Baseball Team's Success Brings Pride to Homer

UPDATE:Homer lost in the Diamond Classic championship game to Grand Ledge 7-6. Grand Ledge came from behind (6-1) by posting a ferocious comeback in the 7th inning. The big difference? Grand Ledge's season was ended last weekend in districts, but Homer is still in the hunt for a State Championship. Shoot, it's only their second loss in 110 games ;).

Homer, MI - A town the size of Homer (pop. 1,797) normally wouldn't be in the national spotlight. However, when your high school baseball team sets a new record for consecutive wins (a Herculean 75 in a row) people can't help but notice. The win streak ended in last year's state championship game, but this year's squad is currently 33-0 heading into tonight's Diamond Classic championship game against Grand Ledge.

Homer loves its baseball team. The only other claim to fame this small town had was Homer native Greg Barton winning two Olympic gold medals in kayaking at the 1988 games in Seoul, Korea. Well, that is not entirely true. There is also Cascarelli's Pizza & Pub which has been in business for what seems like forever to local residents (actually since 1935).

I have actually been to Homer a few times. It should be the image next to the definition of a small town. By the way, Cascerelli's has some of the best pizza I have ever tasted. If you love pizza, you have got to go there sometime.

How fitting that a town named Homer has a baseball team so successful that it has won 107 of its last 108 games? The baseball team has instilled a sense of pride that not too many towns of this size can attain. They are proud of their baseball team. They are proud of their town. If a town's size was measured with heart and compassion there would be no small mentioned in any description of Homer.

I will cheer on the Homer baseball team and wish them the best of luck.

Read the article at The Detroit News

MDOT Needs More Groups to Adopt Highways

Michigan is in need of more Adopt-A-Highway groups along a 23 mile stretch of I-94 beginning at the Indiana state line. Groups already made their first trash pickup from April 22 through the 30th. Two more pickup dates are scheduled for July 8-16 and September 9-17. The Michigan Department of Transportation supllies groups with everything from safety videos and vests down to the trash bags. I took part a few times in the Adopt-A-Highway program with my accounting fraternity at Western Michigan University. We had a large group and it didn't take more than an hour or two to clean up our stretch of northbound 131. It was a lot of fun to work together and make Michigan look a little bit cleaner in the process. It was also amazing and sad to see the amount of trash dumped along a pretty short stretch of road.

Visit www.michigan.gov/adoptahighway for information on pickup dates and applications for your group to participate in the program.

Via the Kalamazoo Gazette

Badger Car Ferry Video Clip

This is a neat (and short) clip of the Badger car ferry running from Ludington, Michigan to Manitiwoc, Wisconsin. I had the priviledge of taking this fun trip across Lake Michigan with my grandparents when I was a kid. To be out in the middle of Lake Michigan and not able to spot any land was a new experience for me. It shaved some time off of our trip, but also afforded my cousin and I the opportunity to roam all over the ship instead of being cooped up in the car. I see that they have a restaurant now as well as a movie theater and even a place for the little ones to play.

Check for departure times and pricing at ssbadger.com.

If the video player does not appear just go to youtube.com to view it.

All Things Michigan and Gift Baskets From Michigan LLC are not responsible for the other questionable content that appears at YouTube.com.

What is "Up North" in Michigan?

Michigan has it all and it is a wonder that more Michiganians don't stay in their home state when they plan their vacations. We have golf courses, antiques shops, amusement parks, historic sites, great state parks, lighthouses, the Great Lakes, thousands of inland lakes, and much more. These are a mere fraction of the many reasons we are considered a tourism hotspot in the Midwest. Still, it does not answer the question of why so few Michiganians are tourists in their own state. With all of the talk of creating "cool cities" in Michigan one wonders if we don't even consider our state "cool" enough to vacation in. Are other states and vacation spots being more heavily marketed here in Michigan than our own state? Are people embarrassed to say that their summer vacation was spent in the state in which they live? I have vacationed in other states many times, but the vacations that stick in my memory the most are those that were spent here in Michigan.

At least once a year I am beckoned as if by some primal call to go "Up North." "Up North" has many different meanings for those native to Michigan. It can be very confusing to a non-native Michiganian to hear someone say they are going "Up North" for their vacation. The non-native might think they are going to Canada or possibly even the North Pole itself. The native Michiganian merely intends to point their vehicle north and stop only when their instincts tell them that they have finally reached "Up North." For some this might mean going as far as Sleeping Bear Dunes. Others might find that they need to go up to Sault Ste. Marie or even to Copper Harbor.

"Up North" is not just some physical location a little bit further up the road. It tends to be a state of mind as well. You head "Up North" and life slows down. You notice your worries slip away with each mile and your troubles seem smaller in the rearview mirror of your life. They say that life is too short. Well, if life is too short why waste so much of it driving to some other state? Head "Up North" and find your own little slice of Michigan to brag about to your friends. Especially the ones who just spent all that money to take a cruise in "paradise" or some other exotic locale.

Democrats Take Punch at DeVos at Mackinac Conference

In contrast to the beautiful and peaceful setting of Mackinac Island the state Democrats were taking the opportunity to get in a few punches against Dick DeVos the Republican challenger for this fall's gubernatorial election. Greeters met island visitors as they departed the ferries with fortune (or misfortune cookies as it were) cookies that they said outlined DeVos' economic plan. The message in the cookies? "The DeVos Economic Plan: Outsource Your Job to China" and "Unlucky Numbers 11, 7, 06" which is the date of the November election. This is in reference to DeVos expanding his company, Amway Corp., into China while at the same time it laid off Michigan workers.

Maybe the Republicans should hand out their own fortune cookies with Granholm's Economic Plan. The cookie message could be "Governor Granholm's Guide to Economic Success: Prop up the Auto Industry and Cut School Funding Statewide."