Freshwater Reporter is a free community paper offering fresh, engaging storytelling that is regularly upbeat and personable.

We print 3,000-5,000 copies of each FREE edition of the Freshwater Reporter and deliver them to 150+ places throughout Manistee and Mason counties and select places in neighboring counties. Like what you’re reading? As we head into the fall and winter seasons, our advertising dollars decrease. Please consider making a donation: http://tinyurl.com/2wfrwud6 . Your donation is NOT tax deductible, but we appreciate your support of community storytelling and local journalism.

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Freshwater Reporter
- Family tree bears fruit
  Photo of Terry Connolly by P.G. Misty Sheehan. By P.G. Misty Sheehan Editor’s note: This story appeared in the July 22, 2020 issue of Freshwater Reporter. Terry Connolly wants to re-establish the 40 acres his family originally owned in Manistee County. He is working hard planting apple, pear, plum, cherry and Asian pear trees, plus […]
- Arcadia music festival ramps up
  Photo courtesy of Music Moves Us. By Pat Stinson. ARCADIA – A second stage will debut during the Aug. 30-31 Minnehaha Brewhaha Music Festival, featuring “more music, more brews, more food, and more fun on tap,” according to Music Moves Me, the nonprofit festival host. The event will take place on the grounds of Arcadia […]
- Garage sales: It’s the little things
  The pitfalls of too much stuff. Story and photo by Gordon Berg How on earth did we collect so much stuff in our homes?! Yes, we are a consumer society. Our very economy is based on it. But, really?? And, if you’re in the latter part of your life, how are your grown children even […]
- Sari Brown Band to perform at Roots on the River
  Photo of Sari Brown courtesy of the artist. From staff reports MANISTEE – Sari Brown and her band will bring soul-infused sounds of joy, connection and healing to audience members when they take the gazebo stage at Veterans Memorial Park at 7 p.m. on July 25. Their performance is part of the Roots on the […]
- ‘Early Railways’ is Arcadia Daze topic
  The Scottville Clown Band performs as members march in the Arcadia Daze festival. File photo by Mark Videan. From staff reports ARCADIA – The 43rd annual Arcadia Daze celebration will begin at 7 p.m., Thursday, July 25, when the Railroad Historical Society of Northwest Michigan will host an hour-long panel discussion about the early railways […]
- Highway 31 Cabins: a shady haven
  By Kevin Howell Charlie and Andra Shobe weren’t particularly looking for a business to buy. Driving north toward Manistee, where their daughter Sophia attends school, they spotted a group of rustic cabins along U.S. Highway 31. So many small mom-and-pop roadside traveler cabins are gone now, but a few miles south of Manistee in Mason […]