You may have noticed a cement truck and some other equipment around the Omena Fire Hall last week. It was the beginning of a renovation to the building to bump out part of the back wall and extend it seven feet. The current Leelanau Township Fire Department fire truck that is housed there has “aged out of service.” It just barely fit in the existing bay. The new fire truck will not fit. The arrival of a newer fire truck is good news for the Omena community.
The block work was completed last week. The inside work, including rebuilding the storeroom, will be completed over the coming weeks. I been assured that the work will be done before Deck the Village in Omena, so that the fire hall and community room can be decorated for Santa’s arrival on Christmas Eve.
Work to repair the potholes and drainage problems on Omena Point Road will begin on Oct. 5. This will be a major undertaking that will probably take several weeks. There will be some traffic impacts during this time. The work will include completing re-doing the road from the intersection with M-22 at the beach to close to the turn before Omena Heights Road.
Last Wednesday, the Omena Women’s Club met for lunch and a tour at Farm Club. Farm Club is a Leelanau County restaurant, bakery, farm market, brewery, and more. It is a collaboration between Allison and Gary Jonas, who are the proprietors of Farm Club, and Sara and Nic Thiesen, who own Loma Farm. Almost 30 women enjoyed a selection of their offerings, with explanations of each provided by Nic. He explained that Farm Club is truly farm-to-table, as Loma Farm sits down with the Farm Club kitchen every week to go over that week’s produce, as well as a look ahead at future weeks.
They now source some local grains for use in their fabulous breads and bakery items. Shopping for them, plus Loma Farm produce, has recently become an even more enjoyable experience with the completion of a new building that houses the market. Everyone learned a lot about Farm Club and had a wonderful time.
Last week, the Omena House was full, as 13 women gathered for a reunion of members of the Soronian Society at Olivet College (now the University of Olivet). The Soronian Society was founded in 1847 at Olivet and was the country’s first women’s literary society.
This group of alumnae held their first reunion in 1979 in Olivet with 39 attendees. While they did not meet every year since then, they have had frequent reunions in a number of different places, including Mackinac Island. But, as they told the Omena News, once they discovered the Omena House, they have come here ever since. This was at least their sixth year here.
Many of the attendees are still Michiganders, but not all. Joan O’Brien lives in Olivet. Sidney Paradine, Candi Putnam, and Pam Sigren all came from Marshall, Michigan. Marsha Malec came from Livonia, Pam Snarey from Saginaw, and Kathy Burt from Grand Ledge. Anne Duvall came from Beverly Hills – Michigan! Two came from Minnesota – Marty Jennings from Plymouth and Joan Paterson Littman from Minneapolis. Reva Parrella came from Medway, Massachusetts; Barbara Decker from Naples, Florida; and Lorna Spencer from Ellicott City, Maryland.
The Soronian Society is not Olivet’s only first. The college was founded by the Reverend John J. Shipherd, who also cofounded Oberlin College in Ohio. He and his followers deliberately established the school in the Michigan wilderness with the explicit mission to provide a Christian education open to everyone, regardless of race, gender, or financial status. From its very first day on February 24, 1844, the institution established a policy to admit both women and people of color on a co-equal basis with white men. This progressive stance made it the first college in Michigan—and only the second college in the entire United States, after Oberlin College, to officially welcome students of all races.
This inclusive anti-slavery philosophy was highly controversial at the time. Because Olivet openly admitted women and Black students 19 years before the Emancipation Proclamation, the State of Michigan initially refused to grant the school an official college charter. It operated as the “Olivet Institute” until the state finally granted its charter in 1859. As a result, its first graduating class was in 1863, and consisted entirely of three women.
The Village Voices of Northport is starting rehearsals for their fall/winter session and welcome new singers to the group. Rehearsals begin Tuesday, September 29 from 6:30 - 8:30 pm in the Music Room at Northport Public School under the direction of Amanda Kruk. They will be working on a few songs to add to the Windborne Concert and the annual Holiday Concert. The Windborne Concert will be Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 pm, and the Holiday Concert is on Sunday, November 29 at 2 pm. Please call Laura Kalchik if you have any questions, 231-499-1454.
There was no Omena News last week, and Rosie swears she didn’t eat it. Happy Birthday last week to Marsha Fehrenbach, Chris Bishop, and Tanner Brown, who is now a teenager. Happy Anniversary last week to Jen and Amar Shabbir, James and Emily Kohler, and John and Rachel Smith.
Happy Birthday this week to Mark Frank, Greg McMorrow, Doni Lystra, Mike Biskupski, Hannah Fitzgerald, and to Jamie Joan Mikowski, who turns 2, Owen Morgan, who turns 9, and James Scarlett, who becomes a teenager. Happy Anniversary to Steve and Debbie Zinger, Rich and Cheryl Huffman, David Lightner and Susan Valiga, and John and Judy Smart.
