Author: lesleederossett

By: Emily Selby and Leslee DeRossett

By: Leslee DeRossett

Packaging for SAU Cougar Brew

When Thomas Hess and Margaret Barley met during their freshman COR100 class at Spring Arbor University (SAU), I am sure they didn’t expect in ten years to get married, own a local coffee company, and be collaborating with SAU to create a custom coffee blend specially for the Spring Arbor community.

Thomas and Margaret Hess both graduated from SAU in 2014 as business majors. During their time at SAU, they had many marketing projects where they chose to incorporate their love for coffee. After they graduated, they set out to open a business and in 2016 Fortress Coffee was founded. The Hess’ started Fortress Coffee right in their own home, and since then have moved to a local warehouse.

In 2018 the Hess’ collaborated with family and opened their brick and mortar location of Fortress Cafe in downtown Jackson. For location details check out their webpage.

In order to find the perfect blend for SAU there was a blind taste testing done that included SAU alumni, students, and staff. This group of participants chose an ethically sourced guatemalan roast. This medium roast is sweet and savory with toffee, lemon, and cocoa notes. 

Proceeds from every bag purchased will support student scholarships through the Arbor Fund. The Arbor Fund provides need-based scholarships to SAU students each semester.

There are multiple options when ordering a bag of SAU’s custom brew, Cougar Brew. There is an option to order a half pound bag or a full pound bag. There is also an option to receive your coffee as whole beans or ground.

CLICK HERE for more information on how to order your very own bag of Cougar Brew coffee.

If you would like to learn more about the Hess’ experience at SAU and building a business, you can find it here.

“Here at Fortress Coffee, we like to say that our coffee is good coffee for regular people.”

Margaret Hess

By: Leslee DeRossett

Many  families have been forced to stray from normal holiday traditions due to the coronavirus pandemic. Travel plans were forced to be cancelled for Easter and outside gatherings were limited during the Fourth of July which meant that many Americans stayed home instead of heading out to see local fireworks.

Americans are now encroaching on Halloween and again, COVID has forced many families to decide what traditions they will continue on Halloween night. Jackson and most surrounding counties are still allowing traditional trick-or-treating along with local churches and other organizations holding trunk-or-treats at numerous locations.

If you are interested in your communities trick-or-treating hours, looking for alternative activities, or you would like to participate in handing candy out at a trunk-or-treat location, check out these links to events scheduled in Jackson, and the surrounding areas, for the weekend of October 31, 2020.

Jackson Halloween Activities

Hillsdale Halloween Activities

Adrian Halloween Activities

For those that do plan to celebrate Halloween in their communities, below are some of the precautions suggested from the City of Jackson webpage to keep our communities safe. 

FOR TRICK-OR-TREATERS AND PARENTS: 

• Stay home if you are sick. 
• Maintain social distancing of at least six feet. 
• Wear a cloth mask that covers both the mouth and nose. A costume mask does not provide adequate protection. 
• Wash hands frequently or use hand sanitizer while trick-or-treating. 

FOR RESIDENTS:  

• If you intend to hand out treats, turn your porch light on as a sign of welcome. If you don’t wish to participate, turn off your porch light or exterior lighting.
• Mark six-foot lines on your front sidewalk or driveway so trick-or-treaters know to social distance as they wait for candy. 
• Position a distribution table between yourself and trick-or-treaters to maintain distance. 
• Leave treats on a table outside your home where trick-or-treaters can pick them up. 
• Consider handing out treats in an open space where distancing is possible, rather than a front door. 

For even more information on ways to keep safe and healthy on Halloween, check out the MDDHS webpage.

While trick-or-treating is still on the agenda for some families, there are other families that are straying from this tradition to limit their exposure to the public. One them is Kelly of Somerset Center, “We usually get together with our neighbors and take the kids by vehicle around the lake. But this year we have invited close friends and family to our house for a cookout followed by a bonfire. Everyone is welcome to dress up, but it is not required. We did ask that all adults bring a bag or two of candy so we can scatter it around the yard for the kids to find. It’s going to be like an Easter egg hunt, only without the eggs and with Halloween candy.”

Tera, of Devils Lake, has also chosen to stray from the traditional trick-or-treating, “It has been really hard to get into the Halloween spirit this year. My girls are always so excited to buy costumes so we are doing that this weekend. We have family that lives close so there are around 8 houses that my kids will be trick-or-treating at this year, ending in dinner at my parent’s house. I’m sure we will be able to keep our night busy, I am just ready for everything to get back to normal.”

Whether you are planning to to keep with the traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating, participating in a trunk-or-treat, or, or holding a small gathering at your house, we can all agree that Halloween 2020 is still about the children and everyone is committed to making it a memorable one.

By: Leslee DeRossett

Spring Arbor University students coming back to the 2020 fall semester have seen many changes. This is also true for the SAU competitive cheer team. In August, SAU named Jessica Dowling as its new head coach of the competitive cheer program.

Cheer is not new to Dowling, between four years as a member of her high school varsity competitive cheer and sideline cheer teams and eight years as the Addison Community Schools middle school competitive cheerleading coach, the middle school sideline cheerleading coach, as well as the varsity competitive assistant coach. She guided her team to five straight Cascades championships, along with three consecutive undefeated seasons.

Dowling may be new to the SAU competitive cheer team, but she is not new to SAU. When Dowling is not working with her competitive cheer team, she is teaching as a professor in the SAU School of Education.

Dowling said, “The number one thing I enjoy the most coaching for SAU is working with my athletes and building a tight-knit team. The girls are amazing and all so unique in the best way! We are a perfect mix and have formed a great bond already.”

The SAU competitive cheer team is new as of last year.

“Another thing I enjoy about coaching cheer at SAU is building a foundation for years to come. I have really enjoyed working to build a program which strives in character and is centered in faith. We are eager for a safe return for big crowds as we have some big ideas for community involvement at SAU.”

Jessica Dowling