BY STEPHANIE BEACH
Local columnist
November 01, 2007 09:44 am Jean Stapleton of Eastport walked out of the Burger King at Chum's Corner without her purse, and was almost out of Traverse City before she realized it was missing. She called Burger King and the manager said a lady had found the purse after she sat down in the same booth, but only felt comfortable giving it directly to the owner. Jean returned to Burger King and the woman was still there with her two nieces waiting to give Jean back her purse. "I want to say thank you to (that) lady," Jean said. "I am so, so grateful to her and people should know that there are really honest people out there." --- Mary Lyon of Traverse City was one of 400 people invited to the 50th wedding anniversary of Bob and Janet Underwood and wants to thank them publicly for a great time. "The Underwoods took time to greet each guest and made everyone feel welcome. Only the Underwoods could put together such a grand event, including an elegant meal served by Auntie Pasta's, and aerial photographs by Dr. Gary Kaberle taken from a helicopter piloted by Butch Broad." --- The Inland Seas Education Association developed a new curriculum based on classic seafaring novels for the ninth-grade honors English class at Benzie County Central Schools. The field trip required a different kind of sailing adventure than the ISEA's schoolships usually provide and the trip was funded largely by a classroom grant from TBA Credit Union, the MEEMIC Insurance Harvitt Agency and Benzie County Central Schools' Educational Foundation. The students read and discussed excerpts from "The Sea Wolf" by Jack London, "Typhoon" by Joseph Conrad, "The Fortunes of War" by Patrick O'Brian and "Sailing Alone Around the World" by Joshua Slocum. Volunteers from the Schoolship program selected the passages and developed discussion questions about each author's individual style. The students also participated in exercises in navigation and seamanship. They raised the sails, took turns steering the ship and learned to tie basic knots. Instructors also taught students how to determine their position on the bay, plot a course to a given destination and calculate the speed of the ship. For more information, call the ISEA, 271-3077, or visit www.schoolship.org. --- The Board of Directors and staff of Traverse Health Clinic and Coalition wrote to recognize Alyson Purgiel and the local accounting firm of Plante Moran for developing and printing the clinic's brochure. The clinic and coalition is a community-based, nonprofit organization that sponsors the Coalition Health Access Program (CHAP) and the Traverse Health Clinic (formerly the Community Health Clinic) to serve low-income, uninsured area residents. The Health Clinic actually takes care of patients, while CHAP runs a program that organizes benefits and helps people obtain them, if they qualify. Both programs want to help as many people as possible, and therefore need to use their donated services and funds wisely. "On a limited budget, we are trying very hard to let the people of the Grand Traverse region know both the health care services that are available and the community collaborations in place to make those services possible," stated a letter from The Traverse Health Clinic and Coalition. "To help us, Plante Moran has generously donated the brochure that provides information on the Clinic's mission, services offered, eligibility requirements, and hours of operation. We especially want to recognize Alyson Purgiel of the Plante Moran staff for developing and printing the brochure. She has responded without hesitation to our calls for help and we really appreciate both her efforts and Plante Moran's generous contributions." --- The Elk Rapids Chamber of Commerce and Elk Rapids Public Schools want to thank all the participants who decorated their commercial businesses for the fall community decorating contest. "It's wonderful to see the community band together and show their true colors, orange and black of course!" wrote the Chamber of Commerce and Elk Rapids Schools. Winners of the contest were: first place, Classic Kitchen & Bath and Deb Steinbeck, CPA; second place (tie), Hair Port and The Moose; third place, Alden State Bank in Elk Rapids. --- The Civic Beautification Committee of The Friendly Garden Club recognized two Traverse City businesses for their achievements in landscaping. Elks Lodge #323 on Bay Street received the Small Garden Award for its garden design highlighted by the Elk sculpture. Designer John Zimmerman and Larry Kutsch accepted the award. The Landscape Design Award went to Copper Ridge at the corner of Barnes and Silver Lake roads. Dramatic city and bay views are incorporated into a landscape that features natural stone, trees and seasonal plantings. The award was accepted by developer Rick Deneweth and landscape contractor Randy Huffman. Items for this column may be sent to Northern Notes, Record-Eagle, P.O. Box 632, Traverse City, MI 49685-0632; e-mail sbeach@record-eagle.com
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Stephanie Beach