[danissa2408]

cheeseburger festival sounds interesting. here in jasper, in we have a german festival called a strassinfest.

could we get more info on mason county?
and what is there for kids to do/

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by danissa2408

cheeseburger festival sounds interesting. here in jasper, in we have a german festival called a strassinfest.

could we get more info on mason county?
and what is there for kids to do/

MasonCounty.net

//www.city-data.com/county/Mason_County-MI.html

[jmlowman]

Loved your photos of Scottville, Bydand! Although I've lived in cities all of my life, I'm becoming a sucker for charming small towns, especially those with vintage buildings like that.

[danielj72]

Check out eastern Michigan. If you dont like uppity type areas you will like the small towns along Lake Huron. Any of the thumb towns north of Port Huron, Tawas, Oscoda, Alpena or Rogers City are nice quiet Lake towns that are mostly lacking of rich snobby types. Lake Michigan side is very nice but you will find more uppitys over that way coming up from Chicago. Many of the towns in the center of the state are quiet and friendly as well, but they are further from the beach and lake areas you mentioned. Draw a line from Flint to Grand Rapids along M-21, and anything north of that point should have the small town friendly atmosphere you look for.

[danissa2408]

are there any places for rent in scottville. we've checked on rent.com, google and cant find scottville on craigslist.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by jmlowman

Loved your photos of Scottville, Bydand! Although I've lived in cities all of my life, I'm becoming a sucker for charming small towns, especially those with vintage buildings like that.

The worse part though, is that back in the late 60's early 70's Scottville bought into that whole idea of modernizing downtowns, and a lot of our real nice buildings were covered up with generic looking facades. There is a movement now in town to remove those false facades from that era and restore the original facades from when the buildings were built (mostly in the late 1800's to early 1900's). Manistee to the North never did think the whole modernizing concept was one they wanted to follow and most of their buildings are still the old beautiful facades they have had for 100+ years. There is just a weird vibe in Manistee for me.


As for rentals in Scottville, not a lot of people around here (as in most small towns I've lived) utilize Craigslist. Best bet is to contact a couple of the rental agencies in Ludington because they cover this entire area. And also an online subscription to the daily newspaper in Ludington may be helpful, plus it will give you a small glimpse into the "news & crime" of the area (ludington daily news). If you don't want the full subscription, you can access the classified right through the website without one. Also we have "school of choice" so no matter what town you live in, you can send your children to any school you want, you may have to provide transportation though.

Things for kids to do. Depends on what your kids like to do really. Ludington has a tiny kids museum (sandcastles) that kids seem to enjoy a lot. There are small playgrounds and parks in every town around no matter how small, so a playground tour every once in a while goes over big. Ludington has 3 or 4 public playgrounds, some new and bigger, others small and older (for some reason my kids like the oldest one in town the best). During the summer there are numerous lakes to go boating/fishing on, as well as swimming. For swimming it is hard to beat Lake Michigan for shear size . It does tend to stay cool and the high water temps run around the mid to upper 70's during the height of summer. Smaller lakes tend to be quite warm. There are literally miles and miles of dunes to explore. Mason County has 3 lights, 2 traditional lighthouses, and one marker light. Each County to the North and South also has at least one lighthouse. If you like Lighthouses, Michigan is the state to be in because there are more lighthouses in Michigan than any other state at 115+. Schools generally have a short summer program open to all kids, there is West Shore Community College located between Scottville and Ludington that has a pool, gym, weight rooms, squash, racketball, etc... and they have open membership for families at $35 a month. There is Scouting, 4H, numerous churches (without any of them being pushy), the Fin and Feather club (hunting and fishing), etc.... We have plenty to do, that keeps our 4 boys (aged 12-7) busy, and since they like outdoor activities the best, it generally doesn't cost a penny .

Sorry for the long post, it is just that I love this little town. My cousin and her family are moving back to the area and they are headed to Scottville and not Ludington where she was born and raised, so other see it to despite the lack of much downtown any more (we're working on fixing that as a community as well though).

[danissa2408]

the town sounds like a great place to live. we have 2 girls and as we mentioned, ages 7 years and 11 months. of course the littlest is too young to know what she likes but our oldest loves being outdoors. she would rather run around outside and do nothing then sit on the couch and watch tv. which is a good thing. Our oldest is the old fashion type of girl(like she had a previoud life in the olden days) she loves looking at old things, like mills and stuff that isnt moderenized. there is a place in mitchell, indiana thats called spring mill that she loves going to. after our nephew died back in may of 09, we went up there and she didnt want to leave, she just wanted to play on stilts and grind corn into corn mill. so we think scottville would be great since it has alot of old buildings. we also were thinking about ludington as well. come tax time(if not late jan early feb) we are wanting to pack up and move. so we are planning a weekend trip next week (15th-17th) so we can look around and see how things are for our selves. like we have told you before that jasper, in(where we are now, unfortunatel) is a snubby rich town. where our oldest's grandfather(on her dad's side(she lives with us not her dad)) is a doctor and her grandma is a head of staff nurse, so they have money and the town knows them, and will side with them on anything. her grandpa is a good guy however unlike her grandma who is a snubb. we (unlike them) dont have money growing on trees, so people treat us like crap here. we were wondering if its easy to make good friends up there, that you can trust and know wont let you down. also, we were wondering how the day care/ babysitters are there, as we may end up needing one(currently dont use one). keep us updated. thanks for all the help and all the info. we really appreiciate everything.

[Bydand]

If any of your family likes old things like your oldest does, we have an old engine club which has a meeting place just outside of town where they keep old tractors, and old farming equipment. Every year the 6th grade makes their first field trip out there and club members are running everything and answering questions about what it was like to use the items on a day to day basis. The kids get to work some of the items and get to do a LOT of hand-on things the whole time they are there. Plus the Old engine club puts on an old style barn dance every Fall about the time the town celebrates our Harvest Festival. If you are going to be in town, just let me know when would be a good time, and I can have one of the principals of the schools take you and the kids on a tour. They are very proud of our school system and will be glad to answer questions and show you around the buildings. If there is anything I can do, just let me know.

I know one person who does day care and she is a great person. There are many more, but I would trust Debby with my own children without a second thought. As for making friends, you have to make the first small steps usually. People here are quiet, and reserved generally, but are also very warm and true. What you see, really is what you get. We had friends who after a year of knowing each other stood and cried when we had to go back to Maine for a little bit because my family needed us there. I was born and raised here, but spent almost my entire adult life elsewhere, so it was like starting out from scratch when we first came back. When everything was in order again in Maine we packed up and headed back home to Scottville without a seconds hesitation. Even the kids who were born in Maine considered Scottville home, and not where they had lived most of their lives. It is that type of place for most who give it a chance. I'm glad you are not looking for pretense, Scottville has none. It is a struggling farming community that loves it's kids, loves it's location, and is trying very hard to regain some of what has been lost over the years to big box stores in Ludington. People here are proud of the town, but also can see it's shortcomings and are finally doing something to try and bring it back from the brink. I'll never live in another town, this is home and always will be for me.

[danissa2408]

sounds like the perfect place. we are wanting to start our lives from scratch, considering all the bad experiences we've had here. so it sounds like we would do good there considered the town is trying to bring itself back. the school tour will be great. we will just have to plan a good time to do that. and yes, if we need any help, we wont hesitate to ask.

[michmoldman]

Originally Posted by danissa2408

sounds like the perfect place. we are wanting to start our lives from scratch, considering all the bad experiences we've had here. so it sounds like we would do good there considered the town is trying to bring itself back. the school tour will be great. we will just have to plan a good time to do that. and yes, if we need any help, we wont hesitate to ask.

What a great area! Close to beautiful Lake Michigan, Traverse City, Leelanau, the amazing U.P, and on and on!!