January - June Newsletter

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January - June 2010 Newsletter

The January - June 2010 Village Newsletter (The Villager) is available at Village Hall now!!

I will have it scanned into this new post by week's end.


Tom Gromek
Village Manager

Tip-Up Town USA Featured in MML Magazine!

One of Roscommon County's major events receiving some nice publicity!

(Houghton Lake's Tip-Up Town USA was featured in the Janauary/February edition of the MML Review Magazine, Jennifer Eberbach wrote the article)

Houghton Lake’s winter festival Tip-Up Town USA is celebrating its 60th anniversary. For its diamond anniversary, a diamond studded entrance badge will be raffled off to one lucky attendee. Event planner George Geisenhaver of the Houghton Lake Chamber of Commerce, explains many badge collectors have held on to their personal experiences of the festival by holding on to these items—even passing them down from generation to generation. This attests to the impact the event has on individuals. Along with reoccurring events like “turkey bowling,” a polar bear dip, and a family-friendly carnival, this year’s installment of Tip-Up Town will feature a second-annual family skate night, which has been extended to both weekends, airboat rides for an extra fee, and illuminated torch parades at dusk around the lake.

Geisenhaver thinks the event has had a positive impact on tourism and the economic health of Houghton Lake’s business community. “This event really helps us through the month of January, which would typically be a slow month for people in other northern Michigan communities. The event draws in thousands of people. It’s pretty important for the businesses here,” he says.

(Jennifer Eberbach is a freelance journalist and professional copywriter. You may contact her at 734-929-2964 or jen@jenthewriter.info. Visit her online at
www.jenthewriter.info.)

Roscommon Business Expo

We are planning on having another Roscommon Business Expo this spring, which will be our 2nd Annual. The event is co-sponsored by the Higgins Lake-Roscommon Chamber of Commerce and the Village of Roscommon, with Connie Allen, Chamber Director, chairing the Expo committee. Many local business representatives are part of the committee, which will immensely help the event further succeed.

We have a meeting today at 2:00 p.m. at Village Hall..........The Expo is set for May 12th at the CRAF Center in downtown Roscommon.

More details to follow!


Tom Gromek
Village Manager

Green Team

Village forming ‘green team’

(Courtesy of the December 31, 2009 Houghton Lake Resorter)

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to be more “green” in 2010, the Roscommon Village Council has an opportunity for you.

Village Manager Tom Gromek said the village is looking for residents who would like to serve on a “green team” as the village participates in the Michigan Green Communities Challenge.

The village council recently voted to be part of the program, sponsored by the Michigan Municipal League and the Michigan Bureau of Energy Systems, for the next three years. The program is designed to reflect the village’s commitment to adopt energy efficiency and conservation policies and programs. It includes collecting and assessing data on the village’s energy, developing goals and activities to improve efficiency and measuring results. The program also encourages citizens and businesses to use conservation practices to benefit the community.

Gromek said village residents interested on serving on the “green team” may contact him at 275-5743 or tom@roscommonvillage.Com

The village also is participating with Gerrish and Higgins Townships in the Rebuild Michigan Program, which is designed to foster partnerships that promote increased energy efficiency within a community. Partners may include local governments, schools, universities, businesses, non-profit organizations and public housing authorities. It is designed to assist public schools, colleges, universities, local governments and public housing authorities with improving the energy efficiency of their buildings. This program offers technical assistance and attractive financing information for cost-effective projects. Eligible public institutions can install the recommended improvements with little or no up-front capital.