Columns

I get up in the morning. Take a shower. Lift some weights and do some exercises, then take a bicycle ride. Take a shower. Work in the garden and yard. Take a shower. Work in my shop and get covered…

It will be all over again tomorrow so if you want some fun to liven up your summer, there’s still time to catch a bit of it at the fairgrounds in Harrison where the 141st Clare County Fair has been…

M&J Market July 1970 Marion, Michigan has a mystical hold on those who come from here, no matter where they may be. I’ve spent considerable time thinking about the Marion phenomena, trying to understand. I’ve written about it more than…

“As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of God is at hand.’ Saint Pope John-Paul wrote this in his Encyclical letter “Redemptoris Missio”. He went on to write that the best form of evangelization is when we live a…

    On Saturday the thirteen of this month, Pat and I were out along the lakeshore for beautiful evening at Ox-Bow School of the Arts.  There is not cell phone service there, so we missed hearing the news of the…

What a week for the history books. First a former president, now the leading candidate for president, survived an assassination attempt, then his opponent, the current president announced he would no longer be running for a second term.I’m still confused…

NuclearLast week’s “STR cap may go nuclea’ anyway” story already has. Then came the shooting in Pennsylvania.I applaud Saugatuck City Council for trying to protect peace, quiet and safety in Community Residential neighborhoods. That’s what R-1 zoning is meant to…

Like many of you I was in shock when I heard there was an assassination attempt on former president Trump’s life while he was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania. It had been 43 years since the barbaric act of…

Another “Old” in the grocery checkout lane ahead of me asked the clerk, “Is this the airport?”“What do you mean?” she asked, baffled.“I’d expect to pay this much for a bottle of water there, but not here,” he said.She rolled…

Every year, in early May, Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky is the place to be if you’re a fan of horse racing. The Kentucky Derby is definitely a race like no other. Horses are beautiful animals and a thoroughbred racehorse…

Now that July 4th has come and gone, Marion’s Old Fashioned Days is rising fast on the horizon. Almost before we can turn around, we’ll be off to the Friday night Main Street Cruise, the Saturday morning parade and visiting…

Another summer week has flown by.We spent part of the holiday weekend (the 4th of July) enjoying time with family. It was my brother Jim’s 92nd birthday – quite a milestone. He told me afterwards that there were 45 and…

It’s no secret! All the churches are in desperate need of vocations! While we generally focus on vocations to the ministry, as priests, ministers, consecrated life (nuns and brothers and lay ministers), we are also desperately in need of baptisms,…

By Scott SullivanEditorChinatown“Let’s go to the Asian shop,” said Flannery.“Which Asian shop?” I asked.“The one I went to when I was 16.” That was eight years ago. “They had seaweed,” my daughter said.“I didn’t know you liked seaweed.”“I don’t,” she…

   In many ways, Jimmy Carter was a good President.  He was decent, honest, free from personal scandals, and along with his wife, Rosalind, set the example of a good long-term marriage.  A good man, but it turned out he…

STR’s, or in layman’s terms, Short Term Rentals are a hot topic all over the United States, and even abroad, but nowhere are they a heated topic of discussion than in resort communities.In the areas, some of my newspapers cover,…

“Admit it. You’re a pruning freak,” says my beloved wife Marsha with a pretty smile.             “I do enjoy trimming things,” I say. “But I’m not abnormal about it.”             “Wait a minute,” she says. “I appreciate that you give…

“The red and white and starry blue is freedom’s shield and hope.” -John Philip SousaAccording to Consumer Reports, there’s no nutritional difference between cage-free eggs and others. Cage-free means that hens weren’t raised in a cage, but there’s no guarantee…

Another holiday is over and the middle of summer – on my calendar anyway – is almost here.Actually that is kind of depressing.I count the summer season as three months long: June, July and August. The 15th of July is…

In the ‘Where has the time gone?’ department, it was just the sixtieth anniversary of the release of the Beatles first album in Britain. It was swiftly followed by the Meet the Beatles album here. I own that album, all…