February 22, 2025

Five “Defining Travel Trends” have been identified by Amadeus Hospitality, according to a piece published by Exhibit City News on April 13, 2022.

“According to Amadeus’ Demand360 data, 2022 is showing a significant rise in group travel booking rates. As of March 17, the on-the-books group performance in the US for 2022 already exceeds final group performance for the prior two years, a 122% increase over 2020 and a 50% increase over 2021 ….

The five trends that will define group travel in 2022 are:

1. In 2019, 58 percent of event RFPs were for groups of 50 people or less, which increased to 63 percent in 2022. In addition, the average lead-in time for an RFP has shortened from 223 days in 2019 to 193 days in 2021 ….

via Baptist Beacon (April 1, 2022)— "Called: Living the life God created you to live," by Karen Blanchard, women's life group leader with Lakepointe Church in Shelby Township, Michigan: The words “called” and “purpose” are buzzwords in our culture today. People are constantly searching to find their calling and purpose…

– May 1, 2022
via Samaritan's Purse (March 23, 2022)— "Ukraine Updates: Ukraine Updates: Fifth Airlift Departs with Ukraine Relief; Medical Care at Four Locations; Food and Other Distributions Underway": A fifth Samaritan’s Purse airlift departed today carrying more than 19 tons of relief, including medical supplies for area hospitals as we work to…

– March 27, 2022
via Baptist Beacon (April 1, 2022)— "Inwardly strong, outwardly focused," by Mike Durbin, State Evangelism Director for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan: Legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi, started the first day of the Green Bay Packers training camp in 1961 with a football in his right hand and these words:…

– April 10, 2022
via Baptist Beacon (February 2, 2022)— "The difference in knowing and loving," by Mike Durbin, State Evangelism Director for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan, re Famed jeweler Harry Winston: A customer entered Winston’s store in New York City to buy a special diamond. One of his salesmen, his most knowledgeable…

– February 13, 2022
re United States Supreme Court decision in Carson v Makin— Lifeway Christian Resources referenced Article 12 of the Southern Baptist Faith and Message, which "deals specifically and uniquely with the topic of education. ... our confessional statement affirms, Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. As we shall see, one…

– June 21, 2022
via Southern Baptist Convention (February 26, 2019)— "Who's Your One?" Day 10: Romans 10:1-3, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of…

– July 24, 2022
via Baptist Beacon (February 2, 2022)— "Peace during a pandemic," by Dr Dan Russell, Executive Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Southgate, Michigan: To help strengthen the pastors and church families of our Convention as we face this coronavirus crisis, here are some encouraging reminders on how to keep your…

– February 6, 2022
Resurrection Sunday— In anticipation of this day, Reverend Brett Younger of Plymouth Church in Brooklyn New York recently wrote, "... people in the United States will wish Easter felt like it did three years ago. They will put on new shoes and wonder if .... On Easter Sunday, people in…

– April 17, 2022
National Day of Prayer— "How to Pray for America," via National Day of Prayer: Why pray for America? God is sovereign and nothing comes as a surprise to Him. Whether we face fluctuating economics, threats from abroad, unrest at home, or other troubling circumstances, our Heavenly Father is not caught…

– May 5, 2022

Five months past formation, BSA Scouts Troop 439 held its first Court of Honor: Another step toward defining their futures

June 10, 2019

As Scouts BSA Troop 439 achieved another milestone this evening, parallels to a route that some may take to annual leadership summit on Mackinac Island are inevitable. [1,2] Three years ago, Scouting magazine ran a feature observing that “An impressively high number of US senators are Eagle Scouts.” The number is ten, including our own Senator Gary Peters from Michigan. [3,4] Among business leaders, their ranks include Charles Dolan, JW Marriott Jr, and the late ....

Aerial Photograph of Saline Die Cast Facility on Monroe Street in 1985

October 24, 2017

When the property at 232 Monroe Street came up on the Saline City Council meeting agenda last night, we couldn’t help but feel that the presentation of historical photographs could have started with images captured some years earlier. D² Enterprises (now d2 Saline) became a new local business on August 12, 1983, and the Saline Die Casting Division of Hoover Universal was one of our earliest corporate clients. We shot the aerial photograph above in ....

Saline Singularity FIRST Robotics Team week 1 progress report: Here’s what happened after the 2019 game was announced

January 9, 2019

Last Saturday, the symbolic starter pistol was fired at 10:30am sharp, starting the six-week clock for high school teams to build custom robots for 2019 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). [1,2,3] For our own Team 5066, “Saline Singularity,” that meant the first day of work — all business. Along with providing a video overview of concept, field, and scoring, an access was opened to extensive resources page that includes a list of Mechanical Resources. [4,5,6,7] Well ....

How far back should America look for examples that deal with an accellerating worldwide energy crisis? The 1970s? 1908?

April 27, 2022

Two weeks ago, President Joe Biden announced that “his administration will lift the summertime ban on E15 gasoline to help ease high gas prices.” [1] As the name implies E15 gasoline contains a 10.5% to 15% blend of anhyudrous ethanol. “The sale of E15 gasoline is usually prohibited from June to mid-September because of air quality concerns.” [2-4] Although such flexible options have only been a part of mainstream vernacular for the last dozen-plus years, ....