Remembering a Christmas 'Past'

   Three spirits visited Scrooge on what would be, for him, a life-changing Christmas Eve. They were the ghosts of the Past, Present, and Future.

   As we find ourselves in the midst of another Christmas, with all of the anticipation and excitement it brings—or should bring—I doubt many of us will spend much time wondering what future holidays might hold in store for us. Nor will many of us expend much effort taking measure of whether currents actions and attitudes might adversely impact our coming tomorrows. Such contemplation, if undertaken at all, seems better suited for another day.

   

Winter Adventures

    I debated about going outside for my early morning walk. The cold weather had finally arrived, and the memory of the sharp, piercing wind that had greeted me the day before was still fresh in my mind.

  “What hurt would it do to skip a day of exercise,” I told myself. Or perhaps, I thought, I could wait to take my stroll this afternoon, after work.”

   Familiar with my urge to procrastinate or equivocate, I fought the temptation, got dressed, and headed outside. As it turned out, the weather—at least for this outing—was not nearly as frightful as I’d feared.

The Paths That Loom Before Us

On the Saturday morning after the recent election, as I delivered the newspaper to the residents of northwest Conway Township, I listened to a program on National Public Radio—On the Media. The show’s overarching theme was the outcome of the presidential vote, with much of the conversation dealing with the incorrect, off-the-mark prediction by many pundits that Hillary Clinton would win the election. It was among the many post-mortems being offered by one and all in the days.

   The polling, while tightening in the final days, had given her around a three percent lead. However, that was nationally. Of more importance were the battleground states, including Michigan, where the race was close but where she still seemed (according to the experts) to hold the advantage.

Some History of Hastings & Fowlerville United Methodist Churches

    On the Sunday morning before the recent election, we drove along Vermontville Highway on our way to a worship service in Hastings. The maples still held a fair number of leaves, mainly yellow ones. These softer hues, mixed in with the shades of green, brown, and occasional red, provided us with a still decent color tour.

   It would not last much longer, I realized as I enjoyed the visual feast. A hard frost or a wet and windy day and the remaining leaves (except those on the oak trees) will fall earthward in a steady drizzle, turning a picturesque countryside into a more somber, dreary landscape.

The Way Forward...for Our State's Auto Industry & Michigan

    During my younger years one of the familiar sights on the I-96 expressway, driving to or from metro Detroit, was the Ford Wixom plant. Opened on April 15, 1957, it would eventually encompass 4.7 million square feet and produce over 6.648 million automobiles—most of them Lincolns and Thunderbirds.

    In January 2006, Ford Motor Company—suffering from sagging sales, coupled with having too much manufacturing capacity and too many employees, and foreseeing problems in the future if it didn’t realign itself to become leaner and more efficient--announced its intention to close 14 North American plants by the year 2012. Of that total, seven of them were assembly plants and the rest were power train and stamping facilities. One of the sites on the list was Wixom. Ford’s overall work force, as a result of this downsizing, would be trimmed by 25,000 to 30,000.

     They called their plan ‘The Way Forward.’

Creative Destruction

   It’s the kind of news that’s no longer news.

   Emergent BioSolutions, which manufactures the Anthrax vaccine at a plant in Lansing, announced plans to eliminate 91 jobs, reducing the size of its labor force at this facility by 24 percent.

     The reason? The company has installed a newer manufacturing process that incorporates more automation, thus requiring fewer workers. Previously, the plant produced nine million doses a year. Now, with the new operational system, housed a newer facility, it can turn out 20 million doses.

   More production with less staff.

You've Come A Long Way, Baby!

    In 1968, the Phillip Morris Company introduced Virginia Slims, a cigarette aimed at young, professional women. The idea was that female smokers would embrace the idea of having their own brand. A Virginia Slim cigarette--being thinner and slightly longer--was supposedly more eloquent looking when held in a lady’s hand. It also produced less smoke. These attributes, the company felt, that would make it more appealing to the fairer sex.

   Other than height and width, there was little to distinguish this brand from the other cigarettes. But that’s true of a lot of products. To encourage consumers to purchase your product rather than a competitor’s offering requires marketing and advertising. To that end, the promoters of Virginia Slims used the slogan: “You’ve come a long way, baby.”

Legislation would allow corporations the opportunity to pursue philanthropic goals as part of their business

 Representatives Vaupel & Greig hold panel discussion on proposed Benefits Corporations

  Doing too much of a good thing, such as buying materials exclusively from local vendors or earmarking part of the profits for a social cause, can get a corporation in trouble with its shareholders.

  With current law, an incorporated company is supposed to maximize its profits.  While that doesn’t preclude a company from doing such things as sponsoring community events or awarding scholarships to students, if a shareholder feels such activities are hurting the bottom line too much, they can go to court. 

The News of August 29, 1951

  I was looking at old copies of The Fowlerville Review, searching for information on a planned column, when an article on the front page of the August 29, 1951 edition caught my eye. There near the bottom of the page was an obituary of Elizabeth Duncan Horton, my great great grandmother.

    I learned from reading this piece that she was born on October 2, 1862 in Ontario, Canada, and at a very early age came with her parents, John and Mary (Brown) Duncan to Michigan. The obituary adds that “she has spent her entire life in this vicinity.”

Two Events Highlight September: Fowlerville Dawn Patrol & Leroy Township Fireman's Field Days

A couple of special events occur each September in this neck of the woods. This past Sunday nearly two thousand people came out to Maple Grove Airfield, located north of town, to attend Dawn Patrol, while this coming weekend several hundred people will enjoy the various activities scheduled over a three-day period at the Leroy Fireman’s Field Days & Ox Roast in Webberville.

    According to the organizers, this marks the 66^th straight year that Dawn Patrol has been held. The fly-in initially took place in mid-August at Newton Field, an airstrip on Sargent Road south of Fowlerville, with the Sunday morning breakfast served by the Fowlerville Commercial Club.

At the Straits of Mackinac--The Island, the Bridge & Soapy Williams

   This past Labor Day weekend we celebrated Pure Michigan at the Straits of Mackinac. In our itinerary included a visit to Mackinac Island on Sunday and then a walk across the Mackinac Bridge on Monday. If you don’t like crowds, this was not the place to be.

  

 It had been five years since our last visit. We noticed a few changes, mainly in the presence of new buildings and businesses at Mackinaw City (where we stayed), but otherwise the sights and our activities had a familiar ring. We’ve come here several times over the past quarter of a century, and so have become acquainted with the various amenities and assorted activities that are offered.

The Day 9-11 Occurred

   This Sunday will be the 15^th anniversary of the 9-11 attack.The term 9-ll is, of course, shorthand for Sept. 11, 2001 when an organized band of terrorists simultaneously hijacked four airliners and proceeded to crash two of them into each of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and another one into the Pentagon in Northern Virginia. The target of the fourth air plane was believed to be either the White House or the Capitol, but several passengers—learning of what was happening from family and friends via their cell phones—took matters into their own hands, resulting in the plane crashing into a Pennsylvania field, well short of its planned destination.

Tuesday’s Terrorist Attack

   This column was originally written on Sept. 12, 2001—the day after the 9-11 Attacks.

   You’re watching TV when suddenly the tall building, struck earlier in its upper floors by a plane, billowing with fire and smoke, collapses, comes tumbling down.  And you realize that in those moments hundreds of people who had been working in or were visiting that World Trade Center tower, perished.  As did many of the fireman and police officers who were attempting to evacuate the building. 

   You watch other fireman, equipped in their Darth Vader like helmets, heading towards that building the smoke and debris, and then awhile later you realize some of them may have died at that very instant in their rescue effort.

Remembering a Long Ago Visit to the State Capitol

   In early December of 1994 my wife and I drove to the State Capitol to meet Fred Dillingham who was then serving as the area’s State Senator. I had called him earlier and pitched my idea of doing a story detailing one of his last days as a Michigan legislator. This article would include a retrospect of his career. He had decided not to run again and a new senator, Mike Rogers, would be taking his place in January.

     A Fowlerville native, he had started out on the Livingston County Board of Commissioners, winning a four-year term in the 1974 election. He was subsequently elected as a state representative in 1978, serving in that position for eight years. Then in 1986 he ran for the State Senate seat and won.

A Dream Delayed

    Among my many personal keepsakes, accumulated from years gone by, is a letter from The State Journal. The top of the document features a drawing of the building in Downtown Lansing where this daily newspaper is headquartered and the salutation reads: Dear Mr. Stephen Horton. It’s dated September 14 was signed by the then managing editor, Ben Burns. Mr. Burns was in the early stages of a distinguished journalistic career that would include a long tenure at The Detroit News.

   This letter was part of a packet that he had mailed to me. In it were the articles I had sent him, offering an example of my writing. I had heard through a pressman who worked at the daily paper, a gentleman who had recently met my mother, that a reporter position was open.

William Milliken: A Light That Still Shines

     Among the news stories of this past week was one about former Gov. William Milliken, a moderate Republican from Traverse City, endorsing Hillary Clinton for president rather than the GOP nominee Donald Trump. In a written statement, Milliken said:

  

    “This nation has long prided itself on its abiding commitments to tolerance, civility and equality. We face a critically important choice in this year's presidential election that will define whether we maintain our commitment to those ideals or embark on a path that has doomed other governments and nations throughout history. I am saddened and dismayed that the Republican Party this year has nominated a candidate who has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not embrace those ideals.

Our Public Discourse Has Become More Sophistry & Less Socratic

   Back in the pre-internet age, anyone who wished to learn more about a given topic generally utilized reference books. These fact-filled texts came in various forms—almanacs being a favorite with readers—but by far the most popular option when I was a young lad was the encyclopedia—or, more accurately, a set of volumes with topics ranging from A-to-Z.

    My grandmother (who taught fourth grade) purchased a set of the World Book Encyclopedia sometime in the early 1960s with the invitation that we, her grandchildren, could borrow a volume as often as any of us needed. I took her up on that offer quite frequently.

Lively Interest in Local Races a Good Sign

  If you had the time and ambition to wade through last week’s edition of our newspaper, you’d have come across the statements by the various candidates running for contested seats on the area and local boards and offices. There were a total of 17, including the county prosecutor, the open seat for District 4 of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners, the supervisor’s post in Conway Township, and the trustee positions for the townships of Conway, Handy, and Iosco.

A Separate Peace

     As much as we desire an orderly and predictable life in which we can go about our daily business and face our future, events can and do occur that set off a chain reaction that—at the very least--cause uncertainty and trepidation, but can also lead to cataclysmic consequences for us and those around us. The cause of the calamity, the reason for the change in trajectory of unfolding history, can be an individual act; one seemingly unrelated at the time to our situation and circumstance.

  

    A case in point. 

    On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to that country’s throne, along with his wife Sophie. The royal couple was paying a state visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia.

What's It All About?

“What’s it all about, Alfie?”

  

  That was the opening lyric of a popular song from the mid-1960s, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and sung by Dionne Warwick.

   Only recently, many years later, did I realize that it also qualified as a metaphysical question.

   Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and fundamental properties of being. What is existence? and What is it comprised of? would be two basic questions to start out with in a metaphysical inquiry.

Sharing of Power

    While the axiom that “power corrupts” has shown its validity in many instances, it would not be fair to extrapolate that every person possessing power or occupying a position of power is corrupt. What might be closer to the general rule is that those holding power, without any effective checks or balances, have a tendency (if I might borrow a basketball term) to “hog the ball.”

   The test of power—and of integrity of character--is the degree in which there is a willingness to share it as opposed to hoarding it and using questionable means to perpetuate and institutionalize it.

   Our ancestors here in Michigan, no doubt aware of this weakness, crafted Constitutions—the latest one in 1961—that in their wisdom spread out power as much as possible.

July 4th & a Medicare Birthday

    Old age hath yet his honor and his toil.

Death closes all; but something ere the end, 

Some work of noble note, may yet be done.

Lord Alfred Tennyson—Ulysses

* * *

    Barring foul weather or an unforeseen circumstance, on July 4^th I’ll once again be standing next to the reviewing stand in Downtown Fowlerville with camera in hand. And as I’ve done numerous times before, I’ll look down Grand River at the approaching parade—the police car with its flashing lights will be leading the procession, followed by the Honor Guard marching in unison, the car with the Grand Marshals  waving to the crowd, and the rest of the line-up of participants.

    With this event, the fireworks show later that evening, and other activities, the community of Fowlerville will once again celebrate the nation’s founding.

The Middle Class- A Daydream or Worthy Vision?

    A young lady, writing of her future plans for a college scholarship application, indicated her intent to major in computer science.

     “I cannot wait to learn from experts in the field,” she stated, adding, “I believe that technology is such an important part of our lives, and that as we progress as a society, it is only going continue to grow in the way it impacts us.”

   Reading that statement, there’s no doubt of the excitement and optimism this soon-to-be high school graduate feels about what lies ahead. As for computer science, my guess is that she’s right; it will to continue to play an important role in the coming years. Whether the outcome of technological advances, in every case, will constitute “progress” remains to be seen.

Trying to Find the Why

    What is the why in your life?” That was the question asked by Mark Wilson, lead pastor at the Fowlerville United Brethren Church, at the recent meeting of the Fowlerville Business Association. Pastor Wilson was a guest speaker at the morning session and the overall theme of his talk was “Leadership: Intentional Living in Business & Life.”

   In his discussion on what motivates us in our work as well as our overall life—what we perceive as our purpose and what energizes us—he noted that many people have great ideas but fail to follow through with actions. In pursuing a more purposeful, fulfilling, and rewarding life, not only do we need to dream boldly, but at some point we ought to act upon those aspirations.

Kingsley Farms sell off milk cows: Way-of-life, for them, is over

     The rapid-fire cadence of the auctioneer, the buyers nodding their heads or raising their hands to put in a bid, the sound of the hammer hitting the gavel when a final price is reached, the word “Sold” serving as an exclamation mark to the end of the transaction, and one-by-one—as this sequence repeats itself--a herd of dairy cattle is dispersed.

   That was the scene on Friday, April 22, at the Kingsley Farms, located at the corner of Nicholson and Mohrle Roads in Conway Township, northwest of Fowlerville.

Long-Ago Sunday Afternoons in the Summer

Originally posted on Facebook on April 12--The past two afternoons I had journalistic duties beyond the comfort zone of Fowlerville; ones that required me to drive around for a couple of hours. To keep myself company, I tuned the radio. But instead of hearing music from the Oldies station or getting educated on NPR, I found a station broadcasting the Tigers’ games.

A Storm Approaches, But Afterwards There Is Light

  Originally posted on Facebook on March 31--As I look out the window of my room at this dwindling day, March is ending with an eerie western sky. The sound of thunder and the flash of lightning draw near. I’ve just recently checked out the news of the day on my computer, addict that I am. Politics dominate the headlines, mainly the Trumpster. I think fatigue is setting in. I feel lethargic. The senses can only stand so much assault.

Tracing the Family History

    Genealogy is a fascination for many people. Starting with the three most important people—me, myself and I--the researcher starts tracing his or her tiny branch back to ever larger offshoots with the goal of finding their roots. But, of course, there are a lot of branches to follow in this pursuit when you start factoring in the paternal and maternal sides of the equation. Two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents—all of the related kin--and pretty soon it seems that everyone’s a shirttail relation. Like the chronologies in the Old Testament, there’s a lot of begetting.

Return of Spring

     (Note: This column appeared in the May-June 1990 issue of Hortons’ Country Reader, a magazine that we published for a couple of years.)

* * *

    As I begin this piece I’m sitting in my backyard, just outside the sliding glass door. It’s seven o’clock in the morning, and the warm weather has been with us, here in Michigan, for a few days now. 

History: Some Points to Ponder

     “History is not made only by kings and parliaments, presidents, wars, and generals. It is the story of people, of their love, honor, faith, hope and suffering; of birth and death, of hunger, thirst and cold, of loneliness and sorrow.”— Louis L’Amour.

* * *

    “What is history but a fable agreed upon?”                             

                                                             --Napoleon Bonaparte

* * *

On Becoming “Slightly” Addicted to Facebook

    A confession.

  

  I’ve become “slightly” addicted to Facebook. A few years ago, long after the young folks had discovered and embraced this new form of social media and after a number of older, more hip, computer-savvy users had realized this platform offered a great way to share photos and otherwise keep up with distant family and friends, I wandered in and set up an account.

A Few Thoughts on the Michigan Presidential Primary

   I don’t consider myself particularly qualified to be a political pundit, mainly because I get most of my information the same way the rest of the public does—reading newspapers, watching news on TV, and listening to interview shows on the radio. However, the guys and gals who are regarded as knowledgeable in this field, who earn the big bucks offering their learned prognostications for public consumption, haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire.

  Conventional wisdom, it seems, has been taking its lumps.

The Presidential Campaign: What Say I?

It All Happened So Fast Back Then—Part 1

    It all happened so fast back then. The National Socialist German Workers Party, led by Adolf Hitler, had been barely a blimp on the radar screen of German politics during the 1920s. But with the arrival of the Great Depression, with millions out-of-work, with the democratic Weimar Republic viewed as weak and chaotic, with many conservatives worried the Communists might gain control as they had in neighboring Russia, and with the defeat in World War I and the reparation payments to the victorious allies still a bitter pill being swallowed, the Nazis gained traction.

Political & Public Advocacy— From Pamphlets to the Internet

         Abraham Lincoln, when speaking at Gettysburg, cited the nation’s founding as occurring with the Declaration of Independence, a document approved on July 4, 1776 by the Second Continental Congress which was meeting in Philadelphia. He noted that the country, at its inception, had been “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

  In using July 4^th and the Declaration as the date and document that “brought forth” the country, he was putting it above the Constitution, the legal agreement ratified by the original 13 states in 1788, five years after the successful conclusion of the Revolutionary War; a contract that had created the current federal government and might arguably be considered the real start of the United States.

The Importance of Understanding Economics

   Like most of you, my life has been influenced and impacted by the economy, both adversely and beneficially. However, truth be told, I possess only a rudimentary understanding of how it functions.

     I’m aware that economic policies and strategies are used by the Federal Reserve Board, the President and Congress, and our Governor and Legislature with the intent of causing certain desired outcomes. These include monetary policy, job creation, trade agreements, taxation, tax credits, budgets, regulations, and much more.

Lack of Easy Access to Quality Food Adds to Flint’s Woes

     Flint’s water crisis has been a dominant news story during the past few months. Front and center were the reports of high lead levels found in water samples, which do not bode well for young children who ingested too much of this neurotoxin and could suffer long-term damage to their mental and physical development .

     Added to this public health calamity is the suspicion that the water caused Legionnaires’ disease, resulting in several deaths. In addition, there were the claims by residents that bathing or showering caused skin rashes. The question of accountability—what happened and why— while not nearly as crucial as the well being of the residents, has also been part of the news stories. And despite pleas to not point fingers of blame or allow partisan politics to enter into the fray (Let’s focus on solving the problem instead), heads have already rolled, lawsuits have been filed, political spinning is in full force, and the tug-of-war over blame (or perhaps more accurately over who’s more to blame) is churning up the landscape.

Rose Hamlin Tennis: Still Teaching

This was the photo of Rose Hamlin Tennis in her book
The School That Was: A School Marm's Tale

     On an afternoon, sometime in 1990, I was at my desk when Rose Hamlin Tennis walked into our newspaper office. I offered her a chair opposite me.  Rose, who passed way in September of 1995, needs no introduction to many readers, but if you are unfamiliar with her, she taught school for 35 years—from 1931 through 1967—with many of them spent at the Fowlerville High School and Junior High. I was among her legion of former students.

Gov. Snyder ‘tone deaf’ with hiring of national public relations firm

    An article in this past Saturday’s Detroit Free Press reported that Gov. Rick Snyder has hired Mercury LLC,  a national public relations firm known for its expertise in crisis management, to “help with communications during the Flint water crisis.” In addition, the governor also hired another communications expert, Bill Nowling, who is a former Snyder press secretary and also worked for former Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr.

    The announcement was made by Snyder’s current chief of staff, Jarrod Agen, who (oh, by the way) is married to Mercury LLC’s senior vice president. The article noted that she operates out of the firm’s Ft. Lauderdale, Florida office. So, we had a spokesman telling us that additional spokespersons have been hired to speak to us. The familiar put down “How many people does it take to change a light bulb?” comes to mind.

Covering Michigan State of the State address remains an enjoyable occasion

  We have been to several State of the State addresses in recent years. It’s an enjoyable occasion as well as a nice break from our normal (at times mundane) routine of providing a newspaper for the local audience.

    An aura of excitement permeates the Michigan Capitol building on this evening, much of it coming from the invited guests who have been allowed access to this center of political and governmental power. Reporters aren’t supposed to cheer in the press box, so I disguise any hint that the event is anything other than journalistic business as usual.

Michigan may have impact in current presidential campaign

 The presidential campaign, now on the eve of the caucus and primary season, has reached (to borrow a phrase from Winston Churchill) "the end of the beginning." During the just completed year, the would-be successors to President Obama have announced their availability, held rallies and shook hands, spent a lot of energy courting wealthy donors and key interest groups and participated in several debates.

  Reality, in the form of poll numbers and cash-on-hand, has forced several of the contenders to withdraw before any actual decision making has taken place. After the upcoming Iowa Caucus on Feb. 1 and the New Hampshire Primary on Feb. 9, the field will presumably be whittled down even further.

Cheap Grace & False Neutrality

     Cheap Grace.

     The phrase caught my attention when I began reading a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. All I knew of the man, prior to finding this text in my son’s bookcase, was that he had been a Lutheran minister from Germany, had stood up to the Nazis, and was executed. In the ensuing years, the church has honored him with an annual remembrance.

   The book is entitled Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and was researched and written by Eric Metaxas. It is a weighty tome, nearly 600 pages in length, and examines in great detail Bonhoeffer’s early life (the formative years), including his family background and interactions, the unfolding events in Germany and elsewhere in the world, his evolution as a minister (being influenced by these events), and the various ways he responded to and opposed Hitler and the National Socialist Party. It concludes with his imprisonment and then his death in the final days of the war.

Facts, Opinions, Logic & Fallacies

  Philosophy is defined as “the study of the general and fundamental nature of reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language." That sounds pretty encompassing, daunting, and, yes, esoteric.

    I took several philosophy courses during my college career at Michigan State University. My favorite areas of study in this field were (are) ethics and the history of philosophy, in particular the time period of the ancient Greeks.

    In 2011, I enrolled at Kellogg Community College, which had a campus in Hastings and signed up for two summer classes—United States History from the Reconstruction to the Reagan Administration--and a required English class that focused on proper sentence structure and how to write an acceptable academic paper.