Good morning, lakeshore. Sunday afternoon, a 1929 movie plays inside a theater built in 1929. The Frauenthal is screening the 1929 cut of The Phantom of the Opera, Lon Chaney and all. Dennis Scott plays the whole score live on the Barton organ, so nobody's hitting play on this one.
In this week’s Lowdown:
A first-place showdown at Mona Shores
Grand Haven's skeletons show up Thursday
The mast in Escanaba Park
Let’s get into it.
- Sam Johnson, The Lakeshore Lowdown
Sponsored by:
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DOGFIGHT AT THE SHORES
First place comes to Norton Shores 🏈
Mona Shores has won four straight. Byron Center has beaten Mona Shores twice in a row. One of those streaks ends Friday night.
The Sailors are 4-1 and 2-0 in the OK Green after a 42-13 win at Reeths-Puffer. It was their fourth straight blowout since a 35-27 opening loss at two-time defending Division 2 champ Orchard Lake St. Mary's, and their 11th straight win over the Rockets. Owen Terpstra took a designed keeper 80 yards for one score and hit Michael Himes for 52 yards on another.
Byron Center shows up with the same records after a 48-20 win over Muskegon, where Brady Hartson threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns. The Bulldogs knocked Mona Shores out in 2024 district play on their way to the state finals, then beat the Sailors by a touchdown again last fall.
It's at Sailor Stadium, and first place in the OK Green goes home with the winner. Get there early.
📍 Mona Shores High School, 1121 W Seminole Rd, Norton Shores
🗓️ Fri, Oct 2, 7 PM
🎟️ $6 adults, $4 students, $8 reserved at monashoresathletics.net
🎉 Weekend Preview
The rain wraps up Thursday, so the weekend looks dry and cool.
🎈 = family-friendly
Thursday
🎈💀 Bones About Town – 150+ decorated skeletons move into downtown and Centertown Grand Haven starting Oct 1.
Friday
🏈 Byron Center at Mona Shores – Homecoming with first place on the line, 7 PM. Details up top.
🎶 Music of the Beach Boys – West Michigan Symphony with Endless Summer at the Frauenthal, 7:30 PM.
Saturday
🎈🥕 Farmers markets – Muskegon runs 8 AM to 2 PM, Grand Haven 8 AM to 1 PM.
Sunday
🎬 The Phantom of the Opera (1929) – Silent film with a live Barton organ at the Frauenthal, 3 PM, $10.
Coming up
🧟 Here Come The Mummies – The Frauenthal, Fri, Oct 9.
🌊 Shore Things
⚽ Cup Comes Home – Mona Shores boys soccer beat Reeths-Puffer 2-0 Thursday and took home the Causeway Cup, snapping the Rockets' seven-game win streak in the rivalry and their three-year hold on the Cup.
🏒 Bounce Back – The Lumberjacks dropped their home opener 5-3 to Team USA Friday, then flipped it Saturday with a 6-1 win at Trinity Health Arena. That evens Muskegon at 2-2.
🏐 Record Watch – Grand Haven's Mallory Woiteshek put up 21 kills and 22 digs in a four-set win over Grandville, leaving her 26 kills short of the school's career record. The Bucs are 19-5 and ranked No. 8 in Division 1.
🎾 Clean Sweep – Mona Shores boys tennis won all eight flights at the GMAA tournament Saturday, and won the city title with 48 points to North Muskegon's 31.
🥃 Bourbon for the Bowl – Snug Harbor is throwing a Bourbon & Beef Showdown on Saturday, Oct 3, to benefit Mulligan's Hollow and its $1.5 million snowmaking rebuild. It kicks off at noon with slider and bourbon cocktail competitions, and the public gets to taste and vote on sliders at 4:30. Winners are announced at 6.
🎣 Kings Up Close – The latest DNR report has Muskegon boats picking up mature Chinook in the basin and off the breakwalls on glow and chrome/red-head plugs, and pier anglers landing a few on glow spoons. Grand Haven boats found Chinook and coho 35 to 90 feet down in 100 to 170 feet of water.
🏈 Local Sports
Whitehall picked the right night for its first win, blanking Montague 12-0 to keep the Bell for a sixth straight year. Spring Lake took the lead with a minute left to beat GR Christian 23-22 on homecoming, and Mona Shores (4-1) made it 11 straight over Reeths-Puffer.
Week 5 finals:
Mona Shores 42, Reeths-Puffer 13
Byron Center 48, Muskegon 20
Rockford 49, Grand Haven 12
Spring Lake 23, GR Christian 22
Whitehall 12, Montague 0
Fruitport 42, Kelloggsville 0
North Muskegon 43, Hesperia 7
Ravenna 28, Shelby 14
Orchard View 46, Hart 0
Ludington 35, Oakridge 14
Everest Collegiate 45, Muskegon Catholic Central 0
Marcellus 66, Muskegon Heights 0
Holton 28, Bear Lake 0
☀️ Weather Report
Tuesday 67 🌡️ 58 | 🌤️ | <20% | 💨 SSW 4-7 kt
Wednesday 69 🌡️ 61 | 🌦️ | 40% | 💨 S 8-12 kt, gusts to 21
Thursday 67 🌡️ 52 | 🌧️ | 70% | 💨 SW 9-13 kt
Friday 62 🌡️ 47 | ⛅ | <20% | 💨 NW 9-13 kt
🌊 Waves around 1 ft Tuesday, building to 3 to 5 ft Wednesday and Thursday | 💧 Water low 60s
The verdict: Enjoy Tuesday, then pack a poncho for Friday's game just in case Mother Nature changes her mind. Saturday and Sunday are dry.
🎵 Live Music Picks
Most of this week's music moved indoors, which works out with rain in the forecast.
Wednesday, Sept 30
Muskegon Brewing Company | Lynn Thompson | 6-9 PM
Friday, Oct 2
Frauenthal | West Michigan Symphony with Endless Summer (Beach Boys) | 7:30 PM
Saturday, Oct 3
Snug Harbor | Big Daddy Fox | 3-7 PM
Sunday, Oct 4
Frauenthal | Dennis Scott on the Barton organ, The Phantom of the Opera (1929) | 3 PM
STILL STANDING
🌟Only in Muskegon and Grand Haven
The tall wooden mast in Escanaba Park came off a real ship. The Coast Guard cutter Escanaba was based in Grand Haven from 1932 until World War II, and in February 1943 her crew pulled survivors of the torpedoed Dorchester out of the North Atlantic, the first rescue to use swimmers in survival suits. Four months later, on June 13, 1943, an explosion sank her within minutes while she escorted a convoy, and 101 of her crew were lost. Only two men survived. Grand Haven answered by raising more than $1 million in war bonds for a replacement cutter, and her mast has stood downtown ever since.
✅ Lowdown Essentials
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That’s it for this issue.
Thanks for reading. Grab a seat for the Phantom on Sunday, and give the organ player a hand when the lights come up. See you Friday.
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