Encore July 2019

Building wooden watercraft

The Blodgett Wedding Barn

July 2019

Klines Resort

Lakeside haven is a family affair

The big picture of mural art

Meet Bill McElhone

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

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Building wooden watercraft

The Blodgett Wedding Barn

The big picture of mural art

July 2019

Meet Bill McElhone

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

Klines Resort

Lakeside haven is a family affair

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Editor

marie lee

Designer

alexis stubelt

Photographer brian k. powers

Contributing Writers

jordan bradley, marie lee, lisa mackinder, sharon ferraro

Copy Editor/Poetry Editor margaret deritter

Advertising Sales janis clark celeste statler krieg lee

Distribution

chris broadbent

Office Coordinator hope smith

Encore Magazine is published 12 times yearly. Copyright 2019, 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, visit 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.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by those interviewed and published here do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Encore Magazine or the official policies, owners or employees of Encore Publications.

4 | ENCORE JULY 2019

EDITOR'S NOTE ENCORE

From the Editor

At a dinner a few weeks ago, I was asked by a newcomer to the area to

describe Encore’s content. “What’s the magazine about?” she asked.

Not much on elevator pitches, I responded with phrases like “communityoriented” and “human interest stories.”

Then an avid reader sitting next to me said, “Encore’s eclectic, in a good way.”

“Yeah,” another dinner companion piped up, “just like the community.”

They're right. Encore is the print personification of our area’s eclectic personality, and this month’s issue is a great example of that. Our cover feature on Klines Resort, in St. Joseph County, highlights things we all love: summers, vacations and water. We also introduce you to Cary Mannaberg, of Plainwell, who builds wooden watercraft, including kayaks, paddleboards and canoes. Then there are Cindy and Terry Blodgett, of Schoolcraft, whose renovation of their century-old barn for their daughter’s wedding begat a new business venture. And we meet Kalamazoo Valley Museum Director Bill McElhone, who, since the days of working on The Henry Ford museum’s grounds crew as a teenager, knew he was a museum man.

Finally, through two of our stories we encourage you to get out and take a little sightseeing walk. Sharon Ferraro, historic preservation coordinator for the City of Kalamazoo, shares her five favorite historic preservation projects, and Jordan Bradley gives us a broad view of area murals and the artists behind them.

We often get asked what Encore’s monthly themes will be, but, aside from a couple of special issues each year, Encore isn’t a thematic magazine. If you look at this issue’s stories, for example, you’ll see we’re all over the map, topically and geographically. So next time I am asked what we're about, I'll have a good answer: Encore is a mirror of the eclectic, interesting and unique community we live, work and play in. How’s that for a theme?

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CONTRIBUTORS ENCORE

Jordan Bradley

Marie Lee

Lisa Mackinder

For this month’s issue, Jordan talked with three local muralists about some of their stunning creations around town, how murals are created and why new ones keep popping up. She, like the muralists she spoke to, finds it hard to pick a favorite mural. “They all have such different spirits about them that it’s hard to narrow it down to one,” she says. “And it sounds like such an arduous task to paint a mural, so I'd feel bad picking just one." Jordan is an editorial assistant at Encore.

As editor of Encore, Marie doesn’t get to write much these days, but she does try to fit in interviewing the subjects of our monthly Back Story features. Although she enjoys doing the interviews, she admits she does find writing them up frustrating. “I always have more great information from our Back Story people than I can use,” she says. “Sometimes the origin stories of how they got where they are are so complex and fun that it doesn’t leave room for much else.”

From boats to resorts to wedding barns, Lisa covered the waterfront for Encore this month.

She visited Klines Resort, to find out how the Kline family went from farming to running this lakeside retirement community. She hung out with Plainwell boat builder Cary Mannaberg, learning about the art and skill behind his custom wooden watercraft. And she spoke with Terry and Cindy Blodgett about how they came to be purveyors of a special-event venue in their century-old barn. “Walking into the Blodgett Wedding Barn blows you away,” says Lisa.

“They thought of every detail — right down to a gathering room for guests such as grandparents, to visit while the wedding party is getting ready.”

Lisa is a Portage-based freelance writer and frequent contributor to Encore.

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CONTENTS

July

2019

FEATURE The Resort Life

How the Kline family turned a former fishing camp into a lakeside paradise for the older set

22

DEPARTMENTS 5 From the Editor 6 Contributors

Up Front

8

12

First Things — Happenings and events in SW Michigan

Five Faves — Historic preservation projects to love

14

Floating His Boat — The art and skill behind Cary Mannaberg's custom wooden watercraft

30

Enterprise

46

Back Story

Born from a Barn — Their daughter’s wedding led to the creation of unique special event venue

Meet Bill McElhone — It was his destiny to be a museum man

ARTS 34 Walls as Canvases — Local muralists see the

big picture

40 Events of Note

On the cover: The scenic view of Portage Lake is just one of the amenities at Klines Resort. Photo by Brian K. Powers.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 7

FIRST THINGS ENCORE

First Things Something Theatrical

Feel young again at Big: The Musical Called “the ideal family musical” by USA Today,

Big: The Musical bursts onto the stage at The Barn Theatre July 16–28.

The show, based on the classic 1987 motion picture fantasy, follows a frustrated adolescent who magically becomes an adult, discovering that life is not simply child’s play.

Show times are 8 p.m. July 16-20 and 23–27 and 5 p.m. July 21 and 28. Tickets are $39–$48. For tickets or more information, visit barntheatreschool.org.

Something Historical

Walk, talk and learn at the same time Want to learn more about our area and get some exercise? Well, July’s got you covered.

History buffs will find two opportunities this month. A Haunted History of Kalamazoo walking tour is set for 8–10 p.m. July 6, starting and ending at Bronson Park. For information on prices and to register, call 833-472-7264 or visit paranormalmichigan.com.

Local historian Steve Rossio will tell walkers about the Elijah Root Sawmill site near Lovers Lane and Milham Park, during the free Elijah Root Mill Walking Tour, starting at 6:30 p.m. July 10. Hosted by Portage’s Parks and Recreation Division, the tour begins at the Bicentennial Park trailhead, 910 Milham Ave. For more information, call 329-4522 or visit bit.ly/2WuCr8G. If beer is more your thing, you can learn all about local beer culture on Walking Tours of Downtown Kalamazoo Breweries.

The scheduled tours this month are July 6 and 20, starting at the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, 211 E. Water St.; July 13, starting at Central City Tap House, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall; and July 27, starting at Old Burdick's Bar & Grill, 100 W. Michigan Ave. The tours, hosted by West

8 | ENCORE JULY 2019

Michigan Beer Tours, run from noon–4:15 p.m. and feature stops at three breweries, with samples at each stop.

The cost is $29 per person in advance for the first eight guests and $35 for additional guests, or $40 for guests purchasing tickets the day of the tour. For more information, visit westmichiganbeertours. com or call 350-4598.

Something Musical

Get your concert fix with Summertime Live July is the perfect time of year to get outside and listen to free

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ENCORE FIRST THINGS

music, and, to that end, the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo is bringing us all another month of awesome tunes.

The scheduled concert dates, performers, locations and times are: • July 10: Boardman Brown, Bates Alley, 5–8 p.m.

• July 12: Zion Lion, Richland Community Center, 8 p.m.

• July 14: Schlitz Creek bluegrass band, Flesher Field, Oshtemo Township, 4 p.m.

• July 17: The Skeletones, Bates Alley, 5–8 p.m.

• July 21: The Moxie Strings, Bronson Park, 4 p.m.

• July 21: Last Mangos, a Jimmy Buffet tribute band, The Stage at Kindleberger Park, Parchment, 6:30 p.m.

• July 24: Big Trouble, Bates Alley, 5–8 p.m.

• July 25: Glenn Miller Orchestra, Overlander Bandshell, Portage, 7 p.m.

• July 28: Matt Giraud, The Stage at Kindleberger Park, 6:30 p.m.

• July 31: Meghan Dooley and Yolonda Lavender, Bates Alley, 5–8 p.m.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a picnic basket and favorite lawn chair or blanket to sit on. (Grilling is not allowed.) For more information, visit kalamazooarts.org/concerts-in-the-park.

Something Buzz-worthy Learn The Secrets of Bees

Brian Powers

Whether you’ve been stung or not, you’ve got to admire the little winged

wonders that gave mankind its first real candy — honey. And you can learn more about these prolific but threatened pollinators at The Secrets of Bees exhibit, running June 1—Sept. 30 at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.

Visitors can study a plexiglass-covered observation hive, and children can dress up as bees and work in a giant “beehive.” They can also wear protective gear and work real wooden hives.

An art exhibit by Kalamazoo’s Ladislav Hanka, who collaborates with bees in making art, accompanies the Secrets exhibit. Classes on beekeeping, speakers talking about bee-related products, and other programs will also be featured.

Admission is free. For more information, visit kalamazoomuseum.org or call 373–7990.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 9

FIRST THINGS ENCORE

Something Festive

Hit three festivals in one weekend Fireworks, schmireworks. If you want a full schedule of fun in July, check out the month’s second week, when the area is hosting three festivals: Black Arts Festival July 13, LaCrone Park

With an eclectic lineup of performers, a rib cook-off and vendors, the Black Arts Festival brings its day of fun to LaCrone Park, 535 W. Paterson St., from noon—8 p.m.

Hosted by the Black Arts and Cultural Center, the free festival will include a full schedule of entertainment, including national hip-hop and spoken word artist Mama Sol, dance troupes Suicide Squad and Rootead Youth Dance Company, and singer Brooklyn Washington.

For more information, visit blackartskalamazoo.org.

Kalamazoo Blues Festival

July 12 & 13, Arcadia Creek Festival Place In its 26th year, the Kalamazoo Blues Festival returns to the Arcadia Creek Festival Place in downtown Kalamazoo with a slate of local, national and international blues performers.

The two days of music, starting at 4:30 p.m. July 12 and noon July 13, include Kalamazoo-based bands such as Seventh Son, Out of Favor Boys and The Hired Hands and national artists such as Biscuit Miller and The Mix and Davy Knowles. Early-bird tickets cost $24 for a two-day pass, $12 for July 12 and $16 for July 13.

For a schedule of performers and other information, visit kvba.org.

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INTRODUCING

Kindleberger Festival July 10–14, Parchment

The Kindleberger Summer Festival of the Performing Arts, running from July 10—14 in Parchment, offers five days of theater and a day exploding with festival activities.

The youth production of The Skokie Detective Charter School will be performed on The Stage in Kindleberger Park at 5:30 p.m. July 10—12 and 3:30 p.m. July 13 and 14. The musical production of Disney’s Freaky Friday comes to the stage at 7 p.m. July 10—12 and 5 p.m. July 13 and 14. All performances are free to attend, but make sure to bring a blanket or lawn chair.

The festival’s “big day” is July 13, kicking off with an all-you-caneat French toast breakfast served by Parchment Boy Scout Troup 218 ($5 for adults, $3 for children 12 and under). From 9 a.m.–3 p.m., vendors will be on hand to sell arts and crafts. There will also be a Garden Club plant sale and Friends of the Library book sale. At 10 a.m., a parade makes its way around the park. Other activities include a 5K run at 8:30 a.m.; a children’s area with a petting zoo, face painting and other fun and games from 10 a.m.–2 p.m.; and a classic car show, starting at 10 a.m.

For more details and a festival map, visit kindlebergerarts.org.

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FIVE FAVES ENCORE

Five Faves

Award-winning historic preservation projects by

SHARON FERRARO

As

the historic preservation coordinator for the city of Kalamazoo, I see a lot of historic buildings and their befores and afters. For many years, the Kalamazoo Historical Preservation Committee has given out Awards of Merit for the best preservation projects in the community. So far, the committee has given out more than 100 awards. These are some of my favorites:

Chappell-Stewart House 213 Elm St.

Built in 1880, this peculiar house sparked my interest in old houses when my best friend’s family bought it in 1963. We found an umbrella in the attic that was so big that two 10-year-olds could sit under it and stay dry in the rain. We roamed through the house exploring every closet and room. The whimsical design, with unexpected angles and jutting decorations, makes it unique. In 2005, the fourth owners restored the house, replicating missing trim inside, choosing periodappropriate wallpaper, restoring the gaslights — along with the electric lights — in the gasolier chandeliers, installing a handsome iron fence and fixing the servant call button system. Stepping inside is like entering a time machine — you expect women in long skirts, men in suits, and servants to greet you.

George and Emma Steers House 318 Woodward Ave.

Finished in 1887, this 4,900-square-foot home was originally an elegant, upscale single-family home. In the 1920s, the house was split into apartments. Then, on Aug. 28, 2014, a fire destroyed the third floor and the home’s roof almost completely. Two chimneys poked up through the attic floor like fingers. The owner explored demolition, but by February 2015 he found Jim Pejka, a landlord, to take on the project and sold him the house for $1. Pejka started by cleaning the house out, sorting through debris for parts to reuse. The roof was rebuilt to match the original, and the surviving trim fit into the gables perfectly. Inside, he turned the house into an eight-unit apartment building with updated plumbing, heating, cooling and fire suppression. This house has set a high bar for rehabilitation after a devastating loss.

Upjohn World Headquarters 301 John St. (now Bronson Healthcare Group)

In 1936, Kalamazoo’s Upjohn Co. was booming, and the company needed more space — for both offices and manufacturing. Upjohn contracted in 1934 with Albert Kahn of Detroit to design both. The factory tower was demolished in 2005, and the same year Pfizer donated the World Headquarters building to Bronson Methodist Hospital. Bronson rehabilitated the building carefully, retaining the Art Moderne design details and bringing the infrastructure of the building handily into the 21st century. Fiber optics and new electrical and other systems were all installed so carefully that they are impossible to detect. The cozy office fireplaces remain, along with the sleek, curving central staircase handrails. New lighting fixtures fit well with the historic ornamentation throughout the building.

12 | ENCORE JULY 2019

R. Dexter Walker House

628 S. Park St. (now William VanderSalm office)

When he bought this lot in about 1856, 23-year-old Richard Dexter Walker started digging the foundation and, according to historic sources, used the clay he removed to make bricks. In two years, the house was complete, and Walker sold it in 1859 and probably never lived there.

Over the years since, the house has been a family home, an optometrist clinic and several varieties of office. In 2008, the home was purchased by an attorney, William VanderSalm, who loved old houses and gardening. Using the Michigan Historic Preservation Income Tax Credit, he brought this house into the 21st century, upgrading it as needed and repairing it to match the original materials.

Fire Station 5

619 Douglas Ave. (now a community center)

Like

the fire stations at the corner of Wheaton and Westnedge avenues and on Charlotte Avenue, this station was designed by Forrest Van Volkenburg. When it was completed in 1908, fire rigs were still pulled by horses and there was a “manure closet� next to the rear wall. Shortly after the turn of the 21st century, the station was decommissioned by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. It sat empty until 2015, when combined funds from the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation and Community Development Block Grants were committed to rehabilitate and update the building to be a community center and to host afterschool programs for the Kalamazoo Parks and Recreation Department. This is the last historic fire station still owned by the city. Work commenced in the summer of 2016, starting with a new roof; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; and removal of the dividing walls on the first floor to make one large space. The bathroom was upgraded, the walls painted, and the tin ceiling repaired and painted. In the spring of 2016, the station hosted a three-day window rehabilitation workshop for homeowners, during which nine windows on the second floor were fixed. The work on the building concluded in the fall of 2016, and the afterschool program held there has recently finished its second year.

About the Author Sharon Ferraro is a lifelong resident of Kalamazoo and works at her dream job, as the historic preservation coordinator for the city. She enjoys historical research, working with the Old House Network and reading history and science fiction. w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 13

UP FRONT ENCORE

Floating His Boats

Plainwell man creates custom wooden watercraft by

LISA MACKINDER

C

ary Mannaberg can generally be found in one of two places: on a Southwest Michigan waterway paddling a canoe or kayak or rowing a boat, or inside his shop, Gun Lake Wooden Watercraft in Plainwell, building and restoring wooden watercraft. Which begs the question: Exactly how many seaworthy vessels does a boatbuilder have at his disposal at any given time?

“A lot,” admits the 61-year-old Mannaberg, chuckling and shaking his head.

14 | ENCORE JULY 2019

Above: Cary Mannaberg stands amid the many watercraft he’s building or restoring in his Plainwell shop. Right: A canvas canoe he is working on for a customer.

In 2014, Mannaberg launched Gun Lake Wooden Watercraft after retiring from Kentwood Public Schools, where he taught wood shop, drafting and electrical engineering. He enjoyed teaching and engineering — a subject he urged students to consider studying in college. But that could be a tough sell.

ENCORE UP FRONT

“It’s really hard to get kids into engineering,” Mannaberg says. “Everyone says, ‘It’s so hard …’" He shrugs and adds, “Yeah, so what’s wrong with too hard?”

Brian Powers

Learning to build boats Some likely consider his post-retirement career building canoes and wooden boats as mind-boggling as engineering. People often wonder how you even start building a canoe, he says. His occupation was a hobby until 10 years ago, when he attended a weeklong class, “Building the King Fisher Canoe,” at WoodenBoat School in Brooklin, Maine.

“I wanted to have my students build a canoe, which we never actually did,” he says.

But taking the class wasn’t for naught.

Mannaberg discovered his retirement dream: building wooden watercraft. During that week at WoodenBoat School, eight to 10 students worked from morning to night, constructing two canoes. Theorizing about boat design never happened, Mannaberg says, because the instructor wanted students to dive right in.

“He already had the mold ready and had the cedar cut,” Mannaberg says. “(The instructor said,) ‘OK, today we’re going to steam the wood’ — and the steamer was already hot.”

Last month Mannaberg returned to WoodenBoat School for a two-week course called “Fundamentals of Boatbuilding.” He calls it “camp for adults.”

“You sleep out there in tents,” Mannaberg says. “You hang out with guys that all love boatbuilding (and have) different skill levels.”

Someday he might incorporate elements of wood carving into his watercraft, he says.

To that end, Mannaberg has taken wood carving classes with Washington Statebased artist and wood carver David Franklin.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 15

UP FRONT ENCORE

you just start moaning, ‘How do I get this piece to fit?’”

Brian Powers

An extension of his hobbies

Above: Mannaberg works on the hull of a wooden rowboat. Right: A stand-up paddleboard built by Mannaberg.

Though not of Native American descent, Franklin teaches Northwest Coast native woodcarving techniques. In class, Mannaberg carved a totem pole that features a bear and an eagle and also learned how to make Native American carving tools.

16 | ENCORE JULY 2019

Holding up one of those tools, he says, “It’s a crooked knife. The way David carves (a piece) is it sits in his lap, and he carves like that instead of with a hammer and chisel.”

What Mannaberg enjoys most about building wooden watercraft — being creative — also presents the most challenge.

Every day is a puzzle, he notes. One of his instructors gave this advice to students: Get a moaning chair. “Because you sit down and

Mannaberg fell in love with Michigan’s waterways long before he began building wooden boats. In 1986, he moved from Newark, New Jersey, to take a job as a teacher at the State Technical Institute (now called the Michigan Career & Technical Institute) in Plainwell, which is on the shores of Pine Lake.

He was astounded at Michigan’s recreational opportunities.

“Look at all the hiking and water!”

Mannaberg says he remembers thinking.

He joined Kalamazoo Downstreamers, a 50-year-old organization that promotes fellowship among canoe lovers and organizes canoe trips, meetings and instructional clinics. The club knows river locations, where to put in, where to take out and how to run shuttles, he says.

Building his own wooden canoe was a natural extension of other hobbies he had: building furniture and, before that, constructing train sets. His architect father, Walter Mannaberg, possessed a passion for

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Wooden watercraft in various stages of being built at Mannaberg’s shop.

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model trains, and Mannaberg started building things at a young age. If Mannaberg’s father saw something interesting for the set — like a train station — he would take a picture, draw the plans and then make a scale model.

Mannaberg helped in any way his father wanted assistance. Working on the train set with his father allowed Mannaberg to develop proficiencies he uses today: attention to detail and artistry.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a model train or a full-size train station,” he says. “Attention to detail is a great skill.”

Skiffs, paddleboards and … yoga?

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So far, Mannaberg has built five boats, including canoes and kayaks, for himself and to sell. He will build wooden watercraft for customers and can modify some designs to suit a customer’s needs.

He considers the lapstrake the most difficult boat to construct. In a lapstrake, the edges of the boat’s hull planks overlap each other. A Viking longship used this design.

A lapstrake takes the longest to construct of any wooden boat he’s built, Mannaberg says, because it requires getting each board shaped precisely to match the next one.

He has also constructed wood-and-canvas canoes, which are similar to Native American birchbark canoes. These canoes he makes feature cedar ribs and planks, but, instead of being wrapped with birchbark, they are

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wrapped with canvas on the outside and then painted.

“You make a special paint and you rub it in with your hands,” Mannaberg explains, “and then after it’s dried (which takes a month) you sand it so it doesn’t look like canvas anymore.”

Mannaberg is currently working on a 17foot canvas canoe for a customer. Canvas canoes are typically 16 or 17 feet long, he says, although historically they have been as short as 10 feet, allowing a smaller person to go on a solo canoe trip and easily carry the canoe.

“Of course, they (boatbuilders) make huge ones for people who go out moose hunting or something,” he says. “It’s very flexible what size you can make.”

Mannaberg also builds cedar-strip kayaks and canoes, cutting cedar into strips and gluing the strips together to form the sides of the hull. Mannaberg can glue only four

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strips at a time on each side and then has to let the glue dry overnight.

“That’s why there’s a lot of projects going on,” he says.

Customers also hire Mannaberg to restore watercraft. He points to a 1950s-era rowboat positioned on sawhorses that was the customer’s grandfather’s fishing boat.

“In the ’50s, those type of kit boats were very popular,” he says. “A truck would pull up and drop off all of the wood.”

Besides rowboats, canoes and kayaks, Mannaberg also constructs skiffs and paddleboards. In 2015, he heard about a paddleboard yoga class in Plainwell and thought it might provide an opportunity to sell watercraft to students. The class sold him on yoga instead.

Mannaberg joined the class, where students would paddle out to the middle of a lake, set anchor and perform yoga poses. Mannaberg learned poses like the tree pose, which proved

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Mannaberg at work in his shop amid various watercraft he is either building or restoring.

extremely difficult on a paddleboard. Some students even performed handstands on the paddleboards. Not Mannaberg.

He laughs and says, “I can’t do a handstand against the wall.”

When asked to name his favorite vessel to build, Mannaberg shakes his head. “I like them all,” he says.

But there is one type of boat he hopes to build someday: a drift boat. It’s somewhat like a rowboat, he explains, but it’s designed for fly fishing on a river. It has a wide, flat bottom, with no keel so it can spin easily, and flared sides. And because of its flat bow and pointed stern, it can look as if the boat is traveling backwards.

Mannaberg is not a fly fisherman. His interest lies solely in constructing a drift boat.

“It looks really cool,” he says.

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Brian Powers

by

The

Resort

LIFE Family makes former fishing camp a retirement haven

LISA MACKINDER

Phil Kline grew up doing a job most kids would envy: catching and selling minnows.

The owner of Klines Resort — a retirement community in St. Joseph County for ages 55 and up, with 159 manufactured home sites and 85 RV sites — says that when he was a kid, the resort wasn’t yet a retirement community. It was fishing cabins that families used for summer homes. Back then, families stayed for the entire summer, which meant Kline had a multitude of playmates.

Twice a week he and his buddies had another job that only kids would like.

“We would literally pick up the barrels of fish guts and all that,” Kline says, chuckling about the fish-cleaning house. “We’d load up the wagon with the old Cub tractor and take it down the lane to a place where we dumped it into a gully.”

Although Klines Resort still has a fishcleaning house, well … it’s a bit different now. Fishermen wrap up fish remains, Kline says, and place them into a freezer — no mess and no smell — until they get pitched on garbage day.

“That’s one example of how things have changed,” he says, laughing again.

Growing up at Klines Resort Klines Resort is located on 160 acres on Portage Lake, about five miles south of Vicksburg and five miles northwest of Mendon. Originally Kline’s father and mother, Paul and Joyce Kline, wanted to purchase the property that is now Klines Resort for more farmland. They owned Maple Shade Farms in Mendon (still in the Kline family) and had been purchasing other area farms to expand operations. In the 1930s, Albert and Myrna Hines had started the fishing camp on the property with primitive cabins and named it Hines Resort.

“Mr. Hines refused to sell him (Kline’s dad) just the land,” Kline says. “He said, ‘You have to take it all.’”

So, in 1962 the elder Klines did just that on one condition: that the Hineses remain

Among the amenities of the newly built clubhouse at Klines Resort are a café and dining room, exercise and recreation room and a stage for outdoor concerts. w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 23

Brian Powers

Trees, trees and more trees On Kline’s office wall hangs a map of trees at the resort, listing 65 species that have been planted throughout the years, including northern red oak, sassafras, American sweetgum and maples. From the 24 | ENCORE JULY 2019

moment they purchased the resort, Kline’s parents started planting trees, bringing one young maple from their farm. Last year Kline’s younger brother, Kevin, a landscape architect, rounded up a variety of species to plant for their dad’s 90th birthday because Paul Kline has always been a tree lover.

“When we would go camping in the fall, it would be to go see the biggest white pine in Brian Powers

to manage the fishing resort, allowing Paul Kline to continue farming. The arrangement worked well for a few years, but then the Hineses’ health failed. When Phil Kline was in fourth grade, he says, his parents picked up everything and moved with their seven — soon to be eight — children to the resort.

Besides taking care of the fish-cleaning house, Phil Kline also worked in the resort’s camp store, selling penny candy, bait and basic supplies.

“The highlight of the week was when the ice cream man came,” Kline says. “And on one day the Roelof Dairy man came, another day the candy man came, the bait guy came, and the Be-Mo Potato Chip guy came.”

This page, top: The 160-acre resort has 159 manufactured home sites and 85 sites for RVs. Bottom: Golf carts are the preferred mode of transport for residents to shuttle between their homes, boats and clubhouse.

Opposite page, top: Pickleball is popular among Klines’ residents. Bottom: From left, Joyce and Paul Kline became owners of the resort in 1962 and now their son, Phil, and his wife, Tama, run it.

the state,” Kline says. “Or he knew where the biggest tulip tree in the state was, and he’d go see it.”

An area of the resort that once was an open field is now a forest where retirees walk or drive golf carts on trails. Back in the day, Paul Kline worked with a forester so that he knew how to properly manage a forest. He also liked to experiment with unusual species.

“When I was a kid, we planted something called corkscrew willows all along the lakefront,” Phil Kline says, noting that the trees didn’t last long. “It was a willow tree that had a corkscrew shape instead of just those straight hanging branches.”

Leaving and returning In 1974, Phil Kline graduated from Vicksburg High School and left home to attend college at John Wesley College in Owosso, where he received a bachelor’s degree in social sciences. He went on to receive a secondary education degree from Spring Arbor College and a master’s degree in school administration from Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana.

He remained away for nearly 20 years, working in Christian education, as did his wife, Tama, who received her bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University and teaching credentials from Spring Arbor College. Their last jobs before returning to Southwest Michigan were at Lakeview Assembly of God School in Indianapolis, where Kline served as a principal and his wife as a teacher. When his parents asked for help at home in 1995, the Klines returned.

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This page: Phil walks wooded trails surrounded by trees that his father, Paul, planted. Opposite page: Playing bocci is among the recreation opportunities at Klines Resort.

Brian Powers

“We said, ‘We’ll give it two years, and then we’ll go back to our education work,’” he says.

“And, well, two years turned into 23 now.

The first year we moved home, my wife got pregnant with our only child, Joseph. That kind of changed our perspective. We decided this would be a good place to raise Joe, and it was.”

By the time the Klines took over the resort from Phil’s parents, it had transitioned into a retirement community. Back in 1985, the Fair Housing Act established the concept of retirement communities and provided a specific amount of time for a community to declare itself as such, Kline says. His parents decided to make the switch.

The community was naturally evolving into a retirement park anyway, Kline explains, saying that his parents offered “snowbird discounts” in the 1970s to those who left for the winter. The resort had also already met the criteria of a certain percentage of residents being 55 and older already living there. But there was an adjustment period: The younger Klines and the residents had to become acclimated to working with each other. In the past, Kline says, people knew if they wanted to do something they went to Paul (Kline’s dad), who would always say, “Yeah, go ahead!” because he was so busy.

“Whereas Joyce (Kline’s mom) is going to say, ‘No, you can’t do that’ or ‘Follow the rules,’” Kline says, smiling. “I became the one

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to say no because my wife has a hard time saying no. My wife is a people person. She does a great job at the front desk.”

Evolution of the resort When the Klines returned to run the resort, they initiated many improvement projects, such as rebuilding the water system, upgrading the sewer system, and rebuilding the roads and clubhouse. They also built a water tower, at which point Kline became

a licensed water works system operator. He also has licenses as a waste treatment plant operator and licensed residential builder, all of which require continuing education credits and keep him current with licensing and regulation issues that impact the community. But Kline enjoys working in a variety of capacities and building things.

Wearing different hats, he says, also keeps costs down because he doesn’t need to hire outside sources.

“That’s just one example of how the resort has been able to evolve,” Kline says. “And really I credit Mom and Dad because they sold the resort to us on a land contract. That allowed us enough income to be able to make the other improvements that we needed to make. So many places get cash-strapped, for whatever reason, and don’t reinvest in the property. We’ve been able to reinvest in the property, and it’s rewarding to be able to see the results.”

In 2011, Klines Resort opened its new 10,000-square-foot clubhouse. The Klines originally planned on improving the original clubhouse, which was built around 1967, but it made more sense to tear it down, Kline says. The new clubhouse includes power doors, elevators, computers, a café, a dining room that seats 144 people, a fireside recreation room, an exercise room and a commercial kitchen.

“In the old building we set up electric frying pans on top of washing machines to do our pancake breakfast,” Kline says, chuckling.

The new clubhouse is hopping with activities such as Sunday night Christian services, gospel concerts, community picnics,

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Brian Powers

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pancake breakfasts, quilting, woodworking and card games.

Portage Lake covers 500 acres and is abundant with fish, so fishing is also a popular activity at the resort.

As he tools around the resort with a reporter, Kline points out the RV section, which includes Park Models. These homes must be less than 400 square feet, he says, and are licensed as RVs, although they can’t be towed down the road like a trailer. Some of them have lofts, and many have added-on three-season rooms.

“In the South, they’re very, very popular,” Kline notes.

Between 2010 and 2012, the resort also added tennis, pickleball and basketball courts and improved the horseshoe pitches and shuffleboard courts. One of the toughest decisions the Klines had to make, he says, was whether or not to tear down the resort’s old fishing cabins. They turned to landscape architect Larry Harris, of L.L. Harris & Associates in Kalamazoo, to help guide their decision. Because the cabins were located on a floodplain, Kline says, they didn’t have sewer service. In the end, the old fishing cabins came down.

“Because we knew our target market was the retirees, we knew they wouldn’t be satisfied walking to a cement block bathroom anymore,” Kline says, “which is what they were doing in the old days.”

Moving forward A great deal of forward thinking goes into managing Klines Resort, Kline says.

But that is his favorite part of the job. He calls the never-ending project planning his “mojo.” It’s also the most challenging part of his occupation. For instance, repainting the water tower has turned into a major project, he says, because of the required application and approvals from the state.

“And we’re going to design a new logo to go on the water tower,” he says. “I really enjoy that kind of thing. I need something like that to be looking forward to.”

He likens the challenge of constant planning to riding a bike on a trail with a deep rut. A person can’t look down, he says, because they will crash — they need to keep their eyes focused ahead.

“That’s what I have to do here,” he says.

“What’s the next person that’s going to live in that house going to need?”

As for the future of the resort, Kline laughs when he is asked whether another Kline will take the helm someday. “I told my son he has until I turn 70 to make up his mind,” he says.

The Klines’ 22-year-old son, Joseph, is a senior in WMU’s Haworth College of Business. Phil Kline — who is 63 years old, as is his wife — points out that he has learned something over the years: “that God supplies your needs when you need it, not early.” He says he trusts that the same will happen when their retirement rolls around.

“And seriously,” he says, grinning, “we like it enough that we’re going to keep doing it as long as we can. I don’t plan to retire until I’m 75.”

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w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 29

ENTERPRISE ENCORE

Blodgett Wedding Barn

Project for daughter’s wedding leads to event venue LISA MACKINDER

Brian Powers

Brian Powers

by

In 2016, when Blodgett suggested to his wife, Cindy, that they renovate the 1830s-era barn on their property in Schoolcraft for their daughter Bethany’s wedding, Cindy didn’t realize it would be more than patching a few boards and pouring a concrete floor. Much more.

“If I had known, really, how big of a project it was, I would have nixed it,” she says.

But Bethany, as well as some other couples and families, are happy the project didn’t get the ax. The Blodgetts transformed the barn — built during Andrew Jackson’s presidency, complete with dirt floors, milking

Brian Powers

When Terry Blodgett has an idea, he goes all out.

Laura Jayne Photography 30 | ENCORE JULY 2019

ENCORE ENTERPRISE

Clockwise from top left: Cindy and Terry Blodgett sit on an antique sofa in the century-old barn they transformed into a special events venue; a newly married couple poses in front of the barn, the interior of the barn set up for a reception.

restoration — to get started. In 2017, he built an addition to the barn that houses a 400-square-foot bar space, a 300-square-foot buffet space, a kitchen and bathrooms. Above that, Terry built a bridal suite, groom’s quarters and a family room, all of which have heat and central air conditioning.

The original barn has a 2,750-square-foot reception area with seating that accommodates 200 people. Immense barn doors open to overlook the 200-acre farm’s apple orchard, replete with a gazebo that is used as a site for outdoor ceremonies.

Successful first season In May 2018, the Blodgett Wedding Barn, located at 12903 S. 14th St., opened for business.

“I had people wanting to book 2020,” Cindy says. But the Blodgetts didn’t want to book that far ahead yet. She told them, “I need to at

Laura Jayne Photography

stalls and haylofts — into a special event venue rivaling those featured on channels like HGTV or in magazines such as Country Living.

The guests at Bethany’s wedding raved about the barn. Members of the groom’s family told the Blodgetts about a barn in Berrien Springs that was rented for weddings and receptions and wondered how often the Blodgetts rented out their barn.

“We said, ‘We just did it for our daughter,’” says 60-year-old Terry. “They said, ‘This is better than that other barn. You ought to do it!’”

That’s all it took for Terry — who, with Cindy, co-owns Terry Blodgett Builders Inc. in Schoolcraft and Servpro of North Elkhart County, Indiana, a franchise that offers fire and water cleanup and

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Family support

The Blodgetts have 10 children, ranging in age from 12 to 42, not to mention 10 grandchildren and an 11th on the way and the nearly dozen foster children the family had over a 10-year period.

At two events in a row at the Blodgett Wedding Barn someone forgot to bring a

cake cutter, Cindy says, but the family came to the rescue with the utensil. Another wedding lacked a table skirt. Again, someone in the extensive Blodgett clan had one.

“You don’t want your day ruined because ‘Oh no! We ran out of forks!’” Cindy says, chuckling.

Laura Jayne Photography

Being a family-owned business has proved to be advantageous, since there are plenty of family members to assist with the work.

Courtesy

least get through a season and see how it’s working.” Their first year worked well, with 15 weddings held at the barn.

It’s easy to understand people’s enthusiasm. The upstairs bridal suite is filled with comfy chairs, abundant lighting and a lengthy mirror for doing hair and makeup.

The adjacent room is a family gathering room, where family members and friends can visit with each other on cozy leather sofas before the wedding.

“Everybody really comments on this (the family gathering room),” Cindy says. “I don’t think there’s another venue that has this type of a space for extra people.”

The Blodgetts also paid attention to the décor. Cindy shopped at antique stores, estate sales and thrift markets for exactly the right pieces, and her effort paid off. People often comment on these features, she says, like the heavy-duty, well-constructed farmhouse tables used for wedding receptions. Even the chairs catch guests’ eyes.

“Nobody has the spindle-back chairs that look really nice,” Cindy says.

32 | ENCORE JULY 2019

Brian Powers

“This is what we decided to do for our (future) retirement,” Terry explains, then jokes that when retirement does happen, he can stay home and mow the grass.

“We’ll see how long he is content staying home and mowing the grass,” Cindy chimes in. “There will be some other new project that he will start.”

Years ago, when Terry wanted to make maple syrup, he tapped 200 trees. Then the Blodgetts wanted an apple orchard. Cindy was thinking maybe 20 trees; Terry came home with 750 saplings. Same thing with strawberries: 750 plants.

“He can’t do anything small,” she says, grinning. Terry smiles back. And he already has a new project to start: a lavender garden for wedding ceremonies.

“I’m assuming it’s going to be 750 plants,” Cindy jokes.

Opposite page, top: A historic picture showing the Blodgett’s farm near Schoolcraft. Bottom: The barn sits among sunflowers and wildflowers. This page, top: A family gathering room allows friends and family members to visit before a wedding. Bottom: The barn’s bridal suite provides a spacious room for members of the wedding party to get ready.

When the Blodgetts purchased their farm 20 years ago, wind blew through the farmhouse windows so forcefully the curtains waved, and cracks splintered the plaster walls and wood floors. The home’s refrigerator sat on the dilapidated porch, and orange shag carpet covered the house’s floors. When Terry first found the property, Cindy told him emphatically, “No way!” But Terry always went all-in on projects, she says, so she knew he would “make it right.” At the time, they didn’t foresee the Blodgett Wedding Barn in their future.

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w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 33

ARTS ENCORE

Walls as Canvases Muralists see the big picture by

JORDAN BRADLEY

I

t’s true what they say: The only constant in life is change. Look at any city skyline and this universal truth stares back at you. In the realm of public murals, there is always the chance that what was so painstakingly created over weeks or months can be painted over in a matter of hours.

But that’s the name of the game in the mural world, and for some of Kalamazoo’s muralists it adds to the experience of creating public art.

As a trio of muralists points out, murals enrich public spaces and create a sense of beauty, ownership and identity.

“Aesthetically, they add a flash of something pretty,” says Conrad Kaufman, a local artist who has painted hundreds of murals all around the Kalamazoo area and the rest of Michigan since the early ’90s. “If the theme of the mural is relevant or comes from within the community, there’s ownership. If we do a paint-by-numbers mural with the community, they helped create it. They own it.”

Kaufman recalls a mural he did in the paint-by-numbers style with the help of the community in Sturgis that eventually had to be painted over due to age and fading.

34 | ENCORE JULY 2019

“There were a couple people who were upset,” he says. “It’s not that they were complaining after they saw the replacement. Ownership is a big part of it, which leads to the longevity of it.”

Muralist Patrick Hershberger mentions the special challenges of painting murals.

“Murals are weird things,” he says. “It’s not like it is art on a canvas.

You’ve got UV exposure, new building owners, artists that bring lawsuits against people because of ownership issues. There’s a lot of complicated things that get involved, I guess, on (whether) murals stick around or if they don’t. I’ve had plenty of my stuff painted over, and honestly, I mean, I started getting into this because it was ephemeral.”

‘In people’s faces’ Artist and muralist Ellen Nelson comments on the special benefits of murals for a city. “I think it’s important to have art in people’s faces,” she says with a laugh in her Park Trades Center studio, in downtown Kalamazoo. “Just people’s access to art improves the livability of a city … and I think it makes people’s lives better. If people see beautiful

Brian Powers

ENCORE ARTS

things, they’re less likely to trash the place and it uplifts people.”

Nelson was commissioned to paint a mural on the north wall of Ambati Flowers, at 1830 S. Westnedge Ave., by a family friend the summer after her senior year of high school. Faded now, the mural still creates a clear identity of flowers and family for the building.

“That was fresh out of high school, right after graduation,” she says. “It was really before I learned anything about color mixing or anything like that.”

Nelson says painting a mural is hard work.

“If I’m doing a mural, I’m working harder (than if I’m painting in the studio),” she says.

“I’ll mix up a big batch of paint, and I gotta use it before I can do anything else, so I can’t just stop and have my lunch. I gotta put that off. Otherwise the paint’s gonna dry up.”

Brian Powers

Courtesy

Clockwise from above left: Creating this mural presented artist Patrick Hershberger with some unique challenges; the mural at Ambati Flowers on Westnedge Avenue was one of Ellen Nelson’s first commissioned murals; and one of the area’s newest murals was created by artist Conrad Kaufman for the Betzler Funeral Home on Stadium Drive.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 35

Nelson’s mural on the Lake Center Business Association building, at 9029 Portage Road, between West and Austin lakes in Portage, was completed in 90-degree heat over the course of about three weeks.

Each letter of “Lake Center” was done as a bubble letter and filled with images from fruits and veggies to lake scenes and beyond.

One of the newer murals in the city, Hershberger’s “Welcome to Washington Square” mural, on the south wall of the building at 1350 Portage St., looks like a classic postcard crossed with a billboard, cheerfully greeting pedestrians and motorists as they go about their business in the Edison neighborhood.

“I had somebody say the other day, ‘Washington Square? Who even calls it that?’ and I said, ‘Well, you will now,’” Hershberger recounts.

“You know, there’s a point to this mural. Not just beautification, it’s identification of this spot,” he says, tapping for emphasis the surface of the table at which he’s ignoring his lunch. “(The Edison neighborhood) is an important part of the city. It’s a culturally diverse place and one that has a lot of history in the development of this city.”

The Washington Square mural took about a year to complete, and was funded by the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, the Local Initiatives Support Corp., the Kalamazoo County Land Bank and the Edison Neighborhood Association.

Each letter of “Washington Square” is filled with an iconic visual snack from Edison’s past and present. Scenes include local businesses, old and new, a lakefront and even the train station at 459 N. Burdick St. They were chosen by Edison residents, young and old, says Tammy Taylor, executive director of the Edison Neighborhood Association.

“That’s why some of the pictures up there are from back in the day when the longtime residents of Edison remember,” she says, “and then the other spaces that are going on now.”

Making them happen So what does it take to paint a mural? To begin with, a stable, relatively smooth surface to paint on. Kaufman says brick surfaces need a “good cover” before the mural is painted or it’ll flake. In some cases, the wall may need to be primed and resurfaced in order to host a mural.

For the Washington Square mural, the biggest hurdles for the Edison Neighborhood Association and Hershberger were not only to find funding to have the wall resurfaced but also to make the necessary repairs to the roof of Howard’s Party Store, at 1366 Portage St., which would need support scaffolding to hold a human muralist safely for the duration of the project.

36 | ENCORE JULY 2019

Courtesy

ARTS ENCORE

Clockwise from top: Kaufman’s iconic mural in the former People’s Food Co-op on Burdick Street has stood the test of time — and a car crash; Tony Murfin began this mural on the Kalamazoo Indoor Gardening Center four years ago to deter graffiti; and Nelson’s peacock and elephant mural in an elevator shaft at the Park Trades Center still exists, but is rarely seen.

Along with the scaffolding, Hershberger had to rent a construction lift that went about 40 feet in the air, in order to project the image on the freshly resurfaced wall so he could trace it onto the wall to place each letter correctly.

And then there’s the paint. It’s a whole other beast, with different consistencies at different temperatures. Outdoor murals are typically painted in the summer, which means that the paint dries very quickly.

Nelson points out that acrylic paint meant for outdoor painting is different in consistency from typical acrylic paint in a tube that artists use for paintings on canvas.

“You have to have good materials,” Kaufman says, noting that plain old acrylic paint won’t do. A professional, outdoor-grade acrylic is

Brian Powers

ENCORE ARTS

Live

necessary for longevity in weathering the elements.

“The paint company I currently use (Golden Paint) estimates the paint lasts 30 years without fading,” Kaufman says.

Hershberger says he uses a professionalgrade spray paint in addition to acrylic in a can.

Depending on a number of factors, murals can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month or two to complete. The size of the mural, the experience of the muralist, and weather patterns can all affect a project’s

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PORTAGE – THURSDAYS 7 pm at Overlander Bandshell JULY 25

timeline. Nelson says that every time she does a mural, she completes it a little more quickly than the last one. She estimates that her first mural, on Ambati Flowers, took her at least four weeks, while the Lake Center piece took her closer to three.

“It’s hard to say because, you know, there’d be some days where I’d have to stop halfway through because the rain’s coming,” she says.

Murals come to life in myriad ways.

Sometimes a specific artist is asked to submit sketches and concepts; sometimes there are

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Serving 14 counties in West Michigan w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 37

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mural by Patrick Hershberger as BONUS SAVES Kalamazoo Valley River Trail 20. Trailer mural by Patrick Hershberger as BONUS SAVES 845 Gibson St 21. Grapevine Furniture Store, artist unknown 829 Portage Street 22. “Welcome to Washington Square”

by Patrick Hershberger as BONUS SAVES 1350 Portage Street 23. “Measure the Moon” by Conrad Kaufman; Poem by Catherine Nagayda 2300 Portage Street 24. One Well Brewing mural by Patrick Hershberger as BONUS SAVES 4213 Portage Street 25. Lake Center Business Association

by Ellen Nelson 9029 Portage Rd 26. Betzler Life Story mural by Conrad Kaufman 6080 Stadium Dr

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231 W Cedar St 10. “Coffee” by Conrad Kaufman; Poem by Grace Arnold 222 N Kalamazoo Mall 11. “Untitled” by Rocky 136 S Kalamazoo Mall 12. “Outstanding in Their Field” by Conrad Kaufman 436 S Burdick St 13. Bell’s Eccentric Café, artist unknown 417 Porter St • Old Dog murals by Patrick Hershberger as BONUS SAVES 402 E Kalamazoo Ave • “Untitled” by Patrick Hershberger as BONUS SAVES 309 E Water St 14. “Untitled,” artist unknown 541 Portage Street 15. “The Swimmer” by Conrad Kaufman; Poem by Kate Samra 618 E Crosstown Pkwy 16. Bank Street Bingo Hall by Conrad Kaufman 1157 Bank St 17. SmartShop mural by Conrad Kaufman 516 E North St 18. Northeast gateway mural by Conrad Kaufman 621 E North St

Porta ge St

38 | ENCORE JULY 2019

9. Douglas & Sons, artist unknown

Alcott St.

Golden Dr.

1717 W Main St 2. Bruno’s Pizza, artist unknown 1528 W Michigan Ave 3. “Untitled” by Kinz 1128 W Michigan Ave 4. “Polar Loneliness” by Conrad Kaufman; Poem by Emily Kunz 440 W Kalamazoo Ave 5. “Heron” by Patrick Hershberger as BONUS SAVES 814 S Westnedge Ave • “Collaborate” by Patrick Hershberger as BONUS SAVES 814 S Westnedge Ave • Mountain ram mural by Beverly Fitzpatrick 816 S Westnedge Ave • “Untitled” by Patrick Hershberger as BONUS SAVES 820 S Westnedge Ave • Vine Neighborhood map, artist unknown 507 W Vine St 6. Ambati Flowers by Ellen Nelson 1830 S Westnedge Ave 7. Kalamazoo Indoor Gardening Center mural, Tony Murfin 440 W Maple St 8. “Glass Jars” by Conrad Kaufman; Poem by Meredith Adams 326 W Kalamazoo Ave

7

Reed St.

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1. Tiffany’s mural by Conrad Kaufman

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Burdick St.

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A map of area murals

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Arlington St.

Kalamazoo Ave.

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Harrison St.

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Ransom St.

Walbridge St.

Take a Wall Crawl

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Frank St. E. North St.

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open opportunities to submit mural ideas within a community. In the case of community murals, a design must be approved by a board and/or community before the submitting artist can begin working on it.

Personal favorites When the three muralists are asked to pick a favorite mural they’ve painted, each artist responds with a mix of bewilderment and exasperation.

“Good grief!” says Kaufman, who has painted, in his estimation, more than 270 murals throughout his extensive career.

“Um, gosh, I never thought about that,” says Nelson, the youngest of the three muralists, at 27. She completed her first of four murals in 2009. “Because each one … presents its own challenges, that’s what I love — figuring out the puzzle of ‘How do I approach this?’”

“That’s really hard,” says Hershberger, who has been a Kalamazoo resident for just four years and has already left a distinct mark on the local urban landscape.

Kaufman zeroes in on his Kalamazooiconic mural on the building that formerly housed the People’s Food Co-op, on the corner of South Burdick and Cedar streets (yes, the one that got the car-sized makeover in March 2017).

“That’s one of my favorites,” Kaufman says, “partly because it was my first real mural. A lot of sweat and blood in that one.”

Kaufman also zeroes in on a mural from the Friends of Poetry series “Poems That Ate Our Ears” that was painted over by new building owners. Depicting a chickadee on a snow-covered branch, the mural still lives online on Kaufman’s website.

Nelson’s favorite mural is of vibrant peacocks and stoic elephants that endures in the no-longer-in-use service elevator shaft at the Park Trades Center. The then-owner of the Park Trades Center, John Thingstad, hired Nelson to do the mural and gave her free rein to paint what she liked in the elevator shaft. At the time of the mural’s creation, the service elevator was used but did not see a lot of traffic. In 2015, the building’s new owners, PlazaCorp, took the elevator out of service.

“It was a unique experience,” Nelson says of painting the mural. “I didn’t see the light of day for, like, two weeks.”

Nelson completed the mural at the end of 2013, she says. In 2015, PlazaCorp bought the Park Trades Center. Though she was disappointed that the elevator was shut down — it was difficult to use, she says — Nelson was able to show the mural to family and friends and take pictures before it was shuttered away.

“It’s a bummer that the elephants are trapped in the elevator shaft,” she says, “but it’s also kind of a fun little piece of trivia.”

Hershberger (who also paints under the moniker Bonus Saves) chooses the mural he painted for One Well Brewing Co. as his favorite because, he says, “It’s basically me being a fanboy and everything I’ve loved in life. It’s all my characters and then everything I loved reading as a nerd in the library as a kid, you know?”

Room for more So what does the future of murals in Kalamazoo look like?

‘I think there’s still a fairly consistent demand, if slow, for public murals,” says Kaufman. “There’s all kinds of buildings that have nice, fresh walls in need of paint.”

Hershberger agrees. “We can only get more,” he says. “I feel like there’s so much room for growth here.”

Nelson has a specific vision for a new mural. “I’m notorious for painting in piles of things (into murals), and what if we had a giant mural of people’s stuff from all over Kalamazoo?” she muses. “You know, like stuff that’s important to people or this old keepsake that was in a family for 100 years, (and) now it’s on this mural.”

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PERFORMING ARTS THEATER Plays

The Skokie Detective Charter School — Kindleberger Summer Festival youth production of a fast-paced comedy in which students are detectives-in-training, 5:30 p.m. July 10–12, 3:30 p.m. July 13 & 14, Kindleberger Park, 650 S. Riverview Drive, Parchment, www.kindlebergerarts.org.

New Play Series — Black Arts Kalamazoo and Face Off Theatre present three plays by Michelle Johnson, Denise Miller and Earlene McMichael, 7:30 p.m.

July 11–13, 2 p.m. July 14, Jolliffe Theatre, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, faceofftheatre.com.

Steel Magnolias — A story of female friendship and bonds during life's hardest times, 8 p.m.

Tuesday–Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday, July 30–Aug. 11, Barn Theatre, 13351 West M-96, Augusta, 731-4121.

Musicals Sweeney Todd — Tony Award-winning tale of love, murder and revenge in 19th-century London, 8 p.m.

Tuesday–Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday, July 2–14, Barn Theatre, 731-4121.

Disney's Freaky Friday — A woman and her rebellious 16-year-old daughter swap bodies in this Kindleberger Summer Festival musical, 7 p.m. July 10–12, 5 p.m. July 13 & 14, Kindleberger Park, www. kindlebergerarts.org.

The Wizard of Oz — Center Stage Theatre presents this classic tale of the journey to the Land of Oz, 7 p.m. July 12, 13, 19 & 20; 2 p.m. July 14 & 21, Comstock Community Auditorium, 2107 N. 26th St., centerstagetheatrekalamazoo.com.

Big: The Musical — A frustrated adolescent magically becomes an adult, 8 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday, 5 p.m.

Sunday, July 16–28, Barn Theatre, 731-4121.

Avenue Q — Tony Award-winning story about a college graduate’s struggle with his career, love life and ever-elusive purpose, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m.

Friday & Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, July 19–Aug. 11, Farmers Alley Theatre, 221 Farmers Alley, 343-2727.

A Year with Frog and Toad — A family musical about two friends whose friendship endures through the seasons, 10 a.m., 1 & 3 p.m. July 27 & Aug. 3; 11 a.m. July 31, Aug. 1 & 2, Farmers Alley Theatre, 343-2727.

Other Young at Heart — New Vic Theatre Youth Talent Showcase, 8 p.m. July 19 & 26, New Vic Theatre, 134 E. Vine St., 381-3328.

MUSIC Bands & Solo Artists Delta Rae — Country, folk and blues band, 8 p.m.

July 1, Bell's Eccentric Café, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave., 382-2332.

Gun Lake Live Summer Series — Matt Williams, July 3; Brena, July 10; Cheap Dates, July 17; Melophobix, July 24; Zion Lion, July 31; all shows 6–10 p.m., Lakefront Pavilion, Bay Pointe Inn, 11456 Marsh Road, Shelbyville, 888-486-5253.

40 | ENCORE JULY 2019

Dumpstaphunk — Funk, jazz and soul band, 8:30 p.m. July 5, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Gaelic Storm — Celtic rock and folk band, 8:30 p.m.

July 31, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Proxima Parada — Funk, soul and blues band, 8:30 p.m. July 6, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Orchestra & Chamber

The Commonheart — Soul band, 8 p.m. July 7, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Whiskey Myers — Country, rock and Americana band, 8 p.m. July 9, Bell's Eccentric Café Beer Garden, 382-2332.

Boardman Brown — Eclectic music group, 5–8 p.m.

July 10, Beats on Bates, Bates Alley.

Kalamazoo Blues Festival — Local, regional and national blues performers celebrate the festival's 26th anniversary, 4:30 p.m.–midnight July 12, noon– midnight July 13, Arcadia Creek Festival Place, 145 E. Water St., kvba.org.

Zion Lion — Summertime Live Concert Series presents this reggae band, 8 p.m. July 12, Richland Area Community Center, 9400 East CD Ave., 342-5059.

Juice — Rock, R&B and hip-hop band, 8 p.m. July 13, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Schlitz Creek — Summertime Live Concert Series presents this bluegrass band, 6 p.m. July 14, Flesher Field, 3664 S. Ninth St., Oshtemo Township, 342-5059.

Mike Love — Reggae musician, 8:30 p.m. July 16, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

The Skeletones — R&B dance band, 5–8 p.m. July 17, Beats on Bates, Bates Alley.

Bella's Bartok — Pop music band, 8:30 p.m. July 17, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Michigan Rattlers — Country, bluegrass and folk band, 8 p.m. July 18, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Kurt Vile — Lo-fi, psychedelic and indie musician, 8 p.m. July 19, Bell's Eccentric Café Beer Garden, 382-2332.

The Moxie Strings — Concerts in the Park Series presents this electric string duo, 4 p.m. July 21, Bronson Park, 342-5059.

Last Mangos — Kindleberger Summer Concert Series presents this Jimmy Buffett tribute band, 6:30 p.m.

July 21, The Stage at Kindleberger Park, Parchment, kindlebergerarts.org.

Conor Oberst — Folk, indie and acoustic singer/ songwriter, 8 p.m. July 23, Bell's Eccentric Café Beer Garden, 382-2332.

Big Trouble — Blues, funk, classic rock and R&B band, 5–8 p.m. July 24, Beats on Bates, Bates Alley.

Will Hoge with Drivin N Cryin — Rock 'n' roll, country and soul band, 8:30 p.m. July 26, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Josh White Jr. — Folk, blues and humor, 8 p.m. July 27, New Vic Theatre, 134 E. Vine St., 381-3328.

Sir Mix-a-Lot — Rap and hip-hop singer, 8 p.m. July 27, Bell's Eccentric Café Beer Garden, 382-2332.

Matt Giraud — Kindleberger Summer Concert Series presents this R&B, blues and jazz singer, 6:30 p.m. July 28, The Stage at Kindleberger Park, kindlebergerarts.org.

Megan Dooley & Yolonda Lavender — Swing, soul, R&B and jazz singers, 5–8 p.m. July 31, Beats on Bates, Bates Alley.

Glenn Miller Orchestra — Summertime Live Concert Series, 7 p.m. July 25, Overlander Bandshell, 7810 Shaver Road, Portage, 329-4522.

Family Fun Chamber Series: Peter and the Wolf — The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Quintet presents Peter and the Wolf, by Prokofiev, 6 p.m. July 30, Celery Flats Amphitheatre, 7335 Garden Lane, Portage, 329-4522.

COMEDY All-Play Improv Jam — Try your hand at performing improv comedy, 4–6 p.m. July 6, Crawlspace Comedy Theatre, 315 W. Michigan Ave., 599-7390.

VISUAL ARTS Kalamazoo Institute of Arts 314 S. Park St., 349-7775 Exhibits

Orna Ben-Ami: Entire Life in a Package — An exhibition blending welded iron works with photography that brings attention to the global refugee crisis, through Aug. 18.

L'esprit: Exploring Wit and Beauty in French Prints — An exhibition of KIA’s French prints and photographs that celebrate the joys and foibles of French society and culture, through Aug. 25.

West Michigan Area Show — A juried exhibition showcasing work in all media from artists in 14 Michigan counties, through Aug. 25.

Moments of Peace: Watercolors by Sunghyun Moon — Large-scale watercolor works painted in the style of mid-20th century American Action painters, through Sept. 22.

Events ARTbreak — Weekly program about art, artists and exhibitions: L'esprit: Exploring Wit and Beauty in French Prints, talk by Nancy Sojka of the Detroit Institute of Arts, July 2; Cezanne: Portraits of a Life, video, Part 1, July 9, and Part 2, July 23; Bahar Ensemble, Middle Eastern music performance/talk, July 16; Absinthe and Impressionists, talk by KIA docent James Carter, July 30; sessions begin at noon, KIA Auditorium.

Film Screening: Donut Day — A documentary about Sweetwater’s Donut Mill that introduces the people on both sides of the counter, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers, 6:30 p.m. July 18.

Artist Demonstration: Sunghyun Moon — The artist demonstrates his watercolor techniques and discusses his process and inspiration, 6:30 p.m.

July 25.

Other Venues Visiting Artist: Pamela Paulsrud — Exhibit by the papermaker, calligrapher and book artist, through July 26, Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, 326 W. Kalamazoo Ave., Suite 103A, 373-4938.

Treewhispers — Tell your "tree story" on a paper round to be included in this collaborative art exhibit involving handmade paper and personal stories, through July 31, Kalamazoo Nature Center, 7000 N. Westnedge Ave., 381-1574.

The Honeycomb Scriptures — Etchings by Ladislav Handa, enhanced with bee-created honeycomb formations, through September, Kalamazoo Valley Museum, 230 N. Rose St., 373-7990.

ENCORE EVENTS Southwest Michigan Artists Association Exhibition — 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday, July 8– Aug. 30, Portage City Hall, 7900 S. Westnedge Ave., 329-4522.

Painting in the Parks — Create a masterpiece, 6–9 p.m. July 11, Schrier Park, 850 W. Osterhout Ave., Portage, 329-4522; registration required.

Art Hop — Art at locations around Kalamazoo, 5–8 p.m. July 12, 342-5059.

Richland Art Fair — Juried show featuring diverse artwork, jewelry and hand-crafted items, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. July 20, Richland Village Square, corner of M-89 and M-43, 312-8271.

LIBRARY & LITERARY EVENTS Kalamazoo Public Library Page Turners Book Club — Discussion of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, by Fannie Flagg, 6:30 p.m. July 1, Oshtemo Branch, 7265 W. Main St., 553-7980.

Michigan's Haunted Lighthouses — Author Dianna Stampfler recounts tales from Michigan’s ghostly beacons, 6 p.m. July 8, Oshtemo Branch, 553-7980.

Reading Race Book Group — Discussion of Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng, 6:30 p.m. July 9, Central Library, 315 S. Rose St., 342-9837.

Spark Joy — Discussion of Marie Kondo’s The LifeChanging Magic of Tidying Up, led by professional organizer Brandi Winch, 6 p.m. July 15, 22 & 29, Oshtemo Branch, 553-7980.

Licensed Memory Care Assisted Living

Parchment Community Library 401 S. Riverview Drive, 343-7747 Parchment Book Group — Discussion of We Were the Lucky Ones, by Georgia Hunter, 6:30 p.m. July 1.

Parchment Library Book Sale — 10 a.m.–3 p.m.

July 13.

Mystery Book Club — Discussion of Reading Up a Storm, by Eva Gates, 6:30 p.m. July 15.

Front Page: Donuts & Discussion — A panel of experts leads a discussion of current topics, 10:30 a.m.–noon July 20.

Yum's the Word: Cooking with Cosmo's Cucina — Chef Stephen Cole shares recipes for summer entertaining, 6:30 p.m. July 24.

Portage District Library 300 Library Lane, 329-4544 LEGO City — Western Michigan LEGO Train Club displays a city and local landmarks made of LEGOs, July 1–3 & 5–6.

Character Talk: Spider-Man — Discussion on the character’s history and timelines, 7–8:30 p.m. July 9.

Tech Café: Go VR — Explore virtual reality, featuring One Oculus Go, 2–4 p.m. July 10.

Dances of India — Susan Iervolina and students from Dances of India demonstrate dances, 1 p.m. July 13; registration required.

Paint Along with Bob Ross Again — An episode of The Joy of Painting on painting little trees, 6–8 p.m.

July 17; registration required.

Tech Café: Free Online Training Courses — Take video courses tailored to your interests and skill level, 2–4 p.m. July 24.

Richland Community Library 8951 Park St., 629-9085 Book Sale in the Park — 8 a.m.–2 p.m. July 20, Richland Park, 7401 N. 32nd St. Vacation & Travel Tips — Trips and tricks presented

by Travel with Nikki, 7 p.m. July 24.

MUSEUMS Air Zoo 6151 Portage Road, Portage, 382-6555

Game Changers — Interactive exhibit exploring how innovation has shaped gameplay, through July.

Memories and Milestones: Forty Years of the Air Zoo — A celebration of four decades of flight, spacecraft, science and education, through December.

Gilmore Car Museum 6865 Hickory Road, Hickory Corners, 671-5089 Hidden Treasures: Barn Finds and Their Stories — Vintage automobiles found in old garages and barns, through July.

Duesenberg: Celebrating an American Classic — This exhibition showcases up to 20 rare Duesenbergs in rotation, through September.

Ride the Classics — Take a ride in the museum’s cars, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. July 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 20, 24, 28 & 31.

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EVENTS ENCORE Deutsche Marques: A German Auto Event — Featuring cars from "daily drivers" to "weekend treasures," including BMW, Audi, Porsche, MercedesBenz and Volkswagen vehicles, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. July 6.

Mad Dogs & Englishmen's British Auto Faire — British-made vehicles, People's Choice judging, car games, bagpipers and British tea time, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

July 7.

All-Years Corvette Show & Swap Meet — 9 a.m.–4 p.m. July 21, with awards presented at 2 p.m.

MOPARS at the Red Barns Show & Swap Meet — West Michigan’s largest all-Chrysler car show, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. July 27.

Kalamazoo Valley Museum 230 N. Rose St., 373-7990 Amusement Park Science with Team Up! — Explore how favorite amusement park rides work and test your skills in sports while learning math and physics, through Sept. 8.

The Secrets of Bees — An interactive exhibit about the threatened bee population, through September.

Plants for Pollinators — Susan Rice of the Kalamazoo Bee Club discusses what we can do to protect bees, 1:30 p.m. July 28, Stryker Theater.

NATURE

Canoe Trip: Explore the Kalamazoo River — 1–4 p.m. July 26; registration required.

Kalamazoo Nature Center 7000 N. Westnedge Ave., 381-1574 Habitat Haven Hike: Amphibians — Explore amphibians' habitats along the trail, 2 p.m. July 7.

DeLano Farms Visiting Chef Series — Sample recipes from top local chefs using produce from DeLano Farms, 5:30 p.m. July 10, 357 West E Ave. Zipline Adventure: Canopy Tour — Experience soaring through summer foliage, 5–7 p.m. July 12, 1–4 p.m. July 20.

Prairie Pathway Hike: Butterflies — Explore this restored prairie and learn about the butterflies' habitat, 2 p.m. July 14.

Watercolor in the Woods — Hike to a place of inspiration to paint something in nature, 5:30 p.m.

July 18.

Bonfire at the Farm — A hike around the property, a naturalist presentation, and food cooked over a fire, 6:30–9:30 p.m. July 19.

Bluebird Hike: Restored Prairies — Hike through this 140-acre restored prairie, 2 p.m. July 21.

Golf Cart Tour: Tallgrass Prairie — Tour the Emma Pitcher Prairie to look for wildflowers and birds, 4 p.m.

July 22.

Welcome to the Day: Sunrise Hike — Welcome the sun to start the day, 6 a.m. July 27; meet at the Visitor Center's lower parking lot.

Beech Maple Trail Hike: Tree ID — Hike through Cooper's Glen and learn to identify common trees, 2 p.m. July 28.

Boomers & Beyond: Life on a Pioneer Farm — Explore the DeLano Homestead, try pioneer chores and visit the farm animals, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. July 30, DeLano Homestead, 555 West E Ave. Other Venues Birds and Coffee Walk — A morning bird walk and discussion over coffee, 9–10:30 a.m. July 10, Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, 12685 East C Ave., Augusta, 671-2510.

Summer Wildflower Golf Cart Tours — Audubon Society of Kalamazoo leads this educational program on the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail, 9–10:30 a.m. July 17 & 18; meet at the parking lot at the Kalamazoo Nature Center, 7000 N. Westnedge Ave., 383-8778.

Establishing Native Plant Gardens to Attract Butterflies — Ilse Gebhard, from Wild Ones for Monarchs, discusses the rationale for native plant gardens, 2 p.m. July 20, Portage District Library, 300 Library Lane, 329-4544.

MISCELLANEOUS Kalamazoo Farmers Market — 8 a.m.–1 p.m.

Tuesdays, 2–6 p.m. Thursdays, 7 a.m.–2 p.m.

Saturdays, through October; night market, 5–10 p.m.

July 18, 1204 Bank St., 359-6727.

Follow the yellow brick road to -

Comstock Community Auditorium 2107 N 26th St, Kalamazoo

Portage Farmers Market — 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 13, City Hall, 7900 S. Westnedge Ave., 329-4522.

July 12-14 and

THE WIZARD OF OZ

By L. Frank Baum

With Music and Lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg

Background Music by Herbert Stothart

July 19-21

Tickets and Info - www.kzoocst.com or follow us on

Dance and Vocal Arrangements by Peter Howard

Orchestration by Larry Wilcox

Adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company

Based upon the Classic Motion Picture owned by Turner Entertainment Co. and distributed in all media by Warner Bros.

Legal Experience

Past Times in Paw Paw: A History of Baseball in Our Hometown — This exhibit tells how and why baseball became known as the national pastime through the stories of hometown athletes, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. through Sept. 8, Carnegie Community Center, 129 S. Kalamazoo St., Paw Paw, 657-5674.

In Your Corner.

®

■ 25 years’ experience providing legal counsel to private business interests and non-profit organizations ■ Real estate and economic development (with a particular knack for packaging incentives and credits to make the impossible deal possible)

Ann Arbor | Detroit | Grand Haven | Grand Rapids | Hastings | Kalamazoo | Lansing | Novi 42 | ENCORE JULY 2019

Contact Fred Schubkegel at flschubkegel@varnumlaw.com

ENCORE EVENTS Haunted History of Kalamazoo Tours — Learn about Kalamazoo history mixed with the paranormal: bus tour, 8–10 p.m. July 2, 5, 11, 19 & 26; walking tour, 8–10 p.m. July 6; both tours start and end at Bronson Park, 833-472-7264, paranormalmichigan. com.

Field of Flight Air Show & Balloon Festival — Hot-air balloons, air show, carnival and fireworks, July 3–7, W.K. Kellogg Airport, 15551 S. Airport Road, Battle Creek, 269-962-0592, bcballoons.com.

Lunchtime Live! — Live music, food trucks and vendors, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. July 5, 12, 19 & 26, Bronson Park, 337-8191.

Vintage in the Zoo Hop-Up Block Party — Local vendors, artists, music and community art project, 4–8 p.m. July 5, Bates Alley, 344-0795.

Walking Tour of Downtown Kalamazoo Breweries — Learn about the local beer culture, noon–4:15 p.m.

July 6 & 20, starting at Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, 211 E. Water St.; July 13, starting at Central City Tap House, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall; July 27, starting at Old Burdick's Bar & Grill, 100 W. Michigan Ave.; 350-4598.

Kzoo Parks Summer Cinema — Enjoy a movie under the stars: Black Panther, July 9, Northside Association for Community Development, 612 N. Park St.; Incredibles 2, July 12, Rockwell Park, 1106 Trimble St.; July 26, U-Pick the Flick, Jones Park, 1601 Academy St.; activities at 6 p.m., movie at 7:30 p.m., 337-8191.

Black Arts Festival 2019 — July 9–13, with Unity Sing Off, 6:45 p.m. July 9, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 120 Roberson St.; Festival in the Park, noon–8 p.m.

July 13, La Crone Park, 535 W. Paterson St., 349-1035; see schedule at blackartskalamazoo.org.

Kindleberger Summer Festival of the Performing Arts — Family musical production, youth play, car show, parade, arts and crafts and children's activities, July 10–14, Kindleberger Park, 650 S. Riverview Drive, Parchment; see schedule at kindlebergerarts.org.

History Program: Elijah Root Mill Walking Tour — Join local historian Steve Rossio on a walking tour of the intersection of Lovers Lane and Milham Avenue, 6:30 p.m. July 10, meet at the Bicentennial Park Trailhead on Milham Avenue, 329-4522.

Corks for Conservation — A wine-tasting event with music, food, silent auction and live animal presentations, 6–10 p.m. July 12, Binder Park Zoo, 7400 Division Drive, Battle Creek, 269-979-1351.

Movies in the Park — View Incredibles 2 under the stars, 9 p.m. July 12, Celery Flats, 7328 Garden Lane, Portage, 329-4522.

Late Night Food Truck Rally — Food trucks, artisans, booths, music and networking, 9 p.m.–midnight July 12, Water Street between Church and Rose streets, 388-2830.

Sunday Brunch Food Trucks — Food trucks, artisans, booths, music and networking, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. July 14, 21 & 28, Bronson Park, 388-2830.

Shades of Lavender Tea — Janene Rawlinson, from Shades of Lavender Farm, in Mattawan, discusses products made on the farm with lavender, 2–4 p.m.

July 17, W.K. Kellogg Manor House, 3700 E. Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners, 671-2400.

WMUK

102.1

Olde Tyme Tractor & Steamer Show — Threshing machines, baling, community garage sale, parade and antique cars, July 19–21, Scotts Mill County Park, 8451 S. 35th St., Scotts, 779-1972.

Battle Creek Caribbean Festival — Caribbean music, cuisine, drinks and crafts, 5–11:30 p.m. July 20, Festival Market Square, downtown Battle Creek, 271-5219.

Zoo Moto Show: Vintage Bikes on Bates — Vintage and custom European, Japanese and American bikes, vendors and food, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. July 21, Bates Alley, 388-2830.

Taste of OLLI: A Feast for Your Brain — Free mini-conference hosted by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at WMU, 8 a.m. –12:30 p.m. July 24, Fetzer Center. Register by calling 269-387-4200 or at wmich.edu/olli/events.

Kalamazoo Reptile & Exotic Pet Expo — Buy, sell or trade reptiles, small mammals and exotic pets, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. July 27, Kalamazoo County Expo Center North, 2900 Lake St., 779-9851.

Midwest Handmade Michigan Makers Fair — Artisans display their unique handmade wares, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. July 27 & 28, Kalamazoo County Expo Center South, midwesthandmade.com.

Summer Bizarre Bazaar — Market featuring unique wares, art and other goods along with craft beer to benefit the Can-Do Kitchen, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. July 28, Bell's Eccentric CafÊ Beer Garden, 382-2332.

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BACK STORY (continued from page 46)

what I wanted to do, and I say that my wife hates that because she says she's still trying to figure out what she wants to do.”

What is your job like?

Museums are much more than just a box with stuff in it, and museum operations are complex. We have to be stewards of authentic collection. So we collect and preserve our local history for the long term.

We have to be disciplined about what we collect and make sure that it fully represents the community.

When this museum started in 1927, the collections were more based on rocks, coral, fossils and natural history. When local philanthropists traveled, they would collect these things, bring them back, and museums like ours would often become beneficiaries of their collections. But today, with the growing awareness about inclusivity and diversity, we’re reevaluating our collections and whether we truly represent the community that we're part of. Because we're part of Kalamazoo Valley Community College and “community” is in the title itself, we treat that as a very important part of what we are.

But it’s more than just collecting artifacts, right?

It's also commitment to education. We’re very committed to the hands-on experience.

We know that 90 percent of real learning takes place if you're doing, and if you're actually doing it, then you're more likely to

retain that information. We don't want to hit you over the head with history or science, we want you to actually be really engaged and have fun.

but there’s still the artifact of the actual item.

And once the cassette player is gone, then you don't have that.

Are there any Kalamazoo artifacts that you wish the museum had?

Yes. Room is a constant thing. Part of the decision-making as we go back and look at our collections is determining what is really relevant to the storytelling that we think we're going to be telling in the future. And you want to hang on to things too, because you don't know exactly (what the future stories will be).

There are, and this is something we are working on — the Murphy Darden collection (featured in an Encore article, February 2019). Murphy's collection has a lot of things local to Kalamazoo, especially black history. I would love for us to continue the stewardship he started. We're working with the Darden family, and I think that was in the article, but nothing has advanced to more of a formal acquisition. He and I know that he doesn't want to part with this stuff until he's no longer able to stand upright and part of this world. And I assured them that we are in no rush for that and that we just wanted to make sure of his wishes about how he'd like to see the collection utilized.

What’s the biggest challenge in your job?

We, and all museums, are wrestling with collections and archives and digital technology. We now get donations of photos that are not printed. They're just digital copies. How do you archive that indefinitely?

At the same time, if you archive it all digitally, then you will constantly be updating to the most current format.

There’s also having the actual item. I use the example of cassette tapes — you can transfer what’s on them to a digital format,

Do you ever run out of room?

What’s your favorite artifact in the museum’s collection?

Probably the Checker Cab. Because of my Detroit roots and my automotive connections, I have always had an affinity for cars. When I worked at The Henry Ford museum, the research we got to do there was all automotive-related. But Checker Cab is just a neat story, and I ought to be honest: Until I moved here, I didn't realize Checker was manufactured in Kalamazoo.

What's your favorite thing to do outside of work?

I love to spend time with my family (his wife, Leona Gould-McElhone, and his teenage daughter) and travel. We take short trips, like to South Haven or Saugatuck or Chicago and Detroit. Detroit is always fun because I know it well enough, but I (also) don't (know it well) because there's so much change there.

— Interviewed by Marie Lee

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BACK STORY ENCORE

Bill McElhone

Director, Kalamazoo Valley Museum B

ill McElhone says it was destiny that he became a museum man.

He grew up in Detroit, and several members of his family worked at The Henry Ford museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, including his father and his uncle, who became a vice president for the museum. His father and mother met on the grounds when she attended the Edison Institute High School and he drove the school bus. McElhone himself worked on the museum’s grounds crew as a teenager, and his grandfather worked there as a security guard in his retirement.

“There’s just all these family connections. I guess it was just destiny,” he says. “Having that access to all that history and being able to go behind the scenes moving furniture or cutting grass or going inside these buildings where no other guests or visitors could go got me really interested in living history.”

McElhone chose to attend Central Michigan University “because they had an on-campus museum.” There he earned bachelor’s degrees in history and art and a minor in museum studies.

He went on to get a master’s degree in history from Wayne State University and worked for the Birmingham Historical Museum and Park, in Birmingham, Michigan, and the Lehigh County Historical Society, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and in several positions at The Henry Ford before landing at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum nine years ago.

“Some of it was luck and serendipitous, but most of it was pretty much by design,” the 56-year-old says of his career. “I knew that's (continued on page 45)

46 | ENCORE JULY 2019

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