“I woke up at four in the morning to find 1,500 newspapers in my driveway … all I could think was, ‘What did I get myself into?’”
What Boyne City Gazette Publisher Chris Faulknor had gotten himself into in early September, 2009, was a brand new community newspaper focused solely on covering Boyne area news.
“I think we, maybe, sold 400 newspapers that first week,” he said.
How he came to the mountain of paper in those wee hours is another story altogether.

“I noticed the paper had shut down and I’ve always enjoyed the technical aspect of writing, and thought this might be a good fit,” Faulknor said. “I took things one step at a time and did my best to learn about everything as I went along and I wasn’t afraid to ask for help.”
After the Boyne Citizen Journal closed in December, 2008, Boyne City was left without a local newspaper. However, Faulknor stepped in and changed that by creating a media product with the goal to “Seek the Truth, and Serve the Citizens” as it says in the Gazette masthead.
Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jim Baumann said the Boyne City Gazette is a bright spot in what has become an industry rife with storm clouds.
“A lot of newspapers are closing down and going to the internet, and larger papers are cutting down from 7 days a week to 3 days a week,” Baumann said. “Chris should be congratulated for surviving and thriving in these times.”

He added, “A critical issue is advertising, and I would encourage local people to support The Boyne City Gazette in that effort, or we won’t have a newspaper again.”
Faulknor said it was exactly that loyalty and willingness to take a chance on him that kept the newspaper alive in the early days, and why it continues to thrive today.

“We really couldn’t do this without the support of the community. That’s why I think this is as much Boyne City’s paper, the Boyne area’s paper, as it is mine,” he said. “If it wasn’t for our local columnists supplying their unique opinions and our community members who bring in their pictures and news tips and our advertisers who choose to work with us, we wouldn’t exist.”

Boyne City community leaders and longtime Boyne City Gazette advertisers Chris Christensen and Marty Moody opined on the one-year anniversary of the paper.
“I think its fantastic we have a locally-based newspaper,” Christensen said. “I think Chris (Faulknor) was treated like a novelty when he first came out and now here it’s been a year.”
Moody said having a local newspaper only enhances Boyne’s already strong identity.

“Having a local paper and all the cool things that Chris does is great,” Moody said. “He does a good job running around trying to cover as much as he can, and obviously it’s more than a full-time job.”
The Boyne City Gazette is the most widely read community newspaper in the area, and the only one whose chief editor and publisher lives and works in Boyne City.

“I think the key word is local,” said Boyne City Manager Michael Cain. “It’s a great source. If you’re a resident of Boyne City and looking for a local newspaper, that’s one of the first places you’re going to want to look for local news.”
Now after 53 papers, Faulknor said much has changed, including his understanding of the business.

“When my subscribers list grew beyond what I could deliver at 4 a.m. on Wednesday mornings, I changed to mailings so I could accommodate my subscribers,” he said. “I miss driving around town going to every subscriber’s house.”

A life-long resident of Boyne City, Faulknor attended both Boyne City and Boyne Falls schools. He received his paramedic education from North Central Michigan College and Baker College of Cadillac. He also majored in Psychology at Central Michigan University while working as a medic.

“Words can’t express how thoroughly we have enjoyed serving the Boyne area in the last year,” Faulknor said. “We are extremely proud to begin our second year with the new and improved Boyne City Gazette, which more than ever before is brimming with local news, sports, opinions, events, and business coverage.”

The Boyne City Gazette distributes 2000 papers a week in Boyne City, Boyne Falls, Walloon Lake, Petoskey, Charlevoix, and East Jordan. The paper focuses 100 percent of its resources on local news, sports, and events coverage.

Bill Dougherty wants to bring the cinema back to Boyne City.
Now nearly 10 years since the last reel stopped spinning at the Boyne Theater, Dougherty and his business partner are searching for just the right location to open a movie house.
“I had a six-plex theater in Indianapolis called ‘The Encore.’ I would get films before they would go to the dollar house and I was surviving next to an 18-plex,” Dougherty said. “I had perfect board of health inspections and fair prices on concessions.”
After nearly 30 years working for a major beverage company, Dougherty retired and opened the theater in Indiana.
He operated it successfully for several years but said he either needs to move to Boyne City or sell his house.

“I have all the equipment (to operate the theater) sitting in a warehouse and I’d like to put it back to work,” Dougherty said.
Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jim Baumann said he misses having a theater in Boyne City.
“I look around and I see smaller towns than Boyne City that have theaters and they seem to be operating as profitable businesses, so you would hope that we could support one,” he said. “The Boyne Theater is a historic building in a great location.”
Dougherty said he is merely in preliminary discussions with community leaders and citizens attempting to gauge potential interest and that no official plans have been made.
According to Dougherty, he has broached the subject of the Boyne Theater, but that it is far too early to tell if that location would be an option.

The owner of the Boyne Theater location and 220 Lake Street restaurant could not be reached for comment by press time.
Dougherty, who owns a house in Boyne City, began visiting Michigan as a child with his grandparents.

“We still love the community up there (Boyne City) and we would really like to make this work,” he said. “I have all the concessions equipment but I need input from a potential partner with a viable location to make it work.”

Dougherty added, “Most people I talked to seem very interested.
“I think there’s a real need there for kids and families to have something to do when there are down times during the year and when locals just want something fun to do,” he said. “It could be a catalyst for some serious downtown economic development, but first we need to get all the needed parties together to make this project work.”
Baumann said business in Boyne City has been good this summer and more economic development is always welcome.

“These days there is no magic bullet. You’re not going to recruit a factory to come to your town. You need to make your town a great place to live and people will want to be here and they’ll start businesses here,” Baumann said.

Baumann said Boyne City’s rich offering of amenities, from numerous eateries, new marina, aesthetically pleasing downtown, arts districts and good schools would only be further enriched by the addition of a theater.

“People don’t have money to go to exotic faraway places on vacation, so they are staying closer to home,” Baumann said. “We’re an affordable option that is a combination of all those things.”

Dougherty said he is considering venues from a traditional movie house, dinner theater or even an outdoor drive-in movie theater.
“We’re open to any discussions and any suggestions from anybody,” he said. “Theaters are one thing thriving in this down economy. People still appreciate smaller community theaters and I want to bring that back to Boyne City.”

Look for updates on this story as it progresses.

Thank you from the Howie family….

This past Memorial Day weekend was the annual Turtle Ridge Rock Crawling contest held on Drummond Island. Our son, Jesse Howie lowed participating in that competition, and had spend hours working on his jeep the past couple of months, getting it ready for this weekend.
He competed in 2008 for the first time, and placed 3rd, which meant he was automatically invited to compete in 2009, which he did, and took 2nd place.

His spotter (team mate) both years was Jesse’s good friend AJ Spaay, and they were an awesome team.
When Jess passed away unexpectedly on May 5 of this year, just three weeks before the competition, AJ and their friends decided they’d like to take on the challenge of running Jesse’s Jeep in that race.
AJ was the natural choice to drive, and we all chose Jesse’s close friend Josh LaCombe to spot him. They too were an awesome team, putting on a very exciting show and taking a very proud 2nd place in Jesse’s honor.
Jess loved Drummond Island for the off-roading experiences it provided.The deeper the mud, the higher the cliffs to climb or drop off of, and the more friends around to share it with, the happier he was.

But what really made this weekend special for Joe, Lea, and myself was the number of friends who made the drive and spent the money to share in that emotional roller coaster weekend.
It meant the world to us, guys, every moment, every hug, every tear, every belly laugh…. Each of you helped us heal the hurt of losing Jess, and we hope it helped you too.
We’d like to thank so many people, it’s just impossible to know where to start, but we’re going to try…

Tony Amato, thank you for welding the things on the jeep that Jess didn’t get to and for making those welds as beautiful as Jess would have wanted. (He was such an artist when it came to his welding). Mobert Markillie, Josh LaCombe, and AJ Spaay for tweaking the mechanical work.

Crystal LaCombe – those t-shirts were awesome and absolutely perfect!
And thank you to Logo Pros for getting them out so quickly, even though we drove you nuts with pressure, it meant the world to us to wear them at the event.

AJ and Josh, you couldn’t have done a finer job tackling those courses and working as a team, giving the crowd such an exciting show. We are so proud of you both, and so thankful that you wanted to do this for Jess!

Jeremy Loper, how can we possibly thank you and all the people who helped you for one of the most beautiful gifts of the weekend – that plaque just took our breath away.

And for your guys to pick Jesse’s favorite spot on the island (Marblehead) to present it to us, well, it couldn’t have been any sweeter. Thank you.

Not to mention all the work the entire group went to providing a buffet for that hungry crowd!
Angie and Wayne Sobleski (and family), thank you for keeping our precious grand daughter/daughter overnight and all weekend so we didn’t have to worry about her for a moment, knowing she was in the best of hands.
Carlton and Shirley Howie, same goes for keeping Jesse’s precious Ada, for all the same reasons.
We hope the people on Drummond Island read this and know that we are so thankful for their hospitality and tolerance every time we invade their town – the Drummond Island Resort (LOVE your camp fire area, we sat for hours watching the stars, singing while the guys played guitar, and no one complained that we know of. That’s huge!) No wonder Jess loved that place.

The Bear Track Restaurant – you guys went above and beyond to accommodate the Boyne City crowd, and your staff treated us to the best service and pancakes – again, Jess always raved about you and your food!
Thank you to all the volunteers who work their butts off every year to put on the Turtle Ridge Rock Crawl and who acknowledges our love for Jess in so many ways, and so many times…

You guys from Unemployed Films who introduced yourselves t us and presented us with DVD’s of the YouTube video you put together…. That means so much to Jesse’s family and friends, to have those memories to watch forever of his smiling face.

And the guy who presented all the competitors with “In memory of” stickers for everyone to stick on their Jeeps… Just incredible that you would even think to make them someone you’d only met and jeeped with a couple times… Thank you for that.

Honestly, the list could go on and on, but please know that each and every one of you are special to us and you gave us a weekend to remember, to rejoice, to heal and to celebrate 25 years of having Jess in our lives. Like the t-shirts say, ‘This ride’s for you, Jess Howie’… And it was, Sweetie. It really was.

Joe, Lisa and Lea Howie (Soltis)

8TH ANNUAL CHARLEVOIX/EMMET COUNTY PINK RIBBON RIDE
Saturday, June 19, 2010, marks the 8th anniversary of the Pink Ribbon Ride at Veteran’s Park in Boyne City. This event is held the third Saturday in June each year to raise awareness and funding for breast cancer programs offered through Charlevoix Area Hospital and Northern Michigan Regional Hospital.

To date this ride has raised more than $154,000, donating back to the Circle of Strength at Charlevoix Area Hospital and the Kathleen Jontz Breast Health Fund at Northern Michigan Regional Hospital a total of $120,000. Since last year’s event, breast health services have been provided to 212 women, almost four times the number as the previous year. Almost all of these women received mammograms; 20 required more extensive testing such as ultrasounds and MRIs. Four women underwent diagnostic breast biopsies without the additional stress and worry of how they were going to pay for this test. No red tape, no run around, simply a phone call to either hospital will get someone on track to receive the help they need.

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The Young Americans head for Boyne City on June 12th, 2010.

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Lisa Hull purchased the winning ticket for the Child Study Club.

Thank you to the following businesses for donating items for the basket: Boyne City Ace Hardware, Boyne Country Provisions, Boyne Mountain Solace Spa, Cindi Franco’s, Glens, Early Learners, Harbor Wear, Logo Pros, Inspired Living, Kilwin’s, Korthase Bros., Local Flavor, Molly Bricker Holistic Massage Therapy, No Boundaries, Parkside Grille, Sugar Bush, Lake Street Market, Huffords Vision and Eye Care, North Country Cycle & Sport and Ye Nyne Olde Holles golf course.

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The SOBO (South Boyne) Arts District in Boyne City is planning their first Arts Festival. Included in the festival will be a display of art created by area children and special activities for the young with hands-on art learning experiences.
CALLING ALL YOUNG ARTISTS

If you know of any budding young artists, ages 5 – 18 in our area, please consider encouraging them to create a work of original art to submit to be placed on display during the festival.

We would like to showcase the talent of our local children. The child does not have to be involved in school art departments. Submissions can be drawings, paintings, sculptures, pottery and poems, etc. The children’s art work will be juried by the BAC and will be properly displayed by their curator.

The Jury Deadline is June 14th..

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN ART CONTEST. THIS IS STRICTLY AN OPPORTUNITY TO DISPLAY LOCAL ART FROM OUR TALENTED CHILDREN.

THERE WILL BE NO JUDGING OR AWARDS. ARTISTS MAY SELL THEIR WORK IF THEY CHOOSE.

If you would like to share other talents or have any questions please call Chris Fall Knight and visit our website at www.soboartsdistrict.org for more information.

Third graders, Christopher Mora-Brandt, Eleri Geim and Natalie Snyder, recently read the book Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. Their book club met three times a week, where they would read and discuss the book. They recently had an amazing opportunity to make a text-to-self connection when they finished reading the book.

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