Homecoming 2019 – a collage
RESA students attend Manufacturing Day
Clinton County students were able to experience Manufacturing Day last Friday sponsored by the Capital Area Manufacturing Council. Over all bout 150 students were able to visit at least one of the sites below.
– Roberts Sinto
– Niowave
– Bekum America
– Tecomet
– Franchino Mold
Thank you the the Capital Area Manufacturing Council, host sites and RESA staff and students for representing Clinton County so well.
St. Johns ranked as one of the safest cities in Michigan
Iron Mountain has the highest safety score in the state.
Safety First: Perhaps you’re looking for a change of scenery, or maybe your job has offered you a promotion in a different city… Whatever it is, when considering packing up your life and moving to a different place, safety should be your number one priority.
Security-based review, comparison and news site, Security Baron, analyzed FBI rankings of crime rates to find out what the top 50 safest cities are in Michigan, and what their safety score is.
St. Johns was found to have a score of 85.25
The analysis found that St. Johns (with a population of 7,938) emerged on the list, with an average safety score of 85.25 and a rate of 1.26 violent crimes per 1,000 citizens. The city also has a citizen-to-officer ratio of 1.26 per 1,000 people and a rate of 8.69 property crimes per 1,000 citizens.
It was also found that the safest city in Michigan is Iron Mountain with a safety score of 92.03 and an average income of $45,575. Iron Mountain has a rate of 0.27 violent crimes per 1,000 citizens – it’s highly unlikely you’ll be a victim of crime here! The city also has a citizen-to-officer ratio of 1.62 per 1,000 people and there are 3,163 households in Iron Mountain on average.
https://securitybaron.com/safe-cities/michigan/
Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan to celebrate International Day of the Girl
The premier leadership organization for girls is proud to celebrate International Day of the Girl, a day designated by the United Nations as a day to highlight and address the needs girls have and the challenges they face, while promoting the empowerment of girls. Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan (GSHOM) received a grant from Girl Scouts of the USA to celebrate Global Action Days throughout 2019, with the main focus being International Day of the Girl.
A girl-led committee in each of Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan’s five regions has spent the last eight months planning how they would like to commemorate this day. Throughout Saturday, October 12th, and Sunday, October 13th, girls will gather in Lansing, Kalamazoo, Saginaw, Adrian, and Ypsilanti to celebrate together in unique ways.
In Lansing girls will participate in a variety of activities focusing on the core themes of confidence, uniqueness, and girls lifting one another up. The Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, Bridget McCormack, will serve as the keynote speaker, followed by a panel of successful women in Lansing. The Lansing event will be held on Saturday, October 12th from 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM at Trinity AME Church, 3500 W. Holmes Road in Lansing. Registration is required, and is available at gshom.org/events.
Letters – Former resident still finding kin
I have turned up some tribal relatives living in St. Johns in the last couple of years. They were all surprises to me.
My sister’s best friend back in SJHS was the former Sharon Hall, who married Roger DeBoer
shortly after Sharon graduated from high school in 1961. I have known Roger (very casually) since then. I brought my sister to St. Johns in August, 2015 for my 50th HS reunion. She wanted to visit with her old friend Sharon.
The DeBoers live on Church St. I had never been to their home until then. When I pulled up, there were 2 or 3 full sized teepees pitched in the front yard. Roger was sitting out on the drive
working on some artwork that looked native inspired. He looks more like a Dutchman than an Indian. I shook his hand for the first time and asked, “Are you Indian?” Not only was he, but he belonged into the same tribe my sister joined, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, based in Harbor Springs. Here I had known him for 50 years and the question never occurred to me.
I had some extra time that afternoon and I spent it with Roger going over his family, old photos, etc. We could have gone on for days.
Just recently I learned I have another native cousin, Fred Schieding, who lives in retirement in St. Johns. His family has been living around the Lansing / DeWitt / St. Johns area since the 1950s. I am sure our paths have crossed, but I was too young to pick up the details.
His ancestors, back in 1870 in Peshawbestown, lived next door to my grandmother Mary Naganse and her family. Some of his ancestors died there in the smallpox outbreak of 1881 that killed many village residents. In the 1920s or so, the Schiedings moved to the UP for work along with some other Peshawbestown families, and around 1950 moved south, again for work.
I matched the DNA test of his son Kurt, who lives down in the Carolinas. Kurt’s blood quantum is not high enough for him to be admitted to any tribe, but he is very interested in his ancestry. He had been frustrated there was so little information on the disease outbreak up north, but I already had a file of documents from the National Archives which gave a lot of specific information. He was very appreciative of that information.
I drove up to meet with the Schiedings in St. Johns just after Labor Day, when Kurt was also
there for a visit. Kurt graduated from DeWitt HS class in 1983, 20 years after we moved out of St. Johns.
Another cousin of Kurt, Sylvia Douglass, was admitted to the Grand Traverse Band at about the same time as my mother and I were. That was the fall of 1998. Sylvia’s daughter Julie also matches me on DNA, and she attended the event with her mother. So there again I crossed paths
with a tribal cousin (most likely) and didn’t know it.
Art Dembinski
SJHS Class of 1965
Maralyn’s Pet Corner – 6 Holiday Food Scraps That Are Dangerous for Dogs
courtesy of Dr. Laci Schaible, DVM, CVJ
As the holidays roll around and our plates overflow with home-cooked goodness, remember that many holiday foods are bad for dogs and can even be toxic.
From savory mashed potatoes and gravy to sweets and treats, learn which foods to avoid sharing—whether it’s letting them lick the plate or setting aside a bowl full of scraps.
Holiday Foods That Are Bad for Dogs
While we may consider these six foods to be staples of a good holiday meal, we should keep them on the table and out of our dogs’ mouths.
1. Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Packed with dairy and oh-so-delicious butter, this dish is 100% off limits.
Heaping amounts of fat in this beloved side dish are likely to cause gastrointestinal (GI) upset at best—in the form of urgent diarrhea—or pancreatitis at worst.
Gravy is equally harmful and incredibly heavy in sodium and fat.
Because it’s so tasty and requires no chewing, this side dish would likely be lapped up in record time if you leave your plate unprotected. However, there’s a high probability of it coming back up while you’re enjoying your own holiday meal.
2. Meat Fat, Bones and Skin
Turkey carcasses and fat drippings are perhaps a dog’s dream from heaven, but they can cause serious complications for your dog’s gastrointestinal tract.
Dogs should not be offered meat with bones, excess fat, skin or drippings, as these pose grave risk for conditions such as gastrointestinal blockage or injuries. They can also lead to more complex diseases like pancreatitis.
3. Casseroles and Spreads
While green bean casserole may sound like one of the healthier options on the table, the name is deceiving.
Holiday casseroles like this one are laden with heavy creams, butter, oils and salt as well as garlic and onion — both of which are toxic to dogs.
Even if a dish is based around a vegetable that is safe for dogs, such as green beans or sweet potatoes, when it falls into the casserole category, it is not one to share with your pup.
Dogs should also not be given dairy products. Avoid the heavy appetizers, such as cheese balls and fatty dips and spreads.
Most dogs do not tolerate dairy well, and the holidays are not an ideal time to test the limits of their GI tract.
4. Stuffing
Stuffing is a fatty, sodium-packed food that contains onions and garlic, which are both toxic to dogs.
5. Holiday Breads
Holiday fruitcake poses as a bread but is really more of a dessert. It is deadly to dogs, as it is loaded with raisins.
Even just a few dropped raisins can be fatal to dogs, causing kidney failure.
6. Desserts
While humans may love apple pie, pumpkin pie and chocolate pie, these rich and sweet desserts can be very dangerous for dogs.
Dogs will go to far lengths, or to counter-top heights, to indulge in this risky vice. Don’t leave the candy bowl or kitchen counter unsupervised and within a paw’s reach—even for a moment!
While not all desserts are toxic to dogs like chocolate is, desserts are never a safe bet.
Artificial sweeteners, such as xylitol, can be deadly in small quantities. Save the after-dinner sweets and treats for the humans.
Tips for Avoiding an Emergency Vet Trip
It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but you may find yourself making a trip to the emergency veterinarian if your dog indulges in foods from the table.
While there are several healthy holiday food options for dogs, always proceed with caution and only give a little at a time.
Remember, if your dog isn’t acclimated to a variety of foods, introducing multiple people foods at once can be overwhelming to their GI system.