RESORTER
michigansthumb.com
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2020
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Anchor Fitness ready to take off ‘pandemic pounds’ as it reopens Closed since March due to executive orders ROBERT CREENAN robert.creenan@hearst.com HURON COUNTY—Gyms and exercise centers are officially allowed to reopen, including Anchor Fitness in Port Austin, after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a series of orders earlier this month. Under the new executive order, all gyms that reopen must follow safety measures, including requiring mask wearing at all times, configuring workout stations or implement protocols to allow six feet of distance between persons exercising, reducing class sizes, and provide equipment-cleaning products throughout the gym. “I urge everyone who plans to hit the gym after these orders go into effect to take these precautions seriously and do everything in their power to protect themselves and their families,” Whitmer said in a statement. Lou Schillinger, of Schillinger & Schillinger Insurance in Port Austin, owns 24-hour Anchor Fitness, which had been closed since March due to the governor’s executive order and
Anchor Fitness in Port Austin. The gym reopened this week after being closed since March due to Governor Whitmer’s executive orders. (Robert Creenan/Huron Daily Tribune) had opened back up to clients this past week. Schillinger said the equipment had to be rearranged or removed if it was not used as much and no more than two people are allowed to be in a room at once, though if there is only one person using any of the workout equipment, they do not have to wear a mask.
There is also more hand sanitizer throughout the gym and the equipment is cleaned every night, though Schillinger added they may be cleaned during the day in the future. “It’s not usually busy during the day,” Schillinger said. “People usually come in before work or up to 10 or 11 at night.” People that come to Anchor Fit-
ness must sign-in, take their temperatures, answer a questionnaire, and mark the times they entered and left. Schillinger said the gym has been on the edge of closing during the pandemic, with it barely being a year old and the place just breaking even in January, having about 50 members. He added it would take about a year to recover from this. “It was gaining traction among the local residents since they didn’t have to drive to Bad Axe,” Schillinger said, adding that seniors have been using the gym as part of their rehab programs. He will reach out to the gym’s former members to get a sense of which ones will come back and give others a chance to use it for free for the next month. Although Anchor Fitness just reopened this past week due to the changes in Whitmer’s executive orders, other gyms in Huron County have been reopened for a few months since that announcement was made. Schillinger said they were able to keep the gym closed because the investment put into it was rather low compared to other gyms in the area. “We did allow people to use it one at a time for private use, though that was rare,” Schillinger said.
Bad Axe artist’s work featured on mugs Can be purchased at Emma’s Coffee House
PAIGE WITHEY paige.withey@hearstnp.com BAD AXE — Jessi Severance is not only one of the owners of Emma’s Coffee House, her artwork can now be found on its mugs. The mug series, entitled “Squirrels in History,” can be purchased at the coffee house she owns with her husband, Brad Severance. Jessi, who went to college for art and design, was inspired by America’s humorous history involving squirrels. Two mug designs, out of nine, can be found at Emma’s. The mugs themselves are hand thrown in Wisconsin at Sunset Hill Stoneware. According to Jessi, the coffee shop has used the company in the past and felt it would work perfectly for her artwork. “We started with just the two designs, I would like to see all nine made,” Jessi said. “If people are interested, and find similar humor in them, then we will most definitely feature them all.” Jessi explained that, in early American history, the gray squirrel was brought to the newfound American colonies, where people kept them as pets. For a young child, taking good care of a pet squirrel reflected good character and morals. Soon, squirrels became a symbol of high-class families. This trend continued
Artist and co-owner of Emma’s Coffee House, Jessi Severance, has released a new series of mugs depicting a humorous line of “Squirrels in History.” (Paige Withey/Huron Daily Tribune) for quite some time, and research shows that squirrels’ presence in large urban
areas is in fact from their intentional release due to their willingness to trust
humans. While people don’t commonly keep squirrels as pets today, Jessi found humor in the concept and wondered how squirrels would have presented through history if the trend had continued. Thus, the “Squirrels in History” artwork was born. “Its been a fun project for me,” Jessi said. “I’ve made a few prints of the squirrels, which was one of the concepts I studied in school.” The first two mugs of the series, The Knight and The Lady, depict squirrels in two separate times in history. The Knight shows a squirrel dressed in a medieval style chain-mail garment and The Lady focuses on a squir-
rel in a Marilyn Monroe style dress and pose. These humorous designs reimagine what household squirrels may have looked like in the Renaissance Era and 1950’s. Jessi hopes to continue the series as well as create other original pieces for the community that will also be sold through Emma’s Coffee House. Emma’s Coffee House is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. They are also open Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and are closed on Sunday. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, customers are required to wear a mask when inside the coffee shop and follow social distancing guidelines.
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