By Sue Moore
Michigan Press Association Extends Membership to SCN
The South County News will complete its first year of publication with the May issue. As a measure of our sustainability (and legitimacy perhaps), we applied to become a member of the Michigan Press Association.
We received notification that we were accepted, just last week. I’m proud to say that the person who seconded the motion to allow this start-up to become a member, was none other than Paul Keep, an old friend of mine from the Kalamazoo Gazette days. It’s ironic as he is now the editor-in-chief of the news division of MLive whose parent organization killed the Hometown sections of the Gazette.
This local newspaper doesn’t aim to compete with the Gazette or any of the other monthly publications such as Spark, which are working to fill the print void when the Gazette cut out its Hometown editions.
From the beginning, the board of directors of South County News, planned to publish the good news about people in our area, especially focusing on events that bring us all together and form a community.
One of the most heart-warming parts of this journey to inform has been the positive feedback about the newspaper which has come with your cards and letters each month. They usually include a donation, keeping our treasurer, Wes Schmitt, looking for the
mail call every day.
The folks at Michigan Press Association said they didn’t know of any other publication in Michigan that was organized like the South County News. We are a nonprofit, with a volunteer board, and many volunteer writers and photographers.
The advertising revenue helps us pay our printing and mailing costs but not completely. The donations have come in every month and they have balanced our books and helped to keep the print part of the paper going. We also post all of the news on our website which we pay a talented person to keep current. The goal is to make the site better with the ability to post breaking news, such as sports scores and news stories.
The real goal is to be able to hire professional staff someday to ensure the sustainability of a newspaper, for all who want to keep informed about what is going on in our community. So, it helps to have your support and your suggestions for items that we should be covering. We will do our best to be the heartbeat of our two communities.
Lakeshore Market Closing
A sign on the door of this venerable grocery store on Sprinkle Road last week read, “Closed due to bankruptcy in process.” It’s too bad as the market served the lake population very nicely so customers didn’t have to travel 15 miles to the big box stores. The owners had tried hard to keep the doors open but had some bad luck with an employee who managed to pilfer a considerable amount of cash.
Dr. Schriemer’s Human Interest Stories
Doctor Schriemer, who according to our feedback is one of the newspaper’s favorite writers, asked for two months off to take a short vacation and have a bit more time with his family, after a long workday at his day job at Family Doctors. He promises to return, better than ever, so it wasn’t so hard to grant his request, but if you are missing his fine reporting, don’t hesitate to encourage him to keep writing.
Easy Ride Memorial at Olde Mill Golf Course
Olde Mill golf course in Schoolcraft is completely renovating its clubhouse. Bert Hovenkamp, who took over majority ownership of the course in 2013, has been assured by the carpenters, painters, electrician, etc., that the clubhouse will be ready for action on Saturday, May 24. This is the date the course will play host to the tribute day to Eric Zepata, an event being called the Easy Ride Memorial. There will be golf, a bike ride, entertainment and much more, planned by the Sons of Malta, an organization of police, EMT and fire department personnel in Kalamazoo County. Over 500 cyclists are expected to converge at the tribute for Zapata, a Kalamazoo City policeman who was killed in the line of duty.
Dr. Dustin Morton in Play at the Civic
“Annie Get Your Gun” is being staged at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre the first three weeks in May, with Vicksburg Chiropractor Dustin Morton having a supporting role. It’s a fun musical with great musical scores by Irving Berlin. Tickets are available by calling 269-343-1313.