Stamp Out Hunger
I wanted to say that I’m very thankful that we have the OCEF food pantry and all their volunteers, it’s a blessing to have a local food pantry to take care of our community.  People really want to get involved, and this community has the biggest and most generous hearts. You give them a bag and they will fill it and give it back! Postal carriers delivered our bags the week prior and we were picking them up the next day filled. We also had many, many people bring in their filled bags directly to the post office. Like I said, this community is very caring and  very generous, thank you Ortonville.
Lisa Harrison
Ortonville

Memorial Day
My son, Rick Hyatt, was unable to attend the gathering of area veterans for the photograph taken of them for the Memorial Day section in The Citizen Newspaper of May 25, 2024. He was in the Marine Corp.
No words can express how grateful we are to everyone in the military today, the veterans, and all who fought in the wars. We all enjoy freedom today, and America has always been free because of them.
Three years ago I visited again the Ellington Cemetery in Tuscola County were some of my ancestors are buried. I saw a military marker on my great, great grandfather’s grave showing that he had been in the Civil War. The marker had never been there before, and we never knew that he had been in the war.
Also, for the first time, there is a headstone on his wife, Sarah’s, grave (my great, great grand-mother.) It is brand new. I wondered who would have put the marker on James’s grave, and a new headstone on Sarah’s grave after all these years. Then, last year and this year, I read in the Citizen Newspaper that certain people or an organization are looking for records and putting the military markers on veterans’ graves. Perhaps they are putting headstones on their graves and their spouses graves where there are none.
It is a nice thing to do and very appreciated.
Marion Hyatt
Groveland Township

A retired teacher never forgets
For all the years of sharing the things I loved to do,
For teaching, and for learning from every one of you.
You’ve gifted me with smiles and laughter filled our room.
You sang and danced to every tune from morning until noon.
You shared your feelings daily and trusted that I’d hear.
You came to me for lots of hugs to dry away your tears.
You gifted me drawings, creative stories and more.
You filled my days with so much joy. I never could be bored.
When you moved to other grades and watched your journey grow
You knew how hard it was for this teacher to let go.
When you got to High School you’d stop in to just say “Hi”.
Your bodies grew. Your voices changed. But I knew you from those eyes!
Life went on. Your families grew. Yet much to my surprise,
My new student may have had your same bright shining eyes!
I knew those eyes! I’d check the names. A last name from my past!
Another generation here to bless my special class.
So at this very special time with Summer nearly here,
My gratitude and thankfulness overflow and bring a tear.
How blessed I’ve been to be here. How blest that you were near.
My Life kept getting better with each passing school year.
Suzanne McGill-Anderson
Retired from Brandon Schools

Local Zoning Control
Last November, the Democrat-led Michigan Legislature passed House Bill 5120, which removed locally elected officials’ authority to decide a critical issue: whether large wind and solar energy farms could be placed anywhere throughout the state. Instead, this decision authority was given to a three-member, unelected commission appointed by the Governor.
Why should we care about losing local control over zoning for large energy facilities?
First and foremost, the loss of local control over zoning for large energy facilities threatens the very essence of communities like Oxford and Brandon. It strips away residents’ power to shape their neighborhoods’ development and character. Local officials, who are intimately familiar with the specific circumstances, can no longer tailor zoning regulations. Further, we can no longer remove the people making decisions that negatively impact our property, our family’s quality of life, or a family farm’s success. They must take at least 209,000 acres to achieve the Governor’s plan.
I thank our State Representative, Josh Schriver, for his unwavering stance against this partisan bill. Despite nearly 87% of Michigan residents opposing this law, it was approved by Democrat leadership. However, efforts of a group called Citizens for Local Choice are working tirelessly to restore our former rights. We must regain the final authority to decide the placement of these massive energy farms.
Michelle Lawler
Ortonville

Seat belts save lives
Last August I was mowing our front yard and suddenly there was a cloud of dust coming down the road in front of our home. I was wearing ear muffs while mowing and did not hear the crash.
My wife was sitting on our front porch and had seen and heard the truck hit a large walnut tree in the neighbor’s front yard.
Three teen boys have been riding in the truck coming from the north down our road. There is a curve on our dirt road just north of our neighbor’s place.
The driver lost control of his truck in the curve. The truck plunged into the ditch with the passenger’s side completely down in the ditch. The truck then became air borne, turning 90 degrees hitting a large walnut tree, crushing the driver’s side door.
This all happened in a terrifying instant, but the results and memories will last a lifetime.
I went to the truck while my wife called 911. The two in the front seat had been wearing their seat belts while the one in the back had not been wearing his seat belt. The Atlas Township Fire Department arrived and used the Jaws of Life to help get the teen out of the backseat.
Many times I have considered writing this story. What has made me finally write it is that my eldest grandson Alex just got his driver’s license recently, Mother’s Day, and the soon-coming high school graduations. We all know what dangerous times they can be for young graduates.
The day of the accident, I will never forget as each of the boys mothers came to the scene and seeing the remains of the mangled truck then hearing their cries of anguish, ‘where is my boy?’ The anguish that each mother experienced that day broke my heart.
That day the father of the driver came and once he saw his son was taken care of, he did what fathers do. He picked up the pieces of the wrecked truck scattered all over the accident site. The next day he and his son showed up at the accident site. His son’s left arm was in a sling. I believe the dad brought his son there so that the son could relive the day before in order to learn, possibly heal, and to help his son pick up the pieces of his life.
My hope is that some other young person will read this and drive safer, that their mother will not have to suffer the anguish the mothers had that terrible day. Even if you think it is safer in the back seat, please wear your seat belt.
Lance Wesner
Goodrich