Local News

The City of Marysville will be holding a candidate forum Thursday, August 22nd beginning at 5:30 p.m. for the upcoming November 5th election. On the fall ballot, residents will be asked to elect a new mayor and three council members as current Mayor Dan Damman and councilwoman Rita Hendricks will not be seeking re-election. Current councilmembers Kathy Hayman and Paul Wessel, who have served since 2015 and 2011 respectively, will be seeking reelection. Joining the bid for the three open council seats will be Jean Cramer, Mike Deising, and Shawn Winston. The only contender for the open mayor seat is Wayne Pyden. All candidates are expected to be present at the forum which will be moderated by Scott Shigley and take place at Marysville City Hall in the council chambers.

Labor Day is fast approaching and many families make plans to squeeze in one last, quick trip.  Many people head up to the Mackinac Bridge for the annual walk over the bridge. The bridge walk began in 1958 and took place in June with 68 people making the first crossing.  The next year it was changed to Labor Day and has remained that day ever since. It is estimated that the most people to ever walk the bridge came in 1992 with 85,000 people participating in the annual event. 

Here in the Blue Water region, a local crossing is looking forward to its 12th year. St. Clair County Parks and Recreation is hosting the Trek the Trestle Walk on the Wadhams to Avoca Trail. It is a five-mile walk that will begin at 9 a.m. on Labor Day at the Avoca Road trailhead in downtown Avoca.  Those making the trek will cross the 640 foot Mill Creek trestle which is the longest bridge of its kind in the state of Michigan.

Many believe the days of kids getting together in their neighborhood to play a game of baseball, basketball, football, or any other sport, are becoming a thing of the past.  However, the YMCA would like to see that change with a new sports equipment borrowing program. The YMCA SportPort program is now being offered by the recreation departments in both Port Huron and Marysville.  The YMCA is using vans to offer pop-up sports locations at schools and parks. They will be coming to a community near you with a van full of sports equipment hoping to get kids outdoors to play. 

Geof Kusch, chairman of the YMCA board, feels that “barely half of all children are participating in sports even once a year. The era of the sandlot or unstructured play, of kids making up games and playing with friends in the neighborhood, is largely gone.”  In Port Huron, gear is available from the McMorran Place Pro Shop, and in Marysville equipment can be borrowed at the Marysville Community Center on Huron. The SportPort program is funded through the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan.

This Friday, get ready with your board, scooter, or rollerblades.  Alpine Cycles and the City of Port Huron will be hosting the Ramp Rail Jam at McMorran Place on the east side of the building (near the fountains).  John Eppley, chairman of the event, says they hope to raise funds for a new skate park at Optimist Park in Port Huron. All funds raised for the park will be matched by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation along with the Tony Hawk Foundation up to $250,000. 

Port Huron City Manager James Freed said the city has “received a $250,000 matching grant, but needs to raise the initial $250,000 of the $500,000 total project cost.” John Eppley also explained that they hope to construct a high-end facility that will attract professional and amateur users.  The fundraising event will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday. Residents are welcome to stop by and try out the activities that are set up. There will be a special show at 7 p.m. focusing on helmet safety. There is no cost to attend the event throughout the day, but donations are welcome. The matching challenge ends on December 31st this year.

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is a large retailer of closeout merchandise and excess inventory with 333 stores across the United States. In the spring, it was announced that the retailer would be opening a storefront in Port Huron on 24th Street. Wednesday, September 4th will be the first day Ollie’s opens in town. According to their website, at Ollie’s, “You’ll find real brands at real bargain prices in every department, from housewares to sporting goods to flooring and to food.” The company says it takes a unique approach to merchandise with, “Ollie’s buyers scouring the world looking for closeouts, overstocks, package changes, manufacturer refurbished goods, and irregulars.” The storefront will be at 1247 24th Street next to the south end Kroger in the old Ace Hardware.

Construction projects are still going strong this summer as we start to head toward school beginning for many students in the area.  In Burtchville Township, State Road between Myron and Burtch will be closed for bridge replacement until further notice. A two-week paving project is getting underway in Kimball on Wednesday and will last two weeks as Mayer, Frith, Burns, Yager Roads along with Main Street are all being repaved at various sections.  Also happening this week, the right lane of westbound I-69 between Taylor and Wales Center will be closed for concrete patching. In St. Clair, Wadhams Road at Fred Moore will continue to be closed for as on that roundabout continues. Finally, in Riley Township, there will be single-lane closures for concrete patching on eastbound I-69 between Braidwood and M-19 this week.