Mackinac Island Winter Update 2/24/2013

Hi All!

The weather continues to be the main topic of conversation on the Island this week.  More snow, more cold temps, but unfortunately . . . no ice bridge.  What I’m hearing now is that with the days getting longer, the hope of an ice bridge is fading.  If those of you on the island know different on this, please comment so everyone will know!

The weather was so bad this weekend that the Mackinac Island Boys and Girls Lakers Basketball teams couldn’t leave the island to participate in The Northern Lights League conference tournament being held in Hannahville.  In fact there were no flights off or on the island for two days straight.  So, in true Island spirit, the girls team played the “All Stars”, and the boys played the Island Fire Department in the Mackinac Island Public School gym.

Friend Jeff Peterson was on the Island for the last few days and was able to get to the game. He caught #33 Laker Will Barnwell getting this three-point basket. After a VERY hard-fought game, the Fire Department defeated the Lakers 80-78.  Anyone know the girls game score?

A VERY big event this weekend was the monthly (during the winter) 20% off sale at Doud’s Market.  It was today (Sunday), and my Island reporter Jeff Peterson said Doud’s was packed!

Here it is the dead of winter, and all three cash registers are open and busy at Doud’s Market. That Andrew sure knows how to throw a sale!  (Photo: Jeff Peterson)

And how do all those groceries get to the store when there are no ferries? They’re flown in! A carrier is pulled behind a snowmobile to the airport, groceries are unloaded from the plane into the carrier, and back to Doud’s it goes, where it is unloaded into the store. (Photo: Doud’s Market)

Sadie’s Ice Cream Parlor

It’s official!  The Grand Hotel announced this week its brand new addition for 2013 – Sadie’s Ice Cream Parlor, which will serve Hudsonville Ice Cream.  Sadie’s is named after the Scottish Terrier belonging to Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Musser, proprietors of the Grand Hotel. Sadie is famously known for her “Best In Show” win at the 2010 Westminster Dog Show.

Sadie’s will be located just outside the east entrance to the Grand, where Margaret’s Garden was formerly located.  Grand Hotel’s interior designer, Carleton Varney, has created a traditional ice cream parlor in which guests can choose from 24 Hudsonville flavors, or order up shakes, malts, sundaes and a special Grand Sundae made to share with large groups.  Sadie’s will be open daily to the public with no admission charge.

Oh my goodness, I will have to pass it every time I walk downtown!  Oh Woe! What is a girl to do???!!!

To read more about Sadie’s and view some wonderful photos of its creation over the winter, please click here: http://blog.grandhotel.com/?p=2844.

Winter Photos!

The Mackinac Island Airport from a Great Lakes Air plane. (Photo: Robert McGreevy)

Other things besides groceries and passengers arrive by plane now. Here a Cawthorne Village Inn employee is picking up a few cases of beer.

An awesome pic of Sugar Loaf from the air. (Photo: Travis Sredzinski)

Can you guess where this is – I really had to look closely. It’s the Fort Cemetery. The gravestones are almost covered in snow. (Photo: Travis Sredzinski)

Don’t know who took this photo, but I think that’s Heather May on her birthday, doing some sledding down Fort Street!

Ice on the north shore on Feb. 21. It was 8 degrees that day. (Photo: Grand Hotel)

More ice mountains. (Photo: Travis Sredzinski)

It’s just my personal opinion, but I think Steve Humphrey is a tad too far away from the shore here.  Those are West Bluff cottages behind him. (Photo: Orietta Barquero)

I love this photo of Diane Karkau on her snowmobile downtown! (Photo: Travis Sredzinski)

Who can tell me where this is? It was a Mystery Spot this summer! (Photo: Travis Sredzinski)

I know you’ve noticed the photos I included of the awesome ice mounds that are forming along the north shore of the Island.  Not only does Travis Sredzinski take great photos, but he captured the ice on a video that I know you will love!  You can watch it here: http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v1/y2/r/5l8_EVv_jyW.swf?v=10101275329855662&ev=0

All in all, a pretty busy week!  Hope everyone at your house is doing well.  February is almost over, so can Spring be far behind?  Have a great week, and God Bless.

For Those of You Who Don’t Read the Blog from Lake Blackshear

 

FINALLY!  I’ve been waiting all winter for the publication of Heart of Ice, and it’s out on February 26.

Well then, Brenda, just how did you come to have a copy already . . . . I know you’re asking!

OK – I’ll tell you! P.J. Parrish is actually the two-sister team of Kristy Montee and Kelly Nichols.  They write fabulous novels that make the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.  This latest novel is set on Mackinac Island, and one day a couple of summers ago Jill introduced me to Kristy.

Me with Kristy Montee

Kristy had actually been reading my blog and took some island details for Heart of Ice from what she read.  We have chatted back and forth since then, and this week the book arrived in the mail!

My autographed copy!

And when I turned to the Acknowledgement Page . . . .

Jill and I got a thank you, along with Jane, Kathy, Tam, Cass and Jeremy

at the Island Bookstores on Mackinac and in Mackinaw City!

How cool is that!

So now I can’t wait to settle in and start reading Heart of Ice and figuring out all the places they talk about in the book.  Here’s a little preview of what it’s about:

Florida PI Louis Kincaid wants to wear a badge again. But before he can, he must return home to Michigan – and some unfinished business.  He hopes to bond with ten-year-old Lily, the daughter he only recently learned existed, and reunite with girlfriend Joe Frye.  But new clues to an unsolved murder put his plans on ice.  A trip with Lily to enchanting Mackinac Island turns grim when the child falls on a pile of old bones; the dangerous discovery reopens the cold case of Julie Chapman, a teenager from one of the wealthy summer families, who vanished two decades ago.  And when Louis is forced to cooperate with a tough state investigator who once worked with Joe, tensions skyrocket.  Now, what was supposed to be a time of building lasting ties splinters into disturbing fragments, personally and professionally, as Louis pursues a mystery entangled in dark family secrets and twists even he can’t predict.

Sounds like I’m going to have to find an unoccupied cushion on the couch and curl up.  With over 10 inches of rain expected here over the weekend into Monday, and flood warnings posted, I’d say it’s the perfect time to read!

If you’ve read something you really, really liked and want to share, please tell us about it in the comments section!  Always looking for a good read!

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PRAYERS

1)  Please keep Lowell Greene and his wife Faye in your prayers.  Lowell goes into the hospital on Monday morning for a heart cath and possibly a stent. Jill and I visited Lowell and Faye last fall in Olivet, MI, and he and Faye will be visiting the Island in June. 

2)  I talked with Chris Ann for a few minutes on Wednesday and it was so wonderful to hear her voice.  She sounded very weak, but I understood everything she said and even got a small laugh from her when I said some stupid, silly thing.  When I talked to Burton, he said Hospice had come the day before and washed her hair, and they continue to juggle her pain meds for the best combinations.  Both of their Michigan children and their families have been there this weekend.   Chris Ann is very close to the end of her journey.