Published: March 30, 2008 11:29 am         

Northern Notes: Mr. Pizza comes through

Rachel Roberts, Northwest Michigan Human Services Agency/Crystal Lake Elementary Head Start in Benzonia, wrote to express gratitude to "Mr. Pizza" Andrew Miller, owner of A. Papano's Pizza in Beulah, for so kindly and generously opening his business to the 15 curious preschool children in her Head Start classroom.

—During our visit we were able to see how pizzas are made and then actually make and eat our own creations!" Rachel wrote. "What Mr. Miller does for the Benzie Community is fantastic. His donated time and services are greatly appreciated."

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Jack Kerby-Miller of Maple City wrote to thank all of the participants and people who attended Glen Lake School's first "Focus the Nation Symposium" in January.

Thanks go to keynote speakers Mike Powers and Jim Nugent; Judy Reinhardt and Jim Schwantes from Sweeter Song Farms; Bruce Hood from Leelanau Schools; Steve Rawlings from DTE Energy; Sarna Salzman from SEEDS; Bob Russell, Dorothy Barker, Marcia Harris, John Retenbach and Jill Webb from LIWDA and the Leelanau County Solid Waste Council; Patty O'Donnell from the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments; Kim Gear; Harmony Homes; Andy Humphrey; Randy Smith from Renewable Resources; Tom Karas, Pam Schmidt, Bob Sutherland and Nancy Henry of Cherry Republic; Kimberly Person, owner of Gecko Traders; Julie Hay and Jim Dulzo from the Michigan Land Use Institute; "Mr. Wind" Steve Smiley; Phil Cochran, owner of Brown Lumber; Odom Reusable Building Products; Jason Gothard of Ace Hardware; Jay Gierkey, Michelle Ferrarese, Yana Dee, Ted Gilmer and Joel Diotte of the Frontier Group; and Cymbre Foster and the Record-Eagle for featuring the project.

Jack also sends special thanks to Glen Lake Schools' Principal Kevin Kelly for supporting the idea from the very beginning, and to Joan Groening, Superintendent of Glen Lake Schools, all the members of the Glen Lake School Board and the teachers.

"Last, but not least, I would like to thank my hardworking core organizing team members, Wyatt Smith, Choe Gribbin, Zach Gordon, Will Hendricks, Jordan Lewis, Ryder Lewis, Emma Cook, Lily Springsteen, Krissy Bush, Skye Hillier and all the other student and parent volunteers for doing such an amazing job," Jack wrote. "Due to your support commitment and hard work, we were truly a part of the biggest 'teach in' in U.S. history (over 1,750 groups across the nation and more than 3 million student participants).

We have hopefully taught our community that each and every one of us can truly make a difference in helping to come up with solutions to global warming to change the future."

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Michigan Community Blood Centers would like to acknowledge the following blood donors who recently reached new gallon levels.

They are: one gallon — Sherri Adams, Ellen Ance, Mike Bates, Nathan Blessing, Peter Bologna, Joan Braun, Butch Carmien, Tammy Chamberlain, Clarence Cool, Harvey Core, Mark Cunningham, India Draper, William Edens, Donald England, Christina Finstad, Cameron Gines, Ashley Haight, Shanda Hendershott, Robert Hertel, Hugh Higley, John Hill, Kellie Hogerheide, Forest Jones, Jessica Jorae, Debra Kalchik, Doreen Kern, Cinda Klifman, Paula Lake, Amanda Magnuson, Deborah Mikowski, Aleshia Naeyaert, Mandy Palmer, Heidi Pentiuk, Zachary Protsman, Leland Reed, Jason Roots, Mark Scamehorn, Lyn Sims-Nielsen, Stephen Tarsa, Richard Toby, Kathleen Utting, Renee Waters, James Wegener, Autumn Welke, and Kathryn Yates; two gallons — Dustin Ansorge, Paula Baker, Diane DeSisto, Susan Dixon, John Faas, Edward Fisher, Donald Fletcher, Jon Friley, Patrick Gillespie, Pamela Hamm, Sarah Hansen, Diane Haugen, Debra Kaminski, Jillena Kellogg, Joyce Knechtel, Justin Kolarik, Donald Kuk, Laura Lautner, Lena Luinstra, Constance Mann, Joseph McCarthy, Susan Miner, Stacey North, Charlie Peterson, Gerald Slade, Edward Smith, Elgin Smith, Scott Stern, Martin Stevenson, Rob Tardani, Cynthia Tschudy, Kathryn Ulanski, Joan Underhill, and Michael Waite; three gallons — Derek Anderson, Julie Anderson, Todd Antrim, Marian Buckner, Dolly Cataldo, Char Durocher, Ernest Evans, Jeffrey Harris, Barbara Heidel, Melinda Hettinger, John Hojnowski, Marc Maday, Daniel Shattuck, and James Williams; four gallons — Lois Dehart, MaryAnne Goodman, Donald Gregory, Kevin Heine, Roland McGarry-Costell, Melissa Schichtel, Roland Schlagel, William Scott, and Wallace Skinner; five gallons — Marian Churchill, Michael Fitzpatrick, Herbert Lemcool, Gail McCormick, Marian Revolt, Timothy Taylor, Donald Valentino, and Clifford Wares; six gallons — Becky Comstock, Charleen Jach, Germaine Schmidt, Daniel VanHouten, and Joanne Willis; seven gallons — Donald Baldour, Jere Graham, Gerald Korb, Andrew Martin, Tammy Messner, and Raymond Popp; eight gallons — Bonnie Black, Steven Philips, Jane Watts, and Marvin Yoder; nine gallons — Christine Jahr, Leta Male, and John Meyers; 10 gallons — Michael Corning, James Elder, Alexander Garvin, Eric Grebe, John Margerison, Ann Miller, Donald Montie, and James Spaulding; 11 gallons — Lois Counterman; 12 gallons — Douglas Chichester; 13 gallons — Daniel Remahl; 19 gallons — Daniel Tholen; and 20 gallons — Nancy Gallegos, and Gordon Rady.

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.