Townhome Buying Spree, Aloha Grill Search, COVID Stabilizes at NMU, Fresh Coast and Marji Gesick, and Free Produce!!
The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell
LAKESHORE HOMES ARE still in demand, and buyers are willing to pay big bucks for them. The Gaines Rock Townhomes, now under construction, have already sold 13 of their 26 units…. “We sold three last week,” says RE/MAX broker Fran Sevegney. “It’s a mix of year-round residents, seasonal residents, NMU employees, and a lot of them are coming from out of state.” …The prices? $450,000 to $550,000… Not exactly “affordable” or “working class” homes, which is what the city needs, but what are you gonna do? It’s prime property, walking distance to downtown.
ACTUALLY, HOMES EVERYWHERE are in demand. RE/MAX estimates there’s now a shortage of seven million homes nationwide. Meaning there are seven million prospective homebuyers out there who can’t find a home to buy.
ARE YOU WONDERING why Aloha Grill and Shave Ice, two separate businesses run by the same married couple, Mitch and Ally Kolowena, aren’t combined into a single brick-and-mortar venue? “It’s on the horizon,” says Mitch. “It’s just a matter of finding the right place at the right price.” …Currently the Grill is operating, inconspicuously, in the basement of the Masonic Center, and the Shave Ice business is run seasonally in a driveway on Third Street… Not exactly ideal… Big ratings for Aloha Grill (Hawaiian food)—5.0 on Google. If only more people could find it.
BORN AND BRED in the UP. That’s the Fresh Coast Film Festival, taking place this weekend… So many inspired ideas sound good at the start, but then fail for lack of determination and perseverance. But this one didn’t… Crowds bigger than ever this weekend, ticket sales higher than ever… A documentary film festival in Marquette… in October! Crazy. Crazy good.
ALSO BORN AND bred in the UP—the Marji Gesick, the ultra endurance bike race that took place last month… And last night, applications for next year’s race opened up. Filled, again, in a matter of minutes--all 666 spots for the 100, 50, and 15 mile races… Racers from across the nation struggling, praying, begging to get into the race. Another local idea that started small and has become a phenomenon.
IT’S ABOUT TIME. Dunham’s Sports, a comprehensive sports and recreation store in Marquette… It’s huge—everything from camping gear to clothes to kayaks to go-karts, and of course, all of the traditional sports. Marquette’s supposed to be a sports and outdoors community—How did we go for so long without such a store
INTERESTING--DUNHAM’S IS next door to the Westwood Mall and yet access between the two has been blocked off. Weird… The mall, after all these years, remains a strange combination of struggling retail stores, a church under construction (in the former Penney’s), and about a dozen empty storefronts… Dunham’s on one side, and Kohl’s on the other seem to be the only businesses breathing life into the mall.
COVID SEEMS MORE-or-less under control at NMU. Since the start of the semester in August, about 70 students have come down with COVID. Generally, a couple of them test positive every day… As of Thursday, four students were being quarantined…The vaccination rate for students is disappointing—only about 73%. For employees, it’s almost 90%.
NATIONWIDE, THE COVID infection rate and death rate has been on the decline for the last few weeks. It seems these surges last about eight weeks, then slowly peter out… Marquette County, much like last year, entered the summer in good shape—an escape from COVID!—but then saw its infection numbers climb as summer ended… Our county’s COVID cases per 100,000 population is now double the rate of the rest of the United States. Not good, but it seems to be leveling off.
SO YOU GO shopping for corn in the produce section at Meijer early in the week. None to be found. End of the season, you’re told… You try Econo. Ah, they’ve got some!---for $1.20 apiece. You buy a few… Then you stop at Incredible Bank to transact a little business, and what do you find? Sacks of corn, potatoes, squash, turnips. Free!! Take as many as you’d like… The bank’s owners are farmers. They wanna spread the wealth… Incredible.
YEAH, THE TECHNOLOGY revolution is making life easier for us. You stop at a McDonald’s downstate to buy two cups of coffee… You come face-to-face with one of those fancy-schmancy screens where you can punch in your orders. So you tap it to start your order, tap it again for the breakfast menu, tap it again for the coffee menu, tap it again to order Small, tap it twice to order two creams… then search for a way to double what you’ve just ordered. Nope. So you make a second, identical order—several more taps… And then you search for a final place to complete your order and pay… Nope, can’t find it… You search and search, scratch your head, tap a few more spots on the screen, mutter a curse word under your breath. Three minutes have now passed since you started.…Then you look, desperately, at the counter where the smiling employee says, “May I help you?” “Yes,” we reply. “We’d like two small coffees with two creams in each.” “Coming right up!”
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