Ross Boissoneau | Author

Saving Manistee’s Guardian Angel

March 20, 2021

It’s always good to have a guardian angel. Even, or perhaps especially, if you are a church of the same name.

Last year, thanks to the efforts by the Guardian Angels Historic Preservation Project, Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Manistee was named to the National Register o… Read More >>

An American Tale of Irish Twins

March 13, 2021

Dennis and Shawn Spillane are Irish twins. For those unfamiliar with the term, it doesn’t mean that the siblings are Irish (though in this case, they are), nor does it mean they were born from the same mother on the same day (they weren’t).

The expression means siblings … Read More >>

An Esteemed Tile-making Duo’s leap North

Feb. 27, 2021

Moving to a new home and business location isn’t easy. Doing so months before a pandemic shuts everything down — that definitely doesn’t make for a smooth transition. But that’s just what Rick Pruckler and Tonya Lutz did, migrating from Ferndale to northern Michigan.… Read More >>

Brain Play

Feb. 27, 2021

We get it. With the pandemic closing buildings, schooling was forced online, then back to the classroom, then maybe a hybrid approach. Education became more of a challenge than ever. Kids studying online miss their friends and the personal interaction with their teachers. Learning becomes h… Read More >>

A Nine-month Family Vacation

Feb. 27, 2021

Long before the pandemic, Joe and Christina Sanok had a plan. A dream, really: They wanted to take off with their kids and explore the country. With online schooling available and plenty of ways to learn firsthand about the country, it seemed like it could be a great learning experience for… Read More >>

Eat ’n’ Drink News Around the North

Feb. 13, 2021

From Cadillac to Petoskey, the North's food and restaurant scene doesn’t stop changing. That’s perhaps been particularly true with COVID-19 interrupting indoor dining, shuttering some popular favorites (goodbye, The Franklin), and offering opportunities for others (Hello, Brasse… Read More >>

Native Northerner Realizing Hollywood Dreams

Feb. 6, 2021

Northern Michigan native Paula Rahn is about to realize her own Lifetime achievement: a film she wrote, His Killer Fan, will debut Feb. 19 on Lifetime television. “I’m super excited. It’s the sixth movie I’ve sold, and the fourth one to air,” she said.… Read More >>

Can-Do Couple Collects Returnables for a Romantic Cause

Feb. 6, 2021

“Weddings are expensive,” said Heather Schlegel. She should know; she’s getting married in June. Even in these days of COVID-influenced decisions to pare down the proceedings, it can still be a chunk of cash.

So when Heather and her fiancé, Joe Osborne… Read More >>

Thunder Bay Inn

Jan. 23, 2021

Former playground to Henry Ford and part of a famous film and novel based on a real-life murder in the town, the courtroom trial — and a most unusual insanity defense

Mark Bevins had a dream. A 30-year employee at General Motors, he longed to fill the role of innkeeper. And no… Read More >>

Cadillac’s Parkview Lanes

Jan. 23, 2021

What do you call a business that’s been handed down within a family for more than 75 years until it rests in the hands of the originators’ great-grandchildren — with the possibility of another generation on the way? In Cadillac, you call it Parkview Lanes.

“I… Read More >>

Frankfort’s Garden Theater Sold

Jan. 16, 2021

An innovative, eco-friendly move to include solar energy at the Garden Theater instead led to it being sold to a local nonprofit. Owners Rick and Jenni Schmitt and Blake and Marci Brooks signed it over to the Friends of the Garden Theater just before the turn of the new year, and the nonpro… Read More >>

Arts & Entertainment to Warm Your Winter

Jan. 9, 2021

The pandemic has played havoc with all facets of life, including the arts. Whether music, lectures, visual art, dance, the live experience has all but disappeared. While the world awaits the vaccine and (hoped-for) subsequent return to something approaching normality, artists of all stripes… Read More >>

The New New Year’s Eve

Dec. 19, 2020

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot?” Well, in the case of 2020, absolutely. Can’t get it in the rearview mirror fast enough.

But with the threat of COVID-19 around every corner, how to ring in the new year safely? There are some options. … Read More >>

The Retirement of Mrs. Claus

Dec. 19, 2020

’Tis the season — albeit a bittersweet one for Karen Bobay. The entrepreneur has operated the Children’s World toy store inside downtown Traverse City’s indoor shopping Arcade for nearly a half-century.

This Christmas, for a change, Santa is bringing Bobay so… Read More >>

Spin It: The Latest Holiday Music

Dec. 19, 2020

Ahhh, Christmas. Time to put on Perry Como, Julie Andrews, George Winston, Mannheim Steamroller. Get things rocking with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra or the Waitresses’ New Wave “Christmas Wrapping.” Slip back in time to Wham’s “Last Christmas” or Wham! o… Read More >>

Your Ultimate Winter Bucket List

Dec. 12, 2020

Snowshoe and Sip in Boyne
At Boyne Valley Vineyards, you can enjoy a glass of wine and then snowshoe through the winery’s property to the trails at the Postle Nature Preserve — or snowshoe first and then enjoy your wine. Heck, maybe wine both before and aft… Read More >>

Ski On, Northern Michigan

Dec. 12, 2020

It’s beginning to look a lot like winter — but it’s going to be a different winter, that’s for sure. Whether the local ski hill or the four-season resorts that dot the area, the overriding factor this year won’t be the weather, or new hills, or new terrain. It … Read More >>

A Girl, a Bird, and a Gardener

Nov. 28, 2020

An unlikely trio of characters from the pen of a local author has inspired a concert-length musical composition by the author’s husband. After delays caused by the pandemic, the piece will receive its world premiere, online, Dec. 4. And it all stemmed from events of 100 years ago.

Holiday Entertainment: Will the Curtain Rise Anywhere?

Nov. 21, 2020

The show must go on — except when a pandemic changes things.

That more or less describes the holiday season in 2020. The usual cornucopia of concerts, plays, showcases, and multiple “Nutcracker” performances around the region has been whittled to a precious few thi… Read More >>

The Stone Oven

Nov. 14, 2020

Brian Adams saw an opportunity in his hometown. When the LA Café closed, he took up the torch, opening The Stone Oven in 2012. It appears he hit on something, as the business has continued to grow even in this year of the pandemic.

Maybe it was simply his destiny. After all, … Read More >>