Local News

The Dementia & Alzheimer’s Resource Committee will hold a special event for those living with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease and their families on Saturday, May 18, 2019, from 1 to 3:00 p.m. at the American Legion in Marysville.   The Chairman of the Board meets The King of Rock is a family-friendly event for those living with dementia and their family and-or caregiver.  The event has been created especially for all to enjoy as they walk through the dementia journey together.  Participants will take a musical journey down memory lane and enjoy the classic, toe tapping, feel good music of Frank Sinatra & Elvis Presley.  There will also be refreshments and special dance performances by Swing SLAM.  This event is free, but registration is required.  Call 810-990-9558 or visit the website www.darcscc.org for more information.

The Corn Marketing Program of Michigan unveiled a new grant program aimed at increasing the availability of higher-level blends of ethanol fuel to Michigan consumers. The grant is open to fuel retailers in Michigan who want to offer E15, which is fuel blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline.  Currently, almost every gallon of gasoline sold contains 10 percent ethanol. Ethanol provides a non-carcinogenic way to boost the octane of gasoline. Using more ethanol in our fuel also helps clean up Michigan’s air. Ethanol produces 36% less greenhouse gas emissions than regular gasoline.  According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, all model 2001 and newer cars can safely operate on E15.  Five grants of $20,000 each will be awarded to retailers throughout Michigan wishing to improve their infrastructure to accommodate E15. The grant money can be used by retailers to update their infrastructure and provide marketing and educational materials for customers.  Retailers wishing to learn more about this grant opportunity should contact the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan at (517) 668-2676.

Blue Water Recovery Outreach Center is a place where people can actively work on their recovery, or help others, attend classes and carry out programs and activities.  It is a centralized location for activities, classes, book studies and volunteer opportunities. According to Center Manager, Patrick Patterson, they celebrate milestones in the recovery community along with publicly thanking and acknowledging volunteers who are he says, the living proof of the organization’s commitment to recovery-oriented social change.  BWROC is holding a 5k Walk/Run on Friday, June 21 at Vantage Point in Port Huron.  Cost is only $10 – and the event is from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.   If you would like to make a donation to the Center, checks can be mailed to BWROC, 525 Court Street.  For further information, call 1-888-68 -BWROC.  Those interested in attending the run/walk can sign up at https://runsignup.com/StridesForRecovery2019

Friends of the St. Clair River is hosting the 6th annual Blue Water Sturgeon Festival on Saturday, June 1st from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse Station Park, 2800 Omar Street, Port Huron. This one-day event is centered on providing close encounters with Lake Sturgeon, Michigan’s Gentle Giant of the Great Lakes. Parking and admission are free.
The festival provides a live sturgeon touch tank, hands-on activities, workshops, adopt a sturgeon program and exclusive Huron Lady Sturgeon Cruises. Lake Sturgeon can grow to more than 6 feet long and weigh more than 100 pounds. St. Clair County has the largest Lake Sturgeon population in the Great Lakes, an estimated 30,000 adults in southern Lake Huron, the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair. Biologists are recording the abundance, distribution, and growth of Lake Sturgeon to better understand their life cycle and movements. The festival draws thousands to get up close and personal with these giants, ask questions to those who study them, and learn about stewardship of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem.  Huron Lady Sturgeon Cruise tickets are available at www.huronlady.com for cruises at 10:00a.m, 11:30
a.m., and 1:00 p.m. Tickets are $25/ person. During the 1-hour guests watch Lake Sturgeon swimming in the St. Clair River via live video by Gregory A.D. scuba divers.  Fifth-grade students in St. Clair County – 600 of them – will get a free Sturgeon Science Cruise May 30- 31 as part of the Sturgeon Festival. Students embark on the Huron Lady II where they interact with
biologists catching, tagging and releasing Lake Sturgeon and scientists studying invasive species, like sea lamprey. Friends of the St. Clair River hatched the Blue Water Sturgeon Festival in 2014 after a group of divers,  environmentalists and scientists wanted to highlight the fascinating story of this ancient fish – a mascot for the Great Lakes and their recovery. Lake Sturgeon are threatened in 7 of the 8 Great Lakes states.  Once on the brink of extinction, their populations are making a comeback and have become a spotlight species for the habitat restoration work completed in the St. Clair River. Funds raised from the Sturgeon Cruise support Friends of the St. Clair River’s conservation and stewardship programs. For more information, visit www.SturgeonFestival.com or contact Sheri Faust, President, Friends of the St. Clair River at (810) 730-5998 or info@scriver.org.

DATES TO REMEMBER:
Sturgeon Brew Benefit Party, May 30, 5 pm – 9 pm, War Water Brewery, St. Clair
Blue Water Sturgeon Festival, June 1, 10 am – 3 pm, Fort Gratiot Light Station Park, Pt Huron
Huron Lady Sturgeon Cruises, June 1, 10 am, 11:30 am, 1:00 pm, Huron Lady Dock, Port Huron

A 48-year-old Sandusky man was pronounced dead at the scene of a traffic crash in Imlay Township early Saturday, Lapeer County Sheriff Department reports.  They say deputies were called to the scene on VanDyke south of Bowers Road just after 5 a.m. Saturday.  According to the Sheriff Department release, a 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan driven by a 41-year-old Hamtramck man was northbound on Van Dyke when he failed to navigate a curve and hit the gravel shoulder.  It appears the driver over-corrected while attempting to reenter the roadway, traveling across the northbound lane, entering the southbound lane in front of two other motorist.  A 2005 Toyota side-swiped a southbound 2018 Chevy Cruz driven by a 24-year-old Imlay City man…the driver was uninjured.  The driver of the 2008 Saturn, Gary Franzel was hit head on by the minvan, whose driver was taken to McLaren in Lapeer with life threatening injuries, then later transported to Hurley Medical Center in Flint.  Preliminary investigation suggest that neither alcohol nor excessive speed are factors, with toxicology pending.

Carol Hall is the owner of the Hallway Escape which is a place in which adults get to go and have a unique entertainment experience.  They have three different rooms in which each has a story line and attendees are charged with finding clues to either solve a mystery or escape the room.   The most recent room to open is the Sunken Freighter playing on local history of the Storm of 1913.  Hall says while the escape rooms are primarily geared toward adults, there is a children’s room for 5 to 7 or 8 year olds in which it is like an eye spy game, and a puzzle treasure hunt for older kids.  About one year ago the Hallway Escape moved to a larger location at  the corner of 6^th and Union in Port Huron.   And now, along with the escape rooms, since January, they offer a game show night which is similar to Hollywood Game Night, as well as Silent Moving Disco which can be rented out for private parties.  Hall says as far as she knows the Hallway Escape is the only company in Michigan that offers the kids escape room.  You can reserve your game at  www.thehallwayescape.com –