I am never quite sure what to say to middle school students about health and fitness. They are at an age where they do not think about fitness because they are young and feel indestructible. That was my dilemma Tuesday afternoon while helping dedicate a new track at Pontiac Middle School. It is not the … Continue Reading →
Ever fantasize about standing at the bow of a ship and yelling: “I’m the king of the world!” How about with the ghost of the Titanic at your back? You can do that in Belfast. Sort of. The dry dock where the majestic liner was built still stands. Walk the length of the dock and … Continue Reading →
Forget West Virginia’s Gauley or New River. Now you can get your whitewater kicks much closer to home — in Petoskey — with the opening this Saturday of the new Bear River Valley Recreation Area featuring a short section of challenging rapids. The new mile-long route, the only whitewater course in Michigan’s lower peninsula, starts … Continue Reading →
I hope to resume working out next week after a two week layoff. Sometimes life gets in the way of trying to keep the body moving. First, there was a severe cold that had me on medication for a week. Then I pulled a groin while playing softball earlier this week, and it is difficult … Continue Reading →
‘Every couple weeks I drop by the barber shop to get my beard trimmed on Detroit’s west side. The other day a heavyset man stood up after getting a trim and began coughing. It wasn’t a small cough. It was a bend over and gasping cough. It was deep and raspy. It was so nasty … Continue Reading →
One of the sure signs of spring in Michigan is the reopening of the Grand Hotel. The stately Mackinac Island hotel opened for its 125th season last weekend and debuted its newest suite, named after former First Lady Laura Bush. It’s the hotel’s seventh First Lady Suite; the others are named after Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady … Continue Reading →
Robert “Tractor” Traylor was always a big man. He was big when I met him when he was a high school junior at Detroit Murray Wright and he was a big man in death on Wednesday. But he died way too young. Traylor was 34 when he died in his apartment in Puerto Rico. He … Continue Reading →
The Civil War is coming to Michigan. Beginning May 21, a wealth of Civil War documents, ranging from letters and diaries to photos and receipts, will be shown as part of a traveling national exhibit, Discovering the Civil War, at the Henry Ford in Dearborn. This is no staid exhibit. These and other documents, including … Continue Reading →