Erin Crowell

Hot Dates Erin Crowell The Osmond family has spent more than 50 years entertaining audiences across the globe. The Osmond Brothers, a.k.a. Wayne, Merrill, Jay and Jimmy, continue the family tradition of performing pop, rock & roll, country and gospel. They will make an appearance at the Performing Arts Center on the Kirtland Community College main campus, in Roscommon, on Sept. 17.

Features Erin Crowell I was 17 years old in my high school drama class, blindfolded and
awkwardly navigating the auditorium by voice of a classmate. It was one of
many activities created by our teacher meant to exercise communication,
reliance and the hope our partner wouldn’t lead us into a chair or brick
wall.
Blind trust, I like to call it today.

Features Erin Crowell Saviors of the Switchboard
It’s a cool, sunny Monday afternoon in August. The work gears are primed again as folks settle back into the 9-to-5 pace, taking a half hour for lunch, running errands and finishing projects left on-hold for the weekend.
Above the hustle, overlooking the Boardman River in a room bathed in darkness, the gears have never stopped for a group of people known as Central Dispatch, the consolidated emergency services answering point responsible for handling requests for law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies for the entire Grand Traverse County.
Whether it’s a fire, car accident or an emergency at home, every call to 9-1-1 in the county is directed to this room on the third level of the Governmental Center – an average of 125,000 total calls each year.

Features Erin Crowell Do-It-Yourself:Father/son duo says ‘Man Can Fly!’

By Erin Crowell

Nothing says do-it-yourself like building your own car. Today, you’ll see
self-assembly kit cars driving all over the highway, thanks to 50
automobile manufacturers offering packages ranging anywhere from $6,000 to
$50,000.
Why not take it a step further and build your own plane? Given pilot
certification and FAA regulations, homebuilt airplane kits allow you to
assemble and fly your very own ticket to the skies – costing a gaping
$10,000 to nearly $1 million (depending on your aircraft and budget).
Do-it-Yourself father/son duo Gary and Kevin Copeland of Williamsburg have
been working on their own homebuilt aircraft, a 23-foot-long GlaStar, for
the past 10 years.

Features Erin Crowell It’s ‘all Michigan’all the time for3 entrepreneurs
By Erin Crowell
In Michigan, we know how to use our hands – from hard labor and sipping
local spirits to geographically showing our location; yes, if you’re a
Michigander, at one point you’ve probably thrown up that palm for an
out-of-stater and pointed (whether a wrinkle or pinky) to where you live.
Thanks to its shape, Michigan is the hardest U.S. state to draw but likely
the most identifiable.

Dining Erin Crowell California winemaker Robert Mondavi once said, “Making good wine is a skill; making fine wine is an art,” a statement that is reflected by the award-winning wines of Northern Michigan. These masterpieces will be featured, along with actual art from local artists, at the 3rd annual Traverse City Wine & Art Festival, held on the front lawn of the Grand Traverse Commons, Saturday, Aug. 20.

MORE THAN WINE
“When we were seeking an identity for the festival, we talked about the other things that our area is known for,” said Andrew McFarlane, director of the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association. “While there was no question that food and music would play a huge role in the festival, we realized that our region is home to some incredible artists of all kinds and felt that we could work to promote these artists and their work.”
Artwork will be on-display and for sale at individual booths, ranging from paintings and sculpture to fiber art and functional art.
Participants will have the opportunity to become part of the art, as well. A new element to the festival this year is the Fashion is Art contest. Judges will circulate the area looking for the most creative, the most flashy, bold and dramatic wardrobe. The grand prize winner will receive an overnight spa package from Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa as well as a welcome gift from the wineries of the festival.

Features Erin Crowell The hurler stares down the striker – a young chap who, to the
inexperienced rooter, would appear a Muffin; but the hurler knows better.
He considers his options: should he toss a dew drop for an easy pop or
send one fast and hard to his behind for his gardeners?
He hurls it against the timber.
Smack!

Features Erin Crowell Like night and day, Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream” vary greatly in tone, from the dark and spooky to the light and
dreamy; however, the wooded venue of Forest Hill in Frankfort provides an
ideal setting for both—even a second character—as Lakeside Shakespeare
presents its eighth season of classic Shakespearean theatre July 28, 30
and Aug. 2 & 4 (for “Macbeth”) and July 29, 31 and Aug. 3 & 5 (for “A
Midsummer Night’s Dream”).

Music Erin Crowell Great Scott!:Son of country legend Merle Haggard truckin’ our way
By Erin Crowell
While music has always been in his blood, Scott Haggard—son of country
music legend Merle Haggard—is first and foremost a truck driver.
“I drive an 18-wheeler and spend anywhere from five to six days a week on
the road,” said the 43-year-old Alabama native.
It wasn’t until around 2005 that Haggard decided to follow in his father’s
footsteps as a serious musician.

Music Erin Crowell Scott Harmony?
By Erin Crowell
Scott Haggard will perform for the first time in Northern Michigan, backed
by a band that he’s never met.
Scott Wikle and the Lonesome Fugitive Band will provide the backdrop for
Haggard’s country music performance at the Blue Pelican, in Central Lake,
on July 20.

Features Erin Crowell Nothing for Granted: The long run of quadriplegic Grant Forrester
By Erin Crowell
Saturday, July 9, was a beautiful day for runners at the Meijer Festival
of Races in Traverse City. By 9 a.m., most of the participants in the 5k
race had crossed the finish line and were enjoying the complementary
water, bagels and Gatorade – some settled into the empty lawn chairs left
overnight along Front Street in anticipation for The National Cherry
Festival Grand Royale Parade that would begin in just a couple hours.
Meanwhile, a dozen people had just crossed the first mile mark. From afar,
the pace seemed too casual for a race as the white t-shirt cluster stopped
every few feet, then continued on a slow shuffle towards downtown.
“Team Grant,” with participants ranging from ages 16 months to 80 years
old, wasn’t concerned about winning the race, setting a personal best or
even seeing everyone to the finish line.

Music Erin Crowell When a rock star lip-syncs on stage it’s considered cheating. Lip-syncing
on YouTube? Perfectly acceptable… even celebrated as lip dub music videos
are popping up all over the Internet – most recently (and famously) a
music video to Don McLean’s “American Pie” performed by the City of Grand
Rapids.
Thousands of residents participated in the downtown lip dub after a
January Newsweek article declared Grand Rapids as one of America’s Dying
Cities. The music video—which runs approximately nine minutes—was declared
a new world record, with over 3.4 million views (as of print) on YouTube
and Roger Ebert claiming it as “the greatest music video ever made.”
Traverse City hopes to make its own musical mark with a lip dub scheduled
to shoot on Sunday, July 17.
“We’re not saying we’re a dying city,” said Max Fischer, director of the
planned lip dub, “we’re just saying TC is an amazing place.”

Features Erin Crowell Even before he could drive, rally car racer Matthew Marker wanted a Subaru
sponsorship.
“It was his dream,” said Marker’s girlfriend, Jennifer Majszak of Traverse
City. “He loved Subaru.”
That dream fell short on April 30 when Marker, an Elk Rapids resident, and
his co-driver Chris Gordon crashed their rally car at the Olympus Rally in
Ocean Shores, Washington.
Just over three minutes into the race, the drivers were entering the sixth
stage—a hairpin right turn—when Marker lost control of his Subaru WRX STI,
driving over the edge of a 40-foot ravine and crashing into a tree.
“After the impact, Chris was like, ‘Woah that was one hell of a ride,
buddy!’” explained Majszk, “(Chris) turned to Marker and said, ‘Marker,
turn off the car. Marker, turn off the car,’ but Marker didn’t respond.”
The 31-year-old was killed on impact.
“Right before the race in Ocean Shores, Subaru’s marketing guy had called,
saying they wanted to sponsor (Marker),” Majszak added between fresh
tears.

Features Erin Crowell These days, people can’t afford to keep their pets – a reality that happens in Northern Michigan and across the country every day due to a bad economy.
The Cherryland Humane Society managed to keep its doors open this June, thanks to a community effort of donations and fundraisers that helped counter a $20,000-per-month budget shortfall discovered by the organization in May.
While annual donations for the Traverse City shelter have been down, animal drop-off numbers are up – a record number due to job losses and foreclosures in the area, according to Jess Reed, CHS president.
According to the ASPCA, annual costs for a medium-size dog averages $695; a cat totals $670; even a small bird costs $200 per year.
Now consider a home with multiple pets.
While it’s responsible to drop off a pet at a shelter rather than denying its needs, the process is painful – heartbreaking for most owners who have found love, companionship and even a family member through pet ownership.
“I thought, ‘gosh, how terrible would it be having to give up a pet?’ My pets are like my children and I couldn’t think of not helping them,” said Susan Reabe, founder and president of Helping Owners With Pet Expenses (H.O.P.E.), a Traverse City-based non-profit that assists pet owners with food and vet expenses.

Music Erin Crowell Having grown up in California and experiencing the all-senses performance
of The Blue Oyster Cult and laser light show of Pink Floyd, Stosh — a
Traverse City artist who moved to the area in 1993 — knew firsthand that
an audience at a jazz concert could experience more than
just sound.