Wear Orange, Eat Donuts & Leave Room for Stuffing

After a spontaneous poll at our favorite local watering hole (follow-up article on that to come) it quickly became apparent that the things people look forward to most in November are the following – in no specific order…
• Hunting
• Donuts
• Thanksgiving

So, in the spirit of November 2018 we decided to dig into each and share some background knowledge.

Hunting

Now before getting too far, we understand that hunting season actually started last month but we were too busy talking about your favorite cider mills. We also know that not everyone is an avid hunter or supports it as a sport or activity. While we respect that opinion, this is simply a little bit of information on the role it plays around the Great Lakes. It’s also why we have information on donuts and Thanksgiving! So feel free to skip ahead.

Our great friends at Grandpa Shorter’s in Petoskey wrote an excellent pieces on their blog about Michigan’s deer hunting season. Check it out HERE!

Not only is hunting a multi-billion dollar industry around the Great Lakes but it also gets people outside (usually in the cold) and brings communities together. The deer pole in the small town where I grew up was THE gathering spot during hunting season. Hunters compared notes and everyone else caught up, drank cocoa, and caused some trouble – hunters and non-hunters alike enjoyed each other. Plus, everyone knew they would be eating well for the next several months.

Events that draw towns and people closer together are few and far between these days and are worth celebrating.

Donuts

At the Community it’s our firm belief that you can never have too many donuts. You can’t over-talk about donuts either. Plus donuts are also an activity that gets us outside! Usually the walk from the car to do door but those are steps tracked by a phone and appreciated by me.

Check out THIS article. Thanks to our friends at MLIVE we have a list that just about everyone should plan to work through. Not only does the donut industry have a $1 billion dollar impact on Great Lakes communities…just kidding! We have no idea how much money we all spend on donuts and it’s probably best to not find out.
My favorite on the list is Crust in Fenton, MI. Glad it made the ranking and if you’re ever driving down 75 or 23 south of Flint, make a 15 minute detour and check them out! However, I had a donut (or 4) the other day that changed my life. It was the first time I had a homemade donut. It’s something everyone should do, especially as our days are getting shorter and colder. Bring your family together with some cinnamon sugar or enjoy the powder sugar and chocolate by yourself! Either way they taste great and would top MLIVE’s list for sure. Check out the recipe! (Click the image to enlarge)

Thanksgiving

Now we are talking. A holiday that means everything to me and again, before I go too far, I understand that Canada also celebrated Thanksgiving this fall but I was too busy at the cider mill to write about it at the time. Next year we’ll give Canada’s Thanksgiving due credit. One thing that they have over the USA is an early enough holiday to still swim in our Great Lakes…not counting on that for us this year.

Everyone has their own Thanksgiving holiday but most include food, football, napping and leaving the dishes until tomorrow. Throw a parade or two in for good measure and we end up with one of the greatest holidays of the year. Only to be topped by July’s article (in my opinion). Obviously Thanksgiving is great for a laundry list of reasons beyond what I just mentioned and I hope yours gives you pause and reflection. Despite everything going on in our lives, one of the things that I am most grateful for is the reason we are all here, part of the Community. I’m not sure if I would be less thankful if I never knew what the Great Lakes were but I do know that knowing about them, loving them, celebrating them and having an opportunity to keep them great forever makes me want to high five everyone (in between naps)!

So, remember to be thankful for a lot (including our Great Lakes) this November and tell somebody about why you love our fresh water. Also, check out THIS website for some tasty Thanksgiving dishes brought to us by Pure Michigan!