Some unforgettable moments from 2008

Wed, Dec 31, 2008    to del.icio.us

This year in the Tri-Cities, grim crimes, a bad economy and the longest presidential campaign in history were mainstays in the Tribune.

Click to enlarge
While those stories won't be easy to forget, here are a few more light-hearted stories that might be fun to remember as 2008 grinds to a halt tonight.

Gas thief takes clerk for a ride

Even though she's less than 5 feet tall, Jessica Sudy won't be pushed around. The Spring Lake Wesco employee took matters into her own hands in June when a man attempted to leave without paying for gas.

She wrote down the man's license plate number, and when he tried to flee the scene, she jumped into his car. Instead of turning himself in as Sudy hoped, the suspect drove away with her in the passenger seat. After they reached the corner, however, he stopped and Sudy ran back to the station.

"I just thought if I got in the car that would stop him," she said. "Apparently he really wanted to get away."

After the incident, the 21-year-old Grand Haven High School graduate had to endure lectures from her manager, mother and a policeman. The story made national news.

McCain scarfs a Pronto Pup

Sen. John McCain's whirl-wind presidential campaign brought him into Grand Haven long enough to shake a few hands, get swarmed by reporters and scarf down a Pronto Pup.

Click to enlarge
Crowds swarmed the downtown hot dog stand while McCain ordered a hot dog on a stick with two stripes of mustard and a small Coke to wash it down.

Not only did teenage Pronto Pup employees Jen Marciniak and Jaclyn Nelson get to meet the self-proclaimed maverick candidate himself, but they also shared the change from his $20 bill.

Man stilts into Grand Haven

Neil Sauter sauntered into Grand Haven atop 3-foot stilts this summer as part of his 830-mile trek across lower Michigan and into the Upper Peninsula.

He averaged 20 miles per day on the eight-week hike, stopping to speak at schools and other events.

On his way down Lakeshore Drive, children looked up in awe and a skateboarder zipped right between his extendo legs.

Sauter's fantastical journey raised more than $64,000 for United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan.

High-heal racer takes world record

Local woman Jill Stamison competed in a 150-yard dash on national television — in high heels and a pink skirt.

The two-time college All-American runner took fourth place in the race featured on "Live with Regis and Kelly." But because the three women who beat her didn't have the proper footwear, Stamison still took home the world record with a blistering time of 21.95 seconds.

Afterward, Stamison said she would have much prefered the $25,000 for first place over a blurb in the next Guinness World Record book.

Poop brochure goes ex-"stinked"

In 2003, Ottawa County caused a big stink by creating scratch-and-sniff manure brochures to educate people about country living.

The brochure was featured on stories around the world and it ranked No. 1 on Parade Magazine's 2003 list of ways to slow urban sprawl.

Ottawa County officials wanted to continue producing the "If you are thinking about moving to the country, you may want to consider ..." brochures, but they were unable to replace the pamphlets in 2008 because scent makers no longer make the right unagreeable odor.

Oh deer!

While some Grand Haven residents are still debating whether there are too many deer in the city limits, others are just trying to avoid dangerous encounters with them.

In November, some friends witnessed a deer attempt to jump over a chain-linked fence — emphasis on attempt. One of the deer's hind legs got stuck at the top and police had to cut the injured doe down.

Earlier this fall, a deer jumped into the back of a car and broke several windows before it found a way out.

American Legion Post Manager Andy VanderHoek was angry because the deer chose his car — the only one in the lot without full-coverage insurance.

75,000 pounds of fun

Last September, Harbor Island became the site of Grand Haven's first great potato giveaway, deemed Tumble of the Taters.

Volunteers and spud lovers swarmed the island to sort out and hand out 40,000 pounds of potatoes, plus another 30,000 pounds of cabbage and 5,000 pounds of pumpkins.

A local potato producer offered the goods to local nonprofits, but it was more than they could handle. Instead, it took only a couple of hours to give away all 75,000 pounds of fresh produce to anyone willing to haul it off the island.

Local UFO hunters speak out

In 1994, more than 300 people from Michigan to Ohio claim to have seen a unidentified flying object, including Grand Haven's very own Cindy Pravda.

Pravda said four lights that looked like moons appeared above her backyard for about a half hour.

More than a decade later, producers of "UFO Hunters" came calling, and spent four hours this June interviewing Pravda and listening to her incredible tale.

Dentist stocks up on candy

Dr. Darren Riopelle, a local dentist, paid children $1 per pound of candy this Halloween to try and save one tooth at a time.

In order to spare Grand Haven children's teeth from cavities and broken orthodontic appliances, Riopelle redirected the candy to hard working — and hopefully hard brushing — American troops serving overseas.

One of the lucky candy sellers even won a Nintendo Wii.

Baby Jesus kidnapped from Nativity

What would Jesus do? Well, he wouldn't steal a baby Jesus from a Nativity scene, that's for sure. But that is exactly what happened in Rod Elenbaas' front yard less than a week before Christmas.

Elenbaas woke up to find the baby and manger gone, and a set of adult-sized foot prints leading away from the crime scene.

In order to redeem the holiday spirit for the sake of his neighbors and five young grandchildren, Elenbaas built his own manger and placed straw and a baby doll inside.

"I'm not going to let them win," he said. "If I have to replace it five times, I'll replace it five times."