This month we offer a mystery solved: Hannah St. Mary’s: A Treasure.  Written by thirteen year-old Hannah Carr, one of the winners of the Floyd Webster Teen Prize, 2014, it exemplifies the kind of work we welcome here at the Journal, an authentic telling of a historical event long forgotten.  The piece also exemplifies the authors we want to hear from: writers with curiosity and a passion for research.

Have you ever wondered about those yellow signs informing drivers that a fire station is nearby—or a playground, or a deer crossing?  Who designed and approved them?  Just when did they appear along highways?  Why do they reflect such antiquated pictures of fire trucks and tractors?  You will find answers to your questions in Windows to Our Past: Warning Signs Along Small Roadways, an article in our “Then and Now” section.

Speaking of other things we take for granted, what are those pimple-like things you see on maple leaves this time of year?  You may be surprised to learn they house creatures far smaller than the head of a pin.  Check them out in Growing Your Own House: The Mites of Maple Bladder Galls in Nature.

Traverse City is a town of festivals: the Cherry Festival, the Film Festival, the Comedy Festival, and more to come, no doubt.  In August, 1911, Traverse City celebrated—itself!—in a grand festival.  “Farmers came with their families, and city folk, too.  The rich and poor mingled.  Young and old.  Factory workers and their bosses.”  All came out for a picnic at the present Civic Center.  There, among all other entertainments, a speech greatly relevant to our modern world was given.  Read about it in Traverse City Day.

One of those picnickers might have come from Almira Township, Benzie County.  Read about the founding mothers and fathers of that place in Richard Leary’s Earliest Settlers of Almira Township under “Celebrating the People”.  We hope others will tell us about their explorations of local history.

Finally, the Mystery Photo, the answer to last month’s and the challenge of this month.  A reader correctly identified the location of last month’s after hours deposit box, as you will discover if you peek in that section.  Now a granite eagle confronts readers.  Where is it?