In The Spotlight
10? 12? 15? Hey, take your pick but get your dumbbells out and let's get to it! We're rounding 3rd in the bottom of the 9th as far as 2019 goes and there will be no letting up!! Becky is all fired up and ready to help you out even though you might be thinking it's time to wind down.
The Muskegon Channel was invited to Reeths-Puffer Elementary School for a very special surprise. First grade students at Reeths-Puffer Elementary School decided to write persuasive letters to their school administration to adopt a school pet.
After much research by both the Principal and Vice Principal they felt that having a therapy dog at the school was indeed something that they wanted to pursue. This leads us to Buddy the little bundle in the middle of the story. Karyn the Vice Principle set off to the Humane Society and Animal Rescue of Muskegon County where she met and fell in love with Buddy. 
Follow the Petco Foundation on Facebook
Follow the Petco Foundation on FacebookBuddy’s story was entered into the Petco Foundation Grant program. Out of thousands of entries from around the U.S. Buddy won the Grand Prize. Petco and their partner BOBS from Skechers surprised the Reeths-Puffer Family, Humane Society and Animal Rescue of Muskegon County with a $100,000 grant award for the organization. Along with the grant Karyn and Buddy received a $1,000 shopping spree at Petco, a bed filled with treats and other fun things for buddy also from Petco, a pair of shoes and a leash.
I had a chance to talk with some of the kids and they told me what they thought about having Buddy in school. Joining us for the chat are Alexis Ogborn from the Muskegon Humane Society, Lisa Lane from the Petco Foundation and Jennifer Clay from Sketchers. Please click on the link and watch this amazing surprise as it happened.
It was an incredible day to be a part of such a great company giving back to Muskegon. We captured the entire event as well, the best we could anyway with a room full of excaited kids and teachers and a very anticipation filled crowd as the presentation got closer. You are welcome to click below and enjoy the whole program. Our many thanks to Petco and Sketchers for this incredible opportunity to be a part of something so magnificent.
We're always very excited to welcome a new partner on with the Muskegon Channel and Positively Muskegon. We work very hard to provide Muskegon with news that reflects our community for what we really are. We don't claim perfection and we know that what we do is just a tiny bit of the incredible things we are seeing happen in and around town. Our message will always stand though...we're proud of our people, our community and we always believe that our best day is yet to come. When a business sees all of that in us and sees the value we offer as well, it's an honor of the highest magnitude. 
Follow Smitter Pest Control on Facebook
Smitter Pest Control reached out to us and said "We're in!" We were very excited and proud at the same time. Family run for 3 generations. Smitter Pest Control is now run by John Koval of Muskegon and while the business is based in Grand Rapids, their service area is pretty much anywhere on the west side of the state. John didn't waste any time getting involved in Muskegon when he moved his family here either. He gave a lot of time and energy to the Sandy Corely Memorial Run during it's 30 years. He's also a huge proponent of area athletics with Koval Softball. He helps out a lot at Ross Park and Softball World. If you follow John on Facebook too, while he's out working in his pest control business, he finds time to make life easier by posting traffic snarls he finds, and while he might no ever say it out loud, he's been known to reach in and give his last couple of bucks in his pocket to help someone out. John, is truly "that guy" and we even did a little story on him in 2017 on Positively Muskegon when a little league had all it's equipment stolen, and he led the drive to get it all replaced.
Now, on to the business! Smitter pest control takes care of it all. From catch and release of larger critters like raccoons, squirrels, skunks and more to ants, termites, mice, spiders....anything creepy crawly and especially bed bugs....Smitter handles it all. They also use environmentally friendly products that are safe for kids and pets. Pests can happen to anyone John explains in our video below and it's not about cleanliness or lifestyle, it's just a matter of bad luck in some cases or in others, pests find an "in" and in they come. The cure? Quick, affordable and efficient handling of the problem with friendly service that you'll want to recommend to others! No better form of advertising in the world, and they know that at Smitter Pest Control.
John and Andy go back a few years, so...he just swung by the house to say hi and chat about Smitter Pest Control. Take a listen!
Great local company, great stweards of the communities they serve. We are very proud to welcome Smitter Pest Control. We highly recommend giving them a call if you've got an issue. Take the number and put it on your fridge! 616-245-7215. Click on the image below and save Smitter Pest Control in your favorites so when you need them, you've got immediate access to the help you need!
Hackley Park's Christmas decorations are up for the season!
I sat down with Alison Updyke, owner of Minty Vintage and current marketing director for Pound Buddies, to catch up on what it takes to be an entrepreneur with a young family, several business successes under her belt, and three dogs of varying sizes.
Alison is known locally for her portrait and fashion photography, most recently with Wildflower Studios. The cooperative project began as several professional portrait photographers combined forces to provide a more dynamic offering. The studio has been highly successful over its six years in operation and continues to be a top recommendation for families looking to capture their most important and intimate moments. So I had to ask - why would Alison choose now to step away from the business? 
Click Here for the Pound Buddies Website
Click Here for the Pound Buddies WebsiteAs Wildflower has expanded its staff and gained a following, Alison felt now was the moment to leave the steady business in capable hands and take new chances in other areas of interest. Like any accomplished artist, she is focusing on her next body of work. Always on the move, Alison decided to take her love of fashion on the road, acquired a 1964 Avion camper, and painted it Mint Green. Dubbed a "Traveling Shop", Minty Vintage moves to locations around the city for Pop-up shops and offers a selection of retail clothing and an online shop. The website is also a portfolio; using local models to create her promotional material, her fashion photography is both playful and honest, reflecting body positivity, and showcasing her style as inclusive without compromising its edge.
An animal enthusiast, Alison takes her talents to Pound Buddies for the same type of promotion of her canine friends. "I have three dogs: "Small, Medium, and Large". Adding to her energetic family has been a no-brainer for her, but she doesn't take the responsibility of care lightly. "I just want people, when they are ready for a dog, to think of Pound Buddies first." In addition to marketing, Alison really found spending time with the animals to be fulfilling, so much so that she asked to be an animal care specialist for the organization.
A multi-faceted entrepreneur, style guru, mom of one human and three canines, doesn't she have it all? The Anxiety, yes, she says. In our frank discussion, Alison admits she struggles with a perpetual teenage angst. But she has learned to isolate the things that make her feel confident - creative reflections of her human and animal community, a zest for getting out into the world and taking chances, and uses these to overcome.
You can click on the photo below to visit Minty Vintage online!
We were once again invited out to be part of the Muskegon Area Prep Hockey press confrence this past week and we welcomed a new face to the Muskegon Channel, Nick Howard.
Oh what a night we had at Smash Wine Bar and Bistro on November 21st! It was a short month between shows it seemed, Smash is really becoming a destination for GREAT entertainment in Downtown Muskegon and we booked a little early in November because of the Thanksgiving holiday coming up and all of the incredible entertainment Smash has planned! Hey, that's what we're in business for! We LOVE to see places succeed when we're there and we're so incredibly thankful to Smash for being our anchor in Muskegon!
Today Paranormal Muskegon was on location at the Montague Museum in Montague, Michigan. Having learned from their website that the museum had amongst their exhibits a couple of rather curious artifacts, we wanted to check them out in person as well as find out more about the history of the museum. The building was formerly a United Methodist Church, which was evident by the beautiful stained glass windows and high vaulted ceilings. The church was built in 1872 and sold for a nominal fee of $1.00 to the Museum Board in 1969, where it has been since then.
Muskegon County has so many hidden gems. With the downtown hub becoming the place to be these little-known places are becoming more popular. One of those places are the Greater Women’s Club.
Last year was the first year that the Mona Shores Singing Christmas Tree was ever shown live outside the live performance and we were so excited and so incredibly honored to be able to show the rest of the world this incredible spectacle that happens annually for 35 years now right here in Muskegon. When we first had the idea, we were certain of a few things. One, we wanted to make sure that our production of the show could live up to the tireless effort put in by everyone involved with the tree. Two, we wanted to make sure that we lived up to the incredible beauty and splendor that happens live and, Three, we wanted to make sure everything on our end was satisfactory before we said a word that we were going to be showing the Tree live! All of that worry and preparation left us with about 3 days to get the word out once we were sure we could pull it off. 
Follow the Singing Christmas Tree on Facebook
Well, the word spread quick. In those few days, we saw what was almost unthinkable. The word spread world wide and as the show began, the number of viewers was staggering. We had a few sample viewers in different areas watching during the rehearsals for things like sound, and picture quality. We also had a unique situation pop up in the fact that everyone in the production of the tree got nightly review "tapes" to see where they could make tiny improvements as the final Saturday show got closer and closer. In our few days of spreading the word around, when the final count was done at the end of the night, 10,200 live viewers had watched from every corner of earth. United States, Canada, Germany, India, Brazil, Japan, Australia, Guatamala, Hong Kong, Cayman Islands, Bolivia, New Zeland, Phillipenes and more.
We learned too that with the size of the audience, came a few issues. Mostly, problems came with slower internet speeds on the receiving end. Those with DSL or slower speeds seemed to experience some lag in the broadcast. There were some on DSL who saw everything just fine, and an explanation was not able to be found. It was an isolated problem we think and we're hoping this year that the frustration doesn't repeat. We'd recommend that if you do use DSL internet, that during the time of the live show, that you limit what's taking up bandwidth in your house to help avoid the lagging.
Some other ideas. Maybe gather some friends together to watch. Have a watch party and spread a little holiday cheer together! We know of one town hall outside of Berlin Germany that did that last year! Do you have a mobile phone you can cast to a television? We were getting word last year that people were driving around and able to watch on 4g and higher speeds with no problems. That might help if you have a slower service at home. Are you a Comcast Cable subscriber in the Muskegon area? We will also simulcast the Singing Christmas Tree on Channel 96 that evening, although it will not be in high definition as Channel 96 is the PEG channel and only operates in SD. The Singing Christmas Tree will NOT be live on the Muskegon Channel's app for Roku or Amazon Fire TV. unfortunately, streaming life to those is not available yet.
We are thrilled to be bringing you the tree once again, and we hope you enjoy the show!! We'll have a special screen up early on December 7th alerting the audience about the start time and how to begin to watch the stream at 7p. In the meantime, below you'll find a very quick sample from last year to get you ready!! Tell some friends and let's all celebrate the accomplishment of some of our young people in Muskegon this holiday season with another remarkable showing of the Mona Shores Singing Christmas Tree!
We were given the great honor to be invited to help out on Veterans Day of being asked to accompany The Director of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency, Zaneta Adams on a tour of West Michigan to meet Veterans and find out from them first hand what their needs are and how her office can assist them. Making sure that what's in place to help those who were willing to protect our great freedoms are being used to their full potential and that every benefit they are entitled to, they are aware of and that they know that if they are not aware of them... there is someone there to help them understand how to access the help they have coming.
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We move from a bench and a couple of dumbbells to a stability ball and a dumbbell or two for this weeks work out with Becky from The Gym in North Muskegon! Every week, Becky works to bring you new and fun options to help you keep interested in working out and getting the most out of what you're doing with limited cost to get you started. It's a commitment to get going, it's an even bigger commitment to stay on track so to keep up on the adventure as well as limit the expense....you see quickly what she's up to.
As always, consult a physician before you start this or any workout program. Remember to warm up, stretch out and drink plenty of water!
Here comes episode 123 of Fit and Healthy With Becky on the Muskegon Channel!
Boom! Being a Certified Personal Trainer, is going to push you for more! Here's a link to her website so if you're inspired by what you've done here today, you can contact her to learn more about some of the group settings she offers or maybe one on one personal fitness opportunities!
We were incredibly honored last year to have been given the chance to show the world one of Muskegon's biggest and best annual events.
It's a growing and booming market. Sports memorabilia and collectibles are something that everyone enjoys and as the hobbies continue to be fueled by interest from collectors as well as companies wanting to feed the beast, collecting, trading and swap meets have taken on a whole new level of fun while maintaining that classic feel of being able to go to an event to find that "magical unicorn" of an item that you just have to have to round out that card collection of a certain team from a certain year or maybe it's that one item you had as a kid that you've been looking for ever since.
We've seen the emergence of the "Con". Where it's an entire weekend of dress up and cos-play around everything pop culture. Toys, games, gamers, movie stars, developers, computer nerds....you name it. Entire Garrisons of Star Wars characters show up and a sensory overload ensues. All a lot of fun but there are those collectors too who like to stick to sports and maybe dip into some of the pop stuff as well. 
See Bill's Detroit Tigers Collectors Page on Facebook
As Bill Welch and Rusty Morningstar saw it, Muskegon was a little behind on the sports card and collectible shows. Sure, they remember going to the mall back in the day for the shows and of course anyone can go on Ebay and buy stuff, but it's the combination of a lot of things that make the collecting fun. It's the strolling past the vendors, the random chats about sports memories, the anticipation of what you might find minus the search engine on some website and maybe, you'll see something there you have and had no idea how much it was worth till you saw it's match at the show! Oh ya, there's another great thing about sports card and collectible shows... meeting the sports stars themselves!
This Saturday, at the VFW located at 5209 Grand Haven Road, Bill and Rusty open the doors at 9am for the fun! You'll be able to meet and get autographs from Denny McClain of the 68 Detroit Tigers, Dave Rozema of the 84 Tigers, Larry Foster of Detroit Tiger fame as well as Terrance Taylor from the University of Michigan and Jay Vincent of MSU fame! Admission to come in to the show is free but some of the signers do ask for a small fee. There will be awesome food catered by Bone Ends of Whitehall, which Rusty happens to own and that timeless atmosphere of the collectors show will be back once again.
I met up with Bill and Rusty to talk about the event. Take a listen.
A great time coming up. If you're a long time collector or just see it on TV, stop in. If you'd like your kids to meet some of your favorite sports hero's, they will be there. If, like us you want to help a couple of local guys trying to keep alive a great tradition and pretty timeless event...get there from 9a-3p this Saturday!
Behind The Mask Masquerade Ball RED CARPET 2019
Previously live from the Trillium Event Center
During a recent interview, Mary Suarez of The Hope Project has revealed that Sex Trafficking is a very real problem in Muskegon County. The Hope project is currently helping 68 women & young girl that had been the victim of trafficking in the county, with three new 'clients' just this week.
Today Paranormal Muskegon visited the U.S.S. L.S.T. 393, A World War II vessel moored at the Mart Dock, in Muskegon, Michigan to learn about some of the history as well as some of its mystery. Patrick McKee, member of the Board of Directors of the LST 393 Museum and Ike Villapando, were kind enough to show the Paranormal Muskegon team around and tell us a little of its background, including touring it. He explained that it has the distinction of being only two of the remaining LST vessels left out of the 1,051 that that were built in July 1942 . They were launched on November 11, 1942 and commissioned on December 11, 1942, being launched in response for the need for ships for combat vessels that could invade by sea. The LST measured 328 in length with a 50 foot beam. Built in “Cornfield Navy” Shipyard in Seneca, Illinois and several other states, these hardy ships were built in a mere 60 days, with over a 1,000 of them being built in just three years. 
Visit the LST on Facebook
Visit the LST on FacebookThe LST’s extensive military campaigns were a major participant in WWII, serving in Sicily, Italy; invasion of Normandy in 1944, Omaha Beach, the liberation of the Philippines, capture of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. A few of the ships were in service right up until the Vietnam era. I asked Patrick what the letters LST stood for. He chucked a bit and told me that while LST actually stands for Landing Ship, Tank, the men serving on board liked to call them, “Large Slow Targets,” but in reality they stood tough; with only 25 losses in combat, nine were sunk. Unfortunately though, Patrick stated, after WWII, there was no longer any need for them as militarily, thus half were scrapped, some were sold to commercial use or foreign countries. Luckily for Muskegon, efforts were made to purchase one of last two remaining. It was brought to Muskegon, coming up the Mississippi river to our port where it sat, languishing and in sore need of repair for many years. Efforts to revitalize it were slow but through the efforts of several groups; one of which was headed by Dan Weikel and Bob Wygant, the ship was able to be returned to its glory days as a museum, housing thousands of artifacts, photos, and memorabilia as well as restoration to commemorate and honor the lives of those who served. The walls are lined with photographs of those having serviced, including Patrick’s father and grandfather. Many of the photographs have been submitted by family members who wish to commemorate their loved ones service. The museum will display the photo ad information about any service personal, as along as they are a veteran, for a small fee. One especially poignant exhibit that he showed us depicts photographs of those who did not make it home.
In keeping with Paranormal Muskegon’s quest to seek out Muskegon history as well as some of the goings on of a more mysterious nature; I asked Patrick about the stories that are told about the LST 393 being haunted. Patrick said he indeed has heard strange creaking, groaning, and other noises at night when it is quiet. He has had the occasion to sleep there at night, a few times, bunking in one of the Commissioned officer’s quarters, upstairs on the third deck. He told us that he as well as other have often felt a presence on this ship, especially in certain areas; but Patrick feels this spirit is happy because they are not forgotten and enjoy having people aboard to come and find out about the men who serviced valiantly on this vessel and that they are still with us; in the memories of them; memories important to their family members in keeping them alive in spirit. Because when we remember them, they live on. Perhaps this is what people feel when entering the ship; the connection to these men’s lives; how they fought, how they perished; and this feeling they get is that they can sense that walking amongst who selflessly gave service to their country, even though they left loved ones behind at home. So while Paranormal Muskegon found no real, tangible proof that there were apparitions aboard, the best take-away to all of this is that in keeping the memory alive of how vital this ship was to the world in some of its darkest days, and remembering those who served on it and in other wars; we will appreciate the sacrifice they made for us and continue to make.
Here's the chat I had with Patrick in the bridge of the LST. Take a listen.
It's hands on history in Muskegon. To Learn more about the LST 393 you can click on the photo below to visit their website. Our thanks to Patrick and Ike Villapando who helped open the ship for us for today's story.
Muskegon Voyagers Hockey Club announces new logo, jersey and plans on moving forward. The team is currently working on bringing back semi-pro hockey to Muskegon, Michigan in winter 2020.
It was quite a night for the return of Muskegon Tonight to Smash Wine Bar and Bistro! We had spent 2 months up at Pub 111 in Whitehall enjoying what the White Lake Area had to offer a little more. Pub 111 was nothing but awesome and we're excited to go back, but Smash is where it all started and we were so glad to to be back in the warm surroundings talking about all things Muskegon and surrounding again with a great audience and outstanding guests.
