As part of Green Elk Rapids Days:

Special Village Council meeting, 6 p.m. at HERTHA Hall, 401 River Street. Announcements, essay winners, Trashformation winners.  Guest speaker Pat Lindemann, Ingham County Drain Commissioner, on innovative water projects. – Record-Eagle

According to Roxanne Lutey, Elk Rapids Players, the next production will be: A Don’t Hug Me Christmas Carol. This musical is a sequel to Don’t Hug Me that the Players did last year.

Synopsis:  It’s Christmas Eve in Bunyan Bay, Minnesota and cantankerous bar owner Gunner Johnson gets in an argument with his wife, Clara, tells her he’s skipping Christmas, he storms out of the bar, goes snowmobiling across the lake, falls through the ice on his skidoo and goes into a coma….

Truly memorable songs include:

Green Elk Rapids Days features a Trashformer competition. This year, your vote will help determine the winner in each of several categories. Here’s the link to online voting:

Locations of exhibits are shown below:

This production of Whose Wives Are They Anyway? was superb. Looking forward to the next one. Inquiring minds want to know what it will be.

Today 100 new chairs arrived at the Town Hall. Chair wranglers were Tom Bowes, Howard Richter, Tom Vranich, Jerry DeGrazia and Terry Miller. Now the Historic Elk Rapids Town Hall Association needs more donations to pay for these chairs and purchase 50 more. Please go to the incredible HERTHA Web site to give a chair. Or you can give whatever amount you wish.

And please check out HERTHA’s whimsical Chairity blog.

Know a student who loves art? Now is the time to apply for an Art Rapids! Fine Arts Scholarship for summer classes or college. Deadline is April 15. Details here: http://artrapids.org/

The Elk Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce will host the 2013 Northern Michigan Business Expo and Job Fair, held Thursday, April 18, at the Williamsburg Banquet and Conference Center, 4230 M-72 East, Williamsburg, MI. The event will run from 12:30 PM to 7:00 PM. Scheduled events include a lunch with a panel discussion, exhibitions, and Business After Hours, hourly drawings, and performances by the students of Elk Rapids High School. This state of the art event will provide many excellent opportunities for Elk Rapids and surrounding area businesses to showcase what they have to offer to the public and to network with other businesses.

The lunch will include a panel discussion regarding the expansion of the TART Trail from Acme to Elk Rapids. Scheduled participants are Julie Clark, TART Trail; Kim Pontius, Grand Vision; Dean Branson, Elk Rapids Rotary; Megan Olds, Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy; and Amy Jenema, Acme Township Trustee; TV 7 & 4 News Anchor, Marc Schollett will moderate the discussion.  A limited number of tickets will be available to the public.

Space is limited; call today to reserve your space. For information contact the Elk Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce at 231-264-8202 or email Misty Youngson at myoungson@elkrapidschamber.org Source: Chamber email

On April 18 the Elk Rapids Area Historical Society opens its new season of monthly programs with   a presentation on Maritime Heritage Alliance’s The Armed Sloop Welcome.  Presenters Jim Graczyk & Woody Wright will tell the story of the armed sloop Welcome, when it was first commissioned and how the Maritime Alliance in Traverse City has preserved this ship. Slides and a couple videos will be shown at 7 p.m. at the newly located Museum, 301 Traverse St. Elk Rapids.

Suggested donation for adults is $5.00, students under 18 $2.00, and children are free.  All proceeds benefit the Society and its building preservation.

There’s a new visitor in town and she is helping HERTHA bring herself and her many friends to the Historic Elk Rapids Town Hall. “I just love this ever-so-charming village and the breathtaking surrounding area!“, gushed Chairity, celebrity Chair of the HERTHA Fundraising Committee.

Be sure to follow The Compelling Saga of Chairity on her brand new blog. She has quite a story to tell.

Yes, indeed. That Please Take YOUR Seat fundraiser is featured in The Ticker from Traverse City Business News and on page 9 of March 28 Elk Rapids News and online (Scroll down).

For more information on the fundraiser, and an opportunity to help HERTHA buy a chair, go to the marvelous HERTHA Web site.