Encore March 2016

Writers’ groups spur creativity

Greece inspires Nick’s Gyros

Singer Megan Dooley

March 2016

Meet John Korycki

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

GAME MAKERS The video companies that call Kalamazoo home

Bob and Ruth died years ago.

Today they’re helping children with special needs see the world.

Lynn VanderRoest — who has special needs — loves to travel and some of her favorite childhood memories are of going to camp. When her mom, Ruth, passed away in 1997, Lynn’s dad, Bob, could not think of a better way to honor her than to create a legacy that would help kids like Lynn benefit from the experiences that had brought the VanderRoest family so much joy.

Today, the Robert D. and Ruth A. VanderRoest Fund for the Developmentally Disabled makes it possible for Kalamazoo area children with special needs to experience the joy of camping and travel, and create childhood memories that will be treasured for a lifetime.

We can help you show your love for Kalamazoo and leave a legacy too.

Give us a call us at 269.381.4416 or visit www.kalfound.org to learn how.

2 | Encore OCTOBER 2015

equity | education

“ The day I went to the hospital, I was working here on my farm. I started to feel a bit poorly so I went back to the house to see if it would pass. At first it just felt like a stomachache, so even with my family history of heart attack, it really didn’t occur to me I was having one.

Unfortunately, the feeling kept getting worse, so my neighbor took me to my local hospital, Bronson LakeView. They quickly determined it was a heart attack and transferred me by ambulance to the cath lab at Bronson in Kalamazoo. From the time I was admitted to the time my heart was working right again, it took less than two hours. They were phenomenal.

I’m really fortunate to still be here with my family. I owe that to the team at Bronson.”

Joe, Paw Paw, Michigan To watch Joe’s story and learn more about heart and vascular care at Bronson, visit bronsonpositivity.com/heart.

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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

March

CONTENTS E S 2016

FEATURES Game Makers

24

Writers’ Groups

30

The video game companies that call Kalamazoo home

Poetry or prose, writers help each other improve craft and ‘crank it out’

DEPARTMENTS 8 Contributors

Up Front 10 First Things — What’s happening in SW Michigan 12 A Carless Life — Using public transportation has made Kay Chase an advocate

14

Savor

Nick’s Gyros — A passion for Greece leads from a food trailer to a full-scale restaurant

17 Enterprise

House Calls — Kalamazoo medical and dental professionals step out of the office

19

Good Works

‘A Source of Hope’ — Family & Children Services help families and children in crisis

46 Back Story

Meet John Korycki — The chef has all the right ingredients for KVCC’s culinary education program

ARTS

34 Megan Dooley

The singer admits ‘I don’t hold back anymore’ 36 Evelyn Greathouse

Veterinarian finds her artistic inspiration at work 38 Events of Note 42 Poetry

On the cover: Marc DeForest, CEO of S2 Games, with the character Maliken from the Heroes of Newerth video game created by S2.

Photo by Brian Powers.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 5

Writers’ groups spur creativity

Greece inspires Nick’s Gyros

Singer Megan Dooley

March 2016

Meet John Korycki

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

GAME MAKERS

The video companies that call Kalamazoo home

Publisher

encore publications, inc.

Editor

marie lee

Designer

alexis stubelt

Copy Editor

margaret deritter

Contributing Writers

krystal belcastro, kit almy, olga bonfiglio, andrew domino, lisa mackinder, kara norman

Photographer brian k. powers

Poetry Editor

margaret deritter

Advertising Sales krieg lee celeste statler sophia jacobs

Free 2016

Upcoming Shows

Distribution kama mitchell

Office Coordinator/Proofreader hope smith

MAR 5 - Sherlock Holmes and A Case of Identity MAR 19 - Ozma of Oz (2 part presentation) APR 2 - All Ears Variety Review APR 16 - The Legend of Rip Van Winkle

Back in the ‘Golden Age” of radio, weekly radio programs brought the young and old 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, from January through May. 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.

Funding provided by For a complete schedule of shows, visit KalamazooArts.org 6 | Encore MARCH 2016

Encore Magazine is published 12 times yearly. Copyright 2016, 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, you may visit www.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.

that’s where

my needs come first Marilyn and Clifford Pulley

Marilyn Pulley spent her whole life caring for others. But it was her husband, Clifford, who helped her realize she also needed to take care of herself. Marilyn was hesitant. She didn’t like going to the doctor. That’s where listening and compassion made all the difference. At Borgess, she connected with a doctor she can trust. Now she can’t imagine going anywhere else.

Watch their incredible story and share your own at ThatsWhere.com A member of Ascension Health®

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contributors encore

Kit Almy

Kit was intrigued by the many and diverse writing groups in Southwest Michigan, and as a poet and nonfiction writer, she says she found the willingness of writers to provide support to one another in such collegial ways inspiring and encouraging. A frequent contributor to Encore, Kit also works at the Kalamazoo Public Library.

8 | Encore MARCH 2016

Olga Bonfiglio

Andrew Domino

The first of two pieces Olga wrote for this issue is on Kay Chase, a local woman who lives a carless lifestyle and has become a public transportation activist. Olga’s second feature is on the efforts of Family & Children Services to work with families and children in crisis. A freelance writer, Olga’s work has also appeared in the Huffington Post and the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Andrew wrote this month's cover feature describing the rise of video game development companies in the Kalamazoo area. In a separate story, he writes about doctors and dentists who make house calls. Andrew admits he was surprised to learn that medical professionals still make house calls — and he’s glad people in need can get medical help. You can see more of his writing at www.dominowriting.com.

Lisa Mackinder

Kara Norman

A regular Encore contributor, Lisa loves animals and was naturally drawn to writing about Evelyn Greathouse, a local veterinarian who depicts animals of all sorts in her pastel drawings. In addition, Lisa also wrote this month's story about how Nick Lambright’s passion for Greece led him from a food trailer to opening a full-scale restaurant. Lisa is a freelance writer based in Portage whose work has appeared in various Chicken Soup for the Soul books, Animal Wellness, Dog World, MiBiz, and other publications.

This month, Kara interviewed Megan Dooley about her new album, Made in Kalamazoo. “One of my favorite things about Megan is how down-to-earth she is,” Kara says. “It seems like everything she touches turns to gold right now, but talking to her made it clear that a lot of work has gone into her success." Kara lives in Kalamazoo with her husband and toddler and writes for Encore in her spare time. See more of her work at karanorman.com.

Everyone Deserves a Great Workplace

Innovative Human Resources Consulting, Training, and Recruiting 229 E. Michigan Ave, Suite 345 Kalamazoo 269.459.6060 www.HRMInnovations.com

KPL_Mar2016_RT.pdf 1 1/11/2016 3:04:38 PM

Reading Together 2016

Meet Christina Baker Kline

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M

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CM

MY

CY

CMY

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Monday, March 7, 7 pm

Kalamazoo Central H.S. Auditorium Michigan News Agency will sell copies of Orphan Train at the event.

readingtogether.us

Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Would they be adopted by a kind, loving family, or face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?

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up front encore

First Things Something Sweet Savor the syrup

Maple

syrup is on tap this month, and two local events offer an up-close view of the syrup–making process: Maple Sugar Festival, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. March 12–13 The 51st annual Maple Sugar Festival hosted by the Kalamazoo Nature Center, 7000 N. Westnedge Ave., includes tours to see how the trees are tapped and sap is gathered and demonstrations by blacksmiths and fiber artists.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for children, or free for KNC members and children age 3 and under. For more information, visit naturecenter.org or call 381–1574.

Maple Syrup Day, noon–5 p.m. March 19 Maple Syrup Day at W.K. Kellogg Experimental Forest, 7060 N. 42nd St., Augusta, offers attendees a chance to observe and explore maple production. There will also be activities for children, including games, face painting and creation of cookie medallions. All visitors will also get to taste a syrup sample.

Admission is $1 per person and free for children age 2 and under. For more information, contact Patrick Duffy at kelloggforest@kbs.msu.edu or call 731–4597.

Something Good

Something Natural

Ever open the pantry and wonder how to put disparate ingredients together for a delicious meal? You can watch pros in action doing just that at Ministry with Community’s Chefs Against Hunger cooking competition March 22.

During the competition, which will be held from 5–8 p.m. at Cityscape Event Centre, 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall, chefs from local restaurants have 45 minutes to create a three-course meal using ingredients from Ministry with Community’s pantry. The chefs’ creations are judged on taste, presentation, best use of ingredients and creativity.

Tickets are $40 and include hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit ministrywithcommunity.org or call 343–6073.

Relive your childhood days of hunting for frogs and toads by helping the Michigan Department of Natural Resources conduct its annual Frog and Toad Survey.

From early spring to summer, volunteers throughout the state conduct fieldwork for the survey by identifying and estimating the abundance of each frog and toad species they see. This volunteer-gathered data is then analyzed by the DNR Wildlife Division to help monitor the quality of the environment.

To become involved or get more information, contact Lori Sargent at sargentl@michigan. gov or call (517) 284–6216.

Chefs in creative competition

10 | Encore MARCH 2016

Help count frogs & toads

encore up front

Something Compelling

High-energy Irish dancing is back Are you ready to get your jig on again? After

a four-year absence from the U.S., Riverdance is back for its 20th Anniversary World Tour and will hit the Miller Auditorium stage at 7:30 p.m.

March 29.

Riverdance blends dance, music and song to bring Irish traditions into the present day. The Miller Auditorium show, which is one of more than 60 stops Riverdance will make in North America, will feature new costumes, lighting and projections and the addition of an a cappella hard-shoe number.

Ticket prices range from $35—$65. For more information, visit millerauditorium.com or call 387–2309.

Something Diverse A festival of foreign films Moviegoers, it’s time to

think global. The Kalamazoo World Languages Film Festival will return to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 180 Portage St., March 18– 20 and March 25–27.

Hosted by the Department of World Languages and Literatures at Western Michigan University, the festival features a range of cinematic features from around the world, including China, Germany, Japan, France, Spain, and Arabic nations. All films will be shown with English subtitles, of course.

For a complete schedule, call the Alamo Drafthouse at 387-3010 or visit wmich.edu/ worldfilmfestival.

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up front encore

‘Why Do I Need a Car?’

Kay Chase can get there by rail, bus and foot by

Olga Bonfiglio

Brian Powers

Four years ago when her car broke down, Kay Chase asked herself

whether she really needed to replace it. The answer turned out to be no, and she says this decision has made a remarkable difference in her life.

“I am retired. I live half a block from the bus stop. I spend most of my time at Western Michigan University, which is just two blocks from my house. Why do I need a car?” asks the 75-year-old Chase, who worked at WMU for 25 years as the circulation coordinator in the Harper C. Maybee Music and Dance Library and still uses the university’s library and computing services.

Chase gets where she needs to go by taking the bus. When she goes grocery shopping, she uses a backpack and green bags for 12 | Encore MARCH 2016

Kay Chase is a frequent rider of the area’s Metro Transit buses, using them to get groceries, do laundry and run other errands.

her groceries. She puts her laundry in a suitcase for trips to the laundromat. Occasionally she rents a car to stock up on bulky or heavy items — or to go birdwatching in the woods.

One major reason Chase takes the bus, she says, is that when she rides, she sees other people.

“We’ve lost so much of our connection to community because we take our cars from our houses to the office or the store without encountering other people face-to-face,” she says. “We don’t even know our neighbors anymore.”

Chase’s commitment to public transportation also includes trains.

Last summer she spent a month traveling by train from Kalamazoo

encore up front

to California, via Colorado, Oregon and Washington, visiting family and stopping in small towns along the way. On the way back, she stopped in Glacier National Park.

Chase buys coach seats and then spends most of her time in the train’s lounge car, which offers an open view of the countryside and outlets for her laptop.

Chase’s commitment to a carless life started about 15 years ago when she took part in Kalamazoo’s first “walkability” survey, led by Dan Burden, founder of Walkable Communities Inc., a nonprofit consulting firm that develops, promotes and evaluates alternative transportation at national, regional, state and local levels. Last summer, Burden conducted a second walkability study, sponsored by Disability Network Southwest Michigan, a group that has a huge stake in the city’s public transportation.

Burden's first visit led Chase to become involved in a statewide coalition on transportation and land use led by the Michigan Land Use Institute (recently renamed the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities), which seeks to raise awareness of transportation issues in the state Legislature and persuade the state to maintain funding for public transportation.

Ten years ago Chase also joined the Michigan Association for Railroad Passengers, which seeks to improve and expand passenger train service in Michigan and increase awareness of the passenger train service that exists in the state.

“People don’t realize there are 14 active train stations in Michigan and 17 other communities that have ‘thruway service,’ where Indian Trails bus service connects to Amtrak,” Chase says.

“This means that most of Michigan’s population does have access to trains, although many remain unaware of this.”

Chase has also been involved in the Transportation for Michigan coalition, which is exploring the restoration of passenger train service between Detroit and Grand Rapids via Lansing. That service was discontinued on April 30, 1971, along with most passenger train service in America. But then Amtrak took over train service, which had been in

decline under management by the freight railroads and because of the increase in driving that came with the building of the interstate highway system.

These days Chase is very optimistic about the future of trains in Michigan and the rest of the country. “Gov. Snyder has been extremely supportive of public transportation,” Chase says. “One of the first things he did was to bring together people interested in expanding passenger rail.” In addition, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the stimulus package passed in the early days of the Obama administration, helped to jumpstart a number of rail infrastructure projects that will improve the efficiency and reliability of the country’s train system.

“Although some in Congress still try to cut the budget, defunding Amtrak gets less and less popular every year because passenger rail continues to be seen as an important part of our overall transportation system,” Chase says.

In 2014, Amtrak reported that nearly 31 million passengers rode its trains to more than 500 destinations in 46 states. Ridership on Michigan’s three routes, with 10 trains daily, has grown more than 60 percent over the last decade.

Chase also cites projects around the country as a basis for her optimism. There are plans for 110 mph service between Chicago and St. Louis, and the Midwest states are slated to begin receiving next-generation locomotives and bi-level passenger cars over the next few years.

“I’m committed to public transportation in general and believe we need more of it,” Chase says. “I can speak from experience when I talk to decision-makers, and I can better understand what other people face who don’t have a choice in transportation like I do. As a community, we need to expand these choices for everyone.”

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w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 13

Savor encore

Nick’s Gyros

Food trailer's success leads to new restaurant by

Lisa Mackinder

Brian Powers

FOCUS Kalamazoo members build a garden at Woodword School for Technology and Research in the Stuart neighborhood.

T

wo things stand out when you meet Nick Lambright: his passion for Greek food and his forethought in starting a business, which began with a food trailer and now includes a full-scale restaurant.

Last May, Lambright launched Nick’s Gyros as a food trailer serving fresh Greek food created from authentic recipes from Messolonghi, a region in western Greece. The trailer was based at 7540 S. Westnedge Ave., in Portage, but traveled around the greater Kalamazoo area.

“The first day opening the trailer was crazy,” Lambright says. “We were very busy all day and got very positive feedback. It was definitely one of the best days of my life.”

The trailer continued to do well, and Lambright capitalized on that success, opening a 25-seat eatery, Nick’s Gyros & Mediterranean 14 | Encore MARCH 2016

Nick Lambright, above, first brought his passion for authentic Greek food to a food trailer and now runs a full-scale restaurant, Nick’s Gyros & Mediterranean Specialties, center photo, where he serves authentic Mediterranean fare such as the gyro pictured at far right.

Specialities, at 2727 W. Michigan Ave., in January. The restaurant offers the same Messolonghi fare served at his food trailer, plus authentic Greek desserts, which take more preparation room than the food trailer affords.

Lambright, a Kalamazoo native and resident, says he has always enjoyed Greek food, but his fervor for the ethnic cuisine escalated during his first visit to the Greek islands four years ago. Other trips to the country followed, including lengthy stays. In total, Lambright spent seven months in the Mediterranean country. After enjoying

encore Savor

authentic gyros, souvlaki, spanakopita and Greek salads there, Lambright returned home and realized those foods’ Americanized counterparts no longer held any appeal for him. As an example of the differences, he cites Greek salads. A true Greek salad, he says, incorporates tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions and feta cheese but has no lettuce.

Lambright’s passion triggered an idea for the 22-year old: creating a business that introduces Americans to authentic Greek food. To do so meant Lambright would have to learn how to make those dishes. He jumped right in and went to work in a friend’s gyro shop in Messolonghi.

“He taught me everything to know about how to make real Greek gyros,” Lambright says. “We went over how to properly season the meat and how to stack it on the spit. He also gave me his 25-year-old secret recipe before I left.”

Lambright also learned traditional Greek home cooking, taught by another friend’s mother. The language barrier proved tricky at times, Lambright says, but his more-than-willing teacher provided him with pages of recipes.

“Cooking in her kitchen was very special,” he says. “It was all very hands-on and done with lots of attention to the small things. Greeks really love their food, so there is a lot of love that goes into everything they make.”

Back in the U.S. and armed with recipes and cooking knowledge,

Lambright embarked on building a food trailer. He had worked in local restaurants and studied business for three years at Western Michigan University. He also worked for his father, David Lambright, owner of Bel-Aire Heating and Air Conditioning in Portage — a Lambright family business for 53 years. The family business had given the younger Lambright much know-how when he and his father constructed the 24-foot-by-8-1/2-foot trailer. It took two and a half months to complete.

“My dad and I designed the whole thing,” Lambright says. “The spit we use is actually a Greek spit from the shop that I learned in.”

The Lambrights designed the trailer so workers can serve out of any side and use two ovens — one for baking and the other for holding. Five employees work inside comfortably, and the space can accommodate six to seven people if needed. The trailer has a large flattop stove inside for making numerous pitas. Lambright says two people can crank out 150 pitas in one hour at lunchtime.

Lambright says he opted to go with a trailer, rather than a food truck, for the additional space a trailer offers. “I have a 12-foot hood in there,” he says, “so I have a full-scale commercial setup. We cook everyone’s food to order.”

And that’s the real star of this operation, the food — especially the gyros, Lambright boasts. In Greece gyros are made with pork — not pre-processed lamb, which is often found in many American versions.

Lambright sticks with the Greek tradition of slow cooking his fresh pork every day. He gets it from Galesburg Meat Co. The gyros are served with an authentic tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions and French fries, which are served inside the sandwich.

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“Our gyros come with fries because that’s how they (the Greeks) do it over there,” he explains. “They put the fries right inside because it’s a sandwich on the go.”

Lambright says Nick’s Gyros regulars often order from the “secret” menu, including an item Lambright calls a “MacDaddy gyro.”

This gyro is topped with tzatziki sauce and chef sauce, which is the Greek version of Thousand Island dressing. Lambright’s chef

Nick’s Gyros & Mediterranean Specialties Where: 2727 W. Michigan Ave. Hours: Mon.-Wed.: 11 a.m.-midnight Thurs.-Sat.: 11 a.m.- 4 a.m.

Closed Sunday Contact: 888-2002 facebook.com/nicksgyrotrailer sauce has his own touch — he’s spiced it up to give it some heat.

Lambright says another reason he chose to open a food trailer first was it allowed him to see how well his product would be received. “It was a cheaper entry point than doing just the straight-up restaurant,” he says.

The enthusiastic response to the food he served at the trailer propelled Lambright to open the 1,400-square-foot restaurant.

And what will happen to the food trailer?

Lambright assures customers that it will once again be roaming about town as soon as weather permits, although he’s not yet sure of the locations.

Through his restaurant and food trailer, Lambright’s mission is to teach Southwest Michiganders about genuine, fresh Greek food.

“It’s a very important thing to (Greeks), their food,” Lambright says. “I’m trying to translate that over here and make it something that people can appreciate — the difference (between) what we’re used to and what it actually is.”

encore Enterprise

Making House Calls

Kalamazoo medical and dental professionals step out of the office Andrew Domino

Brian Powers

by

D

r. Miriam Veldt is literally a doctor without borders.

In today’s world, doctors who make house calls seem like something out of Little House on the Prairie. But for people in the most desperate situations, such doctors are exactly what they need.

“In medical school, you’re taught that you have to fix everybody,” says Veldt, 36, of Portage. “By doing (visits), you’re keeping patients out of the hospital and keeping them from getting worse.”

A member of the Kalamazoo office of Visiting Physicians Association (VPA), Veldt travels to nearly a dozen patients a day to administer checkups, treatment or emergency care. She’s welcomed into the homes or care

Above: Dr. Miriam Veldt, above, talks with patient Catherine Gonzalez, during a house call at Gonzalez’s home. At left: Dr. Tiffany Burns of Smile Savers Mobile Dental Service does a dental exam on a patient in the patient’s home.

centers of her patients, most of whom are elderly, and gives them the same medical attention they would receive at a doctor’s office. The only difference is that the patients stay where they’re most comfortable.

“This way I know more about my patients and the environments they’re in,” Veldt says.

“We develop a relationship quicker.”

Visiting Physicians Association is a national firm that sends doctors and nurses on house calls. Veldt is one of the seven medical providers (four doctors and three w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 17

Enterprise encore

nurse practitioners) in the local office, which opened in 1995 and serves about 12,000 patients in an area that stretches from south of Grand Rapids to Albion to the border of Indiana and Lake Michigan. VPA sends its doctors, each partnered with a medical assistant, to patients’ homes for whatever health care the patients need. Almost anything that can be done in a medical office can be done in a VPA visit. The doctors’ vehicles carry EKG machines, centrifuges for blood work, and ultrasound equipment.

“It’s like we’re taking Marcus Welby and giving him 21st century technology,” says Laurel Andonian, a registered nurse and practice manager at the Kalamazoo office.

But medical doctors aren’t the only ones making house calls. Dentist Tiffany Burns has taken that same concept and applied it to the dental business. She created Smile Savers Mobile Dental Service in 2014 to offer basic dental care through home visits. This is often very simple care, such as instruction on flossing and proper brushing techniques.

To get patients started on the right track, Burns brushes and flosses for them during her visit. As with VPA visits, Burns is there to make sure the basics are taken care of, so patients don’t have to spend time and money on emergency trips to a dentist.

18 | Encore MARCH 2016

“Most people only go out (to the dentist) when they have a toothache,” Burns says.

Right now she offers Smile Savers about 10 hours each week, but she hopes to build her client business to full time in the next few years.

Andonian and Burns both say their services are specifically for people who

Contact Information Visiting Physicians Association 2725 Airview Blvd., Suite 105 Portage, MI 49002 269-349-8386 kalamazoo@visitingphysicians.com

Smile Savers Mobile Dental Service 514 Edwin Ave. Kalamazoo, MI 49048 269-217-7778 are unable to leave their homes to receive regular medical care. Their clients are often referred to them by Kalamazoo Senior Services and senior apartment complexes.

Burns visits senior homes but also treats disabled patients and children in rural areas who don’t have easy access to a dentist.

Andonian says hospitals sometimes recommend VPA to frequent patients who need more attention than they can get in the emergency room. VPA isn’t an emergency service; the doctors usually work 9 a.m.–4 p.m. weekdays.

Meeting with patients in their homes can present unique challenges, however.

“It’s not a clinical environment all the time,” Andonian says. “Sometimes it’s a dirty home, or a person is smoking, even if they’re not supposed to.”

She says every health care provider on staff has had to push a car out of a snow bank because patients often live in areas where the roads aren’t plowed.

Veldt, who started her career in a traditional medical office, joined VPA in 2013 “to try something different.” She says she likes that she can help prevent people from getting sick, instead of just fixing what’s wrong.

Seeing patients in their homes makes them more relaxed and likely to discuss everything that’s making them feel ill, she says.

“People are really welcoming. They already know what we’re going to do. They talk about other issues, not just the emergency."

encore good works

‘A Source of Hope’

Family & Children Services helps families put pieces back together Olga Bonfiglio

Brian Powers

by

P

Brian Powers

overty isn’t just about lack of money. It’s a condition that disrupts people’s lives in profound ways.

Picture a single mother who is a victim of domestic violence and has to manage a low-paying job and take care of her three children on her own — without adequate transportation. Whatever she faces next — an unexpected illness or bill — can bring her to the breaking point.

Those breaking points can become extremely detrimental for a family, create obstacles for healthy parenting, impair workplace performance, initiate violence, child abuse or neglect, and lead to depression and substance abuse.

“The people we work with haven’t had a lot of breaks,” says Family & Children Services CEO Rosemary Gardiner. “It’s about people being so overwhelmed by a lack of resources that they don’t know what to do. If they have mental health issues or lack social and emotional skills, they have an added burden of holding a job or taking care of their family.”

Melissa Gonzalez, second from right, worked with Family & Children Services foster care specialist Natalie Kennedy, second from left, to regain custody of her children, from left, Michael Carney Jr., Madison Carney and Makayla Carney.

That’s when Family & Children Services can help families. For more than a century, the agency, which offers behavioral health and child welfare programs and services, has worked to preserve and reunite families as well as to provide them with skills to help prevent greater dysfunction. The agency has begun construction on a $5.1 million expansion that will enhance its work with families in identifying and reducing the obstacles they face while providing them with tools and resources for everything from effective parenting to dealing with behavioral health issues.

Many of the agency’s clients are individuals and families who are asset limited, income constrained and employed, or ALICE, an acronym coined by the United Way to describe the “new poor.” They are the mechanics, home health aides, day-care workers, kitchen w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 19

Brian Powers

good works encore

workers and office assistants who do essential, low-skill work in our communities but still struggle to make ends meet. Most Family & Children Services’ clients fall into an even lower category of poverty — 79 percent have a total income that falls below federal poverty guidelines. Many times the stressors for adults in these situations far outweigh their coping skills.

“When I first came to Family & Children Services 40 years ago, there were only 14 staff,” Gardiner says. “Now we have nearly 200 staff who serve 9,000 clients each year on-site in Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties and off-site in Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Cass, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties, in client’s homes and at schools, community organizations and respite houses. During that time and

20 | Encore MARCH 2016

Top: Rosemary Gardiner, CEO of Family & Children Services, stands at the construction site for the facility's expansion on Lake Street. Bottom: Renderings show the organization’s Family Visitation and Learning Center addition which will include ample outside areas for family visits.

throughout our 112-year history, our mission to serve the community has never changed.”

And that mission is to be “a source of hope” for people who need counseling, foster care or adoption, mental health services, youth development or parenting support.

“People walk in with baggage, and we help to unwrap it with them,” Gardiner says. “We sort out what needs to be worked on with our clients and stand with them to offer the tools for them to help themselves.”

encore good works

Poverty, along with family violence or substance abuse issues, is devastating for children, she says.

“Most of the oldest kids soldier on to help the younger kids because the parent or caregiver can’t manage the household,” she says. “Sometimes these children feed the younger ones, change their diapers and find safety.”

Gardiner tells how one older child found the closet was the safest place for his siblings to survive when violence erupted in his family’s meth house.

“The tragedy of all of this is the amount of trauma children have experienced and that we’re surprised when the child cannot perform in school,” Gardiner says. “Many times it is an issue of ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences), where their brain function is affected.”

Gardiner says children learn about coping with life’s challenges and parenting by observing their own parents. Negative coping skills

are likely to be repeated in subsequent generations — unless the child or parent learns different, more effective methods of coping.

“The best thing we do is to interrupt family dysfunction,” Gardiner says. “It’s like bringing a little light into the darkness. We share with our clients that there’s a way other than the automatic reaction of yelling and hitting children.”

Alternative methods may be as simple as turning off the television and getting on the floor with the child when the parent needs the child to respond. Coached family visitation at Family & Children Services gives birth parents and their children who have been removed from their homes a chance to practice new behaviors and, ultimately, to change together.

Gardiner says 59 percent of the agency’s clients are youth under 19 years old, and, through a community system of safety nets, staff at Family & Children Services help their clients take advantage of

One Family’s Story

ers Brian Pow

A mother of three young children, Melissa Gonzalez struggled for several years with drug addiction. She was addicted not only to the drugs she was using, but to the lifestyle that comes from using drugs. Her priorities were not focused on herself or her children, but on when she would be able to use again. Melissa’s children were ultimately removed from her home and entered foster care in May 2012.

In the beginning, Melissa took losing her children as an opportunity to continue her drug addiction and lifestyle. While she was participating in services offered by Family & Children’s Services to help with parenting and substance abuse recovery, she was not allowing the services to be beneficial.

Melissa struggled during visitations with her children who demonstrated aggressive, hostile and angry behavior. She often became frustrated and emotional during these visits, which escalated her children’s behavior even more.

After about a year with her children in foster care and having received services from Family & Children’s Services, Melissa began to experience a turnaround in her behavior and thinking. Melissa stated “When I realized you weren’t trying to keep my kids from me and were trying to help my family, I realized I needed to do my part.”

Shortly after, the team working with Melissa saw a complete change in her. She became more invested in her children, attending all their school and doctor appointments. She took her sobriety seriously and found employment and housing. She developed a relationship with the foster parent for her two younger children that eventually evolved into a “co-parenting” relationship.

This hard work and persistence resulted in all three children being returned to Melissa’s care. Even now, nearly four years later, Melissa continues to use skills learned during her parenting classes, counseling and substance abuse services as the sole caregiver to her children. She states that her priorities now are her three young, smart and loving children, and she continues to maintain a relationship with supportive individuals, including the younger children’s former foster parent.

left, Madison r children, from el Carney Jr. he ith w ez al Melissa Gonz akayla Carney and Micha Carney, M

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 21

good works encore

available services for the good of their families.

The aim of the child welfare services is to provide safe, permanent homes and wellbeing for children without parents or without any family members able to take care of them. Family & Children Services currently licenses nearly 115 foster homes for more than 250 children annually. However, more homes are always needed.

“Our staff creates a plan that helps to stabilize the child’s home and visits with his or her birth family,” Gardiner says. “We also support our foster parents and, with them, check on the child’s school progress and medical and dental care while the child is in our care. It’s also our job to partner with the court system, where there are many checks and balances mandated by the state’s fostercare system. And, if there is no chance for

APRIL 26 TO MAY 14, 2016 THEGILMORE.ORG

22 | Encore MARCH 2016

reunification with a birth parent or a relative appropriate to care for the child, we move toward adoptive placement.”

It would seem that the agency’s staff would be discouraged by the weight of responsibility they carry, but staff members say they make sure to celebrate their successes and maintain a caring and supportive culture.

What attracts people to such difficult work?

“Family & Children Services staff are very interested in the human condition, the challenges and strengths people have, and they have the passion and vision for how people’s lives could be improved,” Gardiner says. “This is the source of hope for them in their work, and we transfer that hope to our clients.”

In October, Family & Children Services broke ground on $5.1 million in improvements to its Lake Street campus to be able to more effectively work with families. The expanded facility will have bigger and more family visitation rooms and outdoor space, where birth parents and children spend time together working to learn new, more functional behaviors. In addition, existing space is being repurposed to expand youth services to provide social and emotional skill-building groups. Construction of the new facility is expected to be completed in late summer.

“Family & Children Services has remained responsive to changing community needs over time, which has resulted in unwavering community support for the agency,” Gardiner says. “During our recent capital campaign, businesses, foundations and private donors alike understood the agency’s need and vision and responded as partners in building community.

They joined us because they too care deeply about strengthening families and reducing childhood trauma. This outpouring is incredibly humbling for Family & Children Services.”

For Family & Children Services staff, the most rewarding thing at the end of the day is helping people find a new direction that gives them hope, Gardiner says.

“We can’t take families out of poverty, but we can help them parent or have their children returned from foster care, reduce the amount of fighting at home and help them engage more with school.”

For information on Family & Children Services, visit fcsource.org or call 344-0202.

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Game Makers Rival video game companies coexist peacefully in Kalamazoo

24 | Encore MARCH 2016

It started with one.

story by

Andrew domino

Brian Powers

In 2010, S2 Games, a Kalamazoo-based video game company led by Marc DeForest, created the multiplayer computer game Heroes of Newerth (HoN). The game developed a large global following but did something else that not even DeForest could have predicted: It spawned two more video game companies — Frostburn Studios and Plarium Michigan Studio — that now call the greater Kalamazoo area home.

So how did it happen that a Midwestern town far from Silicon Valley and all things technology would become a small hub of video game development?

To answer that, start with S2.

Employees at S2, often convene in the company’s Creative Collaboration Room to work on games or play games. From right, Michael Kirzinger, CEO Marc DeForest, Jason Gripp and Stephen Baker talk about the company’s latest game in development.

Courtesy: Plarium Michigan Plarium Michigan Studio employees Pu Liu, top photo, and Jacquelyn Boshoven, at right, work on many of Plarium’s 11 video games, including Sparta: War of Empires seen in a screenshot at left.

For four years after creating HoN, S2 was a growing company, notable locally for its giant gorilla logo emblazoned on billboards across the city. Then, in the spring of 2015, S2 sold Heroes of Newerth to Garena, a Singpore-based company, to concentrate on its newest game, Strife, and another game still in development.

But instead of being relocated to Singapore, HoN continued to be overseen in Kalamazoo by Frostburn Studios, a new company created

by Garena and composed of about 45 former S2 employees who made the move with HoN. Frostburn Studios set up shop on Water Street in downtown Kalamazoo, while S2 left its longtime location in Portage for new digs on Beatrice Drive, near Ninth Street and I-94. S2 also has offices in Petaluma, California.

26 | Encore MARCH 2016

In January 2015, three S2 veterans left S2 to open Plarium Michigan Studio in Portage, the first U.S. location for Israel-based Plarium Games. Plarium Michigan’s nine-member team provides “project strategy and game design expertise” in daily video conferences with other Plarium groups in Russia and Ukraine, says James Fielding, Plarium Michigan’s president and game director.

That makes three companies — S2, Frostburn and Plarium — with similar games and similar audiences coexisting in the Kalamazoo region. But, according to Frostburn Studios’ Brad Bower, there is more collegiality among the three companies than competition.

“We are competitors, but a lot of people know one another from working at S2,” says Bower, the studio director at Frostburn.

The games produced by these local companies, including Plarium’s Sparta: War of Empires and Total Domination, are multiplayer games but of two different types.

HoN and Strife are multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBAs) played on computers. Players log in to a game and choose a hero, usually a fantasy character like a wizard or swordsman, and form a team with other players. Each team faces off against a rival team to conquer the rival team’s base while defending its own home base.

It’s a little like the playground game Capture the Flag, except all the players are on computers and the digital heroes can use magical powers.

In MOBAs, only two teams compete against each other and each team is made up of five heroes, who each have different abilities, such as attacking from a distance or healing injuries. Heroes can’t wander off and do something else; they have to help their teammates get to the opposing team’s base. Dedicated players spend hours playing the game, and there are strategy guides online written by fans that analyze everything a character in the game can do.

HoN and Strife are both free to play; all a gamer has to do is download a game from the official website. Players can make ingame purchases, paying for upgrades and improvements such as new clothing or equipment for their heroes. Players use real money for these purchases, but the companies wouldn’t reveal how much they earn annually from in-game sales.

MOBAs like HoN and Strife are a major part of “e-sports,” organized tournaments of computer games. The gaming industry research firm Newzoo expects e-sports to double its worldwide revenue to $500 million by 2017 and to $1 billion by 2020. A recent HoN tournament offered $180,000 in prize money to the top gamers. E-sports are especially popular in Asia, and Bower says HoN is the single biggest game in Thailand.

Plarium’s games aren’t MOBAs, but they’re similar: They’re massively multiplayer online games, or MMOs. In MMOs, thousands of participants can play the game simultaneously over the Internet. Plarium’s games tend to feature fantasy characters such as Vikings and pirates who march across computerized battlefields to war with other players. Like HoN and Strife, Plarium’s games are free to play, with in-game purchases available to enhance a player’s abilities.

S2 wouldn’t release player information, but Frostburn reports that about 1.6 million people play HoN each month. Plarium has more than 90 million players for 11 different games.

That game, Strife, was launched in 2014, originally to complement HoN and take players from one game to the next.

Marc DeForest, founder of S2 Games, led the teams that created both HoN and Strife. He said having two similar but distinct games was always S2’s goal.

“When we created Strife, we wanted to take everything we learned from making games over the previous 10 years and create a new game from a clean sheet,” DeForest says. “Strife is more forgiving and less hard-core than Heroes. The games can and do co-exist in the market.”

In May 2015, S2 sold HoN to Garena after a year of planning.

DeForest wanted to focus on other game ventures, and Garena was perfectly positioned to take over because it was already familiar with HoN from managing the game's presence in southwest Asia. After the sale, Garena chose to keep the game’s designers and programmers in Encore File Photo

MOBA and MMO games

Spawned from HoN Heroes of Newerth undoubtedly is at the root of video game development in the Kalamazoo area. Soon after HoN was introduced, S2 Games partnered with Garena to offer the game throughout Asia.

Once HoN became an established brand, S2 decided to work on a smaller, simpler game that would introduce new players to MOBAs.

As a programmer with Frostburn Studios, Paul Dziadzo, top photo, works on Heroes of Newerth, which features magical characters such as the one pictured in the bottom image.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 27

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Kalamazoo under the new Frostburn Studios name. Bower says the change was all behind the scenes and hasn’t had any effect on players in Asia, the U.S. or anywhere else.

“We can do what we want, when we want,” he says. “(Garena is) saying, ‘We trust you.’”

While HoN and Strife are designed for so-called “hard-core” gamers who spend hours online playing the games, Fielding says Plarium is concentrating on mobile games that are quicker to play. Many of Plarium’s games are also available for laptop computers and social media sites, but the company is focusing its business on those who play games on iPhones and Androids.

Plarium even has a slot machine simulator, though Fielding says his team doesn’t work on that game.

DeForest, who is usually very introverted, shyly admits a bit of pride in the existence of Frostburn and Plarium in the region.

“We created long-lasting relationships with everyone at Garena, and many of our friends work at Frostburn and Plarium,” DeForest says. “I am very excited that S2 has been able to spawn multiple new game developers in the Kalamazoo area.”

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And lest people think S2 is fading from the scene, DeForest says he will continue building S2 Games in the Kalamazoo area.

The company announced in 2015 that it was scaling back its focus on Strife to work on a new game in development. The new game, which DeForest calls a “large departure” from Strife and HoN, is expected to be released in the first half of this year. Meanwhile, DeForest says S2 is looking to release Strife in China and is “working with our partners to get it to market as soon as possible.”

And while the team of developers at S2 works on the new game, DeForest, who calls himself a “serial entrepreneur,” has undertaken a new endeavor not remotely related to MOBAs. He has launched Opulent Blends, a company that handcrafts soaps, lotions and balms from natural ingredients.

The company currently sells its products online and at several local stores.

DeForest says one of his goals has long been to offer jobs and industry in Kalamazoo and Michigan. During its HoN days, S2 Games was known for its outreach efforts (continued on page 43)

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Group Effort Writers help each other improve craft and ‘crank it out’

30 | Encore MARCH 2016

story by photography by

Kit Almy brian powers

N o doubt writing is a solitary endeavor,

but a number of local writers find that their craft improves with regular feedback and support from other writers.

“Hanging out with writers is so essential,” says poet Lynn Pattison, of Kalamazoo, “and after you leave school and enter the world of parenting, day jobs, etc., you miss the companionship of people who like to scrutinize word choice, word order, placement of an article. This stuff is not usually a part of everyday conversation.”

Jennifer Clark, standing, hosts a meeting of Poetry Dawgs at her house. The others attending the writing group are, from left, Elizabeth Kerlikowske, Julie Stotz-Ghosh, Bonnie Jo Campbell and Margaret DeRitter. w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 31

The Kalamazoo area — with three institutions of higher education, various literary-minded cultural institutions and several bookstores — offers writers many avenues for developing skills through classes, workshops and craft talks by visiting authors. But outside of these more formal settings, writers often find it helpful to share their works in progress with others in a writers' group. They meet regularly to critique — or sometimes just to appreciate and support — each other’s writing as well as to share information, such as where to submit for publication.

The area includes dozens of these groups, covering genres from romance to poetry, from science fiction to children’s literature. In most cases, a group’s members will all work in a similar genre.

Judy Myers, of Kalamazoo, a freelance editor and author of several historical and contemporary romance novels and novellas, says it’s helpful if all members are “writing to the same general audience.”

For example, a poet, a science fiction writer and a memoirist may not be able to comment intelligently on each other’s work. “If you never read in that genre,” Myers says, “you may judge the work through a different lens, and your advice might be steering them away from their target audience.”

Some groups, on the other hand, form around a common interest, such as the Combat Veterans Writing Group, profiled in Encore in January 2014, or Kalamazoo Christian Writers. “Our members’ writing covers the gamut of topics and styles — nonfiction, fiction, memoir and poetry,” says Kalamazoo Christian Writers co-founder Peter DeHaan, of Hudsonville. “Our members write for both the Christian market and the general market. We only ask that they write from a Christian worldview.”

A key reason for writers to join a writing critique group is to improve the quality of their own writing, but that’s far from the only benefit. For Joe Novara, of Kalamazoo, being in several writers’ groups during the past 20 years has forced him to be more productive.

“You don’t want to go (to the group meeting) empty-handed,” says Novara, a retired corporate trainer and freelance writer who has authored more than a dozen e-books for youth and adults. “The writing group enforces that kind of volume that I think makes the difference between the hobby writer and the person who says, ‘I’ve got this assignment, and I’ve got to crank it out.’ It can be kind of artificial in a certain way, but it pushes you into that level of productivity.”

Most critique groups follow some guidelines to ensure that things run smoothly, that everyone’s work receives equal attention and that no one feels under attack. Novara, who is also a former Kalamazoo Valley Community College writing instructor, has developed a protocol for critique sessions. His current group meets at the Kazoo Books store at 2413 Parkview Ave., in Kalamazoo, and the store makes his guidelines available to other groups that meet there.

Novara’s protocol, which isn’t the same for other writing groups, addresses optimal group size and the length of pieces to be critiqued and bans interruptions during the initial reading of a piece as well as during the critique. He recommends beginning with positive comments, keeping criticism constructive and not debating suggestions.

“Critique sessions aren’t the time to argue over who is right,” he says. “Members of a critique group offer their observations on how the piece comes across to them. It’s up to the writer to adjust, or not, to that feedback.”

32 | Encore MARCH 2016

Above: Author Joe Novara, center, hosts a writers' group at Kazoo Books that includes James Taborn, right, and Cheryl Peck, left.. At right: From left, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Margaret DeRitter, Julie Stotz-Ghosh and Jennifer Clark go over one of the poems brought to the group for critique.

What writers do with that feedback is an individual choice, Pattison says.

“Of course, an individual needs to maintain ownership,” she says.

“No matter what suggestions have surfaced — and there can often be contradictory responses — in the end the writer must go back to their desk and decide what advice they want to incorporate and what doesn't work for them.”

Over time, writers get better at evaluating whether suggestions are useful or not. Myers has found a rule of thumb about critiques through her experience working with editors as well as peer groups: “If they tell you where something’s wrong, they’re probably right. If they tell you how to fix it, they’re often wrong,” she says.

Pattison, the author of three books of poetry, says her writing group has helped her become a better critic of her own writing. She is a founding member of Poetry Dawgs, a critique group started by writers who had taken a workshop with local poet John Rybicki and wanted to continue to share their work.

“What is always surprising to me is how much I learn about the poem I bring, just in reading it to the others,” she says. “I can read it aloud at home and think it’s done, but reading it at Dawgs, even

write together, using peer pressure to boost productivity, while other groups allow writers to provide each other with much-needed moral support. Kalamazoo psychotherapist Nancy Hayes, the founder of the Kalamazoo Aspiring Writers Meetup, says her group is “friendly and supportive, not into critical feedback but honest reflection. As 'host,' I keep the group safe, meaning all members are respectful and kind,” she says.

“Some people in the group have no intention of getting published — they just want a safe place to share their writing. If someone in the group is looking for editing, they ask for that.”

Finding a writers' group Kazoo Books, which has two locations in the area, has positioned itself as a headquarters for literary events. In addition to hosting readings, workshops and book groups, the store’s Parkview Avenue location is currently the meeting place for five writers' groups.

Kazoo Books has also hosted two orientation sessions to help new groups form.

“With the colleges here, there are a lot of writers and would-be writers in the area, and finding a place to have a meeting that is stimulating and cozy is harder than you (continued on page 43)

Robert M Weir

before anyone comments, I sometimes hear what didn't work, what doesn't need to be there, what is clunky.”

And while it’s never easy to hear one’s work criticized, having self-confidence and being open to other ideas can serve a writer well. “It’s humbling, but I think it’s a marvelous way for adults to learn from each other. It’s learning in process rather than in theory,” Novara says.

And writers' groups are not just for aspiring authors. Bonnie Jo Campbell, a National Book Award finalist whose fifth book of fiction, Mothers, Tell Your Daughters, was published last fall, says she no longer meets regularly with her longtime fiction and poetry writers' groups but still depends on occasional feedback from a few trusted writers she met through the groups.

“Writing groups are so important, and especially when you’re starting out,” she says. “I’m a believer. I’m always trying to pair up my students (in the low-residency Master of Fine Arts writing program at Pacific University in Oregon) because once they realize how valuable feedback is, they want more from me, so I’m trying to show them that they can do this for each other.”

Not all writers' groups are critique groups, however. Some groups gather to

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 33

ARTS encore

‘I don’t hold back anymore’ Singer Megan Dooley is making her mark by

Kara Norman

34 | Encore MARCH 2016

Fran Dwight

I

f you listen to Megan Dooley’s latest album, Made in Kalamazoo, chances are you won’t be able to guess what’s coming next. The music is a mix of original songs by Dooley and a few covers, including a plucky, deft version of Tom Waits’ “Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis.” The album surprises with each song, and that’s a good thing.

Dooley is a torch singer. Her voice is a train dressed in satin. It lilts, flirts and storms, and all this musical drama is a performance she’s worked more than half her life to develop. But despite all the flare, Dooley says she wants to be one of the “most reliable musicians” in Kalamazoo.

Wearing a T-shirt and guitar-shaped earrings that swing when she moves her head, the 30-year-old Kalamazoo native explains that by “reliable” she means “ethical and approachable as well as affordable” and that her desire to be this way may be the reason she makes a living as a musician at all.

“I don’t charge very much (to perform) because I want to be accessible,” she says. “I don’t want my work to be this out-of-reach thing. I also think I should be able to make a living, so I try to find a middle ground. If you’re going to work in a small town, a good reputation is the most important thing. People want to depend on you. If they can, they’re going to tell their friends.”

Dooley, who started playing guitar at 14, also plays banjolele. She performs with the Kalamazoo bands Dooley Noted, Moxieville and Top Heavy, but also as a solo artist, in venues like O’Duffy’s Pub, Old Dog Tavern, Bell’s Eccentric Café and Saugatuck Brewing Co. as well as at fundraisers and private house shows.

But don’t be fooled: Dooley is a businesswoman trapped in a musician’s body, and she has the college credits in grant writing to prove it.

Those credits paid off: Dooley was awarded a $4,500 Kalamazoo Artistic Development Initiative grant by the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo in April 2015 to record Made in Kalamazoo at La Luna Recording & Sound. Dooley says the grant-writing process was a lengthy one that included having her application edited “18 billion times” by everyone she knew in the arts community. Dooley also learned to use the Excel software program and met with accountants to make a budget spreadsheet.

“I started the process really early because I’m a procrastinator. I know my habits really well, so I tried to do the opposite of everything I usually do.”

If these words sound like those of a very wise person, consider the fact that Dooley has been chasing music in one way or another since she was 16 and dropped out of Vicksburg High School during her

Singer Megan Dooley performs regularly in the Kalamazoo area as a solo artist and as a member of various bands.

sophomore year. She moved in with an older friend in Kalamazoo while working at her twin passions of cooking and music. She worked at a number of area restaurants, including Food Dance, Fandango, Crow’s Nest and Rustica, and for the Millenium Restaurant Group.

“I love cooking as much as I love making music,” she says. “It’s something I’ve always been very passionate about. I put it on the back burner because it’s always something I could do when I’m 60 or 70 or 80 years old. I can cook my whole life, but I’ve got a limited window

ENCORE Arts

when I can really focus on putting music out there. I had to save my hands. I was cutting fingertips off. I still have scars all over my arms."

After earning a GED, Dooley went on to Kalamazoo Valley Community College, majoring in both English and illustration. She also had the forethought to take a grant-writing class there, “just because I knew it was probably going to help me in the long run.”

Dooley, however, says she’s still kicking herself for not taking business courses. She teaches herself with help from her network, including her mom, Margaret Dooley, who is a retired accountant.

Dooley’s goal is to support herself as an artist, and she does so by performing a variety of shows, from solo shows at bars to performances with six-piece bands at big events.

“Diversification!” she jokes. “I’ve been through everything so many times, I’m done not setting myself up for success. I used to selfsabotage because I didn’t know any better. I was young.”

While Dooley admits that she believes she’s had some angels looking after her, especially career-wise, she says that bearing witness to her own failures again and again is what she needs to see the next step clearly.

“Mostly, I have a voice in the back of my head that’s like, ‘Hey, girl.

That didn’t work out so well. Why don’t you sit down and analyze what went wrong and see if we can avoid that in the future?’”

The strategy seems to be working. In December, Dooley opened for Detroit-based folk legend Rodriguez at Kalamazoo’s State Theatre.

Rodriguez, who was wildly popular in South Africa years before he knew about his fame there, gained wider attention and a boost for his music career with the 2012 Oscar-winning documentary about him, Searching for Sugar Man. Opening for Rodriguez was a surreal experience, says Dooley, but she treated it like every other show she plays. Otherwise her nerves would have sunk her, she says.

Upcoming Performances

by Megan Dooley 4-5 p.m. March 5: Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival, Kalamazoo Valley Museum, 230 N. Rose St. 9 p.m. March 25: Performing with That Freak Quincy, Shakespeare’s Lower Level, 241 E. Kalamazoo Ave. “I warm up for hours. I make really weird sounds. You have to make sure you’re loose, especially for a show like that.”

Dooley credits her father, Tom Dooley, who died in 2014 after a six-month battle with Stage IV lung cancer, as the reason she plays music. Tom Dooley was a “preservationist of sorts” who specialized in Old English cursive writing and handmade quill-and-ink drawings while working odd jobs as a car salesman and mechanic. Megan says one of her father’s favorite things to do was sing Christmas carols at the top of his lungs.

“He had this beautiful, big, booming baritone voice that spread far and wide,” she says. “It would simultaneously weird people out and make them extremely happy.

“It embarrassed the hell out of me when I was a kid. I was trying not to get noticed, which is how a lot of people feel when they get on stage.

At this point, I don’t hold back anymore. I can get very loud, but I know how to control it, so I can stand back and use it when I want.”

For more information or to listen to Megan Dooley, visit megandooleymusic.com.

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ARTS encore

Evelyn Greathouse

Veterinarian finds her artistic inspiration at work Lisa Mackinder

Brian Powers

by

W

hen you walk into Lakeview Animal Hospital in Portage, you can’t help but notice a large portrait of a formidable-looking black horse that hangs behind the office’s reception desk. It’s the artwork of Evelyn Greathouse, who is known by clients here as veterinarian Dr. Evelyn Bartlett.

Greathouse has been rendering animal and human subjects in her pastels since 1996, in addition to working as an animal doctor and co-owner of Lakeview Animal Hospital. In fact, many pieces of Greathouse’s work hang in the animal clinic examination rooms and are not only appreciated by clients but have caught the attention of others.

The large pastel portrait of the horse is a copy of the original, which was commissioned by Dr. David Ramsey, a veterinary ophthalmologist in Williamston who asked Greathouse to create this likeness of his Friesian horse, Ivan, as a surprise for his wife. Ramsey, who himself moonlights as an artist, carving sculptures of horses from exotic burl wood, found Greathouse after one of her pastels appeared on the cover of the

36 | Encore MARCH 2016

Evelyn Greathouse with a feline patient, top right, creates portraits in pastels including many of animals. Top left: Boone, which Greathouse made of a friend’s pet that recently died. Bottom: Ivan, a commissioned work of a Friesian horse.

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) in 2011.

Each month the journal features an original piece of art on its cover, and Greathouse had

submitted for consideration a pastel of a chocolate Labrador retriever titled Jake. For two years she heard nothing. Then one day while Greathouse was seeing patients, her

ENCORE Arts

phone rang. It was a representative from JAVMA announcing that the journal had selected her pastel for the cover of its May 15, 2011, issue.

“I screamed because I was surprised and excited,” Greathouse says. “Never in a million years did I think my artwork would get selected for a national magazine.”

For the portrait of Ivan, Ramsey provided Greathouse with snapshots of the horse.

When using people’s pet photos to create her art, Greathouse looks for an unusual angle or something distinctive about the subject. In creating Ivan, Greathouse selected a photo that best captured the horse’s personality, but she also wanted to include a human aspect in the piece.

“I wanted a bit of her (Ramsey’s wife) in it,” she explains, “but not so much that it was a portrait of her, but it was more about the animal, about Ivan.”

Greathouse often weaves this kind of sliver of a human element into her pieces.

In Greathouse’s piece Magnum, a dog with expectant eyes rests on a sandy beach with a yellow tennis ball in his mouth. Nearby sit his person’s well-worn sandals. “Conveying that animal-human bond and the relationship between pets and their owners makes for a more unique portrait,” Greathouse says.

She creates her pastels in her “art studio,” a corner of her living room, and often has to remind her 15-year old son not to bounce soccer balls near her easel.

“In a perfect world I’d like a lot of sunlight and quiet and that kind of thing (for a studio),” she says, “but in reality I catch an hour here and there. I do one piece at a time.

If I had a studio with several easels set up, I could probably jump back and forth.”

Being a mother, wife, veterinarian and artist undoubtedly requires a balancing act. It helps that she co-owns the veterinary clinic with her husband, Dr. Darrell Greathouse, in that it gives her a more flexible schedule.

Still, things often happen that prevent Greathouse from returning to work on a piece for weeks. But even those moments present advantages.

“Actually it’s kind of cool because it’s almost like your thought processes were

percolating during that time and you have more ideas,” she says.

A professed doodler as a child, Greathouse says she has always loved art. In her youth she worked with pencils, acrylics and some oils.

In college she started pursuing an art major but then switched to her second passion — animals — believing she might make a better living as a veterinarian.

On Exhibit When: March 4—April 29 Where: Portage City Hall lobby 7900 S. Westnedge Ave. Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday “I had grown up with pets all of my life and was able to relate to them,” Greathouse says.

“There was a couple of experiences when I was growing up where I thought I could’ve done a better job than the veterinarian.”

After having four children, she nixed oil painting. Dropping everything and chasing after little ones didn’t mix well with using

brushes coated in oil that quickly dry out. She says switching to colored pencils and pastels made it easier to stop working on a project and come back to it later.

Eventually Greathouse began working entirely in pastels, a medium resembling chalk that is created by combining powdered pigment and a binder. “You can overlap it and mix it more, and you can get a richer feel to it,” she explains. Greathouse says she and pastels “just clicked,” especially after she took a class at the Art House in Vicksburg. There she learned about certain techniques for applying pastels and types of pastel papers that hold more layers of color.

Greathouse admits that she not only enjoys creating art, but can’t help it. When she sees something unique and beautiful, she feels compelled to capture that image.

“There is peace in the precision and practice of transforming a blank slate into something that captures God’s beauty in the world,” she says, “while simultaneously revealing the talent (with which) he gifted humanity.”

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PERFORMING ARTS

MUSIC

THEATER

Bands & Solo Artists

Plays

HOME (Hip Original Music Ensemble) — 7–9 p.m. March 2, Arcadia Ales, 701 E. Michigan Ave., 276-0440.

Steel Magnolias — Friendship carries Southern women through personal triumphs and tragedies, 7:30 p.m. March 4 & 5, Civic Theatre, 329 S. Park St., 343-1313.

Of Mice and Men — Steinbeck’s classic story of two friends confronted with reality and the American dream, 7:30 p.m. March 4–5, 10–12 & 18–19; 2 p.m. March 13, Parish Theatre, 405 W. Lovell St., 343-1313.

Up the English — A collection of British comedy favorites, 8 p.m. March 4–5, 11–12 & 18–19, New Vic Theatre, 134 E. Vine St., 3813328.

Sketch-a-Etch — A sketch comedy created by Katie Lee, 10 p.m. March 4, Dungeon Theatre, Kalamazoo College, 129 Thompson St., 337-7130.

Sherlock Holmes and A Case of Identity — All Ears Theatre radio-theater presentation, 6 p.m. March 5, First Baptist Church, 315 W. Michigan Ave., 342-5059.

Big Love — Fifty brides escape their fiancés on their wedding night in search of equality, 7:30 p.m. March 18–19 & 24–26; 2 p.m. March 20, Williams Theatre, WMU, 387-6222.

Stuart Little — An unusual mouse struggles to survive among humans, 7:30 p.m. March 18 & 25, 1 & 4 p.m. March 19, 2 p.m. March 20, 9:30 a.m. March 23 & 24, noon March 23 & 24, Civic Theatre, 343-1313.

Ozma of Oz — All Ears Theatre radio-theater presentation, 6 p.m. March 19, First Baptist Church, 342-5059.

Defiant: A Stage Play — Cynthia Tucker presents this gospel theatrical production about a prominent family struggling when hardships arise, 7:30 p.m. March 25, State Theatre, 404 S. Burdick St., 345-6500.

Musicals Chicago — This Broadway musical presents a universal tale of fame, fortune and “all that jazz,” 7:30 p.m. March 1, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Fancy Nancy the Musical — Based on the children’s book series by Jane O’Connor, 11 a.m.

March 12 & 19, 2 p.m. March 12, 13, 19 & 20, Farmers Alley Theatre, 221 Farmers Alley, 3432727.

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live! — An interactive musical adventure for children, 3 p.m. March 13, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 3872300.

38 | Encore MARCH 2016

Everyone Orchestra — An improvisational musical experience with audience participation, 9 p.m. March 3, Bell’s Eccentric Café, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave., 382-2332.

The All American Funk Parade — 9 p.m. March 4, Bell’s Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

The Mainstays — Kalamazoo funk and soul band, 9 p.m. March 5, Bell’s Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Soul-Filled Sundays: Yolonda Lavender and Friends — 6–8 p.m. March 6, Arcadia Ales, 2760440.

Electric Six — Detroit rock band, 9 p.m. March 6, Bell’s Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Rangda — Improvisational trio of two guitarists and a drummer, 9 p.m. March 10, Bell’s Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Fonn Mor — Celtic music blend of Irish and American elements, 9 p.m. March 12, Bell’s Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Soul-Filled Sundays: The Brass Rail — 4–6 p.m.

March 13, Arcadia Ales, 276-0440.

Square Dance Kalamazoo — With caller Pop Wagner and band, 8 p.m. March 14, Bell’s Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

The Sam Pilnick Project — A modern acoustic jazz collective, 7–9 p.m. March 16, Arcadia Ales, 276-0440.

Belfast Gin — Celtic music, 4–6 p.m. March 17, Bell’s Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Blue Train Organ Trio — Hammond B3 artist Chris Moberly and his band perform blues, soul and jazz, 6:30 p.m. March 19, Mangia Mangia, 209 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 226-3333 or pattiflemingmusic.com.

Dancing in the Streets Motown Revue — Motown’s greatest hits, 8 p.m. March 19, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

A Miles Davis Tribute to “Birth of the Cool” — 7–9 p.m. March 23, Arcadia Ales, 276-0440.

Joe Hertler & the Rainbow Seekers — Michiganbased folk-pop band, 9 p.m. March 26, Bell’s Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

Last Gasp — A modern fusion of hip-hop, soul and gospel, 9 p.m. March 26, Arcadia Ales, 2760440.

The Dave Van Haren Quartet — Featuring Monica Pabelonio, 7–9 p.m. March 30, Arcadia Ales, 276-0440.

Orchestra, Chamber, Jazz & More World Music and Strings: J.P. Jofre, Bandoneon — 7:30 p.m. March 1, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-4667.

International Percussion Concert — 7 p.m.

March 2, Dalton Theatre, Kalamazoo College, 337-7045.

Ensemble Dal Niente — Presented by WMU School of Music’s Bullock Performance Institute, 7:30 p.m. March 2, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-4667.

Jazz Band — 8 p.m. March 4, Dalton Theatre, Kalamazoo College, 337-7047.

Kalamazoo Philharmonia Concert — 8 p.m.

March 5, Dalton Theatre, Kalamazoo College, 337-7047.

Lamb of God — A musical celebration of Easter, 8 p.m. March 11 & 12, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave., 337-0440.

Western Invitational Jazz Festival Closing Concert — Featuring University Jazz Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. March 12, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-4667.

Guitarist Philip Catherine and bassist Martin Wind — Guest artist recital, 7:30 p.m. March 16, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-4667.

Gilmore Family Concerts — 50-minute concerts of world-class piano music with visuals, 7:30 p.m. March 17, Linden Grove Middle School; 7:30 p.m. March 18, Harper Creek High School; 2 p.m. March 20, Friendship Village; 7:30 p.m.

March 21, Vicksburg Performing Arts Center; 7:30 p.m. March 23, Allegan Performing Arts Center; 7:30 p.m. March 24, Plainwell Performing Arts Center; 359-7311. Schedule at thegilmore.org.

Juilliard String Quartet — Fontana Chamber Arts presents the quartet performing works of Mozart, Debussy and Wernick, 8 p.m. March 18, Stetson Chapel, Kalamazoo College, 382-7774.

Brahms and Fauré — Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra concert featuring baritone Leon Williams and soprano Juliet Petrus, 8 p.m.

March 19, Chenery Auditorium, 349-7759.

Student Chamber Recital — Performance by students from Crescendo Academy of Music, 7:15 p.m. March 20, Kiva Auditorium, Friendship Village, 1400 N. Drake Road, 345-6664.

Caladh Nua — Traditional Irish music with a contemporary flair, 7:30 p.m. March 23, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-4667.

ENCORE Events Trombonist Megumi Kanda — Guest artist recital, 7:30 p.m. March 24, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-4667.

University Jazz Lab Band — 7:30 p.m. March 28, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-4667.

Saxophonist Lucas Pino with pianist Jeremy Siskind and the Advanced Jazz Ensemble — Guest artist recital, 8 p.m. March 29, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, with 7:30 p.m. preconcert talk, 387-4667.

Collegium Musicum — 7:30 p.m. March 31, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-4667.

Vocal The Booth Brothers — Southern gospel trio, 7 p.m. March 4, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave., 800-965-9324.

Denene & Brian Mulay: Singing Siblings — Farmers Alley Spotlight Series, 8 p.m. March 4 & 5, Farmers Alley Theatre, 221 Farmers Alley, 343-2727.

College Singers — 3 p.m. March 6, Dalton Theatre, Kalamazoo College, 337-7047.

Southwestern Michigan Vocal Festival — With guest conductor Rollo Dilworth, 7 p.m. March 24, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-4667.

DANCE Ailey II — Company of young dance talent and emerging choreographers affiliated with the famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, 7:30 p.m. March 10, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival — Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers presents performances, workshops and a film series, March 18–20, Wellspring Theater, Epic Center, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 873-2833. Schedule at MidwestRADFest.org.

Riverdance: 20th Anniversary World Tour — Irish dance phenomenon, 7:30 p.m. March 29, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

MISCELLANEOUS Shrine Circus — 7–9 p.m. March 2, Wings Event Center, 3600 Vanrick Drive, 345-1125.

VISUAL ARTS Kalamazoo Institute of Arts 314 S. Park St., 349-7775 Jiha Moon: Double Welcome, Most Everyone’s Mad Here — Art that incorporates pop culture, technology, racial assumptions and folklore, through March 6.

Suspended! Sculpture from ArtPrize 2015 — Three artists’ sculptures that hang from the ceiling, through March 13.

Colour Correction: British and American Screenprints, 1967–75 — Screenprints by 32 artists, through March 27.

ARTbreak — A weekly program about art, artists and exhibitions: Art and Collaboration with Ginger Owen and Vicki VanAmeyden, March 1; Artist’s Talk with Irene LaVon Walker, featured in the Suspended! exhibit, March 8; Post-Baccalaureate Artists and Program at the KIA, a talk about the Kirk Newman Art School’s new seven-month residency program, March 15; Artist’s Talk with Ellen Nelson, a Kalamazoo painter, March 22; Art, Artists and Conservation with Susan Rose, a plein air artist, March 29; all sessions begin at noon, KIA Auditorium.

preserve, 11 a.m. March 12, Hidden Marsh Sanctuary, just north of 1501 Portage Road, Three Rivers, 324-1600.

Josef Albers and the Science and Art of Color — Frank Wolf and Greg Waskowsky discuss the artist’s life and work, 6:30 p.m. March 3, KIA Auditorium.

First Saturday at KPL — Family event with stories, activities, guests and door prizes, 2–3:30 p.m. March 5, Children’s Room, Central Library, 315 S. Rose St., 553-7844.

EGAD! Explore Glass Art Day — Classes every hour in hot glass work, flameworking, beadmaking and sandblasting, 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. March 21, West Michigan Glass Art Center, 326 W. Kalamazoo Ave., Suite 100, 552-9802; registration required.

LIBRARY & LITERARY EVENTS Kalamazoo Public Library

Sunday Public Tour — Tour exhibitions with a docent: Jiha Moon: Double Welcome, 2 p.m.

March 6; Suspended! 2 p.m. March 13; Colour Correction: British and American Screenprints, 1967–75, noon March 20.

Meet the Author: Christina Baker Kline — The author of five novels, including New York Times bestseller Orphan Train, 7–9 p.m. March 7, Kalamazoo Central High School Auditorium, 2432 N. Drake Road, 342-9827.

Art League Lecture: Todd Zima — On the collaborative design of Kalamazoo College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, 10 a.m. March 9.

Orphan Trains in Michigan — Al and David Eicher present their documentary on orphan trains in Michigan, 7–8:30 p.m. March 10, Van Deusen Room, Central Library, 342-9827.

KIA Film Series: Best of the Fest — Memorable films from previous years of the Teen Filmmaker Festival, 6:30 p.m. March 10, KIA Auditorium.

What Defines Family? — The premiere of a KPL-produced documentary featuring local residents, 7–8:30 p.m. March 15, Eastwood Branch, 1112 Gayle Ave., 553-7810.

Book Discussion: Orphan Train — Discussion of the book by Christina Baker Kline, 2 p.m. March 16.

Get the Picture! Miriam Schapiro: “Square Root of Paradise” — Michelle Stempien discusses the artist’s work, noon March 17.

Film: Pop Go the Women: The Other Story of Pop Art — BBC documentary about female British artists and the Pop Art revolution, 6:30 p.m.

March 17.

Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony, High School Area Show — Honoring Southwest Michigan’s teen artists, 5:30–7:30 p.m. March 24.

High School Area Show — Juried exhibition of art by area high school students, March 25– May 25.

Richmond Center for Visual Arts Western Michigan University, 387-2436 Mike Glier: Meander, Since You Can’t See Much While Marching — Through March 24, MonroeBrown Gallery.

Paul R. Solomon: Boundaries of Eden — Through April 21, Netzorg and Kerr Gallery.

Other Venues Art Hop — Local artists and musicians at various venues in Kalamazoo, 5–8 p.m. March 4, 3425059.

Plein Air Artists of West Michigan Paint Out — Watch artists paint outdoors on a public

The History of Families — WMU professor Andrea B. Smith discusses how families and their function in society have changed over the years, 7–8:30 p.m. March 17, Van Deusen Room, Central Library, 342-9827.

Writing from the Threshold: A Workshop in Generating Memoir — Retired Kalamazoo College professor Gail Griffin facilitates structured prompts to generate writing about one’s past, 1–4 p.m. March 19, Oshtemo Branch, 7265 W. Main St., 553-7980; registration required.

Family Celebration — Celebrate family with an art project and a free family photo taken by a professional photographer, 4:30–5:30 p.m.

March 29, Washington Square Branch, 1244 Portage St., 553-7970.

Preserving Family History — The importance of doing oral histories, with suggestions and examples, 7–8:30 p.m. March 29, Ladies’ Library Auditorium, 333 S. Park St., 344-3710.

The Resilience Project — Students connect with senior citizens to reflect on their experiences, 7 p.m. March 30, Kiva Auditorium, Friendship Village, 1400 N. Drake Road, 345-6664.

Portage District Library 300 Library Lane, 329-4544 A Showcase of Creativity — Artwork by students from Portage high schools, March 4—April 30. Reception, 2 p.m. March 6.

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Events encore GreatBooksReadingGroup— 2 p.m. March 6 & 20.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Discussion Group — Discussion of Irish mythology’s ties to urban fantasy, 7 p.m. March 7.

International Mystery Book Group — Discussion of Night Soldiers, by Alan Furst, 7 p.m. March 10.

PDL Writer’s Group — Focusing on fiction and creative nonfiction writing, 6–8 p.m. March 10 & 24.

Drummunity — Drumming fun for the family, 11 a.m. March 12.

Reading Together: Grown-Up Show and Tell — Tell a story about a personal artifact or sit and listen, 1 p.m. March 12, Lower Level Meeting Room.

Sundays Live: Celtic Concert — Jenny Miller, recorder, and Ginny Parnaby, hammered dulcimer, 2:30–4:30 p.m. March 13.

Top Shelf Reads — A young professionals’ book group discussion of Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline, 7–8:30 p.m. March 14, Latitude 42 Brewing Co., 7842 Portage Road, 585-8711.

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Open for Discussion — Discussion of Mudwoman, by Joyce Carol Oates, 10:30 a.m.

March 15.

Tillers Organic Gardening — Pete Robertson discusses how to provide food in a healthy and sustainable way, 5–8:30 p.m. March 24.

Other Venues Poetry Reading — Mark Nepo reads from his new book, Inside the Miracle, 7 p.m. March 1, Stetson Chapel, Kalamazoo College, 3827774.

Genre Gyration Book Club — Discussion of books from different genres, 7 p.m. March 9, Parchment Community Library, 401 S. Riverview Drive, 343-7747.

March Book Group — Discussion of The Leisure Seeker, by Michael Zadoorian, 7 p.m. March 10, Richland Community Library, 8951 Park St., Richland, 629-9085 New Issues Poetry and Prose Reading — Playwright Adam LeFevre and poet Judy Halebsky appear in the Gwen Frostic Reading Series, 8 p.m. March 24, Rooms 157–159, Bernhard Center, WMU, 387-2572.387-2572.

MUSEUMS Gilmore Car Museum 6865 Hickory Road, Hickory Corners, 671-5089 Gilmore Speaker Series — Lecture series featuring experts on various topics: The History of Scale Model Cars & Model Car Building, Eric Macleod, March 6; Motoring through a Buttonhole: A Visual History of Automotive Clothing Buttons, William Hentges, March 13; Art and the Automobile: Beyond Art Deco Design, David Lyon, March 20; all presentations begin at 3 p.m.

Kalamazoo Valley Museum 230 N. Rose St., 373-7990 Orion Nights — Find the stars within the constellations, 3 p.m. Tues. & Thurs., 2 p.m.

Sat., through March 12, Planetarium.

Kalamazoo Gals — Story of the women who built the legendary World War II-era Gibson guitars known as “Banners,” through April 10.

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Goose Bumps: The Science of Fear — An experiential and holistic view of fear science, through May 8.

Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival — Workshops, instrument designers and live performances, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. March 5.

Sunday Series: Rain Gardens/Rain Barrels — Conserve water, prevent pollution and learn how to improve the quality of water in your community, 1:30 p.m. March 13.

St. Patrick’s Day Party — Visit the Goose Bumps exhibit and create crafts, 1–4 p.m. March 19.

ENCORE Events NATURE Kalamazoo Nature Center 7000 N. Westnedge Ave., 381-1574

& 29–30, Kalamazoo County Expo Center North, 2900 Lake St., 383-8761.

Women’s LifeStyle Expo — Information created for women by women, noon–6 p.m. March Owl Prowl: Screech Owls — Nighttime hike to 4, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. March 5, Kalamazoo County listen for owl calls, 7:30 p.m. March 10.

Expo Center, 488-9780.

Maple Sugar Festival — A maple sugar tour, a Kalamazoo Home Expo & Garden Show — New glimpse of life in the 1800s, wagon rides and building trends, products and ideas, 3–8 p.m. demonstrations by blacksmiths, spinners and March 10, noon–9 p.m. March 11, 10 a.m.–7 fiber artists, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. March 12 & 13. p.m. March 12, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. March 13, Green Living Series: Maple Sugaring — Learn to Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 375-4225. make maple syrup at home, 6 p.m. March 24. St. Patrick’s Day Parade — 11 a.m. March 12, Discover the Green Heron Trail — This 0.7-mile starting at Kalamazoo Mall and Michigan trail weaves from the Westnedge Avenue Avenue, downtown Kalamazoo, 372-7332 or tunnel to the Trout Run Trail in the DeLano kalamazooirish.org. woods, 2 p.m. March 27.

Spring Flower & Garden Expo — The latest Boomers & Beyond: Studying Snowy Owls — garden trends and informative seminars, Rich and Brenda Keith share their experiences 5–8 p.m. March 17, 9 a.m.–8 p.m. March 18, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. March 19, Wedel’s, 5020 Texas with snowy owls, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. March 29.

Drive, 345-1195.

Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Kalamazoo World Languages Film Festival — 12685 East C Ave., 671-2510 WMU Department of World Languages and Project SNOWstorm: Snowy Owls in Michigan Literatures hosts films from around the world, — Brenda and Rich Keith of the Kalamazoo March 18–20 & 25–27, Alamo Drafthouse River Valley Bird Observatory discuss the Cinema, 180 Portage St., 387-3010. monitoring project, 6:30–8 p.m. March 1.

Kalamazoo Living History Show — RePurple Martin Workshop — Penny Briscoe dis- enactments, craftspeople, dealers & history cusses “How to be a Good Purple Martin Landlord,” buffs, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. March 19, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

March 20, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 9 a.m.–noon March 5; registration required.

765-563-6792.

Birds and Coffee Walk — A walk to view birds of the season, 9 a.m. March 9.

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute 701 W. Cloverdale Road, Hastings, 721-4190 Spring Bluebird Festival — Sessions on migration, nest boxes, and a Birds of Prey program with Joe Rogers, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

March 19.

Chefs Against Hunger — Ministry with Community hosts a cooking competition featuring local chefs, 5–8 p.m. March 22, Cityscape Event Centre, 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 343-6073.

An Evening with Neil deGrasse Tyson — Astrophysicist and host of TV’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, 7:30 p.m. March 22, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Weekend Kalamazoo Indoor Flea & Farmers Market — New, used and handcrafted items and fresh food, 8 a.m.–3 p.m. March 26, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 383-8761.

Easter Craft & Vendor Show — 9 a.m.–3 p.m.

March 26, Kalamazoo County Expo Center South, 217-8704.

Kalamazoo Reptile & Exotic Pet Expo — 10 a.m.–3 p.m. March 26, Room A, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 779-9851.

Annual Egg Hunt — Family Easter activities, 4–6 p.m. March 26, Homer Stryker Field, 215 Mills St., 337-8191.

Bethany Hamilton — The professional surfer tells her story of determination, faith and hope after the loss of her arm, 6 p.m. March 29, Wings Event Center, 3600 Vanrick Drive, 345-1125.

Making a Positive Impact

Introduction to Backyard Poultry — Bonnie White and 4-H members provide poultry raising basics, 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. March 19.

A Rockin’ Good Time Fundraiser — Wine, food, rock painting and silent auction to benefit the Institute, 5:30–8 p.m., March 24.

Other Venues Maple Syrup Day — Maple sugar production and children’s activities, noon–5 p.m. March 19, W.K. Kellogg Experimental Forest, 7060 N. 42nd St., Augusta, 731-4597.

Hawks in Flight — Audubon Society of Kalamazoo program with speaker Bob Hess, 7 p.m. March 28, People’s Church, 1758 N. 10th St., 375-7210.

MISCELLANEOUS Kalamazoo Indoor Flea & Farmers Market — New, used and handcrafted items and fresh food, 8 a.m.–2 p.m. March 1–2, 15–16, 22–23

372-3400

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MOZART REQUIEM

Saturday April 9 8:00 pm

Bach Festival Chorus Arcato Chamber Ensemble James Turner, Conductor

Chenery Auditorium BACH FESTIVAL CHORUS SPONSOR

Steven Woloszyk Kathryn Stieler, soprano Phyllis Pancella, mezzo-soprano Jeffrey Picon, tenor Nathaniel Olsen, baritone Order Tickets (269)337-7407 Be transported by the genius and emotional power of KalamazooBachFestival.org

Mozart’s glorious Requiem.

Bach Festival Week is April 9-16!

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poetry encore

Daylight Saving Time?

Who are we trying to fool?

The universe laughs at us and goes singing on its way in ageless galaxial rhythms and we pretend to manage it by robbing ourselves of that precious hour of repose, delicious sleep and throwing off our internal clocks and, God help us, God forgive us, those of our canine and feline friends (not to mention Bossy and her teets!)

This morning, the first morning of the spring clock trick (“spring forward, fall back”) the rain falls in rivers and songs down my window in transparent streams of teary truth each drop a small meditation on our insignificance and significance our utter plainness and our utter beauty our present and our endless history

More Snow This morning, heavy snow, limbbending snow, bough-breaking branch-snapping snow.

And if I were asked, I’d say: Let it rain buckets and buckets of love to water the flowers of spring and dance on the budding aspens at this very moment of saved daylight time

The pines are tired old women carrying their laundry hauling the folded and stacked months of winter toward the March thaw white sheets and towels that the wind spills into the fields.

And by the way, believe it, these daffodils and joyful trees have not been fooled at all by our Daylight Saving Time.

— Robert Haight

— Marianne Novak Houston Houston is a facilitator, consultant, writer and community activist who has lived in the Kalamazoo area since 1970. She has a graduate degree in religious studies and leads retreats on spiritual development and transformation.

Her collection of poetry, On the Street, is in its fourth printing.

This poem is from Haight's most recent book, Feeding Wild Birds (Mayapple Press).

He has taught writing at Kalamazoo Valley Community College for more than 25 years and divides his time between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan.

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42 | Encore MARCH 2016

211 East Water Street, Suite 401 Kalamazoo, MI 49007 269.343.2106

Game Makers (continued from page 28)

Group Effort (continued from page 33)

to enlighten both kids and adults about careers in video game development. S2 hosted informational sessions at the Kalamazoo Public Library on video game development as a career and gave tours of its facility to groups of interested students.

Bower thinks similarly. “I’d love to see Michigan be a nexus for gaming,” he says.

“We have a lot of great talent here, from Ferris State University and Michigan State University, and a good cost of living.”

Bower says that Kalamazoo hasn’t been a hard sell in recruiting new Frostburn employees. The company has brought in new workers from around the world, including from California and Garena’s home base of Singapore, he says.

Fielding says that when he and others from S2 joined Plarium, they could have relocated but opted to stay in the Kalamazoo area.

“The executive team at Plarium Michigan — there are three of us — all left S2 Games to open this studio. Since we were all located here and there are several studios in town, we decided to stay,” he says.

Since then, three additional former S2 employees have joined Plarium and the company has hired several others from out of state, including from Italy. Fielding says it was easy to stay and to persuade others to move here.

“I’ve worked in major game hubs before, and while (those places) definitely confer some advantages, the cost of living for employees is outrageous,” he says. “In Kalamazoo, we have a nice little gem of a town and can offer competitive salaries for the industry that leave our staff with more than enough resources to buy a house or start a family.

“It’s not for everyone, unless you like living somewhere awesome at a fraction of the price.”

think,” says Kazoo Books owner Gloria Tiller, “so we just started offering a space for these people to meet.”

Groups open to new members can also be found online. The Kalamazoo Aspiring Writers Meetup, for example, is found at Meetup. com, and Kalamazoo Christian Writers has a Facebook page.

It helps to go into a group knowing what the other members are looking for, says Myers, a veteran of many critique groups. She says groups “can be so variable, depending on the personalities of the people involved.” She recommends making sure a group’s members’ “aims are sufficiently congruent.” In other words, groups work best when everyone is seeking publication or when all members are hobbyists, rather than a mixture of both, “so that you’re not breaking people’s hearts or wasting each other’s time,” she says.

Myers, who moved to Kalamazoo two years ago, also recommends joining a national organization with a local chapter,

such as Romance Writers of America or Word Weavers International. If you don’t know any other writers in the area, she says, it’s a good way to meet like-minded people, especially if you are serious about getting published or writing in a particular genre. Myers is currently in a “write-in” group with people she met through the Mid-Michigan chapter of Romance Writers of America.

Groups can also arise from classes or workshops. A side benefit of taking a class or workshop, Myers says, can be finding other writers who are interested in forming a group. Poetry Dawgs, which started that way, has been meeting for more than 15 years and has grown well beyond a critique group.

“A stable critique group builds trust,” Pattison says. “That is essential to being able to accept and value constructive criticism.

At their best, such groups build strong ties. Our group is a place where successes are celebrated, tragedies are mourned. A sisterhood. We encourage and support each other.”

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w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 43

How to Be Memorable Four basic elements go into every piece of great advertising: 1) A display that’s relevant to your audience, and changes how they look at things.

2) A catchy, accessible-but-short slogan, tagline, or headline.

3) Brand presence, so the audience connects to your company or product.

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Ultimately, your audience decides if your advertising is amazing, worthwhile, and memorable. They must find the spark in your advertising … so let it shine!

Print provides one of the best ways to meet all four elements of a memorable advertisement.

Print delivers provocative images to intrigue your intended market. Print uses text that people really think about. Print makes sure your audience identifies with your logo and name, keeping your branding connected.

As for magic—print works anywhere, without electricity, devices, or searching. If you want the most out of your advertising, print makes memories.

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Halls, Closets & More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 HRM Innovations, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Kalamazoo Bach Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

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Kalamazoo Community Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Kalamazoo Public Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Landscape Arborist Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Lewis Reed & Allen, PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Mercantile Bank of Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Meyer & Allwardt, PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Oakland Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Parkway Plastic Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Portage Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

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44 | Encore MARCH 2016

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BACK STORY (continued from page 46)

At the same time, I worked in the food industry — at Vitner’s (C.J. Vitner Co.), which is Chicago’s Frito-Lay — and that fit my bike-riding lifestyle and gave me enough money to get to my very expensive hobby on the weekends. The thing about riding a bike 300 to 600 miles a week is that you could eat everything. But to be competitive you had to learn how to eat well and when.

I started to understand the benefit of carbs, when to eat protein and when not to, and that eating lots of vegetables and fruit made your body great. I learned a lot about nutrition and I started to eat organic.

I did pretty good as a serious amateur racer, but after five years my parents were saying, “What’s next, John?” In my final year of bike racing I saw a news report about the culinary program at Kendall College (Chicago), with all those shiny kitchens, and thought it was cool and what I should do.

Was there other inspiration besides shiny kitchens?

My first job in high school was at a pizza shop that was kitty-corner from my parents’ house. A lot of what we cooked was handmade. I hand-peeled and sliced garlic, and there was no industrial mixer so I learned to make pizza dough with these (shows his fists).

I’m also 100 percent Polish, so I grew up on really good food because my mom always cooked. At the same time, in our little backyard, my mom had an herb and flower garden, growing parsley, chives, onions and dill — you’ve got to have dill in a Polish kitchen — while Dad took care of the cucumber and tomato plants. I learned from them that you can grow nutritious food in a small footprint, which is something we will also be teaching students here.

How did you get from Zazios to the academic world?

My wife, Stacey, was working at KVCC, learned about the position and thought, “John should really, really look at this.” We talked about it that evening, and she said, “This I what you’ve been doing at Zazios at the chef’s table and with your cooks.”

I wasn't sure I could do it. Not only did my wife say, “You’ve been doing this,” but so did many others, so I took their encouragement and went forward. I had to hunt down my 25-year-old transcripts from culinary school and blow the dust off my 10-year-old resume.

I got a first interview and then a second. I became really excited with what KVCC wanted to do with a culinary campus. And now, here we are.

What has surprised you about making the switch?

How much I have to learn about the world of academics — there’s a whole new lingo I have to get my brain wrapped around, such as instructional units, contact hours, credit hours and tenure.

Hiring instructors is also challenging, but very similar to what I did hiring new cooks at Zazios. You need to find not only the best fit, but someone who is as good as, if not better than, the best. We look at candidates’ passion and how they will teach our students.

To me it’s all about the students. At a restaurant it’s all about the cooks and guests. The same force guides me to find the right staff here.

Any other challenges?

Actually, cooking at home has become the biggest challenge in the last three months. All these years, my wife and I had this running gag of whoever opened their eyes first in the morning would ask, “What’s for dinner?”

Now I go home and cook dinner for the family. And my daughter, who is 17, has become a vegetarian, which has thrown me a curve ball.

Because I am also trying to making sure what I cook us gives my daughter all the protein and vitamins that she needs without meat.

What keeps you up at night?

Probably too much dark chocolate (he says, laughing).

Honestly, nothing, because now I go to bed by 10:30 p.m., which I hadn’t done before. Now it’s waking up at 4 a.m. and immediately thinking about the to-do list, so it’s more about what keeps me awake when I have another hour to snooze.

Are you having fun?

This has been a fun ride. People will ask, “Are you missing the cooking part?” And I answer, “No, not at all” because I know it’s coming at me pretty quick. Soon I will be working with the students in the kitchens and giving demonstrations in our demo kitchen.

I still have so much understanding I need to know academically as the director, which can be mind-boggling.

A 40-hour workweek as a chef? That was easy.

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BACK STORY encore

John Korycki

Director of Culinary Education Kalamazoo Valley Community College A

s a chef, John Korycki naturally gravitated toward teaching.

Whether it was training cooks in his kitchen or teaching guests to create delicious dishes at Zazios’ chef’s table, the Chicago native has long been passing on his culinary knowledge.

But the seeds of his new role — as the director of culinary education at KVCC’s Healthy Living Campus, in downtown Kalamazoo — actually began before he ever set foot in culinary school. As a serious amateur bike racer, a young Korycki became focused on nutrition and eating organic, healthy food. That passion continued in his culinary pursuits.

So when KVCC sought a chef to oversee its new culinary program, which will focus on healthy, sustainable food, Korycki had the perfect ingredients.

How did you go from bike racing to being a chef?

I went to college to be an electrical engineer, but that was way over my head, so I took some time off, began bike racing and for the next five years became a pretty serious bike-racing fanatic.

Brian Powers

(continued on page 45)

46 | Encore MARCH 2016

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premierveincenter.com w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 48