Don't poke the bear

Steven Remsing has had his fill of bear hunting. The Sterling Heights man is recovering from wounds inflicted by a 430 pound black bear that he tangled with this past weekend. He was in the U.P. hunting black bear and after shooting one out of a tree it attacked his dog so he fought the bear to save the dog. In the process of saving the dog he had a chunk taken out of his forearm and a bite in his leg. Why fight a 430 pound black bear with your bare hands? As luck would have it, he was out of ammunition.

The DNR will tell you that they do not recommend hand-to-hand combat with a bear. Common sense would tell you that too, but the guy did end up saving his dog. He is currently recovering in the hospital.

Hope the dog will at least bring him the paper everyday or something to say 'thanks' :).

Read the article in the Detroit News

The final Tomahawk Game

Or is it? Saturday October 13 at 7 p.m. Constantine and White Pigeon will meet up for the 86th and perhaps final time on the gridiron. Constantine is leaving the St. Joseph Valley Conference for the Kalamazoo Valley Conference and will not have room in its schedule to accommodate a non-conference game with White Pigeon starting next season.

The series dates back to 1929 between the two rival schools separated only by a few corn fields and three miles. The winner of the annual contest gets possession of the Tomahawk. The Tomahawk was made from a large indian arrowhead stone found in a field between the two schools.

The two schools agreed to play each other with the winner receiving the Tomahawk until next year's game. Constantine won the first game 14-6 and has recently won 15 Tomahawk games in a row.

Even though the game has been rather lopsided in recent years you can just about guarantee that there will be a record crowd at Saturday's game. More buildup than normal is going on at each school this week as players and fans prepare for what could be the final contest in the storied battle.

From the Kalamazoo Gazette -

Research by school officials on both sides verifies that the Constantine-White Pigeon contest is Michigan's longest-running high school football series for which a token artifact is awarded to the winner.

For those not familiar, White Pigeon's mascot is the Chiefs. The town is named for Chief White Pigeon who saved the area's earliest settlers from an imminent indian attack by running all the way from the Detroit area to warn the residents. I thought I should throw that out to help people realize why a Tomahawk would be the trophy.

Read this article in the Kalamazoo Gazette for more information on the History of the Game

Remember the hockey game at Spartan Stadium?

It was billed as the Cold War. A hockey game between MSU and U of M in front of 74,544 fans - setting a world record. It was also significant because the momentum for the game was building all through the summer and then the terrorists struck on September 11, 2001 which put a damper on things. It was the first large event my wife and I had attended since 9-11 and I remember how it took forever to get in because of the security. They looked through fans' blankets, purses, and stadium seats, but people didn't seem to mind due to recent events.

I remember the week leading up to the game when they were trying to get the ice surface created and we had unusually warm weather with temps in the 80s which created fears that the ice would not hold up for the game. No worries though, because this is Michigan and the weather can change rather drastically around here.

By the time the puck dropped at 7:05 pm on October 7, 2001 temps were hovering around freezing. I remember breaking out the winter coat, gloves and insulated boots. We sat up in the top deck of Spartan Stadium with the wind whipping our faces until our eyes watered.

Mammoth mugs of hot chocolate were purchased to help us keep warm as we watched the Wolverines and Spartans finish in a tie, 3-3. It was pretty cool to see this hockey game with so many other fans. I came across this video on YouTube which led made me think back to the game and write this post.

Watch highlights from the game -

If the player does not work, use this link.

The Post Office is closed on Monday, October 8

Shipment of some gift baskets will be delayed due to the Post Office being closed in observance of Columbus Day on October 8. The Michigan's Best gift basket will not be affected by this as we ship that via UPS due to its weight and size. Pretty much every other gift basket is affected though. We will ship right away Tuesday, October 9, in the morning. The next holiday for the Post Office is November 12 in observance of Veteran's Day.

If you have never heard of or been to Cherry Republic

Tucked away in the gorgeous lakeside burg of Glen Arbor is an empire known as the Cherry Republic. Bob Sutherland started Cherry Republic with the crazy idea that he could make a living by selling only cherry related products. Well, it seems to be working for him and I have to say that whenever I am anywhere near Glen Arbor I have to stop there and breath in the ambiance of this quaint little empire while grazing through the tasty cherry products. We carry a few of the Cherry Republic products in our gift baskets. You can find Boomchuggalugga Cherry Soda in the Very Cherry Basket and the Michigan's Best Gift Basket. Totally addictive chocolate covered dried (nothing dry about these cherries - trust me) cherries appear in various baskets along with Cherry Sour Patch Candies (kind of like sour gummy worms).

The saddest part of my week has been the notice that Cherry Republic is no longer making Baby Boomchunkas which were awesome little bite-size chocolate chunk cookies with dried cherries and pecans baked right in. Now I must search for a replacement cherry product of some kind, but that is a fun task due to the taste-testing nature of making sure I get a quality product.

Oh, one other item that appears in nearly every basket are Cherry Wafer Crackers. We add these to each basket that contains preserves because they go so well together. They bake thin slices of cherries directly into the crackers. Yum!

Well, if any of you haven't been to Cherry Republic and you want to "experience" their unique Glen Arbor store I found this video on YouTube. It is neat to see the quirky signs that dot the stores and garden area and to hear how Bob Sutherland worked to create what exists today.

Visit Cherry Republic on the web: CherryRepublic.com

October 8, 2002 - Granholm - I do not want to raise a single tax

Back in the rosy nearly-post-Engler days in Michigan back in October 2002 there was a debate between Jennifer Granholm and Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus. When asked whether or not they would raise taxes this was Jennifer Granholm's response -

I do not want to raise a single tax, except for one - to make sure there is parity between the diesel tax and the gas tax.

I guess Posthumus had Granholm pegged when he responded to her above statement with this -

The question was 'will you raise taxes?' and what my opponent said was, 'I don't want to raise taxes,' not, 'I won't raise taxes.

Anyone surprised that our taxes are going up in Michigan?

One more thing. This is a quote on the Michigan.gov (official state website mind you) from March 30, 2006 and you can read the entire article at www.Michigan.gov -

Republicans have made their intentions clear: They intend to raise taxes for Michigan families by $800 or gut education, health care, and public safety in order to finance a tax cut for business,” Granholm said.

Our plan was revenue neutral and would not raise taxes on Michigan families nor force draconian cuts in education, health care, and public safety,” Granholm said. “The differences between us are striking.

I would say the difference between Jennifer Granholm at pre-election time and Jennifer Granholm at post-election time are striking as well. Remember when the first President George Bush said "No new taxes!" during his campaign? Just thought I would point out that this isn't just a Democrat or Republican thing - it's a politician thing.