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NORTHERN MICHIGAN’S WEEKLY • march 5 - march 11, 2018 • Vol. 28 No. 10

2 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

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Michigan Pol’s Gun Control Report Card Inspired by the Enough is Enough students from Parkland, Florida, I want to provide some information from VoteSmart on how the NRA grades the politicians who represent us.

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow: F U. S. Senator Gary Peters: D Michigan Senator Wayne Schmidt: A+ Probable Candidate for Michigan Governor Bill Schutte: A Candidate for Michigan Governor: Gretchen Whitmer: F Ann Krantz, Traverse City Alternative Plan for Educators Teachers, consider this while moving around a school building with a handgun while an active shooter situation exists. A six-shot revolver has virtually no chance against an assault rifle with a 30-shot magazine. When the S.W.A.T. team arrives and sees you with a gun, you become a target. Here is some advice: Get a list of phone numbers of parents in your district who belong to the NRA. These are the people who think that the right to own

an assault weapon is more important than the right children have to a safe school. In the event that a “bad guy with a gun” is shooting at their kids, call them and say we need some “good guys with a gun” as soon as possible.

Terry Frysinger, Frankfort Gun Control Convo Like many other Americans, I’m horrified by the recent shootings in Florida and the enormous number of innocent lives lost and traumatized by gun violence every day. We are encouraged to listen to those who support the status quo, which includes easy access to assault weapons. In an attempt to reach out to the other side, I engaged in the following conversation with a gentleman outside the Traverse City library, who was collecting ballot signatures for a candidate for governor.

Man: Are you registered to vote in Michigan?

Me: Yes I am. But before I sign the petition, I’d like to know a little more about your candidate. How does he feel about banning automatic and semi-automatic weapons? We did have a ban against them, but it expired in 2004.

Man: I’ll bet you didn’t know that the Florida school shooter used a handgun! He didn’t use an assault weapon!

Me: (aghast) Where did you read that?

Man: In the paper.

Me: What paper? (I sincerely wanted to know.)

Man: I don’t know. Can’t remember. You can Google it!

Me: Has it been reported on TV? Man: Well ... I don’t watch much of that … fake news, you know.

Me: Well, I guess we can’t continue this conversation. Good afternoon!

As long as we’re living in wildly separate realities, there’s no chance we’ll ever be able to discuss, let alone agree, on anything.

Penelope Fox Parkin, Frankfort

Trump Myths Trump would like his followers to believe that the Democrats will alter or eliminate the Second Amendment. Article V of the Constitution requires two-thirds of both houses of Congress to propose an amendment, or two-thirds of the states to call a national Constitutional Convention.

Either of the methods is highly unlikely.

Then ratification of proposed amendment requires three-fourths of the state legislatures for approval or three-fourths of specially called state conventions for approval. This process is also very unlikely to change the Second Amendment. With more Republicans in Congress, all you will get is more assault rifles, bump stocks, or large-capacity magazines.

Another Trump myth is “clean coal.” By its nature, coal contains a small percentage of sulfur, so when you burn coal you not only get carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide but also sulfur dioxide. The latter produces acid rain when it gets into the moist atmosphere.

The term “clean coal” was popularized by the coal industry in 2008 when Congress was considering climate change legislation.

The term is deliberately vague. The coal industry uses a process called “carbon capture” where the gas is mixed with water and other chemicals and then pumped underground into nearby oil fields to extract hard-to-reach crude oil. This process is costly and complex, and some companies have abandon the process.

Companies have resisted releasing information about what other chemicals are used in this slurry that is pumped underground. Even a coal power plant that emits fewer pollutants is a far dirtier way of producing electricity than natural gas, nuclear, wind, or solar. Trump plays to his base.

CONTENTS features Crime and Rescue Map......................................7

Kalkaska Murder Mystery.................................10 Centre Street Cafe........................................12 Downsizing.................................................13 A New Life Abroad...........................................14 Sally Manke.............................................17 Helping Haiti.....................................................18 Wildflower Crusaders.....................................22 Northern Seen...................................................24

dates...............................................25-27 music FourScore......................................................30 Nightlife.........................................................31

columns & stuff Top Ten...........................................................4

Spectator/Stephen Tuttle....................................6 Opinion.............................................................8 Weird...............................................................9 The Reel...........................................................28 Modern Rock/Kristi Kates................................29 Advice Goddess...........................................32 Crossword...................................................33 Freewill Astrology.........................................33 Ron Dykstra, Beulah Classifieds...................................................34

Kachadurian Refreshing It was very refreshing to read the opinion page written by Thomas Kachadurian in the Feb. 19 Northern Express. Typically, when I open the Express, the opinion pages are mostly all one sided in opinion.

I appreciated reading one that was from a differing point of view that was thoughtfully and intelligently written. Please include more like this piece in the future!

Melea Bulkley, Petoskey Let’s Be Adults About This I am appalled. The news about Stoneman Douglas High School gets worse as each day passes. Let me ask you a question: Whatever happened to caring for our children? The most defenseless people in our society besides the elderly. Why are we not protecting them? How has our society devolved to this point? Why do we place self-interest above the safety of children?

There were warning signs given to the FBI and the local police force about the shooter.

Indeed, due to the lack of inaction, the gunman was able to enter Parkland and start shooting innocent students. How did officers respond? Oh — they didn’t.

They cowered outside the school waiting for the gunfire to stop. Is this how we treat children? Really? I would like to let our local public safety people know that if there are any of you who would react in the same manner, please raise your hand now, because as the parent of a child that attends a local school, I’m going in. I have no respect for those who would not protect innocent children. The Parkland football coach who protected students by putting himself at risk paid the ultimate price while local

Northern Express Weekly is published by Eyes Only Media, LLC. Publisher: Luke Haase 129 E Front Traverse City, MI Phone: (231) 947-8787 Fax: 947-2425 email: info@northernexpress.com www.northernexpress.com Executive Editor: Lynda Twardowski Wheatley Finance & Distribution Manager: Brian Crouch Sales: Kathleen Johnson, Lisa Gillespie, Katy McCain, Mike Bright, Michele Young, Randy Sills, Todd Norris For ad sales in Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Boyne & Charlevoix, call (231) 838-6948 Creative Director: Kyra Poehlman Distribution: Matt Ritter, Randy Sills, Kathy Twardowski, Austin Lowe Listings Editor: Jamie Kauffold Contributing Editor: Kristi Kates Reporter: Patrick Sullivan Contributors: Amy Alkon, Janice Binkert, Ross Boissoneau, Rob Brezsny, Anna Faller, Jennifer Hodges, Michael Phillips, Steve Tuttle, Meg Weichman Copyright 2017, all rights reserved. Distribution: 36,000 copies at 600+ locations weekly. Northern Express Weekly is free of charge, but no person may take more than one copy of each weekly issue without written permission of Northern Express Weekly. Reproduction of all content without permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Continued on page 6

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 3

this week’s

top ten Neahtawanta Goes “CSI” You’ve heard of “community supported agriculture” where members buy into a share of a farm’s harvest. A longtime Old Mission Peninsula inn operator has applied the concept to hospitality.

The Neahtawanta Inn has become the Neahtawantah Community Supported Inn and is accepting memberships for guests who want discounts and the first crack at reservations. It’s a novel business model that might be one of a kind.

“I think I made it up,” said owner Sally Van Vleck. “It was a steep learning curve the first year. I mean, I think people didn’t get on board or understand it the way I sort of intended it.”

Van Vleck is making adjustments and working out the kinks.

Neahtawanta has never been a typical bed and breakfast. Rather, it’s part-yoga retreat and part oasis for likeminded guests or organizations looking for a peaceful atmosphere and a retreat into nature.

That doesn’t mean guests undergo a political litmus test, however, Van Vleck said.

“It’s not like everybody has to agree with me politically,” she said.

For more information, visit Neahtawanta’s website or call (231) 290-5040.

2 tastemakers

ASF WHOLE SEED MUSTARD

It’s not too early to start thinking about Easter menus, and when it comes to versatility in the kitchen, American Spoon Foods’ Whole Seed Mustard is the Swiss army knife of condiments.

Dubbed “the caviar of mustards” by its creators, its yellow and black seeds are plumped with local L. Mawby sparkling wine, giving it a unique taste and pleasantly silky pop in your mouth — like caviar. It fairly begs to be featured on your holiday table, as a marinade or glaze for ham or roast salmon, as a garnish for deviled eggs, incorporated into festive appetizers or cured meat and cheese platters, spread on a grilled sandwich — it’s bound to become a pantry staple year round. Recipes can be found online at spoon.com, or for a free taste and even more ideas, visit the original American Spoon store at 411 Lake Street in Petoskey, (231) 3471739, or branches in Harbor Springs, Charlevoix, or Traverse City. $12.95.

4 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

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Momix

Under the direction of Moses Pendleton, internationally known dancer-illusionists MOMIX bring Opus Cactus, a show with dynamic images of cactuses, slithering lizards and fire dancers, to Corson Auditorium, Interlochen Center for the Arts on Thurs., March 8 at 7:30pm. Tickets: $37, $42. tickets.interlochen.org

4

Hey, read it!

“Need to Know”

by Karen Cleveland

Vivian Miller is a dedicated counterintelligence analyst for the CIA, assigned to an elite team tasked with sniffing out Russian sleeper cells and their handlers inside the U.S. On the heels of a much-needed promotion, Vivian in is thrilled when she’s given the OK to hack into the computer of a possible Russian operative. But what she discovers brings her entire life into question: a photo of her IT-tech husband, Matt, in a well-hidden subfolder of deep-cover agents. With the click of a mouse, everything Vivian ever thought she could trust now hangs by a thread, and she’s forced to make a choice that could cost her her marriage, her career, and maybe even her life. Espionage and spy novel fans, this one’s for you. A February Staff Pick at Saturn Booksellers in Gaylord, “Need to Know” couples all of the twisty, turn-y, keep-you-guessing goodness of an action thriller with the character and pluck of an author who has lived it all herself.

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raising spirits.

That’s a number you can toast to.

That ’s the Power of Michigan Co-ops.™

6

Gaylord Says No to Medical Marijuana

A northern Michigan city that was once crowded with medical marijuana dispensaries has decided to get out of that business.

The Gaylord city council voted 5–2 Feb. 26 to opt out of the state’s medical marijuana licensing laws, said City Manager Joseph Duff, meaning businesses in that industry cannot operate there. Duff said the vote followed comments from nine individuals: six in support of medical marijuana and three against it.

“I don’t know the actual reasons why” the members voted the way they did, Duff said. “A few of them indicated that they felt that, in their conversations with residents, the community didn’t support it.”

Under an earlier medical marijuana licensing regime, the city was a hotbed of marijuana shops. That led to a crackdown after courts declared the dispensary model illegal, leading to several highly publicized police raids.

Make and Take … And Then Make More

things we love Foster Grandparents Are you 55 years old or better?

Got a lotta love in your heart — and 20 hours a week to spare?

There’s a kid in your community who hopes to call you Grandma or Grandpa. The Senior Volunteer Programs of Northwest Michigan, which covers 10 counties, is on the lookout for folks to join its Foster Grandparents program. After a 40hour orientation, each grandparent volunteer is paired up with a local kid in need and visits at least once a week, usually at school, a Head Start center, or other community location. In thanks for the love, fun, and support these foster grandparents offer, they get an hourly non-taxable stipend, transportation reimbursement, ongoing training, and more — most notably, a life-enhancing relationship with a youngster who could use some old-school smarts and kindness in her life. Prefer to hang with someone your own age? SVP’s Senior Companion program pairs you up with an elderly pal eager for some social interaction. For more information, call (800) 658-8554 or search Senior Volunteer Programs of NWMI on Facebook.

MIFiberShed has an admirable claim to fame — it gives fiber nine lives before the landfill. And Monday, March 12, it’s devoting a hefty pile of upholstery-style fabric, canvas, and denim to the incarnation of a pocketed market bag. The basic machine-sewing workshop, happening in the Grow Benzie Maker Space, is for absolute beginners, and all materials will be provided. Sewers can arrive anytime between 3pm and 8pm and expect to spend two to four hours (based on experience level) creating; RSVPs to (231) 399-0098 are required. Got other ideas for giving old fabric new life? Help yourself to a sewing machine in the MakerSpace anytime during MIFiberShed open hours — Mondays from noon to 7pm and Saturdays from 9am to 4pm. All you need, organizers say, is your imagination. (But a $5 donation sure helps.) Find the Grow Benzie Maker space 1 mile west of the Benzonia stoplight at 5885 Frankfort Highway (M-115) or MIFiberShed on Facebook.

8 Join us for

Chris Smith Live in Concert

March 14 at 6 p.m.

Open to the Public RSVP (231) 408-3385 Senior Living 4354 Mt. Hope Rd., Williamsburg

bottoms up SNOW BLOSSOMS MARTINI Pining for snow, but somehow weary of the winter cold? Red Ginger bartender Jeremy Trick has a remedy for both with his Snow Blossoms Martini. This delicious, rosy cheekhued chiller is as refreshing as a brisk day on the slopes, but you’ll be sipping it in the warm atmosphere of the bar or dining room of one of Traverse City’s top restaurants. The unique blend of East meets West features Japanese Tōzai Blossoms of Peace plum wine (aromas of ripe green plums, almonds, and dried apricots) and Snow Maiden sake (juicy honeydew melon aromas), pomegranate purée, house-made lemongrass simple syrup, Leelanau Peninsula’s M. Lawrence sparkling “Sex” dry rosé, and a twist of lime. It’s like nothing you’ve ever tasted. Not too sweet, not too sour, with just the right amount of fruit and effervescence, it offers delightful drinking on its own but also pairs well with sushi or any of the restaurant’s other Asian fare. $10 at Red Ginger, 237 East Front St., Traverse City. (231) 944-1733. eatatginger.com

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 5

letters Continued from page 3

police cowered outside. I’m appalled at our behavior as “adults.” We need to protect our children above all else. They truly are our future, and it is our responsibility to make sure they have one.

Tom Speers, Fife Lake Women, Take Responsibility to Change Hope is an interesting word. I hope I win the lottery. I hope everyone likes me. That being said, I have a hard time with Christie Minervini’s Feb. 19 opinion column, “Tipped Wages Set the Table for Sexual Harassment.”

Minervini says she’s “hopeful that we are at an important turning point.” What turning point? According to her [column], women who experience harassment and/or abuse choose to downplay, ignore, accept, or tolerate it. Minervini states in her personal history that she thought it was the way things were done and kept her mouth shut.

Sexual harassment is everywhere, not just in Hollywood or the restaurant industry.

Women are making these actions acceptable by keeping quiet and doing nothing.

I lost my first job because I wouldn’t do what my boss wanted. I was 17. It’s amazing how powerful “No,” or “Don’t do that” (without a smile) works. I’ve had numerous opportunities in my life to say it.

I thank my father in the way he helped raise me; he taught me the most important thing to have is self-worth. Until women change what’s acceptable, nothing will change.

Diane Mix, Manton Check Your Facts, Kachadurian I originally started to write this letter in response to Tomas Kachadurian’s latest entry in the Express, “Useful Innocents.” I decided to wait until I had the time to do the necessary research, to document my opposing view on the blatantly erroneous factoids that he cites in his column about DACA (Dreamers Act) that was passed under the Obama Administration.

DESIRE VS. REALITY His reasoning why these people should be sent back to their home country is that they were born in a foreign country, typically Mexico and Central America.

The fact that they were brought here by their parents as children doesn’t matter because they are adults, Kachadurian says, now “dragged here as children in the commission of a crime.”

Here are the facts about the current status of the Dreamers: Out of the 700,000 DREAMers in America, 240,000 DREAMers are enrolled in college. Many of those who are not in college have earned college degrees and are working as school teacher, scientist, computer technicians, etc. As a matter of fact, the current CEO of Microsoft, whom is credited with revitalizing this giant in the tech world, is an immigrant from India.

He is not a dreamer but has pledged to provide legal council to DREAMers who are threatened with deportation. Satay Nadella has stopped the infighting, restored morale, and created more than $250 billion in market value at a Microsoft that in 2014 was struggling to survive. Google his name, and you will be blown away with his accomplishments.

In closing, I want to commend the Express for offering Kachadurian’s hatebased right-wing commentary on a regular basis. It gives common folks like me the chance to hopefully dispel the gobbledy goop that he spreads.

Patrick Curley, Traverse City Guns Rights vs. Right to Life We must now choose between the right of 18-year-olds to legally purchase an AR-15 military style weapon vs. the right of teenage students to survive long enough to graduate from killing fields previously known as high schools. Since it is increasingly apparent that these two rights cannot co-exist, we must now choose one. I have made my choice.

Now you make yours.

Bob Ross, Pellston

spectator by stephen tuttle Traverse City’s Twin Towers of Terror — parking and affordable housing — are once again in the headlines. Or, rather, still in the headlines.

Yet another parking study has determined that if people would just walk, bike, or take the bus downtown, that would be swell. And another developer has declared one-bedroom apartments starting at $990 a month are “affordable housing.”

What we have here is a clash between desire and reality. Reality is likely to win.

Our desire is either more downtown parking, or fewer vehicles coming into town, or some combination of both. The reality is none of it seems likely.

Another downtown parking deck won’t be much of a problem-solver, at least for about half the year, when demand far outstrips availability. Perhaps a parking deck specifically dedicated for downtown employees would make more sense, but who is going to pay for such a thing?

There simply isn’t room to create enough parking places for everyone who wants or needs one. And downtown land is now so expensive, another parking deck starts with a multimillion dollar expense before construction even begins.

That creates a debt load from the beginning. If it’s a city deck, it means yet another expansion of and increased costs for the parking wing of the DDA. That leads to the dreaded peak-hours increase in parking costs.

Please come to TC but don’t drive?

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6 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

Unless we want to substantially increase subsidies for both developers and tenants, the gap between what low- and middle-income renters can afford and what developers can afford to build and charge will widen, not narrow.

Going massively vertical won’t help much.

Downtown construction is logistically difficult, costs keep escalating, another few floors adds to costs, and the same economic realities will overwhelm our best affordablehousing intentions.

All of which, we’re scolded, leads to sprawl.

Surely there are some people who would love to live in or near downtown who find the cost

The mythical $600/month downtown apartment, which people seem to think should be a reality, is just that: a myth.

The reality is, we have a tiny, compact business district — two, if we include Old Town. Those merchants and those entities encouraging tourism and local shopping would like as many downtown visitors and shoppers as they can get.

Come Visit the Village at Grand Traverse Commons

Even with all the brownfield redevelopment money and tax increment financing districts (TIF) and payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) programs, developers still cannot provide cheap rentals. The mythical $600/ month downtown apartment, which people seem to think should be a reality, is just that: a myth.

Discouraging vehicle traffic is an honorable goal, but how do we plan to accomplish that?

Most people aren’t going to walk or bike downtown in the winter, or ever. There isn’t sufficient bus service, and we’re not likely to have the population or rider demand sufficient to justify much increased service anytime soon. Tourists will be driving into town and then downtown.

The second desire is that we’ll create affordable downtown housing. The reality is that it’s unlikely if not impossible. There is a significant divide between what potential downtown residents believe is affordable and what actually pencils out for developers.

Once again, land cost is the villain. Affordable housing built from the ground up doesn’t typically start with a multimillion-dollar payment for part of an acre. That is not atypical for downtown Traverse City.

prohibitive. But plenty of people move out or stay out of the city by choice. They prefer a more rural lifestyle and the quiet and space it provides. They don’t like the traffic and parking hassles in the city. Surrounding villages and the spaces in between aren’t where they’ve been forced to live but where they’ve chosen to live.

Close-in sprawl might actually be a solution.

Land outside the city core is much cheaper, which could translate to cheaper rents. An increased demand for bus service on the fringes of the city might expand that service, as well. Maybe.

The Bay Area Transit Authority (BATA) does a fine job, given ridership and economic realities. But they can’t expand or add routes on the hope people will climb aboard.

And it seems unlikely we’re going to fill downtown with lovely little, easily affordable apartments. It’s downright folly to believe one of the most desirable locations in the city, and the one with the single highest land costs, is a likely spot for an affordable new structure of any kind. Not to mention the political stickiness of asking taxpayers, who can’t afford to live downtown themselves, to subsidize some who will.

The solution to affordable housing is not downtown unless we’ve decided four-figure monthly rents now fit that category. No other economic model works. Nor are we likely to fix an intractable parking dilemma; there isn’t room.

An affordable place to live downtown plus plenty of parking for visitors are wonderful notions. They just aren’t reality.

Crime & Rescue POLICE: MAN ATTEMPTED MURDER A Topinabee man is accused of attempting to cut a relative’s throat and then chasing him with a rifle.

Cheboygan County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 37-year-old Adam Donald Conway on charges of attempted murder, home invasion, and assault with intent to do great bodily harm.

A man called central dispatch at 9:10pm Feb. 23 to report that a relative had come after him with a rifle and a knife on N. Straits Highway in Mullett Township. Conway allegedly became upset with the man, attempted to cut his throat, and then chased him with a rifle.

The man escaped and ran to a neighbor’s house, deputies said. When deputies arrived, they found Conway being held down by the neighbor.

Conway was arraigned on the charges Feb. 26, and he was held on $1 million bond.

MAN BUSTED FOR IN METH CASE Police arrested a 33-year-old Cadillac man after a month-long investigation into methamphetamine sales.

Traverse Narcotics Team officers arrested Richard Margetson on Feb. 26 in Wexford County on a warrant in an unrelated case; and he is expected to be charged with delivery and manufacture of meth.

Officers learned Margetson had purchased ingredients used to make meth, and they tracked him to a Haring Township residence, where he was found sitting in a van. Police arrested him on a shoplifting warrant while detectives searched his van and found meth-making materials and evidence that a meth cook was underway, according to a press release.

BRASS KNUCKLES NET PRISON A Traverse City man went back to prison and is facing new charges after a parole officer found brass knuckles in his bedroom.

The parole officer was conducting a check in January at the Peggy Lane home of Kyle Caryl Armstrong when he discovered “metallic knuckles.”

Armstrong admitted they belonged to him; a check of his phone revealed evidence that he had purchased the weapon, according to charges.

Armstrong was sent back to prison and now faces more time there, as he was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon and being an habitual offender.

The 33-year-old has at least seven prior felony convictions dating back to 2002, including breaking and entering, assault with a dangerous weapon, and malicious destruction of police or fire property.

MAN BUSTED FOR SAFECRACKING Police arrested a 37-year-old Manistee man during a home invasion investigation.

Manistee Police were investigating a burglary at a home on Harbor Point Lane when evidence led them to a suspect who now faces charges of home invasion, possession of stolen credit cards, felony firearm, and safecracking.

Following the arrest, police searched the suspect’s home on W. Parkdale Avenue, where they seized an AR-15 rifle and various items that had been reported stolen.

WOMAN TAKEN BY FIRE A 94-year-old woman died in a Traverse City house fire.

Firefighters responded to a home on Union Street at 11am Feb. 27.

by patrick sullivan psullivan@northernexpress.com

Although they quickly put out the fire, they found the body of Anita Dolly Sheren inside.

Traverse City Police said the cause of the fire was not immediately determined, but investigators did not consider it to be suspicious. The woman was alone in the house at the time.

TWO BUSTED FOR URINATION Two men were arrested for publicly relieving themselves at gas stations in separate incidents in Grand Traverse County.

Deputies responded to the Holiday gas station at South Airport and Cass roads at 4:20am Feb. 24 after a man seeking shelter from the cold became unruly and urinated inside the store in front of a clerk who called 911.

The 39-year-old Traverse City man’s act destroyed $172 worth of alcoholic beverages. He was arrested for malicious destruction of property, indecent exposure, and possession of marijuana.

Later that day, at 6:20pm, Traverse City Police arrested a 57-year-old man for relieving himself outside the Mobile gas station at Eighth and Wellington streets. That man was drunk and upset that a clerk would not sell him alcohol. He was arrested for disorderly conduct.

FATHER AND SON ARRESTED A son fled into the woods after his father interrupted his arrest and allegedly assaulted police with a shovel.

Manistee County Sheriff’s deputies pulled over 25-year-old Michael Danders at 2:45pm Feb. 23 in Norman Township to arrest him; he was wanted on a warrant. Amid the arrest, 65-year-old Joel Danders arrived in another vehicle and attacked the deputies with a snow shovel, police said.

The older man was arrested as the younger man fled into the woods while threatening to harm anyone who would arrest him.

A manhunt ensued that involved deputies, Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers, state police, Mason County Sheriff’s deputies, tribal police, the U.S Forest Service, and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.

Danders was found three hours later in a flooded cedar swamp, miles away. He had a large hunting knife, and he refused to come out of the swamp, forcing a conservation officer and a deputy to go in, pull him out, and drag him to an ambulance where he could be treated for hypothermia. Both father and son now face multiple felony charges.

DRIVER ARRESTED AFTER CRASH A 50-year-old Traverse City man was tracked down by Leelanau County Sheriff’s deputies and arrested for drunk driving after he drove his pickup through a road sign.

Someone reported a single-car crash in Suttons Bay Township Feb. 28 at 6:07pm. The caller reported that the driver of the pickup continued south on M-22 following the crash.

Deputies found the pickup on Dumas Road and arrested the driver on suspicion of operating while intoxicated with a high blood alcohol content.

Corrections officers found the 36-yearold inmate hanging in a cell shower at 8:30pm Feb. 28, and they “immediately began lifesaving efforts,” but the woman was pronounced dead.

The sheriff’s office turned the death investigation over to Traverse City Police.

If ruled a suicide, it would be the second in the jail in less than a year. In July, 41-year-old Alan Halloway took his life in the jail days after he was arrested for attempted murder.

WOMAN DIES IN GT JAIL A woman apparently hung herself in the Grand Traverse County jail.

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Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 7

For Traverse City area news and events, visit TraverseTicker.com

PICK UP, HONEY …

PLEASE PICK UP opinion

bY Mark Pontoni Feb. 15 should have been just another midwinter doldrums day. It was gray and cold in northern Michigan, and as I pulled into the school parking lot, I should have been thinking the way most teachers think about February days: Just get us some sunshine!

But Feb. 15, 2018 wasn’t just another day, and I wasn’t even sure sunshine could cure my funk. As I approached the front of the school, I reluctantly glanced toward the flagpole, knowing the half-staff reminder of Parkland, Florida, shootings would be frowning down on me. But the flag at my school was high and proudly kicking it in the breeze.

NEED A LOCAL ATTORNEY? Find one in our Attorney Directory at www.GTLABA.org

Are you an attorney but not a GTLA Bar member?

Join Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Antrim Bar Association to be in the Attorney Directory and for other benefits.

NatioNal Writers series presents a conversation with

Nikki GiovaNNi An Oprah “Living Legend” Nikki GiOvaNNi is returning to the NWs stage with a poetry collection that critics regard as her most intimate.

With guest host FLeda BrOWN - acclaimed poet, author, teacher & essayist.

Friday, March 9, 7 pM city Opera hOuse doors 6pm • Live Music, cash Bar & Morsels

Literary sponsor: FiM Group Underwriters: Paulette & Grant Parsons/Mike & claudia Delp For tickets: call city opera House 231-941-8082, ext 201 or visit nationalwritersseries.org

8 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

collective attitudes toward school shootings.

It’s not that he was incapable of caring; it was that he had no idea what we can do about it. He, like the rest of us, have come to accept that school shootings are as American as baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet.

During a very restless night I struggled with the same questions many teachers face: “What if this happened here? How would I react? Could I be the hero my students would need me to be?” I told my students later that I had actually mapped out a couple of plans to thwart a gunman. I gave them permission to laugh as I described how I

We have been collectively brainwashed into believing that the Second Amendment actually protects the rights of anyone to own any type of gun — actual words of the amendment be damned.

I figured the crew hadn’t gotten around to lowering it yet, so I would have to wait until morning announcements to share with my students and colleagues my sentiments on this latest massacre of the innocents. As the bell neared, I wondered how I would address yet another statement about another tragedy in a place connected to us only by the similarities of our circumstances. Another temple of our future — full of tomorrow’s hope on the hoof and their oft-frustrated but steady teachers — was attacked.

Moments after the bell rang, I learned which sports teams had won and which athletes had scored which points. I learned about an upcoming talent show. And then I learned just how normalized school shootings have become. Not one word about Parkland. Not one thought. Not one prayer. And then we were asked to pledge allegiance to a country whose people in power don’t seem to be bothered by rows of dead children lined up on the floor, as the only life left on their bodies — their cell phones — rang non-stop in their pockets and purses. With images in my head of distraught parents hoping against hope that their child still had the option of picking up, I was supposed to start class.

I stood in the center of the room for a few moments with my head bowed as I tried to collect myself. I don’t really remember the exact order of things. I know at some point I laid out the objectives for the class for that day, but somehow the blood of the French Revolution wasn’t dripping from the necks of Robespierre or Marie Antoinette.

All I could see in my head were those rows of students and their infernal cell phones.

So I interrupted our quest for AP World History fame and fortune long enough to ask the students how they were thinking about Parkland.

The stammering and quizzical looks were overshadowed by the body language exhibited by one normally thoughtful young man. He shrugged his shoulders. That, more than anything I had read or heard since the news of the tragedy broke, summed up our

would leap off the second floor onto the killer, or how I would use an empty bottle thrown against a wall to distract him while I rushed him from behind. Few laughed.

This was either because the connections to their colleagues in Florida was just starting to sink in, or that the thought of their aging teacher with a knee replacement and a reconstructed shoulder being their best hope for survival just wasn’t that funny.

Before returning to the non-stop pressure of meeting curriculum objectives, I asked the students to help me understand something. In at least one of my classes, my voice cracked as I asked them if they thought this is what I had signed up for.

I asked if this is what they signed up for.

What has gotten us to the place where it’s not only fantasy to suppose that on any given day we could be the target of an angry person with an automatic weapon? I admitted that my generation had screwed this up. I implored them to do better and to make sure their kids and grandkids could go back to worrying the most about what those two girls at the lunch table are whispering about.

In northern Michigan, where manhood is so often measured by the size of your gun, it’s not easy to talk about solutions to school shootings. Inevitably, we must admit that we are all victims of big money politics. We have been collectively brainwashed into believing that the Second Amendment actually protects the rights of anyone to own any type of gun — actual words of the amendment be damned. It will be days or even weeks before I can erase the images of Parkland from my dreams. If I’m lucky, I’ll have a few weeks after that before we shrug our shoulders one more time to thoughts of parents weeping as they listen to their child’s voicemail message for the 10th time in the last three minutes.

I pledge allegiance … .

You can read more of Mark Pontoni’s thoughts on education, politics, sports, and family at www.thegrumblings.com.

Wait, What?

Police in Mainz, Germany, responded to an apartment building after cries were heard from within one unit early on Feb. 17, The Associated Press reported. When they arrived, officers found two men, the 58-year-old tenant and a 61-year-old visitor, “hopelessly locked up” with a mannequin dressed as a knight and a large remotecontrolled car. The men were too drunk to explain how they had become entangled, and one officer remarked that “the whole thing would have remained a funny episode” if the younger man had not become “more than impolite.” He now faces a charge of insulting officers.

People Different From Us Metro News reported on Feb. 20 that travelers “remained silent” for 20 minutes while a fellow passenger on a Ural Airlines flight from Antalya, Turkey, to Moscow used the air vent above her seat to dry a pair of underwear. Witnesses reported that the woman showed no shame and that “everybody was looking with interest and confusion.” Debate raged later, however, after video of the woman was posted online, with one commenter speculating that “maybe the takeoff was sort of extreme, so now she has to dry those.”

Least Competent Criminals -- Shanghai, China, police posted a video on social media of two men trying to break into a business on Feb. 14 by using bricks to shatter the glass storefront. But as United Press International reported, when Suspect A’s brick bounced off the glass, he bent to retrieve it and ended up squarely in the path of Suspect B’s brick, which struck him in the head and apparently knocked him out. In the video, Suspect B can be seen dragging Suspect A away from the store. Police remarked: “If all burglars were like this, we wouldn’t need to work overtime.”

-- A drug smuggler from Brazil apparently didn’t know he was under investigation by the National Anti-Narcotics Trafficking Unit in Portugal when he arrived on a flight Feb. 12 wearing a set of false butt cheeks, filled with 2.2 pounds of cocaine, reported United Press International. The 32-year-old unidentified man was detained at the Tax and Customs Authority and searched, where his unusual derriere aroused suspicion. An accomplice, waiting for him at a Lisbon train station, was also arrested and charged with drug trafficking.

The Litigious Society Crestline, California, resident Claudia Ackley, 46, has teamed with “Discovering Bigfoot” filmmaker Todd Standing to sue the state of California, requesting on Jan. 18 that state agencies acknowledge the existence of a Sasquatch species. Ackley and her daughters, 11 and 14, say they were hiking a trail at Lake Arrowhead in March 2017 when they spotted a large figure braced in a pine tree. “I ran into a Sasquatch -- a Bigfoot. We were face to face,” Ackley told the San Bernardino Sun. Forest rangers insisted at the time that Ackley and her daughters had seen a bear, and Ackley fears that by not acknowledging the presence of the legendary creatures, the state is putting the public at risk. “People have to be warned about these things,” she said. “They are big.”

[San Bernardino Sun, 2/14/2018]

Inexplicable Firefighter Constantinos “Danny” Filippidis, 49, from Toronto, was the subject of a weeklong search by more than 250 people using drones, dogs and helicopters starting Feb. 7, when he disappeared from Whiteface Mountain ski resort in New York’s Adirondacks. When he finally turned up in California at the Sacramento International Airport on Feb. 13, he was still dressed in his ski pants and ski boots, and he still had his helmet, along with a new iPhone and a recent haircut. But, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard, Filippidis couldn’t tell officers anything about how he had traveled across the country, other than he rode in a “big-rig-style truck” and “slept a lot.” The truck dropped him off in downtown Sacramento, but he was unable to explain how he got to the airport. He was taken to an area hospital.

Compelling Explanation A woman claiming to be on a mission from God led a Kentucky State Police trooper on a chase at speeds up to 120 mph on Feb. 10, stopping only when another trooper pulled in front of her car. According to the Elizabethtown (Kentucky) News-Enterprise, Connie Lynn Allen, 52, of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, told officers that she was Mother Mary, en route to pick up Baby Jesus, and that God had given her permission to speed.

She also said that she had died six years ago.

She was charged with several offenses and is being held in Hardin County.

Awesome!

Staffers at a Bangor, Maine, day care called Watch Me Shine were happy to receive Valentine’s cookies made by a parent -- until those who ate them started to feel high. “Within 15 minutes, teachers were reporting they had concerns about those cookies,” Tiffany Nowicki, director of the center, told the Bangor Daily News. About 12 staff members felt the effects of the treats, which were confiscated by the police and are being tested. “If they find something that shouldn’t be in those cookies,” Nowicki said, “that’s a big problem and we’ll make sure it’s addressed.” The day care has instituted a new policy that no outside food can be brought in for the children or staff.

The Continuing Crisis Donna Walker of Linthwaite, England, just wanted a nice night out to celebrate her 50th birthday; she wasn’t anticipating a trip to the emergency room. Walker, along with her husband, Carlton, 45, and their two sons, was waiting for takeout food at the Atlantis restaurant in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, early on Feb. 18 when a brawl broke out. The Walkers don’t know what started the fight, but Carlton told Metro News: “When the fight spilled out of the takeaway, I said to Donna to stay inside.

When I turned round my wife was at the doorway being attacked and was covered in blood. My son was being strangled.” Donna sustained a 2-inch gash on her forehead and was bitten on the arm by the young woman who attacked her, calling for a tetanus shot and antibiotics. “I wiped my eye and saw all the blood,” Donna said. “I had no idea I had been struck.” Police were still looking for the attackers at press time.

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Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 9

Murder victim Broderick Ward.

KALKASKA MURDER MYSTERY

Is there a connection between a Kalkaska murder case and a drive-by killing two years earlier that involved a Jeep stolen from Kingsley?

By Patrick Sullivan One of the suspects in a Kalkaska County murder case — one that’s been alternately described as a botched robbery or a drug deal gone wrong — also faced questions in connection with a fatal drive-by shooting in Detroit two years earlier.

Jason Morgan faces charges of open murder and armed robbery for the November 2018 shooting death of 42-yearold Brodrick Ward, an Inkster man with a history of drug convictions.

Ward, who reportedly told family members that he was headed to northern Michigan for a fishing trip with Morgan, was allegedly shot and killed in an earlymorning confrontation with Morgan, 35, and Terrance Jordan, 36, in a rural rental house outside of Fife Lake. Jordan also faces murder and robbery charges.

Two years earlier, investigators in a Detroit homicide case questioned Morgan about a stolen car he drove downstate and lent to another man before it was used in a drive-by murder.

A JEEP DISAPPEARS The Detroit case offers a glimpse into the bizarre and dangerous world of a drug addict.

Court documents and a police report in that case describe Morgan as a heroin addict who stole a car that was later connected to the fatal drive-by in December 2015.

up Morgan to visit a friend’s house, and they had decided to spend the night there.

She told police that she discovered Morgan and her boyfriend’s vehicle were gone when she woke up the next morning but didn’t call police immediately; she thought she might be able to find the car on her own.

In the Community Corrections petition for his early release from jail, Morgan admitted that he’s struggled with cocaine and heroin addiction, and he pledged to turn his life around and to “stay working and get my driver’s license back.” He had a couple of jobs lined up, according to court documents.

That case began in Kingsley on Nov. 29, 2015, after a 33-year-old woman told police that Morgan had driven off, without permission, in a Jeep that belonged to her boyfriend. The woman told Grand Traverse County Sheriff ’s deputies that she had picked

10 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

The woman, who had left her cell phone in the car, used a find-a-phone app to check the location of the Jeep, the woman told police. She said the app revealed that the vehicle was at a Super 8 Motel in Inkster and, a short while later, that it had been moved to an apartment complex in Dearborn Heights,

according to the police report.

The woman said she attempted and failed to get help from motel staff and downstate authorities.

Finally, at 7:09pm, she called police in northern Michigan to report the stolen vehicle.

The investigator determined that the reason for the gap between when the Jeep was stolen and when it was reported was because the woman didn’t want to tell her boyfriend what had happened.

The investigator notes, “She wasn’t able to provide a phone number for her boyfriend and claimed that he was down in Bay City.”

“A PARTY-TYPE CROWD” The investigator quickly found a phone number for the Jeep’s owner and contacted him.

The boyfriend thought the whole story was suspicious, according to the police report. He didn’t know Morgan, he told investigators, but said that his girlfriend “does hang out with a party-type crowd.”

The boyfriend told the investigator that he wanted his Jeep reported stolen.

The green 2004 Jeep Cherokee was added to the Law Enforcement Information

Network as a stolen vehicle, and Inkster Police were notified.

For a few days, according to police reports, the case seems to have been put on hold.

Then on Dec. 3, someone from the Detroit Police Major Crimes Unit contacted Grand Traverse County investigators about a connection between the stolen car and a homicide. Detroit Police requested a copy of the stolen car report.

A DPD detective said the Jeep and its license plate had been identified by a witness to a drive-by shooting.

The police report described the downstate crime: “The shooter was described as a black male wearing a hoody. … The shooter had exited the stolen vehicle and approached the subject and shot the subject who then ultimately passed away from his injuries.”

At that point, Detroit detectives had more questions for Morgan and the woman who had reported the Jeep stolen. Morgan could not be located, so Grand Traverse investigators re-interviewed the woman who made the initial report.

The woman claimed that she had taken Morgan and her two children, ages 8 and 10 years old, to the friend’s house to watch movies that evening. She said that it had gotten late so they decided to stay the night. She denied that they had been doing drugs, according to the police report, even though she told investigators that she thought Morgan was a heroin addict. The woman maintained that she was just friends with Morgan and that nothing had happened between them. She said she’d known Morgan since elementary school.

The woman did not respond to a message from the Express seeking comment.

She told the investigator that she believed Morgan had a girlfriend who lived in Inkster and that he’d stolen the Jeep so that he could go visit her.

In their search for Morgan, investigators also visited his parents’ home in Kingsley.

Morgan’s parents didn’t know where he was; his father told the investigator that his son was a heroin addict who had been struggling “for quite some time now,” according to the police report.

His parents told investigators that if they learned of their son’s whereabouts, they’d turn him in.

On Dec. 7, the same day Detroit Police located the stolen Jeep, Morgan’s father called police to report that he had learned that his son recently had been dropped off at a hospital in Garden City in critical condition.

AN INTERVIEW IN INTENSIVE CARE One week later, Morgan was charged

by Grand Traverse County with unlawful driving away of a motor vehicle. He wasn’t arrested in the case until May 17, 2017, according to court records. It is unclear why there was such a long delay before his case was prosecuted.

At Morgan’s preliminary hearing in Traverse City last June, a downstate state police detective testified about how a Jeep stolen from Grand Traverse County ended up at the center of a Detroit murder investigation.

State police Det. Darrin Grandison testified that he had questioned Morgan in December 2015 while Morgan was undergoing treatment in the Garden City hospital intensive care unit following what he characterized as a “severe overdose.” (Later in the hearing, while facing the prospect of having his bond cancelled because he’d failed to show up for drug tests, Morgan insisted to the judge that he had not suffered an overdose, but rather had been hospitalized for pneumonia, according to a transcript of the hearing.)

Grandison testified that Morgan had told him he had taken the car in Grand Traverse

Jason Morgan

Terrance Jordan

County, driven it downstate, and gave it to someone else.

Morgan, Grandison said, told him “that he drove down from Grand Traverse in a green Jeep, which is the vehicle in question, my suspect vehicle, from my homicide. He drove it to Inkster and, from that point, turned over the car to another subject.”

He added: “He told the other person that the car was stolen, and he [the borrower] might be able to drive it for two days.”

The man Morgan had given the Jeep to was not named in court or in the police report.

Reached at the state police district headquarters in Detroit, Grandison said that the December 2015 homicide case remains unsolved and that he could not answer questions about an open investigation.

After the hearing, Jacob Graff, Morgan’s attorney, attempted to get Morgan’s confession to auto theft thrown out.

Graff filed a motion arguing that since Morgan had not been read his Miranda rights, his confession should not be allowed into testimony in his trial. He argued that since Morgan was in intensive care and was physically unable to go anywhere, the interview with Grandison was involuntary.

At the preliminary hearing, Graff also pointed to another snag in the case against his client: that Morgan’s friend who had reported the Jeep stolen in the first place had vanished.

The Grand Traverse County assistant prosecutor who was handling the case, Charles Hamlyn, acknowledged to District Court Judge Thomas Phillips that the woman could not be located to be served a subpoena.

Court records show that the woman was on the lam at that time — she’d been arrested for drunk driving in September 2016 and later sentenced to probation. As the stolen Jeep case had unfolded in court, the woman disappeared, and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest.

The woman reappeared in August, after

Morgan had pleaded guilty and his trial was cancelled. She was sentenced to 93 days in jail.

Prosecutors defended Morgan’s confession and argued that it was admissible, but Morgan pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor before that motion was decided.

COMPLICATED HISTORIES CONVERGE Morgan was sentenced Aug. 28, 2017 to 150 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to the lessor charge of larceny between $200 and $1,000; the auto theft charge was dismissed.

With credit for time served, he was released to Community Corrections on Sept. 8. He served out the final months of his sentence on house arrest.

In the Community Corrections petition for his early release from jail, Morgan admitted that he’s struggled with cocaine and heroin addiction, and he pledged to turn his life around and to “stay working and get my driver’s license back.” He had a couple of jobs lined up, according to court documents.

But Morgan did not stay out of trouble for long.

He had been free of house arrest for just over one month when he and Jordan allegedly planned a robbery and paid an early morning visit to Ward at the rental house where Ward was staying in Kalkaska County.

Ward had come up from Inkster just days earlier and had told family that he was spooked because of racist comments that had been directed at him, according to downstate media reports in the days following his death.

Ward’s family feared their loved one had been the victim of a hate crime.

That narrative got murkier when police announced the arrests of Morgan, who is white, and Jordan, who is black. Investigators emphatically pushed back against the racial narrative and said the case had to do with drugs or a robbery among people who already knew each other.

At the preliminary hearing held in Jordan’s case, detectives testified that Jordan

admitted he shot Ward. Jordan was arrested for Ward’s murder while he was recovering from an overdose at Munson Medical Center.

Jordan’s attorney, Thomas Seger, did not return a message seeking comment.

Jordan, who is listed in court documents as a Traverse City resident, has been extradited to face felony charges in Wisconsin twice in recent years.

Morgan, who has his own lengthy criminal record that includes convictions for drugs, theft, and domestic violence, has not confessed and maintains his innocence, said his attorney, Kyle Trevas. Trevas said he otherwise did not want to comment.

While Ward’s family said last year that Ward was attempting to turn his life around, the Kalkaska murder victim was on probation at the time of his death; the probation stemmed from a 2016 conviction for resisting arrest, fleeing police, and attempted delivery of less than 50 grams of a controlled substance.

Ward’s history of felony drug convictions dates back to 1999 when he faced charges of delivery of less than 50 grams of a controlled substance, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records. He was convicted of the same charges in 2008 and 2014.

Attempts to reach Ward’s family members were unsuccessful.

Officials in northern Michigan would not comment on whether there is a link between the Kalkaska case and the 2015 Detroit murder.

Kalkaska County Prosecutor Michael Perreault said he could only comment on aspects of the case that have already been revealed in court. Sheriff Patrick Whiteford did not respond to messages seeking comment about the earlier case.

Morgan and Jordan are scheduled for status conferences in their cases March 6.

They have each been held in jail in lieu of $10 million bonds and face life in prison if they are convicted.

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 11

Owner-chef Pete Boothroyd

Centre Streer Cafe’s pork belly mac’n’cheese

Chicken-quinoa meatballs over spaghetti squash

WHAT’S SO SPECIAL? WELL, YOU DECIDE A recent special: potato gnocchi with pork shoulder and sweet potatobutternut squash purée.

CENTRE STREET CAFE If you haven’t yet discovered this somewhat-off-the-beaten-path-but-totally-worththe-short-detour lunch spot in Traverse City, it’s time to get your Google and GPS in gear and put some excitement back on your midday plate.

By Janice Binkert While it’s not easy to pin down the best way to describe what owner-chef Pete Boothroyd is serving up Monday through Saturday at his lively Traverse City eatery, one thing is certain: It’s much more than just lunch. The ambience is a bit retro, but there’s nothing about the Centre Street Café that’s stuck in the past.

Other than the diner-esque décor, the most likely reason people get a familiar or nostalgic feeing here is the fact that it is a place where people still come to make human connections in a world where technology dominates so much or our lives, where fresh, innovative and visually attractive food is affordable, where “pretentious” is an unknown word, and where the number-one goal is making and keeping customers happy. “Our goal at Centre Street has always been to create and deliver a diverse contemporary menu that offers unique choices that sometimes go outside the boundaries of conventional fare,” said Boothroyd.

FOLLOW THE SIGNS Centre Street’s repertoire is extensive, to say the least, with two to three daily soups, nearly a dozen salads (including two pasta salads), and no fewer than 40 specialty sandwiches and wraps. That said, the menu is easily navigable, with categories divided by street terms. Take a stroll on “Avenue T” for anything turkey, including the wildly popular Smokin’ Jo (smoked turkey, turkey bacon, smoked Gouda, onion, Roma tomato, leaf lettuce and mesquite mayo on Jewish rye).

Cruise down “Beef Boulevard” to find the extravagant Rabish Radish Pastrami (beef pastrami, capicola, pepperoncini, jalapeños, pepper jack, provolone, red onion, radish microgreens, Sicilian dressing and horseradish sauce on panini-grilled rye). Head for “Henway” if you need a chicken fix like the Pecos Pete (grilled chicken, lime-marinated jicama, poblano pepper jam, pepper jack, red onion, cilantro, arugula and sriracha-lime aioli on a jalapeno-cheddar bun). Stop at the “Green light” to choose from tempting veggie combos like De Gaulle’s Galley (Portobello mushrooms, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, French mushroom brie, red onion, arugula and

lemon-truffle aioli on sunflower rye). Or make tracks to “The Junction” for something altogether different – maybe the ‘On Centre’ pork belly mac’n’cheese (three cheeses, seared pork belly, sage, cream, scallions, croutons and rigatoni)? Or a lamb gyro, or smoked maple-glazed duck?

Feeling creative? Put together your own sandwich or wrap in the “Middle of the Road” from a large list of possible ingredients. All sandwiches and wraps come with a dill pickle, tortilla chips and Centre Street’s own legendary black bean dip (or tomato-jalapeno salsa, on request). All spreads, salad dressings and several of the breads served are all made in house.

Vegetarian or vegan? Centre Street has you covered. “For us, that’s never just an afterthought,” said Boothroyd.” Take our lasagna, for example – which is made with sliced eggplant and other vegetables – it’s just a good dish. You can get creative with food that anyone would enjoy, no matter what their dietary preferences or restrictions may be. It’s not taking anything away, it’s giving them something that is delicious and satisfying. It’s the color, the quality, the taste of things that’s so important.”

GETTING TO THE ART OF IT Perhaps surprisingly – considering the depth and breadth of his expertise in the kitchen – Boothroyd is a self-taught chef.

Cooking as a profession was not in his original career plan. What he did have, however, was an education and experience in management.

“I think it was more by accident than design that I ended up in the restaurant business,” said Boothroyd. “It was just something that was pulling at me. Of course, I’ve always loved and appreciated food, but what happened over time is that my palate became much, much better.

Sometimes you don’t even have to taste things – if you can see it, you can imagine it – you see those combinations, and you can taste it in your head. There’s an artistry part of it. That’s one of the things that fascinate me. The arts are part of our family – my dad was an opera singer, and my son is a professional musician. I myself have always been very visual – I love art and photography and music.” Venturing into the culinary arts was a natural progression.

And of course, his management background has also come in very handy.

12 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

“That’s the other part of the equation – production,” he explained.” Particularly with lunch, vs. dinner, the window is a lot shorter.

There are a lot of working people who come in, and they have limited time, so you’ve got to have a system that allows you to get the food out quickly without sacrificing the integrity of it. And you have to be willing to upgrade that system if you need to – to listen to your employees if they have suggestions about how it could be done better.”

“COUNTER CULTURE” Although after nearly 30 years in the business (see sidebar) Boothroyd still works regularly alongside his cooks in the kitchen, he also enjoys being out front interacting with customers.

Smiling and gesturing toward the counter seating area, he said, “I refer to this space as the ‘counter culture.’ There is a more immediate contact with people here. I always engage with them, and I will sometimes try to get them to engage with each other if I see where they might have something in common, just as I would do if they were guests in my house. Our clientele is made up of people from all walks of life and all ages, and I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to get to know a lot of them personally, as we are able to do with a smaller place like this.”

Though not yet wanting to reveal specifics, Boothroyd hinted that he has more plans in the works for the future, including bringing in more fresh fish. His enthusiasm for his job does not seem to have dimmed a bit in the years since he discovered his real passion. “I’ve been doing this for a long time,” he said, “and sure, I may walk in here some mornings feeling a little tired and think, ‘Well, here we go again,’ but before I know it, I’m laughing and talking and having fun, and I’m totally re-energized.

It’s never the same. The great relationships with our customers and the camaraderie with my staff – many of whom have been with me for a long time – never cease to inspire me.”

Centre Street Cafe is located at 1125 Centre Street in Traverse City. Open for lunch 10:30am 4:00pm Monday through Friday, and Saturdays 10am-3pm. Dine in or carry out. Catering available. For more information, call (231) 9465872 or visit centrestreetcafe on Facebook. $

You could eat at Centre Street Cafe every day or every week for a long time before you’d run out of menu options. And that doesn’t even include the weekly specials: full-on “urban gourmet cuisine” (as Centre Street’s website describes them) that often feature Caribbean, European or Asian flavors, among others. In recent weeks, for example, if you just couldn’t find what you were hungry for on the regular menu, you might have chosen to sample the coconut-rice crumb breaded Caribbean snapper with mango-pineapple-habanero salsa, served on a bed of Himalayan red rice with coconut and cilantro. Or how about the gluten-free potato gnocchi with applewood-smoked pulled pork shoulder, sweet potato-butternut squash puree, and Peruvian mini sweet peppers with a mapleancho chile reduction and sage. Wait – where are we again? A neighborhood lunch spot? No way. Um, yes way.

Soups change regularly at the eatery.

WORKING OUT LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY

What would eventually become the Centre Street Cafe started out in 1985 in the same location as a juice and snack bar inside a gym. When the gym moved out at the end of 1999, Boothroyd decided to expand into the whole space, completing a renovation that transformed it into a full kitchen and dining room by 2000. Upgrades and improvements have taken place periodically since then.

“There were a few years when I felt like I was falling behind, but I just stayed at it, and it was always evolving and getting better,” he said. “I was building up a solid clientele, and I was getting more catering jobs, so that was enough to convince me that I should hang in here and do this.”

A home for sale in Manistee, where realtor Suzanne Riley said multiple homes at excellent price points are available.

An Edison Blue home is one of the new build homes Porter offers.

Downsizing

By Ross Boissoneau Seems like every other week, some publication or website mentions Traverse City as among the best places to retire. Whether it’s Forbes or MarketWatch, Money Magazine, Movoto, GreatRetirementSpots.com, TopRetirements.com, CBS — all tout Traverse City as a great place for the golden years.

Those accolades come at a price, however — and that price isn’t between $150,000 and $250,000. That sweet spot for retiree homes is nearly impossible to come by, especially in or close to downtown. And that’s where most people want to be. “People coming from metro areas are used to having access to amenities. If they’re from Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, they’re not looking at Kalkaska or Grayling,” said Chad Brown of Homewaters Recreational Real Estate.

No, even though prices and taxes are typically lower in rural areas, retirees want to be close to everything, ideally within walking distance. Take Denny and Monterey Wheeler. When they retired and sold their two-story Traverse City home to downsize, they’d hoped to remain in Traverse City, but the squeeze on homes forced them to cast their eyes elsewhere. First they looked to Petoskey, then to Frankfort.

Finally they found their new retirement home in downtown Manistee. They see it as an up-and-coming community with plenty of amenities. “You can walk downtown, to the farmers market, the business district, the theater. There are beautiful beaches on both sides of the river. The Nordhouse Dunes are five miles away,” said Denny Wheeler. “We love the town.”

They initially bought a condominium with views of the water, but the Wheelers recently purchased a small home just a few blocks away.

“We decided against living in a condo. We wanted a home. We [previously] had a large yard, flowers, trees. It was a lot to keep up with, so we thought we’d downsize and moved here.

But we need a happy medium.”

So the Wheelers were able to find not one, but two homes in Manistee. Suzanne Riley isn’t surprised. The longtime Manistee Realtor said the area offers a number of different options that check the boxes of the typical retiree. “Most are

within close proximity to the hospital and doctors, Meijer, the casino and beaches,” Riley said. And the price is right, too: “Most are between $100,000 and $200,000, which is probably unheard of in most surrounding areas.”

Don Toffolo, a veteran Realtor in Boyne City, said areas like Boyne City, Charlevoix, Petoskey, and Harbor Springs face the same challenges as Traverse City. “The market is strong, and there’s a demand especially for anything under $250,000,” he said. “[But] there’s a very low supply.”

He, too, recommends looking at areas that might not be on a buyer’s radar. His version of Manistee is East Jordan. “Prices are better, and the town is doing well. It’s developing slowly,” he said.

So, yes to Manistee or East Jordan. But what if you really don’t want to leave the Traverse City area? Turns out there are some options. Tony Dombrowski of Homewaters pointed to some condos currently on the market. But given the current market, they might not be available be for long.

A one-bedroom, one-bath golfview condo at The Bear golf course at Grand Traverse Resort is listed for $118,000. A garden-level condo on Fair Street is listed for $120,000, while one at Georgetown is close to town and listed at $132,000. Another on East Bay at The Beach Condominiums boasts an elevator and an option for the management company located on the premises to rent it out when not in use; it’s for sale at $185,000.

“If I were looking around with a buyer client that was interested in downsizing into some affordable living, these are properties I would show them as of today,” Dombrowski said.

For retirees who, like the Wheelers, are looking to downsize but aren’t sure they want to share walls and driveways, Judy Porter offers an option. The veteran Realtor with Real Estate One in Traverse City represents new-build homes she says are “a great alternative to condo living.”

Buyers can choose from one to four bedrooms, one or two baths, on either a crawl space or insulated slab (she recommends the latter) and natural gas or electric. There are no steps, and best of all is the price: They start at $139,900 and typically top out at between $225,000 and $250,000.

Where the real estate buys are now — and next

Dan Kelly envisions microflats at his property in Acme.

Because these homes are new build, she said they feature the most current energy-conscious features and building methodologies. “Older homes may have huge utility bills. These are very efficient,” Porter said.

While the houses can be built most anywhere in the region, Porter is working on a complete development of such homes in Blair Township, close to Traverse City.

She said those who favor condos because they don’t want worry about things like plowing, lawn-mowing or the like can easily hire those services for these freestanding homes. Bonus: Unlike with a condo, there is no association fee.

Toffolo shares Porter’s enthusiasm for newly built homes. He is working to encourage builders to construct new homes that fall within the parameters of what buyers are most anxious for: “With the demand for anything under $250,000, I had one [built] last year at $240,000. It sold within 30 days, closed within 75.”

Now he’s thinking of putting up another.

“There’s a very low supply. That’s why I say it’s time for builders to do it,” Toffolo said.

Still yet another option: Tiny homes.

Not that retirees want to live in 250 square feet, with a sleeping loft accessed by a skinny set of steps akin to a ladder. But if a small,

efficient home nestled in the midst of a new development is appealing, Dan Kelly may have just what you want. You just have to be patient, since his planned development is not yet under construction.

Kelly is hoping to build a development at the site of his catering business in Acme.

It could be perfect for older people who are looking to downsize but still want to be close to everything. While his proposed “microflats” are geared for investors who want to own rental property, they would also be appropriate for those looking for a small year-round home.

“They can go either way,” he said. His plans call for a variety of complementary businesses, such as coffee shops, restaurants, brewpubs, or other desirable neighborhood businesses. The development also would include green space and trails. “You could literally walk to Meijer,” he said.

But as mentioned, it will be a while before his plans come to fruition. “A lot of things have to come into place,” Kelly said.

He’s hopeful that construction can begin a year from now.

A word of warning for those considering tiny homes on their own property: Local codes may mandate a minimum size. “With the tiny house concept there are often zoning problems,” said Brown.

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 13

A New Life Abroad Have you ever dreamed of walking away from it all? Completely uprooting your current life to try a new lifestyle in a foreign land? Don’t let your dreams wither on the vine — be like these three northern Michiganians who hit their 50s and decided to shake off their old life, pack their bags, and become a local in an entirely new land. By Kristi Kates

PEG MUZZALL’S

BILL COOK’S

Some Northern Express readers might recognize Peg Muzzall’s name. The native Michiganian spent 19 years selling advertising for Northern Express from her home in Petoskey. But she’s given up (most of) her northern life for a new view in Belize.

“I’m dangerously close to my 65th birthday, and I’ve already had a very rewarding and interesting professional life,” Muzzall said.

She grew up in East Grand Rapids, graduated from the University of Michigan, worked as a dental hygienist for 20 years in Santa Barbara, California, then taught English for two years in Barcelos, Portugal, before returning stateside to briefly resume her dental hygiene work before joining Express.

But after the presidential election in 2016 — “which left me completely dumbfounded,” Muzzall said — she decided it was time to switch gears.

“I think for me, it was a ‘perfect storm’ when I visited my uncle in Placencia, Belize, in November of 2016,” she said. “We’d just had the election. I’d been thinking about retirement for quite some time but didn’t think I could make it happen in the United States. I had loved my job with Northern Express, but it had become a different type of challenge, and they say if you’re not having fun anymore, it’s time to leave whatever you’re doing. The universal language in Belize is English, and the American dollar is double the Belize dollar, so I was seeing green lights everywhere!”

At that point, she added, it was more of a pipe dream than anything else. But while visiting her uncle, she drove by the same vacant lot daily and flirted with the idea of buying it.

Her uncle started calling it “Peg’s lot” — a little piece of paradise on the Placencia lagoon.

Back stateside by December of that year, Muzzall, with her car already packed, was prepping to drive downstate for the Christmas holidays when her beloved dog, Sophie, took ill.

“I had to abort my trip completely and stay home for the holiday. So I did what any intelligent woman would do — ate my stress, in the form of a full jar of American Spoon Foods Salted Maple Caramel Sauce. But a little voice in my head said, ‘Find the silver lining, Peg.’ I made an offer on the lagoon lot in Placencia that day, and they accepted it December 23, which put the whole plan in motion — something I wouldn’t have had the time to do had my holiday trip gone as planned.”

Muzzall had a modular 20-by-40-foot wooden home with two decks built ahead of her arrival. She chose everything from decks to kitchen appliances over the phone and via

As a kid, northern Michigan-born Bill Cook moved around to wherever his Coast Guard father was stationed: Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Oregon, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. That might be where he got his taste for wanderlust.

“After backpacking Europe in the ’80s, I returned to Michigan to work on the family cherry farm,” Cook said. “That was seasonal, so I got a job as a bartender at the Grand Traverse Resort.”

When Cook’s mother wanted to retire, he closed his Traverse City home and bought her business, Eastport Village Care Home, an adult assisted living home for the elderly on the north end of Torch Lake.

“It was a rewarding, fulfilling job that I really did enjoy — the stories my oldsters could tell!” Cook said. “After 16 years working there I decided I would sell the business to my sister, Melanie White, who has been a nurse for 30 years. I moved all my belongings back to my Traverse City house and started my new life.”

Cook’s initial plan was to head south for the winters, buying a place in perhaps Florida or Mississippi, since he had good friends in both locations.

“But I went to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016,” he said, “and after I traveled up the coast of the east side of Brazil for three months, I returned to Florida to enjoy the lazy life and found that I was easily bored after my wild, fun Brazil trip. So I bought a ticket back to Brazil, returning to Pipa, which is a small surfer village on the northeast coast.”

It was a quick settle-in for Cook, who, instead of purchasing a property in Brazil, decided to reside in hostels.

“Hostels really are the best option for single people,” he said. “You meet so many people from all walks of life — doctors from Argentina, engineers from Ukraine and Switzerland, graphic designers from France, actors from Chile and Brazil. And this is only a handful of friends I’ve met. You can have a shared or private room at most hostels. Today, I stay at Surf Camp Pipa hostel. I’m usually the oldest at 57, but everyone here says I’m their inspiration to live the wild life in their retirement years. Here we eat together most nights, drink together, play games, and beach together. If you were in a hotel room, you’d be by yourself.”

This year, the hostel invited Cook to barter for his room rent; he only pays $8 a night, trading the rest by working as a bartender and receptionist.

“I’m not doing it for the money; I thought it would be fun interacting with all the other

Trip to the Tropics

South American Sojourn

email with her uncle’s help. She purged a life’s worth of “treasures” from her Petoskey home, had her remaining belongings shipped to South America, then put her northern Michigan home on the market and moved to her family’s 750-square-foot cabin in Cross Village while she waited for her Belize house to take shape.

“The home was delivered to my Belize lot in October, and miraculously, was movein ready when I arrived the afternoon of November 19, 2017,” she said. “For me, that meant water, electricity, and Wi-Fi! I had shipped some emergency things to myself, but as it turned out, we orchestrated it pretty well — everything cleared customs the week before I arrived in Belize, and my belongings showed up two days after I did.”

What She Regrets Leaving Behind: “Definitely my friends and family. I truly miss them and wish Michigan was closer. But my plan is to spend five to seven months in northern Michigan each year, and five to seven months here in Belize, so it feels like the best of both worlds. I also miss Sophie (Muzzall’s dog passed away two weeks before she departed for Belize); thankfully, Tiago (Muzzall’s cat) travelled with me and has adjusted beautifully.”

What She Least Regrets Leaving Behind: “An alarm clock, and having to make appointments every day. Days with no schedules have been a slice of heaven!”

What She Loves Most About Her New Life: “I love my relaxed life here, mostly for its simplicity, which is so enjoyable. The people in Belize are very friendly, the seafood, fresh vegetables, and fruits are wonderful, I love the bright colors everywhere, and walking on the beach. Life really does happen outside of your comfort zone. One of my favorite sayings is ‘If you don’t like where you are, move. You’re not a tree.’”

14 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

guests,” he said.

This is the third year in a row Cook’s been to Brazil; he’s starting to think he might want to check out other parts of the world, as well.

“Maybe Hong Kong and Asia in the fall?” he pondered out loud. “I’ve been to 50 countries and have heard from travelers that Thailand and the Philippines are beautiful … but I will return to Traverse City in May for the summer months. There’s no place better in the summer with all the beaches, festivals, and northern Michigan beauty. As a kid I loved the snow of northern Michigan — skiing, sledding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing — but not anymore. I’d much rather the beach to snow ...

I just didn’t enjoy winter there anymore.”

What He Regrets Leaving Behind: “Of course I miss my family and friends back home in northern Michigan and elsewhere. My biggest regret this year is my brother is dying of cancer, and I’m not there for support. I do have a big family that all live in the Traverse/ Elk Rapids area, so I know he has much love and support without me there.”

What He Least Regrets Leaving Behind: “Winter, snow, and cold. I really didn’t give up that much (otherwise); I still have my house in Traverse City where I live in the summer months, although I did downsize my belongings. I was an antique collector-dealer for years and had accumulated much more than anyone would need, so I had a couple of estate sales and eliminated many unneeded items.”

What He Loves Most About His New Life: “I love Pipa. It’s a surfer village. The people are simple and have a very laid back, easy life. The food is good … weather is usually 85 during the day and 75 at night. The cost of living is low. I’ve seriously thought about building a house here. I really couldn’t ask for more.”

MIKE NANGLE’S

You Don’t Have to Wait...

Move to Medellin

Mike Nangle spent 20 years in Chicago, eventually moving north to Traverse City to, as he put it, “avoid the big-city frenzied life.”

“Traverse City was a great place to land, and I flourished with my work (Nangle is a massage therapist), as well as with real estate ventures, establishing new friendships, and enjoying the beautiful outdoors,” he said. “But always, as I like to say, I was eternally single.”

That would soon change via an online dating opportunity.

“Over coffee I met Daniel,” Nangle said. “I learned he was in a major life transition, and in two months he was heading to South America with a one-way ticket. After a short period, I decided to follow my heart and accept the invitation to travel with him to five countries in South America.”

Their objective, he said, was to find a place they loved where they would want to return to or stay long-term.

“Six weeks later, I was in Ecuador, enrolled in daily Spanish classes, exploring the city, kayaking — a total immersion into Latin sports and culture,” he said.

Next it was Panama, then the Caribbean, back to Panama for New Years, and then to Uruguay.

“Uruguay offered endless miles of beaches in the laid-back capital of Montevideo,” he said. “Then [we experienced] more beaches in the resort city of Punta Del Este, which is also home to some former Leelanau County friends. From there it was to the historic 19thcentury settlement of Colonia del Sacramento, and then our final stop in the unforgettable wine region of Carmelo.”

A ferry ride from there, and they were in Argentina, where they enjoyed visiting Buenos Aires, the presidential mansion of Casa Rosada, and a long list of wine and tango destinations.

“We loved it all,” Nangle said.

Finally, in Medellin, Columbia, they decided they’d found their place.

“Medellin was a place we loved and could

While many people wait until near they’re retirement age to make a major life change, you certainly don’t have to. Beulah’s Dewey Blocksma didn’t. In the 1980s, he quit his career as a physician and transformed himself into a full-time artist. Blocksma grew up in Grand Rapids and later attended college and medical school at Northwestern University in downtown Chicago. But being so near to the Chicago Art Institute had a major effect on him.

see ourselves returning to,” Nangle said. “It’s a working-class city with over 3 million residents, a thriving expat community, and was named the most innovative city in the world in 2013.”

They returned to Traverse City in March of 2017 with a plan to live part time in Michigan, and part time in Medellin.

“After a busy spring, summer, and fall filled with travel, festivals, kayaking, home renovations, and visiting with family and friends, we organized for our first living experience in Columbia,” Nangle said. “With my business safely transitioned to a peer and our Michigan house secured for winter guests, we returned to Medellin. I really have the best of both worlds.”

What He Regrets Leaving Behind: “I miss my clients, but I look forward to working with them when I return to Traverse City in the spring.”

What He Least Regrets Leaving Behind: “Winter.”

What He Loves Most About His New Life: “I love being part of a new community and figuring things out despite the challenges and the language barrier — living a very different life. The people are what make it all worthwhile.”

“Even in medical school, I carried around a well-worn book about artists and their studios,” he said. “And the Art Institute offered evening drawing sessions with area commercial artists. I memorized every page and dreamed of a studio of my own.”

The art world continued to call him, even as he pursued internship in a New England hospital and a job as a ship physician on a square-rigged ship, the Statsraad Lehmkuhl, sailing from Norway to Senegal. Art was still on his mind as he joined one of the first groups of physicians doing ER medicine as a specialty (back in 1972). While working as a physician, he was leading something of a double life, having rented a studio over the Art Association on Liberty Street in Ann Arbor.

A friend eventually plucked one of his artworks out of the trash, and took it to the Xochipilli Gallery in Birmingham, Michigan, where Blocksma ended up showcasing his work for several years. By 1974, he decided it was time

to move out of the medical field. He took several part time jobs covering the ER needs of smaller hospitals, and then started looking for art-related jobs. He crated the robots of Clayton Bailey for a gallery in Chicago; started an antiques business with a friend; and then, when he became interested in wind machines, started to design his own. His artworks are now installed in a number of parks and galleries, and he’s been fully rooted into his new life as an artist for years.

“I do miss the excitement of the ER, the satisfaction of working with a team to bring order to chaos, and to relieve suffering,” he said. “But I now have that studio dream of long ago. To those who wish to transition, find bridges to the future — all past experiences are valuable. You’ll get plenty of flack from family and friends, and you’ll need to endure a period of depression. So keep it simple: Invent your own universe and explore it.”

STARTS MONDAY 1/29

Carolina BBQ Tacos

spicy smoked pork on warm corn tortillas with Carolina BBQ sauce, crunchy slaw, jalapeño relish, cilantro sour cream and jalapeño cheddar tortilla chips 16

Southwest Egg Rolls

with hickory-smoked pulled pork, black beans, sweet corn, roasted peppers, jack cheese and chipotle apricot dripping sauce 11

Hawaiian Hoagie

pulled pork, grilled pineapple salsa, housemade sweet chili sauce and fresh cilantro on a bakery roll with house fried pork rinds 15

Southern Smothered Chops

three Cajun fried pork cutlets topped with buttermilk gravy and served with braised greens and red beans & rice 18

Pictured from left-right: Lindsey (Jonkhoff) Rogers and Chris Jonkhoff-Hater (sixth generation funeral directors) Dan and Peg Jonkhoff, co-owners.

The Jonkhoff family and caring staff are the ones you can trust and depend on… today and tomorrow.

www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com 305 Sixth Street • Traverse City • 231-947-6347

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Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 15

SUN, SNOW AND

SPRING CARNIVAL! March 10th brings live music, lighting up the grill and fun competitions! Enjoy Drew Hale’s live slopeside concert, DJ dance party and BBQ, plus the always anticipated Cardboard Classic Sled Race along with the splash and spills of the Slush Cup. Don’t wait until Saturday to get started, help us celebrate spring with 5 lift tickets for only $50 on Friday, March 9!

See CrystalMountain.com/Events for details.

8 0 0 .YO U R . M T N C RYS TA L M O U N TA I N .C O M Crystal Mountain Northern 3/5 Spring Carnival Ad.indd Weekly 1 1641547 • march 5, 2018 •Express Northern Express

3/2/18 12:59 PM

SALLY MANKE

The It Girl of the Quilting World

By Anna Faller There’s a clean-cut, slate gray colonial in the sleepy, Lake Michigan resort town of Arcadia.

It sits, unassumingly, on a motionless side street lined mostly with now-vacant summer homes. And you’d never know it from the outside, but this is a house where magic lives.

It’s the home of Sally Manke: retired home economics and sewing teacher, avid hiker and preservationist, and most recently, nationally recognized fiber artist. To put it simply, Manke makes quilts. But calling her a “quilter” would be an extraordinary understatement and patently incorrect. On the contrary, Manke is nothing short of an artist — a painter, really.

But in place of more rudimentary media — pastels, watercolor, and the like — Manke’s chosen medium is fabric. Baggies, shelves, and piles full of fabric. So much fabric, in fact, that her sprawling home studio has expanded to overtake most of her second floor: three bright blonde-wood bedrooms, all reserved for nothing but creation.

Manke first gained recognition for her confetti quilt technique, a tireless process, through which she arranges countless tiny pieces of batik fabric “confetti” on a piece of quilt batting, before securing each one in place with a tulle overlay and then quilting over the completed design. In this manner, Manke creates mind-bogglingly realistic quilt “paintings,” often depicting, in intricate detail, the natural wonders and historic landmarks that surround her hometown. Since the inception of her illustrious second career, Manke’s work has been featured time and time again at juried art quilt shows throughout the U.S. and has been chosen for display at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago; Long Beach, California; and Houston, Texas. Her innumerable awards include a blue ribbon at QuiltWeek in Paducah, Kentucky — ostensibly the Red Carpet of quilt guild shows — and a nod from Traverse Magazine’s Red Hot Best awards as Northern Michigan’s Best Visual Artist in 2016.

Busy, as always, with new designs, assignments, and projects, Manke set aside an afternoon to answer a few questions from the Northern Express: How did you first get your start as a fiber artist?

My work with fibers and fabrics began when I was probably six or seven years old. I had a

great aunt who was like a grandmother, and she was a tailor and seamstress. I spent a lot of time with her, and she used to let me sew on her little Singer Featherweight before I could even reach the foot pedal to make it go! And I remember one day, I was about eight years old, and she said, “Why don’t you make a shirt?” And I thought, ‘What?’ You could go buy a pattern, but she never did. So we got some newspaper, and we did measurements and made a pattern. This shirt was the simplest thing ever: a round neckline, two seams, round sleeves, two more seams, and a hem. Super simple, but I wore it all the time. I can remember people saying, ‘Oh my gosh, she can sew! She’s only eight, and she made a garment!’

All through high school and junior high, I made everything I ever wore. I sewed many of my kids’ clothes — I have just always sewn. But I never made quilts. The things I made before were much more functional. Now, they really aren’t; there’s no function to an art quilt other than beauty or filling your wall. When I was teaching and raising a family, I just didn’t have time or energy for creating.

Where would you say you draw most inspiration for your work?

My inspiration for confetti quilts come from either the area here or where we travel: we walk the beaches here during all four seasons, and I frequently visit the Arcadia Dunes Preserve and lead hikes there, as well. There’s so much nature here that’s beautiful, and I just think, ‘Oh, look at the colors in that! It would be lovely as an art quilt!’ Much of my inspiration comes from right here in our own little piece of the world. I’ve created confetti quilts of a local barn, sunsets, and various woodland scenes.

We also travel a lot. Rather than just put the photos in an album when we return home, I create art quilts from the photos: the colorful buildings in Manarola, Italy; flowering trees after a spring rain in Manhattan’s Central Park; and hollyhocks growing around an abandoned building in France all became art quilts.

Do you have a typical process that you follow when beginning a new piece?

I start with a lot of photos, and then I start pulling colors out of my stash, and just seeing which colors work best with what’s in the photos. Then, I loosely sketch the design on a piece of batting. I use the cut-up fabrics, the “confetti,” as my medium, or paint, and

just start applying it to my canvas, which is the batting. When I teach, that’s what I tell people — you start with the background and work towards the foreground, and the last thing you do is the details. It’s very similar to painting — watercolor, acrylics, or whatever medium you’re working in. The steps are the same; you’re just not using a brush. The final level is adding texture, detail, and depth through the actual quilting process.

So, it sounds like your quilting really began as a personal hobby. Did you intend for it to become a second career?

No, I had no idea. I was creating quilts, and you can only put so many of them on your sofa or use as gifts, or whatever. I needed to make more space so I could keep working, so I opened my Etsy shop, and did on the online thing, and traveled to quilt shows, where people have their quilts on display. That was when I decided I might enter some of my quilts in quilt shows as another avenue to make more room, thinking perhaps some people would even purchase a few. But then, I started winning national prizes at quilt shows, which gave me more recognition, and people started to tell me I was doing something nobody else was doing.

All of a sudden, people were saying, “hey, we want you to come to our guild and teach this!”

I did that locally for a while, and then won a blue ribbon at Paducah. After that, I started getting invites to speak and teach at quilt guilds throughout the U.S. and at national quilt shows. Since then, the audience on my Facebook business page has grown to over 6,000 followers, which has offered me even more opportunities to present and increased sales for the patterns I create. When I retired as a teacher, there was finally time to create the ideas that were always running around in my head.

Do you have any advice for people, retirees or young adults, looking to turn something they’re passionate about into a career?

I just think that we should all approach life as lifelong learners, and anything you have a curiosity about, to give it a try. If you don’t like it, you don’t ever have to do it again, but then you’ve experienced it. And if you enjoy it, there are so many things to do! I’m a kayaker, for example, and in the summer, I’m in a kayak group, and one of the other women in the group

is a paddle-boarder. One day, we paddled out and had lunch on the south shore of Michigan.

She’s the only one with a paddleboard, so she asks if anyone wants to give it a try. I think, “I know I can’t do this,” but when else am I going to have the opportunity to try? So, she got me up on the board, and I’m like, “Wow, I’m standing!”

She tells me that I’m ready for the paddle, and in my mind, I need that paddle. So, I leaned over to grab the paddle from her, and into the water I go! In front of all these women, of course, and everyone was laughing, after they realized I hadn’t drowned. So, I get up, looking like a total wet dog, and she asks, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘I think I need to get back on there, because if I don’t, this will be the memory I have of paddleboarding: that I fell off.’ So, I got back up, and paddled out into lake Michigan and back.

Now I know I can try it again without fear. Don’t be afraid to try something new! Just don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself.

Learn more about Manke at www. sallymanke. com. Her quilts, patterns, and other creations can be found in her online Etsy store (www.etsy.com/ shop/SallyManke) or www.facebook.com/Sally.

Manke.fiber.artist.

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 17

Drawing water from a cistern to make cement.

Berg Drilling’s Haiti drilling crew: Tejua, George, Stephen Fulton, Etchevy, and Aeuson.

Helping Haiti

By Kristi Kates The list of what’s wrong in Haiti is a lengthy and discouraging one. It’s been eight years since Haiti was hit with a major earthquake. And over one year since Hurricane Matthew took hundreds of lives and devastated much of the country, especially the southern portion.

Yet almost 1 million people are still in need of some form of aid. And it wasn’t like Haiti was in all that great of a shape before the earthquake and hurricane arrived.

In 2018, the challenges in Haiti continue: food insecurity, water shortages, poor or non-existent living conditions, cholera, unmet human needs in a variety of categories — and let’s not forget the need to prepare for possible natural disasters as another hurricane season approaches this June.

As Haiti struggles to survive, some people from right here in northern Michigan are doing what they can to reach out and help.

THE BERG FAMILY AND STEPHEN FULTON Doyle Berg Sr., owner of Berg Drilling in Traverse City, has traveled multiple times to Haiti, along with his son, Doyle Berg Jr., grandson Doyle Berg III, and full-time employee Stephen Fulton.

“We got involved in Haiti back in 1998,” Berg Sr. said. “I went there for the first time 20 years ago on a mission trip, to go assist in drilling wells for people.”

Doyle Berg Jr., a pastor at Christ Community Church in Traverse City, also goes to Haiti once or twice a year, taking a team from his church to “preach and teach,” right along with the Bergs’ trips to drill wells.

In addition to those ongoing efforts, one of the Bergs’ most recent Haiti assists was bringing over an 18,000-pound, 30-foot-long derrick to dig water wells; the rig was driven to Florida on a lowboy trailer, and then taken by ship from Miami, Florida, to Haiti.

Stephen Fulton headed to Haiti after the rig was well underway.

“The rig clearing customs can take anywhere from two weeks to six months, so it makes no sense for me to go early,” Fulton explained. “But we already have a strategic area chosen where we’re going to drill. I’m also trying to teach and train some gentlemen there in Haiti, so they can take the rig out and drill their own wells — it’s the ‘teach a man to fish’ scenario.”

When asked how tricky it is to get permits to dig wells in Haiti, Fulton laughed ruefully. “We don’t have to get permits,” he said. “It’s a third world country; we just go find areas that don’t have water.”

The Bergs and Fulton also bring over solar panels and a solar pump to power the wells.

“You can’t really use electrical generators where there’s little or no electricity, and hand pumps often break, while on a sunny day, the solar pump will pump out water all day long. And they get lots of sunshine there,” Fulton said.

To pinpoint the places that are in dire need of water, they turn to Haitian Pastor Robinson Louis. Louis was one of three boys who helped the Bergs when they first started working in Haiti. Later, the Bergs assisted Louis in getting a passport and a work visa so he could travel to Michigan and get welldrilling training. Louis, who had frequently helped at his uncle’s church in Haiti, returned to Haiti with his newfound knowledge and joined a seminary for four years to become a pastor there himself.

“He’s our eyes and ears on the ground,” Fulton said.

“And he’s got a big heart,” Berg Jr. added.

Louis, who speaks Haitian Creole — the Bergs and Fulton do not — also helps translate the needs of the locals to the Americans. He oversees a church on property that the Bergs purchased in Haiti, near the city of Saint-Marc.

18 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

“We also drilled a well there, and that property ended up being basically a water distribution center for between 4,000 and 5,000 people,” Berg Jr. said. “It’s amazing what fresh water can do. In spite of the epidemic, we had no cases of cholera during the earthquake.”

So far, the Bergs, Fulton, and others of their crew have dug two major water distribution wells and about 10 additional smaller wells; the property they bought hosts the well, the church, and an orphanage that is currently housing nine kids.

“It’s all run by the locals though,” Berg Jr. said. “We go set everything up, and they run it. We also plan to build a larger orphanage and an actual church — the current one is just in a large tent.”

“And all of this is donated,” Berg Sr. added.

“We fly there and stay there on our own budget. We go there to give back to needy people. We’re fortunate here in America, so our goal is to get the Gospel over there, and to help them with things they don’t have, starting with water, care for the orphans, and education. We also donate funds to help with food during extreme events.”

In America, Berg Sr. pointed out, we might not have a perfect system, but we do have organizations like the Salvation Army, Goodwill, and various food programs; in Haiti, it takes a lot of effort by caring individuals to fill that massive gap, because those kinds of programs simply don’t exist.

“In Haiti, it’s a desperate situation. There is no safety net,” Berg Sr said. “If you fall there, you just fall.”

CARLA WINDOVER AND ANN KONCZAL Longtime friends Carla Windover and Ann Konczal are co-leaders of the Grand Traverse District United Methodist Church Volunteer and Mission Haiti Team (traversebayhaititeam.blogspot.com), which has been in action since 2000. They first got

inspired years ago by a United Methodist magazine article about the situation in Haiti.

“I think both of us wanted to do something outside of the U.S. along the lines of a mission trip,” Windover said.

In 1998, they were discussing the situation with a group of friends, who all agreed they’d like to go to Haiti and help.

They enlisted the help of Charles Stanley, a pastor from Kalkaska, and brought together 23 people, most of them folks from the Methodist churches here in northern Michigan, to make the trek.

“We let Pastor Stanley take the lead,” said Konczal. “He put together the team, and we all trained together to get a better understanding of the Haitian culture.”

The group learned they had to be culturally sensitive in ways they wouldn’t even think of in America. “You don’t say ‘We’ll see you next year’ or ‘We can’t wait for you to visit us,’” Konczal said. “It’s one of the world’s poorest countries; you don’t lead expectations that way.

You also don’t comment on the bad things you see. You don’t take photos of people without asking, and when you walk by people, you make sure you greet them — that’s just basic etiquette there. You don’t just walk by and say nothing.”

The group went over and helped start a building that would be used as both a school and a church, digging the foundation with pickaxes and removing rocks by hand.

“Haitians are very good at manual labor and construction techniques, so we learned from them,” Windover said.

They returned to that same site year after year to help complete the building — something that they explained doesn’t always happen, even when people have the best of “helping Haiti” intentions.

“The locals call the unfinished projects ‘Methodist ruins,’ said Windover. “But we felt we’d made a commitment to them.”

The toughest part of honoring that

commitment was that both women are also “regular working people,” as Konczal put it, “so we couldn’t just pick up and travel there several times a year. We got good-sized donations from the church at first, and then we put on fundraisers at Christmas time — we made and sold wreaths — and held church dinners and took donations to fund the trips.”

That building — which was damaged during the earthquake and subsequently repaired — now hosts a primary and secondary school as well as the church.

“It’s considered a ‘mother church’ in Haiti, a central hub for the community, so it definitely had to be fixed,” Konczal said.

The building, known as the Thomas Methodist Church (in Arcahaie, Haiti) was also one of the first in the country to have a computer lab for their students, plus community gardens, solar panels, and a water purifier. And a boy who was 15 years old when Konczal and Windover started traveling to Haiti is now a director of the Thomas Church project.

“It’s been so gratifying to see the community grow,” Konczal said.

Their current project is working with a community village called Musac, in the mountains north and west of Jachel.

They’re collaborating with a group of nextgeneration 20- and 30-somethings called La Ballee de Demain (“valley of tomorrow”) to help educate local farmers on how to better use the land and resources in their growing of vegetables and of the region’s main crop, mandarin oranges.

“These kids are college-educated in things like management and botany and have come back home to help,” Konczal said. “We’ve been helping them build grain storage buildings to give the farmers more leverage over their own grain, and are also putting on seminars for the farmers.”

The seminars are teaching the farmers how to expand what they do with the fruits that they grow, most notably turning it into jelly/jam, and into an alcoholic sipping beverage called kremas.

“It will help them have new things they can sell,” explained Windover.

For Konczal and Windover, all of these projects have turned into basically helping friends.

“The most rewarding thing about this are the wonderful relationships with the farmers and the young people we work with,” Windover agreed. “They want to spend time with us, just hanging out or playing cards, and we’ve really gotten to know them as friends.”

“It’s wonderful to work with these young people, and it’s exciting to see what they’re going to do,” Konczal added. “This whole experience has also fulfilled a dream I had as a child to do mission work; I had to wait a long time to do it, but it’s never too late, right?”

ONLEE BOWDEN Bowden’s involvement with Haiti began with mission trips directly after the 2010 earthquake, in the village of Pignon.

“I fell in love with the people there,” she explained. “To help initially, we focused on one area in Haiti — the central plateau — where most of the poorest of the poor are, out in the country away from the cities.”

Many mission trips later, Bowden and her United NEST Foundation (unitednest. org; NEST stands for nourish, empower, strengthen, and transform, the four pillars of her charitable helping Haiti organization) are focusing on Hinche, which she called a “hub” of Haiti, and the most centralized place to choose as a base for any charitable operations.

“Basically, there are two main roads in Haiti — one runs north-south, and the other runs east-west, and they both go through Hinche,” she said. “Hinche is much, much

smaller than Port-au-Prince (Haiti’s capital), but it still functions just like a port, even though it’s landlocked, just because it’s always so busy and has grown in population because of its location.”

Once you get away from Hinche, she explained, resources become very limited.

“One of the towns we stayed in farther out only got electricity six years ago,” she said.

“It’s like the 1800s there.”

Originally, Bowden worked on a variety of programs with the mission group. But she soon found that she wanted to spend more time immersed in the Haitian culture than a week-long trip or a “drop-in” mission trip would allow.

“I started going there by myself in 2012, staying with people I’d gotten to know in Haiti,” she said.

Eventually, she met a Haitian gentleman named Ephraim Lucien, who became a friend and was eventually named the executive director of NEST (Bowden is NEST’s president.)

“Ephraim got a soccer scholarship to go to a university in the U.S., and it changed the trajectory of his life,” Bowden explained. “After the earthquake, he made a commitment to return to his home area and to bring soccer back with him.”

And there entered NEST’s next charity endeavor; they started building an interscholastic soccer team in the central plateau of Haiti, to create scholarship and schooling opportunities for the local kids.

“We have sport coaches for them, so they train in soccer and study English,” said Bowden. “We have 12 schools committed to the interscholastic team, and we have an ‘elite’ team chosen from those 12 schools.

We’ve met with colleges to seek scholarships for those kids, so they can potentially go to college in the U.S. Haiti doesn’t offer anything to offset tuition costs, so the sports scholarships are of major importance. We hope after their schooling, they’ll then come back to the village and help. Haitians are, by and large, very committed to their homes.”

In addition to working with NEST and the soccer program, Lucien and his wife,

Nandy, also run a consignment shop in Hinche, and provide food on Saturdays to the elderly. NEST and Bowden are also just opening a guest house in Hinche to both provide a destination for additional mission workers, and to generate more income for their Haitian causes.

“The funds raised through the guest house — which will be only the third one in Hinche — will go to pay the people who run the guest house, as well as to pay for the soccer program.

We want to be a completely sustainable nonprofit in four years,” Bowden said.

“It’s a heart journey, coming here. It’s hard to explain. If you’ve ever talked to anyone who’s done work in Haiti, they’ll tell you, you just fall in love with these people. I go there to help them, but I also go there to get reminders of what matters in this world.”

BILL DONBERG Donberg has been going to Haiti for 30 years. He started traveling there with the Methodist Church in Midland, Michigan.

After he and his family moved to Elk Rapids in 2001, he began working with the Central Methodist Church in Traverse City to reach out and help.

“The majority of the work I helped with over there supported the building of schools, utilizing the mission budget of the church,” he said. “Once we moved to Elk Rapids, I joined the Elk Rapids Rotary Club (elkrapidsrotary.org), which is very involved in global mission projects.”

The Traverse City Rotary Club (traversecityrotary.org), he explained, was working with the non-profit Pure Water for the World (PWW) (purewaterfortheworld. org) in Haiti. PWW partners with rural and underserved communities to establish safe water solutions to help avoid waterborne diseases (like the cholera that’s become a major issue in Haiti), and they invited the Elk Rapids Rotary Club to get involved.

“I went to Haiti to see a PWW project in action, and I was very, very impressed,” Donberg said. “It can be tough for an NGO (non-governmental organizations) to function in Haiti, but their model — a comprehensive

Bill Donberg’s goal: happy, healthy Haitian kids safely attending school and enjoying clean water.

solution to waterborne illnesses like cholera — is having so much success.”

Donberg initially worked with PWW to help supply biosand water filters to households and schools, but he said they soon found out that the solution needed to be broader.

“The biosand filters are a critical tool — don’t get me wrong,” he explained. “But it’s even more about education — sanitation, handwashing, proper toilet systems, and the way they collect and store water.”

The goals then became not only to install the water filter systems and teach the Haitians how to maintain them but also to teach proper hygiene and sanitation and to then continue monitoring to see how effectively the program was working.

“All of my projects in Haiti now are working with the PWW system,” Donberg said. “We’ve done another half dozen or so projects since that initial one, and through fundraising and the Rotary matching funds, we’ve raised $300,000 for those projects and have implemented the filter systems in 2,000 homes and 200 schools.”

Donberg also joined the board of Pure Water for the World, and takes five to 10 people over to Haiti regularly to show them the ongoing situation there.

“I want to make people aware of what Haiti’s needs are, and I want those same people to then come home to America and become ambassadors for all of this, so people can understand what’s going on, and so Haiti can get more support.”

“It’s an amazing thing to be providing people with solutions to these waterborne illnesses,” Donberg said. “I used to look at ten kids and know the statistic — that three out of those 10 would die before they reached the age of five years old. In communities where Pure Water for the World has brought in the filter program, those kind of issues are close to being eliminated. Thinking about how many lives you’ve saved — it doesn’t get much more rewarding than that.”

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 19

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20 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

THE GOLDEN AGE

As local libraries continue to innovate their programming, are they becoming the new (and improved) senior centers?

By Kristi Kates Libraries have come a long way, Baby. Long known as vast repositories of books, audio files, movies, and research/history archives, libraries today are luring card-carrying members of all ages with even more programming: how-to classes, lectures, social events, film screenings, video game tourneys, and even live music. For seniors in particular, the North’s local libraries are becoming a kind of beacon, providing both the space and inspiration for older folks to explore, connect, and enrich their lives and that of their community. So what’s popular where? We checked out some of the region’s busiest libraries to find out.

FIGURE OUT THAT DAMN IPAD “One thing that’s very popular, especially with the older set, is our Tuesday Tech Cafe,” said Monica Kroondyk, director of the Boyne District Library (boynelibrary.org). “Every Tuesday at 2pm, people bring in their devices — Kindles, iPads, even computers — and they can get free help as to how to use them.”

You can take your tech a step further with library classes that will get you doing even more than using your devices to read or browse the Internet. Ongoing Byte-sized Tech and Maker-space Mondays at the Petoskey District Library (petoskeylibrary. org) enable folks to do things like convert VHS tapes to digital files, get personalized e-resource training in things like Microsoft Word, Excel, and Google Drive, and more, said Mary Beauchamp, the Petoskey Library’s collection development librarian.

Talia Hofacker, adult services supervisor at the Charlevoix Public Library (charlevoixlibrary.org), added that the library offers one program in particular that’s all the rage right now.

“Our ‘Managing Photos’ program!” she said. “Many people take lots of photos on their phone or digital camera — and then don’t know what to do with them.”

FIX YOUR BLENDER, LOWER YOUR INSURANCE If your household appliances are baffling you as much as your technology, the Petoskey Library’s Repair Café is a hugely

popular option (the next one is coming up in June). Guests bring in items like lamps, toasters, blenders, and sewing machines, and local repairmen and repairwomen are on hand to diagnose the trouble and help fix the item — at no charge.

At both the Charlevoix and the Harbor Springs libraries, guests can “fix up” their driving skills too.

Senior citizens can embark on an AARP Safe Driving Course, which takes place once a week for two weeks (call for days/times available). If a senior driver successfully completes the course, he or she becomes eligible for a possible discount on their auto insurance.

And if you’d like to improve your yarn skills, grab your needles n’ hooks and head on over to the Traverse Area District Library’s Interlochen branch (www.tadl.org), where they host the Yarn Therapy: Knitting and Crocheting group every Tuesday morning at 10am, where folks can bring their latest project to work on, enjoy a hot beverage, and chat about pattern ideas.

AUTHORS, EXPERTS, & INSPIRATION Libraries are also a perfect venue for lectures and discussions, and the libraries across northern Michigan are no exception.

One of the best known events in this category is probably the ongoing Friends @ The Carnegie Speaker Series at the Petoskey Library, which brings a host of interesting authors and experts to the “stage” for a oneof-a-kind view into their lives or local issues.

From the effect of climate and human factors affecting Lake Michigan water levels to the state of animal control today (e.g. “Not Your Grandparent’s Dog Catcher”), topics ran the gamut. Upcoming guests include Kathy Bricker of Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch on March 26 and Amy Tweeten of Greyhound Rescue on April 23.

The Harbor Springs Library host a popular semi-monthly lecture series based on TedX talks. “We meet as a group and watch a handful of TED talks based around a particular theme, and then have a community discussion about that theme or topic. Our next one will be Thursday,

March 1, and will be called ‘Words Matter,’ in which we’ll talk about language and communication.”

The Harbor Springs Library (harborspringslibrary.org) also welcomes traditional lecturers. Soon, they’ll confirm dates for a return visit by men from the Gilmore Car Museum, who speak about the history of the automotive industry, as does the Boyne library.

“Our next lecture will actually be an author talk by Seattle writer Garth Stein, who wrote ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain,”’ said Kroondyk. “That’ll be a bigger library event, so it will be held at the Boyne City High School Performing Arts Center.”

And at the Charlevoix Library, their “Lifelong Learning Classes” offer ongoing lectures on everything from the local history of towns to the complex matters of foreign policy in Russia and China.

GENEOLOGY, MEMOIRS & BIRDING Want to find a new hobby or project? Your library is a great place to get a jump-start.

The Petoskey library offers a couple of different options perfect for digging into your own history.

“Every third Monday of the month, we host a genealogy interest group run by Barbara Manley Hernden, a professional genealogist,” said Beauchamp. “Each session features a brief genealogy lesson, followed by discussion and a question and answer session.”

Petoskey’s library is also presenting a life stories and memoir workshop that will be overseen by local author Randy Evans on March 1 from 11–12pm, so you convert your own memories into a readable tome.

And the main branch of the Traverse Area District Library (TADL) in Traverse City (www.tadl.org) invites you to join the Grand Traverse Area Genealogical Society for their monthly meetings (next one is March 15 at 1pm), where they often have guest speakers and share info on how to get your genealogical search started.

Meanwhile, outdoorsfolk will especially enjoy the Boyne library’s upcoming Intro to Birding class on May 20.

“We’re partnering with the Sunset

Coast Birding Trail for that one,” explained Kroondyk, “it will be especially neat, because after the birding presentation, guests will be taken outside for a mini birding experience that very same evening!”

The TADL’s main branch also offers everything from Maker Space events to cosplay meetups, while their East Bay branch offers a range of drop-in crafts, including offerings like Ukranian egg painting and pom-pom insect making.

MAHJONGG, LIVE MUSIC & OPEN MIC Everything doesn’t have to be a learning experience at the library, though. Sometimes you can just go and have a little fun.

Seniors have a great time meeting other seniors during the Petoskey Library’s Mahjongg meetups (every Monday, 10am– 1pm). Don’t know how to play the engaging Chinese tile game? Go anyway, beginner tables and instruction are available.

For a little big-screen entertainment, the Boyne District Library offers up their Friday Night Film Series on the first and third Fridays of every month starting at 6:30 pm.

The next film screening will be Woman in Gold on March 16.

Or perhaps a little live music is more up your alley? Check out the Charlevoix Library’s ongoing music series: Summer Folk and Winter Folk, folk music concerts on the last Monday of each month, and Summer Jazz, which happens outdoors on Wednesday nights in the warmer months.

Harbor Springs’ library has music, too, in the form of their brand new open mic.

“The open mics take place on the first and third Monday of each month at 6:30pm,” said Harbor Springs library director Amelie Dawson. “It’s a great jam session, usually with guitars and singing and sometimes other instruments, and it’s right in the library, so it’s great to stop by after work on Monday evenings.” (Unless you’re retired — then it’s just a great stop.)

The majority of the programs listed here, with the exception of some concerts, are usually free of charge; contact your local library to get expanded schedules or for any addition.

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 21

Wildflower Crusaders When Omena’s Chuck and Janet Dickerson were in their 70s, they embarked on a 10-year quest to bring native lady slippers back to a Northport Preserve.

By Ross Boissoneau What does it take to grow wildflowers? In the case of lady slippers, one of the region’s native orchids, quite a lot. Just ask Chuck and Janet Dickerson of Omena, who have spent a decade trying to grow and then replant them.

“They’re very sensitive, touchy plants. That’s why there are so few,” said Chuck Dickerson.

Once the showpiece bloom of northern Michigan forests, lady slippers have become increasingly rare. At the Soper Natural Area near Northport, observers counted at least 1,000 lady slippers in 1995. In 2002, only six flowers bloomed.

There are many potential reasons for the flowers’ decline. “They’re like candy for deer,” said Tom Nelson, the executive director of the Leelanau Conservancy. Another reason is because they are so pretty, people will remove them from the wild to try to transplant the flowers at home. “People are not aware of how fragile some members of the biological community are,” Nelson said.

The flowers are also notoriously picky about their environment and do not reproduce easily. They favor a marshy environment, and Nelson said that’s likely another reason for the flowers’ decreasing

numbers; the area of the Soper Preserve has seen drier conditions over the past few years.

Enter the Dickersons. Chuck had been interested in wild plants since attending pharmacy school at Ferris in the late ’50s, where one of his professors would take the class on expeditions seeking specific medicinal plants. Janet is a longtime master gardener. So when Chuck wanted to return to Michigan after living in Missouri for 32 years, the only way he could persuade his wife to move was to promise to build her a greenhouse.

Janet got her greenhouse, and a decade ago, the couple — both passionate about ridding northern Michigan of its alien plants — decided to use their greenhouse to support native wildlife in a bigger, bolder way. They would propagate one of the north’s most finicky plants: native lady slippers.

Even with the controlled conditions of a greenhouse — and partially because of them — propagating lady slippers isn’t as easy as popping some seeds into soil and watering them for a couple months. In the wild, the plant has a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that strips the seed coat and provides the germinating seed nutrients to grow.

Without a line on such fungus, the Dickersons took a different tack. As in —

22 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

Clorox. The Dickersons used the bleach to remove the seed coat before rinsing the seed thoroughly. Then they enlisted the assistance of a botanist from Wisconsin, and had the seeds spend their first 18 months in a sterile culture. Then they moved the seedlings to their greenhouse.

By the time the plants had finally matured to the point where they were deemed ready to transplant, their numbers had decreased tenfold, from 700 to 70. Nevertheless, the Conservancy took the few dozen successes and planted them in the Soper Preserve, where they had previously flourished, this time protecting them with an eight-foot high fence. “The exclosure allowed the lady slippers to take root,” said Nelson. And, of course, the Dickersons funded and helped install that fence.

From start to finish, the project took most of a decade. And it will be several more years before the participants can say for sure whether it was a success.

So why all the hoopla? It certainly wasn’t the ease of the project. In fact, the challenge was part of the appeal. “Orchids are the hardest to grow. That’s why we picked them,” said Dickerson with a chuckle. Nor was it for accolades, though for their efforts, the Dickersons were named volunteers of the

year for 2017 by the Leelanau Conservancy.

“It’s been a joy to work with them,” said Becky Hill, the natural areas and preserve manager for the Leelanau Conservancy. She said the Dickersons knew the project would take at least 10 years, and even though they began it when they were in their 70s, they didn’t hesitate. They are, she said, “in their 80s with the hearts of 20-year-olds.”

The overriding motivation for those connected with the project was they saw it as a way to help protect, preserve and further the natural environment. “We want to see what the forest can do if given a chance,” said Nelson of this and other efforts, many of which involve protecting plants from threats such as deer. “The deer population is large.

It’s a real problem for biodiversity,” he added.

While some think of orchids as warmweather flowers, the truth is that lady slippers are just one of the many varieties native to Michigan. “We have a number of orchids. Some are not that showy,” said Hill. That’s certainly not the case with lady slippers. “They’re so beautiful.”

Nelson concurred. “They represent some of the most beautiful aspects of the natural landscape. They’re an emblem of sorts of all the good things about our natural resources.”

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NORTHERN SEEN 1. Rachel Payne, Gillian Cobb, and Aaron Dye celebrating beer and music at The Little Fleet in TC. 2. The gang gathers at Michigan House Social at The Little Fleet in TC. Lower: Scott Gordon, Jeff Malkiewicz, and Simon Joseph. Upper: Brian Tennis, Andrew and Jamie Kidwell-Brix 3. The Petoskey area’s movers and shakers gathered at Odawa Casino for the 13th annual State of the Community Luncheon, including David Zechman, Cameron Brunet-Koch, Dan Ledingham, Regina Gasco Bentley, and Kim Baker.

4. A group of attendees enjoy the most recent “Swirl” event at Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey, hosted by Toski Sands.

5. Dr. Peterson’s Fit Kids 360 instructors and mentors at The Y in Traverse City.

6. Stephanie Fineout shows off her big scores at the Inter-loch-ness Fishing Tournament on Green Lake in Interlochen.

24 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

mar 03

saturday

HARBOR SPRINGS RESTAURANT WEEK: March 2-11. Area restaurants are offering breakfast, lunch & dinner specials for $15, $25 &/or $35.

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MARDI GRAS ON THE MOUNTAIN: Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville. Today features N’awlins Namaste, DJ Dance Party, BBQ & Seafood Boil, Stylin’ on the Slopes Costume Contest, Mardi Gras Open Jam & more. crystalmountain.com

---------------------SELF-DEFENSE SEMINAR FOR SENIORS: 9am, The Rock of Kingsley. Women 55+ must pre-register by calling 231-263-7000.

Sponsored by the Zonta Club. Free. Find on Facebook.

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LOVERBOY: 8pm, Little River Casino Resort, Manistee. Enjoy this multi-platinum selling rock band. $35-$50. lrcr.com/event-calendar/concerts/loverboy

MARch

---------------------SIPS N’ GIGGLES COMEDY SHOW FEATURING KEVIN BOZEMAN: 8pm, Old Town Playhouse, TC. This event pairs nationally touring comedians with Leelanau Peninsula wine. Cocktail hour starts at 6pm. Guest comedians opening the show include Uncorrect Comedy Producer Christopher O’Non & local comedian Marti Johnson. $20 advance; $25 door. mynorthtickets.com

mar 04

03-11 send your dates to: events@traverseticker.com

sunday

HARBOR SPRINGS RESTAURANT WEEK: (See Sat., March 3)

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THE SLUSH CUP: 9am, Shanty Creek Resorts, Bellaire. Skiers & riders attempt to cross an icy 60′ pond. Other events include a frozen fish toss, snow shovel racing & a seal slide.

Register: 866.695.5010. shantycreek.com/ event/slush-cup

BLUEBERRY PANCAKE BREAKFAST: 8am-noon, Rainbow of Hope Farm, Kingsley. Suggested donation, $7. Pre-school free. Benefits Rainbow of Hope Farm. rainbowofhopefarm. weebly.com

HATS OFF TO READING - THE CAT IN THE HAT PARTY: 10am-noon, McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey. Enjoy cookie decorating, games, story time & more. mcleanandeakin.com

PARALLEL 45 THEATRE PRESENTS “GO, DOG. GO!”: 1:30pm & 4pm, City Opera House, TC. Dogs - Red, Blue, Yellow & Green - come to life in this high-energy theatrical experience inspired by P.D. Eastman’s classic children’s book. $15. cityoperahouse.org/go-dog-go

---------------------- ------------------------------------------TC RESTAURANT WEEK: Feb. 25 - March 3.

Featuring three course meals for $25 or $35/ person. See list of participating restaurants at: downtowntc.com

---------------------BEARD OF ZEUS FAT BIKE RACE: Noon, Timber Ridge RV Resort, TC. Featuring 90 & 45 minute races. $50. events.bytepro.net/ SBFBS-BeardofZeus

---------------------12TH ANNUAL SUDS & SNOW: 1-6pm, Timber Ridge Resort, TC. Start with a half mile hike through the backwoods of Timber Ridge Resort where there will be two live music stages, 20+ craft breweries & food vendors.

Tickets: $30; includes two drink tokens. sudsandsnowtc.com

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TC RALLY FOR GUN REFORM: 1pm. Start at The Workshop Brewing Co., TC. Proceed peacefully through downtown TC & then line the Parkway. Afterwards head back to The Workshop Brewing Co. to hear speeches & network.

Bring your signs & voices. 231-325-6812.

---------------------OWL PROWL: 5:45-7:45pm, Pigeon River Country Discovery Center, Gaylord. Enjoy an evening hike where you’ll listen for calling owls. Kid’s activities include owl pellet dissection, making construction paper owls, & a presentation of owls from an expert at the Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch. RSVP: caltona@michigan.gov or 989-983-4101. pigeonriver.org

---------------------RIVERTOWN FOLLIES MURDER MYSTERY DINNER: 6pm, Great Lakes Grill, Cheboygan.

Featuring “Trailer Park Tragedy.” 231-6278161. $25.

---------------------LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL: 7pm, TC West Senior High School. The story of Delta Nu Sorority Sister Elle Woods as she tries to win back Warner by any means possible. March 2, 3, 9, & 10 at 7PM and March 4 & 11 at 2PM. 1-800-836-0717. $12-$23. mynorthtickets.com

---------------------BLISSFEST COMMUNITY DANCE: 7:30pm, Red Sky Stage, Petoskey. Featuring live music

by Harbor Hoedown. All dances are taught & include squares, contras, lines, circles & waltzes. $3/person, $5/couple, $7/family. blissfest.org

---------------------FRESH HORSES GARTH BROOKS TRIBUTE: 8pm, Streeters, Ground Zero, TC. With Les Smith. $15. groundzeroonline.com/event/ fresh-horses

---------------------LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL: (See Sat., March 3)

---------------------PURE A CAPPELLA: 4pm, Milliken Auditorium, NMC, TC. Enjoy hearing TC Sings, Cherry Capital Men’s Chorus, NMC Chamber Singers, Judy Harrison Trio, Sashay Quartet (featuring Quad Pro Quo) and Canticum Novum, all performing without instruments. $14-$17. mynorthtickets.com/events/pure-acappella-2018

----------------------

“SAVING SNOW”: 5pm, Crystal Mountain Resort, Crystal Center, Thompsonville. Citizens Climate Lobby presents a free screening of this documentary about winter rec towns across the US dealing with shorter & warmer winters.

Find on Facebook.

mar 05

monday

HARBOR SPRINGS RESTAURANT WEEK: (See Sat., March 3)

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COOKBOOK DINNER SERIES: amical, TC. “Red Rooster” by Marcus Samuelsson. American cuisine inspired by the south. amical.com/ cookbookdinnerseries

----------------------

PREMIERE OF “THE PRICE OF PEACE”: 6pm, State Theatre, TC. Presented by NMC’s International Affairs Forum. This documentary will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Free.

----------------------

FLIES @ THE FRANKLIN: 6:30-8:30pm, The Franklin, upstairs, TC. Evan Visuri will be spinning up a couple of his secret dry flies that work well on the wariest of Michigan trout. 877627-4080. Free.

---------------------HERE:SAY PRESENTS: OPEN MIC: 7pm, The Workshop Brewing Co., TC. Come prepared to tell a story & put your name on the list. The list closes at 6:45pm & the show begins at 7pm. Free. Find on Facebook.

mar 06

tuesday

HARBOR SPRINGS RESTAURANT WEEK: (See Sat., March 3)

------------COOKBOOK DINNER SERIES: (See Mon., March 5)

Vocal ensemble Six Appeal is infused with comedic timing and the energy of a rock band. Performing on Sat., March 10 at 7:30pm at Crooked Tree Arts Center, Petoskey, tickets are $25 members/$35 non-members/$10 students. crookedtree. org/events/petoskey

AAUW MARCH MEETING: 5:30pm, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, TC. The American Association of University Women, Traverse City Branch will meet to hear speaker Abigail Jordan, coordinator of the Student Transition Empowerment Program at TCAPS. Free. aauwtc.org

----------------------

PARKINSON’S NETWORK NORTH EVENING SUPPORT GROUP: 6pm, MCHC, rooms A&B, TC. Jennifer Kerns, BS, RDH will present on dental care & Parkinson’s. Split group discussions will follow. 947-7389.

---------------------TCNEWTECH: 6pm, City Opera House, TC. Five presenters are allowed five minutes each to present & five minutes of question & answer. The audience is typically made up of technology-minded people & they can make brief announcements between presenters. cityoperahouse.org/tcnewtech

---------------------LANDSCAPE DESIGN WITH NATIVE PLANTS: 6:30pm, Boardman River Nature Center, TC. Presented by Master Gardeners Association of Northwest Michigan. Featuring guest speaker Cheryl Gross. $5 donation request for non-members. mgnma.org

mar 07

wednesday

HARBOR SPRINGS RESTAURANT WEEK: (See Sat., March 3)

-------------

PETOSKEY FILM SERIES: Presents “Lady Bird.” 7:30pm, Petoskey District Library, Carnegie Building. Free. Donations appreciated. facebook.com/petoskeyfilm

---------------------LEGALIZE EQUALITY: Noon, Leelanau County Government Center, Community Room, Suttons Bay. The League of Women Voters Leelanau County will hold a forum on the Equal Rights Amendment. The short film

“Legalize Equality” will be shown, followed by a group discussion. There will be an LWVLC business meeting afterwards. Free. LWVLeelanau.org

---------------------COMMUNITY PASTA DINNER: 5-7pm, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Elk Rapids. Free; donations welcome. stpaulselkrapids.org

---------------------COOKBOOK DINNER SERIES: (See Mon., March 5)

----------------------

REMAX + STREETERS CENTER 2.0 RECESS: 5-7pm, Streeters Center 2.0, TC. Ticker Recess - Two Recess’s in One: The Reserved Event Room: A Wedding Crashers Mock Reception. Louie Louie Kitchen & Bar: Featuring The Weekend Dueling Pianos, appetizers, & more. Entry fee includes two beer or wine vouchers. Prizes include $100 Streeters gift cards & a private event for 100 people. $10. traverseticker.com

---------------------LIFETREE CAFÉ: 8pm, The Rock of Kingsley Youth Center. Featuring a film about problem solving and a discussion. Free. Find on Facebook.

MAR 08

thursday

HARBOR SPRINGS RESTAURANT WEEK: (See Sat., March 3)

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TIP OF THE MITT WATERSHED COUNCIL’S ICE BREAKER WINTER SPEAKER SERIES: Noon, Watershed Council, Petoskey. Featuring an overview of fish restoration projects being undertaken by the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Natural Resources Department. Reserve your spot: 231-347-1181. watershedcouncil.org

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 25

MARch EXPERIENCE 03-11 INTERLOCHEN March 8 Momix Opus Cactus A show of dancer-illusionists designed to dazzle and delight every member of the family.

A HISTORY OF INTERLOCHEN CAMPS: 4pm, Benzie Area Historical Museum, Benzonia. Presented by Dave Pennington. For info email: info@benziemuseum.org Donation accepted.

---------------------AUTHOR EVENT: 5pm, McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey. Featuring Jessie Sima, author of “Harriet Gets Carried Away.” Costumes encouraged. Reservations: 231-3471180. Free. mcleanandeakin.com

---------------------COOKBOOK DINNER SERIES: (See Mon., March 5)

----------------------

COOKBOOK DINNER SERIES: (See Mon., March 5)

---------------------FIRST FRIDAYS IN HARBOR SPRINGS: 5-8pm, Downtown Harbor Springs. Enjoy live music, shopping & dining. 231-881-1022. Find on Facebook.

---------------------“THE LION KING ON ICE”: 7pm, Centre Ice Arena, TC. Presented by the Traverse City Figure Skating Club. Tickets: MyNorthTickets. com. $17 bleacher seat/$120 VIP Table for 4. gofiguretc.org

BUSINESS AFTER HOURS: 5:30-7pm, Dick’s Pour House, Lake Leelanau.

LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL: (See Sat., March 3)

-------------------------------------------

---------------------SOLAR SUCCESS STORIES: 6:30pm, Traverse Area District Library, TC. NMEAC presents an update by Skip Pruss of solar energy success nationally, & stories by local folks who have had solar installed. Free. nmeac.org

---------------------THE ART OF: INSPIRING CHANGE: 7-9pm, Dennos Museum Center, NMC, TC. An Indie Lens Pop-Up Screening of “Dolores” by Peter Bratt. This is the story of Dolores Huerta.

Co-founder of the first farmworkers union with Cesar Chavez, Huerta led the fight for racial & labor justice. Following the film will be a panel discussion featuring the Northwest Michigan Food & Farming Network. Free. dennosmuseum.org

---------------------JIM HAWLEY: REMEMBERING DAN FOGELBERG: 7:30pm, City Opera House, TC. Hawley honors musician & songwriter Dan Fogelberg in this performance. Proceeds will be donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. $22.50. cityoperahouse.org/jim-hawley

---------------------MOMIX, OPUS CACTUS: 7:30pm, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Corson Auditorium.

This company of dancer-illusionists under the direction of Moses Pendleton is known internationally for presenting dynamic images of cactuses, slithering lizards & fire dancers. $37, $42. tickets.interlochen.org

---------------------THE EAST POINTERS: 7:30pm, Red Sky Stage, Petoskey. Enjoy new, original roots music. Presented by Blissfest Music Organization. $15 members; $20 non-members. redskystage.com

MAR 09

friday

HARBOR SPRINGS RESTAURANT WEEK: (See Sat., March 3)

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PETOSKEY FILM SERIES: (See Weds., March 7)

---------------------KIDS’ FESTIVAL WEEKEND: Boyne Mountain Resort, Boyne Falls, March 9-11. Featuring Splatmaster Paintball target practice, rock wall & extreme dual air jumpers, inflatable obstacle course & bounce house, Silly Slalom Race, kids’ seal slide, egg race & much more. boynemountain.com/kids-festival-weekend

---------------------SPRING CARNIVAL: Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville. Featuring ski deals, a cardboard sled building workshop, & Cardboard Classic registration. crystalmountain.com/ events/spring-fling

---------------------800.681.5920

----------------------

SELF DEFENSE 101: 5-7pm, Mills Community House, Upper Level, Benzonia Public Library. Presented by Preston Taylor. 231-8824111. Free. benzonialibrary.org

HONORING BERNIE FOWLER: 5:30pm, Crawford County Commission on Aging & Senior Center, Grayling. The Civil Servant, the Fisherman, the River Guide, the Paddler.

Presented by Bernie’s son, Stuart Fowler. 989348-7123. Free.

tickets.interlochen.org

9TH ANNUAL BREW-SKI FESTIVAL: Boyne Highlands Resort, Harbor Springs. More than 70 breweries bring more than 200 brews. Also enjoy live music, food & more. $10. boynehighlands.com/events/brewski-festival

NORTHERN MI HOME SHOW: 11am-7pm, NCMC, Petoskey. “Concept to Reality” will heavily focus on workshops & demonstrations. $5; 5 & under, free. hbanm.com/home-show-2

26 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

------------------------------------------NATIONAL WRITERS SERIES: 7pm, City Opera House, TC. With poet, activist, mother & professor Nikki Giovanni, who will talk about her newest book, “A Good Cry.” Cocktail hour & live music at 6pm; program at 7pm. Reserved tickets start at $15.50. Students, $5.50. cityoperahouse.org

---------------------SONGS FOR SHELTER: 7-9pm, Central United Methodist Church, TC. Celebrate the accomplishments of the staff, volunteers & families of Habitat for Humanity-Grand Traverse Region. Featuring live music by Turbo Pup & Oh Brother Big Sister, & a presentation from a Habitat-GTR family. Free.

---------------------MAY ERLEWINE: 7:30pm, Red Sky Stage, Petoskey. A dance-able event featuring May Erlewine & band members Michael Shimmin on drums & Max Lockwood on bass. $15 members, $20 non-members. redskystage.com

---------------------FRESHWATER CONCERT: 8pm, Freshwater Art Gallery, Boyne City. Enjoy Americana singer-songwriter A.J. Croce, whose nine albums have charted 17 Top 20 singles. freshwaterartgallery.com

MAR 10

saturday

HARBOR SPRINGS RESTAURANT WEEK: (See Sat., March 3)

------------KIDS’ FESTIVAL WEEKEND: (See Fri., March 9)

---------------------SPRING CARNIVAL: Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville. Today features Fitness Challenge Fun, Yoga, Cardboard Classic Creative Sled Contest, Cardboard Classic Race, New Belgium Scavenger Hunt, Slush Cup, free Slopeside Concert featuring Drew Hale, & more. crystalmountain.com/events/spring-fling

---------------------NORTHERN MI HOME SHOW: 9am-5pm, NCMC, Petoskey. “Concept to Reality” will heavily focus on workshops & demonstrations. $5; 5 & under, free. hbanm.com/home-show-2

---------------------POWER OF THE PURSE: 9:30am-noon, City Opera House, TC. Learn about the impact Goodwill Inn has had on the community, support its continuation, & hear some of the guests’ stories. Tickets include brunch provided by Bistro Fou Fou. Proceeds benefit the women & children staying at the Goodwill Inn. $35/person. goodwillnmi.org/power

---------------------FRIENDS OF TADL ANNUAL MEDIA SALE: Traverse Area District Library, TC. 9-10am: Members-only pre-sale. 10am-4pm: Public sale. Shop from thousands of used CDs, DVDs, audiobooks & vinyl records. All items are $2. tadl.org/event/friends-of-tadl-annualmedia-sale

---------------------MAKE A GIFT SERIES: JEWELRY CLASS: Interlochen Public Library. 10am-noon or 2-4pm. Materials provided. Sign up: 231-2766767. Free. tadl.org/interlochen

READ WITH DR. SEUSS: 11am, Horizon Books, Cadillac. Featuring story time, crafts, games & more. facebook.com/horizonbookscadillac

---------------------“THE LION KING ON ICE”: 11:30am & 4:30pm, Centre Ice Arena, TC. Presented by the Traverse City Figure Skating Club. Tickets: MyNorthTickets.com. $17 bleacher seat/$120 VIP Table for 4. gofiguretc.org

----------------------

6TH ANNUAL DOGMAN CHALLENGE FAT BIKE RACE: Noon, Mt. McSauba, top of bunny hill, Charlevoix. 1.8 mile loop through the trails of Mt. McSauba & North Point Nature Preserve. The riders who complete the most laps in two hours win Dogman medals & cash prizes. dogmanchallenge.net

---------------------9TH ANNUAL BREW-SKI FESTIVAL: (See Fri., March 9)

----------------------

INSPIRE YOUR BIRTH: 12:30-2pm, Leland Township Library. With local doulas Kallie and Maia. Connect with other expecting mothers in this afternoon of crafting, conversation, and tea. Materials provided. Contact Maia with questions: 231-866-4820. Free.

---------------------AUTHOR SIGNING: 1-3pm, Horizon Books, TC. Trevor McCauley will sign his book “The Weathervane, The Latter Rain, and One More Day.” horizonbooks.com

---------------------HOW TO “READ” THE WEATHER WITH JOE CHARLEVOIX: 1:30pm, Elk Rapids District Library. Free.

---------------------COOKBOOK DINNER SERIES: (See Mon., March 5)

----------------------

GAYLORD’S DANCING WITH THE STARS: 6-11pm, Otsego Grand Event Center, Gaylord.

This fundraising event features local celebrity dancers Taylar Akin & Will Tomaski, coached & choreographed by Michelle Neville & her team at Just Dance. Benefits Otsego Memorial Hospital. $125. myomh.org

---------------------LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL: (See Sat., March 3)

----------------------

SIX APPEAL: 7:30pm, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Petoskey. A vocal ensemble infused with comedic timing & the energy of a rock band. $25 members/$35 non-members/$10 students. crookedtree.org/events/petoskey

---------------------5TH ANNUAL MADE IN MICHIGAN FUNDRAISER: 8pm, The Elk’s, third floor, Cadillac.

Presented by Gopherwood Concerts. Featuring live music by Frank Youngman, Zak Bunce, Denny Richards, Rick West, Thomas Schippers & others. Benefits Club Cadillac.

Advance tickets: $12 adults, $6 students & free for 12 & under. Door: $15 adults, $7 students. mynorthtickets.com

---------------------BACK PORCH MUSIC: Boundary Water presents mostly instrumental music inspired by the beauty of northern MI. 7pm, Charlevoix Senior Center. Suggested donation: $10. 231622-2944.

MAR 11

sunday

HARBOR SPRINGS RESTAURANT WEEK: (See Sat., March 3)

------------KIDS’ FESTIVAL WEEKEND: (See Fri., March 9)

----------------------

9TH ANNUAL BREW-SKI FESTIVAL: (See Fri., March 9)

----------------------

‘LUUNAPPI!’ = SNAPPY SOUNDS FOR KIDS: 2pm, Glen Arbor Arts Center. Enjoy snappy music, poems & stories. Featuring Norm Wheeler & Pat Niemisto. Free for kids; adults, $5. glenarborart.org.

---------------------BAY VIEW ASSOCIATION—ITS PAST AND PRESENT: 2pm, Helena Township Community Center, Alden. The history of Bay View Association, a neighborhood of 450 Victorian

homes in Petoskey overlooking the Bay, will be highlighted. 231-331-4318.

hours: Weds. - Sat.: 11am-6pm; Sun.: 11am4pm. higherartgallery.com

LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL: (See Sat., March 3)

“THE LYRICS OF BOB DYLAN”: Nobel Laureate 2016. Three Pines Studio, Cross Village.

This all media exhibition runs through March. threepinesstudio.com

---------------------- ------------------------------------------KENNEDY’S KITCHEN: 4pm, Sleder’s Family Tavern, TC. Enjoy this Irish group performing everything from pub songs & sing-a-longs, stories, recitation, to dance tunes. 947-9213. $20 advance; $25 door.

---------------------CHASING THE RUNNING STITCH: Charlevoix Circle of Arts. This exhibit runs through March 3. charlevoixcircle.com

---------------------- ---------------------COOKBOOK DINNER SERIES: (See Mon., March 5)

ongoing

HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN WRITING THROUGH LOSS: Thursdays, 10-11:30am, Mar. 8 - Apr. 12. Michael’s Place, 1212 Veterans Dr., TC. This grief support program focuses on the use of writing as a healing process. Facilitated by Kathryn Holl, MA, LPC and Melissa Fournier, MSW. To register or for more info, call Kathryn Holl: 929.1557. hom.org

---------------------C3: CHARLEVOIX CREATIVES COLLABORATIVE WEEKLY BREAKFAST GATHERING: Fridays, 10:30am, Smoke on the Water Cafe, Charlevoix. Info: alexis @ 503.550.8889. Find on Facebook.

---------------------C3: CHARLEVOIX CREATIVES COLLABORATIVE WRITE ALONG GROUP: Sundays, 2:30-4pm, Charlevoix Public Library, 2nd floor Trustees Rm. Info: alexis @ 503.550.8889.

Find on Facebook.

---------------------COMPULSIVE EATERS ANONYMOUS: Thursdays, 5:30pm, 5th & Oak St., TC. Compulsive Eaters Anonymous-HOW is a fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience, strength & hope are recovering from compulsive eating & food addiction. traversecityceahow.org

---------------------OLD MISSION SNOWSHOE, WINE & BREW: Sundays, 11am through March 4. Starts at Jolly Pumpkin, TC & then shuttles to Brys Estate, followed by snowshoeing to Bowers Harbor Vineyards & Jolly Pumpkin. tcbrewbus. com/events

---------------------HORIZON BOOKS OF CADILLAC STORYTIME: Wednesdays, 4pm. Listen to a story & create a take-home craft. facebook.com/horizonbookscadillac

---------------------RANGER-LED SNOWSHOE HIKES: Saturdays & Sundays, 1pm, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Empire. Meet at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center. Reservations required: 231-326-4700, ext. 5010. Free, but park entrance pass or annual pass required. nps.gov/ slbe/index.htm

art

GREAT LAKES PHOTOGRAPHY: A SAILOR’S PERSPECTIVE: March 9 - Apr. 14, Tinker Studio, TC. Featuring work by photographer & sailor on the Great Lakes, Michael Diduch. An opening reception/Meet the Artist will be held on Fri., March 9 from 5-7:30pm.

Gallery is open Weds.-Sat., 10am-5pm & Sun., 12-4pm. Find on Facebook.

----------------------

DIETRICH BROTHERS POPUP SHOW: March 4-11, Jordan River Arts Council, East Jordan. Featuring the work of Rich and Bill Dietrich. John Alberts Poetry Afternoon will be held on Sun., March 4 from 2-4pm. The exhibit opening will follow at 4pm. jordanriverartscouncil15.wildapricot.org

----------------------

ARNTSON, SEMAN VOYTENKO: Oliver Art Center, Frankfort. Featuring the paintings of bodies of water by Amy Arntson, the photography of Greg Seman, & the abstract encaustics of Marissa Voytenko. Runs through March 23. Hours: Mon.-Fri., 10am-4:30pm; Sat., 10am-4pm; & Sun., 12-4pm. oliverartcenterfrankfort.org

---------------------“CAMERA EYE WITNESS”: Higher Art Gallery, TC. Runs through March 17. Regular

DRINK & DRAW: Tuesdays, 7pm, The Workshop Brewing Co., TC. traversecityworkshop.com

----------------------

GRAND TRAVERSE ART BOMB: Runs through Apr. 7 at Right Brain Brewery, TC. This collaborative art show featuring talent from around northern MI gives artists an opportunity to showcase their talents with minimal cost. A Closing Reception will be held on Sat., April 7. gt-artbomb.wixsite.com/2018

----------------------

CROOKED TREE ARTS CENTER, PETOSKEY: - CROOKED TREE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY EXHIBITION: Runs through March 24.

Includes 90 photographs by local & regional photographers. Juried by photographer & founder of the annual Photostock Festival, Bill Schwab.

- “HAND IN HAND: CRAFT AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES”: Runs through March 24. This exhibition explores the relationship between tradition & innovation when applied to diverse concepts, materials, methods & processes. crookedtree.org

---------------------CROOKED TREE ARTS CENTER, TC: YOUTH ART SHOW: March 11-31. Featuring the next generation of visual artists and their teachers. A reception will be held on Sun., March 11 from 1-3pm.

PALATE TO PALETTE ART SHOW: A multimedia exhibition on cooking, food & drink.

Runs through March 3. crookedtree.org/ events/traverse-city

----------------------

DENNOS MUSEUM CENTER, NMC, TC: Mon. - Sat., 10am-5pm; Thurs., 10am-8pm; Sun., 1-5pm.: - “VISITORS TO THE SEA: MASTERPIECES FROM THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ART”: These masterpieces feature human figures, a beach, the shore & the water. Runs through March 8.

- “LINES OF LIGHT: CRAIG TANDY - MONOFILAMENT SCULPTURE”: Runs through April 29 at Zimmerman Sculpture Court. Canadian artist Craig Tandy constructs complex sculptures with monofilament nylon that illustrate the properties of projected light, with an interest in creating a space through which the viewer can move.

- TUTANKHAMUN: “WONDERFUL THINGS” FROM THE PHARAOH’S TOMB: Runs through May 6. From the artisans of the Pharaonic Village in Egypt & the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this exhibit features about 100 replicas of the pharaoh’s possessions & artifacts from the period surrounding Tutankhamun’s reign. It reconstructs the discovery of the tomb by Howard Carter & the life of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. dennosmuseum.org

----------------------

GLEN ARBOR ARTS CENTER: - CELEBRATING YOUNG ARTISTS AT GAAC: Through March 23. Featuring the work of young creatives with an exhibition by Glen Lake Elementary School sixth graders & the GAAC’s After School Art kids. Gallery hours: 9am-2pm, Mon.-Fri., & 12-4pm, Sun. - MOLLY PHINNY: WORKS IN CLOTH 20152017: A small survey of fiber constructions

by Leelanau County artist Molly Phinny. Runs through April 8. 231-334-6112. glenarborart.org Gaylord Area Council for the Arts, Gaylord: -JURIED PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT: Mar. 6 - Apr. 28. An opening reception will be held on Sat., March 10 from 5-7pm. Enjoy the work of nature & wildlife photographer Kristina Lishawa.

- BLACK & WHITE WITH A LITTLE RED EXHIBIT: Runs through March 3. Hours: Tues.Fri.: 11am-3pm; Sat.: 11am-1pm. gacaevents. weebly.com

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 27

The reel

by meg weichman

game night black panther

D

I had nearly given up on the studio adult comedy. You know the films: mid-budget, with appealing comedic talent you love on TV and a lackluster script, slightly raunchy, and utterly forgettable. There’s been an over proliferation of these high-concept genre mashups, which more often that not take place over the course of one crazy night. And that’s pretty much what we have here, a film that could be described as David Fincher’s sibling rivalry-infused thriller, The Game, meets Steve Carell and Tina Fey’s improbable up-all-night farce, Date Night.

Yet for a film the ostensibly fits all the above descriptions, imagine the surprise that — in the dumping grounds of February no less — this is actually pretty solid and enjoyable fare that manages to get things right. I mean, it’s not particularly sharp, but it’s never dull. And you’ll laugh. Quite a lot. Which is pretty much all one can ask for from a movie like this.

The film centers on Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams), a couple who meet cute at a bar trivia night, and over the course of a very clever montage we see just how much games have defined this uber-competitive pair’s relationship.

Now married and trying to have a baby, they still host a weekly game night for their friends.

Joining them are Ryan (Billy Magnussen), a gorgeous dolt of a man who brings a different insipid millennial as his date each week; husband and wife Kevin (Lamorne Morris) and Michelle (Kylie Bunbury), high school sweethearts whose relationship seems rock solid; and then there’s their creepy nextdoor neighbor Gary (Jesse Plemons), who desperately wants back in following the divorce that ousted him from the group.

But for this particular game night, the stakes are raised when Max’s incredibly successful older brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler), happens to be in town. He invites them over to his luxury home for an interactive game experience (think professional murdermystery party complete with actors) where the prize is a Corvette Stingray.

But everyone gets more than they bargained for when an actual kidnapping occurs, blurring the lines of reality and fiction. Turns out, Brooks’ success might not have been on Wall Street, and it’s up to Max and Annie to rescue him from an international crime boss.

But no one realizes this initially, and — when they don’t know they’re in real danger, or that they’re wielding a real gun, or that that’s real blood — it’s an undeniable riot.

And over the course of the next hour, this offbeat treat gives us Denzel Washington impressions, Third Eye Blind sing-alongs, and inquests into whether Tostitos Scoops ever go on 3-for-1 sale. You can’t apply realworld logic to what transpires here, but the film’s own self-awareness of tropes and pop culture goes far to help you ignore nagging plot holes. Plus, since it’s briskly plotted and full of roaring laughter, you won’t really have time to overthink it.

All together, it’s an appropriate mix of absurdly humorous situations, decently choreographed action, and interesting interpersonal drama.

It makes you care for the characters without resorting to overt sentimentality. And while often outrageous, it never goes over the top.

And all the pieces put into play over the course of a twisty and turn-y ride come together in a very satisfying way.

McAdams and Bateman make a great team; they have a lived-in quality that really make you believe they are a married couple.

Bateman does his standard aggrievedeveryman thing, but this truly is one of the best uses of his deceptive talents in recent memory. And for McAdams, I’m just so delighted to see her back in comedy that I am powerless to her charms. And while she does get some big moments, in this film, as well as Hollywood at large, she remains criminally underused.

But special honors go to Jesse Plemons and his canine companion, who looks straight out of Cesar Dog Food commercial (you know, that stunned-looking white terrier). It might not be a compliment to point out just how well he does awkward creep, but his deadpan divorcee is low-key brilliant.

Rounding out things is a stellar crew of higher profile actors in small but potent parts like Jeffrey Wright, Michael C. Hall, and Chelsea Peretti. The scene with Peretti and Magnussen engaged in a bribery sequence might be what restored my faith in studio comedies.

Suffice it to say, this movie just works — amiably gliding along toward its somewhat predictable conclusion. Kudos to the directing team for using our low expectations to their advantage and for creating something so simply yet disposably enjoyable. So while this certainly isn’t a game changer of a film, that you’ll like it definitely isn’t a charade.

Meg Weichman is a perma-intern at the Traverse City Film Festival and a trained film archivist.

28 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

irector Ryan Coogler (only 31!) already elevated a Rocky movie to the level art with Creed, so it should come as no surprise that he has done the same thing here. Black Panther is the first superhero movie with a nearly all black leading cast, something that’s been a long time coming — too long coming — and Coogler knows the weight of this moment, and boy, he doesn’t waste it. But Black Panther is revolutionary not only because of its cast and crew or Afrocentric storyline but also because what it has to say and how it delivers it in such joyously entertaining fashion — disrupting the very idea of what mainstream Hollywood entertainment can be. What we have here is an origin story but one that skips all the boring origin story-ness. It isn’t about the Black Panther coming into his powers, or really even about super powers, but something far more meaningful. When a vengeful challenger (Michael B. Jordan) to the throne appears, the new king of Wakanda, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), rethinks his technologically advanced and isolationist country’s place in the world. Deeply personal and exhilarating, Black Panther brings a welcome real-world gravity to the Marvel-verse. I stopped counting all the times I said to myself, Wow, I haven’t seen that in a movie before, followed by, Wow, why haven’t I seen that in a movie before? And I hope to see lots more movies as bold and as dazzling as this. Because representation matters. Black Panther matters. Go see it!

50 shades freed

5

0 Shades Freed is not unwatchable but more of a ridiculous but-not-ridiculous-enough yawn. And if one thing comes through on this final entry of the popular trilogy, it’s just that its moment has passed. We’ve moved on as a culture, and there might not be a place for this series in a post #metoo era.

If only it had been campier, had a little more awareness, and embraced its awfulness. But it played a far too serious card.

The film kicks off with the innocent Ana Steele (Dakota Johnson) marrying her dark and twisty billionaire boyfriend, Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). But their wedded bliss is interrupted when it’s revealed that Ana’s former boss (a book editor) is now some kind of hacking mastermind trying to destroy Christian and Ana’s lives.

This is where we get to the film’s joke of a “thriller” subplot. But the film’s main focus is supposed to be on the couple’s sexy, BDSM relationship, yet between their nonexistent chemistry and conservative underpinnings, it’s not nearly as hot as it thinks it is. The romantic fantasy is incredibly simplistic and traditional (girl meets boy, gets ring, gets married, shops for house, gets pregnant, how cute that the man can’t cook) just infused with some light erotica. These underlying basic storytelling devices only succeed in reminding you, Oh yeah, this is — and always will be — just poorly written Twilight fanfiction.

winchester

W

inchester is a haunted house story, and what a house! It’s a maze-like, Victorian behemoth with dozens of rooms that’s under construction 24 hours a day. Hallways lead to dead ends, staircases rise to meet ceilings, doors open to brick walls or out into thin air. The home belongs to the grieving Sarah Winchester (Helen Mirren. What are you doing, Helen?!), widow of American gun magnate William Winchester, and she has the entire Winchester Repeating Arms fortune at her disposal to build her giant house. Naturally her mental state is being called into question by the board of trustees, and a doctor, Eric Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty’s Jason Clarke), is dispatched to conduct an evaluation. During their first dinner together, Mrs. Winchester explains to the good doctor that she built her house the way she did in order to contain the ghosts of people killed by her husband’s invention that are out for revenge. And thus we are subsequently treated to run-of-the-mill ghastly visions that allow the film to fill its quota of jump scares to qualify as a horror film. You won’t find a more dull or inconsequential moviegoing experience than sitting through this film. And since this haunted house doesn’t have any of those handy signs you normally see nailed to the front gate, consider this your final warning: KEEP OUT, GO AWAY, and I’D TURN BACK IF I WERE YOU.

PAUL SIMON IS OVER IT.

MODERN

Paul Simon

ROCK

BY KRISTI KATES

Singer-songwriter Paul Simon has announced that he’s done performing live concerts — except for the occasional charity or honorary event — and will be staging a farewell concert for his fans on July 15 in London’s Hyde Park. Simon will be joined by James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt, with more supporting musicians to be announced. The Hyde Park event will take place at the end of what will ostensibly be Simon’s last major tour, a trek that kicks off May 16 and will take him through North America, the U.K., and mainland Europe …

Liverpool, England, band Echo and the Bunnymen, who enjoyed its first heyday back in the ’80s and became the subject of a new flood of interest in 2014 with its 12th album, Meteorites, is keeping those musical waters moving with an upcoming studio album and a roster of tour dates for this year (starting with a shortlist of U.K. shows). The new album, called The Stars, The Oceans, and The Moon, will mix up a collection of brand new Echo songs with some “transformed classics,” as the band put it, taking several prior hits and adding in strings and other audio decoration. The Stars, The Oceans, and The Moon will hit outlets this May. Keep an

eye on the band’s official website, bunnymen. com, for additional tour dates as the year progresses …

The Decemberists is returning this week with the release of its eighth full-length studio album, I’ll Be Your Girl, which will hit outlets on March 16 via Capitol Records. To support the brand new set, the band will hop back on the road for a big world tour starting later this year. In the meantime, you can catch them stateside on their North American dates, which kicks off on March 22 in Pomona, California. That trek will include a stop in Ann Arbor on Friday, May 25, at the Hill Auditorium. The band’s own Travelers’ Rest Music Festival is also happening again this summer, Aug. 4–5 in Missoula, Montana ...

Talib Kweli has stepped away from the traditional record industry and has decided to release his newest album on his own record label, Javotti Media. The album, which he’s dubbed Radio Silence, includes contributions from an impressive shortlists of Kweli’s fellow indie artists, including Waka Flocka Flame, Anderson.Paak, Jay Electronica, and Rick Ross; Kweli is calling the set “a musical celebration” in which he takes his own familiar hip-hop sound and mixes and matches it with these different talents to craft some experimental numbers …

LINK OF THE WEEK Heading west this spring? Point your compass toward the 2018 Sasquatch Festival in Gorge, Washington, set for May 25–27 with a wide range of indie-rock acts including David Byrne, The National, Bon Iver, Modest Mouse, Neko Case, TV on the Radio, TuneYards, Tyler the Creator, Spoon, and many, many more. Get the whole lineup and ticket information at sasquatchfestival.com …

THE BUZZ Get funky with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic on March 8 at Sound Board inside the MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit …

Grand Rapids/Muskegon band Pop

Evil has released its fifth studio album, an eponymous effort that officially introduces new drummer Hayley Cramer …

Fellow Grand Rapids band 78 Revolutions Per-Minute, a punk rock group that’s causing quite a stir in the region, has dropped its own new record, an EP called Here Lies a Mouthy Kid …

St. Andrews Hall in Detroit will welcome two standout indie acts this week, Judah and the Lion (with special guest Tall Heights) on March 8, and Lights on March 9 … and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com.

Traverse City Area Public Schools

Great Community, Great Schools

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 29

Mon -

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Superchunk – What a Time to Be Alive – Merge

Quietly strolling out of its four-year hiatus is Superchunk, which seems to have returned to musically comment on the current state of the U.S. and its political climate. This is definitely an urgent, opinionated set of tunes if a challenging one to listen to, from the direct reprimands of the title track to the fear-confronting “Erasure” to the unsure plans-of-the-future as outlined in tracks like “Break the Glass” and “Lost My Brain.” The instrumentals match the dark, sometimes disastrous mood with agitated, wailing guitar riffs, confrontational vocals, and shrill drumbeats.

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Alvvays – Antisocialites – Polyvinyl

IN CLINCH PARK

This Toronto indie-pop band is only on album No. 2, but it already seems to have a solid handle on the uniqueness of its sound. Faintly twee (think Belle and Sebastian without Stuart Murdoch’s vocals), it’s heavy on dream-pop (“Dreams Tonight”), with the sprinkles of the sounds of past eras, like ’50s Motown (“Not My Baby”) and ’60s surf-pop (“Plimsoll Punks”). There’s a lot going on here, but thanks to the consistent vocals and broad use of metaphors throughout the lyrics, it’s a cohesive pop listen.

SUN & MON 12:30 • 3:30 • 7 PM TUE & THU 12n • 3 • 6 • 9 PM WEDNESDAY 12n • 3 • 6:15 • 9:15 PM

Happy Feet

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Born Ruffians – Uncle, Duke and The Chief – Yep Roc

Spawned of the conflicting edgy/bubbly sounds of bands like Talking Heads, They Might Be Giants, and The Pixies, the Ruffians come across like a literal band of Little Rascals, playing around in the studio with vintage pop songs and gleefully cutting those sounds apart to alternately craft their own playful tunes, like the beachy West-Coastian “Love Too Soon” and the bright “Miss You.” The other half of the tracklist features equally appealing pensive numbers, with one particular highlight being the chill, soulful vibe of “Side-Tracked.”

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Traverse City, MI 49686

Lee Dewyze – Paranoia – Shanachie

Dewyze — the winner of American Idol season 10 — has released a plethora of songs you’ve probably heard without knowing it, as his alt-folk-lite tunes fit perfectly into settings like TV shows — Elementary and The Walking Dead — as well as commercials for Blue Cross and NASCAR. This new collection, while more emotionally detailed in a lyrical sense, continues in that same commercial vein, production-wise, on tracks like “Lonely Hearts” and “Hear You Now,” which would have been far better if every musical component hadn’t been over-tuned and buffed too far into perfection.

nitelife

mar 03 - mar 11 edited by jamie kauffold

Send Nitelife to: events@traverseticker.com

Grand Traverse & Kalkaska ACOUSTIC TAP ROOM, TC Tue -- Songwriters Open Mic, 7-9 3/9 -- The Duges, 7

LEFT FOOT CHARLEY, TC 3/5 -- Open Mic Night w/ Rob Coonrod, 6-9 3/9 -- Jeff Brown, 6-8

FANTASY'S, TC Mon. - Sat. -- Adult entertainment w/ DJ, 7-close

LITTLE BOHEMIA, TC Tue -- TC Celtic, 7-9

GT RESORT & SPA, GRAND LOBBY BAR, ACME 3/3 -- Levi Britton, 7-11 3/9 -- Blake Elliott, 7-11 3/10-3/11 -- Jim Hawley, 7-12 GAIJIN, TC Wed -- Karaoke, 8 GRAND TRAVERSE DISTILLERY, TC Fri -- Younce Guitar Duo, 7-9:30 HAYLOFT INN, TC Thu -- Open mic night by Roundup Radio Show, 8 HOTEL INDIGO, BAY BAR, TC 3/3 -- Chris Sterr, 7-10 3/9 -- Strobelite Honey, 7-10 3/10 -- Nick & Jason, 7-11 KILKENNY'S, TC 3/2-3 – Strobelight Honey 3/9-10 – One Hot Robot Tue -- Levi Britton, 8 Wed -- The Pocket, 8 Sun -- Geeks Who Drink Trivia, 7-9

3/7 – Kaydee Swanson, 6-8 Tues, Sat -- Matt Smith, 5-7 Thu – Comedy Open Mic, 7:30-9 THE PARLOR, TC 3/3 -- Dave Crater wsg John Sanger, 8-11 3/3 -- Comedy Night, 8:30-11

NOLAN'S CIGAR BAR, TC 3/9 -- Dane & Ray, 8-11 PARK PLACE HOTEL, TC BEACON LOUNGE: Thurs,Fri,Sat — Tom Kaufmann, 8:30 RARE BIRD BREWPUB, TC 3/7 -- Big Jam Band, 8:30-11 SAIL INN BAR & GRILL, TC Thurs. & Sat. -- Phattrax DJs & Karaoke, 9 SLEDER'S FAMILY TAVERN, ON THE PORCH, TC 3/11 -- Kennedy's Kitchen, 4 STREETERS, TC GROUND ZERO: 3/3 -- Fresh Horses Garth Brooks Tribute, 7 3/8 -- Blackberry Smoke wsg Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, 8 3/10 -- The SAC Presents "Back to the 90's 2,” 10 THE DISH CAFE, TC 3/5 – Open Mic w/ Chris Michels, 6-8

THE WORKSHOP BREWING CO., TC 3/3 -- DJ Clark, 8-11 Wed -- The Workshop Live Jazz Jam, 6-10 3/10 -- Chris Michels Band, 8 UNION STREET STATION, TC 3/3 -- Electric Red, 10 3/4,3/11 -- Karaoke, 10 3/5 -- Jukebox, 5 3/6 – Jukebox, 10 3/7 -- 2 Bays DJs, 10 3/8 -- DJ Prim, 10 3/9 -- Happy Hour w/ Chris Sterr, then Brett Mitchell & the Giant Ghost, 5 3/10 -- Brett Mitchell & the Giant Ghost, 10 WEST BAY BEACH HOLIDAY INN RESORT, TC BISTRO: Mon -- Levi Britton, 5 3/6 -- David Chown, 5-6 VIEW: 3/3,3/10 -- DJ Motaz, 10 3/8 -- The Jeff Haas Trio, 7-9:30 3/9 -- Sweet Water Blues Band, 7-9:30; DJ Shawny D, 10-2

Manistee, Wexford & Missaukee LITTLE RIVER CASINO RESORT, MANISTEE 3/3 -- Loverboy, 8

Antrim & Charlevoix CELLAR 152, ELK RAPIDS 3/9 -- Chris Smith, 7:30-9:30 3/10 -- Turbo Pup, 6:30-10:30 ETHANOLOGY, ELK RAPIDS 3/3 -- James Dake, 8-11 3/10-3/11 -- Thrift Prom with Hollywood DJ Deacon Jonze, 8-12 RED MESA GRILL, BOYNE CITY 3/6 – Tribe of Chiefs

SHORT'S BREWING CO., BELLAIRE 3/3 -- The Mother Brothers, 8:3011 3/4 -- Battle of the Bands Week Four, 5:30-7:30 3/6 -- Open Mic & Community Jam Hosted by Seth Bernard, 7:30-10:30 3/9 -- Amy Andrews, 8:30-11 3/10-3/11 -- May Erlewine, 8:30-

12:30 3/11 -- Battle of the Bands Week Five, 5:30-7:30 THE TORCH LAKE CAFÉ, CENTRAL LAKE 3/3 -- The Real Ingredients, 8 3/6 -- Bob Webb, 6-9 3/7 -- Dominic Fortuna & Lee Malone, 6 3/8 -- Open Mic w/ Kenny She-

Leelanau & Benzie DICK’S POUR HOUSE, LAKE LEELANAU Sat. — Karaoke, 10-2

PLATTE RIVER INN, HONOR Tue -- Open Mic Night, 7:30 Sat -- DJ/Karaoke, 8

LAKE ANN BREWING CO. 3/6 -- Mike Moran & Pauly Jams, 6:30-9:30

ST. AMBROSE CELLARS, BEULAH 3/8 -- Open Mic, 6 3/9 -- Barefoot, 6-9 3/10 -- The Duges, 6-10

LUMBERJACK'S BAR & GRILL, HONOR Fri & Sat -- Phattrax DJs & Karaoke, 9

STORMCLOUD BREWING CO., FRANKFORT 3/3 -- Barefoot, 8-10 3/9 -- Dale Wicks, 8-10 THE 231 BAR & GRILL, THOMPSONVILLE 3/9 – Levi Britton

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Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 31

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32 • march 5, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly

the ADViCE GOddESS Full Meddle Jackie

Q

: I have a very good friend -- a friend who shows up for me in big ways when the chips are down. However, she is very judgmental and offers her opinion on everything from how I should groom my cat to why I shouldn’t get Botox. I wouldn’t presume to tell her how to cut her hair or treat her dogs -- unless she asked.

Her comments often hurt my feelings. How do I gently get her to stop acting like my vet, my beautician, etc.?

— Annoyed

A

: It must be tempting to ask her: “Hey, wanna come over on Thursday night? I’ll do a stir-fry, and we can watch Netflix…or you can do an hour on why my new haircut was a tragic mistake and how (for the fourth time!) the couch should be against the other wall.”

Friendly advice is not always as, uh, otherserving as it’s made out to be. Communications researcher Matthew M. Martin emphasizes that “people communicate to satisfy personal needs.”

He notes that previous research identified six basic “interaction motives (why people have conversations with others)”: pleasure, affection, inclusion, relaxation, control, and escape (like ditching your own problems to fixate on what a hot mess your friend is).

Research by social psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, among others, suggests it’s in our self-interest to be helpful. Helping feels good in the moment (the “pleasure” motive). Also, the sort of happiness with staying power — the feeling that our life has meaning — comes from extending ourselves for others rather than, say, shoving ‘em out of the way and chasing happiness for ourselves (like by amassing more shoes or buying a new set of boobs).

Of course, if it is the pleasure motive driving your friend, it may come from a darker place — like a desire to show off and act superior —which may dovetail with “the control motive,” which, Martin explains, “involves the need to influence others and to be viewed by others as competent.”

Regardless, you don’t owe anyone your attention — not even a compulsively helpful “very good friend.” Wait until a moment when you aren’t ducking flying tips. Tell her that you love that she’s trying to look out for you but that her values aren’t necessarily your values.

Accordingly, you have a new policy: No more unsolicited advice, except in emergencies.

Qualifying situations call for brief, life-

preserving warnings — such as “watch out” or “duck!” -- not the longer-winded constructive tips offered in so-called “fashion emergencies”: “Have you seen yourself from behind? You’d best rethink those pants, doll.”

Whim Chill Factor

Q

: A guy I know through mutual friends finally asked for my number, claiming he’d like to see more of me. I was elated, but he never called.

After a month, I gave up hope, feeling puzzled and, honestly, kind of hurt. Why do men get your number if they’re never going to call or text?

— Uncontacted

A

: Men can experience a sort of temporary amnesia in the moment, leading them to ask you for your number. Shortly afterward, their memory returns: “Oh, wait — I have a girlfriend.”

Or “My herpes is raging.” Or “The mob is still after me. The Canadian mob.” (They gag you and ducttape you to a chair and say “please” and “thank you” repeatedly until you pass out.)

Of course, it isn’t just men who are prone to ride the “seemed like a good idea at the time” seesaw. It’s anyone with a human brain. This asking for your number and then never actually dialing it thing appears to be an example of our brain’s two systems at work —our quick-to-react emotional system and our slower-to-comearound reasoning system, which I wrote about in a recent column, per the research of psychologist Daniel Kahneman.

Again, the fast emotional system responds immediately — and automatically: “Yeah, baby!

There’s a woman whose clothes I’d like to see in a pile on my bedroom rug.” Or, if the lust is for a little head-busting: “BARRRR FIGHT!” The rational system comes around later, often for a little rethink about whatever the emotional system got the person into — like when the bar brawler dude is cooling his heels in the slammer, seeing as how the collections bail bondsmen will accept as collateral do not include all the toenail clippings one has saved since 1999.

In other words, it helps to view any request for your number as a moment of flattery — nothing more. Don’t expect a guy to call. In fact, expect most not to call. If they don’t call, you’ll be right. If they do, you’ll be pleasantly surprised, like getting that winning lottery scratcher that allows you to buy that Lamborghini you’ve been eyeing — the whole car, not just the logoadorned leather key ring to attach to the keys for your 3,000-year-old Honda.

aSTRO

lOGY

MAR 05 - MAR 11

BY ROB BREZSNY

PIScES

(Feb. 19-March 20): According to my assessment of the astrological omens, you’re in a favorable phase to gain more power over your fears. You can reduce your susceptibility to chronic anxieties. You can draw on the help and insight necessary to dissipate insidious doubts that are rooted in habit but not based on objective evidence. I don’t want to sound too melodramatic, my dear Pisces, but THIS IS AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY! YOU ARE POTENTIALLY ON THE VERGE OF AN UNPRECEDENTED BREAKTHROUGH! In my opinion, nothing is more important for you to accomplish in the coming weeks than this inner conquest.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I do a lot of

self-editing before I publish what I write. My horoscopes go through at least three drafts before I unleash them on the world. While polishing the manuscript of my first novel, I threw away over a thousand pages of stuff that I had worked on very hard. In contrast to my approach, science fiction writer Harlan Ellison dashed off one of his award-winning stories in a single night, and published it without making any changes to the first draft. As you work in your own chosen field, Aquarius, I suspect that for the next three weeks you will produce the best results by being more like me than Ellison. Beginning about three weeks from now, an Ellison-style strategy might be more warranted.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The men who

work on offshore oil rigs perform demanding, dangerous tasks on a regular basis. If they make mistakes, they may get injured or befoul the sea with petroleum. As you might guess, the culture on these rigs has traditionally been macho, stoic, and hard-driving. But in recent years, that has changed at one company. Shell Oil’s workers in the U.S. were trained by Holocaust survivor Claire Nuer to talk about their feelings, be willing to admit errors, and soften their attitudes. As a result, the company’s safety record has improved dramatically. If macho dudes toiling on oil rigs can become more vulnerable and open and tenderly expressive, so can you, Aries. And now would be a propitious time to do it.

TAURUS

(April 20-May 20): ): How will you celebrate your upcoming climax and culmination, Taurus? With a howl of triumph, a fist pump, and three cartwheels? With a humble speech thanking everyone who helped you along the way? With a bottle of champagne, a gourmet feast, and spectacular sex? However you choose to mark this transition from one chapter of your life story to the next chapter, I suggest that you include an action that will help the next chapter get off to a rousing start. In your ritual of completion, plant seeds for the future.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): On April 23,

1516, the Germanic duchy of Bavaria issued a decree. From that day forward, all beer produced had to use just three ingredients: water, barley, and hops. Ever since then, for the last 500+ years, this edict has had an enduring influence on how German beer is manufactured. In accordance with astrological factors, I suggest that you proclaim three equally potent and systemic directives of your own. It’s an opportune time to be clear and forceful about how you want your story to unfold in the coming years.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): What’s your

most frustrating flaw? During the next seven weeks, you will have enhanced power to diminish its grip on you. It’s even possible you will partially correct it or outgrow it. To take maximum advantage of this opportunity, rise above any covert tendency you might have to cling to your familiar pain. Rebel against the attitude described by novelist Stephen King: “It’s hard to let go. Even when what you’re holding onto is full of thorns, it’s hard to let go. Maybe especially then.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In his book Whistling in

the Dark, author Frederick Buechner writes that the ancient Druids took “a special interest in inbetween things like mistletoe, which is neither quite a plant nor quite a tree, and mist, which is neither quite rain nor quite air, and dreams, which are neither quite waking nor quite sleep.” According to my reading of

the astrological omens, in-between phenomena will be your specialty in the coming weeks. You will also thrive in relationship to anything that lives in two worlds or that has paradoxical qualities. I hope you’ll exult in the educational delights that come from your willingness to be teased and mystified.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The English word

“velleity” refers to an empty wish that has no power behind it. If you feel a longing to make a pilgrimage to a holy site, but can’t summon the motivation to actually do so, you are under the spell of velleity. Your fantasy of communicating with more flair and candor is a velleity if you never initiate the practical steps to accomplish that goal. Most of us suffer from this weakness at one time or another. But the good news, Virgo, is that you are primed to overcome your version of it during the next six weeks. Life will conspire to assist you if you resolve to turn your wishy-washy wishes into potent action plans -- and then actually carry out those plans.

“Jonesin” Crosswords

"It Bears Repeating"--but just a little bit. by Matt Jones

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the 2002 film

Spiderman, there’s a scene where the character Mary Jane slips on a spilled drink as she carries a tray full of food through a cafeteria. Spiderman, disguised as his alter ego Peter Parker, makes a miraculous save. He jumps up from his chair and catches Mary Jane before she falls. Meanwhile, he grabs her tray and uses it to gracefully capture her apple, sandwich, carton of milk, and bowl of jello before they hit the floor. The filmmakers say they didn’t use CGI to render this scene. The lead actor, Tobey Maguire, allegedly accomplished it in real life -- although it took 156 takes before he finally mastered it. I hope you have that level of patient determination in the coming weeks, Libra. You, too, can perform a small miracle if you do.

ScORPIO

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot was a connoisseur of “the art of roughness” and “the uncontrolled element in life.” He liked to locate and study the hidden order in seemingly chaotic and messy things. “My life seemed to be a series of events and accidents,” he said. “Yet when I look back I see a pattern.” I bring his perspective to your attention, Scorpio, because you are entering a phase when the hidden order and secret meanings of your life will emerge into view. Be alert for surprising hints of coherence.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I suspect

that in July and August you will be invited to commune with rousing opportunities and exciting escapades. But right now I’m advising you to channel your intelligence into wellcontained opportunities and sensible adventures. In fact, my projections suggest that your ability to capitalize fully on the future’s rousing opportunities and exciting escapades will depend on how well you master the current crop of wellcontained opportunities and sensible adventures. Making the most of today’s small pleasures will qualify you to harvest bigger pleasures later.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): If you saw

the animated film The Lion King, you may have been impressed with the authenticity of the lions’ roars and snarls. Did the producers place microphones in the vicinity of actual lions? No. Voice actor Frank Welker produced the sounds by growling and yelling into a metal garbage can. I propose this as a useful metaphor for you in the coming days. First, I hope it inspires you to generate a compelling and creative illusion of your own -- an illusion that serves a good purpose. Second, I hope it alerts you to the possibility that other people will be offering you compelling and creative illusions -- illusions that you should engage with only if they serve a good purpose.

ACROSS

1 Ballet garb 5 Cotton swab brand 9 Forfeit 13 Seafood often imitated 14 Abbr. on some beef 15 Soda, to a bartender 16 He followed Dan, Al, Dick, and Joe 17 Action star who’s yellow and full of potassium?

19 Notable times 21 University official 22 ___ in “cat” 23 “___ du lieber!”

25 Negative votes 27 Minute 29 Make frog noises 31 Ms. ___-Man 34 Madalyn Murray ___, subject of the Netflix film “The Most Hated Woman in America” 35 Shake it for an alcohol-based dessert?

38 Inkling 39 Jim Carrey comedy “Me, Myself & ___” 40 Dermatologist’s concern 44 Classical piece for a jeweler’s eyepiece?

47 Clean thoroughly 50 Exist 51 Word before par or pressure 52 95 things posted by Martin Luther 54 Fix, as a game 56 Actress Lupino 57 ‘50s election monogram 58 Similar (to) 61 Actress Russo 63 Rock nightclub open for a long time?

66 Critters that seem to find sugar 69 Dot in the ocean 70 “Easy-Bake” appliance 71 Treats, as a sprain 72 Grant consideration 73 Pied Piper’s followers 74 Shakespearean king

DOWN

1 Cable channel that airs films from the 1900s 2 Self-proclaimed spoon-bender Geller 3 Pay after taxes 4 Lyft competitor 5 Tex-Mex dip ingredient 6 Co. that launched Dungeons & Dragons 7 “___ not know that!”

8 Walking speed 9 Ohio team, on scoreboards 10 Track bet with long odds 11 North America’s tallest mountain 12 It’s opposite the point 15 Cassava root 18 ___ Harbour, Florida 20 Songwriter Paul 23 Prefix before -monious 24 Gunky stuff 26 “This is ___!” (“300” line) 28 Charlize of “Atomic Blonde” 30 Calculator with beads 32 “He’s ___ friend” 33 Easy gallop 36 Recycling container 37 “Jazz Masters” org.

41 Spectators 42 Earned a ticket, perhaps 43 Juno’s Greek counterpart 45 Like ___ (energetically) 46 Winter Olympics sled 47 Skip going out 48 It may come in sticks or wheels 49 Thrift shop purpose 53 Genre where you’d hear “pick it up!” a lot 55 Jeremy of 2018’s “Red Sparrow” 59 “Young Frankenstein” role 60 PBS science show for 45 seasons 62 Press-on item 64 Clifford’s color 65 Figure out (like this answer) 67 Drink from a bag?

68 Tajikistan was one (abbr.)

Northern Express Weekly • march 5, 2018 • 33

NORTHERN EXPRESS

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