Jim Calhoun has never lived outside of Northport. And if it’s his way, he wouldn’t care to ever leave.
“I’ve always lived here, and people will say, Where would you like to go for a vacation? And I said, The best place for me for vacation is here, but you can’t have one ‘cause when I go out, everybody’s asking you questions,” Calhoun said jokingly. “But one older gentleman, one time, told me ‘you could do everything you want within 100 miles of Northport.’
You can hunt, you can go to the Upper Peninsula. We have some of the best fishing in the world.
And if you like the water and lakes, there’s no better place.”
Besides the four years he was in the Navy from 1967 to 1971 during the Vietnam War, Calhoun has always been in Northport.
Right after high school, Calhoun went into the Navy from 1967 to 1971 and served during the Vietnam War.
In his first year, he drove a pickup truck and found out he had it pretty good, before being stationed on a heavy cruiser heading towards “Nam.”
Calhoun spent two and a half years off the shore on a heavy cruiser, then was transferred to the destroyer for a year and a half on the USS Edson (DD-46).
Calhoun made three cruises overseas at the young age of 18-22.
After he got out of the Navy at 22-years-old, Calhoun knew it was time to get back home.
He returned and joined the Leelanau Township Fire Department (LTFD) in 1971, while continuing to assist his father, Harry Calhoun, with various business ventures.
Calhoun started his 55th year of service in 2026.
“Between the chief and me, we always tell them there’s a hundred years of experience, and that’s just two of us,” Calhoun said.
As a youth, Calhoun was captivated by the scout’s honor and earned the status of Eagle Scout.
That rubbed off on his son, who’s also an Eagle Scout, and his daughter, who earned the first gold award in Leelanau County, which is equivalent to Eagle Scout status for Girl Scouts.
“Usually when I get into something, I stick with it for a while,” Calhoun said. “For myself and my son, we automatically got an extra grade after boot camp.”
One of the first fires Calhoun fought was during this time of year.
He remembers the nozzles freezing and having to learn quickly how to take care of them.
One of the worst fires he fought was the iconic Dame’s Store in Northport.
Throughout his career, he has had three fires that have lost life.
“The hardest one was a young girl ... The other one was my neighbor, who was a couple of years ago ... it’s very hard when you go to a fire, and you lose someone, or someone gets hurt badly,” Calhoun said. “You do the best you can and try to keep them going as long as you can ... People don’t realize what that does to a family when there’s a fire. It’s not only the loss of their house, but there are memories that go with pictures and parts of the family history that can never be replaced. You do your darndest to try to save as much as you can.”
Calhoun has served on the Road Commission for many years, just like his father, who served the road commission for 43 years and was the longestserving road commissioner in Michigan.
When Harry was passing away, Jim knew it was time for him to get involved, and eventually he was appointed to the Road Commission and has three years left on his current term.
Calhoun lost a son, Dan, two years ago, who lived in Texas. His two daughters, Jennifer and Sarah, have built careers at the Leelanau-Benzie Health Department and at Muncon.
Calhoun will be celebrating 50 years of marriage with his wife, Carol, this April.
Back in the day, she worked as a registered nurse for assisted living in Northport.
