Our 3rd Edition Designs have arrived! We are so excited to present a brand new line-up of Michigan Aurora Chasers apparel and gear, including mugs, teddy bears, pillow cases and travel accessories. We also have lots of news for you this month, including an exciting new event!
Browse this post for:
- Meet the winner of the 3rd Edition Design Contest!
- “Get Outside Now!” Admin Patrick Grubba’s call can follow you anywhere!
- Find out about a new event series called the MI Aurora Experience
- Discover where we are on the internet! If you haven’t already, subscribe for email updates — to get news when registration opens for the free #MIAuroraWorkshop, and view the 2025 #MIAuroraCookie!
For those who are wondering, we plan to open registration for the popular MI Aurora Workshop in March. Receive an email the day registration opens using the button below.
3rd Edition Designs: Congratulations & Kudos!
It was a joy to hold our 3rd Edition Design Contest this year, as we received more incredible entries than ever before. So many of you created beautiful visualizations of what it means to be a Michigan Aurora Chaser, we’d like to thank you for these truly creative designs!
We’re also humbled by your tip jar donations, which allowed us to award a $150 cash prize. Below you’ll find a few of the top contenders in this annual contest.
One designer’s creations stood out above them all. Congratulations to Shealyn McGee-Sarns, aka Shea Sarns, the Michigan Aurora Chaser who created this year’s winning design! Shea is a graphic designer by profession, and you can check out her services and support her business at 4ten Design & Photo. In her free time, she is a lover of nature and creative pursuits, and you can read a great bio on her About page.
Now, her winning 3rd Edition Design will be admired everywhere on our new shirts, sweatshirts, hats, mugs, and other gear. It’s all available for order online anytime through our store. The direct link is https://michigan-aurora-chasers.myspreadshop.com/, and you can always find our store on our website: MichiganAuroraChasers.com/shop
“Get Outside Now!”
As leaders of the Michigan Aurora Chasers, we were pretty surprised to learn that our call to “Get Outside Now!” helped viewers in Indiana and Ohio catch the Northern Lights. The call even led to success for Aurora Chasers in Scotland!!
Admin Patrick Grubba is famous for this line, and he has developed a real talent for watching the skies near Mackinac City, Michigan, spotting the Auroral Arc on camera, noting the early signs of powerful substorms, and alerting us when “She’s gonna’ blow!” Haha… We love it!
Chasing the Aurora in Michigan requires a good sense of humor, after all. And it is absolutely true that a strong Aurora extending higher in the sky in the north, can lead to beautiful low-horizon displays in south. Or better!
Now, you can bring this call with you anywhere, and tell your friends to “Get Outside Now!” We call it the “GON” technique, and Patrick has turned this awesome tradition into two beautiful designs featuring his own Aurora photographs.
Check out our store to shop GON designs!
Presenting the MI Aurora Experience!
Our MI Aurora Socials share in the company of awesome people, and our Live Chase nearly guarantees we’ll get to share sightings of the Northern Lights! But what if we wanted to gather with you and chase Aurora, in spite of daunting odds or the risk of announcing in advance?
Enter the MI Aurora Experience!
The MI Aurora Experience (or MAC Experience) is a new series of events designed to capture the sweet spot in between: It’s an active outdoor Aurora Chase that is announced well in advance, where we can make no guarantees but we will do our best to catch a sighting — and teach you the ropes of Aurora Chasing on the way.
This will be a free event, with a small donation welcome via our tip jar websites. You are responsible for your own lodging, meals, gear, comfort, etc. Just like the Live Chase, we will provide at least one vetted Guide to help you try to catch the Aurora, but these events will be scheduled well in advance. It’s up to each Guide to decide whether they want to meet up rain-or-shine, or cancel due to inclement weather.
At the MI Aurora Experience, we can’t promise any Aurora, but we can promise to teach you how to chase!
Our founder, Melissa F. Kaelin, has already scheduled the first MI Aurora Experience for the evening of April 24, 2025. We’re beyond excited to start chasing alongside members of our community again!
Learn more about the Aurora Experience. Or visit our Events page to get details and join in.
Where to Find Us
It’s no secret that social media is facing challenges. We’re not going to talk about politics, censorship, monopolies or other concerns, but we are going to tell you that we value this community, regardless of your background. That’s why we are EXPANDING our online presence, with more ways to connect.
Please know that we have no intention of taking any social media account away, though obviously we do have to decide where to focus our energy. Actually, we are trying to meet our Aurora Chasers on the platforms and services that work best for them.
Our Facebook presence isn’t going anywhere. However, we do want to provide more options, in an effort we started in 2024.
Below is a list of places to find us:
- Michigan Aurora Chasers Official Website, including free subscribe button
Bookmark: MichiganAuroraChasers.com - Telegram App: @MichiganAuroraAlerts channel — Aurora Sightings Only
Subscribe for free: https://t.me/MichiganAuroraAlerts - WordPress: Our official website is actually on the WordPress platform, which means you can subscribe in WordPress Reader. Anyone can also subscribe via email to our News & Updates page:
Follow or Subscribe for free via email: MichiganAuroraChasers.com/blog - Instagram @MiAuroraChasers
Follow: https://www.instagram.com/MIAuroraChasers/ - Facebook Group, where it all began:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MichiganAuroraChasers - Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/MichiganAuroraChasers/
Founder Melissa F. Kaelin will also continue to maintain the community and resources for Aurora Chasing on her social media platforms at KaelinArt and @mfkaelin, on her blog, and on her website: KaelinArt.com
Michigan Aurora Chasers 
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