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COVID-19 Kills Public Transit in Emmet
A hard-won public transportation option in Emmet County will stop at the end of the year after just two years in service. The board of commissioners voted in August to end EMGO at the end of 2020. Because it was funded through the county’s general fund rather than a millage, it had to compete for funding with other mandated services, said Michael Reaves, county administrator. The added pressure the pandemic put on the general fund and the economy meant the county could no longer fund public transportation, Reaves said. (The struggle to launch EMGO was profiled in the Northern Express story “The Bus Doesn’t Stop Here,” featured in the Sept. 23, 2017, edition). The board did vote to greenlight $26,000 to supplement the cost of transport for senior citizens and the disabled. Reaves told Northern Express in an email that, under a different economic reality, something like EMGO could someday be reconsidered. “Perhaps in the future, under a different funding mechanism, this may be revisited,” he wrote.
Host a Live Performance Viewing Party in Your Home
Stuff we love Outlets for (Gentle) Aggression So college football ain’t happening this fall. The NFL preseason is canceled. And the NBA bubble … ? Well, it’s burst all of our dreams for live courtside screams. So where to go to hoot, holler, and high-five your fellow man (or woman) this fall if not your college bleachers or living room? We suggest the War Zone, in Traverse City. For just $5, first-timers who book ahead online (www.thewarzonetc.com) get an openplay session (regularly $15) to get out all their pent-up sports-fan aggression by way of a high-powered nerf “blaster.” Every Saturday, kids age 7–12 get their own session at 4pm– 5pm; kids and adults age 13+ play 5:30pm–6:30pm. Birthday parties, leagues, and even monthly memberships are available, too. Since players generally want to avoid getting shot, social distancing is naturally part of the game, but co-owner Matthew Elliott tells us the War Zone works to keep things extra clean with a one-way air-control system, outdoor staging areas, pre-game temperature checks, and the sanitizing of all blasters and common areas between sessions.
Summer’s live entertainment options were limited, but contrary to popular fear, fall’s are far from dead. Already on the schedule: Parallel 45’s “DEJA ZOOM,” in which the professional group of actors will perform, live at 7pm, Sept. 24, the entire alphabet in under an hour — this time, pandemic style: socially distanced and via Zoom. A riff on their hilarious “Alphabet Experience LIVE” show from last winter, this one is also made to crack up kids and adults but requires no awkward apologies to other audience members when your kids decide they need to go potty four times in the single hour. Instead, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the livestreaming show on your own home computer ($12). Or, go big and host a home viewing party for your whole pod; $100 gets you access to the show, and VIP After Party, and a P45 Mystery Box. Don’t think you’ve got the HDMI-cable chops for a viewing party? Covered: $75 will get you an in-home visit from a tech who’ll set up your TV, audio, or projection screen prior to the performance. Get tickets at www.parallel45.org
8 STORIES ALL OVER THE PLACE Learn about growing up gay in Traverse City in CHASTEN BUTTIGIEG’S memoir, I Have Something To Tell You (Sept. 10, 7 p.m.); the latest thriller by RUTH WARE, One by One, set in the French Alps (Sept. 13, 2 p.m. — special time); and a doctoral student exploring the underpinnings of addiction and depression — maladies that have hit her own immigrant family in YAA GYASI’S newest novel, Transcendent Kingdom (Sept. 23, 7 p.m.).
Chasten Buttigieg
Ruth Ware
All three authors will be bringing their best-selling books to the National Writers Series in September — radically different subjects all with satisfying results. Events are virtual, registration info at NationalWritersSeries.org
Yaa Gyasi
bottoms up Walloon Lake Winery’s Windemere If there was ever a wine custom-made for a breezy, sunny, late-summer day, Walloon Lake Winery’s Windemere ($20 bottle), a white, three-grape field blend culled from Petoskey’s La Di Dah Vineyard, must be the one. With only a hint of sweetness in its pale-yellow depths, Windemere, named for Ernest Hemingway’s boyhood Walloon Lake home, is refreshingly dry with the tart citrus notes and profoundly fresh white-grape aroma so enriched by Northern Michigan sunshine. The fermented nectar of three cold-hearty, single-vineyard hybrids (Frontenac Gris, Frontenac Blanc, and La Crescent) constitute this light, summery wine, which pairs well with fish, seafood, cheese, charcuterie, and desserts, while also serving as an excellent cooking wine. Find it at Walloon Lake Winery, 3149 Intertown Rd., Petoskey, or order a bottle online ($19.99) at www.walloonlakewinery.com. (231) 622-8645
Northern Express Weekly • sept 07, 2020 • 5
