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WCMU's top photos of the summer

WCMU
Published September 9, 2025 at 2:23 PM EDT
Alpena resident Marshal Suszek holds up his 25.2-pound lake trout during the Michigan Brown Trout Festival’s High Stakes Tournament on Sunday, July 20, 2025. It was the second biggest fish of the weekend.
Blace Carpenter
/
WCMU
Alpena resident Marshal Suszek holds up his 25.2-pound lake trout during the Michigan Brown Trout Festival’s High Stakes Tournament on Sunday, July 20, 2025. It was the second biggest fish of the weekend.

From underwater robots to fishing competitions, county fairs and the Antiques Roadshow, WCMU's team of reporters and interns covered a variety of news stories across central and northern Michigan during the summer of 2025. Below are some of the best moments they captured from behind their camera lenses.

Audrey and Richard Nellett are looking for a fallen Vietnam soldier from their hometown, Akron.
Masha Smahliuk
/
WCMU
Audrey and Richard Nellett are looking for a fallen Vietnam soldier from their hometown, Akron on June 28, 2025.
Brendan Dine performs on flute at Nelson Park in Mt. Pleasant on July 15, 2025. The Bay City Central High School senior earned a perfect score at Michigan’s State Solo & Ensemble Festival, ranking him as the state’s top high school flutist. He’ll attend Central Michigan University this fall on a full scholarship.
Alexandrea Ladiski
/
WCMU
Brendan Dine performs on flute at Nelson Park in Mt. Pleasant on July 15, 2025. The Bay City Central High School senior earned a perfect score at Michigan’s State Solo & Ensemble Festival, ranking him as the state’s top high school flutist. He’ll attend Central Michigan University this fall on a full scholarship.
Scott Schwander uses a long-handled brush to clean the gravestone of a 9-year-old boy.
Mia Kerner
/
WCMU
Scott Schwander uses a long-handled brush to clean the gravestone of a 9-year-old boy in June 2025.
The front page of The Alpena News sits on the printing press on Thursday, July 31, 2025.
Blace Carpenter
/
WCMU
The front page of The Alpena News sits on the printing press on Thursday, July 31, 2025.
North Country Trail Association Volunteer John Day rakes debris off of the trail.
Mia Kerner
/
WCMU
North Country Trail Association Volunteer John Day rakes debris off of the trail on June 14, 2025.
Lauren Schwab tends to her backyard garden in Bay City, where she grows fresh vegetables for her roadside stand and local market booth.
Alexandrea Ladiski
/
WCMU
Lauren Schwab tends to her backyard garden in Bay City, where she grows fresh vegetables for her roadside stand and local market booth in July 2025.
Chinese team EPOXSEA works on their ROV Inkay during the 2025 MATE ROV Competition World Championship on Thursday at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center.
Blace Carpenter
/
WCMU
Chinese team EPOXSEA works on their ROV Inkay during the 2025 MATE ROV Competition World Championship on Thursday June 19, 2025 at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center.
Alpena resident Marshal Suszek holds up his 25.2-pound lake trout during the Michigan Brown Trout Festival’s High Stakes Tournament on Sunday, July 20, 2025. It was the second biggest fish of the weekend.
Blace Carpenter
/
WCMU
Alpena resident Marshal Suszek holds up his 25.2-pound lake trout during the Michigan Brown Trout Festival’s High Stakes Tournament on Sunday, July 20, 2025. It was the second biggest fish of the weekend.
The Alpena News mailroom worker, Bill Emanuel, looks at the quality of the insert pages that go inside The News' newspaper.
Blace Carpenter
/
WCMU
The Alpena News mailroom worker, Bill Emanuel, looks at the quality of the insert pages that go inside The News' newspaper in August 2025.
Haley Pestel, 10, smiles for a photo with her rabbit Oreo after winning her division. She said she got the rabbit this March and trained him for the Isabella County Fair this July. “We just practiced going over the steps and staying calm with my bunny,” she said. “Some of the steps are like checking the ears, flipping it over and making sure the teeth are good.”
Masha Smahliuk
/
WCMU
Haley Pestel, 10, smiles for a photo with her rabbit Oreo after winning her division. She said she got the rabbit this March and trained him for the Isabella County Fair this July. “We just practiced going over the steps and staying calm with my bunny,” she said. “Some of the steps are like checking the ears, flipping it over and making sure the teeth are good.”
Daniel Smolinski, left, and son Waylon Smolinski stand in a field of corn on July 8, 2025, at their farm in Lachine.
Blace Carpenter
/
WCMU
Daniel Smolinski, left, and son Waylon Smolinski stand in a field of corn on July 8, 2025, at their farm in Lachine.
Alpena U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Dongod Cantle returns to his van after delivering mail on Wednesday, August 6, 2025.
Blace Carpenter
/
WCMU
Alpena U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Dongod Cantle returns to his van after delivering mail on Wednesday, August 6, 2025.
Two young goats wait for their turn in the competition at the Isabella County Fair.
Masha Smahliuk
/
WCMU
Two young goats wait for their turn in the competition at the Isabella County Fair in July 2025.
Joe VanAlstine is the eagle staff keeper and carrier for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa and walked at the front of a May 29 procession against Line 5 on Mackinac Island.
Teresa Homsi
/
WCMU
Joe VanAlstine is the eagle staff keeper and carrier for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa and walked at the front of a May 29, 2025 procession against Line 5 on Mackinac Island.
Lakon Williams (left), Sadie Muntz (center) and Kelly Rice work on processing lake trout at Bay Port Fish Company. Williams said she doesn't fish for lake trout because of state regulations, but she is able to buy it from Native American fishermen. She also stopped fishing for yellow perch about 15 years ago because its numbers were very small, and whitefish is the only species that she harvests. Williams said the health of these fish populations is all intertwined. After the World War II, walleye population was declining, and fishermen were prohibited to catch it. At about the same time, zebra mussels and other invasive species invaded the Great Lakes. These mussels started to eat plankton which made the water look clean. Today, when the walleye population rehabilitated and started eating yellow perch because of the clear water. But whitefish is suffering as well, because the plankton, which was their food source, is now being eaten by zebra mussels. Whitefish are also prey for lake trout and walleye.
Masha Smahliuk
/
WCMU
Lakon Williams (left), Sadie Muntz (center) and Kelly Rice work on processing lake trout at Bay Port Fish Company in June 2025.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says they recommend the removal of the Trout Lake dam after the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy inspection showed in 2024 that the dam is in poor condition. DNR has been drawing down the lake since this April to inspect the dam's rotting boards. DNR says they're about 100 inches from the full lake level at this point.
Rick Brewer
/
WCMU
Gladwin County's Trout Lake Dam in June 2025. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been drawing down the dam lake since April to inspect the dam's rotting boards.
Monique from Alanson is listening to an appraiser as he inspects her collectible Christmas tree on July 1, 2025 during a filiming of the PBS program Antiques Roadshow.
Teresa Homsi
/
WCMU
Monique from Alanson is listening to an appraiser as he inspects her collectible Christmas tree on July 1, 2025 during a filiming of the PBS program Antiques Roadshow.
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Local/Regional News WCMU HighlightsWCMU Public MediaPhotosMichigan News Group
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