Village Life – Blissfully single in community
Feb11

Village Life – Blissfully single in community

By Tom Travis It’s called “cuffing season.” I quite hate that term. The term “cuffing” refers to the restrictive and restraining purpose of handcuffs. If you don’t know about cuffing season it begins sometime in October and culminates up to the egregiously capitalized holiday Valentine’s Day. The intention of “cuffing” happens when single, unhitched people begin to prowl around for...

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A new type of health care coming to Flint in January
Dec10

A new type of health care coming to Flint in January

By Tom Travis Harris Family Health, Flint’s first direct primary care clinic,  is opening in downtown Flint in January, 2023. It is a membership-based primary care clinic started by Flint native, Dr Aisha [pronounced eh-sha] Harris MD, aimed at offering members more time and access to their doctor so they can prioritize their health and get the care they deserve with no surprise bills. A Grand Opening will take place on Tuesday, Jan....

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Village Life: Even Sadie’s puppy love didn’t convince me —  I’m fine without a dog
Oct26

Village Life: Even Sadie’s puppy love didn’t convince me — I’m fine without a dog

By Tom Travis I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to take care of a dog and three cats. Not one of those little cute lap dogs but a really large, hyper black Lab named Sadie. Albeit Sadie is my brother and sister-in-law’s dog, so kind of like a niece-dog. I have to confess that the first two thoughts in my head were: my brother’s house is way out in the country about 30 miles north of Flint and west of Birch Run. I was...

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Village Life:  Romance of city life sometimes falls short, but neighborly life can be full of grace
Sep27

Village Life: Romance of city life sometimes falls short, but neighborly life can be full of grace

By Jan Worth-Nelson When I’m dying, will I be able to mutter to my grieving loved ones, hey! I’m glad I lived in Flint?  I know, I know, macabre thought…but as fall crisps in with its inevitable melancholy reminders of the cycle of life and death, I find myself ruminating on mortal matters. And this column seems to want to be about two answers to my big end-of-life question: first, the evolution of romantic illusions about city life; ...

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“I was tired of seeing the same thing – This is why I buy cars like this” 18th Back to the Bricks is in the books
Aug24

“I was tired of seeing the same thing – This is why I buy cars like this” 18th Back to the Bricks is in the books

By Tom Travis [This article has been updated to include new statistics about the 2022 Back to the Bricks event from Executive Director, Amber Taylor.  Also, more photos have been added.] Five years ago James and Pam Bogart of Flushing were riding their Harleys near Kalamazoo when they saw a sky-blue 1960 Pontiac Bonneville sitting in a parking lot. The next day the Bogarts went back to look at the car. Remembering the same car his dad...

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Village Life: At 76, he’s run marathons in all 50 states and the Great Wall of China
Jul26

Village Life: At 76, he’s run marathons in all 50 states and the Great Wall of China

By Tom Travis From the Great Wall of China to the Hoover Dam, Ortonville resident Jay Cummings, 76, experiences life 26 miles at a time — again and again.  A retired United Church of Christ minister, he’s a devoted marathon runner who finds the discipline of his chosen sport to be good for his body and spirit — and he has no plans to quit. Since 1992, when he took up marathon running to try to quit smoking,...

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