Late for class — Construction delays start of Saugatuck-Douglas school year

Matt Ryan threw for a touchdown with his very first NFL pass, Michael Turner set a team rushing record in his Atlanta debut, and the Falcons were off and running Sunday.

Michael Vick who?

Having put No. 7 in their rearview mirror, the Falcons got off to a rousing start in their first game with Ryan and Turner. The rookie quarterback electrified the crowd with a 62-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins before many fans had settled in their seats, while Turner rumbled for 220 yards and two TDs after coming to Atlanta from San Diego in the offseason.

The result was a 34-21 victory over the Detroit Lions, who bickered among themselves on the sideline and showed again that a perfect record in the preseason is downright meaningless when the games actually count.

When many teenagers wake up in the morning they’ll watch TV or get on the computer. Emmy Gray tends to her butterflies.

A little more than a year ago, we launched a campaign at Winning At Home called Married For Life. Since that time, our mission has not wavered. Our focus continues to be encouraging people to publicly commit to stay married for life. Since 2007, more than 11,000 people have taken a stand for marriage.

This is not a gimmick and there is no cost to sign up. Our goal is to simply bring marriage back to a place of prominence. Instead of hearing all the time about how many people are getting divorced, let’s celebrate how many people get married and stayed married. It’s OK to try and figure out what went wrong in someone’s marriage, but why don’t we invest the same amount of time and energy in learning how people stay married.

 Spokesmen for John McCain recently said they were going to make this presidential campaign about personalities and not about issues It reminded me of elections in junior high school — you won if you were one of the cool kids (or gave funny speeches). The truth is that personalities aren’t a good substitute for skills.

I was a fired-up John McCain supporter in 2000 I’ll admit, however, he and the Republicans have been losing me lately I’ve been tuning into the convention this week to see if maybe I’d glimpse what the Republican skill set really is these days because I refuse to let this be a junior high election. The issues do matter.

The eyes of the nation were on the Republican National Convention last week, but the presidential race is not the only political focus here. In Allegan County, a very important series of events was put into motion when on April 30, 2007, Gov. Granholm appointed the judicially inexperienced and socially controversial William A. Baillargeon as judge of the 48th Circuit Court, which serves Allegan County.

This appointment was made while bypassing several local legal talents who were both more experienced and more representative of the family values we all appreciate in our Allegan County Communities. Baillargeon’s appointment was widely discussed within the local legal community, as Baillargeon had been a major financial contributor to Granholm’s campaign funds before his appointment.

Weekend trips north frequently hatch a new recipe from a family member or friend.

This recipe for “Rhonda’s Southern Caviar” is one of those “it’s from a friend of a friend” deals. The woman who shared the recipe, Mollie Galioto, works in the office of my nephew Kim’s wife, Mandy, at Hope College. Confused?

No matter where it came from, this is good stuff. Three teen-aged boys at a recent cottage potluck were found scarfing it down before the meal even began. I thought maybe it looked too unusual to be tried by sometimes-picky teens — you know, not the usual tomato-based salsa — but I was wrong. These guys loved it.

Couple of weeks ago I asked for your encounters with famous people, and my blog friends (at blogs.hollandsentinel.com/cheri) were the ones who came through with some really interesting ones.

Gary G. wrote: “Oh, Cheri, some of the famous people I’ve run into unexpectedly include: Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in Munich, Germany; Mohamed Ali walking around the McCormick Place in Chicago; Rip Taylor at the Kent County Airport; Dick Gregory at O’Hare Airport, Miss Florida at a restaurant in, of all places, Florida, and I guess you might consider running into Rep. Pete Hoekstra at Sam’s Club a life-changing event.”

ChezTom wrote: “My sous (chef) was interviewed by (Mohammed) Ali for the personal chef’s position at the ranch down in southern Michigan. … During the interview Will Smith stuck his head in just to let Mohammed know that he’d gotten there.

Paul and Jackie Kern of Holland announce the engagement of their daughter, Kendra Sue Kern

Steve and Jane Hunderman of Zeeland announce the engagement of their daughter, Emily Sue Hunderman,

Lisa Marie Mahieu and Ryan Michael Volkers were united in marriage on Saturday, April 26, 2008,

Leanne Kay DeRoo and        Andrew George Hoffman were married on June 14, 2008,