Local News

Master Gardeners specialize in promoting beautiful gardens along with educating others about how to achieve lush, healthy gardens of their own. Our local chapter, the Master Gardeners of St. Clair County, serves the community by maintaining many community flower and vegetable gardens, and they also host an annual event that showcases gardens around the area.

The Master Gardeners of St. Clair County’s Annual Garden Tour is on Saturday, July 20th, 2019. This year’s tour will be based in the Yale area and will feature a variety of gardens. There will be country gardens, city gardens, and an organic farm with a hoop house.

Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online via PayPal on their website. Tickets may  also be purchased by phone at (810) 304-0106 or in person at the following locations:
MSUE St. Clair County Extension Office, Mosher’s Jewelers, Lexington Gardens, Silk’s Flower Shop, Ameriscapes Landscape Supply, Inc., or the Yale Feed Store.  Tickets purchased the day of the event will be $15.

You can find out more about the event on the event Facebook page.

The Advia Foundation is pleased to announce that 32 graduating high school seniors will receive a $1,000 financial scholarship to help pay for their continuing education. Advia celebrates and promotes education that engages, enriches, and inspires our young people to develop knowledge and skills for life-long financial competence.

“With the help of this scholarship, I am one step closer to meeting my future educational goals,” says Emilyann Koppel, a Marysville High School student and 2019 Scholarship recipient.  “Thank you for your support and confidence in me by selecting me as a recipient of this scholarship.”

Advia received over 75 applications from students in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Scholarships are awarded to students that exhibit academic achievement, leadership skills, and commitment to their communities.

Local recipients include Christina Berels and Jenna Stoldt from Cardinal Mooney Catholic School; Abigail Sawdon, Elizabeth Leto, Jenna Russell, and Emilyann Kopel from Marysville High School; and Haley Relkin and Riley Shagena from Port Huron Northern High School.

“The academic successes of the applicants and their commitment to their communities is astounding,” says Nancy Loftis, Advia Foundation President. “We are a community-oriented credit union and are pleased to support our future business, civic, and community leaders.”

Main Street between Smiths Creek Road and Burns Road in Kimball Township will be closed to traffic starting on July 9th as the existing bridge over Smiths Creek will be replaced with a three-sided arch culvert.  Work will also include new HMA pavement, new guardrail, and restoration. The closure of Main Street is expected to span over approximately 28 consecutive days. During the closure of Main Street, access will be allowed from Smiths Creek Road to local traffic for residents and businesses only up to the bridge.  A detour will be posted during the closure of Main Street which will be Smiths Creek Road and Burns Road. Local residents are encouraged to plan now for delays due to construction.

It will be hard to miss a fireworks display in and around the Blue Water Area this month.  Here’s a look at some local fireworks displays that are coming up soon. Algonac and Lexington will have fireworks on July 5th with Algonac’s starting at 10 pm and Lexington’s at dusk. 

On Saturday the 6th, Port Sanilac will have their show at Harbor Park kicking off at 9:30 PM.

Next weekend on July 13th at the Harbor in Harbor Beach, they will celebrate our country’s independence with a fireworks display. 

Desmond Landing in Port Huron will have their annual fireworks show on July 18th, and Marlette’s show is slated for July 20th with Yale a week after that on July 26th at Yale High School.

Be sure to be safe if you plan to set off your own fireworks. Remember, consumer-grade fireworks can be just as dangerous as professional ones, so always use the utmost care.

Four TEC students earned medals at the 2019 National SkillsUSA Conference held last week in Louisville, Kentucky. Ryan Alexander from Marysville High School and Carter Spoutz from Memphis High School placed 1st in the nation, winning the gold medal in the Mechatronics (Engineering & Robotics) team competition.

Scott Pitt, a student from Port Huron Northern, won the silver medal in CNC Milling, and Dustin Cooney from Port Huron High School, won bronze in the CNC Technician category. Five others also represented TEC and the state of Michigan at the national event competing in electrical construction wiring, information technology services, and audio production. The SkillsUSA National Championships are a showcase for the best career and technical students in the nation, and the national event occupies a space equivalent to 16 football fields. 

Cadet Timothy Patrick Donnellon II, son of Tim and Amy Donnellon of Emmett, MI, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday, May 25. 

Donnellon graduated from Yale High School in 2015. While at West Point, he concentrated his studies in Space Science. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army within the Army Aviation branch and will report to Fort Rucker, Ala., for his first assignment. 

The mission of the U.S. Military Academy is to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army. 

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is a four-year, co-educational, federal, liberal arts college located 50 miles north of New York City. It was founded in 1802 as America’s first college of engineering and continues today as the worlds’ premier leader-development institution, consistently ranked amount top colleges in the country. 

2LT Donnellon is a great example of talented and hardworking youth from the Blue Water Area who are becoming America’s next generation of leaders.