Encore November 2014

Program helps Vet to Vet

November 2014

Eating Authentic Ethnic Food

Paying it forward: Freecycling

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

What’s Going On

Across the Tracks?

“Four months ago, I had anterior hip replacement surgery at Bronson Methodist Hospital. And it was the best thing I ever did. I put off the surgery for three years — until I could hardly walk at all.

Thanks to Bronson, I started feeling better before anything was even scheduled. My doctor did a great job of explaining what to expect and what would be done. My pain was minimal and I could move around better than I ever expected. In just four weeks, I was back doing the things I used to do — camping, walking the dog, golfing with my buddies and so on. The best testament to my outcome: forgetting that I ever had a hip problem. And for that, I’m so thankful.”

Don Osterhout, Portage, Michigan, May 17, 2014

When one person shares their positivity, we all share in it.

To share how Bronson Positivity has impacted your life, or to watch a video of Don’s story, visit bronsonpositivity.com.

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bronsonpositivity.com

Eating Authentic Ethnic Food

Program helps Vet to Vet

Paying it forward: Freecycling

BUSINESS COVERAGE Commercial Property Commercial General Liability Workers Compensation Business Automobile Commercial Umbrella

November 2014

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

What’s Going On

Across the Tracks?

Publisher

encore publications, inc.

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Editor

marie lee

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Copy Editor/Poetry Editor Contributors

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The staff at Encore welcomes written comment from readers, and articles and poems for submission with no obligation to print or return them. To learn more about us or to comment, you may visit www.encorekalamazoo. com. Encore subscription rates: one year $36, two years $70. Current single issue and newsstand $4, $10 by mail.

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November

CONTENTS 2014

FEATURES Across the Tracks

24

Vet to Vet

20

Breweries, businesses and more: Development is growing on Kalamazoo’s Northside

Program pairs veterans with returning troops to help the transition after combat

Freecyclers Pay It Forward

Groups aid others and give “unwanted” items a second chance at usefulness

31

DEPARTMENTS 6 Contributors

Up Front 8 First Things — A roundup of happenings in 10

SW Michigan Riverview Launch — Collaboration creates new community space by the Kalamazoo River

12

Good Works

Literacy Education — Educating for Freedom in Schools takes a culturally relevant approach to boost literacy

14 Enterprise

Ready to Roll — Fido Motors debuts its new repair-ityourself electric scooter this month

16 Savor

Authentically Ethnic — There’s great food lurking in the area’s many ethnic eateries

46 The Last Word

Life Happens — You can’t always plan the adventures ahead

ARTS

34 Gold Company

The internationally acclaimed vocal jazz group gives

a sneak peak at performance in progress

36 Cinderella

It’s a ‘magical’ role for local teen ballerina 38 Events of Note 42 Poetry On the cover: Kalamazoo illustrator Amelia Hansen depicts much of the new development north of downtown Kalamazoo. How many buildings can you identify? (Answer on pg. 44)

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 5

CONTRIBUTORS ENCORE

Kit Almy

A regular writer for Encore, Kit has firsthand experience as a freecycler. “I have given away a futon frame, a box spring, and a sofa as well as miscellaneous office equipment, including a printer, ink from a different printer, a monitor and keyboard and old telephones,” she says. “I have so far not succeeded in freecycling two electric typewriters, but I need to try again.”

Tiffany Fitzgerald When Tiffany began her story on the Buddy-to-Buddy program, it was supposed to be a short piece, but she found there was a much bigger story to tell. The most compelling part for her came from Debra, the mom of a veteran. “I felt honored to interview Deb for the Buddy-to-Buddy story – even though she’s mourning her son, she’s always thinking of the health and needs of other veterans too, which is amazing,” says Tiffany. In addition to writing a number of our stories each month, Tiffany is also the editor of FYI, the family magazine for SW Michigan.

6 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

Olga Bonfiglio

There was no better writer to take on our story about the economic redevelopment of the Northside than Olga. She has taught urban development at Kalamazoo College for several years and was the host of Public Voice, a Community Access Center show, interviewing local urban redevelopment leaders. She has previously written for the Huffington Post, U.S. Catholic, Planning (the trade journal for urban planners) and the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Amelia Hansen

The artist behind our cover art, Amelia is a Kalamazoo native who specializes in science and nature subjects, children’s picture books, murals, animal portraiture and graphic recording for groups. She has worked with Borgess Medical Center, the Kalamazoo Nature Center, the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region and Kellogg Bird Sanctuary. She lives near Kalamazoo with her husband, three cats and 11 chickens.

Andrew Domino Unlike the members of Gold Company, Andrew will readily admit he isn’t much of a singer. He doesn’t play any instruments either, unless you count his iPod. While interviewing members of Gold Company for a story in this issue, Andrew learned that a successful sports program isn’t the only thing that makes a university elite. You can find more of his writing at www.dominowriting.com.

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(left to right): Stephen M. Denenfeld, James M. Marquardt, Nicholas J. Daly, Robert C. Engels, Thomas C. Richardson, Richard D. Reed, Gregory G. St. Arnauld, William A. Redmond, Michael B. Ortega, Sheralee S. Hurwitz, David A. Lewis, Michael A. Dombos, Michael A. Shields, Vernon Bennett III, Ronald W. Ryan, Owen D. Ramey.

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up front encore

First Things Something Autumnal Pumpkins for the eating

Kalamazoo in Bloom celebrates its 30th anniversary with its fourth annual Pumpkin Soiree from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.

This fundraising event features a tasting competition involving pumpkin dishes concocted by local chefs. Attendees serve as judges for the competition while supporting the purchase of 50,000 locally grown plants and flowers that will be used to beautify community parks. (Perhaps you’ve seen the animal topiaries in Bronson Park and along Library Lane in Portage? That’s the work of Kalamazoo in Bloom.)

Among the restaurants participating in the Pumpkin Soiree are Arcadia Brewing Co., Full City Café, Gull Lake Country Club,

Something Beautiful A musical time machine

8 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

Something Delicious Artisan pizza under fire

Mangia Mangia, Old Dog Tavern and Water Street Coffee Joint.

Single admission is $25, and couple admission is $40. Tickets are available online at EventBrite.com (search “Pumpkin Soiree”).

Delilah DeWylde and the Lost Boys’ biography describes their musical aesthetic best: “A long time ago, at the dawn of the Atomic Age, a succession of no-good punks and ill-mannered teenagers took the best of American roots music — hard-partying, honky tonk country, searing gutbucket blues and lonesome hillbilly twang — and distilled it into a potent moonshine known as rockabilly.”

It’s fitting that this local rockabilly group is part of the Friday Night Highlight series on Nov. 7 at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum — their music and dress will transport audiences through rock ’n’ roll history via a vintage listening experience.

Expect original songs and covers of hits

by Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash, Wanda Jackson, Buck Owens, Gene Vincent and Dick Dale.

This free event takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. in the museum’s Stryker Theatre.

For more information, visit kvm.kvcc.edu.

Blaze Pizza’s claim to fame is “fast-

fire’d” pizza — pizza cooked in a “blazing hot” oven and ready in 180 seconds.

Blaze opened in September at 5015 W. Main St. and offers personal-size, super-thin pizzas (so they can cook fast). While there are a lot options on the menu, with such names as Meat Eater, Red Vice and Veg Out, customers can personalize their pizza by choosing the ingredients themselves, from sauce (including white cream, pesto and oil) to cheese (including goat, ricotta and vegan) to meat (applewood bacon, salami and smoked ham are in the mix) to veggies (like artichokes, arugula and kalamata olives). Blaze offers gluten-free pizza options as well (although no dedicated ovens or prep spaces, so beware if you have celiac disease).

The pizza may be cooked fast, but, due to the restaurant’s popularity, going during peak hours means you still might have to wait.

For more information, visit BlazePizza. com/locations/kalamazoo.

encore up front

Something Good Not shaving is proper

Celebrate No-Shave November, the national annual cancer awareness event, on Nov. 1 and 26 with the Proper Possible Movement.

This nonprofit organization, located in the Proper Lab, at 112 W. South St., is working to “popularize proper behavior” while inspiring

youth and community members to “do something proper.” The No-Shave November events will engage folks in increasing cancer awareness and raise funds for the West Michigan Cancer Center.

The “before” event, Shave the Date, begins at 6 p.m. Nov. 1 at Urban Modern Hair, 235 S. Kalamazoo Mall. Participants can get an oldfashioned shave and celebrate with the Bell’s Street Team, a DJ and photographer Victor Vague, who will take before-and-after tintype photos.

The “after” event is set for 8 p.m. Nov. 26 at Bell’s Brewery, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave. Participants can show off their new-grown facial hair, get “after” photos taken and celebrate with brews and music.

FYI: You don’t need a beard or moustache to attend and can join in if you missed the first event and have been celebrating No-Shave November solo.

For more information about the Proper Possible Movement, visit Facebook.com/ProperPossible. For more information about No-Shave November, visit No-Shave.org.

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up front encore

Old Greenhouse Gets New Life

Erik Holladay

Groups partner to create community space by the river

K

elly Clarke ducks around the corner of the newly restored fire-engine-red barn at the Riverview Launch, a multi-use community space at 1523 Riverview Drive, where Riverside Greenhouse was located for 95 years before it went out of business.

“Hey, these are new,” says Clarke, executive director of the Kalamazoo County Land Bank, pointing down at a row of yellow and orange marigolds lining the path to the barn door. “We have a plan and we’re organized, but a lot of the work isn’t being done by contractors, it’s being done by volunteers, who are excited and find creative ways to donate their time and goods, just like this.”

Community involvement and collaboration have been the driving forces behind the Riverview Launch. When the former greenhouse property went into foreclosure in 2012, the Kalamazoo County Land Bank 10 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

bought the six-acre parcel, and it has become a joint revitalization project of the Land Bank, the Kalamazoo County office of Michigan State University Extension, the Open Roads bicycle-repair program (aimed at teaching skills and providing bikes to disadvantaged youth), the Kalamazoo County Parks & Recreation Department and the Kalamazoo Nature Center.

“The greenhouse was boarded and blighted, and the area around the greenhouse was filled with rubble and debris,” Clarke says.

“The barn was deteriorated and in very poor shape.”

As an authority of the county, the Land Bank has a mission of taking care of unwanted, blighted and foreclosed properties. The Land Bank offers communitygarden, rental-property, blight-elimination and other programs to help Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo Land Bank Executive Director Kelly Clarke (left) stands in the doorway of the newly restored barn at Riverview Launch with staff members Mike Deditius and Karma Hassell.

County residents use foreclosed and blighted properties. Clarke says the Riverview Launch area presented a new way to revitalize a blighted area.

“We thought it was important to give some thought to this property, since it’s on the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail and on the Kalamazoo River, and it connects to downtown, Spring Valley Park, Markin Glen Park and the Kalamazoo Nature Center.”

The Land Bank partnered with OCBA landscape architects and land planners, Byce & Associates designers, the Kalamazoo Nature Center and Inform Architecture, as well as other community organizations and businesses, to host design and site-planning

workshops, an open house and other open forums. By tapping into the creative ideas of the public, the Land Bank was able to plan innovative and creative ways to use the space.

Work there began about a year ago.

Weeds and brush have been cleared from the riverbank to make way for a possible kayak and canoe launch; the barn has been restored for use for community functions, as an interpretive center or as a possible livery; demonstration, rain and community gardens have been planted; and new paths have been

What to look for at Riverview Launch Stop by the site at 1523 Riverview Drive to see these new developments: • A fully renovated historic barn • Demonstration gardens • A rain garden • Handmade sculptures and a handmade sign for the rain garden, designed and created by local artist Conrad Kaufman • Boys & Girls Club and MSU Youth Grower community gardens

here on their bike rides or walks, rest and enjoy the natural beauty.”

An important part of developing the space, Clarke says, is to have anchors that will act as stewards of the land and facilitate civic engagement. Those anchors, which will reside in the former greenhouse buildings once they are renovated, include an MSU Extension satellite office, Open Roads’ first full-time site and the Land Bank office, which will move there in 2015.

As the coalition of volunteers and organizations continues to build and grow, the community is responding by welcoming the development, Clarke says.

“People are very excited to see the changes that are happening and looking forward to utilizing the space,” she says. “We at the Land Bank have enjoyed creating and developing the space, and we look forward to continued enhancements and full programming, including in the indoor spaces.”

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• Handmade benches • Cleared and landscaped grounds • Cleared riverside — the potential site of a kayak/canoe launch For more information or to volunteer, visit RiverviewLaunch.com.

laid. The Riverview Launch site also hosted a “Movie in the Park” in August and an Improv Effects workshop in September.

Clarke credits more than 300 community volunteers with much of the transformation.

Home Depot donated materials and employee time to build the deck of the barn, students at the Kazoo School worked in the gardens, and individual volunteers helped paint the barn, landscape the grounds and raise funds.

“The outdoor area is intended to be a civic space,” Clarke says. “We want people to stop

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good works ENCORE

Harambe for Reading

Program provides culturally relevant literacy education T

school support programs. Both programs offer culturally relevant literacy education to students in the greater Kalamazoo area.

Educating for Freedom in Schools is a partner program to the Freedom Schools Program, a national literacy program funded by the Children’s Defense Fund. On the Youth Program Quality Assessment in 2013, Kalamazoo’s program ranked 4.77 out of 5, which is an “extremely high quality” ranking, in that it shows literacy gains in six weeks of programming that are equivalent to those gained in six months to a year of instructional time in a typical classroom.

The Harvard Family Research Project named the Freedom Schools program as a whole one of the top youth programs in the nation.

“Clearly, there is something about this program that is impactful,” Gardner says, “impactful to children who are normally outliers too — the ones that historically fall through the cracks and the ones that have risk factors that might make them unlikely to succeed in this world.”

Designing curriculum that is socially and culturally relevant to the students is one of the reasons Gardner believes the Educating for Freedom in Schools program is so successful. Kids aren’t just reading.

Demarra Gardner, third from left, leads Harambe festivities with children enrolled in Educating for Freedom in Schools’ summer program.

Erik Holladay

he noise from Harambe can be heard a block away from the Edison neighborhood’s Tree of Life school, where it is happening.

“Harambe” is a traditional rallying cry used in Kenya, but for the Educating for Freedom in Schools’ summer literacy program it’s more than just a rallying cry for the program — it’s the first daily activity, with singing, dancing, chanting and a visit from a volunteer reader.

“It’s Wednesday at Harambe, and Freedom School’s in the house!” chant the students, instructors and director Demarra Gardner.

“Everyone say, ‘Read aloud,’” Gardner shouts.

The group responds, “Read, read, read, read, read aloud!”

The room calms as the kids settle on the floor and guest reader Julia Dean introduces herself. Dean has a special connection to the program; she used to work in it from 2008 to 2010.

Since she began a master’s program in education at the University of Michigan in 2010, Dean has kept in touch with the program, visiting and donating to it. She begins her visit with a short introduction explaining how she’s connected to the school and what her occupation is. She then begins reading a section of the picture book I See the Rhythm, by Michele Wood and Toyomi Igus.

Literacy is the cornerstone of Educating for Freedom in Schools, a nonprofit organization that operates full-time summer and after-

12 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

They’re reading about something they care about and with which they want to engage.

The relevancy and holistic approach of the program — with its focus not just on literacy, but on health, community, social issues and mentorship — appeal to Dean too. It’s why she’s stayed so involved since she left four years ago.

HOW TO HELP You can support Educating for Freedom in Schools by: • Donating supplies • Volunteering to read • Sponsoring the program For more information, visit FreedomSchoolsKZoo.com.

“A lot of the (program’s) books have a historical focus,” Dean says. “And a lot of the songs and literature in the program illustrate the history and cultural expressions of people in different cultures.”

Dean says that when she was working in the program, dialogues started by the readings would spark opportunities to talk about daily challenges the students faced.

She says it was one of the most rewarding parts of the program, and something she’s glad to see continue.

As the program grows, Gardner wants to continue to develop an atmosphere where youth are celebrated and encouraged. “All young people need someone who believes in them,” Gardner says. “We think it’s common that all people are embraced with expectations, but that’s not the case for all young people.”

Back at Harambe, Dean has finished reading and it’s question-and-answer time.

All kinds of questions are asked and allowed.

“How is it your fiancé lives in Boston and he proposed to you?” one of the students asks.

“That’s a good question,” Dean says before explaining how she and her fiancé met. The question may seem personal, but that’s the point. Educating for Freedom in Schools isn’t just about curriculum and education. It’s about connecting.

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Enterprise ENCORE

Ready to Roll

Fido Motors designs repair-it-yourself electric scooter K

Erik Holladay

alamazoo is about to be put on the scooter industry map when Fido Motors starts manufacturing its first electric scooter in January.

Fido will have a top speed of 45 mph and a 35-mile range, a detachable battery pack for indoor charging and standard metal parts for easy maintenance. It’s the brainchild of Jeb Gast, owner and president of Fido Motors.

Gast worked in the scooter industry a while before he started Fido. He owned Soundspeed Scooters, a scooter repair and sales shop based in Seattle from 2008 until 2012, before closing the shop, moving to Kalamazoo and committing fully to Fido, which until then had been a side project he had been working on since 2010. Now, two years after he moved to Kalamazoo Gast works with his wife, Krystal, and coworker Andy Searl, and together they help plan the manufacturing and operations of the company.

What makes Fido stand out from the pack of scooters currently on the market is that it’s designed as an answer to frustrations Gast and his customers had when he was a mechanic – most scooters aren’t easily maintained and repaired.

“Fido is really built out of a frustration with what you as a customer are able to buy, all the issues that crop up after you buy a scooter and what happens when you want to take care of it,” Gast says. “Scooter companies really don’t want you to repair your bike yourself. They want the shop to do the repairs. I wanted to change that.”

Most modern scooters are made from an assortment of materials and are designed for aesthetics, making it hard for an owner

14 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

From left, Fido Motors’ Andy Searl, Krystal Gast and Jeb Gast show off the prototype of the scooter (also pictured on opposite page) they will unveil this month.

to get to parts that need to be fixed without removing plates and other parts with specialized tools. To allow owners to do basic repairs on their own bikes, Gast designed Fido to be made from metal, like the scooters of the 1950s and ’60s, and to have standard parts that can be worked on with normal tools — an important money-saving feature.

“You need special tools to work on a lot of other scooters and motorcycles,” Searl says. “And it’s not just a simple set of tools to get the job done. You need proprietary equipment and the knowledge to use it. The parts are produced to be disposable too. It just robs everyone.”

Gast has used his background as a scooter mechanic to make the bike easier to maintain.

It includes a rechargeable, removable battery pack, perfect for urban dwellers who don’t have a garage in which to charge their bikes, and tires of all one size (many scooters use a different size for each tire) that can easily be changed after a flat.

“To fix a flat on a modern Vespa, you would basically need a tow truck and about $200,” Gast says.

While Fido Motors continues to work toward a manufacturing launch date, the Gasts and Searl are preparing to debut Fido at an international motorcycle convention and trade show in Milan, Italy, this month, the EICMA (Esposizione Mondiale del Motociclismo).

Meanwhile, the Gasts and Searl continue to network, redesign and manufacture their prototype — a long and sometimes daunting process.

“Jeb’s been working on putting the bike together, and Andy and I have been working on certification requirements from the Department of Transportation to get these bikes on the road (and) funding for the business. And Andy’s been doing a lot of the production work,” Krystal Gast says. “There’s a lot to do, and it’s been a learning process.”

So far, there’s been a lot of interest in Fido, say the Gasts and Searl, who have fielded many inquiries about their project and secured strong investment backing, and the crew is excited to get rolling (pun intended).

“Everyone we’ve shown what we’re doing to seems really excited,” Searl says. “We’re getting a lot of good response.”

But the scooter isn’t the only thing the folks at Fido are investing their energy in — they’re also looking at how to smartly utilize their new space, the old Star Brass Works foundry, at 1415 Fulford St. Fido Motors will use the large space as a business incubator and “makerspace” called Jericho.

“A makerspace is a community space that’s full of people and equipment that allow you to make things,” Jeb Gast explains. “A lot of people liken it to a health club. You pay $100 to go to a health club, and you have trainers and training equipment. A makerspace is

the same idea — a place with table saw, 3-D printers and people to show you how to use them.”

Right now, the Gasts host “makers meetings,” which are small group brainstorming and 3-D printing workshops.

For information about Fido Motors, visit www.FidoMotors.com; for information about Jericho, email Jeb Gast at jeb@FidoMotors.com.

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savor ENCORE

The Real Thing

Look a little harder to find authentic ethnic cuisine “I don’t know if people know we’re here or other restaurants like Rasa Ria and Thai Cuisine,” Kane says. “We’re not as busy as the chain restaurant across the street at dinnertime, and our food is really unique and delicious. It’s frustrating to see.”

What to try There are many authentic ethnic food options in the greater Kalamazoo area (see below). We’ve asked a few of these eateries to suggest one of their most authentic dishes.

The Ceviche de Pescado, Peruvian, El Inka

Local authentic ethnic food choices include Beef Rendang, above, a Malaysian dish; a Peruvian presentation of ceviche, right; and Larb, opposite page, a Thai dish served cold.

S

ilvia Kane and her family wanted authentic Peruvian food. The problem: They live in Kalamazoo.

“We used to have to drive three hours to eat Peruvian food, ” Kane says. So she and her husband, Erin, opened El Inka, an authentic Peruvian restaurant at 563 N. Drake Road, and now people drive long distances to eat at El Inka, Kane says.

The Kanes are hardly alone in their desire for authentic ethnic cuisine. It’s loved by foodies across the country. Every major food publication and network, from Bon Appétit to the Food Network, compiles “best” lists of authentic ethnic restaurants for cities from San Francisco to Brooklyn.

“Authentic,” “traditional” and “ethnic” are all terms used to refer to foods prepared in the style or tradition of a specific culture or country.

There’s a lot of debate about what authenticity or ethnicity means, but, for the most part, authentic food is usually un-Americanized food cooked by someone who has intimate knowledge of the region from which the dishes originate.

While a restaurant may says it’s authentic, most restaurants aren’t fully devoted to the taste of one country — they often combine tastes and ingredients from different countries or regions.

Finding that truly authentic ethnic restaurant can be a bit tricky because many, like El Inka or El Gallo Blanco, at 2838 Portage St., tend not to be as visible or well promoted as their national chain counterparts.

16 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

Many countries and cultures claim ceviche, a fresh seafood dish made with citrus and chili, but the Peruvians not only claim they originated it 2,000 years ago, but have a national holiday devoted to it. Not every ceviche is like another, and Kane says a Peruvian ceviche is especially distinct.

“Whereas in other countries, a ceviche might marinate for as long as five days, our ceviche only marinates for five minutes,” she

Local Guide to Authentic Ethnic Food Here is a sampling of local restaurants serving food that truly represents the place from where it originates: CHINESE Hunan Gardens 5059 W. Main St. (269) 373-1188 7157 W. Q Ave. (269) 353-5900 BRITISH London Grill 214 E. Michigan Ave. (269) 381-9212

Saffron Indian Cuisine 1710 W. Main St. (269) 381-9898 LEBANESE Shawarma King 1441 S. Drake Road (269) 375-3900 MALAYSIAN Rasa Ria 1921 W. Main St. (269) 381-0788

INDIAN Cumin Indian Cuisine MEXICAN 3321 Stadium Drive El Gallo Blanco (269) 372-6900 2838 Portage St. (269) 382-7020 Indian Cuisine 600 Romence Road (269) 324-4886

MIDDLE EASTERN Zooroona 1710 W. Main St. (269) 382-4444 THAI Bangkok Flavor 5455 Gull Road (269) 226-9341 Thai Cuisine 310 N. Drake Road (269) 344-1451 A Thai Café 7089 S. Westnedge Ave. (269) 323-3099

Hearing creates memories.

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Also try: The Ceviche de Chocho, a vegetarian ceviche with Andean beans, and the salchipapa, thinly sliced kosher sausage.

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Beef Rendang, Malaysian, Rasa Ria Beef Rendang (sometimes called Rendang Daging) is an aromatic and complex entrée of Indonesian origin. The beef stew contains cinnamon, cloves, anise and cardamom, and not only is it one of the most popular beef dishes in Malaysia, it was rated the most delicious food in the world by a CNN poll in 2011.

Also try: Roti Canai (Malaysian flatbread), served with Chicken Curry, and the beef curry puffs.

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Fellow veterans help returnees find their way by

Tiffany Fitzgerald

20 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

John Lacko

W

hen one local mom’s son returned home from serving in Afghanistan, he wasn’t the same person he was when he left.

“He came back a raging, angry man who had lost faith in the military,” says Debra, whose last name has been withheld for privacy reasons.

Her son served in Afghanistan for nine months before being injured in a rollover Humvee accident while on night patrol. He was transferred from Afghanistan to medical facilities in Germany, then to Texas, then to Colorado and finally home without receiving the typical psychological-decompression assistance that most soldiers do when returning from deployment.

During his transition from active duty to civilian life, he and his mother hit multiple roadblocks — an airplane ride to Germany for Debra, so she could be by her son’s side while he was being assessed, fell through; he was notified of his Purple Heart ceremony in Colorado only two hours before it began, making it impossible for his mother to attend; and he couldn’t seem to get his disability file processed once he returned home. Meanwhile, he was in an emotional downward spiral, constantly moody, dark and angry, his mother says.

Debra was desperate to help her son, but, no matter where she turned, she seemed to get nowhere.

“Typically, when you are the parent of a soldier and you call a veterans service, they say the soldier must initiate the contact,” she says.

“So a lot of doors were closed to me, and my son wasn’t willing to try because every time he

Buddy-to-Buddy veteran volunteer Fred Turk listens as someone tells her story.

tried to do something he was shut down big time.”

But Debra didn’t give up. She kept reaching out to veterans services until she got through to Bob Short, a Vietnam veteran and Western Michigan regional coordinator for Michigan’s Buddy-to-Buddy program, developed at the University of Michigan in partnership with the Michigan Army National Guard to connect veteran volunteers with veterans in need of support.

“I remember her calling,” Short says. “She said her son was very angry, wasn’t doing well, and I said that if she could get him to call me, I would talk to him.”

Debra asked her son to call Short but was met with resistance. Some months later, Short called to check in with the family, leaving a message on their phone. That same day, Debra’s son had called Veterans Affairs only to learn his file had been sitting on someone’s desk for six months.

“With all that built-up anger, he snapped when he heard Bob’s message,” she says. “I hadn’t seen that type of anger for months.

He called Bob up, who thankfully did not answer the phone, and left a raging message.

I was looking at him thinking, ‘Well, there’s another door that just closed.’”

But it wasn’t, because Short called back.

“He was lashing out,” Short says. “I knew he was just very, very angry.”

After a sheepish apology, Debra’s son agreed to meet with Short and two other Buddy-toBuddy Vietnam veteran volunteers, Fred Turk and Dick Overton. They talked about integrating into civilian life and how to navigate the VA system. One of the volunteers called the VA and asked about Debra’s son’s file, which finally started things moving. It was only one meeting, but Debra’s son turned a corner, she says — he started looking into going back to school and getting a dog, and he re-engaged with her on a personal level.

“They met, and he went from being an angry, raging, unhappy person to truly

believing that trust and love were still viable avenues for him,” Debra says. “It had nothing to do with justice, but everything to do with compassion and an offer of help that was sincere. I don’t think that anyone could have helped him had they not been able to relate to what it’s like to be a soldier who is no longer serving.”

Connecting vets

Peer outreach is the premise and foundation of the Buddy-to-Buddy program, which was founded in 2009 and now has more than 120 trained and active volunteers working in 40 of Michigan’s Army National Guard armories.

“Our program has connected more than 2,000 veterans to resources,” says program coordinator Stephanie Zarb. “That’s a pretty good indication of success in a state like Michigan, where there are noactive duty bases, so this is all done through outreach at National Guard armories and in the community.”

The fact that Michigan has no active-duty bases is an important reason why Buddy-to-Buddy has focused its services here.

“When active-duty troops return from deployment, if they were trained on an active-duty base, they return to a military community where there are support programs,” Zarb says.

But that’s not the case for National Guard members.

“Say I was working at the University of Michigan and then was deployed for a year,” she explains. “I come back to the same desk at the University of

Michigan, but it’s unlikely that I am the exact same person that was sitting there a year ago.”

Returning National Guard members might find themselves lost without the structure, environment and support they received while being deployed. Zarb knows the feeling — she felt at loose ends when she decided to leave active duty after spending five and a half years in the Air Force.

“When I came off active duty, I had no awareness of the resources out there, and, quite frankly, I did everything wrong,” Zarb says. “When I look through the interaction logs our volunteer veterans keep, I think, ‘Wow. I wish I had known this information back then. I wish there was someone there

Buddy-to-Buddy volunteer veterans pictured now and when they were on active duty in Vietnam: Dick Overton, bottom left, Bob Short, center, and Fred Turk, top.

to have helped me.’ I feel like we’ve been successful because we put the human element back into this process.”

Last year 565 veterans across Michigan were assisted by 116 veteran volunteers in the areas of employment, health, finances, mental health and legal issues. Zarb says the reason the Buddy-to-Buddy program has been so successful is because it’s one of the few programs to use veterans as a resource for veterans. Many times veterans feel as though no one understands what they’re going through, and since they’re mostly surrounded by civilians, they’re right, Zarb says. But another veteran does know.

“I feel like being with another veteran is like when you see another American in a foreign country,” she says. “You don’t know them, but at least they’re American. They’re your new best friend because they speak the same language.”

Short, who was awarded a 2014 STAR (Sharing Time and Resources Award for Volunteer Manager of the Year by Volunteer Kalamazoo and MLive Media Group/Kalamazoo Gazette, says he’s committed to the Buddy-to-Buddy program because he sees the difference it makes in comparison to other services offered to vets.

Buddy-to-Buddy offers face-toface connection with veterans who are trained to listen and assist. The veteran volunteers know all the local resources available to veterans, and Buddy-to-Buddy has a partnership with the Army National Guard so volunteers can serve hours on reserve bases getting to know the men and women who serve there personally, Short says.

“Where we can, we want to make a warm handoff,” he says. “It’s a personal touch. It’s not just saying, ‘Here’s a phone number to call or a website to go to.’ It’s doing some of the legwork so the soldier has a connection to reach out to.”

Another advantage of having veterans as volunteers, Short says, is that they are able

to challenge the stigma that exists in the military culture about asking for help.

“We’re all supposed to be tough guys and suck it up and get it done. One of the things that people like myself and other volunteers can do is say it is not a sign of weakness to ask for help. And if you need help, get it and get it soon,” he says.

‘Never quit’

Debra’s son died earlier this year in a car crash, and even through her pain and grieving she recognizes that Buddy-toBuddy broke down the barriers of her son’s anger to improve his quality of life.

“If my son had not made it as long as he did, and if he had died in the throes of hate and anger, then I wouldn’t have been OK,” she says. “When he deployed, I said, ‘If he comes home in a box, I’ll be OK eventually, and if he comes home maimed, I’ll be OK, but if he comes home without a soul, I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it.’ His soul was in jeopardy until Buddy-to-Buddy and Bob Short. He had hope and trust after Bob talked to him. What parent can ask for more?”

This Veterans Day, Debra wants any veteran who may feel lost, angry or depressed to reach out to Buddy-to-Buddy.

“Buddy-to-Buddy will call you back, they will care about you and they can help,” she says. “Get help. Never quit.”

To connect with a volunteer veteran or to make a referral for someone else, call Buddyto-Buddy at 1-888-82-BUDDY (1-888-8228339) or visit BuddytoBuddy.org. w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 23

Among the many redevelopment projects that have cropped up on the Northside are from left: MacKenzies’ Bakery, JTS Classic Cars, People’s Food Co-op, Bells Brewery, Boatyard Brewing Co., Park Street Market, Arcadia Ales, One Way Products, Ignertia/Life Story Network and the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail.

Northside resurgence

Entrepreneurs work with city to boost neighborhood development

by

Olga Bonfiglio

photograpy by

Sam Zomer

Historically speaking, Kalamazoo has been a city of entrepreneurs operating a diversity of businesses.

After a century of dominance by The Upjohn Co. that made Kalamazoo a “company town,” a resurgence of the city’s entrepreneurial spirit is occurring, and there is no better evidence of this phenomenon than in the Northside neighborhood.

The neighborhood sits north of downtown, between Douglas Avenue and the Kalamazoo River. The train tracks that link Detroit and Chicago form much of its southern boundary, along with Willard Street and West North Street. The city limits mark its northern boundary.

Old buildings and empty spaces are available on the Northside and are cheap enough for entrepreneurs to repurpose them. But economic development doesn’t start out of nowhere. It is a painstaking process that combines entrepreneurial grit, government cooperation, determination and new visions for a 21st-century city.

Emblematic of this entrepreneurial spirit is Larry Bell, one of the “pioneers” in the area just to the south of the neighborhood. He located his craft brewery between Kalamazoo Avenue and the railroad tracks in 1984. His original brewery produced 185 barrels a year; today he brews 310,000 barrels for 20 states and Puerto Rico. Bell’s Kalamazoo Avenue buildings house a test batching facility and the Eccentric Café, and he recently purchased several nearby buildings, including the former Emporium antique store, JB Printing and the old Johnson & Howard warehouses on Willard and Ransom streets.

“Larry Bell is the epitome of the entrepreneur,” says John Schmitt, senior business consultant at the Michigan Small Business Development Center at Western Michigan University. “He doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. He’s always pushing it forward.”

When Bell first launched his brewery, few expected it to succeed. Today he is a national leader in the craft beer industry, which continues to be on fire, with 30 percent growth over last year. Bell’s has 270 employees — up 100 over last year — and expects to have 400 employees by next year.

Reclaiming Brownfields In the late 1990s, other entrepreneurs began to move into the area when the city began a brownfield redevelopment program. Alumilite Corp., a manufacturer that makes molds and casting resins w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 25

located to 315 E. North St.. The former Shakespeare Co. manufacturing facility was renovated, with Shakespeare’s Pub, 241 E. Kalamazoo Ave., taking over part of the property, and the other part, a four-story

Herb Ayres, Jerry Harty and Jon Durham outside the Ignertia/Life Story Network facility on North Street.

building, became offices. The abandoned Globe Building, at 211 E. Water St., was also converted into an office building with a high-end restaurant. While these buildings are technically in the downtown district, their redevelopment is a move that played a huge role in spurring development to the north.

Brownfields are contaminated or obsolete industrial properties that need to be cleaned up before they can be redeveloped. In the mid-1990s, then-governor John Engler initiated brownfield redevelopment legislation because it was difficult for cities to use these damaged lands, primarily because the banks would not touch them.

“It was unique legislation, one of the first in the country,” says Jerome Kisscorni, assistant city manager and economic development director for the city of Kalamazoo. “Michigan was one of the first states to adopt this legislation, although many of the others have caught up. Mayor Robert Jones (1997-2005) was a big supporter of brownfield redevelopment — and every (Kalamazoo) mayor ever since.”

Kalamazoo established a Brownfield Redevelopment Authority in 1996 to help potential developers obtain three things: reimbursements for environmental costs, demolition and infrastructure improvements; Michigan Business Tax credits for a minimum of 12.5 percent of investments in property improvements; and potential tax abatements for eligible projects and investments.

Economic development in Kalamazoo had been hindered because its 25 square miles are landlocked, with no new land available for 26 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

expansion beyond the city limits. This situation forced the city to focus on tools like the brownfield program. Since 1998, the city has razed buildings, cleaned up properties and used state and local resources to redevelop the Northside neighborhood as a mixed-use area of housing, retail and light industry. One of the first brownfield projects was a former dump site on the corner of Harrison and Ransom streets where Mackenzie’s Bakery now stands.

The MacKenzie family collaborated with the city to purchase 3.5 acres on a brownfield site to build a production facility and bread shop, the third branch of their bakery. The city assembled the site from multiple former owners, including the state and Conrail, then decontaminated the land to prepare it for construction of the new building. The city also invested a portion of the land’s purchase price to initiate a job-training program for neighborhood residents and to make improvements to the surrounding area, including landscaping, curb cuts, sidewalk repairs and attractive lighting. In 2005, the bakery expanded on the site, building a 3,000-square-foot addition.

These “pioneers” showed how economic development could be done on the Northside with brownfields, and more entrepreneurs were attracted to the neighborhood. As a result, Kalamazoo’s has become recognized as one of the more progressive and successful brownfield redevelopment programs in the state, Kisscorni says.

New wave of business In 2010, LADD Real Estate purchased the former SmartShop Metal Arts Collective building at 516 E. North St. and invested $1.25 million to renovate and repurpose the building for use by other business.

Traditional financing was supplemented with brownfield incentives.

The building now houses Life Story Network, a multimedia and consulting business to the funeral industry; Ignertia, an employeeowned and -operated web development, information technology and graphic design company; and the Jerry Harty Studio, which specializes in print and glass artwork. A an adjacent modern gray and red building includes two condos and four rental apartments.

Jon Durham, of Ignertia and Life Story, and his life and business partner, Jerry Harty, wanted a “cool” place that would attract artistic talent for their businesses, and the SmartShop building fit the bill.

“We have admired the SmartShop building since it opened in 2004,” Durham says. “Since we employ a creative group of people, including a few artists that participate in the local art scene, we are very familiar with the facility and what it did for Kalamazoo. It was for this reason that we were drawn to this building and felt compelled to make sure that it would be maintained.”

“The Northside is positive for us,” he continues. “Rehabbing is a big risk because the building may be contaminated, but we are committed Mattie Jordan-Woods, executive director of the Northside Association for Community Development, and the NACD developed “business hubs” in the neighborhood.

to it. It’s a way to make a difference in the city. New buildings (on greenfields) tend to destroy landscapes.”

In 2011, the People’s Food Co-Op opened its newly constructed Northside store next to MacKenzies’ Bakery. The Co-op had spent 30 months searching for an existing building where it could relocate its store from 436 Burdick St. Instead, the Co-Op found a vacant site with proximity to downtown, access to the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail, synergy with the bakery, adequate parking and visibility from Gull Road. The $1.5 million building was financed by a broad base of the community, including 50 percent from CoOp owner equity, saved payments and loans from 129 owners, says Chris Dilley, general manager.

“The city also provided a great help by selling us the property for $1, loaning us $130,000 at a very reasonable rate and giving us access to brownfield support both locally and from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation,” Dilley says. The rest of the project was funded by a joint loan from First National Bank of Michigan and the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), a national nonprofit organization that helps residents transform distressed neighborhoods into healthy and sustainable communities.

The Co-op and MacKenzies’ Bakery, along with the light-industrial company One Way Products, were among the first occupants of the River’s Edge district, a 140-acre area near the Kalamazoo River. (Designated in 2010, the River’s Edge district is bounded by

East Paterson Street, Riverview Drive, East Michigan Avenue and Walbridge Street.) In May, Arcadia Ales joined them, by opening a $7 million, 30,000-square-foot facility housing a brewpub, brewing and packaging operations and offices.

After 18 years of doing business in Battle Creek, Arcadia Ales owner Tim Suprise, a Kalamazoo resident, wanted to expand into Kalamazoo and boost Arcadia’s annual production of 12,900 barrels (2012) to 21,000 barrels.

He contacted the city, Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. (DKI) and Southwest Michigan First to explore what might be available and was offered the former site of Consumers Energy’s coal-burning power plant, which

Dan Gilligan, left, and Brian Steele turned the old Standard Oil depot into a brewery and artists’ space.

had been vacant for two decades. Suprise bought the land, valued at $88,000, for $5,000 from the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, which removed contaminated soil and underground infrastructure.

A new facility was built on the site with a capacity for 60,000 barrels, and work is underway on a riverside beer garden. By all accounts, Arcadia Ales’ opening has been a win-win for the company and the city.

“The new brewery and restaurant seems to have been a tipping point for more interest on the river development,” Kisscorni says, “and Arcadia has been so successful that it needs more parking space.”

Over the next two to three years, the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority plans to develop a new streetscape at the convergence of Gull Road and Harrison and Ransom streets, including a roundabout, boulevard, trees, benches and a curved walkway.

An Arduous process “Brownfield development is timeconsuming, tedious and expensive,” Kisscorni says. “However, what brownfield redevelopment does is level the playing field compared to using ‘greenfields’ and farmland.”

Economic development, in general, is a long and arduous process. Much planning goes on behind the scenes before a project w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 27

Redevelopment Projects Listed by name, address and year of project completion, these companies and organizations undertook some of the redevelopment projects on Kalamazoo’s Northside: • Alumilite Corp., 315 E. North St., 1997 • Mackenzies’ Bakery, 527 Harrison St., 1998; expansion, 2005 • Textile Systems Inc., 817 Walbridge St., 2000 • One Way Products Inc. & JTS Classic Cars, 433 and 514 E. Ransom St., 2002 • Northside grocery, now Park St. Market, 512 N. Park St., 2003 • North Point Retail Park, 700 N. Westnedge, 2004 • NACD Skill Center, 612 N. Park, 2004 • Ignertia and Life Story Network, 516 E. North St., 2010 and 2014 • People’s Food Co-op, 507 Harrison St., 2011 • Boatyard Brewing Co., 432 E. Paterson St., 2014 • Arcadia Ales, 701 E. Michigan Ave., 2014

can begin, including financial structuring, a business plan and necessary approvals from the city. Banks need to arrange loans, which take into account equity as well as local, state and federal funds. Then the entrepreneur has to be matched to the right site.

“There are 14 layers of funding involved in coordinating private, public and state funding sources,” says Steve Deisler, president of DKI. “To make the project go takes cleanup, rehabilitation and tax-credit incentives. The key is to find developers willing to take the time to step up and do things. It can all be quite daunting, but exciting.”

Kisscorni says the role of local government in economic redevelopment is to nurture it, stay out of the way and provide the environment to allow success to emerge.

It’s important that government avoid overregulation, as well as provide services to help entrepreneurs develop their ideas into tangible businesses, he says. That’s where the Small Business Development Center comes in, and for Kalamazoo and the nine-county Southwest Michigan area, John Schmitt is the go-to person.

‘A city of makers’ Schmitt, who has been an entrepreneur for most of his life, says there are several factors that make Kalamazoo fertile ground for entrepreneurs. One, it’s an inexpensive place to do business. Second, it has a thriving counterculture of out-of-the-box thinkers.

Three, it is a good place to test products.

“Kalamazoo is a city of makers,” Schmitt

says. “Whether it’s cigars, pills, medical instruments, paper, corsets or beer, this town has largely made products.”

Schmitt adds that many new start-ups in the city are related to food and beer due to the demand for local products. And the pendulum is definitely swinging back to small entrepreneurial businesses that are pushing back against the big-box stores, he says.

“People don’t mind going to different stores to buy what they need,” Schmitt says.

“Even online marketing will take a back seat to small local businesses that offer tangible goods and owner-managers who provide them.”

Schmitt says another change benefitting Northside neighborhood development is the new residents who have gone to college in Kalamazoo and ended up staying here. Many are Millennials who believe they will need to create their own jobs, an attitude that is grist for entrepreneurship.

Local ownership However, longtime residents of the Northside are also making strides to revitalize their neighborhood.

Mattie Jordan-Woods has led the Northside Association for Community Development (NACD) for 27 years, trying to help the association gain some control over the neighborhood through the ownership of land and properties. This strategy proved its usefulness when the Felpausch grocery store left in 2009. Jordan-Woods and her husband (continued on page 43)

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A Second Chance at Usefulness

Freecyclers ‘pay it forward’ with ‘unwanted’ stuff by

Kit Almy

photograpy by

Sam Zomer

W

hat do an anvil, firewood, fancy guppies, rhubarb, a frozen turkey, a non-working water heater and “random toiletry items” have in common?

All of these — not to mention lots of clothes, furniture, household items, toys, books and moving boxes — are items that have been offered or sought by local freecyclers.

“Freecycling,” a term blending “free” and “recycling,” is an altruistic and conservation-minded practice in which people give unwanted items to those who have a use for them, rather than discarding, selling or donating those items through more traditional channels.

“As a recycler, to me it’s about taking that one step further and recycling more than just your cans and bottles, but also things that are in your home that somebody else may have a use for,” explains Margaret Bruder, a freecycler who lives in Kalamazoo.

Freecycle “gifting,” as it is called, is most commonly coordinated through an online mailing list in which members of the group — usually in the same geographic area — post messages offering things they are giving away or requesting things they want.

Most freecycle groups have a moderator who reviews messages to make sure they conform to basic rules intended to ensure freecycling remains a positive experience. For example, key words like “offer” and “want” in message subjects help members scan through email quickly, and people offering multiple items are asked to put them in one message, resulting in odd combinations, e.g., “candles, shoes, cookbooks and lotions.” Other rules of freecycling sites promote safety, such as prohibitions on weapons, alcohol and prescription drugs, and limitations on exchanging things like food or pets.

The largest freecycling group in Southwest Michigan, with more than 4,000 members, Portage-Kalamazoo Freecycle (PKF) has been in existence for about 10 years and can be found at groups.yahoo.com/group/Portage-KalamazooFreecycle.

According to Ed Shankman, the current moderator of PKF, “the freecycle gifting movement grew out of that ‘pay it forward’ meme popularized by the most excellent movie (of the same name) in 2000.”

He says the ideals behind the practice are ecological, anti-consumerist and spiritual. “We give away tons of stuff that would go to the landfill every month,” he says. “You don’t have to buy new junk when you can use old junk.” The spiritual component is “being kind to your community, being kind to the Earth and gifting out of pure altruistic reasons, or asking for what you need and not (through a sense of) entitlement.”

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 31

Frequent freecycler Jonathan Morgan with just a few of the items he’s either gotten or has available.

Although there are exceptions, like when a recipient doesn’t show up as promised or is ungrateful, freecycling generally is a positive experience, which regular participants attribute to its spirit of altruism and connection between individuals. (Gifters are not allowed to leave items on the curb for a “first come, first served” pickup. Rather, when there are multiple responses to an offer, the gifter chooses one recipient and arranges for a pickup.)

Richland resident Gail Turluck has always been “a sharer by nature” — she also donates some things to Goodwill — but she likes the “freecycling mentality.” “There’s a virtual camaraderie, an essence of sharing … without the trappings of reputation/location/’caste’/ prejudice … that is hard to find in other ways,” Turkluck says.

Sometimes the connection is more than a couple of emails or a brief exchange at the door. Jonathan Morgan of Kalamazoo met a girlfriend via freecycle. “I went to her home to pick up some items, and we ended up being very attracted to each other, and then we began dating,” he says. “We were of like mind, in that we both loved to freecycle, so that was the basis of a good connection.”

People choose to freecycle for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is simply because

32 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

they don’t know what else to do with something they no longer want.

“We all have those items in our homes that we are certain there is someone who could use them, but the Salvation Army or Goodwill would likely chuck these items in the garbage bin if we donated them,” says Bruder. “That is freecycling’s greatest purpose: finding the right people for the right stuff.” She has given away hamster and aquarium supplies, broken computers and ancient televisions. “Somebody is out there looking for these and knows what to do with them. It’s not like they were anything of great value, but they were valuable to somebody.”

Kalamazoo resident Mary Denison is amazed by how freecycling has turned her trash into someone else’s treasure.

She once offered a 20-year-old torn crib mattress and says, “A single gal with a toddler responded almost immediately, and she showed up within an hour. Here I was thinking of throwing it out, and she was so glad to have it. That really made me feel good.”

Morgan is such a proponent of freecycling that he goes beyond giving away his own possessions to seeking out

others’ unwanted material to offer. He came into this freelance freecycling through his home-based business selling on e-Bay. He searches estate sales for things to sell and in the process has befriended one auctioneer who, he says, “began inviting me in to pick up the things they weren’t going to sell or want to sell at the estate sales, like paint and chemicals.” These would have gone to the landfill, but Morgan freecycles them or takes what he can’t to the Kalamazoo County hazardous waste facility.

“People on freecycle always want exterior and interior paint,” he says.” Many of these items are in unopened condition, or barely used, and are typically very expensive in the first place, and thus, people put them to good use.”

Morgan also freecycles material from a frame shop where he once stopped in to ask for shipping boxes that he could reuse for his business. He discovered the shop was throwing away a lot of bubble wrap and other packing materials. “It turned out there’s just a surplus of this and I can pass it on to other people,” he says. “They also give me a large quantity of used framing and matting supplies. I pass these on to teachers, to struggling artists and to papermaking organizations.

“It’s always great when I feel like I am giving decent items that would otherwise end up in a dumpster a second chance at usefulness.”

Freecycling can come in handy in some unexpected ways. For example, when there is something large or unwieldy to give away, the gifter can benefit by receiving free labor to remove the item. Bruder had some unwanted landscape rocks that would have been a chore to move. “We had a freecycler show up and rake them out of our gardens and haul them away. What a bargain!” she says.

Another time she needed to replace a “flock” of plastic flamingos that had been stolen from a neighbor’s lawn, where she had placed them for a school fundraiser (the neighbor had to make a donation to have the flock removed). “I got on freecycle hoping to find someone with some extra flamingos, and I hit the jackpot,” Bruder says. “A fellow Margaret Bruder “hit the jackpot” by finding pink flamingos through freecycling.

freecycler had a dozen pink flamingos still in the package. We were back in business. I was even able to keep a few flamingos for myself for fun.”

Almost any tangible item, excluding things like currency, coupons or land, can be freecycled. Turluck turned to freecycling to help landscape her once “weed-infested, overgrown, out of control” yard. “People (offer) different perennials, and if it’s something I’m familiar with and I know I can stick it in some place, I’m all over it!” she says.

“It’s just been a great way to get the yard looking really great at a relatively low cost.”

For one woman, the freecycle community came to the rescue during a very difficult time. Anne, who asked that her name not be used to protect her safety, was attending graduate school at Notre Dame University when she met and moved in with a man she later discovered was dealing drugs. Having just learned she was pregnant, she tried to make the relationship work for a while — until he hit her.

With new baby in tow, she left him and moved into an apartment her father owned

in Benton Harbor, but after a few months her abuser tracked her down, broke into the apartment and stole all her possessions.

“Everything was gone,” Anne says. “I had one garbage bag full of my and my daughter’s clothes mixed together and a pack of diapers.”

A Kalamazoo native, Anne returned to her hometown but had nothing with which to furnish a new apartment. “I was at my breaking point,” she says, when someone told her about freecycling. She joined PKF and posted a message explaining her situation.

“The emails just poured in,” offering all sorts of things, she says. “Help came from everyone for baby toys, supplies, clothing, furniture, and all. It was overwhelming, so emotional. I was able to provide for a safe home for my then-infant daughter thanks to our freecycle group.”

Anne tries to pay forward this generosity whenever she can, gifting most of her daughter’s outgrown baby clothes and some of her own clothing to women just starting their first professional jobs. “People have been there for you, so you do right by them as well,” she says.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 33

Arts ENCORE

The Golden Touch

WMU’s Gold Company is back producing top vocal jazz Andrew Domino

Courtesy

by

W

estern Michigan University’s awardwinning Gold Company is back, even though it never really went away.

The student jazz chorus, which has won more DownBeat student competition awards than any other college vocal group, has presented its “Miller Show,” a performance at Miller Auditorium, each February for decades.

But the ensemble took last February off, as its new program director, Greg Jasperse, came on board. Jasperse replaced Steve Zegree, who left for Indiana University in 2012.

The hiatus gave Jasperse and the students of Gold Company time to design a new show, using up-to-date technology to create a performance that will be both musical and visual.

“If an audience can’t see what’s going on, they don’t know what to listen for,” Jasperse says.

While this year’s show, dubbed “Miller Show 2.0” and carrying the theme “From Brazil

34 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

With Love,” isn’t until Feb. 14, Gold Company and its spinoff group, Gold Company II, will give audiences a Sneak Preview at 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 6 at Dalton Center Recital Hall, on the WMU campus.

“It will be the middle of winter in Michigan.

It is music that’s going to make (audiences) feel good — bossa nova, samba, a really colorful presentation,” Jasperse says.

Student Sam al Hadid, a senior in his third year as a Gold Company performer, is one of the music producers for this year’s show. Al Hadid says what he most appreciates about Gold Company is the opportunity not only to arrange some of the best-known works in jazz, but, along with other students, to contribute original songs.

“It’s up to us to pick the music and write the actual (songs),” al Hadid says. “This is a highlight of the year, a time when we’re spending time together, staying active and engaged with our music.”

Gold Company’s members, from left: Back row, Mark Niskanen, Madison George, Jacquelyn Mayeros-Ross, Jared DeMeester, Sam Al Hadid, Ryan Block, Andrew Saliba; center row, Alyson Wendzel, Christina Bagley, James Richardson, Kevin Dorta, Liz Wood, Monica Pabelonio, Aimee Lopez; front row, Hannah Truckenbrod, Linda Alvarado, Christian Diaz.

Gold Company was founded in the 1970s as the Varsity Vagabonds, a vocal jazz ensemble directed by Elwyn “Doc” Carter. In 1978, Zegree took Carter’s place, renaming the group Gold Company. Gold Company II, or GCII, was created in 1983.

The reputation of both choruses has grown steadily, with performances before national and international gatherings of singers and music teachers. This year Gold Company features 13 vocalists, including al Hadid, four performers in the rhythm section on percussion and keyboard, and two sound technicians working behind the scenes.

Gold Company’s most prestigious event of its 2014-15 season is yet to come — in January, the group will perform on the main

stage on the last night of the Jazz Education Network conference in San Diego. Gold Company has sung at the conference before, but never as a main-stage act.

“This is the center court, Wimbledon, of jazz,” Jasperse says.

Jasperse, who was a Gold Company member from 1990 to 1993 and graduated from WMU in ’93, was invited back to WMU

Sneak a Peek What: Gold Company and GCII Sneak Preview When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6 Where: Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU Tickets: $10, or $5 for seniors & students; available from Miller Auditorium at 387-2300 or at the door after a career in Los Angeles singing on movie soundtracks and with musicians like Rosemary Clooney and Adele. He is not the first GC alum to go on to direct a top vocal jazz program, however. Kate Reid directs the University of Miami’s jazz vocal performance program, Jennifer Barnes directs vocal jazz studies at the University of North Texas, and Christine Guter directs vocal jazz at California State University, Long Beach.

Guter says her time in Gold Company was instrumental in her obtaining her position at Cal State. Guter was a music major at WMU when she first joined GC. She says she knew nothing about vocal jazz then, but Gold Company taught her how to perform with a group both on and off stage.

“All the fundamental things you need to know I learned there,” Guter says.

But for Gold Company members, it’s not just about singing. Jasperse is also teaching his students about the business side of music, including branding and self-promotion.

He says that there is more to success at auditions than just singing well. Students need to show enthusiasm for themselves and for their performance. The audience at many jazz ensemble shows is other jazz musicians, who instinctively know what to listen for

to spot a top-notch performance, Jasperse explains.

“The ensemble at a university often plays before a general audience, which doesn’t have that same knowledge. I teach them to interact with the band and the audience. I want to have people leave a concert more enlightened about jazz.”

Jasperse and current Gold Company members say performances like the Miller Show may be fun for the audience but mean much more to the students.

“They get an education they won’t get anywhere else and develop a network that will be with them the rest of their professional lives,” Jasperse says.

Vienna Boys Choir Christmas in Vienna Sunday, November 30, 3 PM Chenery Auditorium

Christmas in Vienna showcases these gifted musicians with voices of unforgettable beauty. Join us as we start the season of celebration with a program featuring Austrian folk songs, classical masterpieces, and holiday favorites.

CONCERT SPONSOR

fontanamusic.org | 269.382.7774 w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 35

Arts ENCORE

‘It’s Magical’

Ballerina thrilled to help bring Cinderella to life F

or Claire Amat, the magic in Cinderella has nothing to do with fairy godmothers.

“It’s one thing to dance in the studio,” says the 17-year-old ballerina,“but once you add makeup, costumes and lights, it’s magical. It sounds cliché, but it’s true.”

Amat, a Mattawan resident and senior at Hackett Catholic Prep, has the lead role in the Ballet Arts Ensemble’s Nov. 22 and 23 production of Cinderella.

Cathleen Huling, BAE’s artistic director, knows exactly what Amat means. Huling’s been teaching the ensemble since its inception in 1982, has been its artistic director since 1991 and has been dancing since she was 4 years old.

“Every time you start dancing, you have to act like it’s your first class because everything has to stay fresh,” Huling says. “Being up on stage and actually getting to perform is the icing on the cake. It’s what all dancers look forward to.”

Amat, 17, has been with the ensemble for six years, previously performing in The Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf, The Magical Toy Shop and the annual spring ballets, which are a collection of pieces from varying full-length productions. She has danced lead roles in ballets before, but this is her first time in the title role. Since she’s a senior in high school, this will be her last full-length story ballet with the ensemble.

Ballet Arts Ensemble is a youth ballet company with dancers ages 3 to 18. Because its dancers are young, the ensemble works to create productions that cater to a young audience.

Courtesy

Ballerina Claire Amat, a senior at Hackett Catholic Prep, has the title role in the upcoming production of Cinderella.

36 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

“One of the reasons we chose Cinderella is because it’s one of the more popular ballets that’s geared toward everyone, including small children,” says Huling.

In addition to the ensemble, the production also will feature 70 children from the Kalamazoo community. Free tickets will be provided to area youth organizations, including Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the Black Arts & Cultural Center and Boys & Girls Clubs as well as other organizations that work with youth, such as the YWCA and Bronson Pediatric Oncology.

Connecting with the community is a priority for BAE, since the nonprofit organization relies on donations from businesses, individuals and organizations in the greater Kalamazoo area. All of the dancers in the production are volunteers, as are the set builders, backstage managers and costume mistress. Huling says productions like Cinderella — involving local children and free tickets for local organizations — are one way the ensemble gives back to the community that supports it.

This month’s production of Cinderella will be the third time the ensemble has performed the ballet, and Huling says her choreography and the way she put together the score is what sets Ballet Arts Ensemble’s production apart from other versions of the ballet.

“Every choreographer has their own style,” she says. “I’ve been trained in the Russian ballet and the Italian Cecchetti method so my choreography tends to be traditional and classical. And for this ballet I chose a lot of music from Strauss to build the bulk of the ballet and only kept some from the traditional Prokofiev.”

Strauss’ compositions introduce new melodic and romantic tones, says Huling, and deviating from the traditional music makes this production of Cinderella unique.

Cinderella What: A Ballet Arts Ensemble production When: 2 p.m. Nov. 22 and 23 Where: Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave. How much: $10 to $18 For tickets: Call Miller Auditorium at (269) 387-2300 or visit MillerAuditorium.com/Cinderella.

“It moves,” she says. “It doesn’t get boring. I also fill the stage with dancers so the production is fulfilling to the senses.”

In addition to the 20 Ballet Arts Ensemble members in the show, including Michael Artrip as the prince, Cinderella will feature six ensemble alumni and six other community members in adult roles.

Longtime local on-air personality Lori Moore and WWMT evening news co-anchor Andy Dominiani will star in cameo roles as the queen and the king.

Amat says the chance for non-ensemble members to feel the thrill of being on stage for a production “is special.” She’s also pleased with other aspects of the show.

“A lot of ballets feel like there’s the story and there’s the music, and they’re separate,” she says. “Not this ballet. Everything moves together. When it’s midnight, it feels like midnight — every sense is involved.”

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PERFORMING ARTS — Theater Plays Romeo and Juliet — Shakespeare’s tragic love story, 7:30 p.m. Nov 6; 8 p.m. Nov. 7 & 8; 2 p.m. Nov. 9, Balch Playhouse, Kalamazoo College, 337-7333.

Saving Grace — A warmhearted girl mistakes a telephone repairman for a burglar, 8 p.m.

Nov. 7 & 8, New Vic Theatre, 134 E. Vine St., 532-4770.

A Christmas Carol — 35th annual production of Ted Kistler’s adaptation, 8 p.m. Nov. 21, 22, 28 & 29, New Vic Theatre, 134 E. Vine St., 532-4770.

Musicals

Hannaniah and the Boys — Pop, rock, jazz, folk, country and classic rock sounds, 9 p.m. Nov. 1, Union Cabaret & Grille, 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 375-1193.

Breathe Carolina/Candyland — Electronic music, rock, remixes and cross-genre music, 8 p.m. Nov. 6, Wild Bull Saloon, 139 S. Edwards St., 978-8451.

Umphrey’s McGee — Progressive rock band, 8:45 p.m. Nov. 6, State Theatre, 404 S. Burdick St., 345-6500.

Delilah DeWylde and the Lost Boys — Vintage country, honky-tonk and rockabilly, 6-8 p.m.

Nov. 7, Kalamazoo Valley Museum, 230 N. Rose St., 373-7990.

Sister Act — Broadway musical comedy, 3 & 8 p.m. Nov. 1, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Béla Fleck with Brooklyn Rider — Premier banjo player teams up with a New York quartet, 8 p.m. Nov. 15, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave., 327-7774.

Hair — Trip into the ’60s with this Tony Award-winning musical, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14, 15, 20, 21 & 22; 2 p.m. Nov. 16 & 23, Shaw Theatre, WMU, 387-6222.

Cliff Erickson — Original acoustic guitar music and covers of well-known songs, 9 p.m. Nov. 7, 14 & 15, Union Cabaret & Grille, 375-1193.

Out of Jeopardy and Into the Spotlight — Stephanie Jaas, three musicians and an evening of song and stories, 8 p.m. Nov. 14 & 15, New Vic Theatre, 134 E. Vine St., 5324770.

Australia’s Thunder From Down Under — Australian male revue staged in Vegas and internationally, 8:30 p.m. Nov. 14 (age 18 and up), State Theatre, 345-6500.

Elf, The Musical — Tale of Buddy’s search for his father, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 25 & 26, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Shrek, The Musical — Musical adaption of the animated movie, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28 & 29, 2 p.m. Nov. 30, Civic Auditorium, 329 S. Park St. 343-1313.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea — Adaptation of Judith Kerr’s classic picture book with magic, mayhem and music, 11 a.m. Nov. 1 & 8; 2 p.m., Nov. 1, 2, 8 & 9; 5 p.m. Nov. 2 & 9, Farmers Alley Theatre, 221 Farmers Alley, 343-2727.

PERFORMING ARTS – MUSIC Bands & Solo Artists The Talley s — Christian music, 7 p.m. Nov. 1, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave., 965-9324.

38 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

The Temptations — Motown and soul band performs classics, 8 p.m. Nov. 15, State Theatre, 345-6500.

The Lettermen — American pop music vocal trio, 3 p.m. Nov 16, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Greensky Bluegrass — Local bluegrass band plays favorites and hits from new album, 8 p.m. Nov. 28, State Theatre, 345-6500.

Western Winds — Music of Francaix, Beethoven and Ewazen, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-2300.

Bronco Marching Band — A review of their season, 3 p.m. Nov. 9, Miller Auditorium, 387-2300.

Faculty Guest Recital — Merling Trio with Andrew Koehler, violin, and Jun-Ching Lin, viola, 3 p.m. Nov. 16, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-2300.

Big Band Swing Tribute — University Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Lab Band, 8 p.m. Nov. 22, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-2300.

Gilmore Rising Star: Jerry Léonide — Mauritian rhythms and jazzy touches, 4 p.m. Nov. 23, Wellspring Theatre, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 342-1166.

Kalamazoo College Jazz Band — 8 p.m. Nov. 1, Dalton Theatre, K-College, 337-7070.

Guest Artist Recital — Trombonist Kip Hickman, 7:30 Nov. 3, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 382-7774.

Jazz Mix Night — 8 p.m. Nov. 5, 12, 17 & 26, Union Cabaret & Grille, 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 384-6756.

International Percussion — 7 p.m. Nov. 18, Dalton Theatre, Kalamazoo College, 3377070.

Gull Lake Jazz Orchestra — An 18-piece band plays the hits of leading jazz artists, 7-10 p.m. Nov. 19, Union Cabaret & Grille, 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 375-1193.

University Concert and Symphonic Bands — 3 p.m. Nov. 23, Miller Auditorium, 387-2300.

Symphony

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas — 30th anniversary tour, 8 p.m. Nov. 29, Miller Auditorium, 387-5801.

University Symphony Orchestra — 3 p.m.

Nov. 2, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-2300.

Chamber, Jazz & Concert

A Hero’s Life — Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 is paired with Strauss’ tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) in this Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra concert featuring violinist Susie Park, 8 p.m. Nov. 14, Miller Auditorium, 387-5801.

WMU Faculty Soloists — Lin Foulk, horn, and Wendy Rose, bassoon, 3 p.m. Nov. 2, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave., 337-0440.

Symphonic Band Concert — Kalamazoo College symphonic band, 8 p.m. Nov. 14, Dalton Theatre, Kalamazoo College, 337-7070.

The Ballet Russes — The Kalamazoo Philharmonia performs Poulenc’s Rondeau from Les Biches, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, Debussy’s Gymnopedie No. 1 and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, 8 p.m. Nov. 15, Dalton Theatre, Kalamazoo College.

Vocal Gold Company and GCII Sneak Preview — WMU vocal ensembles, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-2300.

Opera at WMU — Ever Since Eden by Bruce Tinkley, 8 p.m. Nov. 14 & 15, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 382-7774.

Kalamazoo College Singers — 3 p.m. Nov. 16, Stetson Chapel, K-College, 337-4040.

A Partridge in a Pair Tree — The Kalamazoo Singers perform “pairs” of beloved Christmas and holiday songs, 3 p.m. Nov. 23, Miller Auditorium, 373-1769.

Vienna Boys Choir — Illustrious group of child musicians, 3 p.m. Nov. 30, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave., 382-7774.

PERFORMING ARTS – OTHER Comedy Last Comic Standing Live — Season 8’s Last Comic Standing finalists perform, 8 p.m. Nov. 8, Miller Auditorium, 387-2300.

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VISUAL ARTS

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Cinderella — Ballet Arts Ensemble’s fulllength ballet of the classic fairy tale, 2 p.m.

Nov. 22 & 23, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave., 387-2300. bellsbeer.com

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts The Arts of Japan and China: Selections from the Collection — Historical and contemporary works from Japan and China, through Nov. 9, 349-7775.

Lasting Legacy: A Collection for Kalamazoo — An exhibition celebrating the KIA’s 90th anniversary, through Dec. 7..

A Collector’s Eye: Works from the Collection of James and Sheila Bridenstine — A collection focusing on American and European art, through Jan. 4.

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ARTbreak — Free presentations on art-related topics: Modern Painters Society, Nov 4; Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre, Nov. 11; Ladislav Hanka and Mary Whalen: Artist Talk, Nov. 18; all sessions at noon, KIA Auditorium.

Double Take — Kalamazoo-area artists select works from the KIA that inspire them, through Jan. 4.

ArtPrize 2014 Review and Future — Kevin Buist, exhibition director of ArtPrize, talks about the future of the Grand Rapids competition, 6-7 p.m. Nov. 6.

Richmond Center for Visual Arts, WMU In the Shadows: Contemporary Artists and Obsessive Memory — Concepts of individual and shared memories reflected in art, through Nov. 14, Monroe-Brown Gallery, WMU, 387-2436.

Gwen Frostic School of Art Faculty Exhibition — Through Dec. 12, Monroe-Brown Gallery, WMU. West Michigan Glass Art Center All That Glitters — Stroll through displays and view live glassblowing presentations, 5-9 p.m. Nov. 7, Park Trades Center, 326 W. Kalamazoo Ave., Suite 100, 522-9802.

Explore Glass Art Day — 45-minute glass art classes offered every hour, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Nov. 15.

Miscellaneous Art Hop – Local artists and musicians at various venues in downtown Kalamazoo, 5-9 p.m. Nov. 7 LIBRARY & LITERARY EVENTS Kalamazoo Public Library First Saturday — Fun, free family activities, 2-3:30 p.m. Nov. 1, Central Library, 315 S. Rose St., 553-7800.

Meet the Author: Todd Parr — Best-selling picture book author and illustrator shares stories with families, 6:30-8 p.m. Nov. 13, Central Library, 553-7800.

Kalamazoo in Real Photos — Explore images of Kalamazoo’s past through early stereoscopic views, 6:30 p.m. Nov. 18, Oshtemo Branch, 7265 W. Main St., 553-7980.

Portage District Library First Draft NaNo Kickoff — Brainstorming and speed-writing session to kick off National Novel Writing Month, 3 p.m. Nov.

1, Latitude 42, 7842 Portage Road, 5858711.

Fiction Writing Workshop and Reading with Deborah Percy and Andy Mozina — These published writers share writing strategies and experiences, 2 p.m. Nov. 2, 300 Library Lane, 329-4544.

Meet the Chef: Sara Kozminske — People’s Food Co-op’s Kozminske talks about eating raw foods, 2 p.m. Nov. 3.

NaNo Wednesday Night Write-Ins — Research assistance, writing guides, howto’s, thesauri and other writing tools, 5:30 p.m. Nov. 5, 12, 19 & 26.

Stories from the Front and the Homefront, Chapter 2 — To commemorate Veterans Day, the Combat Veterans’ Writing Group hosts a community story-sharing event, 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 11.

MUSEUMS Air Zoo Tiger’s Experience: Tracking a Legend — An immersive journey into the lives of endangered Bengal tigers, 6151 Portage Road, 382-6555.

Kalamazoo Valley Museum Citizen Science — Learn about crowd — sourcing and scientific data collection in the digital age, 1:30 p.m. Nov. 2, 230 N. Rose St., 373-7990.

The 33rd Street Band — Live music of timeless classics, 7 p.m. Nov. 14.

Kalamazoo During the Civil War — 1:30 p.m.

Nov. 16.

Delilah DeWylde and the Lost Boys — Mixing their own songs with vintage country and honky-tonk hits, 6-8 p.m.

ACCU Sack Lunch Series — Sharon Davis, author of A Safe Place to Talk About Race: 10 Thought-Provoking Interviews, talks about her weekly syndicated radio show, noon Nov. 20.

The Moxie Strings — Electrifying combination of fiddle and electric cellist, 7 p.m. Nov. 21.

Love and Valor: One Couple’s Intimate Civil War Letters — The story of a Union soldier and his wife, 7 p.m. Nov. 28.

Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon — Laser visuals shown on planetarium’s dome, 8 p.m. Fridays, through Dec. 26.

40 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

NATURE Kalamazoo Nature Center Yoga in the Glen Vista — Practice yoga surrounded by the forest in the Glen Vista Gallery, 6 p.m. Nov. 5, 7000 N. Westnedge Ave., 381-1574.

Ballet Arts Ensemble Cathleen Huling, Artistic Director

Saturday & Sunday

November 22-23 2:00 p.m.

W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Fall Migration Celebration — Celebrate the fall waterfowl migration, 1 p.m. Nov. 2, Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, 12685 East C Ave., Augusta, 671-2510.

Chenery Auditorium Special ticket rates available for groups of 20 or more

Fall Waterfowl Identification Class — Learn how to train your eye to look for distinguishing marks on migrating ducks, 1 p.m. Nov. 9.

Birds and Coffee Walk — An experienced guide leads a short birding walk, followed by discussion and coffee, 9-10:30 a.m. Nov. 12.

Full-length ballet with music by J. Strauss and S. Prokofiev

Holiday Walk and Market — Explore the decorated rooms of the W.K. Kellogg Manor House, noon-5 p.m. Nov. 28, 3700 E. Gull Lake Drive, 671-2160.

Featuring Cameos by Celebrity Guests

Andy Dominianni & Lori Moore Claire Amat as Cinderella

FESTIVALS

Fresh flower bouquets available at the door by Schafer's Flowers while supply lasts.

Kalamazoo Craft Beer Festival — Featuring more than 50 craft breweries, 1-7 p.m. Nov. 1, Wings Stadium, 3600 Vanrick Drive, 345-1125.

Have you seen the New Kid in Town?

MISCELLANEOUS Christmas Boutique Arts and Crafts Show — Presented by Treasured Crafts, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Nov. 1, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 2900 Lake St., 327-5373.

Haunted History of Kalamazoo — Learn about the spookier side of Kalamazoo’s downtown, 8 p.m. Nov. 1, Bronson Park, 216-9727.

West Michigan Harvest Cluster AKC Dog Show — All-breed dog show with conformation, obedience trials and rally trials, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 6-9, Kalamazoo County Expo Center.

Veterans Day Service — Annual Veterans Day event honoring women and men who have served or are serving, 11 a.m. Nov. 11, Fort Custer National Cemetery, 15501 Dickman Road, 731-4164.

Holiday Parade — Downtown Kalamazoo’s annual event with floats, balloons and bands, 11 a.m. Nov. 15, downtownkalamazoo.org.

Ask About The Cinderella Tea

$10-$18 reserved seat tickets available in advance by calling 269-387-2300 Additional information is available at <balletartsensemble.org>

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The Hol nology ng Kids Tech to Givi • A Guide days Easier Holi • Hacks for ily Fun • Festive Fam

Nov/Dec 2014

Plus:

All Latkes for g Leaf Illuminatinrns Lante Art by Awesome s Kid

A new magazine for SW Michigan families Published by

Available in locations in the greater Kalamazoo Area

Check out our digital edition at fyiswmichigan.com Keep up with new issues! Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/fyiswmichigan. w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 41

POETRY encore

Writing in Dust Let’s weave braids of dust rich with time’s unspeakable debris, broken voices, whispers, dried tears, insects’ wings.

Let’s shake the dust in our heart

Doesn’t most of it come from

watch it fall like snow in a crystal globe,

our discarded skin?

paint open shutters, let the wind in

Or is it the residue of fleeting

or think of what we might

breaths hidden in pillow edges

write in our own dust

and seams, my kitten’s fur,

as on a sandy shore,

conjuring my old cat’s scent

express the unthinkable,

alive in this impalpable,

unravel what informs that dust

minute form?

And is it true you can clone someone with just one hair, one speck of flesh, all of which hovers around you?

Some say don’t clean too much, a house full of dust is a sign of laughter, of good times spent forgetting how to clean.

Some say chasing spider webs in every nook and corner isn’t healthy while unaware of those nesting in one’s mind.

let it settle at will heavy as sand in an hourglass.

— Hedy Habra Habra is the author of the poetry collection Tea in Heliopolis (Press 53, 2013) and the short-story collection Flying Carpets (Interlink, 2013), which received an Honorable Mention in Fiction in the 2013 Arab American Book Award program. She has an M.A. and an M.F.A. in English and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Spanish literature, all from Western Michigan University, where she teaches Spanish.

“Writing in Dust” was part of her winning entry in the 2012 Nazim Hikmet Poetry Competition.

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42 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

Northside (continued from page 28) came upon the Shia Group, an urban grocery group that owns 14 stores in Detroit, and enticed the owners to open the Park Street Market, their first store in western Michigan.

“Unless we owned the land and buildings (and then rent them out), there was no way another grocery store would have replaced Felpausch,” Jordan-Woods says.

The NACD also developed “business hubs,” which clump together a variety of small stores in one area. One “hub” is the U-shaped district that runs up Westnedge Avenue to Paterson Street and down Burdick Street.

“When you look for a defined commercial district in the neighborhood, there isn’t one,” Jordan-Woods says. “Business hubs illustrate the NACD’s commitment to bring business and a quality of life to the 6,000 people who live in the neighborhood.”

The businesses in the hub also make the statement that they are interested in the neighborhood, she says. Likewise, local residents shopping there express their interest. In fact, pastors of neighborhood churches regularly encourage their congregations to stop off at the Park Street Market after church and buy something.

However, Jordan-Woods says the success of Northside businesses is also dependent on their ability to extend their customer base beyond the Northside.

“They need the support of people outside the neighborhood, just as any business does,” she says. “D&W grocery store, Crossroads Mall and the downtown mall are not only used by the people who live nearby. People throughout the city buy things there.”

Overcoming stigma Despite all the good things happening in the Northside neighborhood, there is still the stigma that it is unsafe. In the late 1980s, the Northside was a poor area with homeless people, prostitutes, dump sites, vacant land and dilapidated buildings.

Boatyard Brewery partner Brian Steele says his wife, Mary Kay, cried when she first saw the building at 432 E. Paterson St. that he wanted to purchase. A lifelong resident of Kalamazoo, she was afraid their new business would be doomed to fail. However, she quickly changed her mind when she saw the building shape up — and more than 120 people come to the open house.

Despite the difficulty of overcoming past perceptions of the neighborhood and the need for people to feel safe, Deistler says many young people or transplants from other cities are unaware of those perceptions.

Entrepreneurs are not afraid of going anywhere there is an opportunity, he says.

Meanwhile, the downtown area’s crime rate has dropped 20 percent over the past five years and is a safer place to live, work and shop.

One of the keys to successfully developing a formerly blighted or forgotten area is the spirit of the entrepreneur willing to take a chance to make something happen, such as that embodied by Boatyard Brewing Co. partners Dan Gilligan and Brian Steele.

The friends had been home brewing beer for several years when they learned that Steve Alkema wanted to sell the old Standard Oil fuel depot. Although the partners were not interested in starting a business, they took one look at the historic building and decided to take the plunge. But first they had to renovate.

Built in 1925, the building had yellow bricks that were made in Kalamazoo, and the partners tried to save every one they could as well as every doorway and wall, in order to preserve the building’s historic quality. The concrete floor is a foot thick, with two layers of reinforcement; the basement walls are 17 inches thick.

“I think they constructed the building to secure it from any explosions,” says Gilligan, an electrician by training.

The building also houses 14 artists’ studios and has been an Art Hop stop for years. “The concept here is to make this building, the beer and the artists a craft destination,” says Gilligan.

Brews, bikes & hikes Beer has been a tourist bonanza for the area, and the Northside’s three breweries are among the 10 stops of the Walking Beer Tours that take place on Saturdays during the summer. While 33 percent of the breweries’ visitors are from Kalamazoo County, the next biggest draw is from Chicago, reports Renée Newman, director of marketing and communications at Discover Kalamazoo.

Michigan is now fifth in the nation in the number of craft breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs. And demand is still out there

for more; 2015 will see four more breweries opening in the area, says Newman.

A Pure Michigan tourism campaign is pairing beer and bike trails to attract local and out-of-town visitors from northern Indiana and Chicago. The Northside has that pairing, too, with the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail (KRVT) running right through the neighborhood.

The KRVT currently sports 17 of its 35 planned miles of bike and walking trails, which, when complete, will connect the KalHaven Trail and the Portage BikewayTrail. The current trail also goes out to Comstock.

Routing the KRVT through the Northside neighborhood was all about connection, says Jerry Albertson, president of the Parks Foundation of Kalamazoo County, the organization that raises funds to support the KRVT. “There is a library there, businesses, and it’s on the way to the Nature Center,” he explains.

“It encourages people to take the trail and to become healthy and active. Many people even use the trail to get to and from work.”

The trailway also helps change people’s negative perceptions of the area because they see a more developed and beautiful area with businesses as they travel along the route, he says.

Development of the handsome Kalamazoo Transportation Center (KTC), which opened in 2005, not only unites the Northside with the downtown, Kisscorni says, but makes the neighborhood and the riverfront a draw for tourism. The KTC serves local and longdistance buses and Amtrak trains.

Kisscorni illustrates how such activity can mean income for local businesses. A couple from Ann Arbor took the Amtrak to Kalamazoo to spend the day. They brought their bikes, rode the trails, had a meal, a beer and then returned home, he says.

As the saying goes, success breeds success.

So, as the Northside becomes more attractive to Kalamazooans and tourists alike, more and more entrepreneurs are likely to invest in it.

“I look forward to the next 25 years,” says the ever-optimistic Larry Bell about Northside development, and Kisscorni agrees.

“There is plenty of room for development over the next two or three generations,” he says.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 43

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

WMUK

Alfieri Jewelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 AVB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

102.1

The Ayres Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Ballet Arts Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Bell’s Brewery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Borgess Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Bravo! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Bronson Health Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Catalyst University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Constance Brown Hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Dave’s Glass Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Dement and Marquardt, PLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 DeNooyer Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Farm ‘N’ Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

WMUK NEWS

WMUK NEWS airs

First National Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

stories about life in

Flipse, Meyer, Allwardt, P.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Kalamazoo and SW

Fontana Chamber Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Michigan. Stories, headlines

Food Dance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

and weather are part of daily

Four Roses Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

WMUK/NPR news broadcasts.

FYI Magazine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Gilmore Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Great Lakes Shipping Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Greenleaf Hospitality Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Henderson Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

What Can a Professional Printer Do?

Integrated Smart Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Kalamazoo Community Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Kalamazoo RESA Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

If you have an important print project you’re thinking of entrusting to your ink-jet, remember this well-loved American folktale and reconsider.

Landscape Arborist Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Lawton Ridge Winery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Lewis, Reed & Allen P.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

John Henry was a steel-driver who pitted his strength and stamina against a steampowered steel-driving machine by digging through a mountain of solid rock. John won the race, but victory was brief— immediately afterward, he collapsed and died from exhaustion.

London Grill/Lost Raven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 LVM Capital Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Destination Mercantile Bank of Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Millennium Catering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Still thinking of doing it yourself?

Nutrimost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Exaggeration aside, we know that if you try using your office printer for jobs better suited for professional printing equipment, you’ll only wind up tired and frustrated, with a lot of lost time and wasted paper. Fortunately, there is a better way.

Parkway Plastic Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Portage Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Saffron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Varnum Attorneys At Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Instead of fighting your office printer, trust your important projects to us. We know paper, we know ink, and we know printing.

We have the skills and the means to make your job turn out great, leaving you time to focus on growing your company.

Vliestra Bros. Pools & Spas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Wild Ginger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Wine Loft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 WMUK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Zoorona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Answer: Landmarks on Cover The landmarks in our illustration are, from top, left to right: People’s Food Co-op, Boatyard Brewing Co., Bell’s Brewery, Arcadia Ales, Ignertia/Life Story Network, JTS Classic Cars, Kalamazoo River Valley Trail, Mackenzies’ Bakery and Park Street Market.

☎

1116 W Centre Avenue 323-9333 PortagePrinting.com 44 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

1116 West Centre Avenue

323-9333

The Last Word (continued from page 46) That summer, my parents told us we would be moving to Iran. Dad had a new dream: He wanted to be a cowboy and own a ranch in Colorado, and the only way he knew to accumulate enough money to buy a ranch was to take a job overseas.

Thus began our life as “expats” in an age when an American living in the Middle East was a romantic adventure, not a risky one. We lived in a mountainous region of southwestern Iran in a house constructed of dried clay blocks. The hills behind it were dotted with fat-tailed sheep, and the whole valley reeked of sulfur from huge flares burning off the gas released during the extraction of oil. We were living in a culture rich with thousands of years of literature, art and architecture. We traveled to other continents and lived, worked, and were schooled with people from across the globe.

Six years later, the Iranian revolution began and 52 Americans were taken hostage in the Tehran American Embassy.

The revolution launched an exodus of foreigners from Iran. Dad was responsible for getting all of his company’s foreign employees in our southern city safely out of the country. His plan involved a phone tree to spread the word when a plane became available to fly the expats to Athens. It also included a small (125cc) motorcycle with dual gas cans flung over the seat, saddlebag style, for an improbable ride across the desert to Turkey. Dad feared that while he

raced around accounting for everyone, he might not make the plane himself. In the end, everyone made it. After six weeks in Greece waiting for an end to the upheaval in Iran that wouldn’t come, friends and co-workers said their goodbyes and returned to their countries of origin.

My parents moved to southwest Colorado into a tiny house on the ranch they had bought two years before. With no job and a large mortgage, Dad made new plans. He wanted to teach math at the local community college and raise cattle, but the numbers didn’t add up. So he looked for another overseas job — one that would pay off the mortgage so he could retire and become a cowboy.

He took a job in Venezuela. Before they left, my parents spent a glorious summer on the ranch, walking the land and branding cows. Dad died a year later in Venezuela, at the age of 48, while playing squash with a British friend.

It seems each plan my Dad made was scattered in the wind, yet he always charted a new course for us. I am almost a decade older than he was when he died, and I’m finally hearing the echoes of fatherly lessons from the past. I’ve learned that life will feel like a series of accidents unless you give yourself permission to forge a path for yourself. That the ground under your feet is going to shift constantly. And finally, if you look at life as an adventure, you just might have a bunch of them.

Deborah Goodknight Hanley is the author of the Michigan children’s book Pirates’ Gold and the writer of numerous radio theater scripts for All Ears Theatre. She has a B.S. in Industrial Design and is an LPN. She has lived many places but is happy to have found “home” in Kalamazoo for the past 30 years.

Her website is DeborahHanleywriter.com.

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w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 45

THE last word encore

Life Happens by

Deborah Goodknight Hanley

M

y parents met in 1954. Dad was in the Air Force, and Mom worked as a bookkeeper. Dad had guard-shack duty at Peterson Air Force Base, in Colorado Springs, where he habitually told women who passed through the gate that he got off at 11 p.m. Mom passed the shack several times while going to work, and she was the one who came back at 11 p.m. They dated, and when Mom discovered she was pregnant, they got married. It didn’t matter that neither had told their parents about the other or that Dad’s tour of duty would soon be up — they made plans anyway. Mom would work, and Dad would go to college on the GI bill and eventually get a good job to support their new family.

My parents moved to California, where Dad enrolled in a community college. My brother Steve was born. There was little money. My grandmother sent greeting cards for every possible holiday so that her enclosed cash gifts would not be viewed as “handouts.” Mom figured out Grandma’s game plan fairly quickly when they received a “Happy Groundhog Day” card in the mail with $50 in it.

When he was 2, Steve was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic mutation carried by the mother and afflicting only sons. My parents were advised to have no more children, but life was happening, and Mom was pregnant within a year. They were relieved when I arrived, since they were learning what life would be like for a boy with Duchenne’s. Duchenne’s progresses quickly, and Steve would go from walking to using crutches by age 5 to a wheelchair by age 9. He would not live beyond his teen years. His mind would be sharp and his wit biting, but his muscles would melt away.

Dad worked during the day and attended night classes in petroleum engineering. A year after I was born, Mom delivered another boy. Eleven months later a third son was born. (I know what you’re thinking, but the birth-control pill wouldn’t be available for another year.) Now all plans were on hold, except the one where my Dad would finish his master’s degree and get a well-paying job to support his family of six.

Dad graduated, and while the new batch of petroleum engineers spread out to jobs all over the globe, he took a job in California.

The plan was to get Steve the best medical care, which was in the U.S. Over the next few years we learned that neither of my younger brothers had muscular dystrophy. My parents saw life come back into focus and began to make new plans.

Steve was in fifth grade when we moved to Omaha. He was now in a wheelchair, which wasn’t allowed in public school hallways in 1965 (the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1974 was still a ways off) so he attended a school for disabled children. While his siblings walked to public elementary school, Steve and his classmates were picked up and dropped off at home each day by yellow taxis,

46 | Encore NOVEMBER 2014

A lifetime of plans made and unmade began when the author’s dad was on duty at an Air Force Base guard shack.

courtesy of precise planning and financing by Dad and several other fathers (transportation for the disabled would come much later).

Steve was almost 16 when Dad took a job in Denver, hoping it would benefit both our family and his career. Two months after we moved there, Steve developed a chest cold, and, without the muscle strength to cough to clear his chest, contracted pneumonia. The night he died there was a forest fire in the foothills outside Denver, and the emergency vehicle that pulled into our driveway at 2:30 a.m. had come straight from the blaze. As two soot-covered EMTs wheeled Steve’s body out the front door, our family’s little boat lost the wind in its sails. Our charted course had always been determined by Steve’s needs. (continued on page 45)

Arcadia Ales

The Ignertia Building

enhancing Kalamazooâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s northside AVB has recently completed two noteworthy projects serving Kalamazoo from the Northside.

Arcadia Brewing Companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new 30,000 square foot production facility and brew pub significantly increased capacity for the popular brewer and also brought a great new dining and gathering place to our community. The Ignertia Building was a complete renovation of a former metal arts center.

Comprising 12,000 square feet the facility now includes offices, an art gallery, and residential living spaces.

Both projects were former brownfield properties reclaimed and repurposed to serve our region well into the future.

AVB is proud to have been involved in these and other projects revitalizing Kalamazooâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Northside and our entire community.

Visit www.avbinc.com to learn more.

4200 w centre ave

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portage, mi 49024

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269.323.2022

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avbinc.com

that’s where I started

feeling like me again Peg Sarantos

Borgess Brain & Spine Institute patient

Peg Sarantos couldn’t even put her shoes on. For a person whose life was all about being active, it was a nightmare. That’s where making a personal connection with members of the team at Borgess made all the difference.

They eased her fears about having surgery, and after a minimally invasive procedure at the Borgess Brain & Spine Institute, her pain was finally gone.

Watch her incredible story and share your own at ThatsWhere.com

ThatsWhere.com A member of Ascension Health®