The 20th annual Rock-N-Reggae festival will take place at Salt River Acres, 926 S. Greendale Road.

Kris Carr, co-owner with her husband of Salt River Acres, where the event is taking place, began doing this because it was something fun to do.

“We never really anticipated it being this popular,” Carr said, “We did it because it’s fun to do and a really nice outlet, and we really enjoy what we do.”

Oil City is between Midland and Mount Pleasant, and the gates for the event open at 10 a.m., with music beginning at noon.

“There is only one break of music during the day, and during that break, we bring out a T-shirt can and give out prizes,” Carr said.

The festival features two stages, Carr said, and there will free merchandise from the bands given away.

“We get to reconnect with students who have come in past years, and they always thank us for putting on this event,” Carr said. “And that makes us happy that we can do that for people.”

Each year, Carr said, usually seven bands are hired to perform at the event.

“We begin previewing bands starting in the fall-we usually get about 120-125 bands that submit to be hired for this,” Carr said.

Carr and her husband listen to each band 3 times, and narrow it down to pick the ones they think are ready to play at an event like this.

The performances this year will be The Dirty Americans, Harper, Immunity, Glowb, Boogie Matrix Mechanism, Nuroksol and Lies Unknown.

Tickets for the event will be available at the gate for $50, and parking is $5 per vehicle, unless there are four or more people in a vehicle. To encourage car-pooling, Carr said, parking is free for vehicles with four or more people in them.

The festival will end at 10 p.m. For more information, visit saltriveracres.net.

metro@cm-life.com

Canole graduated from Central Michigan University with a Bachelor’s degree in science, a degree in communications, and a minor in marketing.

“I struggled all through college trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to do,” Canole said.

Canole’s two businesses, Waterfield Credit and eatmydebt.com, were both featured on NBC and the Christian Television Network, and were also the subject of an article in the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

“A lot of the education I obtained at CMU, especially the communication factor, has helped with the development of my businesses,” Canole said.

Canole believes that the communication classes he took at CMU were crucial, as he has to be geared toward working with people.

“I learned hands-on while I was in school because I ran a couple of businesses during college, which is how I funded most of college,” he said.

Waterfield Credit has been running for four years, which, according to Canole, is very good for a small business.

“Our ability to build relationships with key people in the business is what keeps us going,” Canole said.

Eatmydebt.com is a company that has attorneys in 50 states what negotiate debt for clients to help bail them out of debt.

“Everybody needs a break sometimes,” Canole said.

Since graduating in 2004, Canole has been back a few times to visit campus.

“I was back recently, and it is just years ahead of where it was when I was there. It is great to see the college I went to accelerating,” he said.

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In the 1970s, Steve Russell Tompkins and his father found their dream job.

Tompkins and his father bought a snowmobile as a hobby three decades ago that turned into a lifelong job.

President of the Snowmobile & Motorcycle Salvage, located at 4101 E. River Road, Tompkins and his father began taking apart the snowmobiles they bought.

“Once we started taking the machines apart, people started to come here for parts,” Tompkins said.

The snowmobile yard has 10 to 12 acres of snowmobile parts, and about 10 acres of motorcycle parts, Tompkins said.

Snowmobile & Motorcycle Salvage sells parts, and they buy about 90 percent of what they price.

Tompkins was also working at two other jobs when the business first started.

“My father owned a little machine shop on the corner first,” Tompkins said. “And I worked at a car manufacturer and one other job before this became a full-time job.”

Tompkins said the salvage yard has a good amount of business, especially since it expanded to motorcycles around 1980.

“We needed business in the summer, so we took on bikes,” Tompkins said.

The business has also expanded its market by using eBay to sell some parts.

“We try to limit it to the United States because of the cost to send parts into other countries,” Tompkins said.

Chuck Fitzpatrick, director of the Small Business Development Center in the LaBelle Entrepreneurial Center, set Tompkins up with two students who had to do a business project to get started.

The salvage business also buys lawn mowers, snowmobiles and motorcycles.

“We buy anything with a motor besides automobiles,” Tompkins said. “The stuff we sell on eBay is older stuff, so it’s one-of-a-kind, so a lot of it sells.”

Tompkins said a lot of the business comes out of Flint and Detroit, and a lot of stuff gets sold to people in Canada in the winter.

“We have mostly Japanese bikes, and we take pretty much any brand of snowmobiles, because there are really only four or five brands,” Tompkins said.

metro@cm-life.com

Isabella County, however, is not getting any of the money.

Louis Berra, field office director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Grand Rapids, explained that the basis for distribution of the money was data in Washington D.C.

“The data that is submitted to Washington reflects the number of foreclosed properties in each area,” Berra said.

The funds will help municipalities either redevelop or demolish foreclosed properties, or help low-income families purchase them.

The allocation is part of the last $731 million in payment from the Department of Housing and Urban Development from a $4 billion appropriation in the 2008 stimulus bill.

Based on the way the money is divided and who it is distributed to, Isabella County did not have a high enough number of foreclosed properties to receive any of the funds.

Most of the money was distributed to major cities and their surrounding areas, Berra said, and to some counties that did not already receive support.

Detroit had about 6,201 foreclosed properties. Grand Rapids had about 1,969 properties. Flint had about 1,198 properties, and there are about 9,368 foreclosed properties for the state of Michigan overall, Berra said.

All of these properties have gone through foreclosure, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development is now trying to sell them.

Lana Vacha, field office director for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Detroit, said the money given to Michigan was distributed to about 23 cities, counties and communities.

“The biggest project Detroit is going to use the money for is the demolition of houses in the worst condition, and to rehab houses in local target areas,” Vacha said.

Vacha also said that some communities will purchase and hold on to some properties until the market changes, particularly the communities around the Flint and Lansing areas.

metro@cm-life.com

Managing director of the Isabella County Road Commission, Tony Casali, said he estimates Isabella County will receive roughly $500,000 from the stimulus program.

“The state as a whole will receive about $850 million to fix the roads, and the Michigan Department of Transportation will get 75 percent of that, leaving Isabella County with about $500,000,” Casali said.

However, he said one full reconstruction costs just that, so the stimulus money will not do anything for the magnitude of roadways in Isabella County.

“Isabella County has about 1,200 miles of roadway, and probably about one mile of that will get fixed with the stimulus budget,” Casali said.

There is a certain criteria required for the stimulus program, according to Casali, that each county must have a design of what project they want to work on with a blueprint.

They must also be ready to be bid on by contractors. Casali said Isabella County has a design for Winn Road from Blanchard to M20.

“The stimulus program bang isn’t going to be as big as everything thinks it is, unfortunately,” Casali said.

Isabella County plans to work on this project for the next four years.

Oakland County Public Information Officer for the Road Commission of Oakland County, Craig Bryson, says he estimates about $26.6 million in stimulus for Oakland County.

“The money given to Oakland County will be distributed between all the cities and villages in Oakland County, including the Road Commission,” Bryson said.

The Oakland County Federal Aid Task Force decides how the stimulus budget gets split up. “We’re fairly restricted in what we can do, so we’ll do some major resurfacing as opposed to road widening,” Bryson said. “We’ll probably have about four to six major resurfacing projects, depending on how much money we end up getting,”

Bryson also said the stimulus money will not be the solution to all Michigan road problems.

“This will put a tiny dent in our backlog, it won’t allow us to recoup from the winter budget from plowing and salting-we can only do what is approved,” he said.

Saginaw County Road Commission Managing Director Brian Wendling, said he is not sure what projects Saginaw County will take on, because he is not sure how much money the county will receive from the stimulus program. “We will probably use it for a mix of reconstruction and general maintenance,” Wendling said.

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Tony Casali, directing manager of the Isabella County Road Commission, said the recent weeks of warm weather have helped to dramatically lower expenses in Isabella County.

“However, when we’re not plowing, we have to worry about potholes and other road damages,” Casali said. “There is a lot more patching going on – we have four crews out on a daily basis doing just that.”

Casali said the Isabella County Road Commission has gone over their budget each month, but the money for the year has not run out yet.

“We don’t have a lot left,” Casali said. “We have already used 80 percent of our yearly budget,”

Last year’s average budget was about $1 million, Casali said, and expects it will come to about the same this year.

“There was a lot of snow early this year, last year there was a lot more smaller snow storms,” he said. “Either way, it comes out to about the same cost.”

Brian Wendling, directing manager of the Saginaw County Road Commission, said that Saginaw County is catching up from the severe December weather.

“It’s hard to say how we’re doing until winter is completely over,” Wendling said. “We still have about six weeks of possible severe weather.”

Saginaw County’s budget this fiscal year began on Jan. 1 and they are already over budget.

“Our last fiscal year, we overspent by about $400,000 dollars,” Wendling said.

Saginaw deploys GPS

Saginaw County began using a global positioning system last week to make drivers aware of where plow trucks have been.

“We think it has the potential for long term cost savings,” he said. “We’re hoping for a 20 percent reduction of salt usage.”

Wendling also said that the ultimate goal is to increase the overall service the county provides to the people.

“It will be easier for us to route our trucks and to complete requests when people call them in,” he said.

Casali said that Isabella County has not given much thought to using the new GPS system.

“Saginaw is bigger, and here we are struggling to replace our vehicles,” Casali said.

The Isabella County Road Commission is focusing more on bringing their equipment up to a level of quality and reliability.

“We are not in the financial position to add the GPS system to our vehicles at this time,” Casali said.

metro@cm-life.com

The hall, 306 W. Michigan St., is often used for fraternity and sorority events and occasions and provides several different services.

The management bought the liquor license formerly held by The Main Bar, 807 S. Mission St., before it closed due to a fire. Centennial Hall had been operating on a “BYOB,” or “bring your own beer” basis.

“We wanted to get the license to meet the needs of more audiences and attract more people,” said Jean Prout, the owner of Centennial Hall.

Prout said organizations in Mount Pleasant and from Central Michigan University including fraternities and sororities have events at the hall.

“It’s nice to have another venue around Mount Pleasant with a liquor license because we have to spend a lot of money on travel to get to other locations,” said Troy junior Sarah Chandonnet, member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, which has held events at Centennial Hall.

Prout said many customers were uncomfortable with the “bring your own” aspect of the hall because of liability risks.

It is hard to cut people off when the policy is “bring your own,” because it’s generally unknown how much everyone is drinking, Prout said. With a bartender, it is much easier to monitor who is drinking and who needs to be cut off, especially in the case of fraternity and sorority parties.

Jessie Cushman, Phi Kappa Tau fraternity alumnus, said the fraternity has a good working relationship with Centennial Hall.

“The liquor license makes it a safer, more controlled atmosphere,” he said.

metro@cm-life.com

The Vision Studio of Performing Arts has been open for 15 years, and just recently moved to 115 S. Main St., right across from the Brass Cafe & Saloon, 128 S. Main in Mount Pleasant.

“There was just a natural connection, and it was an obvious choice to collaborate to bring alternative Valentine’s Day options,” said Heather Trommer-Beardslee, business manager at Vision Studio of Performing Arts.

The evening will include dinner from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., ballroom dance lessons at VSPA from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m, and open ballroom dancing from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. If participants do not want to take part in the lessons there will be one of the three studios at VSPA open for dancers who already know how.

Trommer-Beardslee said she is looking forward to working with another business in downtown Mount Pleasant.

Tickets are $50, with a maximum of 32 tickets available, and there are very few left.

Both the Brass Cafe and VSPA were selling tickets for the event. The Brass Café has sold all of their tickets, according to manager Jamie Pyecroft.

Tickets can be purchased Monday through Thursday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the VSPA. The profits will go toward paying for the event.

The Brass Cafe will still have their regular business hours on Saturday, Feb. 14, and they anticipate a lot of business, according to Pyecroft. There will be a three course meal served, in addition to the regular menu.

According to the chef and owner, Emma Currie, there will be several things to choose from outside of the regular menu. Appetizers will include lobster risotto, goat cheese tarts, and scallops, main courses will include herb-crusted lamb and Kobe sirloin steak.

For dessert there will be chocolate fondue for two and vanilla Panna Cotta.

metro@cm-life.com

Editor’s Note: This is the eighth story in an occasional series featuring landmarks in the Mount Pleasant community.

A 33-year-old taste of Mount Pleasant has found a new location, but kept the same south of the border style.

Taco Boy, a local Mexican restaurant, recently moved from its long-time location at Preston and Mission streets to a building near Mission and High streets.

“We are doing a lot better in the new location, I think because we are back on the main part of Mission Street,” said owner of Taco Boy, Robert Baltierrez II.

The former location is being turned into a mixed-use building after other buildings on the property were severely damaged by fire.

When Baltierrez learned it would take about a year to rebuild what was lost, he decided to move to a different location.

“I didn’t want to close for a year, because it would be really hard to regain business after a loss like that,” Baltierrez said.

Baltierrez said his father, Robert Baltierrez I, opened the business in 1976 after a friend of the Baltierrez family, who attended Central Michigan University at the time, saw the building at 712 W. Preston Road for lease and informed the family, thinking it would do well.

The restaurant became the first Mexican restaurant in Mount Pleasant, Baltierrez said, and one of the original seven restaurants in the city.

Baltierrez said the new location at 804 S. Mission St. has definitely seen an increase in business, even without a drive-thru, which the previous building had.

“There has definitely been a pickup in business since we moved, because of the busier location and because this is bigger and more comfortable,” said Alma senior Katie Collins, an employee at Taco Boy for about two and a half years.

Baltierrez said there are three other Taco Boy locations in Grand Rapids, which are all family run, and all of the recipes are originals from his mother and grandmother.

Mount Pleasant resident Lee Davis is a Taco Boy customer and likes the new location better than the previous one.

“Taco Boy has good food and is really authentic,” Davis said. “I cook for a profession and I can just tell by looking at it that this is a lot better than what they had.”

metro@cm-life.com

The Civil Rights Movement Soup and Substance presentation from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, in the Bovee University Center Terrace Rooms A and B will aim to show Gandhi’s influence on King.

The event is put on by Minority Student Services and philosophy and religion professor Donald Matthews.

“We are going to talk about what Martin Luther King Jr. learned from Gandhi about non-violent resistance,” Matthews said.

Matthews is writing a book entitled ‘Black Karma,’ which will compare black and Indian religions and philosophies.

Hugh Talat Halman, also a professor of philosophy and religion, is very interested in the religious aspects of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Two of Martin Luther King’s mentors, Howard Thurman and Benjamin Mays, went to India to learn from Gandhi about ‘Truth Force,’ or ‘Soul Force,’” Halman said.

Halman said that King wrote openly about his appreciation and gratitude for the political and spiritual leader of India.

“Gandhi demonstrated how principles can be modeled, and both he and Dr. King were assassinated because the world is not ready for such truth,” Halman said.

news@cm-life.com