SWM Spark-September 2023

Expert Advice

Counseling

Q: What should I do to lift the weight of my hidden addiction?

Healthcare

Q: How can I Reduce My Risk of Colorectal Cancer?

Financial Services

Q: What types of investment bonds are there?

Kim Powers, Owner, Licensed Professional Counselor

A: It is a brave choice to admit you have developed behavior that has become a stronghold. The next step is to choose a safe space, person, or professional to learn skills to overcome and manage the behaviors and hold yourself accountable to your goals. You can find the victory, strength, and encouragement to overcome! There is freedom in the light.

Transitions

Diana Duncan Director of Sales and Marketing

Q: How can I make it easier for mom to navigate her new senior community apartment, if she needs something in the middle of the night?

A: Perhaps she can ask Alexa! Many state-ofthe-art senior communities are creating “smart” apartments, with voice activated technology systems like Amazon Echo or Google Home. If this is available, your mother could tell her speaker to turn on the lights, adjust the thermostat, call for assistance or perform numerous other tasks, without leaving the comfort of her bed. Check with the administrators of your mom’s community to see if they provide this amenity. If they do, you can both rest easy.

Friendship Village

“Where Connections Matter”

1400 North Drake, Kalamazoo 269-381-0560

www.friendshipvillagemi.com

A: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer diagnosed in the United States. The American Cancer Society recommends routine screenings beginning at age 45. While colorectal cancer is often highly treatable, catching it early plays a large role in the success of treatment. To reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer, consider the following lifestyle changes:

Tooba Tariq, MD

• Maintain a healthy body weight.

• Stay active.

• Maintain a healthy diet. Avoid processed food particularly processed meat.

• Quit smoking.

• Reduce alcohol consumption. If you have a family history of cancer, or symptoms such as bleeding during bowel movements, abdominal pain, changes in your bowel habits or unexplained weight loss, talk to your Bronson primary care provider. They can help guide you through necessary testing and refer you, if needed, to a specialist. Don’t have a primary care provider? Visit bronsonhealth.com/find-a-doc.

Bronson Gastroenterology Specialists - Battle Creek

Roofing

Justin Reynolds Manager

Q: I had my roof replaced 12 years ago with a 30 year shingle. It already needs to be replaced. What happened? Roofs used to last 20-25 years.

A: Asphalt is the main waterproofing ingredient in shingles giving strength and longevity. Due to improvements in the ability to refine a barrel of crude oil, less asphalt is available for roofing and road projects. And what is left for roofing lacks the quality that we received 20-25 years ago.

We have found that by blending polymers with the asphalt, we can make shingles tougher and more durable. Our shingles will last 25-30 years. For a free roof inspection, please give us a call at 269 342-0153 or visit us at worryfreeroof.com.

Sherriff-Goslin Roofing Co.

Since 1906

342-0153 800-950-1906

Member Home Builders Association of Greater Kalamazoo

Chuck Henrich President & Owner

A: There are several different types of bonds thatcan be utilized within an investment portfolio. The 3 most common ones are:

• Corporate bonds issued by companies like AT&T orMcDonalds

• Municipal bonds issued by states and municipalities

• Government bonds such as those issued by theU.S. Treasury Bonds are considered a “conservative” investment as they do not have the big swings invalue like the stock market. You can buy bondsindividually or via mutual funds or ETFs.

Give us a call to see what might be right for yourinvestment portfolio.

Health Food

Q: What type of produce does Sawall’s carry?

A: A: Sawall’s has always carried local and certified organic produce.  Its the very best quality that can be found.  We receive produce orders almost every day!  We also carry as much local produce that we can find seasonally.  We are always looking for quality produce from local farmers.  Come in soon and enjoy the areas largest selection of fresh CERTIFIED ORGANIC PRODUCE!!

Mark Sawall Owner

Mon-Sat. 8am-9pm, Sun. 10am-6pm

Sawall Health Foods

Oakwood Plaza • 2965 Oakland Dr. at Whites Rd. • 343-3619 • www.sawallhf.com

Old Friends

This past summer I had the pleasure of spending time up north with two groups of long-time friends.

The first trip in July has been a regular occurrence for almost 50 years. We pick a different destination each year as a base (the last several years have been in the Upper Peninsula) and spend five days just driving around and exploring small towns, waterfalls, trails, breweries and anything else we stumble on along the way. On this year’s trip, five of us spent several hours each day jammed into one vehicle laughing, joking and telling old stories.

Each time we stopped, we would debate who’s turn it was to ride shotgun and who got stuck on the hump in the middle of the back seat. Fastening the back seatbelts and synchronizing bathroom breaks could be challenging. There are three of us that have known each other since middle school and have been part of this group for the entire 50 years. The other two have been regulars for 20-30 years. We’ve gotten to know each others’ good and bad habits, quirks and annoyances. We look older but somehow, when we’re together, we revert back to our childhood days and feel like kids again.

We do not spend much time talking about our former careers (the others are all now retired) kids, grandkids, lawn work,

INDEX sEpTEMBEr 2023

spouses, etc. We just appreciate one another and enjoy the moment, realizing how lucky we are for these yearly jaunts and longtime friendships.

We could all afford better accommodations and nicer restaurants, but half the fun is sleeping on air mattresses or rustic beds in a house 100+ years old in the middle of a ghost town in the UP and stopping at diners in small towns like Rapid River, Negaunee and Bruce Crossing for our meals

My second trip in early August with a separate group of five long-time friends, involved camping on a river south of Traverse City while tubing and golfing.

We set up our tents and the campsite and hope for no rain, which hasn’t been in the cards the past few years. In fact we’ve had some pretty impressive downpours that are more challenging as we age, especially when nature calls in the middle of the night.

The highlight of the trip has always been sitting around the campfire at night, drinking beer and telling stories, which I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world!

Over the years, both groups have gotten smaller (friends move away, pass away or have health issues), which serves as a reminder to those of us still making the trek, just how precious this time is!

Steve Ellis, SPARK Publisher steve@swmspark.com

fROm T HE EdITOR

ON THE COVER:

Editor and publisher: steve Ellis

Graphic & page Development: CrE8 Design, kalamazoo

Content/photography: Lauren Ellis

Writers and Contributors Include: area agency on aging, steve Ellis, Lee Dean, Laura kurella, richard Martinovich Dave person, kalamazoo Nature Center, kalamazoo public Library, kalamazoo Valley Museum, portage public Library, senior services of southwest Michigan, YMCa

SPARK accepts advertising to defray the cost of production and distribution, and appreciates the support of its advertisers. The publication does not specifically endorse advertisers or their products or services. Spark is a publication of Ellis Strategies, LLC. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

The Allegan County Fair.

Photo by Steve Ellis

Let’s raise a glass to the working class

Lee A. Dean screendoor@sbcglobal.net

Our nation is in the middle of a cultural trend known as “the great resignation.” This trend began as part of the pandemic lockdowns and has persisted. The thing that people are resigning from is work. The reasons for this troubling development are complicated. “Kids today don’t wanna work” doesn’t explain it. If we are honest, the percentage of days when we genuinely “wanna work” is quite a bit south of 100 percent. The alarm clock rudely interrupts our slumber, and immediately the Todd Rundgren song start to play in our heads: “I don’t want to work. I just want to bang on the drum all day.”

Then the reality of an older Rundgren lyric slams home: “You gotta get out of bed and make that bread.” We drag ourselves out of bed, muttering like Yosemite Sam and wishing there was another way to produce income. There is another motivation to get out there and earn our daily bread comes from a belief system known as “work

ethic.” This mindset is best developed early from parents who set the example and who demand their kids learn the link between effort and earning. Since I became a workplace chaplain (also known as a care partner), I have been privileged to cross paths with quite a few people with well-developed work ethics. A few hours a week, I go onto job sites and listen to the employees as they face life and work concerns.

I’m not sure if I have helped anyone yet, but I have made plenty of friends and have come to a greater appreciation of those who serve in health care and industrial settings. These are not easy places to work, and yet I see people perform these tasks with skill and dedication.

I visit a senior care facility and notice the extremely high employee turnover. But I have a habit of celebrating those who show up more than being disappointed at the absentees. The people who come to work at this facility can enrich the lives of people in many ways.

--Activity directors come up with a variety of creative ways to enrich daily life. They stimulate the physical, mental, and spiritual capacities of residents.

--Physical therapists help residents

perform the simplest physical tasks — things most of us take for granted — with patience, encouragement, and love.

--The same two women are the main housekeepers. Every weekday I see them push their supply-laden carts from room to room. When staff is short-handed in other areas, they drop what they’re doing and pitch in to help.

--I enjoy the aides and nursing professionals who are not shy about how much they love the residents and feel a bit sorry for people who believe there is no joy in working with people in assisted living or memory care. They know that no act of love can ever be wasted, even if the person can remember it for only 30 seconds.

The other two companies I serve are a machine shop with aerospace, aviation, and medical clients, and a meat/ seafood processing plant. I can relate to the employees because I’ve done plenty of that kind of work myself –wrapping rolls of wax paper, cleaning up around huge machines, running punch presses and spot welders and other kinds of dirt-under-the-fingernails tasks.

On these jobs, then and now, I have met some of the best people who ever

walked this planet. Class warfare at the expense of blue-collar people won’t fly with me. I had a housemate once who proclaimed, “All blue-collar workers are stupid.” I hope this guy learned how to grow his own food and fix his own cars.

When I walk through the machine shop, I see thousands of parts that go through a variety of procedures to ensure perfection. When I asked one of the workers why they needed standards to be so exact for each part, he replied, “Because we don’t want to be responsible for planes falling out of the sky.”

Ideally, everyone who works for a living would consider their labors a calling. The great writer Frederick Buechner defined a calling as “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Whether the workers consider their jobs a calling or something far less, I appreciate them and what they do.

My wife, the Viking Goddess, likes to tell people, “Thanks for what you do.” You can’t go wrong with that message. Why not adopt an attitude of gratitude with every bite, every time you start your car, every time you turn on a light switch.

Behind all those acts we take for granted are human beings who WORKED to make it so

County Fair Champs!

by Laura Kurella

Celebrating the best of the season through blue ribbons, special honors, and trophies, most of us are lucky enough to have at least one memory of attending a county fair. If it was in our youth, those memories usually swirl around an array of games we spent our dimes on, or taking a quick whirl on a dizzying ride.

Akin to winning the crown at Miss America, or getting to drink the milk at Indy 500, having a winning recipe among your peers is a true indication that your recipe is indeed above the rest, but most of these award-winning gems are whisked in and out of the local spotlight so fast that they get lost to history.

Fortunately, Liza Gershman had the brilliant mind to gather up prize-winning county fair recipes from all around the country and culminate them into the cookbook, County Fair: Nostalgic Blue-Ribbon Recipes from America’s Small Towns.

Serving up close to eighty blue ribbon–winning recipes from across America’s heartland, this cookbook offers everything from homemade cakes to jams, jellies, pickles, preserves and sweets. I’m thrilled to be able to share a special recipe sampling directly from this cookbook. Enjoy!

Michigan Buttery Peach Toffee Pie

CRUST

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted FILLING

5 cups sliced peaches

3/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp flour

2 tbsp quick-cooking tapioca

1 tsp butter flavor

16 toffee candies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. To make crust: In a bowl, combine all ingredients, mixing until it resembles wet sand. Press into a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan. Bake for 8 minutes then remove and set aside.

To make the filling: Combine peaches, sugar, flour, tapioca, and butter flavor. Grind the candies thoroughly in a food processor until crumbs. Stir crumbled candy into the peach mixture. Line the bottom pie crust with mixture. Add top pie crust and seal. Cut vents in top crust. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Laura Kurella is an award-winning recipe developer, food columnist, and author of the new culinary memoir, MIDWEST MORSEL, which celebrates all the classic and favored flavors in the Great Lakes Midwest. She welcomes your comments at laurakurella@yahoo.com.

Inspired by Emily Sibthorpe-Trittschler, Blue Ribbon Prize Michigan State Fair, Michigan

Photo provided by The County Fair Cookbook by Liza Gershman

Everything but Smoke: Fire Brings the Heat in KNC Exhibit

By Tom Springer, Kalamazoo Nature Center

If you feel hot under the collar when visiting the Kalamazoo Nature Center’s new “Fire: Rekindling Land and People” exhibit, you’re not alone. The immersion visual experience – as a wildfire roars in your direction across three 7 x 12-foot screens – can give even a fire-singed veteran pause.

“I was watching Luke Allison, one of KNC’s firefighters as he watched it for the first time,” said Justin Davies, creative director at KNC. “He said, ‘I feel like I shouldn’t even be standing where I’m standing.’ All his training told him that you should never be in that spot where the camera had filmed the fire.” The exhibit’s 11-minute video features the cinematic artistry and field know-how of Ethan Turpin. It shows grassland wildfires in California and Wisconsin as they ignite and sweep toward the cameras, which were mounted inside fireproof boxes. (Although Turpin says some cameras do melt on occasion.) After the fire, time-elapse

photography shows how new growth quickly rises from the ashes. A light haze of green thickens into healthy clumps of grass and wildflowers, enriched by nutrients released from the burn.

While modern humans fear wildfire, Davis said that Native people have used it for time immemorial to manage landscapes. They would intentionally set fires – now known as “controlled burns” -- to clear underbrush and keep lands open for hunting. As the small, frequent fires swept through the undergrowth they left larger trees unharmed. These Native practices worked in harmony with fire-evolved habitats across North America, such as prairies, savannas, and forests, which require occasional fires to generate. Then in the late 19th century, U.S. government agencies began preventing wildfires to maximize timber harvests. This helped create the dangerous levels of woody debris that fuel the

intense, calamitous fires of today.

Davies said that “Fire: Rekindling Land and People” reflects KNC’s new focus on exhibits that combine art with science. Here, the power of Turpin’s imagery underscores the work of KNC’s Conservation and Stewardship team. They use fire to manage habitats at the Nature Center, as well as for private landowners and government lands such as the Fort Custer Training Center near Battle Creek. In the exhibit, a display of smoke-smudged firefighter turnout gear – to include a drip torch that smells gently of fuel oil – adds authenticity.

The exhibit’s other displays feature details of Native American fire practices;

the chemistry and physics of fire; and a striking graphic that juxtaposes the Kalamazoo downtown skyline against the colossal, mile-high glacier that once covered the city.

For all its focus on history, the exhibit’s August opening proved to be eerily prescient.

“A matter of days after the exhibit was up, we were inundated with smoke from Canadian wildfires,” Davies said. “We could smell the results of North America fire suppression right outside the building.”

Tom Springer is vice president for development at the Kalamazoo Nature Center.

Book Reviews

The Cartographers

Peng Shephard

The Cartographers is a magic-realist mystery. When Nell Young finds out that her estranged father has died in his office in the New York Public Library’s map room, she also finds a mystery: the gas station road map that caused their estrangement. Investigating the map brings more mysteries, like why this mundane map costs so much on the collector’s market and why she can’t get any of her father’s old friends to talk to her about it. This is a gentle thriller with a magical secret about maps at its core, a little bit of a road trip, and a lot about how holding on to old hurts shapes our lives.

Fire Weather

John Vaillant

In 2016, a wildfire ripped through the oil town of Fort McMurray, in Alberta, hot enough to vaporize toilets and bend a street light in half. It was the most expensive disaster in Canada’s history. Vaillant tracks the role of fire in industry in the past hundred and fifty years and the disregarded alarms about the environment raised by scientists, dating as far back as the eighteen-fifties. “Climate science came of age in tandem with the oil and automotive industries.” The number of places facing fates similar to Fort McMurray’s is rapidly increasing, even as “our reckoning with industrial CO2” moves painfully slow. Pick up this book. Our future may depend on it.

Ellie Is Cool Now

Victoria Fulton & Faith McClaren

TV writer Ellie Jenkins worked her butt off to put her nerdy, outcast teen years behind her. So there’s a certain delicious irony in that she works for a hit show about popular high school kids when she was So. Not. Cool. And now she’s been offered the promotion of a lifetime, but only if she attends her reunion. No one at the reunion is what Ellie expected. The only way she’s going to survive this whole weird ordeal is by fixing her bad high school karma, kissing the boy who got away, and getting out of Ohio for good. But Ellie’s discovering that in real life, she can’t just rewrite the script.

A Wish for Winter

Viola Shipman

Forty years ago, Petoskey, Michigan, bookstore owner Susan Norcross was born into a family that really does Christmas. Family tradition has it that every Norcross meets their future spouse while dressed as Kris Kringle. Susan has had a few Santa-clad encounters that didn’t work out. Only the love of her family, friends and the close comfort of her small-town home gives Susan the strength to keep going and the faith that one day all will turn out right for her. A charming and feel-good romance novel. From the beautifully drawn characters to the depiction of small-town life, the reader feels the warmth and poignancy throughout the last page.

Book Reviews by the Portage District Library staff

Margaret Minott: A Champion for Educational Equality and Justice

by Keith Howard, Kalamazoo Public Library

Few individuals had a greater impact on Kalamazoo’s social landscape during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s than Margaret Minott. She was a business owner and mother of six, who engaged in a lifelong pursuit for equity within the local school system. She was the first African American to be elected to the Kalamazoo Board of Education and was instrumental in the effort to desegregate Kalamazoo Public Schools. It was largely through her efforts that the Oshtemo Branch Library came to be.

Born in Ohio in 1925, Minott earned a BA degree in Christian Education from the Baptist Missionary Training School in Rochester, New York. In 1948, she married Donald Minott, a Chicago Baptist Institute graduate and Chicago minister. Soon after their marriage, the Minotts moved to Mattawan, where they formed a vitamin and food supplement business called Minott’s Nutritional Food Company.

In 1954, the Minotts opened the D&M Wrecking Company, a demolition and salvage business in Oshtemo, where Margaret oversaw the company’s sales, bookkeeping, and personnel matters. Along with their business dealings, the Minotts organized church programs and facilitated Sunday school leadership training, all while raising six children and a nephew.

In 1964, Margaret Minott led an effort to form a community library in Oshtemo Township. After some twoand-a-half years of planning, Oshtemo Township approved $3,000 to establish a community library on a trial basis. Thanks to Minott’s efforts, a cooperative arrangement was made, and the Oshtemo Branch Library became a reality.

Meanwhile, Minott was making her voice heard in other ways throughout the Oshtemo community, and especially within the public school system. In April 1966, she announced her candidacy for the Kalamazoo Public School Board on a platform that called for “the education of every child, the ideals of every parent, and the welfare of every taxpayer.” In June 1966, Minott became the first African American elected to the Kalamazoo Public School Board.

During her four-year term as a board member, Minott advocated strongly for measures to desegregate Kalamazoo’s schools. She was appointed

Kalamazoo Public School Board secretary in 1967 and board vice president in 1969. Minott’s vision for Kalamazoo schools was to keep pace with the world’s educational needs, not just the needs of the community.

Her stance on segregation issues within the Kalamazoo community remained unwavering. Although her bid for reelection in 1970 failed, Minott ran again for an open board seat in 1971 while serving as chair of the affairs committee for the Kalamazoo Central High School PTA. Despite endorsements by the UAW Community Action Program Council and the Kalamazoo City Education Association, Minott’s second bid for re-election was soundly defeated. Her efforts to desegregate Kalamazoo Public Schools led to her defeat, but it did not end her commitment to the community.

After a lifetime of service to her community, the Metropolitan Kalamazoo Branch of the NAACP honored Minott with a 1991 Humanitarian Award. They referred to her as “a steadfast soldier… one of those giant characters whose values will stand the test of time.” Margaret Minott passed away in February 1999 at the age of 73, but her legacy lives on within the communities she so faithfully served.

More at kpl.gov

allegan county fair promises food and fun each september

By Dave Person david.r.person@gmail.com

Early each September when she was growing up in Allegan, Saree Miller could be found in the kitchen of her home, whipping up a chocolate mayonnaise cake to enter into the youth baked-goods competition at the Allegan County Fair. And every year she would come away with a blue ribbon.

“I always loved that I won with my cakes,” she says.

She also enjoyed the many other facets of the fair — the bustling midway, the wide variety of food, the farm animals, 4-H exhibits and grandstand shows, to name a few.

As an adult, Miller is still a big fan of the county fair, one of the oldest and largest in Michigan, but now she views it from the position of executive director.

Last year the fair, which always runs the second week in September, set an attendance record as 318,255 people came through its gates.

This year, Miller is up for the challenge of topping that number during the fair’s run from Friday, Sept. 8, through Saturday, Sept. 16.

“The entertainment has been a big thing for the fair,” says Miller, who books the grandstand acts with help from an entertainment committee.

This year’s line-up includes:

Country singers Jake Owen and Jameson Rodgers at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8.

Rapper Nelly, with country singer Trea Landon, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9

Comedian Steve Trevino at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14.

Country singer Riley Green with singer/actor Drake Milligan, at 7:30 Friday, Sept. 15.

An Off-Road Demo Derby will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10, and the State Championship Demolition Derby will cap off the nine-day fair at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16.

“That’s a big draw every year,” she says of the state championship derby, which generally sells out.

The annual fair parade will start in downtown Allegan at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, and will pass in front of the grandstand at 7 p.m.

The Flying Star Rodeo at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, and tractor pulls at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, complete the fairweek grandstand presentations.

Advanced ticket sales for all grandstand events, as well as general information, are available at www.allegancountyfair.com or by calling (888) 673-6501.

Meanwhile, the midway rides and games, presented by the Skerbeck Entertainment Group, will be in full swing all week, starting at noon on the two Saturdays and Sunday, and at 3 p.m. on the first Friday

Photo by Derek k etchum

and the following Monday through Friday. Admission to the fair is $10 for adults and $5 for students through 12th grade. Parking on the fairgrounds is $5. For those who want to ride rides, there are unlimited-ride wristbands available for $30 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday and $25 Monday through Thursday.

There are exceptions, however, on themed days during the week. Monday is Carload/ Children’s Day. Entry is $20 per car and all rides are $3; Tuesday is Senior Citizen Day, with seniors 60 and older getting in for $5 until noon; Wednesday is Ladies’ Day with admission for ladies $5 until noon; and Thursday is Veterans Day, with active service personnel and veterans admitted free, including parking, with military confirmation.

Youth and other exhibits continue to be a big part of the fair, as do the animal barns and the John Pahl Historical Village, with a one-room schoolhouse, log church, doctor’s office, town hall, general store, fire station, gas station and others, all relocated from various Allegan County locations. There also are two farmers museum with historical items that serve as reminders of the county’s past.

And let’s not forget fair food, Miller’s favorite, which will be available throughout the fairgrounds.

“I love the food; I eat my way through the midway,” she says.

This year’s fair will be Miller’s 36th as an employee. She started working at the front

desk in 1988, and from there moved up to assistant manager, manager and finally, in 2016, executive director.

It’s also the 171st anniversary of the fair, which started in 1852 when Millard Fillmore was president of the United States and Robert McClelland was Michigan’s governor. That year, the Allegan County Agricultural Society was formed and held its first fair at the county courthouse, which was also the local Baptist church, according to a historical timeline posted on the fair’s website.

In 1856, the county Board of Supervisors bought eight acres on the north side of the city near the Kalamazoo River for use as a fairgrounds. In 1859, the first exhibition hall was erected and the next year, a year before the Civil War began, a grandstand and racetrack were added.

Currently, the fairgrounds covers 115 acres, which includes a public campground, according to the website.

HEALTHYLIVING:

Small Steps Big Goals

The passing of time is a most mysterious thing: We measure it by events. The growth charts of our children. Our own physiological changes. We measure time by our accomplishments, and the things that didn’t quite go according to plan. We can experience it in such a way that it feels like 20 years ago was just yesterday -- or an eternity ago! Time is funny that way.

Well…The idea of Time can be a trickster, for sure. When we look back, it’s happened in the blink of the eye. But when we look ahead toward the future in terms of something we want to doc – calculating the energy, focus, and effort it will require to ‘gitter done” – it can feel so very out of reach. Sure, we might know what we want, but the path to “there” feels so long, out of sight, unattainable, too far out there, and way too much time to check off the “done” box. It can be so overwhelming. Sometimes, our idea of time screws up our goalsetting capacity.

We even sometimes listen to our inner- voice that says, “Self, why even try? We’ll never

______________ (fill in the blank.)”

This is not cool self-talk.

Pardon the unseasonal reference, but this kind of talk reminds me of one of my favorite holiday animated television specials, where the Elf (I know, I know – it’s way too early!) leads the Abominable

Snowman to an epiphany: here is this ornery, selfish, and mean creature of ice, not knowing where to start, realizes that he has the power to soften his heart, one small step at a time. We’re reminded that change can happen if we simply put one foot in front of the other to get to where we need to go.

Or be the person that we want to be. Or have the better health that seems out of reach. It’s never too late.

One foot in front of the other. Small steps can lead to big goals. So that one day, when we finally get “there” we can look back. And whether it feels like it happened in that blink of an eye, or that feeling of forever, we know we filled that time doing something very important for ourselves. To be Happier. Stronger. Healthier. And that is worth every second and effort we spent doing it.

(Scan the QR code for a very cool and inspiring YouTube music video. I promise – it’s not holiday themed!)

Vicky Kettner is the Association Director of Marketing, Community Relations, and Member Engagement for the YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo.

Warriors

Names

When the Wednesday Warriors head out to help restore one of our preserves, we like to fill in the newcomers on the preserve name. Some of them are tributes to the donor, such as Chipman Preserve and Sarah Delle Hultmark Preserve. And Hidden Pond Preserve. No, just kidding. Many preserves are descriptive, such as Black

River Preserve and Paw Paw River Preserve. Some already came with a name, such as Bow in the Clouds Preserve, which was created by the Sisters of Saint Joseph. And Spirit Springs Sanctuary is such a lovely name, no decision needed for keeping that one. Sora Meadows was kind of spooky. A previous wetland had been drained, and after un-draining, it filled back up, and poof! The wading birds called

soras appeared! If you name it, they will come.

We had a contest to name a preserve along KL Avenue. Various names were suggested and the vote went to Wolf Tree Nature Trails. Now that we have cleared out the brushy understory, you can see these expansive trees which are nicknamed Wolf Trees, as they stretch out their limbs in

what was previously their wideopen domain. Hopefully no visitors will be misled and feel the need for pepper spray.

And, yes, we know the name Wednesday Warrior is a little exaggerated. We just like to get outdoors and do our little bit to restore the various habitats that make southwest Michigan so rich and varied. If this sounds like your idea of getting out in some interesting preserves, come out any Wednesday your schedule permits. There is also a spin-off group on Mondays. Just check the website www.swmlc.org for details on each week’s workdays. Hope to see you there!

Kristi Chapman, volunteer, Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy

The Covenant (2023)

Guy Ritchie has been busy in 2023.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre was released in January and ticked all the traditional Ritchie boxes: a heist, Jason Statham, humorous British colloquialisms, etc. Meanwhile, The Covenant hit theaters in April and proved to be something else entirely. Set during the War in Afghanistan, Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko, Nightcrawler) stars as Master Sergeant John Kinley who leads a team specializing in ordinance recovery, a task especially exposed to the sort of sudden and unpredictable violence that largely characterized the twentyyear conflict. It’s also a job heavily reliant on trustworthy local information networks, and critically, Afghani translators. Dar Salim (Darkland, Game of Thrones) is excellent in this role as Ahmad, the smoldering, tightly wound translator assigned to Kinley’s team. After one particularly harrowing engagement, Kinley comes to unequivocally owe his life to Ahmad’s heroic actions, but when the US pulls out in 2021, Ahmad and his family find that they are unable to obtain the American visas they were previously promised. This mirrors the experience of hundreds of Afghani translators working for the US who were immediately targeted by the resurgent Taliban in the wake of American withdrawal. Back in the States, Kinley fruitlessly attempts to navigate

Movie Reviews

the US Army bureaucracy on Ah mad’s behalf, resulting in his return to Afghanistan to put his life back on the line in a bid to get Ahmad and his family out. Gyllenhaal and Salim turn in fantastic performances here in what is arguably Ritchie’s best, and certainly most original film in years. – Submitted by Patrick J.

Loving Highsmith (2022)

Loving Highsmith is a 2022 documentary about the celebrated American novelist Patricia Highsmith, a writer whose tales of suspense, destructive secrecy and violence have been made into popular film adaptations on several occasions (Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Purple Noon, Carol). The film reveals a subject whose passionate life was as intricate as some of the emotional lives of her characters. Based on an exploration of the author’s diary entries and notebooks, one understands better the relationship between Highsmith’s creative vision found in her novels, and the emotional challenges she faced as a closeted gay woman in the 1950s. Highsmith long kept secret her lesbianism from her family and the public, leading to a double life. Interviews with those women who knew the private Highsmith best provide a vivid account of the famous writer’s romantic desires, professional aspirations and personal character. –

Submitted by Ryan G.

Reviews submitted by Ryan Gage. These great titles and others are available at the Kalamazoo Public Library.

By Jim Coppinger, Milestone Senior Services Volunteer

Jack Bley is one of those rare individuals to serve in three branches of our military. In high school, Jack was inspired by his biology teacher. He earned a biology degree at Northern Illinois University and later his doctorate in veterinary medicine at the University of Illinois.

After a fortuitous encounter with a Naval officer at a family gathering in 1968, Jack was encouraged to become a Naval Flight Officer. He soon was sworn in at Glenview Naval Air Station and served in the Naval Reserves and later basic flight training at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. He navigated multi-engine aircraft all around the world.

Jack’s early professional veterinary work was in northern Wisconsin serving dairy farmers. He left private practice and joined the Air Force Veterinary Corps returning to Pensacola to care for animals used in biomedical research. At that time, Air Force and Army veterinarians cared for Department of Defense (and dependent) animals such as working dogs, horses, pets, mascots and laboratory animals, as well as duties in the field of public health doing food inspection in the U.S. and overseas. Jack returned to private veterinary practice–but not for long. This time, he joined the Army Veterinary Corps to provide veterinary services and to support biomedical research. He was stationed at Selfridge Air Base and Wurtsmith AFB. This was his first experience living in Michigan, and he fell in love with the state. His next assignment was with the Multi-na-

tional Forces in the Sinai, serving in Egypt and Israel. When he returned to the U.S., Jack’s career turned to preventive medicine and laboratory animal medicine at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, DC. He also worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). An Army buddy, who worked at Upjohn, recruited him and Jack returned to Michigan.

He earned a teaching certificate at WMU and became the teacher his high school hero inspired him to be. Jack taught biology and human physiology at Kalamazoo Valley Community College for thirteen years. He also taught as a substitute teacher and still

tutors in the Kalamazoo Public Schools.

Now retired, Jack devotes his time to his garden, two dogs and his family, grand- and great-grandchildren, as well as Christian Veterinary Mission—where he has done relief work in countries all around the world. Jack and his wife, Lorrie, are active in the Right to Life movement as well as their church. Jack is a driver for Meals on Wheels. He read one of these “volunteer profiles” in Spark Magazine and was inspired to call Milestone to become a volunteer.

He says our entire community is blessed to have the quality of volunteer organizations and the dedication of so many volunteers who deliver so much needed help.

One particular Bible quote from the book of Luke states, “To whom much is given, much is required.” Jack’s life has been blessed and trying to fulfill the spirit of that Bible verse drives him.

Milestone Senior Services (previously known as Senior Services of Southwest Michigan) is an AmeriCorps Seniors grantee. AmeriCorps Seniors empowers people age 55 and older to serve their communities. RSVP helps people find a volunteer opportunity that fits their passion. There are currently opportunities in Kalamazoo County and a few in Calhoun County. Volunteers are needed with Meals on Wheels, Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes, Telephone Reassurance for Seniors, Milestone Home Repair, and more. Regular, flexible schedules available. Contact RSVP at 269-382-0515 or apply to volunteer at www.milestoneseniorservices.org.

“to Whom much is given, much is required” – Jack bley

B-Side Social House

By Richard Martinovich

The Monkees single Valleri rocketed to #3 on the pop chart, but one day I flipped it over to the B-side, and became hooked on a quirky tune called Tapioca Tundra! There is a fun musical vibe to B-Side Social House, where vinyl records and concert posters of Grammy-winning bands and artists adorn the walls.

Back when people bought 45’s, the A-side was the song the producer wanted to promote. The B-side was often filler but sometimes would produce a memorable classic, like La Bamba, the flipside to Ritchie Valens “Donna.”

The B-Side Social House menu includes some nods to musical artists like the Pearl Jam, deep-fried peanut butter and jelly, and the Drake Drizzle, colby jack, mozzarella, cheddar cheese, tomato and balsamic glaze on sourdough.

Breakfast includes distinctly creative items like “Specialty Break-

fast Bowls.” The Estevon Bowl features two eggs with mixed fresco, green onions, seasoned black beans, red skin potatoes, grilled flour tortillas and salsa! The Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Bowl is smothered with their delicious in-house sausage gravy! For lunch, there is a large selection of savory choices. The Freeway Chicken Philly is excellent -- marinated chicken, sautéed green peppers, onions, mushrooms, pepper jack cheese. There are wraps; Kane Brown Spicy Southwest Wrap, fish -- Fat Man’s Fish – perch with Cajun tartar sauce, and the Cuban Linx Bowl -Mojo chicken with black beans and cilantro lime rice!

Out late and hungry?

B-Side is open Thursday until 3am, and 3:30am

Friday and Saturday!

Stop in for a Wing

Basket, Smash Burger Slider, or a French Montana Dip -- roast beef, onions, green peppers, and pepper jack cheese on aioli hoagie roll. B-Side weekly specials are always interesting -- and appetizing; whether spicy Wu Wings or Elvis Toast with peanut butter and bananas!

Located near the WMU campus, there is a welcoming neighborhood atmosphere to B-Side Social House; a place to enjoy great food and music, and hang out with friends!

2727 W. Michigan Avenue • 269-459-1117

Tales road froM The East Side of the Keweenaw Peninsula

By Steve Ellis

This past July, I headed up to the Upper Peninsula for an annual trip with old friends. The last few years have been easier, with my friend Rodger, now having a small summer house in the ghost town of Michigamme.

We got up early one morning and headed for the Keweenaw Peninsula. The first stop was in L’Anse for breakfast at the Nite Owl Cafe. It was packed and we had to wait almost an hour for breakfast but it was well worth the wait. Nobody in the restaurant complained or acted like this was anything out of the ordinary. I asked our server, about an older gentleman with a beard that we met last year, and if he still came in. He said, “You need to give me more specifics, that describes about 60% of our customers.”

This area was long occupied by people of the Lake Superior Band of Ojibwa (Chippewa), who called it ”Gichiwiikwedong”. Much later, French colonists established a fur trading post here, naming it L’Anse. In French, L’Anse translates as “the cove” or “the bay.” The modern-day village grew around this French trading post.

After breakfast, we then continued north on US-41, through Baraga and Chassell. I remember camping in the Baraga State Park as a kid back in the late 1960’s.

We drove through Houghton and Hancock, crossing the Portage Lake Lift Bridge. A few years ago one of the guys talked me into walking across it, which gave us a a great view of the water and both towns.

The Houghton Hancock Bridge, officially known as the Portage Lake Lift Bridge, is the only bridge of its type in Michigan. When completed, it was the heaviest vertical lift span ever constructed. The unique bridge was designed as a double-deck

bridge. The lower deck was designed for railroad traffic, and the upper deck for highway traffic. The current bridge opened in 1959.

We headed east on M-26 through Ripley, housing the historic Quincy Smelting Works which closed in 1969. It is the only complete copper smelting site still in existence anywhere in the world, with its enormous furnaces, buildings, offices and homes still intact.

Heading north into Mason, we stumbled upon a large old mine site now in ruins and covered in colorful graffiti. We wandered around the remains of the Quincy Mining Company Stamp Mill #1, across from Torch Lake. The mill was used to crush copperbearing rock, separating the copper ore from surrounding rock. The mill opened in 1890 with the Quincy Mine spending $457,000 between 1888 and 1894 on their

new mill site. The mill closed in 1931. The giant Dredge #2 on Torch Lake across the road looks like an ancient prehistoric creature. Dredge #1 sank in a storm in 1956. This massive operation once produced over 10,000 tons of copper per year.

There are many more old ruins and giant smoke stacks heading up to Hubbell and Lake Linden. Hubbell has a population of 900 and a downtown area full of old buildings to admire.

Lake Linden, population around 1,000, is on the north end of Torch Lake and is a historic town with several dozen classic old brick buildings and Victorian houses. Several of the buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic places including the Village Hall, the Fire Station and the St Joseph’s Church. Lindell’s Chocolate shop was once a soda fountain and drug store and now a restaurant & bar with an

extensive display of local memorabilia. We ate at the Loading Zone a few years agoGreat food and fun decor on the walls. After leaving Lake Linden, our plan was to continue on up the coast to Gay and Lake La Belle, towards the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. We did not have a map and eventually ran into a large body of water and lighthouse. We had somehow gone 20 miles due south and ended up in Jacobsville, at the tip of a peninsula jutting out into the Keweenaw Bay. We parked at White City Park, which has a gorgeous sandy beach with a handful of boats anchored in the bay.

In the early 1900’s White City was a premiere summer resort with hotel-restaurant-saloon, amusement park with roller coaster and merry-go-round, rental cottages, dance pavilion, bandstand and a 75-foot steamer dock. Excursion boats ran several times a day from the Houghton/Hancock area. It took us fifteen minutes to walk out on the long breakwater to the 1920 lighthouse known officially as the Keweenaw Bay Lower Entry Light. We met a man at the base of the lighthouse, who was traveling the state visiting lighthouses. He had been to 110 of the state’s 119 lighthouses and was chartering a boat the next day to take him 27 miles out into Lake Superior to visit lighthouse #111. We later found out that this lighthouse was up for auction and was only at $10,000 the last time I checked.

We headed northwest to Laurium (home of legendary football player George Gipp) and over to the historic Calumet which I have written about in a previous feature.

On our way back south, we had a great dinner at Gino’s Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge in Hancock. Gino’s originally opened in 1923 . Their patio seating, food and service was great.

Our drive up and down the east side of historic Keweenaw Peninsula was very enjoyable and we look forward to exploring more again next summer!