The top photo to the left shows Paula Kay Nettleton, who was awarded the first place award for artists in the Chair Affair on July 24. Her exquisite piece shows her great skill at composition and execution on her Adirondack chair.

The bending tree on the chair back flows into a slow running brook with lilly pads and babbling water. The arm rests depict Chinese lanterns.

















The lower photo is that of nationally acclaimed chalk artist, Lee Jones. Working under a canopy to keep down the glare of the work she is adding finishing touches to Botticelli's Madonna the Magnificent. Her rendering is soft and the colors are rich as velvet. The detail is astonishing.

The plane crash that killed four Alma citizens was a tragedy to our entire community. Even in this sad situation perhaps it is time to ask the question: Why do we feel we have to go to the Mayo Clinic, or the Cleveland Clinic, for our medical needs? Should our local hospitals and Doctors evaluate our health care needs, then make some changes, so we wouldn't feel that we had to go away for medical care.

On Saturday, July 24, supporters of Art Reach placed silent auctions on 45 adult and children Adirondack chairs, and benches (some with and some without backs). The chairs had been built by local contractors, high school students, and CMU students. Local artists and art students decorated them in many pleasant designs.

By 3 o'clock all chairs had been sold, bringing in a gross of over $4600.

Shown top to bottom:

The display of chairs in front of the Art Reach Center.








Mickayla Renneberg of Shepherd High School showing the chair she and Emily Bellinger painted.




















Dianna Crandall of Beal City High showing children's chair that she and other art students painted.





















Al Wildey, CMU artist showing his
design showing Mackinaw Bridge.







Proceeds will be used for Art Reach projects in the community.

The summer of sorrow. For our central Michigan communities those words fit so well. Each season there are hundreds of deaths here, but this summer has had many very pubic deaths, all affecting each of us, whether we knew the people or not.

My years at Woodland Hospice have taught me many things. One of the most important is that grief is an odd thing. There is no one emotion that is grief. It is a jumble of emotions, shock, sadness, anger, disbelief, resignation among them. And grief is something else. It is normal. Even though it feels very abnormal, grief is a normal process.

How long does grief last? There are no rules. It takes as long as it takes. For some losses it takes several years. Each person and each death is different. No one should judge or question how long another has grieved.

One question often asked is “What do I say?” There are several things that are helpful to someone grieving. A simple ‘I’m sorry” is good. If you know of a touching story or a funny story about the person who has died, share it with his/her loved one. Use the name of the person who has died, especially if the one who died was a child. Tell the loved one how the person who died impacted your life or your family, or your community.

It is also important to remember what not to say. Grieving people do not find it helpful to hear, “It is for the best” or “I know just how you feel” (you don’t) . Don't tell them to call if they need you (they won't). And resist the impulse to tell a story about your own loved one’s death.

Helping a grieving person doesn’t end with the funeral. Typically support begins to drop off within a week or two and yet the first year is very difficult. It is filled with firsts. Call the person whose loved one has died around significant dates, the first Mother’s Day, the first birthday or anniversary and holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don’t be afraid to mention the name of the one who died. Don’t worry about “reminding” someone of a loss. They haven’t forgotten, it is at the top of the mind. Mentioning the one who died opens a door for healing and is a great gift to the bereaved.

As our communities come to terms with all that has happened in the past few months there’s much we can do to take care of each other and help each other through it. It is simple human kindness and it goes a long way in helping each of us heal.

On my drive to downtown Mt. Pleasant I pass these new houses. Top: corner Main and High, sorority house. Center: Washington St., multi-family houses. Bottom: corner Preston and Highland, single family house. Have you seen others?

My father was born in the last decade of the 19th century in Austria. His parents at first thought he was perfect and treated him accordingly by central European standards (“tough love” existed then, too). However, as he grew his mother became increasingly disturbed with her son’s behavior. By the time he was five it was undeniable: he was different.

His parents bound him to break his unacceptable actions. What if the neighbors found out? The family would be in disgrace! They tried as best they could to change him, hide him, and make him not be different. His problem could lead to ridicule, shame, the scorn of the whole neighborhood. They did not want to face that, or him to be confronted by the inevitable prejudice (though in their minds he would deserve it if he didn’t change).

What was so awful about my father’s trait? He was left handed. Superstition fostered the notion that left handed people were sinister and potential tools of the devil. By tying his left arm to his side he learned how to use his right hand; in fact he became ambidextrous,which suited him just fine.

Superstition is often the basis for hatred and hatred breeds prejudice. Prejudice is based on false assumptions, careless acceptance of the portrayal of difference as sinful, wrong, “not our type.”

Please be aware of your prejudices and examine the validity of ideas underlying them. Perhaps you can change your mind about others who are “not like us.”

More than 30,000 Americans die of gun wounds every year, yet our beloved five-man Supreme Court press determined that the “right to bear arms” supersedes state and local gun-control laws. According to NRA folks everyone is safer now that “the right kind” of citizens walk around with loaded handguns in public.

So be it. If this is the case let’s go one step further: make it mandatory for gun slingers to have their guns visible at all times, just as the police do. That should really scare the criminal element. I think it will scare everybody! I can see it now on Broadway. “Hey Slim. There’s Slade McGraw with his gun showin’. Yours is bigger than his’en. You got every reason to show him who’s boss!” Perhaps the city will place spittoons on every corner downtown, because I imagine chewing tobacco sales are sure to rise. It is sure to mean more business for the proprietors of Helms, Lux and Clark.

As a retired military officer I know what weapons are for. They are designed to kill an adversary. Wearing them as costume jewelry is not what the writers of the Constitution had in mind. An armed crowd can do terrible things, particularly in today’s strained political and economic climate.

If you thinks more guns on the street is good for the community help find ways to put more police on the beat, or bring in the National Guard. Armed people pushing shopping carts is not the way to make us all safer.

(I lost my internet connection for a few days, postponing this blog. With the recent gun-related murders in our area the subject is even more critical.)

I am a first-generation American. My father, mother and older sister were born in Austria. After the First World War inflation and unemployment in central Europe were terrifying. My father looked to the United States for hope.

To be considered for immigration, one had to have a skill and a firm job offering. My father had learned about commercial painting, and a small company in New York City had an opening. The owner of the company sent enough money to cover steerage transportation for my father.

When he arrived at Ellis Island the official at the desk to which my father was directed went through the process and removed the letter “c” from his last name, from Fischer to Fisher.

When he went to work his first responsibility was to pay back the owner for the loan. Then he had to save enough for the steerage of my mother and sister. They arrived at Ellis Island and were processed in. A necessary condition in applying for citizenship was the skill and job my father had, no criminal record, and classes in English and U.S. civics. They had to understand the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They had to pass tests and swear allegiance to their new country.

At that time, the United States was the melting pot of the world.

English came easily to my sister, who went on to become a manager at several companies. She was a chameleon of the language: as she moved from one part of the country to another she easily picked up the local accent. My father became very capable in English and he used it well in his work. During the Second World War he volunteered as an air raid warden and had a hard hat and whistle to prove it. My mother was a house wife with less contact with others but slowly became proficient in English.

I was born in the Bronx in a tenement among many immigrant families. When I was four years old the factory and my family moved to Connecticut. The factory was in Stamford and home was in Norwalk.

It did not take me long to realize how critical good English would be. By the time I was in the fifth grade I would not speak German.

I love the United States and proudly served in the U.S. Air Force for 21 years. It offered a great variety of options and I took advantage of them.

A crisis we now face is that a majority of our high school and college students shun difficult subjects, such as math and science. Top universities must fill class rooms with foreign students eager to learn about technology.

We must convince these students to stay here rather than return to their home lands. If we do not, we will fall behind in preparing ourselves for the future. We must grant visas to these talented individuals with a clear road to citizenship.

We must remain a melting pot. Communities that do not prize our culture are not truly of this country. However a vast majority of us would refuse to do stoop labor. Therefore we must provide ways of importing field and hospitality service staff. For many this work is far more beneficial than working in their home countries.

The difficulty is the vast hidden numbers of laborers who move from field to field, from servitude to servitude. Can the country digest people who have been here for generations, working in the shadows and never becoming absorbed by the melting pot? Their children are United States citizens by law. Can we turn parents away from their children?

The problem is complex and we cannot let prejudice confuse us as to the solutions.

‘TIS NOT A SPRINT

So they are now playing the WORLD CUP matches in South Africa. The game is football (football, soccer, whatever). The sport is becoming ever more popular in the U.S. but we still don’t seem to be endorsing it in full as sport fans.

I did find it interesting when it was reported during a recent news report just how fast these superb athletes run during a game. I believe that they decided the fastest players run at 20 miles per hour – and that’s FAST.

Even more important in my mind was the point that they figured a good soccer player runs 8 miles during a normal game. I think it points out that while speed is really an asset in any sport, this is really and endurance sport!

Bert

“TWIN” BATH TUBS

It has been fascinating to me to see how the pharmaceutical companies now dominate TV advertising. Since tobacco and alcohol ads have gone out of favor, the drug companies have really taken over.

I really find it humorous to see the end of one company’s ad which ends (I hesitate to call it a climax) with two folks (of the opposite sex – I hope) pictured in two separate bath tubs.

I know I am “dense” but just what message is the company attempting to convey with this ending? I do understand the rest of the ad!

That a world we live in!

Bert

IS WILLIE RIGHT?

I was fascinated when reading the Sunday PARADE magazine in THE MORNING SUN a couple of weeks ago. The feature was about Willie Nelson the singer who apparently has had his share of problems with life.

I was aware of the fact that Mr. Nelson has had his troubles with the government (taxes) and that he has a reputation for using a few illegal drugs. I also knew that he not only is a singer but a person who has written quite a few very nice songs.

But I was really impressed with the conclusion of the article where Willie stated his core belief about life. He said (in effect) that he believes that all people are spiritual beings having a life experience and thus he has no fear of death, because it is simply the next step. This is not a direct quote but that’s what he said to me.

Maybe after all Willie Nelson is really a seer.

Bert

THAT’S DEEP!

Probably we all at different times have pondered the meaning of life. Sometime in the past I recall reading an adage from an unexpected source.

The statement went something like this. The importance of all of our lives has to do with the affect that we have on others! We never know what that affect might be!

This saying was credited to the first black baseball player to play in baseball’s major leagues. Yes, it was Jackie Robinson.

How ‘bout that!

Bert

As you travel on our highways this holiday and when you see all the orange barrels, don’t complain that it has traffic bogged down and that you’re going to be late getting to your destination.Think of it this way, those orange barrels represent people who are working in this state, people who are paying their bills, and spending money back into Michigan’s economy and think of it as our road system is being improved. How can we go wrong, this is a win win situation, and just slow down and enjoy the holiday on a improved highway system that is safer for you and your family.