Encore August 2016

Merze Tate Explorers

August 2016

Camzies Pizza hits the road

Meet Sue Ellen Christian

Music is ageless for the Kitchen Band

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

Fresh Food Crusader Hether Frayer is on a mission

Mary Spradling died in 2009. Today she’s teaching people about the history, experiences and contributions of African Americans. Mary loved Kalamazoo. She was Kalamazoo Public Library’s first black professional librarian and in 1998 donated a collection of almost 3,000 books, magazines and record albums highlighting the history, experiences and contributions of African Americans to Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Her legacy is a Community Foundation fund created in her honor to maintain and enhance the collection. We can help you show your love for Kalamazoo and leave a legacy too. Call 269.381.4416 or visit www.kalfound.org to learn how.

equity | education

“Ben was 8 when he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. At first we tried to manage it through diet, but by fifth grade his weight had dropped to only 40 pounds and he wasn’t growing. It was a pretty scary time. Since he started going to Bronson Children’s Hospital, he’s doing so much better. It took a while to get things under control, but Ben is putting on weight, he’s growing again and his energy levels are up. We are so lucky to have a doctor who specializes in Ben’s condition right here in Kalamazoo. It means he can get the treatment he needs and doesn’t have to miss school or extracurricular activities. He’s able to be a kid again.” Shelly, Ben’s mom, Mattawan, Michigan

To watch Ben’s story and learn more about the region’s only children’s hospital, visit bronsonpositivity.com/children.

contributors encore

Olga Bonfiglio

Merze Tate Explorers

Camzies Pizza hits the road

Meet Sue Ellen Christian

August 2016

Music is ageless for the Kitchen Band

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

Olga found a lot of kinship in her reporting on the Merze Tate Explorers, a program that gives girls travelwriting experiences. Not only was Olga the recipient in 1984 of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship which took her all over the world, but she continues to travel as often as she can. Earlier this summer she was in Europe, and she just returned from Cuba. Olga is a freelance writer who resides in Kalamazoo.

Fresh Food Crusader Hether Frayer is on a mission

Publisher

encore publications, inc.

Lisa Mackinder

In this month’s issue, Lisa writes about Camzies Pizza and about the Friendship Village Kitchen Band, where she found that the seniors demonstrate more energy and zest for life than many people half their age. “The wonderful seniors that I met — some of whom struggle with ailments and limitations — don’t let anything stop them,” Lisa says. “They keep moving, continue smiling, and remain sociable and uplifting to one another, and they have a tremendous amount of fun playing in their band.”

Editor

marie lee

Designer

alexis stubelt

Photographers

brian k. powers, melissa zeithammel

Copy Editor

margaret deritter

Contributing Writers

olga bonfiglio, lisa mackinder, emily townsend, robert m. weir

Emily Townsend For this month’s issue, Emily delved into the world of typewriter mania by talking with members of the Kalamazoo Typochondriacs. The collective is spreading its passion for antiquated technology across the state, hosting group “type-in” events in Grand Rapids and Traverse City. Emily says it’s clear why typewriters and type-ins are catching on. “Typewriters are just more fun than computers,” she says. “When I saw all of the typewriters laid out, I felt drawn in, and then when I started typing, I didn’t want to stop. A sense of flow takes over.”

Robert M. Weir

Bob profiled three dynamic individuals for this issue — Hether Frayer and Bill and Sheila Nichols, all of whom define “life lived large,” says Bob. For Bill and Sheila Nichols, the definition comes through their sense of adventure and their desire to humbly create a beautiful, peaceful world through art and involvement. They share love, romance, humor and respect. For Hether Frayer, who calls herself the Fresh Food Fairy, it comes in the form of bringing fresh food to kids and crusading for healthy eating. You can read more of Bob’s writing at robertmweir.com.

4 | Encore AUGUST 2016

Poetry Editor

margaret deritter

Advertising Sales celeste statler tiffany andrus krieg lee

Distribution

mark thompson

Office Coordinator hope smith

Encore Magazine is published 12 times yearly. Copyright 2016, 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: (269) 383-9767 Email: 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 $36, two years $70. 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.

CONTENTS

A u g u s t 2016

FEATURES The Fresh Food Fairy

18

Building Adventures

24

Hether Frayer’s mission to share the power of healthy eating

From toy trains to trimarans, Bill and Sheila Nichols have had an adventurous life

DEPARTMENTS 4 Contributors

6 8

Up Front First Things — What’s happening in SW Michigan Revival of the Ribbon — Typewriter enthusiasts unite to share passion

10 Good Works Transformative Travel — Merze Tate Explorers gives young girls travel and writing experiences

14 Savor Hot Business — Mobile ovens fuel success of pizza enterprize

38 Back Story

Meet Sue Ellen Christian — This Michigan Professor of the Year is molding future journalists

ARTS 28 The Kitchen Band Music is ageless for Friendship Village performers On the cover: Hether Frayer, the Fresh Food Fairy, whips up a smoothie on her Blender Bike to share the power of fresh food. Photo by Brian Powers

31 Events of Note 35 Poetry

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 5

up front encore

First Things Something Kind

Crayons4Kids hosts concert Bring your blankets and lawn chairs Aug. 21 for an afternoon of outdoor fun and music featuring American Idol finalist Matt Giraud and support kids going through a tough time at local hospitals. The Crayons4Kids Concert will be held from 3–7 p.m. at Homer Stryker Field, 251 Mills St. In addition to music, this family-friendly event features a bounce house, zip line, concessions and a silent auction. All proceeds benefit Crayons4Kids’ efforts to provide hospitalized children with games, art materials, instruments and electronics to improve their stay. Admission to the event is $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased online at Crayons4Kids. org or at the event. For more information, visit Facebook.com/ Crayons4Kids. Matt Giraud

Something Retro

Bell’s Beer Garden screens '70s flicks What better way to celebrate Hump Day than by catching two classic films under the stars with a microbrew in your hand? You can do just that at Bell’s Movie Night on Wednesday, Aug. 17, in Bell’s Beer Garden, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave. Bell’s will screen two iconic ’70s movies, Annie Hall and Taxi Driver. You can secure your spot at 8 p.m. for the screenings, which begin at dusk. Admission to the movies is included with a drink order and is available for adults 21 and up. For more information, visit bellsbeer.com/event.

6 | Encore AUGUST 2016

encore up front

Something Festive

Folk music at Cowpie Festival From Aug.12-14, some of Southwest Michigan’s finest

folk music performers, from the Corn Fed Girls to the Red Sea Pedestrians, will perform in a quaint pasture 50 miles north of Kalamazoo as part of the Cowpie Music Festival. The festival, held at Shagbark Farm, 7525 Alaska Ave. SE, Alaska, offers three days of great music and fresh food — kind of like farm-to-table dining with a live soundtrack playing next to you. The festival starts at 3 p.m. Aug. 12 and runs until midnight Aug. 14. Online, prepaid weekend admission is $60, admission at the gate is $75, and children 14 and under attend for free. Camping at the site is free, as is parking. For more information or to buy tickets online, visit cowpiemusicfestival.com.

Something Smooth Caesar croons in the park

Jazz balladeer Caesar will bring his smooth, baritone vocals to Bronson Park Aug. 18. The Chicago native, who can sing in five languages and has toured with Julio Iglesias, Herbie Hancock, Lou Rawls and many others, will perform at the outdoor venue at 6:30 p.m. Caesar’s performance is the last of this summer’s Thursdays in the Park — Live! series and is a collaboration of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, Fontana Chamber Arts and the City of Kalamazoo. The concert is free. To enhance the evening’s enjoyment, a beer tent sponsored by Arcadia Ales will be available for those 21 and over. Food trucks will also be on hand from 5–8 pm. To hear a sample of what’s in store, visit caesarjazz.com.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 7

up front encore

Revival of the Ribbon

Typewriter enthusiasts spread the joy of the clack Emily Townsend

Elise Greenwood-Sargent has felt drawn

to typewriters since she was a child. She remembers touching them in antique stores, hearing the clack of the keys and feeling their cool, shiny frames. Her attraction was only a lingering interest until four years ago, when she and her husband-to-be went for a walk around their neighborhood. “There was an estate sale. They had this really nice Olympia for sale. I said, ‘Whatever, I’m going down this rabbit hole’ and I bought it,” Greenwood-Sargent says. That was 50 typewriters ago. She thought she was alone in her passion for the antiquated machines. Then, in a moment of fate and with help from a very modern form of communication, she stumbled upon the Kalamazoo Typochondriacs Facebook page, a socialmedia hub for Michigan’s fastest-growing group of typewriter enthusiasts. The group formed three years ago. In addition to engaging in online chatter, the Typochondriacs meet several times a year for “type-ins” at area bookstores and breweries, usually pulling in a dozen or more attendees. Richard Polt, author of The Typewriter Revolution (a sort of how-to book for

8 | Encore AUGUST 2016

Emily Townsend

by

typewriter collectors), explains what many typewriter lovers around the world have come to expect at these events. “At type-ins, people enjoy using and talking about their typewriters in public; they might

Above: Typochondriacs member Elise Greenwood-Sargent has a collection of 50 typewriters. Opposite page: Richard Polt, author of The Typewriter Revolution, front, and Typochondriacs member Andrea Johnson clack away at a type-in held in January.

Andy Robins

encore up front

swap or buy machines; and they might have fun with some organized activities such as a speed typing contest,” Polt writes. Greenwood-Sargent remembers a speed-typing contest at the Kalamazoo bookstore Bookbug during the most recent type-in. “We typed the Gettysburg Address and then we had to grade ourselves, and we all did miserably,” she says. “There were all these muscles that secretaries used to have in their arms. To push those buttons — that takes some leverage.”

While Greenwood-Sargent loves collecting typewriters and delving into the history of each machine, she recognizes that type-ins make her passion for typewriters a little “less weird.” Freelance writer and Typochondriacs co-founder Chris Killian says that he sees folks of all ages transform in front of a typewriter at a type-in. “The coolest part wasn’t the adults at the event,” he says of the Bookbug type-in, “it was the kids, who were drawn to typewriters like moths to a flame. They were enthralled by these machines.” Killian’s first typewriter, like Greenwood-Sargent’s, was an Olympia, which he bought while traveling across the United States in a 1984 Volkswagen van. “I wanted to get a manual typewriter. I can’t exactly tell you why,” he says. “Being a writer and journalist, I wanted to explore that way of writing.” Killian posted the pages he typed in the back of his van to a blog, Types of America (typesofamerica.tumblr.com), his stories capturing the profane, strange and dusty corners of the modern-day West. After Killian returned to Kalamazoo in the summer of 2013, he and his fellow journalist and friend Andy Robins, news director of WMUK, decided over beers at Old Dog Tavern that their love of typewriters was something others might share. Now, three years later, with 175 Facebook followers from across the state — including committed typists like Greenwood-Sargent, who lives much closer to Grand Rapids than Kalamazoo — the Kalamazoo Typochondriacs collective is shifting to a statewide focus, with plans to rename itself Michigan Typochondriacs this summer and to hold events in other cities, including Grand Rapids and Traverse City. To find information on the next type-in, check out Facebook.com/ KalamazooTypochondriacs.

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

the Globe Building Charles S. Ofstein • William B. Millard • Michael D. Holmes, Michele C. Marquardt • Daniel L. DeMent • Whitney A. Kemerling

211 East Water Street, Suite 401 Kalamazoo, MI 49007 269.343.2106 w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 9

SAVOR Good Works encore encore

Transformative Travel

Girls travel and write as part of Merze Tate Explorers by

Olga Bonfiglio

T

ravel can change you, and writing about your travels can help you to see the world with new eyes and new possibilities. It was a belief in this transformative power of travel that led Sonya BernardHollins to form a club allowing girls from Kalamazoo to Ann Arbor to travel and write about their travels. The Merze Tate Explorers club — the Merze Tate Travel Writers Club until last year — was inspired by an 80-year-old photo of Merze Tate, says Bernard-Hollins. Bernard-Hollins had been a reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette when she first learned of Tate in 2003 while researching African-

10 | Encore AUGUST 2016

American firsts of Western Michigan University. Tate, a professor, scholar and expert on U.S. diplomacy, was the first black woman to receive a bachelor's degree from Western State Teachers College — now WMU — in 1927. During her career, Tate explored the world, learned five languages and worked as a writer and photographer for the U.S. State Department. Bernard-Hollins found a “gold mine” of information about Tate in WMU's archives, including a photo “which never left me,” she says. The photo was of a travel club for students that Tate created in 1928 when she was a history teacher at Crispus Attucks High School in

Melissa Zeithammel

encore good works

Opposite page: From left, KDPS Officer Melinda Kendall listens to a question by Kymeil Beard as Jerah Jones and Sasha Hollins take notes. Above: Kennedy Hudson and Shemaiah Lawler listen as Sadaya Hamby (fire hat) asks a question of Officer Rebecca VanBrocklin. Left: Amaya Lavender writes about what she learned about the women she met.

Indianapolis. The club’s intent was to teach students more about U.S. history by traveling to places like Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Niagara Falls. “This was during the Depression years of 1928, and Indianapolis was the heart of the Ku Klux Klan,” says Bernard-Hollins. “Many of the parents of the children in the club were servants and chauffeurs, a future they expected for their own children. While the parents wanted more for their children, Tate's efforts of taking African-American students on educational excursions met with critical questions from the media. However, Tate's vision was to expose young people to

the world so that they could go beyond the expectations of their time.” Inspired by Tate and thinking “a travel club for girls would be fun,” BernardHollins created the Merze Tate Travel Writers Club in 2008. The club’s purpose was to provide girls with an opportunity to travel, discover women who had made an impact on their communities and write about their experiences. Bernard-Hollins received a $2,000 grant from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation to create the program. The Merze Tate Travel Writers Club began with 12 girls, who had to apply, be interviewed and demonstrate their writing skills. Members met two Saturdays each month during the school year, and their first trips included visits to Detroit to see the Motown Museum, Wayne State University and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and to Tuskegee, Alabama, to see the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum. There, they met original Tuskegee airmen and a woman who stuffed parachutes for the airmen. In the second year of the club, more than 50 girls participated. In its third year, club members created a documentary on Tate’s life, The World Through the Lens of Merze Tate. It debuted at the Grand Rapids Public Museum during Black History Month in 2012. “We always have the girls' mothers for chaperones on the trips, and many of them had never been to the places we were going,” says Bernard-Hollins. “As we went through the years and families saw how excited the girls were, more and more volunteers came forth, including the girls' fathers and aunts.” Bernard-Hollins also emphasizes career and leadership development to the girls.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 11

good works encore

Members meet local professional women from various occupations to help them think about future careers. One of these women was Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran, the former president of Kalamazoo College. “Dr. Wilson-Oyelaran was seated in the boardroom when the girls arrived, but none of them had a clue as to who she was,” says BernardHollins. “When she was introduced as the president, they all perked up. That showed me that exposing them to influential people can make a huge difference for them.” Eight of the original 12 club members went to college, says Bernard-Hollins. One of those young women, Tori Zackery, 19, is a sophomore at Michigan State University studying photojournalism. In 2015, Zackery received a $2,000 study-abroad scholarship to visit Berlin, Munich and Paris, and she credits the travel club as her inspiration. “I didn't realize at the time how valuable it would become to be able to look beyond the surface of a place I've lived my entire life and report on its history and secrets,” says Zackery. “Those skills separate tourists from travelers, and they became extremely useful during my time in Europe.” In 2013, Bernard-Hollins established a week-long residential Travel Writers Academy on the campus of Kalamazoo College. It allows girls in grades 4-12 to experience college life and interact with women from various career fields and with world travel experiences. The academy participants then write about their experiences and publish them in the organization’s annual Girls Can! magazine, which is unveiled during Art Hop in September. In 2015, the organization became a nonprofit and changed its name to Merze Tate Explorers. In addition to girls from Kalamazoo,

12 | Encore AUGUST 2016

About Merze Tate Merze Tate (1905-96) was a teacher and world explorer who learned five languages and worked as a writer and photographer for the U.S. State Department. She was the first African-American to graduate from Oxford University in England, in 1935. She also received a Ph.D. in government and international relations from Harvard University and Radcliffe College in 1941. She was one of the first two female members to join Howard University’s Department of History, where she was an expert on U.S. diplomacy and disarmament. Upon her death, she left Howard University a $1 million legacy and her personal papers. Tate also bequeathed more than $1 million to Western Michigan University. The university’s Merze Tate Grant and Information Center in Sangren Hall is named in her honor.

Melissa Zeithammel

encore good works

Clockwise from bottom left: Sasha Hollins and Jerah Jones interview KDPS Officer Chelsea Parise; Kynnedi Patterson feels what it's like to wear the pants of a firefighter; Captain Stacey Randolph and Sonya Bernard-Hollins; and the girls and their chaperone listen to Officer Ondreya Townsend describe what's stored in her police vehicle.

it now has members from Ann Arbor, Albion, Battle Creek, Richland and Portage. Merze Tate traveled around the world twice, and now the Merze Tate Explorers club helps facilitate international travel opportunities for its members as well. In 2015, Claire Khabeiry and Natasha Mahonie, who

point 1k

were both 15 at the time and members since 2009, went to France for 30 days. The Greg Jennings Foundation covered half of their travel expenses, while The Faces of America program provided additional funding. Fundraisers and the girls’ families paid the rest. Bernard-Hollins admits she didn't have a complete plan when she decided to start the Merze Tate Explorers but says there has been a consistent philosophy behind its success. “We eliminate all excuses not to dream big.”

the

september’s most extreme event. Now in bronson park!

9.24.16

register @ point1k.com

No actual running required... 329 foot absolutely flat course and this cool shirt

family fun, live music, food trucks, drink deals & more! w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 13

savor encore

Hot Business

Mobile ovens fuel success of pizza enterprise by

Lisa Mackinder

Ken Paul, owner of Camzies Pizza, has an

Right: Pizza from the outside wood-burning oven at Kalamazoo Pizza Company. Opposite page: R.J. Saline, left, joined forces with Camzies Pizza owners Ken and Cassie Paul to open the Kalamazoo Pizza Company.

14 | Encore AUGUST 2016

Brian Powers

aptitude for two seemingly diverse interests: making pizza and constructing almost anything. Paul combined these talents to build two mobile wood-fired pizza ovens that serve up fresh, thin-crust pizzas at area festivals, fairs, farmers' markets and catering events. The idea for this business came from a history lesson. “Pizza sellers in Italy used to go around in wagons and sell pizza that way with horses and buggies and around castles,” Paul says. “I did research on it, and that’s kind of what inspired me. I’ve been a pizza enthusiast for the last 15 years.” In 2013, after Paul was laid off from his job, he and his wife, Cassie, launched Camzies Pizza (named for their two children Cameron and Mackenzie) with a mobile pizza oven built by Paul that they set up at Oshtemo Township Park and at Flesher Field. Soon Camzies was booking larger events, and business took off. Paul built a second mobile pizzeria. Ken and Cassie Paul now operate two mobile pizzerias, and business has been so brisk that they recently partnered with local business owner R.J. Saline to open a woodfired pizza drive-thru called the Kalamazoo Pizza Company, at 2120 S. Sprinkle Road. The drive-thru, which opened in June, serves Camzies pizzas. The Pauls plan to continue operating their mobile ovens across Southwest Michigan, taking them to events at the Gilmore Car Museum, the Paw Paw Wine and Harvest Festival, the Kalamazoo County Fair, and the Texas Corners Farmers' Market — to name a few. This season is already fully booked. “The scheduling part is the key to the mobile food business,” Paul says. “If you’re

encore Savor

Paul’s second oven, referred to as “the catering trailer,” took 80 hours to finish. The catering trailer measures 5 feet wide by 11 feet long and, when set up, encompasses approximately a 15-square-foot area. Both ovens are made out of refractory cement, which has the ability to withstand high heat. Camzies also has a walk-in cooler on wheels that measures 5 feet by 8 feet. “It’s like a builder’s trailer that has a window air conditioner that runs down in the 30s,” Paul says. “We can store about 1,500 rounds of dough.”

The 900-degree wood-fired ovens hold three 12-inch pizzas that are ready in three to five minutes. If it were running at maximum efficiency, pizzas could come out of the oven in 30 seconds, Paul says. But he laughs and explains that people, including himself, aren’t quite as quick. It takes a lot of tending and stoking of the fire to maintain the oven’s temperature. There are hard parts about operating a mobile food trailer. Most of the business happens in June, July and August and requires a lot of prep time. Figuring out

Brian Powers

going to be a food truck owner, you’ve got to be a good scheduler.” Paul’s first pizza oven, which he calls “the event trailer,” took 240 hours to complete. The trailer bed measures 6 feet wide by 12 feet long and, when fully set up, spans a 20by 20-foot area. This first oven has since been redesigned three times, getting more efficient with each revamp. Paul never shirked from building it himself. Ever since he received a Dewalt jigsaw for his 16th birthday, he’s been constructing everything from furniture to barbecue smokers.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 15

Brian Powers

savor encore

Clockwise from top left: Cassie and Ken Paul prepare a pizza; the finished product; and one of two mobile pizza ovens the Pauls operate at venues around the area.

Personal Injury Experience In Your Corner.

®

Ranking in Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs

Deborah K. Palmer

Bonnie Y. Sawusch

Peter A. Smit

Steven H. Weston

Providing a broad base of experience in personal injury matters. Contact our Personal Injury Team for your legal needs at www.varnumlaw.com/pi

Legal Experience In Your Corner.® 16 | Encore AUGUST 2016

encore Savor how to be more efficient and get more tasks done in a short amount of time is extremely important, Paul says. “One of the keys has been reducing setup and teardown time,” he says. “When designing the trailers and deciding how to build a trailer, the biggest thing is efficiency.” Paul makes everything from scratch. Prior to starting Camzies with his wife, he worked as a delivery systems analyst at Kalsec, a Kalamazoo-based company that produces natural colors and flavor extracts and nutritional ingredients for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Paul’s experience there helped him to create Camzies' herb-infused dough and homemade pizza sauce, which he describes as a sweet Italian garlic blend. Several cooking factors affect the flavor. “If you cook the sauce to 130 degrees, it tastes different than if you cook the sauce all the way to 180,” Paul explains. “If you go to 180, it almost starts to get burned. The temperature and rate that you cook the sauce up makes the flavor different. Another thing is how you cool it down.” The company uses toppings that are fresh, locally grown and thin-sliced. Typically the catering trailer offers nine to 10 topping choices, while the event trailer provides 10 to 12. “Part of the design in the business plan is that we always have the basic essentials,” he says. “We prep smaller amounts but have a lot of variety.” Preparing smaller amounts helps prevent food loss. With Paul and his wife “dividing and conquering” to keep up with Camzies’ event and catering season, Paul says he appreciates having a business-minded partner like Saline on board for the drive-thru location. Saline, a self-professed pizza enthusiast, reached out to the Pauls about combining forces. “We met a few years back and had a pretty good discussion about a business partnership,” Saline says.

To create more workspace at the Kalamazoo Pizza Company drive-thru, the partners constructed a wood-fired pizza oven on the outside of the 450-square foot building, which can be accessed from the inside of the building. The drive-thru’s menu offers 6-inch, 9-inch, 12-inch, 15-inch and 24-inch pizzas. “We’re just selling pizza, and that’s it,” Paul says. “We have a simple menu, a simple process, and it’s custom, fresh and hot.”

The Pauls and Saline hope to open another drive-thru in about a year, with inside seating, Ken Paul says. But as the business grows, Paul refuses to compromise on one aspect. “When people scale things up, you lose a lot of what the original, authentic value of the food is,” he says. “If the business wants to grow to a point where it’s going to jeopardize that, then that’s the furthest it can grow.”

Quiet, Comfortable, Affordable Choice Aged Steaks

Reservations Appreciated 375-3650

Fresh Fish Slow Roasted Prime Rib

Dinner from 5:00pm daily RESTAURANT & TAVERN

Visit our website at www.greatlakesshippingco.com

Conveniently located at 4525 West KL Ave, east of Drake Road

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 17

The Fresh Food Fairy

She spins magic with a healthy food message story by

Robert M. Weir

photography by

B

Brian Powers

Brian Powers

edecked in rainbow clothing, Hether Frayer flits about Southwest Michigan proclaiming, “Fresh food is fun!” She’s the Fresh Food Fairy, and she rides her stationary bicycle, equipped with a food blender, to make Bike Blender Smoothies at locations such as farmers’ markets and health and wellness fairs. She flutters into classrooms to demonstrate to youngsters that it’s OK to play with food — as a precursor to eating it, of course — and she and her employees make KALEamazoo Chips from locally grown kale. After earning a teaching degree from Western Michigan University in 2000, Frayer returned home to Farmington Hills and taught for a

18 | Encore AUGUST 2016

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 19

Brian Powers

year at a charter school in Detroit. Although she liked the school’s novel ideology, she soon realized, “I was not cut out to be a classroom teacher. I wanted everything to be really fun, but there were too many governmental constraints.” A year later, she married Matt Frayer, whom she had met at WMU, and the couple returned to Kalamazoo, where he had gained employment as a quality-control scientist at the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Frayer tried her hand at substitute teaching before the birth of their son, Jonna, in 2002 and daughter, Haniya, in 2004 set the stage for her in fairydom. Frayer became a facilitator, teacher, pod leader and cook with Girls in the Wild, a local rite-of-passage program for teenage girls that includes wilderness backpacking and discussions about their development and bodies. She also ran an after-school creative problem-solving game for youngsters called Brain Hurricane at various schools in Kalamazoo, and worked as a teacher’s aide at Northglade Montessori School, where Jonna and Haniya were students. When assigned to work in the lunchroom at Northglade, Frayer says, she became dismayed with the volume of fresh fruits and vegetables the youngsters threw away each day. “That drove me crazy,” she says. Curious, she asked the kids why they were tossing healthy food. She learned that the youths were highly influenced by “the billions of dollars spent advertising

As the Fresh Food Fairy, Hether Frayer promotes the power of healthy eating through events at libraries, schools and elsewhere across Southwest Michigan, including whipping up smoothie samples on her custom Blender Bike.

junk food that has no nutritional value,” she says. She realized this was also true of adults. As subscribers to a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program, she and her husband received more fresh food than their family could consume so they gave the extra produce away. “But some produce, like kale,” she says, “I had to cook with other foods first before even adults would eat it.” As a member of the People's Food Co-op board of directors, Frayer knew that “access to food” means more than just having a grocery store within walking distance. “It’s also about wanting to eat fresh produce and knowing how to prepare it,” she says. “It’s about making food attractive and fun to eat.” In the fall of 2010, Frayer attended Change Makers, a small business workshop hosted by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. She conferred with others about their passions to create change within the community. Using a whiteboard, she drew a caricature of a fairy and said she wanted to show people that eating “fresh food can be fun.” For this idea, she received a $250 business start-up grant.

The Fresh Food Fairy made her debut later that fall at Northglade, where teachers welcomed her gladly. She wore a rainbow of colors and created games to entice children to eat healthy food that most of them would usually avoid. She instinctively knew the concept of “being healthy” wouldn’t register in a child’s mind so she asked the children, “Who wants to be stronger and smarter?” “Of course, everybody does,” she says, “so I tell them that every part of our body works better when we eat lots of fruits and vegetables.” For the adult population, Frayer created the Bike Blender Smoothie, a stationary bicycle with a food blender attached to the gear mechanism that she debuted at the People’s Food Co-op’s 100-Mile Market in 2011. With her sparkling personality, she enticed people to “ride the bike, blend a smoothie, buy the smoothie.” She had hoped the Bike Blender Smoothies would fund the Fresh Food Fairy’s nutrition education program, but she discovered she had “way more fun giving away smoothie samples than selling them.” She changed her marketing strategy and now brings the blender to events, charging a fee to the host organizations, which are mostly schools, health facilities and corporations that sponsor wellness day events. To her adult audiences, she explains “food miles,” the distance some produce travels from field to kitchen, and advocates eating locally grown produce. She talks about the nutritional value of dairy products from pasture-fed cows versus feedlot animals. She promotes organic and fair-trade commodities that have “great flavor and no child labor.” Frayer also produces and markets her KALEamazoo Chips, crispy snacks made with kale. She and her employees make four flavors — Lemony Kick-It, Lime Coconut, Garlic Parm and Chocolate Chili — and they are experimenting with more. Labels on the containers tout the chips as “a superfood bursting with bold flavor.” “The nutritional value is great so I tell people to ‘splurge on kale chips instead of cupcakes,’” Frayer says. The People’s Food Co-op became the first retail location for her chips, and the product is now in several chain grocers and privately

How I make fresh food fun By Hether Frayer (The Fresh Food Fairy)

Being healthy doesn’t mean much to kids, but every kid wants to be stronger and smarter, so I focus on stronger and smarter. I bring a basket of colorful vegetables and talk about the bright colors. I say that it’s like eating a rainbow. The colors are a secret code that lets us know which vitamins are in each vegetable. But we don’t have to memorize the code, we just need to eat the rainbow, and that gives our body everything it needs to grow. Then I talk about the shapes. I show them how, with a little imagination, we can make really fast cars out of cucumbers and peppers. We can make a red pepper fire truck and a zucchini train. It’s silly stuff, I know, but the kids like it. In this “fast-moving food,” which is not “fast food,” the drivers are “our food friends,” like radishes with eyes of black-eyed peas (which are super cute). I give each child a bag of veggies, and we start by seeing how loud we can crunch our carrots. For the young ones, I pull out my Carrot Friend, and he jumps up and down — like a volume meter — depending on how loud the kids crunch the carrots. With older kids, I use a carrot-crunching contest. We also make green-bean mustaches and a smile with a slice of pepper. I have children hold a thinly sliced carrot up to the light and look through it, and they see that it’s beautiful. The same with a cucumber. We make broccoli trees. We let spinach and kale flutter like falling leaves. Then they make their own Food Friends. We play with the veggies, smell them, touch them, and the children forget that they don’t like the taste. We talk about how our taste buds can learn to like new things. I say to them, “Not long ago, all of us were teeny-tiny babies and we didn’t know how to walk. How did we learn? We started by crawling and pulling ourselves up.” Then I fall down on the floor, and they get excited because they’re into slapstick. I ask, “How many of you are really fast runners now?” Of course, they all raise their hands. “Sure, you’ve had so much practice that you don’t have to think about it.” Then

I say, “Our taste buds are the same way. They just need to practice.” I tell them to practice with a new fresh food 20 times on 20 different days. Then we do more silly things: karate chomping a string bean with our teeth, power crunching our carrots, acting like a giant while eating a broccoli tree, acting like a giraffe to eat kale leaves out of a tree. We put a cherry or grape tomato in our mouths, and I count down from 10. Then we chomp down to feel the tomato explode inside our mouths. Of course, if some of it shoots out, that just adds to the fun. I show children the MyPlate nutritional illustration from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and tell them to put some protein, grains, fruits and vegetables on their plates at every meal. And for a final bit of advice, I tell them to put the MyPlate picture on the refrigerator at home, along with a list of “Vegetables I Like” so their moms and dads know what good foods to have in the house.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 21

Brian Powers

owned health-food stores throughout Michigan, including in Kalamazoo, and in Chicago and New York. While Frayer is generous with her samples and recipes, she’s eager for her five-year-old business to show a profit. “I love doing what I love, and I’m grateful every day,” she says, “but I feel like I’ve been ‘volunteering’ long enough. Life isn’t all about money, but that is a measure of success. At what point is my work going to be legitimized by a salary, even if it’s small?” In her next breath, Frayer acknowledges how far she’s come with her business, which, she says, “is pretty self-sustainable.” At first, she made kale chips at home for family, friends and consumers at farmers’ markets. Then she utilized Kalamazoo’s Can-Do Kitchen, juggling tight three-hour shifts with other entrepreneur food preparers. For a few months she shared a commercial kitchen with Bridgett Blough, the Organic Gypsy (Encore, May 2015). Today she rents a commercial-grade kitchen at 309 E. Water Street, close to East Michigan Avenue. “I love the location a lot,” Frayer says,

HOMEBUYERS SAVE

$545

*

IN CLOSING COSTS

APPLY TODAY

REAL PEOPLE REAL MORTGAGES 22 | Encore AUGUST 2016

Top left: Frayer and employee Richard Whitfield prepare fresh vegetables for tasting at a Fresh Food Fairy appearance. Above, Frayer whips up a batch of her KALEamazoo chips, at right, which are sold in stores from Chicago to New York.

MERCANTILE BANK MORTGAGE SERVICES There are plenty of mortgage options out there, but chances are there is only one that is just right for you. Let a Mercantile Bank mortgage lender help you find the perfect mortgage for your life and your future. No gimmicks and no games, just solid mortgage options with competitive rates designed around your needs. Visit MercBank.com/Mortgage to find a local Mercantile lender and to see our current loan specials.

*Origination fee of $545 is waived. Please consult a Loan Officer for complete details. All loans subject to credit and collateral approval. All loan products and programs are subject to additional terms and conditions. To be considered a first-time homebuyer the purchaser and purchaser’s spouse may not have owned a primary residence 3 years prior to purchase. Valid through October 1, 2016.

“but it’s huge and we’re underutilizing it, so it would help if we could share the space.” With increasing demand for appearances by the Fresh Food Fairy, Frayer also expresses her wish for more “fresh food folks” to come forward and develop their own “characters”— not fairies, but characters who would wear outlandish costumes and have their own “fresh food identity.” Because her student audiences represent multiple ethnicities,

The Fence Center at A sister company of Arborist Services of Kalamazoo, LLC

Privacy, Security and Beauty Kalamazoo, MI ● 269.381.0596 ● FarmNGarden.com

she hopes one character creator might be a person of color. “It’s helpful for kids to learn from adults who look like them,” she says. On the home front, the Frayers hope to one day own a permaculture farm, grow their own kale, raise free-range cattle and harvest fruit and nuts from their own trees. In the meantime, Frayer, whose “whole mission is education,” will continue as the Fresh Food Fairy, pedaling her Bike Blender, teaching kids to have fun with food, and encouraging everyone to eat fresh fruit and veggies that will make them stronger and smarter. Find Hether Frayer online at www. freshfoodisfun.com or search for “Fresh Food Fairy.” (Note: Stores place KALEamazoo Chips in various locations, so ask for them by name. You can also order them through Frayer’s website or make your own with her recipes, also found at www.freshfoodisfun.com.)

ARE YOU READY TO LOOK & FEEL

YOUR BEST? At Bronson Plastic Surgery Specialists (formerly Parkway Plastic Surgery), our team provides a broad spectrum of cosmetic, medical and reconstructive surgery procedures as well as specialty skin care services. • Botox & injectable fillers • Breast surgery • Facial improvements

• Scar revision • Skin cancer treatments • Skin care services

AUGUST SPECIAL: $65 Signature Facial To schedule a consult, call (269) 343-5750 or visit bronsonhealth.com/plastic-surgery.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 23

Brian Powers 24 | Encore AUGUST 2016

Building Adventures From toy trains to trimarans, Bill and Sheila Nichols have had an adventurous life story by

Robert M. Weir

W

hen Sheila McGrew married Bill Nichols in 1971, she sensed his adventurous spirit but didn’t anticipate the magnitude of his exploits or his artistry. “He told me all about car trips his family took, so I figured we’d be going on car trips,” Sheila says. Although Bill’s parents had taken him and his two siblings on annual camping and backpacking explorations in the Rockies starting in 1946 when he was 8, Bill didn’t like traveling by car. The couple’s first “trip,” therefore, was a four-day, 300-mile jaunt — on bicycles — from their home in Schoolcraft to Sheila’s sister’s home, just south of the Mackinac Bridge, in 1973. “I couldn’t walk without a limp for six weeks,” Sheila remembers. Yet, the following summer she was game to pedal more than 1,000 miles on a 17-day journey with Bill to New Orleans, camping in stands of trees next to roadways when motels weren’t handy.

Opposite page: Bill and Sheila Nichols on the spiral staircase built by Bob at their Schoolcraft home. Above: The couple in the cabin of the trimaran that Bob built by hand and that they sailed to locations across the globe.

Even Bill, in a mild-mannered voice, now admits this trip “was like climbing a mountain. I didn’t know if we could actually do it.” With a hearty laugh, Sheila agrees the trip was “hard work,” but adds that it was “fun to talk about.” They took that vacation to visit a friend Bill had met a decade earlier on a voyage from Benton Harbor to Chicago, then down the Mississippi to New Orleans on a 30-foot trimaran he had built. Bill also constructed a 24-foot trimaran in the mid-1960s on which he and Sheila enjoyed their honeymoon on Lake Michigan. Bill’s third trimaran, Alouette, which he constructed from 1975 to 1991, carried the couple across the Atlantic in 1992, after they retired from the local telephone company in Three Rivers, where they met when she worked as a switchboard operator and he as a repair technician. “We put the sails up for the first time when we were leaving South Haven. Going around Michigan was our shakedown cruise,” Sheila says, recalling the joy of leisurely reading a book while underway on that warm August day. They sailed to Beaver Island, pulling in there to ride out a storm, the first of many that would plague the rest of their voyage. High winds streaking out of Saginaw Bay caused Sheila to wonder if Alouette would break apart while Bill studied the boat’s idiosyncrasies. “Even though I had built her, sailing her in foul weather was like dealing with a person I’d never met before,” he admits. Coming out of New York Harbor in October, Bill and Sheila endured icy cold as they turned south, their thoughts stretching to Panama and the Pacific. In the Bahamas the following spring, however, Sheila noted that 1992 was the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ exploration of the Americas, so the couple instead headed east with the intent of replicating that historic voyage in reverse. “From the Bahamas to the Azores (a chain of islands about 1,300 miles west of mainland Portugal) took 30 days,” Sheila says. “There was gale after gale, and I was seasick the entire time. I weighed 126 pounds when we left and 96 when we arrived.” “When we got to the Azores, we talked with other people,” Bill adds. “They said it was the worst crossing in 25 years. They had problems, too, like torn sails and furling mechanisms that failed.” Bill and Sheila enjoyed three weeks in the Azores. They competed in an island-to-island regatta before leaving for Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands (off the coast of Morocco but an autonomous community of Spain) and a very short stint in Cape Verde (a nation

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 25

Brian Powers Keith Mumma

of islands off the coast of West Africa). There, they encountered a depressed economy and snarky officials who required that they hire overpriced “boat watchers.” The experience, Bill says, reminded him to “love America.” With tail winds pushing them quickly back to the Caribbean, Alouette surfed down waves in glorious fashion. “That’s when the boat comes alive, like a breathing creature,” Bill says. “It’s an experience you can’t really describe in words.” Upon returning to Schoolcraft, Bill and Sheila parked their vessel in a barn on the farm where Bill’s great-grandparents had pioneered in 1837. Bill has lived on the property most of his life. When the couple married, his parents gave them land on which Bill constructed their home. He describes the architecture of the home as federal, based on designs popular in the United States from the late 1700s to the 1840s. The interior contains a touch of Greek and early American, with wainscoting, linen folds, dental molding and columns topped with flower blossoms. In 1977, even though the house wasn’t completely furnished, it was on the Christmas Tour of Homes sponsored by the Schoolcraft Ladies’ Library Association, an organization Sheila joined two years earlier. Bill tied up loose-end carpentry projects while Sheila borrowed furniture and other items from friends and relatives “to make the house a

26 | Encore AUGUST 2016

home,” she says. They returned all of the items immediately after the event was over. “If anybody had come to the tour to case the place and came back to steal, they would say, ‘Oh, somebody beat me to it,’” Sheila says with a laugh. Bill, who loves historical research, then came up with an idea to make the house even more appealing. “He was working in the basement one day,” Sheila explains. “He came upstairs and said, ‘How would you like a library off the living room?’ ‘Wait a minute,’ I replied. ‘You just want more room in the basement.’ ‘Yeah,’ he said.” She bargained with him and reached an agreement that he could add on to the east side of the house, including a larger basement, if he would also build a walk-in closet in their bedroom. The “East Wing” that Bill constructed features Palladian windows with halfmoon arches that he crafted, custom cabinetry, a desk and chair representative of Independence Hall and early American lights with reproduction Edison bulbs that “tease the eye” with shadow patterns on the ceiling. The main feature, however, is the freestanding spiral staircase to the upper level. “It was meant to be a simple work of art,” Bill says, “but I wondered if I could actually do it.”

Top photo: Bill Nichols has created an elaborate HO Train layout in his basement that encompasses 1,200 square feet. Above: Books of historical house interiors provided inspiration for the elaborate woodwork Bob created for the Nichols’ home.

“I knew he could,” Sheila responds. “If he could build boats, he could build a stairway.” And of her walk-in closet, she adds, “It’s a room, not a closet!” “I love working with wood,” Bill says. “It’s God’s gift to man — beautiful in the forest, and you can make beautiful things with it.” On the other side of the house, next to the original, traditional stairway, Bill painted a mural that adorns three walls. The scene is a waterway with a hilly landscape, a paddle wheeler, sailboats, islands, a village with a church and, on the upper landing, clouds that drift into a sunset. With a blend of humbleness and innate artistic expertise, Bill says, “I didn’t put too much detail in it. I’d rather err on the simple side than the cluttered side.” Another notable “canvas” in Bill’s portfolio is his HO train layout in the basement, which prompted his original proposal to expand the house. The array occupies 1,200 square feet, with 240 feet of track that holds more than two dozen engines and 300 cars. The miniature pieces — people, animals, trees, trestles, barns, houses, power poles, water towers, silos, signs — number in the hundreds. The creation represents the landscape from Boston to Montreal, which Bill studied extensively through books and maps. “An artist is constantly fooling the eye,” he says of the compressed distance between towns. “The hills in the background are smaller than in reality. The buildings in the background have less detail, and the ones in the foreground have more detail. That’s how art works — it’s a forced perspective.” Yet the detail throughout is 100 percent true to 1954, including 48-star flags, yellow stop signs and vintage automobiles. “There’s nothing bad or violent in here,” Bill says. “No fires. No cops chasing robbers. We can make the world any way we want. It’s enjoyable for me to create a world that’s not bad.” With similar sentiment, Bill compares the train parties he has hosted for local friends and international guests to a theatrical stage.

“When we put the trains in motion, Act One is on its way and we all have jobs,” he says. “We have to interact with each other. It’s not quite like Shakespeare, but it’s just as much fun.” And while others vie to be the dispatcher, who has to make sure none of the trains collide, Bill shies away from that role. “I know how to build it, how to fix it, but I don’t like to operate it. That’s why we need different types of personality. The world would be a boring place if we were all like me or all like you.” In addition to his work on boats, model trains and his house, Bill also repairs mechanical clocks and maintains a restored Model A and Model T. While he keeps busy with all of these activities, Sheila is active in the community most days of the month. In addition to being a member of the Schoolcraft Ladies’ Library Association, she belongs to two historical societies, a United Methodist church and women’s group, the American Legion Auxiliary, Friendship Force of Western Michigan (a cultural exchange program) and two car clubs. She also bicycles regularly with her biking buddies. “Why join if you’re not going to be involved?” she asks. This simple rhetorical question applies to her commitment to her husband, too. “I would never have ridden a bike to New Orleans, I would not have crossed an ocean on a sailboat, except that I married Bill,” she says. “I have to be in motion, creating something,” Bill responds. “It can’t be just any kind of motion; it has to be highly focused. I enjoy the satisfaction of completing a project from A to Z.” Sheila gives him a look. “Except they really don’t quite —” “Well, I get to W or X anyway,” Bill says, flashing a boyish grin. Sheila emits another hearty laugh. In those expressions of charm and laughter lies the secret of their successful life together: to love and accept — even when the adventures don’t go as planned.

Because everyone deserves a great workplace

Innovative Human Resources Consulting, Training, and Recruiting 229 E. Michigan Ave, Suite 345 Kalamazoo 269.459.6060 www.HRMInnovations.com w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 27

Arts encore

And on the whisk …

Music is ageless for Friendship Village Kitchen Band Lisa Mackinder

I

f television host Ellen DeGeneres heard the Friendship Village Kitchen Band, she wouldn’t be able to sit still in her chair, says Corinne O’Heran, life enrichment director at the Friendship Village retirement community. The 21 members of the band, ages 71 to 97, play instruments made from kitchen implements such as pie pans, whisks, bottle caps, measuring cups and spoons. O’Heran — who admits her “secret dream” is for the kitchen band to perform on The Ellen DeGeneres Show — says that not only will this group make the TV host “want to dance,” but it will shatter misconceptions people have about senior citizens. Society doesn’t recognize how vital people can be in their 80s and 90s, O’Heran says. She witnesses this liveliness every day

28 | Encore AUGUST 2016

Brian Powers

by

and describes the retirement community’s residents as encouraging and inspiring. “It’s not just about Friendship Village either, although I think we’re special,” O’Heran says. “I want people to see that aging isn’t bad. My residents are some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen and ever known. I think aging is such a negative in our society. My people knock that negative right out of the park.” Kay Snider, the band’s 90-year-old founder and current conductor, redefines typical perceptions of a woman her age. Full of life and wit, the former organ player was a member of a kitchen band when she lived in Florida. When she moved to Michigan, she wanted to form such a group at Friendship Village so she put up a recruitment poster and 16 people joined.

“We worked a whole year on that first band, getting the music and instruments and learning to work together,” Snider says. The group unanimously picked Snider as its conductor. “Nobody else would do it,” she says, laughing. If you were invited onstage to play the stomp fiddle, a thick wooden stump fitted with a horn for honking and tin pie plates that are struck with a whisk, you would gain an appreciation of how hard the members practice and how much fun they have. Alternating between singing and playing a kitchen instrument and kazoos isn’t as easy as band members make it look. “Just watch Kay,” the band members advise, pointing to Snider, who swings a wooden spoon to songs such as “RaggMopp,” a lively tune that was popular in the early 1950s. “It took effort for all of us to work together and not give up,” O’Heran says of the song, which she describes as very rhythmic and hard to learn. The band practices every Thursday morning and performs a concert at Friendship Village every three months, Snider says. The band

Opposite page, top: Band members, from left, Mary Bushhouse, Tenho Connable, Judy Byrnes and Barb Pleyte play a myriad of kitchen-implement instruments and kazoos. Bottom: Ruth Eiseman play a pot lid with a whisk. This page, top: Kitchen Band member Chris Steele. Bottom: Jeanne Tindal, Florence Brenner and Helen Schweinsberg.

also takes its show on the road, performing at the Portage Senior Center, The Life Care Center in Plainwell and the Lutheran Church Seniors Group in Richland. A small group of band members performs at the annual Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee in November and has become a favorite at this event, hosted by the Kalamazoo Public Library.

Corinne O'Heran

Band has been good medicine for staff member When Friendship Village’s life enrichment director was sick four years ago, the retirement community’s Kitchen Band became a key part of her recovery. The band’s first practice was set for Sept. 6, 2012. O’Heran, 52 years old at the time, planned to attend but never made it to practice that day. “I found myself in the emergency room at Borgess hospital, where I was a guest for three weeks,” O’Heran says. She was diagnosed with sclerosing mesenteritis, a rare disease that caused a tumor to form in the lining of her small intestine. “Normally it is small and undetected and does not cause any issues,” she says, “but mine was large and had grown up throughout the entire small intestine and had killed most of it. I only have 25 inches left — which is truly a miracle that I can absorb food, water (and) minerals.” O’Heran was out for nearly three months, but the band continued to meet. Led by founder Kay Snider, the Friendship Village Kitchen Band held its first concert before O’Heran’s return, but the members invited her to attend. Snider believes O’Heran’s attendance helped in her recovery. “She was there and she was having so much fun,” Snider says. “She said she wanted to join.” O’Heran describes the concert as the best medicine she could have asked for. “I laughed so hard my sides hurt!” she says. In January 2013, O’Heran joined the band as its piano player. “She’s in and we’re not letting her go!” Snider says.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 29

Arts encore

“There are lots of things going on in different parts of your brain.” O’Heran says the residents have embraced the band. One summer when she was forced to cancel practice to prepare new songs, the residents let her know how much they missed it. “Every day someone would say, ‘When does band start up again?’ And I thought, ‘I’m never going to cancel practice again!’ They really missed it. They have an identity in it.”

Above: Jean Morris plays the measuring cup xylophone. At right: Kitchen Band Director Kay Snider leads the group.

“The residents have won the People’s Choice Award for the last three years,” O’Heran says. O’Heran, who has a music therapy degree from Western Michigan University, says playing in the band provides seniors with socialization, collaboration, cognitive brain activity enhancement and small and large motor activity. “They have to pay attention to the music (and) where we’re at,” O’Heran explains.

30 | Encore AUGUST 2016

What O’Heran didn’t anticipate was how much the band would mean to its members’ families, several of whom have asked the band to play at memorial services for members who have died. The members of the Kitchen Band mean a great deal to O’Heran as well. “Their lives have left fingerprints on my heart, and the person I am today has been greatly affected by the impact they have on my life. The Kitchen Band has been such a blessing to me.”

The Steel Wheels — Virginia-based bluegrass string band, 9 p.m. Aug. 20, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332. PERFORMING ARTS THEATER Plays Red, White and Tuna — Joe Aiello and Scott Burkell star in a comedy about a small-town high school reunion, 8 p.m. Aug. 30–Sept. 3, 5 p.m. Sept. 4, Barn Theatre, 13351 West M-96, Augusta, 731-4121. Musicals The Rocky Horror Show — A musical horror comedy about an engaged couple's encounter with the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank N. Furter, 8 p.m. Aug. 2–6 & 8–13, 5 p.m. Aug. 7 & 14, Barn Theatre, 13351 West M-96, Augusta, 731-4121. Cotton Patch Gospel — A musical retelling of the life of Jesus set in modern-day rural Georgia, 8 p.m. Aug. 12–13, 19–20 & 26–27, New Vic Theatre, 134 E. Vine St., 381-3328. Singin' in the Rain — A musical comedy about Hollywood performers in the 1920s, 8 p.m. Aug. 16–20 & 23–27, 5 p.m. Aug. 21 & 28, Barn Theatre, 731-4121. MUSIC Bands & Solo Artists Jake Shimabukuro — Ukulele music that blends modern pop and Hawaiian influences, 8 p.m. Aug. 1, Bell's Eccentric Café, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave., 382-2332. Gun Lake Live Summer Series — Live music, food, cocktails and dancing: Stereo Vegas, Aug. 3; Soulstice, Aug. 10; Tony Fields, Aug. 17; Great Scott, Aug. 24; Brena, Aug. 31; all shows 6–10 p.m., Lakefront Pavilion, Bay Pointe Inn, 11456 Marsh Road, Shelbyville, 888-486-5253. Live Music at Arcadia Ales — Blarney Castle, Kalamazoo-based band, Aug. 3; The Sam Pilnick Project, modern acoustic jazz collective, Aug. 10; Jan Hates Marsha, acoustic and single guitar duo, Aug. 17; Steve Pesch, guitarist, Aug. 24; Savannah Gonsoulin, folk/indie-style vocalist, Aug. 31; all shows 7–9 p.m., Arcadia Ales, 701 E. Michigan Ave., 276-0440.

Thursdays in the Park — Jazz, rock and folk instrumentalists Honey Ear Trio, Aug. 4; vocal artist Caesar, Aug. 18; both shows 6 p.m., Bronson Park, 342-5059.

Ted Nugent — Singer/songwriter, guitarist and political activist, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 30, State Theatre, 404 S. Burdick St., 345-6500.

The Red Legs — Grand Rapids-based alternative rock band, 7 p.m. Aug. 5, Arcadia Ales, 276-0440.

Cereal City Concert Band — Enjoy a lakeside concert (bring a lawn chair) and tour the grounds, 3 p.m. Aug. 7, W.K. Kellogg Manor House, 3700 E. Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners, 671-2160.

Alice Cooper — The singer/songwriter brings his brand of rock psychodrama, 8 p.m. Aug. 6, Wings Event Center, 3600 Vanrick Drive, 3451125. Cheap Girls — Alternative rock band, 9 p.m. Aug. 6, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332. Soul-Filled Sundays — Chris Deamud, folk, pop and rock guitarist, 5–7 p.m. Aug. 7; Carter Lezman, acoustic, folk and pop singer/ songwriter, 4–6 p.m. Aug. 14; The Brass Rail, local brass quintet, 4–6 p.m. Aug. 21; Edge of Midnight, pop, rock and blues cover duo, 5–7 p.m. Aug. 28, Arcadia Ales, 276-0440. Kindleberger Summer Concert Series — Big Boss Blues, Aug. 7; Ben Daniels Band, Aug. 14; Megan Dooley & the Last Roots, Aug. 21; Shout! – A Beatles Tribute Band, Aug. 28; all shows 6:30 p.m., Kindleberger Park, Parchment, kindleberger.org. The Sweet Water Warblers — Singers/ songwriters Rachael Davis, Lindsay Lou and May Erlewine, 9 p.m. Aug. 11, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332. The Crane Wives — Grand Rapids-based indie-folk group, 9 p.m. Aug. 12, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332. Music in the Park — Hands-on art activities at 4:30 p.m.; Tony Fields Trio performs at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 14, Flesher Field, 3664 S. Ninth St., 342-9837. BBQ & Music by the Michigan Mafia String Band — Blues, jazz and bluegrass band performs after a barbecue buffet dinner (registration required), 6–8:30 p.m. Aug. 14, Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, 701 W. Cloverdale Road, Hastings, 721-4190. Tommy Stinson — Alternative rock guitarist, 9 p.m. Aug. 18, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Concerts & Recitals

Concerts in the Park — Lowdown Brass Band, Aug. 7; The Nightingales, Aug. 14; Seventh Son Blues Band, Aug. 21; Lake Effect Jazz Band, Aug. 28; all concerts 4 p.m., Bronson Park, 342-5059. Community Voices Summer Recital — A musical ensemble for teens and adults with mental and physical challenges, 3 p.m. Aug. 18, Crescendo Academy of Music, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, Suite 12, 345-6664. Crescendo Chamber Recital — 7:15 p.m. Aug. 21, Kiva Room, Friendship Village, 1400 N. Drake Road, 345-6664. Miscellaneous United Teens Talent Show — Performances by the winners of the 2016 United Teens Talent competition, 8–10 p.m. Aug. 6, Civic Auditorium, 329 S. Park St., 342-5059. VISUAL ARTS Kalamazoo Institute of Arts 314 S. Park St., 349-7775 Barbara Takenaga: Waiting in the Sky II — A collection of abstract paintings by a prominent contemporary artist, through Sept. 18. Eternal Beauty: Egg Tempera Paintings by Fred Wessel — Fifteen of Wessel's realist portraits, through Oct. 2. Renee Stout: Tales of the Conjure Woman — The artist explores African cultural traditions in contemporary America, through Oct. 23. Reaching into Infinity: Chul Hyun Ahn — Sculptures by the Korean artist, through Nov. 6. ARTbreak — A weekly program about art, artists and exhibitions: Making the Invisible

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 31

Events encore Visible, video on astrophotography aboard the International Space Station, Aug. 2; Celebrating History: Introducing the Ladies Library Group, talk, Aug. 16; both sessions begin at noon, KIA Auditorium. Back-to-School Block Party — Hands-on art activities and donations for Community in Schools Kids' Closet, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 25. Other Venues Art Hop — Local artists and musicians at various venues in Kalamazoo, 5–8 p.m. Aug. 5, 342-5059. Nature Art Fair — Nature-themed artists and vendors, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Aug. 27 & 28, Binder Park Zoo, 7400 Division Drive, south of Battle Creek, 269-979-1351. LIBRARY & LITERARY EVENTS Kalamazoo Public Library First Saturday @ KPL — Stories, activities and door prizes, 2–3:30 p.m. Aug. 6, Central Library, 315 S. Rose St., 342-9837. Brazil: A Bite of Food and a Bit of History — Learn about Brazilian history and sample some cuisine, 6 p.m. Aug. 8, Eastwood Branch, 1112 Gayle, 553-7810. Urban Fiction Book Discussion — Discussion of works by various authors, 6 p.m. Aug. 23, Alma Powell Branch, 1000 W. Paterson Ave., 553-7960; registration required. Zen Journaling Art — Create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns with Carrie Dunn, 6 p.m. Aug. 30, Alma Powell Branch, 553-7960; registration required. Portage District Library 300 Library Lane, 329-4544 Friends of the Library Book Sale — 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Aug. 6. Art U — Demonstrations, crafts, workshops, ice cream social and live music, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Aug. 13. Must Be 21+: Game, Doodle, Color — Hang out and play some games, 7 p.m. Aug. 22. Alpha Delta Kappa Fall Style Show — Fashions and jewelry from Chico's, 10 a.m.–noon Aug. 27.

32 | Encore AUGUST 2016

Other Venues Parchment Book Club — 7 p.m. Aug. 1, Parchment Community Library, 401 S. Riverview Drive, 343-7747. How to Spot a Scam: An Ounce of Prevention @ Your Library — Online safety to protect devices, money and personal information, Aug. 10; phone, mail, email and text scams, Aug. 24; both sessions at 6:30 p.m. Parchment Community Library, 343-7747. August Book Group — A discussion of The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd, 7 p.m. Aug. 11, Richland Community Library, 8951 Park St., 629-9085. Couponing 101 — Learn how to make your money stretch, 5:30 p.m. Aug. 17, GalesburgCharleston Memorial District Library, 188 E. Michigan Ave., 665-7839. Zentangle Journaling — Create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns with Carrie Dunn, 5:30–7 p.m. Aug. 17, Comstock Township Library, 6130 King Highway, 3450136. Ladies' Library Association of Kalamazoo Historic Building Talk — Vanita Aloisio discusses the book The Library Ladies: Their Home and History, 5:30–7 p.m. Aug. 31, Comstock Township Library, 345-0136. MUSEUMS Air Zoo 6151 Portage Road, 382-6555 POPnology — Hands-on exhibit of pop culture's impact on technology, through Oct. 2. Gilmore Car Museum 6865 Hickory Road, Hickory Corners, 671-5089 Red Barns Spectacular Car Show & Swap Meet — Antique, classic and other cars, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Aug. 6.

Pierce-Arrow Gathering — 13th annual Pierce-Arrow Society car club meet and display, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Aug. 28. Kalamazoo Valley Museum 230 N. Rose St., 373-7990 Fares and Squares: The History of Checker Motors — Explore the company's history and a 1923 taxi from the Gilmore Car Museum, through Aug 21. LEGO Travel Adventure — Use LEGOs to think creatively and build vehicles, through Sept. 11. Stars of the Pharaohs — Travel to ancient Egypt to see how they used science and the stars, 1 p.m. Aug. 3. planetarium. Check Out My Museum! All Wrapped Up — Celebrate KVM's 20th anniversary as the staff shares secrets about their favorite exhibits, 1–4 p.m. Aug. 3 & 10. Dixon's Violin and Folias Flute and Guitar Duo — Friday Night Highlights Series features the digital violinist and flute–guitar duo, 6 p.m. Aug. 5. Magic of the Otherworld — Journey to a magical place of many cultures in this show accompanied by harp music, 8 p.m. Aug. 5, planetarium. NATURE Kalamazoo Nature Center 7000 N. Westnedge Ave., 381-1574 Discover Fern Valley Trail — A guided hike led by a KNC naturalist, 2 p.m. Aug. 7. Golf Cart Tour: Beech Maple Forest — Tour the forest and visit Trout Run Stream, 4 p.m. Aug. 8. Discover DeLano Farms — A guided hike around the farm to learn how the land has been used, 2 p.m. Aug. 14, DeLano Homestead, 555 West E Ave.

Great Lakes Volvo Club Meet — Over 100 Volvos on display, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Aug. 13.

You Can Can! — Learn basic home canning techniques and tricks, 5 p.m. Aug. 18, DeLano Homestead.

Lincoln Motor Car Museum Meet — A display of Lincolns with People's Choice awards, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Aug. 13, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Aug. 14.

Family Campout — Enjoy a campfire, night hike and sleeping under the stars, 5 p.m. Aug. 27–noon Aug. 28.

Relix Riot Show & Swap Meet — Traditional hot rods, custom cars and motorcycles, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Aug. 20.

Boomers and Beyond: Native People – A visit to a re-creation of an indigenous village, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Aug. 30; meet at DeLano Homestead parking lot, 555 West E Ave. Other Venues Dairy Open House: Cheese — Sample cheese and learn about cheesemaking, 4–8 p.m. Aug. 2, Pasture Dairy Center, Kellogg Biological Station, 10461 N. 40th St., Hickory Corners, 671-2508. Reptile Weekend — Hands-on encounters with reptiles and amphibians, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Aug. 6 & 7, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Aug. 7, Binder Park Zoo, 7400 Division Drive, Battle Creek, 269-979-1351. Birds and Coffee Walk — A morning bird walk and discussion over coffee, 9–10:30 a.m. Aug. 10, Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, 12685 East C Ave., Augusta, 671-2510. Hike the Night — Hike after dark with a Kalamazoo Nature Center naturalist, 9 p.m. Aug. 15, Eliason Nature Reserve, 1614 W. Osterhout, Portage, 329-4522. FESTIVALS Ribfest — Barbecue ribs and chicken, national rock and country artists, and children's activities, 11 a.m. Aug. 4–6, Arcadia Creek Festival Place, kalamazooribfest.com. National Blueberry Festival — Various activities for the family, Aug. 11, downtown South Haven, blueberryfestival.com. Audiotree Music Festival — Live folk and indie music, food trucks and craft beer, Aug. 20, Arcadia Creek Festival Place; see audiotreemusicfestival.com for details. Kalamazoo Scottish Festival & Highland Games — Demonstrations, music and dancing, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Aug. 27, Flesher Field, 3664 S. Ninth St., 214-2172. MISCELLANEOUS Kalamazoo Farmers' Market — 7 a.m.–2 p.m. Tues., Thurs. & Sat., through Oct. 27, 1204 Bank St., 359-6727. 100-Mile Farmers' Market — Fresh produce grown within 100 miles of Kalamazoo, 3–7 p.m. Aug. 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31, People's Food Co-op, 507 Harrison St., 359-6727.

Gazelle Sports Historic Walks — Walking tours focusing on area history and architecture: Bronson Park, 8 a.m. Aug. 5; Westnedge Hill, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 11, starting at Crane Park; Riverside Cemetery, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 25, meeting at Gull Road and Riverview Drive; Oakwood Neighborhood, 8 a.m. Aug. 26, starting at Oakwood Elementary School; 342-5996. USTA Boys' 18 & 16 National Championships — Over 400 juniors compete for the national tennis championship title; gates open 8 a.m. daily, Aug. 5–14, Stowe Stadium, Kalamazoo College, 337-7343. Lunchtime Live! — Food trucks, pop-up vendors and live music: Louis Bryant, Aug. 5; Susan Harrison, Aug. 12; Megan Dooley, Aug. 19; Mark Daisy, Aug. 26; 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m., Bronson Park, 337-8295. Summer Movie Night — “Respect for Law” displays at 7 p.m.; Star Wars: The Force Awakens at 9 p.m.; Aug. 5, Celery Flats, 7335 Garden Lane, 329-4512. Fitness in the Parks — Free exercise program, 9–10 a.m. Aug. 6 & 13, Upjohn Park, 1000 Walter St., 337-8295. Hidden Vicksburg — Tour 10 of Vicksburg's oldest buildings and hear a presentation by historian Maggie Snyder, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Aug. 6; presentations at 11 a.m. & 1 p.m., Vicksburg Community Center, 101 S. Main St., vicksburgdda.com/hidden-vicksburg. Kanoe the Kazoo — Paddle a kayak or canoe on Long Lake along with a Kalamazoo Nature Center naturalist, 10 a.m.–noon Aug. 6, Ramona Park, 8600 S. Sprinkle Road, 329-4522.

AUGUST FIRST-RUNS OPENING AUGUST 5 SUICIDE SQUAD OPENING AUGUST 12 Meryl Streep in FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS OPENING AUGUST 12 Seth Rogen & James Franco in SAUSAGE PARTY AUGUST SPECIALTY AUGUST 1 Doris Day & Rock Hudson in PILLOW TALK AUGUST 2 STEEL MAGNOLIAS Quote-Along AUGUST 4 & 7 Branagh Theatre: ROMEO & JULIET AUGUST 8 Doris Day & James Cagney in LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME AUGUST 14 & 18 James Dean in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE AUGUST 15 Doris Day & Rock Hudson in LOVER COME BACK AUGUST 16 TWISTER 20th Anniversary Party AUGUST 21 & 25 James Dean in EAST OF EDEN AUGUST 22 Doris Day in CALAMITY JANE

Walking Tour Series: Downtown Kalamazoo Breweries — Learn about the local beer culture, noon–4:45 p.m. Aug. 6 & 27, starting at Central City Tap House, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall; Aug. 13, starting at Shakespeare's Pub, 241 E. Kalamazoo Ave.; Aug. 20, starting at Old Burdick's Bar & Grill, 100 W. Michigan Ave.; 350-4598.

AUGUST 28 James Dean & Elizabeth Taylor in GIANT

Portage Farmers' Market — Noon–4 p.m. Aug. 7, 14, 21 & 28, Portage Senior Center, 320 Library Lane, 359-6726.

Visit drafthouse.com/kalamazoo for showtimes and tickets

AUGUST 29 Doris Day & Rock Hudson in SEND ME NO FLOWERS

DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE PLEASE CHECK DRAFTHOUSE.COM/KALAMAZOO FOR UPDATES

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 33

Events encore Kalamazoo County Fair — Entertainment, kids' zone, farm animals, 4-H exhibits, carnival rides, games and food, 9 a.m.–9 p.m. Aug. 8–13, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 2900 Lake St., 373-5181. Movie in the Park — A movie for adults only, 7–11 p.m. Aug. 12, Homer Stryker Field, 251 Mills St., 337-8191. Girl's Best Friend — All-female triathlon (swim, bike and run), 8 a.m. Aug. 13, Prairie View Park, 899 East U Ave., Vicksburg, 649-4737. Get Active Portage — Youth triathlon and health fair, 8:30–11 a.m. Aug. 13, Ramona Park, 8600 S. Sprinkle Road, 329-4522. PalletPalooza — A recycled pallet creation competition, 2–6 p.m. Aug. 13, WMU Student Recreation Center, Western Avenue & Oliver Street, 382-0490. National Trappers Association Convention & Sports Show — Trapping supplies, sporting goods, demonstrations, auction and dance, 8

a.m.–6 p.m. Aug. 18–20, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 248-568-5804. Kalamazoo Night Market — Food and other vendors, music, games, beer and wine, 6–10 p.m. Aug. 18, Kalamazoo Farmers' Market, 1204 Bank St., 359-6727. Movies Under the Stars — Jurassic World, 8 p.m. Aug. 18, Oshtemo Township Park, 7275 W. Main St., 553-7980. Oshtemo Family Fun Day — Balloon rides, fire truck bucket rides, banana car, petting zoo and food, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Aug. 20, Flesher Field, 3664 S. Ninth St., 375-6215. Eco Raft Race — Race your raft built with eco-friendly materials, 4–6 p.m. Aug. 20, on the Kalamazoo River, starting at Mayors' Riverfront Park, 200 Mills St., 337-8295. Farm-to-Table Dinner Series — A multiplecourse plated dinner highlighting local farmers and brewers, 6–8 p.m. Aug. 20, Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, 701 W. Cloverdale Road, Hastings, 721-4190; registration required.

Richland Park Horse Trials — Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series competition in dressage, cross country and show jumping, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Aug. 25–28, Richland Park, 8651 N. 30th St., 629-5532. Tour de Zoo — A bike ride through Binder Park Zoo with beer, games and music, 5–9 p.m. Aug. 25, Binder Park Zoo, 7400 Division Drive, Battle Creek, 269-979-1351; registration required. Cena de Verano (Summer Dinner) — A Spanish-themed dinner, 6:30–9:30 p.m. Aug. 26, W.K. Kellogg Manor House, 3700 E. Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners, 671-2160. Kalamazoo Reptile & Exotic Pet Expo — Buy, sell or trade reptiles, amphibians and exotic pets, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Aug. 27, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, Room A, 779-9851. Kalamazoo BB Gun & Airgun Show — Buy or trade airguns, toy guns and BB guns, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Aug. 28, Kalamazoo County Expo Center North, 383-8778.

Find out why

SW Michigan families XX family Aug/ Sept 2016

glamour

mother & daughter

Families of Many Colors Back to School! Get Involved at School

Beat the Bedtime Blue

s Plus: Events, Recipes & More

Published by

The area’s best source for family-friendly activities, events and information!

children

w: briankpowers.com p: 269.720.7649 e: brian@briankpowers.com

MENTION

encore

AND RECEIVE A COMPLIMENTARY 11X14 ART CANVAS FROM YOUR SESSION

Pick up a copy today! Available at 200+ locations in the greater Kalamazoo area Visit our website

fyiswmichigan.com 34 | Encore AUGUST 2016

business & social

headshots

high school seniors

encore Poetry

Open-air cinema in Heliopolis You used to say, mother: “Let me see your face when lit by a crescent moon: every day of the month will smile the way you do.” We saw double-feature movies in open-air theatres. The cool breeze ran through our hair, over our necks, lifted our skirts, swayed us in a magical carpet.

I remember a recurrent scene, fading now into a sepia cameo, where a woman—always the same yet different—slaps a man before falling in his arms.

Tempted by vendors chanting Greek cheese and sesame breads, we often stayed, sipping icy lemon granitas through replays, the lift and pause of cascading light.

I watched your face then, as stars outlined the sky, the slight opening of the lips, the Gioconda’s elegant smile you allowed yourself, befitting the sfumato of the late hours.

Characters entered our own camera obscura. We never agreed on their age: you added a few years, I wanted them closer to mine.

Arm in arm, we walked home, following the trail of the moon. — Hedy Habra Habra, who was born and raised in Heliopolis, Egypt, teaches Spanish at Western Michigan University. She is the author of two poetry collections, Under Brushstrokes and Tea in Heliopolis, which were both finalists for the International Book Award for poetry. This poem from Tea in Heliopolis was a finalist for the Pablo Neruda Award and was first published in the journal Cutthroat. Habra’s website is HedyHabra.com.

eyeing your neighbor’s yard? (our work tends to get noticed)

Design, Installation and Maintenance of Exceptional Lawns and Landscapes. (269) 375-0084 • naylorlandscape.com w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 35

LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR? JOIN WMUK

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS Alamo Drafthouse Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Brian Powers Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Bronson Health Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Bronson Plastic Surgery Specialists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Dave’s Glass Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 DeMent and Marquardt, PLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Encore Magazine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 FarmNGarden Fence Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 FYI Family Magazine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Great Lakes Shipping Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 HRM Innovations, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

BECOME A MEMBER WMUK.ORG WMUK

102.1

Kalamazoo Community Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Kalamazoo Public Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 MacKenzies’ Café & Bakery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Maple Hill Auto Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Mercantile Bank of Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Naylor Landscape Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Portage Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Varnum Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 WMUK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Language Lessons A lovely turn of phrase can make a strong man weep or a sad person sing. The permanence of words is palpable; phrases stick in the mind because they ring both beautiful and true. Everyone knows words have power. But did you know this? There’s beauty to be found in words that goes beyond the words themselves —it’s in the type! Every printer knows it; every graphic designer knows it; every artist, editor, presenter, educator, and anyone else who has ever had to choose just the right font to convey just the right feeling knows it. Words are powerful! They hold meaning in each letter and significance in every syllable. But it’s a printer who can truly appreciate how each stem, slant, and serif speaks its own unique language. So come in for a language lesson. We’re fluent in fonts!

☎

1116 W Centre Avenue 323-9333 PortagePrinting.com

36 | Encore AUGUST 2016

Never Miss A Month!! How Beads Help Kids with Canc er

Taking on Taiko Drum ming

Fresh on the farm: Donut Dep ot

Meet Yolonda Lave

nder

October 2015 Southwes

t Michigan’ s Magazine

BONNIE JO CAMPBEL L has tried – and failed – to give up wri ting

Have SW Michigan’s favorite magazine delivered to your home or office! Subscribe online at encorekalamazoo.com or call 269-383-4433.

encore Back story

BACK STORY (continued from page 38)

How did you get where you are today? The graduate program at the University of Michigan launched me into journalism. I had a great experience as an intern at the Kalamazoo Gazette, writing for all parts of the paper, from the front page to back page to obituaries. I worked as a stringer for the Detroit News, covering the University of Michigan, and for the Los Angeles Times in Washington, D.C., for a few months when a job came open at the Chicago Tribune. I stayed at the Tribune for 10 years, covering government, politics, public health and a lot in between. My husband’s work — he’s a physician — brought him here, and it was a really good fit for both of us. WMU had a position open for a professor to teach journalism. I interviewed for it and had no idea what academia would be like. My scholarly presentation to faculty was on what it was like to be a reporter covering a presidential campaign. I still wonder what my now-colleagues were thinking then — probably, “Oh, she’s going to be toast.” It was hard to leave daily journalism. I love journalism and think of myself first as a journalist, which helps my teaching. So many of the skills of journalism apply to being a teacher: thinking about audience, thinking about what you really want the audience to know, and doing the research so that you can be an authority on a topic. The skills are really transferrable.

How have things changed since you started teaching journalism? Journalism has changed. It is one of the handful of disciplines, in my mind, at the university that you really cannot reuse a syllabus from a class you taught last year. It is changing constantly. I try to go back to a newsroom every five years as an intern — and that isn’t often enough — to learn what’s important and what my students need to know because it changes so fast. It’s important to help students understand that using technology doesn’t mean journalism is easier. It still requires what we call “shoe-leather reporting.” You still have to pick up the phone or wait outside someone’s office and get the interview as they walk to their car — those things that have been done since the beginning of journalism and still need to be done.

As media outlets contract and staffs shrink, does journalism have a future as a profession? I think journalism is far from being dead. It’s just different. I try to teach students how to be a journalist: what kind of mindset you need to have, that you need to be inclusive, think broadly, be open-minded

and think about credibility and accuracy. I believe these are portable skills that can take them in so many different directions. Journalism teaches you critical thinking, excellent writing and research skills and the ability to synthesize and present information — skills that employers all want.

In May you were honored with a Michigan Professor of the Year award. How did that come about? I was nominated without my knowledge by my colleagues Jane Baas and Carla Koretsky at the Lee Honors College. The nomination went to the university’s provost, and then he put it forward to the state. I think I am the first faculty member from WMU to receive it. Eventually they had to tell me about the nomination because I had to write my teaching philosophy for it. I had just turned 50, and writing that philosophy was like writing a manifesto. It gave me an opportunity to say, “This is who I am and what I believe.” I felt happy and pleased that I had to do that exercise because I was mid-career and it was an affirmation of what I do.

Can you sum up your teaching philosophy? I try to model what it is to be a lifelong learner, and I believe that teaching is about teaching students how to think, so I try very hard to create a classroom environment that is about discovery. It might be my own discovery along with the students, so I try to create circumstances that are going to be the most rich for discovery.

What do you do when you aren’t teaching? Help my husband Bob raise three kids. Also, I am pretty active in issues of diversity in our community. I put my efforts in the community toward diversity and inclusion. I am involved with the Society for History and Racial Equality (SHARE) and am working with its executive director, Donna Odom, on a project to create opportunities for two citizens that are not like each other to sit together in a public space for 10 to 15 minutes and just talk to each other. (SHARE is the former Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society and has an expanded mission to foster connections and conversations on race and to raise awareness of racism and the benefits of its elimination.)

What’s on your bucket list? I am writing a book on media literacy, working with Ryan Lewis, a WMU graphic design professor, on it. It’s an “un-textbook” that’s highly accessible and well-researched, not academic-sounding. It is for students and people who use media and who want to use it better.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 37

BACK STORY encore

Sue Ellen Christian Professor of Communication Western Michigan University

In a world of immediate news — it happens and it’s on the

Internet in the blink of an eye — the craft of the journalist is more important than ever, says WMU professor Sue Ellen Christian. And despite technological advances, she says old school reporting is still critical for today’s journalists. “While the medium and the format of journalism have changed, the foundational skills haven’t changed,” says Christian, who was one of three recipients of the 2016 Michigan Professor of the Year award given by the Michigan Association of State Universities. Christian says teaching journalism is about more than instilling the skills of a reporter. It is also about teaching students how to engage in the civic affairs of their communities. “The thing I like about teaching journalism is it’s also helping students to learn to be citizens and think about being involved in your community in a civic way,” she says.

Brian Powers

(continued on page 37)

38 | Encore AUGUST 2016

Kalamazoo Public Schools

are reaching higher! st 5 years la e th r e v o te ra n o ti  Rising gradua nd high a l o o h sc le d id m , ry  Rising elementa chievement school student a udents taking st f o r e b m u n e th le  More than doub ent courses in the last 8 years Advance Placem e tuition for g e ll o c e e fr : e is m ro  The Kalamazoo P idency & attendance requirements apply) KPS graduates (res e been or v a h ts n e d u st S P K  More than 4,200of The Kalamazoo Promise are beneficiaries 00 students ,4 2 ly te a im x ro p p a  Growth of in the last 10 years

For enrollment or more information please contact Kalamazoo Public Schools at

269.337.0161

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 39

Come see our brand new, customer-focused facility. • • • • •

New Showroom New Customer Lounge New Child Play Area Eco-Friendly Upgrades Fast, Free Wi-Fi

• • • • •

New Service Drive More Service Bays New Parts/Accessories Area State-of-the-Art Car Wash Snacks and Refreshments

All models with optional EyeSight.

Subaru. An investment you can rely on. Subaru. The Best Resale Value of all brands for 2016 according to Kelly Blue Book. The Top Mainstream Brand for resale value for 2016 according to ALG. All models with EyeSight earn a 2016 IIHS Top Safety Pick Award. And the Most Trusted Brand for 2016 according to Kelly Blue Book.

5622 W Main St. Kalamazoo, MI 49009 www.maplehillsubaru.com 269/342-6600 40 | Encore AUGUST 2016