AUGUST 2026 Silver Creek Bridge Walk coming up on Labor Day — PAGE 3 Vendor registration now open for fifth annual Morenci Fall Fest — PAGE 6
ADVOCATE MORENCI, MICHIGAN
PUBLISHED BY THE LENAWEE VOICE
FREE Sisters’ lemonade stand benefits Morenci community PAGE 7
1 SECTION | 16 PAGES
TRIBUTE TO VETERANS
The Kiwanis Club booth at last year’s Back-to-School Bash.
Back-to-School Bash to kick off the school year on August 12 MORENCI — Morenci’s annual Backto-School Bash returns Wednesday, Aug. 12, from 6-8 p.m. in downtown Morenci, giving local students and families a fun way to celebrate the upcoming school year. Now in its fifth year, the event has continued to grow thanks to community collaboration. Organized by Seneca Community Church, Morenci Area Schools, the Kiwanis Club of Morenci, and the city of Morenci, the Bash offers free school supplies, games, prizes, program information, and a free meal for students and their families.
New monument unveiled in Oak Grove Cemetery
See BACK TO SCHOOL, page 12
See MONUMENT, page 13
Kirk Deatrick speaks at the unveiling of a new veterans monument in Oak Grove Cemetery. Behind him, from left to right, are Chris Keefer, Adam Vereecke, Karen Vereecke, Kent Deatrick, cemetery sexton Eric Emmons, Paul Roerig of Fackler Monument, city administrator Jeff Bell, and assistant sexton Christa Davis. The monument was made possible by the Deatrick family. ERIK GABLE/MORENCI ADVOCATE
MORENCI — A new monument honoring veterans from every era of American history was unveiled on July 4 at Oak Grove Cemetery. The installation was made possible by the Deatrick family of Morenci, using funds that the late Betty Deatrick Rector had set aside during her life.
A dedication ceremony for the new monument took place on July 4. It included the singing of the national anthem by Vada Lambert, a reading of the Declaration of Independence by Jim Clark of American Legion Post 368, speeches by elected officials, a prayer by Chris Keefer, a 21-gun salute, and playing of “Taps.”
Having a veterans monument was a dream of cemetery sexton Eric Emmons, and it was able to come about because of a conversation between Emmons and Morenci resident Kent Deatrick on a cold March day last year.
Morenci won’t increase number of marijuana retail licenses By Erik Gable
The Morenci Advocate
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MORENCI — The Morenci City Council decided last month not to change the number of marijuana retail licenses available in the city. Council members indicated that they had heard little support for increasing
the number of retail licenses in Morenci, regardless of how people felt about cannabis use in general. At the same time, a proposal to add new types of licensing in the city — specifically, designated consumption establishment licenses and temporary marijuana event licenses — failed to advance.
The discussion at the July 13 council meeting came about because the city’s cannabis ordinance requires the council to review its terms every two years. The council heard a variety of perspectives before making their decision. Carolee Hartman, who lives right near the cluster of retailers on the east side of town, talked about the smell of
marijuana and things like her young daughter being in the back yard and seeing a man peeing next to his car at one of the dispensaries. “I see the good and I see the bad there, and I have to see all of it because of where I live,” Hartman said. See MARIJUANA, page 13