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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Summer Concert Series

This year the Rogers City Area Chamber of Commerce is managing the Rogers City Summer Concert Series. Dave Snow, Executive Director for the Chamber of Commerce, has put a lot of time and effort into making this year a great season for the Concert Series. The schedule is at

Summer%20Concert%20Series%20Schedule%202009.doc

Enjoy the free concerts! Don't forget to thanks Dave!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Great Lakes Restoration

The following is testimony from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Accelerated Great Lakes Restoration:

"The Great Lakes Basin is a national resource treasure that is home to 34 million people in the U.S. and Canada. It holds 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water, has 10,000 miles of coastline, and contains a diverse array of biological communities. EPA’s FY 2010 budget requests $475 million for Great Lakes restoration programs and projects that strategically target the most significant problems in the region, such as aquatic invasive species, nonpoint source pollution, toxics in sediment, and habitat and species loss. This restoration effort represents the federal government’s commitment to significantly advance Great Lakes protection. The Great Lakes Initiative will use outcome-oriented performance goals and measures to target the most significant problems and track progress in addressing them. EPA and its Federal partners will coordinate state, local, tribal, and industry actions to protect, maintain, and restore the chemical, biological, and physical integrity of the Great Lakes."

Obviously, the preservation and restoration of the Great Lakes is of utmost importance to Rogers City. This is an important issue for Rogers City residents to follow and provide input on. Who knows better than we do about what issues are important and how they should be handled.
We definately want to see increased success in bringing the fishing back to previous levels. There are other issues like millfoil removal (and other invassive species) and lake level that are critical. At the same time, we need to use the Great Lakes for commerce and economic development. Rogerc City could be a major center for Great Lakes shipping; however, it must be done in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner. Kudos to EPA for working on this important subject.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Arts and Crafts Are Here!

Local Artist Debbie Stiller sent in the following:

You're Invited to my first show of the season !

"An Afternoon of Arts & Crafts" now in it's 5th year, is held in Presque Isle County's Lighthouse Park.

Memorial day Week-end is the Annual Open House Week-end at 40 Mile Point Lighthouse. A great family setting offering visitors a chance to step back in time as you climb the Lighthouse tower, tour the Museum, step aboard the restored Calcite pilothouse or visit the shipwreck on the beach.

You will also have the opportunity to enjoy the work of many talented Artists, Musicians and Crafts people from all over Michigan and Canada. This Memorial Day Event has it all, Art & History!

Light refreshments will be served in the Fog Signal building. Admission is free.

Our RC Kiwanis Club will be on site with their New Fish Shack, serving their famous whitefish sandwiches and other hot lunch items!

This event is sponsored by the 40 Mile Point Lighthouse Society.

You might visit the web-site if you have a moment 40milepointlighthouse.org and check it out.

"An Afternoon of Arts & Crafts"
Memorial Day Week-end
Open House
Sat & Sun May 23rd & 24th
10am - 4pm
40 Mile Point Lighthouse
7 mi. N of Rogers City on US 23
_______________________________

Special Event:
The New Segment of the Huron-Sunrise Trail is to be Dedicated May 23
The two-mile segment from Hoeft State Park to the Forty Mile Point Lighthouse will be dedicated
Saturday, May 23 at 10 am in a ceremony at the Lighthouse.
Afterwards participants may bike the trail and attend the Open House and Craft Show.

...hope to see you there!

Debbie Stiller

Friday, May 8, 2009

This is a Great Community

Cheryl Peters from MSU Extension sent me the following:

Carmeuse Lime & Stone graciously donated a 30-second advertisement spot on True North Radio Network (99.9 The Wave) to MSU Extension. The final advertisement is attached in an mp3 file. MSUE highlighted the 4-H summer recreation program held at the Lakeside Park Pavilion this summer. The radio ad starting airing yesterday and will run every Wednesday for 12 weeks (the entire run of the summer rec program).

Our office already sent a letter of appreciation to Joe Chevreaux at Carmeuse Lime & Stone for the incredible donation, but if you have a chance, you might mention how kind that was for their business to donate air time to a local non-profit. The offer was unsolicited and a great surprise.

I also got a plug in to thank the support of the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners who support this program for our youth by paying the wages of 7 workers for 6 weeks and this year have pitched in the financial support to bus Onaway area youth for 3 of the 6 weeks of the summer program.

Thanks for your continued support of MSUE in Presque Isle County.

Cheryl Peters, Director

We live in a wonderful community!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

May is Sustainability Month

Here is news from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA):

EPA Celebrates May as Sustainability Month
Contact: Suzanne Ackerman, 202-564-4355 / 7819 / ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. -- May 6, 2009) EPA scientists will celebrate Sustainability Month, part of the Year of Science 2009, by connecting with the public through blogs, podcasts and demonstrations of the importance of sustainability in our communities. The Year of Science 2009 was created by the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) to engage the public in science by showing why science matters in their communities and everyday lives.

Sustainability is defined internationally as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For the U.S. EPA, this includes conserving natural resources by using alternative renewable energy sources, recycling used materials into new products, and finding alternative to toxics used in manufacturing or products that could pollute the environment.

“Sustainability Month is a great opportunity for EPA scientists to share their knowledge and commitment on how to better conserve and reuse valuable natural resources with the public, and to hear from citizens their ideas for a sustainable future,” said Lek Kadeli, acting assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “We’re going to keep the momentum from Earth Day going with lots of activities, particularly ones that will engage children and encourage them to study science.”

May activities:
Science of sustainability photo project on Flickr: http://www.epa.gov/yearofscience/sustain_photo.htm
EPA scientists including Dr. Alan Hecht will blog on sustainability on Greenversations under Science Wednesday: http://blog.epa.gov/blog/category/sciencewednesday/ and http://www.yearofscience2009.org/themes_sustainability/celebrate/
On May 8, EPA staff will give hands on science demonstrations for Math and Science Day at the Maryland Six Flags Amusement Park. Staff will also microblog at the event: http://twitter.com/greenversations
Dr. Diane Bauer of EPA will be featured on “Meet the Scientist” on COPUS Year of Science Web site: http://www.yearofscience2009.org/themes_sustainability/meet-scientists
On May 18, EPA will host a science of biofuels session at the American Institute of Biological Sciences
EPA podcasts on science issues: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/multimedia.html
On May 19, research staff will microblog from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair http://twitter.com/greenversations

More information on the EPA Year of Science: http://www.epa.gov/yearofscience More information on COPUS and The Year of Science 2009: http://www.yearofscience2009.org

My blog comments follow: The EPA is doing good work, and City of Rogers City staff members are working hard too, using this international definition of sustainability to make our community sustainable for the future. What responsible person would not try to make their world and their achivements long-lasting, even permanent, if possible? I am passionate about sustainability and will do everything in my power to make sure that Rogers City behaves responsibly toward future generations.

However, when you are having trouble putting food on your table, then a factor of needs kicks in.
People who have lost their jobs and homes do not have the luxury of worrying about the next decade or century. Unfortunately, there are an increasing number of people facing these difficulties in our community, in Michigan, in America, and around the world. Our City budget is so tight we do have funds to make progress in sustainability.

New science, technology deployment, and ethical idea implementation are important. Forward progress is good, but sometimes you have to stop and assess where you are in order to better understand where you should be going. That is part of sustainability too.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Hot Topic

The Michigan Municipal League (MML) is a great partner to local cities and villages, like Rogers City. MML staff work smart and long to find ways to build: "Better Communities. Better Michigan." Recently, MML staff challenged their Facebook Fans and MML members to tell MML what is the hot topic. Here is their report:

We took your community pulse & the results are in! We challenged our Facebook Fans and Group Members to tell us what would make life in their community better with the promise to report back on the most talked about issue. The results are in and we have reached a consensus for our Facebook challenge! Congratulations and thanks to each of you who contributed to the discussion, and to those who took the time to read the posts.

The winning issue is: Vibrant Downtowns. Vibrant downtowns summarizes your demand for culturally diverse, walkable downtowns with restaurants, stores, and housing options in close proximity to where you live, learn, work and play.

Those who participated in the discussion were entered into a drawing for a $30 gas card—congratulations to Lauren Leeds—you are the winner!

Developing ways to create and encourage vibrant downtowns is a major purpose and passion behind our work at the League, and it's a topic I am excited to report back to you on in the next few weeks.

Make it a great day! -Andrea Messinger

Thanks Andrea and all the staff at MML for helping to make Michigan Better, and our community too. We believe in the importance of a vibrant downtown in Rogers City! If you want to help, or become a Facebook fan of Rogers City--please let me know.

Monday, May 4, 2009

From the Rogers City Area Chamber of Commerce:

1.) Please join Bill and Barb Vansteenis from the Black Bear Cafe as they sponsor the Nauti Kruzers "Cabin Fever" Car Show. The Show will take place on Saturday, May 16th at the Mariners Mall in downtown Rogers City. Times are from 11:00 am until 4:00 pm. Registration is from 10:00 am to 12 noon. Pre-registration before May 9th is only $10.00 and registration on the day of the show is $13.00. All makes and models are welcome. Trophies will be awarded at 3:00 pm. Lunch will be available at the Black Bear Cafe for purchase.

2.) The Chamber will sponsor our annual Spring Festival which includes City-wide garage sales and an Arts & Crafts Show and Downtown Sale Days. We would like our area businesses to start to plan and think about special sales, service and product promotions, or other special incentives that you could offer your customers. The garage sales and craft show will bring many shoppers into our community. The craft show is now a two day event which is designed to encourage craft show participants to visit our community. The garage sales are scheduled for June 12 the and 13th. The Craft Show at Westminster Park is scheduled for June 13th and 14th. Times are from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm for both events. If your business would like to appear on our garage sale map the cost is only $12.00. We anticipate printing and distributing 1200 maps. The maps designate the location of all the City-wide garage sales. This is a very inexpensive way to advertise.

3.) There will be a National Day of Prayer Community Gathering at the County Courthouse on Thursday, May 7th from 12:15 pm until 12:45 pm. The Ministerial Association reminds us that all are welcome to verbally or silently participate in this public gathering to pray for our nation, our State, and our community and all our leaders. Please take into consideration requests by any employees who might want to spend a lunch break at the Courthouse to participate. Thank You!

David M. Snow, Executive Director
Rogers City Area Chamber of Commerce, 292 S Bradley Highway, Rogers City, MI 49779

(989) 734-2535 , (800) 622-4148
rcchamber@lhi.netwww.rogerscity.com

The Fishing is Great


Area Fishing Looking Up!

This news was published in the Presque Isle County Economic Development Newsletter.

"Steelhead planting in the Ocqueoc River is certainly good news for Presque Isle County fishermen and visiting sportsmen. Recently the Ocqueoc River received 22,000 eight-inch steelhead planted by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division. With the aid of Hammond Bay Area Anglers Association members, the fish were able to make their way out to Lake Huron without interference from cormorants. The fish will return to spawn in the Ocqueoc and Trout rivers in three years. This year healthy fish have been taken along 20 miles of the Ocqueoc River. Improvements continue to be made on the river, especially from the second weir near the Ocqueoc Outdoor Center to Lake Huron. Outfitters and canoe livery services are available in the area for hunters, fishermen, canoes and kayaks."

Come to Rogers City to find premier outdoor sports activity, including great fishing.

Travel Michigan

Rogers City is mentioned on the Travel Michigan web site! The following is an excerpt from the Travel Michigan website www.michigan.org

"You don't need your car to cruise a 10-mile stretch of Michigan's Sunrise Coastal Highway Heritage Route tracing US-23 along the Lake Huron shore. From Rogers City to P.H. Hoeft State Park , the new Huron Sunrise Trail provides a smooth paved pathway for bicycles, pedestrians and inline skaters. After winding out of Rogers City park and marina, the trail never strays more than a few feet from the broad, sandy beach. In the 300-acre preserve, the state has linked the Huron Sunrise Trails with its own new, paved trails that slices through the forest to P.H. Hoeft's quiet beach and campground."

What they don't say is that a new leg of the trail is almost complete from Hoeft State Park to 40 Mile Point Light House. This new leg of the Huron Sunrise Trail will be open this summer.

Rogers City is a great place to live, to work, and to play!

Nature Classes

If you are interested in nature in Michigan, check out these classes offered by the University of Michigan--great stuff!

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/umbs/courses/minicrses

Parks and Recreation Survey

Please check out the Parks and Recreation Servey on this web site. We need your comments and idead to make our city better! Please fill out a survey and turn it in! Thanks.

EPA Tip

Today's environmental tip: Get the lead out! If you're doing work on an older home or school building, be sure to follow lead-safe work practices. Contain the work area and keep kids and pets away. Minimize dust. And clean up thoroughly. Lead is harmful to adults and children, and common renovation jobs like sanding, cutting, or demolition can create lead dust and chips. More information: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm Podcast: http://www.epa.gov/earthday/podcasts

As a home renovation hobbyist, I can say with assurance, this is a good tip. Tearing out old insulation, wallboard, or scrapping old paint can be hazardous. I wear either a dust mask or a respirator, depending on the extent of the work and ventilation of the space. Also, eye protection is needed. Have fun, but be safe!