Community Calendar for Thursday, February 11th, 2021

From studios in the BIC Center on America’s Emerald Isle, this is the WVBI Community Calendar for Thursday, February 11^th, 2021. 

First, some news…

After a winter with almost no ice on the lakes, the recent run of cold has ice building up quickly.  Lake Erie had 13 percent ice cover six days ago.  It’s now at 81 percent. Lake Michigan has jumped from 11 to 19 percent.  Overall ice cover on the Great Lakes has doubled from 12 to 24 percent. And, locally, Paradise bay has gone from open to frozen over. Meantime, bitter cold temperatures continue.  On the island this morning the temperature dropped to minus 2 at the WVBI transmitter site and -1 down at Lake G.  Up in the UP, they are looking at renaming Watersmeet Michigan to Icemeet.  Temperature near there this morning was minus 31.

Joes’s Junk project is making good progress.  Kate Leese, who is one of the volunteers organizing the effort says a number of folks have come to the website to register junk they’d like to remove from their property.  Kate was our guest last evening on Beaver Island Perspectives.  If you missed that, you can hear what she had to say on the WVBI podcasts page.  And, if you’d like to register your junk, you can do that at joesjunk.org.

COVID-19 data from the state continues to show good trends. There were 915 new cases and 12 new deaths in yesterdays report. Seven-day running average for new cases is 1,000. For deaths the average is 23 a day—with reclassifications backed out. In the eight-county region we’ve followed from the start, there were 24 new cases and no deaths. Charlevoix had 3 new cases. Seven day running averages for our region are 23 new cases a day and one death. 

Statewide there are now 47,277 active cases—down by about 3,600. Our region has 1,116—down by 68. 

Positivity rates shown on the state’s Safe Start dashboard continue to look good. Statewide rate is down a tenth at 4.2%.  It’s 4.3% in our safe start zone—down two tenths. The rate in Charlevoix county is down a tenth to 1.8%. The C-D-C target is 3%.  New case per million rates are on a steady slope down. Overall hospital occupancy rates continue to look good both statewide and in our safe start zone—essentially normal.  Statewide, 5.1% of available beds are occupied with COVID-19 patients. For I-C-U beds, COVID occupancy is 9.1%.  There are no COVID-19 patients at Munson in Charlevoix and five at McLaren in Petoskey—all in their I-C-U.

On the island, no new tests.  No tests pending. No new positives since December 7^th.

Complete data for our region plus summaries for the state, the T-C safe start zone and the U-P are in today’s script online.

Data from February 10, 2021, 2021

Now, a look at what’s happening on your island… 

Games Galore is today from 1:00 to 4:00 up in the Deerwood Hangout. Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program is on Mondays and Fridays  at the BIC Center—10:30 to 11:30. That’s also up in the Deerwood Hangout. Pickleball is on tomorrow at the BIC Center—and back to a regular schedule. They are playing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1:00 to 3:00.  BIC Center is back to regular hours. 9 to 4 Monday through Friday and noon to 9 on Saturdays. Concession stand is open for dine-in or take out.

Resale Shop is open today noon to 4.  Their winter hours are noon to 4 Thursdays and Fridays. If you drop by and can drop off any extra cardboard cartons you have with handles—they’d appreciate it.

If you’re looking for something interesting online, there’s a webinar today at noon on the Great Lakes cruise industry. With international travel still limited, there is talk of even more of a comeback than was underway before COVID. Info on attending is in the calendar entry online.

If you are looking for something interesting to do around town, drive by the Blue Pearl to see Pearl out front.  She’s all dressed up for Valentine’s day.  There are even lights for the evening.

Saturday there are movies at the BIC Center Theater. 4:00 show this Saturday will be Incredibles 2—great fun for all from Disney and Pixar.  And at 7, it’s The New Mutants—a sort of superhero horror move that’ll have you on the edge of your seat. Great reviews for both shows, and both are on the BIG screen with the BIG sound in the BIC Center Theater. Concession stand will be open for snacks, a meal or both with pizza, hotdogs, popcorn, soft pretzels, sweets and pop.  Trailers are on the BIC Center website at BIC Center dot org.

Sunday there are services at Holy Cross and the Christian Church.  Times and more details are in the calendar.

Here’s your meeting planner for next week: Waste Management Committee meets at 1:00 on Tuesday. St. James Public Works meets at 11 on Wednesday.  Joint Telecommunications Advisory Committee meets at 4:30 on Thursdays.  Details and information on remote attendance are available in the calendar entries online.

If you are looking for some Valentine’s fun, check out the C-O-A’s online Valentine Bingo game.  For more details, check the calendar entry.  And leave a valentine day greeting for your sweetie on the island or anywhere with the WVBI Valentine’s Hotline.  Call 313-263-3601 and leave a message.  The W-V-B-I love gnomes will then get it on the air for all to hear.

Keep up to date on COVID-19 news with the W-V-B-I COVID-19 info page. Click COVID-19 Info in the menu at W-V-B-I dot net.

Weather, here there and everywhere – presented every day with the support of Hogarth’s Pest Control:

Today

Isolated snow showers. Sunny through mid morning, then becoming mostly cloudy, with a high near 15. Wind chill values as low as -8. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tonight

Snow showers, mainly after midnight. Steady temperature around 12. Wind chill values as low as zero. East wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Friday

Snow showers likely, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 17. Wind chill values as low as -2. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of around 3 inches.

Friday Night

A 40 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 6. Wind chill values as low as -8. East wind 5 to 10 mph.

Saturday

Snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 16. East wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Saturday Night

Snow likely, mainly before 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 1. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy and cold, with a high near 9.

Sunday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 0.

Washington’s Birthday

Partly sunny and cold, with a high near 10.

Monday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 5.

Tuesday

A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 19.

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 10.

Wednesday

Partly sunny, with a high near 22.

TRAFFIC: Occasional delays from people doing car chats at the four corners—apparently the problem is windows won’t roll down because they are frozen, so conversations are taking longer than normal.  Roads are snow covered and slick.  So, let’s be careful out there. 

BIRTHDAYS:  Allyson Selby and Pete LoDico are celebrating today. Happy Birthday to Allyson and Pete, and, if we missed you on the list, happy birthday to you, too, from all of us at WVBI and your Beaver Island Community Center. 

ON THIS DAY in 1990, South Africa’s most prominent anti-apartheid activist, Nelson Mandela, is released after almost three decades of captivity. He will go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize and become the nation’s president. (Bing.com)

WORD OF THE DAY: voracious (Adjective) [vaw-RAY-shus], which means: having a huge appetite : ravenous; excessively eager : insatiable; teenage boys. Voracious is one of several English words that derive from the Latin verb vorare, which means “to eat greedily” or “to devour.” Vorare is also an ancestor of devour and of the -ivorous words, which describe the diets of various animals. These include carnivorous (“meat-eating”), herbivorous (“plant-eating”), omnivorous (“feeding on both animals and plants”), frugivorous (“fruit-eating”), graminivorous (“feeding on grass”), and piscivorous (“fish-eating”). (Merriam-Webster)

Now, to wrap up for this Beaver Island Thursday…

Here’s a thought for the day from Nelson Mandela: “[T]o be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

On a lighter note: What do you call toddler twins who are sleeping? Nap kins.

That’s the W-V-B-I Community Calendar for this Beaver Island, Thursday, February 11^th, 2021. I’m Kevin Boyle reporting from W-V-B-I’s Langford Family Studios wishing you a great day and asking: why not go ahead and make it the best day ever?  And, thanks for listening. 

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