| | | What Defines a Small Town? | | By Jane Booze | What defines a small town? Is it the compact downtown area, filled with eclectic architecture that records the passage of businesses and styles: the Old West false fronts and Art Deco throwbacks hunching shoulder-to-shoulder on Main Street?
In East Jordan, it might be lights spilling from restaurants onto the dark, snowy sidewalks; driving down Main Street and seeing a familiar car, and knowing your neighbors are having supper at the Lumberjack tonight, your sister is bowling at the Zone, or that the Friday Fish Fry at Murray’s sure has brought in a crowd. |
There are a thousand little things that define a small town, and East Jordan’s annual Sno-Blast helps put the community concept into perspective.
On Friday, Jan. 15, the Civic Center was the absolute center of East Jordan. Bringing the festivities downtown, the Civic Center was the site of the first annual “snow” business expo, and vendors representing local businesses set up displays across the gym floor, plying goods and services as diverse as Jordan River winter rafting trips, Ellsworth’s House on the Hill Bed and Breakfast, The Insurance Shop, and this magazine. |
| Wedding In The Woods | | By Jim Duke | | It may not have been the first wedding in the new year, but I'll wager it was the most unique. To the enjoyment of all who stopped by the Seney Claus "Hot Dog Stand" on trail #443 on Saturday 2 January 2010 about 1:30PM, Patty Loughridge and Donny Paul said their vows among approximately 100 family, friends, and other fellow snowmobilers. These two snowmobiling enthusiasts could not have asked for a more fitting surrounding, nor better weather. The bride arrived on a 2009 Yamaha XTX Nitro. She was appropriately dressed in a white snowmobile suit with matching garter affixed at her left knee, and a white veil. The groom arrived on a 2008 Yamaha Apex GT. He wore a black snowmobile suit. Amid a mix of sun and clouds with occasional snow showers, the bride walked up an aisle created by snowmobiles, to her waiting husband-to-be, then the Reverand Debra Pearson performed the ceremony while the many friends and acquaintances of both who made the trip to this Upper Peninsula location looked on. |
| DNR Asks For Your Assistance in Reporting Missing Signs | | By Stephen King | This should be just a simple rewrite of a DNR press release. But I just can’t help myself. The obvious question is how in the world does a snowmobiler know when a sign is missing. It ain’t there, and there ain’t a big gap in the trail where it used to be. If a bridge over a river was gone, that would be pretty obvious. You are just bebopping down the trail, being a happy snowmobiler, when suddenly you find yourself all wet and swimming. Even a tree hugger could figure out in a really big hurry something is not right in the world. But what about a missing sign? That is not nearly as obvious.
Here’s the Press Release:
DNRE Asks for Citizens' Assistance on Reporting Snowmobile Trail Sign Damage or Theft. The Department of Natural Resources and Enviroment is asking for assistance from the public to report any damage or theft they may witness or are aware of related to snowmobile trail signs. Each fall and during the snowmobile season, 68 snowmobile trail grant sponsors take to the trails to replace stolen/broken signs on the more than 6,546 miles of Michigan's designated snowmobile trail system. Replacing these signs takes a significant amount of time, and is a big financial cost to the snowmobile program. "In addition to the cost, this is a major safety concern” said Steve DeBrabander, DNRE's state trails operations supervisor. “A missing stop sign, stop ahead sign, or yield sign could lead to a serious accident. The individuals who steal or vandalize these signs may have some liability if there is an accident.” The DNRE requests that anyone who witnesses or is aware of theft or vandalism of trail signs, please contact the DNRE’s Report All Poaching line at 800-292-7800... |
| TASA Keeps Things Running Smooth for Snowmobilers in Luce County | | By Stephen King | As winter comes into its full glory, one of the things that the cold winter winds blow into the economy of the U.P. are snowmobilers. For many businesses, the business generated by snowmobilers is essential to being able to keep the doors open all year long, and in many cases, essential to being able to keep the doors open at all.
When most people think about how the revenues generated by snowmobiling affect the local economy, they only think about businesses such as the motels, the bars and restaurants, and the snowmobile dealerships. However, what a lot of people don’t realize is that there is also a huge ripple effect that occurs..  |
For example, because of snowmobilers, the lady that cleans rooms at the motel has a job. She takes the money she makes from cleaning the rooms at the motel and goes to the grocery store and buys her week’s groceries, which feeds her kids, and helps pay the grocers salary so he can feed his kids - both of whose kids attend Newberry area schools. The schools are then able to pay the teacher, Who also is able to buy groceries at the local market. Then, if the lady’s husband is also involved in some direct way in this loop, snowmobilers may actually make the difference in being able to live in this area or in having to move someplace else. Overall, when you add up both the direct and indirect affect, the impact of snowmobiling to the local economy is tremendous. |
| New Racing Option | | By Andy Twork | I guess it depends on how you look at the situation as to whether or not you have the same opinion about snowmobile racing that I do. The snowmobile trails of Michigan and the retention of them is a constant battle for organizations like the Michigan Snowmobile Association as well as an national organizations like the American Council of Snowmobile Associations.
So many times you can be trail riding and have some high speed riders blow you off the trail or perhaps you might see a group of individuals giving the organize sport of snowmobiling a bad name by drag racing on private property without permission, sometimes causing crop damage that otherwise would not have been done. |
When you see these guys, they’re just out having fun, racing with their buddy across the field to see who is the first one to the other end but there’s nothing scientific about it.
Drag racing is a science, and its people like Jim McHugh of Yankee Zephyr Racing that has come up with a plan to give the opportunity for the average rider to compete in a professional racing atmosphere without the pressure of having the professionals to compete against. |
| MSXRA Opens Season in Newberry | | By Stephen King | | On Saturday, January 9th, the skies around Newberry were alive with the sights and sounds of snowmobiles flying through the air, as once again, the MSXRA started their season off in Newberry. The day was an excellent one for a snowmobile race. Although temps were a bit chilly early in the day, the clear blue sky and bright winter sun more than made up for this as both racers and fans were able themselves. Locally, D.J. Zellar was the star of the show. Although only 12, D.J. “Mini-Z” Zellar has taken up the mantle as the star of this snowcross racing family. As you may recall, two of the biggest names to come out of the Newberry area in snowcross racing were Eric “EZ” Zellar and Emily “Little EZ” Zellar, both of whom had excellent careers in snowcross racing. However, both have now grown up and have grown up type responsibilities that have cut into their racing careers.
On this Saturday in January, it was D.J. that had an excellent day on his home track. |
|
