The community concert in memory of Sgt. Christopher Griffin Sunday, January 3, was a success. Danielle Petangelo put on the concert in honor of the fallen soldier. She arranged all the acts, programs, and tickets to sell. A check for $1,100 was donated in his honor to the Rudyard Area Schools and Rudyard Area Educational Foundation. The details for how the money will be disbursed have not yet been determined, but will be available this year’s seniors. Sgt. Griffin was killed while serving in Afghanistan October 3, 2009.

Bill Goetz, who has been a long time principal at R.J. Wallis and Turner Howsen, will be honored Thursday, January 21, in a special school assembly to recognize him for his work. He will be going back into the classroom as a teacher and the middle school principal will be taking over his duties. The assembly will start at 11 a.m. and all are welcome.

A new addition to our community, Emma Grace DeYoung, was born Saturday, January 16, to Mike and Emily DeYoung. Mr. DeYoung is a teacher at Rudyard High School, and also takes photographs throughout the school year for the yearbook staff. Congratulation on your new baby girl.

Rudyard High School Students of the Month for December are (from left) Adam Graber, Leah Jarvie, Matt Zahara, Carrie Berkompas, Paul Warner, Shana Trotter, John Hughes, and Erica VanBuren. (Rudyard High School photograph) A former Rudyard resident and 1995 Rudyard High School graduate, Zak Stelmaszek, plays guitar for the band Fifth Way in Detroit. He informs us his band is releasing a debut album entitled “No Boundaries” January 30 at the Magic Bag Theater in Detroit. Recorded at Royal Oak’s Rustbelt Studios, “No Boundaries” features 11 tracks of guitar rock. The disc, Mr. Stelmaszek said, “is an attempt to bring back rock to its purest form... We all came of age in the 90s, listening to Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden, and while you can definitely hear those influences, we’ve managed to create our own, very current, sound.”

Mr. Stelmaszek played guitar in many bands in the Eastern Upper Peninsula while in high School and college. He is a systems architect for Fisker-Karma Program in the automotive industry.