State Representative Kathy Schmaltz

And they’re off! Look up!

The skies are the place to look in Jackson this weekend. It’s the 41st Hot Air Jubilee featuring hot air Balloons from all over.

The launches and festival is taking place across from the Ella Sharp Museum. Hundreds showed up to see the first launch this weekend and it was great to talk to so many of you taking in the sights.

The festival includes helicopter rides, kids activities in the Kids Kingdom, food trucks and vendors. Launches will be all weekend weather permitting. A favorite, the night glow will show balloons lit up on the ground.

Thank you to all the sponsors, event volunteers and organizers who make the Hot Air Jubilee possible.

Congratulations to all our Michigan students who participated in the National Civics Bee held at the State Capitol. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce held the event.

The competition encourages young people to learn how government works,take part in civics and contribute to their communities. The middle school students are from across the state.

We had four students from our area represented. Heather Surbrook and Eleanor Gero from Grass Lake Middle School and Shayan Challapalli and Theresa Mills from Lumen Christi in Jackson. The students answered questions and also wrote essays on issues important to them. One issue was cyberbullying.

I’m going to meet with the students soon to discuss how we can work together to help stop cyberbullying. A student from East School won the event and will head to Washington DC to compete for the national title. It was nice meeting all of our students.

Thanks again to Michigan Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jim Holcomb and Jackson Chamber Of Commerce President and CEO Ryan Tarrant.

I had a wonderful time yesterday talking with Bart Hawley on JTV.

We discussed the recent state budget that was just passed and the effects it will have on our schools, and the funding I helped secure for The Hayes Hotel and Andy’s Angels.

I also talked about how it’s not hard to be kind and even if we disagree politically or otherwise we need to respect each other because at the end of the day we all agree on many things. The need to afford our groceries, buy a house, raise our families, and have successful businesses.

State Rep. Kathy Schmaltz Secures Funding for Local Projects

They were golfing to make sure our parks and trails are taken care of, which is so important to all of us. The People For Parks and Trails hosted a fundraiser at Ella Sharp Mini-Golf course.

The money raised will go to help the organization with projects like clean up days, improvements like donating bike racks and other needed equipment.

Thank you to all the volunteers in People For Parks and Trails for their dedication and hard work keeping our parks and trails in good shape for all of us to enjoy.

This was such a great community event in Jackson. The Flat Iron District Block Party was the place to be this weekend.

1203 First street was filled with food, music, vendors, kids activities, and so many offering information about community resources we have available.

I had a wonderful time talking with everyone at my table. Thank you for your support, and thank you for helping our community. Chris Davis, running for school Board was also there greeting people.

Kathryn Hall and the Welcome Home Organization-WHO, is such a treasure in Jackson. The group helps with youth programs, outreach to our veterans, urban roots, agriculture, education and careers. Thank you for organizing the block party.

WHO has so many exciting projects coming up and I look forward to helping as they expand resources in our community.

They’re Jam ‘In, in Grass Lake! The Grass Lake Traffic Jam ‘In is in full gear!

It was crowded Friday night for the opening night of the two day festival. There’s a 5KRun/Walk, arts and crafts, vendors, food, music, and kids activities.

I ran into some friends from the Grass Lake Fire Department. It’s always great to see them!

The Traffic Jam ‘In is a highlight in the community and seems to get better every year.

What a great opportunity for our young people to experience hands on learning. The 30th annual Learning Fair took place at Northwest Elementary School.

You could talk with people about Industry, technology, the arts, robotics, first responders, water safety and other areas. I spent some time with the Northwest Robotics teams. The Northwest Megabots and middle school teams brought some of their robots to show everyone. These young people are incredible.

J-Dart was also represented- the Jackson County Disaster Assistance Response Team.
J-Dart provides support services to our first responders and to victims. Police, firefighters and EMT’s with ambulances were there to teach young people about what their job entails.

Jackson School of the Arts and the Jackson Symphony Orchestra music school let kids know how to get involved with the arts.

We’re fortunate to have this two day Learning Fair to offer our children the chance to experience different career choices and to see what’s available to them In our community.

Congratulations to my friend Thomas Burke and Save Our Youth! A special celebration was held at Ella Sharp Park to mark the 20th anniversary of Save Our Youth.

Thomas Burke founded the non profit and has been helping our young people find success ever since. Thomas was a corrections officer when he saw young offenders come in and wanted to do something to get them on a better path in life.

I’ve had the honor of working with Thomas and he is one of the most dedicated people I know who does so much to help our at risk youth. I presented Thomas with a State Tribute recognizing him for the tremendous work he does for the young people in our community.

Right now Thomas and I are working on the Jackson Grand Slam For Kids with Tony Hollow from Big Brothers Big Sisters. We take at risk youth and their mentors to a Detroit Tigers game. These are kids that have never been out of the city and it’s such a wonderful experience for them.

Thank you Thomas for all you do! You are a treasure to our community!

Happy 4th of July! Enjoy the fireworks, festivities, and freedom. Wishing you a day filled with celebration and joy! 🎆🇺🇸

You should be able to choose what kind of car you want to buy electric or gas powered engine cars. That was the message at the Melling “CARS”Show in Jackson.

Melling Engine Parts held the “CARS”show to showcase classic cars, and talk about consumer choices when buying a car. Congressman Tim Walberg sponsored legislation called Choice In Automotive Retail Sales Act.

The “CARS”show was open to Melling employees and the community with special guests, race car drivers Including Erica Enders.It was great to see my friend Mark Melling, President and CEO of Melling Engine Parts, and to talk to everyone.

It was a tremendous turnout. Melling is one of our treasured companies and deserves all our support.

Congratulations to the John George Home in Jackson.

The home was chosen as the recipient of the 100 Women Who Care donation for the second quarter this year.

The money will go to replace outdated furniture. The John George Home on Ganson Street provides a safe, independent housing environment for low income older gentlemen.

The non profit provides 24 hour staff and has been serving our community since 1949. It’s always nice to gather together to offer help to non profits in our area.

Another Cruise in night in downtown Jackson
complete with a hot dog eating contest.

It was the second annual “ Dogs For Charity. Those hoping to win for their non profit lined up ready to battle it out eating hotdogs. Some charities represented included the Aware Shelter, and Disability Connections.

Brenda Hughes is all about giving back. She’s been helping the last fortunate in Jackson county since 1991 and officially opened her non profit in 2019. She founded Jackson Michigan Giving Back to the Community.

The group says it currently helps more than 300 families a week with basic essentials food, clothing, baby items and more.

I had the chance to visit with Brenda and volunteers.

We have so many giving people in our community who want to help others and this is another great avenue to reach our most vulnerable citizens.

I am proud to introduce this essential legislation.

Financial literacy is essential for our students’ futures, and it’s our responsibility to provide them with the necessary tools to succeed. We need to help prepare our kids for the financial challenges they will face as adults and this legislation will take a great step towards accomplishing that.

Rep. Schmaltz: Every young person should learn how to budget their money New plan requires personal finance course to better prepare students for life State Rep. Kathy Schmaltz is leading an effort to ensure Michigan high school students develop a strong understanding of personal finance. Schmaltz, R-Jackson, recently introduced House Bill 5815 to ensure public high scho...

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. We need to ensure that they have the tools they need to succeed such as lower taxes, fewer burdensome regulations and less red tape.

Since I have been elected I have made this a priority. I am honored to be a recipient of the Small Business Association of Michigan Legislator of the Year award. I will continue to stand up for our small businesses.

Welcome Father Satheesh Alphonse! The new Chief Executive Officer at the St. Louis Center in Chelsea.

A special dinner was held Sunday night at Paesano Restaurant Wine and Bar in Ann Arbor to introduce Father Satheesh and to honor him. Father Satheesh took over as CEO from Father Enzo Addari last December.

One great leader turning the reins over to another great leader. Father Enzo has been associated with the St.Louis Center for more than 30 years. Fr. Satheesh has been there almost 20 years.

The St. Louis Center is a caring residential community for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities located in Chelsea.
It’s such an amazing facility and close to my heart. When you talk to the residents there you see how truly wonderful the St. Louis Center is and the staff and priests are so dedicated.

It’s always nice to see the community offer its support for the St. Louis Center. Looking forward to working with Father Satheesh, who by the way has a laugh that is so enduring and it lights up the room. The residents must love that.

J-A-C-K-S-O-N Basketball!! It’s the Gus Macker tournament. Almost 250 teams will play on 25 courts set up downtown. Most teams are in the 18 and under bracket and players are from all over.

Gus Macker is a 3 on 3 basketball tournament open to all ages and skill levels. It’s held at different cities around the country promoting teamwork and sportsmanship. Many in the community came out to watch the weekend event.

It’s a special time for young men and women who love basketball and look forward to the tournament every year.

We had such a wonderful visit from the Scouts at the State Capitol.

Pat McGee and Troop 396 from Jackson toured the Capitol and had lunch on the front lawn. It was so nice to talk with everyone and see my friend Pat.

Scouting is such a wonderful opportunity for our young people. I was in scouting and cherish that experience. Thank you to all our troop leaders who step up to lead our young scouts.

Who has the best Baby Back Ribs?

10-20 teams competed to find out. And it was all for Special Olympics Area 19 and the athletes. I ran into my favorite athletes Alex and Alexis Denato.

I was lucky enough to be asked to judge the rib contest along with former State Representative and County Commissioner Earl Poleski, and several other wonderful people. We had to look for flavor appearance, and how it was cooked. It was tough they were all really good. After the judging the community was able to taste all the ribs themselves.

At the same time inside the American 1 Event Center the State Champion Co****le Tournament was taking place. Several teams were there battling it out.

It was a great day to support our Special Olympics athletes.

It’s Juneteenth! Also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, the end of slavery in the United States.

The community in Jackson celebrated with a special festival and resource fair. It was so nice to see our community come together to celebrate the special holiday.

There were resource vendors, entertainment, moving speeches, a kid zone, and great food. All our law enforcement were there talking with everyone and celebrating.

Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021. In 1865, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas learned they were free after the end of the Civil War and two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all persons held as slaves to be freed.

We must always remember our history and what African Americans went through. We celebrate freedom!

The Michigan Military Heritage Museum is such a treasure in our community and Scott Gerych and Dennis Skupinski were the first people I met there. Sadly we lost Dennis last year.

To honor him, the museum has a display dedicated to Dennis with all the military items he collected over the years, showing his love for history and all our military members.

I presented a special State Tribute to his family, his son and daughter,during a ceremony at the museum. It was a privilege to do that and emotional for all of us.

Dennis always wanted tributes for everyone else, but Scott and I wanted to make sure he was recognized. He did so much at the Michigan Military Heritage Museum and was dedicated to keeping our military members in the forefront. Dennis enjoyed a cigar and a little whiskey so a cigar and whiskey bottle are placed at the museum as you walk into the exhibit for Dennis.

I had the pleasure of shooting a video last year for Veterans Day with Dennis and we will cherish that always.

We all miss him and are grateful for all he did to help us remember our military history and for being our friend.

On this Father's Day, I want to take a moment to celebrate all the incredible fathers in our community.

Dads come in all shapes and sizes, but they all share a common bond: their unwavering love and dedication to their children. They are the teachers, the coaches, the cheerleaders, and the shoulders to cry on. They are the ones who instill in us values, teach us life lessons, and help us navigate the world.

Today, let's express our gratitude to the fathers who make a difference in our lives. Whether they are biological dads, stepdads, foster dads, or grandfathers, their impact is immeasurable.

A special ceremony was held this Flag Day in Jackson at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.
It’s the 120th anniversary of the monument located at Withington Park. It was dedicated on Flag Day in 1904.

The statue was built to pay tribute to the more than three thousand men of the 1st and 17th Michigan Volunteer Infantry of the Civil War.
It was commissioned by General William H. Withington.

The city and others will help with renovation and preservation but more money is needed for maintenance and for solar lighting and fencing around the monument.

It was nice to see everyone at the monument to mark the special occasion and remember those who fought for freedom.

Today June 14th we celebrate Flag Day! We commemorate the history of the United States Flag.

On June 14, 1777 by resolution the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes for the American Flag.

May you forever fly high and strong.

Please consider joining me at my upcoming Office Hours. No appointments necessary. If you cannot make it but have any questions, concerns, or issues that you’d like to discuss, please contact my office at (517)373-1798 or [email protected].

It was Family Fun Night at the Cascades in Jackson.

The lines were long as parents and kids showed up to meet characters Bingo and Bluey who made an appearance at the Falls. Everyone was also there to enjoy the colorful Falls, music and snacks.

It was nice to see so many families out enjoying Cascade Falls. Most people got their exercise climbing the 126 steps on each side of the Falls. We’re very fortunate to have the beautiful Cascade Falls in our community.

Every Wednesday during the summer will be Family Fun Night.