November 4, 2008: The Fruitport Junior Varsity Football Team finished the 2008 season with 5-4 record. The team posted wins against Reeths-Puffer, Ludington, Tri-County, Newaygo, and Grant. The teams four losses were vs. Spring Lake, Orchard View, Fremont, and Mt. Pleasant. CLICK HERE to view pictures from the 2008 season.  Click HERE if you are interested in the “Physics of Football”.  If you have time, click HERE for an inspirational football clip. Leave a comment if you have the time.

October 13, 2008: My 9th grade physical science classes have been learning about physical and chemical changes. When the leaves turn colors during the fall months (usually October here in SW Michigan) a chemical change has or is occurring. Click HERE to read an article explaining the chemical changes that take place and the reason why different types of leaves become many different colors. Click HERE for a list of Fall Color Tours in the State of Michigan.

September 1, 2008:  Nervous about the 1st day or 1st week of school?  Click on the following links to read about some helpful hints to making the 1st week of school less stressful. Click HERE to read some tips about surviving the 1st day of high school. Click HERE to read about strategies that will get you on the instructors “good” side. Good luck with the 2008 – 2009 school year. As always, leave a comment about how your 1st week of school went.

August 28, 2008: The Fruitport Junior Varsity football team began the season with a 36 – 18 win over the Reeths-Puffer Rockets. The last 3 weeks of conditioning, 3 1/2 hour morning practices, and scrimmages with Kenowa Hills and Whitehall paid off for the 25 member JV team. All 25 athletes saw playing time in the game. Offensively the Trojans were led by fullbacks Bobby Steinman and Lance Gilbert, halfbacks Cody Merkins, A.J. Schucker, and Jermaine Moody and quarterback Kody Schultz. The entire offensive line did a great job of blocking for the running backs.  The line consists of ends Jordan Folkertsma and Cody Bayle, tackles Garrett Jones and Zack Fortenbacher, guards Nathan Sawin and Brandon Post, and center Jacob Grow. Our next game is Thursday at home vs. Tri-County HS. Continue to check back to this site to preview pictures from upcoming games.

Click HERE to read the Fruitport Trojans Varsity Football preview that was in the Muskegon Chronicle this week. Click HERE to read the week 1 football picks from the Muskegon Chronicle. GO TROJANS!!

August 3, 2008: Fruitport Junior Varsity and Freshman Football Teams will hold conditioning practice the week of August 4 – 8. The conditioning will take place Monday – Friday from 6:00 – 8:00 pm  on the practice field behind the high school weight room. Contact Coach Stebelton or Coach Newstead for more information or refer to the calender linked on Coach Wilson’s football blog. You can access the football blog by clicking on the link to the right of this page.

 Click HERE for a detailed history of professional football. The Hall of Fame game is currently being played in Canton, OH. (I can’t believe it is football season already!!)

June 5, 2008: Summer is here and most people around West Michigan head to the pools or the beach to relax. Click HERE to read an interesting article about how breathing in the air around ocean (salt) water can be good for you. Have a great summer break. I will continue to blog through out the summer. I am looking forward to seeing everyone back in school next fall.

June 2, 2008: First off, many teens this summer (and adults) may have to find alternatives to driving around because of the soaring gas prices. I predict that teenagers will opt for walking around Grand Haven and Pere Marquette instead of “cruising” the strip. Click HERE for an interesting article about teens saving money (or earning money) to help support the spending on high gas prices.

 Those of you interested in astronomy and the summer night sky may want to check out the following links. Summer will present many opportunities to see exciting things that most of us can see without the help of a telescope. Click HERE for a great presentation about observing the night sky through out the summer months. (Click on the “play movie” tab once you are directed to the site.) Click HERE for map of the sky and the CONSTELLATIONS  that are visible during the summer months. (The constellation link has the picture and the myth or legend behind the constellation.) HERE is a great link that has information on the planets, comets, and other objects in our solar system. Finally, on a rainy day or night, check out the Grand Rapids Planetarium, the planetarium at Muskegon Community College, or on a clear weekend night check out the Veen observatory in Lowell, MI. For stargazing (free of charge) try heading out to Lake Michigan at Lake Harbor Park in Norton Shores.

May 28, 2008: Powder Puff for more than just one night?? (I couldn’t handle officiating more than one time a year!) Nikki Johnson, of Silverado High School in Las Vegas, is pushing to make girls Flag Football a national high school sport with hope that colleges would adapt the sport and give out scholarships to compete at the Division I level. Click HERE for the article from the Las Vegas Review Journal. (I coached football and track for 5 years at Silverado High School while in Las Vegas.) Leave a comment and let me know how you feel about girls Flag Football becoming a national high school sport. Let me know if you would play and what position you would want to play. It may not happen tomorrow, but it sounds like something possible in the future of High School Athletics.

May 26, 2008: This week marks the 10 year anniversary of what is called the worst wind storms to ever hit the midwest. (Bill Steffen calls it “possibly the worst line of Thunderstorms in WORLD HISTORY”) On May 29, 1998, winds exceeding 80 mph slammed the Lake Michigan shoreline and toppled trees in Muskegon and Ottawa Counties. (Most people called this first storm the “Storm of the Century”) Then, unbelievably, on the morning of May 31, 1998 another storm slammed the lakeshore, this time producing winds in access of 120 mph in N. Ottawa County and Kent County. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power (70,000 in Muskegon County), some schools were cancelled for several days, campers were tipped over in PJ Hoffmaster and Grand Haven State Park, and thousands of trees were ripped out of the ground. The headline in the Muskegon Chronicle that day was, “Once in a century, twice in two days”. Click HERE for the 10 year anniversary article in the Musk. Chronicle. (Click on the “view the photo gallery” link within the article to check out over 40 photos from that 1998 weekend.) Click HERE for a scientific explanation of what caused these damaging winds. And click HERE for the storm reports from W. Michigan and some interesting facts about that particular “derecho”. (The first picture above is from a home in Fruitport. The 2nd picture is from GH State Park)

I “barely” missed both storms. I was flying back from Vegas on the red-eye flight the morning of May 31st. My flight was delayed in Las Vegas because of “strong” thunderstorms in Chicago. (I remember watching the weather channel while waiting for my flight to take off from Las Vegas and hoping that I wouldn’t have to fly into “those storms”)  By the time I landed in Grand Rapids on the morning of May 31st, the damage to the area had already been done. (My flight landed in Chicago at 6 am and the storms hit W. Michigan around 5 am) The drive from GR to Muskegon was both amazing and shocking.  Let me know if you remember anything about that weekend in May. Ask your parents to describe it to you if you do not remember. Be sure to check out the pictures on the Muskegon Chronicle website (link above).

May 20, 2008: This week kicks off the oldest running annual festival in Muskegon County. The tradional Fruitport Old Fashioned Days begins on Tuesday (with the carnival) and lasts through Memorial Day weekend. Click HERE for the list of Fruitport OFD events. Click HERE to learn about the history of Fruitport Township. (Fruitport did not used to be called Fruitport. We were almost Lovell High School)

When I was in Middle School I would attend the carnival almost every night. (I once was chastised by a “carnie” because I tried to buy freshly squeezed lemonade before the carnival was opened!) I still try to get down to the carnival on Sunday night for the annual fireworks over Spring Lake. Click HERE for some chemistry involved with  fireworks. HERE is an interesting link on the history of cotton candy and how to make your own cotton candy. If you are having carnival “withdrawls” click HERE. Hopefully you are able to be a part of this long running celebration that most of us consider the official start to summer. (HERE is a list of summer festivals around Muskegon County for the 2008 summer.) Leave a comment and tell me about your Memorial Day weekend.