Now that Spring has sprung in the Thumb, it’s time to share some vernal info!
Spring’s first day is the vernal equinox (“spring (season) equal night” in Latin). It is always March 19, 20 or 21, different dates because a year (the time it takes Earth to orbit the Sun) is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. Only the spring and fall equinoxes have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness, sunrise due east and sunset ...
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Is it time to start getting ready for this season’s camping? The plain and down-to-earth reality of camping is enjoyed for its back-to-basics focus on the fundamental aspects of living: shelter, sleeping, eating. The contrast of this simple existence with our normal daily life is part of the appeal, but there are ways, simple ways, to add convenience to your “roughing” it in the wild.
Here are a few simple ideas:
Charcoal briquettes carrying ...
For all us hiking enthusiasts walking around out there, here is a brief walk-thru of just a few of the many trails available in Huron County, three on land, one by sea.
Huron County Nature Center and Wilderness Arboretum: 1.25 miles: M-25 east about 9 miles to Oak Beach Road. Turn right (south) and drive to Loosemore Road. Turn left (east) on Loosemore and continue to the park entrance on the left: within one mile of the beaches of Saginaw Bay, paved trails ...
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It’s that wintery time of year again, when curling up with a good book about the Thumb seems like the thing to do. Here’s another batch of Michigan-themed works, focused on the Thumb.
Michigan on Fire by Betty Sodders (author), Don Weeks (editor) 1997. Causing more damage than the more-famous Great Chicago fire, those wildfires raging through Michigan from side to side, in that smoky year of 1871, as well as a repeat ...
The United States Life-Saving Service (USLSS) was a United States government agency in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The program evolved from citizens altruistic attempts to help sailors and ship passengers who became shipwrecked throughout the waters of the United States. Established by the U.S. government in 1848, the USLSS was combined with the more commercially oriented Revenue Cutter Service in ...
Here’s more fun facts about the Thumb, interesting places and famous faces from the area:
Algonac, whose many canals prompt its title as the “Venice of Michigan”, is located on the St. Clair River Delta, the world’s biggest freshwater delta.
Cass City is the home of astronaut and retired USAF colonel Brewster H. Shaw.
Harbor Beach was the home of Frank Murphy who went on to be elected mayor of Detroit and governor of Michigan, and ...
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Here’s a sample of the local onsite beer producing establishments in and around Huron County:
Thumb Brewery 6758 Pine St, Caseville, MI 48725
Situated in a late 19th century historic house in the middle of Caseville, the brewery near the waters of Lake Huron brings back the past feel of the thumb with great beer. Definitely a must-see spot in Caseville. There are now 17 guest ...
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Pigeon: Known as Berne Junction since back in 1883, folks began referring to the area near the Pigeon River as Pigeon. The waterway’s name derived from the bountiful amount of passenger pigeons that inhabited the river’s environment. Some reports claimed the birds literally blocked out the sun when they flew, so thick were they crowded together. Within 40 years of its founding the fowl the town was named for was extinct.
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Bad Axe: In 1865, a Union Army surveyor, Captain Rudolph Papst, saw an old rusty axe left behind by hunters at the junction of two large trailways. He called the camp he setup Bad Axe Camp. As the camp became a settlement and then a town the name changed to Bad Axe Corners, and then, on March 19, 1885, to Bad Axe. When residents voted to change the name, old Captain Papst, now ...
Electricity usage is really just a matter of arithmetic. The amount of electricity used by an appliance is measured in units called Amperes. The ampere, usually shortened to “amp” in American usage, is the basic unit of electrical current adopted by the International System of Units (SI), the world authority on measuring units.
Amps were named after André-Marie Ampère, a physicist and mathematician from France who was born the year before the American ...