DeTour elementary students on the spring honor roll are (front, from left) Grace Krzycki, Emily Bennett, Alex Reynolds, Grant Fountain, Luke Bailey, John Lee Wentworth; (middle) Edyn Nettleton, Gunnar Fountain, Wyatt Galarowic, Jaxon Wilkie, Leo Dudeck; (back) Cameron Livingston, Scott Bosley, Madison Wilkie, Moriah Reed, Kaalin Goetz, Sarah Bailey, and Skylar Pardee. Events taking place at our schools in May include the regular board meeting, which will be at Raber Bay, Monday, May 10, at 6:45 p.m. The honors and athletic banquet is Wednesday, May 12, in DeTour, with the banquet at 5 p.m. and awards at 6 p.m. Boaters safety for seventh grade students through adults is Thursday, May 13, at 8 a.m. at the DeTour School. The elementary music concerts are Tuesday, May 18, at 6:30 p.m. in DeTour, and Wednesday, May 26, on Drummond Island. The Fine Arts Fair is at the DeTour School Wednesday, May 19, at 6:30 p.m. The G.E.D. graduation ceremony is Thursday, May 20, at 6 p.m. at Lake Superior State University Cisler Center in Sault Ste. Marie. DeTour Schools graduation is Saturday, May 22, at 2 p.m.

School issues will come before voters in the election Tuesday, May 4.

Although school will soon be out for the summer, we will be seeing a visible presence from two related groups. The new Athletic Boosters Club, under the direction of cochairs Craig Hoffman and Sara Galarowic, is planning many projects and fundraisers. Funds raised from their events will continue and improve the DeTour Area Schools athletic programs. The DeTour Friends of the Library will also be a visible presence, with both fundraisers and programs of community interest. The funds raised by this group support the library and help purchase materials used by adults and students.

Twenty-three residents from DeTour Village, Drummond Island, Raber/Goetzville, and Cedarville traveled to Sault Ste. Marie Saturday evening, April 24, for the annual North Star Habitat for Humanity Carpenter’s Gala. The group, representing the Lower St. Marys River Chapter of Habitat for Humanity and the Thrivent for Lutherans Financial Group, who are partnering to build the first Habitat home in the Lower St. Marys River area, were honored for their dedication and the swift way the program organized to begin their first build. Groundbreaking for the home, to be built on South Caribou Lake Road, just inside the DeTour Village limits, will be Saturday, May 22, at 10:30 a.m.

In a final note on winter, I talked last week with one of our young residents, John Lee Wentworth, about the success of our ice rink at the DeTour Area Chamber Pavilion. John Lee, like many of the other young DeTour students, had never skated until he went with the DeTour elementary students and teachers to the Big Bear Arena in Sault Ste. Marie, using tickets won for the group’s efforts at scarecrow building during the September 2009 Happy Apple Festival. He discovered it was great fun, and when the rink was created at the pavilion, he was one of the first to skate there. Unfortunately, the rink got off to a late start and the season ended early, but there are many who look forward to next year. Mayor Anthony Bosley has been credited with the idea of the rink, and the volunteer fire department put in its efforts in preparing the ice, while the Chamber of Commerce allowed use of the pavilion.