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Media honored for Good News
The “good news” was celebrated in Marquette on June
10 with a luncheon and awards ceremony attended by more than fifty
people. Media representatives from across the Upper Peninsula
were commended for positive stories they wrote and programs they
produced this past year at the 2009 Good News Awards.
Since 1998, the Good News Awards have been honoring works of excellence
in broadcasting and print that affirm the dignity of people, recognize
and uphold universally-recognized human values, and uplift and
nourish the human spirit. The awards are sponsored by the religious
leaders of the United Methodist, Catholic, Episcopal, Evangelical
Lutheran and Presbyterian churches in the Upper Peninsula region.
Here are the 2009 Good News Awards by division and category:
Daily Newspapers
Straight News Story
• Good News Award: The Daily Press, Escanaba, “Community
Pride Project Winds Up” by Jillian Jamison
• Good News Award: Daily Mining Gazette, Houghton, “Powwow
Combines Culture, Community” by Mark Wilcox
• Certificate of Merit: The Mining Journal, Marquette,
“Beacon House Gets New Roof” by Christopher Diem
Feature Story
• Good News Award: The Daily Press, Escanaba, “Brockways
Share their Hearts and Home” by Dorothy McKnight
• Certificate of Merit: Daily Globe, Ironwood, “Young
Moms Rise to Challenge” by Diane Montz
Editorial
• Good News Award: The Evening News, Sault Ste. Marie,
“Me, a Grandfather?” by Kenn Filkins
• Good News Award: The Daily Press, Escanaba, “Extracting
Pain and Inserting Hope, Care” by Rick Rudden
Regular Column
• Good News Award: The Daily News, Iron Mountain, “Traveling
with Terry Quite an Experience” by Burt Angeli
• Certificate of Merit: The Mining Journal, Marquette,
“Appreciate Everyday Olympians” by Deb Pascoe
Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly Newspapers
Straight News Story
• Good News Award: Bay Mills News, Brimley, “Parker
and Munz Determined to Succeed” by Kalvin Perron
• Good News Award: Marquette Monthly, Marquette, “Heroes
Unite to Save Historic Town” by Larry Chabot
Feature Story
• Good News Award: Bay Mills News, Brimley, “Malloy
Opens her Heart, Home to Russian Child” by Shannon Jones
• Good News Award: The Finnish American Reporter, Hancock,
“Finns in School Part 5: Cross-curricular Culture” by
Jim Kurtti
Editorial
• Good News Award: Marquette Monthly, Marquette, “Notes
from the North Country” by Lon and Lynn Emerick
• Certificate of Merit: The Finnish American Reporter,
Hancock, “Simple Gifts” by Jim Kurtti
Regular Column
• Good News Award: Marquette Monthly, Marquette, “There’s
Time – We’ll Get to it Later” by Don Curto
• Certificate of Merit: Iron County Reporter, Iron
River, “A Very Merry Music Maker” by Allyce Westphal
Photograph
• Good News Award: Marquette Monthly, Marquette, “Playful
Puppeteers” by Tom Buchkoe
• Certificate of Merit: The Finnish American Reporter,
Hancock, “Juhannus Kokko (Bonfire)” by Jim Kurtti
Radio Stations
Feature Story
• Good News Award: WMQT-FM/8-18 Media, Marquette, “Stiltwalk
for CP” by Hayley Maskus and Jessica Goodwin
Editorial
• Certificate of Merit: WMQT-FM/8-18 Media, Marquette,
“A Need to Work Together” by Joseph Short
Public Service Announcement
• Good News Award: WMQT-FM/WZAM-AM, Marquette, “Pedalers
for a Cure” by Jim Koski and Casey Ford
Program
• Good News Award: WJMS-AM, Ironwood, “Rangeland
Heroes” by Bill Schug, Sam Erspamer and all service men and
women, especially those who shared their stories
TV Stations
Straight News Story
• Good News Award: WLUC-TV, Marquette, “Beacon
House” by Heather Sawaski
Feature Story
• Good News Award: WLUC-TV, Marquette, “Football Player”
by Emily Pace
Public Service Announcement
• Good News Award: WLUC-TV, Marquette, “Invest
in the U.P.” by Kim Parker and Lance Carter
—Loreene Zeno Koskey
‘Mom’s’ caters to locals,
welcomes visitors
The apple pie still was warm as it was handed over the counter
to the hands of the eagerly awaiting customer.
“Karen just made it,” said Betty, an employee at “Mom’s
Place” in McFarland. The store, located on M-35 between Gwinn
and Rock, smelled like cinnamon apples on the first truly warm
day in June. Apple pie was a perfect combination with summer starting
to shine outside.
“You’re going to like that,” Betty said.
She would know. Most of the faces that come in and out of the
M cFarland
store are familiar ones—locals who have been born and raised
in the area or moved to the Turin Township location and never
bothered to leave.
The owner of the store, Karen Lancour, is one of those people.
She was born and raised just a few miles from where the store
has been operating since the mid-1960s when “new” M-35
was built. Back then, Burt Hansen owned the store, which at one
time burned to the ground and had to be replaced.
“I remember it burning clear as day,” said Duane Englund,
a lifelong resident of the area. He was in fifth grade when the
fire started and watched as a woman jumped from the second story
window, retrieved a ladder and saved her family. “I’ll
never forget that.”
The newest incarnation of the store has gone through several owners
through the years. Burt and Eugene Hansen were the primary owners
until a few years ago when Laurie Hansen took it over along with
a gas station in Rock. It wasn’t long before the store was
being considered for sale.
That’s when Karen Lancour came along. Laurie Hansen and Cindy
Soyring, her daughters, and Betty Eggleston have helped her run
the store with the rest of her family, many of whom live in the
McFarland area.
“I couldn’t do it without them,” said Lancour,
who retired from her jobs as a restaurant owner and postmaster
of the Rock Post Office before purchasing the store. “If
it weren’t for Betty and Cindy, this place would never make
it.”
Lancour said the little store has some unique attributes. Unlike
many community-based stores these days, McFarland’s store
still offers a meat counter, which includes lunch meats, steaks,
store-ground burger and much more. In addition, Lancour turned
a love of cooking into an additional draw, offering up hot food
items and homemade soups every day.
With the summer months upon the area and the temperatures rising,
the McFarland store recently made another addition to their offerings—hand-dipped
ice cream cones.
Lancour and her employees also run a catering business out of
the store, which allows them to be much more versatile than a
regular run-of-the-mill mini-mart.
“It’s not something you’re going to get rich doing,
but it’s worth doing,” she said.
The support from the local community and the camps in the area
helps keep the business going, she noted, but added that visitors
along M-35 are more than welcome. For more information about the
store or about Lancour’s catering business, call 356-6249
or 356-6244.
—Sam Eggleston
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