Benzie County Democrats

05/27/2026

SAVE THE DATE: Did you know that we have an ICE detention facility here in Northern Michigan? Yep, down in Baldwin, the GEO Group's North Lake Processing Center--formerly closed down, but reopened once ICE activity kicked up earlier this year.

We've had 40-50 showing up since we started doing this once-a-month trip back in February: every first Saturday of the month.

So on Saturday, June 6, we'll be carpooling to Baldwin, and we'd love if you joined us!

10am -- Meet at our Honor headquarters for coffee, snacks, and sign-making

10:30am -- Carpooling and/or caravanning from our Honor headquarters

12pm -- Rally for one hour outside the facility

1pm -- Head back to Honor

2:30pm -- Arrive back at our Honor headquarters in Benzie County

Please invite your friends to join us, too! Learn more and invite your friends to the ICE Protest in Baldwin #4 event on Facebook.

05/18/2026

TOMORROW: The Benzie County Democratic Party will host its eighth annual fundraiser for the Carroll Volpe Benzie Scholarship Fund from 5-8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, at the Stormcloud Tap Room.

The event aims to raise $4,000 to provide four $1,000 scholarships for Benzie County high school seniors pursuing either trade school or college studies. Two scholarships will be awarded based on teacher recommendations and two will be selected through student essays, focused this year on the impact of social media and cellphones in schools and communities.

Admission is free, though attendees are encouraged to donate directly to the scholarship fund. Donations may be made by cash, check, or credit card, and each donor will receive a token redeemable for one free drink.

Food trucks Burger Eatin’ Bastard and La Fiesta Azteca will provide food, and live music will feature local musicians, led by Jeff Currie, along with a vocal trio led by former Dems scholarship recipient Julia Michalowski, now studying pre-law at Wayne State University.

Scholarship funds may be used for tuition, books, housing, or transportation expenses. Winners will be announced during senior awards nights at Benzie Central and Frankfort high schools.

The scholarships honor Carroll Volpe of Honor, a longtime community volunteer and workforce development advocate who has served with organizations including the TBAISD-NMC Education Council, United Way, and the Village of Honor.

“We want as much as possible of our supporters’ money to go directly to the scholarship fund,” said Jana Goldman, chair of the Benzie County Democratic Party. “We hope that people will see what a great time this is going to be, stop by to make a donation, enjoy good music and homemade snacks, and treat themselves to some delicious food from two of the county's quality food trucks.”

Those unable to attend may donate by mail to Benzie Democrats Volpe Scholarship, P.O. Box 403, Beulah, MI 49617.

The Benzie County Democratic Party meets on the third Saturday of every month starting at 9:30 a.m. at its headquarters at 9930 U.S. 31 next to the Cherry Bowl Drive-In.

Read more at the Benzie County Record Patriot: https://bit.ly/4twPAsr .

The scholarships honor Carroll Volpe of Honor, a longtime community volunteer and workforce development advocate.

05/14/2026

SAVE THE DATE: Join us for our Monthly Meeting - Mitch Distin for MI 104th District on Saturday, May 16, starting at 9:30 a.m.

Our guest speaker is Mitch Distin, who is running for Michigan's 104th District--which covers all of Benzie County that's not in State Representative Betsy Coffia 's 103rd District. They'd make a helluva team in Lansing, eh?

Currently, the 104th seat is held by John Roth

Mitch is a breath of fresh air--a different, kinda scientific, passionate take on what we must do to get our communities and our state on the road to recovery and widespread prosperity.

Come to our meeting to learn more!

9:30am - We'll start chit-chatting and have breakfast and coffee

10:00 - Our local leaders will give their updates

10:30am - Our guest speaker will begin

If you can't meet in person, please make sure to Zoom from home, here's the link: https://bit.ly/4dl2bZJ .

05/13/2026

So are you ready for some serious fun?

That's all we got on Tuesday, May 19, from 5-9pm at Stormcloud's excellent Parkview Tap Room.

This is our ninth annual evening raising bucks for the four $1,000 scholarships we award to graduating seniors--two for trade school and two for college.

For the first time ever, though, we're doing it outside, around a big tent, with your donation as your admission. You can choose from gourmet burgers of all sorts and excellent, authentic Mexican dishes for your informal dinner. We'll also have a nice spread of homemade finger foods for grazing.

The Tap Room serves Stormcloud's excellent brews, of course, along with soft drinks and local wines. And when you donate--cash, check, or credit card--please enjoy a drink on us!

We've got some good, live, local music lined up, of course, including a nice surprise...

Many of us know Jeff Currie, who's warmed up our scholarship dinners and Comfort & Joy Holiday pantry drives with his keyboard stylings for years. He's inviting three pals to form a groovy little band for the evening that's just right for such a civilized gathering.

And here's the surprise: Julia Michalowski--who received one of our scholarships a few years ago before heading off to Wayne State University--will be back in town with two pals. They've got a vocal trio and will sing us some songs that she thinks we will enjoy.

We'll have more details about the food soon. For now, though, please put this blue-letter date on your calendar and tell friends.

No politics on this evening--just fellowship among folks helping students take the next steps in their young lives.

We'll have y'all out the door by 8pm...How'z that for some serious fun, eh?

05/12/2026

To the Editor of the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

If you want to truly understand how much our current president cares about you and your family, listen to him say, "Affordability is a hoax. A scam."

This is a man who has probably never been in a grocery store in his 80 years, much less pumped his own gas. Those of us who do both every week know the truth: everything is more expensive than it was before he was re-elected. Food, gas, utilities, healthcare, and everything that goes into producing those essentials.

Tariffs are a major cause of high prices and have damaged relations with long-term allies. The unconstitutional, illegal war in Iran that has shut down one of the most critical shipping channels on the globe is another. This senseless war, designed to distract from the Epstein files, is costing us at least a billion dollars a day, along with hundreds of innocent lives.

If affordability is really a "hoax" invented by the Democrats to discredit our "thriving economy," why are many of us feeling so much economic pain?

Because we are being lied to about everything every single day.

Journey might have been right in 2981, but, in 2026, I urge you to stop believing!

Greta Bolger
Thompsonville

05/12/2026

Two of our 2025 scholarship recipients from Frankfort Elberta Area Schools will join us at our Caroll Volpe Benzie County Scholarship Fund Dinner 2026 coming up on Tuesday, May 19, from 5-8pm at the Stormcloud Brewery & Parkview Taproom

We're excited to continue to provide these opportunities to students in our communities!

05/08/2026

SAVE THE DATE: Upcoming meet & greet.

First Meet & Greet in Benzie/Manistee, next Saturday the 16th, from 4-6pm at St. Ambrose Cellars!

Benzie County Democrats
Manistee Dems

05/08/2026

To the Editor of the Manistee News Advocate:

I was looking forward to celebrating our country’s 250th year of independence this July, highlighted by scientific and other achievements, a steadfast commitment to making things better for people, and upholding our rule of law.

Instead, I am saddened that we are less safe, less healthy, have less money, fewer rights, higher costs, and are more divided than ever. Although we have always been an imperfect union, progress was being made in civil rights, women's rights, workers rights, and strengthening international relations, among other areas, as we moved forward, albeit slowly.

Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and lawmakers have taken us giant steps backward. The damage caused in the past year and a half to our institutions and standing in the world will take generations to correct, if at all.

It was ironic that an actual king spoke about the virtues and values of democracy during his recent visit to the U.S. while the leader of the largest democracy obsessed about ballrooms, memorial arches, his image on coins and currency and even limited-edition passports.

In the fireworks this year, I will not see a noisy, bright, colorful celebration of the success of our American experiment, but an SOS to the rest of the world.

Jana Goldman
Honor

05/08/2026

05/02/2026

IMPORTANT STORY: Soon after Lynn’s husband arrived on March 5 at the North Lake Processing Center — the mammoth ICE detention center in Baldwin — the food began to make him sick. Beans and rice lacked texture and resembled slop; onion rings tasted like cardboard; pizza was served cold.

“I haven’t seen an orange the whole time I’ve been here,” the husband told Lynn, a U.S. citizen and Traverse City resident who shared their family’s story with the Glen Arbor Sun this week. She chose not to reveal the name of her husband, a native of Nicaragua who came to Michigan in 2022 following a wave of repression in his home country. The couple, who have a 2.5-year-old son, worship at Guadalupe Chapel in southeastern Leelanau County, where local clergy held a prayer service and press conference on Monday to illuminate the plight of detainees in federal custody.

“He started to get sick and his stomach cramped up,” Lynn said. “I could hear him moaning and in pain when we talked on the phone.”

Lynn’s husband, who is 47, stopped eating food supplied by the facility and relied instead on snacks like ramen noodles and Little Debbie cakes, which she purchased through a commissary account. Then he stopped eating altogether.

In mid-April, some detainees at North Lake launched a hunger strike to protest what they described as inedible food that lacked nutrition; cold temperatures and occasional electricity outages that left them in darkness, prevented toilets from flushing and TVs from working; a lack of adequate medical care and language interpretation services, and denial of their legal rights. Some have languished there for more than six months.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3PgPTJN .

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(We've been protesting there once a month since February, and we are there later today for ICE Protest in Baldwin #3.)

Soon after Lynn’s husband arrived on March 5 at the North Lake Processing Center — the mammoth ICE detention center in Baldwin, Michigan — the food began to make him sick. “I haven’t seen an orange…