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Friday, October 31, 2008

Homeless Awareness Week, Nov 9-15, 2008

If anyone knows of a homeless person in Rogers City, please let me know. Let's solve this tragedy one person at a time.

Another Scarecrow


1,001 Arabian Nights of Fun!?


Tonight is going to be fun! Halloween Parade starts at 5:30 pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church, going down Main Street (Third Street) to Michigan Ave and ending at the Fire Hall. At the Fire Hall, you will find Tricks and Treats (and other goodies). Free glow braclets will be provided at the Fire Hall by the Rogers City Police Department. Trick or Treating runs throughout the City from 5:30-7:30 pm.


Rogers City Baptist Church is sponsoring a Pumpkin Patch at the Grambau Center with games, prizes, and food from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Admission is free.


For those who want to continue to party, Nautical Lanes is sponsoring a Halloween Party from 9:30 pm until midnight. There will be glow bowling and a costume contest.


Also, Mike Myers is alive and well in Rogers City! You better read this weeks Presque Isle County Advance to discover how scared you should be....


Long Distance Fun continues on Saturday as our High School Cross County Team competes in the State finals at Brooklyn Motor Speedway. The Volleyball Team is jumping at the chance to win the District Championship. Go Hurons!


But wait, there is even more great fun! The Pajama Games a live musical comedy with great local talent will be playing at Rogers City Theater, starting at 7:30 pm on Saturday, November 1, 2008; at 2 pm on Sunday, Novemebr 2, and next weekend on Friday, Nov 7 and Saturday, Nov 8 at 7:30 pm.


There are many more fun things to do here in Rogers City, but I don't have time to write about them right now. If you know of fun stuff and want to let people know about it, send me an email and, if I have time, I'll put it on my blog or the City Website calendar. What a scary thought...


Thursday, October 30, 2008

Facebook

Hey Everybody,

Check out Facebook. We should start a Rogers City network

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Historic Preservation in Rogers City


Domaci Gallery in downtown Rogers City was originally built in 1927. It may be one of the ten most important historic buildings in Northern lower Michigan according to Architect/Designer Jeff Corbin.

“Architecture, of all the arts, is the one which acts the most slowly, but the most surely, on the soul”- Ernest Dimnet



The idea of historic preservation is a big idea, and the idea that historic preservation is a tool for economic development and tourism is big too.



The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has been around since the late 1960s. Since 2001 SHPO has been a part of Michigan's Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Among other things, SHPO provides assistance to Michigan's communities in their efforts to protect their historic resources. SHPO programs are also used to promote various tourism and economic development efforts. SHPO is helping Rogers City to preserve some of our buildings.


Rogers City has several great historic buildings, like the one shown above. Although some of our historic buildings have been lost to fire, urban renewal, and other tragedies of the past, there is a stock of cool historic buildings and historic site here.

If you are interested in helping to preserve these key pieces of history, please contact me. I need the help of anyone passionate about the History of Rogers City to help save and restore our priceless buildings and revitalize our downtown.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Blood Drive

Kiwanis Club International and The American Red Cross will be holding a Blood Drive at the Rogers City Senior Center on Monday, November 3, 2008 from noon to 5:45 pm.

If you have questions about the Blood Drive or if you are willing to help with set-up ot take down, please contact John Houk at 734-7359 or Sally Cercone at 734-2554. Set-up begins at 10:30 am, and take down at 6:00 pm.

If you are able, take a few moments and give blood--you might save a life!

Monday, October 27, 2008

DEQ Public Hearings on Power Plant

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) will hold public hearings on the power plant proposed by Wolverine Power Company this week. Wednesday, October 29, 2008 the first hearing will begin at 7:00 pm. Prior to the hearing an informational session using an open house format runs from 5:00 pm until 6:30 pm. On October 30, 2008, the public hearing will begin at 6:00 pm with an informational open house starting at 4:00 pm until 5:30 pm. The public hearings will be held at the Rogers City High School.

Written comments may also be submitted to the MDEQ. The deadline for comments is November 24, 2008. Send comments to Ms. Mary Ann Dolehanty, acting permit section supervisor, MDEQ, Air Quality Division, P.O. Box 30260, Lansing, MI 48909-7760.

Hoeft Historical Reenactment

P.H. Hoeft State Park Historical Reenactment, Walk Through Time Experience a Great Lakes Living History Encampment.
Enjoy an Up North fall weekend along the sandy shores of Lake Huron. Free Amenities provided to reenactors: wood, water, ice, straw, modern restrooms, showers, tin tipi campsite and entry pass.
Set-up Thursday, school groups Friday, public Saturday, break-down
Sunday, Saturday evening potluck. All reenactors must pre-register. Traders must have a Michigan State Park Vendors License. No trade blankets. For visitors, a Michigan State Park motor vehicle permit is required for the entry of each vehicle. P.H. Hoeft State Park, 5001 US 23 North, Rogers City, MI 49779
www.michigan.gov/hoeft 989-734-2543
Park Manager Blake Gingrich gingricb@michigan.com
Boushway Jean Gross 989-734-0463, mjeangross@yahoo.com

Friday, October 17, 2008

Put'in on the Ritz

The local charity fund raiser "Put'in on the Ritz" is going to Nashville for a "good ol' country" time at 6:00 pm this Saturday, October 18, 2008 at the Waters Edge Restaurant. The show is all local volunteers, including my wife and I. Proceeds go to the Hospice of Michigan.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

4-H Activities and Opportunities

If you are interested in any of the following areas, literally from A to Z: archery, bowling, tennis, geocaching, embroidery, sewing & knitting, crocheting, clock making, woodworking, tee-ball, soccer, swimming, shooting, animals, environmental science, leadership, veterinary science, arts, culture, and even zoology, then 4-H is possibly right for you. The wonderful folks at MSU Extention and the 4-H program office are looking to find adult mentors and interested young people in all these areas of interest, and more. Contact Kathy Karsten or the MSU Extionsion Office at 989-734-2168. You will be glad you did!

Friday, October 10, 2008

Donna Klein's Song Pull

Come out to Rogers City and see and hear Award-winning Performing Songwriter Donna Klein along with Special Guest Michigan Troubadour Dan Vaillancourt will perform live at The Painted Lady, located at 112 South Third Street in Rogers City on Sunday, Oct 12, 2008 at 2 pm. It will be an exciting interactive concert in an intimate setting. A donation at the door is suggested.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

International Walk to School Day

Tomorrow is International Walk to School Day. The City of Rogers City, Rogers City Public Schools, St. John and St. Ignatius are partnering to sponsor the walk to school Day. An anonymous donar has provided a special $100 Savings Bond prize for the lucky winner student who walks or bikes to school tomorrow and wins the drawing.

There are four designated pick up points where "walking school buses" lead by designated adults will head for school beginning at 7:30 am. The locations are

The corner of State and Friedrich Streets
The corner of 4th and Erie Streets
The corner of Orchard and 5th Streets
The corner of Oak and Larke Streets

Become a regular walker or a biker to school and win even better prizes--improved health, more energy, and a super outlook on life!

Rogers city is Great in 2008!

Michigan Municipal League--Mentoring

More News from the Michigan Municipal League (MML):

There is a program called Carr Champions Mentoring Michigan Kids. The program is lead by Lloyd Carr, former head football coach for the University of Michigan.

MML presented inspiring mentors: Coach Carr, "First Gentleman" Mulhern, and more. Each of the men had a story to tell about the positive impact of mentoring on their lives and on the lives of people around them. The potential result of mentoring at-risk youth in our city and other municipalities is significant.

If you are a child that comes from an unstable or chaotic home life, is there any doubt that you will struggle in school? What happens when a child goes through one, two, or more years of struggling? Maybe you struggled, and you made it with the help of a mentor--what a great story of hope to share with another young person who doesn't know if he or she will ever be successful.

Mentoring can help our community. You can be the one to help by offering a couple of hours per week to a young person who needs help.... If you are interested, please contact me at City Hall.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Daniel Pink, Author

At the Michigan Municipal Annual Convention, Daniel Pink, Author of "A Whole New Mind,"
gave an informative, inspirational, and oftentimes humorous talk. He noted that what led to successful economies in the past will not alone lead to prosperity in the future. Traditionally, fields such as accounting, engineering, computer programming, and law have provided the largest number of higher paying jobs. Left-brain skills or more logical, sequential, and linear ways of thinking characterized by these fields have dominated the job market. While these skills and fields remain important, right-brain thinking will provide the most opportunities and job growth in the years to come. Right-brain thinkers are people who are artistic, inventive, able to see the big picture, and able to identify patterns. The challenge is to acknowledge this shift and provide an environment in which this type of thinking and innovation can thrive.

It is my opinion that we in Rogers City need to take Mr. Pink's ideas to heart. We can be an outstanding community that leads the new information economy and adds to the national stock of resources. We can be a leader not only with mining, shipping, and traditional business but also with art, creativity, and other right brain thinking. Each person can find interesting, satisfying, and rewarding work right here! If you are interested in this concept, please contact me at City Hall.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Michigan Municipal League

Michigan Municipal League (MML) Executive Director and CEO, Dan Gilmartin, kicked off MML’s 110th Annual Convention on October 1, 2008 with an emphasis on creating communities for the next 50 years, not the past 50 years.

It’s up to us, Gilmartin stated emphatically. With Michigan’s economic challenges and a term limited Legislature, it is paramount that we identify new and creative ways to keep our young, educated population from choosing to live in other states. And with folks today choosing a place to live first, it is imperative that that we are creating vibrant, creative communities in which they wish to live. It is important that each of our communities create their own “sense of place” that will motivate people to live, raise families and retire in Michigan.

What will it take to develop these types of communities? Gilmartin stated that across the country and the world, these places are characterized by downtowns and neighborhoods that are vibrant places where people live and work in closer proximity, where the development preference is mixed-use commercial/residential, live-work places and buildings that generally go up instead of out.

Rogers City is certainly working to position itself to become an attractive place for creative and energetic people to work, learn, and enjoy themselves. Our City has made some progress in all the areas Gilmartin mentioned; however, we have a long way to go!

Additional speakers included Daniel Pink, Daniel Granholm Mulhern, and officials from many communities throughout Michigan. There were so many great ideas presented that it was almost overwhelming; however, my confidence is high that the people of Rogers City are up to the challenge for becoming a vibrant small city.

Along with myself, City Council members Deb Greene, Gary Nowak, and Darrin Darge and participated in the conference.

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