Traverse City Record-Eagle

Opinion

September 10, 2012

Editorial: Cheers

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n To John Sawyer, an Elmwood Township resident, who saw an overgrown rural cemetery along Fouch Road in mid-July and has worked hard to restore "dignity" to the Fouch Road Cemetery and also to honor the eight pioneer-era residents buried there.

n To Jennifer Lewis for organizing the Team Hope Walk for HD Sept. 15 to raise funds for the Huntington's Disease Society of America. HD is a currently untreatable, hereditary, degenerative brain disorder that results in a loss of cognitive behavioral and physical control. Lewis, 32, was a baby when her mother was diagnosed with the disease; her mother lived with it for 19 years, the last seven in a nursing home. The walk starts at 10 a.m. at Traverse City's F&M Park, with registration an hour before.

n To Carol Crawford, who battles fibromyalgia, for being chosen as one of four state ambassadors in the non-competitive Ninth Annual Mackinac Bridge Labor Day Run. Crawford said running is crucial to getting her through the day. The four fitness ambassadors serve as statewide role models for developing healthy lifestyles through physical activity and motivation to inspire others to take control of their health. The mother of two runs about 20 miles a week.

n To the History Center of Traverse City and volunteer Dennis Kent for the restoration of a 1940s silent film that features Traverse City and many area residents of that time. After two years of work and research and almost $12,000 in grants and donations later, the 45-minute "We're In the Movies," was to be screened Sept. 8, at a special State Theatre premiere. Kent discovered the movie in the History Center's archives. Northwestern Michigan College visual communications students designed materials and enhanced the DVD production with captions, titles and music. The premiere is a highlight of the History Center's Heritage Days.

n To local filmmaker Aaron Dennis and journalist Jacob Wheeler for their locally produced documentary, "People and the Olive," about a northern Michigan nonprofit's "Run Across Palestine" in February and the importance of olive trees to Palestinian farmers. The documentary will be shown today at the State Theatre and is sponsored by the Great Lakes Bioneers.

n To the nearly 300 people who participated in United Way's annual Day of Caring, when volunteers spread out to perform dozens of jobs at various non-profits and other agencies around the region. Tasks ranged from helping the history center organize records to painting a mural at the Central Day Care to ripping off a roof at the Boy Scout camp.

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