Best wishes go out to Jane Kennedy Belanger Barker who will celebrate her 100th birthday on Monday. Jane's family celebrated her birthday on April 11.
Jane was born on April 20, 1909, on her grandfather Charles Kennedy's 230-acre farm in Northport, which he purchased from the government in 1856.
When the family sold the farm in 1912, it was recognized as the largest tart cherry orchard in the world. The farm now is known at The Cherry Home. Jane's parents, Jack and Kate (Scott) Kennedy, and her siblings moved to Acme in 1913 to Jane's aunt's 130-acre farm on Bunker Hill Road. Today, the Grand Traverse Resort is located on a portion of the property.
Jane attended the red brick schoolhouse in Acme, which was built in 1910, and also Traverse City High School. She married August Belanger of Lake Leelanau in 1927. The couple moved to Flint where they raised their family. The Belangers had five children, twins James and Gary Belanger, both deceased, August (Barbara) Belanger of Grand Blanc, Carol Sorenson of Fort Myers, Fla., and Lee Patrick (Linda) Belanger D.C. of Beulah. Jane has seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
After August's death in 1959, Jane married Maurice Barker of Port Huron. They spent their summers in Traverse City and winters in Florida and after Maurice died, Jane permanently moved back to Traverse City. She now lives at The Maples in Frankfort. Jane's favorite hobbies are making quilts, and playing euchre and cribbage.
For those who wish to send Jane a birthday greeting, her address is: Jane Barker, 210 Maple, Frankfort, MI 49635.
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Connie Turner of Elmira recently accepted a $1,500 donation from Great Lakes Energy's People Fund on behalf of the "Treat the Troops" organization.
Treat the Troops members bake, freeze and mail homemade cookies to deployed men and women in various branches of the U.S. military. Connie is one of five Michigan women who participate in effort and personally has baked and mailed more than 40,500 cookies to U.S. troops.
For more information about the 501(c)(3) charity, go to www.treatthetroops.org.
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