First Things

First Things

Something Intriguing

Olympic gold medalist to speak

The woman named the greatest female athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated for Women will speak at 6 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Portage Zhang Senior Center.

The talk by Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the long jump, is being hosted by the city of Portage in celebration of Black History Month.

Joyner-Kersee will discuss how she grew up in a challenging environment but found solace and purpose in sports. She attended UCLA, where she competed in the heptathlon and long jump. She won a silver medal in the heptathlon at the 1984 Olympics, gold medals in the heptathlon and long jump in the 1988 Olympics, and a gold medal in the heptathlon and a bronze in the long jump in the 1992 Olympics.

A question-and-answer session will follow her presentation, as will a book signing for her 1997 autobiography, A Kind of Grace. For those who do not have a copy of the book, limited quantities will be available for purchase with cash at the event.

The event is free. For more information, visit portagemi.gov/calendar.

Something Solo

Joe Hertler to perform at Bell's

Joe Hertler, frontman for Michigan's hippie-pop band Joe Hertler & the Rainbow Seekers, will take the stage by himself for a Feb. 2 performance at Bell's Eccentric Cafe. Hertler is a songwriter who plays guitar and sings. He will perform many songs from the band's discography

The seated show begins at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at Bell's General Store or at events.bellsbeer.com.

Something Interesting

Museum offers new exhibits

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum has three new exhibits to enjoy this month:

Ray Harryhausen: Miniature Models of the Silver Screen opened Jan. 25 and features more than 100 artifacts from the collection of the filmmaker. Harryhausen used stop-motion animation by posing small, sculpted creatures with movable limbs and filming them against a miniature backdrop, shooting each position one frame at a time. Later he developed Dynamation, an animation technique that makes the live-action actors in a film appear to interact with stopmotion creatures. This exhibit will run through April 27.

The Art of Advertising , running Feb. 8–Aug. 31, will highlight nostalgic signs and advertising materials of area businesses, from thermometers, mirrors and cookbooks to corkscrews, matches and letter openers. The materials are from the 1800s to the present time.

ColorfulCollectionsoftheKalamazooValleyMuseum , running from Feb. 1–Aug. 31, features items in a rainbow of hues of from the museum's permanent collection.

The museum is open 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon–4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, visit kalamazoomuseum.org.

Something Icy

Vicksburg holds IceBURG Festival

Vicksburg will celebrate winter in all its frozen glory with an inaugural festival that includes professional ice carving, a snowsuit fashion show and winter-themed movies.

The IceBURG Festival, hosted by the Vicksburg Area Chamber of Commerce, will run from 2–6 p.m. Feb. 22 in downtown Vicksburg and will also include a grilled cheese contest and crafts.

Most of the festival activities are free. For a complete list, visit the festival's Facebook page at tinyurl.com/ iceBURGfest.

Something Delicious

Events spotlight local dining, beverages

Two weeklong events happening this month provide an opportunity for folks to explore the dining and drinking options in the greater Kalamazoo area.

The first, Kalamazoo Craft Beverage Week 2025, is being held Feb. 1–8 and spotlights the area's thriving craft beverage industry by featuring local brewers, distillers and winemakers at events hosted by local restaurants and retail establishments. For more information, visit discoverkalamazoo.com/craft-beverage-week. Also, check out John Liberty's Five Faves feature in the January issue of Encore, online at encorekalamazoo.com/five-faves-6.

The second event, Greater Kalamazoo Restaurant Week, takes place Feb. 20–March 1 and will feature 16 participating restaurants that have created special fixed-price menus. There will also be a cocktail competition with bartenders vying for their concoctions to be crowned the Best Cocktail. To see participating venues and menus, visit kalamazoorestaurantweek.com.