By Patti Samar Post Sponsored by: Visiting Nurse Association and Blue Water Hospice www.VNABWH.com Anikka Witting of Marine City, cannot wait to get old. So old that her skin is thin and wrinkled. So old that her fingers are gnarled, and her knuckles out of alignment. Witting, 36, has been literally fending off death, and … More ANIKKA WITTING: One Day at a Time
By Patti Samar Editor/Publisher Blue Water Woman The post-vacation pile of mail was teetering on top of my desk. A large percentage of the snail mail received during my November vacation was from nonprofit organizations. Their envelopes were filled with their annual fundraising “ask.” I opened them all, quickly scanning the letters, reading about the … More PATTI SAMAR: Blue Water Area Should Resolve to Create Gender/Cultural Balance in 2019
By Patti Samar Elizabeth Dewey and Anna Senkmajer are the leaders of the band. And yet, the drum majors of the Port Huron Northern Marching Band also march to the beat of their own drummer. Put them together and they are able to make beautiful music. Their hard work paid off, recently, when the PHN … More ANNA SENKMAJER & ELIZABETH DEWEY: Port Huron Northern Students Share Drum Major Duties
By Patti Samar God does, indeed, work in mysterious ways. Just ask Alana Kelley, pastor of the First Congregational Church of St. Clair. It was never Kelley’s intention to become a pastor. But, apparently, God had other plans. She originally enrolled in a seminary, in mid-life, for purely personal reasons. “I was more interested in … More ALANA KELLEY: St. Clair Pastor Answered When God Called
By Patti Samar Sometimes, life doesn’t go according to plan. That is the situation that presented itself to Laura Scaccia of Marine City when her longtime life partner and fiancé, Gary Kohs, died unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism, in December 2017. Scaccia, who, along with Kohs, has been instrumental in the reinvention and economic revival … More LAURA SCACCIA: changing course
By Patti Samar Sometimes, there is just no escaping the family business. For Jennifer Montgomery, MSA, RN, FACHE, president and CEO of McLaren Port Huron, the “family business” was the practice of medicine and healthcare. “My mom was a nurse, my aunt was a nurse and my uncles were physicians,” she said. “This is not … More JENNIFER MONTGOMERY: caring for a community
By Patti Samar In the words of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it has been a long and winding road that has led Barbara Payton back to her hometown of Port Huron. To simply call Payton a musician would be a disservice to her wide array of creative talents, and her holistic approach to living. … More BARBARA PAYTON: coming home