Where has August gone? This month sure has passed by fast. Soon, the school bells will be ringing, but not before many folks enjoy the local county fairs, a fun event for families.

Thursday, August 24, the Youth at Play Center in Newberry will have an Italian pizza day with yu-gi-oh and a movie. Friday, August 25, it will host a "Mexican Day." This should be fun for the whole family.

The Luce-West Mackinac County Fair will be having truck pulls Thursday, August 24, beginning at 6 p.m. The Little Miss and Fair Queen Pageant will also begin at 6 p.m. The gates will open at 8 a.m. Friday, August 25.

The West Mackinac Garden Club will meet Thursday, August 24, at 7 p.m. at the Engadine United Methodist Church. Everyone is welcome to attend.

An all-you-can-eat whitefish dinner is Friday, August 25, at the Hulbert American Legion Post 393, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Cost is $8 for adults and $4 for children age 12 and under. The public is welcome.

St. Timothy's Catholic Church will be having an all-you-can-eat fish fry Friday, August 25, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Curtis Community Building in Curtis. Cost is $8 for adults, $3 for children age 5 to 12. Carry-outs will be available.

Don't miss "Summer Music in the Park" at the Curtis Park Bandstand Wednesday, August 23. This week's band will be "Driver." Bring your own lawn chair and blankets. Admission is free.

The U.P. Pickers will be at the Engadine Pavilion behind the Town Hall at the Mill Pond Park in Engadine. Enjoy down home country, bluegrass, folk, and polka music with this group of musicians from both sides of the border. The group will perform from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free.

An ORV safety class will be held at Engadine High School, Thursday, August 24, and Friday, August 25, from 9 a.m. to noon, both days. Upon successful completion of this course, a Michigan Safety Certificate will be issued to the candidate. The age range for this course is 12 years to adult. Michigan law requires that a child between the ages of 12 and 16 must have successfully completed an ORV Safety Training Course in order to legally ride an ORV/ATV on any of Michigan's designated trails. If a child between the ages of 12 and 16 has qualified for a safety certificate, they can only ride on designated trails under adult supervision. Adults who ride ORV's or ATV's are encouraged to take this safety course. Call the Mackinac County Sheriff's Department with any questions and to pre-register for this course. If that isn't possible, there also will be walk-in registration on the first day of class at Engadine High School.

The Gulliver Mud Drags are Saturday, August 26, starting at 11 a.m. on Lex Nelson Road in Gulliver.

There will be a bicycle auction Saturday, September 2, at the Manistique Merchants Car Show. The auction will be held on the

200 block of Walnut Street between the Elks Club and South Cedar Street in Manistique. Bicycles will be available for public inspection at this location between 10 a.m. and noon. The auction will begin at noon.

Happy birthday to Andrew Pershinske August 24, Trenton Kerbersky and Clarence Brown Jr. August 25, Greg Livermore August 26, Hillary Kleeman August 27, Mike Kerbersky August 29, Ed Bryant, Shannon Slack, and our wonderful son, Travis Freeman, August 30, and Jarrett Dailey August 31.

Happy anniversary to Ron and Lori Rushford and Dwight and Brenda Frazier August 24, Jim and Cherrell Rourke and Keven and Linda Pershinske August 27, Gary and Lynn Moore August 28, and Charles and Doris Haapala August 29.

Until next time, take care.