NORTON SHORES, Mich.- Around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night, Arthur and Katharine Sierminski were just getting ready to head off to bed, when the power went out. Hundreds of homes in the Windflower Bay subdivision were left in the dark until about 8 p.m. Sunday. At the entrance to Windflower, Consumers Energy crews worked endlessly to get the lights back on.
“All of a sudden I was in the other room and the lights went off. I thought he was pulling a trick on me.” Katharine said with a giggle.
Arthur bought a generator after losing some food during a summer storm. However, little did he know, that he would have to use it in the winter, too. So it ended up being a typical Sunday for the couple in their Winter Creek Road home. Arthur watched some football, while Katharine caught up on some reading in a warm cozy home.
It was a different situation in hundreds of other homes. Cars were pulled out of the garage and running in the driveways to keep everyone warm. Some people even used their DVD system in their vehicles for entertainment while they charged up their phones.
“It was okay until about 5 this morning when he had to go outside and go potty.” Barb Antekeier said pointing to her little dog Riley. “Then it was 50 in the house. So I went back to bed with my hat on that I currently still have on my head.”
To stay warm, the Antekeiers hopped in the car to drive around; even little Riley had on a winter coat. Barb said she made a trip to the grocery store on Saturday, preparing for a possible winter storm. All of the food she purchased, was outside in coolers on Sunday so it didn’t spoil.
“Personally I think this should happen once a year so people realize how lucky we have it and how much we take for granted power , I mean we were so dumb that we plugged our cell phones in last night when we didn’t have power.” Kirk Antekeier said with a laugh.
