Columns

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Laundry baskets and junk drawers

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Laundry baskets and junk drawers

Editorial StaffNov 1, 20244 min read

I have been sewing or on this computer all week long and this place looks like it.You would think with just the two of us living here it would stay pretty neat.Not so, my floor is covered in thread, scraps…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial StaffOct 30, 20244 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorJust becauseyou don’t know what itmeans doesn’t meanit means nothing. We’re No. 135!Saugatuck is the third Most Zen City in Michigan and 135th in the nation, per Mission Connection. With elections looming, this is balm to know.“In our…

Mike’s Musings: Warning: Negative Political Ads Can be bad for your Health

Mike’s Musings: Warning: Negative Political Ads Can be bad for your Health

Editorial StaffOct 30, 20243 min read

I don’t know about you, but I have a headache from negative advertising. I rarely watch regular network television but last Sunday I had to turn on FOX to watch the Detroit Lions dismantle the Tennessee Titans.The Lions took care…

“Out and About” Sickness, mistakes, and fall colors

“Out and About” Sickness, mistakes, and fall colors

Editorial StaffOct 25, 20243 min read

I’ve been quite lucky when it comes to staying healthy. We made it through the COVID pandemic and feel fortunate. We have kept current with our annual vaccinations and have always watched our diets. We have done all we can…

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Halloween – Fun for grownups too

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Halloween – Fun for grownups too

Editorial StaffOct 25, 20244 min read

Happy Halloween!It’s one of my favorite holidays.As a youngster, months of planning went into the costume [my Mom loved to sew] and a trip into town on the big evening to go trick or treating was always topped off at…

May I Walk with You? ALTERNATIVE LIVING

May I Walk with You? ALTERNATIVE LIVING

Editorial StaffOct 25, 20243 min read

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, while the Viet Nam war was raging, many young people sought out different lifestyles. Some people had had enough of the way the society was becoming materialistic, saw the futility of following the current…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial StaffOct 23, 20244 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorHunter’s MoonThe year’s largest supermoon, the October Hunter’s one — came and went last week.“With the leaves falling and the deer fattened,” says the Farmer’s Almanac, “it is time to hunt. Since the harvesters have reaped the fields,…

Life as Performance Art: Life as Conspiracy theories

Life as Performance Art: Life as Conspiracy theories

Editorial StaffOct 23, 20246 min read

     Just before he left the White House for the last time, President Eisenhower warned the nation about the dangers and threats of the Military Industrial Complex.  To simplify it, the military was always looking for new and better weapons,…

Mike’s Musings: Move made me realize how important one vote is

Mike’s Musings: Move made me realize how important one vote is

Editorial StaffOct 23, 20243 min read

I had the opportunity to watch SWING VOTE, a 2008 film starring Kevin Costner, that was about a down on his luck, fired from his job, alcoholic in New Mexico, that had the voter machine eat his ballot as he…

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Cooler weather coming – that means Halloween!

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Cooler weather coming – that means Halloween!

Editorial StaffOct 18, 20243 min read

Well, with the middle of October gone by now, it looks like our brief revisit of summer temperatures may be just about over with. It has been a bit cooler this week but we might get a brief reprieve. The…

May I Walk with You? IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!

May I Walk with You? IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!

Editorial StaffOct 18, 20242 min read

Why is it that we seem to worry more in the middle of the night? The common accepted thought is that the more rational part of our brain sleeps while the irrational part keeps on. It’s at those times that…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial StaffOct 17, 20244 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorBlowupIt was a tough week for Tropicanas. LasVegas blew up the Tropicana Oct. 9, then Hurricane Milton ripped the roof off Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., hours later.The former hotel and casino, the Sin City Strip’s last…

Mike’s Musings: My fear of “Bambi” makes me a nervous Driver

Mike’s Musings: My fear of “Bambi” makes me a nervous Driver

Editorial StaffOct 17, 20243 min read

The social media memes showing vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz fumbling with loading his shotgun at a pheasant hunt reminded that this is the time of year when my mind sometimes wanders to “Bambi” and the confrontations I have had with…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffOct 17, 20244 min read

I read an online religious news service article saying hunting was a form of conservation fulfilling God’s instructions to Adam and Eve to take dominion over the earth. That is an interesting perspective.For many years The Commercial Record printed a…

“Out and About” Writing, Painting, and Indigenous Peoples’ Day

“Out and About” Writing, Painting, and Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Editorial StaffOct 14, 20243 min read

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” -Zig ZiglarLast week I had the privilege to meet with a group of writers. They are not as well known as they should be,…

HISTORICAL NOTEBOOK

HISTORICAL NOTEBOOK

Editorial StaffOct 14, 20243 min read

By Frank Passic LAKE SHORE RAILROAD ONCE SERVICED ALBION             With the mention of Jackson County railroads a few weeks ago in this publication, we are reminded that Albion has its own memorable railroad history which was a part of…

Looking Out: The best thing about autumn

Editorial StaffOct 14, 20244 min read

by Jim Whitehouse “What’s your favorite season of the year?” I ask my pal Snooker. I’m hoping he says winter so I don’t have to feel like the Lone Ranger about my own preference. “Fall,” he says, taking a sip…

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: You can sure tell it is October in an election year

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: You can sure tell it is October in an election year

Editorial StaffOct 14, 20243 min read

I know I’ve written quite a lot about fall lately, but this has sure been a beautiful week. Lots of sunshine, cooler weather, low humidity and trees are beginning to show color all over the area. I believe the color…

May I Walk with You? WAR AND RELIGION

May I Walk with You? WAR AND RELIGION

Editorial StaffOct 14, 20243 min read

Someone said to me recently that most of the wars ever fought were over religion. It was as if he was blaming war on religion and that if we did away with religion and religious people that there would be…