Mt. Pleasant Monthly is Now Available At Meijer!!!

When I first moved to the central Michigan area and married my husband there were a few things to get used to. One of them was the St. Nicholas tradition. On the evening of December 5th, my husband’s sisters, one in particular gave all of her nieces (there were only girls at the time) St. Nicholas gifts. It involved giving treats in honor of the saintly bishop who saved three poor girls from spinsterhood in the early centuries of the Church.
Legend has it that St. Nicholas; a bishop from Smyrna took pity on a family in his diocese. The father of three girls didn’t have enough money to give them a suitable dowry and so he was prepared to sell them into slavery so that they wouldn’t starve.
At night the girls washed their stockings and hung them over the fireplace to dry, and one night St. Nicholas came while the family slept and dropped gold pieces into their stockings. In the morning they were surprised to find the coins and that they would have a dowery to offer a husband. From that legend came other miracles attributed to Nicholas, and the Catholic Church celebrates St. Nicholas Day on December 6th. Somewhere over the course of history, St. Nicholas evolved into the jolly fat man we know as Santa who comes down the chimney on Christmas eve while we’re all sleeping.

My kids don’t have to worry about spinsterhood or being sold into slavery, and I don’t have to worry about their dowries. They will need to worry more about the size of the moving truck it will take to get them out of the house.

This month, Candi and Cindi have cooked up something wonderful in their kitchen, while Trevor went to visit the Doherty Hotel in Clare. How about a trip to Santa’s Workshop in Christmas, Michigan? It’s a day trip away, and in winter, there might be a need for snowshoes, but it’s beautiful in the UP in December. While we’re at it, we’ve got some other great features inside our pages for you, too. Along with some of our regular features, we have Christmas at Ziibiwing Center and some photos of the recent trip down the runway at the Broadway for the Sesquicentennial Fashion Show.

It’s holiday time and that means parties and food, family, friends, carols and fun. Share a smile with one another, some holiday cheer and as always thanks for being a part of our journey through this place we love to call HOME!
To subscribe to Mt. Pleasant Monthly magazine and sure to get your copy every month, you can subscribe online to the right of this page.

Deer season, Thanksgiving and then Christmas and New Years – It hardly seems like it was 2009 and it will be 2010 before we know it. This time of year people tend to start thinking about the things they’ve been thankful for all year, and something I usually wonder is why we’re only thankful in November? Throughout this past year Candi and I have gone through a number of changes at the magazine, some good and some we’ve struggled with, but throughout it all, we’ve been grateful to our loyal readers for coming back each month. I’m thankful that I have great friends and family who support me in this endeavor and I’m especially thankful to Candi and her mom Cindi and those writers and ad reps who’ve worked so hard at making sure we keep our heads in the right places.

The other event that happens in November is on the 11th. As a nation we offer gratitude to our Veterans. Another gratitude that we try to give throughout the year, but collectively is offered on the anniversary of Armistice Day. On that day in 1918, when armistice was reached between the allied nations and the Germans – “The War to end all Wars,” World War I, was unofficially over. President Wilson declared November 11th Armistice Day in 1919. Later on June 1, 1954 Armistice Day was officially changed to Veteran’s Day to honor all veterans of all wars and conflicts because of their bravery and duty to country. Whether it’s the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month or not – thank a soldier and let him or her know how much we appreciate our freedoms.

With a chill in the air and the sound of deer rifles being fired just after sunrise on the fifteenth, we have some interesting stories to serve up with the venison this month. Its food and wine month and we’ve packed this issue with lots of good food, and a little wine. Trevor and Todd went out to visit Pickard Street Grille and Max & Emily’s while I got the scoop on Good to Go and Daily Grind. Bryon spoke with Freddie's and whipped up a menu of Thanksgiving dining opportunities, and Candi and Cindi had another great adventure in their kitchen with their food and wine pairing.

Although we’ve made the change to charging for the magazine, we are so grateful to our readers who support us no matter what. Thanks so much for following us on our journey through this place we love to call HOME!

Turn Lane to Nowhere...

Can someone tell me what the purpose of a turn lane on a road that there is nowhere to 'turn' is? Why did we take a smooth flowing, four lane High street (that sees it's fair amount of traffic) and turn it into a two lane with all that wasted space in the center? I don't get it! There is nowhere to turn between the gas station and Watson (heading E.) and beyond that there's nothing until Washington St. Going W. from Washington is even worse because the only thing between Washington and the next major road are Watson, the park and Fisher's.

I don't ever recall a huge amount of traffic when there were four lanes, but now...! Try to get through there in the morning about 7 or 8 am when everyone is on their way to work, one lane, backed up (for seems like miles) at the light, and guess what....nowhere to turn left, so why do we have a turn lane to nowhere?

Answer....?

- Author Anonymous

What Is It???

In the October issue of Mt. Pleasant Monthly Magazine we asked your opinion on what you think this may be. A reader found it at his home and wonders what the actual use for this may have been. If you have an idea of what this funky farm gadget may be, leave your comments below and let's see if we can get some answers!

Our NEW $2 Oct. issue!

It’s that time of year again! It’s time for our annual Men’s Issue. Summer is over, fall is here and a lot of men are heading out into the woods in their camo. Not to be sexist, there are a lot of women heading out there, too. This is the first time Mt. Pleasant Monthly will not be a complimentary publication and we want to know what you think. For the last two years Candi and I have published this magazine out of love and commitment to the community we live in and our growing list of readers.

Like newlyweds can’t live on love alone, neither can we. Our publication relies on advertiser support and over the last two years because of the economy in Michigan many businesses have cut their advertising budgets, leaving small publications like ours to fend for ourselves. We held out as long as we could, but we trust God and our readers that Mt. Pleasant Monthly will continue to be something you look forward to each month.

This month for the men in Central Michigan, and the women who love them, we have some great feature stories and information. Candi and Cindi have cooked up a manly meal in their food and wine pairing, we have a tattoo artist, some photos from the DALMAC and small businesses that are striving to continue serving you here where you live, work and play. Our featured businesses this month are JP's Gym and Fitness Center and Shaheen Auto Sales.
We've also included an interesting story on John Trainor and his wrestling team.

Central Michigan football and the CMU Cheer Team are also in our pages, and we have a little advice for those men who think bachelorhood is best… married men live longer, really.

Don’t forget to check out Jack Westbrook’s timecapsule, and a new blog we’ve started for book lovers. As we move forward on this journey we are grateful to those of you who join us as we wander through this place we love to call HOME!

These and other great stories can be viewed in full at EperienceMtPleasant.com or of course you can get your full version of the October issue of Mt. Pleasant Monthly at many local retailers including the Book Mark, Stone Soup, Ric's Food Center, The Book Garden, Mission Pharmacy and Red Bird.

Over the Weekend

It's that time again...Mardigras 2009 was yet another great time this year with live music from the Sauce Cats, an always excellent performance from Centrals own Chippewa Marching Band, face painting, Heartstrings and Fun Things Foam party and so much more!

The parade seemed to be extra long this year with many of our local business' and organizations enthusiastic participation!

Go Mt. Pleasant!!