Celebrate our mint farming heritage August 12-14
The 2022 Mint Festival is coming up August 12, 13 and 14 in St. Johns.
This year’s festival theme is Celebrating Our Roots – an invitation to reflect on our history, connections, and agricultural heritage. You also can snag the commemorative 2022 shirt at the official souvenir booth.
Get Ready for the Rodeo
Join eveyone at the fairgrounds for the Mint Rodeo on Saturday, August 13 and the High School Rodeo on Sunday August 14, 2022. Tickets are available here. https://www.mintfest.org/rodeo
Parking
Convenient festival parking is available at St. Johns High School and St. Johns Middle School for $5. Golf cart shuttles will run from the High School and Middle School parking lots for guests who are elderly or have other mobility needs.
Information Booth
Visit the Mint Office and Information Booth for the festival brochure and additional information. The festival volunteers will be happy to answer questions and direct you to your destination.
City Park now has WIFI.
Stocking up on souvenirs just got a whole lot easier. Organizers are excited to announce that the St. Johns City Park now has public WIFI for easy payment via credit card. Be sure to check with individual vendors for their payment preferences.
A complete schedule of events will be publshed here next week.
More information https://www.mintfest.org/
Grand Mint Parade steps off Saturday at 10 a.m.
Mint Festival Parade Route
The parade will begin at Clinton Avenue by Oakview Elementary School and the
parade route will be as follows:
Clinton Avenue north to Oak Street,
East to Lansing Street,
North on Lansing to Sturgis,
East to Oakland, North to State
Street,
West to Clinton Avenue,
South to Railroad Street.
There is more than Mint
Did you know that every professional rodeo is required to have both an on site ambulance and veterinarian? The health and welfare of both our human and animal competitors are top priority. Shout out to Clinton Area Ambulance for providing the care of our cowboys and cowgirls, and to Clinton Veterinary service P.C for providing care for our animal athletes,
3 on 3 is back in the mint city
https://www.mintfest.org/3on3
Kickball is back
https://www.mintfest.org/kickball
Cornhole Downtown
https://www.mintfest.org/cornhole
Bachelors Since Breakfast are back at the beverage tent
For the first time, BSB will be Live at the St Johns Mint Festival in the beverage tent.
They continue their BSB 2022 Last Ride Tour with their second to last show, so you will not want to miss it. This show will leave you with Minty fresh breath, so come on out as the Boys head to St Johns for what is bound to be an incredible performance
Newly restored restrooms are ready for Mint Festival
– photo courtesy of Darryl Schmitz
Our intrepid City Park reporter, Mini, says that the damage done by vandals earlier in the summer has been repaired, and things are open for business again just in time for the Mint Festival.
Remember When – Grandma Janet Mary in 2010
You may or may not catch her in person, but all of Janet Mary Sinke’s books are now available at The Gallery of Clinton County Arts Council.
Grandma Janet, who has penned a total of seven children’s stories on subjects from family to fishing, has joined many other local talents in making The Gallery her artistic home.
Meanwhile, she is in the midst of producing her first “chapter book” dealing with life’s values for young people aged 11 to 15. That work, entitled Pricilla Asks Why . . . the rest of the story, is scheduled for the market by October. As with her previous works, the upcoming effort will also be available at The Gallery.
Letters – Bluewater Highway Middlebury Township Rhubarb Stand
We want to express our appreciation to the many who stopped by to check out our rhubarb stand and support the Elsie Food Bank.
The free will offering donations totaled $568.49. We made new friends, shared recipes, and heard great rhubarb stories and memories.
We appreciate the work of the staff and volunteers of the Elsie Food Bank and their and partners working to reduce food insecurity.
Happy and safe travels.
Greg and Margaret White
Maralyn’s Pet Corner – How Much to Feed a Dog
Feeding dogs seems so simple. You just offer an appropriate dry or wet dog food and never anticipate a problem.
Except, it’s really not that simple.
As pet parents, we care about our dogs’ well-being and health. We monitor how they’re feeling; we take them to the veterinarian; we give them all the attention in the world. But if we’re not paying attention to their diet—not just what we’re feeding them, but how much we’re feeding them—we could be doing our dogs harm.
The question, “How much should I be feeding my dog?” needs to be answered, but the answer doesn’t come easily. How can you accurately determine your dog’s caloric requirements? How clear are the instructions on your dog’s food? Why is your dog gaining weight when you feed what’s recommended on the bag?
If you’re ready to learn a few easy tricks to ensure that your pup is getting the right amount of dog food, then you’re in the right place.
How Much to Feed Your Dog
According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, in 2017 about 56 percent of dogs in the United States were overweight or obese. To put this into perspective, that’s about 50.2 million dogs that are too heavy and at risk for health problems.
While we can’t say that overfeeding based on confusion regarding how much food to feed dogs is the entire reason that dogs suffer from weight issues, it’s certainly a factor.
Learning the mathematics behind how much your dog should be eating is a powerful tool for helping your dog stay happy, healthy and trim.
But determining the right amount of food isn’t as easy as placing a dog bowl in front of him and letting him eat until he’s full. Many dogs will eat what you put out, no matter what. It’s up to you to figure out what’s a healthy amount. So, how can you determine how much to feed a dog?
Start by Talking With Your Veterinarian
For starters, take your dog to the vet. Get your dog weighed, have the vet give him a physical examination, and talk about whether or not the amount of food you’re currently serving is appropriate.
Be honest about your dog’s activity level and the amount of food he currently consumes (including dog treats, table scraps and other extras!). This way, you can get a more accurate idea not just about what you should be feeding him, but also about how much you should be feeding him.
Next, take a look at the label on your dog’s food and look for a dog feeding chart.
Understanding Dog Feeding Charts
Dog feeding charts look straightforward, but they’re not as cut and dry as you might think. For starters, dog food bags typically give an estimate like, “for dogs 10-30 pounds, feed ½-1 ½ cups.” An overly generalized statement like this isn’t very helpful.
If you have a 20-pound dog who lays around all day and has no interest in exercising, feeding him the maximum amount would almost certainly lead to unhealthy weight gain. Alternatively, an active dog who zips around all the time probably needs more calories than would be provided by the lower end of the range.
Dog food labels can be confusing in other ways too. Think about the example above. What it’s saying is that you should feed your dog ½-1 ½ cups over the course of an entire day, but it’s easy to understand how some pet parents could read it as ½-1 ½ cups per meal.
Portions: They’re Not as Easy as You Might Think
Only you and your vet can properly determine the number of calories your dog should be getting. Once that decision is made, it’s time to figure out a good feeding schedule for your dog. Most dogs thrive on two meals a day, but it’s often okay, for healthy adult dogs, to feed dogs once a day if that’s more convenient. Puppies may need to eat three times a day or even more frequently depending on their size and age.
If your vet helps you decide that your dog should eat 2 cups of a particular food per day and you want to feed two meals per day, portion that out to 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup in the afternoon.
Maybe you’d like to feed your dog dry food in the morning and wet food at night. As long as you feed half of the total daily dry ration in the morning and half of what is recommended per day of the canned food at night, this should work out just fine.
Forgetting Anything?
Most often, pet parents forget a few key factors when it comes to properly feeding dogs.
For starters, a cup isn’t always a cup. Remember, a true cup is 8 ounces, so it’s important to use an actual measuring cup or premeasured tool like the collapsible Dexas Popware KlipScoop to portion out a dog’s food instead of guessing.
Another thing pet parents forget to account for when determining how much food to feed a dog is treats! All those extras that your dog is getting throughout the day have calories, too. A good rule of thumb is to keep treats to just 10 percent of your dog’s overall caloric intake and to subtract those calories from the “regular” food that you offer at meal time.
Of course, there are plenty of helpful tools available on the market to help you portion out meals and regulate your dog’s feeding schedule.
For starters, the Arf Pets Automatic Dog and Cat Feeder can help you control portion size and keep track of what your dog is eating. You preset the feeder, so if you insert an amount, it’s going to deliver that amount at each meal.
The PetSafe Healthy Pet Simply Feed Programmable Pet Feeder is similar, but lets you feed your dog up to 12 meals a day, and even has a “slow feed” option that doles out a portion over 15 minutes to prevent gorging.
If an automatic dog feeder isn’t your style, consider purchasing dog bowls like the Bergan Stainless Steel Non-Ski Pet Bowl and the Signature Housewares Embossed Food Bowl that are sized to hold an exact amount of food. It’s harder to overfeed when your dog’s bowl will only hold an appropriately sized meal!