Horizons 2017

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FACE NA A I H C I M Horizons 2017

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Horizons 2017

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Horizons 2017

From the

editor

Showcasing the Faces of Michiana

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ach of the communities in southwest Michigan are known for something different.

For example, Dowagiac is known for its picturesque downtown and the Native American population. Niles’ Riverfront Park and River Valley Trail have put the City of Four Flags back on the map in recent years. Cassopolis is known for its booming farm community, and Edwardsburg is popular for its resort communities near the lake.

These iconic destinations are great draws to southwest Michigan, but the true character of these communities cannot be found in places or things. It is found in the people who choose to live and work here.

That is why this year, we set out to showcase as many faces as we could in a 108-page magazine.

This year our team focused on the theme “Faces of Michiana.” In the next 100 pages, you will find dozens of stories about the people who make Michiana the special place that it is.

There are the literal faces, like the ones drawn by the students in Mrs. Rodgers’ Sam Adams kindergarten class. Then there are the more figurative interpretations, like the story portraying issues like military integration during World War II. As much as we would have liked to, it is simply impossible to showcase every special person, place or business that makes southwest Michigan shine, so we did our best to tell a diverse mix of stories focusing on on all kinds of people.

We talked to people about their work, their families, their community service and their education. We got to know people of all different backgrounds and ages. We even got to know people who choose alter egos, and how the characters they portray help people around them.

We hope you enjoy getting to know some of the amazing people who make Michiana the wonderful place it is to live, work and play.

Ambrosia Neldon is the general manager at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7713, or by email at ambrosia.neldon@leaderpub.com.

Table of

contents

7 FACES OF MICHIANA Locals showcase pieces of region’s puzzle 15 IT CAME FROM DEWEY LAKE Sister Lakes area residents tell the tale of legendary monster 18 CREATING A LEGACY Former Cass County sheriff, judge reflect on years in public service

22 FACES OF THE FUTURE Sam Adams kindergartners draw self portraits 24 CALLED TO SERVE Niles woman uses nursing expertise to serve underprivileged Dominicans 26 PLAYING BY FAITH Kozinski brothers committed to Christ on and off the basketball court Horizons 2017

staff

Meet our

EDITORIAL Scott Novak Ted Yoakum Kelsey Hammon Joe Kuharic Angie Marciniak CONTRIBUTORS Tim Ritter Michelle Maret ADVERTISING Phil Langer Donna Knight Lisa Oxender Jenelle Huskey CUSTOMER SERVICE Angie Marciniak Jenna McAllister Ashley Smith ADMINISTRATION Ambrosia Neldon Rhonda Rauen 217 N. Fourth St. Niles, MI 49120 (269) 683-2100 www.leaderpub.com

31 BEHIND THE BAR Brass Eye owner offers outsiders a peek at a night in the life of a bartender

57 GETTING INTO CHARACTER Michiana creatives don costumes to share lessons, tell stories

34 BREAKING BARRIERS Niles World War II veteran was a pioneer in military integration

70 FINDING HER WAY HOME Michiana musician discovers path from homelessness to Rising Star

39 RAISING THEIR VOICES Area singers find camaraderie in Michiana barbershop chorus

73 BOUNCING OUT CANCER Brandywine basketball players encourage fans to fight cause

42 LEARNING A NEW TRICK Former nurse retires from hospital, volunteers at local animal shelter

77 A BUBBLY TOWN MASCOT Niles man brings joy to downtown district

44 IN PERFECT HARMONY West family makes a difference by sharing voices 46 SHINING STARS Standout students pave a path for success

81 ONE SWEET GIG Brandywine principal leads student band 84 UNSUNG HEROES Civil servants recognized for community service, good citizenship 5

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Horizons 2017

FACES MICHIANA of

M

ichiana has a lot to offer. From beaches, parks and rivers to flourishing business districts, college sports and concert venues, there is no shortage of opportunities to play.

Our growing industrial outlets, ever-expanding medical facilities, countless academic institutions and constantly evolving downtowns offer a plethora of employment opportunities. Add to that the diverse communities and short distance to the Windy City, and Michiana is a pretty happening place.

There are many great things about Michiana, which

Horizons 2017

is why the area is thriving, but the people who live here may very well be the best part.

As much as we would like to, showcasing every awesome individual in Michiana in one issue of Horizons would be impossible.

Instead, we present to you six people who represent some of the many important subcultures in the region.

From the college student to the small business owner, each person represents a piece of the puzzle that makes Michiana the wonderful place it is to work, play and live.

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COLLEGE STUDENT STORY BY TED YOAKUM | PHOTO BY TIM RITTER

Michiana has a long list of opportunities for academic advancement.

With three community colleges, a handful of private colleges and tech schools and a nationally renowned university, people of all ages — ranging from high school students getting a jumpstart on their college degree to retirees looking to gain new skills — have an opportunity to continue their education in southwest Michigan and northern Indiana.

These institutions bring thousands of people from all over the world to the area each year, creating an environment that not only fosters learning, but enriches the cultures of the communities that house them.

Christina Lai is a shining example of how colleges shape a community and help it grow. The Vietnam native traveled from her home in Hawaii to continue her education at Dowagiac’s Southwestern Michigan College.

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hile she is still working her way toward earning a degree in nursing, Southwestern Michigan College student Christina Lai has already more than earned her stripes when it comes to crisscrossing the globe.

As a child, she and her family relocated from their home in Vietnam to the bright sun, clear waters and scenic beaches of the Aloha State. In spite of having to learn a new language and a new way of life in the U.S., Lai quickly came to embrace Hawaii as her home.

So, when she decided to cross the Pacific once again to move to Indiana, her experience came in handy.

“I am used to changes,” Lai said. “It was a really good change coming here, too.”

Moving in with her aunt and uncle, Lai completed her senior year at Penn High School in Mishawaka before deciding to continue her studies at SMC in Dowagiac.

“My uncle told me about this college,” she said. “It is a real convenient choice, with the dorms here on campus. It has a good nursing program, and the class sizes are pretty small.”

For Lai, who is currently living in one of the college’s residence halls, going to SMC gives her the chance to pursue a degree in nursing, a career field she has been interested in since she was a child, she said.

“I get to help people,” Lai said.

“I also want to be able to understand what makes people develop illnesses, since it has had a major effect on my family. It is some-

thing I am passionate about.”

The death of her grandfather, who succumbed to lung infection in 2007 due mainly to the poor conditions of the Vietnamese hospital where he received treatment, is what first sparked Lai’s interested in health care — and was the catalyst that prompted her family to relocate the U.S. Spending years living in and going to school on the island of Maui in Hawaii, Lai eventually moved across the country to Indiana in order to receive a better education, she said.

While of course the weather is a whole lot different in Michiana versus Hawaii, going to school in a quiet town like Dowagiac has allowed her better focus on her studies. With the college’s nursing program’s strict requirements to enter, her work has to be up to par, Lai said.

“At SMC, with the really small classroom sizes, you get to know the teachers better,” she said.

“You can build a relationship so that if you ever hit rock bottom you have someone you can turn to get help.”

Lai still finds time to hang out with friends in between classes and homework, often traveling to St. Joseph or Mishawaka to get a bite to eat or to go shopping With her little sister, Angelina, also planning to move to Indiana next year, Lai is planning to stick around the area after wrapping up her studies at SMC, looking to complete her bachelor’s degree at a four-year university in the area before looking for a job close to her new home.

“I love it here,” she said.

FACESof MICHIANA

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Horizons 2017

Without business, there is no money, and without money, there is no community.

Although the large box stores in Michiana are important contributors to the financial growth of the cities they serve, the true character of a region comes from the people who dare to share their passions with their friends and neighbors. These people prepare the plates at the local restaurants.

They choose the unique items sitting on shop shelves. Some craft the products people have come to depend on — products that can only be found in their local mom and pops.

Without the hundreds of special folks who have taken a chance on their communities, Michiana could not thrive. Matt Shaver, owner of Rumor Records in Niles, is one of those special people.

T

he rumors are true.

Matt Shaver’s record store is one of the few of its kind.

Even avid music lovers, despite the age of the internet, iPods and Pandora, can still find a variety of musical treasures yet to be heard.

Shaver has another valuable commodity for those passionate about music: discovery. By day, the store peddles flat, black discs, musical instruments and various equipment.

By night, it is also a concert venue, where new area musicians can try out their tunes on an open-minded crowd.

Shaver’s love of music began when he was a child growing up in Portage, Indiana.

It was a music store called the Bop Stop that, much like the one that resembles his own, first inspired his passion for music and would eventually serve as a model for the type of music shop he wanted to own.

Shaver recalls mowing lawns, shoveling sidewalks and raking leaves to earn money to pick out new records from the store, where music guru John Shephard watched coolly behind the counter.

“I bought a lot of his albums,” Shaver recalled. “He was an arsenal of knowledge.”

This atmosphere inspired Shaver to become the musical expert he is today, but he did not always know that he wanted to do business in Niles.

Following his passion for music, Shaver went from scraping dimes for records to standing front row at concerts in Chicago, capturing musicians through the lens of a camera. Eventually, Shaver wanted to be closer to his family in Sturgis, so he began searching for a place that would be accommodating for him and an aging Doberman. After a meal at Riverfront Cafe, Shaver took a stroll down a few of the brick paved streets. He saw families riding their bikes along the riverfront as the autumn leaves that bordered the water displayed molten shades of red, orange and yellow.

He knew then that was the place he

BUSINESS OWNER STORY BY KELSEY HAMMON | PHOTO BY TIM RITTER

wanted to call home.

“I loved Niles,” Shaver said. “Niles sold Niles.”

In August 2008, he bought the building that currently houses Rumor.

Shaver co-owns the store with Karl Erdman.

On an average day at the store, Shaver takes up his domain in the back of the store, closest to the turntable rigged to the sound system so he may flip or change the disc. There is never a time when customers will be greeted by silence. Shaver plays what he is in the mood for. Today it is indie band Two Door Cinema Club.

Tomorrow it might be the Kinks or Gorillaz.

Shaver said he has been trying to get Shephard, who he still keeps in touch with, to check out his store.

“I hope he comes in and is like, ‘Good job, man.’” Shaver said.

Shaver also looks out for kids, much like himself years earlier, with a few dollars to spare and a hunger for new music.

“That demographic is kind of growing,” Shaver said.

He recently sold posters to a 12-year-old girl who visited the store with her grandparents. He said if he sees an interested young music lover, he would set some albums aside for them to try.

One thing he has noticed, and prides his business on, is having a little of something for everyone: grandparents, grandchildren, moms, dads, high schoolers, youth.

“It is not really that I encourage per se, but they just come in and start exploring,” Shaver said.

That exploration, Shaver said, is a chance to open people’s minds from more than just what they might hear on the radio.

“You go to a record store and it is not supposed to be a boring snooze fest,” Shaver said.

“It should be fun.”

FACESof MICHIANA

Horizons 2017

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PUBLIC SAFETY STORY AND PHOTO BY JOE KUHARIC

In order for a community to thrive, some members of that community must step up to take care of their neighbors. Some care for their neighbors’ wellbeing in emergency situations. Some work to keep people safe, penalizing criminals and educating people in dangerous situations. Some fight fires or save people from other disasters.

Law enforcement officers, emergency services personnel and fire fighters put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve people. Kelly Laesch, a Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputy, is one of the individuals who goes above and beyond to help others. Laesch and hundreds others like her are committed to making Michiana a safe place to live.

B

errien County Sheriff’s Deputy Kelly Laesch found the perfect job.

She never thought she would wind up in law enforcement, but her desire to help people, especially children, led her to her current role as crime prevention coordinator for the sheriff’s department. “[I like improving] how [children] see [police] and perceive us.

I want them to do good,” Laesch said. “Being a good role model and modeling that behavior is something I’ve always done.”

Laesch, a resident of Buchanan, has been in law enforcement for more than a dozen years. She has patrolled roads and worked in the narcotics division and at the jail.

When a hole opened up to work in crime prevention, she snapped it up. Helping to build a relationship with the community she loves is icing on the cake.

“I’ve been fortunate to have 17 years of a great career so far,” she said. “I enjoy it, I love it. I wouldn’t change it.”

More than anything, she wants people in the community to feel safe, and to be comfortable coming to her with questions about the law. Sitting next to her listening to her talk excitedly about the community, it is impossible to glaze over why she is successful.

“I’m a people person,” she said.

“I think the biggest thing with [my job], and helping people ... [is that] I don’t like people being fearful. I don’t want them to be scared.”

She believes that her job, just like her life, is about following the Golden Rule, which

she says is especially important when you work in your hometown.

“I think the biggest thing with [being a sheriff in your hometown] is to treat people how you would want to be treated,” she said. “People make mistakes; they know what they’ve done.

You’re not going to sit there and do something for them that you can’t, You can only do what you can do.”

As a citizen, it is easy to forget that an officer is not always on duty and that they have lives out of uniform. But Laesch likes to enjoy the treasures that southwest Michigan has to offer, just like anyone else.

“I like antiquing a lot. It’s a family thing,” she said. “Sometimes in the summer we go and do antiquing. [I] love camping, love being outside!”

One of her new favorite places, though, is a cozy shop up the road in downtown Buchanan.

“We [recently] did our Coffee with Cops at the Union Coffee House in Buchanan,” she said, smiling. “Oh. My. Gosh. I’m, like addicted to their coffee.”

Kelly feels like there is still a lot of work to do to bridge the gap between police officers and everyday folks. But one thing she would like to see more of is cities around Michiana sprinkling in more opportunities for teens.

“Buchanan had the teen center, but no longer. I think they have the building, but I don’t know where [the program] is at,” she said. “[We need] just something for kids. There’s nothing for kids to do [in their free time].”

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Horizons 2017

Known for centuries as the “Melting Pot,” the United States would not be what it is today without the people who chose to make this country home.

Hundreds of thousands of people continue to make the choice to make the Land of the Free their home each year. These people are drawn to the U.S. by industrial opportunities, a democratic government, educational advancement, and family and friends, among many other reasons.

Michiana has strong employment and academic opportunities that draw thousands to the area each year, and every now and then, people decide to make the region their home.

Several years ago, Barbara Craig reluctantly left her Oxford roots for a boy she was in love with. And so began her journey to becoming a U.S. citizen.

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n one of the most stereotypically American places in the country, Barbara Craig was reminded of her outsider status.

Shouting into an intercom in the Burger King drive-thru, she attempts to order for the third time to no avail.

At the other side of the conversation, a frustrated fast food employee asks her to pull around. Face to face, the employee is able to decipher Craig’s order and apologetically attempts polite conversation.

“So, where are you from?” she asks.

“Oxford, England,” the customer replies.

“Did you just drive up from there today?” the employee asks.

Several years later, Craig cackles as she recounts her response.

“Yes, that’s why I really need a cheeseburger badly!” she said.

Despite her British accent that is uncommon in southwest Michigan, this sense of humor is the defining trait most Lake Michigan College students and Niles community members use to define her.

Growing up in an urban English city, Craig never imagined she would emigrate to America, much less a small town in Michiana. She recounts the familiar tale with a smirk on her face in a way that suggests she has told the story many times before.

“When I was teaching English at a high school in Germany I met a boy from Michigan,” she said. “It’s a long and romantic story, but basically we met in a bar.”

After that fateful night out, Craig and her husband continued their story in Europe.

“We lived in France and Germany and England, and then we said, ‘Let’s go to America for a couple of years,’” she said. “That was on the third of September in 1994.”

The Craigs moved near Stevensville, Craig’s husband’s hometown.

A year later, she received her green card, which lasts for 10 years.

“I was in denial that I was going to be here for more than just a couple of years, but the first thing I did as soon as my green card arrived is I started

NEW AMERICAN STORY BY AMBROSIA NELDON | PHOTO BY TIM RITTER

working at Lake Michigan College, and I fell in love with it straightaway,” Craig said.

In her more than two decades at the college, Barbara has donned a long list of hats, and today is the vice president of regional campuses.

In her role at LMC, Craig has the opportunity to connect with students of all backgrounds, but has a special connection with countless students who have chosen to travel to the U.S. to study at the community college.

“The international students are amazing in their resilience and their determination to make things work for themselves and their families,” she said. “I really enjoy seeing that.”

She said after first moving here, the cultural life that accompanied her job helped her become more acclimated with the small town life.

“Then I saw a church sign that said, ‘bloom where God plants you,’” she said.

So in 2015, when her green card was about to expire for the second time, Barbara decided that, although Oxford would always be her first home, southwest Michigan was home, too. At a ceremony in Grand Rapids in May 2015, Craig and more than 70 other emigrants became U.S. citizens.

“I still have a hard time saying I’m going to be here forever, but only because I love my family and I love where I come from,” she said. “But I certainly love this community, love living near the beach, love living in a state that is a major producer of fresh produce.”

Barbara and her family visit England so frequently that her 12-yearold daughter has 60 stamps on her passport.

“I wish more people would travel,” she said. “The thing you notice when you visit other countries is that we’re all just trying to support our families and put a roof over our head and get on in life.

Our cultural differences make us more interesting, but in our hearts, people are really just people.”

FACESof MICHIANA

Horizons 2017

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SCHOOL TEACHER STORY BY ANGIE MARCINIAK | PHOTO BY TIM RITTER

It has been said that a community is only as good as the education it offers its children. In addition to educating youth, public schools are responsible for inciting community spirit, providing cultural enrichment and connecting neighboring districts.

None of this would be possible without the dedicated professionals who go above and beyond to teach the next generation. Josh Wegener is one of hundreds in southwest Michigan who has chosen this career path, and he gets to do it in the community he was raised in.

J

osh Wegener’s passion for the subject of U.S. history brought him to teach, but his passion for small town life brought him home to Buchanan.

While his career in teaching didn’t begin in the town he grew up in — in the school he once attended and graduated from — he cannot see himself anywhere else.

The Buchanan native traveled around a bit, living in bigger cities like Chicago, Grand Rapids and South Bend.

When he and his wife started to have a family, they knew they had to make a move.

“It was amazing coming back because some of the teachers that taught me were still here,” Wegener said. They were my inspiration, and great mentors. They really helped me out my first couple of years. It is inspiring to see them still here enjoying their jobs, which speaks a lot to the school system.”

In his seventh year of teaching freshman U.S. history at Buchanan High School, Wegener is even more passionate today than he was when he started his career more than 13 years ago. He loves to interact with his students and offer them real-life learning experiences whenever possible.

The educator eagerly shares his passion for teaching American history in all sorts of innovative ways — from his lessons in trench warfare, where he allows the students to turn over the desks and create “soft projectiles” from paper wads, to role playing characters in history and acting out the silliest of cartoons. No matter what method he uses to instruct his classes, he said he knows he has to be on top of his game to compete in this world of ever-changing social media.

“Oftentimes the kids are the best director of the lessons. They ask a question and think I’m an all-knowing Encyclopedia (though I know they don’t even know what that is), so we look it up,” Wegener said.

He and his students will then use the tools they have and search the internet, and determine first of all, if the information they find comes from a credible

source, and finally, if they can all draw the same conclusion.

In a time when teachers can clearly be overwhelmed by the amount of outside influences in their students’ lives, Wegener said he is embracing what the worldwide web can bring to his classroom.

“We have access to primary and secondary documents we never had access to before,” he said. “We can participate in virtual tours of places around the world, right from our desks in this classroom.”

In the more than decade since Wegener began teaching, more than just the classroom has changed. The way students are able to prepare work and interact with teachers for grades has become better than he ever imagined.

“I feel like we have a greater variety of opportunities and projects and ways to express ourselves,” Wegener said. “No longer is it just ‘write an essay.’

We can now have the kids create a movie, or create a quizzlet, or whatever format they want to present their information. … They are all different types of learners, and it is OK for them to express themselves differently.”

While Wegener said he is admittedly still a pen-and-paper driven teacher with an emphasis on textbooks, he welcomes the changing dynamic of his classroom and loves to explore new opportunities of learning with his students.

“I’m always motivating them to learn,” he said.

To put it in perspective, Wegener explains that for the ninth graders, talking about the First Amendment is very relevant to social media. Talking about economic policies is also relevant because a lot of his students are starting to get jobs and pay taxes.

“It is all about finding that connection, and they’ll tell you what that connection is. You just have to listen as a teacher,” Wegener said.

He hopes his students realize the importance of being good citizens and well-rounded thinkers.

“The future of this town stays in your hands now, and take good care of it,” Wegener advises his students. “Know what reliable sources are, that memes are funny but not always true, and to be life-long learners.”

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Horizons 2017

Although politicians at the national level often get a bad rap — especially following a presidential election — it is undeniable that democratic communities could not function without those who step up to serve in political offices.

These civil servants make up the backbone of their municipalities. They spend countless hours reviewing policies, laws and proposals, talking to constituents and communicating with other decision makers in order to keep the communities they serve sustainable and growing. Tonia Betty serves the people of Cassopolis as village clerk.

T

o work in a political position in Michiana is both difficult and rewarding.

For Brooklyn, New York born Tonia Betty, working as the clerk for the Village of Cassopolis presents many challenges.

“Some of the difficult issues are the same as many surrounding communities and states, which is lower tax revenue and increasing prices,” Betty said.

“We have to continue to do more with less and provide the same, if not, more services to our residents.”

Going through those tough times makes the successes more worthwhile.

“Some of the rewarding things are helping other people and doing what we can to decrease costs that are passed on to residents,” Betty said. “We try to focus on beautifying the community and taking pride in the way our surrounding areas look. We have been able to put money toward our local parks and now the cleanup of Stone Lake so that people in Michiana can enjoy the amenities this area has to offer.

“The difficult times help us grow and become more creative and innovative to come up with solutions to our local problems. The rewarding times are also beneficial and make you feel as though you can make a difference despite how small of a role you have.”

Born in Brooklyn and living with the hustle and the bustle of big city life, Betty was quick to adapt to the slower lifestyle of southwest Michigan when she headed west to attend college at Andrews University.

“I came to Michigan to go to school and then I found a job and stayed,” Betty said. “It was just easier to stay out here than it would have been to go back to New York and find a job.”

The longer she stayed, the greater her affection for southwest Michigan became.

“I found it a lot more relaxed and not as fast-paced as the big city,” she said.

“I liked it and I stayed, and I have been doing pretty well here.”

Originally, Betty worked for the City of Benton Harbor. She was there when the community was struggling financially and as the job titles continued to grow with the passing of time, her desire to find a new spot grew greater as well.

“I started out doing accounts pay-

able and they started adding more and more job duties,” she said. “When I left I was the deputy finance director. The city was going through a lot of turmoil and I was there for most of it. But I was ready to do something a little different.”

A friend told Betty that the Village of Cassopolis was in need of a clerk.

They were looking for someone who had a financial background and it sounded like a great opportunity.

She applied, was interviewed and the village hired her in 2015.

“I like that it is a small community,” she said. “You get to know them very quickly because you see them when they come up to pay a bill or you see them at meetings. The staff is really great. We work so well together and we are such a good team.”

Having lived near the Atlantic Ocean, Betty said she enjoys the lakes and beaches of Cassopolis and southwest Michigan.

“I love being at the lake,” she said.

“It is so beautiful. Just being by the log cabin where I take my daughter and husband down there and we just sit by the lake. The beaches are really excellent too.”

Betty said the role of a clerk in many municipalities has been changing over the years and Cassopolis is no different.

“Something that people might not know is that clerks in village are actually doing the financial work as well,” she said. “There is not another person who handles it. I do the payroll, I do the accounts payable, I handle the band reconciliation and the budget. I handle all those things. That goes along with doing minutes, attending meetings, keeping track of all village records and keeping the code books up-to-date.”

Of all those duties, Betty’s favorite task is bank reconciliations and budgeting.

“The budgeting mainly because I try to figure out where we are going to end up at the end of the year and see how close I was to my estimate,” she said.

POLITICAL OFFICIAL STORY BY SCOTT NOVAK | PHOTO BY TIM RITTER

FACESof MICHIANA

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FROM THE HEART OF THE WOODS, A TINY TOWN IS TERRORIZED STORY BY JOE KUHARIC | PHOTOS PROVIDED

S

omewhere between the edge of shadows and the corner of your eye hides a land of hidden beasts.

If you have ever felt your blood run cold from a blur of movement in the furthest reaches of your sight, you might have caught of glimpse of its home.

More than 50 years ago, one such shy creature crept from that land — the depths of man’s fears — and was cast into the light.

The year was 1964. The place was Sister Lakes, Michigan, a tiny resort community just outside of Dowagiac. The beast was the Dewey Lake Monster.

Horizons 2017

15

16

Horizons 2017

RISE OF THE DEWEY LAKE MONSTER Purported to have been a nightmarish combination of gorilla, bear and cat, the horrific misfit would have fit in on the Island of Doctor Moreau. Glimpses of the monster had been reported before 1964, but monstermania didn’t start in earnest until “about 10 reputable persons,” started seeing the creature, according to a UPI article from June 11 of that year.

Mrs. John Utrup, of Dewey Lake, told sheriff’s deputies that she was chased into her home on June 9 by the creature, but her dogs scared it off. The monster, she said, stood 9 feet tall and weighed 500 pounds — more or less — with black hair up to its neck and glowing eyes. Two days later, at 9:15 a.m., three young girls — Joyce Smith, 13, Patsy, 12, and Gail Clayton, 13 — came face-to-face with the creature on a wooded road. Joyce fainted, Gail was too far away to see anything, and Patsy said the creature looked like a bear. The monster fled without incident.

“I view it more as a ‘rural legend’ that we’ve got out here,” said Steve Arseneau, director of the Dowagiac Area History Museum. “Perhaps some people saw something, and their imaginations got the better of them.”

Regardless, 200 people armed with shotguns, highpowered rifles, baseball bats and tire irons descended on Sister Lakes in short order.

“It was a different time and place,” Arseneau said.

“People weren’t carrying around guns at that time. … in that time period people didn’t openly carry guns.

So I think it was quite a bit jarring for the local law enforcement.”

In fact, despite the best effort of police to search the surrounding woods for signs of the beast, it was all they could do to manage the hellacious traffic and the sudden appearance of armed tourists.

But it wasn’t just tourists who seemed to fall under the spell of the mysterious creature. Enterprising locals sold monster “getaway” gas, monster burgers and monster hunting kits — replete with a net, flashlight, squirt gun, a mallet and a stake.

Who ever heard of monster hunting without a mallet and stake?

In nearby St. Joseph, beer distributor Jack Hadley put up a $1,000 reward for the live capture of the monster, which is about $7,742.16 in 2016 bucks.

But, Cass County Sheriff Robert Dool managed to convince Hadley of reason, and he removed the bounty on the monster before anyone was hurt, according to a UPI article in the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Journal.

Fear was growing in the community, which perhaps captured succinctly in the article by deputy Andy Chavous.

“I’d feel safer if it was just me and the monster,” he said.

But rumors persisted.

Christine Northrup, Miss Dowagiac 1965, heard rumors at school about the monster. She recalled being sequestered in a motel with a heavy police presence when she traveled to Benton Harbor for preBlossomtime Parade festivities.

“It was a regular motel, where you have the outdoor entrances to the rooms. We were all on the second level, and they had it totally closed off and they had police guards there,” she said. “[Blossomtime officials] instructed us, in the beginning, that we were not to leave our rooms alone … and we could not leave that level without one of the police escorts.”

Northrup also recalled quiet murmurs from people around town.

“There was some conversation [with officials] about some kind of unidentified remains that were found out by the lakes,” she said. “There was some kind of discovery that prompted the officials of the Blossomtime parade to mention [the remains] to us, and to suggest that we be cautious.”

If the beast had returned, it was keeping a low profile. “[The monster] was part of our life at the time,” Northrup said. “Because it was going on, and it was close. And people were scared.”

RETURN OF THE DEWEY LAKE MONSTER Joe Morford, formerly of Dowagiac, is a director living in Los Angeles who wants to make a fictionalized film about the monster called “Do Not Go Down to Dewey Lake.”

Surprisingly, he never heard about the monster while he was living in town. To Morford, the secrecy of the monster and the veracity of its story is its greatest allure.

“People weren’t looking for publicity [with the monster],” he said. “What I found fascinating was that people that witnessed this didn’t want to talk about it.

“It had just happened, and we should’ve known about it, but we were all ignorant. There were real stories, real quotes.”

Morford wants that authenticity translated into the film. He’s hoping to use some local locations as well as some local cast and crew. Importantly, he wants to physically recreate the monster with animatronics to make it feel organic. He hopes to release the film in October 2018.

Last summer, the town began to re-embrace the myth of the monster by theming the Dewey Lake Boat Parade after the monster. Morford hopes more parades and more traditions relating to the monster arise.

“If it’s your history, you should embrace it,” he said.

With time, memories of the monster have faded from rumor into legend. The truth of the monster may never be known.

Who or what was the beast? How could it be explained? Who could explain it? Who would believe it?

“Whether you believe in [the monster] or not is irrelevant,” Morford said. “It was a thing.”

For now, at least, the creature has returned to its life between the edge of shadows and the corner of your eye.

FACESof MICHIANA

NOWHERE TO BE SEEN By the time the weekend was over, sightings of the monster disappeared into thin air. Besides speaking with deputies, those who claimed to have had direct sight of the creature were remarkably reluctant to talk about it with anyone else.

Before long, tourist levels returned to normal, as did the amount of visible monster hunting weapons.

Horizons 2017

17

Creating a

legacy Former sheriff, judge reflect on decades of public service STORY AND PHOTOS BY TED YOAKUM

JOSEPH UNDERWOOD

F

or more than 30 years, two figures helped set the course for Cass County’s law enforcement and criminal justice communities — an example their successors continue to follow today.

While the paths they traveled to reach their respective positions may have differed, both recently retired Sheriff Joseph Underwood’s and Circuit Court Judge Michael Dodge’s careers ran practically parallel to each other for decades.

Both began their respective careers the same year, in 1971, and they quickly rose the ranks in the years before reaching their respective pinnacles.

Brought together by a common cause to protect and serve the people of Cass County — as well as mutual love for the Fighting Irish — Underwood and Dodge formed a friendship that strengthened both of their offices for years.

As fate would have it, both men’s careers winded down at the same time as well, both retiring at the end of 2016.

HOMETOWN BOY Like many others who choose to wear the badge, Underwood’s inspiration to become a police officer was seeing his father, Joseph Underwood Sr., serve the people of their hometown of Vandalia as village marshal.

Growing up around officers like his father, the young Underwood quickly developed a love for law enforcement, he said.

Any dreams Underwood had of following in his father’s footsteps were put on hold shortly after his graduation from Cassopolis High School. Just a year after receiving his diploma in 1966, he received word that he had been drafted into the U.S. Army to serve in Vietnam.

After spending a year fighting, Underwood returned home after he was injured by shrapnel fire, for which he

18

FACESof MICHIANA

later received a Purple Heart.

After he was discharged from service, Underwood became a reserve officer with Cass County Sheriff’s Office while working at First National Bank in Cassopolis “I always wanted to work at nothing but the sheriff’s office,” Underwood said. “Maybe it was because of the area, or because you would always be in your community, so to speak.”

Underwood was later offered a full-time position with the Dowagiac Police Department, spending 16 weeks at a police academy at Lake Michigan College before joining the force in 1971.

CLIMBING THE RANKS A few years later, Underwood fulfilled his goal of joining the sheriff’s office full time, working his way up the ranks under the tutelage of Sheriff Jim Northrop.

“I had the opportunity to be involved with not just one segment of the sheriff’s office, but the whole part of it, all the different pieces that make up the department,” Underwood said. “As you move up through the ranks, you realize there is more to it than just the road patrol, than just the detective bureau. There is the dispatch center, the jail, and all these different components. In order to be successful, you cannot ignore any of them.”

Northrop also encouraged Underwood to continue to develop his skills as an officer through education and

training programs. In 1987, Underwood participated in a three-month session through the FBI Academy, which exposed him to some of the same instruction and techniques given to federal officers.

When the longtime sheriff announced his retirement midway through his term in April 1988, a threepanel committee, made up of the county probate judge, prosecutor and clerk, selected Underwood to serve out the rest of Northrop’s term as head of the department.

His first tenure as sheriff only lasted through the end of the year, though. During the primary election in August, Underwood was defeated by Paul Parrish for the Republican nomination for the position, with the latter going on to win during November’s general election as well.

TAKING BACK THE BADGE Feeling his continued presence in the department would be a disruption for the new sheriff, Underwood decided to quit the force following the end of his term, and went to work for Haggin Ford in Dowagiac as the company’s leasing manager.

“It gave me a chance to start some new relationships,” Underwood said, about his break from public service. “It gave me a different perspective on the community and what its needs are, as opposed to just looking at it through law enforcement eyes and talking about it with law enforcement people. It gave me a broader view of the community’s thoughts and their views on what law enforcement should be.”

In 1992, though, Underwood threw his hat into the ring for the GOP nomination for his old job, running against the man who defeated him four years prior but also former sheriff Northrop, who had come out of retirement to run.

Horizons 2017

Underwood succeeded in the clash of the three sheriffs, retaking the badge he had lost years earlier.

To help bridge the gap between the community and his office, Underwood established several grant-funded community policing programs with the support of the county administrator and commissioners, which helped bridge the gap between police and the public by explaining to ordinary citizens how and why officers make the decisions they do while in the field.

“Ninety-five percent of the community does not get involved with law enforcement,” Underwood said.

“They are not arrested. They are not getting speeding tickets. They really only see or hear about what we do in the news. Through community policing, you get them involved and engaged.”

Another mission of his was bringing back 24-hour road patrols in hopes of driving down traffic-related fatalities. When Underwood assumed office, around 30 people a year were perishing due to accidents, he said.

“It is not just about issuing tickets,” Underwood said.

“It is about visibility. It is about enforcement. You cannot have one without the other.”

Underwood used state money to enact the program, before later transitioning to revenue from traffic fees, which continues to this day, he said.

A NEW APPROACH TO CRIME FIGHTING After tackling the problem with roadways, Underwood and his department turned their attention to dealing with a new problem that gripped the community: the rise of methamphetamine.

In response to the growing abuse of methamphetamine use and homegrown labs producing the drug during the early 2000s, Underwood and then-Dowagiac Police Chief Tom Atkinson — Underwood’s former partner during his days as a deputy — launched an ambitious effort to combat the issue in 2004. The pair asked the public to pass a millage to fund the creation of joint-department task force, comprised of a rotating set of officers whose sole responsibility was taking down drug dealers, manufacturers and users.

“It was important for us to send the message that if you used drugs in Cass County, there would be consequences,” Underwood said.

The proposal was passed by voters that year, creating the Cass County Drug Enforcement Team. The team continues to operate today, and has made hundreds of drug arrests over the years.

The most memorable case Underwood can recall, though, was not related to the methamphetamine scourge, but rather involved the kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl from Jones. Terry Drake, a convicted Indiana murderer and sex offender, took the child in 2003. After befriending the victim at her church, Drake took her with him across state lines, resulting in Cass County authorities joining forces with the FBI to track he and the girl down.

Tracing him through credit cards as well as working with several municipalities to issue Amber Alerts in areas he and the girl were suspected to be traveling through, authorities were able to track the two down to California, where Drake was taken into custody. Underwood and others believe that if they had not tracked him down when they did, Drake would have murdered his victim.

“It was a huge case for us,” he said. “We gained national recognition, and we became partners with the Missing and Exploited Children Center in Virginia as a result of the case.”

LEAVING BEHIND A LEGACY In spite of Cass County’s size, Underwood kept his department as up-to-date as possible in terms of new technology and practices, including purchasing body cameras.

Underwood leaves another legacy from his time at Horizons 2017

MICHAEL DODGE the helm of the department, though it is not for his officers but for local students hoping to one day become one,. After running a golf outing for 18 years to raise money for scholarships, Underwood created an endowment fund in 2014, worth more than $100,000, to provide financial aid to students studying criminal justice at Southwestern Michigan College on a perpetual basis.

Over the years, Underwood came to rely on the help of Judge Dodge as well, who he witnessed climb the ranks just as he had.

“He was always a person you could go and talk to,” Underwood said. “He could offer you that wisdom you needed to make the right decision. You could bounce things off of him. He has been a tremendous resource for law enforcement in Cass County.”

It certainly did not hurt that both were tremendous fans of Notre Dame. The two longtime season ticket holders frequently attended games or tailgated together over the years, Underwood said.

“We have cheered together, and we have cried together,” Underwood said.

Similar to how he succeeded his mentor, Northrop, in 1988, Underwood’s longtime undersheriff, Richard Behnke, has taken the reigns following his retirement, elected to the office last November.

Now that he has hung up the badge, Underwood plans on spending some time with his wife, Cindy, touring the country, in hopes of visiting each of the national parks, he said.

“There are still so many interesting things in the U.S. I want to see,” he said.

Looking back on his career, Underwood said there are two things he is particularly proud of: the establishment of his office’s college scholarships and the

compassion with which he served the people of Cass County for so many decades.

“I have been surrounded by good people,” Underwood said. “That has been one of the key things to my success. We had a good foundation when I took over, and we have been able to build upon that, and I have good people to follow in my footsteps. I have had a good family to see me through the peaks and valleys, through all the good days and the bad days. They have kept me grounded through my darkest days.”

ESTABLISHING ROOTS While Underwood made his career in the community he was born and raised, for Judge Dodge, Cass County was the place he chose to make his mark.

The Detroit native received his undergraduate degree from the University of Detroit in psychology, and was interested in becoming a clinical psychologist before someone he worked with at the school piqued his curiosity to go to law school instead. He attended law school at Notre Dame beginning in 1966, and interned with a legal aid office in Berrien County.

Like Underwood, Dodge was drafted by the U.S. Army and served two years fighting in the Vietnam War. Shortly after his discharge from service in 1971, he was contacted by Cassopolis attorney Jerry O’Connor, who was put in touch with Dodge by his former boss with the legal aid office.

“He knew I was out of the Army and looking for a job,” Dodge said. “He mentioned it to Jerry and Jerry called me up in Detroit and offered me a job.

I was like ‘OK, let me look up on the map where Cassopolis is.’”

19

Less than a year after joining the office, Dodge was offered a position as a full-time assistant prosecutor with then county prosecutor Herm Saitz, who was running the office part time with another prosecutor, Daniel French. Dodge took the job with the blessing of his current employers.

“It was a pay raise for me, and it was something I was interested in doing,” Dodge said.

With Saitz looking to retire from his position at the end of the term, the prosecutor took the young attorney under his wing. Dodge successfully ran for the position the following year, and convinced the county board of commissioners to make the job a full-time one for the first time in history, Dodge said.

“I thoroughly enjoyed [prosecution],” he said. “I really loved the job. It was pretty demanding, because we had to do a lot of trial work. We did not have a large staff at the time — in fact, it was just I.” While building the prosecutor’s office into what it is today, Dodge began to take an interest in the seat at the front of the courtroom. Watching the performance of the county judges, in particular Circuit Court Judge James Hoff, during his time in court sparked Dodge’s interest in becoming one himself, he said.

“I liked the way he [Hoff] handled the job and how he dealt with people,” Dodge said. “It seemed like the kind of job that I would enjoy doing. I admired and respected the job he was doing.”

DONNING THE ROBE As he approached the end of his term as prosecutor in 1976, Dodge decided to forgo re-election to pursue his interest in donning the robe and gavel, running in a three-way race for Cass County Probate Judge. Dodge won the position from incumbent Wilson Eby and fellow challenger Bob Craig.

“It felt like going from being a player to becoming a referee,” Dodge said, about making the transition from prosecutor to judge. “You are not in it to win or lose. You are there to control the proceedings and deal with the outcome. You are not someone competing. From that standpoint, it was a big adjustment.”

After six years serving on the probate court bench, Dodge was named by then Gov. William Milliken as the successor to the man who inspired him, Judge Hoff, following his retirement in 1982.

On top of presiding over trials, studying case law and handling administrative matters, Dodge’s most serious duty for the past 34 years was determining the fate of the hundreds of convicted criminals who came into the courtroom for sentencing.

While he would pour hours into looking up state sentencing guideline measures and case information to come up with an idea of what punishment was appropriate before he entered the courtroom, Dodge’s decisions were occasionally swayed by testimony he heard in court shortly before making his final choice.

“Some cases are really tough,” Dodge said. “I mean I would think about them all week trying to figure out what I should do, what would be the right thing to do. You hope whatever decision you make is right, but it is never easy to send people to prison.”

FOCUSING ON REHABILITATION, NOT PUNISHMENT While the law changed dramatically over Dodge’s time on the bench, no other type of case presented the type of issues that were caused by the plague of methamphetamine cases that began popping up during the early 2000s.

In response, the Cass County court system began adopting specialized problem solving courts beginning in 2003. Instead of incarcerating offenders, these programs give judges the opportunity to sentence drug offenders to court-supervised rehabilita20

affected by what happens to people, by what you see in front of you in these cases.”

Some notable cases Dodge presided over included several high profile homicide cases, including a double homicide case in 1982 shortly after he assumed the circuit court judgeship, in which a man, Calvin Holmes, was convicted of murdering a 25-year-old Cassopolis woman and her 5-year-old daughter and stuffing their corpses in a closet; and a similar killing in 2013, where Niles’ Keith Lintz was convicted of stabbing and shooting a Howard Township couple, John and Carolyn Tarwacki, to death in their home in 2010.

tion programs, giving offenders a more structured environment to get themselves clean from their addictions.

Dodge oversaw the introduction of two of these programs in his court: the Swift and Sure sanctions probation in 2013 and the Berrien/Cass Regional Mental Health Court in 2015. The former program has been particularly useful, with around an 80 percent rate of success with participants since its introduction, Dodge said.

“It has really been rewarding to see people manage to avoid jail or prison and turn their lives around with these programs,” Dodge said. “There have been some great success stories. The most rewarding experience I have had in my years on the bench was seeing individuals succeed in these programs.”

In spite of these successes, there were a handful of cases over the years that challenged Dodge as well, especially those that involved children who suffered from abuse, he said.

“Experience helped me deal with cases as objectively and professionally as I could, without letting it get to me too much personally,” Dodge said. “But sometimes you cannot help it. You are going to be

MOVING FORWARD In spite of some trying times, Dodge could always count on Underwood — his fellow Fighting Irish fan — for support.

“It is kind of unusual and surprising both of us are leaving at the same time,” Dodge said. “We have known each other for a long, long time and have been friends for years. We have shared a lot of experiences over the years, and I have a lot of respect and admiration for the job he has done. I know he will be missed.”

Like Underwood, Dodge’s position is now occupied by one of his former protégés, Niles’ Mark Herman, who won the circuit court judgeship in November in a hotly contested race against former county prosecutor Scott Teter. Herman served as Dodge’s first law clerk in 1982, and touted the judge as one of his mentors throughout his campaign.

With his service to the people of Cass County over, Dodge and his wife, Beth, have begun a new chapter of their lives. The couple is moving to South Carolina in order to be closer to family, though he said they are hoping to return north on occasion to visit friends or catch the occasional Notre Dame game.

“I served in this position the best way I could every day, to try and make the people of Cass County feel good about the fact I was their judge, and I have confidence in the way the circuit court was handled and the way people were treated when they came there,” Dodge said, reflecting on his career. “I hopefully ran a very professional court that treated people the way I would want to be treated or I want my family treated.”

Horizons 2017

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Niles woman uses nursing expertise to help underprivileged Dominicans STORY BY AMBROSIA NELDON | PHOTOS BY AMBROSIA NELDON/PROVIDED

O

n a 7-degree day at the turn of the year, April Ether grows perplexed as she stumbles over her words to find the English translation for “seguro de salud.”

After a pause, her face brightens as she exclaims, “health insurance!”

Ether’s bright red hair and freckled complexion suggest that Spanish is not her first language, but for the last year or so, it has been.

The Niles native has tossed her English tongue since moving to the Dominican Republic in January 2016, reserving her native language for social media and phone calls back home.

Seated at the table farthest from the door, Ether is still bundled up 20 minutes into the meal. The weather is not quite the same in the DR as it is in southwest Michigan, where she returned to visit her family during the Christmas holiday.

After growing up homeschooled, the 26-yearold studied nursing at Indiana Wesleyan University and shortly after began working with the Lakeland Health network. In 2016, she spread her wings to pursue her passion for community health where she felt God wanted her.

Today, she is a co-leader of community health for a medical facility in Santiago, Cienfuegos in the Dominican.

There, she leads a health 24

developments.”

Ether excitedly explains the progress the site has made in the year since she has been there, but admits her mission has not been without its challenges.

center hosted by Students International with a close friend and physician named Brendaliz Hernandez.

Making the leap from the small town of Niles to a large city of more than 750,000 people proved to be a difficult transition, but one Ether said has made her a stronger Christian.

“Originally I was going to work in a place called Jarabacoa, which is a smaller town higher in the mountain range,” she said. “Our ministry has been working in that town for about 16 years, so it’s very

well established.”

Shortly after moving to Jarabacoa, ministry leaders asked Ether if she would be interested in helping to develop a new ministry site in Santiago, which is the second largest city in the Dominican. After three months, she said she found the courage to accept the offer.

“There are not a lot of government services such as sewage or running water or electricity or emergency services like police, fire or ambulance,” Ether said. “So we started working in this area and aiding the community in

In God’s hands On a scorching hot summer day in the Dominican, Ether stands near the stove in her apartment boiling water. Every few moments, she pours a drop or two of bleach into the pot, stirs and repeats the process.

The solution is obviously not one for consumption, but one that she hopes will provide healing for a patient she had been treating daily.

For several months, Ether and Hernandez had been treating a bad burn on a Santiago resident’s arm. The man sustained an injury in March 2016 while disconnecting a freezer that was not properly grounded.

“His body became the ground,” Ether said. “He had points of contact on his hand and on his left arm that caused severe electrical burns all the way down to the bone.”

Struggling to find a way to ease the man’s pain and

heal the wound, Ether began looking for other solutions.

In early summer, an outreach group of adult volunteers visited the ministry site, and a nurse on the team suggested trying Dakin’s solution.

“I explained to her, ‘We don’t really have the means to purchase that. I don’t even know if they sell Dakin’s in the Dominican,’” Ether said.

After returning home to the U.S., the nurse consulted a friend who was a wound ostomy nurse and reached out to Ether with a recipe.

Going above and beyond to help this man’s well-being, Ether decided to give it a shot.

“We used it on his wounds and we saw great improvement over the next couple of weeks.”

Students International ministry sites are designed to help poor and underprivileged in the communities they serve. The programs are funded through fundraising and donors, and even when there are financial donations, medical supplies are often hard to come by. Ether said she and her colleagues have learned to be creative and resourceful.

As is expected with her working conditions, Ether is Horizons 2017

constantly surrounded by poverty. She said she has always had an overwhelming desire to help everyone and end suffering, and that has been her biggest challenge since joining SI. “There is more need than what we’re able to meet and that’s challenging,” Ether said. “I desire to see everyone helped and whole and full of joy.

“We can’t necessarily meet every need because we’re limited and we’re human, but that’s where faith comes in,” she said. “That’s when I remember that I’m not God and I can’t be everything to everyone. I have to trust that he has purpose in the difficult things that I see and recognize that ultimately he is good and he can be trusted.”

Lifelong lessons On the other side of the mountain range Ether describes as the most beautiful landscape she has ever seen, Haitians live in more extreme poverty than the Santiago people. Although there is a lot of strife between Haitians and Dominicans, Haitians often flee to the large city of Santiago to start a new life where there are more resources.

In addition to political conflict, the differing lifestyles of the people of neighboring countries often causes tension, but time and again, Ether has witnessed people learning to put their differences aside to help one another. She has learned alongside her peers at SI how to handle the differing cultures.

“I just love the beauty that diversity can bring,” she said. “I don’t want to say that it’s not difficult, because it’s definitely difficult, especially when you’re working cross culturally because people have different values and beliefs and ways of living and doing life.

“I think it’s so important for us to learn to work through that and learn to understand each other and learn to come together.”

As part of her mission, Ether travels to homes in Santiago interviewing families for a census in order to best determine the needs of the community.

In spite of the lack of resources many Santiago families face, she said she has been repeatedly humbled by the generosity of Domincans.

“I have noticed they have such a community and family focus that Brendaliz has even said to me that there is a mindset that if you have a need for it, it’s yours,” Ether said. “They’re very open with their resources. They give generously and genuinely.”

Horizons 2017

“

I just love the beauty that diversity can bring. ... I think it’s so important for us to learn to work together and learn to understand each other and learn to come together.”

— April Ether, Niles

April said spending time with people who are so kind and giving when they have so little to give has opened her eyes to how much more she can give.

“I can be a selfish person. I can be very individualistic and closed off,” she said. “Even when people have next to nothing they offer you the best of what they have. It’s really humbling and beautiful to me.”

Ether said that while she traveled to the Dominican to share the word of God and use her talents to help others, she also has gained a lot of lifelong lessons that have shaped her not only as a person, but as a nurse.

“I got a different vision of what it looks like to be a medical professional and also to be a Christian and how those two work together,” she said. “You can display your faith through your work even if you do not choose some sort of faith-based job.

You can still live that out in whatever work you do.”

Ether has two years left in her commitment to Students International. At the end of her commitment, she may choose to serve another two years in Santiago, or she may choose to continue her work elsewhere.

At this point, she said she is not sure where she will end up.

“I’m blessed to know I am where God needs me now,” Ether said, a bright smile adding a twinkle in her eyes. “And I’ll continue going wherever God takes me.”

25

Adam Kozinski, a senior at Edwardsburg High School, laces up his sneakers before a varsity basketball game. Adam writes Bible verses on his shoes to remind himself God is with him while he plays.

faith

Playing by

Kozinski brothers committed to Christ on and off the court STORY BY SCOTT NOVAK PHOTOS BY TIM RITTER/PROVIDED

I

n a quiet gymnasium one Friday afternoon in January, the sound of footsteps on bleachers bounces off the concrete walls at Edwardsburg High School as Adam Kozinski finds a seat.

The varsity athlete stretches his long limbs as he pulls on his sneakers, calm and quiet before the big game.

He straps the Velcro on his Nike Lebron Soldiers, making sure to strap them tightly. Still in pristine condition, the shoes are completely white — with the exception of a phrase on each foot.

On his right shoe, “Psalm 3:16” is written in black marker, tracing the rubber that leads to his toes. On his left foot, “Psalm 3:6” reminds him he “can do all things through Christ who strengthens [him].”

The handwritten messages are a tradition in the Kozinski family, started by Adam’s brother Josh during his time playing for the Eddies to not only display his faith, but to inspire the Kozinski brothers during adversity on the court.

Adam and Josh both credit their parents, Jeff and Aimee Kozinski, along with their grandmother, for their deep religious beliefs.

“At a young age, I had religion put in my life by my parents,” Adam said.

Both Adam and Josh take time before every game to pray.

“It really boosts my confidence to know I have God behind me,” Adam said. “I know God has my back.”

For Josh and Adam, sportsmanship has always been at the forefront of their participation in athletics.

“Having Christian parents, mine are heavy on doing the right thing,” said Josh, a junior on the Central Michigan University basketball team.

“On the basketball court you need to do the right thing. You need to be a good teammate. You need to be a good opponent. Then off the floor you want to do something good for someone

Horizons 2017

Josh Kozinski, a 2013 Edwardsburg graduate, has continued to follow his faith as he plays basketball at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant. At CMU, Josh participates in a Christian athlete organization.

FACESof MICHIANA every day.”

The Kozinskis’ father, who has coached multiple sports teams at Edwardsburg, also inspired this level of virtue in athletics.

“It is all about morality,” Adam said. “If someone falls down I always try to help them back up. You know that if someone got knocked down, Jesus would not just step over him.

“You always want to respect any game you play. Religion really does play a role in that, too, because you always want to be nice to people and have great sportsmanship toward the opponents you are facing.”

The first time Adam saw someone with a message written on his shoes was when Josh did it back in eighth grade.

“My brother Josh started writing a couple of scripture readings on his shoes, so I said ‘hey, I should do that.’ What I really do when I look for my scripture readings is I look online. I just look up great sportsmanship or great motivation readings I should put on my shoes. So every time I look down at my shoes, it helps me during a game. I kind of pick the ones that really inspire me and I will remember.”

27

Two of Adam’s most recent scripture readings on his shoes were Psalms 3:6: “I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side” and Philippians 4:13: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

“It all started with my grandma,” Josh said. “She was always a very religious lady. She told me to write on my shoe, ‘All for his honor and glory.’ So the start of my junior year when I would look down I would see it and think of her. I would think of how it is really a blessing to be able to play the sport I do because some people do not.”

28

He said teammates and opponents notice from time to time, but for the most part he plays the game without anyone asking about his shoes.

“I had people ask me about them my first year in high school,” he said.

“I did in middle school. They asked me why I was ruining my shoes by writing on them. I did not think of it as ruining my shoes. I think it is pretty cool for me to write on them because not a lot of people do it.”

Josh is a member of a Christian athlete group at Central Michigan.

There are a handful of teammates in the group as well as a manager who speaks to the group.

“He does a great job of getting involved in the community,” he said.

“Luckily, here at Central Michigan I have great teammates and great people around me. Being able to see them at church on Sundays is great. Being a part of a team that is so involved in the community and in the church is special.”

Josh and Adam were both in agreement as to whom they looked up to in the professional ranks when it comes to athletes not shying away from religion.

Both said it was former University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

“He really wore his heart on his

sleeve when it came to religion,” he said. “He would wear the eye black with things like ‘John 3:16’ on it. He would be my one big role model.”

“Tim Tebow really does not care what anybody else thinks,” Josh said. “He is strong in his faith and he gets a lot of flak for it. I guess that is the world we live in today. I guess you get made fun of for being strong in your faith. He is a strong human being and I look up to him for that.”

Josh and Adam Kozinski will not waver in their faith either.

All they have to do is look down at their shoes.

Horizons 2017

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Behind the

Brass Eye owner offers outsiders a peek at a night in the life of a bartender STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOE KUHARIC

B

eing a bartender isn’t easy.

The hours aren’t great. Everyone around you is having fun while you have to work. You practically need a degree in psychology — at the least you need to be an excellent listener with a positive attitude.

Still, there are a lot of perks.

On a good night, you’re making some serious cash. You get a solid workout from running back and forth serving customers. Yyou get to meet interesting people with weird stories.

If you’re wondering, your secrets are safe with the bartender.

“Bartender’s code man,” Bryan Williams, owner of the Brass Eye in downtown Niles, said as a roguish smile appeared on his face. “It’s kind of like a little mini-Vegas in here. What happens in here, stays in here.”

At 7:03 p.m. on a Thursday night, the Brass Eye was humming. Williams was hosting a tap takeover of Dogfish Head, and it was clear the customers were excited.

The narrow room was packed with people clustered around tables and the bar. Vultures were hovering at the edges, people circling tables waiting to snag a spot.

It was all-hands-on-deck behind the bar: three of the Brass Eye’s bartenders took their positions behind the wood, prepared for the inevitable onslaught.

Cards, cash and cold ones flew back and forth across the bar top in a flurry.

Behind the bar, Williams and bartenders Abigail Hansen and Allison Schultz danced around the booze and

Horizons 2017

FACES of MICHIANA outstretched hands in what Williams describes as “a chaotic ballet.” There is method to the madness.

“You’ve got somebody talkin’ in your left ear telling you a story ... and you’ve got somebody ordering a drink in your right ear, but you’re also making a cocktail. Plus you wanna make eye contact with the people that just came in,” Williams says. “On a busy night, it takes a lot of focus and attention to provide

good service.”

Williams — or Hansen or Shultz for that matter — does not seem deterred. He was on a 12-year bartending hiatus prior to opening the Brass Eye in 2015, but one thing he has learned about bartending is that it all comes down to providing the right experience for the customer.

“People will forgive a bad drink once in awhile, or bad food, if they get the wrong thing or if you don’t have their favorite beer, but they’ll never forget the way you made them feel that day,” he said. “To me, that’s the main thing.

Some people come to a bar just to escape. Some people come in to have fun.

It’s kind of like reading that person and [figuring out] what are they looking for that day and providing it for them.”

31

Judging by the good mood of the folks in the bar during the tap takeover, Williams has a handle on reading people.

On a couch at one end of the bar, Sherry Bruckner, of Niles, and Tammy Stebens, of South Bend, became fast friends that night. Across from them next to an expansive glass window, Tyler Booth, of Fort Wayne, and Jake Lyon, of Niles, spent the evening enjoying each other’s company and people watching.

At the farthest end of the bar, a man with a ponytail and glasses in a Chicago Cubs World Series sweater stood, sipping on a drink and chatting with his friends.

Everyone was engaged and no one was waiting. For Williams, that meant he and his team were like a pit crew, perfectly synchronized.

“If I don’t bring enough [bartenders] on and it’s a busy night and I see somebody waiting [something is wrong],” he said. “If I see one person who looks like they’re waiting too long it really bothers me.”

In the shadow of a giant bowl of lemons and limes, copper shaker mugs were lined up like soldiers.

Hansen plucked a lime from the bowl.

She sliced it in half and then popped it into a bright yellow squeezer. The acidic juice dribbled out and into a copper cup before being stirred together into a Moscow Mule.

Williams, and the Brass Eye by extension, is well known for his cocktail concoctions. But when it comes to formulating a new drink, he said there is a high failure rate.

“It starts with dumping a lot of stuff down the sink,” he admits. “I kind of get an idea in my head. I’ll see an interesting bottle … and if I like [the liquor] I’ll try to base a cocktail around that.”

Local and seasonal ingredients are integral to Williams’ process. For him, it is all about reimagining the familiar.

“There’s a lot of innovation going on in the bartending world, but when you get down to it there’s not a lot that hasn’t been done yet,” he said. “It’s kinda like songwriting: you get a song in your head but it’s like, ‘yeah that’s probably already been done before,’ but it’s new to you.”

Craft cocktails are only one aspect of the vision Williams has for his bar. In 2017 he plans to add three new taps and start serving ramen.

But there is one plan he is hoping truly comes to fruition.

“We’re gonna open a brewery downtown,” he said. “We’re really close right now to making that happen.”

By 8:15 p.m. the crowd had thinned a bit, but Williams knows it is only a brief reprieve in the evening.

It will be at least 2 a.m. before he gets to hit the sack.

And then he’ll wake up on Friday and do it all over again.

32

Horizons 2017

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33

Breaking

barriers Niles World War II veteran was a pioneer in military integration STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOE KUHARIC

neither was it the only base he would help integrate.

n a lavatory at Gunter Field in Montgomery, Alabama, Private Gerry Hayden zips up his fly and walks over to the sink.

After washing and drying his hands, the U.S. Army airman pauses to straighten his tie in the mirror, the reflection staring back more a problem than most of his peers would ever face. Carefully studying his appearance as he maneuvers the fabric in accordance with military standards, Gerry is interrupted by a master sergeant more perturbed with another aspect of his looks.

“He was about half as tall as I was ... and I probably outweighed this guy 35 or 40 to 50 pounds,” Gerry said. “And he come in and said, ‘What are you doing in here, boy?’ And he’s lookin’ up at me, calling me boy. ... We never were men, we were always ‘boy.’”

Gerry explained to the Master Sgt. that he “came here to do what people do when they go to the latrine.”

But the Master Sgt. didn’t appreciate Gerry’s wit and didn’t believe that he worked in the office, so he hauled him to the office of Major Forbes, Gerry’s commanding officer, to demand answers.

“The Army and the Navy — all branches of the service were segregated, back in those days,” Gerry said. “Matter of fact, there were no blacks in the Marine Corps, and very, very, very few in the Coast Guard.”

He explained that he was assigned as a clerk to a three-person processing office, where he tracked and processed the names of incoming and outgoing “would be pilots,” along with Major Forbes, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and first lieutenant Kay Stanton, of Madison, Wisconsin.

The major reprimanded the Master Sgt. for harassing Gerry, but when he returned to work the next day Gerry found a utility closet — one with a huge double sink, mops, brooms and big canisters of wax — being converted into a restroom with a sign that read: “colored.”

Gerry immediately informed the major.

“He said, ‘Private Hayden, if I ever hear about you, or see you come outta there, or go in there, I’m gonna court martial you. This is a direct order: You will not ever use that,’” Gerry said.

Fortunately, it quickly became a nonissue, but it was clear that his presence on base ruffled feathers. Unfortunately, that would not be the only time Gerry would encounter racism and prejudice in the military, but

A STORIED PAST Gerry has been blind since 2006 due to age and medical ailments, but he has seen a lot. With a smooth-as-silk baritone voice, the now 90-yearold recalls memories with such vivid clarity that those who listen in his Brentwood room are transported back in time.

After his World War II tour was up, Gerry would end up re-enlisting into the newly formed U.S. Air Force.

In 1950, Gerry became one of 50 African-American soldiers transferred from Mitchell Air Force Base to Otis Air Force Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with secret orders to integrate the base.

He and the other men were briefed individually and collectively on their assignment.

“We didn’t go up there to start any trouble, but we weren’t to allow anybody to discriminate against us,” Gerry said. “We each had a telephone number to call, to go off-base to call [to report any racial discrimination], not to go through the base switchboard.”

When Gerry arrived, the Otis base commander had left his former drinking buddy from Oklahoma, a corporal, in charge. Gerry, a buck sergeant at the time, outranked the corporal and told him that he was assuming command, but the corporal refused to comply with his order. When the commander returned, Gerry brought the issue to his attention, but shockingly the commander supported his buddy.

In an inspired moment, Gerry asked him if he would be willing to put it in writing.

“The idiot put out a memo,” Gerry said with a laugh. “I had a copy of it in my wallet!”

A week later, a planeload of full-bird colonels, master sergeants and civilian lawyers showed up at Otis.

“They came down and woke the base commander up,” Gerry said.

“Next thing ya know, they called on me — woke me up and got me outta the barracks.

“They reamed his butt, boy. They didn’t bust him. They could have, they coulda busted him. ... When [the base commander] applied [to Officer Candidate School] he was a private first class, and he would’ve reverted to that.”

I

FACESof MICHIANA

34

Horizons 2017

Horizons 2017

35

A BATTLE ON THE HOME FRONT Not all of Gerry’s battles with discrimination took place on base. In fact, by the time he returned from Korea in the early- to mid-1950s, most of the bases in the U.S. were fully integrated, according to Gerry.

But outside of the walls of the base it was a different story.

His next assignment would place him at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia, in the heart of a racially divided nation.

“On the military base, on an Air Force Base, there was no discrimination and no segregation,” Gerry said. “It was equal employment, everything. But [the base] was stationed in the Deep South, where there was [discrimination and segregation]. Once you walk off that base, you’re subject to the local laws, just like everybody else.”

Gerry’s job on base at Moody was as the service club director, where he would provide recreation and entertainment to off-duty troops. Sometimes that meant procuring books, bringing in local bands or, in one particular case, putting together a dance.

In those days, the United Service Organization had two offices: one for white soldiers and one for black soldiers.

Inside the USO office, Gerry feels like he’s talking to a bowl of melting ice cubes; he’s not getting anywhere and he’s only going to be left with a mess.

He tries to explain to the receptionist that he needs to hire white girls to dance with the white soldiers at his event, and is explicit that there will be no interracial dancing.

“The word got out that this new sergeant — new colored sergeant — on ‘that base out there’ was trying to get white girls to come out there and dance with the n-word guys,” he said. “Nothing was further from the truth. I knew where I was and what I was up against.”

Soon after Gerry’s visit to the USO, two of his men from the service club — in civilian clothes — are in town eating a late dinner. A few white men in the booth behind them are having an alarming conversation.

“

You can’t change everybody overnight, ya know? Some of the folks take it to the grave.”

— Gerry Hayden, Niles

Bleary-eyed, Gerry is roused by his men at 3 a.m. and is shocked by what he hears them retell. “‘Yeah, that guy out there at the base out there, I don’t know who the hell he thinks he is, or where he thinks he is,’” the townspeople said. “‘Next time he shows up in town, we know what he looks like; we’re gonna put a rope around his neck and drag him up and down the main street of Valdosta.’”

After regaining his composure, Gerry and the two soldiers drive to the officers’ quarters and explain the situation to the air base commander. The commander, a colonel, dresses immediately and begins making

36

phone calls.

In short order, he is able to secure Gerry a position at a recruiting school in Texas.

The colonel decides he will personally fly Gerry that morning in his AT-6 from Moody Air Force Base to Savannah, Georgia, to ensure his safety. Gerry’s service pistol is stashed at the top of his duffel bag, and the colonel’s .45 service pistol protrudes from his hip.

“He said, ‘Keep it handy, just in case. We ain’t gonna go down without a fight.’ I said, ‘I’m with you, colonel,’” Gerry recalled. “That’s how I got out of Moody Air Force Base.”

A SATISFIED MIND These days, Gerry lives a quiet life in his sparsely decorated apartment at Brentwood, spending most of his time chatting with friends and listening to television.

On occasion, he can be convinced to break out into song at events at Brentwood, but he’s not looking to get his band — Gerry Hayden and the Five Guys — back together.

It is this jovial spirit that Niles councilwoman Georgia Boggs, who has known Gerry and worked with him for more than 40 years through the African Methodist Episcopal Church, thinks of first about Gerry.

“He is a very dedicated Christian, first of all. And he expels love to everyone,” she said. “I feel that his

life has been a life well spent helping people. The love that he shared for people, that is something you hardly find.”

After his service, Gerry spent many hours volunteering his time with the church and as a camp director, according to Georgia. He worked in favor of the community and toward bringing other people up.

“First of all, he loved God, and then he loved people,” Georgia said. “And he shared his talents with anyone who wanted them. He was not selfish.”

Looking back on her work with Gerry, Georgia was reminded of President John F. Kennedy’s famous inaugural address and his call to action for the American people to work for the greater good.

“The good things that we did [together], those are the good things that America has stood for,” she said.

“Gerry has been an inspiration for anyone that has known him.”

Through all of the changes that Gerry has seen and participated in, he has kept humble. Though he says even today he comes across prejudiced people.

“You can’t change everybody overnight, ya know?” he said. “Some of these folks take it to the grave.”

Despite the struggles and challenges he’s faced through the years, Gerry remains content.

“I’ve been thinking about [my life] a lot lately,” he said. “And I don’t think I’d change a thing. Not one thing.”

Horizons 2017

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RAISING THEIR

VOICES Area singers find camaraderie in barbershop chorus STORY AND PHOTOS BY TED YOAKUM

T

hey come from all walks of life: engineers, teachers, doctors, businessmen.

They come from throughout the area: Berrien Springs, LaPorte, Edwardsburg, Coloma.

Many of them are retired, while others continue to work a 9-to-5 day job.

However, once a week, this eclectic group of men gathers within the unassuming basement of Niles’ Grace United Methodist Church, where they allow the other side of their lives to take over.

After spending a few minutes catching up with one another, the 20 or so men take their places on the risers Horizons 2017

FACESof MICHIANA on the back wall and begin warming up their voices. Within a few minutes, the familiar a cappella harmony of the barbershop style of music fills the air.

This once ordinary group of men from disparate backgrounds all lend their voices to create the catchy, upbeat tunes synonymous with the time-honored tradition of singing.

For the past 18 years, this common passion for the power of vocal melody — as well as the strong bonds of friendship it has forged — have kept

the members of the Lighthouse Chorus at the top of their game.

Founded in 1999, the Lighthouse Chorus is the largest Barbershop group in Michiana, comprised of amateur and professional singers from throughout the area. The group is led by Director Gene Hanover, of Bridgman, one of the founders of the barbershop chorus.

“Southwest Michigan did not really have a barbershop chorus at the time, so we created one ourselves,” Hanover said. “We wanted to form a group with men who wanted to sing, and learn how to sing well.”

The barbershop style of music is a distinctly American style, with roots going back as far back as the 1880s, though the style most closely

associated with the term did pick up steam until the 1940s.

Vocals are separated into four cords: the lead, who sings the melody; the tenor, who harmonizes above it; the bass, who sings the lowest notes; and the baritone, who completes the harmony. Although Barbershop style is most closely associated with quartets — made up of four vocalists each singing one of the chords — larger groups such as Lighthouse are known as a chorus, which are similar to choirs, only they stick to music in the barbershop genre.

Like many in the group, Hanover was a veteran barbershopper before he helped form the choir, having been in and out of quartets and other groups since 1974, he said.

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A member of his high school chorus who once toured Europe with a group of fellow singers, Hanover discovered the joys of barbershopping almost by accident while at his job many years ago, he said.

“A guy at the factory I was working at heard me singing one day, and came over and asked me what I had going on Tuesday at 7 p.m.,” Hanover said. “I told him I was free that night. A few days later I was part of the group.”

Prior to forming Lighthouse, Hanover sang with different quartets and choruses across Michigan and Indiana. In 1983, he received his first opportunity to stand at the front of the group and direct, he said.

“It is great,” Hanover said. “If the group sounds good, it is your fault. If they sound bad, it is still your fault.”

He has served as the leader of the Lighthouse since its formation, leading the group as they performed at barbershop competitions across the region, including the world-renowned Buckeye Invitational in Columbus, Ohio. The chorus also produced an album in 2004, entitled “Let Freedom Ring,” and hopes to produce another CD in the coming months.

In recent years, though, the group has focused more on entertaining audiences close to home. In addition to playing at different churches, retirement homes, workplaces and other venues (as well as delivering singing telegrams around Valentine’s Day) the group also organizes several fundraisers each year for area food pantries, performing 40

concerts where the proceeds go toward helping to feed families in need.

A former singing instructor with Southwestern Michigan College, Hanover gives back to the chorus itself, sharing his knowledge of singing every week during rehearsals.

While many of the chorus members are retirees, Hanover still maintains his career managing the Dollar General in Hartford, though it is his night job that continues to define him, he said.

“Some of us have jobs, but those are just to pay the bills,” he said. “They do not make us who we are. Our passion is what does.”

Many of the singers in the group are like Hanover, having performed barbershop for decades before joining with Lighthouse.

One of those men is retried LaPorte educator Jay Wort, who has been a member of the group since its formation,

having known Hanover before starting Lighthouse, he said.

Wort, a former teacher and principal, has been singing all his life, after joining first joined a barbershop group in 1981.

“I sang to my wife in a quartet at our wedding,” Wort said. “We sang at my daughter’s wedding, too.”

Wort has sung in multiple chords since joining, including lead, baritone and bass, which he performs these days, he said.

Other performers, such as Berrien Springs’ Bill Ropp, received their first taste of the classic musical style after joining Lighthouse.

Ropp, a retired engineer, has sung lead with the group since 2008. He was inspired to join the chorus after listening to them perform at Lakeshore High School in Stevensville, he said.

“As soon I as heard the guys perform, I thought to myself, ‘yeah, this is a group

I want to join,’” Ropp said.

His membership marked the first time since his days as a member of his college’s choir 45 years earlier that he sang on a regular basis.

While he has gotten plenty of practice in barbershop over the last nine years, Ropp still finds he has a lot to learn when it comes to mastering the art form.

Although he enjoys performing, he finds the group’s weekly rehearsals to be the most gratifying part of the choir, as it gives him a chance to improve his vocals and learn new music in the process.

He has also formed plenty of new friendships in the process, he said.

“The group gels together pretty well,” Ropp said. “There is usually a lot of banter going around the room during practice. The guys do not let you get away with much.”

The group regularly meets outside of rehearsal as well, getting together with their spouses for dinner, Ropp said.

The sense of camaraderie is what keeps longtime members like Wort going as well.

“Pretty much everyone loves each other here,” Wort said. “It is what keeps us coming back.”

People interested in joining Lighthouse Chorus can find out more by calling the group’s membership chair, Tom Sackett, at (269) 463-3778, or president Era Snyder, at (269) 463-3226.

“You do not have to be a professional to sing with us,” Hanover said. “You can just be a normal person. You can just come in and we will put you to work.”

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trick

Learning a new Former nurse moves from hospital to the animal shelter STORY AND PHOTOS BY TED YOAKUM

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or more than 40 years, Sister Lakes’ Laurie Fleming dedicated herself to helping the sick and infirmed become healthy and able to stand on their own two feet again.

Although her career as a registered nurse is over, Fleming continues to care for those going through difficult times — only now she is helping them get back on their own four feet again.

Since November 2016, the former Lakeland executive has been writing the next chapter in her story of caring for others as a volunteer at the Berrien County Animal Shelter, located in Benton Harbor. Fleming offers her time to assist the shelter staff two to three times a week, helping give impounded dogs walks as well as helping socialize the animals through play.

Fleming, who owns one dog and two cats of her own at she and her husband, Raymond’s, cottage on Big Crooked Lake, was inspired to volunteer after touring the new shelter with Director Val Grimes.

Fleming and her husband visited the facility to donate some towels, and, after hearing that the shelter was in need of additional kitty litter, she rushed back shortly thereafter to deliver some.

“I am not sure what clicked,” Fleming said. “I am not sure if it was her [Grimes’] enthusiasm or the shelter’s environment, but I thought this was a place where I really wanted to volunteer.”

She decided to start getting even more involved with the animals directly, so she took a volunteering course from the shelter’s volunteer coordinator. After learning some of the procedures and advice on reading canine behavior, Fleming was ready to get started.

Fleming works exclusively with the dogs inside the kennel by taking them out for walks around the shelter’s track.

She said keeping up with the animals following their outburst of energy from being able to roam again can provide quite a challenge at first, though after a few minutes the dogs tend to settle down, allowing Fleming a chance to learn more about each dog’s personality as they peacefully amble about the field.

Predictably, after walking with each dog a few times, they tend to yelp and scramble around their cages immediately when they see her, wanting to be the first one to spend some quality time outside with their new companion, Fleming said.

“You do get a bit dirty at the end of the day,” she said.

“Dogs do like to jump, after all.”

Although she mainly worked with smaller breeds such as Chihuahuas when she first started, these days Fleming also pitches in with the larger dogs, who are often just as friendly and personable, she said.

Although she has always been a pet owner, working with so many different animals on a regular basis has helped Fleming be able to better read and understand canine behavior. For example, watching how a dog sways its tail is often a great indicator of how it feels.

She has also picked up a number of useful tips along the way, such as using car keys to get dogs to follow along, as many strays think they are going on a car ride.

Perhaps the most rewarding part of Fleming’s day is when she is able to spend some time with the dogs in the shelter’s playroom, where she can play fetch with the animals, feed them treats or even read to them, she said.

Through play, she and other volunteers are often able to help socialize strays who have become timid around people, which goes a long way in making the animals more adoptable, Fleming said.

“It is very rewarding to see the progress the dogs make, from when they first are brought in to before they are adopted,” she said.

Her time at the shelter has also allowed her to form

bonds with her fellow humans working there. Although she and her fellow volunteers rarely work alongside each other due to their schedules, through the various notes they leave each other (explaining things like how much more friendly the new dog has become or about how one of the animals is feeling under the weather that day), Fleming said she feels like she is learning more about the personalities of the shelter’s bipedal population as well.

“I feel like there is this unspoken friendship between all of us, even if we just meet each other in passing,” she said.

While she and her husband had to set a new house rule — that she could not bring home any new pets from the shelter — she has found it surprisingly easy to resist the urge to adopt every new arrival, she said. In fact, she is elated to come in and learn the animals she had been working with found new homes, like when she learned that four of the five Chihuahuas she had played with and walked were adopted just days apart from each other, she said.

From Fleming’s perspective, the shelter is just a depot for lost and wayward animals, a brief stopping point before they continue their journey to their final destination, the home of their forever family.

Fleming is but a small character in a few chapters of each dog’s story — a role she said she is more than happy to play.

“It is a great feeling, because I know the owners are getting a really good dog,” she said. “The only time I feel sad is when I think about the dogs here who have not been adopted yet.”

As she continues to fall more and more in love with volunteering, Fleming said she hopes to begin working with the shelter’s cats as well.

She encourages anyone who is interested in giving back to the community to consider working at their local shelter. Volunteering with animals fills up one’s emotional piggy bank with a different kind of currency than working with people or spending time with family, she said.

“You should ask for a tour of your local shelter,” she said. “You never know what could happen.”

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harmony Connecting the community in perfect

West family bonds, makes a difference in Niles by sharing voices STORY AND PHOTOS BY KELSEY HAMMON

W

hen The Young Americans arrived on a bus from California in Niles, the whole town was abuzz with excitement.

The actors work one on one with students, then put on a huge performance to cap off their workshop. When it came time for the show, West sisters Kayla, 17, Kara, 15, Kimberly, 16, and Kortney, 14, (Kristen, 19 is off at college) were selected to lead a solo performance.

The night The Young Americans performed, there was not an empty seat in the Niles High School auditorium. After dazzling the audience with several flashy dance numbers, the stage went dark and the sisters get their turn to sing.

A spotlight cuts through the black as the sisters stand on stage squinting into the crowd. Clutching a microphone, each sister takes up verse and then the chorus. When the sisters’ voices join, a powerful harmony fills the auditorium. Several dance numbers later, the audience is still

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FACES of MICHIANA whispering about it.

When the performance ends and the actors spill on stage during a final burst of applause, the West sisters join them as the audience cheers.

Though they stand among stars, the praise of audience members suggests the West sisters are the celebrities.

But the West sisters never sing for the glamor.

In fact, the fanfare was a far cry from many of their performances growing up.

When they were just girls, Kayla recalls standing in the aisle at a gas station convenience store while their mom, Karen, tracked down the

store manager. The manager did not hear from Karen about a misleading sign or a complaint about the dirty restrooms. Instead the manager was surprised with a song from the West sisters, who sang because Karen has promised them all a Slurpee.

Even with the promise of a frozen treat on a hot day, Karen’s words, “Just think how it can help someone,” were the guiding force to many of these improvised performances and the words that have pushed the girls to sing to many audiences.

On a Friday afternoon, the sisters and mama Karen gather around a table. Karen concedes that her daughters cannot be bribed with Slurpees for songs anymore. After years of singing together, all it really takes is someone humming the melody to a song stuck in their head.

Karen started singing with her girls and her son, Dwane, when they were barely old enough to talk. She called the time spent singing together devotional time, and no matter what the week’s events brought, the family could always get together and just sing.

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It was not until one day when Karen was busy in another part of the house, that she remembers hearing her girls singing all together and learning that they could harmonize.

“I would hear them and hear their harmony,” she said. “It was like they can harmonize? They have been holding out on me.”

Music in their blood Growing up in Chicago, Karen got her experience singing inside the church. Outside of church, Karen and her more than 50 relatives that lived nearby got together to form the Family Inspirational Choir — a group her daughters would also one day be part of.

“You got a whole big family that is a choir,” Karen said. “That is unique in itself.”

But Karen could not get enough singing. She joined in a band “Deliverance” with a few family members and some friends. From Chicago to Detroit, the band traveled wherever they could get a gig. They would go on to win several contests and appear on local television shows.

“It was just part of out lives,” Karen said.

Then Karen started a family of her own.

‘Oh, you’re Karen’s kid? You can sing.’

Kayla has become accustomed to meeting people who know her mother, who just assume that she and her sisters can sing.

“They will be like ‘You’re Karen’s kid? Oh, then you can sing.’” Kayla said. “It is a good thing we can sing. Otherwise it would be bad. We would have a lot of people disappointed.”

The sisters’ voices do not disappoint. Karen knew what her daughters had was special and she wanted to help them share it with others.

“You don’t have a house of children that can sing and it is not for purpose,” Karen said. “I thought I will do my best to cultivate it.”

When Karen brings up holiday seasons Christmas caroling, a collective groan goes up around the table.

Karen recalls those winter months, rounding up the girls to traverse the neighborhood streets.

They would start with their own neighborhood and after they had performed for every neighbor, they would hop into the car and then hit the next neighborhood.

As the girls looked back on caroling, they said they it reminded them that the voices they had were special, Kristen said.

“I know that we all just groaned a moment ago,” she said. “Sometimes we are so used to [singing], we do not see that it is something amazing. One lady came up to us after an event we did and she told us she cried hearing us sing. It kind of puts it in perspective, something that we kind of take for granted really means something to other people. We may need some coaxing, but I really enjoy that feeling.”

While singing may come naturally, getting good at singing all together is a task they have to practice and work at, said Kimberly, who the sisters credit with keeping them in check.

It is often Kimberly who will round everyone up for a practice session.

“I remember for a certain G.A.D. concert that we had I made everyone get in the living room and practice. … Not everyone wanted to,” Kimberly said. “We all sing well, obviously, but we do have to put work into it and practice.”

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Karen has also pushed the girls to share their voices and try new performances, whether an audience of one or 1,000. Without that, the girls said they might not be the singers they are today.

“There would be no ‘us’ if it were not for her,” Kayla said “We probably would [still] sing, but we would not do as much or be out as much, if not for her pushing us. Even when we did not want to, it came out as something great, because of her pushing us and telling us ‘just imagine how this will help others.’ She always thinks of others.”

Through practice, the Wests have each developed their own unique voice to bring to the chorus and the doors for performance opportunities opened.

After their duet performance, Kayla was selected to join The Young Americans.

Additionally, the girls performed with Delshawn Taylor, an artist who invited the girls to sing with him and for Kimberly to also play the trumpet.

KAREN WEST

KARA WEST

“

There would be no ‘us’ if it were not for her. ... Even when we didn’t want to, it came out great because of her pushing us and telling us, ‘just imagine how this will help others.’”

— Kristen West

Perhaps through their singing the sisters also found their own individual passions for music.

While Kimberly plays the trumpet, Kortney is a percussionist with the middle school band and Kara sings in whatever musicals she can sign on for. Kayla will soon get to travel the world with The Young American. Kristen played multiple instruments throughout her life.

It was not just to have their voices heard that Karen sought to push her daughters, she also felt that their voices could be a force of good for others.

It is why she said she made them go out into the cold to sing to neighbors and it is why she called for all those improvisational performances.

Since singing together, the West sisters bring happiness each Monday night as they sing as part of God’s Appointed Daughters.

“We cannot take this for granted,” Karen said. “All life is for purpose, whether it is big or small life has purpose so fulfill it. Do what you can with it. It is a God given gift.”

Anyone who has heard the sisters sing knows how they can bring joy to many with a few verses. They can’t be bribed with a Slurpee anymore, but now as they get older they recall the practice and hard work that has made singing together enjoyable.

“It is just fun,” Kristen said.

It has been many years and many Slurpees later, but Karen’s cultivation has paid off. No matter where her daughter’s voices take them, they will always have a band at home to call their own.

KRISTEN WEST

KIMBERLY WEST

KORTNEY WEST

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KAYLA WEST

SHINING STARS Standout students pave the path for success in southwest Michigan

STORIES BY AMBROSIA NELDON

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here is truly no greater reflection of a community than its youth on the brink of adulthood.

This spring, hundreds of young adults will leave the comfort of the classrooms that have become a second home throughout the last 13 years and enter a world full of opportunities. Before walking across the stage to receive their diplomas, these youth will no doubt be filled with equal parts nostalgia and excitement, and therefore provide a unique perspective into not only the progress their communities have made, but the promise they have for the future.

Leader Publications spotlighted six standout young adults who will take those steps into adulthood, leaving behind memories at Brandywine, Buchanan, Cassopolis, Dowagiac, Edwardsburg and Niles.

Some will leave behind legacies of programs they helped to grow. Others will bravely pass the torch to underclassmen as they leave the basketball court for the last time. Some will leave with a plan mapped out for the next steps into their future; others will have no idea where their lives are headed — and that’s OK! This year’s group of Shining Stars shine not only academically, but athletically as well. The students understand that a well-

rounded education includes activities outside the classroom just as much as textbook learning, and a healthy life is a successful one.

Although most of the students featured have played on title-winning sports teams, it is the extra-curricular work they have invested time into on top of sports practices and games that makes them shine.

Mia Stella played on the Breslin Area basketball court last spring, between volunteer hours for the National Honor Society. Shane Los shares his love for basketball and the Cassopolis community with the next generation of athletes.

Terek and Brayden Curtis help out with National Honor Society, Students Against Destructive Decisions and a plethora of other activities on top of taking college classes. David Ironside is rarely ever home for all the time he spends on the soccer field and helping out people in Dowagiac, and Dalton Riddle spends the time he is not playing sports cheering on others who do.

These outsanding volunteers are more than athletes; they are civil servants dedicated to the communities who support them on and off the playing field.

Just as their communities have shaped them into the promising young adults they are today, these Shining Stars have paved promising paths in their communities.

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Dalton Riddle Buchanan

Photos courtesy of Harrington Photography

Mia Stella Brandywine

Last spring, the Brandywine Lady Cats basketball team played their hearts out on the same court on which some of the country’s best basketball players have played.

As the buzzer sounded in Breslin Arena, Mia Stella, then a junior, was surrounded by players and coaches she has come to know as a second family. While the Bobcats did not come out on top of the state semi-finals, the now 18-year-old remembers that day as one of her fondest memories. “[Playing at Breslin] was really crazy because it was our goal from the start,” Mia said. “We pushed each other and we went out there and did the best that we could. That’s all you can do, and we made a lot of great memories.”

Through the past three seasons on the varsity girls basketball team, Mia has felt the comradery that comes with building a team over a number of years.

“I learned to be a team player. We all had each other’s backs,” she said.

The support of the community was parallel to the tight-knit squad’s support for each other.

“One really great thing about Brandywine is that we’re small,” she said.

“People that you don’t know read about you in the paper and they’ll come up and congratulate you on your success. I just love how open the community is.”

Mia was chosen as homecoming queen for football season, and has played defense in soccer for as long as she can remember.

“It’s the one sport I know I can play without worrying,” she said. “I don’t put so much pressure on myself because I’ve done it since I was in kindergarten.”

Mia said being a three-sport athlete — volleyball, basketball and soccer — has helped shape her as a person in a way she would not have anticipated.

“It’s really put me out there to meet all different kinds of people in our school,” she said. “Now I can help others be the best they can be. It gave me a purpose, and it’s just a really good opportunity to have and get the best out of high school.”

With a full plate of athletics in addition to being president of National Honors Society and keeping good grades, Mia has found one of her biggest challenges to be giving herself a break.

“I’ve learned to push myself and work really hard to get where I want to be, and it’s helping me be a better person because I hold myself to a high standard,” she said. “But I’ve learned to not put too much pressure on myself but push myself to achieve all the goals I want to achieve.”

After high school, Mia plans to attend Western Michigan University to major in biology and hopefully enroll in the school’s physician assistant program.

“I’ve always wanted to go into something that would help people,” she said. “I thought about being a doctor, but that’s a lot of schooling.”

When the Buchanan High School Class of 2017 tosses their hats at graduation this spring, the new alumni will be celebrating more than just their diplomas. Each in-district student who chooses to continue his or her education will be doing so with the help of an endowment made possible by a fellow Buchanan resident.

Dalton Riddle is among the first graduating class to receive the Buchanan Promise, and he plans to use the opportunity to study at either Albion College, Kellogg Community College or Lake Michigan College.

“It’s really awesome that someone would give their hard-earned money out so kids can get a good education,” Dalton said.

Dalton understands the value of hard work and has focused on keeping good grades while being a three-sport athlete throughout high school. In addition to playing football, basketball and baseball, Dalton is a member of the Buchanan Leos and spends a lot of time volunteering for his school.

“I try to help out as much as I can,” Dalton said, explaining his dedication to the community he has grown up in. “It’s really rewarding. I remember this one time we were raking leaves and cleaning gutters, and we gave this little old lady a goodie bag and she almost started crying. It felt good to help her that way.”

When Dalton leaves Buchanan High School, he said he thinks he will miss his classmates, but also the teachers he has spent the last four years with. Dalton said Buchanan has a special staff that goes above and beyond to support its students — both inside the classroom and out.

“My favorite memory [in high school] would probably be the pep rallies we do with our teachers,” Dalton said.

The Herd, Buchanan’s spirit squad, has become well-known in recent years as the group of students and faculty have attended various sporting events to cheer on classmates. In 2014, the Bucks won the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Battle of the Fans.

Dalton said that when the students assemble to yell for the Bucks in whatever spirit wear has been assigned for the game, several teachers are right there with them.

“It really helps me and my teammates get real pumped up for games,” Dalton said. “Our spirit level is really high.”

From the fans in the crowd to the Buchanan area residents dedicating their time to the Buchanan Promise, it is clear that the community is invested in its students, and Dalton said he appreciates that support.

“I think [what makes Buchanan stand out] is how close everybody is,” he said.

“People get along really well, and most people know everyone. They’re all there to support you.”

David Ironside Dowagiac Peyton Ritchie If you have attended an event in Dowagiac in Buchanan

the last four years, you have more than likely crossed paths with David Ironside. lot of sounds evokesenior a sense The 18-year-old Dowagiac likes of to community: The sound of a stay busy, and to him, that means givingcrowd back cheering at a football game, the to his community and his school in any way sound of children laughing on a playground, that he can. He considers of families chattering at ahimself picnic. a friendly person thinksRitchie, his time is best spent To and Peyton though, no helping sound others enjoy their in high school and represents the experience Buchanan community better athletics. than dirt bikes on a racetrack.

“I’m thoseone people who walks downand theproudly hallwayatand says, ‘hi’ to Thatone is, of except word, yelled loudly most Buchanan functions: David said. “I’m always helping the librarian, and for school everybody,” “REDBUUUUDDD!” events I try to get there early enough to set up and stay late to clean up.”

“Everyone this school and really anywhere theyon know Outside of theinUnion High hallways, Dalton spendsaround most ofhere, his time the when you yell, ‘Redbud!’ you’ve got to yell it back,” she said.

“It’s cool to soccer field helping his parents run the American Youth Soccer Organization know that my family built that. …

It’s so important to the community.” in Dowagiac. David has played on the league for the last decade or so, but It’s not surprising that that sound represents the city in the Buchanan in his spare time he said he enjoys helping younger athletes learn to play his senior’s mind, either, because she has grown up on a nationally famous favorite sport.Her parents own the Red Bud Moto Cross. racetrack.

This dedication soccer and othersherself, has beenthe recognized and Although shetodoesn’t ridehelping motocross sound oftime roaring time again,and at least in aofformal award. engines the once feeling vibrations beneath her toes are likely second “Most people are competitive the five fieldminutes and I am,from too, the but I’m about it. nature to Peyton, as she has on lived racenice track since I can’t be mean I’m trying she was born.when Along with theto play soccer,” David said. “For tournaments the last for years nowa my brothers have been enough to there“For is usually a first place and second place,and andI my team gotold second place at the Fourth of the Julycoaches Race, and every year we …help but out at one tournament, came together andshoot gave off mefireworks points in for everyone here,” she said.

“I’ll be with my friends having a good time order for me to get a special sportsmanship award.” and watching around us is so Davidsitting also spends a lottheof fireworks. time at hisEveryone church, Holy Maternity of happy, Mary, havinghis a good time.” helping parents teach Sunday school and decorating for the holidays. For Peyton’s sense of community transcends the track, though. Throughout several years, he helped an elderly friend of his family do her yard work. high school, she has been actively involved in tennis, yearbook and “I hate staying David said. “I like to be able to move around and stuff, National Honorstill,” Society. so [volunteering] is just another to do.”has in store for her yet, Peyton While she isn’t sure what thing the future Dalton said he wastoraised helpstart others found volunteering was a way has worked hard get a to jump on and her future, and will graduate high toschool make new and connect with people. withfriends more than 20 credits from Lake Michigan College.

“Through elementary school I didn’t have a lot friends,” Davidtoward said.

While still undecided on college, Peyton is of leaning heavily attending Michigan to study.

“Entering high school State I onlyUniversity talked to five people, and now I walk through most people, Peyton feels about the thought of leaving that Like school andyoung say hello to every person thattorn passes me.” home.

Regardless of where her future takes her, one things for sure: On David’s biggest advice to incoming freshmen is to stay involved. hot summer days, she’ll be on the track, surrounded by the community “Go to the games — the basketball and football games, and don’t just sitthat by made her who she is today. yourself,” David said. “The more you get involved the more memories you’ll make and the faster it will go.”

As he moves onto the next chapter of his life studying veterinary science at Southwestern Michigan College and eventually Michigan State University, David intends to continue to give back to the community he has called home for the last 18 years.

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Shane Los Cassopolis

Looking back on his days as a Cassopolis Ranger, Shane Los recalls one common theme repeated in nearly every aspect of his high school career.

Community spirit.

After winning the district championship for football in 2015, Shane said he and his teammates were humbled and inspired as they returned home to Cass. High on the adrenaline of winning the title, Shane said he was even more touched by the response from the community.

“It was the first ever district championship for football, and as we came in on the bus, the whole town was waiting on us to congratulate us,” Shane said. “That was a real special moment.”

As the Rangers continued their quest for a regional title in 2016, Cassopolis residents installed blue lights on their porches, a reminder to the players that their town supported them. Perhaps this support is what helped the Rangers to win their first ever regional championship.

“It really brought the community together and it was great to be part of that,” Shane said. “It was a really fun experience.”

As team captain for both varsity football and basketball this year, Shane has placed an emphasis on embracing this community spirit and using it to pump up himself and his teammates. As he reflects on his time in high school, it is clear that the backing of his community has shaped him as a person as well.

The 18-year-old feels compelled to encourage and push others to succeed, just as his football and basketball coaches have done for him. “[Cassopolis is] probably one of the most diverse communities I have ever been around. Our school is filled with every different race,” Shane said. “But nobody really looks at that. If you are a good person, we are good to you. That’s what it really comes down to.”

Shane uses this mentality as he mentors younger Cassopolis children. In his spare time, he volunteers with varsity basketball coach Ricky Evans to help coach youth basketball players.

“Every Saturday I go up to the high school and help with the junior Rangers league and teach the kids how to play basketball,” he said.

Shane said it is empowering to see the students grow throughout the season and he enjoys sharing his passion for the sport with them.

Months before graduation, Shane has narrowed his options for college down to Central Michigan University and the University of Michigan. CMU awarded him an Academic Excellence Award, an $18,000 scholarship. He is undecided on his major, but is excited to begin the next chapter.

“I’ve had a couple offers to play football, but I think my football days are done,” Shane said. “Now I’m focused on school and the future.”

Drew Mikel Niles

Drew Mikel’s heart pounds anxiously in his chest as he counts down the seconds to show time, hundreds of hours of practice running through his mind.

The Niles High School senior knows a crowd full of people is waiting to watch him. Dozens of classmates are counting on him to do well.

“Nervous out of [his] mind,” Drew takes a leap of faith. It’s show time.

More often than not, this moment has occurred just before the 18-year-old football captain ran out onto the field to prepare for kickoff, a sea of blue and gold cheering on the Vikings. But on a handful of occasions, the burly football player was under a more literal kind of spotlight — and in at least one occurrence, wearing much fewer clothes.

The first time the athlete took the stage for a high school musical, he felt the familiar anxiety of his first varsity football games during his sophomore year.

“I was thinking, ‘what am I doing?’” Drew recalls of the moments before the curtain parted during his junior performance of “Tarzan.” “I was up there in a loin cloth and that was all, in front of a couple hundred people. They were all staring at me as I boldly walked on the stage in nothing more than a Speedo.”

As much as the then junior in high school felt like bolting off the stage, he admits the musical was one of the most rewarding parts of his high school career.

“Nothing can compare to the feeling of that

final performance,” Drew said.

Drew found his way to the stage by way of Counterpoints, the Niles High School show choir, and points out that is uncommon for athletes to perform in musicals.

“I do get quite a bit of flak from my teammates for doing both,” Drew said. “I guess I don’t really have anything to say to them. I just keep living my life. I enjoy both [football and acting] equally.

There’s no reason I can’t do both.”

Drew said his experience performing as the title characters in “Tarzan” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” should be a lesson to younger students looking to find their way.

“I’ve learned you should never be afraid to try new things,” Drew said. “I followed in my brother’s footsteps to play football, and he always told me only weird people do the musical. But I fell in love with it.”

In addition to a heavy extra-curricular schedule, Drew challenges himself academically by taking four college courses per semester in addition to advanced placement courses at the high school.

After graduating, he plans to attend Hope College to major in athletic training, where he earned the Presidential Scholarship. Drew also earned the National Merit Commended Student Award, and has been recognized because of his volunteerism with youth football programs and other community and church events.

After he walks across the stage in May, Drew is unsure what activities he will participate in.

“Football is a definite no. My peak potential was definitely in high school,” he jokes. “If I do theater in college, it will just be for fun. Who knows? You might see me on stage in Holland.”

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49

Brayden Curtis

Terek Curtis

If you ask Brayden Curtis’ twin brother Terek, he will tell you that his sister got the brains, and he got the brawn.

Throughout their education at Edwardsburg Public Schools, the siblings have found ways to push each other. Brayden pushes her brother academically, keeping him on track and offering tutoring on his more challenging subjects.

She said growing up with a twin has given her a different kind of high school experience than most people have.

“Having someone there with you experiencing the same things you’re experiencing offers an opportunity that is different from other people,” she said. “They can relate to you, and they’re there for you.”

The 17-year-old says she has always loved school and plans to spend the next several years continuing her education by studying sports medicine.

During high school, she was not only a diligent student, but an avid athlete and volunteer.

“I’m involved in lots of different sports, but also different activities that help me get involved in my school and help everyone feel support from the community,” she said. “I volunteer with whatever I can to help my school.”

Brayden said she feels this desire to give back is common in the Edwardsburg community, as many of her peers and other Edwardsburg residents are frequently volunteering their time with local civic organizations, food pantries and sporting evens.

“I think what makes Edwardsburg different is that everybody supports everybody,” she said. “Everybody comes out to the basketball games, and not only to watch and cheer, but to help out.”

Brayden encourages younger Eddies to get as involved as possible throughout their time in high school.

“Make your high school years count. Everyone tells you it goes by too fast, but it really does,” she said. “Try to have fun with your friends, but work hard and find ways to get involved. Make it count.”

Although both Brayden and Terek are athletes, they both agree that Terek is the more active of the two.

A three-year starter for the varsity football team, Terek led a successful Eddies team as captain this year.

Like his sister, he agrees that the close-knit Edwardsburg community shaped him as a person.

“The experience of having everyone there while playing football — just the hometown feel of hearing your fans at your second home — I’ll miss that more than anything when I graduate,” he said.

He said having a twin has pushed him to be more involved in the community because he has a sister to cheer on or attend events with.

In addition to playing football, golf and power lifting, Terek is involved in National Honors Society and Students Against Destructive Decisions. He has volunteered with multiple blood drives and alongside his sister and other peers, he traveled to many Michiana businesses this winter to ask for donations for Operation Christmas Child.

“We were able to help 62 families. It was a huge amount of money — over $35,000 — to buy presents for those less fortunate families,” he said. “That feeling you get helping someone, I wish everyone could feel that. ... Seeing the smiles and happy times with those kids and how surprised the families are when you do that, it’s amazing.”

On top of busy athletic and extra curricular schedules, Terek and Brayden have gotten a jump start on their college education through Indiana University South Bend’s Elkhart campus.

“It gives you a great outlook on what college feels like,” he said. “It allows you to see what it will be like so when you go to college full time it’s not your first day there.”

Terek hopes to continue playing football after college, but is unsure what he will study after high school.

Unintentionally, the twins are both torn between Grand Valley State University and Trine University. They said they don’t know which they will choose, but they are not weighing each other’s decisions on their own.

“Whatever happens happens,” he said. “We’ll see where we end up.”

Edwardsburg

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Horizons 2017

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Horizons 2017

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Getting into

character Michiana creatives don costumes to share lessons, tell stories

STORIES BY KELSEY HAMMON PHOTOS BY JOE KUHARIC

Horizons 2017

B

ehind the layers of clothes, makeup and accessories of every costume is a person. They are our relatives, friends, neighbors, students and teachers.

Each decides to don another persona for their own reasons: perhaps they want to entertain or educate others, or perhaps it is for pure enjoyment.

Whatever their desires, they contribute to the cultural enrichment of our corner of the world, and add a few unique faces of Michiana.

FACESof MICHIANA

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Horizons 2017

The Disney

princess Edwardsburg woman follows her dream to become royalty

T

hree years ago, Alicia McClain had a crazy idea: She was going to become a princess.

After quitting her job that was one in a series of dissatisfying jobs, McClain started her own company called Michiana Princesses.

Since then she has crowned several other princesses to help spread their motto “dreams do come true,” and bring joy to the lives of many at events in Michiana.

As a single mom, running her own business was not easy. Today, McClain said her sons are more than happy to spread the word of their mom’s royalty ,and with each passing day they express pride in the business McClain built from the ground up.

How did you get involved in character playing?

It was something that I had thought about because I always grew up in theater and grew up singing and knew that I liked to work with kids.

Some of the clock-in jobs that I had at the time were not working with my life, because I am a single mom also. I needed to figure out how to pull my life together after my divorce.

I stood up one day in the middle of my job and said “this is not for me” and I walked out.

I talked to my biological mother about this idea that I had and said, “I really think that this is something that I could do. I just do not know how to get started.” She started collaborating with me into creating and designing dresses, because you have to make them slightly different than screen accurate. So we hand make all of our dresses.

How did you get started?

We started the business on an accident.

Someone remembered me from high school and she said, “I am never going to forget you and I am going to call you later, because I want you to do something for me.”

Horizons 2017

theatrics of it all. Really that is what ropes them in.

Once you have their attention with those things then you can show them that it is not always about the pretty things, it is about the character inside.

Because then they realize, “Oh, they are nice.”

[For example they might say] “My daughter just absolutely loved ‘insert any name of princess name.’ They just thought that she was the nicest.”

That to me is a big thing. When a child likes and appreciates the princess’ character then that is awesome.

It is really cool to see the sparkle in their eye when they realize that their dream is coming true. That is actually our motto, which was taken from the mouth of a child. ‘Dreams really do come true.’”

At the time she said something about singing in her wedding.

She called me [later] and said, “I have this idea. Can you dress up like a princess for my daughter’s birthday?”

And I said, “Yeah, I will definitely do that.” I took this idea and ran with it and instead of one princess I decided to do them all and we would sing and dance, so we decided to turn it in to a performance.

pretty cool.

What do you enjoy about being a princess?

I love so many different aspects of it.

I love that I get to meet so many different kinds of people. It is amazing. I quite literally have gone down different roads that I never thought I would go. It has really expanded my bubble.

Do you think that princesses are a good role model for children?

Oh, absolutely. I did not realize starting out how impressionable kids are when it comes to a figure that they look up to.

Do you play one princess in particular?

I am one of the lucky ones. I get to do them all. We have all of the wigs. It is

How do you get into character when you take on these roles?

I found that it is actually really easy for me. I am really good at acting, so it is easy for me to slip out of my shoes and into someone else’s, because sometimes that is the best therapy is just taking on somebody else’s role and just forgetting about your life for a little bit.

What do you think children look up to when they see a princess?

Well, in a world that idolizes beauty, I think it starts off there.

They like the dresses, they like the bling, they like the singing and the

How long does it take you to create costume?

Each one varies. Sometimes they will take three weeks and sometimes they will take three months. Cinderella took an immense amount of time because there are so many yards in her dress — 87 yards of fabric — and there is like layer after layer. So there is 13 layers of dress, so you are not only making one dress, you are making 13 and then attaching them all together.

Do you have sons or daughters?

I have two boys: Cohen, 7 and my youngest is Camden, 6.

What do they think about their mom being a princess?

It is pretty amazing to see how proud they are.

They will walk into a building full of strangers and say, “My mom is a Michiana Princess.” It makes me giggle. I love that they are so proud.

Sometimes they even get to come on my journeys with me. They love it, like when we get to go to the library or parks, because we get to do parks as well.

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The Civil War

re-enactor Buchanan man shares passion for history through live presentations

W

hen Eric Hageman was a child there rarely was a dull dinner at this family’s house.

As a history professor, Hageman’s father had a penchant for making history come alive. Over the course of the meal, he could illustrate an entire battle or make a complex historical fact interesting.

Those dinners inspired Hageman, and since early childhood he has read just about every piece of historical literature he could get his hands on.

It was not until he was an adult that a friend coaxed him into trying re-enactment. Today, he helps other people engage with history in a way that, much like his dad’s story telling, makes people feel that they are there.

How did you get involved in character playing?

Fast forward to 1982, I went to church with Bruce Sanderson who was a Civil War re-enactor and we would start talking. He knew a lot about the Civil War and so we were kindred spirits. One day he said, “Do you want to go to a Civil War re-enactment?” I had no interest in participating. I told my wife, “Bruce keeps pestering me.”

To me [it seemed] like a bunch of little boys playing Army. I do not want to glorify war. I think war is a terrible thing, but he stayed on me for 10 years.

So I told her, “You know what? I think I am going to try this just to appease him. I will do it and it will shut him up.”

So he loaned me a bunch of gear and we went to the re-enactment that they had in Jackson, Michigan, and it was for the weekend and when I left I had all of my own gear.

I got an element I had never thought of. When you take a subject like history, something that you really love to read about and you understand the political implications and why they did this and the results and all that, but then you take a new element and you

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start experiencing what some of the people that were involved in all of that.

Do you have a favorite memory from your time spent as a war re-enactor?

I have friends all over the U.S. We have a real bond of a friendship. I think instead of memories the reenacting opened a lot of doors for me to experience things that I never would have experienced.

For example, I got involved in the film industry. In 1997, I heard that they were going to do a documentary drama, interestingly enough on the battle of Antitem, which is where my roots go back for the national Battlefield Visitors Center, so I just kind of tossed out a couple of photographs of myself. I looked a lot younger then.

How long are you guys out there?

Usually re-enactments are threeday re-enactments.

Where do you do re-enactments?

They are all over. We have local, and when I say local, something in Michigan or statewide, and we have national and those are big events. For example the battle of Gettysburg. I mean the 135th, the 140th anniversary.

They have huge re-enactments.

The one 135th, I believe there are 5,000 re-enactors there, which is an awesome thing. I try to make two to three re-enactments a year and maybe go to one or two locals and one national.

I want to keep my hobbies in balance with my personal life. You can go to a re-enactment every weekend. I know of guys who get into the hobby and then their marriages fall apart and they are not there for their kids and then they burn out and it is a lot of work.

There is a lot of prep work. Then coming home you have all the cleanup. Where I have been able to sustain my hobby for many years, because I keep it in balance.

What do you feel that people gain from watching a war re-enactment?

They would gain a very…I want to word this correctly.

You could never fully re-enact the Civil War. They suffered massive wounds. They probably gain some idea if they are watching the battles themselves. They probably gained some idea of how troops are manipulated.

It was not like today where guys are diving behind trees. They actually had battle formations in two ranks and it was like a chess game, where they were trying to out maneuver the…if they were Federals they wanted to our maneuver the Confederates to get in the right position to be able to form what they called a mass fire. That is why they have tight ranks. You literally have a guy on your right arm and a guy on your left arm, all the way down the length can go on for a mile in two ranks, because when they volleyed they wanted a wall of lead going, so they did not want guys spread out and everything.

Well when you have a line like that you have to be able to maneuver that line. So you see all this maneuvering in the field, because one of the great advantages is if one line gets on the flank of another line then they can pour fire down into it from the side.

It is awesome to see one group maneuver and see 1,000 guys in like five seconds turn the entire line to be able to face it. And there are all sorts of movements, where it takes a long time to learn it.

There is a lot of training involved and drilling and understand the Napoleonic tactics, but it is awesome to watch. But my dad went to a Civil War re-enactment once and he watched the battle and he said, ‘that was real interesting, but with all that firing that was going on, the casualties rates were minimal.”

Because guys like to fight and they do not want to drop.

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The living

historian South Bend theater buff active in Renaissance, Medieval re-enactment

W

hen Elizabeth Markell was a child, she and her twin sister refused to leave the house unless they were allowed to dress in costume.

There are some days when Markell still follows the same guidelines.

The long-time history and theater buff has married her two passions through her work as medieval and Renaissance re-enactor.

No matter what role she plays, Markell is dedicated to her craft.

In addition to embodying the role, Markell also makes most of her own costumes.

She belongs to the Society of Creative Anachronism, a medieval reenactment group that depicts people from the 600 to 1600 era.

Markell and her husband both participate in reenactments.

Her husband participates in the reenactment of medieval feasts.

Markell has been creating her own costumes for the past eight years.

She travels all over to teach people about history with her characters.

How did you get involved in character playing?

In pre-school at 3 [years old] we dressed up in petticoats and frilly outfits just for fun. As we got older, we continued dressing up in costumes of all sorts at every opportunity.

Historical costumes were always a favorite. We made our own plays, radio shows, parades and songs.

Just children, goofing around. I’m glad I can still do this as an adult for a creative outlet.

Then as we got older of course that changed. As we got into high school we started doing theater and after the high school theater business, we took a break for a while and I discovered historical re-enactment. And I got into not only wearing the garb but creating

Horizons 2017

people are people. They are not that much different and everybody has their own hopes and dreams and dramas and struggles. I mean granted, we have all of our modern conveniences, where they had none.

History is very important. You must remember and learn history, lest you repeat it, because there are some things that you just do not want to repeat, like the Spanish Inquisition.

it as well. I do medieval and Renaissance.

Do you make all of your own outfits?

I make the majority of my stuff.

One of the dresses that I am going to wear took me a year.

Tell me a little bit about the character that you play, I play Livith Northwood. She is a medieval character. It is an old name from the 14th Century. I believe it means “blessed by God.” I use her for medieval re-enactment.

What about the era intrigued you?

Medieval grabbed me because I very much like the ultimate princess look. It requires kind of a sleek dress and I have the shape for it so it works.

The Elizabethan [costume], I was asked to create a queen for a local Renaissance fair and that started my

brain ticking and I decided to make one from the skin out — that means all the structure and everything.

That means the underdress and the corsets.

How do you get into character?

I think about who the character is, how she would act and how she would behave and what her job is because everybody has a job. For that [character] I would likely be a lady in waiting and I would serve the queen or the baroness or whomever.

In a steeple hennin What would your character say about society today?

How marvelous the inventions are that everyone can have clean water and indoor plumbing.

What are you hoping that people take away from that era?

I would like them to realize that

Do you have a favorite memory from your time as a re-enactor?

I belong to a group called Entertaining History, so our job is to teach people how to have have fun while learning at festivals, so they do not know that they are learning.

At the end of the class, they all come back and they stand before the queen, so they have to take a place in court. They get called up in court in front of the queen to have their accolade or their gift.

We have three different options.

I can knight them or they can be a prince or princess or they can be a knight or Dane, which is a female knight, or they can just be a knight, because girls want to be knights, too. They can be anything they want and I will dub them. They can be princess, they can be fairy, whatever they want and I will dub them.

Then they get a certificate and I have a wand where I dub them.

This one little boy dressed up as Robin Hood. He comes up to me as solemn as can be and he kneels and he puts his head down. I am just like: (squeals).

Of course I am the queen so I cannot just go squealing all over him. I ask every child their name and who they are and what they want to be and they tell me and I dub them and hand them a certificate.

We have done like over 300 kids.

They come back every year.

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Elvis impersonator

The

King of Rock ‘n’ Roll lives on through South Bend man

T

imothy Dudley, of South Bend, is an Elvis impersonator who walks, talks, dresses and sings in the style of Elvis.

From the time he was a young child, Dudley has had a love for the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

He prides himself in knowing not only all the words to Elvis’ songs, but a lot of trivia about the iconic singer.

Today, he enjoys sharing that passion through live performances at various concert venues and conventions.

How did you get involved in impersonating Elvis?

I have always been an Elvis fan. My grandparents and my mom all lived in one house and they have always been Elvis fans. Back when we lived in Louisiana in 2003 I got to see Doug Church (Elvis impersonator).

I was watching him and at that time I had a flat top and goatee and I was just watching how the Elvis fans just interacted and I thought, “I would like to do something like that.” I talked to Doug for a few minutes and he helped me get started in the business.

What did you like about Elvis?

I just loved his music and the passion he put into every song. You could just tell when he sang the song that he meant it. You know, like “I Will Never Fall in Love Again.”

It was on his last album and if you listen to it, you can just feel the passion coming through his vocals.

What do you think Elvis would have to say about today’s music?

I know some of [today’s] songs

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give to St. Jude’s. It was not anything for him to write a $5,000 check to someone who needed it.

What does it take for you to commit to the Elvis role?

A lot of studying. I will break down each CD and each song and study his videos, because I do not want to do anything that… whatever he did on stage I want to make sure it portrays on stage.

I do not want to make a mockery out of it, so I break down each song for his mannerisms, where his voice fluctuates.

What I normally do if it is a new song, I will sing Elvis at home and then I will sing it myself. I will tape record it and listen back.

do not have passion like back then.

I really do think if he had not passed away. … It opened the doors for others.

What do you enjoy about playing Elvis?

The Elvis fans. I will do a show and after the show, I will not leave until the last person has left. A few of them have seen Elvis and they tell stories — you know, “this is what he was like on stage.” Those kind of things.

I have gotten to know some of his best friends through the years and listening to their stories. He [Elvis] was very humble, giving, loving and

faith driven. He believed in God. Is there one cool Elvis fact that most would not know?

He was a very giving man. There is a story about how he went and bought a brand new Cadillac, when he saw a lady crying and he walked out and said, “what is wrong?” She said, “My husband has lost his job because he does not have a vehicle. We would love to have a car,” and he handed her the keys and said, “It is yours.” That is the kind of person that he was.

A lot of people think that he was a racist, but he was not. That is one of the biggest things people do not know is that he was not a racist. He would

You have Elvis’ moves down?

Yep. I try. I do not do a whole lot of ‘50s Elvis, because I have a lot of bass in my voice, so I cannot do that early raw stuff. I do mostly the ‘70s era of Elvis with the jumpsuit.

Do you recall the first time that you ever heard Elvis?

I was about 3 years old and for some reason at that time I had a fear of death. I had the chicken pox and I was scared that I was going to die, so my grandmother told my mom to go to the video store and pick some videos out. She looks over and saw “Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii.” She said, “That cannot be too bad.”

I was laying on the couch miserable.

She fast-forwarded it to “My Way.” When he hit that first note. …They said I just sat up and the whole time I was just watching. Ever since then I was hooked.

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Horizons 2017

The anime

cosplayer

Costume craze an outlet for pop culture buffs to portray characters

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lex Andrews, of Mishawaka, is one of hundreds of cosplayers in the Michiana area.

Defined as “the act of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game, especially one from the Japanese genres of manga and anime,” cosplayers purchase or create their own costumes to portray their favorite at conventions.

Andrews enjoys dressing up as characters in a wide range of genres — from princesses to anime characters — and attends conventions with her friends, who are also cosplayers.

How did you get involved in cosplaying?

Back in 2011 my friend took me to an anime convention in Chicago called Anime Central and it was my first anime convention and I [dressed as] my favorite character from “Sailor Moon.” I went with a group of people and I kind of got hooked on it because I got to meet so many people and I got to see cosplay.

There was so much to do and I got to learn a little bit more about Japanese pop-culture. I got to hear people from overseas talk about anime production, music, food and whatever you can name for Japanese pop-culture.

Then I got to network with some of the people in the Michiana community and the Chicago area as well as on Facebook and other social media sites and then I just grew from there and got addicted to it.

What is your favorite character to enact?

There are a lot. I think my favorite

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up for herself. I like playing those types of characters.

What do you enjoy about being Saber?

I like it because a lot of people are familiar [with her], especially in the anime community. So it is nice to talk with others that are familiar with [it].

What I like about the character is that she is strong. She is a strong independent role model. She is a great role model to anyone who is working towards a goal.

How long have you been involved in cosplay?

It has been about five years. I tour around on conventions. It can be from anime to Comic Con. I have toned it down since I have recently gotten a full-time job.

is Saber. She is from “Fate”/”Stay Night.” It is a mixture of “Mortal Kombat” and “Game of Thrones,” which I know sounds weird to say.

It is set in modern times, where historic figures have different classes.

So if you kind of like the roleplaying I definitely recommend that kind of anime. It is actually available on Netflix and Hulu.

What best describes Saber?

[Saber] is a role model. She is summoned as a knight, even though her costume does not look like a knight figure.

She fights for her master and her goal is to win a prize called the Holy Grail, which is kind of like an everlasting wish.

What I like about this character is she is a fierce character. She knows how to sword fight and she stands

Do you make your own costumes?

I make 80 percent of my own costumes. If not I purchase them, because it does take … it can take from three to six months to make a costume depending on how much time you want to put into it.

What is one of your favorite memories as a cosplayer?

My favorite memory is actually from [playing Saber]. I got to meet the creator of the series [“Fate/”Stay Night”]. They were at one of the conventions that I went to and they actually asked for a picture of me. I did not realize that he was the creator until he left, actually.

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The

steampunk actor College student pursues love for storytelling by becoming character

C

hristopher Williams is an Indiana University of South Bend student earning a master’s degree in creative writing. As a writer, Williams first met his steampunk character, Aiden Knight.

Williams created a backstory for his steampunk character. As the story goes, Knight is an engineer working on the latest air ship for a queen’s army. When he finds out he won’t be the one to operate that ship, Knight takes off and becomes an outlaw.

Prior to studying writing, Williams was pursuing an undergraduate degree in anthropology where he also found a passion for history. By imagining how these eras might have been in the world of steampunk, Williams said he enjoys adding a little fantasy to non-fiction to create a what if scenario filled with possibilities.

How would you describe steampunk?

It is a what-if scenario. If technology exploded by leaps and bounds into the Victorian era, but it did not create all of the technology that we are used to, it created steam powered airships and massive computational machines built out of wood and gears and stuff like that.

It is just this awesome way to escape into this what-if scenario. I am a big fan of string theory, so I am generally always thinking about the possibilities of other universes that might be right next door to us, because we still do not know. The universe is still quite a mystery.

How did you get involved?

When I first started dressing up I attributed it to something else; I cannot remember what it was anymore. As I have gotten older and looked back on it it is because of “Back to the Future: Part III.” The train at the end, Doc Brown’s

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outfit, I start acting like [him] because it just does not feel right otherwise.

He tends to dress in this hackneyed thrown together outfit that kind of makes him look noble, but not quite.

How long have you been playing this character?

I want to say it is closer to a decade than it is five years. Somewhere in the five to 10 range.

Do you take this character anywhere in specific? How do you introduce him to the world?

I try to be in character and introduce himself if asked. Dive deep and just let him out on the world. I have a friend who is developing a live action roleplaying game. I got to take him out to do the photography. I have an entire album on my Facebook done in sepia tone and all with comments from him on it. amazing flying train, it kind of did the same thing. He was in the Wild West, he took what he had and created the technology to make it fantastic.

That really was the moment I think it planted the seed in my head, but obviously steampunk as a subculture did not exist until. .. I do not know the timeline but cyberpunk came first, just kind of a ridiculous what-if like Tron became real.

Steampunk spawned off of that and now there is more that even spawned off of steampunk, because there is like dieselpunk. It is all about reliving a time period with this twist.

Do you have a particular character that you play?

I have yet to take him to a festival, but I do have a persona that I effect when I am in the outfit.

His name is Aiden Knight and he was a

researcher and designer for the queen. He designed a new air ship for her aerial navy and invented a new method of cloaking the ship, because he was told by the queen that he would be able to become the captain and a week before it was going to be unveiled, the queen said, “No we have to give the captain’s post to a noble.”

So on the day it was getting christened he acted like everything was fine and dandy and gave a speech, but at the end of the speech they discovered that the ship was actually behind him because he cloaked it and he took off with it. He is a renegade, so yeah he is a pirate essentially.

It is something that I came up with.

He also has another persona for when he is in the “colonies” as he likes to call them (otherwise known as America).

How do you get into character?

It is a little bit of mental prep, but for the most part it is when I put on the

What do you enjoy about character playing?

It is, in its truest form, escapism.

Because I stop being myself and I start being this could-have-been noble. Now he screwed himself out of that because he wanted his ship and so I get to not be me. [For] 31 years I have lived in the same area. I have yet to get out and explore the world, so he offers me a chance to forget that and talk about adventures and British skies and the colonies’ sky.

What do you think Aiden would say about society today?

If he were to see society today… (laughs).

Speaking plainly he would most likely say something along the lines of : “Why in the world would you let a buffoon win the presidency?” He would probably be flying back to Britain real quick.

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home

Finding her way

Musician finds way from homelessness to Rising Star STORY AND PHOTOS BY ANGIE MARCINIAK

H

omeless and hopeless.

That’s how Savannah Whitaker felt only months before opening World Pulse Fest 2016 with her original song, “Blameless.” Standing on the stage before thousands of concert-goers was a girl who had once given up on life.

Much like the lyrics in the songs she writes, Whitaker’s story is one of hope and redemption, seeking “truth” and finding strength in “the least of these.” How this young believer went from living in her car to becoming the Pulse FM Rising Star 2016 winner, she says, can only be attributed to one thing: God. Whitaker’s life seemed completely normal to her, growing up in a devout Christian family in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her parents and younger sister.

At age 8, however, everything changed when she learned she was adopted. That news changed the trajectory of her life, and started her down a path that would take nearly two decades to finally overcome.

“I was very confused and started the search of acceptance, which led me down a path of habitual lying,” Whitaker said. “I didn’t understand the truth — ‘little t’ — or the ‘big T,’ the gospel. The Truth just didn’t mean anything to me.”

Having grown up heavily involved in her church, Whitaker had all the right answers when it came to reciting Bible passages or Sunday school lessons. What she lacked was what she refers to as, “heart knowledge.”

“We’re 18 inches from eternity, so everybody has got this head knowledge, but the lack of heart belief is critical,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker began playing piano, which she still says is her

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favorite instrument, at the age of 6. In college she picked up the guitar and hasn’t put it down since.

“I love music. It’s a way people can connect without speaking,” Whitaker said. “When you don’t have the words to say, there are usually words in the song that can say them for you.”

Along with her love for music, Whitaker has a passion for soccer. She practiced, played and eventually became the first freshman on her varsity team, where she started getting recognized by Division I and II colleges. She broke some records in high school and found herself playing Division I soccer at the University of Kansas.

The people in her hometown knew her as a great athlete, but in her music, she describes herself as a “lying, son of gun, dirty rotten sinner, who didn’t know the grace of the Lord, repentance, or the love the Lord had for me.”

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Unfortunately for Whitaker, the life choices she made, got her kicked off the team and she lost her scholarship. After going home to regroup she got the opportunity to play Division II in Texas. Once again, she started down her now well-worn path of lying, until she had to leave school again and return home to New Mexico.

Suffocating from the weight of the web of lies she had woven, Whitaker decided she wanted to get involved in ministry, and sought the guidance of her pastor. Through an internship placement, she found herself at the Nappanee Missionary church in 2014, for what was supposed to be a 14-week program.

This is where the downward spiral, and her ultimate salvation, began.

While participating in her internship, Whitaker lied her way into — and out of — a few jobs and a few more places to live. She began building friendships based on even more lies, and relied on these lies to make the choices that led her to finding herself living behind Best Buy, in Mishawaka, Indiana, for three days.

While living in yet another temporary housing situation, Whitaker received a call from a mutual friend, Debbie Majerek Shirrell, to come house-sit for her while she and her husband went to Arizona for a few weeks at Thanksgiving, in November 2015.

“I didn’t know she was homeless,” Shirrell said.

“But I did realize she was going place to place. I really felt she needed a place to get away from everybody.”

Whitaker has been living with the Shirrell family since.

When the Shirrells went to Florida for the winter, Whitaker stayed in their home and found herself in the midst of a lie, so big and so profound, it could have been very damaging.

“It would have shaken the community and really done some damage to one of the top male Christian artists in the world,” Whitaker said.

This lie, the stories, all the fabricated details of the life she wasn’t really living had finally caught up with her. When she finally showed up at 3 p.m. on Jan. 22, 2016, for the 11 a.m. meeting she had scheduled with Natalee Wintek, and her pastor, she planned to admit to the lie, but couldn’t do it. She left that meeting not having solved anything, but knowing she couldn’t continue on living her life in this manner.

“I remember thinking, ‘I don’t even know who I am anymore. I am done with life,’” Whitaker said. “I was literally given two options: humble myself before the Lord or suicide.

I chose suicide.”

She wrote a note and planned for Wintek to find her the next day.

In spite of her plan, she woke up on Jan. 23, 2016, to pounding on her door.

“At this point everyone knew of my lie, but they still wanted to spend time and talk to me. I had so many opportunities to humble Horizons 2017

FACESof MICHIANA myself. I had finally hit my head smack on the cross,” Whitaker said.

She had no recollection of what happened in the 16 hours between her pointless meeting and her friends pounding on her door, but she did know she was saved. She began to repent all of her sins, especially the lies she had been telling for nearly two decades.

“I still fall short,” she says. “Right away on the 23rd my life took a crazy journey by being faithful to the Lord, and being very obedient, blessing after blessing started coming my way. I won Rising Star. I got to open for Pulse Fest.”

Whitaker gives all the credit to the turn-around of her life to her belief, her salvation, and the hands of God working through her mentor Wintek and her friend Shirrell.

“I was committed to suicide on the 22nd, but the Lord woke me up so my purpose is not done here.

That was the moment I knew it was ‘go’ time,” Whitaker said.

Since winning Rising Star, performing at World Pulse Fest, finding a friendship in Shirrell and a bond with Wintek, she has rebuilt her tarnished relationship with her parents, and is on the path that has been chosen for her, working with the youth through Hope Ministries in South Bend.

“I get to see the Lord’s work in these kids’ lives every single day at the Hope Ministries,” Whitaker said.

Hope is a transitional housing program that provides core classes to parents who abuse drugs, provides families with two hot meals a day and, according to Whitaker, “shows them the way the Lord can work.”

“It’s a phenomenal ministry that is so fruitful. They get plugged into a church before they leave, so they aren’t put back into the world without a community,” Whitaker said.

At Hope, she works with the kids in afterschool programs and goes to school to have lunch with them. She works with the school-aged students to develop social skills and walk them through different scenarios in life.

“They are so angry, and rightfully so,” she said.

“Their emotions are valid. I allow them to really feel their emotions instead of telling them to not feel the way they do. I want them to be able to feel that emotion in that moment so they can really feel how they feel.”

Whitaker has found a home at Hope, a place she feels she has been brought to because that is where she should be, and Wintek agrees.

“I admire her unconditional love for the ‘least of these,’ those that typically go unnoticed, or who are abandoned. I admire the joy that she brings to the families, especially the children at Hope Ministries,” Wintek said. “I admire her continued relentless pursuit of Jesus and [how she] only wants to give Him the praise without giving herself any recognition.”

In her free time, Whitaker is busy writing and recording original music, performing whenever she possibly can, and sharing the word of God through her music with anyone who will listen. She sees herself settling down and having a family in the next five to 10 years.

“I would love to have a family, to have a couple acres of land somewhere where I can build a campsite just for kids from the inner-city who feel like they need to run, get out, learn about the Lord, plant some seeds and give them an escape when they feel like they can’t escape their world,” Whitaker said.

Shirrell would like to see Whitaker’s life continue down the new path she has embarked upon, where she can continue to bless people with her music.

“There is nothing better than her voice and her guitar,” she said.

Wintek said she couldn’t agree more.

“It doesn’t matter what she is doing, she will continue to be a beacon of light to everyone around her,” she said.

The future of this bright shining star is yet to be determined, though one thing seems certain, as the lyrics in her contest-winning song, “Blameless” promise, she has “decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.”

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Horizons 2017

Bouncing out

cancer Brandywine basketball players incite fans to raise money to combat disease

STORY BY SCOTT NOVAK | PHOTOS BY SCOTT NOVAK

T

here are a lot of people who talk a good game when it comes to helping fight cancer, but for the Brandywine basketball teams, it is more than lip service.

The Bobcats put their money where their mouths are.

Brandywine girls basketball coach Josh Hood has always played in the Brian Parker Memorial Golf Tournament, so when he took over as the Bobcats’ coach he decided that his team could do more to help raise awareness and funds to help fight cancer. He also knew that there were valuable lessons to learn from supporting such a worthy cause.

So Hood and company came up with an idea to help support the Brian Parker Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization created to honor Brian, who died of leukemia in 1980 at the age of 14.

“Just what they do for people,” Hood said about the Parkers.

“They have always given to this area and are very generous. They are phenomenal people, the entire committee and especially Dick and Judy Parker. We got to thinking while we were at their fundraiser about how they donate locally, to local people who are in need and are having a tough time with cancer who may have some hardship money-wise.”

In addition to helping families impacted directly by cancer, the Brian Parker Foundation also donates to research at the University of Michigan and the University of Notre Dame.

“You start thinking about everything they do and how many come together for their golf outing. The Brandywine and Niles communities, basically all of southwest Michigan, have rallied around our program for the last eight years. So what we wanted to do is teach our girls some life lessons. We talked about how everybody supports us. Let’s give back to the community.”

“It is tough for kids sometimes, especially in a small school, to go out and ask people for money,” Hood said. “There are so many fundraisers. So what we like to do in our program because the kids do not have to do a

FACESof MICHIANA

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fundraiser, we give an opportunity to go out and make money for a great cause.

“It is amazing to me to see these kids go out into the community and take such pride in selling these shirts. There has got to be close to 500 of these shirts that the kids have sold.”

This year, members of both the boys and girls teams at Brandywine and Bridgman sold pink shirts that said, “Rivalry For A Cure.” On game night, the gym was filled with a sea of pink.

“At the end of the day it makes you smile because it not about basketball or about sports, but it is about bringing a community together for a great cause.”

Whether it is a family member, family friend or a classmate, nearly everyone knows someone who has had to deal with the devastating disease.

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When the Bobcats started selling shirts for the annual fundraiser, it particularly hit home for Brandywine seniors, and sisters, Cassie and Chelsie Luczkowski, whose great-grandparents have been affected by it.

Chelsie said it is exciting and nerve wracking when they first start going out to raise money.

“You want to sell as many shirts as you can and help out as much as you can,” she said.

“There have been a lot of people in our community that have struggled with cancer,” Cassie added. “Like the Stratton family and Coach (Patrick) Touhey’s family. So it is nice to know that we are helping people.”

Brandywine Athletic Director Vance Stratton’s wife Marcia was diagnosed with cancer and the Bobcats raised money through their “#StrattonStrong” T-shirt sales to help to help offset medical costs.

Cassie said that it is always on their minds because they know that if their great-grandparents were not struggling with cancer they would be watching them play their final season of basketball.

“We know that they would like to be here,” she said.

Chelsie said last year was particularly difficult when Touhey lost his brother to cancer during the season.

“Last year was tough because we always wanted to know how he was doing,” she said.

Because it is such a special cause and has become a tradition for the Lady Cats, they know 74

from the beginning what is expected of them.

“Coach always wants us to put our best effort into it to raise as much money as possible,” Cassie said.

“We need to give back to the community that always comes to support us,” Chelsie added.

In addition to selling T-shirts to raise money, the athletes also put on special uniforms — one pink set and the other white — that say “Beat Cancer” on the back below their numbers.

While most teenagers are busy on social media and paying attention to the latest fashion trends Brandywine players have had their awareness heightened by their efforts.

Both Cassie and Chelsie agree that they pay much closer attention when news about cancer is reported in the media.

“It affects everyone in some way,” Chelsie said.

Both Luczkowskis feel everyone on the team feels special when they put them on.

This year they have worn the special jerseys twice, the first time to honor the late Frank Mucha, the long-time Buchanan wrestling coach who died of cancer, and the second time for the Rivalry For a Cure game against Bridgman.

Both games were played in December.

“Everyone is excited to participate in the game because there is usually a big crowd,” Cassie said. “It is all pink or black in the stands depending on what color the shirts are.”

“It is exciting because you know it is a big game,” Chelsie said of putting on the uniform.

“It is the most special game of the year.”

If either senior could help stop cancer they would want to do everything in their power.

While that goal may currently be out of their reach, that will not stop the Bobcat basketball players and cheerleaders from reaching out to the community to ask for help in battling this disease.

“We need to keep raising the awareness,” Cassie said. “We need people to know that all this money is going to a great cause.”

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bubbly town mascot Niles man brings joy to downtown district STORY AND PHOTOS BY KELSEY HAMMON

I

informally met Bobby Sandifer when I was rushing out of work to the parking lot on Fourth Street.

I had my eyes fixed on the sidewalk ahead as I processed the things I needed to accomplish. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, there was a stream of bubbles in my path.

As the bubbles tossed in the breeze, I looked quizzically around for their origin, when I saw a man in a green coat using a bubble gun, leaving a trail of floating suds in his wake. As I halted for a moment on the sidewalk to watch the bubbles drift and then pop, I smiled and for a second felt my former preoccupations ease from my mind.

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I am not the only one to have this experience. Many in downtown Niles have come to know Bobby, his bubbles and the delight that comes from the dancing trail of suds.

Like his disappearing bubbles, Bobby is somewhat elusive, but folks in downtown Niles are apt to point out his regular haunts, like his afternoon trips to Olfactory Hue Bistro for an ice-cold Coke.

Since Daysha Amster opened her restaurant five years ago, Bobby has been a regular presence, earning a place not just in her heart, but her customers’ hearts as well.

“He comes in with a smile,” Amster said. “He is our little fan.”

Customers who do not know Bobby and see him drinking his soda and toting a white canvas bag filled with bubble soap bottles usually ask Amster, “What is his story?”

Amster can tell them, but it is Bobby’s polite attitude and infectious smile that inevitably wins them over.

Bobby loves sharing how proud he

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“

My mom said there are good people and bad people.

There are good people down here [downtown].”

— Bobby Sandifer

is of his two nieces. He carries their picture. Customers who come to know Bobby may offer to buy him lunch or open a tab in his name.

After his Coke, Bobby carries on, walking through the downtown blowing bubbles to the wind. The

FACES of MICHIANA daycare children love spotting him and chasing the bubbles.

“I make them happy,” Bobby said.

Bobby grew up blowing bubbles. It was something he and his mom would do together when he was a child.

Bobby’s mom has since passed away and he motions a finger to the ceiling, signifying her looking down on him.

Before she passed away, she left Bobby with some valuable lessons that, like his bubbles, he carries everywhere.

“My mom said there are good people and bad people,” Bobby said.

“There are good people down here [downtown].”

Bobby’s mom told him that if he was kind to people, people would be kind back and Bobby does that by sharing his joy and bubbles with all who come

within a block of him.

Rain, shine, heat or snow, those who come downtown are likely to run into Bobby, who will be making rounds and leaving a trail of bubbles in his wake.

Bobby said he enjoys visiting with downtown shop owners and watching people react to the bubbles. Most who travel to Niles Main Street stretch know Bobby. Each day that he makes his rounds, his friends call out, “Hey, Bobby.”

Last year local business Colorful Stitches, 225 E. Main St., made him a sweatshirt that read, “Bobby is my name and bubbles are my game.”

After Bobby makes his rounds and runs his errands, he heads home down Fourth Street to his apartment. But he cannot stay incognito for long, before he says his friends are calling to see what he is up to. While he may take a break, Bobby is often back on the rounds again, making bubbles and stopping people in their tracks to admire the whimsy in everyday life.

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One

sweet Brandywine Elementary School principal teaches students to love music

STORY AND PHOTOS BY KELSEY HAMMON

T

gig

hey call themselves the Brandywine Creek String Band, and unlike most groups, the band never has a problem with attendance. You meet in the converted classroom at 3:45 p.m. or you just can’t be in the band.

There is Jospeh Rizzo on guitar, a sixth grader who first found his love for the instrument at 5 years old.

Fellow guitarist Tressa Hullinger matches melodies with Joseph on her acoustic guitar. The fifth grader also loves to sing.

Then there are singers Abbie Hubbard and Hayden Seggerman, both sixth graders, taking up their places behind the microphone, while fifth-graders Ethan Adamczyk and Sam Douglas settle behind the drums.

The band mates are messing with some licks and riffs, just playing around, when the band manager, Jim Boger, walks in.

Boger is also the elementary school principal.

There is a moment of shuffling music around as Boger pulls out his own guitar, and then the band launches into their fan favorite, a Beatles cover of “Drive My Car.” It is hard to tell that the group of musicians have only been playing for three weeks, but they have a dedicated band manager to thank for that. Boger is not only the manager, he is also a fellow musician, teacher and role model for students who, much like his younger self, love to learn new things.

Boger’s own love for music started at an early age.

As a child he wanted to play guitar, but his family could not afford lessons. Nonetheless, Boger inherited a battered old guitar from an upstairs neighbor and taught himself how to play. He continued to play guitar and joined several jams in college.

When he became a high school teacher at Brandywine in 1999, he also acquired a new title: band manager.

He started recruiting students interested in music for an afterschool band project. The group of high schoolers played Green Day and a host of 1990s rock at volleyball and basketball games. Eventually Boger became the athletic director and later assistant principal at Brandywine Middle/High School.

When Boger took a job at Brandywine Elementary school, he was not expecting that elementary school children would have the musical chops to perform in a band. Then one day he met a fifth grader who liked to play guitar and sing, just like Boger did when he was a child.

Boger admits that training a band of elementary school children presents a few more challenges than high schoolers.

For example, most students need more training on an instrument to be ready to harmonize with other instrumentalists, but from the start, Boger saw that the passion for music was there. As band manager he began scouting around for students interested in taking up the afterschool project. Boger always has an ear to the ground.

One day, sixth grader Joseph Rizzo was telling a teacher that he played guitar as Boger passed within earshot. He stopped in his tracks.

“Prove it,” he told Joseph.

Rizzo shyly picked up the guitar and started playing “Feliz Navidad.” With that song, Joseph earned a spot in the Brandywine Creek String band, an afterschool band that Boger formed with Brandywine students eager to learn new music.

Today, Boger is never far from a guitar. He keeps one in the corner of the office, always ready to play, while another guitar is propped up on the wall.

As he sits behind his desk on an average day, Boger talks about how he has channeled his newest hobby as band manager.

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81

At first directing such a young band was rough — an adjective that not only describes lessons, but also their sound, Boger said.

“At first it was scary,” Boger said. “It was like, ‘I do not know if this is going to work or not.’”

The students were new at learning to play their instruments, breaking in their calluses on guitar and learning critical hand and eye coordination for the drums. Then there was the challenging task of trying to coordinate it all together.

“I am not a vocal coach,” Boger said, jokingly. His wife, Denise, is the choir director for Brandywine.

Despite the challenges, Boger and the rag tag band of students persevered and in three weeks, the educator said he heard a huge difference in their sound.

“It ended up being pretty awesome,” Boger said. “They have a really good time.”

Since starting the band, Boger has also been able to give the students an opportunity to perform to large audiences, including at last year’s Niles Bluegrass Festival.

It was an experience that guitar player and vocalist Tressa Hullinger, a fifth grader, said was at terrifying at first. Several other bandmates agreed.

“It is like you get your stuff all set up and then you look out into the audience and see 100 people,” Seggerman said.

“It is scary at first, but then you get used to it,” Rizzo said.

But after a little stage fright, the students would fall into the rhythm of the song and

start having fun, they said.

It is all part of the ownership that Boger feels the band help to teach the students.

In addition to learning to play a new instrument and committing to practicing outside of band practice itself, students have to learn how to work together to improve as musicians.

“You have to learn and have you got to play,” Boger said. “You get better by playing and listening to a lot of music and playing with music.”

Through the band, Boger has also encouraged those who want to learn to come and talk to him. If they are interested, but do not play an instrument, Boger will teach them the basics, so that they too can one day join the band.

Boger and teacher aide Cody Udell, a 2010 Brandywine High School graduate, teach students group guitar on Wednesdays.

Udell also helps to co-manage the Brandywine Creek String Band.

Even if students do not have the resources, Boger has worked to supply musical instruments, including drums and guitars. Boger also repairs broken or battered instruments, whose former purpose may have been taking up space in a closet.

As Boger continues to pursue new hobbies, including most recently learning the cello, he said that students help hold him accountable for practicing his instruments, too.

As he watches students evolve and become part of the band, Boger said he feels pride in helping to train the next generation of music lovers.

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83

UNSUNG HEROES

N

ow in its fourth year, Leader Publications’ “Unsung Heroes” recognition is exactly what the name states: a way to honor the men and women in our community who go above and beyond to serve others and make our region a better place to live.

Rather than our staff choosing these individuals we asked our readers to tell us about the people who they feel are making a difference but don’t get the recognition they deserve.

This is truly just representative of the whole region, as we know there are countless other individuals working behind the scenes to make our communities thrive. All show humility, sacrifice and commitment through leading by example.

Here are your 2017 “Unsung Heroes.”

Tanda & Dave Stiffler, of Edwardsburg

T

anda and Dave are Edwardsburg residents who go the extra mile for the community. As members of the Edwardsburg Lions Club, they have helped when the organization sponsored the Kelly Miller Circus, done eye testing, pancake breakfasts and Christmas tree sales.

For several years, Tanda and Dave, along with their daughter, Amy Anderson, and a group of volunteers, provide a Christmas party for children who otherwise may not have Christmas presents.

They shop, wrap, decorate and invite more than 100 children and parents to a free pancake breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The children go home with various gifts and, in some cases, a bike too.

Longtime residents of Edwardsburg, they are a couple who help to make the community a better place.

— Roseann & Jerry Marchetti

Casey Helmuth, of Dowagiac

C Caryn Adler, of Niles

C

aryn is a native of Niles, and proud of it.

She knows about everybody in town, and speaks well of most of them. She is active as a secretary of her high school reunion, and works as a clerk for local and national elections.

She also helps raise funds for civic groups.

She knows every street and can give you gthe history of older homes and who lived there.

She salutes all veterans. She knows and shops at all local merchants. Her motto is, “If you can get it in Niles, buy it in Niles, not elsewhere.”

— Robert Wyckoff

asey works a full-time job that he commutes to. A husband and father of three, he is the pastor at the Apostolic Lighthouse Church in Dowagiac.

On top of all that, Casey produces all of the Dowagiac football games on WGTO 96.3 FM and broadcasts all the Dowagiac basketball games on the radio.

He is a true unsung hero of Dowagiac, whose life has been devoted to faith, family and community. He is a true inspiration to all and my friend.

— Pat Bakeman

Shawn Williamson, of Dowagiac

S

hawn works a full-time job at Big C in Eau Claire, and has a wife and three kids. He also coaches a travel baseball team. In the fall, he helps the Rocket Football League in Dowagiac. On top of that, he donates even more time to broadcast Dowagiac varsity football on WGTO 96.3 FM radio.

Everything he does outside of work is family, child and community related. His passion for all of these things is why we need more people like Shawn in Dowagiac. I am happy to call him my radio partner and friend.

— Pat Bakeman

84

Horizons 2017

UNSUNG HEROES Richard “Doc” McCreedy, of Niles

D

r. McCreedy and his family came to Niles in 1975.

He practiced medicine as a partner in OB/GYN Associates, located at 9 S. St. Joseph Ave., Niles, until his retirement in 2002 following a bicycling accident that injured his shoulder and elbow, affecting his ability to perform surgeries.

While delivering numerous babies and providing surgical needs to his patients, he was always community-minded, supporting athletic activities in the area by sponsoring teams in the Optimist Soccer League and helping do physicals for athletes. He is presently scorekeeper for the boy’s varsity basketball team at Niles High School.

He also served as a mentor through Big Brothers/Big Sisters for a local student, from elementary school through his graduation, and still maintains some contact with the young man. He went on a medical missionary trip to Haiti and was active in the local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, from its inception in this area in 1987 until its dissolution in 2016.

Upon his retirement from his medical practice, he traded his surgical tools for carpenter ones, managing the construction of eight new homes and one rehab for the HFH affiliate, for which he received only a stipend.

Since coming to Niles, the McCreedy family has been active members of Wesley United Methodist Church. Dick is a long-standing choir member, lay leader, a longtime member of the board of trustees and an all-around “Mr. Fixit” on Wesley’s aging building. If he cannot fix it, he arranges for someone who can.

He also can be found cleaning the eaves troughs at the parsonage, mowing around the church or parsonage, or doing snow removal around the entrances of the church on Sunday morning for worship.

On his day off from the doctor’s office, he might have been found at the church cleaning a storeroom or checking on the boilers.

He and his wife are also very faithful about checking on and visiting shut-ins.

— Eleanor Fisher

Bobbie Jo Hartline, of Dowagiac

W

hile many think of unsung heroes as police, fire fighters, nurses, etc., the first name that came to my mind was that of Bobbie Jo Hartline.

Many know her as the key person coordinating the Dowagiac Dogwood Fine Arts Festival for 25 years. I volunteered at the Dogwood office and could observe Bobbie Jo, who was always smiling, polite and had an incredible grasp of details.

While I do not know the scope of her duties, some of it is evident in the public sculptures in Dowagiac and the many arts programs we all enjoyed during the festival. She was the first person to have contact with artists, performers, the printers and the public, and was at ease with everyone.

She never sat down at an event, and was always taking care of details and helping the patrons or the performers. No task was too big or small for her.

While still working for the festival, she coordinated the contributions for the 90 minute WNIT program “Our Town,” bringing recognition to Dowagiac.

After 25 years, Bobbie Jo moved to the office of the Dowagiac city manager.

Since then, she has continued to give her considerable talent to other artistic events in Dowagiac. She is on the Orphan Train Project Committee and cowrote the grant application for funds to design and install a mural on the side of the post office.

She worked with out-of-town videographers who were hired to film short informative videos of Dowagiac for the city’s website. She led the videographers to different parts of the community they could showcase in film.

All the above efforts on her part have helped Dowagiac’s image considerably.

When I travel, I am always surprised at how many people know about Dowagiac. I feel this is partly due to Bobbie Jo’s efforts to publicize Dowagiac.

In my mind, she is an “unsung hero.”

Bobbie Jo does not know I am nominating her, and the above information has been gleaned from personal observation and newspaper items.

— Jean Rowe

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85

UNSUNG HEROES August Garritano, of Niles

Dan Perry, of Niles

I

D

have known August Garritano since middle school.

At 15, when I was the only one in my friend group without a date for Valentine’s Day, August made sure I did not feel left out and gave me flowers. Despite often being the target of some pretty intense bullying, August was always the most loving and generous person anyone in our high school knew.

More than 10 years later (yikes, we are getting old) August still spends his free time giving back to the Brandywine community.

With fine arts in education being threatened across the country due to budget cuts, August makes sure that young people in the Brandywine community are exposed to a multitude of opportunities for engaging with performing arts through his work with the Brandywine Performing Arts Workshop and the district’s fall musical.

August plans and fundraises year round to put together the summer P.A.W. workshop with fellow Brandywine alumna Lena Miles. In addition to these initiatives, August has worked to create a food pantry for the Niles/Brandywine community, and even ran for school board.

His hard work and dedication often goes unnoticed, and he deserves recognition.

— Jasmine LaBine

Sandy Neldon, of Niles

S

andy Neldon is an avid supporter of Brandywine Community Schools.

She graciously volunteers her time to our athletic booster organization.

She keeps up the inventory by purchasing supplies, organizes countless other volunteers (who also give so unselfishly of their time to work the events), assists the athletic director and coaches with the purchasing of equipment, and chairs the committee for the granting of athletic scholarships. In addition, Neldon is known for assisting professional staff with fundraising for events as well as school trips.

— Pat Weckel

Barb Schuck, of Buchanan First, Barb is a cancer survivor. Second, she and her husband, Larry, had a medically fragile son, who died of cancer before Thanksgiving in 2016.

Barb kept Jared alive from birth, with breathing treatments, special diets, physical therapy and doctor appointments. She pushed him to keep going and the rest of her to join her. She was, is and will always be a fantastic mom.

— Pam Montgomery 86

an Perry is a volunteer football and wrestling coach at Brandywine Middle School and High School.

He can always be seen cheering on the sidelines or on the mat, giving praise and suggestions to our athletes throughout the athletic seasons.

In addition, he can be counted on to set up the fields as well as take care of our vast array of equipment and uniforms.

It is also common to see coach after school late into the evenings, volunteering to keep the weight room open for our athletes who need to lift at unconventional times.

— Pat Weckel

John Davis, of Edwardsburg

O

ver the years, John Davis, has been a huge community supporter. He is an active member and current treasurer of the Knights of Columbus.

One of his biggest commitments has been his community-wide Bikes for Kids Program, which is now entering its fourth year.

Over this period of time, John has collected more than 300 bikes for needy kids of all ages. During this time, John has collected these bikes, found parts for needed repairs and spent countless hours fixing them in his garage.

Last Christmas, John heard of a family with three kids who did not have bikes and, before Christmas Eve, John saw to it that the three kids each got a bike. He has also successfully sought donations from generous businesses and individuals. John has also been a big supporter of the Edwardsburg Food Pantry.

— Jerry Marchetti

Peggy Maiers, of Niles

P

eggy embodies all that is right about the world.

She is kind, outgoing, always upbeat, positive and smiling.

She spent her professional years teaching lower elementary in Niles. She knows everyone, and they all know and love her too.

She is a champion of people and tireless volunteer.

She ushers at DeBartolo, the Niles Education Foundation and St. Margret’s House in South Bend.

Peggy is one of the lead cooks for her group, “Because We’re Tuesday” at St. Margret’s House.

She does not just open the pantry and say, “We will make this because that is what we have.” Peggy continually searches for new recipes and tests them.

I have been lucky enough to be a guinea pig on numerous occasions.

She is extremely thoughtful and gives tirelessly.

She is most assuredly a Niles treasure.

We could all take a page from her book, which, of course, she would generously give with no thought of receiving anything in return.

Her name should be Peggy Ad-Meirs.

— Joyce Bashara Horizons 2017

UNSUNG HEROES

Valerie Wurn, of Osceola Four years ago, Valerie lost her dad and she became a caregiver for her mom. Three years ago, her brother was in an accident and had a closed head injury. Valerie became his caregiver too.

Doctors then discovered Rex had lung cancer.

Valerie kept her sanity and humor while providing care to her mom and brother, who are doing great.

— Pam Montgomery

Chuck Timmons, of Dowagiac

I

am writing you to nominate Chuck Timmons of Dowagiac, Michigan, as one of your “Unsung Heroes.” I wholeheartedly support Mr. Timmons for any award and can think of nobody more deserving. Chuck’s involvement with the Dowagiac Area History Museum goes back to the early 2000s. When the local history museum was located on the campus of Southwestern Michigan College. Throughout the years, he has been on the museum advisory committee and helped with events and exhibit construction.

Since 2012, however, Chuck Timmons has been an indispensable colleague. In fact, it would not be a stretch to say that the Dowagiac Area History Museum would not be the institution it is without Mr. Timmons.

At that time, the decision was made to move the museum from Southwestern Michigan College to the City of Dowagiac with a reduced staff (from six employees to one). The City of Dowagiac undertook a major renovation project to house the museum and I was tasked with moving the museum in 10 months — it could not have been done without Chuck.

Chuck and other volunteers helped close the old museum and set up the museum in the new facility. During the transition, I estimated that Mr. Timmons volunteered more than 500 hours of his time to the project, in addition to his role as chair of the advisory committee. He helped move exhibit cabinets and artifacts, served as a needed advisor, helped with the installation of exhibits and made himself available anytime I needed him.

As the only staff person for the Dowagiac

Horizons 2017

Area History Museum, I rely upon volunteers to help me with many tasks — no volunteer is as reliable as Chuck Timmons. Since opening in 2013, he has helped me with many projects and, if a family emergency arises, Chuck can help me staff the museum. He helps with events, planning and is an invaluable advisor to me.

Another of Chucks’s contributions to the museum was his work on the second floor renovation project in 2015. When the museum opened in 2013, we had renovated the ground floor and basement with plans to raise funds to renovate the second floor. The project moved forward in late 2014 with the start of construction. For that project, Chuck Timmons built mobile wall units, helped move artifacts from storage, constructed exhibit displays and provided invaluable assistance in other areas.

I conservatively estimate that Chuck Timmons volunteered at least 800 hours of his time to the second floor renovation project in 2015 alone — it would not have been completed without his hard work.

In addition to his work for the museum, he organizes the Memorial Day Parade with the Free and Accepted Masons, helps with area blood drives, volunteers his time to other organizations and helps transport friends who need assistance. Chuck Timmons is a truly amazing person in the Dowagiac community and he has been invaluable for me at the museum.

He likes to do his work under the radar and will probably give me a hard time for nominating him, but he is deserving of accolades from his local community.

— Steve Arseneau

Pat and Gerry Tavernier, of Niles

P

at and Gerry are always helping others and working to improve the community. They are active members of the Lions Club.

They are active members of the Presbyterian Church. Pat quilts every year for the women’s salad smorgasbord. Jerry works for all the church’s fundraising activities.

He also helps build ramps for people with disabilities, through the Lions. This couple does much more, but avoids the spotlight.

— Michele Black

Shirley Grooms, of Niles Shirley is now in her 70s and still continues to care for her wheelchair-bound daughter, Tania.

Shirley deals with Tania’s various medical problems, equipment breakdowns, numerous doctor appointments, daily exercises and now has her own medical concerns. All the while, she tries to be positive.

—Pam Montgomery

Gerry and Tammy Long, of Niles They are willing to do anything for our church.

Once a month, the Longs and others organize a meal for our seniors. Afterwards, they clean up.

They also pick up and take out seniors of our church to a meal at different restaurants every month. They are good to the seniors who cannot get out. If they need anything, they get it for them.

— Nellie Prince 87

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Worship Trinity Episcopal Church Worship Sunday at 10 a.m.

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For All Your Wheelchair Needs 7 Days A Week

Since 1977 • www.medic1ambulance.org

Niles (269) 684-6400

St. Joseph - Clinical Research Site (269) 428-3300 www.greateyecare.com

South Haven (800) 424-2393

HEALTHY LIVING STARTS HERE

FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT TM FOR HEALTHY LIVING FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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Niles-Buchanan YMCA

905 N. Front St. • Niles • 269-683-1552 • www.nb-ymca.org

Real estate LOUX & HAYDEN REALTY

0 years Over 3 g the servin nity! commu

Brian: 269-362-4029 Debbie: 269-362-2599

Debbie & Brian Floor

REALTORS®, ABR, GRI, e-PRO

Debbie@DebbieFloor.com 1501 S. 11th St. H Niles, MI 49120

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Farm • Residential • Commerical • Lake

Susan Loux

Certified Residential Appraiser License # 1201002510

125 S. Broadway Cassopolis, MI 49031

Office: 269/445-2633 Fax: 269/445-8293 Toll Free: 269/545-2633 wloux@louxhaydenrealty.com

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Senior living

Compassionate Home Care Services Home Care - Private Duty Staffing Expert Healthcare Consultants Offering Your Parent:

• Independence • Quality of Life • Wide Range of Support Services • Well Trained Assistance • Socialization

269-684-1984 574-292-2900 email: KKaidanRay@aol.com kmkaiden@aol.com www.KAREService.com www.kareservice.com

Family Serving Families with Compassion & Care

Delivered ay Monday–Frid

5

$ 00

per day

y - Friday. livered Monda Meals are de ls per day. y for two mea $5.00 per da

Call 269-687-1462 A grade above the rest!

Services available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Home Health Care & Staff Relief 1125 E. Milham Ave., Suite A, Kalamazoo, MI (269) 383-9112 (800) 531-0272

1211 State Line Rd., Niles, MI

269.684.2810 We specialize in skilled nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, hospice, memory/dementia care, wound care and rehabilitation care.

911 S. 3rd St., Niles, MI 269.684.4320 We Keep Memories Alive Our communities are thoughtfully designed to cater to the unique needs and demands of today’s seniors.

Our care programs are designed specifically for each individual, providing the highest level of service when it’s most needed.

As your needs change, we change with you. It is our privilege and honor to share in life’s journey.

Call us today for your personal tour!

269.782.5300 29601 Amerihost Dr • Dowagiac, MI 49047

leisure-living.com

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United Way fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community.

UNITED WE WIN LIVE UNITED

Wanna Get In The Game?

Visit us at www.uwsm.org 100

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Automotive Directory.............................................................89 Division Tire & Battery..........................................................6 Tyler Automotive..............................................................30 & 89

APARTMENTS & REAL ESTATE

Apartments Directory.............................................................95 Mill Pond Apartments............................................................55 Real Estate Directory.............................................................98 Cressy & Everett.....................................................................23

CHURCHES & MINISTRIES

5 Pine Ministries.....................................................................83 Church & Ministries Directory.............................................94 New Day Community Church.......................................38 & 94

COMMUNITY BUSINESS

Berrien County Sheriff’s Department...................................56 Bunk & Biscuit..................................................................54 & 92 Cass District Library..................................................................6 The Cat’s Meow...............................................................54 & 92 City of Dowagiac.......................................................................14 Niles-Buchanan YMCA..................................................75 & 98 Niles District Library................................................................76 Niles Main Street............................................................76 Painted Gaits Farm..........................................................54 & 92 United Way of Southwest Michigan.................................100 Years in Business Directory....................................................88

EDUCATION

Brandywine Community Schools...........................................72 Buchanan Community Schools..........................................103 Dowagiac Union Schools......................................................38 Edwardsburg Public Schools.................................................51 Indiana University South Bend..............................................41 Lake Michigan College..............................................................3 Niles Community Schools.........................................................2 Southwestern Michigan College.........................................53 Western Michigan University................................................79

FINANCIAL SERVICES

1st Source Bank......................................................................37 Chemical Bank.........................................................................79 Dowagiac Area Federal Credit Union....................................29 Edward Jones..........................................................................14 Four Flags Area Credit Union...............................................83

FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT

The Boulevard Inn & Bistro............................................82 Buchanan Farmer’s Market...........................................76 Cottage Inn Gourmet Pizza...........................................29 Fernwood Botanical Gardens.......................................79 Food & Fun Director.......................................................93 Four Flags Area Apple Festival......................................83 Pizza Transit...........................................................33 & 93 Silver Beach Pizza..........................................................21 The Mendel Center at Lake Michigan College............72 Zick’s Specialty Meats....................................................6

HOME IMPROVEMENT

Big C Lumber............................................................4 & 88 Cass Outdoor Power......................................................29 Christianson Furniture....................................................23 & 88

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Flo-N-Grow Hydroponics Company.......................................83 GreenMark Equipment ..........................................................83 Hales True Value Hardware....................................................52 Hannapel Home Center............................................................14 Home Improvement Directory.....................................90 & 91 Johnson’s Workbench...................................................14 & 88 Judd Lumber Building Supply & Rental Center...................55 Lush Garden.............................................................................56

UTILITIES

AmeriGas..........................................................................37 & 88 City of Niles Utilities Department........................................102 J&H Oil Company....................................................................30 Midwest Energy Cooperative...............................................104

MEDICAL

Dr. Richard Beckermeyer, DDS, P.C............................21 & 98 Cassopolis Family Clinic Network........................................32 Great Lakes Eye Care.....................................................49 & 98 Health & Wellness Directory...............................................98 Niles Vision Clinic ...............................................................41 Wheelchair Express .............................................................................14 & 98

BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS

Best of the Best Directory...............................................92 Business Professionals Directory................................96 & 97

HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES

Dowagiac Heating & Air Conditioning.................................56 S.A.M.S. Heating.....................................................................72 Williams A-1 Expert Tree Service..........................................76

INSURANCE

Cindy McCall, AAA Insurance Agency.........................76 Insurance Management Service........................38 & 88 Lorie Bowers, State Farm Insurance . ........................55 Kemner Iott Benz..................................................30 & 96 Scott Stewart, State Farm Insurance...........................55

LEGAL

May Oberfell Lorber Attorneys.......................................6

WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Southeast Berrien County Landfill.....................79 & 97

RETAIL

Allegan Antique Market..........................................................76 Antiques & Auctions Directory..............................................89 Bella’s Gifts & Memories........................................................79 The Dugout Sporting Goods....................................................6 East Main Gardens Florist & Greenhouses......................55

SENIOR LIVING

Affordable Hearing.................................................................76 Brown Funeral Home & Cremation Services....................33 Buchanan Meadows.......................................................21 & 99 Cass County Council on Aging..............................................56 Halbritter Wickens Funeral Services...................................41 Help at Home...........................................................................84 Riveridge Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center ..................23 Senior Living Directory..........................................................99 West Woods of Niles Nursing Center.....................37 & 99

advertising directory

AUTOMOTIVE

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We’re more than linemen, propane service techs, fiber installers, and customer care reps.

We are Faces of Michiana

A family of employees doing great things to create vibrant, relevant and sustainable local communities.

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TeamMidwest.com

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