Oompa Loompa!
The Saugatuck Public Schools Drama Club presentation of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” Friday through Sunday, Jan. 31 through Feb. 2, drew appreciative audiences and a large cast including (from left) Petra Johnson, Elizabeth Moorer, Annika Vanderbeek, Greta Stockburger, Joey…
Genetski pulls out of Laketown search
By Jim HaydenCorrespondentDoes anyone want to be Laketown Township manager?Allegan County clerk and Saugatuck resident Bob Genetski last week withdrew his name from consideration for the position vacated Jan. 3 after 35-year manager Al Meshkin retired.In an email dated 1:34…
Obituary: Patricia Dewey
Patricia Dewey, 97 Patricia Dewey of Saugatuck passed away at 97 on Jan. 29, marking the end of an era. A native of Chicago, Pat began her lifelong artistic journey at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)…
Obituary: Nancy McKenna
Nancy McKenna, 69 Nancy McKenna, 69, of Annapolis, Md., passed away on Jan. 26, 2025, after a four-year battle with ovarian cancer. Until the end, she valiantly maintained her sense of humor, with a ready smile for her medical team…
Mike’s Musings: Even county governments spend unwisely: Case study, Allegan County
Our government, whether it is at the local, county, state or federal level, makes numerous decisions on how they spend taxpayers’ money. Some we can agree with, some we can’t. I would like to think with the advent of social…
Life as Performance Art
Sixty years ago a classmate said something insulting and demeaning. It left me with a choice: I could either turn his nose to 12 or tattle to the teacher. I chose the latter and right after school he turned my…
Saugatuck boys fall at Galesburg
By Jason WesseldykSports EditorGALESBURG—The results might not have been there, but the effort was.That was Saugatuck boys basketball coach Ty Rock’s takeaway from his team’s SAC showdown with Galesburg-Augusta on Friday, Jan. 24.The Trailblazers fell behind 13-7 in the opening…
Obituary: Deborah Beaman
Deborah Mary (Payne) Beaman passed away Jan. 20, 2025. Deborah was born Feb. 15, 1949 in Grand Rapids to Lloyd and Arlene (Clum) Payne. She graduated from Grandville High School and Western Michigan University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts…
Obituary: Joan Brigham
After 100 years living in our rapidly changing world, Joan Eddy Brigham (Kathryn Joan Eddy) left an indelible impression on the lives of many people. She passed peacefully on Jan. 12 in Zeeland after experiencing two strokes. In her long…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorStart Like FinnishLearning Finland is the World’s Happiest Country has plunged me into depression. By the time I pay for a 12-hour flight that will cheer me up, I’ll be too broke for a sauna, then to jump…
Tentative Ferry fix schedule set
By Scott SullivanEditorThe fix is in for Ferry Street, closed to motorized traffic since Aug. 2 after a Warnock Drain sinkhole was found nearby.Douglas City Manager Lisa Nocerini said a Jan. 22 preconstruction meeting with involved parties had slated these…
Mike’s Musings: Defund NGO’s, and do it now
If you’ve been watching the crisis at our southern border, you might wonder what has happened to the millions of illegal immigrants that crossed the border the last few years. Where do they go, and how are they supported you…
Life as Performance Art
By now we have all seen bleak photos from the fire zones in southern California. Thousands of homes, busi-nesses, churches and schools have been reduced to rubble.Other places have been so badly damaged they may have to be pulled down.…
Laketown offers Genetski post again
By Jim Hayden Correspondent The Laketown Township Board Jan. 15 to once more offer Allegan County Clerk Bob Genetski the township manager position. The 5-0 decision showed a board agreeing to put behind past disagreements. Members voted Nov. 13 to…
Library hosts free jazz Sunday
Jazz vibraphonist and teacher Jim Cooper will perform with trumpeter Kenny Cooper and John Webber on bass in a free concert Sunday, Jan. 26, at the Saugatuck-Douglas District Library, 174 Center St., Douglas, from 2 to 3 p.m. The trio…
Township weighs 35-condo ask
By Scott Sullivan Editor The Saugatuck Township Planning Commission was slated to weigh in Tuesday, Jan. 21 on a proposed 35-unit condominium development on 9.33 acres south of 135th Avenue. Koetje Builders LLC and Exxel Engineering seek preliminary site plan…
Obituary: Albert (Al) John Shaheen
Albert (Al) John Shaheen, of Douglas passed away on Jan. 11 at the age of 73, after a courageous five-month battle with glioblastoma. He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Hannah (Corey) Shaheen; his brother, Michael Shaheen (Karen);…
Saugatuck surges past Gobles in divisional battle
By Jason WesseldykSports EditorGOBLES—It was a battle of two of the top girls basketball teams in the SAC Central Division when Saugatuck traveled to Gobles on Friday, Jan. 17.And for the first quarter, it appeared as though the game would…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorRealI like anything that starts with “real.” So real estate, Realtor, realize … the four-letter prefix gives me substance. At this stage, when so much amounts to vapor, firmament like the earth I’ll be buried in soon feels…
City Hall for sale?
By Scott SullivanEditorYou can’t beat city hall, but in Douglas you might buy it. The police station too.City council was slated Tuesday, Jan. 21 to hold a groundbreaking for its soon-to-be new city hall/police station at 415 Wiley Road, then…
