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NOVEMBER 2013

southwest michigan’s magazine

Bonding Generations Teens help veterans tell their stories

Keystone Community Bank’s

Tom Schleuter What is Allison Downey’s story?

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NOVEMBER 2013

southwest michigan’s magazine

Bonding Generations Teens help veterans tell their stories

Keystone Community Bank’s

Tom Schleuter

What is Allison Downey’s story?

As a locally-owned bank, when you bank with us your deposits stay local, helping our community prosper.

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Publisher

encore publications, inc.

Editor

marie lee

Designer

alexis stubelt

Photographer erik holladay

Your Local Bank, Putting You First.

Copy Editor/Poetry Editor

269.349.0100

margaret deritter

Contributors

Learn more at fnbmichigan.com

zinta aistars, kit almy, margaret deritter, tiffany fitzgerald, marie lee

Contributing Poets

elizabeth kerlikowske, amy newday

Advertising Sales/Business Manager krieg lee

Advertising Representative celeste statler

Office Manager ron dundon

Encore Magazine is published 9 times yearly, September through May. Copyright 2013, Encore Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Editorial, circulation and advertising correspondence should be sent to: www.encorekalamazoo.com 117 W. Cedar St. Suite A Kalamazoo, MI 49007 Telephone: (269) 383-4433 Fax number: (269) 383-9767 E-mail: Publisher@encorekalamazoo.com 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 $27, two years $53, three years $78. Current single issue and newsstand $4, $10 by mail. Back issues $6, $12 by mail. Advertising rates on request. Closing date for space is 28 days prior to publication date. Final date for print-ready copy is 21 days prior to publication date.

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CONTENTS

November

2013

FEATURES Community Banker

18

Bonding the Generations

24

Tom Schlueter’s people-first approach puts the community into Keystone Community Bank.

Veterans and high-schoolers create living histories together.

What’s Her Story?

Singer-songwriter and storyteller Allison Downey is gaining acclaim.

DEPARTMENTS

Up Front 6 Fun and Games —– The 58th Circus Maxiumus Toy Show brings out the kid in everyone.

8 Roll the Presses —– Determined volunteers resurrect Vicksburg and Schoolcraft community newspaper.

30

10 Enterprise

VerHage Fruit Farm —– Siblings keep family farm alive with agritourism.

14 Savor

16 Good Works

Variety for Vegetarians —– Local restaurants offer a plethora of choices for meatless diners.

Underwear for Christmas —– Ministry with Community provides the basics many take for granted.

46

The Last Word

Goodbye, City Life —– The sky seems limitless when you trade suburbia for country life.

ARTS

34 Uncorking Classical Music

The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra aims to make classical music “approachable.”

36 A Long Run

The Paw Paw Village Players have been acting up for 45 years.

38 Events of Note 41 Poetry

On the cover: Loy Norrix student Brady James takes notes as World War II veteran Francis Max Smith of Portage talks about his time as a naval radio operator. Photo by Erik Holladay.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 5

UP FRONT ENCORE

Fun and Games

Toy show offers nostalgia and treasure hunting by

Marie Lee

6 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

Scenes from Collectible To past Circus Maximus To y An y Shows held at the Kalam tique and azoo County Expo Center .

Courtesy phot

was …”

Want to see what your parents and grandparents really played with as children? You can do that Nov. 30 at the Circus Maximus Antique and Collectible Toy Show at the Kalamazoo County Expo Center.

This is the 58th Circus Maximus Toy Show, which runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There are two such shows held in Kalamazoo each year, one in November and the other in May. But November’s show, always scheduled for the Saturday after Thanksgiving, is particularly popular with toy lovers.

“It’s the largest toy show in the Midwest,” says show organizer Jim Welytok, of Unique Events Shows in Waukesha, Wis. “It has about 500 tables in 50,000 square feet, and we have people that come from all over, including Canada and other countries.”

The Circus Maximus show has been held in Kalamazoo since 1983, when it was started by Bruce and Dee Beimers, of Grand Rapids. Five years ago, the Beimers retired and sold the show to Welytok, who, for his day job, works as an experimental mechanic for the Harley-Davidson Product Development Center in Milwaukee.

Welytok has always been a big fan of the show. “I always attended the Kalamazoo show because I liked it so much,” says Welytok, who collects tin, battery-operated toys from Japan. “It’s extremely well known, which is why I wanted to acquire it.”

os

Every kid has heard it: “When I was younger, all we had for a toy

Welytok’s company runs 11 other toy and collectible shows. “The thing about toys is that they appeal to everybody. You’ll find stuff your grandfather used to play with, and you’ll see toys there that you remember from commercials you watched as a kid. You’ll find items from $1 to $10,000.”

The admission fee for the Kalamazoo show is $6; children under 12 get in free. However, if you are serious about finding that certain toy, you may want to pay the $30 preview fee that lets you enter from 4 to 8 p.m. Nov. 29 and 7 to 9 a.m. Nov. 30 while the vendors are setting up.

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“The thing about toys is that they appeal to everybody.”

– Jim Welytok “There’s always hard-core collectors who want first dibs on the best items, and they will pay to get in early,” Welytok explains. “They get the privilege of seeing what the vendors have as they set up. They aren’t allowed to dig through dealers’ boxes and have to wait until the items are out on display.”

For those who aren’t hard-core toy collectors, especially for families, the show is still great fun, Welytok says, “People should come with their families,” he says. “Everybody is going to have a great time. Grandma and Grandpa will point out the toys when they were kids, and Dad will buy something for himself that he remembers from back when. There’s a lot of affordable things for the kids too, from Hot Wheels cars to stuffed animals.”

But be careful, because collecting toys is an easy hobby to fall into. Welytok’s obsession started with nostalgia for his childhood.

When he was growing up, he says, “all the neighbor kids had the better toys.”

“Isn’t that how you always remember it?” he asks. “So when I grew up, I started buying the toys I wanted when I was a kid, the toys my neighbors had.”

And he hasn’t stopped. “It’s a constant journey,” he admits.

For more information about the show, visit circusmaximustoyshow.com.

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up front encore

Roll the Presses

Volunteers resurrect community newspaper Marie Lee

Roy Van Loo Jr.

Erik Holladay

by

Among the volunteers that put out The South County News are, back row, from left, Brian Decker, Steve Ellis, Wes Schmitt, Kim Marston and Fred Rainer; front row, from left, Bob Smith, Norm Hinga and Sue Moore.

Vicksburg and Schoolcraft have a newspaper again.

The area’s former newspaper — the Commercial Express, which served the southern communities of Kalamazoo County for 133 years — ceased publishing in 2012, five years after being purchased by its big brother to the north, the Kalamazoo Gazette.

It didn’t take long for area residents to realize that the loss of the newspaper left a gaping hole in their communities.

“I needed help to promote our jazz band event and became so frustrated because there was no way to get the word out,” says Kim Marston, a Vicksburg resident. “And I said, ‘We need a newspaper in this community.’”

8 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

Vicksburg Village President Bill Adams agreed. He had done a survey of residents and businesses, and the constant issue that came up was the community’s lack of a newspaper. As a result, Adams worked with Norm Hinga, a local resident and partner in the consulting firm Business Research & Development Group LLC, to put together a business plan outlining what it would take for the town to have a newspaper again.

What it would take, they realized, was a handful of very dedicated volunteers who would work weekly for virtually nothing in order to produce a monthly publication. Adams, undaunted, moved forward.

“Bill Adams sees having a newspaper as good for the community and for attracting business to the community,” says Wes Schmitt, vice president and treasurer of the newspaper’s board.

Adams’ first recruit was Sue Moore, who had a family background in newspapers and the professional experience to run a paper. The

75-year-old’s parents, Meredith and Bernice Clark, owned the Commercial Express from 1947 to 1972.

Moore said that one morning in 1972 her mother drove out to her home and asked, “You wouldn’t want to buy a newspaper, would you?” Moore had worked for the Commercial Express in a number of capacities since childhood. “I said ‘Hell, no,’ and they sold it the next day,” she recalls. Now Moore is back in the newspaper business as the editor and publisher of the start-up The South County News.

Unlike its predecessor, The South County News is run as a nonprofit, allowing the publication to save money on postage costs.

And, unlike many newspapers, the work — writing, photography, ads sales, business management, distribution — is done by a small cadre of volunteers.

Many of those volunteers make up the newspaper’s board of trustees, which consists mostly of retired Vicksburg and Schoolcraft residents. The board includes Moore; Hinga; Bob Smith, a retired supervisor from Designware who heads up advertising sales; Wes Schmitt, a former accountant at Pfizer who is the organization’s treasurer; Kim Marston, the paper’s graphic designer; and Steve Ellis, a former advertising representative for the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Two other volunteers, Brian Decker and Fred Rainer, round out the advertising sales staff, and various volunteer writers contribute articles and information.

The newspaper, which debuted in May, is mailed free to more than 7,500 homes in Vicksburg and Schoolcraft and available at more than 60 locations, from gas stations and convenience stories to restaurants, in the southern part of Kalamazoo County.

“Having a newspaper brings the community together.”

— Bill Adams Upon the suggestion of Fred Jacobs, of J Ad Graphics in Hastings, which prints The South County News and nine other community newspapers, The South County News distributed donation envelopes in its editions for readers who wished to help fund the newspaper expenses. To date, more than 390 donors have contributed in excess of $14,000, according to Schmitt.

Moore says the donations come in with comments like “It’s so great to have a local

paper again” and “Hoping for the success of this venture. It is so great to feel in touch with our area.”

With advertising sales and a low-cost workforce, the newspaper so far is staying in the black according to figures released at a recent board meeting. “’The response we’ve gotten has been so positive,” Hinga says. “We all said we’d do this for three months, but this group really got it off the ground and we’ve made tremendous progress.”

The board meets each Wednesday morning at the Vicksburg Community Center to discuss various issues, from advertising sales to who will deliver papers to the distribution sites.

“We all get along really well, and we have fun,” Smith says. “We’re going to make this happen no matter what.”

Adams says having the paper for five months has already shown tangible results.

“When we lost the newspaper, attendance at local events fell by 25 to 30 percent.

Now, attendance at events is up and the newspaper is doing a good job covering local sports and activities,” he notes.

“Having a newspaper brings the community together,” he says.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 9

Enterprise ENCORE

A Family Farm and More

VerHage siblings blend crops with tourism by

Tiffany Fitzgerald

From left, brothers Kiar and Tom Gamsho and Kiar’s brother-in-law Sam Shina operate the Park Street Market in the city’s Northside community.

It’s a weekday at VerHage Fruit Farm and Cider Mill, on West ML

Avenue. Owners and siblings Kelly and Kevin VerHage hustle around the farm, preparing for the weekend. Kelly is answering the phone while stocking shelves in her country store, and Kevin is busy transporting produce and equipment.

“Except for January, February and March, when we’re closed for the weather, we’ve got something going on all year,” Kelly says.

Kelly and Kevin operate the farm together as partners. While Kelly takes care of the business end, running the country store, answering phone calls and e-mails, organizing social media and promotion and helping to plan seasonal events, Kevin runs the growing side, managing the 130 acres the family owns, split between two locations.

Kelly’s two daughters, Danielle Holbrook and Megan Allen, also work on the farm. Allen works as head baker, incorporating the seasonal

10 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

Co-owner Kelly VerHage samples some apple cider fresh from the press at VerHage Fruit Farm and Cider Mill.

fruits and veggies grown on the farm into savory and sweet treats for visitors, while Holbrook assists with baking and with running a booth at the Kalamazoo Farmer’s Market. In short, the family is extremely busy. But they’re used to it.

“Kevin and I have been working on the farm our whole lives,” Kelly says. “Our dad would put us on the side of the highway selling produce when we were probably 10 or so. We couldn’t do that with our kids, of course ­— it was just a different time back then, with us — but many of our kids have been helping out on the farm since high school.”

Kelly and Kevin VerHage inherited the farm from their parents, Vern and Nancy VerHage, in 1999. Vern and Nancy originally bought

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From left, Megan Allen and Kelly and Kevin VerHage run different aspects of the family farm and agritourism business.

a 100-acre farm on L Avenue 55 years ago to live on but soon sold the house there (while keeping the land for growing) and moved to the 30-acre ML Avenue farm, where the house, mill and country store are now.

Both farms produce a different fruit or vegetable almost every month of the growing year — asparagus in May, strawberries in June, cherries in July, peaches in August, apples in September. The VerHages have a long growing season because fruits and vegetables used to be their main focus.

“When I was working on the farm in high school – when my parents owned it — the farm was solely commercial,” Kevin says. “Now we’ve had a big transition to argitourism.”

As apple season passes and the weather turns cold, local farm enthusiasts might think it’s too late to get a farm experience, but that’s not true. The VerHage farm stays open through December, offering holiday pies (try the famous Caramel Apple Nut), cider, fudge, assorted nut gift boxes, Christmas decorations, fresh and potted Christmas trees and even visits with Santa Claus.

The shift to agritourism came from Kelly, who wanted to attract new business after Vern and Nancy died. Working with Kevin, she added hay rides, a zip line, fresh donuts, fudge and a store — filled with

handmade crafts and jewelry and homemade pastas and preserves.

Kelly even has her own brand of homemade syrups and pickles and other seasonal products, which are sold in her shop under the brand name Father’s Daughter. With the ML Avenue farm’s close proximity to Kalamazoo and its attractions, it fills up on Saturdays and Sundays.

“We’re having a good year,” Kelly says. “Nobody had fruit last year because of the late frost, so they’re hungry for it this year.”

During apple cider season and leading up to Christmas, the VerHages employ other workers and ask for the help of volunteers, neighbors, and family — one of the perks of having a family-run business. Kevin and Kelly both know that it’s rare to work in a familyowned business that’s been in operation for two generations.

“When your family has everything invested in a farm, and you work on it your whole life, you’re connected,” Kevin says. “If something happened to this farm, it would be a terrible shame. That’s why as long as I’m alive, the farm will be too. After I’m dead, the legacy dies.

The kids can do whatever they want with the land. I hope they want it, but it might become a trailer park.”

With the addition of Kelly’s daughters, however, Kevin and Kelly are optimistic that the farm will continue to thrive for another generation.

“I think they’ll work here for the rest of their lives,” Kelly says. “I have four kids total, and only Megan and Danielle are interested in the farm at all. Kevin’s kids don’t show any interest either. They want to go somewhere where they’ll get a guaranteed paycheck every week, not every year. And then, some years like last year, no paycheck at all. It’s not easy.”

With the long growing season, the long hours and the uncertain income, why does the VerHage family work so hard to keep the farm?

“We’re suckers for a good compliment,” Kelly says. “It’s hard not to stay when someone comes in year after year, or when someone says that Megan’s soup is ‘orgasmic.’ We’re stress junkies and compliment junkies. That’s it.”

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savor ENCORE

Vegetarian Variety

Kalamazoo offers many choices for meatless dining by

Tiffany Fitzgerald

W

hen Fuel, Kalamazoo’s only all-vegetarian restaurant, closed in June, it left a hole in the Kalamazoo dining industry.

Denise Miller, who was the head chef and owner of Fuel, is working on opening a new restaurant in Chicago, Sassafras Soul Cuisine, as part of an urban revitalization program in the Bronzeville neighborhood.

Great news for Miller and for Bronzeville, but what about Kalamazoo’s vegans and vegetarians? It turns out that Kalamazoo still has a lot to offer.

“It’s really not hard at all being a vegan in Kalamazoo,” says Rachel Kincaid, a local author who has been vegan for two and a half years. “When I first started, I lived in Boston and I thought moving here would make it hard for me, but there are a lot of places to eat.”

14 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

On the other hand, Kincaid, who dined at Fuel for brunch occasionally, says she will miss having a restaurant catering specifically to vegans.

“Sometimes when you’re vegan, people think you only like salads and carrot sticks, but you still like greasy diner food,” she says.

“Those cravings don’t go away. When you wake up hung over on Sunday, you want a large, gross breakfast.”

Luckily, says Kincaid, there are other options in town, including the Studio Grill, at 312 W. Michigan Ave., which is owned and operated by the husband-and-wife team of Craig and Daphney Dotson. Daphney is vegan, and she echoes Kincaid’s sentiments.

“When I go out to eat, it’s often hard to find something that’s not a salad,” she says.

“I try to offer different options because of

that. The item on the menu that’s most near and dear to my heart is the pancakes. They have a nice cinnamon gingerbread flavor, and they’re dense. I call them ‘vegan junk food.’”

Dotson says that much of the time “junk food” is exactly what vegetarians and vegans want when they eat out.

“The first time I featured vegan biscuits and gravy, I used whole wheat to try and make them healthy, and people were like, ‘No. We want junk food.’”

The Studio Grill menu features a number of items that are exclusively vegan or vegetarian, but Daphney Dotson shrugs off the designation.

The veggie burger at the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange offers vegetarians a hearty meatless option.

restaurants as Fourth Coast Café, Just Good Food and Saffron as “veg-friendly.” One of the most-cited restaurants for vegetarian options is Zooroona, a Mediterranean restaurant at 1710 W. Main St. Owner Habib Mandwee says he knows his restaurant appeals to vegetarians and vegans, but, like the owners of the Studio Grill and the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, he didn’t plan it that way.

“It’s by default,” he says. “A lot of our food doesn’t have meat because Mediterranean dishes traditionally have an abundance of really good vegetables. Back home, vegetables are a meal. We don’t set out to eat vegetarian. It’s just what is there.”

Mandwee, who is originally from Iraq, says his restaurant boasts foods from countries spanning the Middle East, the Mediterranean and northern Africa, such as Lebanon, Syria, Greece and Morocco. The result is too many vegetarian and vegan options to

name, including traditional fare like falafel, tabbouleh, dolmeh and hummus. One of Mandwee’s favorite vegetarian dishes is the Persian Batata.

“It’s got diced potatoes, garlic, cilantro and a spicy red sauce,” he says. “It’s very good and very popular.”

Although vegans and vegetarians might have to keep waiting for another restaurant that caters specifically to them, for the time being Kincaid isn’t worried. Even though vegetarians and vegans choose their eating habits for a variety of reasons, including concerns for health and animal welfare or, in Kincaid’s case, to increase sustainability and combat world hunger, sometimes they’re just after some good food. “I’m not thinking about world hunger every time I bite into a sandwich,” Kincaid says. “Most of the time I just want to eat well and feel good about what I eat.” And on that front, Kalamazoo has the bases covered.

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“Our philosophy is that food is art, regardless of eating preferences or dietary needs. I’m not into the terminology, and I hope anyone would try an item because it’s good, not because of whether or not it has meat. And we really, really encourage you to design your own items on the list – take ingredients out if you don’t want them, and add others in.”

Finding good vegan options at a place like Studio Grill might seem as unlikely as finding them at a brewery, where bar food is the typical fare, but Kinkaid says she’s also found them at the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, at 211 E. Water St. “The Kalamazoo Beer Exchange actually has some really good vegan options,” she says. “(It’s) one restaurant I go to because it has a good beer menu, and I have to order a salad with the chicken off of it, which is fine, but the chef at the Beer Exchange says he’s working on incorporating even more vegan options, and I really appreciate that.”

Johanna Kelly, public relations and event coordinator for the Beer Exchange, says she personally felt the hit when Fuel closed and knows that the Beer Exchange offers something unusual.

“We are one of the few places in Kalamazoo with good old-fashioned bar food that’s accessible to the savvy vegan diner, and we’re very proud of that,” she says. “Part of me wants to say that we focus hard on serving vegans and vegetarians, but, truth be told, we have a phenomenal chef who doesn’t see boundaries like that.”

Kelly says that head chef Bill Kennedy designs dishes based on whatever flavor he’s pursuing, and sometimes that effort doesn’t involve meat or animal products. Kelly, who describes herself as “100 percent carnivore,” touts the veggie burger.

“We have the best veggie burger I’ve have ever had,” she says. “Our veggie burger is all vegetables. If you like vegetables at all, you should try it – it’s that good.”

If you dig deeply into the menus of Kalamazoo’s restaurants, you find vegan and vegetarian options everywhere. Websites like happycow.com and common restaurant forums like Yelp and Google list such

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 15

good works ENCORE

Underwear for Christmas!

Ministry with Community wants the gift many of us dread by

Tiffany Fitzgerald

A

Terri Williams

person in crisis may need housing, a job or legal assistance. But before anything, that person needs something much simpler.

“Many of us will never find ourselves in a situation where we don’t have the basic necessities,” such as a bar of soap, a shower, underwear or socks, says Rob Oakleaf, executive director of the downtown Kalamazoo nonprofit Ministry with Community. “Yet most of us count on those necessities to feel human.”

That’s why Ministry with Community hosts an annual Underwear Open House ­— to gather such necessities and present them as Christmas gifts to the people Ministry serves. This year’s event — the 14th annual Underwear Open House, which is open to the public — is set for 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Lawrence Education Center, on the Borgess Medical Center campus.

Attendees are asked to bring donations of new, unwrapped underwear, socks, thermal underwear, T-shirts, sweatshirts, flannel shirts, hats, gloves and scarves — in adult sizes only, including extra large. Up the Creek Jazz Band will perform at the event, which will include raffles, hors d’oeuvres and beverages. Donations are accepted at Ministry with Community before and after the event as well.

Last year, Oakleaf says, the Underwear Open House collected more than 2,000 pounds of clothing, which provided more than 1,000 gifts — a figure that Oakleaf recognizes is impressive.

“Every year we depend on the public to have enough clothing to give to every person in need on Christmas Day, and every year we get it,” he says. “We’re very lucky.”

For Kalamazoo area residents who find themselves in emergency situations with no food, home or resources, Ministry with Community offers a safe haven.

Those who use Ministry services are considered “members.”

“We view ourselves as being the place you go when you’re experiencing a life emergency, like you’re going to starve,” says Laurie Terlesky, development director. “We’re going to help you with your emergency needs right when you come in, that same day.”

The Ministry with Community members’ center offers everything a person would need if he or she were homeless: hot showers, toiletries, lockers, phones, a Loaves and Fishes food pantry, a fax machine, mailing service and connections to other services in Kalamazoo.

16 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

Having underwear, socks and other necessities donated makes Ministry with Community’s executive director, Rob Oakleaf, and development director, Laura Terlesky, very happy.

NEVER SAY THIS

“I think sometimes people think of us as solely a soup kitchen,” Terlesky says.

“While we do serve lunch and dinner to our members, we also offer a lot more than just that.”

The services are free to anyone who needs them, and Ministry with Community prides itself on follow-through — the staff works to connect members with organizations that can help put them back on their feet.

Ministry with Community boasts impressive annual help statistics. It served more than 103,000 meals, allowed more than 10,000 showers and 10,000 loads of laundry, and provided 373 haircuts, 674 birth certificates or IDs and 103,000 personalcare items in 2012 alone. Ministry with Community also helps members with bus tokens, van rides to jobs and interviews, basic life-skill instruction and daily activities.

At the Ministry center, members bustle to and from rooms, doing laundry, making phone calls, eating a much-needed nutritional meal and asking volunteers to help with mailing services.

Terlesky points out that for many of the members, their initial visit will be the first time they’ll feel clean, connect with loved ones, sit down in comfort or feel safe. For those who work at the ministry, she says, that’s what it’s all about.

Ministry with Community employs 21 full-time workers, and its volunteers fill the equivalent of 14 full-time positions. Oakleaf and Terlesky say Ministry with Community couldn’t do everything it does without the help of volunteers, including volunteers from other organizations in the community, as will be the case with the upcoming Underwear Open House.

After donations are collected, the community volunteer group Santa’s Helpers wraps all the clothing to be opened at the Ministry on Christmas morning. Oakleaf explains that this tradition, started by four women looking for a way to give back during the holidays, provides an invaluable feeling of being cared for to the members.

“We try to provide that for our members,” he says. “We want them to have a sense of self-worth and self-sufficiency. It’s not easy to feel human without it.”

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Tom Schlueter

is good with numbers, even better with people by

Zinta Aistars

photography by

ERIK HOLLADAY

Tom Schlueter is ready to get to work in front of the Keystone Community Bank’s downtown Kalamazoo branch.

18 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

O

ne of the reasons Thomas Schlueter requires his employees at Keystone Community Bank to answer every phone call to the bank personally is because he remembers his mother’s calls to her bank.

“The third of every month, my mother called her bank to verify that her Social Security check had arrived,” Schlueter says. “She had Parkinson’s so it wasn’t easy for her to make the call. I’m really proud that we answer our phones personally here rather than using a recording, and when people come into the bank, we try to call everyone by name and take the time to chat with them.”

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up front encore

20 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

“A community bank can stay closer to its customer needs.” ­ — Thomas Schlueter Schlueter’s parents, both emigrants from Hamburg, Germany, spoke English with a German accent, which meant they faced yet another communication challenge in their new homeland. Their son, who became president and CEO of Keystone Community Bank and vice president of Firstbank Corp., in 2005, says he thinks of them when doing business. Banking, he says, is not just about numbers. It’s about people. And that quality attracted Schlueter to the field.

Although he earned an accounting degree at Western Michigan University in 1978 (after attending Portage Northern High School), he has worked in banking for his entire career.

“During my days as a bank teller, I worked a drive-through window at Maple Hill Mall,” Schlueter recalls. “I learned about people during that time. A teller sees all sorts of customers, from the challenging to the great ones, and I enjoyed all of it. I learned that I wanted a job that has contact with people.

That pushed me out of an accounting career.”

Schlueter was born in London, Ontario, but moved from Canada to the United States at age 5. The family of four (including his sister) first lived in New York, then moved in 1966 to Michigan, where Schlueter’s father worked for Fisher Body, a division of General Motors, until his retirement.

“We were doing well when I was growing up,” Schlueter says. “My sister and I grew up in a home that Mom and Dad worked to pay off. We had one TV and one car,” he adds with a smile, remembering a simpler time.

Schlueter was employed by First of America Bank/National City Bank for about 23 years.

“I started working at First National Bank as a teller in 1976, while I was still in college, and then I took part in a management training program. I’ve always been good with numbers,” he says.

Prior to joining Keystone Community Bank, his last position at National City was as senior vice president and middle market lending group manager for Southwest Michigan. He served as executive vice president, in addition to being named chief operating officer and director of Keystone Community Bank in December 1999.

His banking background and desire to work with people led him to the idea of opening a new kind of bank. In 1997, 43 Kalamazoo business people gathered to discuss the idea of a community bank that would be more community-oriented than the big banks.

Personalized service would be a top priority.

“It was a period of about 12 to 15 months when banks were going through all kinds of mergers and buyouts,” Schlueter says. “It was hard for people to keep track of all the changes in their banks. It was frustrating to many. Some of the banks were executing the changes better than others. These business people, they heard the grumbling in the community about all the changes, and they saw an opportunity. Keystone was about reaffirming the benefits of banking here at home.”

Keystone Community Bank opened its doors with $5 million in capital, Schlueter says. “But growth was good, better than we had planned, and in another three years we had raised another $5 million.”

In 2005, Keystone Community Bank joined Firstbank Corp., which gave it strong central support operations, with fiscal assets of $1.5 billion and more than 40 banking offices throughout central, southwestern and northeastern Michigan. In August, Firstbank Corp. merged with Mercantile Bank Corp. to become the third largest Michiganbased bank, with 53 branches statewide and almost $3 billion in assets. Keystone, however, maintains its local presence, with six branches in Kalamazoo and one in Paw Paw, and Schlueter remains president and CEO. Despite the growth expected to result from the merger, Schlueter says Keystone will maintain its community-oriented focus.

“I honestly feel that Keystone’s communitybased philosophy has been historically very strong and will only strengthen further as the merger of our three banks is consummated,” he says. “Bigger can certainly take away from a community, but it doesn’t need to take away. In our case the same people are intact at our bank, and decision-making is left at the local level, and I really believe we’re going to have an even more significant community focus.”

With all the changes in the banking industry and the ups and downs in the national and local economy in the last few years, Schlueter has watched with interest the changing habits of bank customers.

“People have definitely changed their saving

Erik Holladay

Bottom photo: Schlueter with wife and traveling companion Diana. Top photo: Schlueter with his children Laura and Kevin. (Courtesy photos)

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 21

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and spending habits,” he says, “and that’s been good. People hunkered down for a few years. Debts are being paid off, and savings have increased. In the last six to 12 months, however, we are seeing spending pick up again. There’s been a lot of refinancing of homes, and we are seeing purchasing activity again.”

That’s the strength of a community bank, Schlueter says. It knows its customers, follows their habits and responds. “People are more aware these days about the importance of buying local, about spending their dollar locally. Banking in your local community works the same way. The big banks stopped lending in certain areas because they were just looking at the numbers. We looked at the numbers, but we looked at the people too. A community bank can stay closer to its customer needs.”

Schlueter gets fired up when talking about credit unions. “It’s a struggle with credit unions,” he says. “They don’t pay federal taxes. We do. Credit unions have a strong lobby, but we’ve noticed some consolidation among credit unions too, as they become bigger. Competition is good, the more of it the better, but when one business pays taxes and the other doesn’t …” His voice trails off.

As he sits behind his desk in the corner office of the third floor, he overlooks the Kalamazoo Mall. And looking out from that vantage point, he reflects not only on the city but his place within it after many years in banking.

“Kalamazoo is a special city. The colleges are a big part of that,” he says, speaking of Kalamazoo College, Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Valley Community College. He sits on the KVCC Foundation board, which supports college programs and scholarships, and also on the board of the consolidated United Way for Kalamazoo and Battle Creek and the Epic Center (Kalamazoo Cultural Center board.

Being involved in the community is important, Schlueter says. Keystone Community Bank holds food drives, participates in Art Hops and supports fundraising events and various local charities. It also sponsors a breakfast speaker series at Western Michigan University that brings WMU faculty, alumni and friends, and (continued on page 42)

22 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

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Bonding the generations 24 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

When teens meet veterans, history comes alive by

Margaret DeRitter

S

U.S. Army veteran Donnie Lipsey, far right, shows Loy Norrix High School students, from left, Chatpong Parirurana, Chunnleva Nang and Zariah Molia some of the coins awarded to him for various services while in the Army.

Erik Holladay

ix teenagers gather around a table at Battle Creek’s VA Medical Center to hear a World War II veteran’s story. The teens are part of Loy Norrix High School’s Living History Project, and the veteran is Francis Max Smith of Portage, who grew up in Scotts and served as a radio operator in the U.S. Navy.

The students’ assignment is to interview Smith about his life and service and use the information to create a biographical notebook, complete with written story and photos to give him on a return trip to the VA. Smith’s story, it turns out, is filled with guilt and sadness.

Smitty, as he’s called, received the last radio message sent by the U.S.S. Indianapolis. The ship was sunk by Japanese torpedoes in 1945 after delivering materials for the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Only 316 of the 1,196 men aboard survived. “It was the worst naval tragedy of the war,” Smith tells the students.

As the ship traveled from Guam toward the Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, Smith sent instructions to the Indianapolis about where to drop anchor when it came into port. But when the ship didn’t arrive as scheduled and those onboard did not respond to radio messages, Smith told his superiors about his concerns. “They assumed she must have been assigned to another port” and did nothing, he says.

Four days later, a lone Navy pilot happened to spot some of the survivors in the ocean, Smith says. When rescue crews finally arrived at the scene on the fifth day, most of the men from the Indianapolis had perished. About 300 had gone down with the ship, but many others were eaten by sharks. The ship’s captain was court-martialed and committed suicide. It wasn’t until 2001 that the captain was posthumously exonerated of putting the ship in danger.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 25

bodies were never brought back to Scotts,” Smith says.

Smith tells the students he is establishing a scholarship fund for Climax-Scotts High School students in honor of the two fallen men, and he’s calling it the Rex & Ken Scholarship.

He asks the students if he can practice a speech he’s preparing to give at ClimaxScotts, then pulls several sheets of paper from his pocket, unfolds them carefully and begins to read. When he reaches the part about the men from the Indianapolis who died, his chin starts to tremble and his eyes fill with tears.

“Today I thank and remember all those young men,” he reads, his voice breaking.

Student Jayana Wilson wipes away tears as Smith notes that the only memorial to his brother and his best friend is “a small bronze plaque in the basement of the Kalamazoo County Courthouse.”

“All of his stories touched me,” she says later. “It was kind of sad when he was talking about how he felt the guilt.”

Sveri May’s brainchild The six teenagers with Smith, including his great-grandson Jon Zylstra, are among 108 Loy Norrix history students who are at the VA this April morning to interview 17 veterans, many of whom served in Vietnam or Korea. Some of the veterans live at the

Students in Loy Norrix’s Living History Project pose with National Guardsmen at the Michigan National Guard training center. Teacher Sveri Stromsta May, in a navy blue shirt, can be seen in the center of the bottom row, next to the National Guardsmen.

26 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

facility, while others have come here this day just to participate in the interviews. All of the students, who are mostly sophomores, are assigned to small groups to interview one veteran. A few older students who did well on the project in previous years are along to help the other students with their interviews.

The annual Living History Project is the brainchild of Loy Norrix special-education teacher Sveri Stromsta May, who started it in 1996 and has been shepherding it ever since.

May says the project has profound effects on both students and veterans. It brings history alive for the students and helps them understand the sacrifices the veterans have made for their country. At the same time, the veterans enjoy having young people take an interest in them and are thrilled to receive a binder filled with stories the students write about them, she says. The binder becomes a tangible reminder that their lives have mattered to the world. And for some of the veterans’ families, that binder becomes a keepsake long after their loved one is gone.

“It’s amazing to see them bond,” May says of the students and veterans. “Many of these veterans and their students write to each other. The students (later) bring their babies to show the veterans. Sometimes families of the veterans come to the kid’s graduation.”

Each year May pairs up with another teacher in leading the Living History Project, which gets funding from Kalamazoo Public Schools, the Upjohn Foundation, the AMBUCS, various VFW groups and others.

Margaret DeRitter

Smith tells the students he could hardly bear the fact that he hadn’t been able to make his superiors pay attention to his warnings. “I’ve carried that guilt with me all of my life,” the 89-year-old veteran says.

“But if I’d raised more hell, they’d have put me in jail. I was taught to mind your elders. I was just a kid. I was 21.” Still, he wished he’d done more.

“It wasn’t right that he had to carry all that guilt for all those years,” says his daughter Pat Smith, of Kalamazoo, who has accompanied him to the interview.

The deaths of the men from the Indianapolis weren’t the only burden Smith carried from the war. He also suffered the loss of his younger brother, Rex. “Rex was in the Marines, and he got killed by a young Japanese sniper who had tied himself to a tree,” Smith says. “He shot him right between the eyes.”

Rex was only 18. “We were farm boys,” Smith says. “We slept together for 17 years and then I never saw him again.”

When Smith heard the news of his brother’s death, he was at Naval headquarters in Manhattan. “My mother always corresponded with me, but I got a letter in my Dad’s handwriting. When I read that my brother died, I fainted from the shock. I got an emergency leave to console my parents and for them to console me.”

Smith also lost his best friend, Kenny Snyder, to the war. Snyder was 19 when he died, just four months after Rex. “Their

Margaret DeRitter

For five years May’s project partner has been Sean Bergan, a history teacher and football coach with whom she team-teaches.

When asked why he got involved, Bergan laughs, rolls his eyes and suggests he didn’t have much choice when faced with May’s enthusiasm. “She said, ‘Hey, by the way, we’re doing this project.’”

The teachers prepare their students for the interviews by providing them with questions they can ask, having them do practice interviews, giving them advice about how to handle difficult subjects, teaching them to do online research and encouraging them to shake the veterans’ hands and look them in the eye.

“We worry about how they’re going to conduct themselves, but they always rise to the occasion,” Bergan says.

Next spring Bergan plans to embark on his sixth year with the project. For May, it will be her 19th year. She was recognized for her efforts in April with a Community Leadership STAR (Sharing Time and Resources) Award from Volunteer Kalamazoo and Mlive.com/ Kalamazoo Gazette. The Living History Project also received national recognition in 2001, when the Department of Veterans Affairs included a piece about it in a book called Faces of a Grateful Nation: A Celebration of VA Volunteers.

May gives an example of why the project has earned accolades: “One mom at a parentteacher conference said, ‘I have to tell you I am so amazed at you.’ I said, ‘What? That I get your kid to do his homework?’ She said, ‘No, that my child sat down with my dad and wanted to know what he did in the military.

My son didn’t even want to leave my dad, and this kid would never sit down with me like that, ever. What happened?’”

What happens for many of these students, May says, is that the project sparks their interest in senior citizens, especially older veterans. “A lot of kids today don’t know that age group,” she says. “They’re not used to talking to senior citizens. It’s a growing experience for the kids.”

Student Nicole Andrie says the VA visit is a lot better than the average day at school.

“I like to see the smiles on the veterans’ faces because I know some of them don’t get many visitors,” Andrie says. “You can tell the veterans like to share how much effort they

put in and how much they care about their country.”

Bravado and pacifism Kids being kids, there is a lot of energy and chatter earlier in the morning when the students gather in the Loy Norrix cafeteria before boarding buses to travel to the VA Medical Center. There is also a bit of bravado.

“I want someone in the infantry, like, taking off heads,” says Jay’quaries “Jay’Q” Turner, who plans to join the Marines. “I wanna ask, ‘How does it feel to kill a person?’” But then he reconsiders. “No, I ain’t gonna ask that ‘cause that’s vicious,” he says.

Ariyanna Walker, who will interview an Army veteran who served from 1996 to 2010, says she is excited to learn about history and isn’t nervous about doing the interview. “I’m a very outgoing person,” she says.

Irving Rivera-Mejia pushes veteran Harry Espinoza to a luncheon with Loy Norrix High School students. Also in the Loy Norrix group, from left, are bilingual aide Yasmin Ibarra-Delgado and sisters Rosa and Fatima Sanchez-Salazar.

Walker explains that a Marine recruiter helped the students prepare for their interviews. “He told us we could ask if they had ever killed anyone, but he said, ‘Be sensitive and don’t put it on them if they’re clamping up and don’t want to talk about it.’”

At the VA hospital, the students interviewing Smith learn that he was grateful he never had to kill someone. “I never wanted to kill anybody,” Smith says. “I am a humanitarian first and a military man second.” He’s also been a pacifist ever since he served. “If you saw what I saw, you’d be a pacifist too,” he tells the students. “I just wanted to get home to my girls (the cows) and forget that terrible war.”

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 27

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The veteran whom Turner interviews did not see combat. “He had a boring job, welding and stuff like that, building things,” Turner says. Yet this veteran was not immune to the losses of war. “He had friends in combat, and half of them died,” Turner says. “He started to work by his self so he didn’t have to lose any more friends.”

It seems that hearing the veteran’s story might make Turner apprehensive about the prospect of signing up for the Marines, but he says, “No, I’m not afraid of death. It’s in my bloodlines. My grandfather and my cousins all served.”

Of the hundreds of students who have participated in the Living History Project since its inception, about 15 have gone on to serve in the military, May says. One student from the first year of the project, Andy Wilkins, was inspired to serve in the Navy, she says, and returned to Loy Norrix about three years ago to talk to Living History Project participants about his time in the Middle East.

Return to the VA Flash forward: It’s now May 30, and the students are making their return trip to the Battle Creek VA Medical Center. At the end of the trip, they’ll tour the Fort Custer Training Center, a Michigan National Guard training center that also trains Guard troops from Illinois, Ohio and Indiana as well as Army, Marine and Navy reserves and even soldiers from the Canadian army.

The students’ first stop, though, is Fort Custer National Cemetery. Observing a ceremony for veterans who were buried in

the past month, the usually talkative teens became quiet and respectful. But when they are asked to remove flags that had been placed on veterans’ graves for Memorial Day, they bustle into action.

In other parts of the cemetery, a few of the students place flags on the graves of family members. Nicole Andrie looks sad and serious as she places a flag on the grave of her greatuncle Bernard Dontje, who received a Purple Heart after being wounded in World War II. “He was very outgoing and funny,” Andrie (continued on page 42)

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Arts encore

30 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

A story in herself Storyteller Allison Downey is also a

singer-songwriter, educator and theater artist by

Kit Almy

photography by

ERIK HOLLAdAY

A

llison Downey knows that when you tell a good story, what you leave out can be as important as what you include.

Downey, who is just coming off an October performance at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tenn., hosts and co-produces The Living Room, a storytelling and music show on the NPR station Michigan Radio (104.1 FM). In the show’s one-hour pilot on the theme of migration, she told a humorous story about a variety of odd jobs she held just before moving to Michigan from Texas to become a theater professor at Western Michigan University.

She told of her job in collections at a cell phone company, where she improved the system so well she worked herself out of a job. She told of scanning documents for an office in a trailer where she contracted scabies. And, finally, she told of becoming an administrative assistant at a record label — a dream job, except for the creepy boss who expected her to be his date.

“I was trying to bring the listener in to get to know me a little bit through a funny story.

And it’s true, but there’s a lot of other true things,” Downey says.

Left out of the story were such details as how the Washington, D.C., native became a faculty member at WMU, has taught and worked in theater for years, has earned a Master of Fine Arts degree and has founded a theater company. “But all that stuff doesn’t fit in the story,” she explains.

Knowing about all of Downey’s talents — she’s an educator, storyteller, singer-songwriter and theater artist — and faced with a limited amount of space on the page, a writer can

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 31

find it equally difficult to know what to leave in or leave out when telling her story.

Downey has been musically inclined since her childhood, writing songs since the age of 7. She attended Oberlin College, in Ohio, where she majored in history. “I was interested in the human story, always,” she says. She got her first taste of teaching during college, when she worked with children to create and perform educational theater pieces.

About a year after graduating, she landed a job at the Albuquerque Academy, in New Mexico, where, as a middle school history teacher, she started using music, theater and storytelling in the classroom. “We would write songs to the tune of Jeremiah was a Bullfrog about Hammurabi’s Code,” she says.

When Downey became the drama teacher for the school’s new interdisciplinary program, she “was really immersed in looking at all the connections between disciplines.”

Outside of work, she began studying creative drama, which, she explains, is “the use of theater tools in an educational 32 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

setting.” “And I loved it,” she says, “and thought that really what I wanted to pursue was that sort of intersection of theater and education.”

This desire led her to an MFA program in theater at the University of Texas at Austin.“I was studying the use of theater in educational settings, social settings (and) communities,” she says, “and I was able to bring my music in.”

During her first year in Austin, Downey worked for a theater company developing original musical storytelling programs that she presented in schools. The following year she and some friends founded a theaterin-education company called the Theatre Action Project. “We were creating programs using professional actor-teachers based on interviews with kids in the juvenile justice system. We had a piece that then toured to the juvenile jail and all the alternative learning centers.” The Theatre Action Project is now in its 16th year.

After seven years in Texas, Downey moved to Kalamazoo to join the faculty at WMU. She

started in the theater department and then moved to the College of Education, where for the past 10 years she has taught future teachers how to integrate art, music, dance and theater into other subjects.

When she came to WMU, Downey was a seasoned theatrical and musical professional.

She was no stranger to storytelling either, but she wanted to explore the art form more deeply. “I really wanted to study storytelling.

I wanted to study it wholeheartedly.”

She was intrigued by the new format of the story slam — telling a personal narrative in a competitive environment — and wanted to compare it to traditional theatrical storytelling. In 2010, Downey took a sabbatical and went to the source of the story slam, The Moth, a New York City-based organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. With her husband, John Austin, and her then-2-year-old son, Michael, in tow, she moved to New York for the better part of a year and dove into the storytelling scene.

Shortly after she arrived, she saw a notice for a Moth story slam on Labor Day weekend.

Images of Allison Downey: Top far left, Downey with husband, John Austin, and son, Michael; bottom far left, Downey performing at the Moth Mainstage event in Ann Arbor in 2012. Center photo and above, Downey does a lot of recording of her music and stories in her home studio in Portage, where she has a number of guitars.

She arrived 30 minutes before the show and was surprised to find more than 300 people in line ahead of her. She was one of the last audience members to get in, with about 200 people in line behind her.

“I watched my first Moth show sitting in a puddle of beer on the floor under the overhang of the bar, (looking) through some guy’s legs up to the stage, ” she recalls. “I said to myself, ‘There is something going on here.

Something’s happening. Nobody’s in town on Labor Day, and it’s packed.’”

While in New York, Downey went to three or four storytelling events a week, observing and interviewing more than 75 people. She eventually started putting her name in the hat to participate in the competitive slams and taught a 10-week program for The Moth in a ninth-grade English class in the Bronx.

She also performed at storytelling venues such as The Liar Show and the People’s

Improv Theatre. Just as her stay in New York was ending, she was invited to perform at a Moth Mainstage event at the Power Center in Ann Arbor.

Performing to a sold-out audience in her adopted home state brought Downey a lot of attention, and she made connections that led to new teaching opportunities and other ventures.

“That night I met the director of broadcasting for Michigan Radio, Steve Schram,” she says. Schram asked if she’d be interested in doing a storytelling show for the station. The result was The Living Room, a collaboration between Downey and radio producer Zak Rosen. “The idea was a one-hour show that was storytelling and music that celebrates the cultural fabric of Michigan,” a sort of “cross between Prairie Home Companion, This American Life and The Moth Radio Hour.”

The pilot was well received, even winning a 2012 Michigan Association of Broadcasters award for cultural programming. This year The Living Room has been airing as a monthly 10-minute segment on the Michigan Radio program Stateside. The producers are looking for funding to make it a weekly show.

Meanwhile, Downey is returning to the project she started on her sabbatical: writing a book that synthesizes the information from her interviews and draws on her personal experience to define storytelling.

“A central part of my research was basically to compare these different worlds of storytelling, and I wanted to find out: What are the common elements that make a good story? What are the common elements that make a good storytelling performance, and then what are the reasons that we do this? What are the benefits of listening to (continued on page 43)

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arts encore

Uncorking the Classics

Symphony serves up personal musical experiences Kit almy

Courtesy photo

by

A crowd watches intently at an intimate Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra performance.

34 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

If you’re one of those people for whom the mention of a symphony orchestra

conjures up words like “stuffy” or “boring,” some new programs planned by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra may just make you change your tune.

The first of these are the Classics Uncorked chamber music concerts at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Formerly called “Epic Evenings” (and before that, “Cappuccino Classics”), the Classics Uncorked programs give audiences a way to get better acquainted with classical music in a relaxed and intimate setting, while providing a more social experience.

“For people who want to dip their toe into classical music, ” says KSO Director of Artistic Operations Sarah Clapp, “this is a really great place to start, because it’s more casual, it’s more intimate, so that there’s more conversation — the artists talk about the music before they play it. It’s more approachable.”

The first Classics Uncorked concert is set for 8 p.m. Nov. 22 at the KIA. A second one is scheduled for March 14.

“The November concert is really focusing on woodwinds and strings,” Clapp says. The concert will showcase KSO’s musicians and artists-in-residence, including the BurdickThorne String Quartet, and will include two pieces for woodwind quintet, including Malcolm Arnold’s “Three Shanties,” based on authentic sea shanties such as “Drunken Sailor.”

“Those are (pieces) that not everybody knows, but they’re going to hear that and go, ‘I like that! That was fun,’” Clapp says. “Malcolm Arnold is just so listenable and quirky and fun, and it’s just really lighthearted.”

The concert will conclude with the woodwind quintet joining the string quartet, plus a double bass, to perform Benjamin Britten’s “Sinfonietta, Op. 1.” This performance continues the KSO’s celebration of the centennial of Britten’s birth, which started with its The World of Britten concert last month.

All four pieces in the concert are relatively short, and the musicians will discuss the music with the audience, even pausing to talk partway through the longest piece, a Mendelssohn string quartet.

The KIA galleries will be open before the performance, and, as the series’ title

Classics Uncorked What: An intimate evening of chamber favorites followed by a complimentary coffee and dessert reception.

When: 8 p.m. Nov. 22 Where: Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 314 S. Park St. How much: $30 More information: kalamazoosymphony.com suggests, wine will be available at a cash bar.

Complimentary coffee and dessert will be served after the concert, and the performers will mingle with the audience. “That’s a great way for our patrons to meet our musicians and for our musicians to meet our patrons and to really talk about things,” Clapp says, noting that ideas for future performances sometimes come from patron suggestions.

The KSO also has other concerts planned in the near future that are designed to make its music more approachable by being educational or entertaining or both and aimed at or accessible to families with children.

On Dec. 7 and 8, the KSO and the Ballet Arts Ensemble will give three performances

of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker at Chenery Auditorium. This is a very popular biennial tradition, which sold out in 2011.

The Pops Series concert Sounds of the Season: A Holiday Spectacular, at 8 p.m.

Dec. 21 at Miller Auditorium, will offer “lots of fun musical surprises,” Clapp says, as the orchestra will be joined by a combined high school chorus and the Kalamazoo Ringers bell-ringing group.

Wrapping up the holiday season, the KSO will present The World of Schubert at 3 p.m.

Jan. 5 at Western Michigan University’s Dalton Recital Hall.

Clapp says KSO’s The World Of concert series is “the best-kept secret.” These short concerts feature the work of a particular composer, with a slide show and commentary on that composer’s life by KSO Music Director Raymond Harvey. “(Harvey) finds things in the biographies of these composers that you have to be a serious musicologist to unearth,” Clapp says. “He’s going to uncover things that most people aren’t going to know, and they’re entertaining.”

The KSO offers various types of subscriptions that allow patrons to see multiple concerts at discounted rates with guaranteed seating. For example, subscribing to the Family Discovery Series “would be the best way to ensure that you have tickets for The Nutcracker,” Clapp says.

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arts encore

A Long Run

Paw Paw Village Players celebrate 45 years on stage by

Kit almy

M

The group began staging shows in school auditoriums, and their first big musical production was The Music Man, in 1970. Charley and Mary played the lead roles of Professor Harold Hill and Marian the librarian, and two of their four children, James and Martha, were in the production as well. The cast also included current Village Players board member Roger Henderson and a young Jerry Mitchell, now a choreographer with multiple Tony Awards to his credit, including one for Kinky Boots earlier this year.

A former Baptist church is the home of the Paw Paw Playhouse, where the Paw Paw Village Players have performed hundreds of shows including, from top, Rocky Horror Picture Show in 2011; The Crucible in 2010 and Dorothi and the Wizard of Kozz in 2006.

Courtesy photos

ary Burkett has never missed a show of the Paw Paw Village Players in the troupe’s nearly 45-year history. “It’s been a wonderful addition to the community,” she says. She should know — Burkett and her late husband, Charley, helped found the company in 1969.

The nonprofit community theater organization, which just staged To Kill a Mockingbird in October and is gearing up for a performance of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Dec. 6-8, got its start as a drama course in the Paw Paw Community Schools adult education program that Charley Burkett was asked to teach. Mary Burkett says that when the first class got together, they said, “We don’t want to just study plays. We want to put plays on. We want to perform them.”

36 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

“When we did The Music Man, we did three nights in one weekend, and it was at the end of February and early March, and there was a big blizzard and people flocked in to see it anyway,” Burkett recalls.

After a few years as a program of the local school district, the Paw Paw Village Players became a separate entity and needed a new home. “When the Players broke off with the Community Schools organization, an active member was Diana Hawley, whose husband had just bought this old church which was for sale,” Burkett says, so the theater group had the use of the auditorium on the church’s second floor.

The former Baptist church on Michigan Avenue has been the Village Players’ home almost ever since. The building, now named the Village Playhouse, is home to the Charley and Mary Burkett Center for the Performing Arts (as the auditorium was renamed) and Fat Cat Books, a used bookstore on the main level.

Charley, who died in 2007, “directed something like 60 shows” in his career with the Players, according to his wife. He also starred in many productions, and “most always he built the scenery,” she says.

Mary Burkett also directed, performed in and provided musical direction for many shows and still serves on the organization’s board of directors. The 87-year-old is also the group’s unofficial historian.

“I’ve saved all the programs, all the publicity and so forth — I’ve got a file cabinet full,” she says.

The Village Players typically stage five productions a year: a drama in the fall, a Christmastime children’s show, a one-act-play festival in the winter, a comedy in the spring and a musical in the summer. The list of plays and musicals the group has put on, including the ones it has repeated, seems endless. The productions have included many community-theater staples as well as little-known and even homegrown scripts. Mary Burkett created or co-created several revues, and the Players have presented various original works and adaptations written by her or other local playwrights, such as Steve Krefman’s

Sometimes the Moon Shoots Back. It even produced an opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, for four seasons.

“You find a lot of people in the community that have at some point had something to do with the Paw Paw Village Players,” says the group’s treasurer, Pat Henderson.

Some who got an early start in theater in Paw Paw have gone far, particularly Mitchell. “He’s our biggest star,” Burkett says, “but we’ve had some others who have had pretty good careers in theater too.” One is New York City-based composer and music director Brett Schrier, a 1999 Loy Norrix High School graduate.

The company’s One-Acts Festival has gained its own fame as well.

The annual contest — the 16th of which will take place in February – attracts hundreds of script submissions. Eight to 10 plays are chosen for production, and four judges from the community rate the plays, with the three top-scoring playwrights winning small cash prizes.

A similar festival featuring plays written for young performers is planned for next June.

But coming up sooner will be the Players’ production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which the company is staging for the third time. “It’s different. You know, it’s not your typical Christmas season musical,” says Burkett, noting that this is not unusual for the Village Players. “When you say ‘Christmas show,’ they’re frequently not traditional.”

Performances are set for 7 p.m. Dec. 6-7 and 3 p.m. Dec. 8. (Tickets purchased in advance are $10, or $7 for students and children. Tickets at the door are $12, or $8 for students and children.) “We have no assigned seats, but they are all good seats,” Henderson says.

Next summer, the Village Players will honor the memory of Charley Burkett and celebrate their 45th anniversary with a revival of The Music Man. It is sure to be another big production for the volunteerrun organization. “People do it for the love of it,” Burkett says.

DeMENT AND MARQUARDT, PLC A law firm focusing on estate planning, estate settlement, and the transfer of wealth.

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211 East Water Street, Suite 401 Kalamazoo, MI 49007 269.343.2106

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 37

PERFORMING ARTS Plays Collected Stories — Two women writers go from teacher and student to bitter rivals, 8 p.m. Nov. 1, 2, 7–9, 14–16; 2 p.m. Nov. 3, 10, 17, Farmers Alley Theatre, 221 Farmers Alley.

343-2727.

A Dream Play — Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse presents Strindberg’s masterpiece of early Expressionism, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7; 8 p.m. Nov. 8 & 9; 2 p.m. Nov. 10, Nelda Balch Playhouse, K-College. 337-7333.

A Christmas Carol — The New Vic’s 34th annual production of Dickens’ holiday classic, 8:30 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays; 2 p.m. selected Saturdays and Sundays; 7:30 p.m. selected weekdays, Nov. 15—Dec. 28, New Vic Theatre, 134 E. Vine St. 381-3328.

Musicals & Opera Ragtime — WMU theater department presents this musical, 8 p.m. Nov. 14–16, 21–23; 2 p.m. Nov. 24, Shaw Theatre, WMU. 387-6222.

Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody — A new musical comedy, 8 p.m. Nov. 16, Miller Auditorium, WMU. 387-2300.

Peter Pan — A family-friendly musical, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 29, 30, Dec. 5–7, 12–14; 2 p.m.

Dec. 1, 8, 15, Civic Auditorium, 329 S. Park St. 343-1313.

special musical guests The Red Sea Pedestrians, 8 p.m. Nov. 14–16; 2 p.m. Nov. 17, Wellspring Theater, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall. 387-2300.

Symphony Evolution of the Dance — The Kalamazoo Junior Symphony and Stulberg Bronze Medalist Laura Park perform Dvorak’s Violin Concerto and more, 4 p.m. Nov. 10, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave. Scheherazade — The KSO welcomes guest conductor Christoph Campestrini and cellist Zuill Bailey for a program of Schumann and Rimsky-Korsakov, 8 p.m. Nov. 15, Miller Auditorium, WMU. 349-7759.

Regeneration — The Kalamazoo Philharmonia will be joined by soprano Rhea Olivacce to perform Strauss and Mahler, 8 p.m. Nov. 16, Dalton Theatre, Light Fine Arts Center, K-College. 337-7070.

Chamber, Jazz & Bands Distinguished Alumni Series — WMU School of Music alumni present free performances: Jonathan Cook, piano, 8 p.m. Nov. 2; Susan B. Anthony, soprano, 3 p.m. Nov. 10; Katarzyna Sokol-Borup, violin, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 25, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU.

Dance

The One & Only Tommy Dorsey Orchestra — One of the best big bands of the swing era, now conducted by Terry Myers, 3 p.m. Nov. 3, Miller Auditorium, WMU. 387-2300.

Orchesis Concerts — Presented by the WMU dance department, 8 p.m. Nov. 13–17; 2 p.m.

Nov. 16 & 17, Dalton Center, Dance Studio B, WMU.

Piano Recital by Frank Glazer — Longtime American pianist and composer, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 6, Dalton Theatre, Light Fine Arts Center, K-College. 337-7070.

Old World New — The fall concert of Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers features

Bronco Marching Band — Off the football field and in concert, led by David

38 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

Montgomery, 3 p.m. Nov. 10, Miller Auditorium, WMU. 387-2300.

Dalton Wed@7:30 — A series of WMU School of Music concerts: Birds on a Wire and KLOrk (Kalamazoo Laptop Orchestra), Nov. 6; Western Brass Quintet, Nov. 13. All concerts at 7:30 p.m., Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. 387-2300.

Fretwork — Acts of Creation: A Celebration of Benjamin Britten — Fontana Chamber Arts presents the renowned viol consort performing works by John Dowling, a source of inspiration for Britten, 8 p.m. Nov. 9, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. 382-7774.

Jazz Masters — WMU School of Music presents saxophonist Joe Lovano, 8 p.m.

Nov. 22, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. 387-2300.

Classics Uncorked — An evening of Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra chamber music favorites, followed by coffee and dessert, 8 p.m. Nov. 22, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. 349-7759. (See article, page 34.)

University Symphonic Band and University Concert Band — 3 p.m. Nov. 24, Miller Auditorium, WMU. Gilmore Rising Stars Series — Pianist Steven Lin performing a program of Schumann, Liszt and Beethoven, 4 p.m. Nov. 24, Wellspring Theater, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall.

342-1166.

Jim Brickman: The Magic of Christmas — America’s best-selling solo pianist and several guest stars in a holiday celebration, 3 p.m. Dec. 1, Miller Auditorium, WMU. 387-2300.

encore events

Vocal, Opera & Radio Songs from the Silver Screen — The Civic’s Senior Class Reader’s Theatre presents a musical revue of songs from movies, 2 p.m.

Nov. 8 & 10; 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9, 15, 16, Parish Theatre, 426 S. Park St. 343-1313.

Opera — WMU School of Music presents the operatic productions The Poor Sailor and Amelia Goes to the Ball, 8 p.m. Nov. 15 & 16, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. 387-2300.

Kalamazoo College Singers — The choral group performs under the direction of James Turner, 3 p.m. Nov. 17, Stetson Chapel, K-College. 337-7070.

Collegium Musicum — WMU’s early-music vocal group performs under the direction of Matthew Steel, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 19, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. Channel Sounds: Seasonal Songs from France and Britain — The Kalamazoo Singers present a concert of seasonal favorites, 3 p.m. Nov. 24, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 247 W. Lovell St. Miscellaneous Michigan Festival of Sacred Music — The 7th biennial festival presents vocal and instrumental music of many faiths and cultures, Nov. 7–17 at various venues. For a complete schedule of events, visit www. mfsm.us.

VISUAL ARTS Richmond Center for Visual Arts, WMU 387-2436 The Gift: The Print Portfolios of Exit Art — An exhibit featuring 30 years of works from the New York nonprofit cultural center Exit Art, through Nov. 15, Monroe-Brown Gallery.

Karen Bodarchuk: Kith and Kin — Sculptures and drawings exploring the contrasts and boundaries of human/animal interaction, through Nov. 15, Netzorg and Kerr Gallery.

Annual Frostic School of Art Faculty Exhibition — Faculty works in a variety of media, Nov. 21–Dec. 20, Monroe-Brown Gallery.

Al Lavergne: Sequences — New sculptures that celebrate the artist’s Nigerian roots and WMU teaching career, Nov. 21—Dec. 30, Netzorg and Kerr Gallery.

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts 349-7775 Copley to Kentridge: What’s New in the Collection — The latest additions to the KIA’s collection, through Dec. 1.

Mountains and Waters: Landscape Paintings from China — Paintings selected by guest curator Joy Light from the collection of Joy and Timothy Light, through Feb. 2.

Boo! Images of the Macabre — The KIA brings out its most spooky and unnerving works, through Jan. 26.

ARTbreak — Free presentations on art-related topics: From Arieto to Harry Bertoia, a film about 20th-century industrial designer Harry Bertoia, Nov. 5; Natayla Critchley: Art and Local Ecology as Social Practice, appearance by urban community artist, Nov. 12; Brian O’Doherty: The Most Talented Artist in the KIA Collection? docent Frank Wolf talks about the artist formally known as Patrick Ireland, Nov. 19; The Artist and the Poet: Baskin and Hughes, video in which artist Leonard Baskin and poet Ted Hughes discuss the mythic nature of art and poetry, Nov. 26. Guests may bring a lunch to these noon sessions.

Public Tours — Pay for gallery admission and get a guided tour of selected exhibitions at 2 p.m. Sundays: Kirk Newman Art School Faculty Review, Nov. 3; Mountains and Waters, Nov. 10; Boo! Images of the Macabre, Nov. 17; Copley to Kentridge, Nov. 24.

Miscellaneous Art Hop — View the works of local artists at various venues and galleries in downtown Kalamazoo, 5–9 p.m. Nov. 1.

Weavers and Fiber Artists of Kalamazoo — Annual sale and demonstration by the Weavers Guild of Kalamazoo, 5–8 p.m. Nov. 21; 9 a.m.–8 p.m. Nov. 22; 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Nov. 23, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 2900 Lake St. LIBRARY AND LITERARY EVENTS Kalamazoo Public Library 553-7879 or 342-9837 Ally Condie — Author of the bestselling series Matched, 6:30 p.m. Nov. 7, Central Library.

International Games Day — Tournaments, games, prizes, food and fun for grades 7–12, noon–1 p.m. Nov. 16, Central Library.

Portage District Library 329-4544 Combat Veterans Writing Group — A semimonthly poetry, essay and fiction writing workshop for veterans who have been in combat, 6:30 p.m. Nov. 26, West Lake Room.

Open for Discussion — A book discussion group talking about Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, by Jennifer Chiaverini, 10:30 a.m. Nov. 19, West Lake Room.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 39

Meet the Chef — Learn the history of teas and how to brew a perfect cup with Polly Kragt, owner of ChocolaTea, 2 & 7 p.m. Nov. 12. Registration required; call 329-4542, ext. 600.

Miscellaneous Housekeeping: Temenos — An exhibit by lens-based artist Adriane Little, who uses literature as a source of visualization, Nov. 1–29, Kalamazoo Book Arts Center. Opening reception, 6–9 p.m. Nov. 1, during Art Hop. Cole Swenson — The award-winning poet reads from his work as part of WMU’s Gwen Frostic Reading Series, 8 p.m. Nov. 21, WMU Bernhard Center, rooms 208–209.

7 p.m. Nov. 25, People’s Church, 1758 N. 10th St. 375-7210.

Kellogg Bird Sanctuary 671-2510 Birds and Coffee — A short hike to search for birds, followed by coffee and discussion, 9 a.m. Nov. 13, 12685 East C Ave., near Gull Lake.

Decades of Dazzling Dresses — An exhibit from the museum’s collection featuring unique dresses and accessories from 1880 to 1920, through Jan. 19.

Wild Music — Explore evidence for the biological origins of music through interactive exhibits and sound experiences, through Jan. 5.

Submit information by email to events@encorekalamazoo.com for consideration to be included in Events of Note.

Waterfowl Identification Class — Learn to look for distinguishing marks on scaup, bufflehead, ruddy, canvasback and other water birds, 9 a.m. Nov. 16.

MUSIC.WINE.YES. Get to know your KSO musicians in a whole new way. Enjoy a casual evening with friends and wine!*

MUSEUMS Kalamazoo Valley Museum 373-7990

Have an upcoming event?

Classics Uncorked Friday, Nov. 22 | 8pm Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

Listen to works by Mendelssohn & Britten. Enjoy coffee, desserts & *cash bar!

Tickets $30 Call 387-2300 or KalamazooSymphony.com

It’s Ornamental — Following the Holiday Parade, the museum offers free handson activities and crafts; make your own ornaments, gifts and decorations, noon–4 p.m. Nov. 9.

Music at the Museum — Big Boss Blues, 6–8 p.m. Nov. 1, free; K’zoo Folklife Organization acoustic jam, 2–4:30 p.m. Nov. 3, free; Duffield Caron Project, 7 p.m. Nov. 8, $5; Boheme Tribal Belly Dance with Wisaal, 7 p.m. Oct. 18, $5.

NATURE Kalamazoo Nature Center 381-1574 Growing Herbs Indoors — Learn which herbs do well indoors and how to care for them, 6–7 p.m. Nov. 6.

Audubon Society of Kalamazoo 375-7210 Wildlife of Iceland and the Outer Hebrides — Presentation by David Lemberg, WMU associate professor of geography,

Saturday, December 7

2 pm and 7 pm

Sunday, December 8

2 pm

Chenery Auditorium • Kalamazoo MI with the

Ballet Arts Ensemble Cathleen Huling Artistic Director

Guest Professional Dancers from New York City Kalamazoo Children’s Chorus Reserved Seats $12 to $20 Tickets available at Miller Auditorium box office (269.387.2300) or online at <balletartsensemble.org>.

Dr. Barry Ross Conductor

Special ticket rates for groups of 20 or more are available.

Fresh flower bouquets by Schafer’s Flowers available at the door.

40 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

poetry encore The Family Dump Here is the trash of my ancestors, my inheritance

of rusty wire, washtubs, worn-out water heaters, sheet metal, wagon chain. I own all

I could want of broken bottles, beer cans, paint cans, piles

of bent pipe and rusty rebar. I am rich with cracked toilet stools and empty jars of Lustre-Creme

shampoo, all this bequeathed by generations who saw, if not gold

under this ground, then at least a living. They took the tall trees down with horses and axes, planted

apples, pastured cattle— my great-great-grandfather offered Indians

three rows of his corn, one of potatoes, let them leave their tents along the creek

bottom, and here in the black muck of the swamp too wet to plow,

with his brown and blue medicine bottles, he seeded the family dump. Now that there’s

no living left in the land, the apples long gone, the cows down to one

lonely steer, we’re trying to put some things back— trees, wildflowers, grasses. Twice a month

the truck comes to take away our trash. And we’ve given

Lake Girl She tore peninsulas out of what else? construction paper and buttoned the Great Lakes in place, though the sand had a difficult time accepting the needle.

The Crab Nebulae she stapled to golden red paper and threw it in the air, so stunning that glitter was unnecessary.

The morning and the evening.

The geese carried their summer weight from marsh to cornfield to cornfield, then just decided to stay.

Every minute mattered.

Sometimes cabins needed repairs; the cabins repaired.

The trees wore any colors they fancied.

the ghosts their own green lawn five miles west, so

why are they here? They bubble the muck with their long fingers of air, tug

at teacups, shoe soles,

Hunters lay strapped to the roofs of old cars, and the deer drove.

the coiled fungus of bedsprings. Grace cradles

the scraps of her moldy dolly, Eli clutches the wheel of his rotted-out Chevy, driving it

obediently into the earth—

— Elizabeth Kerlikowske

— Amy Newday Newday directs the Writing Center at Kalamazoo College and co-owns a sustainable vegetable farm in Shelbyville. Her poems have appeared in journals such as Poetry East, Rhino, Notre Dame Review, Calyx and Flyway.

Smoke, bear, storm: all the smells were there breaking on shore into waves.

Kerlikowske is an English professor at Kellogg Community College, in Battle Creek, and president of the Kalamazoo group Friends of Poetry.

Encore invites area poets to share their work with Southwest Michigan readers. For consideration, submit your poetry and a short personal profile by e-mail to editor@encorekalamazoo.com or by mail addressed to Poetry Editor, Encore Magazine, 117 W. Cedar St., Suite A, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 41

During the students’ visit to Fort Custer National Cemetery, Nicole Andrie places a flag on the grave of her great-uncle Bernard Dontje, who served in World War II.

Generations (continued from page 29) Dontje, who died in 2011. “He just loved anybody. He loved kids. And when I was growing up, he was so much fun. I miss him a lot.”

At the hospital, the students meet up with their veterans for lunch. Some wheel their veterans from one building to another,

opening doors for them and taking care not to walk too quickly. They take food to the veterans and share their written reports with them. Each student has written a separate report, and the reports from the members of each small group are compiled into a binder for their veteran, along with news reports on the Living History Project.

Smith’s binder includes photos of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, a Japanese sniper, Navy recruiting posters and Navy badges. His great-grandson’s report includes a map of the Indianapolis’ route before it went down.

Student Tiara Blair sits next to Smith at a lunch table as he pages through his notebook. “It’s fantastic,” Smith tells her.

Schlueter (continued from page 22) business leaders to speak to the community and share their insights and expertise.

“For a bank of Keystone’s size, we have given very generously to many nonprofits since we opened 16 years ago, including our participation in very successful United Way campaigns,” Schlueter says. “Not only have we given monetarily, our staff gives countless hours every month volunteering their time with causes such as United Way, Downtown Kalamazoo, Inc., Friendship Village, Vicksburg Community Schools, Gryphon Place, the Paw Paw Wine & Harvest Festival, to name a few,

and I could go on and on.

“We try to support our community while also making this a good place to work for our staff. We have a high retention rate, and we don’t lose customers either. We know our customers by name, and you’ll find when you come in, we’re not always trying to sell you something.”

Schlueter isn’t the only banker in his family.

He met his wife, Diana, working at First National. Their family includes Schlueter’s two adult children, Kevin and Laura, and Diana’s children, Ben and Jenny. “I enjoy spending time with my family,” Schlueter

“It’s almost like a miracle to me. ... I’m going to take this book with me over to Climax and show it to those students who got the scholarships.”

Smith is wearing his sailor’s uniform and a cap with the words U.S.S. Indianapolis embroidered on it, just as he was on the day he was interviewed. When Smith’s group gathers at the table for lunch, student Brady James walks over and gives him a hug.

Smith returns the affection, then steps back, squares off his shoulders and gives James a salute.

Smith then turns and, with tears in his eyes, salutes the student to Brady’s left. And the next student. And the next. Until he has turned 180 degrees and paid tribute to all six students who have worked so hard to do his story justice.

says, noting that they are getting ready to take a vacation to Europe for the first time.

The Schlueters’ European trip is a cruise and will not include a trip to his parents’ home in Germany, although that is a trip Schlueter would yet like to make. After all, the lessons he learned from his parents have kept him on track to success throughout his banking career.

“We will always answer the phone in person at Keystone,” he says. “It’s those little things that add up to exceptional customer service.”

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Downey (continued from page 33) stories and the benefits for people telling stories?”

Downey also is applying what she’s learned about storytelling in new ways.

Several people who saw her perform at the Moth Mainstage contacted her about doing storytelling workshops and coaching. Since then, she has been leading retreats and workshops and offering individual coaching sessions. Her clients include businesses and entrepreneurs. “How do you tell the story of what you do and why you do it?” she asks them.

Recently Downey helped create a storytelling event for the 35th anniversary celebrations of Journeys International, an eco- and adventure-travel company based in Ann Arbor. She has traveled throughout her life, living for extended periods in Spain, France and Brazil, so this event was right up her alley. “I feel like travel can be a transformational experience and (so can) storytelling — sharing those transformational experiences.”

Until the birth of her son five years ago, Downey and her husband toured regularly as a musical act. Even with all the time she has devoted to storytelling and radio for the past few years, she has continued to perform, write and record music, but “just not at the same pace I was doing before.” Before, she released two CDs, Wind at Your Back (2002) and Across the Sea (2008). Her songwriting also has earned a number of accolades, including a 2007 People’s Choice Award at the Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival in Richardson, Texas. “(Music) is really core to what I do,” she says.

Downey’s latest project is to “fuse and blend” personal stories with original songs. “I am working to create a format that is equally storytelling and music.”

Bringing these two forms together is natural, Downey says, because they produce the same result — the creation of connections between people. “They’re … getting at the core of exploring your own creative potential and your own stories, and in the process of sharing those you build community and break down barriers.”

To hear selections from Downey’s Across the Sea CD, go to allisondowney.com/music.“

You have a choice.

If you or a loved one need hospice services, remember you have a choice.

For a list of questions you should ask when considering a hospice program, contact us.

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Galilee Baptist Church, on North Westnedge Avenue, hopes to create a serenity garden on property at 430 W. Paterson St., across from the church. The TO ADVERTISERS Land INDEX Bank Adopt-A-Lot program leases properties for use as green space and gardens.

Alfieri Jewelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Ballet“”When Arts Ensemble . . . . . . .that . . . .the . . .property . . . . 40 we heard would Bell’s Brewery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15 be available, we thought it would be Borgess Health . . . .for . . .a . serenity . . . . . . . garden,” . . . . . . 48 a good place Bravo! . . . . . . . Roland, . . . . . . . a . church . . . . . . .elder . . . . for . 13 says William outreach Bronson Healthcare Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 ministry and board chairman.

“We Centrewant Street to Tapmake House . .it . aesthetically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 pleasing Confectionsand with aConvictions . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23 place for peaceful reflection, Cornerstone Technologies . . . . . of . . the . . . .church . . . . . 17 and members will CTS Telecom, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12 maintain the garden.”

So far, there have been 12 Adopt Dave’s Glass Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 as part of the Land Bank’s37 A-Lot DeMentleases & Marquardt, PLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Community Derby Financial &Garden Associatesprogram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 year Boring approached FallenLast Heroes/Intrepid Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

29 residents in the 1500 block of East Farmers Alley Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Avenue, where Michigan Farm ‘N Garden—The Garden Centerthere . . . . were . . . . . . 4 emptyBank lots, and asked if they would three First National of Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 interested be Food Dance . . . .in . . having . . . . . . a . .garden . . . . . . space . . . . 13 there.

“They not only agreed but said Four Roses Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 they would love to take over the building Framemaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23 maintenance,” she says. and Gazelle Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23 The result is the Trybal Revival 11 Gilmore Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . with more than13 Eastside Great LakesEco-Garden, Shipping Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

100 plantings and 28 species of mostly Greenleaf Hospitality Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 food-producing Greenleaf Trust . . . . trees . . . . .and . . . shrubs. . . . . . . . Funds . . . 2 for the garden came from the Kalamazoo Hospice Care of SW Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Foundation, one Community Kalamazoo/BC International Airport . . . .of . .many . . . . 47 Land Bank partners.

Kalamazoo Community Foundation . . . . . . . . . . 22 “The neighbors have been great Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra . . . . . . . . . . . 22 partners,” Boring says.

KSO Classics Uncorked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 As the Land Bank and its partners Keystone Community Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 look across the Kalamazoo landscape, Langeland Family Funeral Homes . . . . . . . . . . . 44 they see the fruits of their labors — Lawton Ridge Winery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 new homes, rehabilitated homes and Lewis Reed & Allen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 lush gardens where dangerous eyesores LVM Capital Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 once stood — and know that they Millennium Restaurant Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 have changed the face of Kalamazoo in Moors Golf Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 profound and lasting ways.

Nature Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

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Oakland Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Parkway Plastic Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Jeff K. Ross Financial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Saffron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Sharp Smile Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Stewart & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 V & A Bootery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 VanderSalm’s Flowershop & Garden Center . . . . . 23 Varnum Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Vlietstra Bros. Pools & Spas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 WMUK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Woodwork Specialties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 YMCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

44 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

encore The Last word

The Last Word (continued from page 46) and a buck came crashing out from the trees and in a few great bounds was gone. That sight would become as common here as the sound of wailing sirens back in the city.

The 10 acres include woods in the front five, hiding the house from the winding dirt road and surrounding a pond filled with fish and bullfrogs. To the south is a wooded hillside, and on that hill, along another path, is a tiny cottage, perfect for those artistic pursuits I anticipated. Behind the house are random flowerbeds surrounded by large rocks, space for more than one vegetable garden, a scattering of fruit trees, and in the last five acres, a meadow delineated to the west by a tree line. Pines, black walnuts, ancient willows and maples keep me hidden from all but the watching wildlife.

We become the place where we live. A year and a half later, I feel myself so deeply rooted here that I have warned my children: There will be no removing me. I will live to 106, because this is a life worth living, and you will scatter my ashes in those piney woods.

My hands have become the hands of a farm woman: fingers stained in summer with the purple juice of wild blackberries, fingernails lined with the rich dirt of the

vegetable gardens, palms callused from mowing acres of grass. I’ve let my hair go white, white as those stars, because there is a different rulebook of beauty here.

I remember now how to bake bread. I spread the blackberry jam I’ve made on the old stove thick on each slice. My shelves are lined with Mason jars of homemade applesauce, chunky with slices, all picked carefully from the old apple tree on the far side of the barn. I make rare visits to grocery stores, because this earth feeds me, and in a way that goes far beyond the carrots and tomatoes, the cabbages and squashes, the radishes and kale I grow here.

Guinnez has not felt a leash on him since that day he heard and smelled that buck in the woods, and whenever he trots out the door, he drops into the grass, or the fallen leaves, or the snow, and rolls, pawing the air, his mouth open with dog laughter.

I hear no sirens, only the howl of coyotes at night and the chorus of frogs, the ones that have escaped the blue heron who sometimes flies down to cut short their lives. Sometimes, because I can, I throw my head back not only to look at the stars, but to howl along with the coyotes in the wild joy of being alive.

Zinta Aistars is creative director for Z Word, LLC (www.zintaaistars.com), and editor of the literary magazine The Smoking Poet (www.thesmokingpoet.com)

Have The Last Word Have a story to tell?

Non-fiction, personal narratives about life in Southwest Michigan are sought for The Last Word. Stories should be no more than 1,000 words. Submit your story and contact information to editor@encorekalamazoo.com.

Michelle Eldridge and Sandi Doctor, of LVM Capital, partner with others — like Jeanne Grubb, Donor Relations Officer at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation — to sponsor philanthropic education events for women in our community.

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

7840 Moorsbridge Road | Portage, Michigan 49024 269.321.8120 | 800.488.2036 | lvmcapital.com

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 45

THE last word encore

Goodbye, City Life by

Zinta Aistars

M

y jaw dropped. My head fell back. My eyes went wide, then wider. That sky!

Guinnez, my old chow pup, leaned against my legs, and his head seemed to tip up for a moment too, but then his nose pointed in another direction, scenting the wild. There was a rustling out there in the woods, and it held his attention. It was our first night of living in the country, on the 10-acre plot near Hopkins that I would come to call Z Acres.

The little red farmhouse was steeped in history. Once I had made the decision to buy the property in the winter of 2012, I poured over the old titles and deeds in fascination. Ownership dated back to 1832.

The farmhouse was built later, but it had at least a century creaking in its wooden floors.

The vintage stove, still functional, dated to

46 | Encore NOVEMBER 2013

the mid-1800s. It had four burners on one side, fired up by propane, and its other side was fired by wood. I did not have to fear power outages here. I could heat the house on wood, and cook on it too.

Some might call it a fluke, my finding this tucked-away fantasy in the countryside, at an almost perfect midpoint between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. I called it a blessing. I called it home, and knew it as such the moment I first walked on this land, still in deep snow, and stood out in the back field gazing at that sky. Only it was daylight blue then, and two hawks circled overhead.

I’d found the property in a moment of frustration with the stresses and tensions of a more “civilized” life. I plugged keywords into an Internet search engine: “wilderness,

cottage, Southwest Michigan.” And I found this. The housing market had nearly bottomed out, and suddenly I found the distant dream affordable. It was a dream I’d held dear since childhood. While other little girls dreamed of wedding days and broods of children and grand houses on cul-de-sacs — well, maybe they didn’t, but surely I did not — I dreamt of a cabin deep in the woods, a woman in the lap of nature pursuing her art.

Over a lifetime with more than 30 addresses attached to it, my focus had always remained true. It had taken decades, a thousand just-so circumstances to fall into place, but when the last puzzle piece clicked and this vista opened before my eyes, I recognized it for the longawaited blessing it was.

I moved to Z Acres in early 2012, and a year and a half later I still stand outside on many nights, my jaw dropped open, my head thrown back, to watch the sky. It was the first great difference I experienced upon the move from city to country. I’d lived just a few blocks off that great commercial artery in Portage — Westnedge Avenue — in my previous life, and there the sky had always had a sickly orange patina. Light pollution erased all but a few determined stars.

Here, with that rustling again in the woods.

Guinnez pulled at his leash. I’m not sure what came over me, because my dog had never been off his leash, had never run free outside of the fenced-in yard where we had lived before, but I unleashed him now. Click, and he was free. He raced off toward the woods, and I heard a flourish of barking, a loud snort, (continued on page 45)

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I got back to being me Sharon Wolverton Borgess Heart Institute patient

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That’s where listening and expertise made all the difference.

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Using a minimally invasive surgery, called an ablation procedure, they were able to fix her heart problems and give Sharon her life and her energy back.

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