Northern Express - Special Double Issue - March 22 - April 04, 2021 by Northern Express

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NORTHERN MICHIGAN’S WEEKLY • special double issue • march 22 - April 04, 2021 • Vol. 31 No. 12 & 13 Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 1

COMING SOON!

ANNOUNCING THE OPENING OF

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Paula Cahill, MD

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TRAVERSE CITY, MI 49684

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2 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

letters HIT SEND! Love what we’re doing here? Disagree with something on these pages? Share your views by emailing a quick letter to the editor: info@northernexpress.com A Few Rules: • Keep your letters civil and 300 words or fewer, one per month • All letters will be edited for clarity • Some letters or portions will be omitted due to space or issues with questionable facts/citations, privacy, publication in other media, etc. • Include your full name, address, and phone or email • Note: Only your first name, first initial of last name, and city will be published. We are temporarily suspending publication of letter authors’ full names.

speak. The partial sentences, the broken sentences — where the listener needs to fill in the blanks so the mob-boss doesn’t have to come right out with the actual illegal instructions or demands. If you do not believe this is mob-boss speak, then what exactly do you think was the purpose of this call? If your parents taught you right from wrong, then you must know this call was completely wrong, and, I might add, it was criminal. Dan B., West Bloomfield How Not Far We’ve Come Voter suppression by the GOP is the new Jim Crow. It is designed to prevent people of color and the elderly from voting in the next election. H.R. 1 [For the People Act of 2021] is a piece of legislation that would guarantee access, security, and integrity to future elections. Republicans are mounting a campaign across the country to oppose H.R. 1; they still believe Trump’s lies that the last election was stolen from him. Trump has highjacked the GOP, including their contributions from supporters. Trump needs to suppress voting from people of color. As a three-time loser —i.e., the Electoral College, popular vote, and numerous court cases — Trump needs to suppress the vote across the country in order to win. Voter suppression violates the 15th and the 19th Amendments to our Constitution. Ron D., Beulah

Trump Mob boss Phone Call The phrases below were recently revealed to be what Trump said during a six-minute secretly recorded call to Georgia Secretary of State chief investigator Frances Watson on Dec. 23, 2020. Check for yourself; you can find the audio of the call online. • You’ve been great. • The country is counting on it. • I won Georgia, I know that, by a lot … and the people know it. • Something happened there, something bad. • And if you can get to Fulton, you’re gonna find things that are unbelievable, the dishonesty … that we’ve heard from good sources. • Fulton is the mother lode. • They’re not gonna win right now, they’re down. • Because the people of Georgia … are so angry … at what happened to me. They know I won, won by hundreds of thousands of votes, it wasn’t close. • Stacey Abrams — really, really terrible. I mean, just a terrible thing • I mean hopefully this will show, if you go back two years or four years, you’re gonna see it’s a totally different signature. • When the right answer comes out, you’ll be praised … the people will say great. • Because that’s what it’s about, the ability to check in to, and to make it right. • Because everyone knows it’s wrong … . There’s just no way • Anyway, but whatever you can do, Frances. It would be, ah, it’s a great thing, it’s an important thing for the country. This from the so-called president (ex) of the United States. What is going on? This is typical Trump word-salad. But it is also much more; it is mob-boss

Cause of Death Tucker Carlson claims that George Floyd “almost certainly died of a drug overdose.” However, both the Hennepin County medical examiner and a private autopsy showed that although the drugs methamphetamine and THC were found in his system, their low concentration would have had a negligible impact. The autopsy also provided a positive test for SARS-CoV-2, which was most likely an asymptomatic positivity from a previous infection. The defense argument will likely try to convince the jury that Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes was just one of many contributing factors to his death. But every one of us contributes to our own premature demise with a host of bad behaviors which undermine our life expectancy. Do these life-diminishing behaviors decrease the relevance of any other cause of death? And if so, is life a terminal, and the only, legitimate cause of death? However nebulous, diminishing the relative significance of a nine-minute tracheal constriction will be the major strategy of the defense. Good luck with that! Bob R., Pellston Bergman’s Smoke & Mirrors Jack Bergman’s been pumping out his newsletters, trying to put on the show that he’s worthy of representing us, but he doesn’t really represent us. In fact, he’s working against us. First, he pushed that masks wouldn’t help during pandemic but now wears one on his Facebook page. Then he joined a group of radical Republicans in

an attempted coup to overturn the 2020 elections, pushing false claims of massive voter fraud. He’s now voted against the COVID-19 relief bill and against the Voters Rights Bill. It’s apparent the Jack Bergman has no interest in helping America struggle with the pandemic recovery and is only interested in stopping you from voting, a right granted to you by the Constitution. But all is not lost. If you are a millionaire or a billionaire, help is on the way! The Republican party, which opposed the middle-class and poor COVID-19 relief bill, is working hard on a bill that would lower the estate tax for you. I’m sure Jack Bergman will vote yes on that! Tom L., Kaleva Read the Small Print In response to the March 15 issue’s letter from Joann C. from Alton, here are some additional provisions in the American Rescue Plan that Republicans voted “no” on, but to which Democrats voted “yes”: 1. Pays off 92 percent of San Francisco’s budget deficit by providing $600 million for San Francisco, a state whose wasteful spending includes “free alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco to homeless people” 2. $1,400 stimulus checks are included for prisoners 3. Obamacare subsidies, including those for illegal immigrants 4. $800 million for foreign aid 5. $350 billion to bail out states poorly run by Democrat leaders, with a biased formula that penalizes open states like Florida (loses $1.2 billion) while closed states benefit (California gains $5.4 billion and New York gains $2.1 billion) 6. $470 million for the humanities, arts, and museums 7. $20 million for “language preservation” 8. $86 billion for a pension bailout that pre-dates COVID-19 9. $127 billion for K-12 schools, but no requirement that they open; and only $6 billion will be spent in 2021 with the other 95 percent spent over the next nine years 10. $1.7 billion for Amtrak, including nearly $1 billion for train travel in the Northeast alone and $166 million for a scenic western railway route 11. $100 million for the EPA to “address health outcome disparities from pollution” 12. An expansion of Obamacare that subsidizes healthcare for wealthier families 12. Less than 10 percent to directly combat COVID-19 13. And just 1 percent for vaccines Yes, there are some, or very few, expenditures that will help the citizens, but really? So where does your party put the people of Michigan first, Joann? This is wasteful and a disgrace. Your responsibility for this bill will be about $5,700 in taxes. Not to worry; They’ll give you back $1,400. Greg K. Traverse City Not in my Neighborhood We are Elmwood Township residents who oppose non-owner-occupied shortterm rentals (STRs) in our residential neighborhoods. Letters continued on page 6

CONTENTS features Documented American....................................7

Hoppies Landing.......................................13 Escapes without Leaving the State................10 The North’s Music Venues.............................14 Saving Manistee’s Guardian Angel.................16

columns & stuff

Top Ten........................................................5 Spectator/Stephen Tuttle...............................6 Opinion..........................................................8 Weird............................................................9 Dates........................................................18 Advice.....................................................21 Crossword..................................................21 Astrology.....................................................22 Classifieds...............................................22

Northern Express Weekly is published by Eyes Only Media, LLC. Publisher: Luke Haase PO Box 4020 Traverse City, Michigan 49685 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, Kaitlyn Nance, Michele Young, Randy Sills, Todd Norris, Jill Hayes For ad sales in Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Boyne & Charlevoix, call (231) 838-6948 Creative Director: Kyra Poehlman Distribution: Dave Anderson, Linda Szarkowski, Sarah Rodery, Randy Sills, Roger Racine Matt Ritter, Gary Twardowski Listings Editor: Jamie Kauffold Reporter: Patrick Sullivan Contributors: Amy Alkon, Rob Brezsny Ross Boissoneau, Eric Cox, Jennifer Hodges, Michael Phillips, Steve Tuttle, Meg Weichman, Craig Manning Copyright 2020, 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.

SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Keep your letter to 300 words or less, send no more than one per month, include your name/address/phone number, understand it may be further edited. That’s it. Email info@northernexpress.com and hit send!

Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 3

this week’s

top ten Spend Spring Break with Hemingway There’s no better time than right now to start reading Ernest Hemingway’s “The Nick Adams Stories.” The famous short story collection not only feature loads of the author’s favorite haunts around his beloved northern Michigan but also will serve as the subject of Walloon Lake Reads — a free virtual series moderated by Hemingway experts, educators, and historians — that kicks off online at 7pm April 1 and culminates in May with a finale tour of sites featured in the stories. The series itself is part of a year-long community-wide “Hemingway Homecoming” celebration. The April 1 event, led by Chris Struble, president of the Michigan Hemingway Society and founder of Petoskey Yesterday, will give participants an inside look at the Hemingway family and their summers in Walloon Lake, as well as how “The Nick Adams Stories” came to be — and the significance of their posthumous release on April 17, 1972. In addition to Struble’s talk, attendees will be treated to the WCMU 30-minute special Ernest Hemingway: Life in Michigan and an introduction to the three-part Ken Burns documentary, Hemingway, which will air April 5-7 on PBS (and features the voice of Michigan’s own Jeff Daniels as Hemingway). To register for the April 1 event and others in the series, as well as learn about future celebrations of the author Up North, visit www. walloonlakemi.com.

tastemaker Lost Village Pierogi’s … Everything

Before you drive off to spring break destinations unknown, drive first through The Great Northern Michigan Pierogi & Polish Food Pop-up Drive-Thru Festival, to be held Sunday, March 28, in Traverse City. Only the third time the Petoskeybased Polish-food-maker has brought its artisan wares to TC, the upcoming event will also be the last in Grand Traverse until fall. Translation? Pre-order now (timeslots and inventory go fast!) to stock up on its 30 varieties of handmade savory and dessert pierogi. They come frozen in batches of six; all you have to do is buy ’em and fry ’em. Although the pierogis are filling enough on their own, you can round out your haul with a bevy of special sides — their rightfully award-winning dill pickle soup, fat golabki (stuffed cabbage rolls), kapusta (fried cabbage and sweet onion), smoked and grilled kielbasa, four varieties of potato pancakes, and much more — just like Babcia used to make. Preorder at www.lostvillagepierogi.com and pick-up (without ever leaving your car) at Cherryland Center Plaza, 144 W. South Airport Rd., in Traverse City.

4 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

Winterlochen is On — and Virtual! — this Year Great news for spring breakers near and far: Starting at 11am March 27 you can join Interlochen Arts Academy online for its annual Winterlochen, a free and especially fabulous day of arts exploration and creative fun for children of all ages. Without ever changing out of their pjs, kids can improv games with theatre students, conduct Arts Academy Band students from your home, sing along with singer-songwriter students, learn to play percussion with pots and pans, enjoy visual arts demonstrations and hands-on activities, create fake product reviews with creative writing students, watch a performance by the Arts Academy Dance Company, and more. interlochen.org/winterlochen

Hey, watch it! The Real World Homecoming: New York

With a seemingly ever growing list of streamers, newbie Paramount+ better be bringing some A+ content. And one of the new subscription service’s most compelling offerings, especially for Gen X, is The Real World Homecoming: New York. Reuniting the cast of MTV’s ground-breaking first season of The Real World, the show pretty much responsible for modern reality TV, after almost 30 years, the OG roommates return to that iconic downtown loft to nostalgic, poignant, and insightful effect. Viewed in tandem with the original series (also on Paramount+), it is impossible not to see just how much and how little has changed in both television and the country at large. But it is the show’s original idealism, that put meaningful exchange at its central premise and not the meanspirited drama that defines our reality TV present, that comes through and makes this so much more worthwhile than just another headline grabbing reunion.

Find Kid-Friendly Fishing Holes

Michigan’s fishing season opens April 1, and licenses for residents are available now. Priced at just $2, an all-species license for kids under age 17 is a pretty small investment for a year’s worth of outdoor fun on the water, especially if you can increase the odds of catching an actual fish in said waters. Enter the Family Friendly Fishing Waters map, which shows young anglers easily accessible fishing locations across the state that have a high likelihood of catching fish — among them Veronica Valley Pond in Leelanau County; Skegemog Lake in Antrim, Grand Traverse, and Kalkaska counties; and the Manistee River’s Rainbow Bend section in Manistee. You can filter the locations by what type of fish you want to catch, what kind of fishing you’re looking for (boat, pier, shore), what amenities you like (swimming, restrooms, etc.), and entrance fee. Another perk: You can also print off certificates to commemorate your kid’s first and/or biggest catch. (One warning before wetting that line: Any adult actively helping a kid catch fish must have her own license — $26 for residents.) Search “Family Friendly Fishing Waters” at www.michigan.gov

ELPC Pushes Biden Administration to Kill Proposed Cut to NoMi Marine Sanctuary The nation’s only freshwater marine sanctuary — Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, in Lake Huron, near Alpena — has been in the proverbial hot seat since a Trump administration review proposed reducing its size by 90 percent. Last week, however, the Environmental Law & Policy Center and 16 Great Lakes organizations teamed up to ask U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that her department formally withdraw and close the Trump administration’s review. “It’s time to close the books and finally bring this misguided proposal to a well-deserved end,” said Howard Learner, executive director of the ELPC. The 4,300-square-mile sanctuary is a destination for tourists and school children interested in the Great Lakes maritime history shared through its visitor center and tours, as well as scuba divers eager to explore the sanctuary’s famous Shipwreck Alley, a stretch of Lake Huron bottomland that serves as the underwater graveyard to a large number and variety of ships. For both local economic and environmental reasons, maintaining the sanctuary’s current boundaries has drawn support from a variety of sources: environmental, conservation and outdoor recreation groups, current Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, Michigan’s Congressional delegation, and local public officials and economic development groups. The ELPC’s written request was consistent with President Biden’s direction to all agency heads to review agency actions, says Learner, adding that “The Department should act to soon remove any doubt or cloud over the legitimacy of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s current boundaries and the many shipwrecks and fisheries protected within them.”

9AM • JOIN US ONLINE • 11AM tccentralumc.org/sermons | facebook.com/cumctc

Stuff we love

Local Author-Illustrator Team Nab 2021 Gwen Frostic Award

The state’s Gwen Frostic Day isn’t until May 23, but this year, northern Michiganders have good reason to celebrate early: Old Mission Peninsula residents Karen Bell-Brege and Darrin Brege were just awarded the Michigan Reading Association’s 2021 Gwen Frostic Award. The prestigious award goes to people that have had a powerful influence in literacy for students, teachers, and administrators in Michigan, Karen Bell-Brege tells Northern Express, adding, “We are so excited!” The author-artist husband-wife team has published 14 monster books for kids — the bestselling “Mick Morris Myth Solver” series 1-6; a “Ghost Board Posse” series 1-3; the bestselling Michigan picture book “Bigfoot and the Mitten”; the award-winning “Monsters First Day at School” picture book; a “Sketch the Myths” sketchbook, and the recent “Your True North Michigan” gift book — plus hugely popular mash-up posters. Learn more about the creative couple and find any of their books at www. karenanddarrin.com and numerous local bookstores in northern Michigan.

bottoms up CBC’s Michigan Beach Blonde — Resurrected Like a primary color, blonde or golden ales are basic and ubiquitous in the American beer scene. At Bridge Street Tap Room, that scene is enriched by an active tap containing Michigan Beach Blonde ($6/pint, 5% ABV), a sturdy, clear and gilded beer produced by Grand Armory Brewing in Grand Haven. Yes, you heard right. Michigan Beach Blonde is indeed produced in Grand Haven. But, yes, this froth has local roots, relying on a recipe from the recently-gone-butnever-forgotten Charlevoix Brewing Co., which closed in 2020 after a five-year run. This sparkling glass of ale gets down to beer basics, with neither hops nor malts stealing the thunder. Their respective powers are refreshingly united and tastefully balanced in this wholly approachable delicious-with-anything offering. Pair Michigan Beach Blonde with one of Bridge Street Tap Room’s excellent soft pretzels — hot, bathed in butter, and accompanied by the delicious, one-of-a-kind Mike’s Mustard, another Charlevoix recipe we love. Find Charlevoix’s Bridge Street Tap Room at 202 Bridge St., Charlevoix. (231) 437-3466, www.bridgestreettaproom.com.

Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 5

letters Continued from page 3

We don’t want to live next to a motel (aka STR), 50 feet away, with a different group of strangers coming and going each week, especially in the summer. If you wanted to live in a neighborhood and could purchase my home, would you want strangers, not neighbors? Would you make the choice to live next to a commercial lodging facility? Oh, and did we mention the other motel across the street? Since we moved in, 10 percent of our 20-home, familycentered neighborhood has been converted into illegal short-term rentals, violating our current zoning ordinance. Early in the zoning amendment process to possibly allow STRs in Elmwood Township, some board members agreed that STRs did not belong in the residential neighborhoods, and that was all we asked: that they protect the neighborhoods. Now, most Board members seem ready to strip the residents of our rights enjoyed under current zoning in order to benefit a group of commercial investors, whose sole purpose in our neighborhoods is to make a profit. Commercial activities in residential districts were supposed to be limited to where a primary resident was present. We’ve had to install fencing to provide privacy from the constant stream of strangers; now that the board is poised to allow shortterm rentals in all zoning districts, we’re not sure that, without neighbors, Elmwood Township will continue to reflect the values and character that drew us here. We need Elmwood Township residents who oppose this proposed zoning amendment to speak out at the public hearing April 19 or write a letter for the public hearing record. Let the Board know we want neighbors, not commercial lodging facilities (STRs) in our residential neighborhoods.

IMMIGRATION FUTILITY A New Low The Republican legislature of Michigan has hit a new low in governance. They recently passed a bill that would require the governor to give up the powers that governors for decades have had available to cope with emergency situations, to get the money appropriated by the federal government for schools ($847 million) and local governments ($347 million). That is the definition of extortion on a massive scale. Billions of dollars are on the table, and the state legislature is willing to withhold the money from those in extreme need, and our children, to make their point. I dread to think where we as a state would be right now if this legislature had been in charge of dealing with this crisis. They have not passed any meaningful legislature in years, but they have made guns in churches and bars legal and gifted us with online gambling — and the non-stop advertisements that now have saturated the airwaves promoting it. Then there’s the emergency manager law, another Republican power-grab that killed 12 people in Flint and damaged the intellectual ability of thousands of children. Even more scandalous is the fact that the whole scheme was put in place under Snyder, who, with a couple of greedy friends, was trying to force Flint to get their water from the new tunnel to Lake Huron they were building, and we would pay for. On the national level, Republicans have embraced irrational hypocrisy as their party standard. They want us to believe the tragedy of Jan. 6 was a group of patriots trying to save our democracy, rather than a group of absolutely deluded, gullible, and incredibly misinformed morons willing to kill public employees.

Rod & Sue J., Elmwood Township

Bob W., Cross Village

spectator by Stephen Tuttle Congressional Republicans say President Joe Biden is “entirely to blame” for a growing mess on our southern border. That’s quite an accomplishment given that Biden has only been in office a couple of months. It wasn’t Biden who left 4,000 unaccompanied non-citizen children languishing in makeshift detention facilities, including several hundred for whom there is no record of parents. Nor was it Biden who forced 25,000 asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for the hearing to which each is legally entitled. Biden’s proposed immigration reform, which we’ll get to shortly, likely won’t help, but it’s a bit premature to blame him entirely.

toughest ever regarding illegal immigration; they prosecuted and deported far more people and levied greater fines than under any previous president. There were about 10.5 million illegal non-citizens when he left office.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was a bipartisan piece of legislation signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. (Yes, in those days, sometimes Republicans and Democrats worked together.) The idea was to restart immigration policy with a clean slate: Most here illegally prior to Jan. 1, 1982, were given amnesty and, in most cases, a path to citizenship, or at least a Green Card. The flip side was it became a crime to knowingly hire anyone who was in the country illegally.

President Donald Trump took a more rhetorical approach, talking tough, but not doing much. His 2,000 mile “beautiful” wall turned out to be 300 miles of rebuilt wall. His promised “deportation squads” never existed, and his administration prosecuted and deported a third as many noncitizens as did Obama in his first term. There are still about 10.5 million illegal noncitizens here. Every president and Congress since Reagan have enacted immigration reform, and none have solved the problem. The Biden Administration and current Congress, not to be left out of the futility, have their own plans.

President Bill Clinton, to much fanfare, touted the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) as his great addition to immigration reform. But the grandly named legislation did little other than make it easier to deport some folks. By the year 2000, there were 7.1 million here illegally, and the annual growth had swelled to 350,000.

6 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

His Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (DACA) did protect nearly 750,000 noncitizens who were brought here as children, socalled Dreamers, from deportation. But there’s little doubt the Obama Administration was the

Republicans should do a little homework. The dots connecting our inability to solve the illegal immigration conundrum form a straight line back to the Reagan Administration.

According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (which was superseded by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services), by 1992, there were already 3.4 million folks here illegally, and the figure was growing by about 300,000 annually.

203 S. Cedar - Kalkaska

President Barack Obama, who was often accused of being a radical liberal, was the harshest president of all when it came to illegal immigrants. Derisively referred to as the Deporter-in-Chief by immigration reform activists, he deported and prosecuted more noncitizens than Clinton and Bush combined.

President Barack Obama, who was often accused of being a radical liberal, was the harshest president of all when it came to illegal immigrants.

About 3 million people took advantage of the amnesty opportunity. But the threat of sanctions didn’t stop businesses from hiring low-wage, hard-working illegal noncitizens, nor did it slow their flow toward our southern border.

Flavor

majority of whom were admitted legally then overstayed their visas.

Then President George W. Bush and Congress tried the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. It was going to create a path to citizenship for some who were here illegally, add thousands of new Border Patrol agents, build more wall, create more electronic surveillance, and solve this problem. It did not; by 2010 there were 11.2 million illegal noncitizens — the

Biden’s proposal, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, is by far the most permissive and least likely to gain Congressional approval. It would ease immigration controls, put a moratorium on nearly all deportations, end the wait-in-Mexico policy for asylum seekers, stop new construction on the border wall, create a path to citizenship for those brought here as children, and provide a pathway to citizenship — or at least permanent resident status — for nearly all illegal noncitizens. Congress has its own proposals. The American Dream and Promise Act provides citizenship for “dreamers” brought here before they were 18 and who have, among other requirements, no felony convictions involving guns or violence. Then there’s the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would create something called a Certified Agricultural Worker for those who have worked at least 180 days in agriculture in the last two years. It could provide them a path to a Green Card. We’ve been at this for 35 years now. President Biden is no more to blame than the previous six presidents and their Congressional coconspirators. And the latest proposals are no more likely to solve the problem.

Documented American

National Book Award finalist Karla Cornejo Villavicencio coming to NWS to talk memoir and myth By Anna Faller Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s debut memoir, “The Undocumented Americans,” has oft been acclaimed as a punk manifesto. And while the title isn’t completely misplaced — she does, after all, thank The White Stripes’ Meg White in the acknowledgments — Cornejo Villavicencio’s style of storytelling is far more about feeling than routine rebellion. “I’m most moved by storytelling in songwriting,” she says. “I find it to be the ability to recreate an experience of a moment in life so fully that you feel it viscerally. That’s what I try to do in my writing.” She does it well. Her memoir has earned a place as a finalist for the National Book Award, and locals and fans alike can hear directly from the author about her experience as an undocumented immigrant and writer at an upcoming National Writers Series event, Thursday, April 8. Northern Express talked to Cornejo Villavicencio about her life and book ahead of the event. BACKSTORY Born and raised for a short time in Ecuador, Cornejo Villavicencio came to America with her parents as a young child. Her visceral reaction, as a grown woman and now, permanent resident of the United States, to the 2016 presidential election marks her memoir’s inception. “The day after Trump won, I kept getting these emails from people who were scared for me and were trying to offer their homes as refuge,” she says. “But I was like, ‘I’m not hiding out.’” Though formally documented as a U.S. resident, Cornejo Villavicencio says she still maintains a sense of distrust. “I can still be deported,” she says, “so I’m on some spectrum of ‘undocumentedness’ that is still in my peripheral vision at all times.” Cornejo Villavicencio is certainly in good company, as more than 11 million of the

United States residents remain undocumented. And while there’s no shortage of representation for migrants in popular film and literature — Latinx voices like Sandra Cisneros and Gabriel Garcia Marquez come immediately to mind — their stories often cater to a citizen audience. “My book has gotten attention because it was written by an undocumented person,” says Cornejo Villavicencio. “[Writing] for a white audience is going to be starkly different because your goals are going to be different — you’re going to seek to inspire, or you’re going to seek to elicit pity or gratitude in the reader’s life. I think we’ve been seen as subjects, and that’s because we haven’t been writing our own stories.” MIGRANT PRIDE While there’s no such thing as a singular undocumented experience, Cornejo Villavicencio maintains that her own status as a migrant is essential to her identity. “Being a migrant is so fundamental to who I am,” she says, “that I don’t consider any of the slurs that are associated with being a foreigner hurtful, because to me they’re just words that are associated with an underworld that I am proud to be a part of.” Her experience, however, is singularly American. “This country loves cowboy stories,” Cornejo Villavicencio says. “I think I’m allowed to have a self-mythology about being undocumented that is also about movement, and survival, and making a world out of nothing. Leaving something for the next generation that didn’t exist before you is so uniquely American, and I sort of consider it a part of the American mythology that I’m an extension of.” As Cornejo Villavicencio addresses in her book, that mythology — and the conversation it requires — inextricably comprises mental health. Though not a topic often discussed among immigrants, she is quick to point out that the psychological experience of an undocumented person is just as complicated —

and just as worthy of consideration — as that of any individual. “Obviously, given the life we live, there are going to be negative effects on our mental health,” Cornejo Villavicencio says. Pursuit of happiness is nothing if not persistent and, like, many other U.S. residents, migrants are just as susceptible to glorifying “the grind.” “In general, I think what we see are very high-functioning people who keep it all in and who suppress it,” she says. “I think our society kind of sees mental illness when you’re no longer able to contribute to the capitalist agreement. I thought it was important to tell that story.” WRITING HER TRUTH It’s one that also applies to the author herself. “Certainly, when I am able to notice I’m not well,” she says, “is when I’m not able to work, or I’m not able to write.” But, make no mistake — Cornejo Villavicencio isn’t masking mental illness. “I have borderline personality disorder,” she says. “It’s a very stigmatized condition, and I want to be open about it, because nobody’s open about it.” This code of candor by which Cornejo Villavicencio prefers to abide has earned her a certain reputation amongst readers — and it’s one that she works hard to keep. “I have a very unique relationship with my readers,” she says. “They trust that I’m honest with them, so that’s the deal.” Still, Cornejo Villavicencio’s work — not to mention that of the rest of the country — is far from finished. As such, she’s sought a spiritual purpose for storytelling, as well. In her book, Cornejo Villavicencio describes a particular Latin American tradition of tying a red string around a child’s wrist “as a form of protection or to ward off evil,” she says, “like a talisman.” It’s this sense of protection — of power in numbers — that Cornejo Villavicencio aims to offer in her writing. “I wanted my book to not just be something where [readers] could see themselves in and where they could see

that they were not alone,” she says, “but also something that they could carry around — like a talisman — and feel a sense of community, and where they could feel they were protected by me and by each other.” ATTEND THE EVENT National Book Award finalist Karla Cornejo Villavicencio will join the National Writers Series for a free, virtual event at 7pm Thursday, April 8, to discuss “The Undocumented Americans.” The book, published last March, is available for preorder, with a 20 percent NWS discount, at Horizon Books. Guest host for the event is Myriam Gurba, an awardwinning author and editor-in-chief of weekly criticism magazine, Tasteful Rude. To register for the event, click here. nationalwritersseries. org/2021-spring-season-registration/.

MORE ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER

Myriam Gurba is a MexicanAmerican author and artist. A California native and graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Gurba is the editor-in-chief of Brick House Cooperative publication, Tasteful Rude, and the author of four books, including the memoir “Mean,” which gained critical acclaim as one of Oprah Magazine’s top LGBTQ books of all time. Gurba’s other awards include the Edmund White Award for her debut novel, “Dahlia Season,” for which she was also a Lambda Literary Award finalist. In addition to her full-length works, Gurba’s countless essays and criticism have appeared in The Paris Review, TIME.com, and 4Columns. She resides in Long Beach, California.

Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 7

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IT WAS YOUR FAVORITE JACKET… IN HIGH SCHOOL

opinion by Amy Kerr Hardin While millions of Americans express feigned outrage over the non-existent genitalia of a plastic toy potato, the rest of us wonder why they seem so obsessed with sexuality, especially with so many important things to focus on instead. But no, Fox News has its viewers whipped into a frenzy over the makebelieve gender of an inanimate object.

Trans is the new gay, according to prominent policy commentator Jon Lovett, who is himself gay. He cites the publicly-sanctioned bullying he faced in his youth. When the far-right discovered they couldn’t un-gay people by denying them rights, they moved on to attack vulnerable trans children. They needed a new strawman to rile their neurotic base.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) is apparently fascinated by what’s in other people’s pants. In a truly reprehensible display of hate and ignorance, she hung a sign outside her Capitol office meant to mock a fellow lawmaker who has a transgender child. The sign read: “There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE.” It additionally said, “Trust the Science.”

Here in Michigan, it was only after public pressure that the former Republican speaker of the house, Lee Chatfield, had to resign from a position as CEO of a downstate economic development agency. As house speaker, he had refused to bring a bill to a vote that would have expanded Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include LGBTQ citizens. His excuse? He was just trying to protect the religious rights of those who wish to continue to discriminate.

That’s rich coming from a person who never met a conspiracy theory she didn’t immediately Tweet as gospel to her rabid base. Some Republicans are so afraid of fluid gender roles that they brought it up during Merrick Garland’s Attorney General confirmation hearings. The fabricated concern is that transgender athletes in public schools could jeopardize Title IX protections for girls in sports. Poof ! Suddenly, GOP lawmakers are interested in championing a program they’ve hated for years. They now claim to be all about girls’ rights — an assertion belied by their years-long opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. We all know it’s not trans-athletes threatening women’s sports. The real problem is predatory coaches sexually preying on their students. Typically, all-white, heterosexual males are doing the abusing. The recent squabbling started over the U.S. House considering The Equality Act — a congressional initiative to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections for LGBTQ individuals. The legislation was deemed necessary because of far-right attacks on LGBTQ rights, even though last year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act already includes LGBTQ people. South Dakota’s Republican governor just signed a bill that prevents transgender women and girls from competing on female teams in public schools. The law mandates the state launch a massive government tracking program that requires all of its 40,000 student athletes to report their genitalia to the front office. Dear Republicans, this is exactly the kind of government overreach you typically hate. So, it’s: register your private parts, but not your guns?

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8 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

The irony lost on South Dakotan lawmakers is that their new intrusive requirement actually violates Title IX protections because it codifies discrimination on the basis of sex. Nationally (as of this writing), 66 of 74 antitrans bills under consideration target youth, including one in Michigan. Virginia State Delegate Danica Roem, the first openly trans person to be elected to a state legislature, is concerned about efforts in statehouses across the nation intended to erode trans rights, especially in schools. She implores, “What’s the point of attacking children? They are kids. They want to play sports.”

The nightmarish phantasmagoria of primitive sexual preoccupations among the far right knows no bounds. Intellectually frail individuals will accept anything — and the internet provides that in abundance. Many QAnon-following Trump supporters believe there is a secret cabal of high-profile pedophiles who traffic in children and drink their blood. This ridiculous conspiracy theory about child sex-rings begs the question: Why pedophilia? It’s because those peddling this nonsense count on the weak minds of believers. They know that kinky sex sells among the far right. The multiple conspiracy theories falsely claiming Democrats and celebrities are baby-eaters is simply a function of psychological projection — reflecting the dark desires of those who fall for this crap. It’s their primitive thoughts rising to the surface. If a person sees pedophilia everywhere, they might be a latent pedophile. The child-trafficking conspiracy theory is doing real harm to legitimate organizations working to fight this horrible crime. Conspiracy believers have been flooding hotlines with wild claims they found on the internet, impeding the important work these call centers do to protect children actually being harmed. These conspiracy theorists advance their various fetid fantasies fueled by the outrageous claim that the Clintons were trafficking children from the basement of a pizza parlor — a building that, it turns out, has no basement. The internet probably claims there’s a “secret basement.” One must question the emotional maturity and mental acuity of their vulgar predilections. Family members should consider an intervention; their loved ones have clearly joined a sexual fetish cult. At the very least, encourage them to expand their media diet to include actual journalism. Fox doesn’t count. We haven’t even touched-on the barrage of legislation introduced in state capitals designed to curtail women’s reproductive rights. These mostly white male lawmakers are attempting to trigger a judicial challenge to Roe v. Wade. But, that’s another story. Stay tuned. Amy Kerr Hardin is a retired banker, regionally known artist, and public-policy wonk. You can hear and learn more about the state of Michigan politics on her podcast, www.MichiganPolicast.com.

NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS

Names in the News Shoe Zone, a footwear retailer with stores throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, announced March 8 that Terry Boot has been named its next chief financial officer effective immediately, according to the Evening Standard. Mr. Boot takes over the role after the unexpected departure in February of Peter Foot, who had been with the company for seven months. Quick Thinking An unnamed maskless woman waiting in line at a Pick ‘n’ Pay supermarket in South Africa was caught on cellphone video being confronted by a store guard who demanded she put on a mask or be thrown out of the store. On the video, she is next seen reaching up under her dress, pulling out her underwear -- a black thong -- and placing it on her face, the New York Post reported. Witnesses were mixed in their reaction. “Good lord,” one shopper was heard saying. “Brilliant,” said another. Oops! Federal Judge Jesse M. Furman ruled in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Feb. 16 that Citigroup could not expect to receive repayment of nearly $500 million of the $900 million it mistakenly wired to a group of lenders last year after a contractor checked the wrong box on a digital payment form. Intending to make only an interest payment to the lenders on behalf of its client Revlon, Citi instead wired payment in full for the entire loan, and after realizing its error, asked for the money back, but some of the lenders refused, according to The New York Times. Judge Furman found that the lenders were justified in assuming the payment had been intentional. “To believe that Citibank, one of the most sophisticated financial institutions in the world, had made a mistake ... to the tune of nearly $1 billion, would have been borderline irrational,” he said in his ruling. Citi vowed to appeal. Can’t Help Himself Garrett Monds, 30, was sentenced to 3 1/2 to seven years in prison on March 10, following his sixth conviction for unlawful surveillance in women’s restrooms in central New York state. Syracuse.com reported Monds spent two years in prison for the first five incidents, in which he set up hidden cameras in restrooms in college buildings, a warehouse, a mall and a Walmart. He was released in March 2020, but within four months was arrested again. “That wasn’t a long turnaround,” County Court Judge Stephen Dougherty remarked, adding, “No offense, but I don’t want to see you again.” Monds agreed, telling the judge, “I really am remorseful this time around.” Creepy! Samantha Hartsoe noticed a draft in her New York City apartment and traced it to the mirror in her bathroom, the New York Post reported on March 4. With the help of friends, Hartsoe removed the mirror and found a hole in the wall behind it leading to ... another apartment. As she documented her adventure on TikTok, Hartsoe climbed through the hole into a hallway leading to a room at the end and “a whole other apartment” with three bedrooms, a disconnected toilet, a staircase and an unlocked door (which she promptly

locked). Hartsoe returned to her own apartment, showered and vowed her landlord would get an unusual call the next day. Least Competent Criminal Authorities in Camden County, Missouri, arrested Leigh Ann Bauman, 43, a prominent Lake of the Ozarks real estate agent and selfdescribed “cheer mom,” on March 4 for plotting to kill her former mother-in-law. Prosecutors say Bauman offered to pay $1,500 to a person in St. Louis who contacted the Missouri Highway Patrol and then turned informant, recording Bauman’s request that the “look like an accident,” and later saying she’s a Christian but she could ask for forgiveness later. According to The Daily Beast, Bauman also texted her daughter, saying, “Your grandmother will die.” She is being held without bond in the Camden County Jail. Crime Report Detectives investigating recent thefts of catalytic converters from vehicles in Pasco, Washington, went to the mobile home of Dustin Allen Bushnell, 30, in nearby Burbank with a search warrant on Feb. 26, and not only found converters, but also discovered a 400-pound playground slide that had been removed from a city park in December, KEPR reported. The slide had been repainted and mounted to a bunk bed in the home. Bushnell was arrested for possession of stolen property for the slide; no charges were filed for the converters.

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Awesome! Snake breeder Justin Kobylka of northeast Georgia has been breeding ball pythons for eight years to achieve a bright golden yellow and white color combination, but recently wound up with a snake bearing three smiley face emoji-looking markings on its body. Kobylka told United Press International one in 20 of his snakes sports a smiley face, but this was the first to have three faces. He sold it for $6,000. What Could Go Wrong? Alexandr Kudlay, 33, and Viktoria Pustovitova, 28, of Kharkiv, Ukraine, are experimenting with a new way to preserve their on-and-off relationship: On Valentine’s Day, they handcuffed themselves together and have vowed to stay that way for three months. “We used to break up once or twice a week,” Kudlay told Reuters, but now when they disagree, “we simply stop talking instead of packing up our things and walking away.” They take turns taking showers and give each other privacy in the bathroom by standing outside with one hand inside. Bright Ideas On March 9, Eric Dion Warren, 50, was sentenced to federal prison in Lubbock, Texas, after pleading guilty to robbing a bank and using a BMW he was test-driving as his getaway car. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that, according to court documents, Warren drove to the AIM Bank in Wolfforth on June 7, 2019, handed the teller a note demanding $10,000 in small bills and showed what appeared to be a handgun. The teller complied, and Warren headed back to the dealership where he pulled out $3,000 as the down payment on the car he had been driving. As Warren finalized the deal, the dealership received a call about the bank robbery and the connection was made. Warren was given the maximum sentence of 20 years.

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5 “Exotic” Escapes to Take Without Leaving the State Affordable spring break fun for families By Lynda Wheatley If you’re reading this, chances are good you’re not lying prone on a beach by the ocean somewhere south or west of here. But take heart: Being stuck in Michigan for spring break isn’t the same as being stuck. In fact, we found five easy in-state outings to help families with kids of all ages feel like they escaped to another land — no passport, plane, or major expense required.

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Bask with Butterflies in the Tropics The nation’s largest temporary butterfly exhibit — the Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies are Blooming — has planted its proboscis in Grand Rapids’ Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park this spring. Its 7,000 free-flying butterflies and moths, imported as chrysalises from Africa, Asia, and South and Central America, flitting about is not only a sight to behold but also a wonderfully balmy breather for the winter-weary. Inside the massive (five stories!) glass-castle-like Tropical Conservatory, you’ll also enjoy 85-degree temps alongside waterfalls, streams, tropical birds, an entire wall of orchids, and 500+ species of tropical plants. Bonus Time: The experience is especially outstanding on a sunny day when the butterflies are more active than usual, but doubly so if you pair it with an outdoor excursion to the on-site Children’s Garden, where kids can follow animal tracks, dig for fossils, sit in a giant bird’s nest, navigate a butterfly maze, and go on their own “Monarch’s Journey,” a lifesized game big on imagination and fun challenges. Our suggestion? Go on a Tuesday, when the Conservatory also offers a butterfly hunt via flashlight before its 9pm closing time. Know Before You Go: The Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies are Blooming exhibit runs until April 1 and (like entry to the Children’s Garden) is included in the general admission ticket prices: $3–$14.50; kids under age 2 are free. Learn more at www.meijergardens.org

10 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

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Attend North America’s Oldest Avant-Garde Film Fest No need for a road-trip to transport yourself to another world — or even Ann Arbor. Cinephiles who’ve exhausted their options on Netflix can virtually “attend” the storied Ann Arbor Film Festival March 23–31, choosing from live screenings and on-demand viewing of experimental, animation, documentary, fiction, and performance-based works from over 20 countries. Voted the No. 1 film festival in North America in USA TODAY readers polls in 2019 and 2020, as well as one of few Academy Award–qualifying festivals in the United States, the AAFF has also been named one of MovieMaker Magazine’s “Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” (2019). That hasn’t changed much. This year, the lowest-tier festival pass, $50, gives guests access to all the festival’s programming, including the 118 films in competition, 11 features in competition, juror programs, special programs, salons, expanded cinema performances, as well as Q&As with the filmmakers. Bonus Time: Those who want to mingle with fellow festivalgoers can. A virtual “Gather” lobby is open to online audiences between film screenings, while several in-person “In The Screen!” installations, viewable from the street, will be set up around Ann Arbor for those eager in some IRL interaction. Know Before You Go: You will need to sign up with “Eventive” to access any of the AAFF’s online programming, but you won’t be leashed to your laptop; Eventive is compatible with TV viewing via apps for Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, too. Learn more, buy tickets and passes, and prepare for six days of “Mind-Bending Films” at 59aaff.eventive. org/welcome.

Greatilifeosr fam Great f (and good or golfneovice) rs Escape the Eyeland One hour in Bermuda? We’ll take it. Even if it means following in the footsteps of a missing scientist and potentially being sucked into the grips of the Bermuda Triangle. That’s the story in just one of the escape rooms at Know Way Out in Petoskey, where you and your crew of two to nine have 60 minutes to find hidden clues, solve puzzles, and complete the mysterious mission. Bonus Time: If Bermuda isn’t your bag, loads of other missions are available, too: Grave Danger, a 30-minute sprint (two to six players) to find a lost amulet before Gravedigger Henry uses its mysterious powers at the next full moon to resurrect his presumably drowned lady love with bones he’s collected to rebuild her. There’s also the one-hour Medieval Mayhem — recommended for novices — in which teams of two to eight must find the antidote to the poisoning of a queen and her wizard advisor, and Mad Hatter’s Asylum, a “hard” challenge to solve a mystery from the Hatter’s past. $23+ per person. Know Before You Go: Visit www.escaperoompetoskey.com/book-an-experience to choose and book your escape in its prearranged timeslots. Each private experience is for your team only; you will not play with people from other groups). If the weather’s good, ask about Know Way Out’s outdoor adventures ($26.99+ per group. In the family-friendly Lost Loot game, you and your kids can go on the hunt through downtown Petoskey in search of clues to a treasure hidden by timber pirates who once sailed the Great Lakes. More information at www.escaperoompetoskey.com, (231) 881-9688.

Play Hawaii’s Mauna Lani Bay Got a kid who’s interested in putting last summer’s golf lessons to use? A virtual round at Golf 45 North is an ideal way to acclimate newish swingers to the pace of the game without worrying about the pressure of playing live in front of a fast-moving foursome. Together you can head into a spacious private room with a faux tee box, real balls, and a real big screen to play a full round together on one of 46 courses around the world. San Diego’s Torrey Pines is a popular pick, owner Kevin Pryor tells Northern Express, but if you ask us, Hawaii’s Mauna Lani Bay, whose name means mountain reaching heaven, is about as close to heaven — i.e., the crashing waves and lava rock landscape of the Kohala Coast — as a northern Michigan golfer can get in March. Bonus Time: Young golfers who haven’t had lessons or don’t yet have the attention span to play 18 holes might prefer just sharpening their stroke with the virtual driving and chipping range or other fun games available on Golf 45’s sim setup. (Inexperienced golfers under age 16 must be accompanied by an adult) Know Before You Go: Rates start at $35 an hour, reservations are required, and snacks and refreshments are welcome during play. For more information and to schedule a tee time, call (231)371-2210. Golf 45 North is located inside Body Balance Health, Fitness, and Body Center in Suttons Bay. Hungarian Falls

or f t a e r G ilies fam

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Hike to Hungarian and Montreal Waterfalls Without a flight to Budapest or Canada, you can take in both the Hungarian Falls and the Montreal Falls — plus 13 other nearby waterfalls! — in the exotic land of … the Keeweenaw Peninsula. The tippity top of Michigan’s Upper Penninsula, the mighty Keeweenaw is a must-see for Michiganders just about any time, but in spring, you’ll be able to catch its many waterfalls in their various awe-inspiring forms: as multi-storied layers of ice and, if some more sun and warmth arrive by March’s end, some changing volumes of water and rainbow-casting spray. Whether snow and ice or water and mud define your family’s hikes to see them, the trails to the Hungarian and Montreal Falls aren’t daunting — 1.5 miles to the former, and a single shoreline mile to the latter. Bonus Time: Until the end of March, the Holiday Inn Express is offering up to 25 percent off any 3+ night stay. With a pool and a pets-allowed policy, the hotel is a great home base for families looking to explore the wonders of our far north peninsula. Want more adventure? The Keeweenaw is also home to year-round dog-sledding tours (Otter River Sled Dog Training and Wilderness Adventures), plus skiing and snowmobile rentals, self-guided ghost town tours (download the Michigan Tech University Keweenaw Time Traveler App), and, if you’re lucky, the best-ever views of the Northern Lights. Know Before You Go: Plan your trip at www.keweenaw.info, but make sure to talk to an on-the-ground Yooper about the latest conditions before you book any activity.

Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 11

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12 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

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Hoppies Landing First-class food with a bird’s-eye View at Pellston Airport

By Eric Cox Few restaurants offer expansive views of airport runways, but Hoppie’s Landing at Pellston Regional Airport does. And while there isn’t a big-city stream of takeoffs and landings to watch from this elevated airport eatery, there are enough to entertain aviation fans, stunning sunset views — and reasonably priced food and drinks with wings of their own. Tiny Pellston, situated on U.S. 31 between Mackinaw City and Petoskey, is billed as the “icebox” of Michigan, consistently logging the coldest average temps in the state — yes, Upper Peninsula included. IN THE MAIN CABIN Perhaps that’s why Hoppie’s Landing — a sister to Hoppie’s Tavern, on the northeast side of Burt Lake — feels so warm and cozy inside. The airport itself is lodge-style, a study in hand-hewn northern white pine and cedar. In the terminal’s main lobby, a menagerie of taxidermied local fauna greet those who arrive and depart daily to Detroit Metropolitan Airport via Delta Airlines, as well as private aircraft. Deer, bear, fish, beavers, and more oversee the human traffic hauling luggage to and fro. Ascending a massive white cedar staircase (an elevator is also available), one arrives on the airport’s second floor, where pinewood and comfortable furniture meet massive windows on the terminal’s observation

deck, which overlook the runways and the woods beyond. Hoppie’s Landing is also up there, sunshine pouring through its gaping glass portals, illuminating this large restaurant, capable of seating nearly 200 when unrestricted. Aside from the wide-angle views, Hoppie’s feels like a super clean sports bar/restaurant with its multiple high-def TVs, old-school shuffleboard game, and Pellston High School sports memorabilia on display. JUMBO MENU LINER One might expect a limited menu at an eatery inside a small local airport. But Hoppie’s Landing surprises with an array of offerings, including burgers and pizza, grinders, seafood, pasta, planked whitefish and salmon, ribeye steaks, a solid roster of appetizers, and more. Hoppie’s Chips and Salsa ($4.99; $6.49 with nacho cheese ) was our first selection — a satisfyingly salty and crisp basket of red and white corn chips served with a bowl of thick, savory salsa — excellent with a cold beer. For lunch, we opted for the Daily Cod Special ($9.99) paired with an Alaskan Amber Ale, and the Smokehouse Burger ($10.75) with Sweet Potato Fries and a Cheboygan Brewing Co. Blood Orange Honey. The cod came in three large, tennis ballsize chunks that were perfectly deep-fried and accompanied by a small portion of Hoppie’s tartar sauce and a lemon wedge. Cracking one crispy nugget open, a small cloud of

steam arose from the flaky white meat within. Golden brown and crunchy on the outside, these hunks of meat were tender and tasty throughout, each one disappearing quicker than the first. Alongside the fish was a hearty side of homemade kettle chips. Some restaurants let these thick potato slices sit around too long, resulting in a chip that’s just too hard and crunchy. Hoppie’s does it right, serving stillwarm, pleasantly crispy, and lightly salted kettle chips that pair well with the fish. Hoppie’s Landing also features mapleplanked whitefish and salmon as well as perch and shrimp offerings. In terms of hamburgers, Hoppie’s Smokehouse Burger did not disappoint. The 1/3-pound patty was cooked precisely how it was ordered, and it fit perfectly on its caramelized bun. Topped with Plath’s bacon, pepper jack cheese, and tangy barbecue sauce, the Smokehouse makes a filling lunch or dinner. The crisped edges of the beef patty harmonize with that sauce and melted cheese, and the delicious, meaty bacon brings it all home. Usually served with the aforementioned housemade kettle chips and a pickle, we substituted the Sweet Potato Fries for the chips. This proved to be an excellent but filling choice, as “fries” are a bit of a misnomer for these massive potato wedges. This side item is enough for two people. However, there’s no mistaking that these crispy and colorful sweet potatoes pair really well with the very savory Smokehouse Burger.

SPIRITS IN THE SKY In terms of libations, Hoppie’s Landing has a plethora of offerings, including a modest wine list and some tasty signature cocktails. A must-try: The Ice Box Martini, which plays on Pellston’s reputation as Michigan’s coldest town. Vodka and blue Curacao turn this concoction a cool shade while lemon juice and Sprite add sparks and hint at the coming spring. Another of Hoppie’s interesting cocktails is the Ginger Pomegranate Margarita, which features a belly-warming combination of Tequila, Triple Sec, pomegranate juice, ginger syrup, and lime, served on ice. As we finished our meals and drinks, we watched a Delta commuter jet finish boarding and taxi out to the runway. A few minutes later, its twin turbines roared and pushed the small aircraft into a cloudless March sky, its 90-minute push to Detroit just getting started. A few other private airplanes came and went during our hour-long visit to Hoppie’s Landing, and they say the airport is busier during the tourist season. But, regardless of how much air traffic we got to witness there, we still had a good, reasonably priced meal, as well as a friendly server and super clean environment. Find Hoppies Landing inside the Pellston Airport (www.pellstonairport.org) at 1395 North U.S. 31. Open 2pm–8pm Wednesdays through Friday, noon to 8pm Saturday and Sunday. (231) 539-8900, www. hoppieslanding.com

Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 13

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE NORTH’S MUSIC VENUES Amid the recent ballyhoo about big grants and an accelerated vaccination rate, some hard truths — and unknowns — remain

Lake Street Studio’s Stage, Glen Arbor

By Craig Manning “The show must go on.” It’s a common mantra in show business, but what happens when a global pandemic shutters venues and turns concerts and other live performances into potential superspreader events? How can the show go on when the show literally can’t go on? For the past year, music venues across the country have been contending with these questions — with increasing desperation. While every industry has been touched by COVID-19 in some way, arguably no sector has been hammered as hard as live music. Last summer, a survey of nearly 2,000 music professionals, conducted by the National Independent Venue Association, found that 90 percent of independent music venues were at risk of closing their doors permanently due to the pandemic. The good news is that, finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel: The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that all state residents aged 16 and older will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine starting April 5. Increasingly, signs point to vaccination efforts being widespread enough to achieve herd immunity — or something close to it — by summer. That news bodes well for live music, which could potentially see the light of day in 2021 after more than a year of stage lights gone dark. Northern Express called a dozen different northern Michigan venues — ranging from small, intimate rooms to sprawling open-air auditoriums — to get a sense of where things stand as the coronavirus pandemic reaches what will hopefully prove to be its twilight days. Here are the five key takeaways. 1. Venues have been getting creative

(and leaning on donors) to weather huge revenue losses. Those reports you’ve read about performance venues losing almost all their revenues over the past year weren’t exaggerated. According to Xavier Verna, executive director of the Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts in Manistee, the theater “experienced over 75 percent revenue loss in 2020.” While Verna adds that the Ramsdell has been able to reschedule most of its events, thus “effectively deferring income to a later date,” the losses are still significant. It’s not just the smaller venues feeling the hits of canceled events, either. Trey Devey, who serves as president of Interlochen Center for the Arts, says the pandemic has created “the most challenging period” in the institution’s 93-year history, with the cancellation of last summer’s Interlochen Arts Festival concert series contributing to “a financial loss exceeding $15 million.” Generous contributions from donors, combined with creative strategies on the part of venues, have helped to ease the blow of big financial losses. Verna says the Ramsdell was able to be open for “a short period during the year in 2020,” during which time it presented art exhibits, organized Manistee’s first-ever drive-in concert, showed screening recaps of National Theatre and Metropolitan Opera performances, and even hosted a single indoor concert: a show featuring the Boston Brass that wowed the in-person audience of 50 and another 600 who watched at home. At Interlochen, Devey says over 725 supporters contributed donations to the institution’s new “Emergency Response Fund.” That money, which has been used to “support scholarships, health and wellness investments, and the retention of faculty and staff,” helped make up for the revenue

14 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

Lake Street Studio’s Stage, Glen Arbor Great Lakes Center for the Arts in Bay Harbor Great Lakes Center for the Arts in Bay Harbor

losses caused by the cancellations of both the Interlochen Arts Festival and last summer’s Interlochen Arts Camp. 2. Grant funding has been a lifesaver (but hasn’t been equally accessible to everyone). For some venues, grant funding has been central to the survival and recovery process. Just recently, the Michigan Independent Venue Promoter Association (MIVPA) announced grants to 101 venues across the state — including several in northern Michigan — as part of its Michigan Stages Survival Grant Program. Both Old Town Playhouse in Traverse City and Great Lakes Center for the Arts in Bay Harbor will collect $40,000 in grant funding through the program. The Cheboygan Area Arts Council and the Blissfest Music Organization in Harbor Springs also each received $40,000 grants. This type of grant funding is crucial for venues. Deb Jackson, executive director of

Old Town Playhouse, says the organization lost about $1 million in the first year of COVID-19, between lost sponsorships, advertising, and ticket sales. Alexandra Myers, marketing director the Great Lakes Center for the Arts, says the venue’s 2020 earned income “was just 20 percent of the previous year.” Not every venue has been so lucky to Carl Ganter land big grants, however. “We’ve applied to every grant possible to Carl Ganter help address any gaps, and most have turned us down,” Verna said of the Ramsdell. “We are anxiously waiting for the Small Business Administration Shuttered Venue Operators Grant portal to open. Their funding for $15 billion was approved at the end of December, and the grants to venues could be significant.” 3. Virtual events have helped ease the blow for venues and artists alike — but they still need your support. In downtown Traverse City, Studio

The Ramsdell Theatre, Manistee

Anatomy has contended with a 30 to 35 percent loss in revenue over the past year, according to owner Brian Chamberlain. The business also operates a recording studio and a record store and offers rentals of its venue space for private events. With live music and indoor events off the table since the start of the pandemic, Chamberlain launched the 20/20 Live Performance Series, an online livestream series that highlights local musicians who would have, in better times, been playing to crowds in the Studio Anatomy space. “As a performer myself, I know how hard it has been for artists not having an opportunity to perform a set live on a stage,” Chamberlain says. “So I began shooting and recording acts [in our space] and then airing the video via our website and YouTube. Nick Walsh of A-Peel Design and I decided to work together to record these performances, mix and edit them, and release to the public at no charge to the artist or audience. The reception has been tremendously positive and the artists feeling grateful for the opportunity.” Some venues are partnering to bring virtual events to the stage, as well as to expand the potential audience of those events. Jason Dake, deputy director of museum programs and learning at Traverse City’s Dennos Museum Center, spearheaded one such collaboration. Last year, Dennos received a $3,000 grant from the nonprofit organization Arts Midwest to host an event featuring China’s Golden Dragon Acrobats at Milliken Auditorium. The performance was ultimately canceled, but Dake says Dennos got the thumbs-up from Arts Midwest to put the money toward some other form of artsbased programming. “I reached out to Xavier Verna at the Ramsdell, and they were in the same boat as us, with almost the same amount of leftover grant money,” Dake says. “So now we’re going to bring two pre-recorded sets of live blues music from Chicago, which will go live on our YouTube page — one at the end of March, one in early April. One is Dave Knowles, and the other is Toronzo Cannon. They’ve both played here, so our audiences know them. 100 percent of the grant funding is just going to the artists; we’re not pocketing that. And then we’re also presenting the concerts for free.” Petoskey’s Crooked Tree Arts Center, meanwhile, is partnering with Blissfest Music Festival to mount a March 25 performance that will be livestreamed as part of the second annual Spread the Music Festival. The festival, launched last year by the Michigan Music Alliance, raises funds for the Michigan Artist Relief Fund, which

Interlochen’s Kresge Auditorium

Milliken Auditorium at Dennos Museum, Traverse City

is intended to aid local musicians who have had their incomes disrupted by COVID-19. “The Spread the Music Festival starts on Wednesday, March 24, and runs through Sunday, the 28th,” says Megan DeWindt, president of the Crooked Tree Arts Center. “It’s mostly performances streamed from musicians’ homes and home stages, but a few venues across the state are streaming from their stages, and we are one of those venues. We’ll be bringing eight different musicians to our stage. They’ll have different vignettes in the theater, and we’ll be moving around in that way to socially distance.”

“The real question is, when will audience members feel comfortable — even if they’re vaccinated — coming back into a 350 or 400-seat, packed auditorium?” Hadley continued. “There is a gamble there, in booking some of these larger and more expensive acts, if you don’t pack the house. Sometimes, if we don’t sell a show out, we may not be breaking even; we could be losing money. Consumer confidence has to be back for us to do those types of activities. If it’s not there, and 50 people show up, that’s a huge financial loss for us. So it’s a big risk [to start booking shows again].”

“The real question is, when will audience members feel comfortable — even if they’re vaccinated — coming back into a 350 or 400-seat, packed auditorium?” 4. Vaccination efforts are picking up speed, but that doesn’t mean live events will come back quickly. For the duration of the pandemic, music industry experts have been cautioning fans that live music would likely be one of the last things to return. Even once vaccinations are fairly widespread, there is a big question mark about how quickly people will feel comfortable going back into packed venues. And while it’s possible that capacity limitations, masking requirements, and social distancing could be factors in a “soft” relaunch of live music, a challenge with that approach is the razor-thin profit margin that many venues make from hosting live events in the first place. “Our concert series is such that it doesn’t generate significant net revenue,” said Craig Hadley, executive director of the Dennos Museum Center. “Our goal is in providing programs and concerts for the community and providing access to both local national and international performers. Most performances just break even.” Not having Milliken Auditorium up and running has still been a revenue hit for the Dennos, due to the fact that the museum generates between $60,000 and $80,000 in revenue each year just by renting the auditorium out to other organizations or performance groups. Still, the Dennos concert series is a passion project and community enrichment effort for all involved, and it may not be able to resume until hosting capacity crowds is a possibility again.

The situation is similar at Crooked Tree. DeWindt says the organization’s performing arts series has generally been “a breakeven, mission-based program,” rather than a revenue driver. On the plus side, that means Crooked Tree didn’t lose revenue from canceling the 2020 series. On the other hand, it meant not being able to support local musicians — a key part of the mission behind that series. “That was one more paycheck that we couldn’t cut in 2020,” DeWindt says. “Because we knew we couldn’t break even, to the point of being at a loss.” 5. There’s a chance for summer concerts this year — but only spring will tell, and fall is looking more likely for many. There’s nothing quite like hearing your favorite band or songwriter play tunes you love under an August sunset sky. The good news is that this type of experience might be possible once more in 2021. If vaccine efforts in Michigan go according to plan, they could open the doors for a — dare we say — relatively normal summer concert season. Some venues are being bold with their planning and are already in the process of plotting summer events. According to Myers, Great Lakes Center for the Arts has already had success in bringing live in-person events back: the venue has hosted 45 artists on its stage since last summer, relying on social distancing, strict masking requirements, and limited capacity audiences to keep a safe environment. So far, Myers says the Center has had “no COVID issues” from those events and

notes that “data increasingly shows that theaters, while patrons are masked, are safe environments.” As a result, the venue already has several events planned for the rest of the year — including shows with Lyle Lovett, Chris Botti, and Thompson Square — with a full summer series schedule to be announced on May 7. Also likely to bring back performances this summer is Glen Arbor’s Lake Street Studios, which typically hosts a summer series — called the Manitou Music Festival — at its small performance venue, Studio Stage. In the past, the series has been a partnership with Glen Arbor Art Center. According to Harry Fried, who manages gallery rentals for Lake Street Studios, the Manitou series is already canceled for 2021. But performances could still happen at Studio Stage regardless. “We’re trying to figure out is what the viability is of running performances, kind of the way we used to, on our own,” Fried said, noting that Lake Street Studios is “70 percent committed” to the idea. The concert series would likely include a few dates spread out between July and August, with all capacity limitations and other potential COVID safety protocols taken into account — plus a new name. At Interlochen, the return of the annual summer Arts Festival is still up in the air. Earlier this month, Interlochen Vice President of Strategic Communications and Engagement Katharine Laidlaw told Northern Express sister publication, the Traverse City Ticker, that the institution was “actively communicating with industry consultants and agents” and had “secured several major artists” for a potential summer lineup. However, Laidlaw also noted that factors such as “touring, routing, and the viability of presenting large public events remain uncertain” and could influence summer plans. Interlochen will also be bringing back its in-person arts camp this summer, and camper safety will take top priority in the planning of any summer concert series. Some venues, finally, are expecting a later reset date. Dake doesn’t expect he’ll be booking any live events at Dennos/Milliken until next January, though he noted that Northwestern Michigan College — which owns both the museum and the venue — could start using the auditorium for its own events at an earlier date. Studio Anatomy is waiting “until 80 percent of the population has been vaccinated” to resume in-person events, to ensure safety of attendees. And the City Opera House in downtown Traverse City, while it has some events on the schedule for this summer, is eyeing fall as the likely return of regular live, in-person events.

Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 15

By Ross Boissoneau It’s always good to have a guardian angel. Even, or perhaps especially, if you are a church of the same name. Last year, thanks to the efforts by the Guardian Angels Historic Preservation Project, Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Manistee was named to the National Register of Historic Places, a first step in preserving the church. “We were becoming concerned about what would happen to the building,” said Matt Lamore, one of the members of the Preservation Project. That’s because the church is no longer in regular use. In 2016, the parishes of Guardian Angels, St. Joseph and St. Mary of Mt. Carmel Shrine in Manistee combined to create Divine Mercy Parish. St. Joseph became the seat for regular masses, while Guardian Angels and St. Mary of Mt. Carmel were used only for occasional funerals and weddings. The latter was eventually closed altogether, and the building was sold to the Manistee County Council on Aging in 2018. The Preservation Project didn’t want that to happen to Guardian Angel. Hence the efforts to get it added to the National Register. It was one of a dozen Michigan sites added in 2020, joining the nearly 2,000 properties in Michigan and 95,000 nationwide in the National Register. The register is the federal government’s official

list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. Lamore said the designation makes it easier for the project personnel to apply for grants and ask for gifts from individuals. “The status on the register makes it more enticing to foundations. Barb is spending time seeking out different funding opportunities,” he said. That’s Barbara Kowalkowski, another member of the Guardian Angels Historic Preservation Project with Lamore and fellow parishioner Sara Linke. The group has established a Facebook page to showcase the church and solicit funds to preserve the building. It is operating with the blessing of Fr. Zeljko Guberovic and Divine Mercy Parish, though its efforts are separate from the parish. The church was built between 1888 and 1890 in the “Rundbogenstil” architectural style, under the direction of architect Adolphus Druiding. The style originated in Germany as a national response to the gothic architecture throughout Europe. It is notable for its repeated use of a rounded arch, demonstrated most prominently here in the Manistee church’s main entryway. “It’s staring you in the face. There are hundreds of them,” said Lamore of the arches. Other elements of the style are the crenelation, the brick design around the eves, and the halfcircle dormers, known as eyebrow dormers, which expose stained glass windows.

16 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

Druiding learned Rundbogenstil as a student in Germany before he moved to America and made it his architectural calling card. Though he became fairly well known for his efforts, there are now fewer than 50 churches he designed left, and Guardian Angels is the only currently known work of his in the state of Michigan. “So many of these gorgeous churches have been torn down,” said Lamore. “It makes those that remain so important.” Fr. Guberovic said he supports the project, but it’s important for people to know that there is no plan for Guardian Angels to again host masses on a regular basis, even if the building is repaired and preserved. “It’s a grand building and I would like to see it [preserved], but my first priority is to the people. I always want to make it clear it is not a church that will ever be a place to celebrate regular masses,” he said. Weddings, funerals, and other special events, such as concerts, will be welcome. He said charges for hosting them will be divided between the parish and the preservation group, but the parish itself will not fund any reconstruction efforts. “As long as we have a debt toward the Diocese, there will be no funding in the parish,” he said. Among the funding sources the project is applying to is Partners for Sacred Spaces, based in Philadelphia, and the Jeffris Family Foundation out of Janesville, Wisconsin. The former focuses on older sacred places across

the country, while the latter assists with the development of historic sites for nonprofit organizations in small towns and cities in the Midwest. Kowalkowski said the Jeffris Foundation has approved a grant request up to $800,000, but any funding has to be matched locally. “We hope to have $250,000 to match” to get to $500,000, she said. Lamore said such an amount is daunting, but by breaking it down to what he called bitesized pieces, he believes it’s possible. “It’s well over a half-million dollars long-term. We have specific phases to donate for,” Lamore said. “If we keep doing that, we’ll eventually (get to) where future generations can appreciate it.” While that is a considerable amount of money, the group has already raised funds locally to repair the front of the church and hopes to continue. “It’s a great spot for music. We want to host as many musical events as we can,” said Lamore, noting its grand piano and antique pipe organ, as well as the 12 bells in the steeple. The group hopes to expand its outreach and bring in more people interested in preserving the church, regardless of any religious affiliation or where they are from. “It’s a popular photography spot. Visitors are drawn in,” Lamore said, noting Guardian Angels is the tallest building in Manistee. “The north front entrance is restored, safe and beautiful. It’s just really something.”

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Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 17

mar 20

saturday

NEXT GEN: DOKTOR KABOOM!: 11am & 2pm, Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Bay Harbor. Enjoy a live experience as this hilariously wacky scientist blends science & comedy in his series of demonstrations of the physical sciences directly tied to curriculum standards. For all ages. $5. greatlakescfa.org/event-detail/nextgen-doktor-kaboom

---------------------11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: Register now & run/walk anytime between March 13-31. Get a swag bag, complete with a pair of lucky socks. Starts at $30 plus sign-up fee; increases after Feb. 28. leapinleprechauntc.com

---------------------NORTE’S VIRTUAL ROLL: 9am. Join on the virtual cycling platform Zwift for a morning ride through the island of Watopia. The group roll will raise money for Norte’s scholarship program. Registration is $35 per rider. Prizes & fun. elgruponorte.org

---------------------SPRING EQUINOX BIRD WALK: 9-11am, Grass River Natural Area, Bellaire. Must preregister. $5/person. grassriver.org

---------------------MODEL RAILROAD ZOOM MEETING: 10am-1pm. National Model Railroad Association North Central Region Division 2 Monthly Zoom Meeting. Will include a presentation on model railroading & a show & tell. For login & password contact: superintendent.nmra.ncr. div2@gmail.com Free.

---------------------DOG SLED RIDES: Shanty Creek Resort, Schuss Mountain, Nordic Center, Bellaire. Second Hand Mushers Rescue will give dog sled rides. They are offered every 30 minutes from 11am - 1:30pm. Face masks required. Reserve your spot: 866-695-5010. $65 per ride. secondchancemushersrescue.com/dog-sled-rides.html

---------------------MAPLE DAY: 11am-3pm, Grass River Natural Area, Bellaire. Stop by the Pavilion at the Grass River Center to see sap boiling to syrup. Ask staff questions & hike on the trail to see where the sap is collected. grassriver.org

---------------------CELTS & KILTS: 12-4pm, Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville. Slopeside DJ will be playing hits at the Crystal Center patio, leprechauns will be skiing on the slopes, there will be an on-slope scavenger hunt, Pot of Gold Challenge, costume contest & more. crystalmountain.com/event/celts-kayaks

---------------------GOPHERWOOD CONCERTS PRESENTS C.A.R.MA QUARTET: 7pm. Featuring Sumkali member John Churchville, Brennan Andes, Dan Ripke & Peter “Madcat” Ruth. Eclectic traditional & improvisational music for the mind & spine. Held online. Free; donations recommended. gopherwoodconcerts.org

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mar 21

sunday

NEXT GEN: DOKTOR KABOOM!: 2pm, Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Bay Harbor. Enjoy a live experience as this hilariously wacky scientist blends science & comedy in his series of demonstrations of the physical sciences directly tied to curriculum standards. For all ages. $5. greatlakescfa.org/event-detail/next-gen-doktor-kaboom

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

mar/apr

20-03 20-04 send your dates to: events@traverseticker.com

FRIENDS OF INTERLOCHEN PUBLIC LIBRARY ONE-DAY PIZZA FUNDRAISER EVENT: Order pizza from Interlochen’s Cicero’s from 4-9pm & 25% of the sales will be given to IPL to support community programs. To order call: 231-276-6324; cicerospizzainterlochen.com.

---------------------11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

---------------------DOG SLED RIDES: (See Sat., March 20)

mar 22

monday

VIRTUAL SOCIAL HOUR: 6pm. Presented by Arts for All of Northern Michigan. Held via Zoom. There is an art kit this week. RSVP: https://form.jotform.com/210744851218151?mc_ cid=ccf699862f&mc_eid=31c0d0fd7e artsforallnmi.org

---------------------11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

mar 23

tuesday

THE PETOSKEY CHAMBER CONNECTING WOMEN IN BUSINESS: 11:30am. Jennifer Shorter presents “A Retail Entrepreneur’s Story.” Jennifer operates Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts, J.W. Shorter & Son Mercantile and The Katydid in downtown Petoskey. Virtual networking with Remo. Registration includes a $10 gift certificate to Wineguys Restaurant Group. $20 members; $25 non-members. petoskeychamber.com/events/details/cwibvirtual-event-march-23-2021-23824

---------------------PETOSKEY REMEMBERED II: 7pm. Online presentation by Chris Struble. This is a followup to the Jan. “Petoskey Remembered” session. Struble will share photos from his collection as well as Bay View photos provided by Mary Jane Doerr. Register. Free. ncmclifelonglearning.com/event-4165437

The Dennos Museum Center and The Ramsdell Center for the Performing Arts (RRCA) are collaborating on a special Windy City Line Up, bringing local audiences free performances and live Zoom sessions with two Chicago Blues muscians: Davy Knowles at 7:30pm Friday, March 26, and Toronzo Cannon at 7:30pm Friday, April 9. Both concerts are free and can be streamed through the Dennos Museum Center Youtube channel. Each zoom session, also free, will begin 30 minutes before each show on the event page at www.facebook. com/RamsdellTheatre/. 11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

mar 24

wednesday

TRICIA FREY: 6:30pm. Join this local author as she tells her story of River Love: The true story of a wayward Sheltie, a woman, and a magical place called Rivershire. Held online. Register. Free. tadl.org/event/tricia-frey-local-author

---------------------PLEIN AIR WEEKEND REGISTRATION: The Glen Arbor Arts Center’s 12th Plein Air Weekend is scheduled for Aug. 6-7. Featuring artists from throughout Michigan & the Midwest, this is Glen Arbor Arts Center’s largest fundraiser.

Takes place throughout Glen Arbor & Empire. Returning in 2021 are the Aug. 6 Quick Draw & Aug. 7 Paint Out events. Due to COVID-19, the Sundowner has been cancelled this year. Online registration opens March 24, 9:30am. glenarborart.org/events-page/plein-air-weekend/plein-air-weekend-artist-information

---------------------11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

mar 25

thursday

“LIVE FROM CROOKED TREE”: 7-10pm. Presented by CTAC & Blissfest. This is a livestream collaboration as part of the Michigan Music

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Alliance’s “Spread the Music 2021” fundraiser for pandemic musician relief. Mark BlaauwHara will open & emcee. The event’s lineup includes 20-minute sets by Michigan musicians: Charlie Millard, Elizabeth Landry, Bruce Smith, Robin Lee Berry, Sean Miller, Caroline Barlow, and Holly Keller-Thompson. It will conclude with a 30-minute set with the Distant Stars. crookedtree.org

---------------------THE PROMISE: 7:30pm, New Hope Community Church, Williamsburg. A powerful musical drama of the life of Christ from birth to resurrection. Featuring a cast & crew of over 200 people. First come, first served as the capacity is limited. It will also be live-streamed at newhope.cc. Free.

---------------------11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

---------------------VIRTUAL BOOK DISCUSSION: 6pm. Interlochen Public Library will host this discussion about “What the Eyes Don’t See” by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha. Held via Zoom. Learn about the Flint water crisis. Meeting ID: 860 8547 6379; Pass Code: Michigan.

---------------------GRAND TRAVERSE AUDUBON CLUB: 7pm. Enjoy a Zoom journey around Alaska. Join Darrell Lawson on a photographic travelogue of his 16 day, 15 flight adventure through Alaska & northern Washington. Learn about the birds, wildlife & national parks that call these locations home. Free. grandtraverseaudubon.org

---------------------VIRTUAL PRESENTATION ON HEMP: 7pm. Hosted by the public libraries of Leelanau County. Presented by Evergreen Organics Michigan. Learn about the cultural & natural history of hemp & its bright future, along with the importance of regenerative agriculture & preserving pollinator habitat. Register: info@ glenlakelibrary.net. glenlakelibrary.net

mar 26

friday

WINDY CITY LINE UP: DAVY KNOWLES: Presented by Dennos Museum Center & Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts, bringing blues talent from Chicago. Enjoy a live recording of Davy Knowles. Davy burst onto the scene in 2007 with his band Back Door Slam & they had two top-5 Billboard Blues charting albums. He also independently released two more studio albums, “The Outsider” & “Three Miles from Avalon,” which also hit the top-5 on the Billboard Blues chart. Knowles has made appearances with The Who, Lynrd Synrd, Kid Rock, Peter Frampton & many others. This concert will be pre-streamed by a live Zoom conversation with Knowles at 7pm, followed by the YouTube Premiere at 7:30pm. Free. dennosmuseum.org

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

VIRTUAL COFFEE @ TEN: CELEBRATING YOUTH ART: 10am. Held via Zoom. Register. Free. crookedtree.org/event/ctac-petoskeyctac-traverse-city-ctac-online/virtual-coffeeten-celebrating-youth-art

---------------------11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

mar 27

saturday

WINTERLOCHEN: 11am. Spring break virtual event. Join Interlochen Arts Acad-

emy online for a day of free, fun, interactive activities. Play improv games with theatre students. Conduct Arts Academy Band students from your home. Sing along with singer-songwriter students. Learn to play percussion with pots & pans. Enjoy visual arts demonstrations & hands-on activities. Create fake product reviews with creative writing students. Watch a performance by the Arts Academy Dance Company. Free. interlochen.org/winterlochen

---------------------MAPLE SUGARING OPEN HOUSE: 10am2pm, Martha Wagbo Farm & Education Center, East Jordan. Featuring Maple treats & prizes, Sugar Shack tours, farm animals, nature & more. 231-536-0333. Free.

---------------------EASTER HOP!: 11am-1pm. Enjoy an egg hunt in downtown Gaylord.

---------------------RETRO DAY: 12-4pm, Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville. Wear your neon, ringer tees, gigantic jeans & vintage sweaters. DJ CDX will play your retro favorites on the Crystal Center patio; there will be an on-slope scavenger hunt; trivia at the DJ booth; candy jar challenge; & costume contest. crystalmountain.com/event/retro-weekend

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

TRAVERSE AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESENTS: WOMEN’S LOCAL HISTORY MONTH VIA ZOOM: 1pm. Join Peg Siciliano from the Traverse Area Historical Society as she, Ann Swaney & Anne Magoun talk about historical women’s groups in TC as well as the Ladies Library & how important women were in the building of the “new” library. Free. tadl.org/ event/traverse-area-historical-society-presents-womens-local-history-month-via-zoom

---------------------THE PROMISE: 3pm, New Hope Community Church, Williamsburg. A powerful musical drama of the life of Christ from birth to resurrection. Featuring a cast & crew of over 200 people. First come, first served as the capacity is limited. It will also be live-streamed at newhope.cc. Free.

---------------------EARTH HOUR: 8:30pm. Organized by World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour is a global onehour event uniting people around the world for action on environmental issues. Begun as a “lights out” event in 2007, it has grown to engage millions of supporters by harnessing the power of grassroots action. The Dark Sky Committee of Leelanau Energy invites homeowners, businesses, municipal governments to participate by turning off their outdoor lighting for one hour to encourage awareness of how much we can see if we allow ourselves to experience the natural night sky. Free. earthhour.org

---------------------11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

---------------------DOG SLED RIDES: (See Sat., March 20)

mar 28

sunday

GLCO SUNDAY SERIES: 4pm, St. Mary Parish, Charlevoix. The Drumheads will perform with guest Tony Manfredonia. Free, but seating is limited. Reserve your seat: 231-487-0010. glcorchestra.org

---------------------11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

---------------------DOG SLED RIDES: (See Sat., March 20)

mar 29

monday

11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

mar 30

tuesday

11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

Y TUESDA TRIVIA TIO A P ON THE PM 7-9

PLAYING BIG TEN GATHE WITH SOUNMES D!

PATIO AND INDOOR - Sunday-Saturday Noon-10pm (kitchen open noon-9pm)

mar 31

wednesday

THE LAKESHORE READERS: 10:15am, Glen Lake Library, Empire. Featuring “Valentine” by Elizabeth Wetmore.

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11TH ANNUAL FIFTH THIRD BANK (VIRTUAL) LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K: (See Sat., March 20)

apr 01

thursday

DRINK SPECIALS (3-6 Monday-Friday): $2 well drinks, $2 domestic drafts, $2.50 domestic bottles, $5 Hornitos margarita DAILY FOOD SPECIALS (3-6pm): Monday - $1 chips/salsa Tuesday - $1 enchiladas Wednesday - $5 potato basket (fries or tots) Thursday - $5 hot pretzels w/ beer cheese Friday - $5 fried veggies (cauliflower or mushrooms) TO-GO ORDERS AVAILABLE - 231-252-4157

Noon - 10pm - 221 E State St. downtown TC

WALLOON LAKE READS: THE NICK ADAMS STORIES: 7pm. Chris Struble, president of the Michigan Hemingway Society and founder of Petoskey Yesterday, will kick off the 7-week virtual Zoom series with a look inside the Hemingway family & their summers spent along Walloon Lake. walloonlakemi.com/ events/walloon-lake-reads-the-nick-adamsstories-kick-off-program

---------------------THE PROMISE: (See Thurs., March 25)

apr 02

friday

FIRST FRIDAYS IN DOWNTOWN CHARLEVOIX: 3-6pm. Featuring shopping, random giveaways, food from local restaurants & kidfriendly activities in Hoop Skirt & Van Pelt alleys. charlevoixmi.gov/432/ First-Fridays

---------------------FREE BEGINNER BELLY DANCE CLASS: 6pm. In-person & live on Zoom at Higher Self Bookstore, TC. For beginners of all ages & sizes; no dance experience necessary. In-person is limited to 9. Call 231-941-5805 to save your in-person spot. Free. eventbrite.com/e/ free-virtual-beginner-belly-dance-class-tickets-142004995765

---------------------THE PROMISE: (See Thurs., March 25)

apr 03

saturday

EASTER TREATS: 10-11am. The East Jordan Lion’s Club & the Easter Bunny will be handing out Easter treats in Sportsman’s Park, East Jordan while supplies last.

---------------------FREE EASTER EGG HUNT: 11am-noon, Blaine Christian Church, Arcadia. For children up to age 11 years old. To keep everyone safe, the plastic Easter eggs will only contain prepackaged candy. Masks for children & adults will be required and, weather permitting, the egg hunt as well as story time will be outside. cca.frankfort-elberta.com/EvtListing.aspx?cla ss=B&dbid2=MIFRANK&&date=20210403

---------------------BOWLING DOWN MAIN STREET 2021: 122pm, Intersection of State & Main streets, Harbor Springs. The Lyric will be playing “Despicable Me 3” prior to bowling at 10:30am. This will be a free viewing; first come, first served for the 100 available seats. Johan’s will offer free hot cocoa & donuts to kids. Rocking Horse Toy Company will give away a free grab gift. harborspringschamber.com/events/details/bowling-down-main-street-2021-8056

HAPPY HOUR DRINK SPECIALS FROM OPEN-6PM

Hours Mon-Thurs 2pm-10pm Fri-Sun FriSun noon-10pm Mon March 22 - Jukebox Tues March 23 Comedy open mic Wed March 24 Skin & Marshall Fri March 26 - TC GUITAR GUYS Sat March 27 - Don Swan and the 4 Horsemen Sun March 28 - karaoke Mon March 29 - Jukebox Tues March 30 Comedy open mic Wed March 31 - DJ JR Fri April 2 - Broom Closet Boys Sunday April 4 - karaoke

941-1930 downtown TC unionstreetstation/myspace.com

Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 19

EASTER AT THE MOUNTAIN: 12-4pm, Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville. On-slope Easter Egg Hunt: Look for Easter eggs hidden on the slopes for a prize. Redeem your egg at the Park at Water’s Edge. Jellybean Jar: Guess how many jellybeans are in the jar at the Park at Water’s Edge. crystalmountain.com/event/ easter-at-the-mountain

---------------------28TH ANNUAL EASTER EGG HUNT: 2-3pm, East Park, downtown Charlevoix. Free for children up to 10 years old. Wear a mask & practice social distancing. business. charlevoix.org/events/details/easter-egghunt-04-04-2020-12870

---------------------THE PROMISE: (See Sat., March 27)

ongoing

ICEMAN COMETH VIRTUAL TRAINING CHALLENGE: Ride 500, 1,000, or 3,000 miles to prepare for the 2021 Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge presented by Trek. Each distance will have its own exclusive Strava Club for tips & support, with all entrants eligible for prizes each month. Runs March 5 - Oct. 30. Registration ends Sept. 30. $25. registericeman. com/Race/Events/MI/TraverseCity/IcemanCo methChallenge#eventGroup-7424

Free yoga classes for restaurant & essential workers on Mondays in March, 8am. Register via Mindbody app or text: 989-350-4660. yoga-45.com

---------------------MISS ANN’S ZOOM STORY HOUR: Interlochen Public Library’s preschool story hour held on Wednesdays at 11am via Zoom. Weekly themes, craft supplies are provided for pick up. Meeting ID: 876 3279 3456. Pass code: storyhour. interlochenpubliclibrary.org

---------------------THE ENCHANTED TRAIL: Open Saturdays, Sundays & holidays from 5:30-8:30pm through winter at Boyne Highlands Resort, Harbor Springs. The trail totals two miles roundtrip & features the twinkling of hundreds of lights strewn throughout the path. Guests can walk or snowshoe the trail with snowshoes available for rent. Tickets are $15 per person. Hot chocolate & s’mores are included. A cash bar is available & beverage tickets can be purchased in advance. Reserve your spot. boynehighlands.com

---------------------BELLAIRE WINTER FARMERS MARKET: Held on Fridays from 10am-2pm. Located at both Bee Well & Terrain in downtown Bellaire.

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BOYNE CITY INDOOR FARMERS MARKET: Saturdays, 9am-noon through May 15. City Hall Lobby, Boyne City. petoskeyarea.com/ event-detail/boyne-city-indoor-farmers-market-1

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INDOOR FARMERS MARKET: The Village at GT Commons, The Mercato, TC. Saturdays through April, 10am-2pm. thevillagetc.com/ indoor-farmers-market-7-2-2-2-2-2

VIRTUAL 2021 BAYSHORE MARATHON REGISTRATION: Featuring a marathon, half marathon & 10K. Register. Event held on May 29. bayshoremarathon.org

GRAND TRAVERSE CONSERVATION DISTRICT’S ANNUAL NATIVE SEEDLING SALE: Held online through March 31. Featuring 32 bare-root tree & shrub species available for purchase. natureiscalling.org/nativeseedling-sale

---------------------MARCH 2021 CYBER LEARN-A-THON: Newton’s Road is partnering with 20Fathoms to offer a free Cyber Learn-a-thon to Northwest Michigan high school students & their parents from Feb. 26 - March 26. The course teaches how to protect personal data & privacy online & in social media & explores cyber trends, threats & staying safe in cyberspace. In addition to the self-paced course, which takes approximately 15 hours to complete, student participants can attend a panel of local educators & professionals teaching & using cybersecurity skills. netacad.com/portal/ web/self-enroll/m/course-298485

---------------------SENIOR CENTER NETWORK HELPS!: People in the 60-plus age group have become increasingly isolated during the COVID-19 “stay-at-home” order & are challenged by an even greater reliance on technology. The Senior Center, TC offers puzzles, exercise equipment, & books available to be checked out. Call 922-4911 to make arrangements to pick up. The “Little Free Library” located outside the main entrance is open at all times. There are also “boredom buster” packets with puzzles, fun facts & jokes available. Make an appointment to pick up or have them mailed to you. Their Telephone Assurance Program provides staff & volunteers available to chat. grandtraverse.org/712/Senior-Centers

---------------------DISABILITY NETWORK MEN’S GROUP: ZOOM MEETINGS: Mondays, 10am through April. disabilitynetwork.org/events

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DISABILITY NETWORK PEER ADVOCACY GROUP: ZOOM MEETINGS: Held on Thursdays at 2pm through April. disabilitynetwork. org/events

---------------------DISABILITY NETWORK WOMEN’S GROUP, SHARING HERSTORY: ZOOM MEETINGS: Mondays, 11am through April. disabilitynetwork.org/events

---------------------FREE YOGA IN MARCH: Yoga-45, Gaylord.

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art

PIECED, LAYERED & STITCHED: A show of small quilts focused on the theme of architecture. Runs through April 2 at Jordan River Arts Council, East Jordan. The Gallery is open on Saturdays & Sundays from 1-4pm or by appointment: jordanriverarts@gmail.com. jordanriverarts.com

---------------------“DON’T MISS THE BOAT”: Harbor Springs History Museum. Presented by the Harbor Springs Area Historical Society. This exhibit highlights the historic ferries of Little Traverse Bay & features original watercolors & giclees by local artist William Talmadge Hall. Runs through the summer of 2021. Hours: Tues.Sat., 11am-3pm. harborspringshistory.org/ history-museum-exhibits

---------------------100 DAYS OF CREATIVE EMPOWERMENT: Held every Mon. through May 3 from 5:307pm. A live online class. Register. Each week a local artist will share their skills to ignite your creativity. Engage in painting, iPhone photography, comic book creation & more. gaylordarts.org

---------------------CALL FOR ART: Sanctuary Handcrafted Goods is looking for new work to grace the halls of the Mercato, The Village at GT Commons, TC. A cohesive collection is preferred, & they will be prioritizing emerging artists with a good range of sizes & affordable pricing. Please email a bio with 3-5 photos to: fineart@ sanctuarytc.com.

---------------------CALL TO ARTISTS: JORDAN ART WALK: Submit a sculpture for placement in a new sculpture walk exhibit in East Jordan. The exhibit theme is our relationship to our abundant natural resource of water. This may include but is not limited to water activities, cycles, quality, wildlife, cultural concepts. Submit up to 3 entries digitally by March 31: info@ejchamber.org.

---------------------EXHIBIT: SPOTLIGHT ON INNOVATION: Charlevoix Circle of Arts. The annual regional high school student art exhibit. See unique

20 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

works from 11th & 12th grade budding artists from Charlevoix County & surrounding area. Featuring scholarship awards from Kendall College & CCA. Pick up kid’s ‘Take & Make’ art kit with each exhibit. charlevoixcircle.org/ exhibits-2021

---------------------MELONIE STEFFES EXHIBIT: Higher Art Gallery, TC. HART welcomes local artist Melonie Steffes in her second solo exhibit with eight new oil paintings. “Undomesticating - Leaving Behind the Things of Man.” Show is open online in the virtual shop as well as in person during gallery hours. higherartgallery.com

---------------------SOUL SISTERS EXHIBIT: Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts, Manistee. An all women art show. Runs March 12 – April 16. ci.ovationtix. com/35295/production/1039657

---------------------WALKING THROUGH: STEVE CATTIN, STEWART ALLISON MCFERRAN, NICK WALSH: Oliver Art Center, Frankfort. This exhibition features over 60 works of art including bright, graphic, abstract acrylic paintings & several large scale wood sculptures. Runs through April 9. Closed on Sundays. oliverartcenterfrankfort.org

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CROOKED TREE ARTS CENTER, PETOSKEY: - “KIDS ON COMMUNITY”: Youth artists were invited to submit artwork in response to the theme of “Community.” Fun, thoughtful & creative interpretations by Michigan youth (grades 3 - 12) are included in this online image gallery. Runs through June 30, 2021. crookedtree.org/event/ctac-petoskey-ctac-online/kids-community-online-exhibit - CTAC’S 19TH ANNUAL YOUNG WRITERS EXPOSITION: CALL FOR YOUNG WRITERS: Elementary, middle & high school students who attend schools served by the Char-Em ISD (or home school students in Charlevoix or Emmet counties) may submit one work of poetry, prose, or one of each. Winning writers of all age groups receive a medal, journal, & McLean & Eakin Booksellers gift card, while also having their work published in the digital Petoskey News-Review. Middle & high school winning writers receive monetary prizes as well. All first place writers get their work printed in the upcoming edition of the Walloon Writers Review. The Little Traverse Literary Guild will give two $500 “Best in Show” awards – the Hanna-Renkes/Jan Smith Literary Award – to high school students for poetry & prose. Work must be submitted online by a parent or teacher between April 6-19 at 5 pm. The submission page is located under Teacher Resources on the Petoskey portion of CTAC’s website. Winning writers will be announced May 7 via CTAC’s social media pages.

---------------------DENNOS MUSEUM CENTER, NMC, TC: - DEX R. JONES: STORIED PORTRAITS: Runs through March 28. Influenced by the cultural richness of his Caribbean heritage & Pan-African studies, Dexter R. Jones removes the veil of self-conscious inhibition by eliminating the preconceived sense of beauty & reveals its true splendor in its vulnerable state. Encompassing a mixture of texture, hues, flesh, & heavy contrast in his editorial photography, his expertise in justly capturing women of vast shades is indicative from his strong matriarchal upbringing. Regular admission rates apply. dennosmuseum.org - BLOW UP II: INFLATABLE CONTEMPORARY ART: Runs through May 16. This exhibit explores the imaginative ways that air is used as a tool to create large-scale sculptures. The artists translate everyday materials and imagery into larger-than-life, yet nearly lighter-than-air art. Curated by Carrie Lederer & organized by Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA. dennosmuseum.org GLEN ARBOR ARTS CENTER, GLEN ARBOR: - EXHIBIT: JOAN RICHMOND | PAPER + SCISSORS + GLUE = NEW COLLAGES:

Held in Lobby Gallery. An exhibition of 12 new works is on display through April 22. Richmond is more widely known for her distinctive, spare gouache paintings depicting land- & waterscapes. This exhibit includes more than 60 pieces she created during COVID-19 isolation. The GAAC is open Mon. through Sat., 11am–2pm. GlenArborArt.org - YOU ARE T/HERE: An exhibition that asks exhibitors to visually explore & describe what their own, personal “here” or “there” looks like. Runs through March 25. In addition, an online version of the exhibition may be viewed at GlenArborArt.org. - CALL-FOR-ENTRIES: EVERYDAY OBJECTS EXHIBITION: Runs Aug. 27 – Oct. 28. Online applications for this juried show may be submitted through July 15. It is open to 2D & 3D objects in a wide variety of media. The GAAC is open Mon. through Sat., 11am–2pm, but will be closed between exhibitions from March 26 – April 1. glenarborart.org/artists/ calls-for-entry/everyday-objects-prospectus

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NORTHPORT ARTS ASSOCIATION, NORTHPORT: - “MAGIC OF MARCH”: This online exhibits runs through March. It emphasizes the excitement of spring & the changes we see in nature as well as body, mind & spirit. northportartsassociation.org - NORTHPORT PLEIN AIR CALL FOR ARTISTS: Through April 10. See web site for info. northportartsassociation.org/call-for-artistsapplications

Deadline for Dates information is Tuesday for the following week.

the ADViCE GOddESS The Blurt Locker Stalk Of Shame

BY Amy Alkon

: I’m a 34-year-old woman seeking a relationship. Last week, I went to dinner with a man. We had an instantaneous connection and ended up having sex. I haven’t heard from him since. I’ve always believed sex on a first date doesn’t matter if there’s a connection. Now I’m worried I moved too quickly. I’m tempted to call him. Any advice on what to say? — Disappointed

: Chasing a man into wanting you is usually about as successful as trying to split atoms with small household tools.

You may believe sex on the first date “doesn’t matter,” but our genes (the source of our psychology) have not heard of the women’s movement and do not drink out of an ‘’ovaries before brovaries!” coffee mug. Women and men are more alike than different, physically and psychologically, but the physical differences we do have (like how only women get pregnant) led to the evolution of psychological sex differences. For example, evolutionary psychologists Martie Haselton and David Buss find that heterosexual men and women having sex with someone for the first time experience differing “affective shifts” — shifts in feelings — afterward. In the afterglow, women felt more emotionally attached and more attracted to their partner (a “positive affective shift”). These commitmentfostering feelings align with how, for a woman, sex “signals the possibility of pregnancy” (and daddy shoes in need of filling). On the male side, immediately after the first sexperience with a new woman, men who’ve had a lot of sex partners (six-plus as college undergrads, suggesting a short-term sexual strategy) experienced a “negative affective shift”: finding a woman ”less physically attractive and sexy.” (This effect didn’t show up in men with fewer sex partners or in women, no matter how many sex partners they’d had.) Haselton speculates that for hookupmeister men, the negative affective shift signals game over — sex goal achieved — and pushes them to move on lest they get “entangled in an unwanted long-term relationship.” If this guy wanted to see you again, he’d be blowing up your phone. To help yourself accept that, recycle him from a current goal to an ongoing reminder: Whenever you might want more than a hookup with a particular guy, wait till he’s emotionally attached before having sex with him. How many dates, calls, and texts this takes will vary, but basically, a man needs to care about you enough to weather how your sex face makes you look like a mortally wounded hamster.

: My boyfriend and I broke up during a nasty fight. I (rashly and immaturely) blurted out that we should just break up. He blurted out, “Fine!” and asked to stop talking for a while. Ugh. I still want to be with him. Dating coaches advise a “no contact” rule post-breakup (cutting off communication for 21 to 45 days). Do you agree? Is this a way to give him a chance to miss me, reset, and get back together in a healthy way? — Distressed

: If you broke up by accident and still want to be with the person, there’s something you should do, and it isn’t spending a month and a half being all “My spirit animal is a 3,000-year-old crustacean fossilized in rock.” Breaking up because you hit an impasse in an argument is like abandoning your apartment because your toilet’s clogged. Chances are you exploded because you “reasoned” with part of the brain not equipped for the job. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman explains that our brain has two information-processing systems: System 1, our instinctive, fastresponding emotional system that jumps into action automatically; and System 2, our slowto-awaken reasoning system that we have to force to do its job. System 1 (automatic emotion!) drove you to blurt your way into breaking up. Possibly getting back together takes hauling your System 2 reasoning out of bed and making it process whether you, as a couple, are irretrievably broken or just need to learn healthy conflict resolution techniques. You resolve conflict not through fighting to win — hammering the other person until they give in — but through listening with an open mind: putting in the effort to understand and empathize and then working to solve problems as a we instead of a you versus me. (This takes practice, and psychologist John Gottman’s “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work” is a helpful guide, but in the meantime, a clue: If the volume goes up, you’re doing it wrong.) Since the guy was in a relationship with you until you accidentally blew it up, he probably cares about you and doesn’t need to be psychologically manipulated into wanting you with some “no contact” crapfest. Ultimately, if you love something and accidentally set it free, go after it and tell it you were an idiot: “If I’m gonna have fights about underwear used for a coffee table coaster, I want them to be with you.”

“Jonesin” Crosswords "Not Quite!" --looks can be deceiving. by Matt Jones

ACROSS 1 Texting format 4 Iran’s leader, once 8 Counts with margins of error 13 Deviation in a rocket’s course 14 Prefix meaning “end” 15 Prove to be successful 16 Winter road clearer 18 Purport 19 D&D enemy 20 Grass cutter that might use a battery 22 Feeling of guilt 23 Used up 24 The “A” in PTA, for short 25 Test that might be “open” 27 Composer ___ Carlo Menotti 29 Acquire a second time 34 Mountain Dew energy drink 37 First name in fabric stores 38 Made a pit 39 Fu Mingxia, for one 41 Boston team, for short 42 Group in Santa Fe or Sacramento 45 “Switched-On Bach” synthesizer 46 “Mr. Robot” network 47 “Quantum of Solace” actress Kurylenko 50 Rice wine used in Japanese cooking 53 Hard work 57 Serious symptom of a cold, maybe 59 Quadruped up in the sky? 60 ___-Bissau (African country) 61 Actor shown in “One does not simply ...” memes 63 Nod, e.g. 64 “At Last” singer James 65 Tree on Connecticut’s quarter 66 Negatives from Nijinsky 67 Holder of many a merit badge 68 Toots and the Maytals genre

DOWN 1 Early online admin 2 Genre for “One-Punch Man” 3 Given an oath, with “in” 4 Longtime NASCAR sponsor 5 Assists, as with entering a tall pickup truck 6 Knocked for ___ 7 “This Is ___ Do It” (Montell Jordan hit) 8 It’s good for at least a few dates 9 Checked out for a bit 10 Chain that merged with AMC Theatres 11 Equipment used in Winter Olympics 12 Back of a yacht 15 Title ender of a 1974 film that distinguishes it from an earlier Best Picture Oscar winner 17 Photographer William who depicts Weimaraners with human hands 21 Keep occupied 26 Old detergent brand that used to sponsor radio shows 28 Lake Titicaca’s locale 29 Morning beverages, informally 30 Rude sound from a spectator 31 Invoice add-on 32 Samuel Barber’s “___ for Strings” 33 Clean out completely, as a building 34 “Selma” director DuVernay 35 Ran into 36 Cautionary beginning? 40 Place for a nursery rhyme trio 43 Garfield, for one 44 Gardening headwear 45 Fridge ornament 47 Hammond B-3, notably 48 Pretty dang bad 49 False front 51 Deceptive ploys 52 “___ Kick Out of You” 54 Cookies with a recent Lady Gaga-themed variety 55 “Wicked Game” singer Chris 56 Sri ___ 58 “... three French ___ ...” 62 “Yeah, probably not”

Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 21

NORTHERN EXPRESS

CLAS SIFIE DS

OTHER

SIGN ON BONUS MASSAGE THERAPIST WANTED TC SALT SPA: Full Time - Part Time - Pick Your Own Hours 20 to 40 hr Plus Tips and Sign On Bonus. Shifts are Morning, Afternoon or Night. Very Relaxing Atmosphere. URBANOASISSALTSPA@gMAIL.COM _________________________________________ SEWING, ALTERATIONS, MENDING & REPAIRS. Maple City, Maralene Roush 231228-6248 _________________________________________ DIRECTOR OF ADULT SPIRITUAL FORMATION: This 30-hour position coordinates church classes in progressive Christianity. (231) 946-5191 _________________________________________ BUYING PROPERTY AND HOUSES - CASH PAID: Local guy will evaluate your situation. Unused acreage or homes/cabins in any condition. Estates/Challenges/Etc in the 5 county area around TC. Call or text Mike 231570-1111. _________________________________________ SEAMSTRESS / CLOTHING PRODUCTION HELP NEEDED: Creative Fashion label is looking for freelance sewers/seamstresses this season! (347) 977-7592 _________________________________________ BECOME A PART OF THE ORYANA TEAM! Currently seeking candidates for several positions at both stores! Oryana offers eligible staff a comprehensive benefits package, store discount & PTO. Visit our website to apply! https://www.oryana.coop/careers/ _________________________________________ UPHOLSTERY AND SEWING For quality sewing and upholstery call Marcia at 231-342-0962.

NOW HIRING - COOKS, DISHWASHERS, HOUSEKEEPERS & MECHANICS Crystal Mountain is hiring cooks, dishwashers, housekeepers, and mechanics at competitive wages based on experience. Enjoy great recreation benefits all year round! Please visit www.crystalmountain.com to view more details and to apply today! http://www. crystalmountain.com _________________________________________ PAID JOB TRAINING FOR INDIVIDUALS 55 + Paid Job Training For Qualifying Seniors Age 55+. Part-time positions are waiting to be filled. Applicants must be unemployed and meet program requirements. Get paid while you obtain job skills and work experience. Call the AARP Foundation SCSEP office at 231-2524544. We service the Grand Traverse Region and surrounding counties. Call to learn more. _________________________________________ NMC IS HIRING NMC is seeking to fill a salaried Enrollment Services Specialist position, as well as an 8-month full-time accounting position. Find out more at nmc.edu/jobs. _________________________________________ LANDLORDS-HOW ARE YOU PROTECTED? If you rent a residence-house, mobile home and/or manufactured home to tenants-Let’s talk! Be sure you are covered like you think you are! Call Pat for an appointment 231 943 4342 _________________________________________ BUSY CONTRACTOR NEEDS ASSISTANCE Busy Gen. Contractor needs older/retired woman to assist part time with clients. Interior finish experience necessary. Good pay to qualified person. Email traversehomes@gmail.com _________________________________________ NOW HIRING - DIRECTOR OF DINING SERVICES & BANQUET MANAGER Crystal Mountain is hiring a Director of Dining Services and a Banquet Manager with competitive wages based on experience. If you would like to join the fun at Crystal Mountain, please visit www.crystalmountain.com to apply today! http://www.crystalmountain.com

lOGY

MAR 22 - APR 04 BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the novel House of Leaves, the

hero Johnny Truant describes his friend Lude as wanting “more money, better parties, and prettier girls.” But Johnny wants something different. What is it? He says, “I’m not even sure what to call it except I know it feels roomy and it’s drenched in sunlight and it’s weightless and I know it’s not cheap.” In my opinion, that declaration is far too imprecise! He’ll never get what he wants until he gets clearer about it. But his fantasy is a good start. It shows that he knows what the fulfillment of his yearning feels like. I suggest you get inspired by Johnny Truant’s approximation to conjure up one of your own. Gaze ahead a few years, and see if you can imagine what your best possible future feels like. Then describe it to yourself as precisely as possible. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Blobs, spots,

specks, smudges, cracks, defects, mistakes, accidents, exceptions, and irregularities are the windows to other worlds,” writes author Bob Miller. I would add that all those things, along with related phenomena like fissures, blemishes, stains, scars, blotches, muck, smears, dents, and imperfections, are often windows to very interesting parts of this seemingly regular old ordinary world—parts that might remain closed off from us without the help of those blobs and defects. I suggest you take full advantage of the opportunities they bring your way in the coming weeks.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): How distraught

I was when I discovered that one of my favorite poets, Pablo Neruda, was an admirer of the murderous dictator Joseph Stalin. It broke my heart to know I could never again read his tender, lyrical poetry with unconditional appreciation. But that’s life: Some of our heroes and teachers disappoint us, and then it’s healthy to re-evaluate our relationships with them. Or maybe our own maturation leads us to realize that once-nurturing influences are no longer nurturing. I recommend that sometime soon, you take a personal inventory with these thoughts in mind. I suspect there may be new sources of inspiration headed your way. Get ready for them.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Self-help author

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Innovative

psychologist Carl Jung had a nuanced understanding of the energies at work in our deep psyche. He said our unconscious minds are “not only dark but also light; not only bestial, semi-human, and demonic, but also superhuman, spiritual, and, in the classical sense of the word, ‘divine.’” I bring this to your attention, Sagittarius, because now is a favorable time to get better acquainted with and more appreciative of your unconscious mind. For best results, you must not judge it for being so paradoxical. Don’t be annoyed that it’s so unruly and non-rational. Have fun with its fertility and playfulness and weirdness.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The fantasy

drama Game of Thrones appeared on TVs all over the world. But the audience that watched it in China got cheated out of a lot of essential action. Government censorship deleted many scenes that featured nudity and sex, fighting and violence, and appearances by dragons, which play a starring role in the story. As you can imagine, Chinese viewers had trouble following some of the plot points. Telling you about this, Capricorn, is my way of nudging you to make sure you don’t miss any of the developments going on in your own personal drama. Some may be hidden, as in China’s version of Game of Thrones. Others might be subtle or disguised or underestimated. Make it your crusade to know about everything.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Words are,

of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind,” wrote author Rudyard Kipling. Yes, they are. I agree. They change minds, rouse passions, build identities, incite social change, inspire irrationality, and create worlds. This is always true, but it will be especially important for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks. The ways you use language will be key to your health and success. The language that you hear and read will also be key to your health and success. For best results, summon extra creativity and craftsmanship as you express yourself. Cultivate extra discernment as you choose what you absorb.

Steve Maraboli has useful advice for you to consider in the coming weeks. I hope you’ll meditate on what he says and take decisive action. He writes, “Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.” To get started, Gemini, make a list of three things you do have power over and three things you wish you did but don’t have power over.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): While he was

alive, Cancerian author Franz Kafka burned 90% of everything he wrote. In a note to a friend before he died, he gave instructions to burn all the writing he would leave behind. Luckily, his friend disobeyed, and that’s why today we can read Kafka’s last three novels and a lot more of his stuff. Was his attitude toward his creations caused by the self-doubt that so many of us Cancerians are shadowed by? Was he, like a lot of us Crabs, excessively shy about sharing personal details from his life? In accordance with astrological omens, I urge you to at least temporarily transcend any Kafka-like tendencies you have. It’s time to shine brightly and boldly as you summon your full powers of self-expression.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): To create your

horoscope, I’ve borrowed ideas from Leo-born author Cassiano Ricardo. He speaks of a longing “for all that is tall like pine trees, and all that is long like rivers, and all that is purple like dusk.” I think yearnings like those will be healthy and wise for you to cultivate in the coming weeks. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you need expansive influences that stretch your imagination and push you beyond your limitations. You will benefit from meditations and experiences that inspire you to outgrow overly small expectations.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo actor and

director Jean-Louis Barrault (1910–1994) aspired to “wake up a virgin each morning.” He wanted “to feel hungry for life,” as if he had been reborn once again. In order to encourage that constant renewal, he regarded going to sleep every night as “a small death.” I recommend his approach to you during the coming weeks. In my astrological opinion, the cosmic rhythms will be conspiring to regularly renew your desires: to render them pure, clean, raw, and strong. Cooperate with those cosmic rhythms!

PISCES (Feb 19-March 20): Piscean linguist

Easy. Accessible. All Online.

northernexpress.com/classifieds 22 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

Anna Wierzbicka says the Russian expression dusha naraspashku means “unbuttoned soul.” She continues, “The implication is that it is good, indeed wonderful, if a person’s ‘soul,’ which is the seat of emotions, is flung open in a spontaneous, generous, expansive, impetuous gesture, expressing full trust in other people and an innocent readiness for communion with them.” I wouldn’t recommend that you keep your soul unbuttoned 24/7/365, but in the coming weeks, I hope you’ll allocate more time than usual to keeping it unbuttoned. Have faith that the novelties you dream up will eventually have practical value.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Is there anything

more gratifying than being listened to, understood, and seen for who you really are? I urge you to seek out that pleasure in abundance during the coming weeks. My reading of the astrological omens tells me you need the nurturing jolt that will come from being received and appreciated with extra potency. I hope you have allies who can provide that for you. If you don’t, search for allies who can. And in the meantime, consider engaging the services of a skillful psychotherapist or life coach or some other professional listener.

Mike Annelin

Enthusiastic & Experienced

Call Mike 231-499-4249 or 231-929-7900

230 E ELEVENTH STREET

Charming 3 bed, 1 bath, 1,295 sq. ft. home Great location, right in the heart of Traverse City Completely updated, beautiful wood floors Lovely enclosed sun porch, beautifully landscaped backyard $325,000 Northern Express Weekly • march 22 & 28, 2021 • 23

24 • march 22 & 28, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

Northern Express - Special Double Issue - March 22 - April 04, 2021

Articles inside

Dates

Documented American

Weird

Saving Manistee’s Guardian Angel

The North’s Music Venues

Top Ten

Opinion

Hoppies Landing

Spectator/Stephen Tuttle