2/29/00 - Do the Hokey Pokey and when you turn yourself around you splash a bunch of water and laugh alot. That's almost as therapeutic as the first 40 minutes of the workout at Aqua Exercise sessions at the "Y" in Menominee on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Diane Mayland is the instructor. She loves music and dancing and does her best to incorporate some of it into her program. She hopes to have the 25 to 30 people who regularly take part in the class doing some Charleston and other familiar "oldies" routines soon too. Mayland has Stephenson ties, having lived on the Ken Corey farm east of town from l992 to l996. She's originally from Illinois but has gotten attached to our way of life and prefers living in this part of the country.
2/28/00 February and hearts go together, not just on Valentine's Day. The Mid-County Rescue Squad sponsored it's annual CPR/Heart Health Workshop on Saturday at the Stephenson Elementary School. Sue Mulzer manned the registration desk at 8:30 in the morning to welcome the 23 people who had preregistered and any others who were interested. Boy Scout Troop l079 was well represented. Peter Cappaert, Justin Majkrzak and Junior Farmer were signed up for the course. Henry Monahan, Tyler Sulk, Tony Cappaert and Matt Thoune, who have already completed the course, were doing volunteer work , standing by to serve refreshments during break time. Dennis Hanson, the Scoutmaster, and Pamela Monahan, his "right hand assistant" were also on hand to help or supervise as needed. The boys were already looking forward to their Polar Bear Badge campout coming up this weekend. To earn it they have to do all the planning, prepare their own tent or sleeping place and spend 24 hours outside.
2/25/00 - Since we are in the middle of "a-taste-of-spring" weatherwise the Stephenson Fire Department didin't have to worry about snow-covered, icy roads when they answered a call to a fire at the Matthews property on Chartre Road Wednesday night. The Matthews do raise pigs, however, and they were released when the fire was discovered in one of the buildings near the barn. Fire Chief Jim Gardiner said the four fire trucks that responded to the call did have to slow down as they neared the property because "there were pigs all over the road." The trucks were back at the station in a little over an hour and it is assumed most of the pigs survived their ordeal.
2-21-00 The Stephenson School Board provided me with 51 pages of information at their meeting tonight. Thirty-one of them were the monthly Check Register, listing everything from 35 cents for a "Grease Fitting" from Stephenson Marketing to $3,969.80 to MichCon for gas.
A written report by the high school principal and an oral report by board member Steve Weaver showed support and enthusiasm is growning for plans to improve students' writing skills, from the 1st through l2th grades. Maybe the older students could work on coming up with a shorter version of the 63-word sentence on the first page of a five page letter from the firm that will audit the school's financial statements this year. It reads: "The object of our audit is the expression of an opinion as to whether the general purpose financial statements are fairly presented, in all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to report on the fairness of the additional information referred to in the first paragraph when considered in relation to the general purpose financial statements taken as a whole."
That sounds like the legal version of a nursery rhyme that turned the last line of Rock-a-Bye Baby - Down will come baby, cradle and all - into: There shall be a downward plunge of the sleeping apparatus, bringing with it the reposed infant perilously contained within, along with all objects, paraphenalia, and debris directly related to the above-mentioned items.
2/16/00 - It's the first time the Stephenson Elementary School has had a Student Council and the 18 member group of 4th, 5th and 6th graders has found all kinds of neat ways to serve their fellow students. In January they focused on how to give and receive compliments. They also worked with the janitors to remove graffiti in the bathrooms. Their newsletter uses words kids understand: "Bathroom locks have recently been the victim of someone's rotten behavior!" The latest edition also has l2 tips for making and keeping friends by Melissa C. and Lisa R. Cortnie V. teaches you how to draw a puppy in 6 short lessons and there is a lot of original artwork included on the four pages. Mike B. wants to know "What's a toad's favorite show? If you're smart you will answer "Star Warts!" She says it's Just for Fun but Melissa P. and her friends came up with a new marking system that probably won't pass teacher approval. If you got an F it would mean Fantastic. D = Delightful, C is Critical, B means Bad, and an A is Awful.
2/15/00 - If you were born in February and there is an "n" anywhere in your name (capital or small, it doesn't matter) here is your not-too-serious horoscope: You've been leading a dog's life lately so stay off the furniture.
2/14/00 - Not many people would even try to work a term like "dried-up fossil" into a Valentine rhyme, but Doris King did. It made her a winner in the "Most Humorous" category in the Valentine Love Lines competition in the EagleHerald newspaper and now she gets to take a friend out for a free dinner for two at Schloegel's restaurant in Menominee.
Heather Hubbard's lucky number today is 47. That's how many pieces of candy were in the glass mug on the counter at the library in Stephenson, and since she was the only one to come up with the right answer it's all hers to take home and enjoy.
2/11/00 - Talk about dedication...how many people do you know who are willing to work for $2.55 an hour, five days a week, some for as long as l7 years? Only grandmas (and an occasional grandpa) who really enjoy working with children do things like that without complaining. Nine of them met for the Foster Grandparent in-service training session at the MSU Annex in Stephenson on Friday. They are part of a Community Action sponsored program that works with the schools to provide help for children who need a little special attention. They have to be at least 60 years old to participate, and undergo a screening and training program before being placed in a classroom. Hermansville, Menominee, Carney-Nadeau and Stephenson were represented in the Menominee County Group. Vi Bartels is the only one from the Stephenson area at present. She has 8 years with the program and currently works with kindergartners in Miss Keto's class in Daggett.
2/10/00 - Dinosaurs, like space aliens, stop in for visits now and then but don't stick around very long. Hilding Beaudoin has had his collection of these creatures on display in the showcase at the entrance to the county library in Stephenson but they will be leaving in a few days. Then Rachel Schlenvogt will display her 3-D jigsaw puzzles. She started collecting these about three years ago and has about l6. They won't all fit in the showcase but she plans to let you see her Bavarian Clock that really keeps time and the Seaside Lighthouse with a working light. She'll include one of Notre Dame Cathedral and three cars of the Orient Express and maybe a few smaller ones , if they fit. Rachel says "I like anything complex and usually put in about two hours a night working on new puzzles until they are finished."
2/9/00 - Mike Erdman reports the porta-potty picture is pretty positive at this point. (He didn't use those exact words.) Preparations have been made to procure and provide the public with a purely personal, protective and private place to ponder, without provocation, which items to pick up at the FFA Consignment Auction on March 26.
2/9/00 - While we are on the subject of bathroom facilities - did you know the Holmes Township Hall is equipped with modern computers to handle it's business affairs but, if you need to use the bathroom while there you still have to go outside - there are no indoor facilities. They are working on correcting that.
2/9/00 - She's 80 years old today, but that's just a number, and a reason to celebrate for Caroline Schultz of Stephenson. Her children, Brian, Duane, Dennis, Dale, Diane, Carol and Tom, hosted an Open House in her honor at the Maple Aire Community Center on Saturday and one of her grandchildren presented her with 80 carnations. Choosing a gift for Caroline is not very hard because of her many interests. She likes flowers and plants and craft items, music and dancing, pretty clothes and jewelry, neighbors, church, playing cards, her dog Benji, shopping, getting around on her scooter in the summertime, making bread in her bread machine daily and giving it away, people...and life!
2/4/00 - It's snowmobile time and the current route through the city and the resulting problems were discussed at the Stephenson City Council meeting last night. The plan is to mark a designated trail next year and if snowmobilers refuse to follow it the council will consider totally banning them from the city.
Police Chief Coleman is looking into a solution to the problem of cars parked in front of the library by people picked up there for bus trips to the casinos. Often there is little parking space available for library patrons. Allowing casino car parking only on the East side of the street is being considered .
Moving on to thoughts of summer, the council agreed to donate $1,000 to the Fourth of July committee for the 2000 celebration. They will also donate $1,100 to the Menominee County Rescue Squad with $1,000 going to the squad and $100 for the Defibrillator Fund.
It was reported that the request for a grant to improve the ice rink was denied...again. The city will submit a grant request to the M & M Community Foundation for funds for playground equipment for Erickson Park. They are also looking into the possibility of buying property needed to complete the footpath from Erickson Park to Firemen's Park.
2/1/00 - "Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." -Auerbach
Gert Salp has been using her music to wash the dust from souls for over 50 years. She enjoyed singing in operettas and musicals in the days when Miss Groulx was the high school music teacher. She started playing the organ for daily Mass at Precious Blood Catholic Church in Stephenson "long before I was ready" while still in school. When Agnes Carroll was the organist Gert took over directing the 12 to 15 member choir. Time passed quickly and when Agnes retired it was only natural for Gert to take on the added responsibilities of organist. With the help of her husband Frank, a member of the choir and the one who sees that the hymns for each service are properly posted, and the members of the choir group Gert has carried on the tradition of providing the parish with high quality inspirational music from the days when most of the songs were sung in Latin and only by the choir, to the present when English is used and the congregation joins in the singing.
Gert decided to retire as of the end of January. "I know I'll miss it a lot," she said. "It was a form of prayer." She too will be missed. Especially when the dust of everyday life starts to pile up.
If you have any comments or suggestions, please take a minute to write H. Barb Upton.
Main Page.