Stacey Smith of Williamsburg, her four children, her mother, her brother and his fiancee visited Elberta Beach on Lake Michigan recently to celebrate Stacey's mother's birthday.
Although it was cold, the waves were big and looked like fun so Stacey's 14-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter were playing in the waves. They got pulled out too far and when the wind shifted the waves became huge.
"My son tried to pull my daughter back in a little, but he got pushed toward shore and she got pulled under," Stacey wrote.
Stacey, her 16-year-old daughter and her brother frantically tried to struggle through the waves to reach her but couldn't.
"Suddenly, a man who had been playing on the beach with his own little girls swam through the waves and reached my daughter, pulling her in so she could touch bottom, then walking her to shore," Stacey wrote. "We thanked him at the beach, but didn't get his name and didn't tell him how eternally grateful we are. Our fun beach day could have ended in tragedy if not for this wonderful stranger with a tattoo of a cross on his back. A million thanks to this guy."
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At the beginning of the 2008-09 school year, students at Traverse City High School came together to organize a food pantry for students at the school who may need help from time to time. The Traverse City High School Food Pantry had a successful year and the students wish to thank everyone who contributed to making the pantry such a great success.
Many area businesses gave generously and also organized food drives to keep the pantry stocked. Businesses such as Wal-Mart allowed a group of concerned citizens, organized by Chandra Ross and Joe Baers, to hold a food drive, and Oryana Natural Foods held a two-month food drive that filled the pantry with nutritious organic food. Marty Manty, executive director of the Father Fred Foundation, provided guidance and shipments of the food that students seem to run out of on a regular basis. The Rev. Kurt J. Henle of All Saints Anglican Church presented the pantry with a generous check from the parishioners and the TCAPS family also has been very generous, with canned food collected for the pantry by the administration staff, several elementary schools, both middle schools and both high schools.
Other groups that donated food this past school year were Munson Spine & Nerve Center, Michigan State Extension, Barb Funhouser of Bay Baskets, Timber Lanes Dames Bowling Team, Long Lake Township, Acme Township and Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District Adult Work Center.
The students also are grateful to Michael Sedgewick, a Boy Scout from Troop 23. Michael built wooden shelves for the pantry as part of his Eagle Scout project and delivered them to the school with his volunteer assistant, Billy Jackson.
Thanks also to anonymous donors and Marty Cotanche, who has begin fund-raising efforts to make sure the students can always have the food items they need.
Contact Stephanie Beach at sbeach@record-eagle.com.
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