One Week in Haiti…six months after the earthquake By Susan Koenig While many of the Grand Traverse Region’s area residents were enjoying the 4th-of-July fireworks, I was accompanying Dr. Marty Arkin, M.D., en route to Fond des Blancs, Haiti, 70 miles southwest of the capital, Port au Prince, to participate in an eye clinic for rural Haitians. It was Marty’s second trip to Haiti, my first. A thousand patients and 30 surgeries later, we are back home, reflecting. Why would anyone pay to be tortured for 12 hours a day in 100 degree heat?
The Galloping Game: Horsing around with the Bliss Polo Club By Kristi Kates "We have all sought the state of being that is bliss," Mason Lampton explains of his love of polo and the North. "I found it in Michigan." Georgia resident Lampton, who purchased a farm in Bliss three years ago, has brought something to the region that few have had the chance to experience - namely, the newly-established Bliss Polo Club.
Striding the Straits: The Mackinac Bridge Labor Day Walk By Rick Coates On Labor Day, tens of thousands of walkers will converge on the 53rd Annual Mackinac Bridge Walk. Since there is no fee charged to walk, only estimates are available on how many people participate; organizers guess that on a great year it's 60,000 plus, and on an average year, around 45,000. All indications point to this being a great year. “This has been a great tourism season here in St. Ignace,” said Janet Peterson, executive director of the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce. “The weather has certainly helped out this year compared to last year. The Bridge Walk is one of the big events of the year for us; it is sort of the unofficial end of the summer celebration for a lot of people.”
You’re on Island Time:Step into the past with a trip to Beaver Island By Mike Terrell The Emerald Isle calls me every few years. It's my favorite of the various islands we can access from the Lower Peninsula. No fudge shops and grand hotels, just a timeless, rustic quality that I find appealing. Camping, mom and pop motels and family-run lodges are your choice of lodging.
Fishnets & Fractures: Northern Michigan catches roller derby fever By Erin Crowell It’s a Tuesday evening in the Kalkaska Kaliseum and the Derby Dahlias are practicing for their first “bout,” a roller derby scrimmage happening on Saturday with the Sault Roller Derby Travel League Team from Canada. The 11 young women are decked out in derby attire: helmet, knee guards, ankle guards, fishnets and striped knee-high stockings. Although just months old, the team is focused, cranking out drills, dropping pushups and hitting the floor—literally—doing a drill specifically aimed at falling “the right way.”
Labor Day Weekend Getaways By Rick Coates It's the last official weekend of summer (even though summer is still around officially for a couple more weeks) and from BBQ’s to boating there is plenty to do in Northern Michigan. Here are a few suggestions that might not be on your radar for a Labor Day Weekend getaway:
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