906 Adventure Team Is Buying the Lakeshore Boulevard Property, the Landmark Is Making More Changes, and the Short-Staffed Sheriff’s Department Is Still Reaching Out for Recruits
The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell
“WE’VE BEEN LOOKING for a home and now we’ve found it.” The words of Todd Poquette, the director of the 906 Adventure Team…The Adventure Team recently reached an agreement to buy the two-and-a-half acre tract along Lakeshore Boulevard between the Nestledown B&B and the Stuga North veterinary clinic...Hilton had been hoping to build a hotel on thatproperty a couple of months ago, but it faced a massive outcry from residents and was rejected by the Planning Commission.
This purchase agreement will likely face no such opposition.“We’re buying a property and protecting it as a green space,” says Poquette…The building on the property (Parker & Sons) will be repurposed as the headquarters for the Adventure Team; the rest of the land will be transformed into a free bike park open to all children in the community…The precise design of the park is still to be determined, but Poquette says it’ll be safe for all ages.
The location of the park is perfect—directly across the street from the shoreline bike trail, and easily accessible for kids and families in Marquette.
So, where’d the money come from to buy the property? Responsible savings from revenue raised by the Adventure Team’s various events and from individual donations over the last several years…Pretty remarkable…The team started as one adult (Poquette) and five kids riding in the woods nine years ago…Now, it’s grown into 700 kids in nine communities in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio riding mountain bikes,challenging themselves, making friends…AND getting outside and off their cell phones.
What’s not to like? Nothing. It’s an enhancement of the neighborhood, an investment in Marquette’s kids…As long as environmental concerns about the property are satisfied—and that’s likely—the 906 Adventure Team will close on the deal and move in this Spring.
MORE CHANGES AT the Landmark Inn…The big chandelier in the lobby has come down, but there’s much more happening upstairs in the guest rooms…”We’re constantly hearing from guests, and some have told us the hotel needs freshening up,” says Matt Mering, one of the owners of the Landmark…Freshening up, as in new beds going in, as well as new furniture, new flooring, and an overall new look in the lobby…
Some of the Landmark’s “regulars” from past years complain that the hotel has lost its elegance. Mering disagrees; it’s a matter of how you define elegance, he says…It does seem that the hotel has lost a bit of its historical ambience, in exchange for a more modern, younger, and “fresher” look.
Still no final decision on what to do with the first-floor restaurant space—the former Piedmont. It remains an event space for now, and may possibly evolve into a coffee and breakfast restaurant in the future…Meantime, a new chef has arrived: Anthony Lewis, with experience at Michelin-star restaurants in Miami and Vail. He’s also spent time at a meditation wellness retreat in India.
Why the move to Marquette for him and his wife? They wanted a lifestyle change…Seems we’ve heard that before.
A MAJOR PUSH by the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department to recruit new officers…A $100,000 grant from the state is being used to sponsor recruits at the NMU Police Academy, and to broadcast TV commercials urging young people to join the sheriff’s department in Marquette….”In the past, we might have had 200-300 recruits applying for two positions here,” says Sheriff Greg Zyburt. “Now we might get only one or two.”…The department is still down two officers, and two more are likely to leave in the next few months…
MORE LABOR TURMOIL over the last year? Yep…According to Cornell University, 374 worker strikes started in 2022—that’s more than one every day, and it’s a 39% increase over 2021…Reasons: Anger over working conditions during the pandemic, and a shortage of employees. Employees, for the first time in years, realize they have serious leverage with their employers.
IT'S BEEN FIVE years now since the Temple Beth Sholom congregation moved into the old Citadel building (formerly a Christian Science center) across from the Landmark Inn…”It’swhat we were hoping for,” says Dr. Cary Gottlieb, a board member for the Temple. “We’ve stabilized our congregation and attendance numbers, and have even increased them a bit.”…The congregation had previously been gathering in Ishpeming, but most Jews in Marquette County live in or near Marquette…So the move made sense…The challenge now is finding a permanent parttime rabbi for the small congregation…
WE’VE ALL HEARD about the airline nightmares this holiday season—thousands of flight cancellations daily—but is the travel business finally getting back to normal? Not yet. “People are still nervous—especially the older generation,” explains Laura Chapman, the owner of Holiday Travel. “They don’t want to be around large crowds.” She says her business is at only about 50% of what it was before the pandemic…
COVID NUMBERS ARE increasing slightly in Marquette County, but not alarmingly, at least not yet…The published numbers, though, don’t include all those cases that are not publicly reported—like those In our homes, diagnosed through at-home testing…There are lots of those…But as long as the Covid deaths and hospitalizations don’t spike—and they don’t appear to be—maybe we’re finally getting past the pandemic stage…
VIOLINIST JANIS PETERSON and cellist Andrew LaCombe, both Marquette Symphony members, performed as a duo for the folks at the Brookridge Heights retirement community over the holidays…It’s something they and others do regularly throughout the year to promote orchestral music in Marquette…”I’ve known Andrew since he was a boy,” Peterson says. “I was his teacher, we’ve toured Europe together, and now we’re in the Symphony together.” It’s been a rewarding relationship spanning a quarter century. “I’ve always believed that, as a teacher, I learn as much from my students as they learn from me,” Peterson says. That’s certainly been the case with her and LaCombe, who’s also TV6’s news director and a prominent member of the community.
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I’ve heard rumors people like the landmark the way it was the new colors decor etc do not fit the charm of the building and it’s history don’t change what works
Hey Brian!
Thanks for writing about me, but your information unfortunately is incorrect. Actually interviewing me would've been a good start, but here is the accurate information!
None of the restaurants I worked at had Michelin stars at the time. I did in fact work for Keystone ski resort owned by Vail, while I worked there I was the Chef Tournant for the Big Horn Bistro as well as held numerous other chef and cook positions as I climbed the ranks to operating the banquets at the Bistro. I am currently the Vice President for the American Haidikhand Samaj, a non-profit organization based out of India that promotes humanitarian outreach work in the United States and India as well as operating ashrams, hospitals and centers internationally. Being involved with this organization I became a pujari and lived at our ashrams here and abroad. During COVID pandemic my wife and I lost our housing and work and decided to move closer to family. So we came back to Michigan where her mother and father live so we can settle down have kids and have the support one usually looks for when trying to do those things.
otherwise thank you for the kind words!
Anthony Lewis
Chef de Cuisine
The Landmark Inn