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Traverse City proclaims Family Court Awareness Month and designates Check Your Cherries Day for breast-cancer awareness
Summary
The commission proclaimed November 2025 as Family Court Awareness Month and designated the second Saturday in October as Check Your Cherries Day to raise breast-cancer awareness. Local advocates urged state legislation (Rowan's Act, Kaden's Law) and more research on higher-than-average regional breast-cancer rates in younger women.
The Traverse City Commission issued two public-health and awareness proclamations Oct. 20: November 2025 as Family Court Awareness Month and a new Check Your Cherries Day to promote breast-cancer screening and awareness.
Amanda Newton, representing Protective Parents Michigan, thanked the city for the family-court proclamation and urged legislators to support Rowan’s Act and Kaden’s Law, two measures aimed at improving child-safety responses in family court and expediting Amber Alerts and judge training. "Children are three times as likely to be shot at home than in a mass school shooting," she said as part of a broader case for prioritizing child protection in family court procedures.
Giovana Shell and Michelle Bostik spoke in support of naming an annual Check Your Cherries Day in honor of Holly T. Bird and highlighted local data indicating elevated breast-cancer incidence among women under 50 in Grand Traverse County between 2016 and 2021. Shell urged the commission to support further research and community outreach: "Passing this resolution is an important first step, but it can't be the last," she said.
Commissioners thanked the speakers and expressed support for follow-up action; staff noted the joint county resolution progress and said a formal city resolution could follow.
