Another Beautiful Fall:
The leaves are turning and the morning air has a frost about it; it’s another beautiful fall in Southwest Michigan. Each year as the maples turn red and yellow and orange we can be thankful that we live in one of the most amazingly gorgeous regions of America. With the crisp clean waters in our lakes and streams and a blue in the sky that would be hard to match on a painter’s pallet, every day seems to be an extraordinary picture postcard kind of day.
I love fall. With football games and baseball playoffs there always seems to be a ballgame to watch. Working in the yard, raking leaves, preparing the old house for winter, I remember many, many years in all of the houses where I have lived and all the cities where those houses have stood. We are closing out 2010, in the last quarter of the year, getting ready for another decade.
In all this beauty and change I also become very aware of the passage of time and how our lives are affected by that progression. Seasons change and so do we. As a young man I coached football, basketball, and baseball and taught biology and chemistry in a high school in suburban Chicago. Today, one of the young men I had the privilege to have worked with at that high school was named the Manager of the Chicago Cubs. That young man is Mike Quade who was the quarter back on our football team, point guard on our basketball team, and the shortstop on our baseball team. I still think of him as a high school kid but when I saw him interviewed on TV; wow was he intense.
From our tiny 1950s house in Norwalk, California to our 2 story house here in Sturgis, I’ve had the chance to experience more than many of my peers but certainly not as much as others. I’ve met and known major league sports stars, politicians, singers and actors but none of them have impressed me more than some of the people I’ve gotten to know right here in St. Joe County. People with huge hearts, who are willing to lend a hand at the drop of a hat. People who love our County, Our State, and Our Nation. People who appreciate simplicity and honesty and integrity.
Yes, we live in a beautiful area with many beautiful people. Each fall for the last 4 years many have come together to say thank you to those who gave years of their lives in service to our Nation. FAFSOM’s Hero’s Dinner served over 400 dinners last year and is ready to serve just as many this year. Yes it’s another beautiful fall. Why not help us celebrate a beautiful place and its beautiful people at the 4th annual Hero’s Dinner. Beautiful fall, beautiful area, beautiful people, beautiful cause, Family and Friends Supporting Our Military; give me a call to reserve your seat—877-306-6374.
