Category Archives: Bay

Noisy food joints

Posted on September 12, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Older I get, the more I can’t stand public places with loud music or concentrated high levels of chatter. Know what I mean? Stopped going to a wonderful little Italian joint in Northville, Michigan because I couldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Bay, retirement | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Tank Town

Posted on September 9, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Love to watch hummingbirds? Hummers feeding, hummers making war — it’s one of my favorite sports. For years at our Michigan home, I hung a nectar feeder under the eave of our house. It got so I’d … Continue reading →

Posted in Bay, Wildlife | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Blasto!

Posted on August 4, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell We nearly lost our star columnist. Last time I wrote about Peppermint Patti, she’d undergone surgery to repair a snapped anterior cruciate ligament. They shaved her left hind leg and a veterinary surgeon reconnected the ligament in … Continue reading →

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No free lunch

Posted on July 21, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell They say there’s no free lunch. I’m a journalist, so I know that’s not true. But one thing is sure — there is no such thing as a free boat. This is a fact so evident, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bay, Boats, Lakes and streams | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

‘Mud’ rules Michigan lakes

Posted on July 19, 2010 by hro50ta1

Here from my files is the uncut version of my Detroit Free Press lake names article that ran in shorter form on March 22, 2002: By Joel Thurtell Beverly Zeldes looked out at the 6.2-acre lake behind her West Bloomfield, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bay, Lakes and streams | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Naming names — lake names, that is

Posted on July 14, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell   How do places get their names? Some place names seem self-explanatory. If it’s the name of some person, like Lafayette or Washington, it’s easy. Some are a mystery until you learn the secret. There’s a stop … Continue reading →

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Breaking news and Patti’s knee

Posted on June 5, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Our star columnist is on the disabled list. We’d been in Canada for a bit more than a week, opening our cottage. The daughter of our good old friends in Charlevoix was having a graduation party, so … Continue reading →

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CANADA ROCKS!

Posted on March 1, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell I was sitting in the living room of Zoe and Burnley McDougall’s house on Vim Island in McGregor Bay on Sunday, February 21, 2010, the day the U.S. Olympic hockey team beat the Canadians in the quarter … Continue reading →

Posted in Bay, People | 1 Comment

That island connection

Posted on October 16, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell On the wall of our kitchen there’s a framed motto that says, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” Back when I worked at the Detroit Free Press, I thought we should have hung up another version: … Continue reading →

Posted in Bay | Tagged , , | 4 Comments