This week’s bouquets go to:

From Rusty Bluse —

Thursday the Escanaba football program kicked off its 2025 fall campaign with excitement and high expectations that saw the team win 21-18 over Kingsford. The first thing our fans, guests and visitors saw is our stadium complex, a reflection on our athletic programs and the Escanaba School District. This year this area should make every Escanaba resident proud.

First, a big thank you to the Escanaba Fan Club for your fundraising efforts, which replaced our 75-year-old plank bleachers with new black aluminum bleachers, as well as 200 new orange stadium seats. During this stadium renovation, the entire stadium was power washed, sealed and joints were caulked. Attractive signs have been added to acknowledge the projects donors.

Another very special thank you goes to Don Bougie, who volunteered to remove the old bleachers and their mounting brackets for free, saving the bleacher committee thousands of dollars. Those brackets were sandblasted and powder-coated and used for the new installation at a significant savings to the project.

As you enter the athletic field complex you will notice how beautiful the area is groomed. This is due to the efforts of Gay and Dan Kleikamp, who made it their mission. Gay spent hours on her hands and knees pulling weeds by hand the old fashion way. Dan trimmed all the trees and shrubs, making the entire area attractive and evidence of how they take pride in our program and facility.

Time was also spent on cleaning up under the bleachers. Don Bougie, Terry Steinmetz, Dale Mokszycke and Matt Ison swept the entire stadium floor, then blew all the remaining dirt away, and spent the next eight hours power washing the stadium floor so clean that you could eat off of it. Later they power washed the tickets booths and concession stand clean of 15 years of cobweb build up. Earlier, Gary Slade and Dan Kleikamp were also significantly helpful improving the wall housing the Wall of Fame plaques.

I also want to give a shout out to Derek Bernson and John Lorrison. These two gentlemen work for our district where one of their main responsibilities is the Athletic Field complex and they understand just how important it is for that area to look good. In my opinion, they are the most conscientious district employees and we so be so fortunate they work for us.

I am writing this letter to acknowledge all of these individuals who have a pride in our football program and want to do everything they can to make the facility welcoming to our fans, our opponents, and anyone else who may visit the area.

Whether you are a football fan or not, having these individuals taking time out of their busy life to make sure that we have a facility we can be proud to call the “Home of the Eskymos” should make us all stand up and applaud all of their work to make Escanaba someplace special to call home.

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Each Saturday the Daily Press salutes individuals and groups from the area who have had a very positive impact on the way we live.

We identify our bouquet recipients in one of two ways: from Daily Press news pages and from nominations sent in by our readers.

Mail us a postcard or letter identifying your nomination and putting into detail what they’ve done. Include your name, address and phone number. Send nominations to Saturday Bouquets, The Daily Press, 600 Ludington Street, Escanaba, MI 49829.

They may also be sent by going to the web site, www.dailypress.net, and clicking on the submit news button. Once there, click on “Bouquets” and follow the simple instructions.