Nursing students going to South Africa May 2 are trying to raise money for the William Oates Memorial School located in Somerset East. This school is in need of all types of school supplies. Our goal is to raise money to bring with us to help purchase some of the needed supplies for these children.
Please mail your donations by April 20.
If you are enrolled in MPSERS Pension Plus plan and have contributions going to VOYA Financial for your defined contribution, and/or personal health care fund, this informational meeting is for you! (more…)
Equal Pay Day is a symbolic day when women’s earnings finally catch up to men’s earnings from the previous year. Equal pay is not a myth, it’s math! (more…)
Re-Evolution: Courage, Citizenship, Contribution, Community is the theme of the 6th TEDxTraverseCity event taking place on Wednesday, May 11th. Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, April 13th at 10 a.m. through the event website. (more…)
Are you looking for career opportunities? Find it here! jobs.nmc.edu. Current openings include:
Manufacturing Process/Fluid Power Technology Instructor
Hagerty Center – Server, Bartender, Cook and Dishwasher
The following employees are celebrating an anniversary soon. Please join us in congratulating them!
The #MyVoice Photo Campaign was created with the intention of raising awareness during sexual assault awareness month (April), as well as showing support for survivors and starting conversations both on and off campus. The campaign was developed by the NMC student group Voices. Voices is a peer support and activist/advocacy group working to raise awareness and change the way our community views and discusses sexual assault.
By the calendar, spring arrived two weeks ago, but for Great Lakes Maritime Academy alumna Margo Marks, it sailed in today.
This morning the Emerald Isle picked up passengers at Charlevoix for the Beaver Island Boat Co.’s first voyage of the season. For company president Marks, the vessel’s return from its winter on the Lake Michigan island truly signifies spring.
“It’s always exciting to see the bridge open,” she said of the drawbridge over the channel that links Lake Michigan and Round Lake. “It’s a beautiful sight to see the Emerald Isle pull in.”
Marks, 54, and her husband Todd both graduated in 1983, she as a deck officer and he as an engine officer. Their timing couldn’t have been worse, coinciding with a slump in the U.S. steel industry that dominated Great Lakes shipping. In order to find work, Todd Marks joined the Army and the couple left the state for nearly a decade. But the Great Lakes are a powerful lure.
“We were always trying to find a way to get back to Traverse City,” Marks said.
It came after her husband’s military discharge. He found work on a West Coast tanker, hauling petroleum from Alaska to Long Beach, Calif. The job allowed their family of five to live anywhere, and in 1992 the Markses returned to northern Michigan. (Todd Marks still works as a chief engineer.)
In 1994 Marks got her own second shot at a maritime career when she became harbormaster for the village of Elk Rapids. She stayed in that role until 2001 when she joined the Beaver Island Boat Co. as general manager.
The ferry is considered a lifeline for the island’s 550 resident and a boon for tourism in Charlevoix. During the course of 375 annual round trips between April and December the Emerald Isle transports 6,500 vehicles, 40,000 passengers, and all manner of freight, from appliances to manufactured homes to heavy equipment.
“One time we had a young lady take a goat in her car,” Marks recalled.
Charlevoix Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Amanda Wilkin noted that 40,000 ferry passengers also means 40,000 potential diners and shoppers are discharged into the streets of Charlevoix. The drawbridge itself is an attraction.
“It’s a huge attraction for people to watch the bridge go up and the ferry go through,” she said. “It’s a unique thing to our community.”
Marks also serves her industry as the president of the Passenger Vessel Association, a national association representing owners and operators of dinner cruise vessels, sightseeing and excursion vessels, car and passenger ferries and other vessels that carry more than 200 million passengers per year.
Marks traces her maritime career to her downstate childhood, when she helped her father restore a 1927 wooden-hulled boat at a marina in Monroe (right).
“It fell over in winter storage. My dad bought it with a hole and we repaired it,” she said. They subsequently spent every summer weekend on the Queen Ann — named for her mother — on Lake Erie.
“Dad and I would go out and do a lot of perch fishing. We’d go out and fish and swim and it was a great time,” Marks said.
A photo of the Queen Ann now graces her office as Marks prepares for another season helping other families make memories on another Great Lake.
By the calendar, spring arrived two weeks ago, but for Great Lakes Maritime Academy alumna Margo Marks, it sailed in today.
This morning the Emerald Isle picked up passengers at Charlevoix for the Beaver Island Boat Co.’s first voyage of the season. For company president Marks, the vessel’s return from its winter on the Lake Michigan island truly signifies spring.
“It’s always exciting to see the bridge open,” she said of the drawbridge over the channel that links Lake Michigan and Round Lake. “It’s a beautiful sight to see the Emerald Isle pull in.”
Marks, 54, and her husband Todd both graduated in 1983, she as a deck officer and he as an engine officer. Their timing couldn’t have been worse, coinciding with a slump in the U.S. steel industry that dominated Great Lakes shipping. In order to find work, Todd Marks joined the Army and the couple left the state for nearly a decade. But the Great Lakes are a powerful lure.
“We were always trying to find a way to get back to Traverse City,” Marks said.
It came after her husband’s military discharge. He found work on a West Coast tanker, hauling petroleum from Alaska to Long Beach, Calif. The job allowed their family of five to live anywhere, and in 1992 the Markses returned to northern Michigan. (Todd Marks still works as a chief engineer.)
In 1994 Marks got her own second shot at a maritime career when she became harbormaster for the village of Elk Rapids. She stayed in that role until 2001 when she joined the Beaver Island Boat Co. as general manager.
The ferry is considered a lifeline for the island’s 550 resident and a boon for tourism in Charlevoix. During the course of 375 annual round trips between April and December the Emerald Isle transports 6,500 vehicles, 40,000 passengers, and all manner of freight, from appliances to manufactured homes to heavy equipment.
“One time we had a young lady take a goat in her car,” Marks recalled.
Charlevoix Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Amanda Wilkin noted that 40,000 ferry passengers also means 40,000 potential diners and shoppers are discharged into the streets of Charlevoix. The drawbridge itself is an attraction.
“It’s a huge attraction for people to watch the bridge go up and the ferry go through,” she said. “It’s a unique thing to our community.”
Marks also serves her industry as the president of the Passenger Vessel Association, a national association representing owners and operators of dinner cruise vessels, sightseeing and excursion vessels, car and passenger ferries and other vessels that carry more than 200 million passengers per year.
Marks traces her maritime career to her downstate childhood, when she helped her father restore a 1927 wooden-hulled boat at a marina in Monroe (right).
“It fell over in winter storage. My dad bought it with a hole and we repaired it,” she said. They subsequently spent every summer weekend on the Queen Ann — named for her mother — on Lake Erie.
“Dad and I would go out and do a lot of perch fishing. We’d go out and fish and swim and it was a great time,” Marks said.
A photo of the Queen Ann now graces her office as Marks prepares for another season helping other families make memories on another Great Lake.
A group of Master’s level Social Workers from Ferris State University is raising money on behalf of 36 families and individuals moving into Carson Square Apartments, a new supportive housing development in Traverse City specifically for individuals experiencing homelessness, survivors of domestic violence and people with disabilities.
To reach their goal of $10,000, the group is hosting an event at Right Brain Brewery on Sunday, April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. and asking for sponsors and cash donations. Sponsors who donate $250 or more will be featured by name at the event. The money earned at this event will go a long way in covering the move-in needs of a new apartment and your gift will make a difference in the life of many individuals and families from your community!
Window on the WorldWindow on the World is sponsored by NMC International Services, The Dennos Museum Center, NMC International Club, International Affairs Forum, WNMC 90.7 Community Radio, The State Theatre, Michigan Global Awareness Consortium and Sodexo.
TRAVERSE CITY — Step into spring by enjoying one of these toe-tapping shows by NMC’s talented performance ensembles in April and May:
Sunday, April 17: NMC Music Department recital. 3 p.m., Milliken Auditorium. Donations taken at the door for the Music Student Scholarship Fund.
Tuesday, April 19: NMC Concert Band presents “A Few of Our Favorite Things.” 7:30 p.m., Milliken Auditorium. Tickets $12 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. Admission for NMC students with student ID is free. Tickets are available at mynorthtickets.com or at the door.
Friday, April 22: NMC Jazz Bands and NMC Vocal Jazz Ensemble. 7:30 p.m., Milliken Auditorium. Tickets are $12 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. Admission for NMC students with student ID is free. Tickets are available at mynorthtickets.com or at the door.
Sunday, April 24: NMC Children’s Choirs. 3 p.m., Lars Hockstad Auditorium. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at mynorthtickets.com or at the door.
Sunday, April 24: NMC Dance Department presents “Dance Matters.” 7 p.m., Milliken Auditorium. Tickets are $8 for adults and $2 for children ages twelve or younger. Tickets are available at the Milliken Auditorium box office (231-995-1553) or online.
Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 NMC Canticum Novum presents “A Spring Evening of Sweets and Song.” 7:30 p.m., Kirkbride Hall (the Chapel) in Building 50. Tickets at mynorthtickets.com for the May 6 and May 7 shows or at the door.
Jeffrey Cobb
Director of Music Programs
jecobb@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1338
Now that spring has arrived, it’s time for our Hawk Owl Heroes to fly home. After spending the semester hanging across our campuses, we will be sending them home to you. Thank you for all you do to make our NMC community great! And thank you to everyone who took the time to recognize our co-workers. We appreciate you!
NMC, through a collaborative effort with Northwest Michigan Works!, is piloting an adult education option on NMC’s main campus. The program allows future NMC students to work toward college readiness without exhausting their financial aid. Students receive individualized instruction from a Michigan certified adult education instructor, and interact with NMC faculty and staff in preparation for their future enrollment. The goal of the program is to encourage students to enter their program of study fully prepared to complete their credential at NMC.
The program runs year-round and is open entry, so students may register at any time. Program hours are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Scholars Hall Computer Lab, Room 206.
For more information or to register, please contact Kathryn Polus at kathrynpolus@networksnorthwest.org or (231) 922-6915.
Come enjoy Stadium-style food in the West Hall Cafe April 8 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Stay for the home opener against the New York Yankees afterwards starting at 1:10 p.m.
Deadline to RSVP for the April 13 Retirement & Recognition Reception is Tuesday, April 5. If you haven’t responded, please do so as soon as possible.
You may send an e-mail to hr@nmc.edu or call 5-2612 to let us know your attendance plans.
What do you get when you combine the fastest growing vision benefits company1 with one of the most recognized and trusted names in hearing healthcare? Even more of what’s best for your employees’ overall health and wellness. (more…)