Encore January 2019

Serving Up Second Chances

January 2019

The Art of Ripped Paper

Sandershire’s Homegrown Flavor

Meet Kristen Crandle

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

Transforming Kalamazoo

PlazaCorp’s plethora of projects are changing the city

Celebrate our 40th anniversary with us all year long!

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S K Y - H I G H F L I G H T - T H E M E D R I D E S • 3 D F L I G H T S I M U L AT O R S • H A N D S - O N I N T E R A C T I V E E X H I B I T S • 10 0 + R A R E A I R C R A F T & S P A C E C R A F T

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Serving Up Second Chances

The Art of Ripped Paper

Sandershire’s Homegrown Flavor

January 2019

Meet Kristen Crandle

Southwest Michigan’s Magazine

Transforming Kalamazoo

PlazaCorp’s plethora of projects are changing the city

Publisher

encore publications, inc.

Editor

marie lee

Designer

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Photographer brian k. powers

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jordan bradley, ben lando, lisa mackinder, adam rayes

Copy Editor/Poetry Editor margaret deritter

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

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

ENCORE EDITOR'S NOTE

From the Editor W

hile I am not a successful real estate developer, I do have something in common with one. PlazaCorp President and CEO Jeff Nicholson and I both like what he calls Kalamazoo’s “neat old buildings.”

Which is why I found it interesting that the company building the newest, most modern skyscraper in Kalamazoo is also the same company that has been renovating, restoring and redeveloping some of Kalamazoo’s historic and iconic structures for two decades. At the same time that PlazaCorp is constructing a gleaming glass and metal 15-story building on the corner of Rose Street and West Michigan Avenue, it is also beginning redevelopment two blocks north to turn the former Masonic temple, built in 1913, into a Hilton hotel. And less than a mile away, it is in the process of fashioning an enterprise and entertainment destination out of the crumbling Gibson Guitar factory complex. It has also transformed a former rail freight office downtown into The Depot, housing two restaurants.

When a company that was born and thrived here, such as Gibson Guitar or Shakespeare Co., packs up and moves, the buildings left behind are daily reminders of that loss. These buildings mean something to the community, and it’s hard to see them sit unused, which is why so many of us have a small celebration in our hearts when these declining structures are given new life and purpose.

PlazaCorp is by no means the only company saving some of Kalamazoo’s iconic buildings from the wrecking ball: In recent history, Treystar redeveloped the Foundry building on the east end of downtown, the Arcus Foundation revitalized a former railroad station into the Arcus Depot, Peregrine is renovating the former PNC Bank Building, and MavCon has redeveloped four historic buildings in the 100 block of East Michigan Avenue.

And while many folks love the new, there’s something to be said for the people willing to put time and money into saving pieces of history. So the next time you drive down Michigan Avenue or Kalamazoo Avenue and see all the beautifully restored red brick buildings, art deco structures and former train depots, whisper a little thank you to those who saw through neglect and peeling paint with a vision to keep our community’s structural legacy intact.

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CONTRIBUTORS ENCORE

Jordan Bradley

Like most writers, Jordan loves a good cup of coffee, but she says the joe was just a bonus in getting to know the people behind Walnut & Park Café for her story in this issue. “I learned that behind every cup of coffee served, there's an opportunity for a better life,” she says. Jordan is an editorial assistant at Encore.

Lisa Mackinder

Lisa says she was inspired when interviewing both the owners of Sandershire Seasonings and paper-ripping artist Renae Baumgart for her stories in this issue. “When Jeannie Sanders talks about creating a seasoning blend, vinegar or tea, it sounds very artistic,” says Lisa. “And talking with Renae Baumgart is just plain fun.” Baumgart rips wallpaper and creates portraits of storybook moons, animals and much more. “Renae says she likes to create animals that look as if they have something to say,” Lisa says, “and they truly do appear to know a secret.”

Ben Lando

Ben thought it interesting that PlazaCorp was building a skyline-changing building downtown while also finishing the renovation of an old paper company building on a formerly polluted site near where he grew up. That led him to look at some of the PlazaCorp projects underway and how those would impact the neighborhoods they are located in, including the revamp of the former Gibson Guitar factory, from where the sounds of generations were born. A journalist for 18 years, Ben is a fourth-generation Kalamazooan who spent seven years reporting from Washington, D.C., and Baghdad before returning home in 2013.

Adam Rayes

Adam says he enjoyed learning about the process that happens behind the scenes of putting on a major synchronized skating competition from the Greater Kalamazoo Skating Association’s Kristen Crandle. He also found the sport itself “fascinating.” “The precision and group cohesion that goes into synchronized skating is incredible,” he says, admitting he could never pull that off himself. Adam is a native of Monroe, Michigan, and is finishing his last year at Western Michigan University, as a journalism major.

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January

CONTENTS 2019

FEATURE Transforming Kalamazoo

While its new tower will alter the city’s skyline, PlazaCrop is also preserving Kalamazoo’s past

24

DEPARTMENTS 5 From the Editor 6 Contributors

Up Front

8

First Things

Happenings and events in SW Michigan

12 Five Faves — ‘Space guy’ Troy Thrash picks his favorite Air Zoo treasures

16

Good Works

30

Savor

46

Back Story

Serving up Opportunity — Walnut & Park coffee shop is helping offenders transform lives

‘Tis the Seasoning — Homemade seasoning blends, vinegars and teas crafted by Schoolcraft’s Sandershire Seasonings.

Meet Kristen Crandle — Making the Midwestern & Pacific Coast Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships happen in Kalamazoo

ARTS 34 All Torn Up — Renae Baumgart creates art from

ripped wallpaper

38 Events of Note 43 Poetry On the cover: When completed, The Exchange building currently under construction in downtown Kalamazoo will bring a new outline to the city’s iconic skyline. Photo by Brian Powers.

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FIRST THINGS ENCORE

First Things Something Exciting

Broadway stars to perform at Civic Psst, it’s not happening until February, but we’re giving you a special heads-up: Television and Broadway veterans Edie Falco and Stephen Wallem will be performing in Kalamazoo.

Falco and Wallem are coming to perform in a special production of A.R. Gurney’s play Love Letters Feb. 14 and 15 at the Civic Auditorium. The shows, which begin at 7:30 both nights, are a fundraising event for the Civic.

Falco is an award-winning actress best known for her television roles as Carmela Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos and as the title character in the Showtime series Nurse Jackie.

Wallem is a Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated actor best known as Thor Lundgren on Nurse Jackie. He returns to Kalamazoo after being seen as Max Bialystock in the Farmers Alley Theatre production of The Producers last summer.

Tickets are $50 per person and include a post-show reception with the performers.

For tickets or more information, visit kazoocivic.com or call 343-1313.

Something Folk

Red Tail Ring on stage at Bell’s The acoustic roots pair Red Tail Ring will perform at Bell’s Eccentric Café at 8:30 p.m. Jan. 17.

Laurel Premo and Michael Beauchamp, who hail from Kalamazoo, have played their lush, intricate arrangements of original folk music and traditional ballads with banjo, fiddle, guitar and close harmonies across the United States and in Europe.

On Jan. 17 they will be playing with blues musicians Kane & Steele in a rare seated concert in Bell’s Back Room.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 day of show and are available at Ticketweb.com and Bell's General Store, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave.

8 | ENCORE JANUARY 2019

ENCORE FIRST THINGS

Something Inspiring

Slate of events to honor MLK More than a dozen activities including marches and speakers

will be part of a multi-day, communitywide celebration honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this month. With a theme of “Kneeling for Justice Then and Now: As You Choose,” the celebration includes these events: • The Rev. Allison M. Henderson-Brook as the keynote speaker for the Northside Ministerial Alliance’s 33rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, 4 p.m. Jan. 20 at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 120 Roberson St. • Commemorative Walk at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 21 that will take participants by bus from Western Michigan University’s Bernhard Center and Kalamazoo College’s Red Square to MLK Park on Rose Street for a program.

• Community Celebration, 5 p.m. Jan. 21 at the State Theatre (following the Commemorative Walk), hosted by Bronson Healthcare and Ascension Borgess.

For the full slate of MLK Day activities, visit wmich.edu/mlk/ events.

Rev. Allison M. Henderson-Brook

Something Icy

Synchronized skating teams at Wings More than 150 teams of ice skaters will swirl, twirl and skate around

Wings Event Center Jan. 31–Feb. 3 during the 2019 Midwestern & Pacific Coast Synchronized Skating Championships, hosted by the Greater Kalamazoo Skating Association.

More than 2,000 athletes from across the Midwest and the Pacific Coast will compete for a spot at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Plymouth, Michigan, in late February.

One-day ticket prices are $25-$30. For more information, read our interview with event organizer Kristen Crandle on Page 46 and visit midwesternsynchrosectionals.com.

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FIRST THINGS ENCORE

Something Stringed

Guitarist Jesse Cook coming to State Jesse Cook wants to take you places you haven’t been

before, with his music at least. The award-winning master guitarist, who travels the globe looking for sounds that resonate with him, will perform Jan. 16 at the State Theatre, 404 S. Burdick St. Cook is known for his fusion of various kinds of world music and has released 10 albums, garnering 11 Juno (Canada’s Grammy) nominations — and one win, in 2001 for Free Fall — in the World Music and Instrumental categories.

Tickets for the show, which begins at 8 p.m., are $34.50– $49.50. For more information or to buy tickets, visit kazoostate.com.

Something Wintry

KSO combines spirits and Schubert What’s better than spending a winter evening with some wine or beer and Schubert? Not much, so it’s a good thing the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra will have three events this month to quench your thirst and fill your ears.

KSO artists and a guest vocalist will perform Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise (Winter’s Journey) Jan. 18 and 19.

The Jan. 18 performance is a Classics on Tap event featuring craft brews at Bell’s Eccentric Café’s Back Room. It begins at 8 p.m., and tickets are $25.

If wine is more your thing, then check out the Classics Uncorked events at 3 and 8 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Jolliffe Theatre in the Epic Center, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall. These events will feature wine and desserts, and tickets are $40.

For tickets or more information, visit kalamazoosymphony.com or call 349-7759.

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Something Educational OLLI presents January Thaw It’s

easy to hunker down on your couch with a blanket and a book for the next three months, but here’s a good reason to get up and out this winter and learn something.

WMU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) will present its annual January Thaw 1-3 p.m. Jan. 16 at Centerpoint Church, 2345 N. 10th St. The event will feature historian Virginia Paganelli Caruso, who will discuss the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Michigan, which came as the result of a 68-year struggle involving agitation, education and organizing.

Information about OLLI courses, trips and events held throughout the year will also be available, and instructors will be on hand to answer questions about their upcoming winter/ spring courses. And, for those who wish to participate, there will be a book swap (bring up to five books) and a school supplies donation to benefit the Kalamazoo Literacy Council (all types of supplies are welcome).

For more information, call 387-4200 or visit wmich.edu/olli.

Something Liquid

Overdue Brew back on tap Here’s something to check out from the

Kalamazoo Public Library: the annual Overdue Brew, a slew of events this month and next exploring Kalamazoo’s active brewing scene.

Overdue Brew activities for January are:

• History of Brewing in Kalamazoo Bus Tour, 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Jan. 19. Tours begin and end at Arcadia Ales, 701 E. Michigan Ave., and registration is required.

• Beer and Food Pairing, 7 p.m. Jan. 24, demonstrating which brews and food go together, Gonzo’s BiggDog Brewing Co., 140 S. Westnedge Ave.; registration required.

• Beer Tasting, guiding tasters through different styles of beer, Brite Eyes Brewing, 1156 S. Burdick St., registration required.

For more information or to register, visit kpl.gov/overduebrew.

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FIVE FAVES ENCORE

Five Faves

'Space guy’ picks favorite Air Zoo treasures by

TROY A. THRASH

Happy 40th birthday to the Air Zoo! In 1979, when the Air Zoo first opened its doors to the public, founders Pete and Sue Parish laid the foundation for what has become one of the most entertaining and educational aerospace and science experiences in the world. When I first walked through its iconic cloud tunnel six years ago, that unmatched immersion in an air and space museum mixed with entertaining theme park attractions mixed with educational inspiration just blew me away, as it still does each time I enter the Air Zoo. Here are just a few of my favorite jewels that launch my own passion every day:

Historic Globe The Air Zoo has a collection of more than 100,000 artifacts and archives related to military, aviation and space history.

Flying helmets, military medals, spacesuits and more line the shelves of our collections, providing remarkable opportunities to bring history to life for people of all ages. Each time I walk through the collections halls, I must stop to see a beautiful Rand McNally globe from 1932 that has the original signatures of some of the world’s most influential aviators, as well as tracings of the famous flights they took. Orville Wright (who invented the airplane with his brother, Wilbur, and flew the first free, controlled flight), Roger Q. Williams (who made a record-breaking flight from Maine to Rome), and Jack Harding (who piloted the first plane to fly around the world) are just a few of the aviation heroes who make this globe an inspirational treasure of living history.

12 | ENCORE JANUARY 2019

Powering Us into the Skies … and Beyond The Air Zoo has a remarkable collection of engines, from those

that helped early aviation pioneers first feel the freedom of flight to those that launched our brave astronauts into low Earth orbit and beyond. Being a “space guy” since recieving my first telescope at age 7, I’ve had no more powerful experience than standing below and looking up through our Rocketdyne F-1 engine. It is amazing to consider that just one F-1 engine provided more thrust than all three main space shuttle engines combined, and it took five F-1s to get the 6-million-pound, 363-foot-tall Saturn V rocket from the Earth to the moon. What an experience to stand where three tons of fuel were burned a second by each engine to ensure that our astronauts broke the bonds of gravity to explore this new world!

ENCORE FIVE FAVES

Restoring History to Its Former Glory During World War II, the Navy trained 15,000 new pilots

to take off and land on aircraft carriers using two cruise ships on the waters of Lake Michigan. From 1942-1945, 120 aircraft were lost to the bottom of the lake. Since the early 1990s, 40 of these historically significant aircraft have been recovered.

The Air Zoo is currently restoring two of these, including an SBD Douglas Dauntless dive bomber. This airplane, a photoreconnaissance version that is the only one of its kind left in the world, served at Pearl Harbor and in the Battle of the Coral Sea during the war. Seventy-five Air Zoo restoration volunteers and more than 300 students and other members of the public are helping to bring this airplane back to life right on our exhibit floor. With about 16 months of work remaining before the SBD goes to its permanent home at the Pacific Aviation Museum, in Hawaii, there is still time left for you to see and take part in returning the SBD to its former glory.

Airplanes and Rockets and Spacecraft, Oh My! Did you know the Air Zoo got its name because the first five airplanes in its collection were named after cats (like Wildcat and Flying Tiger)? We’ve grown and now have more than 100 airplanes, rockets and spacecraft on public display. Choosing a favorite is quite difficult when considering the likes of the Ford Tri-Motor (first commercial passenger aircraft), the B-25 bomber (used in the infamous Doolittle Raid over Tokyo during World War II) or the SR-71B Blackbird (the fastest plane ever flown). No doubt, though, that the sleek and beautiful workhorse of World War II, the P-47 Thunderbolt, is at the top. The P-47 was the heaviest single-engine fighter in the war.

It didn’t have the greatest range, but its ruggedness and dependability made it a very effective interceptor of enemy aircraft. It didn’t get the glory of the P-51s or B-24s, but it still had a significant influence on the Allied victory.

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FIVE FAVES ENCORE

Interactive Experiences The

Air Zoo continues to add to its interactive science, engineering and flight experiences for people of all ages. For me, the greatest yearround interactive flight experience is in the Air Zoo’s state-of-the-art flight simulators. Fly alone or with another reasonable adult and experience, in 2-D or 3-D, the majesty of flight from takeoff through high-altitude soaring. Give a child the controls and you just might feel like you’re pulling a couple of Gs through rapid climbing or barrel rolls.

These simulators were the first Air Zoo experience I had with my children on my second visit to interview for my job. After a rather adventurous flight we took together, my son, Gavin, jumped out of the simulator yelling, “Dad, you HAVE to work here!”

And the rest, as they say, is history.

About the Author Troy Thrash is the president and CEO of the Air Zoo aerospace and sci-ence experience and has had a lifelong fascination with the great blue yonder. He has a bachelor’s degree in astronomy and astrophysics from Villanova University and had a long career in the aerospace industry, including working on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and as executive director for the National Aerospace Development Center. He has also volunteered with FIRST Robotics, the Civil Air Patrol, and Galaxy Explorers and served with the federal Interagency Task Force on Aerospace Workforce Revitalization, the Center for the Future of Museums, and the Aerospace States Association. Perhaps you also saw him on the Kalamazoo Civic stage as Dr. Frankenstein in the Young Frankenstein musical.

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GOOD WORKS ENCORE

Serving up Opportunity

Coffee shop helps offenders transform lives by

JORDAN BRADLEY

T

he Vine neighborhood’s Walnut & Park Café is dishing out more than just good coffee and freshly baked scones. For those who work there, the café is serving up opportunity with a side of skills.

Walnut & Park is part of a vocational training program of the Kalamazoo Probation Enhancement Program (KPEP), which offers residential and nonresidential programs for those on probation or parole as an alternative to incarceration.

The café, located at 322 W. Walnut St., is a cozy haven with high, open ceilings. As baristas busy themselves with the task of creating customers’ caffeinated pick-me-ups, it is easy to get lost in the whoosh of the espresso machine and the chatter of other patrons.

“I feel like there’s still a lot of people who have no idea (the café is part of a KPEP training program),” says Tera Staten, a vocational program manager at Walnut & Park. “They come in here, and to them we’re just a regular shop, which I think is also a nice compliment. We have such a high bar and high standard for our employees’ customer service, and they rise to it and exceed expectations.”

As vocational program managers, Casey Grisolono and Staten, both of whom previously worked for the local Water Street Coffee Joint chain, help to provide practical work experience and teach transferable skills to students in KPEP’s hospitality program.

Over the course of the 10-week program, students spend eight weeks learning soft skills in customer service and practical skills in culinary and janitorial service. By the end of the program, students will earn certifications in food handling, workplace safety and CPR.

16 | ENCORE JANUARY 2019

“They’re really good at (making) scones by the end,” says Grisolono.

Students are also making personal changes as well. As KPEP President and CEO Bill DeBoer sees it, the program works to change criminal thinking, not just teach transferable skills. A typical student in the vocational program has a storied past with

Above: A student prepares a beverage at Walnut & Park. Right: The coffee shop is located on a pivotal corner in the Vine Neighborhood.

Brian Powers w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 17

Brian Powers

GOOD WORKS ENCORE

Above: From left, Walnut & Park vocational program managers Casey Grisolono and Tera Staten with KPEP CEO Bill DeBoer and employee and former student Jen Heath. Right: A student works the espresso machine at the coffee shop.

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ENCORE GOOD WORKS

addiction and incarceration, says DeBoer. As the only accredited agency of its type in the state, KPEP gets some hard cases, he says.

Often, he says, criminals think bad things happen to them rather than seeing their own role in their criminal behavior.

“They don’t think they can control their own lives because everybody they know, things just happen to,” he says. “Once you change that thinking, your possibilities are endless.”

“I think flipping that thinking is so interesting,” says Staten. “So when you talk

to somebody (in the program), you say, ‘Well, how did you end up here?’ and so many times they’ll say, ‘Oh, I caught a felony.’ Well, you catch a cold. You can’t really catch a felony.”

“But I believe when we get them to accept responsibility for their failures, they get to take credit for their successes,” says DeBoer.

Contagious confidence Jen Heath graduated from KPEP’s culinary program in July and became a barista at Walnut & Park the same month. Heath initially became involved with KPEP after violating the terms of her probation.

“These people had confidence in me and gave me confidence in myself, and I’ve already grown a lot,” Heath says.

Grisolono and Staten had no previous experience with an incarcerated population, and they admit that there have been challenges.

But, Grisolono says, “no matter how hard your day is, something good happens. (A student) will come up and teach (another student) how to brew a pot of coffee or correct behavior. So it’s those little things like just listening to them step in for us.”

Staten agrees. “I think that builds their confidence, “ she says, “and it’s like, ‘I trust you to teach the next person, be a role model

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for the next person.’ Sometimes it’s amazing.

That does wonders for their confidence and the way they carry themselves. The transformation from week one to week eight is sometimes really startling.”

Heath enjoys witnessing those interactions too, she says, recalling the enthusiasm lighting up two co-workers’ faces when one successfully made latte leaf art for the first time.

“These women are facing the hardest time of their lives — I know it was for me — and they’re just encouraging and motivating with each other,” Heath says. “It’s really awesome to see it.”

Invested customers It’s not just the students and employees who get excited about progress.

“I’ve noticed that our customers get very vested in our students and our employees,”

Above: Snacks and treats sold at Walnut & Park. Right: The shop serves and sells coffee from Stovetop Roasters of Grand Rapids.

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Grisolono says, noting that just earlier that day a customer had been asking about how a student was faring.

DeBoer says the café can help change customers’ views of criminals. “In the criminal justice system, you think that all these people are monsters, and there are some — we’ve seen them over the years — but not everybody’s like that so it kind of puts a face on it.”

Customers obviously like what Walnut & Park is doing and making. Staten says there’s been steady growth in business since the café’s opening in March 2017. DeBoer says the café averages $22,000 in sales per month, and he considers the café’s first year to have been a success.

Such a success, in fact, that KPEP is planning to extend the program into another food-service arena: a diner. DeBoer says the eatery, named simply The Diner, is scheduled to open in 2019 at 1324 Portage St., in the Edison neighborhood. Grisolono and Staten will oversee the program there as well.

The diner is a natural extension of the KPEP vocational training program and will also help meet a growing need in the community, Grisolono says. There is a high demand for line cooks, and restaurants have

a hard time finding qualified staff to fill vacant positions, she says. KPEP’s current culinary curriculum works well for the café’s menu, which includes scones, muffins, Danish pastries, breakfast burritos and sandwiches, soups and Panini sandwiches, but Grisolono is looking forward to teaching more specialized cooking skills in the new program.

“Being able to teach more hands-on food skills will give the community a bigger employment pool to choose from, and we

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Building Skyscrapers and Saving History PlazaCorp’s work is transforming Kalamazoo, one project at a time story by

BEN LANDO

photography by

24 | ENCORE JANUARY 2019

BRIAN POWERS

W

hile Kalamazoo’s skyline is being dramatically altered by The Exchange building, currently under construction in the heart of downtown Kalamazoo, it is not the only way local real estate developer PlazaCorp is transforming the city.

With less fanfare — and fewer orange construction cones — PlazaCorp has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars on other projects, including reviving historic buildings that are bringing new energy to some of the city's marginalized neighborhoods.

The crown jewel

With a price tag of $52.7 million, there’s no doubt that The Exchange, a 15-story tower of high-end residential, office and retail space and parking, will be the crown jewel of PlazaCorp's three decades of investment in the region's real estate.

This project spent decades on the drawing board with little progress to show other

than the occasional painting of new yellow parking stripes until PlazaCorp took the lead on it, redeveloping a parking lot at the corner of Rose Street and West Michigan Avenue across from the Radisson Plaza Hotel. When it opens in August, The Exchange will tower over the stalwart structures most familiar to those who visit, work or live in downtown Kalamazoo and enhance the modernization that's been underway in the already up-andcoming, commerce-focused downtown.

“It’s tough to overstate what this project means for the market," says Andrew Haan, president of Downtown Kalamazoo Partnership (formerly Downtown Kalamazoo Inc.). "The Exchange, of course, will have a major impact visually on downtown, and it sends a clear signal that this market is ready for major investments. Also, the employees and residents of the building will be a major boost to businesses in the area."

According to Haan, the site of The Exchange building had been a parking

lot for half a century. Despite numerous development concepts conceived by others, none of them took hold.

“This block burned in the 1940s, and there have been serious attempts and proposals to redevelop it since at least the early 1980s," says Haan. "This is challenging, complicated work, and it’s not without risk. Stitching together a project of this scale has required vision and creativity from a number of partners, support at the state and local level, and the right market conditions. Those have finally aligned to make this project a reality."

‘Neat old buildings’

A few blocks north of The Exchange, PlazaCorp is gearing up for another downtown-altering project: turning 303 N. Rose St., a former Masonic temple built in 1913 and most recently known as the Rose Below: A view of The Exchange, currently under construction at the corner of Rose Street and West Michigan Avenue, from a window at PlazaCorp’s offices across the street.

Street Market, and an adjacent parking ramp into two new Hilton hotels: a Garden Inn and Home2 Suites. Both The Exchange and the new hotels are expected to draw more people to the city’s center and capture an underserved market, adding 200 mid-level and high-end residential units and another 400 units of hotel rooms, says Andy Wenzel, PlazaCorp executive vice president.

The renovation of the former Masonic Temple will be the latest of several restoration projects in Kalamazoo undertaken by PlazaCorp since Canadian-born Jeff Nicholson founded the company here 30 years ago to be closer to the family of his wife, Barbara Baker.

PlazaCorp’s early projects in the area were a mix of retail sites and condominiums, but in 1997, according to a 2002 Encore interview with Nicholson, after seeking a “neat old building” in downtown Kalamazoo for its company offices, PlazaCorp took on its first ambitious renovation of a historical Kalamazoo building: the former Globe Casket

26 | ENCORE JANUARY 2019

Co. site on Water Street. The four-story brick building was gutted and now houses offices and The Beer Exchange restaurant and bar.

In the two decades since, the company has restored and renovated a dozen buildings of varying vintages in downtown Kalamazoo and was recognized for these efforts in 2018 with a Historic Preservation Merit Award from the city of Kalamazoo’s Historic Preservation Commission.

“PlazaCorp gets the idea that people value historic buildings and like being in them,” says Sharon Ferraro, historic preservation coordinator for the city of Kalamazoo. “They know these are good buildings that can be reused, and they recognize the value of these buildings to the community.”

"Everybody wants to enjoy the work they're doing for a living. I consider myself fortunate to be able to accomplish both in what I do,” says Nicholson, PlazaCorp president. “When renovating or restoring an older abandoned or underutilized property you are not talking

about cookie cutter projects, but rather complex puzzles that I enjoy solving while at the same time helping to preserve a small part of Kalamazoo's legacies. Legacies such as guitar making, the paper industry, railroad hub and the like. I believe the staff here feels the same and are proud when they see the results of their hard work in the bricks and mortar projects that we undertake."

Energizing neighborhoods

To get a good view of some of the company's accomplishments, just take the long way from its first rejuvenation project to its most recently completed effort in Kalamazoo's Edison neighborhood.

Starting on Pitcher Street, pass the striking red brick hues of The Speareflex and The Globe buildings while skirting the restored United Building, which was once an armory and dance hall. Turn left onto West Michigan Avenue and just over the railroad tracks you’ll see the block-long former Grand Trunk

Western Railroad freight office, now called The Depot, which hosts a HopCat restaurant on one end and Maru Sushi & Grill on the other.

Take a quick turn south, past an old office building on Pitcher Street and nearby meatpacking plant on Walnut Street — which PlazaCorp also owns but has yet to decide how to develop — and head two miles down Portage Street to a former paper mill site on Alcott Street that is becoming a new health and human services corridor serving county residents.

There, set back from the road is the former Illinois Envelope paper mill, a beautifully restored brick building that is now home to Kalamazoo County's Health and Community Services Department.

"This is our typical building," Wenzel says as he walks through the renovated building at 400 Bryant St. "Solid structural base to build from. It's our kind of project."

Before they could start to develop it, they had to haul away the "mattresses and trash and junk," Wenzel says. And inside, people who broke into the vacant building had set small fires. In addition, there were pipes and other paper industry leftovers that were in the way.

Old elevators were torn out and the shafts opened up into a three-story atrium. Natural light comes in via restored skylights. The original wood floors were repaired, and the exposed brick cleaned.

The building’s clients might enjoy the convenience of the new location and the modern office life infused into the 115-year-old building, but there are still not-so-subtle reminders of the building’s past rooted in the décor.

A massive and intricate safe from the Detroit Safe Co., with multiple hidden compartments opened wide, is displayed in the building’s lobby.

Just past that, an old industrial scale remains embedded in the floor.

Opposite page: The renovated Illinois Envelope building off Alcott Street now houses Kalamazoo County’s Health and Community Services Department and includes interior touches such as the building’s original safe. Above: Work is underway to turn the site of the former Gibson Guitar factory complex into a facility housing businesses and an entertainment venue.

"I'd say 90 percent is original," Wenzel says. "We brought it back to life with new windows, restoring skylights, bringing back brick and original floor."

When the Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services department moved into the renovated building last year, it joined the nearby Family Health Center and Kalamazoo County Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services facilities, which are located a few hundred yards away across a vacant field. But the field won’t be vacant for long. A new Michigan Department of Health and Human Services building is planned for the space and will open in 2020.

Alcott Street between Portage and Burdick streets is becoming a corridor of community services, says Tammy Taylor, executive director of the Edison Neighborhood Association. "Those are really exciting for us — a one-stop shopping area for people who need services," says Taylor.

"It will transform more than that area," she adds. The new influx of workers "will need a place to eat and hang out after work. That's what's driving some of the new businesses and those that will be coming on."

Reviving an icon

Another neighborhood experiencing change in the form of a PlazaCorp project is the Northside of Kalamazoo. While The Exchange w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 27

and new Hilton hotels will certainly bring more business and people to downtown Kalamazoo’s core, less than a mile away another ambitious PlazaCorp project is marrying the city's rock ’n’ roll past to its present.

In 2015, Nicholson and partner Archie Leach bought the former Gibson Guitar factory on Parsons Street. Gibson Guitar was founded in Kalamazoo in 1902 and moved to Nashville in 1984. (It filed for bankruptcy in May 2018, but that’s another story.) After the move, several former Gibson guitar makers who remained in Kalamazoo launched Heritage Guitar Inc. and kept up the craft in Gibson’s old location.

The year after buying the old Gibson complex, Nicholson and Leach also bought Heritage Guitar. And in 2017, they announced a plan for the site that is pure rock ’n’ roll.

Literally.

When the renovation is completed in 2020, the smokestack of the former Gibson Guitar factory will be a beacon calling out to entertainment and music seekers. Dubbed The Kalamazoo Enterprise Center, the revamped factory complex will give visitors not only a view of how guitars are still being made there, but a place to stay at a Rolling Stone-branded hotel, listen to concerts at a new music venue, indulge in food and libations at a brewpub, and enjoy tours of a guitar museum.

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Left: The iconic Gibson Guitar smokestack will be restored as part of the project. Above: Plans are to leave this room, which is paneled with samples of the wood Gibson guitars were made from, as part of a museum on the site.

"Because of the history of the property, I equate it with (the) Louisville Slugger (Museum & Factory in Lousiville, Kentucky)," says Wenzel. "It will be a destination."

In order to receive a lucrative state tax credit for the project, the developers had to retain much of the original Gibson building and offices, Wenzel says. PlazaCorp has also kept two of the complex’s tenants but relocated them. Forensic Fluids, which used to occupy Gibson’s front office space, is now located in the back of the complex. And most of Heritage Guitar’s manufacturing will be out of the public's sight as well, except for

finishing touches on the guitars, which will be done behind large viewing windows.

That's on the main floor. Above will be two floors of a Rolling Stone-themed boutique hotel. A new restaurant on the property will provide the room service. The brewery as yet is unnamed, and the exact setup of the music venue is also still to be determined, though early estimates have it at a 700-seat capacity — bigger than nearby Bell's Brewery but smaller than the State Theatre.

Work was already underway on the project this past summer, even with much of the details yet to be finalized. During a tour of the building, one had to squint past fireburnt cement and peeling layers of old paint and wallpaper to envision the end result.

Where a courtyard and dining area will be, a greasy forklift was tucked near concrete factory walls. A new humidity control system was being installed as well as a new ventilation system four times bigger than what the structure currently needs, in order to accommodate a popular attraction.

Most of the iconic brick Gibson smokestack has been carefully taken down and organized on a pallet for storage and repairs "and will be restored as original," Wenzel says.

And in the original offices of Gibson Guitar, there will be a museum that pays homage to both the city and the instrument that defined multiple music genres.

"I know BB King was here, Johnny Cash was here," Wenzel says during a tour of the remarkably preserved Gibson office space.

One room remains paneled in a variety of samples of wood that artists would select from for their guitars. "Interestingly enough, it survived all these years," he notes.

If work progresses as planned, a 2020 completion is "very reachable," Wenzel says.

Significant impact

But there is some concern that when The Kalamazoo Enterprise Center is finished, it may blur the de facto line between the city's predominantly African-American Northside neighborhood and the ever-expanding downtown, encouraging development that could price-out those who have lived there for generations.

Building one of the city's tallest buildings out of a parking lot in the central business district is one thing. Rescuing crumbling history in old neighborhoods in need of investment without bringing on the kind of gentrification that prices out residents is another.

And while PlazaCorp’s work on the Illinois Envelope building is a boost for the Edison neighborhood, Northside leaders are a bit more apprehensive about development efforts in their neighborhood. As more (continued on page 42)

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 29

SAVOR ENCORE

, Tis the Seasoning

Schoolcraft couple crafts seasoning blends, vinegars and teas by

LISA MACKINDER

30 | ENCORE JANUARY 2019

Brian Powers

M

ost wives wouldn’t be too fond of their husbands calling them a hobbit. But 55-yearold Jeannie Sanders is not only OK with it, she says it inspired the name of her and her husband’s business: Sandershire Seasonings.

Jeannie says her husband, 60-year-old Leonard Sanders, affectionately calls her a hobbit because of her 5-foot-4-inch stature (Leonard is 5-foot-11) and her love of home, hearth and earth. So, in 2014, when the couple moved to a home on seven acres in Schoolcraft, it seemed only fitting to name their business Sandershire Seasonings — paying homage to their surname (Sanders), the country setting (a shire) and Leonard’s term of endearment (because hobbits live in shires).

“The name Sandershire seems now to be a poetic inevitability,” Jeannie says. “As we began to grow, harvest and forage more and more food here at Sandershire, I also began to plant and nurture as many herbs and spices as possible for ingredients in my seasoning recipes.”

The couple grow most of the ingredients that they use in the seasoning blends, vinegars and teas they sell at local farmers markets. Sanders’ inspiration for the business came from Greece.

“I was born in Greece and ate Greek food,” Sanders says, identifying herself as an “Army brat” who lived many places growing up. As soon as she started learning how to cook, Sanders says, she wanted to know how to make Greek meatloaf and Greek chicken.

This led her down a path of exploring ethnic foods.

“I realized that seasonings are one of the major things that change food flavors from region to region and country to country,” Sanders says.

ENCORE SAVOR

“I realized people can use them to make sauces, dips, salad dressings,” she says.

Sanders began selling her seasoning blends, which were first called Organic Life Seasonings, at the Bangor Farmers Market in 2012. The Sanderses’ move to Schoolcraft allowed them to grow a majority of the necessary ingredients on their own land, and soon Jeannie started selling her wares at the Texas Corners and Portage farmers markets.

Sandershire Seasonings now offers 12 seasoning blends. Nostimo is the top seller and also Sanders’ favorite. Other popular seasoning blends include Rustic, which she describes as a smoky, savory seasoned salt and

pepper, and Fiesta, a Tex-Mex blend inspired by the time Sanders’ family lived in Texas.

“I’m in the final stages of completing a new all-purpose flavor: Fresh Coast,” she says, describing it as “bright and tangy,” blending peppercorn with summer herbs, onion, garlic, toasted sesame and kosher salt. Sanders says she is also in the beginning stages of developing a salt-free blend.

She and her husband grow a garden of herbs, including basil, dill, sage and thyme, Opposite page: Jeannie Sanders cuts herbs from her garden to use in her seasonings, vinegars and teas.

Below: A sampling of Sandershire Seasonings blends.

Brian Powers

One day as Sanders was pulling 12 bottles of herbs and spices from the cupboard to make her Greek chicken, a light bulb went off. “Why have all these different bottles?”

Sanders remembers thinking. She grabbed a pint-sized Ball jar and mixed up her own Greek blend, which she called Nostimo (which means “delicious” in Greek).

To save money, Sanders initially bought organic herbs and spices by the pound, leaving her with a lot of excess ingredients.

Then people started asking for her seasoning recipes. Both of these factors propelled Sanders to start a business selling her seasoning blends.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 31

Brian Powers

Brian Powers

SAVOR ENCORE

and the inclusion of these homegrown herbs and spices has earned Sandershire Seasonings credentials from Certified Naturally Grown, which provides certification to farmers and beekeepers that produce food for their communities without relying on synthetic chemicals or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Leonard’s “behind-the-scene contribution is vital” in this area, his wife says. He mulches, digs, hauls in heavy harvests, and performs fall and winter cleanup.

“He was instrumental in completing the fencing that protects our crops from hungry critters other than ourselves,” she says.

From left: Jeannie and husband Leonard, who helps with much of the gardening and harvesting; Jeannie packages a seasoning blend; and rows of flavored vinegars Sandershire offers.

In the last year, Sandershire has expanded its offerings to include vinegars. And each year, the couple increase their plantings, which is what led to them adding tea to their products. Their property is bordered by stinging nettles, sumac, horehound, mullen, wintergreen, raspberries, comfrey, firs and spruces — all of which Jeannie Sanders

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ENCORE SAVOR

“I’ll add a couple more things that I know about,” Sanders says. “This herb or that herb — it’s just been building. We use these (the homemade teas) ourselves and want to share that with other people.”

Sanders’ foray into making vinegars started with a gift of organic pears from her sister — Sanders made pear crisp with the fruit but wanted to also utilize the peels. She discovered she could make vinegar and got to work.

“It was so amazing,” she says.

Sanders makes all of her vinegars from scratch. Calling herself a “locavore,” she says if the fruit doesn’t grow on her property, it comes from local farmers. Since her initial

pear vinegar, Sanders has developed violet vinegar, apple habanero vinegar and a malt vinegar, to name just a few. Some of the vinegars, such as the violet vinegar, are seasonal. Sandershire’s malt vinegar, which is a top seller, is made with Bell’s Oberon.

Sanders is also working on new vinegars, including a rhubarb-black raspberry flavor.

Now that Sanders has been selling at farmers markets a few years, people are taking notice of her products. It takes awhile to get established, she says, and she advises that anyone wanting to sell something should try a market for an entire season.

“If you have a good product, it sells itself,” she says.

uses in her tea blends, along with the herbs and spices she and her husband grow.

“It’s so rich here that I couldn’t not share it,” she says.

Sandershire’s herbal tea blends include Bliss Tea, a blend of lemon balm, chamomile and rose hip; Zen Tea, created with sassafras leaf, holy basil and lavender flower; Stinging Nettle Tea; and Spruce Tip Tea.

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ARTS ENCORE

All Torn Up

Plainwell woman creates art from ripped paper by

LISA MACKINDER

34 | ENCORE JANUARY 2019

Brian Powers

R

enae Baumgart owes her art career in part to a pesky bird: her son’s blue-crowned conure named Bella. This small green parrot with a blue head had a voracious appetite for the wallpaper in Baumgart’s Victorian home and constantly ripped holes in it on every wall.

“Infuriating … ,” says Baumgart, owner of Renae’s Rip Studio in Plainwell, “but it was where I first learned the art of the rip.

I found ripping a bit of paper to patch the offending hole looked better and more natural than cutting. Thus began my journey — or madness — to freehand ripping.”

Ripped wallpaper became Baumgart’s medium, and her ripped paper art is sold at Amy Zane Store & Studio in Kalamazoo, Mezzo Coffee House in Otsego, The Little Yellow Frame Shop in Richland, and Design Street and Four Roses Café, both in Plainwell.

And while “naughty” Bella was the catalyst for her ripping creativity, Baumgart’s skill at and passion for art started long before. As a child, Baumgart “saw images” everywhere she looked — in paneling, in tile floors, in tree bark.

She loved looking at people’s profiles, and going to church provided a sea of faces.

“I just had to doodle caricatures of what made each person special,” says Baumgart, who grew up in Plainwell. “My mom didn’t care, until she started recognizing the people in my doodles. I always say that’s why she made me join choir.”

Baumgart’s academic life didn’t always accommodate her compulsive drawing either.

“I can still remember a few middle school teachers who didn’t seem to appreciate it at all,” she says.

A career in art had always been her plan, Baumgart says, but when she was 16, her oldest brother died, and the tragedy derailed

ENCORE ARTS

television, Baumgart and her two brothers focused on books. That’s when, at 8 years old, Baumgart became enthralled with the idea of talking animals, she says. The wild animals, colorful flowers and abundant plant life in Rwanda had already sparked her imagination.

“Today I try to make my animals look as if they might have something to say if one cared to listen,” she says.

Reading The Chronicles of Narnia to her own children reignited Baumgart’s imagination, which had fallen dormant for years following her brother’s death.

“I attribute having kids — and now (four) grandkids — to reawakening that urge to create and find joy and whimsy,” Baumgart says.

Joy and whimsy are obvious in Baumgart’s artwork, whether a piece portrays the moon, birds, sugar skulls or “talking” animals, such as giraffes, elephants and cats that truly appear to want to share a secret with observers.

When Baumgart first started ripping wallpaper, she created little animals, with the intention of making a children’s book. That book still exists, she says, as well

From left: Artist Renae Baumgart amid her works and papers in her home studio; an octopus she created from ripped wallpaper; and Baumgart meticulously piecing together a creation.

her dreams. She followed another path: obtaining a four-year degree in law enforcement. It was a bad fit, she admits, but one that wasn’t for naught.

“I married a wonderful police officer,” Baumgart says, speaking of her husband of 31 years, Jim Baumgart, a retired Grand Rapids Police Department lieutenant. “It wasn’t all a loss.”

Having three kids brought her full circle: back to art through The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels by C.S. Lewis.

When Baumgart was a child, her parents, Dale and Gail Brock, read their children the series while the family lived in Rwanda, where the Brocks served as missionaries for two years. With no w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 35

ARTS ENCORE

as an enormous portrait of her imagined storybook cat. Though she never published the book, the idea propelled her into a ripping career.

Baumgart began purposefully ripping wallpaper for portraits 10 years ago and began selling her pieces in stores and online three years ago. Her work has also appeared in art shows at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute in Hastings, the Kalamazoo Nature Center, the Richland Art Fair, the Waterfront Invitational Fine Arts Fair in Saugatuck and the Mermaid Megafest in South Haven.

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ENCORE ARTS

From left: Baumgart carefully places each piece of ripped paper as she works; the artist adds finishing details to a piece surrounded by a collection of her completed works; and Baumgart tears each piece of paper used in her creations by hand.

One amazing aspect of her art is that Baumgart creates the pieces without sketching. “I’ll rip as fast as my eye is thinking (of) my subject,” she explains. “It’s using the same muscles as drawing — I’m just translating it.”

Baumgart loves her medium so much that she often “gets lost” in a piece.

“I do octopuses a lot,” she explains, then adds, with her fingers imitating tentacles, “and I get lost in those legs — and two times I’ve had a nine-legged octopus! All that work … and I had to take off a leg.”

For anyone interested in learning rip art, Baumgart gives classes twice a year at Design Street. She provides instruction to adults and children, but it’s the children, she says, who catch on more quickly.

“They really (are) free to get into it — a lot more than some of the adults,” Baumgart says. “(Adults) are a little more timid instead of just letting loose and ripping.”

Without Bella the bird’s obsessive wallpaper consumption, Baumgart might never have discovered her favorite medium. But her feathered sidekick also possessed another annoying habit: imitating Baumgart’s laugh and mannerisms “with brutal accuracy.”

“That bird…,” she says, sighing and rolling her eyes.

w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 37

PERFORMING ARTS THEATER Plays

Jesse Cook — This master guitarist performs world music, 8 p.m. Jan. 16, State Theatre, 404 S. Burdick St., 345-6500.

The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr — The Civic presents 37 plays with five performers in a fastpaced romp through the Bard's plays, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 25, 26, Feb. 1, 2, 8 & 9; 2 p.m. Jan. 27 & Feb. 2, Civic Auditorium, 329 S. Park St., 343-1313.

Red Tail Ring — Acoustic roots duo, 8:30 p.m. Jan. 17, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

The Wolves — A girls' indoor soccer team braves challenges dealing with survival, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25, 26, Feb. 1, 2, 7, 8 & 9; 2 p.m. Feb. 3 & 10, York Arena Theatre, WMU, 387-6222.

Orchestra, Chamber, Jazz, Vocal & More

Musicals

Entrepreneurial Extravaganza — Concert by Ensemble Dal Niente, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 10, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-4667.

American Girl Live — American Girl characters help tell a story of bravery and friendship, 1 & 4:30 p.m. Jan. 5, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical — The Civic presents a personal and poignant look at the music and film legend, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 & 26, 2 p.m. Jan. 13, 20 & 27, Parish Theatre, 405 W. Lovell St., 343-1313.

Rock of Ages — Broadway musical parody about 1980s heavy-metal rockers, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Other

Angel of the People Mover — A reading about a young black trans woman on her journey to find love, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17–19, 2:30 p.m. Jan. 20, Queer Theatre Kalamazoo, 315 W. Michigan Ave., qtkalamazoo.com.

PBS Kids Live: Really BIG tiny Adventure — Three kids journey on an unexpected adventure, 5:30 p.m. Jan. 29, State Theatre, 404 S. Burdick St., 345-6500.

MUSIC Bands & Solo Artists The Real Fantastics — Kalamazoo-based band performing Motown and ’70s/’80s rock and dance music, 8:30 p.m. Jan. 5, Bell's Eccentric Café, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave., 382-2332.

An Evening with Carrie Newcomer and Pianist Gary Walters — Transformations Spirituality Center presents the singer/songwriter and pianist performing music that focuses on meaningful things in life, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12, First Congregational Church, 345 W. Michigan Ave., 381-6290.

Benje Daneman's SearchParty — This jazz group performs music from their album Light in the Darkness, 1:30 p.m. Jan. 13, Kalamazoo Valley Museum, 230 N. Rose St., 373-7990.

Second Sundays Live: Cabtown Checkers — Nine-piece band plays original arrangements of jazz standards, 2 p.m. Jan. 13, Parchment Community Library, 401 S. Riverview Drive, 343-7747.

38 | ENCORE JANUARY 2019

FACS — Alternative indie band, 8 p.m. Jan. 28, Bell's Eccentric Café, 382-2332.

KSO Brass Quintet — The quintet performs works

by Higdon, Bernstein and Previn, 7 p.m. Jan. 8, First Presbyterian Church, 321 W. South St., 345-6664.

DANCE

Princess Aurora: The Sleeping Beauty — Ballet Kalamazoo presents this ballet, 6 p.m. Jan. 12 & 2 p.m. Jan. 13, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave., 267-6681.

Russian National Ballet: Sleeping Beauty — Tchaikovsky's ballet about a classic fairy tale princess, 3 p.m. Jan. 20, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

Winter Gala Dance Concert — WMU dancers perform works by guest artists, faculty and students, 8 p.m. Jan. 25, 26, 31, Feb. 1 & 2; 2 p.m.

Jan. 27 & Feb. 2, Williams Theatre, WMU, 387-2300.

COMEDY

Burdick-Thorne String Quartet — The quartet performs works by Mozart, Webern and Montgomery, 11 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. Jan. 13, Sarkozy Bakery, 350 E. Michigan Ave., 349-7759.

Crawlspace Eviction: Chili — Improv and sketch comedy show inspired by chili, 8 p.m. Jan. 18, Crawlspace Comedy Theatre, 315 W. Michigan Ave., 599-7390.

Gilmore Rising Star Nikita Mndoyants — The Russian pianist performs works by Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms, 4 p.m. Jan. 13, Wellspring Theater, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 342-1166.

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

Best of MAT — WMU Music and Technology students present compositions incorporating technology, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-4667.

Inka Essenhigh: A Fine Line — Large-format paintings filled with otherworldly expression, through Jan. 6.

Classics on Tap: Winter Evening — KSO Artists in Residence and a guest vocalist perform Schubert's song cycle Winterreise, 8 p.m. Jan. 18, Bell's Eccentric Café, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave., 349-7759.

Classics Uncorked: Winter Evening — KSO Artists in Residence and a guest vocalist perform Schubert's song cycle Winterreise, 3 & 8 p.m. Jan. 19, Jolliffe Theatre, Epic Center, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, 349-7759.

Crescendo Academy of Music Student Recitals — 2 p.m. Jan. 20, First Presbyterian Church, 321 W. South St., 345-6664.

Music of David Colson — Bullock Performance Institute concert, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23, with preconcert talk at 7 p.m., Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-2300.

Tchaikovsky's 5th — Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, and 2018 Stulberg gold medalist violinist Charlotte Marckx performs, 8 p.m. Jan. 26, Miller Auditorium, WMU, 387-2300.

University Chorale — Bullock Performance Institute concert, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 30, with preconcert talk at 7 p.m., Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-2300.

University Jazz Orchestra and University Jazz Lab Band — 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU, 387-2300.

Exhibits

do it — An exhibition engaging the local community in dialogue that responds to instructions by artists, through March 3.

Watanabe: Japanese Print Envoy — Prints that combine Japanese techniques with Westerninfluenced style, through March 10.

The Expressionist Figure — Mid-20th century expressionist paintings by leading artists of the time, Jan. 19–May 5.

Events ARTbreak — Weekly program about art, artists and exhibitions: Art of the Game, Ukiyo-e Heroes, Part 1, documentary on Japanese printmaking, Jan. 8; Art of the Game, Ukiyo-e Heroes, Part 2, Jan. 15; No Dark in Sight: Light and the Night It Transforms, talk by fine art photographer and WMU art professor Bill Davis, Jan. 22; Watanabe Shozaburo: Reinventing the Japanese Print, talk by Andrew Stevens, retired curator from Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin, Jan. 29; sessions begin at noon, KIA Auditorium.

Sunday Tour — Docent-led tours: do it, Jan. 13; The Expressionist Figure, Jan. 27; sessions begin at 2 p.m.

Book Discussion: The Lives of the Surrealists — Karla Niehus leads a discussion on this book by Desmond Morris, 2 p.m. Jan. 16.

ENCORE EVENTS

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

school and house music, 6 p.m. Jan. 4, Alma Powell Branch, 1000 W. Paterson, 553-7960.

Carolyn Case — Painting exhibition by the American artist, Jan. 17–March 17, with preview and opening reception 5–7 p.m. Jan. 16, Netzorg and Kerr Gallery.

Tea and Conversation with Tony from Life Cycle — Learn what makes a good cup of tea, Jan. 7, Eastwood Branch, 1112 Gayle St., 553-7810; Jan. 21, Alma Powell Branch, 553-7960; both events begin at 4:30 p.m.

Christina Quarles — Abstract paintings depicting racial and sexual identities, Jan. 17–March 17, with preview and opening reception 5–7 p.m. Jan. 16, Monroe-Brown Gallery.

Other Venues Art Hop — Art at various Kalamazoo locations, 5–8 p.m. Jan. 4, 342-5059.

Solo Gallery: Dan Hook — Various media on display and for purchase, Jan. 7–Feb. 25, Portage District Library, 300 Library Lane, 329-4544.

Community Gallery: Portage Public Schools — Elementary through high school students display their work, Jan. 6 through February, with reception to meet the teachers from 2–4 p.m. Jan. 27, Portage District Library, 329-4544.

Mindi K. Bagnall — Mixed-media works, through Jan. 11, Richland Community Library, 8951 Park St., 629-9085.

Painting in the Parks — Create a masterpiece of your own, 6 p.m. Jan. 17, Schrier Park, 850 W. Osterhout Ave., 329-4522; registration required.

LIBRARY & LITERARY EVENTS Kalamazoo Public Library Silent Hustle! — A silent disco (music is listened to on wireless headphones) with the latest hits, old

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Reading Race Book Group — A discussion of There There, by Tommy Orange, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8, Central Library, 315 S. Rose St., 342-9837.

Maria's Comfort Food — Learn to make frijoles charros soup, 6 p.m. Jan. 14, Eastwood Branch, 553-7810.

Classics Revisited — Discussion of Selected Essays of Michel de Montaigne, 7 p.m. Jan. 17, Boardroom, Central Library, 342-9837.

Overdue Brew Tour — Join a bus tour to learn about Kalamazoo's beer brewing history, 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Jan. 19, starting at Arcadia Ales, 701 E. Michigan Ave., 553-7879.

Novel Ideas Book Club — Discussion of The Husband's Secret, by Liane Moriarty, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 21, Oshtemo Branch, 7265 W. Main St., 553-7980.

Overdue Brew: Beer and Food Pairing — Learn what brews complement certain foods, 7–9 p.m.

Jan. 24, Gonzo's BiggDogg Brewing Co., 140 S. Westnedge Ave., 553-7879; registration required.

Michigan, My Michigan: Urban Life, Immigration and Progressivism — Lynn Houghton discusses Michigan's growth and development from its early beginnings to recent years, 7 p.m. Jan. 28, Van Deusen Room, Central Library, 342-9837.

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EVENTS ENCORE NATURE

Parchment Community Library 401 S. Riverview Drive, 343-7747

from their stories and reveal their secrets for approaching fairy tale retelling, 7 p.m. Jan. 24.

Parchment Book Group — Discussion of First Frost, by Sarah Addison Allen, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 7.

MUSEUMS

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

Air Zoo 6151 Portage Road, Portage, 382-6555

Deep Sleepers — Learn about animals who sleep during winter, 2 p.m. Jan. 6 & 13.

Wild Weather — Hands-on, immersive journey through the science of extreme weather, through January.

Winter Night Hike — A hike to learn about night animals and look at the night sky, 7 p.m. Jan. 17.

Front Page: Donuts & Discussion: Weather Decoded — Discover how Earth's intricate climate system is changing, 10:30 a.m.–noon Jan. 19.

Mystery Book Club — Discussion of Death by Darjeeling, by Laura Childs, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 21, Stuart Avenue Inn, 229 Stuart Ave.; registration required.

Cook with CoreLife Eatery — Steven Maiorana shares ideas for green bowls, brain bowls, broth bowls and made-from-scratch beverages, 6:30–8 p.m. Jan. 23.

Portage District Library 300 Library Lane, 329-4544

Gilmore Car Museum 6865 Hickory Road, Hickory Corners, 671-5089

Duesenberg: Celebrating an American Classic — This exhibition showcases up to 20 rare Duesenbergs in rotation, through fall 2019.

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

SciFi/Fantasy Discussion: Batman — 7 p.m.

Jan. 8.

Bikes: Science on Two Wheels — Interactive exhibits about the history and evolution of the bicycle, through Jan. 6.

International Mystery Book Discussion: Antarctica — Discussion of In Cold Pursuit, by Sarah Andrews, 7 p.m. Jan. 10.

Your Kalamazoo Wings! The First 45 Years — The history and culture of Kalamazoo's oldest professional sports franchise, through March 31.

Open for Discussion — Discussion of Canada, by Richard Ford, 10:30 a.m. Jan. 15.

What We Carried: Fragments and Memories from Iraq and Syria — Refugees' journeys to America through images of their personal carried objects, through April 15.

MI Pride Author Series: Unspun and Fairy Tale Retellings — Katherine Cowley, whose work is part of the book Unspun: A Collection of Tattered Fairy Tales, and Dr. Scott Cowley read selections

Fretboard Festival Play-in Contest — Compete for the final two spots in the 2019 Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival lineup, 5–9 p.m. Jan. 4.

Winter Scenery Hike — A casual walk in the woods, 2 p.m. Jan. 20.

Glacier Exploration — Learn how glaciers shaped our land and enjoy a hike to see rocks transported by glaciers, 2 p.m. Jan. 27.

Boomers & Beyond: Intro to Citizen Science — Learn about citizen science projects at KNC, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Jan. 29.

Kellogg Bird Sanctuary 12685 East C Ave., Augusta, 671-2510 Birds and Coffee Walk — A morning bird walk and discussion over coffee, 9–10:30 a.m. Jan. 9.

Other Venues Audubon Society of Kalamazoo — Nate Fuller speaks about the Portman Nature Preserve, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28, People's Church, 1758 N. 10th St., 375-7210.

MISCELLANEOUS John Daley Memorial One One Run — A 2.2- and 4.4-mile walk/run to raise money for Boys & Girls

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Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo, 1–3 p.m. Jan. 1, Spring Valley Park, 2600 Mt. Olivet Road, runsignup.com.

Kalamazoo Indoor Flea Market — New and used items, antiques and handcrafted items, 8 a.m.–2 p.m. Tues. & Wed., Jan. 2–31, and 8 a.m.–3 p.m.

Jan. 12, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 2900 Lake St., 383-8761.

Kalamazoo Reptile & Exotic Pet Expo — Buy, sell or trade reptiles, amphibians and small mammals, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Jan. 5, Kalamazoo County Expo Center North, 779-9851.

Healthy & Fit Expo — Information on all facets of health and wellness, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Jan. 12, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 517-706-1011.

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Walking Tour of Downtown Kalamazoo Breweries — Learn about the local beer culture, noon–4:30 p.m. Jan. 12, starting at Shakespeare's Pub, 241 E. Kalamazoo Ave., 350-4598.

Country Dancing in Kalamazoo — Contra and square dancing to live music, 7:30–10:30 p.m. Jan. 12 & 26, with beginner's workshop at 7 p.m., Oshtemo Grange Hall, 3234 N. Third St., countrydancinginkalamazoo.com.

Southwest Michigan Bridal Show — 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Jan. 13, Wings Event Center, 3600 Vanrick Drive, 492-9111.

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Winter Hours: Mon. – Fri. 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Sat. and other times by appointment

January Thaw — Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at WMU presents Virginia Paganelli Caruso speaking about the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Michigan, 1–3 p.m. Jan. 16, Centerpoint Church, 2345 N. 10th St., 387-4200; registration requested.

Winter Craft Show — 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Jan. 19, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Jan. 20, Kalamazoo County Expo Center South, 903-5820.

Kalamazoo's Vintage Market — Antiques, shabby chic, salvaged items, boutique clothing and home décor, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Jan. 19, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Jan. 20, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 903-5820.

www.stulberg.org 269.343.2776

Kalamazoo Dance — Monthly ballroom dancing at 8 p.m., with East Coast swing lesson at 7 p.m., Jan. 19, The Point Community Center, 2595 N. 10th St., kalamazoodance.org.

MLK Community Celebration — A celebration with local entertainment, 5 p.m. Jan. 21, State Theatre, 404 S. Burdick St., 387-6313; see wmich. edu/mlk/events for full schedule of events.

MARK YOUR 2019 CALENDAR SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 8 PM 2018 Gold Medalist Charlotte Marckx, violin Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Miller Auditorium

Traditional Bowhunters Expo & Stick and String 3D — New bows and archery supplies, with Potawatomi Single String 3D Shootout, 4–8 p.m.

Jan. 25, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Jan. 26, 9 a.m.–noon Jan. 27, Kalamazoo County Expo Center, 383-8778.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 10 AM AND 8 PM 2017 Gold Medalist William McGregor, double bass Grand Rapids Symphony, St. Cecilia Music Center

Downtown Kalamazoo Chili Cook-off — Sample some of the best and most unusual chili in our area, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Jan. 26, downtown Kalamazoo, kalamazoorestaurantweek.com.

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 7 PM BRAVO! Jolliffe Theatre, Epic Center SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MAY 18 – 19 44th Stulberg Competition & Master Classes Judges Paul Coletti, Emilio Colón, Jennifer Frautschi, Dalton Center, WMU

2019 Midwestern & Pacific Coast Synchronized Skating Championships — More than 2,000 athletes compete, Jan. 31– Feb. 3, Wings Event Center, 3600 Vanrick Drive, midwesternsynchrosectionals.com.

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E N C O R E

•

A p r i l

2 0 1 2

properties in the areawill arebepurchased by construction, many left as developers, leaders wonder whether it will green spaces. leave residents ability totoinfluence “We canwithout sell thethe property decisions made neighborhood. neighbors for within a very their reasonable price, or “Those that own land control what residents on the block can opt to create happens,” says Mattie Jordan-Woods, execugarden space for vegetables or trees and tive director the Northside bushes andofplaces to sit andAssociation enjoy the for Community Development.

“They control who surroundings,” Boring says. gets jobs, and ultimately they on control Galilee Baptist Church, Northwho stays."

Westnedge Avenue, hopes to create a Rose Street runs almost straight through serenity garden on property at 430 W. the center of Northside andchurch. is becoming Paterson St.,the across from the The anLand unofficial dividing line between the two Bank Adopt-A-Lot program leases halves of the neighborhood. properties for use as green space and To the east, a former blue-collar stomping gardens. ground“”When is poised become hipster haven wetoheard thatathe property likely to feature pricey apartment units. would be available, we thought it would The area already has a craft brewery be a good place for a serenity garden,”and artisan distilleryRoland, and willabe anchored The says William church elderbyfor Kalamazoo Enterpriseand Center. outreach ministry board chairman.

To the west, where the Northside “We want to make it aesthetically neighborhood's only full grocery store pleasing and a place for peaceful returned in 2010 after nose-to-thereflection, and members of the church grindstone efforts

by Jordan-Woods, the will maintain the garden.”

NACD So far, there have been 12 Adoptis looking to lure more affordable housing and locally owned A-Lot leases as part of thebusinesses.

Land Bank’s "We're focused on securing land that will Community Garden program. allow Last residents to ownapproached businesses and live year Boring and work in the neighborhood," she says. residents in the 1500 block of East Wenzel says that PlazaCorp Michigan Avenue, where there has weresimilar aims, noting that its project will ultimately three empty lots, and asked if they would bring jobs and opportunity to the be interested in having a garden space neighborhood.

“Weonly encourage oursaid tenants there. “They not agreed but tothey hirewould neighborhood residents when they’re love to take over the building qualified.

We have looked at and are working and maintenance,” she says. with The otherresult localis the agencies workforce Trybalon Revival development — agencies like Urban Alliance Eastside Eco-Garden, with more than and Kalamazoo Valley Community College, 100 plantings and 28 species of mostly that can provide the training needed to work food-producing trees and shrubs. Funds inforour this we thetenants’ garden industries. came fromThrough the Kalamazoo hope that we've met some of the concerns Community Foundation, one of many of the neighborhood.”

Land Bank partners.

For “The good neighbors or bad, thehave NACDbeen andgreat PlazaCorp are competing as says. developers, entrenched partners,” Boring in different ways in historic As the Land BankKalamazoo's and its partners Northside.

Whatever it may bring, however, look across the Kalamazoo landscape, when Thethe Kalamazoo Enterprise is they see fruits of their laborsCenter — complete, the neighborhood, like other new homes, rehabilitated homes andareas oflush the gardens city where PlazaCorp's footprints are, where dangerous eyesores will be changed. once stood — and know that they have changed the face of Kalamazoo in profound and lasting ways.

ENCORE POETRY

Epiphany My Dear, We finally took our New Year’s hike today. No wind, 14 degrees—I wore layers. The day was clear, if not brilliant.

We saw deer moving through the trees, and later, three dogs and their people.

The snow wasn’t deep, but the going was slower than usual. I thought we were further along than we were.

The ghost dog was with us—purposeful in the snow, thrusting his snout in the drifts, huffing and snuffing, as he had in life.

I thought the wise-looking shepherd might sense his presence, but she gave no sign of it.

I wanted to see him and so I did, but when I looked up at the real world, not only were we rounding a different curve than I expected— the landscape had gone all smeary, too.

Later, after unstringing the lights, we cut the cake in even pieces, but there was no bean, no baby, in any slice. It was not that kind of cake. — Kathryn (Kit) Almy Almy is a freelance writer who has written more than 60 articles for Encore since 2009. Her poems and essays have appeared in several print and online publications, including City of the Big Shoulders: A Chicago Poetry Anthology, The Smoking Poet and Great Lakes Review's Narrative Map Project.

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BACK STORY (continued from page 46)

When did you first get involved with synchronized skating?

How did you end up getting involved with GKSA?

the committee because we all enjoy being around each other.

My kids all started learning to skate when they were about 4 or 5 years old. I have a 21-year-old daughter (Madeline) who does synchronized skating at Adrian College now; she started (synchronized skating) when she was 8 or 10 years old. So it has been at least a dozen years that we've been involved with synchronized skating here in Kalamazoo.

Once Madeline was old enough to join the club and be on a team, her coach nominated me to be on the Kalamazoo Figure Skating Club's board of directors. I was elected the first year, and pretty much ever since, I was on the KFSC board of directors. After we merged with another skating club, the Greater Kalamazoo Skating Association, I stayed on the board.

I enjoy organizing things and logistics, so when Cory Thompson, who was the chairperson for the Kickoff Classic for about eight years, needed to turn it over to somebody, he asked me if I would consider doing it. So for the last four years I've been the Kickoff Classic chairperson.

How did Kalamazoo get to host the sectionals this year?

Why did they start skating?

My son (Austin) thought about playing hockey, so he got into GKSA’s Learn to Skate program. So then the sister right behind him (Madeline) got dragged along. And then the one who is now a freshman at Portage Northern (Mallory) just kind of got dragged along to all her sister's stuff. I don't know if she really had a choice, but she does love it.

We're just a hockey and skating family and have spent most of our time at one of the rinks in town.

What makes synchronized skating interesting to you?

It's so exciting. You've got these teams that are so advanced they're doing lifts at high speed on the ice and they're intersecting and they're flying around the ice with 16 skaters criss-crossing. It’s just really exciting in a different way than individual skating. It's pretty impressive, and once people see it, they're like, “Wow, why isn't this in the Olympics?”

Why did you accept the nomination to be on GKSA’s board?

I really didn't know enough to say no, and I like to get involved in whatever my kids are involved in. But the families that you work with and get to know are just a really great group of people. Because I've been around for a long time, with both my older daughter and my younger daughter, I have developed these friendships with lots of other parents that have spanned many years, and one of the things that's neat is that on our committee for the Kalamazoo Classic are parents whose kids have quit skating and are graduated, gone, and they're still on

We decided to bid for the 2013 sectional and got it for the first time. It’s an event with a large number of participants, because it's Pacific Coast and Midwest teams both coming to one location. In 2016 we got the bid to host the national championships, which was exciting, and then we bid to host sectionals again (for 2019) and got it.

Why is this event important to you?

This year it's really exciting because sectionals is here in Kalamazoo, and nationals is about three or four weeks later over in Plymouth, so it's really a neat opportunity. And my daughter is a senior in college, so it's her last year and she'll be skating at sectionals here in Kalamazoo and then at nationals. It's exciting to follow her team when I get the chance.

Are you a skater?

No, I grew up in Coldwater and only got to ice skate whenever a nearby lake would freeze during the winter.

– Interview by Adam Rayes

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BACK STORY ENCORE

Kristen Crandle Greater Kalamazoo Skating Association

P

eople who meet Kristen Crandle might be surprised to find out she is not an ice skater.

A board member of the Greater Kalamazoo Skating Association, Crandle is co-chairing, with Amy Wood, the committee organizing the U.S. Figure Skating 2019 Midwestern & Pacific Coast Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships, which will be held at Wings Event Center from Jan. 31–Feb. 3.

This event, hosted by the GKSA, will bring at least 155 teams to Kalamazoo to battle it out before the national competition, to be held in Plymouth, Michigan, less than a month later. A total of 7,000 attendees — including the 15- to 16-member teams, plus coaches, judges and spectators — are expected to come to Kalamazoo.

Crandle, 50, is no neophyte at competitions of this type: She is also the organizer of the annual Kick-off Classic competition, which brings regional synchronized skating competitors of all levels to Kalamazoo each November. (continued on page 45)

46 | ENCORE JANUARY 2019

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