Thumb Laborers 2019

Thumb Laborers

August 31, 2019

Huron

aily

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HURON DAILY TRIBUNE

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019

Shar Mohr, owner of Green Girl Wellness, stands in her newly-opened shop on Park Avenue in Bad Axe. Mohr’s shop offers a wide variety of hemp-infused products.

(Bradley Massman/Huron Daily Tribune)

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Green Girl Wellness in Bad Axe offers a number of different cannabidiol (CBD) products.

The store is located at 222 Park Ave. (Bradley Massman/Huron Daily Tribune)

Health without the high

Green Girl Wellness sparks success in the Thumb

talk about it,” she added.

Mohr said she began sharing her own journey of how cannabis helped with her health issues to others around the

BY BRADLEY MASSMAN Thumb. In December, Assistant Editor Green Girl Wellness was created as a Facebook BAD AXE — Sitting group that allowed inside her new establish- women to ask questions ment on Park Avenue, and discuss cannabis.

Shar Mohr said she’s At one point in time, still shocked to see how Mohr recalled wanting a things have come along high cannabidiol (CBD) in the last nine months. product for herself and “To me, it’s kind of didn’t like the options nuts,” she said. she found.

Mohr is the owner of “With the passing of Green Girl Wellness — a the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp retail space for hemp was part of that legalizaflower, handcrafted tion as well,” she said. “ hemp products, and … I figured, ‘OK, let’s buy other natural health some hemp and see what items. happens.’”

In November 2018, The feeling, she Michigan voters recalled, was calming approved the legalization and relaxing, but without of recreational marithe intoxicating or “high” juana, which initially factor. allowed Mohr to open up “The way that CBD about her use of medical binds to the body, it marijuana. doesn’t bind in the way “I initially just wanted that THC does so it’s not to be an advocate,” Mohr, intoxicating,” she said. a certified herbalist since “It works in the body 2009, said. “I wanted to more for pain relief.” get people talking … and Following months of feeling OK about their planning and preparing, use.”

Mohr turned her Face“Everybody wanted to book group of about 230

Here are a few examples of pain relieving, hemp-infused sprays available at Green Girl Wellness in Bad Axe. (Bradley Massman/Huron Daily Tribune) people into a storefront offering a number of products for a variety of ailments. And, all of it is made on site.

All of Mohr’s products

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are infused with CBD or hemp. In other words, none of it will get you high.

“The hemp I’m using only contains the federally-allowed amount of THC, which is 0.3% or less,” she explained.

Mohr said the likelihood of failing a drug test

detecting THC metabolites is extremely rare.

“It fits in the realm of health without the high,” she said.

Mohr said her most common customers always come in for chronic pain or chronic-type autoimmune disorders.

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“I’ve had people completely no longer need pain medications after trying different products,” she said. “I have a woman come in who doesn’t use her cane anymore.”

Green Girl Wellness is located at 222 Park Ave. in Bad Axe. Store hours are: • Monday: Closed • Tuesday: Noon to 4 p.m.

• Wednesday: 3 to 6 p.m.

• Thursday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Friday: 3 to 6 p.m.

• Saturday: 9 to 11 a.m.

• Sunday: Closed Find Mohr and her store on Facebook by searching, “Green Girl Wellness.”

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HURON DAILY TRIBUNE

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019

3

A ‘chemistry project’ finds success in Michigan Kelli Hass, Bad Axe Soap Company continue to offer homemade products

BY ROBERT CREENAN Tribune Staff Writer BAD AXE – Kelli Hass would describe what she does as a chemistry project, one that she has been working on for the past five years.

Hass runs Bad Axe Soap Company out of the basement of her home on Rapson Road, making the soap, packaging it, and making the labels for the individual bars all on her own.

The idea for soap came to Hass when she moved from Bloomfield, a Detroit suburb, to Bad Axe with her husband, a product engineer in Ubly, seven years ago.

Their property has a lot of land to work with, and Hass has a love of gardening — mainly lavender plants.

“What do you do with what you grow?” Hass rhetorically asked herself. “And, soap came out of it.”

Soap is made from a mixture of lye water, essential oils, clay and colorants, which Hass molds and cuts into bars to cure for a few weeks.

She describes the process going much smoother than when she started now that she knows what she’s doing after a lot of trial and error.

Hass gets all the materials that go into her products from local sources, including lavender, mint, and wildflowers from a garden in her backyard.

“We lost 400 lavender plants in the winter due to the polar vortex,” Hass said. “We hope to replant for next year.”

All the batches of soap are small in order to keep them fresh, as Hass does not use preservatives in her products.

Soap is not the only thing Hass makes in her basement. Bad Axe Soap Company also sells scrubs, balms, pet products, oils, soaks, bug spray, makeup, and sachets.

Hass is trying to find a new space outside of the basement for her work and would like to see a

Kelli Hass poses at a barn she uses to dry out lavender crops. The lavender is used in soap she makes for her business, Bad Axe Soap Company. (Robert Creenan/Huron Daily Tribune) brick and mortar storefront, but she knows she is not in any position to tackle that in the shortterm.

“My first priority is raising my two kids,” Hass said, Wyatt, 7, and Violet, 5.

She previously worked in big box stores before moving to the Thumb area.

Hass sells her soap mainly through various festivals in Huron County like Ag Venture day, Art in the Park and the Port Crescent Market, along with driving to Midland, Bay City and Berkley.

At those events, she can sell between 10 and 50 bars.

Stores that sell her products include Ace Hardware in Bad Axe and the Lavender Hill Farm in Boyne City.

Hass and her husband also own farmland a few miles from her house where they grow sugar beets, corn, wheat, and dry beans.

Hass says she enjoys the creative process and connecting with the people she meets at craft shows and art fairs.

“There was no soap company in the area,” Hass said, calling the process of starting the company a smooth transition for her.

Kelli Hass, owner of Bad Axe Soap Company, picks some mint out of her backyard garden. She grows the mint, lavender, and wildflower used in her soaps herself. (Robert Creenan/Huron Daily Tribune)

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019

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Ron Wing sits down with Sean Cole, a Navy veteran who moved to Fiddler’s Green from Sandusky. Wing works as a caseworker at Fiddler’s Green — a living facility in Bad Axe that offers veterans a place to stay. (Robert Creenan/Huron Daily Tribune)

Leaving retirement to help his own Ronald Wing works with, helps veterans at Fiddler’s Green

BY ROBERT CREENAN Tribune Staff Writer BAD AXE – At one point in time, Ronald Wing was a retired social worker.

But, he came out of retirement for a cause he believes in.

Wing works as a caseworker at Fiddler’s Green — a living facility in Bad Axe that offers veterans a place to stay — where he works through all the red tape that may get in the way of veterans benefits.

Wing has been doing similar work since he was serving in the Navy. Then, he was a career counselor, helping those with educational problems and substance abuse issues.

Wing worked for the state of Michigan as a social worker for 20 years, where he helped mental health patients receive social security benefits. He said it was very similar to his current work.

“Vets are just like anyone else,” Wing said.

Wing left retirement after he heard what Fiddler’s Green Manager Eric Motz wanted to accomplish with his project and he wanted to help.

“I just follow Eric’s lead,” Wing said. “His vision is above and beyond business motivations. We just want to help veterans. Others are in it for the business.”

Currently, Fiddler’s Green is home to veterans of all ages and equipped with 30 beds.

Fiddler’s Green case worker Ronald Wing sits in his office on afternoon at work. Wing helps work with veterans staying at Fiddler’s Green receive their military benefits. (Robert Creenan/Huron Daily Tribune) Wing helps Fiddler’s Green’s veterans fill out the paperwork for various military benefits while also wearing a counselor’s hat. He helps make job referrals to Michigan Works, referrals to educational programs and whatever other support the veterans need to accomplish their goals.

If a veteran is dealing with medical issues, Wing can put them in contact with local resources, like the Bad Axe Veteran Affairs clinic, local physicians, or McLaren Hospi-

tal to name a few. He said the process could be overwhelming for someone who is suffering from PTSD. “These individuals have all earned their benefits,” Wing said. “They served their country and made the military what it is. We’re trying to pay the debt (they’re owed) for them.”

Fiddler’s Green has 19 employees, including Wing, manager Motz, a food services director, eight aids who provide 24/7 supervision of the facility, and eight maintenance workers.

Wing says it’s rewarding to be tied up in this job, not having turned away a single veteran who needed help. If Fiddler’s Green cannot help them, they will be directed to an organization that can.

Wing acknowledges while there are plenty of veteran’s homes in the United States, not all of them are set up to do what Fiddler’s Green does.

“A man is coming up from Texas to live here,” Wing said.

“That’s encouraging for us, but you have to think why he has to come here to support his

needs.”

Fiddler’s Green has received tremendous community support, with the roofers, plumbers, and electricians who worked on the building providing cut-rate services. Funds raised from a recent golf outing helped veterans who were having trouble affording to live there.

Wing hopes that with the success Fiddler’s Green has had so far, the facility can be duplicated in other parts of the Thumb and possibly the Saginaw/Bay City area.

HURON DAILY TRIBUNE

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019

5

Huron’s court recorder finds ‘justice’ in job Sarah McNames: ‘It’s just a beautiful thing to observe’

BY ERIC RUTTER Tribune Staff Writer BAD AXE — Working as Huron County’s court recorder and deputy administrator, Sarah McNames has witnessed a number of intriguing cases come through the courtroom.

But, the biggest surprise of her job is how closely she interacts with an action that she felt was absent from her childhood: Justice.

Growing up, McNames’ father deserted the family when she was young, leaving her mother, great-aunt and great-uncle to collaborate on child raising duties.

The absence of a father naturally sparked a “difficult” period and McNames was forced to find her first job at 15 years old.

“I basically decided I wanted to make things better somehow, so I started working at the Peppermill at 15,” McNames said. “It was my first job, and I wound up working there a long time.”

Working at the Peppermill Restaurant was the first of several waitressing positions for McNames. She developed a love to serve, a passion that she still feels to this day.

After high school, the Bad Axe native balanced a trio of different jobs throughout her college career. Eventually, McNames graduated from Baker College in 2006, and said most of her college was paid directly from waitressing tips.

Now, McNames works at the 52nd Judicial Circuit Court in Huron County dealing with felonies, custody disputes, and divorces.

“I spent so many years chasing and running that I’m very thankful for this position,” McNames said. “I pinch myself every single day.”

At work, McNames alternates from a more transcription-based job as the court recorder, but also operates as the court administrator when her superior is not available.

As the keeper of the record, McNames is responsible for the official reproduction of courtroom proceedings when a request is filed. Her role is part of a larger participation that she finds is very fulfilling given her upbringing.

Huron County’s court recorder and deputy administrator, Sarah McNames, poses in her office inside the Huron County Building. In her position, McNames is responsible for the official reproduction of courtroom proceedings when a request is filed. (Eric Rutter/Huron Daily Tribune) “I love seeing justice take place,” McNames said. “Growing up, some of the things as a child, I felt like justice always forgot about us. It was really tough growing up. But now, justice ... it functions, it’s there.

It’s just a beautiful thing to observe.”

Prior to working in her current position, McNames worked for seven years in juvenile courts. During that time, she was reminded on many occasions of her childhood.

“I saw a lot of cases that were

very moving and hit kind of close to home with me on some of them,” she said.

Now in her current role, McNames said there are no shortage of dramatic cases that come through her courtroom.

“Sometimes it’s hard to watch somebody’s life be sentenced to prison or to know some of the things we have to know that come out in a hearing,” McNames said. “It’s difficult, but you grow thick skin.

You know it’s for the greater good. It’s very moving, all of them are actually.”

Despite an inherent connection to conflict, McNames said there are some heartwarming stories that arise during her time working in the courtroom as well.

“What’s heartwarming to me in the adult cases with kids is when the two parents that may no longer be together are still able to communicate and be cordial, which is a rare thing,” McNames said. “It’s so rare to see that. It’s usually toxic, there’s no communication and they don’t think about the child.”

Outside of the courtroom, McNames finds joy in gardening and canning. These are two hobbies that were passed down from her great-aunt — a lady she grew a powerful and strong emotional connection with.

“She helped raise me along with my mother, and I don’t think I’d be where I am today had it not been for her,” McNames said.

Where McNames is today is working a job that she takes pride in that helps provide a service to the people of her Bad Axe community.

6

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019

HURON DAILY TRIBUNE

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Turnip Rock, which is a physics-defying rock stack located just offshore, is the rental shop’s most popular kayaking destination. (Eric Rutter/Huron Daily Tribune)

Enjoy Port Austin by land, by sea Local kayak and bicycle rental provides outdoor adventure

BY ERIC RUTTER Tribune Staff Writer PORT AUSTIN — Located along Lake Huron, the Port Austin Kayak and Bike Rental offers a plethora of options to choose for those in search of an

enjoyable day.

At the shop, which is located on 119 E. Spring St., visitors can choose between an unique aquatic adventure by kayaking, or take a twowheeled tour through the town on bicycles.

However, those looking to stay land-locked can also grab a meal on the patio, which is connected to a diverse clothing lineup inside.

Truth be told, the

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kayaking portion of the rental shop earns much of the fanfare, and this is warranted for a particular trip that reminds many of Pictured Rocks in the Upper Peninsula.

Turnip Rock, which is a physics-defying rock stack located just offshore, is the rental shop’s most popular kayaking destination, and rental/retail Manager Sarah Wrubel said this is due to the geological formation’s startling beauty.

“I have a lot that come in and say they’ve kayaked before by Pictured Rocks in Lake Superior and they had a crazy adventure up there,” Wrubel said. “Then they’ll come back from kayaking to Turnip Rocks and they’ll say it’s just as beautiful.”

Operating mainly from Memorial Day

to Labor Day, the kayak rental harbors 150 vessels that can be rented out on a daily basis. For a particularly busy afternoon, the rental shop can deploy over 300 kayaks before day’s end.

“When we are busy like that, generally we have nine or 10 people working each day,” Wrubel said. “We have single kayaks and we have tandem kayaks. If you’re going out to Turnip Rock, we only send our single kayaks, but on our shorter trail, the Broken Rocks trail, we send single and tandem kayaks.”

This differentiation is due to a couple competing factors. Not only does water depth play a crucial role in this decision, but fatigue can be inevitable at certain distances.

“Some of the areas

around Turnip Rock are a little bit smaller and the water used to be pretty shallow, so those tandems are just too heavy,” Wrubel said. “We just stopped sending them out there because we would have to do rescues when people come back so physically exhausted from paddling.”

But not all days are filled with wall-to-wall rentals. If the waves or the wind speed and direction are not in line with ideal conditions, the shop shuts down kayak rentals for the day.

“Days where we can rent, we are very busy,” Wrubel said. “We deal with a lot of customers, so we go through the process of getting waivers filled out, seeing where they want to go kayaking and the other

portion of that would be sending them out there with their lifejackets and teaching them how to paddle.

“Then we have days that we can’t rent any kayaks,” Wrubel said.

“Those days are a little different, they’re kind of our catch-up days.

We make sure the shop is clean, we do a lot of retail on those days and get ready for the next day.”

The rental shop also lends bicycles for daily trips around Port Austin. For many, Wrubel says the combination of water-driven kayaking mixed with a terrestrial bike trip turns into an enjoyable experience.

The rental shop is expected to stay open through September while the retail shop will remain open through October.

Because news happens more than once a week.

HURON DAILY TRIBUNE

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019

7

Caseville distiller loves the process of making spirits Jim Stein: ‘Once you get it right, you just keep repeating it’

BY SETH STAPLETON Tribune Staff Writer CASEVILLE TOWNSHIP — There is a particular process to making spirits, and local distiller Jim Stein has picked up on it rather quickly.

Stein, who owns Shipwreck Distillery with his wife Carol, has come a long way in just six years of distilling experience under his belt.

Stein started the craft not long ago, shortly after his uncle Ron Stein suggested the two start up a premium spirits distillery. So, he started reading some books on the process and decided to give it a go, as according to him, “It’s not rocket science.”

“They’ve been doing it for thousands of years

— we just have more technology now than what they did,” Stein explained.

Being born and raised in Huron County, Stein decided Caseville would be the perfect location to set up shop. Soon, he purchased a building located at 4895 N. Caseville Road and got to work.

The first bottles to bear the name Shipwreck Distillery were officially capped in May 2018.

“We went in one year from having basically a vodka and rye whiskey, and now we’re up to eight spirits,” Stein said.

Currently, Shipwreck Distillery offers a wheat vodka, sugar beet vodka, clear rye whiskey, (based off a George Washington recipe), corn whiskey, gin, and rum. And, the business will soon be offering a coconut rum and a bourbon.

“Everybody has a dif-

Shipwreck Distillery owner Jim Stein stands in front of the three stills he uses to make his signature spirits. (Seth See DISTILLERY page 8 Stapleton/Huron Daily Tribune)

Wild Fowl Bay Whiskey and Sugar Sand Vodka are Shipwreck Distillery’s top sellers. (Seth Stapleton/Huron Daily Tribune)

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019

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DISTILLERY

“It’s kind of a science — it takes some figuring out,” Stein said of his fascination for Continued from Page 7 the process. “Kind of like a puzzle.”

Added Stein: “Once you get it right, you ferent flavored palate,” Stein said of the just keep repeating it.” reason for diversification.

When you taste a spirit from Shipwreck, With his wife baking goodies for the you’re tasting something that is genuinely business in the kitchen area, on a typical local. Stein said all grains he uses are from day you can find Stein toiling away nearby the Thumb. to perfect his offerings.

But, the local ties don’t stop there.

The process from start to finish for vodka Stein picked up his old grain mill from and whiskey takes about five days. a friend, uses former milk storage vats for For three days, Stein lets the grain mash grain fermentation, repurposed a former ferment. From there, he puts the mash honey separator for grain separation, and through a grain separator, then to the stills utilizes his uncle’s stills to finish the profor alcohol separation, where he eventually cess. performs a finished distillation that sepaEach spirit is done in 75-gallon batches, rates the good alcohol from the bad alcohol. with Stein bottling around 50 bottles a The good stuff is then hand bottled, week. He said he enjoys people coming in, labeled and package for sale. Stein said the sampling stuff and giving their opinions on entire family, including his two children the taste. and their families, all have a hand in the Shipwreck’s best sellers right now are a business in some form. sugar beet vodka called Sugar Sand Vodka, The process for rum is the same as vodka and a dark whiskey called Wild Fowl Bay and whiskey, except it takes a little longer Whiskey. to ferment. Fermentation takes around As far as Stein’s favorite?

7-to-10 days, making it a 10-to-12 day pro“They’re all my favorite,” he said. cess from start to finish.

“They’re all my babies.”

An old boat runs aground outside of Shipwreck Distillery in Caseville Township.

(Seth Stapleton/Huron Daily Tribune)

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