Cooking Party EU Summit at Michigan B&B

We hosted another Chef Night at the Munro House B&B. People from across Michigan came to Jonesville to spend a weekend getaway culminating with a cooking party on Saturday night. It began when 2 couples called to organize a Chef Night. They picked the date, and we advertised the event on the internet to fill in the additional chefs. We ended up with a total of 10 people in our kitchen participating in the cooking party.

We decided on a diverse menu of European flavors and referred to this event as the "EU Summit". Our recipes came from England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the USA. 10 amateur cooks in the kitchen combined their skills to create a feast.

We gathered at around 4:00 p.m. and gave an overview of how the event would progress. Teams of two were paired up with two recipes to prepare--one being relatively simple and the other being more complex. We stressed that this was not a competition, but a chance to get out of our comfort zones to prepare a recipe we might not regularly try at home, and to have some fun.

Appetizers were prepared and served while the main courses were being prepped. An awesome Italian Bruschetta was served fresh out of the oven. Jumbo Shrimp Parmesan came shortly after and was followed by Seafood Nachos--there were no leftovers. The portions were big enough to whet our appetites and get us excited about what was to come next.

After all of the food was prepared, the table was set. We sat down to continue our feast with a German Potato Sausage Soup with Cheddar Bay Biscuits--thank you Red Lobster. An authentic Greek Salad was served next. Then came the entrees: British Beef Burgundy and Italian Chicken Piccata. On the side was a spinach, cheese, and sausage casserole. Thanks to the French, we saved room for dessert and enjoyed our Chocolate Creme Brulee. We went 10 for 10 in successful tasty dishes.

Somewhere along the process, someone mentioned Italian Mud Slides and it just happened that we had all of the ingredients on hand. These ice cream drinks were very refreshing on the first day of 2009 to reach 80 degrees in Michigan.

We were cleaning on the go, so when dessert was finished, all we had to do was load the dishwasher to be over 90% finished for the night. The chefs were having a good time and decided to continue the festivities with a Euchre tournament. Four teams of two played cards while two non-players put the finishing touches on the kitchen. At 10:30, we had finished an awesome feast and 3 games of Euchre. Surprisingly, only one person did not order a big breakfast the next morning. This evening of interaction and cooperation brought people together to enjoy a productive evening of entertainment and camaraderie. We are anxiously awaiting our next Chef Night Cooking Party, TBA.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

B&B in Michigan Earns Local Award

Once again, the Munro House B&B in Jonesville, Michigan, earned the Hillsdale County People's Choice Award for Favorite Bed and Breakfast. Voting is done through the Hillsdale Daily News and Munro House has been the perennial winner in this category.

Although the vast majority of guests at the Munro House are from outside of Hillsdale County, local folks are very familiar with the property. It happens to be the oldest house in the county --dating back to 1834,it is reknown as having been a Station on the Underground Railroad, previous owners have been prominent citizens in the community, it was once the American Legion Post, and it was once an antique store. Private tours are available to the general public by appointment and local schools annually tour the home learning about the Underground Railroad and the history of Jonesville. The Munro House hosts an annual Chamber of Commerce Christmas Party that kicks off the holiday season for local business people. Lots of local people have been in our home, but not stayed overnight, and have voted for us in the competition.

Even folks who have never been in our home have sent their guests here. Weddings, funerals, and family gatherings have allowed us to host their out of town guests. Local businesses house their visitors here, too, as there are not a lot of choices in the area--we offer a corporate rate to single business travelers.

There is something very appealing about our great old house. Visitors love the 12 foot ceilings, the long staircase, the comfortable rooms, and the oral history. But they also love the modern conveniences--cable TV, air conditioning, wireless internet, and a big hot breakfast served seven days a week.

When the people voted for us, they acknowledged our reputation and we thank them for helping us to become the best place to stay in Hillsdale County and the People's Choice as the favorite bed and breakfast.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Mill Race Golf Course is Open for the Season

Jonesville, Michigan, is a village of about 2,300 people. My business, the Munro House Bed and Breakfast is just a block off of downtown. Within 5 blocks are just about everything a guy could want--and they are all conveniently located in this small town in south central Michigan.

Just a block away is a museum, the public library, post office, church, and my dog groomer.

Within 2 blocks you'll find the village office, insurance agents, barber shop, hair salon, bank with ATM, gift shop, the best pizza, a men's clothing store, hardware store, a coffee shop, an ice cream shop and a fine dining restaurant.

3 blocks away is a medical clinic, police department, fire department, floral shop, McDonalds, a school, another ice cream shop, more insurance agents, and a print shop.

At 4 blocks is a gas station, Subway, another school, and a golf course.

But this is no ordinary golf course, it is Mill Race Golf Course--named for the river diversion that used to power the mill in downtown Jonesville. Mill Race just may be the nicest, toughest, and least expensive 9 hole golf courses you'll ever find. Jim & Nancy Kuenzer have gone to great lengths to provide a quality activity to the area.

The course is cut out of a mature woods and at one point runs alongside the St Joseph river. It is a par 36 course when played from the championship tees with a slope of 130 and yardage of 3367. It also features middle and forward tees. The tee boxes, fairways, and greens are in great shape for mid April. The first hole is a par 5 double dog leg that is known to challenge duffers of all abilities. Number 7 overlooks the widest portion of the river and is the most picturesque of the nine holes.

I am in the Thursday Night Golf League with my good friend, the Cole Dawg. $16 each got us a round of league golf with a power cart. My partner even managed to break his favorite club--the sand wedge--on a stroke from 100 yards that sent the ball over the green despite breaking off the head upon contact. We had a lot of fun and even managed to beat our opponents by 3 strokes--scratch--on the first night of league golf. It happened to be my first round of the season, and Cole Dawg's first round in Michigan.

Mill Race is my favorite place to golf in the area because it is convenient, inexpensive, and challenging. I'm a once a week golfer who has never really improved his game a whole lot over the years. My main objectives are to spend time with friends, enjoy the great outdoors, and have some fun. My personal goal is to golf my age for 9 holes. My next birthday in August will make that task just a little bit easier. I was off by 2 strokes tonight, but happy for my first time out.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Painting the Inn

There comes a time when a new coat of paint is needed. Nothing lasts forever, you know--especially in a bed and breakfast. Our latest project is our breakfast room. Apparently, our gas fireplace releases a fair amount of soot that doesn't go up the flue. A once bright room was dulled by the accumulation of dark patches near the ceiling and on every ridge of trim. Giving the room a touch up would certainly be ineffective. A total makeover was on the agenda.

We agreed that we really likes our brightly colored breakfast room that has a cheery appearance the first thing in the morning. We liked the existing yellow and decided on three similar, but different shades. We purchased some rather expensive one coat paint in the same color under the soot. Three coats later, the room is being restored to its original luster.

Painting this room has become much more time consuming than I had planned. There is so much trim! We have to paint between all the ceiling beams, the spindled stair rail, 4 doorways, baseboard trim, and the floor. All of this needs to be done when we are not too busy--so the fumes don't bother anyone. With three coats going on and time needed to dry between coats, and having other chores to do, this is taking up a good deal of my days.

I'm nearing the halfway point, and I've been painting off and on for 2 weeks. There are a couple of places to touch up tomorrow, then I'll take a break until next week--peeps in the house.

The last time we painted this room, we hired the Wall Doctors to do the work. I thought I'd save some money and do it myself this time. The down side is that it is taking me much longer to do it than it took the pros. As I recall, they did the whole thing in less than 4 days. Sometimes it's worth spending the money to get it done quickly. The good news is that I will have the satisfaction of having done the work myself.

The goal is to have it done by Mother's Day. That is doable. That fresh coat of paint is going to make the Munro House dining room look so nice.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Bed and Breakfast in Michigan Plays Pop Music

I have many friends who are also colleagues in the bed and breakfast industry. Most live right here in Michigan, but I make regular contact with B&B owners across the country. We discuss marketing, decorating, cooking, and everything else that goes along with running an inn and dealing with the public.

When discussing background music, most of my friends are into classical music. They enjoy the instrumental sounds of the classic composers. Mozart, Bach, and Vivaldi are some of their favorites. They are of the opinion that the sound of stringed instruments makes a Victorian Era building more authentic. Maybe so, but I disagree, and our house is pre-Victorian!

Here, at the Munro House B&B in Jonesville, Michigan, we enjoy the classics, too. However, our "classics" come from 20th (and 21st) century artists. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are just two of the crooners who are regularly heard on my Bose stereo. We mix in modern classics, too. Rod Stewert, Peter Gabriel, and U2 all have a softer side that is very familiar and comforting.

When people come to our house, they will find that we are more comfortable than formal. Part of that comfort and style comes from the background music that we play. Just this morning I have heard "Heaven" from Los Lonely Boys, "Miss You in a Heartbeat" from Def Leppard, and "Danny's Song" from Loggins and Messina. Each of these tunes made the pop charts and are familiar, or sweet sounds to people of all ages.

I have a huge CD collection--in the thousands. I have taken the time to compile many of my favorite timeless ballads and easy listening pop songs into an eclectic mix. I have programmed them into my "jukebox" and play them all day long on "shuffle" and "repeat". I can go days without hearing the same song twice. The best thing is that all, or most, of the recordings are familiar to my guests, too. They give me regular compliments on my selection of music. It is just one thing that helps to make us a little bit more comfortable.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Movie Review What Happens in Vegas

I finally got around to watching the movie "What Happens in Vegas" starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. It is the story of 2 people, each of them is negatively affected by a life changing event. They take off to Las Vegas where they try to drown their sorrows. They meet, compare notes, party, and wake up married. They agree that the marriage needs to be anulled, but they accidently win $3M in a slot machine. The judge's orders require them to live together for 6 months before he settles the monetary issues. Their friends try to help them make the other one screw up so that only one of them will keep all of the money.

I laughed out loud many times while watching this date movie with my wife. It will win no Academy Awards, but it was a fun and entertaining flick to watch with my honey on date night at the Munro House B&B in Jonesville. I give it 5 out of 5 stars. It will soon be added to my collection of DVDs so my guests can enjoy this movie as much as we did.

Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Johnny T's Bistro New Restaurant in Hillsdale Michigan

Savarino's Italian Restaurant has changed hands. They are now known as Johnny T's Bistro. A lot remains the same and a lot has changed. The reservation phone number is still (517) 439-1100. They have expanded their hours and kept some of the signature items that made Savarino's famous. Their poppyseed rolls, french onion soup, and spaghetti is as good as you will find anywhere. They now have a $5 lunch item to boost their daytime business. They have put in some flat screen TVs to improve the atmosphere in the bar area.

Regular comedy club shows will continue on weekends when there are no special events like weddings and banquets being held at the hall Next Door. The new owner had been the manager of the Hunt Club in Hillsdale and knows the restaurant business quite well. I foresee this as being a good addition to Hillsdale, Michigan's food scene.

Our guests at the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville are always looking for another fine dining choice in the area. Johnny T's is now on the short list. It will take time to sample the new items on the menu, so I will definitely be writing about Johnny T's again.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Michigan Murder Mystery Bed and Breakfast

Hosting our first New Year's Eve Party in 1999 at the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan, was a new experience for us. We offered a private 7 course dinner with a prime rib for the main entree. My wife is an excellent cook and we have a great old house to entertain in. It went over well and the people that came had a good time, but we had 4 of our 7 rooms empty for this holiday. That was the year of the Y2K scare and many travelers stayed home fearing the worst as the century turned.

We wanted to make sure that we did a better job of promoting in the future. We wanted to have a full house, and we wanted to make sure the night was fun, too.

We read up on hosting a murder mystery dinner. We went online and purchased some box sets, we downloaded some from murder mystery sites, and we got some at the toy store. We reviewed the way the game played, how interesting the characters were, and how possible it was to figure out who-done-it. Then we started practicing. We hosted a bunch of murder mysteries for our friends before we were confident in how to run the game, how to prep the meal, and that the game was fun.

Our first murder mystery dinner for the general public was the following New Years Eve. We predetermined which mystery we would run and we did our best to interview our guests when they made their reservations to assign an appropriate character. Then we sent out scripts for each of our characters.

The guests arrived. Some had spent big bucks renting costumes, some folks came simply dressed. For some guests, we nailed their character, for others, not so much. We decided to keep it simple.

Now, we have people come as they are. My wife, Lori, subtly interviews each player as she explains how the game is played. As she gets an idea of everyone's personality, she assigns an approporiate character and reaches into our costume closet to provide a hat or other accessory to identify each character. All of this is done while sipping wine and munching on shrimp cocktail.

Each person then gets a set of clues that they must get into conversation over dinner. Everyone moves to the table where the game is played and the food is served. We help to move the game along while we serve. When all of the clues have been divulged, everyone has a chance to discuss who they think did it and why. The guilty party does not know if he did it or not, so suspects sometimes vote for themselves when they think they did it.

Then, one by one, we tell you who didn't do it, and why. The final character then reads an explanation that recalls the dialogue that points to his guilt, motive, and opportunity to commit the crime.

The games we choose to play are very entertaining. We have hosted hundreds of murder mysteries since the new millennium started. Private groups can schedule one at our house anytime. We have regularly scheduled murder mysteries scattered thoughout the year where you play the game with whoever else is staying with us. November is Murder Mystery Month at the Munro House. There is one every weekend of the month. Get a bunch of friends together or come and meet some new people at a fun evening at our B&B.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Michigan Bed and Breakfast Peeps in the House

We have almost always referred to the people who stay at our bed and breakfast as our "peeps". My wife, Lori, may ask, "how many peeps in the house tonight?" I may reply, "we have 1 peep in Julia's room, 2 peeps in the General's room, and two peeps in George's room". We will set the table based on how many people are expected for breakfast. Our massage therapists may have appointments on the weekend to give the rubdown to 4 peeps. My friends want to go out, but I can't because I'm waiting on my peeps. It brings a little bit of fun to our house to pass on the formality of calling them our "people", "guests", "reservations" or "clients".

I often mention the term to some of my B&B buddies. One time, when we were talking during the fall, they were under the impression that I had guests who came specifically to see the fall foliage. In their area, these visitors are called "leaf peepers", and they thought I had just shortened the term. They also thought I only used the term in the fall. Nope, we use it all the time.

Most people are familiar with the yellow marshmallow "Peeps" that kids get in their Easter baskets. They are fluffy, cute, and tasty. Even adults get excited when they see Peeps. They are a little piece of American pop culture.

I think it all started several years ago when I was deep into WWE Wrestling and Christian referred to his fans as his peeps. I just adopted it to our business in a playful way, and it stuck. My friends speak my language and get a little smile on their face when they get to use the term in my presence. When I went home to visit my family for Christmas, one of my buds told me I went to see the "blood peeps"--I almost fell out of my chair, laughing.

Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Antique Shopping Allen Michigan Limoges Set

Many of our guests at the Munro House Bed & Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan, spend their liesure time perusing the goods at the many antique shops in our area. Allen, the "antique capital of Michigan", is just 5 minutes away on U.S. 12 and is the home of several antique malls that are clean, climate controlled, and very well stocked.

Our guest, Leonard, had left for the day to have some fun enjoying his favorite pastime, antique shopping. He came back rather quickly and was very excited. He told us that he had to get online so he could check something out on e-bay. He needed to find the value of a particular style of china.

It turned out that Leonard was a very sentimental fellow. A 55 piece Limoges china set matching the exact pattern his grandmother had owned was for sale at a local shop. The only problem, was that there was a $75 price tag on the tea pot, but no prices on the rest of the set. He enquired if it was $75 for the tea pot--the going rate--or $75 for the whole set--a steal. The proprietor did not know, as the set was in his shop on consignment, so he called the seller but got an answering machine. He left a message to call Leonard at the Munro House with the correct pricing. Leonard used our PC to get online and found the current bid for a similar set to be $1,500. He began to physically shake with excitement at the prospect of getting an incredible deal on a chance shopping excursion to a small town in Michigan.

Soon, Leonard received the call. The seller wanted $75--for the whole set. He rushed to the store with cash in hand. When he arrived, he had to wait in line behind a man who was trying to buy that same Limoges set. The shopkeeper was explaining that he had just confirmed that it was $75 for the set, but it had been promised to a man named Leonard who was due in any minute. That was when Leonard identified himself.

The other fellow casually waited while Leonard completed the transaction. As he was boxing up his treasure, the late-comer offered him $1,300 cash-on-the-spot. Leonard thanked him for the offer but turned him down, explaining that he bought the set for sentimental reasons and had no intention of ever selling it.

We meet the nicest people at our bed and breakfast. Each of them has an interesting story to tell and we are happy to listen and share. My peeps keep my life interesting. That's why life is good in Jonesville.

Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Innkeeper at MI Bed and Breakfast Loves Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing is my all time favorite movie. Yeah, there’s not much action, and it’s a classic chick flick. But it’s O.K. for guys to like it, too. I’ve watched it 7 times already this year, and it’s only April! Granted, I do not watch it from start to finish, but if I’m changing channels and it’s on, I stop, sit back, and wait around to hear “nobody puts Baby in a corner”--and to watch the final dance scene.

We own it on video, but never watch it--there's something special about catching it midway and watching to the end. Sometimes stations will have a Dirty Dancing Marathon and play it for 24 hours straight. My wife and I have been known to watch Dirty Dancing 4 or 5 times in one day–but never on video--just on cable. My buddy knows my addiction to the movie and we make contact every time it’s on. One time, I called him at 2 a.m. and said “nobody puts baby in a corner” and hung up. I could hear him laughing through his slumber.

I was unaware of just how popular the movie is. Wikipedia says it’s the first DVD to sell a million copies, and has averaged a million sales every year since its DVD release in 1997. I guess I’m in pretty good company having it as a fave.

It’s also cool to see “Lenny” from Law and Order and “Newman” from Seinfeld in the cast.

Lori and I took ballroom dance classes for a couple of years and never got as good as Baby did in one summer. But we didn’t have as good a teacher!

We watch a lot of movies. There is often some down time at the Munro House while we are waiting for guests to arrive. TV is a good way to pass the time. I keep an online diary of the films we rent and see at the theater, but not the ones we watch on cable. This is where we give a very brief description of the movie, what we thought of it, and rate it 1 to 5 stars. Some of my peeps have actually looked to my review page before they paid to see a flick. I guess our taste in movies is similar.

The next time you catch Dirty Dancing, I just may be watching it, too. It goes without saying that Dirty Dancing gets 5 stars.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Noon Basketball at Hillsdale College

We arrived in Jonesville, Michigan, back in 1999 when I was just 42 years old. At first it really didn't register how running a bed and breakfast could be so much more than a full time job. Get up early for breakfast, check out guests, clean the house, do laundry, bake, shop, wait for guests, greet guests, plus all of the regular stuff--pay bills, network, prepare meals, market the business, yard work, repairs, etc. All of this stuff happened every day leaving very little personal time.

One rainy day, Lori and I decided to add exercise into our schedule and went to nearby Hillsdale College to enjoy their indoor track--it's only 7 1/2 minutes away. There was, and still is, a large number of people who walk in the controlled climate of the indoor arena at lunch time.

As we walked and talked and met some like-minded community members, I noticed that an eclectic group of guys was gathering on the basketball court. The majority of guys looked to be in their 20's and 30's. It appeared to be a pick-up game. Then a woman showed up and joined them. It was at that moment that I figured if they would let a girl play, they would let me play, too.

I found out they got together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at noon and played full court 5 on 5 basketball for an hour. I decided that this would beat the heck out of walking around in circles for an hour, so I put together some basketball gear and joined the group. I was glad to find out that they welcomed anyone to play. They had no restrictions on age, size, or ability. It was just exercise, competition, and comradarie in the middle of the day. They referred to themselves as the NBA--the Noon Basketball Association, or Noon Ball for short.

I found out the game has been going since 1992. Only Charlie and Tim were older than me. Most of the rest of the gang was in their 20's and 30's. They told be that in the early days, 2 on 2, or 4 on 4 half-court was the normal game. Then it started to grow to the point that it became rare that there was not enough players to go full court. There are 3 courts to play on, so when we are busy, there can be 30 people playing at once. 2 blue courts playing 5 on 5 working their way up to play on the wood court. The record head count is 42.

I met the girl, Penny, and struck up an immediate friendship. Over time I found out that she was no ordinary female. She had played varsity sports all through high school, was offered 2 athletic scholarships at the University of Michigan, and played multiple varsity sports there, plus, participated in the Olympic Games in Barcelona! I had a new hero who combined sports with smarts and personality. When I did the math, she was only a little younger than me, but still competed at a high level. I have not seen many women over 30 who are this athletic in a team sport--I appreciate her talent.

With so many people of different backgrounds and abilities, a consistant set of rules needed to be established. I was one of the older guys and one of the most regular attendees, so I basically set up the system that we play by. Picking teams, fouls to call, infractions that slide, acceptable language, and pecking order to play, are all covered and are self enforced pretty consistently.

I've been with the NBA for 10 years now and have not been as regular a player as I would like to be. A bunch of the regulars are now in their 30's and 40's. The important thing is that the game is still going. Us older guys have been known to school the younger guys. Sometimes they outrun us, but if we can control the tempo, the older gang will win more than they lose.

So if you call the Munro House between noon and one o'clock on these days, you will either get my wife or the answering machine. Innkeepers need to take a break, too.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Lodging for NASCAR Race at MIS--Michigan International Speedway

Every year, NASCAR has two Sprint Cup Series races at the Michigan International Speedway (MIS) in Brooklyn, Michigan. The first race is traditionally held on Father's Day weekend--the third Sunday in June. The second race is held on the third Sunday in August.

A full house at the track, along with all the workers that are required to make things run smoothly, means that around 140,000 people have needs. NASCAR races and their fans have become an iconic symbol of pop culture in the new millenium. The logistics of handling that many people is difficult to imagine. There has to be food, drink, rest areas, parking, and lodging available to take care of the throng of fans that gather for these huge events. Bringing in more food and drink and rest stations has not been a problem. Lodging, on the other hand...

Brooklyn, Michigan, is a town of about 1,200. Jackson is the nearest "big" city with a population of just 36,000. Ann Arbor, Toledo, and Detroit are much bigger cities, but they are 30, 47, and 80 miles away according to google maps. When it comes to lodging for the horde of race fans, there are not a lot of options that are convenient. Building and filling more hotel and motel rooms is not a viable option for the other 50 weekends in the year.

Many fans are relatively local and will be in and out in a day. The majority of overnight fans invade the numerous campgrounds for a very casual experience. There is only one chain hotel in Brooklyn--it's a Super 8. That means that there is an opportunity for nearby towns and villages to promote their mom and pop hotels and a fair number of bed and breakfast inns.

We own the Munro House B&B in downtown Jonesville. According to google maps, we are located 23.3 miles (about 27 minutes) from the track on U.S. highway 12. Although we typically cater to romantic couples on weekends, we reserve the house for NASCAR fans over these 2 weekends each year. Unlike some nearby properties that command a rate 5 times normal with a 7 night stay required, we hold our prices consistant with the rest of the year and only require a 2 night stay.

Some of our NASCAR people have been coming here longer than we've owned the house--10 years. Our policy towards NASCAR fans is that when you stay with us, you get dibs on the same race weekend next year. We see a lot of familiar faces for each race season. We generally contact all of last years peeps after the first of the year to see if they will be returning for the same race. Most do, but some don't. When someone opts out, that opens up a room for a first timer.

It is probably a good idea to stay 2 nights anyway. The officials get cars out of their parking lots as efficiently as possible. But the closest interstate highways are about 20 miles away, so traffic is pretty slow until you get there. When you consider waiting among 140,000 people to get in and get out of the track, race day can be a very long ordeal. Staying the night before and the night after is almost always a very good idea. If you want to also attend time trials or the Busch series race on Saturday, an additional night accommodation is a good option.

We tend to get traditional race fans--mostly couples who are here to watch the race and to watch everyone else go wild. Our clientele has been responsible and respectful. They are a very good fit for us. We don't have to worry about things getting loud or out of hand. They get a comfortable night sleep, a big breakfast, and have a straight shot to the track. Some folks leave early and we pack them breakfast to go--after all, we offer bed and breakfast.

Race fans who only want to spend one night will be lucky to find a place within an hour of the track. Most every lodging property requires a 2 night stay (or more) for these special event weekends. Find a place to stay and if you get there and like it, ask for dibs on next year's race.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Lodging for Hillsdale College Graduation in Michigan

There are a limited number of hotel/motel rooms in all of Hillsdale County Michigan. At last count, there were fewer than 150 rooms in the entire county. With fewer than 10 annual events that draw large numbers of people for an overnight stay, there is little need to increase that lodging capacity. This forces many people to go 30 miles or more from here to have a place to stay on special event weekends.

Each year, Hillsdale College has held their commencement on Mothers Day weekend in May. There are typically around 300 graduating students. That produces lodging needs for many parents, siblings, and grandparents. We can accommodate 7 parents, and my fellow hoteliers can accommodate about 140 more. That means that more than half of the families that have a graduating student will need to be in and out in a day, or seek lodging that may not be very convenient.

We’ve been running the Munro House B&B in Jonesville since 1999. We are just 7 1/2 minutes from campus. It became necessary to establish a method to handle the multitude of reservation requests we get for special event weekends. Families who stay with us for other Hillsdale College events like Parents Weekend, concerts, sporting events, and conferences get dibs on a room for the next annual event, plus they earn frequency points towards graduation weekend. When graduation comes around for their student, the parents who patronize us the most get first dibs on a room. Our regular guests appreciate their priority status when they do not have to scramble to find a place to stay on their final weekend at the school.

It has worked out quite well for us. Many of our parents have been with us for 4 years or more. It is nice to see familiar faces in the house. Occassionally, we have a small number of regular parents with graduating students in a particular year, and we have to open our house up to first timers. That’s O.K., too. We try to treat new guests and old friends the same.

Many lodging facilities in the area have similar frequent guest privileges. It is always best to plan ahead and find a place to stay when your student is a freshman. That way there will always be an opportunity to have a room when they are in the highest demand.

We are comfortable, close, and convenient to Hillsdale College and we enjoy our guests who also happen to be parents of students there.

Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Jonesville MI Bed and Breakfast Cooking Party

Couples visit us at the Munro House B&B in Jonesville, Michigan, to getaway from the big city, the stressful job, and many other reasons. Most come here for romance, but some come here for an interesting experience. We have been hosting murder mystery dinners for about 8 years--we have done hundreds of them. We got deep into spa services several years ago and have done thousands of them. We are always looking for something new and interesting and fun for people to do. We like to have fun, too, so we developed an interactive activity where we can do more than just serve. We call it "Chef Night".

We discovered that most people have a repertoire of 10-15 dishes that they make over and over again at home. They are familiar and consistently good, so why try anything new that may not be quite as successful? That's why we take your adventurous spirit and get people to try things that may be outside of their comfort zone. That is why we developed a little piece of pop culture that we call the original "Chef Night."

On Chef Night, 8-14 people get together and prepare a feast. Everybody gets a recipe and a partner. Each pair needs to cooperate in preparing 2 recipes for foods they have probably never attempted to prepare in their own kitchen.

We usually have a theme. We have gone across America with Tex-Mex, Southern, Interstate, and Americana recipes. We have gone through Europe with Beefeater, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Greek. We have gone global with a mixture of recipes from 6 continents. And, we have chosen our favorite recipes for variety.

Many times, we combine dress-up with our dinner theme. We wore berets on French night, togas on Greek night, and home-made lederhosen on German night. One of our most memorable themes was the time in January when we hosted a Hawaiian chef night. On Hawaiian night, some of the girls wore grass skirts and had flowers in their hair. Everybody wore shorts and sandals, had flower shirts, and were presented with a bright colored lea upon arrival. The middle of winter is the best time to hold a tropical theme party.

Our Hawaiian chef night cooking party recipes consisted of coconut balls and Hawaiian meatballs for appetizers. Egg drop soup was followed by a tropical romaine salad with pineapple vinaigrette. The entrees were curry shrimp with coconut milk and snap peas plus chicken kabobs. Hawaiian baked beans and Hawaiian cole slaw were the side dished served with mango bread. We made a pineapple cake for dessert.

None of our guests had ever attempted to make any of these dishes. Well, I'm sure somebody has made a pineapple upside down cake, but our cake recipe was different and it was served right side up. Close doesn't count.

We prepared all of these dishes in a very small galley style kitchen. Actually, most of the prep work was done in the dining room, and we lobbied for stove time based on urgency. It appears to be organized chaos, not a stuffy classroom. Because of this, everyone has opportunites to interact with more than just their cooking partner. All the while, we play upbeat popular music from the 80's, 90's, and 00's while drinking blue Hawaiians. The appetizers were served as soon as they were prepared and we ate them while we continued to cook. When all of the food was prepped and most of it was finished cooking, we set the table and sat down to enjoy a feast by candle light. The entire process took about 6 hours--and it flew by.

Every recipe turned out to be delicious, despite the fact that no one had prior experience preparing their portion of the meal.

This goes to prove that anyone can prepare a wonderful meal when they step outside of their comfort zone, if they have the right motivation. Our peeps had a little bit of pressure to perform in front of family, friends, and strangers.

My wife, Lori, is a very good cook. Even though she, too, had never prepared any of these recipes, she works the kitchen with confidence and the ability to understand the final product so she is able to follow, adjust, or improvise on recipes to make them successful. She is the "go to" person when there are any questions about a particular technique or ingredient.

Chef Night is by far the most fun thing that we do in the house. We practice with our friends--a lot. We have a great house for entertaining. Our limited size kitchen makes the process a lot more interesting. Chef Night was featured in Michigan Travel Ideas magazine and has recently appeared in Midwest Living magazine. We have regular Chef Night cooking events scheduled throughout the year and will open a new date upon request for groups.

Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Jonesville MI Bed & Breakfast Scottish Terrier Mascot

Mononucleosis--commonly know as "mono" or "the kissing disease"--got its name because it is usually spread by person-to-person contact via kissing. With saliva being the primary method of transmitting the disease, and mono's prevalence among teenagers, kissing is assumed to be the most common way to spread the ailment. A person with mono could also pass the disease by coughing or sneezing, or sharing food or beverages from the same container, so kissing isn't the only way to get it.

My wife, Lori, was in high school when she was stricken with mono. She has always been the kind of person who has to be doing something all of the time. When mono took her out of school and she had a lot of time on her hands, she read everything she could find to pass the time productively. Back then, there was no cable TV, internet, or cell phones to occupy time.

Lori remembers having a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast one morning and reading the label on the classic tubular container from the Quaker Oats Company. She recalls noticing a word game contest where the prize was a Scottish Terrier puppy. Contestants had to create the most words that could be made using only the letters in the Quaker Oats slogan--"Nothing is better for thee than me." The top 10 entries would each win a Scottie Dog puppy from the Quaker Oats guy!

Lori likes knowledge, likes challenges, and loves animals. She was home, sick, with nothing to pass the time, so she decided to go through the dictionary and see which of the hundreds of thousands of words could be spelled using only the letters in the slogan.

Days were spent scouring her copy of Webster's dictionary. She finally submitted her entry into the contest. She was satisfied with the thousands of words written on loose leaf paper, and confident that there couldn't be 10 more ambitious people in the world who wanted a Scottish Terrier puppy and had the time to do what she did to try to win.

Weeks became months. Every day there was no official prize notification waiting for her in the mail when she came home from school. Time went by, and she came to the realization that there must have been 10 more ambitious people in the world who found at least one more word than she did. Otherwise, she would have received her prize--the Scottie Dog puppy.
The contest was forgotten, she finished school, and married me.

Then one day, five years later, out of the blue, her mother sent her a letter. This was something out of character for Lori's mom. We talked and visited all the time, and lived in the same town. There was no reason for her to send us anything in the mail. But there it was, a piece of mail from her mom--not around her birthday, anniversary, or other event. What could it be?
Lori opened the envelope. Inside, in the bottom corner, was a little piece of paper, ripped from the local shopper publication. It was an ad that said "Scottish Terrier puppies for sale".

Suddenly, her head was filled with memories of having mono, the oatmeal, the Quaker Oats guy, the dictionary, all those words, and the prize she didn't win. Why did her mom send the ad?
Immediately, she thought that she did in fact win that contest, but because she was a minor, her parents would have had to approve of the animal as a prize, and for whatever reason, they decided it wasn't a good idea.

Or, her mom knew how badly she wanted the dog, realized how responsible she had become, and remembered how sad she was over not winning--after putting in so much effort--that the ad triggered the memory, and compelled her to send it to her daughter.

Either way, she answered the ad and we bought our first Scottish Terrier. The breed has become such a part of our family, that we have always had Scottie Dogs. We have had 5 Scottish Terriers over the years--recently we've had them in pairs. Our current resident pet is "Gilbert". His buddy "Reggie" passed away in March. We used them as our mascots and welcoming committee. We also have their likenesses on the sign in front of our business--the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in downtown Jonesville, Michigan.

Gilbert is getting old, but he is in good health. He has never been alone. So we may be in the market for another Scottish Terrier. I do not want a puppy, so we are keeping in touch with Scottish Terrier Rescue sites on the internet to see if there is an available adult dog that could be a good match for us. Our sign depicts 2 dogs, so the decision is coming up on whether to add a second dog, or consider them a mirror image of just one Scottish Terrier.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Michigan Bed & Breakfast Innkeepers - Breast Cancer

It has been over 2 years since we found out we had breast cancer. I say "we", because when my wife, Lori, found out she had the disease, it became all consuming for both of us. There was no warning, she never felt sick, life was good. She had recently had her annual mammogram, she did her regular self-examination, she was doing everything she was supposed to do. Then, one day, she found something "funny" in her breast. It wasn't the rough lump that they teach you to look for, it was a disc--a long, smooth disc--that was abnormal. She saw her doctor and he scheduled everything immediately--another mammogram, ultrasound, CT scan, PET scan, mastectomy, and chemotherapy. They didn't want to mess around. If it turned out to be cancer, Lori wanted it out of her body as soon as possible. If it wasn't cancer, they could cancel everything.

They took the biopsy. Then we had to wait for the results to come. The fear that it could be the "big C" was almost unbearable. The waiting is the hardest part. After an incredibly long weekend of warranted worry, the tests confirmed our fears and we immediately started following the scheduled appointments. Step one was the mastectomy. Not a pleasant option, but when faced with the alternative, it was the only option. We had the operation done at our local hospital. Step two was having the chemotherapy at our local hospital.

We had the option to go to the University Hospital that is located about an hour away, but after hearing a few disturbing anecdotes, we decided to do it locally. Cancer treatment is tough enough without having to add stress by thinking about it all the way there and all the way back for the duration of the treatments in a city a fair distance away. So many people think that the best place is the University Hospital and they all go there, and you wait and wait just to get an appointment. We didn't like that option. My buddy from high school is in nuclear medicine at another university hospital and reassured me that the treatments I had described were exactly what his hospital would do. That kind of reassurance was invaluable.

For Lori, the chemotherapy was not as bad as the drugs they gave her afterwards to increase her white blood cell count. Those drugs caused her bones to work overtime to produce the extra blood cells that were needed to replace the cells that the chemo destroyed. Incredible pain in the big bones--mainly shoulders, thighs, and hips--made it difficult for her to get out of bed for about a week after the treatment. Then when she started to feel better, it was time for another chemotherapy. Her girlfriend shaved her head, so she could take control of the inevitable hair loss. She toughed it out and finished her chemo.

Step three was radiation treatment. Everyday treatment for a month was her new agenda. The radiation was not available at our local hospital, so we went to the nearest hospital that did, just 30 minutes away in Jackson. They pointed radiation machines at different angles toward the area where the cancer was found. The treatments were very quick--just minutes. There was no initial pain, but over time, the radiation created something that felt like sunburn. The daily treatments turned the skin tissue to leather, and Lori's esophogus felt the same as her skin. The internal pain exceeded the external pain and an increase of acid reflux made it difficult to lie down to sleep. It took months to get rid of the "sunburn". Then it was time to heal.

The only good thing about getting breast cancer is that breast reconstruction is part of the treatment and is mandated to be covered by insurance. Lori has been very happy with her female plastic surgeon Dr. Mariam Awada at Michigan Cosmetic Surgery in Southfield, Michigan. Her bedside manner was confident and assuring. Her online results spoke for themselves. Lori immediately knew that she had picked the right surgeon.

Part four was the reconstruction surgery. It was done 2 years and a week after her original mastectomy and things are finally getting close to normal around here. The surgery and the recovery were less painful than expected. The impending positive outcome took a lot of stress out of her ordeal and made any pain easier to handle. Lori really enjoys her "celebrity boobies" who she has already named "Wham" and "Bam". I am happy that she is happy. Her new look is a bonus.

Lori chose silicon implants over saline. They have a better form, look, and feel. There is about a six month wait before step five. There needs to be complete healing before they can complete the reconstruction by reshaping the breasts, creating nipples, and tatooing areolas.

Lori's postive attitude throughout the whole process has been nothing short of astounding. If you didn't know she had cancer, you wouldn't know she ever had cancer. A great attitude, an incredible sense of humor, and a huge support group was key to her sanity through the surgeries, treatments, and recovery. Her coworkers set up a schedule to provide us with meals every day for the first 6 weeks. Her interaction with animals, mainly her horse, kept her mind occupied and was a source of unconditional love. Her buddies at the bingo parlor were another source of support, and the game is a simple, fun activity that she could do in her condition. She was never shy to talk about her ordeal and has been an open book to anyone who wanted to know.

If you make it out to the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan, and you need to talk to someone about how to handle a similar situation in your life, Lori Venturini is an incredible source of information and an inspiration to us all--especially me.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"