Strawberry diaries, Woods Creek Friends, Martha andd Mary Church

The following was submitted by The View Staff Reporter Jerry LaVaute:

The Strawberry Festival was fun
I had fun covering and writing about the Strawberry Festival last weekend.

The day before I went to the festival, I was shaving when I had an idea about an unusual approach to the story.

The following morning, just before leaving for the festival, I expanded on the original idea – a diary of my visit to the festival, and my evident disappearance shortly thereafter.

It intrigued me because it was a mix of the “Blair Witch Project,” about finding disturbing evidence after several people disappeared in the woods, followed by backtracking to figure out what it means, and the song in the 1960’s by the Kingston Trio, titled “The M.T.A. song.”

The chorus goes like this:

“Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may ride forever'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.”

See the “Strawberry Diaries” or "The Lost Diaries" at heritage.com. The boss said it was like Jack Bauer and the TV show “24,” only a lot less interesting. Every time I think about that, I laugh – out loud. Austen has a bit of an edge, I see.

Woods Creek Friends
I’m not much of a tree-hugger. I wish we were allowed to search for more oil in this country, without all the restrictions.

But I do believe we should respect and preserve the natural beauty we have, and so I joined an organization called “The Woods Creek Friends” three years ago.

Woods Creek flows behind my home in the extreme southern end of Van Buren Township.

And Woods Creek Friends, bless them, have committed themselves to preserving and protecting the creek.

They celebrate their third anniversary next month, after humble beginnings in a hot library in the South Middle School, in July, and I get to do the anniversary story.

They’re working on coordinating their schedules to take one of their great action photos as they prepare to enter a creek, searching for flora and fauna that would reveal to them how the creek is doing.

I’m excited about this story, but I’m doubly excited because I got to watch Ron Merritt, a WCF member, describe in a recent Van Buren Township Board of Trustees meeting how his video on Woods Creek, narrated by his young daughter, won first prize at the recent Miller’s Creek Film Festival. I’m gonna do a sidebar on Ron’s story – very cool.

Martha and Mary Church
Speaking of cool, I’m planning to write a story on the Belleville Presbyterian Church on Belleville road. It is a fascinating story, for any variety of reasons. Stay tuned.