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UPS driver Ethan Callif of Columbus, Ohio, isn’t fooling anyone. “I’m just a regular guy,” he said. But sticking out from beneath his brown uniform collar, everyone can see his red cape.

It was a normal Thursday morning in July and Ethan was on his route when the unexpected happened. A traffic accident caused a motorist to lose control of her car and Ethan saw it crash into a deep pond. 

“I had no thoughts,” said Ethan. “I just knew I had to go get her.”

Ethan parked his package car, ran fully-clothed into the pond and swam out to the sinking vehicle. The lady in the car climbed out to sit on the passenger window sill with her hands on the roof, but she was sinking fast.  She couldn’t swim.

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In the summer, the harbors of northern Lake Michigan towns bustle with sailboats, jet-skis and sport-fishing boats. Regional art shows and festivals of all sorts play host to throngs of tourists who frequent downtown streets. 

It’s this annual tourist migration that supports cottage industries and a steady seasonal economy that survives despite being within the larger Michigan market. A market that never seemed to quite pull out of the last recession before the current one landed like a tsunami and washed across the already beleaguered state. 

Dianne Gentel is one of those local northern Michiganians who follows the ebb and flow of the seasons. 

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