INSIDE
Volume 4, Issue 5 June 26, 2026
: Area set to celebrate America's 250th
REFLECTIONS OF OUR COMMUNITY
Total Raised: $113,669 Lead this Legacy SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE
@echopublishinginc
YOUR YOUR LOCALLY LOCALLY OWNED OWNED ANDAND OPERATED OPERATED NONPROFIT NONPROFIT NEWS NEWS SOURCE SOURCE YOUR LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NONPROFIT NEWS SOURCE
Centuries of Pentwater's history carved in stone - part 2 By AnnaMae Bush The Oceana Echo Community Correspondent
PERMIT NO 62
RESIDENTIAL RESIDENTIAL POSTALCUSTOMER CUSTOMER POSTAL ECRWSS ECRWSS
PRSRT STANDARD PRSRT STANDARD NON PROFIT NON PROFIT U.S. POSTAGEU.S. POSTAGE PAID PAID
BIG RAPIDS, MI 49307 BIG PERMIT NO 62RAPIDS, MI 49307
Last week, in the initial part of this article there was a promise of more cemetery information, a schedule of activities for the Friends of Pentwater Township Cemetery (PTC) and some interesting stories from Ron Beeber’s presentation. Beeber’s virtual tour has approximately 50 stops where he shares commentary, including the headstones for Don Lamb, who was village marshal (chief of police) for many years; Charles Nickerson, who built the famous Nickerson Inn; Willie Brillhart, who died in 1860 at age 2 and was the first burial in the original cemetery; Florence Schrumpf, who wrote a detailed history of the village from 1853 to 1942; and Peter Lagesen. Lagesen was one of several merchants who was also an undertaker as well as a furniture maker. Beeber explained the combination was common because furniture makers had coffins on hand for when they were needed. One of Lagesen’s advertisements said, “When death claims someone near and dear, and leaves a vacant chair… No human voice, nor human art, can that great loss repair…In a dread moment such as this, I am at your command…Arrangements for the funeral, I will make with tactful hand.” Beeber’s information was gleaned from a variety of sources, including 20 years’ worth of Pentwater Historical Society newsletters posted on its website under the “Research” heading, a book published in 1860 about businessmen in Pentwater, the Pentwater Township website and the Friends of PTC Facebook page. The following are a few more notable graves that are part of his presentation. One might suspect that the quaint and charming Village of Pentwater has a peaceful history, free from the violence that has marked larger urban areas. But the headstones of William B. O. Sands (plot 2/43) and the Minshall Family (plot 13/93) tell a
• AnnaMae Bush/Echo Ron Beeber has created a virtual tour of approximately 50 stops in the Pentwater Township Cemetery. Two notable graves in the tour are those of Don Lamb, above left, and Ralph Sandy, above right.
tragic tale from 1897. William Sands was a wealthy businessman who served several years as the village president. He introduced an insurance agent, S. Minshall, to fellow merchants who then became clients of Minshall. Whether fact or fiction, Minshall suspected Sands of withholding funds from the policy sales he had helped Minshall to make. In his anger, Minshall followed Sands to his home after work one evening and shot him on his front steps, leaving him for dead. In fact, Sands survived the night but died the following day. Not wanting his family to suffer the fallout of his murderous deed, Minshall went home and took the lives of his wife, Eva, and their three children, Ruby (16), George (3) and Frank (2), before taking his own. Some surmise he is buried in the plot with his family, but his name is not included on the headstone. Not far from the Minshall family plot is a headstone for Ralph Sandy (plot 13/125), a local hero who died at the early age of 29 in 1987. He spotted a 79-year-old man struggling to stay afloat in the frigid (36 degrees) Lake Michigan water and rowed out half a mile to pull the man to safety. After Sandy missed work for two days, his father went to check on him and found he had died. His death was attributed to exhaustion from his rescue efforts on top of an existing heart issue. The Pentwater Historical Museum has a display of delicate and whimsical glass figurines made by resident Henry Carter Johnson. Johnson fashioned them from heated glass rods in the back of Bailey’s Hardware Store (now Craze). He is buried in plot 17/22.
And then there is Clyde Cross, another true hero, buried in plot 18/29. When the freighter Novadoc was destroyed in a storm near Juniper Beach, the Coast Guard declared conditions were too severe to assist. But Cross and two companions fought their way out and strung “a zip-line” from the shoreline, where onlookers watched, to the sinking ship and were able to rescue all but two of the crew members. If this brief sampling of stories from Pentwater’s history captures your interest, there are opportunities to dig deeper into the history at the cemetery. The Friends of PTC are sponsoring a cemetery stroll on Friday, July 24, at 10 a.m., and the Pentwater Township Library has invited Beeber to share his slide presentation, “A Virtual Stroll Through the Pentwater Township Cemetery,” twice during Homecoming. Those presentations are scheduled for Aug. 11 at 1:30 p.m. and Aug. 12 at 10:30 a.m. at the library. Steve and Sue Thomas, members of the Friends of PTC, shared some of the group’s scheduled upcoming events. “America 250 Pentwater: From Revolution to Community” is the theme for the fall tours scheduled on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m.; dedication of the Native American Marker is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10; flag placement on veterans’ graves occurs on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m.; and Wreaths Across America Day is Dec. 19 with a ceremony at noon at the cemetery. The Friends of the PTC make sure each of the 376 veterans buried in the cemetery are honored with a wreath. The Friends of the PTC work in concert
with the Dunes Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Pentwater Township Office, both of which contribute funds needed for the cemetery. The township is responsible for maintaining the cemetery property, selling and keeping records of all the cemetery plots and scheduling internments. Township Clerk Maureen Murphy handles sales and records. Prices and a map of the cemetery are on the township's website, organized by sections and lots. She reports, “We average 25 internments a year. We currently have 144 columbarium niches, and three of our 25 blocks are reserved for cremains only since nearly 95% of internments are cremains as opposed to traditional burials.” The cemetery sexton is responsible for groundskeeping and opening and closing gravesites. The current sexton is Chris Bailey. He shares, “My father (Roger Bailey) began serving as sexton in 1992 or 1993, after retiring from the DNR and moving to Pentwater in 1990. He held the position until the end of the 2000 season. He was 65 when he left the job…I took over the role in 2008.” Bailey said he does his best to keep the grounds in beautiful condition. With scattered benches for resting and reflecting, it is a lovely place to stroll. Following up on information in Part 1, Larson wished to clarify that Pentwater Township, not the Friends of PTC as was reported, purchases the veterans’ metal flag holders, and markers for the veterans of the War of 1812 were installed last year by the Stephen Preston Chapter, National Society Daughters of 1812. Larson also wanted to credit Murphy and Supervisor Lynne Cavazos for their role in working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to obtain the headstone for Civil War veteran Justus Koon. To locate gravesites, please contact Maureen Murphy at 231-869-6231 ext. 227. To participate in or financially support projects of the Friends of the PTC, contact Shannon Larson at friendsofpentwatertwpcemetery@ gmail.com.
Asparagus Queen Runner-up Sami Weesies is ready to grow in her new role By Claire Marshall The Oceana Echo Community Correspondent Sami Weesies will be drawing from over a decade of experience in the horticultural world while serving as an ambassador for West Michigan asparagus alongside 2026 Asparagus Queen Shannon Beishuizen. As Asparagus Queen runner-up, the year ahead for Sami is no less jam-packed, and she’s well prepared to talk plants with the best of them. Sami is eager to learn everything there is to learn about asparagus over the next year, already absorbing as much as she could during the Queen contenders’ tour of the MSU Extension Research Station, where they picked asparagus and even tried purple varietals for the first time (according to Sami, they’re actually quite sweet in comparison to their green brethren.) After marrying into the Weesies family, the Twin Lake native has spent the last 10 years working at Up
Asparagus Queen Shannon Beishuizen and Runner-up Sami Weesies, above, could be seen on their float Saturday, June 13, in the NAF's Joan Glover Royale Parade. • Amanda Dodge/Echo
North Garden Center, most recently heading up their social media and marketing. “I think it definitely prepared me for this role,” Sami said of her decade being surrounded by plants 24/7, “and I’m definitely excited for what’s to come.” The National Asparagus Festival (NAF) already had plenty to offer, with the Taste of Asparagus competition being a particular favorite,
as she made off with several recipe cards for dishes such as asparagus hush-puppies, soup, and - the Queen’s Choice - sour cream and onion asparagus chip dip. Sami and Shannon’s mutual love for the chip dip seems to already be a good sign for their Asparagus Queen camaraderie, insofar as flavor palate is concerned. Sami shared the Queens’ upcoming schedule, which includes the Country Dairy Ice Cream Social, White Lake’s Fourth of July celebration and Fremont's Gerber Baby Food Festival. The Gerber Festival is of particular interest to Sami, as it's the perfect opportunity to trade pins with other festival queens. That’s right, just like Disneyland or Comic Con, pin-trading between queens is a hot commodity. “Our sashes end up full of everyone else’s pins,” Sami explained. In fact, she and Shannon already have Baby Food Festival pins, as the Gerber queens were quick to find them during the NAF weekend and asked to trade. “We went to go find [Queen Coordinator] Kendra [Lar-
ios-Mendez]…and we’re like, ‘We need pins. Do you have them?’” Sami recalled. "To which Kendra produced handfuls, replying, ‘Oh, I have a stockpile specifically for this reason.’" While pin-trading at the NAF was certainly an unexpected highlight, as an educator at Hart Public Schools, perhaps the best gift Sami received was from her “little pirates” - a handmade gold, purple and green bracelet with a crown. There were even 10 of her 16 preschoolers in attendance at the Joan Glover Royale Parade to cheer on their teacher and take photos with her. “That was super bittersweet because it was my first year teaching this year,” Sami said. Even though the school year was finished, the bracelet she and her students made became her good luck charm throughout her interview and the following NAF festivities, a reminder of not only her success, but also of the next generation of asparagus enjoyers in Oceana County.