Granholm & DeVos to Appear at Town Hall Forum

This Friday, Governor Granholm and the Republican challenger for Governor, Dick DeVos, will both appear at a town hall meeting in Detroit. There will be an audience of approximately 500 people in addition to various media who will be posing questions to the two candidates for Governor. This meeting will not have the format of a debate. It is not even known if the two candidates will be on stage at the same time. However, that doesn't mean we won't be seeing campaign rhetoric and some shots fired across the bow of both candidates.

Since Governor Granholm and Dick DeVos are in a virtual dead-heat as far as the polls show we could see some interesting posturing on some important issues facing the state such as the economy and job creation.

Further information available from the Detroit Free Press.

Video of Water Crashing Over South Haven Lighthouse

Here is a cool video showing a very windy day on the west side of our state at the South Haven lighthouse. I have seen a lot of photos of waves crashing over the lighthouse, but this is the first video I have viewed. Wouldn't it be cool to be at the beach as a summer storm rolled in?

If the video player does not display, just go to youtube.com and watch it there. It is only about 30 seconds long so even with dialup you shouldn't have to wait too long to see it.

Statewide Gas Price Average - $2.91

This week's gas price average across Michigan is $2.91 per gallon. It was $2.51 a month ago and $2.19 one year ago. The Traverse City Record Eagle has an article on how the rising cost of gas is already affecting tourism-oriented businesses. I don't see how the predicted increase in state tourism of 2% can hold with these rising gas prices. The best case scenario might be that the Michigan tourism dollars remain steady for this year.

Michigan gas price information courtesy of the Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

How Not to Cross the Mackinac Bridge

Some more trivia tidbits from my library copy of the Michillaneous book containing all sorts of strange facts about Michigan. Today I bring a list of some strange ways people have crossed the Mackinac Bridge as well as how not to cross the Mighty Mac. June 1973 An Amish family was traveling from Maine to Colorado and crossed the bridge in a horse-drawn buggy. The Bridge Authority closed one lane of the five-mile span for the one-hour crossing.

Labor Day, 1978 Farmers, in protest of government policy on beef import quotas and standards, blocked the one open traffic lane and backed up traffic for several miles as the annual Labor Day bridge walk took place.

In 1980 we have the following statistics -

• One out of 10,000 had to have their cars driven across for them because they were too afraid to drive themselves.
• One out of 27,000 ran out of gas.
• One out of 45,000 had a flat tire.
• Patrol cars stopped one out of 25,000 for not paying the toll.

Stay at Great Wolf Lodge for Only $139

The current special at Great Wolf Lodge runs from April 23 through June 10, 2006. Family suites start at $139. Go to tc.greatwolflodge.com and use the promotional code TSPRING to receive the discount. If you have never stayed at Great Wolf Lodge you just don't know what you are missing. Just so you know, regular room rates for Family Suites usually start at $279 so you are saving 50% with this deal. The important thing to remember with this deal is that you must book by April 30 to receive the special rate.

Yummy Cherry Recipes

Cherry Republic has some great cherry recipes that I will definitely be trying out. We get a lot of our cherry products that we carry from Cherry Republic. You can get similar items for less at your local grocery store, but I firmly believe that once you try their cherry products you won't make that mistake again. The Classic Cherry Turnovers and Cherry Bread Pudding are at the top of my list to try out. I have made the Slow Cooker Bread Pudding with dried blueberries so I am sure it would be even better with some dried tart cherries.

For cherry recipes to soothe your sweet tooth head on over to Cherry Recipes from Cherry Republic.