OFFICIAL BLOG of MARK G. BEARSS
Coincidence, or Synchronicity?
40,800 students were enrolled at Michigan State University in the fall of 1969. I was one of them starting my freshman year. I lived in the twelve-story dorm on the far eastern edge of campus known as Hubbard North. 1,100 students were housed and fed there.
THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN
I grew up in West Michigan where fruit orchards were plentiful. At the age of 13, my summers were spent following the growing seasons. No … not as a passive observer, but IN THE ORCHARDS. After all, two of my uncles were fruit growers. It started with picking cherries in July, peaches and blueberries in August, and apples in September. For cherries, I earned 50 cents a lug … a box that was 24-inches long, 15 ¾ inches wide and 5-inches deep. On a good day I could pick eight lugs. Yep … $4.00 for the day’s work. But at my age, that was a lot of money. For apples, I also earned 50 cents a bushel.
Once Upon a Town
Could a town of 12,000 people feed 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers EACH DAY, every day of the year, for four consecutive years … provided entirely with donated items by volunteers?
Could this same community do this during WWII when sugar, flour, eggs, dairy products, coffee, butter, lard, and shortening were rationed?
Sounds impossible, doesn’t it. But guess what? The town of North Platte, Nebraska and the neighboring rural communities within a 100-mile radius did this.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Banker: “So, it’s spelled B-E-A-R-S … you said, with two Ss?
Me: “Yes, that’s correct. B-E-A-R-S-S … with two Ss.
Banker: “Hmm … Never seen that before. How do you pronounce that? Like Bear-z-z-z?”
Me: “Actually, while growing up, we were taught that our last name was pronounced like the word “purse,” and not the way it looked. It was a common occurrence having to correct people in its spelling. You’re right, though. It does look like ‘bears’ but it’s pronounced ‘burse’ … like PURSE.”
It happened AGAIN!
In pursuit of due diligence, I was seeking the offices for The Muskegon Chronicle newspaper and get permission to borrow the paper’s name for my next novel. Google Maps provided a downtown Muskegon, Michigan, address. Upon entering the front door, I found myself standing in a physical therapy clinic. I was informed the parent company that owns the newspaper moved out of that site two years ago. They never updated Google Maps.
FLY STRAIGHT AND LEVEL
In September 1976, shortly after I earned my Private Pilot license, I invited my father to go flying with me in a Cessna 150. I
Power and Authority
During my career as a clinical educator for an international medical device manufacturer, I had the opportunity to sit in on a lecture moderated by