Encore January 2017

Fellowship for Foreign Students

January 2017

Great Works Of Dance

Meet Steve Keto

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

STEPHEN CARVER Carrying on a family legacy at the Civic

up front encore

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2 | Encore OCTOBER 2015

“The day of the crash, I broke my pelvis in multiple places, herniated three discs, broke four ribs — for every kind of bone in my body, it felt like I broke at least one of them. For the first couple days, the doctors were concerned I wouldn’t make it. Then they said there was a good chance I might not walk again. Or even be able to feed myself. I needed to have extensive surgeries, and it took close to a dozen specialists, but I am able to walk and care for myself again and do just about everything I could before. I’ve done really, really well, and I honestly believe it’s because everybody at Bronson was so careful and worked so well together.”

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Editor's Note encore

Fellowship for Foreign Students

January 2017

Great Works Of Dance

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

There’s so much to talk about.

The greater Kalamazoo area is

so full of great stories and great people that, without fail, we have more of those every month than we have room for in the magazine.

When we took the helm of Encore five years ago, we wanted to make sure it was a magazine that reflected this community.

We put our focus on stories that celebrate all that is unique and local — people, businesses, arts, food, culture and the good works so many are doing to make our cities, neighborhoods, schools and quality of life better. We’ve infused new energy and talent into our writing as well as into the quality and quantity of the beautiful images that grace our pages.

The response from so many of you — our readers and community members — has been overwhelmingly positive and has affirmed that we are succeeding in those endeavors.

But one thing has also become clear: There’s a lot more for us to talk about.

If we are to truly reflect our community, we also have to address those things about our community that we don’t necessarily "celebrate." This year Encore will not only continue to highlight the best things about our corner of The Mitten, but we will also explore some of those issues with which we struggle. These are not happy topics — poverty, human trafficking, racism — but in exploring them we have found not only that there are rays of light, but that our community is one that is caring, compassionate and concerned. And those are stories worth telling.

Marie Lee Editor

Meet Steve Keto

STEPHEN CARVER Carrying on a family legacy at the Civic

Publisher

encore publications, inc.

Editor

marie lee

Designer

alexis stubelt

Photographer brian k. powers

Contributing Writers

olga bonfiglio, andrew domino, lisa mackinder, kara norman, emily townsend

Copy Editor/Poetry Editor margaret deritter

Advertising Sales tiffany andrus krieg lee celeste statler

Distribution

mark thompson

Office Coordinator hope smith

Encore Magazine is published 12 times yearly. Copyright 2017, Encore Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Editorial, circulation and advertising correspondence should be sent to:

www.encorekalamazoo.com 117 W. Cedar St. Suite A, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 Telephone: (269) 383-4433 Fax: (269) 383-9767 Email: Publisher@encorekalamazoo.com The staff at Encore welcomes written comment from readers, and articles and poems for submission with no obligation to print or return them. To learn more about us or to comment, visit encorekalamazoo.com. Encore subscription rates: one year $36, two years $70. Current single issue and newsstand $4, $10 by mail. Back issues $6, $12 by mail. Advertising rates on request. Closing date for space is 28 days prior to publication date. Final date for print-ready copy is 21 days prior to publication date.

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

4 | Encore JANUARY 2017

encore Contributors

Olga Bonfiglio Olga profiled two very different individuals for this issue. In our cover story, she talks with Stephen Carver, a hometown boy who has returned to the area to take the helm of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre (the third generation of his family to do so). Speaking of family legacies, Olga also profiles Laurel Ofstein, a professor who researches the dynamics of family businesses.

Andrew Domino

A frequent contributor to Encore, Andrew often brings our readers stories about topics that are quirky or offbeat. This month is no different. He introduces us to Frankie, a televised creation by local artist Kenjji Jumanne-Marshall that features horror and heaps of macabre humor.

Lisa Mackinder

Lisa has been spending a lot of time with students lately. In this issue, she explores special volunteer-run luncheons at WMU that promote fellowship among international students. In addition, she tells readers about the annual High School Choral Festival that brings hundreds of student singers to our area.

Kara Norman

For this issue, Kara wrote about the WMU dance department's upcoming Winter Gala, which celebrates 20 years of bringing major dance works to the stage. Kara had an “aha” moment when dance department chair Megan Slayter said the field is misunderstood as being exclusive. “It’s just the opposite,” Slayter says. “Everyone has a body, everyone knows what it feels like to move.” See more of Kara’s writing at karanorman.com.

Emily Townsend Emily met Steve Keto on the trails of the Kleinstuck Preserve and knew instantly he was ideal for our Back Story feature. She knew he loved the outdoors but it wasn’t until she interviewed him that she learned his passion for ecological systems is what drives him to educate all members of the community. For more of Emily’s writing, check out her website at soundandscrawl.com.

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2 1 1 s o u t h ro s e st r e e t k a l a m a z o o , m i 4 9 0 0 7 g r e e n l e a f t ru st. c o m 2 69. 3 8 8 .9 8 0 0 8 0 0 . 4 1 6 . 4 5 5 5

January

CONTENTS 2017

FEATURE Stephen Carver Comes Home The Civic Theatre's new executive director carries on his family’s legacy

24

DEPARTMENTS 4 From the Editor

5 Contributors

Up Front 8 First Things — Happenings in SW Michigan 12 Horror Show — Frankie’s creators offer a little macabre humor after midnight

16

Good Works

A Warm Welcome — International students find fellowship at weekly luncheons

21 Enterprise

All in the Family — WMU researcher explores challenges and rewards of family enterprises

46 Back Story

Meet Steve Keto — This “steward of the land” promotes nature with passion

ARTS

30 Glimpsing Great Works

Daring dance performances staged for Winter Gala

35 ‘Important for the World’

High School Choral Festival teaches and enlightens 38 Events of Note 43 Poetry

On the cover: Stephen Carver, executive director, on the stage of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre. Photograph by Brian Powers.

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First Things encore

First Things Something Memorable Little River Band and Ambrosia take us back

So, do you feel ready to engage in some “Reminiscing”? Or maybe you just want a “Cool Change”? Perhaps you’d just like to hear “Lady” one more time, with feeling?

Well, thank you, Miller Auditorium, because you can get all that — and more — when Little River Band performs there Jan. 21.

Win two tickets to see This Australian band was a ’70s radio staple, with Little River Band!

11 hit songs breaking the U.S. Top 40, including “Lonesome Loser,” “The Night Owls” and those classics Little River Band was the first concert mentioned above. The band will perform those tunes one of our contributors attended. Who along with new material. was it? Identify that person correctly and As an added treat, Ambrosia, another iconic, chartyou can win a pair of tickets for the Jan. 21 topping ’70s group, will join LRB to sing hits including performance of LRB! “How Much I Feel” and “The Biggest Part of Me.” Email your answer by Jan. 16 to editor@ The concert begins at 8 p.m., and tickets are $35encorekalamazoo.com. $65. For tickets, visit millerauditorium.com or call Not familiar with our contributors? Visit 387-2300. encorekalamazoo.com/about-us/currentcontributors.

One winner’s name will be drawn from the correct entries on Jan. 19.

Something Dramatic

A poetic drama about converting hatred to love The staging of The Women of Lockerbie Jan. 27—Feb. 12 by WMU's University Theatre offers world-weary audiences a moving and hopeful tale of the triumph of love over hate.

The 2003 play, which was inspired by the tragic 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that killed 270 people, is written in the structure of a Greek tragedy. In the play, the women of Lockerbie, Scotland, are fighting the U.S. government to obtain the clothing of the victims found in the plane's wreckage. The women, determined to convert an act of hatred into an act of love, want to wash the clothes of the dead and return them to the victims’ families.

The play will be presented at WMU’s York Arena at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27–28, Feb. 3–4 and 9–11; and 2 p.m. Feb. 5 and 12. Tickets are $10$20 and available at tickets.millerauditorium.com.

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encore First Things

Something Visual

Story quilts depict African-American history Nearly 70 handcrafted story quilts providing a fabric narrative on four centuries of African-American history will be on display at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, 230 N. Rose St., starting this month.

The exhibit And Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations opens Jan. 21 and runs until June 4. Story quilts are an art form that records, in fabric, events of personal or historical significance. The quilts in this exhibit, created by the Women of Color Quilters Network, give voice to histories of African-American men and women while drawing attention to social challenges America continues to face today.

In conjunction with the exhibit, Donna Odom, founder and executive director of Society for History and Racial Equity (SHARE), will speak about Michigan African American quilting styles and techniques at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in the museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

For more information, including museum hours, visit kalamazoomuseum.org.

Something Good

Terry Johnston

Celebrate at the Winter Gala What better way to shake off those January doldrums than to get all dressed up with somewhere to go? That somewhere would be the annual Winter Gala on Jan. 28 at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 314 S. Park St. This annual awards ceremony and fundraising event for the Kalamazoo Gay/ Lesbian Resource Center offers music and dancing, food and drinks, and awards for people and businesses that have worked to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals or to advance the cause of LGBT rights. In addition, the event features a silent auction of donated goods and services from area businesses.

The event runs from 7–11 p.m. Tickets are $75 and available online at kglrc.org/ winter-gala or by calling 349-4234.

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First Things encore

Something Artistic

Masterworks highlights ceramics Here’s an exhibit that will give you

a new appreciation for that custom ceramic beer stein on your shelf.

Out of the Fire: Masterworks of Ceramics, which opens at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Jan. 14, highlights how ceramics evolved from functional objects into a beautiful, unique medium for sculpted works of art.

The exhibit, which runs until March 12, features works by noted ceramicists Peter Voulkos, Ruth Duckworth, Rudy Autio, Paul Soldner, Don Reitz, and Otto and Vivika Heino.

The KIA will present two ARTbreak programs in conjunction with the exhibit. The video Paul Soldner: Playing with Fire will be shown Jan. 17, and Julie Devers, an instructor at the KIA’s Kirk Newman Art School, will present a talk, A Closer Look at "Out of the Fire," Jan. 31.

Both programs begin at noon in the KIA Auditorium.

For more information, visit kiarts.org.

Something Sporting

Harlem Globetrotters bounce into Wings In a show that’s part entertainment and part basketball artistry,

the Harlem Globetrotters will present their ball-handling wizardry at 7 p.m. Jan. 18 at Wings Event Center.

Now in its 91st season, the team has entertained hundreds of millions of fans with its iconic basketball skills that combine sport, skill and a lot of humor. And the show’s not just presented by men — the team boasts two world-class women players as well.

Tickets are $19-$65 and available at wingseventcenter.com/events.

For more information, call 345-1125.

10 | Encore JANUARY 2017

encore First Things

Something Stellar

Learn the basics of stargazing Admit it, you look up into the night sky and

see … well, you don’t really know what you’re seeing.

You can get some answers through “Introduction to Amateur Astronomy,” a fivepart lecture series at the Portage District Library that begins this month.

The series, presented by the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society, will begin with “Our Place Among the Infinities” on Jan. 21, followed by “Discovering the Night Sky” Jan. 28, “Binocular Basics” Feb. 11, “Telescope Tutorial” Feb. 25 and “The Art of Astrophotography” March 18. All sessions are set for 1—3 p.m. at the library.

And organizers promise that if you attend all five sessions, you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion and be a full-fledged amateur astronomer.

Admission is free, but registration is required.

To register, visit kasonline.org/amastro.

Something Musical

Hear the Kalamazoo Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra Here’s a history lesson: Kalamazoo had several mandolin orchestras in the late 1800s through the early 1900s. Now, nearly a century later, we have one again, and you can hear the group perform Jan. 8.

The Kalamazoo Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra will perform at 2 p.m. at The Fountains, 535 S. Riverview Drive, Parchment. The event is presented by the Parchment Community Library as part of its “Second Sundays Live” series.

The Kalamazoo Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra is a plucked string ensemble that plays mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, guitars and bass and performs a wide variety of music, from classical to pop to ethnic tunes.

Admission is free and doors open at 1:30 pm.

For more information, visit parchmentlibrary.org or call 343-7747.

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up front encore

Midnight at the Movies

Frankie is a horror show with a Kalamazoo twist Andrew Domino

Courtesy

by

When it comes to legendary creatures of the night, there’s

Frankenstein’s monster, Freddy Krueger, and now, in Kalamazoo, Frankie.

Frankie is the human brain that’s the star of a show called Frankie on Kalamazoo’s Public Media Network Channel 188, where local moviemakers and TV show creators can debut their horror-themed works. In the show, Frankie is sometimes placed in the disembodied head of one of the hosts. Sometimes it’s floating inside a jar. Frankie is also the subject of a comic book series that ties into the TV show.

Both are the brainchildren of Kenjji Jumanne-Marshall, a comic book artist from Kalamazoo.

Frankie, the TV show, is similar to classic horror anthology TV shows like Tales from the Crypt and Elvira’s Movie Macabre, where a monstrous character introduces horror stories made for the screen.

On Frankie, Jacqueline Hancock of Ann Arbor plays Frankie (under the screen name “Jacqueline Hyde”), alongside Kalamazoo resident Esther Tuttle’s mad scientist character Dr. Esther.

12 | Encore JANUARY 2017

Top: Clockwise from top left, Adam Hancock, Jacqueline Hyde (aka Jacqueline Hancock), Michael Thayer, Esther Tuttle, Kenjji Jumanne-Marshall, Neil Bryer and John Freeman create Frankie. Bottom: The lead character, Frankie, is a human brain.

Opposite page: Jumanne-Marshall shoots a scene with Tuttle.

The Experience You Need. The Dedication You Deserve.

Jumanne-Marshall says each episode sprinkles the Frankie and Dr. Esther segments between four or five short films made by Michigan filmmakers and one or two music videos from “psychobilly” bands — think early Elvis Presley-meets-Dracula. Frankie has featured a few local psychobilly bands, like the Mushmen and Drink Their Blood from Kalamazoo and Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish from Grand Rapids.

Hancock and Tuttle break up the scary movies with jokes and bloody special effects.

For example, in the “Feeding Frankie” episode, Dr. Esther cooks up a brain. Makeup artist Megan McGregor of Novi, who is developing an online series of horror-themed makeup tutorials, works with the Frankie crew. With

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gross-out costumes and some foul language, Frankie is definitely not for children.

Frankie began airing in 2015, and new episodes are launched in October to tie into the Halloween season. The films, music videos and Frankie segments of each episode are mixed together in new combinations throughout the year.

Jan 21 ESCAPE From CHRISTIANA: A SOULFUL COMPLICATION

Funding provided by

VISIT

Back in the ‘Golden Age” of radio, weekly radio programs brought families to their living rooms to listen to adventurous, mysterious and comical tales.

Dedicated to promoting this rich history, All Ears Theatre performs newly scripted radio programs for live audiences, complete with old school sound effects. Shows are later broadcast on 102.1 WMUK-FM. Performances are at 6:00 pm at the First Baptist Church and are FREE TO THE PUBLIC.

KalamazooArts.org

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up front encore

“The shows continue to change, even though some of it may have been shown before,” Jumanne-Marshall says.

Foundations of Frankie Jumanne-Marshall, a graduate of Western Michigan University, started out as a comic book artist, publishing his own horror comic, Witch Doctor, about a supernatural investigator in New Orleans.

Jumanne-Marshall decided to stay with the horror theme, providing

“I like the idea of broadcast horror,” he says. “You need to watch it at a certain attention level. I want you to be locked in, not distracted with other things.”

Getting the word out Jumanne-Marshall has been promoting Frankie at horror conventions in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana in the last few years. These are gatherings of horror movie fans where visitors can get autographs from film stars and buy merchandise based on their favorite characters. He says he wants to keep Frankie focused on horror conventions instead of appearing at more popular comic book or gaming conventions because the show is aiming to build its core audience. Serious horror fans, the Clockwise from left: Frankie is Kenjji Jumanne-Marshall’s brainchild; Esther Tuttle stars as Dr. Esther on the show, while Jacqueline Hyde plays Frankie.

artwork for the DVD Watch Frankie release of MTV’s Teen When: 10:30 p.m. Fridays; 2 a.m.

Wolf series. His next Saturdays comic project was Where: Public Media Network Channel Frankie. It blends the 188 (Charter), Channel 99 (AT&T U-verse) classic “pinup” look of Find more info at facebook.com/ female models from FRANKIEtv/ and publicmedianet.org. the 1940s and 1950s with over-the-top horror movies. Jumanne-Marshall turned to local artists and models like Hancock and Tuttle to complete Frankie.

“I envision Frankie as a super-female character,” he says. “A lot of horror deals with victimization of women. We want to make women feel comfortable with what they’re doing with horror-themed entertainment.”

In October, the show introduced Madeline, a Marilyn Monroe-like actress played by Leena Mynx Allure. She’s a character JumanneMarshall says re-emphasizes that Frankie is about women in horror.

“That’s all Frankie will ever be,” Jumanne-Marshall says. “I always thought this was something that was missing (from the horror genre), and we try to give the audience a little of it.”

The comic book Frankie is still in development, Jumanne-Marshall says. He is working on short animated pieces to add into Frankie episodes and expects those to start airing in January. Most of Team Frankie’s efforts are on the TV show now. The hour-long program airs at 10:30 Friday nights and again at 2 a.m. on Saturdays. The latenight weekend slot is perfect for a horror show that’s a throwback to the classic days of monster movies, Jumanne-Marshall says.

14 | Encore JANUARY 2017

kind who would attend a horror convention, are a “small pond” of people, Jumanne-Marshall says, but they’re often looking for something new. That makes them perfect to introduce to Frankie.

Jumanne-Marshall regularly creates his work at the Public Media Network offices, at 300 S. Kalamazoo Mall, though he uses his own props (lots of fake blood, for one thing). The short films that the show features often come from local filmmakers, including Infinite Nightmare and Backseat Driver, created by Dominic Smith of Kalamazoo, but Frankie has had contributions from moviemakers statewide, such as Corbis Films in Detroit. Several directors whose works appeared in last year’s episodes have created new movies they’ve submitted to the show.

The sequences with the Team Frankie characters are usually about 15 to 20 minutes of each episode, although the crew usually ends up shooting an hour of material — plenty of content for future episodes.

“It’s the lighter side between those scares,” says Jumanne-Marshall.

“It’s a place to explore ideas; we love first-time filmmakers. The more we can show (movies) from regular people, the better.”

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Good works encore

A Warm Welcome

International students find fellowship through weekly luncheons by

Lisa Mackinder

W

elcoming.

That word best describes the atmosphere at weekly luncheons for international students at Western Michigan University that have been put together by volunteers for more than 20 years.

The International Student Fellowship (ISF) luncheons, held at Kanley Chapel every Thursday during the spring and fall semesters, provide an opportunity for WMU international students to gather, talk and share a meal.

“I made a commitment to myself and for the university that I would do everything I could to help promote a positive experience for the international students whom we meet at the university,” says WMU campus pastor Ron DeYoung, who serves as point person for the lunches by connecting with churches, monitoring preparation, supplementing it where and when needed, providing the set-up for lunch, and connecting with and picking up donations from local bakeries. “My desire was and is that international students will say they were treated well, with respect and kindness, while they studied at WMU.” As DeYoung moves about the room offering heartfelt smiles and warm greetings to everyone, it’s easy to see that his affability helps establish this friendly environment.

This atmosphere of hospitality, respect and belonging mirrors ISF’s mission as a campus organization that seeks to develop followers and disciples of Christ.

'Hooked' When ISF needed assistance with the luncheons, it tapped DeYoung, a Christian Reformed Church pastor who had served three churches, one as team pastor for Christian education outreach and two as senior pastor. He agreed to help out with the luncheons for one semester. That was 20 years ago.

He says he became “hooked” after realizing he could meet students from all over the world. It was a wonderful way for him to learn and to also share his own passions, he says. His wife, Fran DeYoung, also became involved and still helps with the luncheons each week by coordinating food. It’s apparent that, like her husband’s, Fran’s openheartedness puts the students at ease.

“Sometimes students have become part of our family while they are here in Kalamazoo,” Ron DeYoung says.

The international luncheons were started by another Christian Reformed campus minister and have been going on for decades, DeYoung says. The CRC passed the responsibility to Intervarsity

16 | Encore JANUARY 2017

encore Good works

Brian Powers

Christian Fellowship about 20 years ago, and, after DeYoung came on board, together they named the international ministry the International Student Fellowship.

Back in 1996, 25 international students attended the weekly luncheons. Now that number often reaches 200. The Haenicke Institute for Global Education says that there are a total of 1,833 international students at WMU. It takes no event promotion to bring students to the luncheons — only word of mouth. Professors often make an announcement about the lunches at the start of the school year, and students who have attended the lunches will tell other students.

All-volunteer It takes approximately 24 casseroles, 12 salads and six dozen fruits to feed the group, and six gallons of a beverage to quench their

Left: Pastor Laura Osborne, far left, reaches for food while Pastor Ron DeYoung chats with an attendee at the luncheon. Above: Osborne talks with one of the students at the luncheon.

thirst. So that students from every culture have something they can eat, the casseroles are of chicken, beef and vegetarian varieties.

Between 18 and 20 churches from the area volunteer to purchase and prepare the food for the luncheons, DeYoung says. The ISF also receives donations of doughnuts and baked goods from area bakeries. A team of four volunteers serves the meal and does cleanup every week.

On the weeks when there isn’t a volunteering church to prepare the meal, the DeYoungs do it themselves. It’s a task that might sound daunting, but it’s one that Ron DeYoung believes gives him the best position of all pastors.

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Brian Powers

Above: WMU students Fengyn Yang and Hong (Juniper) Zhu discuss schoolwork at the luncheon. Center: Pastor Ron DeYoung enjoys talking to a student. Right: It takes 24 casseroles, 12 salads and six dozen fruits, all prepared and served by volunteers, to feed the crowds that come for the luncheon.

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“I believe Jesus came not to be served, but to serve,” he says. “This ministry serves students with the greatest amount of genuine, authentic hospitality. My wife and I like to serve people freely and generously. We feel like we are the hands and feet of Jesus to international students.”

In a world of division and conflict, DeYoung says, the luncheons bring students from all over the world together. These students are able to sit down with each other and get to know each other — something that wouldn’t happen back in their own countries. “We hear students tell us this over and over again,” he says.

Eleven years ago, DeYoung and international student Maran Subramain, from Malaysia, had an idea for a special lunch.

They called it The American Thanksgiving Celebration. Subramain, who worked in WMU’s International Student Activities Office at the time and was putting together WMU’s International Education Week, told the Dean of Students Diane Anderson about their idea. She approved and gave the ISF a stipend to cover food for the event.

“Students were talking about it well into the spring semester (last year), talking about the food itself. They were just blown away,” says Laura Osborne, a part-time campus pastor at WMU who has taken on some of DeYoung’s responsibilities for the lunches

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Good works encore

and will assume more in the coming year, in addition to developing relationships and connecting with students.

The American Thanksgiving Celebration is still going strong and has become a favorite event for international students. Held the week before Thanksgiving, the meal includes traditional Thanksgiving fare as well as vegetarian options.

The ISF staff designs placemats that depict 12

things that characterize this American holiday.

They encourage students to talk about similar traditions, DeYoung says, such as the Chinese New Year, which is built upon the idea of thankfulness. He describes the entire event as interactive.

Osborne finds the event very informative.

“Sometimes I think we learn more than they do,” she says.

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Students from a variety of world religions, students who don’t want to talk about religion and students who are all over the board about “Sometimes I think religion come to the we learn more than weekly luncheons, they do.” says Osborne, who — Pastor Laura was ordained in the Osborne, Volunteer Reformed Church and, in addition to her work with ISF, serves as minister to children and families at Third Christian Reformed Church in Kalamazoo. International students from different academic programs on campus, such as economics and engineering, are able to interact with others outside of their department bubble, she says.

“There’s not that [type of interaction] happening much on campus, and one of the great things that we’ve seen is that small communities have been built out of our lunches,” Osborne says. Many students from WMU’s Center for English Language and Culture for International Students (CELCIS) attend the lunches. CELCIS offers instruction in English as a second language for non-native speakers, and its students often come to the ISF desiring partners for English conversation. The ISF has English conversation volunteers and wants to expand this area in the future, but first it requires more American students who will meet regularly with international students.

“We have a lot of things ready to go when these students become available,” DeYoung says.

The ISF is also looking to the future.

Because DeYoung has “surpassed retirement years,” he and other volunteers are searching for people to lead the next chapter of this ministry.

“To say the least, I sometimes wonder why many are not competing to take my place,” he says. “I have loved the privilege to be part of this ministry for 20 years, and I still feel fresh and excited about it.”

encore Enterprise

All in the Family

Researcher examines challenges, rewards of family businesses Olga Bonfiglio

A

family business isn’t just a career. It’s a way of life in which business owners are able to be their own boss, share a common history and identity, pass on the business to future generations and invest in the local community.

Family businesses, defined as businesses that comprise two or more members of the same family who work together and control at least 15 percent of a company, are at the core of the American economy, representing 62 percent of the U.S. workforce and 35 percent of the companies on the S&P 500.

While some of these businesses — such as Ford Motor Co., Wal-Mart, Amway, Meijer, Gordon Food Service and Stryker — have grown into global corporations, most remain small and make an economic impact in their communities through employment opportunities, sourcing for goods or services and contributions to charities.

It is partly this ubiquitous nature of family businesses that attracted the interest of Laurel Ofstein, assistant professor of management at Western Michigan University.

Ofstein became interested in researching the phenomenon of family businesses when she was assigned to teach a course in family business during her graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“I was struck then, and continue to be, by how many of the students I was teaching came from family businesses and how complicated their decisions were to enter the business or not,” Ofstein says. “I have been fascinated ever since to better understand how family businesses rely on their close relationships that have been established over many generations to drive firm strategy and innovation.”

Brian Powers

by

Laurel Ofstein, WMU assistant professor of management, researches the legacy of family businesses, such as local retailer George’s Appliance, which is in its third generation of operation by the Miyagawa family. w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 21

Enterprise ENCORE

In 2012, Ofstein collaborated with the Family Owned Business Institute at Grand Valley State University to conduct research on family businesses, including looking at the effects of the external environment on them. In 2014, she coauthored a study illustrating the strong lineage of family businesses thriving in Michigan.

From her research Ofstein found that family businesses typically start small, with family members doing all the work.

Subsequent generations usually grow the business and then need to add workers from outside the family.

Family businesses tend to expose themselves to less risk than non-family entrepreneurial businesses, and family businesses borrow far less in order to expand.

During down times, family businesses tend to ride the wave better and have fewer layoffs.

“If they get close to layoffs, family members prefer to take cuts in their own salaries rather than lose their workers,” says Ofstein. “This comes from a philosophy that if everyone sacrifices a little bit, everyone gets to keep his or her job. Even non-family employees become part of the extended family in this type of business.”

All businesses need to innovate in order to keep going, and family businesses are no exception, says Ofstein. Family business owners tend to rely on their suppliers, clients and customers for information about changing market needs, and they also attend conferences and workshops through their respective trade organizations.

For example, Ofstein says, Schupan and Sons, a third-generation, family-owned metal and plastics business in Kalamazoo, started out as an industrial scrap metal company in the first generation. It now has an additional emphasis on electronics and beverage container recycling, as well as aluminum and plastic distribution and fabrication throughout the Midwest.

“This is a typical development,” says Ofstein. “Family businesses start out local,

22 | Encore JANUARY 2017

Kalamazoo Public Library

Start small

and in later generations they go to more regional or national markets.”

The next generation Each year, Ofstein teaches a course in family business management at WMU that looks at the continuity challenges faced by family businesses, including family interactions, communication, conflict resolution and succession planning.

“A lot of my students who take the course come from family businesses, and they are trying to decide if they want to pursue that route for themselves,” she notes.

Most family businesses are in the categories of manufacturing, wholesale/ retail, construction or restaurants/food services. However, not many young people are going into these fields, so that may impede ownership succession at these businesses, says Ofstein.

Owners of family businesses, such as Kalamazoo’s Morrison Jewelers, now in its 82nd year of ownership by the same family, and Gilmore Brothers Department Store, which the Gilmore family operated for 118 years, need passion to be successful, says Ofstein.

Many founders dream their progeny will take over the business. However, today’s younger generation often sees such a prospect as undesirable. In fact, 67 percent of family businesses do not survive beyond the first generation, and only about 12 percent make it to the third generation, says Ofstein.

“The younger generation has seen what it takes to run the business,” she says. “The parents may have been too busy to go to their baseball games or dance performances.

They were never home, and there were few vacations. They don’t want to repeat that way of life.”

So how will family businesses thrive in the future?

encore Enterprise

Ofstein advises students whose families own businesses to work elsewhere for two to five years before they decide to enter the family business. Research shows that people can be more successful in the family business if they decide to pursue it after outside experience.

From the collection of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum

“The younger generation usually brings in best practices from their outside business experience and are then able to contribute a more unique perspective,” Ofstein says.

Experience outside the family business also gives the younger generation the necessary confidence and self-awareness that a business requires as well as the time and space to decide whether or not they really want to be the next generation in the business.

“When they work elsewhere, they are being evaluated objectively by someone else instead of the family,” says Ofstein. “They learn about their strengths and weaknesses, which will mean more to them than when it comes from their parents.”

Ofstein says young people should choose their own careers. “That way they don’t feel obligated to family or guilty if they choose not to continue the business,” she says.

“Family businesses are built and maintained by entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs need to feel passionate about their work in order to be successful.”

Ofstein’s course also teaches students how to achieve professionalism in family business operations.

Going pro “Some family businesses are more loose and relaxed environments, which can be an attraction to family members as well as non-family employees,” says Ofstein. “But certain things need to be formalized, like job descriptions, policies and even estate planning so future generations know what to do with the business.”

A lot of turmoil can result from events like an owner’s unexpected incapacity. Without a plan, the business can go into crisis and the family can be faced with difficult decisions that may require time and reflection.

Another problem that occurs with family businesses is the older generation’s hesitancy to cede decision-making power to the younger generation, says Ofstein.

“Such instances make it harder for the second or third generation to establish itself,” says Ofstein. “The skills needed for the first generation are different from those needed by subsequent generations. They might need a strategy person or a finance person or a marketing person that the first generation didn’t need.”

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Brian Powers 24 | Encore JANUARY 2017

Home Again Stephen Carver carries on his family's legacy at the Civic Theatre story by

Olga Bonfiglio

The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre looks the same

as it did almost 90 years ago and has the same purpose and quality of product too. And now it has a familiar name at the helm. Again.

Stephen Carver took on the role of executive director last spring, following in the footsteps of his father, James C. Carver, who ran the theater for 38 years, and his grandparents Norman and Louise Carver, who were among the founders of the Civic Players.

Carver took over the job from Kristen Chesak, who is now the executive director of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.

The 55-year-old Carver has trod this stage before. He grew up on the “back bench” of the historic theater and learned the “family business” from his father, until he decided to be an actor in his own right.

After Carver earned a degree in fine arts and theater from Denison University, in Granville, Ohio, in 1983, he went to Hollywood. Among his many credits are appearances on television and in movies, including as a borg in seven episodes of Star Trek: Next Generation, as a policeman in Liar Liar with Jim Carrey, and roles in The Golden Girls, Diagnosis Murder and Ellen.

Carver has also directed 30 plays, worked in radio and television production and cofounded with actor and comedian Steve Carell

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the Skyline Theatre Company in Chicago.

Carver also served as the company’s artistic director. For the past 12 years, Carver led the Longmont Theatre Company, in Longmont, Colorado.

“It’s a life, not a career,” says Carver. “That’s show business.”

'A better choice'

Brian Powers

So why would he choose community theater in a small southwestern Michigan town far away from the Hollywood limelight?

Quite frankly, Carver says, he found Hollywood to be an endless routine of auditioning for a role, playing it and moving on to the next gig. Community theater requires more of an ongoing commitment, he says. It involves five weeks of rehearsal and creative work before a show opens, three to four weeks of running the show and a continuous commitment to actors, volunteers, donors and patrons throughout the year, he says.

“For me, community theater was a better choice,” Carver says. “My contribution to the Civic is focused on creating a sense of community within our organization and its outreach to Kalamazoo.”

26 | Encore JANUARY 2017

“It’s a place where the community learns the craft of live theater, but it also provides them with an opportunity to build selfesteem and interpersonal skills,” says Carver.

The Civic certainly feels like home to Carver.

He notes that things around the theater haven’t changed much since he was a boy. The marble floors are still there, as is the furniture, which will soon receive an upholstering update. The stage is still Broadway-style, with a complete fly system and numerous trapdoors. The murals in the green room are the same. So are the dressing rooms, but the lights are now LEDs.

Retaining tradition

Opposite page: Top: Stephen Carver sits on the "back bench” of the Civic Theatre where, as a kid, he spent many a night watching shows. Below: Stephen Carver, in the photo at far right, stands in the same pose as two of his predecessors: grandfather Norman Carver (far left) and father: James C. Carver.

Above: James C. Carver ran the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre for 38 years.

As the Civic’s executive director, Carver oversees 36 staff members and 1,085 volunteers, a total that is equivalent to 80 fulltime employees. These volunteers include not only actors but ushers, ticket takers, costumers,

painters and electrical workers as well as backstage crews that run sound or lights or manage props for each show.

The Civic also runs an Academy of Theatre Arts, which provides theater classes and workshops for all ages. Its Civic Youth Theatre trains youngsters from age 9 to high school seniors in all aspects of theater production.

What is most remarkable about the Civic, says Carver, is that actors, crew and professional staff all regard it as a home where they feel a real sense of belonging.

“The Civic has done a wonderful job keeping the look and feel of the original building,” says Carver. “As technology changes, the Civic has gone the extra mile to disguise the modernization. Even though we are a state-of-the art theater, it still feels like the auditorium of the early 1930s.”

In the theater’s basement is a kitchen stocked with china and silverware purchased from the Gilmore Brothers Department Store back when Carver’s grandparents managed the theater. The original stove is still there, but Carver plans to replace it so that homecooked meals on real plates can be prepared for cast and crew during productions, just as they were long ago by volunteer cooks — and co-founder Howard Chenery himself.

“That just makes it special,” says Carver.

“It’s part of treating everyone like family, which is a longtime tradition at the Civic.”

The theater was started in 1929, and its first home was the auditorium of the former Lincoln Junior High School (now Lincoln International Studies School). In 1929, Dr. W.E. Upjohn bought the house on the theater’s current site and helped build the Civic with Howard Chenery, who was the drama coach at Kalamazoo Central High School.

Right from the start, the Civic involved a community effort. Among the theater’s

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founders, in addition to Upjohn, Chenery, and Norman and Louise Carver, were Dorothy U. Dalton; Arthur Kohl and Frances Hall Kohl, who were former members of the Wright Players Stock Company; and Dr. Allan Hoben, then-president of Kalamazoo College. Their contributions helped to set the stage for many years of high artistic quality and performance at the Civic, which made it a major cultural institution in Southwest Michigan, and it is still one of the premier community theaters in America, Stephen Carver says.

“For me, the business of community theater is a family business. It’s what we talked about since I was 6 years old. It was here that I appeared on stage and learned how to direct and act as well as to do staging, lighting, set design and recruit volunteer pools. This was my education.”

Norman Carver was hired to oversee the building. He later became the Civic’s first business manager. And so intent was Upjohn’s resolve that the “happy use of leisure time, to adult education, to cultural life, and to the widest civic use” be the mission of the Civic, that he secured the life of the building in perpetuity by creating an endowment.

“The legacy of the theater is very, very important to me,” says Stephen Carver. “My generation is probably the last of those who knew the founders directly, and it’s important for us to tell the story of the Civic.”

Among those stories is that Upjohn’s ulterior motive behind founding the theater was that he wanted his daughter, Dorothy U. Dalton, to return home from New York City, where she was a stage actress.

“I don’t know if it’s true or not,” says Carver, “but it makes for a nice story and a legacy that has lasted almost 90 years.”

Carver relates another story about a Carver family Thanksgiving dinner, when Irving S. Gilmore, one of the theater’s generous benefactors, brought oysters.

“What this story symbolizes is that the early founders were very connected to each other like a family,” says Carver. “They had holiday dinners together, socialized, took theater trips, and vacationed together. They also continued to serve the Civic throughout the rest of their lives.”

Why now?

However, many people may still ask the question: Why Stephen Carver and why now, after he’s been away for 35 years?

28 | Encore JANUARY 2017

Norman F. Carver Jr.

— Stephen Carver

Stephen Carver's grandparents, Norman and Louise Carver, were founding members of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre.

Former Civic Theatre board president Rob Kerschbaum provides the official answer: “Every part of Steve’s resumé spoke to the complex and unique demands of producing quality community theater. He combines management experience with fundraising and technical skills that will bring out the best in our staff and volunteers. But what made the decision so easy to hire him was his passion for the true spirit of community theater.”

Carver’s own response is more personal: “For me, the business of community theater is a family business,” says Carver. “It’s what we talked about since I was 6 years old. It was here that I appeared on stage and learned how to direct and act as well as to do staging,

lighting, set design and recruit volunteer pools. This was my education.”

Growing up, Carver attended every Civic performance and then, on the ride home with his father, would engage in a critical analysis of the show by talking about what he liked and didn’t like. But the “back bencher” also mowed the theater’s lawn, buffed its marble floors, painted its windows, changed its marquee and did some of its maintenance work.

Carver’s father also taught him the importance of being personable at the theater, whether during a curtain speech at the beginning of a show or standing in the lobby talking to patrons as they arrived and left and during intermission. This is what it takes to run a successful community theater, he says, to literally be present to the community.

“We do a lot to make our house your theater home,” says Carver. “We want patrons to feel like they belong here. And if you’re a member, we work to make sure that you get a high-quality product on stage.”

Carver says the theater’s professional staff members greet patrons, donors, volunteers and visitors with enthusiasm, whether it is during office hours or before or after a performance.

“They’ve bought into the theory, too, that the Civic is all about being together as a family, as a community,” says Carver.

“And paid staff realize they are here for our many volunteers in order to provide a level of service to them so that they, too, can see the Civic as ‘home.’”

For Carver, returning to the Civic is a way to give back to a profession and a place that have given him so much.

“Theater was good for me personally,” he says. “I gained confidence, self-esteem and learned how to present myself, which came in handy when I had to pitch myself in Hollywood.

"What better way to spend my career than by paying forward all the education in the arts I received at the Civic?”

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Arts ENCORE

Glimpsing Great Works

20th Anniversary Winter Gala offers daring dance performances by

Kara Norman

30 | Encore JANUARY 2017

encore Arts

Brian Powers

Loïe

Fuller was an American modern dancer who, between the 1890s and 1920s, experimented with huge costumes and what were then brand-new electrical lighting designs but whose work has been lost to history.

Well, almost.

Next month students from the Western Michigan University dance department will

aims to educate students about “the Picassos and Mona Lisas of our art form,” says Megan Slayter, chair of the WMU dance department. It exposes WMU dance students to works ranging from George Balanchine’s most illustrious dances to cutting-edge pieces created by upand-coming choreographers, and it connects students with professional dancers who come to campus as visiting artists.

Left: Dancer Samantha Soltis rehearses Loïe Fuller’s Fire Dance. Above: Michael Arellano holds Timber Sides during a rehearsal of Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden.

“Part of what we want to do as a department is make sure that our dancers are exposed to the professional dance world,” says Slayter.

Preparations for Great Works performances begin in the fall, when visiting artists arrive at WMU to work with students, teaching them a specific dance over a 10-day period.

“The process of working with a visiting artist, getting ready to perform a specific work, gives students a glimpse of what it

perform Fire Dance, possibly Fuller’s most famous work, during the department’s annual Winter Gala Dance Concert. The event, which celebrates the department’s Great Works Dance Project, will feature six dances.

The Great Works Dance Project, which has staged 41 works since it began 20 years ago,

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is like working for a professional dance company,” says Slayter. An alum of WMU’s program herself, Slayter participated in the first Great Work dance ever presented at WMU, in 1997.

The first thing a visiting artist does upon arrival — whether he or she is the original choreographer or someone authorized to stage an artist’s work — is hold blind auditions for WMU dance and musical theater students. The artists are looking for dancers who can “do the work authentically,” Slayter says.

Then rehearsals begin: six- to eight-hour rehearsals over two weekends and threehour nightly rehearsals during the week, all on top of a student’s regular academic load.

“This is physical research now,” says WMU dance professor Sharon Garber. “They’re learning, in the studio, how to create that work.”

One faculty member is assigned to be the rehearsal director for each piece, to orchestrate whatever the cast will need to

Clockwise from top: A scene from Fire Dance; student dancers perform Diphthong by Brian Enos; a rehearsal of Lilac Garden; WMU professor Sharon Garber, rehearsal director for Lilac Garden, speaks with a student.

Opposite page: Samantha Soltis rehearses Fire Dance.

32 | Encore JANUARY 2017

Brian Powers

bring a dance up to performance level, says Slayter. The responsibilities include not only recording the physical dance moves but also picking up on the “nuances” of the work, sometimes making a whole notebook full of notes about the “intention” behind a piece or the characters in it.

After the guest artist leaves, the rehearsal director takes over, working with students for four hours of rehearsals a week, until the performance in February. For students cast in more than one work, that rehearsal time can add up, so students cannot be cast in more than three works per year.

One of the dancers, 19-year old dance and psychology major Michael Arellano, says he doesn’t mind the rigor of the schedule. “I feel extremely privileged to have the Great Works Dance Project at WMU,” he says.

The sophomore says that the project has given him a wealth of knowledge of the

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different approaches to “concert dance” and that this exposure to different artistic styles is great for resume building.

In addition to Fuller’s Fire Dance, the Winter Gala will feature works by Antony Tudor, Kyle Abraham, Frank Chaves, Brian Enos and Lauren Edson. Edson’s work, Foreground, was the winner of the inaugural National Choreography Competition, in 2012, and was performed by WMU students at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., that year. The original cast of the 2012 performance, all WMU alumni now dancing professionally in New York or Chicago, will return to perform the piece.

As for passing down the pioneering brilliance of Loïe Fuller, Slayter and dance historian Jessica Lindberg Coxe reconstructed Fire Dance in 2003. Originally performed in 1896 at Koster & Bial’s Music Hall in New York City, the dance was reconstructed from newspaper reviews, original programs and photographs in archives across the globe. Since then, it has been commissioned for performances across the country, along with other reconstructed Fuller dances.

Like the Great Works Dance Project itself, these commissions ensure that as many students as possible have the opportunity to see and participate in these passing moments in dance.

“Dance is a theater production,” Slayter asserts. “There are thousands of hours of work that go into making this one ephemeral moment on stage.”

encore Arts

‘Important for the World’

High School Choral Festival teaches and enlightens, says director by

Lisa Mackinder

W

hen hundreds of high school choral singers descend upon Kalamazoo Feb. 1-2 for the 18th annual High School Choral Festival, they will have James Turner to thank.

Turner is the music director of the Kalamazoo Bach Festival and associate professor of music at Kalamazoo College.

When he arrived on the scene nearly 20 years ago, he brought a desire to create an educational outreach program for area high school and middle school students. A year after his arrival, the Kalamazoo Bach Festival’s annual High School Choral Festival was up and running, with an A-list clinician to boot.

“The High School Choral Festival had its first event here in 1999, with Dr. Ann Howard Jones, who is still the premier vocal conductor in the United States,” says Linda Van Dis, assistant director of the Kalamazoo Bach Festival.

Before coming to Kalamazoo College, Turner organized a high school choral festival at Marygrove College, in Detroit. It worked well, so he applied the same outreach effort here. The annual High School Choral Festival is part of the Kalamazoo Bach Festival, an event that runs from September through May each year and celebrates the works of Bach, his contemporaries and other 19thand 20th-century composers.

The High School Choral Festival takes place over the course of two days and gives students an opportunity for education and growth by working with a nationally recognized clinician. Each day, five choirs composed of choral students from 10 area

A choir comprised of high school students from across the region performs at the 2016 High School Choral Festival.

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Arts ENCORE

schools have 20 minutes each to perform two songs, and then they work with the clinician. The students receive the music in advance so that they know the notes, allowing rehearsal times to focus on finetuning the music.

This year they will perform “I See the Heaven’s Glories Shine,” by Andrea Ramsey, as the Mass Choir piece. All of the choirs remain in the auditorium to learn what the clinician teaches each choir. After lunch, the schools combine for a rehearsal, followed by a Mass Choir performance that is open to the public.

“It’s interesting how they (the clinicians) have different techniques of keeping their (the students’) attention,” Turner says. “Sometimes they get them out of a traditional choral lineup and have them in a giant circle, and the clinician is in the middle of this giant circle moving and maneuvering and looking right into their eyes, saying, ‘Did you understand that?’”

This year’s festival includes choirs from Mattawan, Loy Norrix, Otsego, West Ottawa, Rockford, Portage Central, Kalamazoo Central, Plainwell, Three Rivers and Vicksburg high schools. Sandra Snow, professor of choral conducting and music education at the Michigan State University College of Music, will serve as the clinician.

competitions and things that I did in school and choir and orchestra,” Somers says. “They really shape who you are later on in life and how you view the world.”

In its early days, the High School Choral Festival didn’t have much financial support, says Turner, and participating high school students were asked to bring their own lunches. “That did not go very well,” Turner says, chuckling, noting that many kids forgot that brown

Lifelong influence The annual High School Choral Festival is by invitation only. Every year the Bach Festival invites the Portage and Kalamazoo schools to participate. Due to the event’s popularity, invitations to other area schools are alternated each year. Van Dis considers reaching out to youth one of the Kalamazoo Bach Festival’s most important elements.

“Encouraging vocal music at that level, at that age, helps to develop lifelong singers and lifelong audience members,” she says.

Cori Somers, executive director of the Kalamazoo Bach Festival, says it can also influence a student’s future. “I have so many memories of

Above: A high school choir performs at the festival. Right: At far right, Eugene Rogers, associate director of choirs and associate professor of conducting at University of Michigan, was the 2016 clinician for the festival and works with a choir on their performance.

paper sack. “It was back in the day when Linda was doing everything, including making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

Now grants help support the festival by paying for the clinician — and for lunch.

What the students learn from the festival depends on the clinician and the clinician’s music choice, Turner says. Last year Eugene Rogers,

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18th Annual High School Choral Festival When: 9:10 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Feb. 1 & 2, with Mass Choir performance 12:10–1:30 p.m. both days Where: Dalton Theatre, Kalamazoo College More info: kalamazoobachfestival.org

associate director of choirs and associate professor of conducting at the University of Michigan School of Music, exposed the students and choral directors — including Turner — to something many of them might not have known much about: gospel music.

“It exposed them to what legitimate gospel music sounds like and showed them the difference between (that and) singing a spiritual,” Turner says. “A lot of people lump spiritual with gospel music.”

Other times, he says, the clinicians focus on “their own choral pedagogy” of solving vocal choral issues and getting down to the mechanics of how to help singers who don’t have a good choral sound, due to singing flat, improve.

The Bach Festival engages in other choral and vocal outreach to youth, including its annual Middle School Choral Residency in March and the Young Vocalists Competition and Concert in July.

Some of the students who have participated in the choral festival have continued singing in college and even beyond, says Van Dis. Three Rivers High School graduate Logan Shields, who performed at the High School Choral Festival in 2006 and 2007, went on to join Chanticleer, a Grammy Award-winning ensemble considered to be the “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker. Another festival participant, Portage Northern High School graduate Brianne Spresser, performed with the Bach Festival Choir for four years and in 2005 went on to perform with the St. Olaf Choir, the premier a cappella choir in the United States.

Whether or not these students become lifelong singers or choir attendees, Turner believes the Bach Festival’s educational outreach can have an impact beyond area boundaries.

“I think it’s important for the world, a global importance,” Turner says, “that what we learn from being involved in music is how to work together and collaborate together.”

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PERFORMING ARTS THEATER Plays

The Bickersons — All Ears Theatre radio theater production, 6 p.m. Jan. 7, First Baptist Church, 315 W. Michigan Ave., 342-5059.

Sylvia — Modern romantic comedy about a marriage and a dog, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 & 28; 2 p.m. Jan. 15 & 22, Civic Auditorium, 329 S. Park St., 343-1313.

Escape from Christiana II: A Soulful Complication — All Ears Theatre radio theater production, 6 p.m. Jan. 21, First Baptist Church, 342-5059.

The Women of Lockerbie — The women of Lockerbie, Scotland, respond to the Pan Am 103 plane crash with an act of love, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 27, Feb. 3, 9, 10 & 11; 2 p.m. Feb. 5 & 12, York Arena Theatre, WMU, 387-6222.

Musical

Side Show — A musical about acceptance, love and one’s uniqueness, based on the true story of conjoined twins, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27 & 28, Feb. 3, 4, 10 & 11; 2 p.m. Jan. 29, Feb. 5 & 12, Parish Theatre, 405 W. Lovell St., 3431313.

FlyLiteGemini with Joe Chamberlin — Original folk, rock and blues, 7–9 p.m. Jan. 6, Arcadia Ales Kalamazoo, 276-0458.

Sara Watkins — Bluegrass/folk fiddler, vocalist and songwriter, 9 p.m. Jan. 21, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Delilah DeWylde & the Lost Boys — Vintage country and rockabilly band, 9 p.m. Jan. 6, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Dweezil Zappa: 50 Years of Frank — The son of Frank Zappa plays his father’s early works, 8 p.m. Jan. 24, State Theatre, 404 S. Burdick St.; in a separately priced preconcert event, Dweezil Zappa offers a Guitar Masterclass in the upstairs mezzanine lobby, 345-6500.

Kris Hitchcock — Country singer/songwriter, 9 p.m. Jan. 7, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Soul-Filled Sundays at Arcadia Ales — Adam Labeaux, multi-instrumentalist, Jan. 8; Mike McLain and Jeff Willson, acoustic guitar, Jan. 22; Steve Pesch, solo guitarist and songwriter, Jan. 29, all shows 4–6 p.m., Arcadia Ales Kalamazoo, 276-0458.

Blackalicious — California hip-hop duo, 9 p.m. Jan. 10, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

The Sam Pilnick Project — Modern acoustic jazz collective, 7–9 p.m. Jan. 11, Arcadia Ales Kalamazoo, 276-0458.

Joys, The Mushmen & Lokella — Alternative rock, 9 p.m. Jan. 12, Bell's Eccentric Café, 3822332.

The Legal Immigrants — Grand Rapids rock and blues band, 9 p.m. Jan. 13, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Bands & Solo Artists

Beer Week Live Music — Loren Johnson, folk and bluegrass, 4–6 p.m. Jan. 15; Steve Pesch, solo guitarist and songwriter, 7–9 p.m.

Jan. 17; Andrew Saliba, Latin guitarist, 7–9 p.m. Jan. 18; Therron Kokales, rock, country, blues, folk and reggae artist, 7–9 p.m. Jan. 19, ReggaeLution, reggae music at Music Hop, 7–10 p.m. Jan. 20, Arcadia Ales Kalamazoo, 276-0458.

ReggaeLution — Reggae music, 7–9 p.m.

Jan. 2, Arcadia Ales Kalamazoo, 701 E. Michigan Ave., 276-0458.

Robbie Fulks — Alternative country singer/ songwriter, 9 p.m. Jan. 19, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Slim Gypsy Baggage — Indie, rock and roots band, 9 p.m. Jan. 5, Bell's Eccentric Café, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave., 382-2332.

Little River Band — Australian rock band, 8 p.m. Jan. 21, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Comedy Crawlspace Eviction — Improv and sketch comedy, 8 p.m. Jan. 13 & 14, Epic Center, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 599-7390.

MUSIC

38 | Encore JANUARY 2017

The Temptations — The current lineup performs classic songs by the legendary Motown group, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26, State Theatre, 345-6500.

Postmodern Jukebox — Jazz, ragtime and swing music collective, 8 p.m. Jan. 28, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Orchestra, Chamber, Jazz, Vocal & More Second Sundays Live — Crescendo Academy of Music presents the Kalamazoo Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra, 2 p.m. Jan. 8, The Fountains, 535 S. Riverview Drive, Parchment, 345-6664.

KSO Burdick-Thorne String Quartet — Noon Jan. 11, Garden Atrium, Bronson Methodist Hospital, 349-7759.

The World of Smetana — Maestro Raymond Harvey conducts the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra in a journey through the world of the Czech composer, 3 p.m. Jan. 15, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 349-7759.

Roman Rabinovich — The Gilmore Festival presents the pianist performing works of Haydn, Beethoven and Schumann, 4 p.m.

Jan. 22, Wellspring Theater, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 342-1166.

Live & Interactive! Due East — Presenting The Stone Tapestry, a collection of interwoven myths about origins, life cycles and change, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-2300.

encore events

Inon Barnatan, Anthony McGill & Alisa Weilerstein — Fontana presents the pianist, clarinetist and cellist, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 382-7774.

WMUsic Showcase Spectacular — WMU ensembles perform, 8 p.m. Jan. 27, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Classics Uncorked: Winter Evening — Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra members perform works of Smetana and Ireland, 8 p.m. Jan. 27, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 314 S. Park St., 349-7759.

Classics on Tap: Winter Evening — Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra members perform works of Smetana and Ireland, 8 p.m. Jan. 28, Bell's Eccentric Café, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave., 349-7759.

Pianist May Phang — Guest artist recital, 8 p.m. Jan. 28, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 382-4667.

Tenor Reginald Pittman — Guest artist recital, 5 p.m. Jan. 30, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 382-4667. ÆPEX — 20th- and 21st-century music by rarely performed and underrepresented composers from around the world, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 31, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 382-4667.

DANCE Complexions Contemporary Ballet — Ballet company featured on So You Think You Can Dance performs Innervisions, set to music of Stevie Wonder, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

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

Poetry of Content: Five Contemporary Representational Artists — Works of representational imagery by five painters, through Feb. 19.

Wadada Leo Smith: Ankhrasmation, The Language Scores, 1967–2015 — The jazz musician and artist exhibits musical scores composed of color, line and shape, through March 5.

Out of the Fire: Masterworks of Ceramics — Exhibition featuring works by some of the finest ceramics artists in the U.S., Jan. 14– March 12.

KIA Events ARTbreak — A weekly program about art, artists and exhibitions: Outsider: The Life and Art of Judith Scott, video, Jan. 3; Great Works Dance Project, talk by WMU Department of Dance Chair Megan Slayter, Jan. 10; Paul Soldner: Playing with Fire, video, Jan. 17; A Life in Photography, video, Jan. 24; A Closer Look at "Out of the Fire," talk by art school instructor Julie Devers, Jan. 31; all sessions begin at noon, KIA Auditorium.

Sunday Public Tour — Walk through the exhibitions with a docent: Wadada Leo Smith, Jan. 8; Poetry of Content, Jan. 15; Out of the Fire: Masterworks of Ceramics, Jan. 29; all sessions begin at 2 p.m.

Book Discussion: Eight Girls Taking Pictures — Discussion of the novel by Whitney Otto, 2 p.m. Jan. 18, KIA’s Meader

Luminescence: From Salvage to Seascape Fine Arts Library, 585-9291.

— Sayaka Ganz’s sculptures created from repurposed objects, through March 19.

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events ENCORE Get the Picture: William Bailey, "Still Life with Egg Cup, Eggs and Bowl" — Michelle Stempien discusses the work and artist, noon Jan. 19.

Richmond Center for Visual Arts Western Michigan University, 387-2436

17 Days: Vols. 8 & 9 — Works of 17 video artists play continuously on 50-inch plasma screens, through May 1, Atrium Gallery.

Adriane Little: Mapping Mrs. Dalloway — Photography that represents a new way of visualizing text and image by incorporating data mapping, Jan. 12–Feb. 3, Netzorg and Kerr Gallery.

NYPOP Emerging Curatorial Series IV: Worlding — Five artists’ works examine alternate worlds with internal sets of rules and logic, Jan. 12–Feb. 3, Monroe-Brown Gallery.

Other Venues Evelyn Greathouse: Pastel Arts — Through Feb. 24, Solo Gallery, Portage District Library, 300 Library Lane, 329-4544.

Kalamazoo Public Library

The Civic Side Show Preview — Actors perform the show’s songs, and the director answers questions, 1:30 p.m. Jan. 14, Oshtemo Branch, 7265 W. Main St., 553-7980.

First Saturday @ KPL — KSO's BurdickThorne String Quartet and Kalamazoo Kids in Tune, 2–3:30 p.m. Jan. 7, Children’s Room, Central Library, 315 S. Rose St., 553-7844; registration required.

Food for Your Soul — Keneisha MorganDarden, restaurant owner and author, shows how to make healthy meals, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 18, Washington Square Branch, 1244 Portage St., 553-7970; registration required.

Race and Medicine — A discussion with local doctors on issues and the book Black Man in a White Coat, by Damon Tweedy, 6 p.m. Jan. 10, Alma Powell Branch, 1000 W. Paterson Ave., 553-7960; registration required.

History of Brewing in Kalamazoo: Trolley Tour — Learn about Kalamazoo’s breweries with KPL expert Keith Howard, 3–5:30 p.m.

Jan. 21, Tibbs Brewing Co., 402 S. Burdick St., 553-7980; registration required.

Racism: A History — Screening and discussion of the documentary The Color of Money: Colonialism and the Slave Trade, Jan. 11; A Savage Legacy: Apartheid, Jim Crow, and Racism Today, Jan. 18; both sessions 6–8:30 p.m., Central Library, 553-7980; registration required.

Urban Fiction Book Discussion — Discussion of Pure Heroine, by Keisha Ervin, 6 p.m. Jan. 24, Barnabee Gallery, Alma Powell Branch, 553-7960; registration required.

Art Hop — Art at locations around Kalamazoo, 5–8 p.m. Jan. 6, 342-5059.

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Parchment Community Library 401 S. Riverview Drive, 343-7747 Front Page: Donuts and Discussion — A current events panel discussion with local media, educators, politicians and special guests, 10:30 a.m.–noon Jan. 21.

Yum’s the Word: The Art and Healthy Aspects of Mideastern Food — Presentation

by Chef Nidal Awad of Shawarma King, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25; registration required.

Portage District Library 300 Library Lane, 329-4544 Science Fiction and Fantasy Discussion Group — Discussion of the Disney Star Wars canon of comics, books and movies, 7 p.m.

Jan. 2.

Top Shelf Reads — A young professionals’ book group discussion of The Miniaturist,

by Jessie Burton, 7 p.m. Jan. 9, Latitude 42 Brewing Co., 7842 Portage Road, 585-8711.

International Mystery Book Group — Discussion of Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith, 7 p.m. Jan. 12.

MUSEUMS Kalamazoo Valley Museum 230 N. Rose St., 373-7990

Sustainable Shelter: Dwelling within the Forces of Nature — An exhibit investigating ways that humans extract, use and discard energy, water and other natural resources, through Jan. 8.

Let’s Dance — An exhibit about dance bands, dance halls and clothing in Kalamazoo from the 1920s to 1980s, through Jan. 16.

Ivory Williams — African and AfricanAmerican storytelling, noon Jan. 2.

Gemini — Twin brother musicians entertain with more than a dozen instruments, noon Jan. 4.

Gwendolyn Lewis — Storytelling by the family literacy advocate, noon Jan. 6.

Festival of Health — Learn about healthy eating, exercise, preventative medicine and relaxation from community experts, noon–4 p.m. Jan. 21.

And Still We Rise: Race, Culture & Visual Dances of India — Featuring Susan Iervolina Conversations — Works that draw on the and students from Dances of India, 1 p.m.

Jan. 14.

Open for Discussion — Discussion of American Mojo: Lost and Found, by Peter Kiernan, 10:30 a.m. Jan. 17.

PDL Writers Workshop — “Finding Your Niche,” with Jim Merrills, 6 p.m. Jan. 17.

Introduction to Amateur Astronomy — Richard Bell of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society presents “Our Place Among the Infinities,” Jan. 21, and “Discovering the Night Sky,” Jan. 28; both sessions 1–3 p.m.; registration required.

Learn Kumihimo — Dawn Friske demonstrates the craft of Japanese braidmaking, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 26; registration required.

Meet the Chef: Gluten- & Allergen-Free Baking — Julie Fox from Free Love Bakery demonstrates ingredient swaps, tips and tricks, 2 & 6 p.m. Jan. 30; registration required.

tradition of storytelling through quilts, Jan. 21–June 4.

Sunday Series: Surveying Michigan — Discussion with Mark Reed, KVM Planetarium/Theater manager, 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 22.

The Wizards of Pop: Sabuda and Reinhart — A pop-up book exhibit with 63 framed pieces, Jan. 28–April 9.

Other Venues The Golden Age of the Sports Car — Exhibition featuring sports cars of the 1940s–1960s, through April 30, Gilmore Car Museum, 6865 Hickory Road, Hickory Corners, 671-5089.

Night at the Air Zoo: 21 and Up Night — An evening of rides, music, dancing, snacks and drinks, 7–11 p.m. Jan. 20, Air Zoo, 6151 Portage Road, Portage, 392-6555.

JANUARY FIRST-RUNS OPENING JANUARY 6 HIDDEN FIGURES OPENING JANUARY 13 LIVE BY NIGHT PATRIOTS DAY JANUARY SPECIALTY JANUARY 6 Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in CASABLANCA JANUARY 9 PULP FICTION Movie Party JANUARY 13 FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER JANUARY 15 Humphrey Bogart & Katharine Hepburn in THE AFRICAN QUEEN JANUARY 18 CLUELESS Movie Party JANUARY 21 ULTRAMAN X: THE MOVIE JANUARY 22 THE MALTESE FALCON JANUARY 26 THE BODYGUARD Movie Party JANUARY 27 TRUTH OR DARE? A CRITICAL MADNESS JANUARY 28 THE BREAKFAST CLUB Cereal Party JANUARY 29 Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in THE BIG SLEEP JANUARY 30 Winona Ryder in REALITY BITES JANUARY 31 TRAINSPOTTING Visit drafthouse.com/kalamazoo for showtimes and tickets

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

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 41

Events ENCORE

NATURE

MISCELLANEOUS

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute 701 W. Cloverdale Road, Hastings, 721-4190

Kalamazoo Indoor Flea & Farmers Market — New, used and handcrafted items and antiques, 8 a.m.–2 p.m. Tues. & Wed., Jan. 3–31, and 8 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, Active Saturdays! — Snowshoeing, sledding, Kalamazoo County Expo Center North, 2900 trails, guided hike and crafts, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Lake St., 383-8761.

Jan. 7, 14, 21 & 28; registration required.

Portage Winter Market — Local produce Winter Festival and Brunch — Brunch and and handcrafted items, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Jan. winter-themed activities, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; 8, Portage Senior Center, 320 Library Lane, brunch, 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.; storytelling, 359-6729.

12:15 p.m.; guided snowshoe hike, 2–4 p.m.

Jan. 8; registration required.

Southwest Michigan Bridal Show — 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Jan. 8, Wings Event Center, Candlelight Trails Walk — 7–9:30 p.m. Jan. 3600 Vanrick Drive, 345-1125.

14; registration required.

Kalamazoo and the Civil War — Discussion Other Venues with Sharon Carlson, director of WMU’s Zhang Birds and Coffee Walk — A walk to view Legacy Center Archives and Regional History birds of the season, 9 a.m. Jan. 11, W.K. Collections, 3 p.m. Jan. 10, The Fountains at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, 12685 East C Ave., Bronson Place, 1700 Bronson Way, 382-3546; Augusta, 671-2510. registration required.

Environmental Issues Forum: Oil and the Great Lakes — Beth Wallace of the National Wildlife Foundation updates the status of the Enbridge pipeline and steps taken to reduce a spill, noon Jan. 19, Barry County Enrichment Center, 231 S. Broadway, Hastings, 721-4190.

Kalamazoo Reptile & Exotic Pet Expo — 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Jan. 21, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, Room A, 779-9851.

Winter Expo & Craft Show — 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Jan. 21, Kalamazoo County Expo Center South, 903-5820.

Downtown Chili Cook-off — Sample over 40 chili recipes, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Jan. 21 at stores and restaurants in downtown Kalamazoo, kalamazoorestaurantweek.com.

Wine Not? — Winter wine festival offers wine tasting and sampling, with over 40 wineries, 100 wines and live music from the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and Patti Fleming Entertainment musicians, 4–8 p.m. Jan. 28, Radisson Plaza Hotel, 100 W. Michigan Ave., 978-2167.

Chinese New Year Celebration — 7 p.m. Jan. 28, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave., 337-0440.

KGLRC Winter Gala Awards Ceremony and Fundraiser — Kalamazoo Gay/ Lesbian Resource Center celebration of accomplishments, with music and dancing, food and drinks, and silent auction, 7–11 p.m.

Jan. 28, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 314 S. Park St., 349-4234 or kglrc.org.

BC Harlem Globetrotters — Basketball artistry and family entertainment, 7 p.m. Jan. 18, Wings Event Center, 345-1125.

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encore Poetry

Roxie welcomes you to Libin’s Menswear You’ll find her near the counter where she’s worked for years, always decked out in the same blue and gold outfit, an heirloom of sorts, passed down from the swampy forests of South America to this grove of garments in Kalamazoo.

Her pale yellow eyes take in customers as their hands touch lapel of tux, a thicket of ties, trail their way to peaks of plush sweaters, and get lost in knolls of neatly folded pants and shirts.

A lady of few words, maybe 40, Roxie parcels out Hellos, while one floor below, a tailor — most likely wearing glasses perched on nose — is basting, stitching, hemming, doing whatever it is tailors do to suit cloth to man.

What’s up? Roxie loves a well-dressed man, the big and tall, medium and small. As someone, uh-oh, reaches for the hankies she rubs her nose along her ruffled sleeve while the salesman who’s waited on your grandfather, father, and now your husband carefully writes out a receipt by hand.

Here, kitty, kitty, on the corner of Cork, just west of Lovers Lane, customers leave Libin’s with bags and bellies filled with the fiber of good, old-fashioned service. Tomorrow. Roxie bows her green forehead, lifts a spindly leg and waves goodbye.

— Jennifer Clark

Wednesday In the early morning darkness the waning half moon peered through the crack separating the bottom of the shade from the top of the sill and reminded me how little light is needed to chase the darkness away.

— Linda MacDonald MacDonald, who lives in Mattawan, is a retired pastor who formerly served North Presbyterian Church in Kalamazoo. She is also a poet, opera singer and peace advocate.

Clark is director of community relations for Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo. Her first book of poems, Necessary Clearings, was published by Shabda Press in 2014. Roxie is a blue and gold macaw, with a green forehead.

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44 | Encore JANUARY 2017

BACK STORY (continued from page 46)

seat of his truck to return it to its family. And like the Lorax from Dr. Seuss’ picture book, he says his job is to speak for the trees.

How do you describe what you do?

There are three parts to my job. First, I am steward of the land. I am going to leave this land better than I found it. Second, I am responsible for you, whoever you may be, to use this land for free, passive recreation like jogging, fishing or walking your dog. Third is helping students conduct educational research on this land.

How did you get where you are today?

I started out, like a lot of teens, working at summer camps, but I soon found that what I wanted to do was science or nature education — not just play with the kids but have some sort of interaction with environmental education. I went into wildlife management and became very interested in birds and got an animal science degree, specializing in poultry science for marketability more than anything else. Wildlife managers get into their jobs, stick with those jobs, and they don’t turn over too quick, whereas everyone eats chicken.

However, every job I’ve had up to this point has had an educational component. I find it incumbent on me, if I learn something, to share it with others. That’s been the fun in all my jobs. I got an opportunity to get a job in Michigan because my wife’s family had a 125-year-old greenhouse operation. I had no

YOUR CLOSET. ONLY BETTER.

experience in greenhouses, but my background in wildlife helped. Back when I started in the ’80s, we were pioneers in propagating and selling native plants. This was oddball, wacky.

Most people were spraying and killing native plants at this time. I came to WMU in 2008 when the greenhouse closed and became the preserves manager in 2012.

What keeps you up at night?

I care deeply about species protection.

Places like Kleinstuck and Asylum Lake ensure that certain species survive. All too often humans only want to protect species that directly serve us. However, a whole ecosystem is like a smartphone — clipping one random wire could turn your device into a piece of junk. We don’t know the ramifications of pushing out one animal or plant. I hope the kids who come out to these places are inspired and fight to protect wild spaces.

Which groups do you work with?

Maple Street Middle School comes to Kleinstuck Preserve for a program called “Notice, Wander, Predict,” where they slow down and appreciate the benefits of natural spaces. Kazoo School comes every week, and they do everything. They weed, plant seed, dig plugs, track wildlife and build trails. KAMSC (Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center) visits for their summer classes. ParkwoodUpjohn Elementary comes for field trips and service days. Stewards of Kleinstuck and I work together to provide a wildflower tour for citizens. The Boy Scouts work out here, and

university students conduct research as well.

All of these groups come out at no charge.

Who has inspired you?

My dad. I appreciate him so much. He was in wildlife management when he was younger. He and my mother fought their whole lives to protect the environment, but also for fairness for other people. My dad always encouraged me to go outdoors and to get involved.

Do you have a fond memory in nature from childhood?

I don’t want to say “fond.” My brother and I have the same memory. It’s a very difficult thing. As a child, I lived in the Hudson River Valley, New York. Behind my home was probably over 100 acres of woods and old farms and streams. As a teenager, I watched as all that acreage was turned into a parking lot. I saw the pheasant, ruffed grouse and deer all go away. It affected me tremendously.

It inspired the work I do today. All those malls have since foreclosed.

Why do you love what you do?

There are 209 species of birds in Kleinstuck Preserve. How amazing is that? And just a couple yards away, we have major roads.

Being in charge of these spaces is a great honor for me. I tell everyone this is the best job in the university, bar none. It’s so satisfying to spend a day with kids or remove invasive species or put up bird boxes. It’s just a joy.

— Interviewed by Emily Townsend

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BACK STORY encore

Steve Keto

Natural Areas & Preserves Manager Western Michigan University Steve Keto’s passion for ecological services can fill a whole forest canopy.

Since 2012, Keto has overseen 5,000 acres of Western Michigan University land within the city of Kalamazoo, including Kleinstuck Preserve, the Asylum Lake Preserve and prairie lands, and woodlots across WMU’s campus.

To walk through the woods with Keto is to walk with a boisterous, breathing nature identification textbook. In his eyes, each plant has a personality, each animal a story.

He points across Asylum Lake at two distant swans and casually says, “Oh, I know them.” He’s been known to rescue a lost baby waterfowl and drive it in the front

Brian Powers

(continued on page 45)

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