CCR News August 2020 | Page 10

Bruce & Colleen Parks Hi! My name is Colleen Parks. My husband Bruce and I cannot express how happy we are becoming a part of the Canada Creek Ranch family. As outdoor enthusiasts we fell in love with this area years ago. We have always talked about moving further north, but after my brother Dan Louks and his wife Mary bought a cabin on CCR and introduced us to all the amenities that area had to offer, we knew it was New Members - The Parks time to start looking for our future home in Atlanta. I was born and raised in Bad Axe, the tip of the thumb, and moved to St. Helen in 1999. After working in bank management and lending for 30 years, I decided to retire in 2015. Two years of that career was spent as assistant manager at, what was then, National City Bank on Main Street in Atlanta in the year 2000. That was when I met many nice people and grew to love the area. Bruce was born in New Hampshire, then moved to Alpena and Pinconning in his childhood. He retired (if you can call it that) in 2010 after 30+ years as a commercial carpenter and welder. Upon retiring, Bruce renewed his CDL and drove semis for transport companies in the oil fields and helping local farmers during harvest. Most days you will find him in his shop building, welding, fabricating or customizing ATV’s with bumpers, tree kickers, etc.! The word “retire” is not in his vocabulary. Bruce and I previously resided in the Sterling/West Branch area. We will be celebrating our 15 th wedding anniversary on August 13 th . Together we have 2 little lap dogs, 4 children, and 10 grandchildren, who are scattered around Michigan and Georgia. We love trail riding, shooting, hunting, fishing and enjoying nature. Last year, after 22 years of applying, Bruce’s name was drawn for a cow elk license. He was fortunate to fill that tag near Wolverine. Bruce and I are looking forward to spending many years on CCR and making many new friends! RANCH FIRE PIT POLICY New Members Fire pits must have the following characteristics to be safe 1. No combustible material within four feet (4’) of the fire ring. 2. Must be surrounded by a non-combustible material (i.e. concrete, rocks, fire ring, etc.) 3. No burning of yard brush, leaves, trash, lawn cuttings, building materials or chemicals. 4. Must have water source available. 5. Fires can not be left unattended. 6. Flames are not to exceed 24 inches in height. 7. Members and guests assume all liability for any damages that their fire may cause. 10 Kyle Tobin My interests in Canada Creek Ranch began when I first started visiting the Atlanta area with friends and coworkers in the early ‘90’s. I grew to love many of the fishing lakes (McCormick, Lake 15 and Clear) and when I made the decision to purchase a home in the ranch, it just felt like the natural thing to do! I am a retired public educator and spent nearly 30 years as an administrator, teacher and football coach. Most of my career was spent with the Whittemore-Prescott school district and I actually retired from Oscoda Area Schools in 2007. I enjoyed the years I spent at W-P as head football coach where I achieved a great deal of success, culminated by a Division 6 state championship in 2000 (hard to believe it’s been 20 years). I am a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches’ Hall of Fame. My main interests are fishing and more fishing! I moved here in February having purchased the VanTiem residence on Sleeping Fawn Trail. It’s been an interesting four months and I’m looking forward to enjoying many of the activities available at the Ranch. Hollars/Hocking Family Hello! We are the Hollars/Hocking family. Our family includes Wayne, Jen, Damon 22, Christian 18, Jacob 16, Wayne 14, Ethan 12, and our pride of rescue cats (admittedly, a clowder of rescue cats, but pride sounds much more formidable). We live in Livonia, MI where Jen is a stay at home mom, and Wayne has recently retired (early) from 27 years in retail management due to an injury. Our family has been coming to Canada Creek Ranch for 22 years when Jen’s father, David Paul, purchased a small second home. Jen’s uncle, Robert Paul, also owns a small second home on the ranch. Our family enjoys coming up to “the cabin” to fish, go to the beach, and go in “the outback” to look for deer and elk. We purchased a membership lot so we could enjoy full membership privileges even when we aren’t staying with family. Our hopes are to purchase a home on the ranch after the kids graduate. We love how family friendly CCR is, their conservation efforts to keep the lakes and land pristine and viable for future generations, but most of all, we love how everyone waves when driving by! REMINDER The Canada Creek News deadline for submitted articles is the first of the month.