The ink is going pink: Bay City Tattoo shop to ink ribbons for breast cancer awareness month

Ask people about their tattoos, and you’re likely to get a pretty good story.

Ask Alan Gower and Katie Gower next week, and you’ll get the story of a lifetime.

In a show of support for their mother and her fight against breast cancer, the Gowers plan to have their bodies inked with a pink ribbon Sunday during a 24-hour tattoo marathon being hosted by VooDoo Tattoo.

The event, which begins at noon at 1010 Columbus Ave., is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

For $20, participants can have one of several pink ribbon styles inked by VooDoo Tattoo’s artists, with half the proceeds benefiting breast cancer research.

The shop also is accepting donations for those who want to avoid the needle.

“It’s always been kinda in the back of our minds to do some sort of fundraiser,” said Paul Gomez, 36, a VooDoo Tattoo artist who says buzz surrounding the event has been extraordinary. “I’m hoping we didn’t bite off more than we can chew with this thing.

“Regardless, it’s going to be a good time. It’ll be a day to remember for sure.”

For Alan Gower, 22, and Katie Gower, 15, the timing of the event couldn’t be better.

Their mother, Shelley Brothwell, 39, of Kawkawlin, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September and is scheduled to undergo a double mastectomy today at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw.

She said she was deeply moved that her children are getting the tattoos in her honor and visited VooDoo last week to sign off on her daughter’s artwork because Katie is not yet 18.

“I’ll be in the hospital while they’re doing it.”

Alan Gower, who has other tattoos, said his pink ribbon is going behind his ear.

“I’m having mine on my shoulder,” added Katie Gower.

Gomez said the shop has stocked up on tubes, needles and pink ink for Sunday’s marathon. He said each ink job should take 20 to 30 minutes.

He said the event hits close to home because at age 15, he lost his best friend to stomach cancer.

“We were kind of inseparable,” he said. “Even at 15 … you understand the concept, but you know, having it right there where it’s right in your face, it’s kinda hard to deal with.”

Amelia Pelletier, coordinator of health initiatives for the Northeast Michigan and Upper Peninsula Chapter of the American Cancer Society, said she thinks the event is a great way to raise money and awareness in the battle against breast cancer.

“I thought it was kind of a neat idea when the guys came up with it,” she said.

Pelletier’s son, Dave Pelletier, 28, of Essexville, is an artist at VooDoo Tattoo and says Sunday’s event coincides with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is observed each October.

Justin Rodriguez, owner of VooDoo Tattoo, said he’s been getting four to five calls a day from people asking about the event. He said many have told him they’re coming in groups of five or more.

“We have a lot of people who say they’re going to be here when we open,” Rodriguez said, hinting this may not be the last tattoo marathon at his business. “I hope this falls into place and this becomes a real great event.”

Amelia Pelletier said the money raised funds breast cancer research, as well as local community programs aimed at early detection and prevention.

That’s important to Brothwell, who says she won’t know the scope of her cancer until doctors operate and even if everything goes well, she’ll still have two more operations over a six-month period for reconstruction.

“It’s a long process I’ve found out,” she said, adding she never wants her daughter to go through what she is experiencing.

“I told her, when she gets older, I’m gonna be pushing her,” Brothwell said. “She’s gotta get breast exams, because I don’t want this to happen to her.”
Katie Gower agreed.

“I’m getting tested when I’m 20.”

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/the_ink_is_going_pink.html

The ink is going pink: Bay City Tattoo shop to ink ribbons for breast cancer awareness month

Bay City — Overwhelming response brought an early end to VooDoo Tattoo's 24 hour breast cancer tattoo marathon. The event, where patrons pay $20 for a breast cancer ribbon tattoo, has had such an overwhelming response that the tattoo parlor, located at 1010 Columbus Ave., had to lock its doors at 7 a.m., turning away participants said employee Shannon Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said all told, the shop inked 271 tattoos.

Half of the proceeds will go towards the American Cancer Society.

Rodriguez said VooDoo Tattoo is beginning to run out of supplies, such as tubes used for tattooing and will need to make a special order to keep working throughout the week. Local businesses came out to help VooDoo tattoo employees and patrons — many of which stood in line for several hours before making it into VooDoo tattoo.

Rodiguez said Grandpa Tony's, D'Angelo's Pizza and Bare Bones BBQ & Pizza donated food for the employees while the American Cancer Society donated cookies, bottled water and hot cocoa for patrons waiting in line.

"We definitely plan to do another one," Rodriguez said. "We didn't know we'd get this kind of response."

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/the_ink_is_going_pink.html

Miss Cougar International speaks out: So what if cougars like young guys?

Though older men get praised for scoring hot young girlfriends, older women (commonly referred to as “cougars”) are often berated and laughed at for pursuing younger guys.

Since the 1967 release of “The Graduate,” a film centered on a mother seducing an unsettled twenty-something aged man, cougars have been viewed as aggressive females who force themselves upon insecure males.

The 2009 television series “Cougar Town” reinforces the idea that it’s unusual and humorous for a seasoned woman to desire a young, physically fit dude who would not have issues downstairs, but a “cougar-cub” relationship does not need to be seen as scandalous or weird.

Kenneth Martinez, 21, never expected to date a woman 16 years his senior, but he does. The “cub” met his current girlfriend while waiting for a buddy to pick him up at a skate park in Indianapolis, Indiana.

“We talked for like an hour,” Martinez told The Daily Caller. “She gave me her number, then we went out.”

This was not Martinez’s first cougar encounter.  He said an older woman had fawned over his appearance before he had even reached adulthood.

“I was not even 18,” Martinez said. “I was just going into a gas station and she stopped me and told me ‘you’re the most good looking kid I’ve ever seen.’ I was like, thanks, you know.”

Amy Luna Manderino, also known as Miss Cougar International 2011, told TheDC that cougar dating is no different than traditional relationships.

“We are just people like everyone else,” Manderino, 40, told TheDC, adding that news outlets and the media have created a “tabloid” image of cougars depicting them as almost predators. (PICTURE: Courteney Cox of “Cougar Town”)

“Sometimes when I do my public speaking I joke that somebody in some board room somewhere decided that you cannot write an article on cougars without one of three keywords, [which are] predator, prey, and prowl,” Manderino said, noting that many people assume cougars are just out to get wild in bed with young guys.

This stereotype, the Berkeley, California resident says, doesn’t present the full story.

“These relationships are so rich in so many other ways besides just the sexual aspects,” Manderino explained. “[I]t is tabloid because it’s titillating and sells newspapers, but I think the real story is how gender roles are shifting in our society.”

Manderino says younger men are appealing because most do not strive to be a macho, alpha male.

“Hyper masculinity says do not go to the doctor, do not admit that you have any pain, do not admit that you have any problems … Do not learn how to cook. You partner with one of these hyper masculine guys and he’s not taking care of himself,” Manderino said.

“One of the things I love to say is the only difference between over forty and under forty is that the consequences of your choices are more visible. The guys that have that kind of lifestyle when they are over forty are the guys you hear cougars complain about,” she said. “The men my age, they are unhealthy, overweight and cannot take care of themselves because we raised them that way.”

But younger men have been taught differently, and today’s mothers are teaching their sons to develop healthier habits.

“There is a whole group of women who are raising men to say, no ‘I’m going to eat healthy. I’m not going to feel feminine because I eat fruits and vegetables. I’m not feminine because I care about the planet. Or that money is not everything to me,’” Manderino said of the men she prefers.

Dating consultant Nicole Johnson told TheDC that cougars should not be considered female creepers for being fed up with the guys in their own age group and trying out males with fresh perspectives.

“I do not believe ‘Cougars’ prey on young men,” Johnson said. “Pop culture’s definition of ‘Cougars’ is unjust; the word ‘prey’ should be used for true predators. I believe these middle-aged women have become frustrated with trying to date and connect with men their age. Because they are disheartened with the men in their demographic, they seek out new romantic options with younger men. That’s not preying, that’s perseverance!”

Currently single, Manderino reiterated her appreciation for the new trait she’s noticed in younger men.

“[These guys] are looking at their fathers and looking at their friends and saying, I don’t want to be that way. I do not want to be violent. I do not want to be all about money. I do not want to have to put down women to feel like a man,” Manderino said. “Women who have a lot of high self-esteem, we don’t want be with men like that.”

A month after first chatting with TheDC, Martinez’s relationship is still going strong. His girlfriend is getting a new car, a 325 BMW hardtop convertible, with all the options.

“She talks to me a lot about her marriage and stuff,” Martinez said. “She’s in a custody battle. Other than that, it’s great. We’ve progressed from hanging out on the weekend to nearly everyday.”

Martinez has also talked with his family about his dating exploits, and for the most part, they don’t mind at all. Martinez said only his mother expressed reservation about his relationship because his girlfriend is still married, although she has filed for divorce.

“They’re kinda sarcastic about it: Cougar this, cougar that, but they’re cool with it,” he said.

Michael Mayday contributed to this report. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/28/miss-cougar-international-speaks-out-so-what-if-cougars-like-young-guys/#ixzz1jkrdHz46

Record high: 50 percent of Americans approve of marijuana legalization

For over four decades Gallup has asked Americans if marijuana should be legalized. On Monday, Gallup published their latest findings with 50 percent of Americans approving of its legalization and 46 percent disapproving.

It was the first time a majority has approved of legalizing the drug since Gallup began asking in 1969. 

Barry Schmidt, Prevention Specialist at the Bay County Prevention Network warns of the consequences of legalizing marijuana, likening the legalization of marijuana to the repeal of alcohol prohibition, causing an increase in crime.

"The problems with alcohol are just as rampant today, if not more rampant," he said. "With legalizing marijuana, that would cause the same kinds of issues."

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2009 marijuana was found to be the most prevalent illegal drug in use.

Support for legalizing marijuana decreases with age: 62 percent of ages 18 to 29 approve of legalizing marijuana, ages 50 to 64 approve by 49 percent and ages over 65 approve of legalization by only 31 percent. As a whole, the Midwest approve of legalization by 54 percent.

Opposition to legalization was highest at 85 percent in 1969, when Gallup first began asking the question. Since then, approval for legalizing the drug has slowly climbed.

James Denson, 30, who helps to run Earth Oddities, located at 808 N. Euclid Ave., said he's cautious of outright legalizing marijuana. He's said he'd be concerned of court systems clogged by appeals if it were legalized. However, Denson, like 70 percent of Americans surveyed last year, said doctors should be able to prescribe the drug to patients.

"As a whole, yeah," he said. "It'll be a lot easier for the people who need it to get it."

Delta College will be hosting State officials for a medical marijuana Wednesday at  6:30 p.m in the Delta College Lecture Theater. The free event is open to the general public. 

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/record_high_50_percent_of_amer.html

Tobico Marsh tower nears completion at Bay City State Recreation Area

BANGOR TWP. — The restoration of an observation tower at Tobico Marsh nearly is done.

Ben Berwick of Sugar Construction said Friday his crew was putting finishing touches on the tower after nine days of reconstruction.

“It’s a total renovation,” Berwick said of the tower project. “They’re gonna be built right back up again.”

Berwick said his crew planned to begin work on a second tower at Tobico March sometime this week.

But Pat Race, of the Saginaw Valley Sustainability Society, said reconstruction of the second tower may be on hold due to the discovery of a local eagle’s nest.

George Lauinger, supervisor of the Bay City State Recreation Area, said he couldn’t confirm the existence of the nest.

Race helps to raise funds for the project for Friends of the Bay City State Recreation Area and heads the Save Tobico Towers restoration project. So far, the project has raised more than $64,000, about 76 percent of the funds needed.

The project recently netted three grants totaling $11,000. The group has applied for two more grants in hopes of covering the estimated $84,400 cost. 

Race said he was relieved to see progress on the towers’ reconstruction, but more remains to be done.

“I’ll be happy when we can use the towers,” he said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/11/tobico_marsh_tower_nears_compl.html

Bay County hunters monitor whitetail deer population through check stations

BANGOR TP. — Successful deer hunter Brian Wahr of Freeland pulled up to the Bay County Deer Check station Wednesday at 3580 State Park Drive to have the spikehorn buck and doe he shot Tuesday morning checked by state officials.

Wahr said the buck was chasing after the doe, and the female deer already was wounded by a wayward crossbow bolt.

“I just decided to put her out of her misery,” he said.

Wahr bagged his two deer in Ogemaw County, a part of the designated bovine tuberculosis zone in the northeastern Lower Peninsula.

With that knowledge, wildlife assistant Eric Schrouder, 19, pried open both the buck and doe’s jaws and peered at the teeth before slicing and powersawing the heads off both deer. He and Sleeper State Park ranger Kathy Beachy then tagged, bagged and boxed the heads for shipping to a testing center in Lansing.

The state is monitoring the spread of TB among deer in the northeastern Lower Peninsula. The check stations also serve to record the ages of deer brought into the check area.

This year, deer aren’t getting all the attention.

“You didn’t happen to see any feral hogs, did you?” asked Nate Newman, an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Wildlife Services. Wahr said he didn’t, but he wished he had.

Newman said he came to the Bay County Deer Check station to see if any feral pigs had been spotted or bagged in Bay County or any surrounding areas.

“Some guy caught 13 of them in Midland ... There’s a ton of them in this area,” Newman said. “We’d like to kill all of them because they’ll eventually take over; they outcompete everything.”

Newman said most feral pigs are escapees from domestic game farms. He said the normally nocturnal pigs don’t require a license to be killed on private land.

Beachy said 32 deer filtered their way through the check station on Tuesday, the opening day of regular firearm season, and about a dozen on Wednesday morning. She said checking heads at the station is voluntary for hunters.

Most of the time, Beachy said, the age of the deer is recorded and a collectible patch is given out.

The agents check a deer’s age by slicing open a side of the animal’s cheek, necessary after rigor mortis. They search for any telltale teeth — like tricuspids, which set in after a year and a half — and teeth wear.

Delano Brubaker, 78, of Lee Township brought his 16-year-old grandson’s buck in to check its age and collect a patch. The best guess for Austin Brubaker’s buck, thanks to some molars coming in at the back of the buck’s jaw, is three and a half years old.

Brubaker said he was with Austin when he bagged his first buck Tuesday morning with a .32-caliber Winchester special. He said the buck was tailing several does when he walked into a shooting lane. By Delano Brubaker’s estimate his grandson bagged a nice six-point buck. Beachy and Schrouder considered it to be a nice eight-point.

“Yeah, he’s a proud little guy,” Brubaker said. 

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/11/bay_county_hunters_monitor_whi.html

Bay County's 30 foreign exchange students study, adapt to American culture

BAY CITY — Lee Li just doesn’t get American humor. But give him some time; the culture shock is likely to wear off.

“Americans like to tell jokes most of the time,” he said. “Most of the time I don’t catch them.”

The 17-year-old from Wuhan China, is one of five exchange students walking the halls this year at Bay City Western High School and one of 30 attending public schools in Bay County.

Aside from the humor, Li has spent his first month in Michigan adjusting to plenty of other things.

“In China, we go to school for 14 hours a day, and six and half days a week. And we only learn some science subjects,” he said. “We don’t learn economic or social subjects. We just learn math, physics, chemistry.”

Many of the exchange students have similar stories about the differences in culture, but say that’s exactly why they signed up to live abroad for an entire school year.

“… I want to experience something new, so, I want it to be different,” said Martine Aasen, 17, of Sandefjord, Norway, another Western High School exchange student. “(I want to) learn new things, a different culture, speak fluent English, (make) new friends.”

All four of Bay County’s public school districts welcomed exchange students this year. Bay City Public Schools has 12 students, including seven at Bay City Central High School. Seven students are attending Essexville-Hampton Garber High School; Bangor Township John Glenn High School has six students; and five students are at Pinconning Area High School.

The students, ranging in age from 15 to 18 years old, have traveled to Michigan from all over the world, including 14 from Asia, a dozen from Europe, three from South America and one from Africa.

Six of the students are from Germany, five are from China and four are from Thailand — the three most represented countries.

Eighteen are girls, 12 are boys.

For some, getting here wasn’t easy.

Olya Kotlyarska, 16, of Kremenets, Ukraine, competed with nearly 9,000 Ukranians for her spot. Only 250 people made the cut.

Kotlyarska, who is attending Garber High School, says she is grateful to have been selected.

“People here are really, really nice and the first day of school, I didn’t feel like I was in a different country,” she said. “It was really nice.”

During the year, exchange students live with host families and are encouraged to fully integrate into all family, school and extracurricular activities.

For some, the proposition, combined with homesickness, is a bit daunting.

“I like it here. I like everything I try, but I miss my family and friends in Brazil, a lot, and I need to talk to them, everyday, or I can’t live,” said Larissa Gheler, 16, of Araçatuba, Brazil, a student at John Glenn High School.

Those feelings tend to wane as the year goes on, said Jon McQuinn, a local field director for Youth For Understanding, one of several international exchange programs through which students have arrived in Bay County this year.

“I don’t think they (the students) understand the magnitude of the situation they’re in,” he said. “All the sudden they’re 6,000 miles away from home.”

Even small things, like food and transportation punctuate cultural gaps.

Filipe Reino,17, of Lisbon, Portugal, said he doesn’t care for the cuisine at Central High School.

“At home, I usually eat at lunch meat with some rice or spaghetti with vegetables,” he said. “At dinners I eat fish with rice. And here, yesterday was like the first time I had meat here. We only have … hot-dogs, pizza.”

“Here it’s not so healthy,” chimes in Leonie Kraft, 15, of Bremen, Germany, another Central High School exchange student.

Aasen, of Norway, said she expects to walk to and from school every day, as her host family’s home is just a few blocks from Western High School in Auburn.

“People are thinking, it isn’t very safe if I walk from school to home,” she said. “I’m used to walking all the time. And so, students are driving me home.”

McQuinn said a common shock for European students is the lack of a heavily used public transportation system, and having to depend on host parents to travel.

“They feel bad having to ask for a ride,” McQuinn said. “That’s a big fear for a lot of our kids.”

While most find classes here easy, many are struggling with language barriers and homework.Most of Bay County’s exchange students said they’re still getting used to some American school novelties, such as choosing subjects to study, having sports affiliated with a school and changing classrooms.

“I have to do extra work because English is a foreign language, and some words I don’t know,” said Yao Yu, 16, of Beijing, China. “I have to translate all of them. I don’t know what the teacher asks us to do, and what the question is about.”

Yu, who goes by the name Iris, said she spends more time on her studies than her American counterparts.

“Maybe other students will spend one hour to do their homework, however exchange students maybe spend three or four times that or more,” she said.


View Bay County Foreign Exchange Students[1] in a larger map

As much as the exchange students learn during their year here, area administrators say it goes both ways.

Tony Bacigalupo, principal at John Glenn High School, said one of the benefits of having students from different countries attend Bay County high schools is the fact that students on both sides can realize that what they have in common outweighs the differences.

“There are things that the students can learn from our guests that you can’t learn from a textbook,” added Allen Atkari, principal at Garber High School. “Students can ask questions and get answers directly from students from other countries.”

And they do ask plenty of questions that make it clear there is much the American students can learn.

Sergey Radevich, 16, of Rudnyy, Kazakhstan, said his peers at Bay City Central wanted to know if he remembers the Cold War, even though he was born in 1995, well after the Berlin Wall fell.

Derrick Yevu, 16, of Accra, Ghana, said some students at Garber High School wanted to know if he rode lions to class.

Sina Porrmann, 15, of Hamburg, Germany, said students at Central High School inquired whether her country is ruled by a dictator.

Another student’s host asked how many days of the week Europeans have.

And Reino, of Lisbon, got the chance to teach a bit of geography to his friends.

“Somebody asked me if Portugal is near Argentina and Chile,” he said.

In the end, exchange programs are all about education, with both sides coming out winners, said Bacigalupo.

“Sometimes, their world view isn’t as big as it should be,” he said of how American kids can benefit.

And as for our guests:

“What I really see is that they get a real life example of what real life at an American school is like.”

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/students_of_the_world_come_to.html