BGQ BLACK & GOLD QUARTERLY
Bardon’s Stands Into the Academia Corporate Brew Anxiety Its Ground Darkness vs Local Brew
BLACK & GOLD QUARTERLY: O C T O B E R T W O - T H O U S A N D NINETEEN Editors Note
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sophia Boyce PHOTOGRAPHY Olivia Hale Mia Moeggenberg Addison Swanson GRAPHICS Jack Doerr BUSINESS Niklas Fagerman EDITORS Joie Baldyga Paige Conners Maria Linck Mia Moeggenberg STAFF WRITERS Niklas Fagerman Olivia Hale Henry Huschke Addison Swanson Mallory Swope Trinity Whiteford COVER PHOTO Olivia Hale Advisor: Jim Filkins
The start of a new school year brings about change. Change of schedule, change of friends, and this year, a change of roads and lunch spots. The BGQ itself has gone through an evolution. We’ve lost and gained staff members, which in itself is not unusual, but along with new staffers, the BGQ has gone through a style adjustment. In the spirit of change, we decided that we’d highlight some of the new things around town along with our coverage of all things Central. It’s October 2019, the last fall of the 2010’s, things are bound to change. Traverse City is no longer populated with only mom and pop shops—we have a Starbucks now! But Starbucks isn’t the only chain corporation setting up shop in TC, we now have Hobby Lobby, Uber, Home Goods, and Costco all in the last few years. What seemed like the never ending Eighth Street construction appears in this issue as well. While change is good, it’s important to note that some things will always stay the same. Despite new corporate chains moving into TC, locals still frequent their favorite businesses like Bardon’s Wonder Freeze and Cuppa Joe’s. Even through construction and hard parking, TC natives are keeping Bardon’s in business. Another constant here at Central, and high schools everywhere, is Driver’s Ed. The freshmen class is bound to take Driver’s Ed eventually, so we decided that we’d give them a crash course. We don’t know about you, but we love a good Pumpkin patch, so we featured a few in our “Cliche Midwestern Fall” photo story. While Driver’s Ed and pumpkins are light hearted, we didn’t avoid hard hitting topics like student anxiety and suicide. We even get a perspective on inclusion from Chastan Buttigieg. Although the BGQ is changing, our goals of educating and entertaining readers has not. From the Pub, Sophia Boyce
MISSION STATEMENT: The Black and Gold Quarterly (BGQ) is Traverse City Central High School’s student-run magazine. Since its conception in 1886, our publication has evolved with the times, frequently changing in style, format, and even name. However, one factor has remained constant— our staff ’s desire to capture the story of our community, to challenge the accepted, and to open our minds to perspectives that we hadn’t previously considered through investigation, research, and inquiry. We are constantly striving to improve our content and artistic elements; after all, the BGQ is a school publication, so educating both ourselves as well as our readers remains one of our primary goals. 2 // BGQ // October 2019
C O N T E N T S
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Buttigieg Comes Home chasten buttigieg’s talks to students
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Driver’s Ed what you need to know
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Into the Darkness suicide awareness
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Identity in Traverse City people in town
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Bardon’s Wonder Freeze stands its ground
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Corporate Brew vs. Local Brew starbucks stirs up competition
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A Cliche Midwestern Fall a photo story
Send information, advertising and other inquiries to: Black & Gold Quarterly Central High School 1150 Milliken Drive Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone: (231) 933-6533 Email: filkinsji@ tcaps.net
Construction Chaos Leads to Eighth Street Upgrades by: TRINITY WHITEFORD staff writer Road construction is a common source of frustration for anyone who has to drive any distance in their daily lives. Traverse City residents have dealt with quite a bit of construction in the past year or so. Remember the major delays during the recent U.S. 31 construction in Eastbay Township? Ugh! From Front Street to South Airport Road, and more recently Eighth Street, both commuters and businesses have been inconvenienced by the construction. Unfortunately, road construction will remain a part of our lives and stress levels until we take to the air with flying cars, or is it flying pigs? We tend to forget that there is more upside to road construction than the day it is finsihed. The new improvements to Eighth Street are definetly an upside for TC travelers. Among those improvements are: - Bike Paths - Mid-road blocks - Stop signs - Redone sidewalks
4 // BGQ // October 2019
Photos: M. Moeggenberg and H. Huschke
Eighth Street under construction, September 2019
The finished product, complete with more conveinant bike paths and clearly labeled pedestrian walkways 6 // BGQ // October 2019
Page by Paige: Ratting Myself Out by: PAIGE CONNERS content editor I got my first pet rat when I was in elementary school. I had been begging my parents to get me a puppy or a kitten or something for years. I wanted a creature to baby. I had my dolls and my toys, but I wanted a living, breathing thing to care for. We already had a dog and our cat didn’t get along with other cats, so those were both out of the picture, but much to my surprise, in second grade, my mother bought me a rat. I was obsessed with the movie The Secret of NIMH at the time, so naturally I named her Nimh. She lived in a cage in our dining room, and she was my best friend. The companionship of a rat, a creature stigmatized by society for being a dirty pest, was never something I envisioned myself needing as a socially awkward grade schooler, but Nimh helped me through those trying times. Despite the way the majority of people viewed her, she was an adorable, intelligent, charismatic creature. Other’s opinions of her did not take away from her good qualities, something I hadn’t considered when looking at myself. I had always felt like “the weird kid,” and I never felt like I had any friends. I felt like every one of my peers saw me as, well, something akin to a rat. Nimh helped me realize that that didn’t matter. When Nimh died three years later, it sent my entire family into mourning. She was a cherished member of our household and none of us felt like we had spent nearly enough time with her. My mother told me I couldn’t get another rat. It would make her too sad. However, this June, I convinced her to allow another rat. Two, actually. I had learned that rats do much better when they live in the companionship of other rats. Unsurprisingly, I talked about nothing but my future pet rats for weeks. I asked anybody who would listen if they had any ideas for names. In the end, neither of their names came from the list I compiled. My mother bought me two female rats, and I named them Effie and Sage. Effie is your typical, run-of-themill, albino fancy rat. She’s quite small and incredibly smart. Sage, however, is not so smart, but we love her anyway. Sage is a hooded light brown fancy rat with dark red eyes that appear almost black. She’s bigger
and sturdier than Effie, but she’s also scared of pretty much everything. I can safely say that adopting rats back into my life was one of the best decisions I’ve made. When I’m sad, I sit down at the chair I’ve pushed up next to the cage (so my cat can look at them without breaking the cage door, as he’s done before) and watch them going about their day. I’ll stick my hand in through the door and both of them will pepper me with kisses. I’ve discovered that they both love hanging out in my hoodie while I do my homework, and Sage enjoys playing with the touchscreen of my phone. They love
pretzels and will play together all night if I give them a pretzel stick to share. They’re wonderful. It is perplexing to me that so many people take one look at a rat and deem them unclean pests. I get that there is foundation of collective human experience with rats in cities and as carriers of contagion, but there is a whole other side to these creatures that people don’t see. I don’t think most people realize is that there are different types of rats that look and act vastly different. Most people who own rats own fancy rats, which are domesticated descendants of the brown rats that live in the alleys of big cities. Fancy rats are also the type of rat used in many research projects, except when they’re used that way, we call them lab rats. And do you know why scientists and doctors and other scholars choose to experiment with lab rats? Because they’re one of the smartest rodents to live on our planet, as well as being incredibly loyal and very easy to train. Rats have a long list of good qualities that people don’t see unless they look deep-
Buttigieg Comes Home
by: PAIGE CONNERS content editor
Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Pete Buttigieg (one of the democratic presidential candidates) and WSHS alumni, spoke to students in September, and here’s what he had to say
“These are the hard hitting questions no one asks: chicken nuggets with ranch across the board.” This comment from Chasten Buttigieg was greeted with thunderous applause from the audience of high school students seated in the auditorium in front of him. Buttigieg came to West Senior High School on September 16th to talk to students about everything from his favorite dipping sauce on chicken nuggets to the struggles of being a part of a presidential campaign. He spoke to an auditorium full of teenagers for an hour, managing to keep them interested for the whole 60 minutes — a feat many teachers struggle to accomplish. The BGQ asked a number of students why they chose to come see Buttigieg speak. Samantha Elder, ‘21, said, “I just love the Buttigiegs. I love that they’re moderate but socially liberal, and I think that’s what we need to depolarize our country.” Sophia Haas, ‘20, had a more personal reason. “A lot of my family on my father’s side died in the Holocaust, so it’s important for my family to stay involved with politics,” she said, “I’m excited to vote in the 2020 election, and I think it’s really cool that he’s from here when not many nationally known politicians are.” Leah Doezma, ‘21, thinks “it’s important to be educated on not only what the candidate themselves believes but also what the people involved in their campaign think.” She came to see Buttigieg speak because she wanted to be able to form an opinion of him and his husband. Buttigieg graduated from WSHS in ‘07, and the last time he was in the building was in ‘09. “It’s weird to come back,” he said, looking around the auditorium with awe. He talked about his passion for theater and how it was his safe haven in high school. He said that everyone has that one teacher who changes their life forever and for him, that was Mrs. Bach, the theater teacher at WSHS. After graduation, Buttigieg became a theater teacher too, although he left the classroom this spring to support his husband on the campaign trail. While this may by the first time he’s come back to his old high school in ten years, this isn’t the first time he’s come back to Traverse City. He spoke at the pride parade in June and deemed it one of the most remarkable moments of his life. “Traverse City’s pride event was actually a march... it was a demand for 8 // BGQ // October 2019
justice and equality.” And although LGBTQ+ rights are an issue that matters to the Buttigiegs, Chasten made it clear that that was not the defining characteristic of Pete. “He’s not running for president of gay America, he’s running for president of all of America,” he said. “We are more than our identity, it is a part of us but it doesn’t identify us.” Regardless, being gay has been an important part of Chasten’s life. His high school career was not easy. “When I went to West, it was unsafe to be out. I got beat up in the locker rooms, I got called a lot of terrible names... you couldn’t be gay in Traverse City.” For this reason, Buttigieg is passionate about the bettering of public schools. “Public education’s messed up and that’s because we don’t value it,” he said. He proceeded to detail ways America could do better in their superintendence of public schools. And then, he spoke directly to the audience. “I can’t tell you how much weight your words have... life would have been so much easier had a couple more people stood up for me,” he said slowly, choosing his words carefully, “make sure other people feel like they belong in this world.” Pete did that for Chasten. “Before Pete, I had given up on love,” Buttigieg said wistfully, “but Pete is so patient, so kind, so loving... Every American deserves a president who makes them feel whole and accepted, and Pete would be that president.” There were smiles, laughs, tears, but most of all, there was an atmosphere of hope. Buttigieg made it clear that the point of the campaign was not as easy to explain as ‘a bid for the presidency.’ “One of the most gratifying things of this process is meeting people who have already been positively affected by this campaign, by Pete simply running,” Buttigieg said. He recounted a story about a mother that came up to him at one of his husband’s rallies. The mother told him, with tears in her eyes, about her daughter who came out to her and told her that she contemplated taking her own life, but when she saw Pete running for president, she decided to stick around. “And I think about that every day,” Buttigieg said, his voice full of emotion, “This campaign is a symbol of hope and a reminder that it does get better.” So even if Chasten’s husband doesn’t get elected president next November, at least he’ll know he made an impact on the teenagers of Traverse City. //
Photo: R. Raniszewski
Academia of Anxiety
Exploring the difference between living with anxiety and thriving with anxiety by: OLIVIA HALE staff writer
It’s a Friday night, students are gathered at in the student section at Thirlby Field, intently watching the student section leaders jumping up and down before them hyping up the crowd. Senior leader, Siiri Asiala ‘20, could easily be the loudest of them all, dressed head to toe in the perfect theme-wear. Friday night lights are her scene. Whether or not it is noticeable, she also has anxiety that impacts her day to day, as do more students than ever. “I used to not order food for myself, or get gas by myself and depending on my anxiety levels I would avoid entire social situations. At first leading football games was something that was really hard for me to do and before the first game, I was really nervous about it. Of course, it is super fun but there is always a part of me that gets anxious from time to time,” Asiala confesses. Students as young as elementary age suffer from anxiety all over the country, including myself. Whether or not it is visibly noticeable, kids have to juggle their anxiety with everything else in their lives, whatever its severity. There’s no doubt that with the addition of school in the fall, anxiety feels harder to manage. Back to school season means deadlines, waking up early, extracurriculars, and an overall much busier schedule. Mason Waskiewicz ‘20, battles social anxiety yearround but finds it gets worse through the school year. “I don’t even think it is necessarily the schoolwork that is stressful and adds to my anxiety. It is just all of the added activities and seeing everybody and drama and stuff like that,” Waskiewicz said. So how do those of us manage anxiety with our busy schedules? For many of us, we crack and breakdown. We lose sleep and procrastinate doing schoolwork. We tend to disassociate and become unmotivated. Is that coping? Positive ways to rationalize what we’re feeling is different for everyone. “Sleep helps me unwind and
watching Netflix and hanging out with my friends helps with my stress a lot. Meditating helps. I used to hate it but now I do it every day. Putting myself on a healthy routine with healthy practices is the most beneficial thing,” Asiala said. Adults in our lives are quick to tell us that social media and the overuse of technology is the reason we feel uneasy and helpless, whether or not we choose to accept it. School counselors and social workers like Diane Burden observe students over their four years of high school and see what impacts them from an outside perspective. “If students are on their phones all day from the time that you’re 10, 11, 12 years old, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year; not getting enough sleep at night, dealing already with hormonal highs and lows that come with adolescence naturally, all of that together creates this vortex of the perfect storm and it ends up whooping up on you kids. We didn’t see it coming, this epidemic of anxiety. And it is clear that it takes its roots in these smart-phones,” Burden said. Of course, the pressure is increased with social media. Upon seeing seemingly picture-perfect lives day after day, expectations feel like they’ve been raised, and we suffer the consequences. Whether anxiety stems from school work, social environment or social media, doesn’t seem to matter as much as how students cope with anxiety. Mastering the art of coping is essential for students struggling with anxiety on any level. It seems valid to accept that too much anxiety is the new “normal” for many high school students. Perhaps, this acceptance is the first step in dealing effectively with anxiety and not letting it overwhelm us. //
Driver’s Ed: What You Need To Know
Photo H. Huschke
All Photos: H. Huschke
Learning to drive and becoming a good driver is not an overnight accomplishment, but a crash course (pun intended) might make it easier. by: MARIA LINCK and JOIE BALDYGA content editors
Car accidents are the leading cause of death for teens in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For most teens, getting their driver’s license is a big deal. Driving is a rite of passage because it gives teens something thing they desire most: freedom. Working up to a glorified slip of paper that lets a teen drive by themselves is a long and detailed process. Driver’s Ed is an experience that almost everyone goes through, but the journey is easier with tips, tricks and just general facts about driving. Driver’s Ed is a stepping stone into adulthood, and over the years, as much as it has changed, it has remained the same. Both the significant cost and the overall format that are in place today were still factors many years ago. “I had to pay for both of the sections [of Driver’s Ed],” explained Central Spanish and History teacher, Ashley Howe, “my parents wouldn’t 10 // BGQ // October 2019
pay for it because they said it was a privilege and that if I wanted to do it, I would have to pay for it on my own.” After explaining the format and schedule of Driver’s Ed when she was involved, Howe concluded that she believes “that it is very similar to what everybody does now. I don’t think it has changed a whole lot.” Central English teacher Kathryn Shelley-Barnes learned to drive in New Jersey. “When I moved to Michigan I had to take a driver’s test, not a driving test, but a hand test. I had to review some of the laws.” Shelley-Barnes also explained that one of the differences between driving in New Jersey and driving in Michigan is that in New Jersey she had to get her car inspected for emissions and pollution. Also, when Shelley-Barnes learned to drive, there were not any restrictions like time and number of passengers once somebody got their license. “You got your license, you got your license. Bang, you could drive any time you
“Driving is one of the first true steps to independence that most teens experience in their lives.” wanted to. The number of kids in the car didn’t matter. None of those laws existed when I was a kid, and I don’t think that was just New Jersey, I think that was across the board,” she explained. The format of Driver’s Ed has been the same for years now. According to the Michigan Secretary of State, a person has to be 14 years and eight months old to begin segment one of driver’s training in Michigan. The first segment consists of 24 hours of classroom instruction, six hours of practice in the car and four hours of driving observation. Along with these guidelines, students are expected to pass a written test and a road test during the sixth driving hour. Only then can a new driver go to the Secretary of State to obtain their level one license. After three months of having a level one license and 30 hours of practice driving hours (two of which have to be at night), students can take segment two of driver’s training. Segment two is much shorter than segment one, with only six hours of classroom instruction required and a short test determining whether or not students can move on to take the road test. The road test is the final part of Driver’s Ed before getting the level two license, which allows people to drive on their own, with some restrictions. The road test examines, evaluates drivers’ abilities on different aspects of driving such as using the According to a recent survey of 97 CHS students, 86.6% passed their final driving test on the first try, 7.5% passed on their second try, and 6.5% passed on their third try or higher. Because such a high percentage of students pass their driving test on the first try, it is not surprising that
Graphics: J. Baldyga, J. Doerr, M. Linck
many students testified to the fact that Driver’s Ed did prepare them to drive. When asked, if Driver’s Ed fully prepare them to drive, one CHS student explained, “I got all of the necessary information and learned how to drive safely on the road.” The 16th birthday marks a significant milestone in the lives of many U.S. teens, and for most people, getting their driver’s license is often the reason why. “I’m ready to have my own freedom and be wherever I want when I want,” explained Ralphie Ford ‘22. Ford believes that driving is definitely a rite of passage because “it represents you growing up and maturing, having that sense of responsibility.” Driving is one of the first true steps to independence that most teens experience in their lives. An independent and contributing member of society is what defines an adult, and becoming one step closer to that respectable status is a major accomplishment and rite of passage in the eyes of many. According to Howe, getting your license is monumental because “when you’re a freshman or a sophomore you get driven around everywhere by your parents, but then you finally get that freedom to be able to go and do everything on your own. It’s that independence, and then it’s also the new responsibility that you have to go with it.” Although driving is often celebrated as a moment of growth and transition into adulthood, driving is a responsibility that needs to be taken very seriously. Ashley Ingraham, owner of the local driving school Drive My Way, takes a more serious approach. She does not believe that driving is a rite of passage, but a privilege instead. “Driving a 5,000lb killing machine is a privilege
and should be treated as such,” she explained. CHS Science teacher Kelly Smith also believes that driving is a sign of growing up, “but you can be an adult and not drive,” she explained. Math teacher Julie Puckett agrees with the notion that driving is a rite of passage, but she also brings up the point that a license is “much harder to get to nowadays because of the prohibitive costs.” When Puckett took Driver’s Ed she did not have to pay for it because it was all through the school, but the transformation of Driver’s Ed from a free program that was included with school into a business that requires registration and fees has added a new factor into getting the highly-anticipated driver’s license. Driving can be a scary experience often because there is no way to tell what is going to happen, but this danger and unsureness increases with young, inexperienced drivers. These experiences happen to everybody, and can be extremely scary in the moment, but once they are over can be a learning (and laughing) experience. Everyone has embarrassing driving experiences. In an effort to ease worries for new drivers, the BGQ is sharing some anonymous survey responses from students about their personal driving experiences: “I was driving down a road going like 60 and a deer went zoom right in front of us and if we were going a little faster, we would have hit it, so that was really scary.” “On my first drive I accidentally drove on the wrong side of the road” “I was going 90 mph and after I asked if my instructor cared he said ‘No, I’m just waiting for you to pass a state trooper’” “I turned right, and overshot the turn and was in the left turn lane.... luckily there was no one there.” “My driving instructor brought us to a complete stop on the freeway in 5 o’clock traffic.” “I was stopped on the side of the road in town and my teacher was telling me to pull back into the lane, but there was a truck behind me moving fast he didn’t see. He tried to reach over but I stopped him or else we would have hit the truck pulling back over.” 12 // BGQ // October 2019
“I accidently stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake when I was driving downtown” “I was parallel parking and when I pulled out I hit the gas and hit the car in front of me” All drivers face the risks of being on the road, but inexperienced drivers face the highest chance of getting into an accident. According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel, 1.25 million people die each year from car crashes and the most significant reason for these crashes is inexperience. Teens ages 16-19 are three times more likely to be involved in a fatal car crash than drivers over 20 years old, according to statistics from the government of Michigan. With so many intimidating statistics showing the amount of people who die each year from car related injuries, it is a miracle that anyone is still joyous about getting behind the wheel. Not only do age and experience play a significant role in road safety, but gender also plays a substantial role. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2016, for drivers ages 15-20, 32 percent of male drivers involved in fatal car accidents were speeding, while only 22 percent of their female counterparts were speeding at the time of the fatal accident. These percentages decrease with every age group examined, with males being more likely to be speeding at the time of a fatal accident 100 percent of the time. Only seven percent of speeding males ages 75 and older were involved in fatal accidents, and six percent of females. When asked about her take on the number of teen car accidents and deaths, Ingraham wrote “Cocky kills. Kids are over driving their abilities and letting stress, distractions or peer pressure alter the way they should be maintaining a vehicle on the roadway.” Reaction time is crucial to being a good driver. Untrained eyes can downplay possibly hazardous conditions. Young drivers are more likely to have a slower hazard reaction time or underestimate hazardous road situations than older, more experienced drivers. Coupled with lack of experience, this slower reaction time can be very dangerous, even fatal.
According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2016 alone, 10,497 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for 28% of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. Alcohol induced driving is most common among drivers from ages 21 to 24. Inexperienced drivers can drive recklessly, which leads to car accidents, but knowing these dangers also causes anxiety among many new drivers. Ralphie Ford ‘22 felt that the hardest part about getting his level one license was “dealing with nerves when I’m driving. I get nervous about cars swerving or randomly stopping.” There are just so many factors that go into a safe driving experience that no one can be completely confident and unaware while driving. When asked about tips they would give to new drivers/people taking Driver’s Ed, CHS students had a lot to say. Responses varied from “use common sense” to “Calm down and think of all of the stupid people driving. You’re thinking about it way more than they are.” As more experienced drivers, teachers also have driving tips and suggestions for their students. Howe urges her students to “care for the people in your car. That’s precious cargo. That’s someone’s baby, or daughter, or sister, or brother, or best friend, so be careful with who’s in your car. It’s important to be safe for them and for their families, not just for yourself.” Shelley-Barnes recommends and urges her students to slow down. “If you slow down you can almost get out of any situation,” she explained, “there’s just too much speed, because then it’s hard to control the car.” Smith advises her students to “practice a lot and reduce distractions.” She also explains that “hands free talking is still a distraction if the person is not in the car, whereas if the person is in the car, it is better because they can see what is happening too.” Puckett argues that “practice, practice, practice,” is the best thing for learning to drive. She believes that “the more hours you can get behind the wheel, the better. Like math, you have to practice to get good at it.” The most common piece of advice was to just pay attention. Many students agreed that although the
class was boring, paying attention was the best key to success. Students had varied opinions about whether or not studying was necessary, but in general students agreed that doing the homework, although mundane, was worth the effort. “Take the homework and class time seriously it will pay off later,” explained one CHS Junior. One Sophomore put it this way: “Pay attention so you don’t have to take the class more than once.” Another common piece of advice was to relax. Everybody is going through the same thing, and nobody is a perfect driver on their first try. Students agreed that practice is the best way to get better. Ali Teeple ‘22 recommends people “pay attention in class and do the homework. Take a deep breath before the first drive.” Driving is a skill that is largely learned through experience, so listening to the instructors and parents is a good way to get better. For students in segment 1, driving instructors may pass out “pink slips” that allow students to drive with their parents with some restrictions. “Pay attention,” instructed one CHS sophomore, “and drive every time you can once you get the pink slip.” Generation after generation, people from all over the world have successfully completed Driver’s Ed. If that crazy driver who lives down the street can get through it, you can too. //
Photos: O. Hale
24 // BGQ // October 2019 14 2018
Mental Illness and Suicide Escalation The national escalation of suicide and mental illness over the past few years has brought on increased efforts of making the issue known locally
by: MALLORY SWOPE staff writer September 1st of every year kicks off Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month. As a contribution to this, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) hosts walks of varying lengths across the country where individuals or teams come together on a designated day and walk to raise money for suicide and mental health awareness. Saturday, September 14th marked the second annual AFSP walk in Traverse City, where roughly 1,300 people joined together in the two-mile loop from the Open Space down Front Street to Wellington, up State Street to Division and back to the Open Space. Janeen Wardie, a field advocate for the AFSP, is the mastermind behind both Out of the Darkness Community Walks that occurred in Traverse City in the last two years. Wardie’s ties to mental illness and suicide run extremely deep. Having dealt with severe anxiety and depression most of her life and being on the flip side of things when her son, Zechariah, died of mental illness in 2015, there was arguably very few people more capable or passionate about the issue than Wardie. The events hosted drew the attention and participation of hundreds of locals and visitors from different backgrounds in the attempt to make a massive improvement in the fight of raising awareness about suicide. Before the commencement of the walk, participants were welcomed to registration and were free to circulate and talk to other participants. Many bonds were formed instantaneously as strangers came to the realization that every single person they were surrounded
by in that moment was going through or had already gone through something similar. This walk helped people cope with and remember their past or current struggles, as well as encouraged them to seek love and support from the community. Some participants walked holding signs that depicted lost loved ones or signs that revealed their own internal demons, and others walked hand in hand with those supporting them. According to Wardie, the goal of the AFSP Out of the Darkness Community Walks is “to show those that are in that darkness that it’s okay to reach out for help. We want them to hold on to hope, we want them to feel loved and validated in their struggles.” As the streets of downtown blurred with hundreds of cascading bodies, participants’ faces displayed an abundance of emotions; Christina “Tina” Wells-Dohm, an experienced volunteer and participant, stated that she was expecting there to be “happiness, sadness, hope, love, growth, and awareness” amidst the participants of the event. The population of people “in the darkness” was not just limited to adults and grieving family members; many children and teenagers were present at the walk to honor their struggles with mental illness too. The National Alliance on Mental Illness disclosed in their 2016 Mental Health by the Numbers Report that 16.5 percent (7.7 million individuals) of adolescents aged 6-17 years old in America have displayed a lifetime or longtime prevalence of some sort of diagnosable mental illness, whether it be anxiety, depression, eating disorders, thought disorders, or
“It’s okay to ask for help.” personality disorders. Within Central High School’s own walls, administrators, counseling staff, and teachers “have noticed, over the years, a drastic increase in the anxiety,” according to School Social Worker Diane Burden. She acknowledged that all students are affected by highs and lows in their mental health due to the lack of full completion of brain development as a part of growing up. Some students, however, tend to show these signs for a period of time that is longer or more frequent, an issue that stems from much deeper roots—mental illnesses or disorders. Wardie stated that part of the issue with students and people in general suffering from mental illnesses is that “[people] talk openly about and bring awareness to every other organ in [the] body being ill. But when it comes to [the] brain being ill, [people] have been taught not to talk about it.” There is a stigma centered around mental illnesses and suicide that makes it almost inappropriate to talk about normally, but this only pushes people further into the darkness rather than pulling them out into the light. The passing of Traverse City local Jake Heller in early 2019 brought his closest friends, family, and co-workers together to participate in the Out of the Darkness walk in his name as Team We Walk for Jake. Tricia Adams, a participant of Team We Walk for Jake, spoke out about the goal of the team and of 16 // BGQ // October 2019
the overall event, saying that suicide was never really talked about in the past, but “it doesn’t have to be a hush-hush conversation anymore, and we need to encourage people to talk about it, and be aware of it, and understand that [suicide and mental illness] seems to be an increasing problem.” Anyone—no matter their personal backgrounds, genetic make-up, family life, or friend association—is susceptible to the gruesome effects of the inexpressible pain that mental illness causes. Burden states that the administrators and staff of CHS try to make the school as welcoming and as safe a space for students as they possibly can, and “every adult in this building is here because of kids.” In addition to the measures taken in school to aid students in coping with their mental illnesses or even the highs and lows adolescents experience, events outside of school such as the AFSP’s Out of the Darkness Community Walk serve as opportunities for people of all ages to receive support from others who may be going through something similar to themselves. Despite the dark and tragic reasons for joining the community together, there is optimism and unity among the individuals. Wardie endorses this by explaining the goal of the AFSP and other suicide/mental disorder awareness-promoting events through her eyes: “They are not alone. There are people who understand.” //
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Gianna Imbronone, about to celebrate her four year anniversary of moving up north, reflects on joining the local theatre community in Traverse City. Imbronone majored in theatre at Western Michigan University but made different career moves post-graduation. “I studied theatre and worked part-time as a waitress while in school and acted in all of my free time. After I graduated from college, I moved to Chicago and acting quickly fell by the wayside, because I started bartending in Wrigleyville during Cubs season and started making a lot of money, and decided that being a starving artist didn’t seem like as much fun anymore. So I put acting on the back burner and started bartending and bar managing,” Imbronone said. She then found herself back in Michigan after five years in Chicago. “I moved back to Michigan when my dad got sick and I had to take care of him, and during that time I was trying to get a better job than just bar-tending. I was offered a full-time job as a distributor with a promotion and a move to Traverse City, so they moved me up north,” Imbronone said. After years away from the theatre, her friends convinced her to audition for a community theater after her move to Traverse City. “I researched local places like P45 Theater and Riverside Shakespeare and of course the Old Town Playhouse, and I promised my roommate I would audition for the next show. The auditions for Mary Poppins at the playhouse turned out to be the next day, but I am a woman of my word; so I practiced my music all day and printed a resume and headshot. When I got there everyone was surprised at my professionalism, but that’s how I was taught in school,” Imbronone. She ended up doing multiple shows at the Old Town Playhouse including ‘Mary Poppins’, ‘Annie the Musical’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and got a full-time job as a realtor and flips houses.
Gianna Imbronone
identityin
traverse city
by: OLIVIA HALE staff writer
In our spin-off of Human of New York, the Black & Gold Quarterly went out into the Grand Traverse community in search of uniquity. Our mission was to find inspiring stories and share them to encourage self-expression. Through a variety of randomly selected people, we were about to find one commonality: passion. Stories like theirs are what makes us believe in the power that comes from expression through journalism. People are art. We feel combining their words with a visual story, a unique and inspiring message is created. Members of our community have conveyed their identities and inspired us through their words and sense of passion. To us, this is the truest kind of journalism--finding moving stories and sharing them. 18 // BGQ // October 2019
Kali Svec
Photos: O. Hale
Ed Roth, the owner of Roth Shirt Company, has lived in Traverse City for 35 years. “I am originally from Midland, but like a lot of people who grew up downstate, we came up here on the weekends and fell in love with the area. I have lived here and raised my family here,” Roth said. His father was in the chemical safety business but he chose a different path. “My dad worked at Dow like everyone else who lived in Midland, but I design t-shirts. They are different and unique and expressive,” Roth said. His t-shirt business was started with hopes to spread joy vie the shirts he creates. “My goal with this business is to lift up customers’ lives, life up employees’ lives as they come through here, and be a positive part of the community. That is my main goal with the business and as I go on through life I have learned it’s more about how I can impact others positively, rather than accomplishing things for myself. I think that lifting people other uplifts me up, too,” Roth said. Roth based his company in the Traverse City community to get to know it better and connect with it. “We have had a bunch of employees even from Central High. It is really cool to have such a tight-knit community here and local employees who are passionate about the area. I put my heart and soul into the designs and some of them reflect local things, like our ‘mushroom hunter’ shirt and ‘rock hunter’ shirt. People do notice the individual feel that I put into them and it makes me feel good,” Roth said.
Kali Svec, a Traverse City native, works two jobs in downtown Traverse City to save up for film school. “I like doing art things, a lot of my friends are in the art and film community too. I am really into television, and I originally wanted to grow up and do that and I still do want to work in television or film. Right now I work at two places downtown just to save for that future,” Svec said. The 2011 Central High School graduate found her aspiration for working in film production while in high school. “Mr. Filkins actually was my favorite teacher I ever had at Central and he was the teacher that got me into film and media, I took video production with him,” Svec said. In the long run, however, Svec dreams of moving from Traverse City to Detroit and eventually out West. “I am still here in Traverse City and I like it here. It has definitely grown a lot since I graduated from high school and I have met a lot more people and the art community has gotten a lot bigger here, especially with the film fest, it just gets a lot more attention. I have definitely thought about moving to Detroit for job opportunities, and eventually I do want to move out to California, that’s like my dream but for now I just like watching Traverse City grow,” Svec said.
Ed Roth
Bardons Wonder Freeze Stands Its Ground
Photo courtesy of: J. Kratky
Photo: M. Moeggenberg
20 // BGQ // October 2019
by: ADDISON SWANSON staff writer
Some say that the seasonal opening of Bardon’s Wonder Freeze is the only real indication of summer in Traverse City. Located on East Front Street, this iconic ice-cream shop expresses a 70’s vibe and dishes up some of Traverse City’s most scrumptious ice-cream confections. Bardon’s was established back in the 1950s and has sold ice-cream in Traverse City for almost seven decades. “Bardon’s officially opened for business back in the 50’s, so this is almost our 70th year,” proclaims current owner Jim Kratky. Kratky is a Traverse City Central High School alumnus, class of ‘79. His parents purchased Bardon’s back in 1967 and he bought the business in 2006. “We’ve modified and added onto our menu selection over the years. Back in the earlier days we brought on the flurries, which we still serve. We used to only have four flavors of hand-dipped ice-cream but we’ve recently expanded to eight flavors.” Bardon’s Wonder Freeze is a beloved favorite amongst locals and tourists alike. “When we’re in the area we always make a stop at Bardon’s Wonder Freeze. I went there as a kid and it’s fun to see it still there after all these years. Sundaes are great and it’s fun to be part of Traverse City history.” Similar customer reviews posted through Tripadvisor indicate that Bardon’s is a popular destination. While a majority of remarks submitted about Bardon’s are positive, a prominent complaint emerges; parking is restricted and customer access is limited. This is largely due to the construction of Bardon’s new neighbor, Rite Aid. Michael Niedzielski of Northporte Development, LLC is the project’s developer. Back in 2017, Niedzelski applied to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) on behalf of Northporte Development requesting relief from zoning laws. Given the location of Bardon’s and Rite Aid, zoning laws specific to that area demand that a new driveway not be any closer than 100 feet from an existing driveway. Neidzielski proposed that the reconstructed driveway be approximately 72 feet from Bardon’s driveway, and roughly 76 feet from the existing driveway to the south.
This application was originally brought before the ZBA in the spring of 2017; however, Neidzielski withdrew the request and began working with Kratky, Bardon’s owner, in order to attain a mutually beneficial compromise. According to public records, “The applicant and the neighbor to the north (Bardon’s) worked together to move the drive to the north, have a shared drive, provide access to Bardon’s, and close a curb cut at Bardon’s.” Officials for Rite Aid did not respond to BGQ inquiries. Neidzielski addressed concerns in Northporte Development’s application to the ZBA, claiming, “The character of the street and neighborhood will not be diminished or negatively impacted.” Despite the initial concern associated with Rite Aid’s proximity to Bardon’s, Kratky confirmed, “So far I have been able to keep a good relationship with my new neighbors. We’re looking at getting the back parking lot reconnected to the new development. I’m pretty sure that’s going to happen, and it would make getting out of my [Bardon’s] parking lot much easier.” Realistically, minimal parking is a hindrance. It becomes more difficult for customers to access Bardon’s, which is an impediment that some are potentially not willing to overcome. Given this predicament, it would be easy to assume that Bardon’s business would inevitably be harmed. However, despite the odds, Bardon’s continues to thrive. And it’s not because of the tourists who flock to Traverse City by the millions in the summertime. Kratky credits Bardon’s success to the locals’ support. “Tourist season always brings us more business, but to be honest with you, our local people just love us even though we’ve got big buildings going up next to us and everything else. I thought that [limited customers’ access] might hurt our business, but we’ve had a wonderful year. It’s because of all of our local people that don’t want to see us fail. I just have to thank them for continuing to come even if they have to park somewhere else and walk down. And that’s what they’ve been doing.” //
Corporate Brew vs. Local Brew Starbucks’ arrival to Traverse City stirs up competition with local businesses by: MALLORY SWOPE staff writer Since the initial announcement in 2016, Traverse City locals have anticipated the fresh, new aroma of Starbucks’ first stand-alone location in the area. In it’s entirety, the project took over three years with the demolition of the previous Arby’s building and the construction of the new 3,402 square-foot structure that is now home to Starbucks and a retail property awaiting tenants. Starbucks is just one of the many corporations to have filtered into Grand Traverse County in recent years, the more notable of the brew being Costco, Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, Uber, and, of course, Starbucks itself. Annually, Starbucks brings in tens of billions of dollars in revenue through its 29,000 locations worldwide. With the opening of the new location, Starbucks has expanded the potential for economic growth in Traverse City as well as the growth to come for the farming communities previously mentioned. The Starbucks Reports of their third fiscal quarter in 2019 disclosed that they were able to return 581 million dollars to their shareholders, and that’s just a fraction of what they made in their 13 week fiscal period. In order for local coffee shops to generate even one billion dollars in one year—four times as long as it takes Starbucks to make an amount exponentially larger—every single person in Grand Traverse County would have to spend tens of thousands of dollars exclusively on coffee. Despite the fact that Starbucks has stepped up as a major contributor to Traverse City’s economy, Madeline Michutka ‘22 pointed out that there isn’t as much culture or identity to be found in a company with such an expansive economic and political frontage. Franchised companies bring something else to the table that is incredibly important to any city and its economy: jobs. Brynna Wesley ‘20 works for Starbucks and absolutely loves it. “They have this program where I can transfer out to California when I go to college really easily,” she said. Being born and raised in Stanford, California shaped how Wesley views Traverse City. She recognizes that it is a small town and the support 22 // BGQ // October 2019
offered to local businesses is a priority, but she feels as though this support only lasts as far as Front Street spans. “A lot of people get overheated about things they don’t even support in their day-to-day lives,” she noted. In Wesley’s eyes, this is especially true when it comes to the struggle between Cuppa Joe and Starbucks; she sees the issue as having much deeper roots and something is only being said now because “... there’s some tangible evidence to be mad about.” The introduction of Starbucks, an incredibly powerful corporate coffee chain, to the area threatened to send local businesses—specifically other coffee shops and bakeries—frothing. Since Starbucks’ day one, there has been a consistent line wrapping around Starbucks’ drive-thru into the parking lot while Cuppa Joe’s drive-thru directly across the street... not so much. Michutka observed this trend and acknowledged that “...some local businesses might not flourish as well as they were [before Starbucks came].” Within the mere weeks that it has been open, Starbucks has made itself very well-known to Traverse City and especially to students at CHS; the sight of students returning from lunch carrying cups with the image of the nautical creature that the company derived its name from has become common. The convenience of the location is not the only thing persuading students to purchase goods from the corporate chain. Teens’ use of social media is taken advantage of by franchised companies with a vast social media page in order to attract a larger crowd of customers; the advertisements of the newest drink coming out or the unbeatable promotion of the day appeals to consumers and lures them into the store. However, this is something that is difficult for local companies to achieve. Having such an extensive social media page is costly in both time and money which are both limited resources for local businesses. Sandi Daley opened the drive-thru location of Cuppa Joe in the Spring of 1999 with “...the love of coffee, community, and hospitality” in heart. It emphasizes a small-town coffee shop vibe, making the customer ex-
Photos: O.Hale
perience at Cuppa Joe is unique. Daley and the rest of her staff “...pride [themselves] on serving locallysourced coffee and establishing relationships with customers.” According to Daley, the personal connection and local sources her business offers to customers keep them coming back for more whereas Starbucks focuses more on the efficiency of getting drinks out quickly. Within the few weeks that Starbucks has been open, Daley confirmed that business has been slower than typical. Whether it be because of Starbucks’ presence or the fact that it’s the “off-season” has not been determined, but “[Cuppa Joe] has received a substantial amount of attention and support via social media, and that has been both heartwarming and encouraging to [Daley].” Cuppa Joe is not the only locally-owned coffee shop facing the competitive-threat of Starbucks’ presence. Morsels Bakery and Café has been in Traverse City at its physical Front Street location and shipped across the country since 2008 when Misha Neidorfler and her husband, Jeffrey, previous architects and designers, “...[grew] kind of tired of the corporate world and wanted to do something different under [their] own control.” They settled on a coffee shop that offered bite-sized baked goods, also known as the morsel, and their products have drawn people in ever since. Despite Michutka’s predictions regarding the threat of Starbucks’ appearance in Traverse City, no fear has come to mind for Neidorfler regarding her pace of business, and she “...didn’t even know [Starbucks was] open yet.” She believes “[Morsels just does] a different thing than Starbucks does, and [they] have a different atmosphere.” Regardless of being in the same industry, the differences in blends of products each company offers draw in diverse crowds according to Neidorfler. The Neidorflers see
this difference as a cushion for change they may see in business due to Starbucks coming to town. The other buffer Neidorfler sees protecting Morsels is the sense of community among businesses of Downtown Traverse City that is supported by locals. She believes that “...a lot of people [in Traverse City] remember when downtown wasn’t thriving, and they understand that participating in it and supporting it is what keeps it alive.” There is a commonality throughout Traverse City’s coffee shops in spite of whether they are locallyowned or not. Each business prides itself on the community formulated by its business and services, but at a much different level. Starbucks’ “community” has a worldwide reach with locations on every continent except Antarctica while Morsels and Cuppa Joe’s reach doesn’t extend much beyond Traverse City. The demographics of each respective cafe are, yet again, vastly different from the other; with the brand name backing its reputation, Starbucks locations draw the attention of hundreds of locals, tourists, and visitors due to ease of access while local coffee shops such as Cuppa Joe, Espresso Bay, Good Harbor Coffee and Bakery, Aroma’s Coffee and Tea, and Morsels recruit a more consistent brew of local customers. The question that seems to be percolating here is whether or not support of corporate companies will hasten the demise of small businesses like Cuppa Joe, or whether there is a middle ground, where both coexist and prosper, creating a medium roast of business and economics. Traverse City’s emotional heart is found in its small businesses, or as Daley puts it: “Our small, independent, locally owned businesses are what give TC it’s uniqueness and charm, but there is a demand, and that demand can be met if [small and corporate businesses are] balanced properly.” //
A Cliche Midwestern Fall by: SOPHIA BOYCE & OLIVIA HALE editor-in-chief & staff photographer
24 // BGQ // October 2019
26 // BGQ // October 2019
Anna Ritzer ‘20
Issac Baldwin ‘20
the Gallery
Lily Briggs ‘20
26 // BGQ // October 2019 28 2018
A student showcase Jordyn Blackhurst ‘20
Veronica Boals ‘20
Olivia Richards ‘20
Samantha Maldonado Bermeo ‘20
Alexi Humphrey ‘21
Audrey Umstead ‘21
Daniel Trolz ‘20
Jazryel Freeland ‘22
30 // BGQ // October 2019
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