2013 Year In Review: Part Two

2013 Year In Review: Part Two

Tuesday, January 7, 2014 3:47 PM EST

A car crash that claimed the lives of a Grayling High School senior and the 31-year-old coach of the GHS varsity boys golf team. Camp Grayling's 100th anniversary. The reigning AuSable River Canoe Marathon champions winning the race for a sixth consecutive time. Grayling being selected for the Michigan Main Street program. Mercy Hospital Grayling being named one of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals. Fracking in Beaver Creek. Just a few of the many local news stories covered by the Crawford County Avalanche this past year.

In sports, during the 2013 calendar year, Grayling High School's wrestling team won a Lake Michigan Conference title and a district championship, the GHS varsity boys basketball team won its third consecutive district title, and the football program won a second consecutive league title. The girls golf team made it to the state finals for a fourth consecutive season.

It was a busy year for Grayling and Crawford County. With 2013 coming to an end, the Crawford County Avalanche presents Part Two (July through December) of its annual Year In Review feature. Part One (January through June) was included in last week's edition of the Crawford County Avalanche.

Story summaries in the Year In Review are listed according to the edition in which the article appeared.

July

The Crawford County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to place a surcharge on all improved property, land which has buildings and utility services, to fund the countywide recycling program. The county recycling committee is seeking to levy a surcharge of $6 per year per household. Beaver Creek Township, Grayling Charter Township, and the City of Grayling will place the surcharge on tax bills of property owners. Frederic Township, Maple Forest Township and South Branch Township will utilize existing funds collected for trash disposal and recycling to pay for their obligations for the program. Lovells Township, which levies a millage to fund its trash transfer station, will run its own recycling program and will transport collected materials to Camp Grayling to be processed. (July 4)

The Mason-Griffith Founders Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU), a partner of the AuSable River Watershed Committee, was given a two-year Habitat Improvement Account (HIA) grant from Consumer's Energy. The HIA program was established to mitigate damage caused to fish habitats by the hydroelectric turbines for dams located throughout the AuSable, Muskegon and Manistee Rivers. The Mason-Griffith of TU is using the grant to fund a project that will repair over 1,000 fish habitat improvement structures in the AuSable River put in by the Department of Natural Resources in the 1970s. (July 4)

The third edition of the AuSable River Canoe Marathon trading cards was released. The set included 18 different cards. Only 250 sets were available for each edition. The newest set - the 2013 edition - included: John Baker, Tom Cannon, Bernie Fowler, Michael Garon, Rod Halstead, Ryan Halstead, Jim Harwood, Peter Heed, Steve Krantz, Steve Landick, Fred Mills, the Memorial Monument (2008-2012), Josh Sheldon, Amy Solak, Tim Triebold, Dwight Walker, Jon Webb and Ed Wojahn. (July 4)

See the rest here:
2013 Year In Review: Part Two