Ross Boissoneau | Author
Building Back The Trades, One Student At A Time
Sept. 26, 2020
The building trades are in desperate need of more workers. Old news, right? Most people are aware that the number of workers in the trades has been declining for years, made worse when the Great Recession hit and so many skilled workers either left the state in search of work or left the fi…
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Pandemic Brings Even More Heat To A White-Hot Real Estate Market
Sept. 26, 2020
There’s a mad dash going on in real estate: companies bailing on their massive corporate office buildings, families relocating from big cities to suburbs and safer small towns. And northern Michigan appears to be one of the places many are choosing, with realtors across the north repo…
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Could Delivery Save NoMi Eateries?
Sept. 19, 2020
What was once the exclusive province of pizza and sandwich joints has become a means for some restaurants to thrive. But even as outdoor seating — and with it, customer numbers and gross receipts — threatens to shrink with the cooling weather, not all restaurants are ready yet t…
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What First Robotics Teams Did on Their Summer Break
Sept. 12, 2020
When the coronavirus pandemic first hit, masks, face shields, and other personal protection equipment, aka PPE, were hard to come by. As the federal government and states scrambled to gather what they could from manufacturers of all industries, the state of Michigan also put out the call to…
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Whither the Maize and (Azure) Blue?
Sept. 5, 2020
They came before “The Victors.” Before The Big House. Before the winged helmets. Indeed, before Michigan had even played its first football game. The University of Michigan’s maize and blue school colors go back all the way to 1867.
And they were chosen in part by …
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Mr. Music’s No Good, Very Bad Wedding Season
Aug. 22, 2020
Jordan Anderson knows technology. He knows how to help people have a good time. He knows all manner of tunes, from rock to country to hip-hop.
Now, if only there were some parties where Jordan, a.k.a. Mr. Music, could pack the dance floor. “I don’t know when things will …
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Fermented Pickles, Aquatic Grass, and --- Pig Lard?
Aug. 15, 2020
Traverse City Pickle Co. Pickles
It’s hard to find a good New York deli-style pickle in Northern Michigan. So Brian Shaughnessy decided to make his own.
He had the time, as he’d retired from his position as superintendent of a Lansing-area charter s…
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Brush Rats, Picks, Shovels & Song
Aug. 8, 2020
When you hear about a group of friends, who work primarily in church music, working on a resurrection, your first thought is … probably wrong. That’s because they are focusing on recreating songs from Michigan’s past, songs which would have been lost forever if not for th…
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The Other Summer Sounds
Aug. 8, 2020
As with virtually all venues, the enchanting forest-circled amphitheater inside Michigan Legacy Art Park — like its hallmark series of live music performances, Summer Sounds — is silent this season.
But if you listen closely, among the chirps and skitters of birds …
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Feed Your Brain
Aug. 1, 2020
You know what they say about all work and no play, right? If you agree, consider pulling your nose off the career grindstone and give your brain a little license to relax, learn about something entirely new (or just a bit outside of your wheelhouse), and get creative in other ways.
<…
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Building Bonds and Climbing the Ladder — Even When the World is Closed
Aug. 1, 2020
No matter the field, career growth is challenging. For younger professionals without the benefit of decades of experience — or contacts — it can be even more difficult.
Couple that with starting out in an era when face-to-face work and in-person netw…
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Not just a job but an adventure
Aug. 1, 2020
No matter the work, fulfillment is about the enjoyment, the challenge, and the satisfaction of a job done well. That’s why Brian Kozminski, Scott Koontz, Russell Ferrill and Leslie Latham Schutte love what they do.
What do they do? Their jobs couldn’t be more different, …
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Benzonia’s Hill Top Soda Shoppe
July 25, 2020
I scream, you scream — most of it directed at the road construction on US-31 in Benzonia — but despite the difficulties posed by the orange barrels and plumes of dust outside, Hill Top Soda Shoppe is drawing lines of customers.
You could say that’s e…
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Starry Nights: Catch the Comet!
July 18, 2020
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s … Comet NEOWISE? That’s right — the comet discovered less than four months ago is now lighting up the northwest portion of the night sky. It will be visible to sky-watchers here on earth through mid-August.
So wher…
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Empire’s Shipwreck Cafe
July 18, 2020
It’s not a wreck of a restaurant. No, not at all. In fact, the cozy cafe in Empire is downright welcoming. And so far, the sandwiches sporting the names of ships that went down in the Great Lakes have been enough to entice seafarers and landlubbers alike to the restaurant Steve and Je…
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Live Entertainment North of the 45th
July 11, 2020
Down but not out. That could be the motto for musicians and concert presenters across the country. Take heart: The slate of performers scheduled to perform in this area has been decimated due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there are still some cultural opportunities to take…
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The Other Fly-Tying Legend
July 4, 2020
Most every Northern angler knows the tale of the Adams fly and its creator, Leonard Halladay of Mayfield. The dry fly Halladay crafted in 1922 to imitate an adult mayfly and lure many a Boardman River trout is still celebrated annually in Kingsley, at the Adams Fly Festival. But the Adams f…
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Cruise On In: The Best Resorts of Summers Gone By
July 4, 2020
As a prime vacation spot, northwestern lower Michigan is home to a number of different lodging facilities, from rustic campgrounds to high-end condos with nearly every amenity known to mankind. Somewhere in the middle are old-time resorts, which often started as family compounds before open…
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Days of the Dunesmobile
July 4, 2020
The sand dunes at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore are monuments of nature, 2,000 years old and towering 100 feet in the air. Imagine if you could rocket across the sand in a big old car. What a thrill that would be.
Some folks don’t have to imagine; they just think …
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Big Boom Time for Home Fireworks
June 27, 2020
With social distancing sidelining most of the region’s large fireworks shows, many enthusiasts are turning to their local stores to light up the night. We asked some of them to give us insight into what’s new, what are the biggest (sellers) and brightest (best in show), and if t… Read More >>