Community

Wednesday Evening

on

‘We feel closer as a family than we have in years’

Hayes State Park was busy Wednesday afternoon.

On one end of the park, Michelle Lupenski and Ben Spiegel, DNR employees, were using a tractor to move concrete pylons in preparation of paving the parking lot later this spring, as soon as the weather is good and the stop work order has been lifted. The pavement throughout the park is surprisingly thin, but is about to get thicker.

Lupenski, a park ranger, said that the construction will not close access to the park, as they plan on paving one section at time on both the lake and camping sides.

Around the rest of the park, people were walking dogs, launching boats, and even having picnics.

From left: Owen, George, George Sr., Jack, and Amy Gogol. Maggie Gogol, the family’s dog, was very concerned about the photographer.

After months of gray weather and even grayer news, the sunshine lifted people’s spirits. Julia and Pete Kohler were walking their two dogs, Bell and Myles. The dogs were eager to get going rather than standing around a listening to a reporter talk to their people. “It is just a great day,” said Julia, before the couple hit the trails.

The George and Amy Gogol family, from Grass Lake, were enjoying a picnic with their dog, Maggie. George, a teacher in the Grass Lake School District, and Amy, who teaches in Jackson Public Schools, had a picnic on the Wamplers side of the park, before heading over to Round Lake to do a little fishing.

When asked why they chose to come to Wamplers Lake, he noted that “We love Hayes. This is our first trip here this year.”

While fishing at Round Lake (the camping side of the park), George and Amy sat in lawn chairs and watched the boys fishing off the dock. They weren’t catching anything, but it didn’t really matter.

“We feel closer as a family than we have in years,” said George.

Seems like there is a little goodness coming out of all the bad news, after all.

 

Above: Julia and Pete Kohler walk their two dogs, Bell and Myles, at Hayes State Park.

Beginning March 24, The Exponent became available free online, so people who are isolated have access to local information. 

We will also be putting some stories out on our Facebook page, with links to our website so people beyond our current reach can know what is available.

To read the paper online, go to www.theexponent.com, click on “online access,” enter the word Exponent in the username box and Freepaper! (case sensitive, and don’t forget the exclamation point) in the password box.

The paper is available in sections, so it loads faster. Visitors will also be able to look over past editions.

We hope that the paper helps residents stay informed and entertained in the coming weeks.

Thanks, and stay safe.

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