It's October which means there are a lot of things going on in the neighborhood. 

Last Saturday was the opening day of duck season. 

A trip to Knabe's Apple Orchard offers more than the area's best apple cider.

Traveling past the rolling fields of Presque Isle farms on the way to Ocqueoc Falls is a great way to enjoy fall colors.

The best part about October is the finale.  Watch for more information on the Presque Isle Halloween Trail. 

On Saturday, July 5th, Presque Isle Township held their annual fireworks show at the Presque Isle Harbor.  This was made possible by the donations of local residents.  $65.00 was collected from cannisters placed at the Portage Store, the Birch Hill store, and the new lighthouse gift shop.  Lakeshore Real Estate printed mailing labels in which solicitations were sent to the township office.  the following contributors helped make the fireworks a success

AAA Agent - John Chappa (postage)

Robert Beres

Greg & Sharon Riley

Art & Rose Przysiecki

Louis & Linda Ciarkowski

Don & Ann Cline

Raphael & Joan Beauvais

Victor Mastrogiovanni

George Hoster Jr.

Geroge Popp

Dorothy & Whitney Slaght

Molly Benson - North Shore Financial Advisors

Jay Blackmore & Sally Dick

Mal & Barb Oswalt / Century 21 Harbor Realty Team, LLC

Curt & Kathy Aufschlager

Rosemarie Pokorski

Robert & JoAnn Carr

Morley Kellogg

Charles & Sue Prucha

Harriet Powers

Gillard, Bauer, Mazron, Florip, Smigelski & Gulden Attorneys

Carl & Sue Sommers

Paul Odell

John Buszkowski

Judy Kimball

Leaird Cameron

Norma & Ken Crouch

Jeff & Tracy Greene

Attila & Sharon Paltelky

Overhead Door of Alpena (postage)

Tom Olsen Plbg & htg

AAA - Alpena Branch

Art & Terri Mucciante

Joe & Phyllis Farkas

Dave Ward

Joe & Nelle Tupiak

Presque Isle Lodge

Don & Brenda Rosenburg

AAA Agent - Barry Schatz (postage)

Tom & Sandy Boaks

Lappan Agency Inc.

Grand Lake Association

Weinkauf Plumbing & Heating

Perch's IGA

Presque Isle Harbor Association

Presque Isle Yacht Club

Fireside Inn

People still wanting to make donations can send checks payable to Presque Isle Township Hall to the hall on East Grand Lake Road to the attention of the fireworks fund.

Robert spent time in the Spring tapping local maple trees and making delicious Presque Isle Syrup. 

Here, Robert presents Tom Boaks with the championship trophy from the Spring Wii bowling tournament at Cedar Lane.

Art Mucciante discusses softball strategy with Waid Yue while Robert  fields a ball at the Memorial Day weekend softball game in Downtown Presque Isle.

Robert was recently seen fishing on Grand Lake during the Grand Lake Sportsmen's Club 25th. annual ice fishing derby.

The Grand Lake Sportsmen's Club held their 25th. annual ice fishing derby on February 16, 2008.  The winners were,

NORTHERN PIKE

1st - 36-1/2"  Randy Schram

WALLEYE

1st. - 23' Glen Wisniewski

2nd. - 20-1/2" Steve Habermehl

3rd. - 19-1/2" Jason Bloom

4th. - 18-3/4" Dave Idaski

5th. - 18-1/4" Jennifer Wieczorkowski

PERCH

1st. - 12-1/2" Robert Doyle

2nd. - 12-1/4" Jerry Zowlinski

3rd. - 13" Rick Kaszubowski

4th. - 12-3/4" Jacob Kangas (Tie)

5th.  - 12-3/4" Cory Malocha (Tie)

The Grand Lake Sportsmen's Club would like to  thank the following sponsors.

AAA Michigan, A & J Pools & Spas, Adrian's Sport Shop, Alpena Bank, Alpena Beverage, Alpena Supply, Bank Of America, Besser Credit Union, Buck's Bait & Tackle, C.L. Taylor LLC, Clem's Bait Shop, Cliff Anschuetz Chevrolet/Cadillac, Court Yard Restaurant, Deer Hunt Inn, Diane's Cash & Carry Feeds, Edward Jones Investments, Fireside Inn, Grand Lake Association, Grand Lake Daily Limit, East Grand Lake Fire Department, Grand Lake Resort, Hapco Builders, Hide-A-Way Bar, Homant Propane, Huron Distributors, John Campbell Construction, K & K Electric Services, LaFarge, Lakeshore Plumbing-Heating-Cooling, Losinski Excavating & Septic Tank, McCoy Pontiac-Buick-Gmc, Northern Utility Contractors, Panel Processing, Parker House, Perch's IGA, Portage Restaurant, Portage Store, Posen Elevator, Posen Pub, Presque Isle Corp., Propane Plus, R.S. Scott & Associates, Seymour's Grocery, Stanley Wozniak Ins. Agency, The Light House, Thunder Bay Electric, Thunder Bay Walley Club, Van's Pro Shop, Young Appliance...and all the people that volunteered their time.

Photos of the event will be posted soon. 

By Barry Schatz

     My apologies blog readers for getting this report to you a couple weeks after the Presque Isle Township Public Library officially opened.  The ribbon cutting ceremony was November 3rd.  I took some photos for the benefit of those of you who are out of town at the moment. 

 When I first walked in, I thought I was standing in a hotel lobby or some cozy ski lodge.  It'll be interesting to see if the library needs to give somebody a nudge to wake them up.  My advice it don't sit down in one of these chairs and read a boring book.

The library has a nice meeting room with a kitchenette.

     One is supposed to dream of a white Christmas, not a white Thanksgiving.  That's what we woke up to yesterday however.  While the rest of the family and friends were chopping food, I dusted off my winter boots and checked out the first snow of the year.

     There aren't many Robert sightings in October as he's usually converting his garage into a haunted house for Halloween.  In the picture above and on the left, Robert can barely be seen adjusting one of his Halloween props.  With the help of his spouse Linda, they managed to scare a lot of kids and put one adult into the rafters. 

Do you have pictures or a story you would like to share with the community?  You can email me at barry@mypresqueisle.com. 

Hope to hear from you,

Barry

Several people have reported seeing elk in the Grand Lake area this week.  Below is part of an email I received from Mary Anne and Dave McCoy.

I am writing to tell you we saw a 10 point bull elk last night on McCreery Road close to the entrance to the Beach House!!  He was enormous and quite a sight at 10:00 pm!

We had just had a fantastic white fish dinner at the Portage where we heard rumors of such an animal in our area. We had been discussing this with Amy & Brian Pagels at the bar just before we headed back for the evening.   Boy were we surprised and excited to actually see him as we drove home.  He was not skittish as deer are…he just walked along the roads edge as we pulled over and watched.  He slowly veered off and went through the woods into the beach area.  We left him alone at that point not wanting to harass him.

I wonder if he has a mate here?? Wouldn't it be great to have such a breed establish itself here??  Lots of land on our side of the lake for it that is for sure!

I heard the bull has been seen with a mate and a calf.  Somebody saw them munching on apples from a tree by The Plumbery.

If anybody has any pictures of the big Bambi, I would be glad to post them here.  Please email them to barry@mypresqueisle.com

Barry