When I left Fenton in 2008, I didn’t think my career path would lead to my return. But late in 2010, I heard about this company called Patch, which just happened to be planning to launch a site in Fenton. I liked everything I heard, packed up and started trying to explain a site that no one in town had ever heard of. In a little more than two years, Patch has become an online community center with news, events, announcements, sharing of photos, information, answers, questions and plenty of conversation. I learned more about the community I grew up in during those two years than the first 25 I…

It seems like with every town I've spent a lot of time in, I'm left wondering what it could be instead of what it is. I'm disappointed in trips to Detroit because of a lack of connection between hot spots, and wish it was more like Chicago or Toronto. I lived in Port Huron for two years wondering why the city couldn't capitalize on a gorgeous shoreline, other than a stretch of high-priced condos, one nice, but old and musty-smelling hotel and one sailboat race. Lately, I've been left feeling the same way about Fenton. I was more than happy to move back to the area about a year and half ago …

I’d had been looking forward to the opening of Michigan Brewing Company in Fenton since I moved back to the area a year and half ago. It had been scheduled to open just over a month ago. However, the deal fell through and many like myself were left disappointed. Many sources told me there would be plenty of interested parties and that I wouldn’t be disappointed in the applicants. As the Fenton Downtown Development Authority revealed Tuesday, they were right. Owners of several reputable businesses applied and I am excited to see which is chosen.  Many people had commented on Fenton Patch that …

My New Year’s Resolution this year was to be more generous, more giving and try to help those in need. I’ve read and written many stories over the years and discovered how lucky I am. While learning about other people’s lives, I realized, in comparison, I’ve never really had a bad thing happen to me in my entire life. I’ve started small to try and give back. I’ve made a more conscious effort to make people feel better about themselves. Since, I’ve become involved with Patch supporting Childhelp’s Run the Course for Dominick Calhoun to help raise child abuse awareness. Is there a better cause …

As I stood dressed as a superhero and smiled next to Regis Philbin, who dressed up as Harry Potter, for Halloween 2007, only one thought popped in my head. How did I get here? Well, that is a fun and surprising story. I was visiting a relative near New York City at the end of October 2007.  We had watched a Conan O’Brien taping earlier in the week and had no plans of seeing any other shows. My girlfriend, now wife, begged me to go to see Live with Regis and Kelly, but we were unable to get tickets and I wasn’t going to stand in line at 5 a.m. and wait several hours to maybe have a chance at …

Last week, Michigan Brewing Company President Bobby Mason announced plans to create a new Fenton beer. After the announcement, we posted a question on our Facebook Page about what it should be. The winner was a double IPA, followed by rye pale ale and brown ale. The Fenton location is expected to open in the summer of 2012. While it is unknown what the new beer will be, we do know the ales and lagers Michigan Brewing Company now offers. Included is a company description of each beer, a rating from the Beer Advocate magazine and website and my take on each beer. First, here is a list of MBC's …

When I first heard of Katie Wyatt, the belief was she might not make it until Christmas. But she kept fighting. Then, in January, Katie’s Game, a fundraiser for the teen and her family, seemed like it might be her last hurrah. Not for this spunky teen. She went on to visit Florida, stop at Disney World and meet the Detroit Red Wings players. If it was spirit that could keep the body alive, Katie would still be with us. But bodies can only take so much and on Tuesday Katie’s couldn’t take any more. “You’ll never see her without that smile,” said eighth-grader Cassi Adams, 14, in January “She …

The limited time to enjoy the warm Michigan outdoors is upon us. It’s your chance to get outside, go hiking and camping, play and have plenty of fun. It’s like a long, cold then rainy dream finally came true. Well, for a few local people, the beginning of the warm weather has been what many would call a nightmare. On May 28, Fenton police believe two men jumped out of an SUV near North Road Elementary and chased two young girls. Police said it is unclear whether the men were after the girls or the scooter they were playing with. According to the police report, around 7 p.m. Saturday the girls…

I was flattered to receive invitations to three Memorial Day weekend parties this year. But I’ll be going to the same place I’ve been for the past decade. I’ll be on Broad Street in Linden at my friend’s parents' house, watching the parade go by, then heading to the cemetery for the ceremony. Somehow years ago, the tradition started with a wild party the day before Memorial Day. We had some epic bashes and plenty of fun into all hours in the morning. Sometimes we’d even head to the cemetery for an early “preview” of the new memorial. But no matter how much we drank or how late we stayed up, …

Four months ago, people in Fenton might have thought “Patch” was something they put over a hole in their pants or something a pirate wore on their eye. In a short time, however, Fenton Patch is known as a valuable news source in the community. On Thursday, the new venture celebrated its Grand Opening at the Fenton Winery & Brewery complete with food, fun, prizes, a special Patch Pint and a ribbon cutting ceremony by Fenton Regional Chamber of Commerce President Shelly Day. It wasn’t long ago when I was handing out business cards, water bottles and Patch pens at the Fenton Jinglefest. At the …

Today is a day I cherish every year. It’s not my birthday or my anniversary, and it may sound a little silly and maybe a little pathetic. But every year, I put in the DVD, watch it a handful of times and smile. For it was on this day, 11 long years ago, that I felt one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever had. Every time I watch it — heck, every time I think about it — I get a little bit of that feeling back. If I’m down, the video comes on, and I feel a little bit better. I had the chance to live the dream of many, albeit a very small dream, but it’s a dream nearly every little boy holding a …

Slainte! Top of the mornin' to ya! Happy St. Patrick's Day! Erin Go Bragh! It's one of my favorite days of the year. It wasn't always and it happened slowly, but now there is no doubt, I absolutely love St. Patrick's Day. There's a little Irish in my blood. I've got the pale skin and a red tint to my hair to prove it, but within the last few years, I've fallen in love with the music, the comedy, the food, the Guinness and the fun. I got a little taste of St. Patrick's Day last weekend in Traverse City where I attended the Irish Comedy Tour (it was fantastic) and sampled an Irish Stout. I wasn…

In my younger days, the only wrestling I watched included Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man Randy Savage performing on the big stage. I had no interest in amateur wrestling, but the scripted professional bouts were a passion of mine. Though I played pretty much all sports in middle and high school at Lake Fenton, wrestling was never one of them. The closest I ever got was some buddies trying to convince me to try it in eighth grade between football and basketball season. I passed. It didn’t appeal to me. However, that all changed years later as I started covering high school …

Don’t let Kid Rock’s “American Badass” beer scare you. Yes, Michigan Brewing Company does make and sell the rock star’s famous brew, but it isn’t a beer-swigging, curse-muttering, bar-fighting type of place. It’s a beer-sipping, peanut-popping, tasty-food-serving type of establishment, and it will be a great addition to Fenton. I have visited Michigan Brewing Company’s Webberville location many times and was more than excited when I heard the company might be coming to town. I first visited a few years ago as my dad and I started home brewing. Michigan Brewing Company features a home-brewing …

Sometimes life can be as simple as a Popsicle. Fenton resident Chip Beltinck had never met Katie Wyatt. His family, however, was helping to organize Katie’s Game, a fundraiser for the Fenton eighth-grader, who has been diagnosed with cancer. So Beltinck wanted to find out what Katie really wanted for her special night. The 14-year-old’s answer wasn’t a miracle cure, to make the pain go away, or enough strength to visit her friends again. Her answer was “a Popsicle.” Not just any Popsicle, however, but her favorite Popsicle, a Bomb Pop. A red, white and blue treat currently manufactured by …

During the day, she's a schoolteacher. She takes attendance, grades papers and molds young minds. However,  in the evening Erin Stark  is doing kettlebell swings, medicine ball throws and a whole host of other high-intensity exercises - and during this session she's the only woman in a room full of men.  The 37-year-old is not super woman, she's just on her way to being he best shape of her life. The magic happens at a place called Major League Fitness. Before I stepped a foot into the facility to watch Stark and others push themselves to the limit, I witnessed several people running down …