Les Cheneaux

By Helen Shoberg484-2626 mink@cedarville.net

Once again, the weather we are enjoying is beyond belief. I'm sure the thermometer reached 70-plus degrees on Sunday, without a ripple of wind.

In more shades of summer, Roger Rutledge phoned to announce that the Les Cheneaux Golf Club will open for business Friday, April 22. It is time to get out those clubs, polish them up, and swing a few practice shots.

Another enjoyable time was spent last weekend with the stage production of "Once Upon a Mattress," performed by the Les Cheneaux Community Schools Drama Club. The students once again furnished everyone with a good time and a lot of laughs. All of the young actors and actresses did a fantastic job. Another big thank you to Lisa Dunn for her work with these young people, not only for their acting ability, but to student Katie Eberts for her wonderful set designs and the work of all of the crew behind the scenes. Betty Stuble, the talented pianist who always volunteers so much of her time, also deserves a big thank you.

The track team is busy once again with its runners pounding the pavement after school and on the weekends getting in physical shape for the track season. Drivers should be mindful of these young people running on the side of the road.

A trip to the library to see the artwork of the Les Cheneaux School's eighth grade middle school and the high school is certainly worth your time. There are paper mache sculptures and handcrafted bowls, grid drawings and weaving. If one is interested in what the kids are doing in their art classes, this is a must.

The 50th anniversary of the building of the Mackinac Bridge will soon be observed and a letter from a summer resident reminded me of that fact. Hugh and Cam Wagner, who are from New Hampshire, reside on Boot Island during the summer months. Hugh, a naval aviator during the 1950s, participated in the Naval Air Reserve at the Naval Air Station, Grosse Ile. One day in June 1956, he filed a flight plan for a round trip flight to the Air Force base at Kinross. During this flight, Hugh took a photograph "showing the towers as lone sentinels in the expanse of water, quite a contrast with the bridge that is there today."

Looking at the photo, there certainly is a contrast. It is difficult for many of us to remember the days when a ferryboat was the only means of crossing the straits. I well remember riding across the straits on a ferryboat with our children and seeing those twin towers rising. It was difficult at that time to imagine the long expanse of bridge that we now take for granted. Today, it is difficult to imagine not having the bridge. How times do change!

A recent e-mail informed me this week of another honor for retired judge Ned Fenlon of Petoskey, when Grand Rapids Community College bestowed upon him the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award. Grand Rapids Community College (formerly Grand Rapids Junior College) is where Ned earned is Associate Degree in 1925. He then went on to Notre Dame University before attending the St. Louis University School of Law and LaSalle University Law School. From there he pursued a career in law, becoming a circuit judge serving four Northern Michigan counties. Judge Fenlon is now 101 years of age and spends most of his summers in the family home in Hessel.