Category: Kid Stuff
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Whoville in E-ville Contest
Announcing! The first annual Whoville Holiday Decorating contest, sponsored by Shear Class Salon and Day Spa. Who in Elberta will come up with the greatest house and lawn decor to brighten up our midwinter? Submit your $10 entrance fee to Shear Class. The Overall Best Decor winner gets the whole kitty…
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Elberta Summer Solstice Festival no. 12: Wilder Than Ever
The Elberta Solstice Festival is back for its 12th year, Saturday June 21! Join the teeming masses of music and food buffs descending on our magical Village amid the dune bluffs of Lake Michigan for live music, local food, beer, games, Michigan’s best beach, and other attractions to amaze and…
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A Better Fence Will Make a Better “Tot Park”
Elberta Parks and Rec has made installation of a new Tot Park fence a priority for this summer. The current chain-link fence is in bad condition and doesn’t fully enclose the play area. The Commission has sought estimates for a sturdy, attractive new fence that will fully enclose the play…
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Adult Spelling Bee to Contain No XXX Words
By Emily Votruba On Friday, April 11, Stormcloud Brewing Company and the Betsie Current newspaper present a spelling bee to raise money for a great cause: local education. If you are a mature, brewery-going person with an orthographic bent, find yourself a partner and register to spell competitively by sending…
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Catton Essay: “The Biggest Game of the Year”
By Mason Loney Each year, first-year high school students at Frankfort–Elberta High School and Benzie Central read Bruce Catton’s Waiting for the Morning Train and create their own reminiscence of growing up in Benzie County. Mason Loney submitted this essay to the Bruce Catton Awards contest in 2013. Mason, now…
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Ice Balls!
By Marilyn Maslo CHRISTMAS, FRANKFORT—For the first time I have now seen with my very own eyes what some have described to me in the past. Sunday and Monday I walked the beachfront of Frankfort heading north. Much further away from the breakwall I found the beach littered with ice…
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O, Tannerbaum! 3rd Annual P&R Xmas Tree Sale
The Village Parks and Recreation Commission will for the third year in a row sell fabulous Christmas trees from Needlefast Everygreens as a fundraiser for P&R projects! This year the sale will be held in the Farmers’ Market Park Pavilion, with festive lights, excellent parking, possibly cocoa, and a bit…
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Little Free Library Comes to Elberta
A new “Little Free Library” has opened for business in Elberta. It’s located on the front porch of the Conundrum Café at 603 Frankfort Avenue. Books are available 24-7. If your inner book worm is turning and you feel the need (the need to read) “check out” one of the…
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What Do You Think of Our Plan?
The final draft of the Village of Elberta Parks and Recreation Plan for 2009–14 is now up on the Village website. As soon as the official notice is published in the Record-Patriot this Wednesday, the official five-week public comment period begins. This is a very important document for the Village…
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Issy Stapleton Responsive, Expected to Recover
Good news from Eileen Stapleton, Matt Stapleton’s mother, via Janet Buck: Issy seems to be “about 95% OK” and is continuing to make progress toward a full recovery. She was unresponsive for three days and today “came out of it.” The possible brain damage that was reported earlier, found in…
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A Brefe, Tempestuous Historie of Lakeside Shakespeare in which Our Brave Players—and Manye Volontiers—Battle the Elementf, with Engineering Mofte Civill
Lakeside Shakespeare’s last performance of the season, The Comedy of Errors, takes place tonight on Tank Hill at 7 pm. On July 5, Emily Votruba interviewed Janet La Rue Buck, Elizabeth Laidlaw, Amy Daniels Moehle, and Peter Dully, on the porch of the La Rue House Bed & Breakfast, where the Bucks…
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Blast from the Future: “Shakespeare Play”
The Alert will be presenting a series of essays written by local kids for the annual Bruce Catton Awards essay contest for ninth graders. Since Lakeside Shakespeare will give a preview performance of Romeo and Juliet tonight on Tank Hill, it seems fitting to begin with this essay by Brittanie…
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Blast from the Future: Clara Reed
Alert readers love the writing of our area kids. If you or someone you know has a story to tell, send it our way! elberta.alert@gmail.com.
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August Events at the Benzie Shores Library
Thursday, August 1 – Story Hour with Miss Julie Friday, August 2, 10:00 a.m. – World of Lego, ages 5-12 Monday, August 5, 10:00 a.m. – Circle Time for Infants & Toddlers Tuesday, August 6, 10:00 a.m. – Young Artists, ages 6-14 Wednesday, August 7, 10:00 a.m. – Fun and…
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Parks and Rec Meeting Wrap-up
July 11, 2013 The Parks and Recreation Commission held its July meeting in the Duck’s Head this evening because the Library was in use for a rescheduled meeting of the Gilmore Township Board. Gilmore normally meets in the Library on the second Tuesday of the month, but this month that…
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JR’s Fireworks a Big Success
J. R. Duncan wants to extend his thanks to everyone who came out for his second annual Village fireworks extravaganza this year. Special thanks to Clark Wilson and Ken Bonney, who put their all into helping set up, and set off, this over one-hour-long spectacle, which attracted an estimated 300…
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Talk Time with Mabel Little
Back in December, Alert youth editor Merren Garber interviewed Mabel and Allen Little. Today, June 29, the venerable Elberta couple celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary. UPDATE 6/30/13: Patricia Little, Morris’s daughter, wrote on Facebook to say that her mother was called Patsy, and that her grandfather Al did work in…
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JR’s 2nd Annual Fireworks
A free fireworks display comes once again to the Village, brought to us by J. R. Duncan, when night falls this Saturday, June 29. All are welcome. Duncan said last year the fireworks could be seen from River Road, but you might want to get a better view. Duncan suggests…
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11th Annual Solstice Festival on Saturday!
Each June since 2002, the Elberta Solstice Festival has brought masses of people to this tiny village nestled amid the dune bluffs on the shores of the Betsie Bay and Lake Michigan for a free festival of local food, beer, games, crafts, and fantastic live music, all capped off with…
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Elberta Pets!
Do you have a pet or 10? Do you know someone with interesting animal friends? Let us know at elberta.alert@gmail.com.
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Psst…Party at Juliet’s House
By Emily Votruba On May 25 at 7 pm, Frankfort–Elberta’s very own Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre company will transform Oliver Art Center into the House of Capulet for “An Evening in Verona”—a fun theatrical party with a purpose. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, which gets you local food…
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Support Outdoor Education and Blooming Michigan Artistry
By Lena Wilson Many potent life lessons come through interaction with young people in our lives. By making an effort to pay closer attention and ask questions we’re reminded, though we didn’t know we had forgotten, how to play and act in the moment. Though the children certainly don’t intend…
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Beach-to-Beach Cleanup This Saturday
SATURDAY, APRIL 20th Earth Day…just about 13th ANNUAL BEACH-TO-BEACH CLEAN UP 10 am to 11 am Start: Elberta Farmers’ Market Pavilion End: When Trail & Beaches are cleaned! Bring: Friends and Neighbors Gloves and Enthusiasm We’ll Provide: Coffee & Goodies Friends of Betsie Bay have been dedicated stewards of the Betsie Bay…
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Benzie County Water Festival 2013! (Video)
UPDATE For the third year in a row, the Benzie County Water Festival convenes this coming Friday at Benzie Central High School from 3:30 pm to 9 pm. This year’s theme is: “Under The Surface,” focused on youth and lesser-understood impacts to our water resources. Once again it brings Michigan musicians, panel discussions,…
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League of Women Voters Education Forum (Video)
On February 25, the League of Women Voters held a forum on new education legislation and how it might affect local control of schools. Jonathan Maue took this video and has generously let us post it here. The League of Women Voters is a national nonpartisan organization. The Benzie chapter…
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Eagle Donates City of Milwaukee Photo to Issy Stapleton Fundraising Effort
THE LIGHTHOUSE CAFÉ, ELBERTA—Ford Forrester called up the Alert a week ago saying he had something to donate toward Issy Stapleton’s autism treatment. “Raffle, silent auction, whatever you want to do with it,” he said. The item has a special Elberta significance: It’s a portrait of the SS City of…
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Food Trucks at Elberta Beach?
By Emily Votruba At the February Parks and Rec Commission meeting last night there was some discussion of food concessions down at the beach. Nobody in the room could remember a time when snacks were sold down at the beach, though Katy denHeeten recalled the swingsets and picnic tables she…
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Panthers Wring Out the Glen Lake Lakers 42-41
Reporting by Kelli Stapleton January 24, 2013—Frankfort–Elberta Men’s Basketball, state ranked for the first time since the ’70s, under the coachmanship of Elberta mayor Reg Manville, faced the Glen Lake Lakers, who were 9-1 coming into the game. According to coach Manville, who asked Pete Sandman, the Panthers’ now 10-0…
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Flu Shots
Mlive.com reports today that a third child has died in Michigan from the flu, reflecting a nationwide increase in flu cases. According to Mlive, you and yours should be protected from the three most common strains of flu if you get vaccinated. So: help your family and your community stay…
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Pride of BC: Let’s Talk about Bullying in Schools
An anti-bullying group for parents holds its first meeting tomorrow at Benzie High School’s SEEDS room at 6:30 pm. The group is a spinoff of the kids’ anti-bullying Pride group that formed earlier this year. All are welcome to come out and discuss how we can be nicer to each…
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Free Movies in Elberta: They’re Baaaaaack
Come one, come all! to free movies Monday (August 20), Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at the Elberta Waterfront Amphitheater. It’s the first annual Mushy Peach Festival, featuring films generously supplied by local auteur and Benzie booster Rich Brauer. All the films were shot locally and with local themes. Monday it’s…
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Memorial Day Saturday Kidstravaganza!
Getting excited for this Saturday, when the Solstice Committee puts on a bunch of awesome fun for kids, to raise money for more awesome fun at the kids’ tent at Solstice Fest. Check it out: Starting at noon at the Waterfront Park, it’s relay games, a dunk tank, a cake…
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School Band Concert Tonight
Tonight! Spring Band Concert at 7 pm at the Franfort–Elberta High School cafetorium. The elementary 5&6 graders will open the show, making their debut performance, followed by the junior high band, then the high school band. Featuring songs from Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Anastasia, and some oldies but…
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Kindergarten and Pre-K Roundup Time!
By Jennifer Wilkins, Head Start educator Well, Parents, it’s that time of year. Time to start thinking about getting your little ones signed up for preschool and kindergarten. Benzie County has many options for preschool. Benzie Central Elementary Schools house Head Start Programs that enroll 2 1/2- to 5-year-olds and…