Columns

Mike’s Musings: Recalling a grassfire that I started, and praising those that rescue us

Mike’s Musings: Recalling a grassfire that I started, and praising those that rescue us

Editorial StaffNov 13, 20243 min read

I missed Fire Prevention Week by a month, but I do want to send a shout out to the brave firefighters in this country.I have never had a fire burn down my house (fortunately) but I did have a grass…

Looking Out: Say it right

Editorial StaffNov 8, 20243 min read

by Jim Whitehouse Something just occurred to me. Back in my youth, I was on a track team. I was a shot putter. I put the shot. I practiced putting the shot. Later, I took up golf, which swallowed me…

Out and About: Patriotic celebrations, Thanksgiving, and volunteering

Out and About: Patriotic celebrations, Thanksgiving, and volunteering

Editorial StaffNov 8, 20243 min read

“One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One Nation evermore!” -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.A SECRET TO A LASTING RELATIONSHIPA real lasting relationship requires a lot of tolerance. You have to accept that the other person is not perfect. Disappointments,…

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: I’ll never be a hunter

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: I’ll never be a hunter

Editorial StaffNov 8, 20243 min read

I can’t believe Deer Hunting (gun season) is only one week away now.I grew up in an honest to goodness hunting family.Dad taught me gun safety before there were classes for such things and I have very fond memories of…

May I Walk with You? WHERE ARE THE MEN?

May I Walk with You? WHERE ARE THE MEN?

Editorial StaffNov 8, 20242 min read

In a conversation I had with a fellow teacher years ago, she lamented that all the good men had been taken. She was a single mom, with a young son, who was doing her best to hold down a teaching…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial StaffNov 6, 20244 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorAll Things PassAh, joys of being a weekly print paper. We go to press on election Tuesdays long before polls close, so our Thursday-dated issues come out sans outcomes.Of course, readers who care can learn them on our…

Mike’s Musings: Here’s Hoping Civility Will Reign Once Election Over

Mike’s Musings: Here’s Hoping Civility Will Reign Once Election Over

Editorial StaffNov 6, 20243 min read

I’m writing this on Election Day. I have no idea who is going to win the presidential race, but I do fear whoever wins, there will be discord in our nation. I have had this uneasy feeling in my stomach…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffNov 6, 20244 min read

Because of the newspaper deadline, I am writing this just before the election so it is at the office in time to be published two days after the election and five before Veterans Day. This year, these two days flow…

Out and About: DST, Election Day, and cold-weather tips

Out and About: DST, Election Day, and cold-weather tips

Editorial StaffNov 1, 20243 min read

Next Sunday, Nov. 3, Daylight Savings Time comes to an end. I try to mention this time change twice a year, because there’s always someone who forgets to reset their clocks. This time we set our clocks back one hour,…

May I Walk with You? CHILDREN IN CHURCH

May I Walk with You? CHILDREN IN CHURCH

Editorial StaffNov 1, 20243 min read

Recently, I was stunned by a fellow church goer who witnessed another fellow church goer verbally criticizing a parent whose preschool children were not paying attention, but playing. The message was, “You need to make your kids behave! They bother…

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…