It’s another beautiful morning in Traverse City, and that means it’s time for early riser rituals, both for people and for nature. Here’s just a sampling of what you might expect on a typical TC weekday -- starting very early in the morning.

3:00    Staff from the Transportation Security Administration and airline staff arrive at Cherry Capital Airport to begin their day. Typically that means between 10 and 14 TSA agents and six to 12 airport employees reporting to work, depending on the day.

3:30    Members of Munson Medical Center’s Food and Nutrition staff arrive to start prepping for the daily patient menu. Staff in the department typically work eight-and-a-half hour shifts that are staggered throughout the day to provide patient meals which can be ordered between 7am and 7pm as well as offer meals in the cafeteria for staff and visitors.

3:30     The daily Traverse City Ticker emails arrive in the first email inboxes. Some 33,000 individuals now subscribe.

4:15    Airport operations staff begins inspecting the runways and taxiways for the morning departures. It takes approximately 45 minutes.

5:30    Ashley Teasdale and her team of four other bakers arrive at Grand Traverse Pie Company. She and the rest of the crew make and bake cinnamon rolls, muffins and turnovers, before turning their attention toward the company’s namesake pies. They make as many as 500 each day to serve both in-store customers and wholesale accounts, such as Anderson's Market in Glen Arbor and Village Market in Rapid City.

5:30    It’s wheels up as the first flight of the day at Cherry Capital Airport departs for Detroit. Those onboard are the first of what is estimated to be more than 500 passengers processed by 9am. On July 5, TSA processed nearly 2,350 passengers, and the busiest days are yet to come: Estimates are that the TSA will process more than 4,000 passengers per day during its busiest days this summer.

6:00    Golf course maintenance tech Roger Clark arrives at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, where he begins mowing the greens of the resort’s three golf courses – The Bear, The Wolverine and Spruce Run. Clark is one of a team of four whose responsibility it is to mow the greens. They each take around three hours to make sure the greens are ready for the day’s golfers.

6:00    If it’s a Wednesday, then staff members from SOS Analytical begin testing the water at 18 different beaches around the area. The 18 beaches include 10 sites on West Bay and four sites on East Bay, Crystal Lake in Beulah, Northport beach, South Bar and Empire beach on Lake Michigan in Empire, and Frankfort’s Lake Michigan beach. The testing takes about three hours, with the samples arriving at the lab in Traverse City by 10. Results are available by noon the next day.

6:00    The day begins at Moomers on Long Lake Road with the production staff sanitizing the ice cream machines. The first flavors – typically mint or coconut – are processed and then taken to the freezer. The crew then re-sanitizes the machines, then begins making the rest of the day’s flavors, starting with vanilla.

6:00    While the Moomers staff begins working, so do the cows next door at the Plummer family farm. They get milked twice a day, first at 6, then again at 5pm. On Tuesdays, the creamery crew then starts processing, pasteurizing and packing the milk. As it’s an on-farm processor, it separates the cream and then bottles the skim, 2 percent and whole milk, for sale at the ice cream shop or its retail partners.

6:08    The sun rises over East Bay. It will set at 9:28, providing 15 hours and 20 minutes of daylight. Throughout the summer, the daylight typically decreases by one or two minutes per day, whether rising one minute later, setting one minute earlier, or both.

6:15    Ron Jolly gets up and readies himself for a day before the microphone at WTCM-AM. He heads out the door a half hour later, armed with a cup of coffee and something to eat, courtesy of his wife Laura, arriving at the station at about 6:55. At 7:10 or thereabouts he’s on the air with Colleen Wares, discussing news and cultural events and activities, calls and emails from listeners, and other information.

6:30    The Moomers delivery truck arrives at the ice creamery and is packed up for the day’s route. That means between 15 and 30 stops, from restaurants to stores to other scoop shops.

7:00    Traverse City’s Department of Public Services crews report to work. The DPS consists of the Streets Division, Parks and Recreation Division, Garage Division and the Duncan L. Clinch Marina.

7:15    Patient Care Coordinator/Nurse Tori Fogle, B.S.N., R.N., and the rest of the overnight workers at the Emergency Department end their shift. They'll leave, only to return at 7pm that evening. Meanwhile, the day shift reports for duty. During a typical day, the Emergency Department at Munson Medical Center will see and treat between 160 to 180 patients – some days reaching a volume of 200.

8:00    Traverse City’s city offices open for appointments with residents who are at higher risk. This allows the city to provide a safer environment for those persons as the building will have been cleaned before opening. Masks are required. 

8:00    Grand Traverse Pie Company opens its doors. By 2pm, the early morning crew is ready to head home, covered in flour and some smears of fruit.

9:00    Leadership/representatives from 43 departments at Munson Medical Center participate in a “daily check-in” as part of the hospital’s safety culture. The virtual phone call is similar to an airline pilot check list and brings any concerns related to quality, safety, or operations to the attention of leaders for immediate attention and resolution.

10:00 Traverse City’s city offices open to the general public. Appointments must be made in advance and anyone coming in for their appointment will be required to wear a mask, as well as practice safe physical distancing while inside the Governmental Center.

11:00  Traverse City’s William G. Milliken Waterscape and Splash Pad opens.