Four Bison basketball players commit to colleges

from June 2, 2022

Schedule of events released for ‘Author! Author!’ gathering

On Saturday, June 11, Friends of New Troy Community Center will provide area authors and the public an opportunity to meet, mingle, and learn at Gather & Author! Author!

Several authors will be on hand to present, sign, and discuss their books. Presentations, a reading, and a workshop will also be offered.

The event will kick off a fundraising effort to renovate the New Troy Community Center’s lending library, which coincidentally holds a small but growing collection of books by local authors.

The schedule of presentations is as follows: 10:30 a.m.— Writing Local History

Elaine Thomopoulos will draw on her experiences authoring “Images of America: St. Joseph and Benton Harbor,” “Legendary Locals: St. Joseph and Benton Harbor” and “Resorts of Berrien County.” She will take you through the entire process from motivation to researching, writing, editing, and marketing, offering helpful hints based on failures as well as successes. 11:30 a.m. — Be Your Own Publisher

Charley McKelvy will explain why self-publishing is the writer’s best friend in 2022. He will show you how to produce, publicize and ship your own books. All will be revealed. Dunery Press, which Charles founded with his wife in 1988, has self-published more than 40 titles, including, “Chicagoland,” “Holy Orders,” “Kids in the Woods,” and “Plays with Fire.” 12:30 p.m. — Reading & Discussion

Chandra Blumberg will read from her debut novel, “Digging Up Love,” and discuss the writing process, including inspiration, setting and characters, with a follow-up Q&A session. You will also learn about her upcoming July release, “Stirring Up Love.”

Other participating authors include Jan Ackerson, “Stolen Postcards;” Lisa Dawn, “The Adventures of Raffee and Jabari;” Lorraine Oman Hanover, “My Name is Grace;” Cherisse M. Havlicek, “Anna at Last;” Charles Osgood, “Dutch Love;” Denise McGowan Tracy, “Eleanor’s Very Merry Christmas Wish;” and Ed Tracy, “Gorilla in the Room and Other Stories.”

A light lunch will be available in the gymnasium at noon. The gathering will include a drawing to win a locally authored book or locally handcrafted bookmark.

Sponsored by Friends of New Troy, Red Arrow Roasters, and Center of the World Woodshop, this event is free to the public.

The Friends of New Troy Community Center is located at 13372 California Road, in New Troy. For more information, please visit www.friendsofnewtroy. org or call 269-426-3909.

Friends of New Troy is a non-profit 501(c)3 committed to “Building a community one neighbor at a time.” — STAFF

REPORTS

SPORTS

From the Bleachers

COLUMN BY KURT MARGGRAF IN CHICAGO

Happy week after Memorial

Day. Hope everyone took a moment and reflected on all of the brave souls who have fought so valiantly to keep our country free. Most of us have had friends and/or family who have sacrificed so much, some even their lives, to keep our country free. While things in our country are not perfect by any means, the fact that we can gather together and discuss issues of great importance that we have different opinions about, allows us to maintain hope for the future.

When I spend too much time watching the news and reading about the atrocities going on here and around the world, it seems that things have never been this bad. While having a discussion with family members recently, I was reminded of 1968.

I was in college at the time and while I wasn’t political back then, I certainly sympathized with the young people in Chicago who were protesting during the democratic national convention. Mayor Daley issued the infamous order to shoot to kill the protesters. Vietnam was raging and the young people in our country were being asked to go fight in a war for reasons that they really didn’t understand. I remember talking with friends and pondering whether or not we should bring children into this world. As divided as we seem to be right now, fifty two years ago things seemed just as bad, if not worse.

While all of this is happening, sometimes we are lucky enough to be able to take a break and watch a sporting event. Boston will be taking on Golden State for the NBA Championship, the Chicago Bears organized team activities are going so well that Bears fans are starting to have some hope for the upcoming season, and the Cubs and White Sox are both under performing. The White Sox are so good that they’ll probably start playing better soon, and the Cubs are a year away from competing at the highest level.

Unrelated to sports, I’m sorry to report on the loss of a friend and a great member of the New Buffalo community, Sophe Fatouros. Sophe and her husband Nick raised two fine young men, Dino and Alex. She was the loving, and loved, Mother-in-law of Kristin, and the extraordinary Yia Yia to Sophia, Niko, Gus, and Alex. Sophe and Nick owned and operated the old Log Cabin restaurant that we frequented when my family first arrived in the New Buffalo area in 1980.

She was always ready to help a friend or family member. She loved her original home town of Vliho on the island of Lefkada, Greece, and when she got the chance, loved to visit and reunite with friends and family. Sophe took great pride in her children’s and grandchildren’s accomplishments and was always there to lend a helping hand or words of encouragement. She passed away peacefully, in her sleep, last week and by now she’s in heaven with her husband Nick.

Emily Dickinson said, “Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality.”

Be careful out there. Talk to you next week. Peace, love, and happiness.

Four Bison basketball players commit to colleges

Four members from this year’s stellar New Buffalo High School basketball team have signed letters of intent to play in college.

Mark Shaw, Zack Forker and Anthony Anderson have committed to play at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point.

Jeremiah Mitchell is taking his game to Southwest Michigan College in Dowagiac.

New Buffalo High School Athletic Director Matt Johnson said it shows what hard work can do for a student athlete from a small school.

“If you’re willing to put in the time and the effort and put yourself out there good things can happen. That’s what these four young men did,” he said.

Head Coach Nate Tripp described Anderson, who transferred to New Buffalo before the start of the season, as a tremendous three point shooter and defender.

“You could trust him to guard any player on the court,” he said.

The 6’9” Forker was on the varsity squad for two years.

BY STAN MADDUX

Tripp said he was easily the most improved player this season and was recruited by several schools because of his ability to score on the inside and stretch defenses with his outside shooting.

“Zack is a very talented and gifted offensive player,” he said.

Tripp said Shaw was in charge of setting up plays and setting the tone for the team’s aggressive style of offense and defense.

He said Shaw was also unselfish in giving up what he wanted to do on the court for what was best for the team.

“I hardly ever called plays because Mark was out there leading the floor,” he said.

Shaw, who scored just shy of 700 points during his three years at the varsity level, was also highly sought after by other colleges, Tripp said.

Mitchell was a two-year member of the varsity squad.

Tripp said Mitchell wasn’t sure what to do on the court sometimes when he first arrived in New Buffalo as a junior but always had plenty of speed and other physical abilitie

However, he said Mitchell, the team’s defensive player of the year, became more knowledgeable with experience and dominating on both sides of the court.

Mitchell often wound up in double digits in games for points, rebounding and assists.

“Every single game whether he was scoring nine points or 30 points, he was filling up the stats sheet in some way,” Tripp said.

Johnson said four kids from one team going on to play in college in New Buffalo is kind of historic.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had four in one signing,” he said.

The Bison advanced to the Class D regional finals and finished the season at 22-2.

The team was also No. 1 ranked statewide in Class D for several weeks of the season and in the top 10 nationwide for averaging more than 80 points a game.vvv