From our readers Dear Editor:
Once again I must say "thank you" to the many, many people who came together to make the śth"Annual Logging & Heritage Festival" so successful. Inspired by hope, the flourishing of dedicated people, once again, came together to showcase Marinette.
We set out to make this a fun, free, family event for our citizens, and we succeeded. Our Festival is non-profit and every penny is spent to make this happen. We work on strictly donations and corporate sponsorships each year.
Foremost, I have to applaud the efforts of the tireless Volunteer Committee, who put in hours and hours of planning, and endless time, to help with the production of the Festival. These people are amazing, and the perilous hours they spend in preparing, and helping to organize everything is beyond compare. This effort began right after the 2017 Festival!
The City of Marinette was once again aglow the preceding and entire weekend of the festival. The TV broadcasts, the banners, the Public Works employees working on the Island to beautify and keep up with the grounds, the Law Enforcement who provided necessary security, The Rescue Squad and Bellin Health for attending to the emergencies, the generous donations from Jack's Fresh Market for baking the cookies and bars to feed the two high school band participants, the excitement of the fireworks, the anticipated parade, and the many calls and questions requesting information about the event were all very rewarding.
My thanks are due to all of you who helped to make a difference in showcasing Marinette. Festivals and events of this magnitude do not "just happen". It takes a multitude of hours, thousands of dollars and indescribable amounts of work, sweat and tears. Your commitment, whether it was a generous monetary sponsor, food /craft vendor, Welcome Center staff, musician, high school band member, children's entertainer, Lumberjack's, a non-profit organization, Marine Corps, Army crew, charity rider, librarian, parade or car show participant, Historic Preservation Committee, NW Bicycle Federation, Wi Trappers Association, Beard Growing participant, New Life Church member etc. made this weekend another fantastic event. All of this could only happen with your belief in providing a unique experience for our community. Thank you to the City of Marinette and City Council for your support, as well. I believe that the economic impact, on our community, exceeded the projected amount that we were hopeful for.
Once again, I must say that I continue to be very proud of Marinette and the great people who live and work here! This is a wonderful community of very "giving" people.
Save the date for 2018. The Logging & Heritage Festival will be held July 14 & 15th with the Fish Boil and "free" Family Movie being held on Friday, July 13th.
Judy Alwin,
Festival Chairman
Editor:
Re: Menominee County Board of Commissioners about June 28 meeting
The responsibility of the Menominee County Board of Commissioners is to the people in the county as their representatives on all matters relating to the ownership, health, welfare, safety and other matters of public interest. Over the past years, this group of representatives was responsible for many rules, regulations and procedures helpful to the preservation of the quality of life we enjoy today. For instance, at the very height of the "great depression' in 1936, when unemployment in the country, as well as the rest of the nation was near the 50% level and the "cry for jobs' was never greater, the first draft of an ordinance was designed to protect and preserve for future generations, Menominee county's most valuable, nonrenewable resources.
The Preamble to this ordinance, says, "this is health, safety and general welfare and regulating, restricting and determining the areas and districts best suited for farming, forestry, recreation and other uses of land. The orderly development of the country, conserving property value; conserving and developing natural resources; protecting and conserving natural recreation areas, etc." This became known as the "Menominee County 1941 Zoning Ordinance: signed into law by the Governor of the State of Michigan on May 8, 1941.
The County Board also passed a resolution against the use of "cyanide' an extremely poisonous chemical used in the processing of gold, also outlawed by many mining states including Montana, and was instrumental in assisting a very worthwhile effort by a local property owner helping innocent property owners in Menominee and Marinette counties get back "Mineral Rights' taken from them without their knowledge or permission by a minerals prospecting company by the name of "WMS, LLC", later to merge with Aquila Resources, Inc. The Menominee County Prosecuting Attorney, instructed by the Menominee County Board of Commissioners contacted the Michigan States Attorney's office demanding the return of wrongfully acquired "Mineral Rights" on 53,000 acres in Menominee County (an additional 38,000 acres was claimed in Marinette County and later released as well) by Aquila Resources, Inc. under the threat of criminal prosecution by the State of Michigan's Attorney General.
The Menominee County Board is again being asked, by passing a "resolution' to help protect the rights of those who elected them to the important positions of trust they hold as members of the Menominee County Board of Commissioners, thus continuing their heritage of "truly representing the needs of their constituents' throughout the county. The mine owners, representatives and a paid consultant or two can leave anytime they want, but the rest of us need to stay? A resolution against the mine is a message to Aquila's big money people on the Toronto Stock Exchange, that Menominee County's parks, rivers, lakes and recreational areas are not for sale; that we are not against your mine and minerals processing operation, but just the place where you want to put it!!
William G. Boerner
2131 Tori Lane,
Marinette
Letter to Editor:
Points to Ponder
1. 1/2 of U.S. popcorn is grown in Nebraska.
2. 7 percent of Americans think chocolate milk comes from brown cows.
3. 25 percent of Japan's population is retirement age. The sale of adult diapers exceeds those for babies.
4. In 37 states the highest paid employee is a sports coach or athletic director.
5. 65 percent of U.S. households own a pet.
6. There are over 700,000 health insurance policies on pets.
7. The cost of raising a medium size dog to age 11 is $16,400.
8. Coca Cola was originally green.
9. One-third of America's hundred best paid CEOs earned more than their corporation paid in federal taxes.
10. The largest block of Republican voters are white males with a high school education or less.
Bert Grover
Editor:
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure to tour the New Life Church and thank Tabitha Kim who graciously took the time to show me around. When I returned to City Hall I was telling our City Clerk how impressed I was on how beautiful everything had turned out. You could see the thought and detail that went into designing the layout.
I was so impressed that I took the City Clerk the next day for a tour. We were met at the door by Pastor Aaron Hubert with a huge smile on his face as he greeted us. Pastor Aaron graciously volunteered to give us a tour and as we moved to different areas of the church you could hear the excitement in his voice as he spoke of the present and future of the church.
Your Mission statement says it all: "We exist to make Heaven more crowded". I think you're well on the way.
Welcome to Peshtigo.
Mayor Cathi Malke
Editor:
There were several comments made by Charlie Meintz, Chairman of the Menominee Board of Commissioners that need clarification. He said, in the report of the Boards June 28 meeting that, "he is concerned about the county taking a stance. There is a stance to take not that I disagree or agree, but we all have to remember who is in charge of regulating matters. By law the board can't go against State law. That is where the issue remains, we as a board cannot go against State law and the State manages the mine and is in charge of State funding for Menominee County. The proposed mine on the Menominee River in Lake Township is a State project. We can't go against State law and I am not ready to put members of the community in jeopardy and lose funding just to make a resolution. I am just stating the facts and we have to be very careful. I know we have been through this before."
Chairman Meintz, why do you believe an "anti mine resolution' is going against the state, and since when does your office report to the state and not the voters of the county? The State does not manage the mine and the mine is "not' a State project! Why do you believe the state will cut off county funding for exercising a "constitutional right to freedom of speech' and what do you know about the Directors, Officers and Stockholders of Aquila Resources, Inc.?Questions I believe are important and need to be answered by Chairman Meintz and each of the Board members are: 1. Who do you believe is responsible for electing you to the office of Menominee County Board of Commissioner? 2. How do they, the people who voted for you, individually and collectively feel about a mine and minerals processing operation being put less than a mile from Shaky Lakes and within 75 feet from the Menominee River; the source of their drinking water? 3. If you feel polluted water is O.K., then you must also feel whatever happened at Flint and if it happens here, that's O.K. too. Murphy's Law says, "Whatever can happen will happen"! Are you willing to face your voters and tell them this? 4. Have you done any research or investigation on the kind of ore intended to be mined and related hazards during and after mining operations cease; such as acid mine drainage, toxic waste tailings ponds, polluted water, air, vegetation, and health hazards to both animal and human life? 5. Do you feel a "trade' of the clean healthy Shaky Lakes for a noisy, dirty, filthy mining and minerals processing operation that goes without stopping 24 hours a day 7 days a week for the next 16 years is a legacy you want to leave to future generations?
Pat Winter
1712 15th St.
Menominee, Mich.
To the Editor:
"When I Was Only Ten"
An old red barn stands in the barnyard, it's wood rustic and faded
Where Gertrude and Bell led the other cows in for the evening milking,
Shocks of oats line a field on a hot July day
Field corn shooting past my shoulders in another field, it's a good place to hide in,
Memories are often triggered on walks upon these hills
Windflowers now are scattered amongst the timothy and clover,
And though it's been so many years since it's been a working farm
I still can feel the presence of Ma and Dad around me.
Dad's out in the hayfield on his little Ford tractor
Raking up the hay in windrows to be baled,
Ma's in the kitchen spreading out the dough
For an apple potica that no one's ever learned to make as good,
Wild strawberries grow in the night pasture
We'll pick them and eat them with a little sugar and milk,
Water lily pads float like UFO's on Butterfly Lake
It seems so magical how they rise up from the mud,
We shake pincherry and chokecherry trees so Ma can make jelly
There's always something to do in summertime on the farm,
Kittens are born in the haymound hiding in some corner
We listen for their meows to find out where they are,
At day we catch dragonflies and pretend they are helicopters
At night we catch fireflies until it's time for bed,
And I'll fall asleep and dream of frogs and salamanders
And chasing butterflies across these hills in the wind,
But then I hear the thunder coming from the west
Awakening me from the daydream that I'm in.
And as I sit on these hills while the raindrops start falling
I realize life was better when I was only 10.
Roger Lanich,
Wausaukee
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