November

We had the pleasure of seeing both of our sons in November and for one brief evening, this mother hen had both of my "chicks" in the same place!












Our son and daughter-in-law, played tour guide in Chicago for our Thanksgiving week-end. We rode the el, went to a great little german restaurant, and just spent some kick back time together.

Teresa's family welcomed us for a fabulous Thanksgiving feast!

We went to the Museum of Science & Industry and I'm sorry to say that the giant walk-through heart that really impressed me as a kid is gone. :(

Michael & Teresa

Christmas on the Magnificent Mile and "The Bean"

Autumn

We have had some great guests through this fall. The Toledo Gang was here and treated Mark & I to another great cook out! Out September & October have included so many great guests; families, couples, returnees, newbies....

Ed, Sandy, and Alex were back for a visit. Ed & Alex headed down river
while Sandy enjoyed the porch.

It has been a rainy fall and we have been experiencing "Lake Borchers" in the big yard where we park cars. In the twenty years of improvements to the place, we have gotten rid of the willows, fixed the broken drive way, the city made some major repairs to the street behind us and the dam in the park has changed to a spillway. We think they are all contributing to a change in the water table.

Most recently, we had the grade on the yard fixed. We hope to have beautiful new grass next to the freshly sealed driveway by spring. Good work Shawn, Asphalt Seal Kings, and Millikens!

"The Old Ladies Kayaking Group", their title not ours! These women are amazing. Back at Borchers for their annual kayak trip, they spent three days touring different sections of the AuSable.






Roberta, Jeanette, Margie, Darlene, Joan, and Janet.





Breakfast with the ladies.

You don't stop paddling when you get old, you get old when you stop paddling.

Borchers 75th Anniversary Jubilee

Borchers celebrated it's 75th anniversary this summer. It was establish by Ernie Borchers in 1936 and is the oldest canoe livery in Grayling.
Also this summer, Mark and Cheri celebrated their 20th year of owning Borchers.
In celebration of these anniversaries, Borchers hosted a staff reunion. Many staffers, past and present, attended along with previous owners Jack and Aggie Trudgeon, and Ernie Borchers' daughter, Barabra Borchers Sojka along with husband, John.

Two decades of Borcher Babes.
Madi, Amanda, Mary, Cheri, Kim, Sara, and Tracey
Missing are Kim, Allie, Tasha and Lindsey.

This year, three staffers were honored with a 5-year plaque
(staffers must complete five years to make "the wall of Shame".

Ryan (left) finished his fifth year and is currently training for the United States Coast Guard.

Jimmy (center) finished his sixth year in 2010 and has filled in periodically throughout this summer. He is now living in Marquette where he attends Northern Michigan University and is interning with an engineering firm.

Alex (right) finished his fifth season and is currently attending Michigan State University and will be living in East Lansing. Alex works with the video/broadcasting crew for MSU football and is studying kinesiology.

These three young men will be greatly missed next season!

Marathon Weekend Highlights

Our friendly Borchers staff busy signing up participants for the 2011 Casey Challenge kid's race. All participants receive a t-shirt, and the top three finishers in each division receive medals.










The girl's participating in the Casey Challenge tear up the water. Grayling girls are no strangers to the river; the competition is fierce!









The highlight of the staff's marathon weekend was when they heard the sound of the ice cream truck coming down the drive way!


Ending the weekend on a high note, "our" teams all had a great finish.

Boat # Team Finish
18 Mike Davis & Ryan Foguth 14
63 Matt Meersman & Rebecca Barton 16
72 Peter Heed & Michael Fairchild 24
07 Sean Casey & Spencer Derenzy 26
05 Nick Lyesiuk & Wally Werderich 35
26 Matt & Nick McDonald 36

"The Connolly/Ellis Group" returned to Borchers for their annual visit. Borchers guests since 1998, we have watched all of the kids grow up and look forward to catching up with these favorites every year.









Mid-Morning Brunch



Canoeing Fun

The "Mitchell" Group took their annual trek down the AuSable. These hardcore paddlers take a trip from Burton's to McMaster's and then follow up with a trip from Burton's to Wakeley the next day.

Borchers appreciates Sean, Mike, and the rest of the gang along with our other annual paddlers.