November 27, 2007 04:00 am Cheers -- To the 13 families who adopted a total of 19 children last week to offer them new lives and the security and home life children need to thrive. The event was part of a national public relations push that saw more than 30 adoptions finalized in Michigan. Over the past five years, 13,000 Michigan children have been adopted out of foster care, officials said. -- To the Father Fred Foundation and the dozens of volunteers who put on the annual Night Before Thanksgiving Community Dinner at the Park Place Hotel Wednesday. While musicians played in the background, servers laid out fresh Thanksgiving meals. The foundation expected to serve about 400 meals. The dinner, now in its 14th year, was seen as a way for area residents to reach out to those in need. -- To members of the Benzie Ministerial Association and resort owner Dave Easter, who hosted the inaugural Benzie Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Easter's Scenic Hill Resort along U.S. 31. It was a first for the county, and organizers expected to feed more than 300 people. Food was donated by US Foodservice Inc., Crescent Bakery of Frankfort contributed and some volunteers had to be turned away. -- To Traverse City native Michael "Frosti" Zernow who survived for 27 days on a remote jungle island as part of the reality TV show "Survivor: China." Zernow, who at 20 was the youngest contestant, was voted off the show on Thursday night's episode and on Friday morning was in New York for media interviews. CBS said an online poll had at one time pegged him as the third most popular candidate. -- To the 250 people who attended the 11th annual Poets Night Out, sponsored by the Friends of Traverse Area District Library and the library and to the 25 winners of the poetry contest who read their poems. The group holds monthly events from February to November, including a poetry contest, workshops for poets, the Poets' Night Out reading at the Opera House and a reading in April to kick off National Poetry Month. -- To the members of Traverse City West Senior High School's class of 1998, the school's first, for organizing efforts that have raised more than $1,600 for Len Scheidel, 27, who was diagnosed in October with a brain tumor. West Student Senate members held a "Hats for Hope" fundraiser and came up with more than $650. Jeers -- To the parents who disrupted a playoff football game in Gaylord last weekend and a youth hockey game there Sunday because they were upset by game officials or, in one case, 10-year-old hockey players. Police were called to the Gaylord High School football field to calm parents from Marine City High School angered by what they said was a bad call. Police were called Sunday to the Otsego County Sportsplex when parents became disruptive at a youth hockey game.
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