Good morning, Ottawa County.
The heat is on, again, with the expected high today back up to 84 degrees and the low around 70 degrees. There is also a 50% chance of a thunderstorm.
Please note that I will be out of the office tomorrow and there will not be a Thursday newsletter.
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Unique hand-built airplane on display
Skip Honsberger's custom Hatz Bantum biplane featured at Flyers or Tires show
Growing up in a suburb of Detroit, manufacturing was all around me. We would see crazy machines, cars, motorcycles, trucks and aircraft everywhere. Some things were prototypes and others were just rare. I still remember being able to check out a Tucker in a local car show that had around 50 vehicles.
With that back story, the Flyers or Tires Fly-In and Car Show is just great . Check out this link, and make sure to go next year if you couildn't make it this past weekend.
One of the featured planes was a Hatz Bantum biplane, hand-built by Skip Honsberger of Fremont.
Modeled after a Hatz Classic designed in Duluth, Minnesota, construction of the plane began in 2009 and was finished in 2021.
Here's that link again .
More stories you shouldn't miss
Someone to know: City of Fremont's Jack of several trades, Bob Gross
I talked with the Fremont's interim safety service director, Bob Gross, after he recently rendered a decision in a police disciplinary case. It's an unusual role, and often confusing to many people. He explained a bit about why he is doing it, and some of what the position has included.
Q: What were yo,u doing and what are you doing now?
A: I'm normally the economic development director, and I've been that for maybe the last five years. When Ken Frost got called last January, saying that he would have to be deployed, I was approached by the mayor and asked to be the interim safety service director. Ken is in the Coast Guard, as a reservist.
That sounds like a lot. How much longer are you doing both jobs?
Ken is due back some time in August. It has required a lot of time, probably 50 to 60 hours a week. I pretty regularly stay here until 6 p.m. every night and come in on weekends for a number of hours. It's a lot of work, but I've loved it. It gives me a new perspective and appreciation for other departments and the challenges they face.
What do you do in your interim position?
As a safety service director, I'm appointed by the mayor to have oversight of the operations and some personnel issues and budget issues. While I rely on the department heads to run their departments, I still touch base with them. I see almost every department head almost every day. The reason it's called the safety and service director is because, years ago, the two positions were separate positions. The safety director had oversight of the police and fire, but the service director had oversight over the other departments. At some point they combined the two.
Correction
The caption in the second photo of Monday's Daily Briefing newsletter should have read "Seneca County Commissioner Bill Frankart hosted a watch party for the Republican National Convention on Thursday to watch Donald Trump accept his party's nomination for president."
To share news tips, just say hello, or ask a question, email me at rlapointe@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: 🛫Unique hand-built airplane on display
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