Now Available – 2025 Old Mission Peninsula Photo Calendar

Hard to believe that 2025 is just a few weeks away, but here we are. I’ve got the 2025 OMP Photo Calendar in the store now, so hop over there and get yourself set for the new year.

The calendars are 10.8″ x 8.4″ and feature durable, semi-glossy, high-quality card stock with a spiral binding and centered hole for hanging. All the images are photographed and copyrighted by yours truly.

If you’d like to skip the photo chatter and just buy the calendar, click here. (I don’t have any on hand here at the house, so you’ll need to order through the online store.) If you want the “behind the scenes” scoop, read on.

January – Eagle on Center Road. This photo was taken in the field off Center Road just before you get to Gray Road as you’re heading north. I saw the eagle pecking away at some poor expired creature and pulled over to get a few shots. Then it flapped its wings a few times and took off towards Kramer’s house with that giant wingspan. What a thrill! One of those “in the right place at the right time” shots.

February – M37 South Sign Buried in a Snowdrift. Does this really need an explanation? Ok, here goes. This is near the corner of Center Road and Old Mission Road, and no, it wasn’t taken last year because we didn’t have near this much snow. It was a few years ago, and reminds me of the types of winters we had when I was a kid growing up in Old Mission. The kind where my VW Bug I inherited from my brother Ward was regularly pulled out of a snowbank, sometimes manually by several guys who just picked the thing up and dropped it back on the road (as was the case at the corner of Old Mission Road and Mission Road during the blizzard of ’78). Our current winter seems like it might be on track to be that kind of winter, so if we all make it to Spring, yay us.

March – Old Mission State Park. As you know, I regularly hike the trails on the north end, and this photo was taken about half-way between the lighthouse and the Ridgewood trailhead. It’s one of my favorite trees out there, with its feet extending out into the trail like something out of a Grimms’ Fairy Tale. I’ve taken hundreds of photos of this tree, and they’re all unique in their own way.

April – Aerial Photo of the OMP. I shot this photo out the window of my brother Ward’s plane. It was a clear day for flying, and I had him fly me over the north end of the Peninsula several times to make sure I had plenty of photos to choose from. And of course, I also got a few hundred photos of the rest of the Peninsula and Power Island, too. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do since I started the Gazette nearly ten years ago, so I’m glad we finally made that happen. Thanks to my bro for his excellent piloting skills. (Side Note: My Dad did this with Ted Cline back in the last century. Those photos my dad took are probably somewhere in my archives.)

May – The Shea Barn With Blossoms. In my quest to shake up my blossom photos every year, I try to think outside the box and get some shots that aren’t the norm. I took this from Wilson Road looking out towards East Bay. Don and Millie Shea’s barn was the perfect backdrop with its cute cupolas peeking out of the top. It’s a beautiful barn and reminds me of when my farmer dad used to swing by the Peninsula Fruit Exchange and talk with the guys there, including Don, who was the manager there for 50 years. We lost Don in 2020 (he passed away three days after my mom), and Millie last year. They were lovely people and absolute pillars of the Old Mission Peninsula community. Their long legacy will live on.

June – Kroupa’s Tulips on Center Road. What would an OMP calendar be without Bern and Cheryl Kroupa’s beautiful tulips along Center Road? Of course I had to include them. They told me they just love planting them and seeing them bloom every spring, and we all appreciate it! Thanks, Bern and Cheryl! Those colorful tulips sure are a welcome sight after a long winter.

July – Dark Sweet Cherries on Johnson Farms Cooling Pad. July is all about cherries for me, because I grew up on a cherry farm and spent every summer of my formative years working on the farm. This is my family’s cooling pad (Johnson Farms) just north of Mapleton, where my farmer brothers, Dean and Ward, along with other growers, bring cherries in from the orchards before shipping them downstate to the processor. Tart cherries are cooled down in water before they’re loaded onto the truck (thus the name, cooling pad), but these are dark sweets, which just get loaded and shipped. Check out my farm reports here.

August – Mission Point Lighthouse under the Northern Lights. Like every other photographer in the tri-county area, I found myself at the lighthouse in the middle of the night many times this summer. It was a really good year for Northern Lights. And like every other photographer, I lugged my good camera out every time and set up my tripod for the “slow shot” settings that get the best Northern Lights images.

On one particular night, I set things up on the beach and managed to get quite a few acceptable shots. After I’d packed everything up and was heading back to the car, I turned around and saw this view from the back of the lighthouse. I didn’t use the tripod, and instead just pointed and clicked off a few shots holding my camera as steady as possible. Although I could have gotten more clarity with the tripod, I really like how it turned out. So much so that I used it for the Calendar cover, too. After I took the shot, I looked around and noticed a bunch of other photographers with the same idea. Motto: Always take one more look before driving away!

September – Teddy Bear Sunflower at Old Mission Photos. Ginny Coulter’s flower garden, Old Mission Flowers, is such a beautiful spot for taking photos. Over the years, I’ve taken hundreds of photos of the flowers and view there. This is called a “Teddy Bear Sunflower,” and you just want to hug its fluffy goodness, don’t you? Old Mission Flowers is located on the corner of Center Road and Ladd Road. Ginny and her husband Lew live in the old Ladd house. Ginny and my sister Carol were in the same class and good friends through school.

October – Pumpkins at the Dougherty Mission House. This is one of those shots where I was just driving around in October looking for good photo ops of fall colors and pumpkins. Driving back up Mission Road, I happened to look over and see these cheery pumpkins on the porch. The Dougherty House, a museum for all things Peter Dougherty and Old Mission history, is open for tours during the warmer months (and I believe by appointment during other times of the year). Check out their website here.

November – North End of Peninsula Drive. This is at the very north end of Peninsula Drive, heading north just past the intersection of Old Mission Road. I love how the trees offer a beautiful canopy over the dirt road. One time Tim and I were driving north just past this point, and we’re pretty sure we saw a bear up ahead towards the intersection of Swaney Road. It scampered across the road too fast to get a photo, and we didn’t see it in the field by the time we got there.

December – Snowy Owl on Blue Water Road. I haven’t spotted this Snowy Owl on Blue Water Road for a while, so this was taken several years ago. From what I’ve read, they like to return to the same spot every year, so this might be the same owl I saw nearby on Winery Hill, perched on Bernie Carroll’s house. I didn’t see any last year, so I wonder if it was because we had a fairly warm-ish winter with not a lot of snow. There’s another owl I’ve seen on Center Road near Old Mission Tavern.

That’s a wrap for the 2025 OMP Photo Calendar. Again, click here to buy it – thank you!

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