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Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Marc Holland performs “Arriving at Acceptance” at the Big Hearts for Seniors annual fundraiser Tuesday May 17.
Storytellers share “Journey” narratives at U-M Medicine Big Hearts for Seniors’ annual fundraiser TINA YU
Daily Staff Reporter
Big Hearts for Seniors celebrated its 17th anniversary and held its annual fundraiser in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre Tuesday night. This year’s fundraiser, “Big Hearted Stories: Journeys,” included a live performance featuring five storytellers, who each shared personal stories surrounding the theme of the night: “journey.” Big Hearts for Seniors is a collection of five programs administered through Michigan Medicine — Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels, Housing Bureau for Seniors, Osher Lifelong
Learning Institute, Silver Club Memory Programs and Turner Senior Wellness Program — to support and serve seniors in the community. Since 2006, various events by Big Hearts for Seniors have raised over a total of $500,000. The emcee and guest speaker of the night was Public Health professor Victor Strecher. In his performance titled “Life on Purpose: How Living for What Matters Most Changes Everything,” Strecher shared a story about his high school dance and what he has learned since then. “I learned that all the people I wanted to be, I now don’t want to be,” Strecher said. “And a lot of the people
who were kind of geeks and nerds and misfits ended up being pretty interesting people that I really enjoy, and still do.” Strecher also stressed the importance of respect between partners and repeated the message he gave to students at Frankfort High School’s 2021 commencement. “As you start going through life and you find somebody, make sure that that person sees this light in your eyes, sees this special thing about you and helps build that and doesn’t try to denigrate it,” Stretcher said. “Because if they’re talking down to you or denigrating you or making you feel bad, run away.“
Published playwright Marc Holland spoke on a series of events in his life that he either accepted or refused to accept in his performance “Arriving at Acceptance.” Through an anecdote about the time he drove his truck into his garage door, Holland explored what acceptance is. “What I learned was anger will not talk about that accident and would dare you to bring it up,” Holland said. “Acceptance call their homeowner’s insurance and was told ‘Of course, we’ll cover that. That’s why you have homeowner’s insurance.’ Anger will look at paint transfers on my opened garage door every morning and just curse the day, but acceptance took a
pile of rags and toothpaste and rubbed all that paint away.” Bill Krieger, the veterans affairs program manager for Consumers Energy, also spoke at the fundraiser. As a retired army captain, Krieger monitors the well-being of the veterans his company hires as they return to the civilian world. In his performance “Destination Unknown,” Krieger talked about the mental hardships he has faced following his return from Iraq and the experiences that led him to his current job. Krieger said he believes mental health is a continuous journey.
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ANN ARBOR
Extended social district, block closures shift Ann Arbor downtown experience CHEN LYU
Daily Staff Reporter
In June 2020, three months after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the “Stay Home, Stay Safe, Save Lives” executive order, Ann Arbor joined a growing group of municipalities implementing temporary street closures to enable physical distancing for
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downtown restaurants and retailers. Ann Arbor City Councilmember Ali Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, who is also the owner of Jerusalem Garden, said his experience running a local business motivated him to work on the initial street closure agenda. “We talked to police and Washtenaw County health officials to create a safe area Follow The Daily on Instagram, @michigandaily
for people to come downtown,” Ramlawi said. “Equally important is to help businesses stay alive. Since people couldn’t dine-in, we wanted to set up outdoor sittings to the extent permissible.” The street closures instituted for last summer were temporarily suspended in November. On March 21, the City Council passed a resolution announcing the return of street closures. The return of
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street closures not only allows city officials and downtown merchants to be prepared for renewed pandemic restrictions, wwbut also creates a testing ground for a more lively downtown area as the city moves past the pandemic. The Michigan Daily spoke to Ann Arbor community members about the impacts of the revival of this policy on small businesses, community engagement and
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Vol. CXXX, No. 78 ©2022 The Michigan Daily
potential issues with accessibility. Ann Arbor’s social district was first introduced in November 2021 as the area of the city containing all block closures to allow people to walk around with open alcoholic beverages. An April 18 City Council resolution extended the social district’s operational hours.
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