Reviewing the news: The ‘world famous Inland Route’
July 26, 1924: Inland route re-opens Sunday
The world famous Inland Route, through winding Crooked lake, Crooked river, Burt Lake, Indian river and Mullet lake to Top-In-A-Bee resort, is to be re-opened tomorrow by the new motor cruiser Normich.
For many years this water trip was one of the most beautiful and attractive in the world. Then came the motor car to attract attention. Now, however, this excitement has worn off and attention is again paid to the fine trip through lakes and streams.
The new cruiser will carry a large number of passengers in comfort. It is propelled by two large, powerful gasoline motors. Tom Petoskey, noted Inland Route pilot of other years, is back and will pilot the new cruiser. Leon Merrill will be engineer and Captain R. T. Merrill will be chief officer. General Manager Johnson, of the Transportation company, will take personal charge of the passengers Sunday, in an effort to make this first trip one of the most pleasant.
The boat leaves from the new wharf in front of the Inn at Conway at 9 a.m., returning at 5 p.m. Each evening there will be “In the Gloaming” trips on Crooked and Pickerel lakes, leaving at 8 and returning at 10.
July 25, 1974: Eagle-eye metermaid sets sights on crime-solving
Nancy Coman likes her job.
The 20-year-old from Frankenmuth meets lots of new people and spends plenty of time outdoors. It’s a great job, Ms. Coman says.
She’s the metermaid for the City of Petoskey and, if you see her coming in her cream-colored scooter, you better have your change ready — ‘cause chances are she’s got a parking ticket ready.
“I’ve met lots of new people while I’m writing them tickets,” she explained. “Mostly they just laugh about it when they see me. I say ‘Aha — caught you,’ and they just nod and laugh. Nobody’s threatened me or said any bad things, yet.”
“Oh, there was this guy once,” she recalled. “He was in a big old Cadillac, and he was taking up two metered spaces. I give everybody who takes up two spaces a ticket. In a town like this, that’s all tourists, you just can’t have that. Anyway, he asked me what it was and I explained, and then he asked me if I had seen the sticker on his bumper. It said he belongs to the patrolman’s association. But I told him he was breaking the law and walked away.”
The man came into the station later and complained, but he ended up paying for the ticket, she said.
She takes a lot of good-natured ribbing with her job.
“My friends tease me about the job,” she said. “They wave and yell, ‘Hey copper,’ when they see me coming.”
But no one escapes the eagle eye of Ms. Coman as she drives around the streets checking meters. She even gave a ticket to the girl who will be the maid honor in her upcoming wedding.
“It turned out later that she had put money in, but there was something wrong with the meter,” Ms. Coman laughed.
Ms. Coman’s duties are to ticket illegally parked cars and cars parked at meters where the time has run out. Sometimes she fills in for other officers. Dressed in her light blue shirt and badge she looks like a member of the force.
The young woman has an associate degree in law enforcement from North Central Michigan College. She plans to eventually get a bachelor’s degree and then wants to work in a crime lab.
“I’d like to work analyzing fingerprints and helping solve cases,” she said.
But for now, she’s content to be the metermaid.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Reviewing the news: The ‘world famous Inland Route’
