Imagine being a school teacher and having to teach five grades or more at one time. One-room schoolhouses were common in rural areas of the United States all the way into the 1960s, some even later. Earlier this year we visited the Nottawa Stone School in Nottawa, Michigan, a one-room schoolhouse that served grades one through five, which has been restored for historical purposes.
The farm is quiet on the late February day we visit. Equipment and supplies are stored for the winter, glistening snow blankets the fields and ice fishermen are on the lake across the road. But farm work never stops. Winter is when grapevines are pruned, tractors are maintained and Beth Hubbard, owner of Corey Lake Orchards, grows tomato plants in the greenhouse.
Driving through Colon, Michigan, you would never think this tiny town of 1200 people is the Magic Capital of the World; that Bob Hope, Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin all got their starts here; that Edgar Bergen visited Colon regularly; or that the town cemetery is filled with deceased magicians.
With a wave of his hand, magician Rick Fisher turns several uneven lengths of rope into even pieces. He has me tug on the ropes to verify they are taut. With another wave of a hand, the ropes are back to being uneven lengths.
Spring is beginning to emerge following a hard winter during our mid-May visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, situated on the northwestern shore of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Young green grasses are poking out from the drab browns of winter, trees are beginning to leaf out, and the warm sun cuts through the chilly air.
Fresh rolled butter. Peach fritters the size of softballs. Peanuts ground into cappuccino peanut butter. Salads made from generations-old Amish recipes. The aroma of hickory smoked ribs and chicken. It’s no wonder that Yoder’s Country Market in Centreville, Michigan, has had to expand three times in its ten-year existence—and the market is bursting at the seams again.
