Tomorrow night, Monday, at 6 PM, a public forum on the Elberta Master Plan will be held at the Lifesaving Station. This is an important opportunity to discuss wind power, local agriculture and business, the height of buildings in the proposed waterfront development—anything that pertains to the future of the village. Make your voice heard! Planning and Zoning committee members Kelli Stapleton, Connie Manke, Christeen Kibby-Crawford, Marcia Stobie, and Ken Holmes will attend, along with Sarah Lucas, the representative from the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments who is helping the committee develop the plan. Local developer Scott Gest will be there, along with Max McKee, a major landholder. Reg Manville, Village president, has urged all council members to attend. Tell your friends and come out to the Lifesaving Station. If you know anyone who needs a ride, contact Emily Votruba at 231-399-0098.—Emily Votruba
Archive for February, 2011|Monthly archive page
Foghorn: Come to the Elberta Master Plan Public Forum!
In Foghorn, Infrastructure and Planning, On and off the Apron, Uncategorized on February 20, 2011 at 8:43 amVertical Thinking: Elbertian Proposes to Change Elberta’s Name
In Culture Bluffs, Foghorn, Infrastructure and Planning, On and off the Apron, Open Season, Politics, The Mess Deck on February 18, 2011 at 10:04 amDuring the initial public comment period at the Village Council meeting last night, Kelli Stapleton, Elberta resident and planning and zoning committee member, presented a proposal to change Elberta’s name to Heaven. Among Stapleton’s stated goals was the preservation of our local post office (no plans to close the office are known at this time), an increase in the Village’s revenues, and general psychological uplift. The proposal produced little reaction, and no discussion ensued. Here is the full text of Stapleton’s proposal, distributed on a handout during the meeting:
In consideration of changing the name of Elberta to Heaven:
1. The post office will have more mail coming through for the “stamp of heaven”
2. Sell plots of one inch land for $25 to own a piece of heaven Read the rest of this entry »
Frigid Dare: We Polar Plunged Lake Michigan
In Open Season on February 8, 2011 at 12:32 amIn January, a video depicting two area women was leaked to Facebook. The video, which was recorded on New Year’s Day, shows the women stripping down to their sportswear and taking the wet route off Frankfort beach. Herewith, an Alert exclusive interview.
Julia Dodd: It was New Year’s Day, 2011. I would have to guess there was a negative 10 degree windchill. The wind was horizontal and hit our faces like a knife slashing the skin. There were also snow flurries and the beach sand was whipping us.
Liz Padalino: A pair of surfers on the scene had long, thick icicles surrounding their faces on their hair that was exposed.
||| I am better than OK now, but I have moved to Malibu, CA. |||
JD: What possessed us? We wanted a nice cleansing experience for the New Year. I had a wicked roller coaster of a year in 2010 and I thought the cold water would refresh me, so that I would be raring to go in 2011. Read the rest of this entry »
Potluck Gardening Workshops Build Soil-Esteem
In Green Elbertians, Open Season, The Mess Deck on February 7, 2011 at 9:23 pmVegetable gardens are sprouting up all over the country in unexpected places, from the White House front lawn to city rooftops, in response to the economic crisis and concerns about nutrition and food safety. Some prominent Frankfort and Elberta residents are on the front lines of this trend, participating in Grow Benzie, the two-year-old nonprofit organization that promotes local self-sufficiency—from gardening to cooking to sewing and other job skills.
||| Turns out you should never, ever rototill. |||
Grow Benzie’s greenhouse now supplies vegetables for Frankfort–Elberta schools and Grow Benzie volunteers are teaching schoolkids how to recycle and compost. The heaps of snow haven’t slowed them as Grow Benzie volunteers “plow” ahead, bringing spring a bit early with the help of a series of workshops on extending the growing season. Read the rest of this entry »
Stop Whining and Start W“h”ining: After-Party Will Warm the Shiverers
In Culture Bluffs, Open Season, The Mess Deck on February 5, 2011 at 12:37 pmDiane “Jinx” Jenks, on the first annual wine festival in the Elberta terroir, Saturday, February 19, from 5 PM…
The idea came from my personal winter sport, which is winter “whining.” I whine about the cold, stay in, drink wine, and read. I’m getting quite good at it, and it takes no skill. Every year I say I’m going to embrace winter and suck it up and learn to ski or some winter sport. This year I decided instead I would invite people to learn my sport of winter w“h”ining. So for those that want to be outside playing in the snow, God bless them. For those of us that don’t, God bless us, too. It’s a win-win! I hope it will result in an annual winter party on our side of the bay during the Shiver by the River festival.
The Elberta float in the Shiver by the River parade will be an ice shanty, constructed from cardboard and pulled in the parade and then placed in an area we’ll call Shantytown, where it will be judged with all the other floats. Trophies will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. It will be a great advertisement all day in Frankfort for our party that evening. Read the rest of this entry »
