By Norm Wheeler Sun editor Hungry? My, oh my, did you come to the right town! Now just let yer’ belt out a notch, sit yer’self down, and check out these comestibles, my friends. Hot Dogs? Yeah, we got ‘em. You gotch’er hot dog special down at Bear Paw Pizza and Subs, just look at […]

By Jacob R. Wheeler Sun editor It began with a simple proposition: “If you can get her running, she’s yours,” were the words the late Suzanne Wilson offered Crispin Campbell, setting the stage for his memorable west coast road trip 11 years ago in her 1979 Dodge Extended MaxiVan — affectionately known around northern Michigan […]

By Jane Greiner Sun staff writer Sometimes I am startled by the advances in technology that have become available to ordinary folk like us. My new digital camera is an example. I am in awe of the power this moderately priced piece of equipment has put into my hands.

By Ashlea Turner Sun staff writer For asparagus lovers, a drizzly spring day was fitting for the 1st Annual Empire Asparagus Festival held last Saturday, May 22nd. Folks from all over the region came to celebrate the town’s new favorite vegetable, asparagus. At the climax of the asparagus harvest season, Empire partied for hours with […]

By Jacob R. Wheeler Sun editor Taped to my refrigerator, in an apartment far from northern Michigan, is a postcard-sized Suzanne Wilson watercolor of the lighthouse on South Manitou Island. The old white tower looks down on a serene beach setting. Spruce trees creep up to the water’s edge, and I can almost visualize Suzanne […]

By Jacob R. Wheeler Sun editor As the sparkplug behind community events, the eternal optimist and the spiritual aid at any time of day or night, Grace Cochran left an indelible mark on the local community as well as on Christian Scientists all over the country. Grace passed away on December 29 in her home […]

By Jo Anne Wilson Sun correspondent SAIGNON, France (March 18, 2004) — It’s the middle of March and I’m in Southern France. I needed a break after a bitter Northern Michigan winter. Here, the climate is mild and the sun shines three hundred and twenty days a year. Serious snowfall happens a couple of times […]

By Norm Wheeler Sun editor Or one could write “Lilacs,” or “Apple Blossoms,” or “Prom Gowns,” or “Temporary Barricades,” or even, as Swift Lathers wrote, “Boiled Dandelions.” Growing up in Oceana County in the 50s, I read The Smallest Newspaper in the World, The Mears Newz, published weekly by Mr. Swift Lathers, of Mears, MI, […]

By Jane Greiner Sun staff writer This is the time of year when spring wildflowers uplift the hearts of nature lovers everywhere. One of the best places to see them in delightful profusion is along the Treat Farm trail just south of Empire. The trail offers the triple treat of a woods walk, historical farm […]

By Jane Greiner Sun staff writer After a long northern winter, everyone looks forward to spring. But spring is especially welcome to me this year because both my parents died this past winter. Though long expected, their closely spaced deaths left a hole in my heart, which has been slow to heal. Now I am […]