Betsy Start Chauffeurs in the Michigan Festival of

Transcription

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Betsy Start
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$4 • November
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LY S C E 1 9
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chauffeurs in the
Michigan Festival of Sacred Music
Nov. 9-20
t r u e s t o ry
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I WASN’T GOING TO SIT AROUND
WAITING FOR MY
BACK TO HEAL.
SITTING WAS JUST TOO PAINFUL.
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From the Managing Editor
YEARS AGO, my Sundays jump-started with a standing racquetball
match with a couple of buddies of mine. We’d play “cutthroat”, a
game where one person would see how many welts he could inflict
upon the other two players. You’d think that our locker room banter
would center on sports or other typical man cave talk, but more often than it would drift in the direction
of our collective four teenage sons’ latest escapades. Our focus was always on
what infuriatingly strange, crazy, and,
OK, dumb things they did, and like every parent of a teenager, we wondered
how they’d turn out, if we all survived
to see the day.
Three of the four boys had the
opportunity to discover their parents
weren’t as insensitive and ignorant as
they had thought during those teen
years, and grew into successful men,
husbands and parents. My two boys
are amazing men, hardly scarred by
those early years of living with me.
Unfortunately one of our problem
children, my friend’s son, never had
that chance. A couple of years later he
was lost due to a car accident.
Dennis Richards
Surely I’m not alone in thinking
that all too often we focus on the negatives each day dumps on our
doorstep or the petty things people unwittingly do. I’m betting my
friend would give anything to have one day back to enjoy his son
and tell him how terrific he was, just as I would to tell my kids. In
this month where we celebrate Thanksgiving, maybe it’s a good time
to do just that. It seems we get so wrapped up in the problems and
challenges of day-to-day life that we forget just how great our lives
are.
Most of us take for granted that we sleep indoors, have access
to all we care to eat, live in a country that allows us the freedom to
come and go as we please, and, with a little creative brain power
and work, can achieve whatever lifestyle we chose. But all too often
we forget that we’re healthy, hopefully have wonderful relationships
with friends and family, and that with a tad of effort can make life
even better.
My wife and I once heard a motivational speaker say that to
have a successful relationship, you need to choose to focus on a
person’s positive traits and ignore the negative. That’s something
we have striven for, albeit it’s a bigger challenge for her than for me
because I seem to have a lot for her to ignore. Isn’t it so true that the
people we like can do no wrong while those we don’t care for can do
nothing right?
My friend Phil was an accountant for United Airlines until
September 12, 2001 when United downsized thousands because of
9/11. He lost his pension when United’s stock was devalued, and
lost his wife to cancer a couple of years later. Phil always ends his
voicemail and conversations with the phrase, “Life is good.” Maybe
this Thanksgiving we all should look around our dinner tables one
more time and realize how much abundance we have and just who
and how much we should be thankful for. Life is good!
— Dennis Richards, Managing Editor
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6
BETSY START
is the driver
for the Festival of
Sacred Music.
14
For the JAMISONs,
an audience with
the Dalai Lama was a
travel highlight
when in Tibet.
Contributing Poets
Marion Boyer
Hedy Habra
15
Photo: Ivy Lim Meei Jiuan
Designer
Brakeman
4 MANAGING EDITOR’S
NOTES
8 TRIVIA PURZOOT
Photography Way Back When
22 SPIRIT OF KALAMAZOO
The DALAI LAMA’s
sense of humor is a crowd
pleaser at public events.
Vision and Determination
23 CREATIVE KIDS
It’s Tradition!
24 FOTO STOP
An Autumn Moment
32
26 EVENTS OF NOTE
Chef Andy Havey (l) is just one
of SHANE SHELDON’s
many valued employees
at BOLD restaurant.
28 MASSIE’S MICHIGAN
36
Rattle Snakes, Bug Bread, and
Greedy Men
POETRY
21 The World Memory Champion
AERIAL ANGELS
Photo: Dragan
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CONTENTS
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39 Mother’s Amber Daum
Cover photos: Penny Briscoe
W W W . E N C O R E K A L A M A Z O O . C O M
5
By Kit Almy
Betsy
Start
Just
Won’t
Stop
Photo: Tom Hansen
Photo: Courtesy Rush Hour Concerts
Betsy Start performs at
a Rush Hour concert,
one of a series of free,
30-minute concerts at
St. James Cathedral
in Chicago.
Betsy Start, Director of
the Michigan Festival
of Sacred Music, which
is celebrating a 10-year
presence in Kalamazoo
this November 9-20.
6
& / $ 0 3 & t N O V E M B E R
High-energy
from the beginning,
this musician makes
living fun.
ALAMAZOO NATIVE Elizabeth Start, also known as Betsy, is aptly named,
because any one term used to describe her is just the beginning of who she
is. She is not only a professional cellist with a busy performance schedule but
a prolific composer as well. She enjoys playing and composing traditional
orchestral music, and she has also worked in jazz, rock, and electronic music.
She directs the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music, where she’s responsible for
finding sacred music performers from various cultures, faiths, and musical
traditions, and she enjoys any opportunity to work with secular music, too.
The list of experience on her resume also includes work as a recording engineer,
math teacher, grant writer, and orchestra librarian. On top of that, she is talented in
visual art forms and she is almost as comfortable with a fly-fishing rod in her hands as
she is with a bow.
Betsy’s musical career began in the third grade with piano lessons. After taking up the
violin for a while—“I simply hated it,” she says—she switched to her father’s instrument,
the cello. Lester Start, a Kalamazoo College philosophy professor, was a talented cellist and
frequently played in the home with a string quartet, whose members included Voldemars
Rushevics, the concertmaster of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra at the time.
K
2 0 1 1
and the Elgin (Illinois) Symphony, and
she makes solo appearances in a variety of
venues. These days Betsy primarily plays
orchestral music, but as a free-lance musician, she has played in bars and coffeehouses with singer-songwriters and has
played back-up with rock bands and jazz
groups. She also plays the viola da gamba
and the electric cello.
This musical variety has fed into
on a Princeton, N.J., radio station and
streamed worldwide during a 24-hour
marathon on September 11. Betsy created
the music in memory of the victims of the
2001 attacks. Entitled “How It Comes,”
the piece accompanies text written and
read by Kalamazoo College English professor and writer Gail Griffin.
When Betsy first became interested
in writing music to accompany words, she
Photo: Kit Almy
Betsy continued playing throughout
her school years and was a member of the
Junior Symphony by the time she was in
the ninth grade, but she had self-doubts.
As a high school senior, she remembers thinking, “Here I am third-chair
cello in the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony;
why would I go into music?” Being good
in math, she received a Heyl Scholarship
and a National Merit Scholarship to attend Kalamazoo College, and she began
studying math there.
After a while, Betsy realized that
what she really wanted was to be playing
cello. She transferred to Oberlin College
and Conservatory where she finished her
bachelor’s degree in mathematics and
earned a degree in cello performance at
the same time.
Betsy started composing while
attending a graduate program in cello
at Northern Illinois University (NIU).
Initially, she took it up to avoid taking
the final exam for a class on 20th-century
compositional techniques. In lieu of the
exam, students could submit a composition of their own each week. “I thought,
‘I don’t have to be good, I just have to
show I understand the techniques,’” she
says. But after a few weeks, her professor
suggested she really ought to be studying
composition.
Betsy earned a master’s degree from
NIU in cello and theory/composition,
and then earned a doctorate in composition from the University of Chicago. She
spent the next 10 years in the Chicago
area as a free-lance cellist, composer, and
teacher. In addition to cello and composition, she has taught music history, theory,
and appreciation; acoustics; and basic
mathematics. While in Illinois she taught
at several area colleges, universities, and
music schools. She has also taught at Kalamazoo College and Grand Valley State
University.
In 2001 Betsy moved back to Kalamazoo, and in 2004 she took the position of executive director for the Michigan
Festival of Sacred Music. She currently
performs with the Kalamazoo Symphony
Orchestra, the Chicago Philharmonic,
Music is always on Betsy’s mind, even when she is tending her small vegetable garden and enjoying
some of the results in BLTs every other day in the summer’s peak season.
Betsy’s work as a composer. “I draw so
much on the music I know—that I know
because I’ve played all different styles of
music,” she says, explaining that performing and composing have always been
interrelated for her.
She always composes with some sort
of purpose in mind, either for a commission or a specific occasion or in tribute
to someone important in her life. “For
me music is so much a living entity,” she
says. “Unless I know I’m writing it for this
group (or) for this reason … it just doesn’t
feel like it has a life to me.”
Recently, a cello composition of
Betsy’s was selected to be broadcast
thought, “I know it’s tricky to get rights
to poetry, so who do I know?” The first
person who came to mind was local poet
Conrad Hilberry, a colleague of Betsy’s
father at Kalamazoo College as well as a
family friend and neighbor whom Betsy
had known most of her life. His house
was on her route when she was one of
the first girls to deliver newspapers in
Kalamazoo.
“I find his poetry just incredibly
evocative, and when I read one of his
poems, it gives me musical images,” she
says. “A word or a phrase can have so
many connotations, and your mind just
(continued on page 10)
7
Celebrating 10 Years of Sacred Music
THE BIENNIAL Michigan Festival of
Sacred Music (MFSM), which runs this
year from November 10–20, is intended
to expose local audiences to sacred music
from different faiths and cultural traditions and to promote understanding and
respect of these different traditions.
Another primary goal of the festival
is to make this music accessible to all
segments of the population. The festival
reaches out to Ministry With Community, the Ecumenical Senior Center, and
the Commission for the Blind, as well as
many other local organizations, to provide comp tickets to their constituencies,
people who might not come to performances otherwise.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Start, executive
director of the festival, said, “One of the
things that’s very special about it is that
we seem to be able to connect a lot of our
programs with different organizations
and groups in town. So not only is it …
a sampling of world music in different
faiths, but it’s also tying back into the
community in different ways.”
She said this year’s opening performance by the MusicAEterna trio
epitomizes the festival’s mission because
it merges spiritual traditions and world
philosophies. “They’ve drawn music from
different sources as well as original music
to represent these different ideas.”
The festival will feature appearances
by several artists who have performed
here before or who have local connections. The all-female vocal quartet
Tapestry has become an audience favorite
in Kalamazoo, having performed here
several times. Tapestry is making its third
MFSM appearance with a new piece based
on Tibetan folklore and music.
Another festival veteran is Yale
Strom, an expert in Jewish klezmer music. He will present a piece he composed
based on hand-written fragments of
music he found in an abandoned building, used as a synagogue in the 1930s,
in Romania. He will introduce the piece
and play and sing the original fragments
on which it is based, and the Kalamazoo
Symphony Orchestra’s Burdick-Thorne
String Quartet will perform his composition. “(It’s) nice to have artists … who’ve
established a following, coming back and
doing something different,” Start said.
Some performers have even stronger
ties to Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo native Rohan Krishnamurthy is a virtuoso on the
South Indian mridangam, known as one
of the world’s most complex drums. He
will perform with South Indian musician
and vocalist Chitravina Ravikiran.
Noted Baroque violinist Edith Hines
grew up in Kalamazoo and was performing with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra by age 9. Now with the Wisconsin
Chamber Orchestra, she will perform
twice during the festival. The second of
the two concerts in which she will appear,
with Western Michigan University’s Collegium Musicum, will also include the
premiere of a new work for viol consort
composed by Elizabeth Start.
The festival will feature performances by current local musicians as well, and,
What became of this major Kalamazoo manufacturer
once located at the corner of Factory and Reed streets?
(Answer on page 44)
8
& / $ 0 3 & t N O V E M B E R
2 0 1 1
The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra’s Burdick
Thorne String Quartet will perform a new work
by Yale Strom, based on music he discovered
in an abandoned synagogue in Eastern Europe.
Pictured clockwise from top: David Peshlakai,
cello; Lisa A. Williams, violin; Julia Stoltie
Neckermann, violin; and Grace Byrd, viola.
Start added, “As a composer I should not
overlook that we commissioned a piece
from David Colson (WMU School of Music director) to be premiered by a graduate
ensemble over there, ‘Birds on a Wire.’” At
the same concert, Start herself will play
new pieces by two female composers.
Other highlights include appearances
by co-founder of the Indigo Girls, Emily
Saliers, with her father, a church musician
and theologian. They will explore the
crossover between the sacred and secular
in music. A concert of sacred jazz by vocalist and pianist Deanna Witkowski and
her trio will be held at the Union Cabaret.
In addition to concerts, the festival
includes many free events, such as talks
and workshops by performers. Some artists will also visit local schools to perform
for and work with students.
The origins of the festival date
back to 1998, when the congregation of
the First Baptist Church of Kalamazoo
wanted to explore the desirability and
feasibility of holding a festival of sacred
music in the Kalamazoo area. With
input from area religious and community
leaders, a survey funded by the Irving
S. Gilmore and Kalamazoo Community
Foundations had a positive response, and
planning began in 2000, with the first
Michigan Festival of Sacred Music occurring in November 2001.
The festival is observing its 10th
anniversary this year, and Start said,
“We want to make sure that we’re really
celebrating that we’ve been around for 10
LISZT BICENTENNIAL
Friday, November 11, 2011 · 8 PM
Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU
$35, $25, $15 ADVANCE STUDENT
Kalamazoo native Rohan Krishnamurthy,
virtuoso on the South Indian mridangam, will
perform with South Indian musician and vocalist
Chitravina Ravikiran.
WHITE NIGHTS
years and that it is a fun event.”
Initially the festival took place
over one long weekend, with about four
ticketed events. It has grown greatly in
that time, and now it is spread over two
weekends, allowing more people to find
at least one performance they can attend.
The biennial festival is not silent during the off years, although it was initially.
Start said, “When I came in 2004 the mood
was we should be doing something in the
off years so that people remember us.”
One event was held that year, and
each subsequent season a few more have
been added, including an annual Messiah Sing in collaboration with the First
Congregational Church of Kalamazoo.
The 2010–11 season featured five events,
two of which were planned on the spur
of the moment, including a fundraiser
for Pakistani flood relief. “One nice thing
about our organization—we’re kind of
small and nimble,” Start said.
She said awareness of the festival
is getting stronger all the time. “I think
there can be an issue with the name—
that people at first glance think, ‘Well,
that’s Sunday morning;’ but it’s so much
more than that, and I think people are
beginning to notice that.”
Occupying the small niche of sacred
music festivals, the MFSM is drawing attention from around the world, and musicians are starting to seek it out, including
two of this year’s acts: Iraqi oud player
and composer Rahim AlHaj and Kurdish
tanbur player AliAkbar Moradi.
As the festival is becoming better
known, the board of directors is starting
strategic planning and looking into fund
development for further expansion. “We’re
poised for more growth,” Start said.
For more information, visit the
Michigan Festival of Sacred Music on the
Web at www.mfsm.us.
$30 general admission, $15 ADVANCE STUDENT
Friday, December 9, 2011 · 7:30 PM
Wellspring Theater, Epic Center
THE BAD PLUS
Saturday, January 28, 2012 · 8 PM
Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU
$30 general admission, $15 ADVANCE STUDENT
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9
Start
(continued from page 7)
goes off in these different areas. Also, how
he structures a poem gives a sense to me
of how to structure the music.”
Although Betsy has composed several
pieces based on Hilberry’s existing poetry,
some works have been collaborative. After
hearing the Kalamazoo Mandolin and
Guitar Orchestra rehearsing, Hilberry
was moved to write a series of poems he
called “Water Music,” which he intended
to be set to Betsy’s music.
Betsy recalls noticing the rhythm,
contour, and inflection of the first poem,
and as she started to translate that into
music, she realized it was a French overture. And since Handel’s “Water Music” is
a suite of dances with a French overture,
she decided all the other movements
would be dances. “They all fit into some
sort of dance form to me, and, of course,
I’m not following strict dance forms, but
the mood or rhythms,” she explains.
Betsy has had numerous commissions. Over 100 of her works have been
10
& / $ 0 3 & t N O V E M B E R
performed across the United States and
abroad. She has received a Creative Artist
Grant from ArtServe Michigan, a Gilmore
Emerging Artist Grant, and an Arts
Outreach Grant from the Arts Council of
Greater Kalamazoo. The Arts Council has
also awarded her two Artist Development
Initiative grants—the first to compose
works for the Kalamazoo Mandolin and
Guitar Orchestra and the second a concerto for Italian mandolin virtuoso Carlo
Aonzo.
The current grant enabled Betsy to
attend Oberlin Baroque Performance
Institute and to write two compositions
she is working on now: a viol consort
piece and a work for bass viola da gamba
and keyboard, which will be premiered at
Western Michigan University on an organ
that resided in the Start family’s attic
when Betsy was growing up.
“My family was always interested in
interesting treasures,” she says, so when
they found an organ discarded outside a
2 0 1 1
recently sold house, they got the family
station wagon and brought the instrument
home in several trips. Bill Mollema, who
restored the State Theatre organ, taught
her father how to put the organ together.
When WMU was building the Dalton
Center, the Starts decided they wanted
to get the organ out of the attic, so they
donated it to the university. The organ
was restored, and, “It turns out it’s a fairly
significantly interesting musical instrument,” she says. “I just thought it would
be really cool to write a piece and use that
organ.”
Much of Betsy’s time is spent on her
work as director of the biennial Michigan
Festival of Sacred Music. It is technically
a half-time job, but she spends far more
time than that in festival years. “I write
all the grants; I contact the artists. We
do have committees, but a lot of the nitty
gritty is me—the planning, finding venues, and doing most of the contracts and
overseeing the marketing,” she says.
Fly-fishing in a pristine setting is one of
Betsy’s newest passions, saying the rod
has the rhythm of the (cello) bow. The Au
Sable River near Grayling is her favorite
place for this pastime.
Betsy loves the way the festival connects her to the local community and the
larger world. When she was “just being a
cellist” early on in her career, she felt she
occupied a rather narrow segment of society. Now, by bringing diverse acts from
around the world to Kalamazoo
and introducing them to diverse
audiences, she feels more connected. “To find that what I do
musically does reach out into
the whole world is really neat,”
she says.
Betsy also connects to the
community by serving on the
boards of the Stulberg International String Competition and
the Kalamazoo New Year’s Fest,
which she especially enjoys
because it gives her the opportunity to book interesting secular musical
acts.
Betsy’s artistic ability extends beyond
music to the visual arts. While at Northern Illinois University, she took classes
in film and slide montage. One of her
favorite assignments was “three minutes
of reality” for which she made a silent
film of the wheels of a passing freight
train. When she crouched next to the
tracks, it turned out the train was coming on a nearer track than she expected.
“I’m lucky to be alive,” she says. “But the
image is incredible, and you don’t know
what it is immediately because you’re just
seeing this rush of stuff coming by, and
it was very rhythmic.” In addition, the
gaps between train cars created breaks in
the rhythm, and the rush of air from the
train caused camera movement. “By the
end of this film you think you’re hearing
something,” she says.
Betsy also got up close to see things
from an unusual perspective in a piece
called “Landscrapes.” She filmed a cello
and a piano using a macro focus, so that
the subject matter became almost unrecognizable—even a pianist didn’t realize
the monoliths he was watching were
piano keys.
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Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes
11
Start
For the past few years, Betsy has
been making fused-glass jewelry, a skill
she learned from a class at the Kalamazoo
Institute of Arts. Her pieces have been
sold in the Elgin Symphony gift shop, and
she has made thank-you pins for Michigan Festival of Sacred Music volunteers.
She has even tried her hand at flytying, receiving praise from her instructor
that with a few more lessons she could
tie flies professionally. This came about
because Betsy has recently taken up fly
fishing with her boyfriend, Pete, who lives
in Illinois.
As soon as Pete introduced Betsy
to the sport, she was—pun intended—
hooked. “I could be in a stream for
six hours, and I’m not hungry, I’m not
thirsty,” she says. “It’s so absorbing.” The
movement of the sport fascinates her as
well. “There’s just something about the
casting itself and how the line behaves;
it’s almost like ballet. It’s just such a
calm, graceful thing.” She adds, “I think
Totally breaking the image of a classical musician, Betsy has also taken up motorcycling with her
boyfriend, Pete, who owns multiple bikes, one of which is this BMW. Always having been interested in
sports and the outdoors, she was a high jumper and track standout at Kalamazoo Central in high school
during the early 70s, excelling in long-distance running — even competing on the boys’ cross-country
team at first because there wasn’t a girls’ team.
because as a cellist I’m used to feeling the
behavior of a piece of wood, of a stick, to
me it just feels right. You can tell when it’s
time to move.”
Betsy and Pete also ride his motorcycles and attend rallies for aficionados
of the Italian Moto Guzzi brand. So far,
Betsy has gone along for the ride, but she
plans to take a motorcycle safety class so
she can drive, too.
Saturday, December 10
2 pm and 7 pm
Sunday, December 11
2 pm
Chenery AuditoriumsKalamazoo MI
with the
She treasures these activities, which
force her to set her work aside for a
while. “It’s great to have something like
that because there’ve been many years
when I really wouldn’t do anything
recreational because I just always had
something to do. And still I always have
something to do, but now fishing draws
me. It makes me find a few days here and
there,” she says.
Ballet Arts
Ensemble
Cathleen Huling
Artistic Director
Featuring
Guest Professional Dancers
Kalamazoo Children’s Chorus
Reserved Seats $12 to $20
Tickets available at Miller Auditorium
box office (269.387.2300) or
online at <balletartsensemble.org>.
Dr. Barry Ross
Conductor
Special ticket rates for groups of
20 or more are available.
Fresh flower bouquets by Seivert’s Floral available at the door.
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Certified Primary Stroke Center Full Cycle III Accredited Chest Pain Center Verified Level 1 Trauma Center
I
T WAS a miracle,” says Frank and Paula
Jamison, recalling their experience
of videotaping the Dalai Lama and
including his comments in a documentary about the Tibetan community in exile.
Kalamazooans Frank and Paula
Jamison were on a 10-week project in India
in 1992. Frank had taken a sabbatical from
his work as Professor of Instructional Media and Head of Media Services at Western
Michigan University. And Paula, as owner
of Wissing Words and a freelance editor
and translator of scholarly books, had a
flexible schedule.
As practicing Buddhists, their
rinpoche (teacher) helped them arrange
for an extended stay at Drepung-Gomang,
a monastic university in rural southern
India. “I was one of two women at the
monastery,” Paula recalls. “The other was a
French woman married to a Tibetan.”
Frank seized the opportunity to
capture unique video footage of the lives
of these politically displaced Tibetans, but
their movements were limited due to complications with permits issued by local authorities. “For many days, we were under
house arrest,” Paula explains. Resolving
that problem, without resorting to bribery,
a common practice, was the first miracle.
That second miracle came via a phone
call. “We had a telephone number for His
Holiness’ office,” Frank recalls. “We went
to a travel agent who dialed the number
and handed the phone to me. His Holiness’s secretary was on the line. In those
days in India, you couldn’t make a quality
phone call across the street, and here I had
an immediate connection with the man I
needed to speak with 1,200 miles away. A
good connection.”
The secretary remembered their
previous correspondence and requests for
an audience but stated the Dalai Lama was
“very, very busy.” Yet, offering no guarantees, the secretary suggested that the
Jamisons immediately come to Dharamsala, the Himalayan village where the Dalai
Lama lived and the Tibetan governmentin-exile was located.
Monks drove Paula and Frank to a
railroad station. They caught an overnight
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A Visit With
the Dalai Lama
By Robert Weir
Kalamazoo residents Paula
and Frank Jamison make
the most of a photographic
moment with the Dalai Lama.
At her side, Paula Jamison
displays a chuba she
purchased in Tibet. This
traditional garment is worn
by both men and women, but
married women always add
an apron.
“
Frank’s mala (prayer) beads
came from Lhasa, Tibet. He
considers them one of his
most prized possessions.
train to Bangalore. From there, they flew
to Delhi. Then they traveled by bus for 14
hours, overnight, to Dharamsala. Frank
describes this bus as “semi-deluxe, with
animals on board.”
The couple registered in a Tibetanowned hotel and then went immediately to
the Dalai Lama’s office. The same secretary
said, “There is no chance you can see His
Holiness. He’s not well and has many appointments.”
Frank remembers politely asserting,
2 0 1 1
“We’ve come half way around the world.
We’ve been working for an appointment
for a year through correspondence. You’ve
encouraged us to come here. And even
though we understand the complications,
we’re very disappointed. If it can’t be, it can’t
be. But here’s our hotel card. We’re in room
201. If there’s any chance that His Holiness’
schedule opens up, we’ll be available.”
Disappointed but not daunted, they
occupied their time by interviewing
(continued on page 19)
By Robert Weir
I
Dalai Lama
Attracts Many
Photo: Robert Weir
N HIS teachings, the Dalai Lama
expresses his belief in “compassion for
all sentient beings” from which “we develop respect, admiration, and freedom
of gratitude.” His Holiness delivers this
message in numerous venues around the
world.
Recently, I had the privilege of being
in his presence twice: at a 10-day Buddhist Kalachakra initiation in Washington,
D.C., in July; and, in August/September,
at public teachings in Dharamsala, the
Himalayan village that is the Dalai Lama’s
residence and site of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Previously, I had seen and
heard the Dalai Lama at a PeaceJam youth
conference in Denver, Colo., in 2006 (see
Encore, February 2007).
Kalachakra means “time wheel” and
honors all life cycles: cycles of nature, cycles
of breath, and, according to the International Kalachakra Network, “the practice of
controlling the most subtle energies within
one’s body on the path to enlightenment.”
Many of the people at the Kalachakra in
D.C. — 6,000 to 14,000, depending on the
day — came to state or restate vows to Bud-
Photo: Robert Weir
The event shown here on July 9, 2011, was a rally for world peace, an adjunct to the Kalachakra
Buddhist initiation ceremony at the Verizon Center in the U.S. capital. His Holiness celebrated his 76th
birthday while in Washington, D.C.
The Dalai Lama is surrounded by security guards
as he approaches the Anacostia River, a tributary
of the Potomac, for a ceremony that will return
the remnants of the Kalachakra sand mandala
back to nature. Guards consisted of men and
women from the U.S. State Department as well
as members of the Dalai Lama’s personal security
staff, such as the man pictured to his right.
dhist spiritual practices.
The Kalachakra ritual was initially
taught by The Buddha 2,600 years ago. The
initiation in D.C. was the 31st conducted
by His Holiness, the current (Fourteenth)
Dalai Lama, since 1954. The first two were
in Tibet, many have been in India, and this
was the fifth in the United States.
The program consisted of chanted
prayers, dances, and ritual — with
monks attired in red- and gold-brocade
vestments — and His Holiness’s teachings. A Long-Life Ceremony was part of
a celebration for the Dalai Lama’s 76th
birthday on July 6.
A key visual component of the Kalachakra is the Full Body, Speech, and Mind
Mandala, a temporary work of detailed art
that denotes impermanence, a tenet of the
Buddhist faith. The mandala is composed of
individual grains of colored sand — white,
red, black, green, yellow, and others — arranged to convey symbolism, including the
individuality of all sentient beings. When
dismantled on the last day, the colors blend
and become, collectively, gray, a representation of universal connectivity. The sand is
then ceremoniously returned to nature to
depict the perfect peace of Kalachakra flowing in the everyday world.
I found the ceremony and grandeur
of the Kalachakra to be an ironic contrast
to the venue: the Verizon Center, a sterile,
concrete sports arena with five levels of
plastic seats, a huge, four-sided, overhead
monitor and two projection screens above
the stage, and frigid air conditioning.
The Dalai Lama was accompanied
by a few of his personal body guards, but
security fell primarily to the U.S. State
Department — and it was super-strict. To
carry a camera into the arena, those of us in
the media corps were required to arrive at a
pre-announced time that varied from day to
day. Our bodies and our bags were visually
and electronically checked upon entrance.
Then we assembled in a screening room and
waited … and waited and waited until a K-9
handler and his German shepherd arrived
to sniff our bags for bombs.
Then, we waited again to be escorted — in small groups — onto the main floor
where the day’s designated photo-op was
occurring. We were given precisely five
minutes to capture close-ups at the base of
the main stage and another 10 or 15 minutes to capture long-shots from the sound
booth at the far end of the main floor. Then
we were escorted completely out of the
building and were not allowed to return
unless we came back sans cameras.
Of the 10 days of the Kalachakra, I
carried my camera three times, choosing
on the other days to listen to His Holiness’s
wisdom, delivered with humor, from the
media section on the arena’s sixth level. For
me, a few photos were enough, but his message of compassion could go on forever.
A
t the teachings at the Buddhist
Main Temple in Dharamsala,
August 30 through September 1,
His Holiness began with these words: “The
purpose of this gathering is to achieve
15
Dalai Lama
happy life, bountiful life. The proper way
to achieve happy life, bountiful life, is …
much development on the heart to the enlightened state. … With more compassion,
you feel more people are friends.”
The Dalai Lama applied this theme
to the world’s major religions, saying, “All
teach love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, self discipline. These are the basis
of moral ethics. … The real troublemaker
is too much self-centered attitude. … You
totally give yourself to God to reduce a
self-centered attitude.”
The environment of the teachings
in Dharamsala was casual, with security
provided by His Holiness’s personal body
guards and a few Indian army officers,
some unarmed. Most of the 5,000 to 6,000
people in attendance sat semi-lotus fashion
on colorful floor cushions. Everyone was
close, a gelatinous mass that stretched
and adjusted to accommodate neighborly
requests to straighten legs.
While the majority of attendees
dressed and expressed physical features of
Tibetan Buddhists, many others, of various
skin tone and countenance, also wore the
attire and facial markings of Hindus, Jews,
Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians. Tenzin
Taklha, the Dalai Lama’s joint secretary,
said that approximately 35 nations were
represented at the teachings.
Who Are the Tibetans?
L
ARGER THAN Western Europe, the nation of Tibet is
home to six million people. Known as “the roof of the
world,” the country has an average elevation of 13,000
feet. Five of Asia’s great rivers originate in Tibet, and nearly
half of the world’s population lives downstream.
The history of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism includes
political and spiritual association with the Manchurians, the
Mongols, and historical figures such as Genghis Khan. Yet,
today, Tibet is not recognized as a nation by the world’s political powers.
In 1949 the People’s Liberation Army of Communist China invaded Tibet. After negotiations with the Chinese leader
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Photo: Robert Weir
Buddhist monks, dressed in high ceremonial attire,
participate in the Ritual Offering Dance at the
Kalachakra in Washington, D.C., on July 12, 2011.
Young monks passed through the
crowd distributing tea and bread. At noon,
they fed rice, dal, and chai tea to everyone
who brought their own bowl and spoon.
Elders sat and children roamed freely yet
silently in a tent-covered courtyard. Those
outside the tent scurried in when monsoon
rains made their daily appearance.
The Dalai Lama spoke primarily in Tibetan, his words carried over loudspeakers.
Translators who spoke English, Spanish,
Korean, and other languages sat with micro-
Mao Tse Tung failed, the Dalai Lama fled from his palatial
home in Lhasa, Tibet, to Dharamsala, India, in 1959.
The Tibetan government-in-exile is comprised of democratically elected legislative, judicial, and executive bodies.
Tibetan Buddhism teaches how to achieve deep and abiding
happiness, free from suffering, with an emphasis on spiritual
rather than material development.
Numerous nongovernment organizations, many of them
headquartered in Dharamsala, strive to keep the Tibetan
identity alive. But Tibetan Children’s Villages (TCV) has
been, perhaps, the most successful. Having started in one
location with 51 students in 1960, TCV now houses and
provides quality education to 17,000 young people — some of
them orphans — at 20 schools in India.
In Dharamsala, India, dozens of Buddhist monks
prepared and served a meal of rice, dal, and
chai tea to over 5,000 people who attended the
teachings of the Dalai Lama at the Buddhist Main
Temple, Aug. 30 – Sept. 1.
phones among the crowd, and their words
were broadcast over FM frequencies to
which people listened through ear phones
attached to radios, iPhones, and iPods.
On my first day, I sat on a mat, cozily
close to others, and slightly out of sight of
the Dalai Lama. The Spanish translator
was four people to my left, her voice soft
but audible. For the second and third days,
I chose the courtyard, leaning against a
tree, with room to stretch my legs and an
umbrella close at hand.
In all, it was an idyllic mountain setting. No matter where I sat or roamed, I felt
kinship among these people.
On August 8, 2011, the Dalai Lama
relinquished half of his dual role as both the
spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan
people by turning the temporal responsibility
over to Lobsang Sangay, who was democratically elected to fill that position by Tibetans
around the world.
On the surface, this is a practical
political move for a man of 76 who is much in
Photo: Ivy Lim Meei Jiuan
Photo: Robert Weir
The Dalai Lama delivers a blessing
at the closing of the teachings in
Dharamsala, India, on Sept. 1, 2011.
demand to speak about Buddhist compassion
and world peace. Yet, the action impacts a
350-year tradition.
In 1653, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama was
the first to become the spiritual and temporal leader of the Buddhist Tibetan people.
Every Dalai Lama since, including this one,
the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, has held this
theocratic power. Yet, the change confirms
His Holiness’ belief that restoring a purely
spiritual role to the office of the Dalai Lama
will “benefit Tibetans in the long run.”
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Jamison
Tibetans who had just crossed from Tibet
to India, a Himalayan journey of many
days on foot in freezing temperatures.
One significant person was the Venerable Palden Gyatso, a monk who, at that
time, was the longest-documented surviving Tibetan prisoner to be released from a
Chinese gulag. “Gyatso came out of Tibet
the day before we interviewed him, and he
was raw,” Frank emphasizes. “He looked
like he was on death’s door. Thin. Gaunt.
Biographies have been written about him.
He has since managed to have friends
smuggle out Chinese instruments of torture that were used in the gulags — thumb
screws, cattle prods — that he carries with
him for his talks today.” Frank and Paula
later distributed the edited version of this
interview on public TV stations and community access networks across the United
States.
And while this was good, the cornerstone of their project still eluded them.
“I don’t recall feeling hopeless about
an audience with His Holiness, but I didn’t
have any real expectations,” Paula says.
“We would like for the interview to happen. But if it didn’t …”
“We were following the Buddhist
tradition that says ‘Let go of all fruition,’”
Frank interjects.
“Do everything you can, then let
go …”
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n the fourth day after their
meeting with the secretary, the
Jamisons were eating breakfast
in their hotel when, as Paula describes,
“Somebody came running in. ‘Jamisons.
Jamisons. Phone call. His Holiness’ office.’
It was the secretary on the phone. He said,
‘One o’clock today. Come at this time.
Bring your things. You’ll have 15 minutes.
Bring three questions for our approval.’ ”
The questions were generic: The Dalai
Lama’s view of religious education among
Tibetans in exile, his opinion of future
relations between Tibet and China, and his
thoughts about the future of the Tibetan
nation. All were approved.
The secretary brought the couple to
the audience room and firmly stated, “Fif-
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teen minutes. No more. He’s very tired.”
Paula relates, “We had our camera set
up. His Holiness came in, and he looked
exhausted, like he had a nasty cold.”
After formalities, Frank began by stating that he and Paula were Buddhists, supporters of the Tibetan cause for freedom,
and doing the project to help people in the
United States understand more about the
Tibetan situation. “His Holiness asked,
‘You’re not trying to make money (from
this interview)?’ And I replied, ‘No, we’re
doing this at our own expense.’ ”
The Jamisons then mentioned friends
in common. One was Kuno Narkyid,
who had obtained his master’s degree in
linguistics from Western Michigan University where he later taught the Tibetan
language; at the time of the interview, he
was the Dalai Lama’s official biographer.
Another was the late WMU Professor Robert Shafer, who had lived with his family
in Dharamsala in the 1960s and was well
acquainted with His Holiness.
“With that, his energy shifted,” Paula
adds. “The minute he started answering
our questions, all his tiredness went away.
He was gregarious, warm, generous, talking about what’s important to him.”
So much, in fact, that he took 20
minutes to answer the first question. Then
another 20 minutes to answer the second
question, and nearly another 20 minutes
for the third. “By this time, the secretary
had a ‘How do I get rid of these people?’
look. But it wasn’t our fault. His Holiness
wanted to talk,” Frank states.
When finished, he asked Frank and
Paula to sit beside him. An attendant
brought a book of the Dalai Lama’s writing, which he inscribed to them. Then His
Holiness said something in Tibetan that
caused the attendant to scurry away and
return with two small statues of the Buddha, which the Dalai Lama gave to Paula
and Frank. Later, the Jamisons learned
these were specially consecrated, with relics
permanently encased in the base, that are
typically given only to monks who are ordained by the Dalai Lama. These are among
the Jamisons’ most prized possessions.
His Holiness blessed their prayer
This book of the
Dalai Lama’s writing,
personally inscribed
by him, was gifted to
the Jamisons at the
end of their meeting. In
addition, His Holiness
presented them with
the two small Buddha
statues shown here.
Typically given only to
monks ordained by the
Dalai Lama, they are
specially consecrated,
with relics permanently
encased in the base.
beads. Then the secretary took a photograph of the three of them in an
outdoor garden.
Then came the climactic moment — the ultimate miracle. Frank recalls,
“His Holiness said, ‘I must go, but I know I will see you again.’ And I — I
don’t know what made me say this except it’s true. I said, ‘Your Holiness,
the next time we see each other will be in a free Lhasa, a free Tibet.’ And he
grabbed me by both shoulders and brought me to him and ducked his head
so that we touched foreheads.”
“That was really special,” Paula comments with emotion.
Frank, unsuccessfully holding back tears as he explains, adds, “That
still gets me, thinking about it now. That was a remarkable thing for him to
do. It’s not a common gesture but the ultimate display of respect and affection between Tibetans.”
Escorted out of the garden, Frank and Paula entered a large courtyard
and sat down on a bench. “Paula and I wept with joy and awe. It was one of
those moments when words fail.”
Postscript: Frank and Paula Jamison did see the Dalai Lama again — but not
in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region within China and the
site of the famous Potala Palace, which was the Dalai Lama’s residence prior to
fleeing from the Chinese in 1959.
They took teachings from His Holiness in Ann Arbor and Houston.
They attended a ceremony in Ann Arbor in 1994 when His Holiness received
the Raoul Wallenberg Medal, a tribute to honor Wallenberg’s efforts to save
the lives of Hungarian Jews in the 1940s. And Frank videotaped the Dalai
Lama again in Bloomington, Ind., where His Holiness’ brother was on the
faculty at the Indiana University.
Of the teachings and award ceremony, Paula states, “That was such a big
shift from Dharamsala. Paid Chinese students were following him around,
calling him a ‘splitist,’ telling people not to believe him. Tensions ran high.
Everybody had to go through a metal detector.”
Likewise, Frank returned to Dharamsala in 2006. “But it’s very much
changed,” he says. “Modernized. Commercialized.”
And His Holiness is far less accessible now than even a few years ago
when he hosted audiences and individually greeted thousands of people
each month. This is due to his growing renown as a Nobel Peace Laureate
(awarded in 1989), his advancing age (he celebrated his 76th birthday in
Washington, D.C., on July 6, 2011), and public demand for him to speak at
events around the world. He also maintains a disciplined, spiritual regimen
of rising each morning at 3 a.m., followed by several hours of prayer and
meditation.
Of the footage that Frank shot on that memorable, miraculous day in
1992, he says, “The quality of the recording was not as good as I would have
liked. But we used a few good, relevant excerpts in other documentaries that
have been distributed throughout the U.S.”
The World Memory Champion
knows every ZIP code in the United States,
can memorize ten decks of playing cards
in less than an hour and is practicing
for a 30-second deck. He remembers
number strings with stories. 9 is
Francine, that woman living in
a refrigerator box under a viaduct
in Gary, Indiana. 12 dunks Oreos
in chocolate milk, 7’s zebra.
He wakes up sheet-tangled,
worried about photographic memory,
the naturalists with snap-click eyes,
winning over strategy. Faces are easy
Names have their own colors. Violet
laced with copper comes up for Marilyn.
Words have distinctive flavors.
“Freedom” is butternut squash. Reading
while eating is tricky, the taste of the food
crowds out meaning. His greatest challenge
is learning to forget. He’s tried writing
down names and stories, images
he needs to shake from his mind,
and burning the papers, but still
sees them, hovering in the embers.
By Marion Boyer
Marion Boyer is a professor emeritus of
communication courses at Kalamazoo Valley
Community College. Her poetry book, “The
Clock of the Long Now,” was published in 2009
by Mayapple Press. She is always delighted to
have her work appear on the pages of Encore.
21
Spirit of
Kalamazoo
Vision and Determination
By Ilse Gebhard
If someone were to ask you to describe the essence of the spirit of
Kalamazoo, how would you respond? Following is the answer from
Ilse Gebhard, local environmentalist and monarch butterfly expert.
Photo: Theresa Coty O’Neil
ships for all high-school graduates, ” replacing the “I’ve got a gal
in Kalamazoo” comments.
But a vision does not have to be famous to serve a community. I could fill this whole article and more with a list of
visions come true in Kalamazoo in the last 50 years. And
sometimes it takes many years and much hard work by many
people for a vision to become reality. One such vision is the
Kalamazoo River Valley Trail, a fantastic recreational resource
in our community.
I first became interested in rail-to-trail conversions when,
about 25 years ago, friends invited us for a two-day bike ride on
the Elroy-Sparta Trail in Wisconsin, considered to be the first
rails-to-trails hiking and biking trail in the nation. When the
idea of the Kal-Haven Trail was first announced, I became an
early supporter. We spent years looking for the right home near
the trail so I could ride my bike in a beautiIlse Gebhard points to
a map of the Kalamazoo
ful setting and without cars zooming past.
River Valley Trail.
The Kalamazoo River Valley Trail first
came to my attention about 20 years ago when it was in the very
early visioning stage under the Kalamazoo Forum headed at
the time by Pat Adams. The vision was a 50–60 mile trail along
or near the Kalamazoo River from Battle Creek to Allegan. I
attended a few early meetings of the Friends of the Kalamazoo
River Valley Trailway, but I’m not a visioning person. Give me
SPIRIT OF KALAMAZOO – what does it mean to me? It means
some garlic mustard to pull, a bird to count, or a nature walk to
a citizenry with visions and the determination to make their
lead—and so I pursued other volunteer opportunities.
visions come true. These visions, affecting many or just a few,
But I’m sure glad that the visioning and hard work of
make Kalamazoo such a desirable place to live. The Kalamazoo
people came to fruition, people like Toni Thompson, president
Promise is probably the most famous vision nationwide. In the
of the Friends, and Jerry Albertson, president of the Parks
last few years when traveling and people ask where I’m from,
(Continued on page 42)
they often say “Oh, yes, that’s the place with college scholar-
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It’s Tradition!
By Theresa Coty O’Neil
A TRIO OF LOCAL GIRLS, two of them sisters, came together
three years ago to study Bharatanatyam, a form of southern
classical Indian dance. Kathleen D’Souza, 14, a freshman at
Portage Northern High School and the Kalamazoo Area Math
and Science Center, her sister, Alyssa, 10, a fifth grader at
Angling Road Elementary School, and Pavitra Attanayake, 11,
a sixth grader at Portage West Middle School, were fortunate
to find a local teacher, Susan Iervolina, who holds a bachelor’s
and master’s degree in dance and also studied Bharatanatyam in
Chennai, India.
All three of the girls were motivated by their familiarity
with Bharatanatyam. Pavitra had previously taken classical
Indian dance with some of her friends, but their teacher had
moved away. The D’Souzas had been introduced to the dance
form through the annual Kalamazoo Diwali festival where they
learned some of the movements.
“I always performed at the Diwali festival, but I wanted to
improve my dance skills,” said Kathleen. “The dancing always
looked wonderful, and the dresses were beautiful. I never thought
I was capable of learning it because it looked so complicated.”
But it was Alyssa who initially signed up for a dance class
with “Ms. Susan,” and Kathleen tagged along. “When I saw
them practice, I got interested and wanted to join the class, too,”
Kathleen said.
Southern classical Indian dance is one of the world’s oldest living dance forms. Dance postures, many that include
symbolic hand gestures called mudras, can be seen in artwork
throughout India and Africa. The dance, originally performed
in temples, is marked by its elaborate costumes and slow, rhythmic, frontal movements meant for a defined space.
Creative Kids
Dancers Alyssa D’Souza, Pavitra Attanayake, and Kathleen D’Souza.
The Natya Shastra, reputed to be the oldest surviving text
on stagecraft in the world, provides an explanation for the purpose of this dance form: “When the world had become steeped
in greed and desire, in jealousy and anger, in pleasure and pain,
the Supreme One (Brahma) was asked by the people to create
an entertainment which could be seen and heard by all, for the
scriptures were not enjoyed by the masses, being too learned
and ambiguous.”
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2 0 1 2
See page 46 to learn
more about this photo
and the photographer.
25
Performing Arts
Plays
“Stuff Happens” — K-College Theatre
presents the Michigan premier of David
Hare’s documentary play about events
leading up to the Iraq war. Nov. 3, 7:30
p.m., Nov. 4 & 5, 8 p.m., Nov. 6, 2 p.m.
Balch Playhouse, K-College. 337-7333.
“August: Osage County” — WMU Theatre Department presents this Pulitzer and
Tony Award-winner from Tracy Letts. Nov.
10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 8 p.m., Nov. 20, 2
p.m. Shaw Theatre, WMU. 387-6222.
Musicals & Opera
“A Salute to the Red, White and Blue” —
Senior Class Reader’s Theatre presents a
stirring musical revue of American music.
Nov. 4 & 6, 2 p.m., Nov. 5, 11, 12, 7 p.m.
Carver Center, 426 S. Park St. 343-1313.
“A Christmas Carol” — The New Vic
presents this annual Christmas favorite.
Opens Nov. 18, 19, 25, 26, Dec. 2, 3, 9, 10,
16, 17, 8:30 p.m. New
Harness your power to
Vic Theatre, 134 E. Vine
your passion. Honor
St. 381-3328.
your calling. Everybody
“Irving Berlin’s White
has one. Trust your
Christmas” — A dazheart, and success will
zling stage adaptation of
come to you.
the heart-warming film
classic that is sure to be
Oprah Winfrey
a holiday treat for the
entire family. Nov. 25, 26, Dec. 2, 3, 9, 10,
8 p.m., Nov. 27, Dec. 4 & 11, 2 p.m., Dec.
1 & 8, 7:30 p.m. Civic Auditorium, 329 S.
Park St. 343-1313.
“Rennie Harris Puremovement” — After
15 seasons, this hip-hop dance troupe has
emerged as the senior member of hip-hop
dance theater. Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m. Miller
Auditorium, WMU. 387-2300.
Fall Concert of Dance — Wellspring/
Cori Terry & Dancers present their annual
event. Nov. 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 8 p.m., Nov.
13, 2 p.m. Wellspring Theatre, Epic Center,
359 S. Kalamazoo Mall. 342-4354.
& / $ 0 3 & t N O V E M B E R
Symphony
University Symphony Orchestra — Bruce
Uchimura will conduct this free concert.
Nov. 6, 3 p.m. Dalton Center Recital Hall,
WMU. 387-4667.
“The Music of Billy Joel and More!” —
The original star of Broadway’s Movin’ Out,
Michael Cavanaugh, will join the KSO
for a Pops concert. Nov. 18, 8 p.m. Miller
Chamber, Jazz, Orchestra
& Bands
Dance
26
Noon Dance Showing — An informal
showing of dances by faculty and students
for upcoming competitions that arre free
and open to the public. Nov. 18, 12 p.m.
Dance Studio B, Dalton Center, WMU.
387-5830.
Orchesis Dance Concert — A dance
concert by WMU dance majors. Nov. 30
& Dec. 1, 8 p.m. Dance Studio B, Dalton
Center, WMU. 387-5830.
“The World of …” — KSO music director
Raymond Harvey will guide you through
the life, times and music of Bartok. Nov.
6, 3 p.m. Chenery Auditorium, 714 S.
Westnedge Ave. 349-7759.
Rising Stars Recital — 2010 Gilmore
Young Artist Ivan Moshchuk returns for a
special concert featuring works by Brahms,
Beethoven, Chopin and Rachmaninoff.
Nov. 6, 4 p.m. Wellspring Theatre, Epic
Center, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall. 342-1166.
“Liszt Bicentennial” — Fontana Chamber
Arts presents Adam Neiman, 1995 Gilmore
Young Artist, in a tribute to Liszt with Lina
Tetriani, soprano, performing selected
songs, as well. Nov. 11, 8 p.m. Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. 382-7774.
Bronco Marching Band in Concert —
Director David Montgomery will lead this
special indoor concert. Nov. 13, 3 p.m.
Miller Auditorium, WMU. 387-2300.
Free Concert — The WMU University
Symphonic Band and University Concert
Band will perform. Nov. 20, 3 p.m. Miller
2 0 1 1
“Strings Around the World” — The Stulberg Competition presents cellist Richard
Narroway performing with desserts to follow. Nov. 20, 6:30 p.m. Wellspring Theater,
359 S. Kalamazoo Mall. 343-2776.
Vocal
Gold Company Sneak Preview — WMU’s
vocal jazz group and GCII will perform.
Nov. 10, 8:15 p.m. Dalton Center Recital
Hall, WMU. 387-2300.
Vocal Workshop with Tapestry — A collaboration with the Bach Festival and the
Michigan Festival of Sacred Music brings
this ensemble for an open workshop. Nov.
12, 2 p.m. Light Fine Arts Bldg., Kalamazoo College. 337-7407.
“A Harvest of Song” — The Kalamazoo
Singers presents a concert featuring works
by American choral composers. Nov. 14, 3
p.m. Holy Family Chapel at Nazareth, 3427
Gull Rd. 387-2300.
Collegium Musicum — This early music
vocal group will perform a free concert.
Nov. 17, 8:15 p.m. Dalton Center Recital
Hall, WMU. 387-4667.
“Tribute to the Great Swing Bands” —
This 29th annual concert will be presented
by the University Jazz Orchestra and the
Jazz Lab Band. Dalton Center Recital Hall,
WMU. 387-2300.
“Kenny Rogers Christmas & Hits” —
The musical legend will perform many
of his hits as well as some heartwarming
holiday classics. Nov. 26, 8 p.m. Miller
Miscellaneous
Michigan Festival of Sacred Music — The
10th anniversary festival will present vocal
and instrumental music of many faiths and
cultures at various venues. Nov. 10–20. For
a complete schedule of events visit www.
mfsm.us or call 382-2910.
“An Evening with Baddy Valastro: The
Cake Boss” — A live interactive event
with the star of the TLC series sharing
stories and demonstrations of baking artistry. Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m. Miller Auditorium,
WMU. 387-2300.
“Cirque Dreams Holidaze” — An international cast of performers will dazzle your
senses with this larger-than-life holiday extravaganza. Nov. 29 & 30, 7:30 p.m. Miller
Visual Arts
WMU Richmond Center for
Visual Arts (RCVA)
387-2455
Animal Logic: Jennifer Catron &
Paul Outlaw, Paul Sydorenko, Squeak
Carnwath — An exhibit of photographic
narratives, paintings and sculptural
installations. Through Nov. 11, Albertine
Monroe-Brown Gallery.
Gwen Frostic School of Art Faculty Exhibition — A showing of the latest works
from faculty members. Nov. 17–Dec. 16.
Albertine Monroe-Brown Gallery.
Prints from the Permanent Collection
— a special exhibition curated by Nichole
Maury. Nov. 17–Feb. 17. Netzorg/Kerr
Gallery.
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
349-7775
Shimmerings of Light, Mysteries of
Shadow: The Etching Revival of the
19th Century — An exhibition of prints
by Whistler, Meryon, Palmer and more.
Through Nov. 27.
Turning Point: Japanese Studio Ceramics in the Mid-20th Century — An
exhibition that explores a crucial period
of contemporary ceramic art in Japan.
Through Dec. 4.
Off the Wall: Art in Three Dimensions
— An exhibition of free-standing sculptures and wall reliefs from the 1950s to the
present. Through Dec. 4.
ARTbreak — Free presentations on artrelated topics. Betsy Start — The Cello as
Muse, Nov. 8; Charles Burchfield: Realist
Mystic or Mystical Realist?, Nov. 15; Color
and Fire: Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, Nov. 22; Art of the Potter, Nov. 29.
Bring a lunch to these 12:15 p.m. sessions.
STEPPING BACK
WITH THE ARTS
How can a book save a life? Just barely,
in the case of one French legionnaire
who was the last survivor of a battle near
Verdun in the First World War. When he
regained consciousness on the battlefield
hours later, he found that a pocket edition
of Rudyard Kipling’s “Kim” had stopped
a bullet a mere 20 pages from his heart.
When the soldier, Maurice Hamonneau,
later learned of the passing of Kipling’s
son, John, he sent the author the medal
he won in the battle and the copy of the
damaged, life-saving book. Kipling was
touched and promised to return both if
the soldier ever had a son. Hamonneau
did, and named him after Kipling’s son.
Art & All That Jazz — An evening of art
and music with refreshments. Musical
guest, Embarr. Nov. 18, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
The author returned the items, along with
a charming letter to the young son advising him to always carry a book of at least
350 pages in his left breast pocket. More
sound advice has never been given.
Literary Events
Kalamazoo Public Library
553-7809
Park Trades Center
345-3311
Bi-Annual Open Studio Tour — Visit approximately 50 Park Trades Center artists
in their studios. Nov. 4, 5–9 p.m.
Miscellaneous
Saniwax Gallery — An exhibition called
“Renew, Restore, Refresh” featuring works
from the Christian Artist Co-op. Opening
reception during Art Hop, Nov. 4, 5–9.
Midtown Gallery — Featured are Dan
Marek, watercolors and Ramiro Estrada,
jewelry. 356 S. Kalamazoo Mall.
372-0134.
Art Hop — View the works of local artists. Local venues/galleries in downtown
Kalamazoo. Nov. 4, 5–9 p.m. 342-5059.
Weavers and Fiber Artists Sale — See
demonstrations and browse handmade
items by members of the Weavers Guild
of Kalamazoo. Nov. 17, 5–8 p.m., Nov.
18, 9 a.m.–8 p.m., Nov. 19, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Kalamazoo County Expo Center and Fairgrounds, 2900 Lake St. 375-1375.
Reading with Bailey — Come in and
read to Bailey, the loveable Schnoodle dog.
Reservation required, call 553-7804. Nov.
9, 16 & 30, 3:30–5:30 p.m., Washington
Square Branch.
Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee — The
KPL hosts this 11th annual benefit for the
Ready to Read program. Nov. 16, 6–9 p.m.
Bernhard Center, WMU.
Thanksgiving Crafts — Come in and
make fun crafts to take home. Nov. 21 &
22, 1–5 p.m. Eastwood Branch.
Movie and Popcorn — Join us for a showing of the film, “Mars Needs Moms.” Nov.
25, 2 p.m. Powell Branch.
Please send notification of activities to:
Encore “Events of Note”
350 South Burdick St., Suite 214
0HONEs&AX
%MAILEVENTS ENCOREKALAMAZOOCOM
27
Massie’s C
Michigan
About the Author
Larry B. Massie is a Michigan product and
proud of it. Born in Grand Rapids, he grew
up in Allegan. Following a tour of duty in
Viet Nam as a U.S. Army paratrooper, he
worked as a telephone lineman, construction laborer, bartender, pickle meister and
archivist, before earning three degrees in
history from Western Michigan University.
Massie was recently awarded the first ever
Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Historical Society of Michigan.
Massie’s activities range from historic research and writing, old book appraisals, museum consultations and displays,
historic walkways and Michigan history
storytelling. He travels both peninsulas
of his beloved state to share his enthusiasm for Michigan’s colorful heritage with
conferences, school assemblies, libraries,
community groups and festivals.
A former Booth newspaper columnist
and a frequent contributor to numerous
magazines, his recently published “TwoTracks To Michigan’s Past” is his 20th
book about Michigan history.
An avid book collector, he lives
with wife and workmate Priscilla, their
daughters Maureen and Autumn, as well as
their 35,000-volume reference
library in a rambling 1880
schoolhouse nestled in the
Allegan State Forest.
28
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Rattlesnakes,
Bug Bread, and
Greedy Men
YRUS P. BRADLEY, a 16-year-old
Dartmouth College student visiting Detroit in June 1835, walked up
dusty Griswold Street and entered
the Michigan Territorial Capitol building.
On the ground floor of the Greek Revival
structure, whose massive cupola soared
140 feet over the “City of the Straits,” the
convention to establish the incipient state’s
original constitution was in session.
Bradley saw about 70 members at
work, and he thought them “as a whole, a
body of fine-looking men far superior in
One gentleman rose to say that it deexternal appearance to the Ohio Legispended on where the money came from. If
lature,” which he had also visited earlier
the federal government paid, then it should
that month. Unfortunately, their way of
be $3, but if fellow citizens of the territory
doing business seemed “careless, hasty
were to be taxed for it, then he was in favor
and full of mistakes—each engaged
of the lower figure. Another
in correcting his
legislator replied that if their
neighbor, and
services were worth $3 of
making himself
Uncle Sam’s money, then they
blunders enough
should be valued the same
for the criticism
if the territory paid. The
of the next who
deliberation ended with a
arose.”
vote to go with the higher
The president
figure without settling the
of the constituquestion of whom they were
tional convention,
working for.
John Biddle, Bradley
Hmm, lawmakers
decided, was not a
squabbling over pay and
very good presiding
benefits while citizens’
officer. He described
issues go unresolved.
him in the detailed
Sound familiar?
The only known
journal he kept durThe teenager who
portrait of Cyrus
ing his western travels that June as “a Bradley.
recorded the lawmaker’s
gouty old don, of good height, fleshy and
money grab in 1835 was born December 8,
slow in motion and speech, with a high,
1818, in Canterbury, N.H. Eleven years latretracting forehead, sandy hair and comer Bradley’s father received an appointment
plexion, deep blue eyes and a voice slow
as state librarian, and the family moved to
of utterance and very feminine.”
Concord. That gave the youth access to the
Bradley found the convention deep
books he hungered for, and he devoured
in deliberation, not over the provisions of
them omnivorously. After completing a
the constitution or over the Toledo Strip
preparatory course at Exeter Academy
squabble that would keep Michigan out
in one year, he enrolled at Dartmouth
of the Union for two more years, but on a
College. Two years of rigorous study wore
matter seemingly of more paramount imdown his health, and he was forced to drop
portance—their own salaries. The debate
out for a year. In an attempt to restore his
centered around the issue of whether the
health, a Mr. Fletcher, a trustee of the colmembers should receive $3 a day or but
lege, offered to take the lad with him on a
$2, in an era when a laborer considered
trip to the west, in part to visit his brother,
himself lucky to receive 50 cents for a full
William A. Fletcher, then serving as the
10-hour work day.
circuit judge covering the entire Territory
By Larry Massie
2 0 1 1
Michigan’s territorial
capitol building was
first occupied in 1828.
outside of Wayne County. After traveling
down the Ohio River to Cincinnati and
then overland via Columbus to Sandusky,
Ohio, they boarded the steamer, “Michigan,” for Detroit.
Knowing Detroit to be an ancient city
founded in 1701, Bradley expected to see
“a small, dirty, Frenchified town, with a
sprinkling of soldiers, Indians, Irish and
Yankees.” Instead, he was “favorably disappointed” to find a bustling, modern city
with Jefferson Avenue “a perfect epitome
of Broadway, a picture of business, a condensation of life, hurry and tumult.” Rows
of brick stores lined the streets of the city
that had grown to have a population of
more than 7,000. An average of six boats
a day during the shipping season docked
at Detroit, the jumping-off place for the
Michigan frontier where an estimated
200,000 settlers from Western New York
and New England arrived each year to
start a new life in “Michigania.”
B
radley secured a room in the
Mansion House where he chanced
upon a “slave catcher” he had met
earlier on his journey. One of a party of
three professional slave hunters from
Virginia, he had bragged about his occupation to Bradley on board a boat on the
Ohio River. They were in pursuit of three
The steamboat “Michigan”
as seen in the Detroit River
in 1836, with Detroit in the
background.
runaway slaves who, they
figured, would wind up in
Detroit prior to crossing
the river to Canada and
freedom. When Bradley
boldly told them he hoped
the blacks would get away,
the Virginians grinned and replied that if
they didn’t catch the ones they were looking for, they’d be satisfied to kidnap three
free blacks and take them back instead,
and that they had done that often before.
On the second day of their Detroit
sojourn, Bradley and Fletcher boarded a
stage, merely a long, open wagon, to travel
the 25 wilderness miles to Pontiac where
Fletcher’s brother was holding court. The
stage clattered through the thick forest
over a “corduroy turnpike” consisting of
logs laid side by side. Once Bradley got
out to walk for a while and spotted an
interesting wild flower. Reaching for it, he
found a snake coiled at his feet.
After killing it with a stick, he learned
from the stage driver that it was a Michigan
rattlesnake called massasauga. By 1982, the
massasauga that abounded in wilderness
Michigan had, because of loss of habitat,
been reduced to a candidate for endangered
species protection, where it remains. Later,
in crossing a swampy place where some
of the logs floated on the surface, every
one was covered
with rattlesnakes.
The short, thick
reptiles had fangs
not as long as
other venomous
snakes and could not bite through a boot or
the heavy sack cloth leggings worn by frontiersmen. But barefooted children picking
berries often died when bitten.
Bradley found the little village on the
Clinton River that had been founded in
1818 by town site promoters from Detroit
to be a “neat, New England like” community with “handsome painted houses with
green blinds.” Pontiac’s stores, shops, two
taverns and courthouse gave it a “distinctive character.”
Within the courtroom, “a little
crowded hole” packed with judges, jury,
lawyers, a sheriff, criminals and spectators, Bradley noticed a number suffering
from the ague, the bane of pioneer life in
early Michigan. Although the pioneers
did not know it, the disease was actually
malaria caused by the bite of anopheles
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mosquitoes so abundant in the swampy
terrain. Few early Michigan residents
escaped the alternating fever and chill of
the ague. “The poor fellows look miserable,” Bradley wrote, “just sick enough to
make themselves and everyone near them
uncomfortable—wrapped up in overcoats
and flannels, with the thermometer at
90—sweltering over the kitchen fire and
growling and swearing at everything that
crosses their path.”
The following day Bradley accompanied a Pontiac teenager on a fishing
expedition to nearby Williams Lake.
Along the way he marveled at the oak
openings they traversed, consisting of
great oaks that “stand like apple trees
in an orchard, from one to four rods
asunder.” Judge Fletcher told him that
he had driven his two-horse carriage 40
miles through the openings, where there
existed no path or trace of wheels.
They encountered a large party of Indians—men, women and children of the
Shiawassee band—on their way to Detroit
and Fort Malden across the Detroit River
to receive their annual payments “from
the federal government at Detroit for their
ancestral land they had surrendered and
from the British for their loyalty during
the War of 1812. They were not paid in
cash but in commodities such as blankets
or trinkets which, Bradley learned, “they
will often pawn for a canteen of grog —
“more ‘wiski’ is the invariable demand.”
It rained hard the following day.
Bradley clambered aboard the stage, without springs and the seats merely wooden
boards, for a miserable jolting ride back
to Detroit. At the flats he needed to climb
down and wade alongside the wagon
through two feet of standing water for
over a mile. About midday they stopped
for lunch at one of the taverns that stood
along the road every four miles or so. Ordering a dish of bread and milk. Bradley
found the milk to be sweet enough but the
bread was dry and stale and “as it began
to saturate the little red bugs rose, kicking
most lustily to the surface, where they
were immediately skimmed off and most
barbarously committed to the flames.”
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The “boy governor,”
Stephens T. Mason
Back in Detroit, Bradley met Territorial Gov. Stevens T. Mason, who had become
acting governor in 1831 at the age of 19 and
was elected governor in 1835. Bradley expected to see a young man, “but not such a
boy in appearance.” He described him as
“short and thick set, of dark complexion,
handsome square features, high forehead
and large head.” He also had a brief interview with Lewis Cass, distinguished War
of 1812 veteran and governor of Michigan
Territory from 1813–31, who he found not
so physically attractive. “He has a red face
and blue eyes,” he wrote, “his cheeks are
low and his face is widest at the mouth, it
is large and stolid and a large mole at the
left of his mouth gives it a rather singular
appearance.” Despite his illustrious career,
which in the future would include service
as U.S. senator from 1845–57, and three
times as a presidential candidate, Bradley
concluded, “He has not the appearance of a
man of great talents.”
Bradley would never know of Cass’s
later achievements. After he returned to
New Hampshire from Detroit, he reentered Dartmouth, “greatly improved in
health and spirits” and graduated in 1837.
Sadly, his unnamed illness returned, and
he died a year later.
Bradley’s fine accounts of pioneer
Michigan survived in the hands of family
members and later book collectors. In
1906, portions of his Michigan and Ohio
journal were printed in the “Ohio Archeological and Historical Publications.”
A diligent search of Michigan’s
historical literature reveals that for some
inexplicable reason Bradley’s excellent
primary source has not heretofore been
utilized by any Michigan historian.
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31
S
HANE SHELDON has moved from pitching steaming baseballs across home plate to
serving steaming plates of big-flavor food at BOLD, a striking, newish restaurant in
Texas Corners. And BOLD aficionados — of whom there are many — are really happy
with his change-up.
Sheldon’s journey from pitcher’s mound to the upscale food industry started in Portage.
Born and raised in south Portage, Sheldon, 39, graduated from Portage Central High
School (PCHS) in 1991. He’d always been a multi-sport athlete, playing football, baseball
and basketball. The 6-foot-3-inch Sheldon was a tight end, strong safety and kicker/punter
on the PCHS football team. He was selected second team all state and was invited to play
in the Michigan High School All-Stars football game his senior year. But, according to
Sheldon’s mother, Marlene Sheldon of Portage, though Sheldon was an excellent kicker and
“played everything,” his true love was always baseball.
However, Marlene Sheldon also says that she detected an interest in food preparation
while her son was just a toddler. “I had a drawer with all the pots and pans, and those were
always Shane’s favorite things to play with,” she remembers.
After graduating from Portage Central, Sheldon spent a year at Hillsdale College,
where he played football and baseball. A fractured ankle during football season caused him
to rethink his academic and athletic options, and he transferred to Gordon Junior College
in Barnesville, Ga., where the weather allowed for a longer baseball season and he’d been
told that the coach, Tom Clark, “could always use a good arm.”
In addition to playing more ball in Georgia, Sheldon also got the chance to prepare —
From Baseball to %2/'
Owner Shane Sheldon has hit a home run with his BOLD restaurant.
32
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Photos: Penny Briscoe
By Kaye Bennett
even though he didn’t know it at the time — for his post-baseball
career. As he found out, the South takes its food very seriously.
It was hard to get back to Michigan from Georgia for all the holidays, remembers Sheldon, so a catcher on his team often invited Sheldon to join him
in Savannah, at the home of his uncle, who was Cajun. “I never understood a
word he said,” recalls Sheldon. “I just watched how he made the gumbo and
the jambalaya and the alligator.”
After a year at Gordon, Sheldon was a fourth-round draft choice for
the Milwaukee Brewers in 1993. For the next three years, he pitched for
Brewers minor league teams in Chandler, Ariz., and Helena, Mont. Those
years provided lots of good family vacations, says Marlene Sheldon, since
Sheldon always encouraged family members to come watch him play.
The years also provided still more background for a food industry
career. His salary in the minors, says Sheldon, was just $850 a month,
so “my three roommates and I learned to make incredible dinners on a
small budget.”
On the mound, Shane Sheldon could throw hard (95 mph and up), but he says his control wasn’t where it needed to be for the big leagues. “I was as wild as you could be when it
came to throwing strikes,” he laughs.
After three years with Brewers’ teams, he spent a year in the independent Prairie League,
playing in Brandon, Manitoba. That season he tore his rotator cuff, an injury that would send
him home to Michigan for shoulder surgery and ultimately launch his new career.
Sheldon says that, his professional baseball career behind him, he “thought bartending
would be cool.” So he got himself hired as Bravo’s daytime bartender and, “After two weeks,
I knew this was the business I was going to be in,” he says.
A bartender at a restaurant isn’t all
that busy during the day, Sheldon says, so
he “bothered Terry and Shawn” (Hagen
brothers, owners of Bravo) and in so doing
learned a lot about the restaurant business.
O
ver the next three years plus,
Sheldon learned the ropes from
the experts at Bravo, where, in
addition to tending bar, he also served,
hosted (with his arm in a sling following
his surgery) and managed a little.
At the same time, Sheldon says he
was tending bar at the Hideaway, a bar in
Vicksburg. He remembers that patrons and
other staffers at the Hideaway laughed at
his work clothes: khakis and golf shirts.
“I haven’t owned any jeans since high
school,” he confesses.
From Bravo, Sheldon moved on to
the University Roadhouse, where he met
another pair of brothers who would hugely
influence his life, Chris and Tim Housler.
Tim Housler had started the Main
Street Pub on West Main in Kalamazoo in
1990, and the University Roadhouse had
opened in 1991. By the time Shane came
their way in the early 2000s, the Houslers
had already opened a string of Main Street
Pubs and Fletchers Pubs. So Sheldon found
his niche in the Housler empire.
Chris Housler, Sheldon says, gave him
the opportunity to do some managing, and
from him, the ex-pitcher learned about the
business side of food service. His Roadhouse days were also the first time Sheldon
“got to see some action in the kitchen,” he
says, since the managers in all the Main
Street restaurants were expected to jump
in when things got busy.
Sheldon then spent five years or so
learning about all aspects of the business
by serving as general manager at the Grill
at the Moors, where he had his first opportunity to create the menu — as district
manager for all the Housler restaurants,
and as manager of the Beacon Club.
All this experience helped Sheldon
learn more about himself, too, including what he really wanted to do (run a
restaurant of his own) and what his food
passions were (casual fine dining).
About that time, the Houslers had
decided to close their Main Street Pub in
Texas Corners. They offered the site to
Sheldon to see what he could do with it,
and told him they would back him.
His family thought he was crazy. As
his mother puts it, “. . . in this economy, on
a site where three other restaurants hadn’t
made it (Bud’s Bar, Cork at the Corner,
and Main Street Pub), and orange and
purple!?!?”
But Sheldon had made up his mind:
“We were bringing a concept that had
never been done in Texas Corners, (an upscale restaurant) focused solely on dinner.”
And yes, he wanted the color scheme to be
orange (he prefers calling it burnt sienna)
and purple.
Step one was to renovate the Housler’s
facility to match his vision. Actually, much
of it was, by necessity, the vision of Sheldon’s girlfriend, Jeanne Peltier, who holds
a degree in interior design from Western
Michigan University.
“Shane has always loved orange,”
she says, “and he picked the faux finish.”
Peltier then designed around those two
choices, layering textures by use of patterned glass, wood, tile and carpet, and
dramatic lighting. The result is an urban,
contemporary look that melds comfort and
sophistication.
The new restaurant had just a small
budget to work with. “Shane had to make
a go of it with what he had,” says Marlene Sheldon. Fortunately, what he had
included a lot of supportive friends and
family members, not to mention a local
high-school football team.
With help from cousins, aunts and
uncles (especially Uncle Jon Richards),
Sheldon and Peltier changed the building’s entry way, restored the flooring,
redesigned the bar area, scrubbed, tiled,
painted, reupholstered and stained. One
of the biggest challenges in the remodel
was removing the old carpeting, with glue
that seemed to have been designed to last
for centuries. But Sheldon has friends with
sons who play on the Portage Central High
School football team. Players tackled the
sticky problem and eventually scored a
clean floor for the new
restaurant.
Sheldon consistently
tries to patronize local
vendors and merchants
as much as possible.
He buys produce at the
Texas Township Farmers Market, conveniently
located just kitty-corner
from BOLD. The wine list
is 100 percent American,
points out Sheldon, with
all wines coming from
Michigan, California,
Oregon and Washington State. Even the
restaurant’s artwork has
Michigan roots. Grand
Rapids-based artist Deborah Hoover, long a favorite
of Sheldon’s, was commissioned to do several pieces
for the project.
B
OLD’s head chef
is Andy Havey. A
Kalamazoo native,
Havey earned a culinary
arts degree from Johnson & Wales University
in Charleston, S.C. He
worked in restaurants and
private clubs in Colorado
and California before
returning to Kalamazoo,
where he was at Mangia
Top to bottom:
BOLD bartender
Mangia before Sheldon
Michael Sansone,
hired him at BOLD, just
hostess Meaghan Lamb,
server Chris Fish.
days before its grand
opening in November 2009.
“I got lucky,” says Sheldon. “Andy
came into a restaurant where the menu was
in place … and put his touch on things.”
Sheldon says it was like the items on BOLD’s
menu “ … were my kids and Andy adopted
them and made them better.”
BOLD’s menu comprises “simple
food with big flavors,” says Sheldon, also
crediting that concept with the name he
chose for the restaurant. The theme is
regional American cuisine, and the regions
33
Sheldon Family has %LJOHDJXH&RQQHFWLRQV
T
HE SHELDON family and the Jeters
from Kalamazoo became bleacher
friends when their sons, Shane and
Derek (you may have heard of him), were
in middle school, Marlene Sheldon says.
Both Shane and Derek played baseball and
basketball while they were in school, so the
two frequently played against each other.
During the summers, Shane’s family
watched him pitch and Dr. Charles and Dot
Jeter watched Derek play shortstop in the Kabaseba trainingg academy.
lamazoo Maroons baseball
B
Baseball
was king in Shane’s life for many years.
Here he is pictured as a youngster (left) and when he
pitched for a Milwaukee Brewers minor-league team.
The Sheldons and the Jeters drove to
Detroit together when young Shane and
Derek attended a work-out camp at Tiger
Stadium, designed to give the young men a
chance to do drills in the big league venue,
while the league had a chance to scope out
young talent. “My mom and dad will never
forget that,” says Marlene.
Derek Jeter was drafted by the Yankees organization in 1992 and made his
major league debut in 1995. During his
rookie year with the Yankees, Derek told
his dad that he felt it was time for him to
start a foundation. Soon after, Jeter’s Turn
2 Foundation was born.
Named for Jeter’s uniform number, as
well as a dramatic double play made by infielders, the Foundation also aimed to give
young people a group they could “turn to.”
The mission of the Turn 2 Foundation has
from its inception been to promote healthy
lifestyles among young people and to
help them avoid drugs and alcohol. Since
its launch, the Turn 2 Foundation has
awarded more than $12 million in grants
to promote healthy lifestyles for thousands
of young people.
Marlene Sheldon happened to be
living in Manhattan at the time Jeter was
launching his foundation. Shortly after it
started, she began volunteering, and then,
after moving back to Michigan in 2002,
she joined the Turn 2 staff. For the next
five years, she was its program specialist,
visiting and helping with all the programs
funded by the Foundation, including
Jeter’s Leaders, baseball clinics, Proud
to Be Me Programs, Girls on the Run,
after-school programs and scholarships.
Marlene Sheldon retired from the Turn 2
Foundation in 2011.
The Sheldons maintain their friendship
with the Jeters, and Marlene Sheldon says
that fame and success have not changed
Derek Jeter. “He is everything they say he
is. The minute I see Derek, he always asks,
‘How are Shane and Josh and Melissa?’ He
still remembers everybody and is curious
about how we’re doing.”
For more information about Derek Jeter’s
Turn 2 Foundation, visit http://derekjeter.mlb.
com/players/jeter_derek/turn2.
MICHIGAN
FESTIVAL
QH
SACRED
MUSIC
music…celebrating many faiths
NOVEMBER 9–20
9–20, 2011
011
Over 20 Events
!!#$!&
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(((!!#$!!
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34
& / $ 0 3 & t N O V E M B E R
2 0 1 1
{BOTH
FREE
& TICKETED}
Artists include: Tapestry, Le Bon Vent, Don & Emily Saliers,
Rahim AlHaj (oud), Edith Hines (Baroque violin),
Ravikiran (vina) & Rohan Krishnamurthy (mridangam),
Richard Webster, Kurdish sacred musician AliAkbar Moradi,
Juan Cruz (Native American flute),
Michael Chikuzen Gould (shakuhachi)
Venues throughout Kalamazoo
eee[Ta[ca $'!& '
Sheldon
represented are primarily those Sheldon
and Havey like the best. Their years in the
South show up in the restaurant’s Southern dishes, such as shrimp and grits, fried
green tomatoes, and bread pudding. Both
like southwest cooking, so that’s there, too,
in such plates as crispy chicken flautas,
seared scallops, and ancho portabella
sauce. Sheldon, harking back to holidays in
Savanna, prefers Cajun, so BOLD tenderloin and roasted corn and crab dip are also
prominent.
“I took all the food I was passionate
about,” says Sheldon, “and I kept my family
members and friends in mind for every
dish.” Sheldon says his grandfather, Abe
Ryskamp, loves whitefish, so that’s on the
menu. (Sheldon does point out, however,
patting his smooth and shiny head, that
the name of his restaurant is BOLD, not
BALD, which was what his grandfather
originally thought the name was to be.)
From its earliest days, BOLD has been
an active player in local charity events. Its
chef and staff participate in events that
benefit local fire and police departments;
Ministry With Community (Havey won
that organization’s annual Chefs Against
Hunger competition the first year he entered; BOLD is also a regular at its annual
Gumbo Fest); the March of Dimes (BOLD
was voted best overall in its Signature
Chef’s Auction); local high schools; and
the Portage Community Outreach Center.
Sheldon says that such events give him and
Havey a chance to meet people, to showcase their skills and to help local causes.
Sheldon credits his staff with much
of the success BOLD is enjoying. Turnover
has been very low (rare in the restaurant business). A Sheldon cousin, Jaymie
Richards, is the restaurant’s bartender and
manager. “She’s the only family member
who can stand working for me,” says Sheldon ruefully.
Shane Sheldon says his vision for
BOLD is to have it become a dining destination and, he says, “We’re getting there.”
More and more people are coming to Texas
Corners from all over southern Michigan
to see what Shane Sheldon is putting over
the plate today.
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Jeff K. Ross
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35
rd
Photo: Russ Offo
Aerial Angel Zay “Spike”
Weaver performs at the Sault St.
Marie, Mich., Busker Festival,
doing the splits in aerial silks.
“She floats through the air with
the greatest of ease,
that daring young woman on
the flying trapeze.
Her moves are so graceful, the
crowd it doth please
and my heart she has stolen
away … ”
Flying High: The Aerial Angels
P
ARAPHRASING a popular Walter O’Keefe song from the
1930s, those soaring lyrics embody the agility and grace of the
Aerial Angels. Primarily woman aerialists, the Kalamazoobased troupe does have male members in its growing rank of
11 high-flying performers who range in age from an intern who is
16 to those in their late 30s. Several of the key women in the company have ties to Kalamazoo and met while attending or teaching
at Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College.
“In 2003 I was a professor at WMU, teaching acting, voice and
movement in the theater department. I also worked with contact
improvisational dance, and one of my students had studied some
aerial and circus arts,” founder and artistic director Allison “Isabella” Williams explains (Isabella is her stage name). “We began
practicing and performing together outside of the classroom, and
incorporating some basic aerial skills in our contact improv.
“The Aerial Angels company was formed in my backyard with
just me and two of the Western students. In the first year, we began
performing at Renaissance festivals, outdoor events, and in shopping malls. Both of those original girls have moved on. One joined
the Peace Corps and the other went on to graduate school, so I
went in search of other members to add to the troupe.”
From that humble beginning, Williams — who also has an
MFA degree in Playwriting — now teams up as a trio with other
“Angels” to tour all over the world. “I like to say that we are the
hardest working company in Kalamazoo that is almost never actually IN Kalamazoo,” she quips.
Not exclusively trapeze artists, the Angels have a list of aerial
skills that include the use of hoops or silk/fabric, and the solo and
duo trapeze. They also perform partner acrobatics and balancing,
suspended straitjacket escape stunts, fire-eating, and whip-cracking with targets, all mixed in with plenty of comedy and audience
participation.
Their busy 2011 summer tour schedule began in Alaska, then
continued on to Canada and Germany. Allison and two other
Angels recently attended the International Busker Festival in
Victoria, British Columbia, where they played for appreciative local
audiences and the tourists from cruise ships docked in the popular
36
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By Patrice Mindock
resort region.
What’s a busker? To “busk” is to play music or perform entertainment in a public place, usually while soliciting money. The
term refers to an itinerant performer and comes from the archaic
French “busquer,” which means “to prowl” mixed with the Spanish
“buscar,” which means “to seek.”
“Every year, we make it a point to do one event in our
hometown of Kalamazoo,” Williams stresses. “Usually, it’s a free
performance at the main branch of the Kalamazoo Public Library,
in their atrium. I do own a home in Kalamazoo and perform in a
few shows in west Michigan, but I am primarily on the road except
for a few weeks per year.”
Since its inception, the Aerial Angels troupe has appeared in
28 U.S. states, seven Canadian provinces, and 19 countries, including Macedonia, Serbia, Singapore and Dubai.
Lest you think that a performance art that incorporates elements of circus, ballet, gymnastics and yoga is not successful, the
Aerial Angels note that every year they’ve been in business they’ve
doubled their revenue from the previous year. “Circus is now considered hot,” says Zay “Spike” Weaver, an Angel since 2004. “It’s
the hip thing; all the cool kids are doing it, and you will often find
aerial silk classes at fitness centers or other community outreach
programs. The popularity of the concept is building awareness and
respect for professional aerialists like us.”
In recent years, there has been a trend toward what Williams
calls “the democratization” of circus. “In past history, you had
to be born into or married into a trapeze artist group or a circusoriented family to be legitimate,” Williams notes. “The shift in this
form of entertainment option dates back to the early 1980s with
the advent of the original Canadian Cirque de Soleil, created by
Montreal street performers.
They really opened the door for new and different types of
circus-style acts and apparatus. When you don’t need a giant net,
it’s much easier to do aerial work. None of the acts we do require a
net, so we are able to be portable and set up wherever we want.”
Another current Angel, M.A. “Mimi” Harrison, says they of-
ten drive to gigs all over the United States in their
“official tour vehicle” — a Toyota Camry with
361,000 miles — that carries their 24-foot, adjustable, free-standing, tripod, aerial rig strapped to
the top. “The car is crammed with other pieces of
the rig, our props and us, so in such close quarters,
we girls have to get along,” Harrison adds. “We
are mostly women in the company, but there are
two guys working for us right now. One is based
in Texas and does mostly trapeze and aerial straps,
and the other is located in Alaska and specializes in
partner acrobatics.”
A
Photo: Dan Lines
Photo: Fehmi Comert
Allisa “Isabella” Williams
whips celery from an
audience member’s mouth at
Covent Garden, London. Look
closely and you can see the
piece that’s been severed
from the stalk.
ll performers have “signature” moves that they
consider their specialty. “Mine is the splits, in
many different positions,” Harrison notes. For Williams, it’s a fast upside-down slide at the end of her act. Her head
comes within 12 inches of the ground before she stops.
“My favorite move is what we call the star fall,” adds Weaver.
“I wrap myself up in the silk in such a way that it creates a full forward dive rotation with a lateral rotation like a cartwheel. It feels
like I’m riding a roller coaster.”
They bill their shows as “zany, sassy and fun.” Depending on
the venue and the type of audience, their comedy and stunts can
range from G-rated to “naughty.”
While it wasn’t the intention of the Angels to become
female role models, Williams says their shows tend to “send a
positive message” to women of all ages. “We are not stick thin,
we have normal, real women’s body
types,” she notes.
The aerial silks act using colorful fabric is very visually appealing,
graceful, and blends different styles
of movement. “The impetus for using
the silks in performance is based on
an idea created by a woman performer attending circus school in France,”
she explains. “For their graduating
show, students were asked to create
an act using skills they already had,
but with a new apparatus. This
performer went to a flea market,
bought 25 yards of fabric, and put
Aerial Angel Zay “Spike” Weaver
A
escapes from chains, rope, and
together the very first aerial silks act.
handcuffs in an indoor touring
Scouts from Cirque de Soleil saw the
show, titled “Stand Up 8.”
final exam show and hired her. That’s
what popularized the use of aerial silks.”
Williams notes that she enjoys having random audience members come up to her to tell of their experiences trying out the silks in
classes at their local gyms.
“We encourage interested people to come to our teaching workshops while we are on tour,” Harrison adds. “Anyone can do this if
they are willing to take the time and effort to learn the skills. So many
people think they are not agile or strong enough, and I get a real kick
out of getting participants of all ages up in the air.”
Tongue in cheek, Harrison also admits to being a “total adrenaline and endorphin rush junkie.” The women aerialists also describe
37
Aerial Angels
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MUSIC THAT MAKES YOU WANNA DANCE.
BEER THAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN.
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38
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the end of their performance workdays as
a combination of “incredible exhilaration”
and “total exhaustion.”
The Aerial Angels appear at corporate
events, outdoor festivals, private parties
or conventions, school assemblies and
community events. Some of their clients
include the Atlanta Aquarium, Chrysler
Corporation, the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds
Plantation, the Detroit Institute of Arts,
and Comcast Cable. While the troupe
prefers to do paid work, the members also
embrace a mission of performing regardless of the audience’s ability to pay.
The profitability of their street performances — busking — varies based on
country. “In places like Macedonia, Kosovo,
Serbia and Croatia, the audiences are generous by local standards, but their currency
just isn’t worth very much. We do those
shows because it’s meaningful to us to act
as ambassadors, especially in countries like
Serbia where there are long-standing stereotypes about the U.S.,” says Williams.
“In street theater, we are accessible
to everyone who passes by,” says Weaver.
“This is a venue where you don’t have to
buy an expensive ticket, go indoors to sit
quietly in a dark room, or get dressed up to
watch a performance.”
The Angels also say they make it a
point to thank their audiences for coming outdoors to actively watch something
“real” happening “live” instead of passively
sitting home watching recorded events
being shown on a glowing TV or computer
screen.
Some of the adverse weather conditions the troupe has had to perform under
include extreme heat and the polar opposite — walking barefoot on the snow with
freezing rain falling during one Winterfest
show in Ontario, Canada.
“The audiences and cultural confusion
can also be a challenge,” reports Weaver.
“In Dubai, we were doing our tricks and
moves and were expecting the typical applause during our act, but it was completely silent. We received only a polite clapping
at the end. We thought they didn’t enjoy it,
but then we had a huge line of people lined
up afterward, waiting to shake our hands
and take our photos. They were only being
extremely respectful, reserving their applause for the end of the show.”
Spike, Isabella and
Mimi in the desert
in Dubai.
T
he physical demands of being an aerialist take their toll in strained muscles
and minor injuries, so staying fit and
strong is vital to the performers. Weaver,
while now very physically active, admits
she was not always in such great shape.
Photo: Dragan
Photo: Courtesy
Aerial Angels
Along with outdoor venues,
the Aerial Angels have a large-scale
indoor touring show called Stand
Up 8, which features an Olympic
trampoline, aerial acts and comedy. “It’s a reality circus,” explains
Williams. “The audience gets to
know the personal stories behind
the glamour. We began touring
this year and will do so through
2012, funded by winning a quarter-million dollar investment in
a competition in October 2008
on a Canadian reality TV show
called ‘Dragons’ Den.’ ”
The reality circus began
rehearsals and development in
2009 and is currently booked
across the United States and
Canada. Most recently, Stand Up 8 brought
that show ‘home’ to GVSU in Grand Rapids.” One other special aspect of the Angels
is Starfish Circus, a residency program for
students in grades K–12, held in schools,
theaters or camp programs. The program
is billed as a team-building effort, “helping
young people develop skills for team work,
communication and social interaction, work
ethics, and a strong, positive self-image.”
“I was a couch potato,” she laughs. “I
graduated from WMU with a degree in
theater performance and that’s where I
met Allison. I was occasionally active but I
didn’t have a dance background or any real
athletic tendencies.”
At the other end of the spectrum, Harrison was a typical female jock. “I grew up
extremely active in sports, participating in
soccer, softball, hockey, figure skating and
anything that kept me moving,” she states.
“I was training to be a professional ballerina, but when I met Allison at Kalamazoo College and got an Angels ‘externship’
through a K College program, I fell in love
with the aerial aspects. I started in her
Isabella eats fire in Budva, Montenegro, at the
Buskers Bash.
backyard and never really left.” Harrison
graduated with an honors B.A. in French
language, literature and music. She has
lived in Kalamazoo for over seven years.
“Even though we are not home that
often, we love being a part of the arts community in Kalamazoo,” Williams stresses.
“It does indeed benefit us to be part of a
community where the arts are valued and
seen as a major contribution to the civic
discourse. Comparing Kalamazoo to many
cities on our travels, there is so much available in this region that is not often found
Mother’s Amber Daum
An opalescent Daum vase she placed on a pedestal stand in a lighted corner, its wider base covered
with overlapping silver vine leaves from which it rose like a tree trunk, translucent as a vertical flame
when it caught the sunlight. Carved into crystal, a silvery leafed elm trapped like an insect or a mote
of dust inside amber resin, a tree within a tree-shaped vase. One could almost feel the wind blowing
through its dark veined branches, sense the rustle of leaves that would never fall, flying like petals as
in Corot’s landscapes, the same landscapes she loved to reproduce, bent hours long over an easel till
she’d enter the scene. Her brush would rearrange dot by dot the red scarf of the woman resting under
the arching elm in Mortefontaine, highlight with one stroke the cap of the boatman anchoring his skiff
alongside the riverbank.
By Hedy Habra
Hedy Habra received her MFA and a PhD in Spanish Literature from Western Michigan University where she
currently teaches. Her poetry and fiction in French, Spanish and English have appeared in numerous journals
and anthologies, including “Parting Gifts,” “Puerto del Sol,” “The New York Quarterly,” “Cider Press Review,”
“Nimrod and Poet Lore.” This poem, “Mother’s Amber Daum,” was published in “Museum Views: Art Info.”
39
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in much larger urban areas.”
One of the biggest challenges for the
performers is being on the road constantly
in close quarters. “We are almost a family,
like sisters,” Weaver says.
Williams says the constant travel can
wear on the nerves. “We are careful not to
hire anyone unless we can imagine spending 14 hours in a car with them,” she says.
“We deal with that in the hiring process.
If we have someone new possibly coming
into the group, they are invited along on a
shorter trip to ‘audition.’ While aerial skill
is very important to us, with the popular
aerial trend there are enough talented,
charismatic and personable aerialists out
there that we can have our pick of which
ones to hire. They must be a good fit.”
The Angels currently receive about
three videos or resumes each month from
aerial applicants interested in a full-time
job or an internship. Rather than invest
immediately in a new troupe member,
the applicants are booked into shows on a
trial basis. The potential performers then
audition in small parts as part of a tour
when the Angels are scheduled to be in or
near their geographic location. They may
continue to be pulled in as “guest artists”
on occasion or eventually be hired as part of
the full troupe. “That full inclusion into the
Aerial Angels company happens when we
really bond with a performer or they bring
something new and amazing to our mix of
performance skills,” Williams stresses.
An Aerial Angel has to be flexible in
mind and spirit as well as body. Of their
most recent Michigan gigs, Williams says,
“One day, we may be staying in a fancy
hotel room in the Detroit area so we can
perform for thousands of people, and the
next day we’re on a street corner in Holland thrilling a handful of people outside
the Coldstone Creamery.”
A love of travel is a must. Harrison
says, “If this wasn’t my job, I’d still probably
save up every penny I made just so I could
travel and see new places. Everywhere I
go, I get excited about connecting with the
people, trying different foods, viewing the
art, architecture and the natural landscapes.
I feel at home no matter if I am in Macedonia, New Zealand, Mexico or Iceland.”
The women consider themselves
travelers, not tourists. “We embrace the
Begin your holiday week with...
MESSIAH
Saturday, December 17 at 8:00 pm
Chenery Auditorium
Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
Kalamazoo Singers
Rachele Schmiege, Soprano
Elizabeth Mumford-Cowan, Alto
Benjamin Bunsold, Tenor
Mark Doss, Bass
Raymond Harvey, Conductor
Aerial Angel Zay “Spike”
Weaver shows off her high-flying hoop skills.
Photo: Courtesy
Aerial Angels
TICKETS 269.387.2300
KalamazooSymphony.com
local cultures, meet up with friends in
different countries and stay in private
homes when we can,” Harrison notes.
“We buy food from local markets and
do normal behind-the-scenes living as
opposed to running around to see the
museums and attractions.”
In coordinating a recent corporate
event for Chrysler at the automaker’s
headquarters in Auburn Hills, Williams
had the opportunity to hire a large group
of performers. “This was Chrysler’s family
day with 42,000 guests,” she points out.
“We provided them with 44 entertainers, 12
crew members and six hours of continuous
entertainment. There were two huge circus
tents and roving entertainers on the company’s grounds. We brought together people
from the Renaissance festivals, the street
performer and busker circuits, all mixed
with older, seasoned, circus performers and
new circus-school graduates.”
In the future, Williams sees the Aerial
Angels spinning off into event management. “We love performing, and we intend
to continue our own shows, but I also
really enjoy the detail-oriented challenge of
event management,” she stresses. We’ll get
the chance to connect our fellow talented
performers with grateful clients. The clients
enjoy quality entertainment and, in turn,
they pay the performers well and appreciate
the performances. It is extremely satisfying
to be able to make that match happen.”
Visit the Aerial Angels online at angelsintheair.com, or visit their fast-moving
Facebook page.
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41
Spirit of Kalamazoo
Photo: Theresa Coty O’Neil
Foundation of Kalamazoo County,
the lead organization in raising
funds from public and private
sources for the construction of the
trail.
And now, after 20 years, I’ve
come full circle and have become
involved with the Kalamazoo
River Valley Trail (KRVT), doing
what I’m passionate about. Since
1995 I had been leading bird and
nature walks on the Kal-Haven
Trail for the Audubon Society of
Kalamazoo (ASK). Kyle Lewis,
KRVT program coordinator, heard
of these and asked if ASK would be An autumn golf cart tour on the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail is both beautiful and educational. Here Ilse Gebhard
instructs on leaves to be found along the way.
willing to do some interpretative
nature walks for the KRVT as well. A couple of members agreed
Because we live so close to the Kal-Haven Trail, I will conto help me, and we’ve learned, at least somewhat, what interests
tinue to use it for most of my personal day-to-day recreational
the general public—wildflowers, a resounding yes; birds, nah;
activities. While the familiar is comforting, sometimes it’s just
fall colors, yes.
nice to have a change of scenery, which the KRVT now provides
The most popular, and to me most satisfying, nature walks/
me—say, the stretch along the Kalamazoo River or the uprides have been the golf-cart tours for senior citizens. I’m getand-down topography north of the Kalamazoo Nature Center.
ting to an age where I can envision going on a golf-cart tour
Volunteer opportunities for the KRVT also abound, like the two
more readily than running a 10k or biking to South Haven.
garlic-mustard-pulling events I helped with last spring—and
Starting a couple of years ago with one tour each in spring and
planting native wildflowers this fall.
fall, four tours now fill up both spring and fall. The Senior Golf
So consider taking a walk or bike ride on the KRVT, or join
Cart Tours were selected as the “Best Senior Program” at the
one of the many organized recreational events, or even help
Michigan Recreation and Parks Association annual conference,
with a workday.
which was held in Traverse City this past February. The award
Check the Web site at http://www.kalcounty.com/parks/krvt
is called “Pro-Grammy,” a kind of play on words for the “Gramor Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kalamazoo-Rivermys,” the musical awards.
Valley-Trail/364506328664.
W
here Business Meets Pleasure . . .
he Blue Room . . .
just one of the beautifully
decorated dining rooms.
Private dining . . .
one of the many benefits of
Park Club membership.
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& / $ 0 3 & t N O V E M B E R
2 0 1 1
Creative Kids
In Pavitra’s basement on a recent Sunday, the girls
gathered for class. They were barefoot, clad in comfortable clothes and wore ankle bells that tinkled each
time they jumped or stomped. As they moved, they
chanted the verses and names: Ramayana. He’s a warrior. He is great. He wears a sacred dress. He’s a king.
The movements were measured and graceful,
Traditional dancers Pavitra Attanayake, Kathleen D’Souza, and Alyssa D’Souza interact
including rhythmic head and hand gestures. Unlike
many forms of western dance that seek to defy gravity, with Collette Gillette, a resident of Wyndham West at Heritage Community.
Susan explained, dancers of Bharatanatyam employ gravity.
Janice D’Souza were born and raised in India; The Attanayake
“When we jump, we jump down because the dancer originally
parents, Upul and Sanjeewani, while of Indian descent, were
performed in a temple. In Bharatanatyam, we love the energy of
born and raised in Sri Lanka. Their girls say they are learning
the ground.”
about their ancestral culture and mythology through the dance.
Susan, who also teaches ballet and jazz locally, is pleased to
All three of these young performers would eventually like
work with such dedicated students.
to achieve Arangetram, a special graduation ceremony marked
“These girls do everything at the top of their class,” said
with the first solo public performance of Bharatanatyam. PrepaSusan. “They play instruments. They are very busy. They only
ration for Arangetram usually takes eight to 10 years and signihave Sundays, so they make time on Sundays.”
fies that the dancer has achieved a high level of mastery.
As the girls learned more dances, they began to feel ready
Meanwhile, they are quite happy learning new dances and
to perform. Under Susan’s guidance, they formed the Hindu
performing together. “After learning all the movements, when
Devotional Dancers, and over the past couple of years they
you perform, you can show what you’ve learned, so it feels like
have appeared at Peace Pizzazz, a multi-denominational peace
a reward,” said Pavitra. “I like sharing what we’ve learned with
festival held in Bronson Park in May; at the Michigan Festival
people and seeing their responses.”
of Sacred Music; and at other local gatherings, including camps
“I also like showing other people how to do some of the
and nursing homes throughout the area.
movements,” said Alyssa.
Pavitra’s mother, Sanjeewani, hand sews the elaborate and
Their next scheduled public performance will be on
colorful silk costumes, which are stitched with gold-colored
November 18 at the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music in a
thread. Because of the numerous buttons, dressing for a perpre-concert program with Rohan Krishnamurthy, who will
formance takes close to an hour. The jewelry and ornamentabe performing classical Indian music on the mridangam with
tion suits the ideals of Hindu design, dress and beauty, while
South Indian vina and vocalist Chitravina Ravikiran.
complementing the grace of the dance, explained Susan.
For more information on their performance, please see www.
While neither of the families is Hindu, parents Lorenzo and
mfsm.us.
43
Photo: Courtesy Susan Iervolina
If You Think It,
We Can Ink It!
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
Absolute Homecare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Alfieri Jewelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Ballet Arts Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
If you think it, we can ink it!
Bell’s Brewery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Borgess Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
How’s that for the power of positive thinking?
Let’s listen to that again:
Bravo! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Bronson Healthcare Group . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Cornerstone Office Systems . . . . . . . . . . 31
CTS Communications, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . 22
It’s kind of catchy, isn’t it? It’s kind of
inspiring. It’s how we feel every day
when we see the new batch of projects
we get to help nurture and grow.
We love taking your ideas and bringing
them to life. We love seeing how a
project develops from that first idea
to the final product.
Dave’s Glass Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
DeMent & Marquardt, PLC . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Sue Dennis, DDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
First National Bank of Michigan . . . . . . . . 41
Flipse, Meyer, Allwardt . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Fontana Chamber Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Gilmore Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Great Lakes Shipping Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Greenleaf Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Heilman’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Hospice Care of SW Michigan . . . . . . . . . 20
Jansen Valk Thompson & Reahm . . . . . . . 31
Now, don’t you feel inspired?
We sure do!
Jeff K. Ross Financial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Kalamazoo/BC Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Kalamazoo Foot Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
KNI/Southwest Michigan Imaging . . . . . . . 48
Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. . . . . . . . 41
Keystone Community Bank. . . . . . . . . . . 45
1116 W Centre Avenue
323-9333
PortagePrinting.com
LaCantina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Lewis, Reed, Allen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Mangia Mangia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Metro Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Michigan Festival of Sacred Music . . . . . . . 34
Answer!
Photography Way Back When
(question on page 8)
Michigan Lifestyle Properties . . . . . . . . . 19
Midtown Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Miller Auditorium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Miller Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The Moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Oakland Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Park Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Parkway Plastic Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Paw Paw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Portage Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Rogers Refrigeration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Sharp Smile Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
South Street Cigars & Spirits . . . . . . . . . . 35
What A Do Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
WMUK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
YMCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
In 1883, Moses Lane, one of the proprietors of the Kalamazoo Wagon Company,
partnered with his brother-in-law, Frank Lay, to set up the Michigan Buggy Company.
It produced 19,000 vehicles in 30 styles: “a full line of buggies, cabriolets, phaetons,
surreys, spring wagons, etc.” In 1909, with horseless-carriages becoming rapidly
popular, the Kalamazoo Wagon Co. released “another Michigan automobile” instead
of their usual “Tony Pony” line. This caused revenue to pour in, and the labor force
rose tremendously. In 1913, the company launched a $350,000 campaign (nearly
$9,000,000 in current currency) for their automobile, the “Mighty Michigan.”
Unfortunately, due to embezzlement, the Kalamazoo Wagon Company went
bankrupt by the end of the year.
Trivia Column by Maureen Massie
44
& / $ 0 3 & t N O V E M B E R
2 0 1 1
We’d love to share your
poetry with Kalamazoo-area
readers. Please submit
a short personal profile to
accompany it.
,UJVYL4HNHaPUL
JV7VL[Y`,KP[VY
:)\YKPJR:[:\P[L
2HSHTHaVV40 LKP[VY'LUJVYLRHSHTHaVVJVT
Portage District Library
329-4544
Museums
Air Zoo
382-6555
Solo Exhibit — This new art exhibit features watercolors and mixed media work
from Randall Bonzo. Nov. 18–Dec. 31.
Great Books Reading and Discussion
Group — Join to discuss “The Seven
Deadly Sins” a collection of short stories.
Nov. 6 & 20, 2 p.m.
The Journey of Grief: Coping with the
Holidays — A presentation on grief and
the loss cycle by Layla Jabboori of Hospice
Care of Southwest Michigan. Includes
a tour of the facility. Nov. 10, 6:30 p.m.
Oakland Center, 2255 West Centre Ave.
The Fire and the Gold: Marie Thompson
Stoline — A reading, reception and book
signing by the author of this study of the
people affected by the Chernobyl tragedy.
This event is a kickoff to the Russian
Festival. Nov. 13, 2 p.m.
Kalamazoo Valley Museum
373-7990
Boy Scout Aviation Day — Scouts can
earn a badge while they learn about the
forces of flight, preflight inspections,
and how to build a glider. Nov. 19, 9:30
a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Miscellaneous
Gwen Frostic Reading Series — A series
of visits by outstanding writers sponsored
by the WMU English Department. Carlos
Murillo, Nov. 17, 8 p.m.; Elizabeth Knapp,
Melinda Moustakis and Jason Skipper,
Dec. 1, 8 p.m. WMU Bernhard Center,
Rooms 157–158.
Fractals: Mathematics and Science as
Art — Fractals are based on mathematical
equations that result in fantastic 2-dimensional images; they are sure to inspire
your imagination and curiosity! Through
Jan. 22, 2012.
CSI: Crime Scene Insects — This exhibit
dives into forensic entomology, the use of
insects such as flies, maggots and beetles,
to reveal critical details of a crime scene.
Through Jan. 1.
Sunday History Series — Tom Dietz, Curator of Research, and guest speakers will
discuss various topics. “The Big Village,”
Nov. 13, 1:30 p.m.
Planetarium Programs — The following
programs are planned. “Mayan Prophesies,” Mon., Wed., Fri., Sat., Sun. at 3 p.m.;
“Big,” Weekdays, 11 a.m., Sat., 1 p.m.,
Sun., 2 p.m.; “Starry Messenger,” Tues. &
Thur., 3 p.m., Sat., 2 p.m.
Nature
Kalamazoo Nature Center
381-1574
Creature Feature — See some of KNC’s
animals out from behind the glass with
handlers to answer your questions. Nov. 5
& 19, 12–1 p.m.
Fall Color Hike — Enjoy the colors of fall
during an educational hike in the woods.
Nov. 6, 2 p.m.
Kellogg Biological Station
671-2510
Birds & Beans — Join a bird walk followed by coffee and discussion. Nov. 9,
8:30–10 a.m. 12685 E. C Ave. near
Gull Lake.
Low rates. Local decisions.
There’s a lot to like about refinancing with Keystone.
If you’re looking to refinance, look to us. At Keystone, we want
to help you refinance now while rates are low. And as a local
community bank, we service our own loans and our experienced
lending staff is personally committed to assisting you with every
aspect of your mortgage. Your community is our community.
Visit us today.
It pays to bank local. Make the move.
Keystone’s Mortgage Loan Officers (Left to right)
Cindy Mount | Derek Naylor | Jeff Stoops
Visit us anytime at keystonebank.com,
or just stop by your local branch.
45
Foto Stop
Profile
Entries Wanted!
Photographer FRAN DWIGHT
says she sometimes just
has to get to nature — fast!
“A morning fog or winter
hoar frost waits for no
photographer,” she says. And
such was the case when she
shot this scene at Milham
Park on an October morning
in 2007. One autumn early
morning at her home in the
Edison neighborhood Fran
looked outside to see heavy fog
with the sun slicing sideways through the mist.
“I grabbed my camera, jumped in the car and
headed to the park, a quick five minutes away.”
Fran describes her walk along the north side of
the creek that day as becoming increasingly more
beautiful, with magic light and incredible colors.
Fran, a Kalamazoo native, is employed at
the accounting firm BDO USA located in the
beautifully restored Globe Building. “The walls
of our office serve as my
permanent gallery,” she
says. Currently Fran
is in a photography
partnership with
Brian Powers under
the name Kalamazoo
Photo Works, shooting
engagements, weddings,
senior portraits, and
other occasions. She says
Kalamazoo Photo Works
offers a journalistic
story-telling approach to
its wedding photography, and the partnership
has produced photos for brides and grooms in
Savannah, Ga., Estes Park, Colo., and Florida,
as well as locally.
To capture this landscape in one of
Kalamazoo’s best-known parks, Fran used a
Nikon D80 with an 18-135 Nikor lens and a focal
length of 80 mm. Her shutter speed was 1/80th
with an aperture of F-13 and ISO of 160.
0ȨɨȨȽȝɴɄɤɑȵȨȘȐ
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Photographers! Please submit
your favorite photograph to
Encore for consideration in
the photo centerfold feature.
Be it the wonders of the natural world in our area, a local
cityscape that causes fond
memories, or an individual
or group activity that seems
to speak of Kalamazoo-area
living, we’d like to see it.
We invite photographers
of all ages and abilities to
submit your photos for publication. Please e-mail editor@
encorekalamazoo.com or contact Midtown Gallery’s Terry
Nihart (midtownkalamazoo@
yahoo.com), who is assisting
with this photography feature. Please provide a short
rationale detailing why your
photo is representative of living here, along with personal
profile information and the
technical specifics of taking
the image you submit.
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KNI will continue to introduce area physicians to new
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So, when medical imaging is important to you or your
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Suzanne Sippel obituary

YOUTH ACTION PHOTO CONTEST

The Kalamazoo Visitor`s Guide

the OmniMedia PDF

the Impact Report as a PDF

Celtic Glasgow Camp 2013-3

June 19 2016 - Heritage Christian Reformed Church

Read the article here. - Southwest Michigan First