36-unit The Enclave condominium development on 9.718 acres at 6549 Old Allegan Road, adjacent to Blue Star Highway.Johnny Walker, with Exxel Engineering, on Dec.…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial Staff Jan 21, 2026 6 min read

1-22 Stoppel-cr By G.C. StoppelTwice, in less than 12 hours and from two different sources, I heard basically the same message on how to deal with the swirling chaos in much of the news.The first was when I watched the…

Mike’s Musings: The roadblocks to a cancer cure are frustrating

Mike’s Musings: The roadblocks to a cancer cure are frustrating

Editorial Staff Jan 21, 2026 4 min read

Every few years, the same frustrated question resurfaces: With all the money, technology and brainpower in the world, why haven’t we cured cancer yet? It’s a fair question. We’ve put men on the moon, decoded the human genome and carry…

British TikTok duo visit South Haven, Saugatuck

British TikTok duo visit South Haven, Saugatuck

Jordan Wilcox Jan 15, 2026 4 min read

Jordan WilcoxAssistant Publisher The United States often fascinates those from other countries. From food, sports, and politics to nearly everything in between, American life can feel markedly different from the typical European experience. One of its greatest marvels is the…

Saugatuck boys come up short against Black River

Editorial Staff Jan 14, 2026 1 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports EditorAs far as second-year Saugatuck boys basketball coach Ty Rock was concerned, effort was not an issue in his team’s SAC Central contest with host Holland Black River on Friday, Jan. 9.“The guys played hard,” Rock said.Rather,…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial Staff Jan 14, 2026 4 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorAge of InnocenceI can’t tell you how many women mistake me for Tom Brady. Is it my movie star looks? Seven Superbowl rings? Status as football’s GOAT? Untold millions?“No,” said Madge at the Pullman Tavern. “It’s your personality.…

Winter seeds flourish at SCA

Winter seeds flourish at SCA

Editorial Staff Jan 14, 2026 1 min read

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

New Baldy restrooms now near-complete

Editorial Staff Jan 14, 2026 2 min read

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

Life as Performance Art

Editorial Staff Jan 14, 2026 5 min read

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?

Mike’s Musings: It’s 2026. Why Is the IRS Still Stuck in the Past?

Editorial Staff Jan 14, 2026 3 min read

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

Editorial Staff Jan 7, 2026 3 min read

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

Editorial Staff Jan 7, 2026 2 min read

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…