Why are most of the gorgeous newly planted trees right under the power lines, when the old beauties had to be removed because they were right under the power lines?
Red maple, honey locust, and Bradford pear trees line the road where majestic elms once stood.
The local food movement has made its way to Northern Michigan. You may be asking yourself, “What is the local food movement?” In a nutshell, it is a locally based effort to make food grown and processed locally available for purchase. So instead of your food traveling via container ship from a foreign country 3,000 miles away, you buy food that was grown in your own neighborhood by a local farmer. By purchasing locally, you stimulate the local economy while obtaining food that is often grown organically, without any chemical fertilizers and pesticides. You also reduce the effect of greenhouse gases on the environment. Less transportation means we use less energy to get food from farm to market, which saves money, energy and the planet all in one process.
The Elberta Arts Council met Saturday, November 6, at 1 pm, at the Conundrum Café, to brainstorm ideas for community arts projects and programs. Elbertians and Elberta fans are encouraged to submit ideas to the new Elberta Arts wiki, located at www.elbertaarts.wikispaces.com. To add content, simply join the wiki with your own username and password.
Attendees at this first meeting were Michele Cannaert of Conundrum Café, Arthur Melendez, Christine Walsons, and Emily Votruba. To receive notice of future meetings or to send comments and suggestions, write to Michele Cannaert at mcannaert@conundrumcafe.com or write to elbertaarts@gmail.com.
Tuesday, November 2, saw big changes to the Elberta Village Council. The Elberta Alert was on the scene at the library on Frankfort Avenue when the polls closed at 8 pm. The trusty election workers had put in a very long day and were probably only too happy to read the results and be on their way into the windy night.
Elberta voting this year was a combination of the ancient and the modern, with large paper ballots filled out in pen in little cloth-curtained booths and then fed by the voter into the Optech Insight machine, which resembled R2D2 in girth and stature. Optech, prompted by an election worker, spat out a tape of results sometime shortly after 8 pm. Probably the biggest news of the night was the turnout. A stunning 413 votes were cast among a registered-voter population of 600 in Gilmore Township. This 600 figure is courtesy of Sharyn Bower, who as Village clerk was there to record the results—and also to learn of her re-election.
The 2010-elected Village Council members are as follows: Reginald Manville, president; Sharyn Bower, clerk; Diane Jenks, trustee; Matthew Stapleton, trustee; Ross Thorsen, trustee; Linda Manville, trustee; and William Soper and Charles Hendershott tied for trustee. The last appointment will be decided by the council. Laura Manville remains Village treasurer with two more years to her term.
Several people were heard to say that the number of council hopefuls this year was unprecedented in their memory.
The next regular meeting of the Elberta Village Council will be Thursday, November 11 at 7 pm at the Village building behind the old Bay Valley Inn (former Elberta elementary school).