Mackinaw News December 21Saturday December11 Wednesday November28 Thursday November26 Tuesday • • • • Winter Solsticehandicraft, Holiday OpenHousebyParksBoard,library, 10-11 am Thanksgiving potluck,ChurchoftheStraits,12:30pm Community Trying tobepreparedforthebigwaves ofNovemberinhighwaterlevels Thanksgiving ChurchService,oftheStraits,7pm Events inMackinawCity Three PinesStudio,1-4pm by SandyPlanisek November 17, 2019 page 1

MaryAnn Moore Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek GIRLS BASKETBALL Comets Sports Schedules *Games begin at 5:30pm unless noted otherwise. Mon. Dec. 2 Pellston H Fri. Dec. 6 Harbor Light H Mon. Dec. 9 Brimley A Fri. Dec. 13 Wolverine H Wed. Dec. 18 DeTour H

Wed. Jan. 8 Alanson H Fri. Jan. 10 Boyne Falls A Wed. Jan. 15 Alba H Fri. Jan. 17 Ellsworth A Mon. Jan. 20 NMCA A Thur. Jan. 23 Harbor Light A Tue. Jan. 28 Vanderbilt H Thu. Jan. 30 Wolverine A

Thu. Feb. 6 Alanson A Tue. Feb. 11 Boyne Falls H Thu. Feb. 13 Alba A Tue. Feb. 18 Ellsworth H Thu. Feb. 20 NMCA H PARENTS Night Tue. Feb. 25 Cheboygan A Mackinaw’s 1917 girl’s team Fri. Feb 28 Vanderbilt A

BOYS BASKETBALL March 2-6 DISTRICTS TBD *Games begin at 5:30pm unless noted otherwise. Mon. Dec. 9 Pellston A Tue. Dec. 17 Wolverine H Fri. Dec. 20 Brimley H

Mon. Jan. 6 Harbor Light A Tue. Jan. 7 Alanson A Thu. Jan. 9 Boyne Falls A Tue. Jan. 14 Alba H Thu. Jan. 16 Ellsworth A Tue. Jan. 21 NMCA A Tue. Jan 28 Vanderbilt H Fri. Jan. 31 Wolverine A

Fri. Feb. 7 Alanson H HOMECOMING Wed. Feb. 12 Boyne Falls H Fri. Feb. 14 Alba A Wed. Feb. 19 Ellsworth H Fri. Feb. 21 NMCA H HALL OF FAME NIGHT Mon. Feb. 24 Harbor Light H Fri. Feb. 28 Vanderbilt A

Tue. Mar. 3 DeTour A Thu. Mar. 5 Cheboygan H page 2 March 9-13 DISTRICTS TBD November 17, 2019 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek

Michigan Winter Roads

• Check out the cameras, road speeds, and accidents on Michigan highways at https://mdotjboss.state.mi.us/ MiDrive/map

• To get text message info on the bridge closings text to: 67283 with the message MacBridge

Frost smoke or fog occurs when cold air passes over the warm water of the lakes

Be a volunteer campground host in 2020

Love the outdoors and want to make it home base for a couple of weeks? The DNR is looking for volunteers to work as campground hosts in Michigan state parks and some rustic forest campgrounds. In exchange camping fees are waived.

Each campground host is responsible for 30 hours of service per week, such as helping campers find their campsites, answering camper questions, planning campground activities and performing light park maintenance duties. Both individuals and couples may apply. Danielle Lieghio

A list of openings and this year's application/selection criteria are Newest member at Renegade Ranch. now available on the DNR campground host webpage. https:// Normally the babies are born in the www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79137_79767_81160-27524- spring but every once in awhile one -,00.html?utm_campaign=Get%20Involved%20Nov2019&utm_ comes late. medium=digest&utm_source=govdelivery page 2 November 17, 2019 page 3 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek Holiday Open House for Park Ideas Wednesday, December 11, 10 - 11 am, enter at the back door of the library

The Parks Board is holding a HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE meeting to gather community input, ideas, and desires for the N. Huron Parks that are part of the N. Huron Road project. Attached are the current conceptual plans for the five parks. The Parks Board will assemble everyone’s ideas and offer them to council.

There are five parks to consider and the engineers have attached to the map of each park their concepts for the park. Either pass your ideas to a Park Board member or come to the Open House and talk over your thoughts. Park Board members are: Jeff Hingston, Ron Dye, James Falkner, Danielle Lieghio, Jamie Westfall, Tom Chastain, and Sandy Planisek.

You can look at copies of these drawings at the Chamber office 9-4, M-F.

Open House: Wednesday, December 11 between 10 and 11 am. Come in the back door of the library. Larger versions of these maps will be available.

MARITIME PARK • Interpretive Display - Connecting water and land • History of the Straits Role as a Commercial Node ○ Shipping ○ Rail ○ Ferry ○ Bridge • Current ○ Utilities and Natural Resources ○ Transportation ○ Recreation

November 17, 2019 page 4 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek

NANCY DAGWELL CAMPBELL PARK Re-dedicate as a community garden park Universally accessible with a local feel Sensory Garden, Irrigation Locally managed and cultivated

GARY WILLIAMS PARK • Major node between Old Town neighborhood and Lake Huron shoreline • Access to State Water Trails - Kayak launch and transient landing • Universally Accessible • On-street Parking Improvements • Landscape, Irrigation, Dock and Seating

page 4 November 17, 2019 page 5 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek

WAWATAM PARK • New restroom building/ bath house • Pavilion • Playground improvements • Landscaping and irrigation improvements • Universally accessible throughout

OLD SCHOOL PARK • Neighborhood access node to bridge, lighthouse, state park, shoreline and downtown with crosswalks and wayfinding • Restroom building • Multi-use courts - Flex space ○ Pickleball ○ Basketball ○ Bocce • Playground improvements • Universally Accessible • Shelter • Low-impact parking areas • Utility improvements ○ Limited lighting ○ Underground services.

November 17, 2019 page 6 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek

Enbridge - The Good Side

We all have heard the risk posed by Enbridge in the Straits of Mackinac. And last week we heard the dire report submitted to the state’s Attorney General Office. But there are always two sides to any story. The other side of the Enbridge story is in the taxes and gifts the company is leaving in Mackinaw City. The report last week noted that Enbridge makes about a 10% profit. Out of the other 90%, the cost of doing its business, a big cost is taxes. Because Wawatam Township houses the pumping station on this side of the Straits, it collects nearly three-quarters of a million tax dollars. These go into assorted accounts. Here is the breakdown. Notice that the school is a major beneficiary and without these tax dollars the school would struggle financially. The village itself does not receive a significant amount because most of Enbridge’s property falls outside of the village limits. A $500 million tunnel could conceivably increase these tax revenues.

Total 2019 taxes paid by Enbridge in Wawatam Twp. - $703,229

Mackinaw City School $349,410 (This represents 14% of the school budget.) Wawatam Township $37,854 Township fire millage to Mackinaw City’s fire dept. $9,463 Village of Mackinaw City $6,005 Other $306,501 (for ISD, Senior Center, Emmet County, Ambulance/EMS, North Central Community College, State Ed)

Enbridge has also provided other benefits to the town. Our school students had a chance to tour their facilities and learn about the operation and job opportunities during October Engineering Month. The police and fire department have received several grants from Enbridge and other organizations. There will be an article on this next week.

Enbridge has joined our Chamber of Commerce as a Premier Member and has been one of the sponsors of the Coachie Classic Softball Tournament, Mighty Mac Golf Outing, Corvette Crossroads Auto Show, Fall Into Mackinaw festivities, and Community Excellence Awards Dinner They have helped at every event since their membership began.

Also, to note: Enbridge’s Sr. Community Engagement Specialist Emma Cook has been an active volunteer at Chamber events, and attends most functions. She is a new resident of Mackinaw City.

State News Michigan drivers will be given a new choice in their car insurance. Because of legislation passed and an attempt to lower insurance prices, policy owners can choose, beginning July 2, 2020, their level of personal injury protection. You can keep unlimited lifetime medical coverage, reduce the level of medical coverage you carry, or not carry any personal injury protection at all. The fee for this coverage is set by a group of insurance companies that provide the service. They just announced that the cost for reduced coverage will be 55% lower than full coverage and there will be no cost if you select to have no personal injury coverage. Of course, this does not guarantee that your total insurance bill will drop.

Both the Senate and the House introduced bills to regulate Amish buggies. Two crashes of cars into buggies, each killing three children, have renewed interest in a topic that, although discussed before, has never gone far in the legislature. One bill would require the registration of buggies, another would require headlights and taillights. Another bill, not concerned with driver safety, would require buggies to have rubber-type tires because steel wheels and steel horseshoes produce excessive wear on roads.

“Voters will have 22 candidates – 18 Democrats and four Republicans – to select from during the state’s March 10 presidential primary, including the newest Democratic candidate former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.” Gongwer News (now not the latest candidate) page 6 November 17, 2019 page 7 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek Want to Hike Safely?

Little Traverse Conservancy (LTC) is offering nature preserve hiking options during the hunting season. Here are the LTC hunting-free holdings near us. Visit their web site for maps.

Cheboygan County Agnes S. Andreae (hunting is allowed on adjacent Boyd B. Banwell) · Chaboiganing (hunting is allowed on adjacent Indian Point) · Duncan Bay · Gauthier · Hildner-Bearce/Waubun · Seven Springs · Vivian VanCampen

Mackinac County · William B. Derby · Mackinac Bay

Emmet County · Philip J. Braun North · Bubbling Springs · Hailand-Helstrom Family · The Headlands (owned by Emmet County) · Ray Johnston · Allan and Virginia McCune · Naas, Mauger, Raunecker, & Leslie · Oden Island · Round Lake

· Thorne Swift Angie Timan · Waldron Fen Also the Nature Trail at Heritage Village is hunting free · Woollam Family

Village Hall News Planning Commission met this week. They voted on their proposed work for next year. It includes: • Research on improving housing opportunities in Mackinaw City • Evaluate the effect that the short-term rental ordinance has had on making more permanent housing opportunities available. • Revisit and better define "View-shed" • Research the possible implementation of an early warning system for Mackinaw City and/or possible an emergency text system modeled after the Bridge Authority system.

• Research mitigation of a potential catastrophic wildfire event. Angie Timan • Stay up-to-date on pipeline and cable changes across the Straits

November 17, 2019 page 8 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek

Every Needs a Good Tuner

Once a year Robin Nelson tunes maybe 130 in our area. Some get tuned twice a year. I met up with Robin as she was tuning the 1916-17 Werner piano at the Heritage Chapel at Heritage Village.

This old upright holds a tune well, according to Robin. Sitting in an unheated building the piano never gets hot and that might explain its stability. Heat is a piano’s worst enemy.

Humidity, too much or too little, is enemy number two. Excess humidity makes the spruce, soundboard expand and “crown.” That stretches the strings and makes the piano go “sharp.” When dry conditions return the tuning often

Gold-painted iron plate. Tuning pins The pin block is behind this.

Robin Nelson tuning the piano at Heritage Village

returns to, or close to, its previous tuning. But if the humidity causes rust on the strings, the sound can be distorted. Dry air drives the piano flat. Dry

Angie Timan and hot air can begin to crack the pinblock, which is about three inches thick, made of multiple thin layers of hard woods glued together in opposite directions, and which stabilizes the tuning pins. It sits behind the iron plate. Well cared for pianos have a PianoLifesaver humidity control system that either adds humidity or adds heat to reduce humidity keeping it ideally at 42% humidity.

The Historic Society’s piano has 225 pins and longer grand pianos have more tuning pins. One string of each will be checked using a Sanderson Accu-Tuner (SAT). Unisons are three strings for one key, all tuned alike. Both aural and

Angie Timan electronic tuning skills are used. The SAT flashes a display of red lights once a key The strings of the lowest octave consists of one core string encircled by copper is struck. If the light remains steady then wire. The next octave has two strings, each wrapped in copper. The rest of the note is in tune. If the lights circle, the octaves have three strings and no copper. The felt hammers on this piano either to the right or left, it indicates that are all original except the one at far left. The red temperament strip is used to separate the keys with multiple strings so that one string at a time can be page 8 page 9 adjusted. November 17, 2019 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek the note is either sharp or flat. The pin Hammer is turned down a bit, up a bit, and then stabilized until the key holds true. It is very important to adjust each pin slowly and carefully. This piano still has all of its original strings, hammers, and keys and with care it should last a long time.

Equal temperament means tuning the strings so that they are musically adjusted to each other. Our piano is tuned at A440, which allows other instruments to play along at the same time. The A key above middle C is set to 440 Hz.

The process starts by tuning only the middle strings of F, third octave; A, fourth octave; and C, sixth octave with the SAT, which calculates the readings to produce a custom-stretch tuning. Robin begins on the bass strings at the far left and continues The turning lever is called a hammer. It hooks on to a pin and its length gives the tuner fine control over the pin’s adjustment. tuning the strings for all 88 keys. Written notes taken each year show how the piano is holding up over time.

The might also need work. The right pedal sustains the sound by removing dampeners from the keys. The left pedal on this piano is designed to mute the overall volume of the piano, so the neighbors don’t complain. And the middle pedal on this machine also does a bit of muting by dropping a row of rather worn felt sheets onto the strings. This pedal is seldom used.

The tuning process usually takes 1.5-2 hours for a piano on yearly maintenance is a specialized craft. The next nearest tuners are in Gaylord and E. Jordan.

Looking straight down on the felts, the top pointed felts dampen the notes. The hammers (big felts) at the bottom strike the strings. Notice how they wear grooves matching the strings. If these grooves get too deep and they start to catch, the strings they can be filed down. This piano does not get a lot of wear so these should be good for a long, long time.

Robin mentored under Mike Kurta, a former Mackinaw City resident, before he moved to New York in 2000. Both Mike and Robin are Registered Piano Technicians (RPT) and are members of the .

Here are the notes Robin has on this piano. Notice that in addition to tuning notes she also records the temperature. This year it was a nice 52 degrees.

November 17, 2019 page 10 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek Want to read a magazine? Too expensive? Read it free online

The library is offering yet another free online service to card holders, free access and download capability for 327 different magazines. The magazines cover most of the popular magazines and the entire range of interests. You can download an issue and keep it forever on your tablet, it does not disappear in three weeks as the books do.

To set up to get this service first go to the library web site https://www.mackinawareapl.michlibrary.org

On the right side of the page click on the Magazines at your Fingertips logo. Click the appropriate app box at the top and download RBdigital.

The first time you use it you need to create an account. It is based on your library card number and a new password you create, so have your card number handy.

This takes you to The Library Network, a Michigan library cooperative effort to bring magazines to library patrons across the state. For $500 a year our library has purchased a subscription. (If you want to help the library fund this service contact the library.)

The library will continue to have paper versions of magazines in the front that you can check out and old donated magazines for free in the back room. If you subscribe to a magazine, instead of tossing it into recycle when you are done, take it to the library for others to use. The library accepts magazines dated within the current year.

I saw these two graphs while trying out the new library magazine service. They came from the November 1, 2019 Smithsonian magazine. It is from research by Michael Rosenfeld

How Couples Met

page 10 November 17, 2019 page 11 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek As Winter Approaches Mackinac State Historic Parks Ramps Up Repair Work

The work crew at MSHP is scrambling to finish up some exterior projects before winter sets in. One-third of the bark roof of the SW rowhouse in Colonial Michilimackinac, by the bread oven, was stripped and a triple layer of cedar bark was secured with 2-inch diameter cedar branches. The bark for the roof, using 4’ by 8’ sheets, is incredibly expensive and the roof work is being done one segment at a time. Last year the north side of the roof was completed.

Work at Mill Creek, on the sluice-way and a section of boardwalk are nearing completion. Then a major amount of work on the second floor of Old Mackinac Point lighthouse will get the most attention. Half of the lighthouse’s second floor will be open to the public next summer. Also routine repairs will be made to the lighthouse fencing and employee housing.

Mill Creek This past summer marked the 35th anniversary of the opening of Mill Creek Discovery Park.

November 17, 2019 page 12 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek The mill itself has been running hard all summer for those 35 years – much longer and harder than the original. In part that is because the original could only be powered during the spring run-off, there was just not enough water draining out of Dingman Marsh. Now that the mill is a tourist attraction, it must run all summer, so a system of pumps and pipes carries water from Lake Huron up to the Mill Pond to maintain power to the mill. Fortunately, last spring was very, very wet, filling Dingman Marsh with a lot of water. One of the features of a marsh is the way it harbors the water, only releasing it slowly. The spring rains powered the mill until the middle of August this year. Only then did the pumps have to be turned on, saving the State Historic Parks on their electric bill.

Thirty-five years of pounding on a wooden building takes its toll and in 2014 the main columns supporting the mill were restored. The originals were historically correct but the replacements are far more practical. Steel beams now support the mill, hidden, using historic preservation standards, inside wooden coverings. The wooden coverings are chopped to look like they were hand-hewed. The stone pedestals under the wooden columns consist of a concrete core inside stone facing. Other parts have also been repaired including adding a small battery-powered motor to lower and raise the sluice gate, and adding a nylon slide to the gate at the bottom of the drop box. Both of these make it easier to open and close the water control Rob Strittmatter, Park Manager, lead me on my tour gates, while being out of sight. Even with mechanical aids both gates can get stuck when a twig or even a ball point pen jam the gates.

But this year the sluice-way, even though it had some repairs last year, needed major repairs. The sluice-way is the water trough that carries the water from the dam to the mill. When it was noticed that the sluice was leaking a lot of water, and with water being a precious commodity, it was decided that the floor of the trough needed to be replaced. A portion of the sluice Sluice gate

Replaced in 2014

Just replaced Drawings for sluice construction Mackinac State Historic Parks

From the dam to the mill, the sluice is about 48 feet long. Being 3 foot wide and 4 foot tall this section of the sluice holds 4,300 gallons of water weighing 18 tons.

page 12 November 17, 2019 page 13 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek on the upside of the bridge was replaced and a portion of the sluice between the bridge and mill was replaced. The bottom of the trough was totally replaced with full-cut, tongue-and-groove treated pine sealed with a water-proof compound designed for underwater use. The work is now done and the sluice will be in operation next season.

But the repairs will continue over the next few years. The whole drop box, where the water falls onto the wheels, and water wheel system bounces and shimmies. It is feared that the mechanism will stop working in the midst of tourist season. So probably next fall the entire water working wheel system will have to be re-built.

As for the dam, I asked about its condition. It is still in great shape, thankfully it is under water all of the time and timbers last longer when not exposed to the air. Then for over half of the year the dam is open, the water flowing freely to allow fish to move naturally in conjunction with DNR guidelines. Mackinac State Historic Parks

Although the sluice box floor is leaf covered, the floor (top right photo) is all new. The downstream side of the dam, above, is still solid and currently, with the dam open, only a trickle of water flows under. In the photo to the lower right, the upside of the dam is fully exposed and the mill pond is now drained, leaving bare earth, the demonstration fish perched high above the water (below), and a small stream.

November 17, 2019 page 14 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek

I talked to Dr. Pat Martin, now a retired archaeology professor at Michigan Tech, who was the field supervisor of the archaeologists working on Mill Creek in 1973-1975. He was an MSU graduate student and part of a long standing tradition in those years of having MSU lead or participate in the archaeology work.

The crews working with him, some students and some local enthusiasts, located three building sites and the dam. They did not locate the mill site. Speculation was that it had fallen into the stream and washed away.

Today Pat still remembers two interesting personalities from that part of his life. Ellis Olson, the Cheboygan historian who discovered the mill site, had been looking for John Askin’s farm, but continued to volunteer at the mill, and Michael Dousman, the last owner and operator of the mill in the 1830s. Dousman made a fortune off his various ventures, including fur trading and mill operation. He was perhaps the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies. Pat remembers his historical record for his eccentric behaviors but more importantly how his international trade connections linked the Mackinac area to the world.

The original dam site was excavated under the supervision of Pat Martin. Today’s dam sits on that site.

The newly built dam inspired dreams. Above appears to be Dr. David Armour and another worker. At left the original reconstructed framework for the mill.

photos compliments of Mackinac State page 14 Historic Parks November 17, 2019 page 15 Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek

How many photos are stored on your phone?

The U.S. comes in low in a global comparison.

November 17, 2019 page 16