INTRO
Today is Tuesday December 23rd – Christmas Eve Eve. I’m Kevin Boyle in for Greg Doig with today’s Community Calendar.
NEWS
Today is the last day for the ferry – and the last boat to Charlevoix is already well out of the harbor. If you’ve got something (or someone) on the mainland to get back, the Emerald Isle is sailing from Charlevoix at 4:00 this afternoon. Call BIBCO at 888-446-4095 to see if there is still space for any freight—but you’d best hurry as that was all supposed to be done yesterday. When the boat pulls in this evening, the horns will fall silent until spring.
Beaver Island Community School has formed a team to compete in the First Robotics Challenge. This is part of a global competition that threats science, technology, engineering, and math projects like a sport. The team’s kick-off meeting (where they’ll learn the challenge for this season and get their kit of parts) is January 9th at the Boyne City High School. They’ll be building a robot to meet the challenge through March and then will be off to their first competition in April at Traverse City Central High School. The robot the team builds will be the size of a small fridge—so its serious stuff. The team is still looking for folks that can help as mentors with all aspects of building the robot—from design, to mechanical to programming and everything in between. If you’d like to join the fun, send an email to me, as it happens, at kevin.boyle@wvbi.net. If you’d like to learn more about the competition, checkout the Michigan FRC website at firstmichigan dot org.
Speaking of things over at the Community School, here’s a last minute shopping idea the junior class has for you. Tired of schlepping your stuff to the transfer station? As a project to raise funds for the senior banquet, the BICS juniors are offering Trash Haul & Recyclable collection services. They’ll pick up once a week from January 1 through June 1st. You can choose just a month of service, 3 months or 5. For pricing and to set it up, contact Kathie Ehinger at 231 620 5199.
If you have business with Peaine Township supervisor’s office, you should know that they’ll not be open on Christmas Eve. They’ll be there again next Thursday during their regular hours from 10 am until 2 in the afternoon.
At the Community Center…
The Community Center will be open today from 10 AM until 2, then closed Thursday and Friday, but OPEN Saturday, 9am-9pm for all activities and movies. Next week is a regular schedule, which is 9 to 5—except closed on Friday the first.
Today’s Arthritis Foundation Exercise Programs will go ahead as normal from 11am-12pm.
And the Movies continue. This Saturday, the day after Christmas it’s the Minions on the screen. [SFX] It’s a barrel of fun for pretty much everyone with a PG rating because the Minions are crude and always whacking each other. [SFX] It runs an hour and 31 minutes. [SFX]
Then…for the 7 PM feature presentation it’s:
PAPER TOWNS
It’s rated PG-13, but is for an older crowd than Minions. Probably high school and up, and it runs 109 minutes.
As always, admittance is free, but you can make a freewill donation to support the community center and WVBI. MSaturday movies at the BICC are made possible with the support of THE SHAMROCK BAR AND RESTAURANT AND THE BEAVER ISLAND BOAT COMPANY!
Beaver Island Radio Players
Jacque LaFreniere is looking for anyone interested in forming a sub group of the Beaver Island Community Players… one that would perform for the radio only? She’s thinking of using the old time radio scripts available free on www.simplyscripts.com and maybe performing once a month, to be taped for the radio—or we might even do them live like they did in the old days. No stage required, no memorization, minimal (like maybe 2) rehearsals and then do it is Jacque’s plan. Of course we love the idea here at WVBI. If you are interested, you can respond to Jacque’s post on the forum, email jacquel@tds.net or call 448-2220. The plan is to do the first one in January, and sort of like a book club, the group could take turns picking the play for the next month.
Transit Closing
Today is the last date for regular transit service until Monday. There’ll be service all next week from 12:30 to 4:30 except for Friday, January 1 to Sunday, January 3. The new hours are 12:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon.
Medical Center
Flu shots are available at the Health Center. If you haven’t gotten yours yet and are a candidate to get one, give all of us who have gotten our shots a Christmas present and get yours. Let’s make it an uneventfuk flu season. Call 448-2275 to make an appointment or for more information.
Sporting News
Jacque LaFreniere is handling deer checks through the end of the season. Call her at 448-2220 for info. You can get a patch and contribute to quality deer management on the island by checking in with her for both bucks and does.
The Beaver Island Wildlife Club has just launched a new web site with information about the Club and Beaver Island Hunting and Fishing information. Check it out at beaverislandwildlifeclub.org.
Christmas Greetings Department
We’ve been asked to pass along a holiday greeting to you from the AMVETS 46. They would like to extend a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all the island residents and visitors. They appreciate everyone’s support of the Post’s fund raising activities to help Beaver Island veterans and maintain the Beaver Island Veterans Memorial Park.
Shopping News
Fresh Air Aviation has some special fairs later today. $25 will get you from the island over to Charlevoix on Fresh Air at 3:30 pm, 4:30 pm, and 5:30 pm. You can find out more by calling them at 448-2089.
In Tradio this morning, from the forum:
Robert Turner has ten (40lb) bags of RED OUT softener salt for sale $6.50 a bag. You can call him at 2824.
After you open your Christmas presents, how about taking a look around the house and figuring out what you don’t need anymore. You can bring that down to the resale shop during their regular hours, which start up again next Thursday. They need clean winter clothing for men, women, and children. Furniture, tools, and kitchen wares are also always needed. They thank you for the support that you have given them this year. They’ve have earned money that will help equip our Fire Department and EMS—and they equipped WVBI with our emergency alert system, which can be used by emergency authorities to alert the entire island in the event of a fire or other emergency on the island.
Weather
Still too warm for snow. Rumor has it that Santa had to put wheels on the runners of his sled this year since the lack of snow makes it hard to glide. The elves think he may have to put a roof over it too, as the rain/mist seems never ending. At least he has Rudolph to guide him those those foggy spots. Right now it’s 41°, windchill of 36°, wind is at 9 mph from the SE with gusts to 19 mph, humidity is at 90%, pressure is falling from 1007 mb, and visibility is at 9.6 miles.
…WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 1 PM EST THURSDAY…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GAYLORD HAS ISSUED A WIND
ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 1 PM EST THURSDAY.
* TIMING…STRONG GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP WITH THE
PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT LATE TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING.
* WINDS…GUSTS OF 45 TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.
Today: Cloudy. Areas of fog. Areas of drizzle. Highs in the lower 50s. Southeast winds 5 to 15 mph with gusts to around 30 mph. Tonight: Rain showers and a chance of thunderstorms. Areas of fog. Breezy. Lows in the upper 30s. South winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 35 mph increasing to 15 to 25 mph with gusts to around 55 after midnight.
On this date of December 23, 1823 – The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement C. Moore (” ‘Twas the night before Christmas…”) was published.
Did you know that phosphenes are the lights you see when you close your eyes and press your hands over them?
Word of the day: festoon (fes-TOON) which means to adorn with hanging chains of flowers, foliage, ribbon, etc. Festoon can be traced to the Italian term festa, which shares a meaning with the English word of the same spelling, “a feast, festival, or holiday.”
Finally…
Remember that you can donate unopened, non-perishable items must not be past expiration date. to the Food Pantry to help families here on the Island. Drop boxes are at the Community Center, the Beaver Island Rural Health Center, Holy Cross Church, Fresh Air and the Beaver Island Christian Church. Monetary donations (tax deductible) are always needed and can be made payable to the Beaver Island Christian Church, attention Food Pantry, PO Box 21. Or, thanks to Joe Moore, a PayPal/credit card donation link is available at beaverislandnews.com.
The Food Pantry Committee of Judi Meister, Beth Croswhite, Mark LaFreniere and Deb Plastrik thank you for your help.