Joyce Lundberg is one of a group of "mature" women who meet for lunch at a different restaurant each Thursday. They recently decided to meet for lunch at Capone's, where they have never eaten before, but forgot to check the hours, and when they arrived discovered that the restaurant didn't open until 2 p.m. that day.
"We had to stay in the parking lot until the last person expected arrived," Joyce wrote. "As we were chatting, a lady came out from the restaurant to see if she could help us. We told her our story and she immediately offered to cook us hamburgers, fries, and soft drinks or coffee.
"What special service we received and a great time was had by all of us," Joyce wrote. " ... She did all this alone and the service was exceptional. Thanks to Capone's for a great lunch!"
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Emmy Lou Cholak wrote on behalf of the organizers of the Rolling Centuries Farm Winter Festival to thank all the people and families, both young and old, who came to enjoy it and truly made the event the success it was.
The afternoon horse-drawn wagon rides would not have been possible without the Northwest Michigan Draft Hose and Mule Association and the festival owes a debt of gratitude to Jim Breithaupt and Mike Michaels and their teams of horses, and Bill and Karen Rosa for their expertise and guidance throughout the event.
Many thanks also go to Shirley Murray for organizing the book sale, Sandi Daley and Cuppa Joe for the hot drinks, and Gerard Grabowski of Pleasanton Bakery for the cookies.
The fun continued into the evening with a Snowshoe Romp hosted by McLain Cycle & Fitness. Thanks go out to Bob and Kris McLain and their staff for all their organization and hard work. Heartfelt thanks also go out to Chris Gladieux for the ice candle-lit trail to the Cathedral barns and back.
"There were many volunteers from Rolling Centuries Farm who helped in many ways (a particular thank-you to Frank Bennett for all of his work)," Emmy Lou wrote. "And to the many others I cannot begin to thank here, I hope they know (how much) they are appreciated."
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April Putman, life enrichment coordinator at Glen Eagle in Traverse City, wrote on behalf of herself and the residents at Glen Eagle to thank Rob Burdini, who works at Meijer.
"We would all like to thank Rob ... for his kindness and helpfulness," April wrote. "Rob helps our residents with their groceries when they get on our bus and he is always so polite. He knows a lot of our residents and (the) bus driver by name. Please thank Rob for all of us here at Glen Eagle."
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Chris Derks of Traverse City was still in bed with a virus when there was a power outage at about 9 a.m. on Christmas morning. Since Chris turns the heat down at night, by about 9:30 a.m. it was starting to get cold.
"I thought Traverse City Light & Power probably knew there was an outage, but I thought I would call anyway," Chris wrote. "Expecting to get a voice message, I was amazed when a real voice answered. A man by the name of Brad was very empathetic... He informed me that a crew was on their way to fix the problem. He also said that he would call when the power came back on just to make sure I had power."
Chris was feeling bad that Brad and the crew that was called out had to give up their holiday and also was sure that Brad received some angry calls from people trying to cook Christmas dinner. But, true to his word, Brad did call back to make sure Chris' power was on and Chris is sure that he probably contacted everyone who called him.
"I found this very ironic that the best Christmas present I could receive that day was electricity -- the one thing we all take for granted. I am sure I am not alone when I say whenever I received my city electric bill, it amazed me how much this bill cost," Chris wrote. "Thank you to the staff of TCL&P, and I will never question my electric bill again."
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The Bay Harbor Foundation began its 2008 Gift-Giving Program by donating $20,000 to the Manna Project. Since the Bay Harbor Foundation's inception in 2004 it has provided $500,000 in grant funding to nonprofit organizations in the local community.
The Manna Project services 38 food pantries in Antrim, Charlevoix and Emmet counties, which in turn serve as many as 2,500 families a month. Manna Project is one of only four food banks in the United States that operate both a warehouse and a pantry.
"We are very grateful for this generous $20,000 donation from the Bay Harbor Foundation, which will put us at $200,000 and on our way to our $300,000 building expansion goal," said Kathy Hart, executive director of the Manna Project. "We should now be able to break ground in the spring of 2008."
Items for this column may be sent to Northern Notes, Record-Eagle, P.O. Box 632, Traverse City, MI 49865-0632; e-mail sbeach@record-eagle.com.
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