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By Jennifer ShusterPublisher

It’s been almost 90 yearssince Judge Arthur Tuttle,Leslie Alumnus of the Year,deeded a plot of land on thecorner of Bellevue and Arm-strong Streets to be knownas Tuttle Park.

According to “Leslie, APlace in History,” the pur-pose of the park was to per-petuate the family name ofTuttle and for the benefit ofthe people of Leslie.

Tuttle also had six otherconditions:1. The premises would be

forever kept and maintained.2. The name be Tuttle

Park.3. Structures would be

limited to a monument,fountain, or hall to be usedfor meetings, concerts, etc.,erected to the memory of theTuttle family.

4. No admission chargefor entrance to said premisesexcept by special permissionof common council.

5. Flowing water alwaysbe kept on said premises andavailable for free use andconsumption by the public.

6. That common counciladopt a resolution acceptingthe gift.After World War II a mon-

ument was erected to honorLeslie’s war casualties.

Since then, the propertyowned by the City of Leslie,has received quite an over-haul.In 1986, the Leslie Lions

Club came up with the ideato build a structure thatwould serve as a lastingmonument for Leslie’ssesquicentennial celebrationthat year. According to an article in

the Lansing State Journalpublished in June 1986, thedecided gazebo structurewas modeled after thosebuilt over 150 years ago andeffort was made to keepclose authenticity.There were about 40 vol-

unteer workers who came

with tools in hand ready toconstruct the anticipatedgazebo.

There was about $4,000worth of building materialsbought with donated fundsfrom Independent Bank,Lion’s Club, local busi-nesses and individuals.Then in 1996, Leslie City

Finance Director Cheri Neusaid an anonymous benefac-tor gave the City of Leslie$50,000 towards upkeep andmaintenance of Tuttle Park.According to Neu, a main-

tenance fund was estab-lished and approximately$25,000 was spent on land-scaping and the “Veterans’Memorial” walls.Neu said the remaining

funds are dedicated to up-keep and paying a groundskeeper, a position that beganin 2004.

Life-long Leslie residentTracy Ewing has been tak-ing care of Tuttle Park sincelast year.

“It’s right up my alley,”Ewing said. “I just want it tolook nice because it’s asense of pride and accom-plishment for our town.”

Volume 1, No. 31Tuesday, May 19, 2009

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Leslie Public Schoolswill privatize servicesBy Jennifer ShusterPublisher

After rejecting an offer madeby the Leslie Board of EducationMay 11, the support staff atLeslie Public Schools knew theirfate was sealed.According to LPS Superinten-

dent Corey Netzley, the supportstaff had until May 15 to re-spond to the board’s formal po-sition regarding wages forcustodial and grounds workers.Netzley said the group rejectedthe proposal, therefore thoseservices will be outsourced be-ginning July 1.

Netzley said she had hopedthe support staff and schoolboard could have worked out away for them to maintain theiremployment.

There will be ten LPS em-ployees who will be affected bythis board decision Netzley said.

LPS custodial work will beoutsourced to the Enviro-Cleancompany and the LPS groundswork will be outsourced toLakestate Lawn & Landscaping. A press release is scheduled

to come out after publication ofthis issue. More in-depth cover-age of this matter will be avail-able after that time.

County’s possible police reduction willaffect Leslie and Onondaga Townships

Memorial Day and Honored Alumnus spark interest in Tuttle Park

Photo by Jennifer ShusterPLACE OF TRADITION - For over two decades the gazebo has stood on the cor-ner of Bellevue and Armstrong Streets providing a traditional location for cere-monies and prom goers.

By Jennifer ShusterPublisherA possible reduction in

the Ingham County Sher-riff’s Department couldforce rural townships,like Leslie and OnondagaTownships, to pay fortheir own police services.

With many tax-basedorganizations recentlybeing forced to makedrastic budget cuts, theIngham County Board ofCommissioners alsofaces tough and contro-versial decisions on howto cut an approximate $4million deficit.

Most recently, theboard is wavering on adecision that could dras-tically reduce the InghamCounty Sherriff’s De-partment by the year2010. However, according to

Ingham County Commis-sioner Don Vickers, it’snot just the rural town-ships that will be af-fected.

Vickers, who repre-sents the 16th Districtwhich includes Leslie,said that ten of the 16commissioners are push-ing for the full $4 million

budget cut at the InghamCounty Sherriff’s De-partment. Conversely, hesaid he believes cuts ofthat stature should bemade across the board.

“I think we’re spend-ing money on some capi-tal outlay projects that wedon’t need right now,”Vickers said.

Cuts to the sherriff’sdepartment have beendiscussed as far back asthe 1990’s, Vickersadded.However, government

and law enforcement off-Continued on Page 4.

May 25, 2009

*Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - TheAmerican Legion Post 491 located at 422 Wood-worth Street in Leslie will now open its doors toanyone who would like to come down on Mon-days, Wednesdays or Fridays from 10 a.m.-Noonto play games and enjoy coffee and cookies.*Tuesday, May 19 - Woodworth ElementaryFirst-graders concert @ 6:30 p.m. at the LHS au-ditorium.*Tuesday, May 19 - LMS seventh -graders @Lugnuts.*Wednesday, May 20- Remember When Remi-niscers at the Leslie Library at 10 a.m.*Thursday, May 21 - The Leslie UnitedMethodist Church will host a Pork Loin Dinnerfrom 5-7 p.m. A free will offering will be taken.*Friday, May 22 - No school for White PineAcademy (Professional Development).

*Monday, May 25 - No school for Leslie PublicSchools or White Pine Academy for MemorialDay.*Monday, May 25 - Annual Memorial Day pa-rade at 10:00 a.m. Line up at 9:30 am on Wood-worth Street. Route: East on Bellevue, South onArmstrong, to Carney then north on Main St. toAdams St. ending at Woodlawn Cemetery for theceremony.*Monday, May 25 - American Legion ChickenBBQ from 11 a.m. to when the chicken is gone!$7/person.*Wednesday, May 27 - The Leslie City PlanningCommission will meet at 6 p.m. in G.A.R. Hall.*Thursday, May 28 - Leslie High School Dis-tinguished Alumni Ceremony at 5:30 p.m. in theLHS auditorium.*Thursday, May 28 - Leslie High School

Honor’s Night at 7 p.m. in the LHS auditorium.*Friday, May 29 - Leslie High School gradua-tion at 7 p.m. in the LHS auditorium.*Mondays, June 1 - June 5 - Free Play Groupfor children ages one through four from 10-11amat the Leslie First Baptist Church, 202 E Belle-vue.*Mondays, June 1 - Ongoing - TOPS-1466,Leslie. Support Group for Taking Off PoundsSensibly. Weigh in from 5:15-5:45 p.m. at theFirst Baptist Church on the corner of Bellevue &Church Streets in Leslie. Meeting from 6-6:45p.m. Contact Coleen, 589-8145.*Tuesday, June 2 - The Leslie City Council willmeet at G.A.R. Hall at 7 p.m.*Wednesday, June 3 - Leslie Chamber of Com-merce will meet at Crossroads Bar and Grill atNoon.

Community Calendar

The Leslie Weekly Guardian - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 Page 2

Community

Your display advertising purchase is helping to support the continuation of Leslie community news. You canfeel confident with your choice to advertise in your own community’s newspaper, as the quality coverage willbe based solely on the Leslie area. Not only are you promoting your business, you are backing your own com-munity visibly. This publication will strive to tie the citizens of Leslie together through family-valued newscoverage. Without your patronage, this would not be possible.

Thank you for your purchase, but most of all your support!

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4691 Hull RoadLeslie, Michigan 49251

Bible Baptist Church(517) 589-9011

B.Y.O.B. in May“Bring Your Own Bible”

Senior Pastor: Terry FrenchYouth Director: Kamanga Mwangi

Sunday: Fellowship Time: 9:15a.m. to 9:45 a.m.~ featuring Holy Grounds CaféSunday School: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. ~ Children, Teens & AdultsMorning Service: 11 a.m. to NoonEvening Service: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.Worship Team Practice: 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.

Monday:Women’s Bible Study: 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday: Community Study Hall and Free Tutoring: 5:30 to 7 p.m.Bible Study: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.Worship Team Practice: 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Thursday: Women’s Bible Study: 9 a.m.

Friday:Community Movie Nite: Free movie and popcorn once amonth.

Service Times:

The Leslie Weekly Guardian - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 Page 3

CommunityClassifieds

ServicesSam’s Late Night Auto

(517) 812-4032111 S. Railroad in Rives Junction

Open Monday-Friday from 6 p.m.-11p.m.Saturday and Sunday from Noon - ?

Getting ready to have a garage sale?Advertise it cheap right here! $5 gets you 30 words for four weeks in a row!!!

Real EstateHOUSE FOR SALE -Four bedroom home forsale in City of Leslie. In-cludes 2,100 squarefeet, 2 garages, 2 baths,larger lot on Main Streetwith a creek in the back-yard.

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BEodyssentials113 1/2 Carney St.Leslie, MI 49251

(517) 589-0805Visit us online:

www.tanningleslie.comCash/Personal Check/Visa/MC accepted

Gift Certificates Available

Open: M - Th 8 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Fri. 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.Sat. 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Tanning ~ HairNails ~ Massage

The Leslie Weekly Guardian - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 Page 4

CommunitySubmitted by Leslie Public Schools District Office

With funding from the stateshrinking and the number of stu-dents decreasing, Leslie PublicSchools has announced layoffs fornine teachers and two reductions ofteaching time, as a cost-savingmeasure.

The Board outlined how it cameto the decision at its May 11 meet-ing.“This decision was made to assure

that Leslie PublicSchools can con-tinue to provide aquality education toour students,” saidBoard PresidentRandy Sherrell dur-ing the meeting’sopening statement.

District officials noted thatschools, like companies around thestate, are forced to make difficult fi-nancial adjustments in order to re-main solvent. As parents lose jobs and seek em-

ployment in other regions, there is aloss of both tax revenue and stu-dents. Officials emphasized that the lay-

offs were a decision of last resort. “We will work with the union and

the employees during this difficulttransition,” said Leslie Superinten-dent Corey Netzley. “Certainly, asretirements occur or if we haveopenings that occur in the district,we will seek to reinstate these teach-ers.” “The reality is that districts are ei-

ther closing schools or having to lay

off employees. It is a choice be-tween two unfortunate options,”said Netzley.

District officials also noted theimportance of maintaining programscritical to student achievement andsuccess. “With roughly 85% of the budget

being in the area of personnel, wedid not have many options. Theselayoffs allow us to continue pro-grams that support our core missionof academic success for everychild,” said Board President RandySherrell.

School Board and superintendent defend decision on layoffs

Sherrell

“Sherriff’s Department” Continued icials spoke against the plan beforethe commissioners on May 12. Leslie Township Supervisor Dal-

las Henney said the proposed cuts tothe county police services is “justbad public policy.”

Another local supervisor, RandyMaiville of Onondaga, said the pos-sible cuts will “put people’s safetyin jeopardy.”Commissioner Mark Grebner has

spoken publicly about his years of

pushing for townships to pay fortheir own police services.

He said the goal is to have thesame police coverage, but have itcome from an expanded depart-ments like Leslie’s Police Depart-ment.

According to the plan, 28deputies, one captain, two lieu-tenants, six sergeants and two de-tectives will be cut. This willprovide an approximate budget sav-

ings of $3.6 million.Henney said the county police is

one of the few services residents inLeslie Township receive from thecounty.

“We’re sending more tax moneyto the county than we’re receivingback in services,” Henney said. “Wejust don’t have the funding to possi-bly supply our own local policeservices.”

Vickers said he has been over-

whelmed with E-mails and phonecalls from concerned residents won-dering about a reduction in policecoverage.Yard signs opposing the plan are

scheduled to appear this week in theLeslie area.

The next Ingham County Boardof Commissioners meeting is sched-uled for May 26 at 7:30 p.m. at thecourt house in Mason on the thirdfloor.

Rubino’s Lawn Care(517) 575-1533

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The Leslie Weekly Guardian - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 Page 5

Community

Bible Baptist Church4691 S. Hull Rd.Leslie, MI 49251(517) 589-9011

Bunker Hill Seventh Day Adventist3820 Williamston Rd.Leslie, MI 49251(517) 589-0659

Children of Christ - Israelite Society100 S. Main St.Leslie, Michigan 49251(517) 403-4641

Child’s Bible Church3985 Crain Rd.Onondaga, MI 49264(517) 589-5731

Congregational United Ch. of Leslie114 W. BellevueLeslie, MI 49251(517) 589-5226

Faith Assembly of God4020 N. Main St.Leslie, MI 49251(517) 589-9121

Felt Plains United Methodist Church3523 Meridian Rd.Leslie, MI 49251(517) 589-0217

Grace Lutheran Church212 S. ShermanLeslie, MI 49251(517) 589-0250

Grand River Community Church2443 Olds Rd.Leslie, MI 49251(517) 589-5448

Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall 5290 Churchill Rd.Leslie, MI 49251(517) 589-8883

Leslie First Baptist Church204 E. Bellevue St.Leslie, MI 49251(517) 589-8541

Leslie United Methodist Church401 S. Main St.Leslie, MI 49251 (517) 589-9211

Maple Grove Baptist Church6508 Cooper Rd.Pleasant Lake, 49272(517) 769-2220

Orthodox Monastery of Dormition3389 Rives Eaton Rd.Rives Junction, MI 49277(517) 569-2873

Rives Baptist Church2800 W. Berry Rd.Rives Junction, MI 49277(517) 569-3147

SS Cornelius & Cyprian Church1320 Catholic Church Rd.Leslie, MI 49251(517) 589-8492

Leslie AreaChurch Directory

The Leslie WeeklyGuardian provides thislocal church directory asa community service tolocal religious organiza-tions. If you do not seeyour group listed, pleasesend us an e-mail with

the information.

You do it. I do it. Everyone youmeet does it. What is it? It is worry-ing. Worry in a simple definition issimply sustained concentration. Theonly problem is that when we worrywe often concentrate on what can gowrong, instead of concentrating on asolution.

We might as well be honest witheach other. We all worry. The onlydifference between us, is what weworry about. Some people worryabout their job. Some their kids.Some their kid’s job; or if they willever get one. The point is we allworry sometimes about differentthings. You might have heard the old say-

ing: “A little worry never hurt any-one.” We might agree at first. Butdid you ever think about that in termsof arsenic. Just a little wouldn’t killme. How about just a little over along time. Eventually the arsenicwins out. Same with worry.I read an amazing thing a few years

ago and have never forgotten it. Itwas entitled “Why Worry.” The arti-cle gave these amazing things tothink about:Of the things we worry about . . .

40% will never happen. 30% con-cerns old decisions that cannot bechanged. 12% centers upon criti-cisms made by people who feel infe-rior. 10% is related to my health,which worsens when I worry. 8% islegitimate, which can be met by a de-cision I have not made yet. You may think by now that I don’t

think you should ever worry. Wellmy opinion doesn’t matter that much,so I would like to ask a person whocould give us a definitive answer.Let’s ask Jesus. In Matthew 6:25-34He tells us when it is alright to worry.Let’s look at what He said.1. Worry when it will feed or clothe

you. Jesus told us to go ahead andworry when it will put food on thetable or clothes on your back. Ofcourse, we know worry can do nei-ther one of those things. Jesus saidthat God feeds the birds and clothesthe flowers so that those who follow

God need not worry about thesethings. God will provide if we allowHim to be in our lives.

2. Worry when it will lengthen orstrengthen your life. Jesus said,“Who ever added a day to their lifeby worrying?” Funny thing is thatworry can take a day and make itseem twice as long as it really is. Tobe honest, all worry does is takeaway from our lives. How many op-portunities have we missed becausewe were worried about how theywould turn out? But if you think youcan make life better or longer byworrying, Jesus said go ahead.3. Worry when you want to know

how a pagan feels. Let me definepagan for you. A pagan believes ingods; but gods who are undepend-able. Many of us put a lot of thingsahead of God. When we worry aboutsomething, in a way that thing be-comes our god. When we allowworry to control our minds, we giveit control of our lives and allow it tobecome the biggest thing in theworld.4. Worry when you want tomorrow

to be worse than what it’s alreadygoing to be. “You can’t do anythingabout the past, but you can ruin thepresent by worrying about the fu-ture.” The Bible tells us not to worryabout tomorrow because today hasenough trouble to keep us occupied.Jesus says to worry is to not take Godat His word.

Jesus concluded His talk aboutworry by giving us one legitimatething to be worried about. That iswhether or not we are in the King-dom of God. Are you following whatGod would have you do, or are youletting the concerns of this life dom-inate your thinking. Instead of wor-rying, why not try praying? Whenyou begin to worry, pray. Ruth Gra-ham said it best: “I give my troublesto God everyday, He is going to beup all night anyway.” Now that issome advice that makes sense.

Rev. Toby TeagueLeslie First Baptist Church

Wait to WorryBy Rev. Toby TeagueLeslie First Baptist Church

Please enjoy your Memorial Day!

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Would you or your business like to wish the LHS Class of 2009 or a specific graduate

good luck on their journey after graduation?Do it right here in The Leslie Weekly Guardian!

$10 gets you a 2.5”x 4.5” box with your personalization including color pictures! Call today . . . it’s easy!

(517) 878-8006

The Leslie Depot Diner

Monday - Saturday 6am - 8pmSunday 6am - 2pm

107 Covert Streetby the railroad tracks (517) 589-5230

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~ New Owners ~Same Great Charm and Homemade Foods

Take Out Available

SportsThe Leslie Weekly Guardian - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 Page 6

By Gary TaylorCoachThis past weekend, the Leslie ten-

nis girl's finished 2nd in the Division4 regional competition held in Port-land. Williamston finished 1st. Thisis the first time in school history

Leslie High School has qualified toplay in the state championshipscoming up on May 29th in GrandRapids. Katie Waskiewicz finished1st at 4th singles while Autumn Bar-rett and Raelynn Ries finished 2ndat 4th doubles.

Tennis players in state championship

By Tom ShaferCoachOur Leslie Varsity golf team com-

peted in our SMAA league meetTuesday, May 12.

Scores for each of the teams inour 18 hole event held at LakelandHills in Michigan Center are as fol-lows: Hillsdale 321, Western 329,Leslie 332, Stockbridge 345, Co-lumbia Central 355 and LansingChristian 388.

By finishing 3rd in the tourna-ment our final league standingswere as follows: 1st Hillsdale, 2ndWestern, 3rd Columbia Central, 4thLeslie, 5th Stockbridge and 6thLansing Christian.

The boys played extremely wellyesterday led by Jon Fifield's 78,Brad Millican's 80 and Brandon Fi-fields 82 and Nick Sierminski's 92.

Going into the meet the Hawkstrailed Stockbridge by 1 point andColumbia Central by 6.The League meet counted double

so that when we beat Stockbridgewe gained 2 points, we also gained4 on Columbia but it wasn't enoughto overtake them in the final stand-ings.

We will finish up our season vsJackson Christian on May 19 andDistricts at the Golf Club of Cold-water on Friday May 22.

Golfers finish fourth in tournament

Two high school girls’ relay teamsrecently broke two Leslie HighSchool records.

The 3200 Meter Relay Team,made up of Ashley Steers, BrookePrieskorn, Anna Rudd and KaylaSmith, broke the old record of:10:25.1, with a new record of:10:21.71.The 1600 Meter Relay Team, made

up of Kristen Seburg, Kayla Smith,Brooke Prieskorn, Megan Martin,broke the old record of: 4:23.4, witha new record of: 4:21.70.Also, Rudd broke another 2 mile

record - setting a new time of:11:42.2.Results from Regionals at MapleValley Friday were not available attime of publication.

Relay teams break school recordsThe Leslie Middle School Track

teams did a nice job Wednesday inthe final SMAA League Invitationalmeet of the season at Columbia Cen-tral, picking up 20 medals betweenthe two (Boys and Girls) teams.The Leslie Girls finished 4th out

of 8 league schools while the Boyswere 5th. Sarah Subject was LeagueChampion in winning the 800 meter(1/2 mile) run! Also, the Girls 1600meter (1 mile) relay team, consist-ing of Kendra Weeks, ShannonPryzgocki, Tori Kinney, and Sub-ject, were also League Champions!Nickole Wixson and SteffanieHampton finished 2nd/3rd in the1600 (1 mile) race, while Hamptonalso was 2nd in the 3200 (2 mile)race. Subject also won a 3rd placemedal in the 400 meter dash.For the Boys, Mike Dolbee won a

2nd place medal in the high jump.Chanler Carmer was 2nd in the 70meter dash as was Cody Davis in the200 meter dash. The Boys 1600meter (1 mile) relay team made up

of Trevor Alleman, Bobby Chesney,Chase Leonard, and Carmer alsofinished 2nd while the 3200 meterrelay team (Kaleb Dunn, Aron Dol-larhite, Dolbee, and Chesney)earned 3rd place medals.This was the end of the season for

the Leslie MS Blackhawk trackteams who have had a very success-ful season with four new schoolrecords being set! A number of in-dividual athletes have qualified andwill compete two weeks from nowin the elite Lansing Area Honor RollTrack Meet in Okemos on May28th.

“Some of our individual runnersstill have some unfinished busi-ness,” Coach Jim Hanson said. “Wehave a couple of school records thatare within reach yet, and qualifyingto run in the Lansing Honor RollMeet with the best middle schoolathletes in the area is pretty specialand seems to bring out the best inour kids. It’s fun and exciting foreveryone!”

LMS track teams win 20 medals

After last week’s low, low total ofonly 1,000 miles, WoodworthMileage Club members are some-how still slightly ahead of last year’space, but will need almost 1,600miles this week to top last year’sfinal total of 10, 529 miles!!! THE KINDERGARTENERS led

all grades last week with 320 miles!Only two Woodworth classroomstopped the 100 miles mark, withMrs. Dietz’ 1st graders coming closewith 92 miles! Runners-up in the

school with 100 miles were the 3rdGraders from Mrs. Gillespie’s class-room, while leading all of Wood-worth last week and claiming theGolden Shoe Award for the firsttime this spring are MS. KIRBY’SKINDERGARTEN STUDENTSWITH 152 MILES!!! Way to go,kindergarteners!!!On Friday, all Woodworth classes

will be walking up to the HighSchool track at 2 p.m. to walk/runtwo laps on the track.

Woodworth enters final week of Mileage Club

Picture Puzzler

This week’s Picture Puzzlerfeatures a married couple whomoved to Leslie way back in1976. He worked at the JacksonPrison and she worked at Fel-pausch in Leslie. They have twodaughters who graduated fromLeslie High School.

Those who think they canidentify the people pictured inthis week’s Picture Puzzler areencouraged to E-mail us at Jen-n i f e r@ t h e l e s l i e w e e k l y -guardian.com with their first andlast name.The contest deadline is Friday

at 5 p.m.Correct guessers will have their

names entered into a randomdrawing with the winner receiv-ing a $10 gift certificate to Star-bucks, courtesy of The Leslie

Weekly Guardian.We had another stumper this

week as no one was able to iden-tify Leslie’s Little Miss Sesqui-centennial Katie Chamberlainand Leslie’s Junior Miss Sesqui-centennial Andrea Smalley.Therefore, next week’s winner

will receive two, count ‘em, two$10 gift certificates to Starbucks!

Good luck and please keepsending us pictures!

The Leslie Weekly Guardian - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 Page 7

Family Page

HAPPY COUPLE - Who is this local couple who were mar-ried over 42 years ago?

Katie Chamberlain (left) & Andrea Smalley

We want to hear about your family newsand share it with the Leslie community!Please send in your births, weddings, engagements, obituaries, anniversaries,

college news or military news.Include a picture...

it’s included in the price!

Just $10

1801 N. West Ave.Jackson

(517) 782-3408

Births

Andrew William Parrott (on the left) and his twin brother Lucas Ryan Par-rott were born at Ingham Regional Medical Center in Lansing, on Monday,May 13 at 6:46 and 6:47 p.m. respectively to Ryan and Courtney (Ward)Parrott of Jackson. Andrew and Lucas have an older brother Benjamin at home, anxiously

awaiting them.Their grandparents include James and Peggy Parrott of Jackson, Andrea

Masters of Leslie and Don and Andrea Ward of Leslie.

Andrew and Lucas ParrottParrott

Makya Cole Isham

IshamEric and Melissa Isham of

Leslie are proud to announcethe birth of their daughter.Makya Cole Isham was bornon April 18. She weighed 7 lb2oz and measured 20.1 incheslong.

Her big brother is KyanIsham.

Grandparents are Cam andDebi Corts, and Dan andJoAnn Isham.

Her great-grandparents are:Guy and Betty Mitchell, Joeand Wilma Corts, NoreenIsham, and Harold and DorrisCole. Her great-great grandmais Bessie Trafford.

The Leslie Weekly GuardianThe Leslie Weekly Guardian

P.O. Box 22Leslie, MI 49251(517) 878-8006

Jennifer@theleslieweeklyguardian.comDeadlines:

Friday at 5 p.m. for news, display ads and classifieds.

Classified Ad Rates:$5 flat fee for 30 wordmax. ran for four consecutive weeks.It will be .10 per wordafter that. Add a pic-ture for just $1.

Publisher/Owner:Jennifer Shuster

The Leslie Weekly Guardianis published weekly online

every Tuesday. E-mail reminders are sent toall subscribers when thenew issue is published.

The Leslie Weekly Guardian - Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Page 8

Opinion/EditorialIt’s a memorable time in a parent’s life. The

first birthday of their children.It’s a precious day to reflect back on a year full

of accomplishments and treasured moments. It’sa day focused on taking pictures and video tocapture moments that will be adored for a life-time.Well, my baby turned one last week. Katarina

had her first birthday celebration on Saturday athome surrounded by her great grandparents,aunts, uncles, cousins, brother, sisters and par-ents. Our home was full of joy and love for this lit-

tle girl. She received no gift more special then thegathering of her family.

We enjoyed food, presents, conversation and ofcourse, witnessing the demolition of Katarina’sown personal little Tinkerbell cake.It’s amazing to watch these toddlers, as they ei-

ther refuse to touch a cake smothered in frostingwith their bare hands. Or they poke at it a little

bit and take a taste. Then there are those like mychild who dive right into the cake and shovel it inonly stopping once in a while to smile at thoseshe easily entertained.

After experiencing this with three other chil-dren, I was prepared with plastic on the floor, abathtub ready and an extra outfit all laid out.Needless to say, she took use of all three. I must say these moments are priceless and the

pictures we now have our precious little girl willbe treasured, even though she’s covered in frost-ing!

Jennifer Shuster writes a weekly column forThe Leslie Weekly Guardian. She can be reachedat Jennifer@theleslieweeklyguardian.com.

First birthday is a milestone for baby and for parentsSmall

Town GirlBy Jen ShusterGuardian Publisher

The following commentary was written by StateRepresentative Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga). Ifyou have any questions, please call (517) 373-0587.

With nicer weather arriving, more motorcycleswill be on the road, and as we kick off Motorcy-cle Safety Month, I would like to remind our mo-torists out there to be safe!

Motorists are responsible for two-thirds ofcrashes between vehicles and motorcycles, whichshows that we all have to work together to staysafe. Motorists, please:• Don’t tailgate. Allow 3-4 seconds between youand a motorcycle, which stops faster than cars ortrucks.• Check for approaching motorcycles when mak-ing a left turn.• Always signal when changing lanes and doublecheck your blind spots. Being smaller, motorcy-cles are less visible.

• Use extra caution at intersections. • Grant motorcyclists the same rights as anyother driver, including the right to use a full lane.

Do not dart in and out of traffic or use theshoulder to get around cars. Obey all traffic signsand laws, and adjust your speed to the weatherand conditions. Michigan law currently requiresthat all riders wear a helmet.

Of course, everyone on the road should besober.

Motorcycles are a fun and exciting means oftransportation and enjoyment. If you would liketo become a motorcycle rider, the process starts

with taking a written test so you can get a tem-porary permit. Then you will need to pass a skills test or com-

plete a motorcycle safety course to get the “CY”endorsement on your license.Motorcycles are also good for our community.

The money our bikers spend on motorcycles andrelated expenses plays an important role in ourlocal economy. Bikers spend money on bikes, equipment, and

food and lodging when they travel. That money translates into jobs for our local

residents.As gas prices continue to rise, the superior gas

mileage of motorcycles can also save you somemoney.

You can find the state Motorcycle OperatorManual and all the other information you willneed at the Secretary of State's Web site,www.mich.gov/sos. Or, you can call (517) 241-6850.See you on the road!

CoffeeBreak

By Barb ByrumState Representative

Representative Byrum promotes Motorcycle Safety Month

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