Rapid River Hosts Memorial Day Parade

Rapid River hosts the Memorial Day Parade Google Map Rapid River

Why Should Executives Learn to Write Well?

As one moves upward within an organization, they must learn to influence more people. Executives can't micromanage every finite aspect of an organization so they will naturally rely on others. This is where the concept of leadership comes forward through influence. The higher one moves, the better they need to be to influence groups of others through various communication skills. In the modern world much of our communication is going to be written. 

Forms of Writing in Executive Positions:

-Emails

-Memos

-Formal business letters

-Reports

-PowerPoints/Presentations

-Meeting minutes

-Notes

Why Leaders Should Add Writing To Their Leadership Toolkit In 2025

Remember and Honor Memorial Day Tribute

Memorial Day is the day to remember those who have gone before to preserve our freedoms today. We should not give up on those freedoms, manipulate those freedoms, or disregard those freedoms for convenience. Our future is based on our beliefs and actions today. True patriotism is around principles and values. The next time you pledge or make an oath ensure you understand the deeper meaning of the words. 

Why Breaking the Cycle in Closed Systems Can Be Difficult? (Hypothetical Thought Experiment)

Corruption can happen anywhere as it is naturally part of human need and greed. Those locations that have less corruption are often higher economic and social functioning when compared to those who have more corruption. Since resources are scarce and should be used for the best interests of society, corruption robs many people of resources they need to succeed. Similar mechanisms that related to the selfishness of corruption also comingled with other poor beliefs like hate came forward in our philosophical learning example.

We are using a hypothetical thought experiment on corruption and comingling with hate to explore how closed systems can function and how they impact others. Up until the community stood up to protect resources and victims the behaviors were unimpeded and well known. What typically exposes poor actors is when outside pressure, mistakes by corrupt officials, overplaying power dynamics, lost resources discovered, or a history of prior bad decisions arise. Often, it’s the small things that open a bigger can of worms.

In our example, there was well known protections for poor actors and someone misusing their employment and social position led to misbehaviors against others, putting kids in harm’s way and helped to enrich themselves and fellow clan members. The coordinated aggression often seen in group corruption opened exposure of a wider poor behaviors. Official reports were retaliated against, and it was found later that these reports were relatively accurate. 

In our learning example, the victims intentionally have no recourse due to extreme hate and closed clan-based systems with few checks and balances putting people at future risk. A hyper focused on gaming technicalities while ignoring the purpose of laws. Questions arose as to essential purpose and mechanisms for ensuring that the wrongs are righted, future victims are protected and that the system adapts to a higher state of development.

An interesting article,

Why Breaking the Vicious Circle of Corruption Is Difficult but Essential

*This is a hypothetical philosophical thought experiment on hate and corruption so take with a grain of salt. It is meant for discussion purpose.  

Servant Leadership and Firefighting Mission Obtainment

Servant leaders can have an impact on the success and failure of fire departments and nearly any other organization. A study exploring servant leadership found that a company officer can contribute to mission attainment through servant leadership and the ability to inspire others. The opposite is also true in that poor leaders can lead to poor mission and organizational obtainment. 

Servant leaders are often known to,

-lead by example

-formal and informal coaching

-provide professional development, 

-acknowledge good work

-create strong environments

-encourage followership 

Personality appears to have a significant impact on organizational performance through the creation of strong performance environments.

Exploring Servant Leadership Behaviors of Career Fire Department Officers: A Qualitative Descriptive Design Study. 

Freeman, (2022). Exploring Servant Leadership Behaviors of Career Fire Department Officers: A Qualitative Descriptive Design Study.   Capitol Technology University ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  2022. 9068091. https://www.proquest.com/openview/3f58472977b78894c278c007c3aea61c/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

*Part of an ongoing project to raise firefighter knowledge and support for firefighters through an associated project.

Veteran Research and Research Tips at the National Archives

Veterans, family members and historians sometimes want to research records and prior service in order to better understand a question of interest. Knowing where to look is half the battle. Finding different archives and databases can be a little of a pain so we placed a few veteran resources here for you to utilize. 

If you are looking for tips on how to conduct archival research online read How to do Historical Research Online

The National Archives offers,

-Military personal service records

-Textual documents.

The resource you may be interested in,

 
Military and Veterans Research and Resources at The National Archives

*This is part of an ongoing project with one of our local veteran organizations. It has some beneficial resources for people to use.

City of Escanaba Council Meeting (May 15th, 2025): Parks, Water and National Endowment for the Arts, and Style!

Great things are going on in Escanaba. You can tell from the meeting that things are moving forward. The park is getting some enhancements, people are seeking to enhance cultural events in the area (matched with new tourism and if lucky Amtrak train per Delta County Commissioner Meetings). The main water replacement is an important issue, and we have some of the best water in the area. Delicious!

You may also notice the new fashion statement with the orange vest. In Paris they may walk the runway and in Escanaba we strut our stuff working for the community. Orange is one of our favorite colors.  You can also accessorize that with a shovel and gloves. We are the Paris of Bay De Noc!

 May 15th, 2025 Escanaba City Council Meeting Agenda

-Native species in park and island discussion. 

-The Upper Peninsula Arts and Cultural Alliance to get a National Endowments for the Arts Grant for up to $30K.

-Michigan's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF)

-Presentation of water main replacement.

-Enhance existing path in Luding Park. A compromise was made here. Enhance Escanaba

-Survey on recreation and another on master plan.