Encore February 2014

southwest michigan’s magazine

February 2014

How ‘amateur experts’are aiding research

Citizen

Scientists

The emerging art form ofStorytellers

Christopher Tremblay isMr. WMU

Cure Cabin Fever

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4 | EncorE FEBRUARY 2014

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117 W. Cedar St. Suite A Kalamazoo, MI 49007 Telephone: (269) 383-4433

Fax number: (269) 383-9767 E-mail: [email protected]

The staff at Encore welcomes written comment from readers, and articles and poems for submission with no obligation to print or return them. To learn more about us or to comment, you may visit www.encorekalamazoo.com. Encore subscription rates: one year $27, two years $53, three years $78. Current single issue and newsstand $4, $10 by mail. Back issues $6, $12 by mail. Advertising rates on request. Closing date for space is 28 days prior to publication date. Final date for print-ready copy is 21 days prior to publication date.

Encore Magazine is published 9 times yearly, September through May. Copyright 2014, Encore Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Editorial, circulation and advertising corres- pondence should be sent to:

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Editormarie lee

Designeralexis stubelt

Photographererik holladay

Copy Editor/Poetry Editormargaret deritter

Contributorskit almy, ann garrett bennett,

tiffany fitzgerald

Contributing Poetsjennifer clark, mary hurlbut cordier

Advertising Saleskrieg lee

celeste statlerkurt todas

Office Managerron dundon

southwest michigan’s magazine

February 2014

How ‘amateur experts’are aiding research

Citizen

Scientists

The emerging art form ofStorytellers

Christopher Tremblay isMr. WMU

Cure Cabin Fever

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correctionIt was inaccurately reported in Building Foundations for Social Justice (January 2014) that funds for construction of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership are within the $23 million endowment grant from the Arcus Foundation. In fact, funds for the building were provided through a personal gift by Kalamazoo College trustee and alumnus Jon Stryker.

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www.encorekalamazoo.com | 5

DEPARTMENTS Up Front

Unnatural Causes — Film series examines effects race and status have on health.

Cabin Fever — Here are some great ways to get out and enjoy winter’s wonders.

SavorGoing Gluten-Free — From store aisles to restau-rants, gluten-free foods are becoming easier to find.

14 Enterprise

HRM Innovations — Born from setback, this human resource and management firm helps businesses thrive.

Good Works Banking Blood — Choosing to keep umbilical cord blood offers life-saving opportunities for others.

The Last WordA Valentine’s Day sleigh-ride through a snowy pine forest sure sounded romantic …

ARTS34 Calling All Ears

In its 13th season, All Ears Theatre creates classic radio programs.

36 What’s That Sound? WMU’s New Sounds Fesitval spotlights new music by living composers.

38 Events of Note41 Poetry

F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4

On the cover: A cardinal is gently held before being banded at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Photo by Erik Holladay.

CONTENTS

Citizen Scientists 24From counting birds and butterflies to developing

apps, a cadre of ordinary folks are contributing to scientific discovery.

Is He for Real? 18He’s hyper-energized, always happy and as

creative as the day is long. Who better than Christopher Tremblay to oversee student

recruitment at WMU?

Storytellers 30Who doesn’t love a good story? Storytellers and

their craft are gaining momentum in the arts.

FEATURES

16

8

10

12

46


conTrIBUTorS ENCORE

Kit AlmyKit, who explores the emerging art form of storytelling in this issue, is a little bit of one herself. In addition to writing for Encore, Kit is a multi-faceted writer who also creates creative nonfiction and has had poems published in The Smoking Poet and City of the Big Shoulders: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry. Born in Michigan and raised in suburban Chicago, she graduated from Kalamazoo College and stayed put here (for 20 years already). Kit has the unusual hobby of change ringing on the tower bells at Kalamazoo College’s Stetson Chapel and volunteers teaching pioneer programs at the Kalamazoo Nature Center’s DeLano Homestead.

Margaret DeRitterHaving worked as an editor at the Kalamazoo Gazette for 22 years, Margaret is now a freelance writer and editor. She recently came off a stint teaching introductory journalism classes at Kalamazoo College in the fall. Margaret wears a number of hats for Encore: She works her editorial magic on our copy and writes feature articles. She also writes poetry and, as Encore’s poetry editor, enjoys the chance to solicit poetry submissions and select poems for publication.

Tiffany FitzgeraldThe writer behind our Citizen Scientists cover story and the profile of Christopher Tremblay (as well as several other features; she’s prolific, this one), Tiffany is a freelance writer currently living in Kalamazoo. She enjoys starting a new hobby every few months and committing just long enough to finish three-quarters of every project. Thus, her broom closet is brimming with almost-finished crafts that are not by any definition “Pinterest-worthy.” In addition to her journalism (her work has also appeared in the Denver alt-weekly Westword), Tiffany writes advertising copy — chances are, if you peruse the Internet long enough, you’ll be brainwashed by her marketing genius yet.

Erik HolladayLike many of our contributors, Erik is a storyteller — he just does his through a camera lens. Most of Encore’s intriguing images are the result of Erik’s photographic genius. Erik admits he wanted to be a tattoo artist until the first time he developed one of his own photos in a darkroom as a high school student. He spent the better part of the last 25 years working as a photojournalist across the state of Michigan, working for the Grand Rapids Press, Flint Journal, Jackson Citizen Patriot and the Kalamazoo Gazette. Now a freelance photographer, he tells amazing stories for commercial, media and wedding clients.


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The first four programs of the series, which were presented in September through November and in January, explored topics such as whether your street address is an indicator of your health, the black-white infant mortality gap, and the way in which high diabetes risks among Native Americans may be related to the stress of being oppressed.

There are two programs remaining in the series. On Feb. 19, the series will examine whether globalization and U.S. military policy have cost Marshall Islanders their health. On March 19, the series comes a little closer to home in its examination of the harmful health effects that layoffs have in Michigan versus Sweden.

“The astounding thing about this series for those of us who are solidly in the white middle class — of which I am myself — is learning how much of one’s health is determined by not only socioeconomic class but race as well,” Inglis says. “Even African Americans

UP FronT ENCORE

by Marie Lee

Unnatural Causes Film series examines how race and status affect health

When Elspeth Inglis saw the first segment of the documentary film Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? last September, she cried.

The film, which originally aired in October 2009 on PBS, has been the focus of a running noontime sack-lunch series at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum on the third Wednesday of the month. Divided into seven segments, the film explores a different facet of the connection between socioeconomic and racial inequalities and health.

The airing of the film is as a collaboration of the Racial Healing Initiative of the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society and Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Arcadia Campus Committee for Cultural Understanding. Each program features a 30-minute segment shown in the museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater, followed by a discussion led by Cheree Thomas, senior program director at the YWCA of Kalamazoo, or Sherry Brockway, legal advocate at the YWCA.Inglis, the museum’s assistant director for education, says this is first time the museum has opened its sack-lunch series to the public. The series is an internal diversity program that KVCC and the museum collaborate on, and it traditionally targets faculty, staff and students of the two institutions.

“We were approached by the Racial Healing Initiative about doing this series, and they asked if we would be willing to open it to the public,” Inglis explains. “Following on the museum’s Race: Are We So Different? exhibit (in 2010), which was very successful, we saw this as an opportunity to continue the dialogue on race and race relations that began with that exhibit.”

with good educations and good incomes still face health issues in higher numbers compared with other African diaspora anywhere else in the world. The second program (in the series) focused on Hispanic Americans, mainly Mexican immigrants, and showed how the generation born and raised in the U.S., compared with their parents, has many more health issues.

“There’s a connection with not just poverty, but a mind-body connection that affects health,” Inglis continues. “When you are isolated, oppressed or feel oppressed, it affects health in ways that are manifested in issues like diabetes and infant mortality. The psyche plays a huge role in health if you are in a class that experiences isolation and discrimination.”

Inglis says the decision to present Unnatural Causes was made with the goal of inspiring both dialogue and education on these issues, and she believes the series has achieved that goal. The turnout for the


programs has ranged from a dozen attendees to more than twice that number, but she says each time “the discussion is good and genuine.”

“We are deeply appreciative of those who offer their own experiences in these discussions,” she says, noting that these issues resonate in our community.

“Not too long ago, statistics about the infant mortality rate in our community came out, and it was significantly higher here for

African Americans,” she says, referring to the Michigan Department of Community Health’s report that the infant mortality rate for black infants born in Kalamazoo from 2006 to 2010 was five times higher than that of white infants.

“It’s astounding for all of us, unless you live it,” she says.

For more information about the series, visit kvm.kvcc.edu/theater/lunch_series.html.

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construction, many will be left as green spaces.

“We can sell the property to neighbors for a very reasonable price, or residents on the block can opt to create garden space for vegetables or trees and bushes and places to sit and enjoy the surroundings,” Boring says.

Galilee Baptist Church, on North Westnedge Avenue, hopes to create a serenitygardenonpropertyat430W.Paterson St., across from the church. The Land Bank Adopt-A-Lot program leases properties for use as green space and gardens.

“”When we heard that the property would be available, we thought it would be a good place for a serenity garden,” says William Roland, a church elder for outreach ministry and board chairman. “We want to make it aesthetically pleasing and a place for peaceful reflection, and members of the church will maintain the garden.”

Sofar,therehavebeen12Adopt-A-Lot leases as part of the Land Bank’s Community Garden program.

Last year Boring approached residentsinthe1500blockofEastMichigan Avenue, where there were three empty lots, and asked if they would be interested in having a garden space there. “They not only agreed but said they would love to take over the building and maintenance,” she says.

The result is the Trybal Revival Eastside Eco-Garden, with more than 100plantingsand28speciesofmostlyfood-producing trees and shrubs. Funds for the garden came from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, one of many Land Bank partners.

“The neighbors have been great partners,” Boring says.

As the Land Bank and its partners look across the Kalamazoo landscape, they see the fruits of their labors — new homes, rehabilitated homes and lush gardens where dangerous eyesores once stood — and know that they have changed the face of Kalamazoo in profound and lasting ways.

Land Bank(continued from page 16)

44 E N C O R E • A p r i l 2 0 1 2

Two segments are left in the local screenings of the series Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? They are:

• Collateral Damage — Which examines how Marshall Islanders pay for globalization and U.S. military policy with their health, noon- 1p.m. Feb. 19.

• Not Just a Paycheck — Which explores why layoffs take such a huge toll in Michigan but cause hardly a ripple in Sweden, noon to 1 p.m. March 19.

Both segments will be presented in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater and will be followed by a facilitated discussion.

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Become an outdoors-womanThink of it as winter camp for women. The DNR’s Becoming an

Outdoors-Woman winter program Feb. 28 to March 2 in Big Bay, in the Upper Peninsula, will teach even the most winter-wary woman how to have fun in the snow.

The program, which is in its 13th year, helps women improve their outdoor skills through more than a dozen indoor and outdoor activities, including cross-country skiing, dog sledding, ice fishing, fly tying, wilderness first aid and wood burning.

The view’s not bad either. The program takes place at Bay Cliff Health Camp, overlooking Lake Superior approximately 30 miles north of Marquette. Participants are housed in a dorm-style facility with amenities such as a sauna and hiking trails.

Don’t hesitate, however. The program fills quickly. The $180 registration fee includes all food and lodging as well as most equipment and supplies..

Information and registration materials are available at www.michigan.gov/bow.

nuzzle up with natureIf solid ground is more your thing, strap on a pair of snowshoes

and see nature in a new way. Lee’s Adventure Sports offers a free Snowshoe Nature Hike at 2

p.m. Feb. 8 at Schrier Park, 850 W. Osterhout, in Portage. Dan Keto, lead interpretive naturalist for the Kalamazoo Nature Center, leads the hike, dispensing animal track identification tips, among other information. If you are new to snowshoeing, some demo pairs will be available to try on a first-come, first-served basis. The hike will occur even if there isn’t snow cover, so hiking boots are recommended just in case.

The next day, Feb. 9, the Kalamazoo Nature Center offers its Winter Wild Navigation program from 2 to 3 p.m. Participants will strap on snowshoes and learn winter navigation basics, including using a compass or GPS unit. You can bring snowshoes or borrow a pair at the center. The program is free to KNC members and included with regular KNC admission for others.

Cabin Fever The cure for too much winter is to get out in it

UP FronT ENCORE

by Marie Lee

Participants in the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program work on making a snow shelter.

Cour

tesy

There will come a time, perhaps in the first week of August, when this winter’s ice and cold will be a distant memory. But for the time being, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em in a number of events aimed at helping people to appreciate winter’s wonders rather than bemoan them.

go fishingYes, you read that right. The Michigan Department of Natural

Resources has dedicated Feb. 15 and 16 as Winter Free Fishing Weekend. On those two days, residents and non-residents can fish without a license (though all other fishing regulations still apply).

“Michigan is home to many fun and family-friendly outdoor activities during the colder months, and fishing is definitely among the most popular,” said DNR Director Keith Creagh.

If you’re up to a drive, several communities in the Lower Peninsula have organized activities for the weekend. Closest to Southwest Michigan is Bath’s Ice Fishing Derby in Clinton County. A full list of these activities can be found at www.michigan.gov/freefishing.

But you don’t need an event to go out fishing; fishing in winter can be as simple as grabbing a rod and donning winter gear. If you do plan to venture out on a frozen lake, however, make sure to check beforehand with local authorities regarding the safety of the ice.

Partake in polar paddlingIf you’d rather be in the water than on top of it, then maybe Lee’s

Adventure Sports’ winter float trips for kayaking enthusiasts are for you.

On Feb. 23, paddlers can take a 7.5-mile float down the Kalamazoo River beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Fort Custer Recreation Area. Participants are responsible for getting their equipment (boats, paddles, etc.) to the put-in spot at 5163 Fort Custer Drive, in Augusta. Once the boats are handed over to the kayak tender, participants drive their vehicles to the take-out point in Galesburg City Park, 200 E. Michigan Ave., where a shuttle will bring them back to the put-in location.

There is no charge for those who bring their own equipment – contact Lee’s to if you need to rent — but it is suggested that paddlers bring a familiarity with cold water paddling, a dry or wet suit and a change of clothes in a dry bag.

If you miss this month’s paddle, another one on the Paw Paw River is scheduled for March 23. To sign up or for more information, call Lee’s at (269) 381-7700 or visit www.leesadventuresports.com/PolarBearPaddle.aspx.


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Going Gluten-Free What’s behind this flourishing food movement?

A sampling of the many gluten-free products available in local supermarkets.

What was only a phrase 10 years ago — gluten-free — has become a burgeoning food movement that, among other things, involves eliminating wheat from the diet. In the past, living gluten-free meant tediously poring over the ingredient lists on product labels. Now entire supermarket aisles are dedicated to gluten-free living.

People choose to go gluten-free for a number of reasons. In 2008, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, a disease that causes uterine tissue to grow outside of the uterus, resulting in chronic pain and infertility. There are many paths of treatment, but cutting out wheat and other gluten-containing foods is a noninvasive way to combat the pain of the disease, so I’ve been eating mostly wheat-free — with some falling off the wagon — for five years.

Since I started cutting out wheat, two things have happened: My daily pain has become manageable and often nonexistent, and the gluten-free eating craze has taken over, providing gluten- and wheat-free options at most grocery stores and local eateries, both chains and independently owned restaurants.

Many people want to know if a gluten-free diet is healthier than a gluten-filled diet, what the difference between gluten and wheat is, and what makes celiac disease different than gluten intolerance.

All wheat has gluten in it, but not all gluten comes from wheat. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.

According to registered dietician Susan Katz-Scheinker, who owns and operates Cambium Nutrition in Kalamazoo (CambiumNutrition.com), the gluten-free focus in nutrition right now is not unlike diet

ENCORE UP FronT


For those looking to begin or maintain a gluten-free diet, the Kalamazoo chapter of the Celiac Sprue Association offers meetings and support for navigating local dining and grocery options. The group helps publish a gluten-free grocery guide too. (Visit GlutenFreeKZoo.org for more information about the group and guide.)

Katz-Scheinker agrees with DeRidder that cutting gluten out of the diet is important for people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance. But that doesn’t mean all gluten-free alternatives are healthy, she says. Eating a cookie that’s gluten-free, for example, doesn’t make it a healthy cookie. In addition, the human body needs carbohydrates, so eliminating gluten cuts out options that must be replaced. If you’re thinking of going gluten-free, you might first want to watch your diet closely, Katz-Scheinker suggests.

“If you were to come to me at my practice, I would suggest keeping a record, not only a food record – what time you eat what and how much – but also a record of how long after (eating) symptoms present so we could have a retroactive scene of what’s going on. It could be so many things — it could be stress, for example. Examining your diet closely can really help.”

and sometimes anaphylactic shock. Gluten intolerance is when people get sick from eating gluten. This disorder usually develops later in life and gets worse with age. If the intolerance is serious, it is often diagnosed as celiac disease, also known as celiac sprue. In people with this condition, eating gluten damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents normal digestion.

Caroline DeRidder, co-leader of the Kalamazoo Area Celiac Support Group, says that for people with celiac disease, a gluten-free diet is not optional.

“I am sick for at least two weeks if I have any amount of gluten,” she says. “There’s been good and bad with the gluten-free trend. There are a lot more options than there were six years ago, when I was diagnosed with celiac, but a lot of foods and restaurants are catering to those eating gluten-free as part of the trend and aren’t being as careful as they should be for people with celiac, which makes it more dangerous for us.”

trends in the past, including low-fat, low-carb and vegan and vegetarian eating.

Partly driving the gluten-free trend is growing attention to allergies and asthma and their possible connection to wheat. There are differing opinions about whether the type of wheat we eat in modern society causes gluten intolerance, asthma or allergies, but many people, like Katz-Scheinker, think that the gluten-free diet trend started just like any other, because people were looking for a new way to eat and be healthy.

“There is more attention to intolerances and allergies in our society since 2000 than there was before, so people have a different awareness of what the possibilities of intolerance can be, including nuts, eggs, dairy and wheat,” Katz-Scheinker says. “These things are also very prevalent in a high percentage of packaged foods. And gluten is one of the most commonly found allergens in packaged foods.”

Most people are looking for diet-based answers to explain why their bodies are acting the way they are, Katz-Scheinker says, and that’s why so many people who come to see her ask about gluten-free diet options.

The way my doctor explained it to me is that some people have a wheat allergy, which is usually a childhood affliction that clears up by age 5 but results in hives, swelling


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EnTErPrISE ENCORE

Sometimes new business endeavors don’t start in the midst of great success but amid a setback. That’s what happened to Kevin Brozovich, owner and operator of HRM Innovations, a human-resource and management company based in Kalamazoo.

Brozovich had worked in human resources for about 20 years when he had a “What now?” moment in 2008. He’d been working at Toyota Group for 11 years and knew that although he was working in multiple capacities, he wanted to continue to grow and become a more dynamic human-resource professional. That’s when an opportunity arose for Brozovich to help start the new Kaiser Aluminum plant in Kalamazoo.

“I always wanted to start from scratch,” he explains. “That’s what pulled me toward


Helping businesses succeed Born from setback, HRM Innovations is thriving

Kaiser. Part of it is that I like a challenge, but part of me thought that if I wanted to start from the beginning and do things my way, this would be an ideal opportunity.”

But it wasn’t quite the opportunity Brozovich was hoping for. The recession hit hard right after the plant began operating, and Brozovich watched his fresh start turn into a dead end.

“I tend to be a little too optimistic at times,” he says. “The regional HR director I reported to was let go, two of my peers were let go and HR managers in other plants as well, and I kept thinking I would be fine. Long story short — I wasn’t fine. I found myself unemployed during the recession.”

After Brozovich was laid off from Kaiser in the summer of 2009, his former HR team

in Battle Creek took him out to lunch and encouraged him to start his own HR business. They seemed to know that Brozovich didn’t need the perfect position at another manufacturing or supply company but an opportunity to create his own organization.

Brozovich decided to take the plunge. That was August 2009, and even though some advisors he consulted didn’t think there was a market for the services he was proposing to provide, it turned out there was a healthy demand. Although Brozovich didn’t have any customers in the first six weeks, by the fourth quarter of 2009 his earnings matched what he made before being laid off.

Being laid off gave Kevin Brozovich the motivation to start his own human resource and management firm,

HRM Innovations.

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encourages employees and fosters growth and relationships is what HRM is all about, Brammer says. HRM Innovations is a cut above other HR consulting, recruitment and training firms, she says, because it offers top-down solutions that work.

“A lot of leaders really focus on the bottom line,” Brammer says, “and it’s amazing to see that leaders sometimes don’t understand that if they invest in their people more, even up front, selecting the right people and putting them with the right people, their business will thrive. It’s absolutely mind-boggling how much better a company can be when you focus on helping leaders be better leaders. That’s really where you can make the most impact.”


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“What we find is that with the larger companies, with fully staffed HR departments, it’s more project work and cultural development,” he says. “For the smaller companies, we act as their on-site HR person, since typically HR issues can be taken care of in a small frame of time, like one afternoon a week.”

The companies that HRM works with, Brozovich says, are companies that are already great places to work. That’s what makes his job so much fun, he says.

“We get to work with incredible companies that come to us and say, ‘We want to be even better.’ That’s a tremendous opportunity.”

Helping business leaders succeed in providing a working atmosphere that

HRM Innovations celebrated its fourth year in August and continues to grow at a comfortable rate. Brozovich, who initially set a goal of hiring one person a year, now has six employees and provides HR services for companies such as Bell’s Brewery, The Global Food Protection Institute (GFPI), Gallagher Uniform, Landscape Forms, Getman Corp. and the United Way, to name just a few.

HRM offers three main categories of human-resource and management services to companies — recruiting, training and consulting. Brozovich, together with the five other HRM team members, provides whatever services a company might need, tailoring the consulting, training and recruiting to each company’s specific requirements.

Tania Brammer, the director of people engagement at HRM and the first employee Brozovich hired, says she thinks HRM is successful because it’s the only business of its kind in the area.

“There are other executive recruiters and other consultants, but we’re the whole package,” she says. “I really enjoy variety, so being able to work at a high level with a number of different companies is just absolutely ideal.”

Although many companies have their own HR services, HRM’s clients usually aren’t in need of an entire HR department, Brozovich explains.

HRM Innovations staff members, from left, Tami Brozovich, Kevin Brozovich, Carrie Nicholson, Tania Brammer, Brita Boer and Hannah Wrench.

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good workS ENCORE

In the joyous moments following a baby’s birth, the umbilical cord is cut and the precious bundle placed in parents’ arms. It would seem that the job of the umbilical cord — so critical prior to the newborn’s birth — is done. Or is it?

The majority of umbilical cords are thrown away as medical waste. But the stem cells in the blood of an umbilical cord can save the life of a child or adult with leukemia, lymphoma, immune deficiencies or genetic blood and metabolic disorders. Luckily, expectant mothers in Michigan have an alternative to the medical wastebasket and the chance to save a life — donation to the Michigan Blood Cord Blood Bank.

“When you donate to a public bank like ours, the blood can be used for anyone in the world,” explains Krista Allers, Michigan Blood‘s Cord Blood Bank coordinator. “You’re not saving it for yourself, like with a private bank. You’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart, for someone else. It’s a wonderful thing to do.”

Why is cord blood so special? Because it has stem cells in it (not the same cells as controversial embryonic stem cells), and those stem cells can be used in bone marrow transplants. Cord blood stem cells work better than stem cells from adult donors because they’re less “fussy” when it comes to tissue-type matching. They can match more recipients, decreasing rejection and increasing the number of matches. Cord blood donation is also less invasive and painful than traditional bone marrow donation, and it involves a quick turnaround, since it’s waiting in a bank for those who need it, instead of inside of a prospective donor.

And the process is safe for mothers and babies, too, since it requires only a blood test before collection.

“The simple blood test poses the same risk as any other blood test or draw during pregnancy during routine labs, including pain from the needle, and a slight risk of infection or bruising,” says Dr. Jennifer Carman, an obstetrician and gynecologist who delivers babies at Bronson Methodist Hospital.

There are private entities that also will bank cord blood, offering parents the opportunity to bank a child’s cord blood for an initial fee (usually between $1,500 and $2,500) and an annual upkeep fee (usually $100). The


Banking Baby’s Blood Donating umbilical cord blood may save someone’s life

Just seconds after Riley Simmons was born last October at Bronson Methodist Hospital, doctors collected the umbilical cord blood for donation to Michigan Blood’s Cord Blood Bank.

Riley’s parents, Lauren and J.J. Simmons, say the decision to donate was easy, knowing the cord blood could one day save someone’s life.

Nic

o St

udio

s


“You’re not saving it for yourself, like with a private

bank. You’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart, for someone else. it’s a wonderful

thing to do.”

-Krista Allers

private blood banking industry has been criticized by the American Academy of Pediatrics, though, for being exploitative — most likely, the Academy says, a baby will never need its own stem cells, and if a child has leukemia or lymphoma, most likely their stem cells would also carry the disease.

Instead, the AAP recommends that parents choose the public banking of cord blood stem cells, so healthy stem cells can be used to treat sick children and adults. Michigan Blood, an independent, nonprofit blood bank serving more than 40 hospitals in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, offers a public bank option for Michigan mothers.

Carman says that one of the most frequent questions she gets as a doctor is whether or not the cord blood can be used by the family if needed.

“From what I understand, the cord blood is made available to anyone who may need it, but it can go back to the family if medically indicated and still available,” she says.

The Michigan Blood Cord Blood Bank was the state’s only public cord blood bank when it opened in 1999 and is one of only 20 cord blood banks in the country, providing a rare opportunity for

Southwest Michigan parents to donate to a public cord blood bank locally.

Since its start, the Michigan Blood Cord Blood Bank has collected more than 3,600 cord blood units. About 150 of those units have

been used in lifesaving donations to children and adults around the world, from the U.S. to Italy to New Zealand.

In order to take part in the public cord blood bank, prospective donors must complete a preliminary screening, either online at MIBlood.org or over the phone by calling 866-MIBLOOD. After the screening, Michigan Blood will send out a donation kit. Prospective donors will need to bring the completed paperwork to a doctor or a nurse and have blood drawn for testing. After the blood test is completed, Michigan Blood coordinates

with the hospital staff to collect and freeze the umbilical cord after birth. Mothers who give birth via C-section may also donate cord blood.

For more information, visit MIBlood.org/donating-cord-blood.

www.kpl.gov


REAL?REAL?IS THIS GUY FOR

No question, say those who know go-getter Christopher Tremblay

Sometimes highly motivated people get a bad rap. Sure, their qualities are enviable —hard-working, goal-oriented, multi-tasking, business-minded, and other such hyphenated power adjectives — but we mortals usually accept these driven types with caveats: That person gets a lot done, but at the detriment of family. Or she’s goal-oriented, but not creative. Or he’s hard-working, but he doesn’t know when to stop. It’s natural to envy them, but we want to know that they have the same human frailties as others.

So when I was told about Christopher Tremblay, the new associate provost for enrollment management at Western Michigan University, and his ability to take on the head role overseeing WMU’s Office of Admissions, Student Financial Aid and Scholarships, the Registrar’s Office and First-Year Experience programs, as well as be a writer, cyclist, singer and active member of the local community, I thought I had him pegged: “Totally Type A,” I said to myself. “No question.”

I reached out to Tremblay to set up an interview, and he returned my email himself that day. Maybe you have to be in academia to know that it isn’t common for an administrator to return his or her own emails, so his personal and prompt response was a surprise.


photography by eriK HOLLaday

As the WMU associate provost for enrollment management, Christopher Tremblay (center) works closely with students who are part of the Student Ambassador, Orientation Leader, First Year Experience and Fall Welcome programs. Some of these students, including from left, Kaylee Brown, Matt Olivier, Jeffrey Brown and Leah Thibaudeau, say they can’t help but pick up on Tremblay’s energy.


Then he was on time for our meeting. His answers weren’t rehearsed. He asked me questions about myself. Sure, he came uber-prepared in a way any Type B person would never do — contacts ready to go for follow-up interviews, a business card in hand, a leather-bound writing pad tucked under his arm — but he was also willing to talk about whatever came up, to just be in the moment. I knew then that Tremblay could actually be that rare example of a well-rounded, ambitious higher-up. And it was my journalistic duty to find out if he was the real thing.

Tremblay, 41, not only works a million jobs at WMU (not an actual count), but also participates in an LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) mentoring program on campus, spends much of his free time participating in cycling events like Pedal Across Lower Michigan, sings in the St. Thomas More Catholic Student Parish choir, commutes to Dearborn because he is still finishing his doctorate at the University of Michigan, frequents arts and cultural events in Kalamazoo, has co-written eight murder-mystery plays with partner Amy Farrell, has written one-act plays and musicals, is co-founder of StageLab24, a page-to-stage-in-24-hours theater event in Dearborn (he also co-founded TLC Productions, a theater in Canton), is launching an online academic journal called The Journal of College Access to debut this year, and serves on the board of Stamats Inc., a higher-education marketing firm.

I’m tired just writing that. To top it off, Tremblay has only been

back in Kalamazoo since March. A WMU graduate who worked for the university’s Office of Admissions after graduation, he left Kalamazoo 10 years ago to pursue a career in enrollment management, first working as director of admissions at Gannon University and then working in four different roles at the University of Michigan, Dearborn (most recently as assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management). Along the way, he earned a post-graduate certificate in enrollment management from Capella University, and he is nearing completion of a doctorate in educational leadership at U-M. Although he’s been away for a while, his return to Kalamazoo has been a long time coming.

“I always loved Kalamazoo,” says Tremblay, who moved here from St. Clair Shores as a high school student and graduated from Portage Northern High School in 1990. “I didn’t want to leave. It’s the town I’ve spent the most time in. I love the size of it and the arts and culture.”

When Tremblay started as a student at WMU, he didn’t think he was headed down the road to administration — in fact, Tremblay’s dream at the time was to work for the Walt Disney Co. Turns out, he was able to fulfill that dream while in college, through the Disney College Program, which mentors students by integrating them into the Disney corporation for hands-on experience in business, hospitality, arts and management.

Tremblay manages four departments and programs at WMU and in the words of a former colleague “has a

dozen plates in the air, spinning at the same time.” Above, Tremblay’s license plate aptly captures his

enthusiasm for his alma mater and his job.


“It was a dream come true. I got to fulfill the Disney dream of working for Mickey Mouse,” Tremblay says. “Afterward, I got the higher-education bug.”

Tremblay became an orientation student leader at WMU and was so good at what he did that the university offered him a position in admissions before he had graduated from the School of Communication. He traveled around the state visiting high schools to recruit new students, staying at WMU for nine years as a counselor, assistant director of admissions and orientation coordinator. He never got over that “higher-education bug,” it seems.

“I absolutely love working on a college campus,” he says. “I love that it’s a community, and it’s rewarding to watch students grow and develop. I went to college right out of high school, and I’ve never left. I feel like I get to be a student every day.”

It seems that Tremblay’s motivation, energy and enthusiasm for the college experience make him the perfect candidate for student-relations areas such as enrollment, first-year experience, retention, and mentoring — all of the capacities he works in at WMU. His mentor and former colleague Stanley Henderson, vice chancellor for enrollment management and student life at the University of Michigan, says that Tremblay’s strengths are perfect for recruitment too.

Henderson worked with Tremblay not only at U-M but also at WMU, and he says the thing that makes Tremblay extraordinary when working with potential college students is that he has the ability to be creative and approachable.

“It was obvious, even when he was a student, that he was a remarkable individual,” Henderson says. “He had the uncanny ability to combine amazing attention to detail with remarkable creativity, and that’s something you don’t often find in the same person.”

Although he misses having Tremblay at U-M, Henderson knows that Tremblay’s new position is the perfect fit and that WMU is lucky to have him back.

“I’ve suggested that he keep his recruitment west of the Kalamazoo River,” Henderson jokes. “That may be my biased opinion as his mentor, but I know how good he is.”

Part of Tremblay’s multi-tasking prowess comes from his ability to evolve and stay


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fluid. He’s a writer when he crafts his plays, a cyclist when training for a cross-state journey, an encouraging force when he’s mentoring students, and a committed friend in his relationships. He has a chameleon-like ability to handle whatever task he’s involved in at the moment.

That ability to evolve comes from his earnest ambition and creativity, says former WMU vice president of business and finance Lowell Rinker, another of Tremblay’s former colleagues.

“Chris is very bright and energetic,” Rinker says. “I’ve never met anyone like him – he’s got a dozen plates in the air, spinning at the same time, and he never lets any of them hit the floor.”

Is it really possible that Tremblay is in control like that all the time? That he’s as good a friend as he is an associate provost, a cyclist or a writer? Yes, says Rinker. And more.

“What you see is what you get with Chris,” Rinker says. “He’s enthusiastic all the time — whether in a casual or professional setting. He’s full-up energy, he’s really into detail, and there’s nothing he does that he doesn’t have a thorough mastery of. And that’s really hard to do as a high-level administrator.”

Rinker has known Tremblay for more than 20 years — since Tremblay was a WMU student. They used to journey together during the annual music-ministry trek from St. Thomas More Parish to upstate New York. Rinker says he’s had a lot of time to get to know Tremblay — he’s participated in one of Tremblay’s murder-mystery dinners, worked with him, spent free time with him and supported him as a friend. The most amazing thing about Tremblay, surprisingly, isn’t his ability to do a lot of things well, Rinker says.

“Chris is one of those people who is constantly looking for things to be joyful about,” he says. “He loves to have fun, and he is fun to be around.”

So Tremblay’s not just good but excellent at his job, say two people who have known him for more than two decades (he’s not bad at maintaining close relationships either, apparently), he carries his energetic, go-getting attitude into every facet of his

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24 | ENCORE FEBRUARY 2014

Lindsey Parkinson, an intern at the Kalamazoo Nature Center, releases a bluejay after it was banded during a bird banding

effort last fall. Bird banding is a universal technique for studying the movement, survival and behavior of birds.

www.encorekalamazoo.com | 25www.encorekalamazoo.com | 25

by TIFFANY FITZGERALD

ScientistsFrom bird watching to counting toads, ordinary

folks are doing the work of researchers

Citizen

Whether exploring climate change and ecosystem health or consumer safety, the scientific world is tackling large and complex questions. It’s a big job, and it’s no secret that there just aren’t enough scientists to do it alone.

Enter the “citizen scientist.” Researchers here in Southwest Michigan — and elsewhere around the globe — are relying more and more on these volunteers who help collect data, make observations and do research in

photography by ERIK HOLLADAY


Citizen science has been around a long time, from the days when the everyday person would provide anecdotal evidence for scientific research. But with the advent of the Internet, citizen science projects abound. The result is that citizen scientists have become meaningful contributors to science and the scientific community has openly embraced their involvement.

A callingSometimes a calling to be a citizen

scientist doesn’t come from an institution, but from nature.

When Kalamazoo couple Russ Schipper and Ilse Gebhard met 25 years ago, they started spending a lot of time outdoors. Gebhard and Schipper shared an interest in learning about the vegetation, insects, birds and animals in their backyard. After a while, Schipper’s inquisitive nature, coupled with Gebhard’s fastidious scientific mind, led them to pursue outlets for their interests.

Today, the retired couple take part in several citizen-science projects, including the Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count, the Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program, the Kalamazoo River Watershed Program, the North American Breeding Bird Survey, the Monarch Larvae Monitoring Project, Journey North and South (a global study of wildlife migration), Project Feeder Watch, the Lost

Ladybug Project and the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Gebhard spends most of her time studying the monarch butterfly population of Michigan by observing the butterflies, raising them and monitoring milkweed and other vegetation in her backyard that the butterflies’ caterpillars feed on. While Schipper’s focus is directed more toward birding, he and Gebhard help each other with their individual pursuits.

“Some people are perfectly content to simply enjoy nature,” Schipper says, “but I want to know what everything is out there. I like doing things with a purpose, and so does Ilse. It’s work to some people, but it’s become second nature to us.”

Even though the scientific community designs citizen-friendly projects to be as simple as possible, citizen science requires a certain attention to detail. That’s where Gebhard and Schipper shine. Both have an aptitude for the study of nature, and Gebhard, a retired chemist, takes it one step further by applying her background to the study.

“I like to collect data,” Gebhard says. “I’m familiar with the scientific method, and even though I don’t have a biology background, I’m capable of shifting my experience from chemistry to biology.”

Schipper, who leads the Christmas Bird Count for the Kalamazoo chapter of the

Michigan Audubon Society, says that each project he and Gebhard take part in monitors the health of the local ecosystem. Gebhard’s monarch butterfly data has even been used in a published study. For the couple, it’s the effect of their work that attracts them to citizen science.

That’s the draw researchers are hoping will attract more people. Researchers are working to make the process of citizen science easier so that people without scientific backgrounds or without the time to devote to study can still participate.

There’s an app for thatCyber Citizens, a collaborative group

of students and faculty at Michigan Technological University, is part of this effort to simplify citizen science by creating citizen-friendly apps for use in the field. Most of the apps are still in development, including beach, lichen and air-quality monitoring apps, but one app is already available online, EthnoApp.

EthnoApp is for the collection of anthropological data — it enables users to record interviews and store the audio recordings online in a file with accompanying videos and photos.

Anna Lee Presley, a doctoral student at Michigan Tech, uses the app to interview residents of the Upper Peninsula community

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Local Citizen Science Opportunities

This list is just a small sample of the myriad programs available, including those mentioned in the article.

audubon society of Kalamazoowww.kalamazooaudubon.org

great Lakes marsh monitoring ProgramEmail Kathy Jones: [email protected]

Kalamazoo nature centerwww.naturecenter.org/ConservationStewardshipOr email Sarah Reding: [email protected]

michigan Department of natural Resourceswww.michigan.gov/dnr

michigan network for children’s environmental health www.mnceh.org/get-involved/citizen-science-corps

michigan sea grant, southwest area,salmon ambassador ProjectEmail Daniel O’Keefe: [email protected]

National Opportunities

Project Feeder watch www.feederwatch.org

monarch Larvae monitoring Project www.mlmp.org

Project monarch healthwww.monarchparasites.org

Journey north and southwww.learner.org

Lost Ladybug Projectwww.lostladybug.org

of Paavola or those who like to visit the Paavola Wetlands Preserve. By using the app, Presley is able to give feedback on how it aids her in her research, how usable the collection method is and how its accessibility can be improved. She sees EthnoApp as a necessary step in using technology to assist citizen scientists.

“I’m the first to use this app in a field setting, and I think it’s easy to use,” Presley says. “There’s really no limit to how this app could be used, not only to add to the collected history of the Paavola community, but to aid in other ethnographic studies.”

Alex Mayer and Robert Pastel, the two professors spearheading the Cyber Citizens initiative, say that’s exactly what they want — an app that can be used for a variety of applications. The development of apps, they say, encourages interdisciplinary cooperation among computer scientists, natural scientists and communication scientists, the result of which should be apps that empower the citizen scientist.

“The apps help people get outdoors and observe the environment directly,” Pastel says. “And you could collect data with a bunch of different devices, but why not use the one device many people carry — smartphones?”

Mayer agrees, adding that as smartphones become more and more sophisticated, their application in citizen science is limitless.

“Each smartphone has GPS, video, a camera, a notebook with our apps. We can get people to use these devices for good purposes.”

Making it possible for ordinary people to use their usual devices in unusual scientific capacities arms citizen scientists with the tools they need to become better data collectors. And that’s a good step, because citizen scientists aren’t always out in the field solely to take part in research — many help the scientific community collect data while catching fish, tracking game or trapping animals.

Engaging outdoor enthusiasts

One barrier citizen-science programs face is making the collection process as simple as possible so anglers, hunters, observers and residents can collect data in less time and with fewer errors.

The Michigan Sea Grant’s Salmon Ambassador Program, led in part by Daniel O’Keefe, has come up with one method: fin clips. O’Keefe, the southwest district Extension educator for Michigan Sea Grant, is working with local anglers to track how many of the Chinook salmon caught in Lake Michigan are stocked, how many are wild, and where each salmon comes from.

From the far left: Volunteer Margaret Hahn of Kalamazoo uses the proper, most humane technique to carefully retrieve a bird from a capture net. Michigan Sea Grant staff members Daniel O’Keefe and Chuck Pistis explain the

Salmon Ambassadors program at the Grand Haven Salmon Festival. John Brenneman, research projects coordina-tor at the Kalamazoo Nature Center, gently bands a bird. Before the banded birds are released, volunteers weigh,

measure and determine the bird’s gender and record this information in a log.


The data can influence the way the lake is stocked so the predator-prey balance stays in homeostasis and Lake Michigan doesn’t experience the same type of imbalance Lake Huron did in 2003 and 2004, when its Chinook salmon population crashed.

“Research has found that if we were to keep stocking the same amount of salmon in Lake Michigan as we were a couple of years ago, there would be a 20 percent chance of crashing the fisheries,” O’Keefe says.

After collecting data by way of a survey sent to local residents, the program leaders decreased salmon stocking by 50 percent. They then had to come up with a way to monitor the results.

This year the Sea Grant program tagged every single farmed fish with an adipose fin clip, indicating that the fish has a microscopic identifier in its snout. Anglers need only look for the clip, measure the fish, note where they caught it and take its head to a drop-off site. With the information gathered, Sea Grant leaders will know where stocking is most effective and what the wild salmon population looks like in comparison to the farmed population.

“People assume that the fish they catch are stocked nearby,” O’Keefe says. “Thanks to this type of data, we know that’s not true. A lot of fish are wild, and some stocked fish come

from up north. If we can find out what places rely on local stocking, we’ll be able to stock more effectively.”

With projects like the Salmon Ambassador Program, scientists take advantage of citizens out in the field, asking them to add a couple of extra steps to their normal activities. But sometimes the activities themselves inspire science, instead of the other way around.

Candid cameraRemote trail cameras, which are used to

help hunters scout locations, take pictures of animals passing by, using a motion detector to trip the shutter. The cameras are meant to track possible prey, but they’ve had an unintended effect on science.

Adam Bump, a bear and furbearer specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, explains that as camera technology has advanced, the simplest forms of the cameras have become very affordable, and more cameras now populate the woods, marshes and wetlands of Michigan. As a result, hunters have started writing to the DNR asking for identification of the critters caught on camera.

“In order to get detailed information that is scientifically valuable and tells you something meaningful, you have to control for all of the variables,” Bump explains. “We

haven’t figured out a way to do that with trail cameras yet, but we have started to use these pictures as presence and absence information, letting scientists know where certain animals might reside.”

Trail cameras are catching pictures of bobcats, beavers, bears, deer and even cougars (in the Upper Peninsula), and although the photos might not provide usable research data, Bump says the scientific community is looking for a way to make trail cameras a bigger part of the picture. Until then, some photos help establish a presence of a species where scientists thought there were none, such as photos that caught cougars in the Marquette area, putting scientists on the trail of wide-ranging big cats.

Finding a way to take data that citizens are already collecting, such as photo evidence and anecdotal discoveries, and translating that data into scientifically sound samples presents a challenge, but so does asking citizens to collect data they would not normally collect, as in the case of organizations that seek citizens to help determine the effects of everyday products on their lives.

Indoor researchThe Michigan Network for Children’s

Environmental Health (MNCEH), based in Ann

The data collected by local bird banders (above) is logged (center photo) and recorded to help experts monitor avian migration patterns. Right, Michigan Sea Grant’s Dan O’Keefe explains to anglers how the fin clip on the marked salmon they catch provides valuable information that guides fish stocking programs in Lake Michigan.


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Arbor, formalized its reach into the citizen-science community two years ago with the formation of a Citizen Scientist Corps, a group of citizens that collects data on everyday products, like couches, clothing, and cleaning products, and tests that data to determine the possible health impacts of these products. The data helps the MNCEH determine where to emphasize health outreach.

“Our Citizen Scientist Corps is really important because it offers us a way to get folks in the community involved and moving up an advocacy ladder,” says Rebecca Mueninck, environmental health campaign director for MNCEH. “We want citizens to learn what is in their stuff, and then we want to help them develop as advocates for change.”

One example is when the Corps asked citizen scientists to collect samples of theirown couches to test for Firemaster 550, a flame-retardant chemical. After two years

of data collection, the numbers were used in a published peer-reviewed study that outlined the dangers of the chemical and was publicized nationally to increase awareness.

What the work of the Citizen Scientist Corps proves, Meuninck says, is that everyday people — parents, pet owners, homeowners


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Once upon a time, storytelling was something people did to entertain themselves while sitting around a campfire or to pass on cultural lore.

Nowadays there are competitive story slams, professional guilds for storytellers and graduate programs in storytelling. There are as many styles of storytelling as there are storytellers and more and more venues in which stories are told. On Feb. 1, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum will host its second annual Storytelling Festival, with the theme “One World, Many Stories.”

Since the days of telling tales around the campfire listeners of all ages, like these youngsters, have been held in thrall by gifted storytellers.



The festival will feature storytellers representing several cultures, including Irish storyteller Yvonne Healy, who will tell interactive folk-tale-based stories. She says the Irish specialize in fabrication. “We say you can’t believe everything an Irishman tells you. You know, we value truth so highly that we use it sparingly, whereas imagination we’ve got no regard for at all and so we spend it like fools.”

Fairy tales, legends and tall tales are only part of the picture for Healy, though. “I do traditional stories,” she says, “but I also tell true stories, and I tell stories that are neither true nor traditional.”

Healy, who lives in Howell, came to storytelling naturally. Her family emigrated from Ireland to this country when she was a child, and she grew up speaking Irish in the home and listening to her parents tell stories. “I was the designated heir of the traditional stories in my family, and I had to learn them phrase by phrase and line by line and repeat them.” She grew up to be an actress and then a mother who told stories to her children and to their Sunday school classes. Eventually, she says, “I discovered I could make a living at it.”

Native American storyteller Austen Brauker, of Onekama, also grew up in a culture with a strong tradition of storytelling. As a member of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Brauker grew up with relatives telling all kinds of stories, not only tribal legends but family stories too. “I was just surrounded by that oral tradition constantly,” Brauker says. “And a lot of people have that, and they don’t realize what it is or what to call it, but I think it’s pretty common the world over. Stories are really a vital part of identity in remembering who we are, even our immediate family.”

Professional storytellers assert that everybody can and does tell stories. “We naturally tell stories. It’s in our blood,” says Allison Downey, a storyteller, singer-songwriter and Western Michigan University education professor.

Downey has presented workshops at storytelling conferences, and she also coaches individuals and businesses in storytelling. To tell a story well, she says, you have to consider how to capture the audience’s attention, how to construct the story and what you hope the audience will take away from it. “You craft it to make it more powerful, funnier, more poignant,” she says.

Healy uses different styles of storytelling depending on the age of her audience. With younger children, she often employs audience participation, including chants and repetition and having participants act things out. For older kids and adults, she uses “a purer form of storytelling where it relies on the expressive language and the expressive gestures or facial expressions of the storyteller.”

Stories serve various social functions in addition to entertainment and heritage preservation. Downey, whose research involves comparing different styles of storytelling to identify their common elements, says that the primary function of personal narratives — true

stories that the teller experienced directly — is to give people a sense of connection.

A personal story can make the listener see things from a different perspective and empathize with the storyteller. “When you hear somebody’s story, you can’t dismiss them,” Downey says. It also can connect listeners to their own experience, as “when you hear somebody else’s story and you realize, ‘Wow, I’m not alone; I had that happen to me, too’ or ‘I felt that way before, and look where they’ve come.’ And that’s true with the telling of a story. Sometimes for people, when they tell a story, they feel a sense of validation.”

Brauker uses storytelling as part of his day job as a peacemaker and probation officer for the Little River Band’s Tribal Justice Center. He uses stories in mediating between parties and mentoring children, to impart a message that listeners can directly apply to their situation, without calling direct attention to any

individual. “It saves face with people as a way to be able to confront each other or teach

each other without having anybody look dumb in the process,” he says.

Brauker is a musician, visual artist, writer and filmmaker as well as a storyteller, and he doesn’t draw many distinctions between these acts of creation. “Story is … the same

thing as music or dance or any (other art form),” he says. “They’re all different forms

of the same language of the spirit, which to me is artistic expression. … We talk in words, you

know, but when we talk with dance, music, art or whatever our art may be, that’s

when we’re speaking from heart, and that can be understood by any culture, in any language.”

Despite its long-standing place at the center of human culture, storytelling does evolve. It also is increasing in popularity, via programs like National Public Radio’s This American Life and events like those held by The Moth, a New York City-based organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. “There’s a different aesthetic now with this This American Life, Moth-style (storytelling) performance that’s happening,” Downey says. “… It’s a different aesthetic than (is used) in the main-stage storytelling circuit. One of the key things is being authentic.”

Downey has taught raconteurs how to tell stories in this new style. “They’re very used to being polished, they’re very used to being performative, and so was I,” she says. “And this is kind of a stripping away, of being more authentic, being like you’re sitting across the table … so that you can really connect with the audience instead of performing for them.”

Healy has seen her audience flip in recent years from primarily children to primarily adults, and, like Downey and others who are studying contemporary storytelling,


Among the performers appearing at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Storytelling

Festival are, clockwise from top left, Austen Brauker, Allison

Downey, Adam Mellema and Yvonne Healy.


ArTS ENCORE

Calling All EarsClassic radio theater program launches 13th season

by KiT aLMy

By day, Don Ramlow is a mild-mannered political science instructor.

By night, on certain Saturdays, he is an intrepid radio theater producer.

Ramlow has had a longtime passion for the preservation of classic radio theater. An offhand comment about his hobby led to the formation of All Ears Theatre, now in its 13th season of presenting radio plays before a live audience.

In conversation with Richard Hughey, who was then the program officer of the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation and is now CEO, Ramlow mentioned that he frequently traveled to conventions where he took part in recreating radio plays. He says that Hughey responded, “I think it would be kind of fun if we did something like that in Kalamazoo.”

What resulted from that conversation is a collaboration between Ramlow, as producer, and several area organizations. All Ears Theatre is a program of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, with funding

Green Lantern’s Director Jeff Mais, center, goes over notes with cast members, from left, Mickey Sykes, Mark Bass and Mike Coon.

from the Gilmore Foundation. Free live performances are held at First Baptist Church in downtown Kalamazoo and are later broadcast over public radio station WMUK, 102.1 FM.

Attending an All Ears Theatre performance is a unique entertainment experience. “I couldn’t quite visualize it until I actually saw the first show,” says Beth McCann, deputy director of the Arts Council. She says that once you attend a performance and listen to it later on the radio, “you’re really hooked.”

All Ears Theatre has developed a solid local following, appealing to adults with nostalgic memories of the golden age of radio as well as to young families. “It’s really good for us to see younger people there because that means the love of the art form and everything else will continue in a younger generation,” Ramlow says.


aLL eaRs theatRe scheDuLe

The 2014 season of All Ears Theatre began Jan. 11. All shows start at 6 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 315 W. Michigan Ave., and typically last about 30 minutes. The remaining performances are:

• Recalculating — Feb. 8• The Signalman — Feb. 22• The Adventures of Dan Turner, Hollywood

Detective, in “Water-Cooled” — March 8• Alice’s Adventures in Through the

Looking Glass (two-part presentation, one hour) — March 22

• Ananse — The Original Spiderman — April 5

• The Swiss Family Robinson — April 19• Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, in “Jungle

Heat” — May 3• Hello Tomorrow — May 17• The Nightingale — May 31

Auditions will be held Feb. 24 and 25 for Alice, Ananse and Swiss Family Robinson and March 24 and 25 for Tarzan, Hello Tomorrow and The Nightingale.For more information, visit the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo website at www.kalamazooarts.org.

after the performance, whereas “here we do it truly the traditional way, recording it live, with everything being done at the time.”

Calling All EarsClassic radio theater program launches 13th season

In addition to its live performances and recordings, All Ears Theatre provides outreach programs to various community organizations to introduce kids to radio theater.

By the end of the current season, Ramlow says, All Ears Theatre will have presented about 170 plays since its inception. A typical season features a combination of comedies, mysteries and science fiction. Productions have included such classics as The Bickersons, The Shadow and The War of the Worlds as well as many locally written plays.

“I’m proud to say that … about 75 percent of what we’ve done over the years has been either original plays or original adaptations,” Ramlow says. Local writers who contribute original scripts or adapt existing plays for radio are just some of the many community members who make All Ears Theatre possible. About 85 people each year, including actors, musicians, sound engineers and sound-effects specialists, contribute to the production of 12 shows each season.

All Ears Theatre holds four auditions per season, casting for three shows each time. Ramlow says about a quarter of the people who are involved in each season’s productions are trying out radio theater for the first time. Sometimes actors who have never worked in radio have a hard time getting away from

acting techniques used in traditional theater productions. “Our main focus is on getting a good quality recording which the audience is able to see us do,” Ramlow explains. He tells actors, “Don’t let your body tell the story. Let your voice tell the story.”

In addition to getting to see acting that is normally only heard, Ramlow says, “people … love the fact that we have the live music and the live sound effects. I think that really adds to the fun.”

Sound-effects specialists sometimes have to find creative ways to produce particular sounds, and equipment malfunctions can add unexpected humor. In recalling a scene from The Shadow in which a gunshot was to be followed by the thud of a falling body, he says that when the gun didn’t fire but the body fell, “our actor playing the Shadow goes, ‘I got to tell you, Margo, it was sure a good thing I brought my knife along to take care of that.’ And the audience, of course, seeing that the gun misfired got the joke. They really laughed over it.”

While there are many radio theater clubs across the country, Ramlow says, “very few do what we do, which is to have a regular schedule of programs and, more importantly, have them broadcast over a radio station.”

Also, some radio theater groups record separate tracks for music and sound effects

www.davesglass.com

ArTS ENCORE


by KiT aLMy

What’s That Sound?New Sounds Festival spotlights new music by living composers

Music lovers with open minds as well as open ears will be treated to an aural feast at the upcoming New Sounds Festival.

The Western Michigan University School of Music is hosting the annual festival of “new music” concerts from Feb. 26 to April 8. The festival also includes a conference of new music by living composers who will all attend the event.

What is new music? “That’s a very difficult question,” says Christopher Biggs, a WMU composition professor and co-organizer of the festival. “New music is anything happening now, on the one hand. On the other hand, there’s this Western art-music tradition out of Europe, (and there is) a new strain of that. And that’s what we’re more referring to … the continuation of this older tradition but with updates.”

Despite new music’s foundation in an older tradition, Biggs says festival attendees will not hear pieces that sound like something Mozart might have written. “What we’re focused on in the New Sounds Festival is things that are actually not just based on the past. … It’s going to be very different types of things,” he says.

WMU new music group Birds on A Wire performs during the 2013 New Sounds Festival.

The concerts will go beyond “sonic events” to include technology and multi-media. “Some of them will involve real-time processing of instruments with computers,” Biggs says, noting that the festival will include many different types of sound sources, such as an electronic-guitar quartet. A piece by local composer Betsy Start will be featured in the Society for Composers Conference and will include a theremin, an older electronic instrument.

“There’s a huge amount of diversity” in new music composition, Biggs says. In planning the concert series, he says, organizers asked themselves, “What’s interesting and cutting edge that doesn’t often happen at this school? And what can we bring in so that we can give our students those experiences and also the community can come?”

The festival will open with a concert featuring two WMU student ensembles — the new music group Birds on a Wire and the University Chorale, WMU’s flagship choral ensemble. Birds on a Wire, which is

Cour

tsey


made up of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion, will appear in a second concert, featuring the works of composer James Mobberley.

“In that same concert, (trumpeter and WMU professor) Scott Thornburg is going to play one of Mobberley’s pieces for instrument and tape. It’s a long, virtuosic piece, and there’s also theatrical elements,” Biggs says. He says he doesn’t know yet what Thornburg plans to do, “but he has an option of doing a variety of theatrical things that are always very humorous.”

Chicago new-music group Dal Niente will give a free concert, which will include a newly commissioned work by Katie Young and a piece by the late Hungarian composer György Ligeti. “His horn trio is a tour de force,” Biggs says. “It’s virtuosic and exciting. It mixes kind of contemporary music techniques with folk rhythms from Hungary.”

The festival also will include a concert by Dither, an electric-guitar quartet from New York, and conclude with two concerts featuring the works of some of WMU’s 19 undergraduate composition majors, performed by student musicians.

During the Society for Composers’ Region 5 Conference from March 27 to 29, there will be eight concerts, totaling about 350 minutes of music, Biggs says. More than 550 pieces have been submitted, and judges will whittle

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these down to 30 or 40 to be performed. The schedule will be posted online at a later date, and registration for the conference is not required in order to attend the concerts.

Listeners should, however, come to the concerts with open minds, Biggs says. “I would encourage people to think about each piece as its own artwork. You have to think about it on the terms of the piece itself. So rather than thinking, ‘This is what I think music is, this is what I expect to happen, this is what I imagine happening,’ (approach it) like you’re a blank slate and you’re just trying to find what’s interesting about what’s happening at the time.”

Scientists have studied and compared the reactions of children and adults listening to new music, Biggs says, and they have found “(children are) much more open, it seems, than adults, or even adults in music schools seem to be, because they don’t have the same preconceptions about what’s supposed to happen.”

Still, the experience of hearing new music will not be entirely foreign, Biggs says. “I don’t think it’s radical or anything like that. It’s still just concert music being played for an audience in the western European art-music tradition.”

7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 (charge)University Chorale and Birds on a WireDalton Center Recital Hall

7:30 p.m. march 12 (charge)Birds on a Wire with James Mobberley, composerDalton Center Recital Hall

7:30 pm march 18 (free)Dal NienteDalton Center Recital Hall

7:30 pm march 26 (charge)Dither QuartetDalton Center Recital Hall

march 27-29 Society for Composers Region 5 ConferenceDalton Center

5 p.m. april 5 (free)Student Composers IDalton Center Lecture Hall

8 p.m. april 11 (free)Student Composers IIDalton Center Recital Hall

Contact the WMU School of Music (387-4667) for more information about the New Sounds Festival and the Society for Composers Conference. (https://www.wmich.edu/composition/New-Sounds-Festival/NSF.html)

new sounds Festival schedule

www.dementandmarquardt.com


PERFORMING ARTS

Comedy

Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood: Two Man Group — An evening of improvisational comedy presented by these stars of Whose Line Is It Anyway? 8 p.m. Feb. 15, Miller Auditorium, Western Michigan University. 387-2300.

Plays

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo — A comedy about a tiger that escapes the zoo and wanders the streets of Baghdad in search of the meaning of life and war, 8 p.m. Feb. 6–8, 13, 15; 2 p.m. Feb. 16, Williams Theatre, WMU. 387-6222.

Clybourne Park — The story of a Chicago house sold by a white family to a black family in 1959; the second act is 50 years later and a black family is selling the same house to whites, 8 p.m. Feb. 7, 8, 13–15, 20–22; 2 p.m. Feb. 9, 16, 23, Farmers Alley Theatre, 221 Farmers Alley. 343-2727.

The Miracle Worker — Helen Keller is rescued from a silent, dark life by her teacher Annie Sullivan, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14, 15, 20–22, 28, March 1, 2 p.m. Feb. 23, Civic Auditorium, 329 S. Park St. 343-1313.

Bus Stop — William Inge’s drama about stranded bus passengers who confront their demons at a rural roadside diner, 8 p.m. Feb. 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 28, March 1; 3 p.m. Feb. 22, What A Do Theatre, 4071 Dickman Road, Battle Creek. 269-282-1953.

Neil Simon’s Chapter Two — Simon’s comedy about a man coping with the death of his first

wife while initiating a new romance, 8:30 p.m. Feb. 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, March 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, New Vic Theatre, 134 E. Vine St. 381-3328.

The Firebugs — This Max Frisch absurdist comedy is presented by The K-College Theater Department, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27; 8 p.m. March 1 & 2, Balch Playhouse, Kalamazoo College.

Musicals

Into the Woods — A musical that looks at Grimm fairy tale characters and what actually happens after “happily ever after,” 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1, 2, 7, 8; 2 p.m. Feb. 2, Parish Theatre, 426 S. Park St. 343-1313.

Memphis — Broadway’s Tony Award Winner for Best Musical of 2010 tells the story of a Memphis radio DJ and a club singer looking for her big break,7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 & 12, Miller Auditorium, WMU. 387-2300.

Symphony

Midori — The renowned violinist joins the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra for a concert of works by Shostakovich and Beethoven, 8 p.m. Feb. 1, Miller Auditorium, WMU. 349-7759.

Midori and Pyotr — The Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra performs with violinist Midori, including two works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, 4 p.m. Feb. 2, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave. 349-7557.

The Remarkable Farkle McBride — A KSO adaptation of John Lithgow’s popular children’s book about a young musician who brings the sounds of an orchestra to life, 3 p.m. Feb. 9, Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave. 349-7759.

Fleisher Performs Ravel — Pianist Leon Fleisher joins the KSO to perform Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, 8 p.m. Feb. 28, Miller Auditorium, WMU. 349-7759.

Chamber, Jazz, Orchestra & Bands

Distinguished Alumni Series — WMU School of Music alumni present free performances: Zofia Holowka Glashauser, violin, and Aleksandra Holowka, viola, with the University Symphony Orchestra, 3 p.m. Feb. 2, Miller Auditorium; Butterfat Trio, jazz, 8 p.m. Feb. 8, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU.

Western Winds — A concert by this WMU ensemble,7:30 p.m. Feb. 4, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. Free.

Dalton Wed@7:30 — A series of WMU School of Music concerts: Brandon Christensen, violin, Feb. 5; Blakemore Trio, violin, cello and piano, Feb. 12; Edward Simon, jazz pianist, Feb. 19; University Chorale & Birds on a Wire, a WMU new music ensemble, Feb. 26. All concerts at 7:30 p.m., Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. 387-2300.

Guest Artist Recitals — Emery Stephens, tenor, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13; Paul Hunt, trombone, 3 p.m. Feb. 23, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. Free.

Chris Botti — The KSO Pops! Series welcomes this popular jazz trumpeter for a Valentine’s Day concert, 8 p.m. Feb. 14, Miller Auditorium, WMU. 349-7759.

Valentine’s Day Concert — Kalamazoo College Symphonic Band presents a special concert, 8 p.m. Feb. 14, Dalton Theatre, Kalamazoo College.

Chamber Music Festival — Two free concerts, 3 & 5 p.m. Feb. 15, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU.

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University Symphonic Band — A concert by this WMU ensemble, 3 p.m. Feb. 16, Miller Auditorium, WMU. Free.

University Concert Band — A concert by this WMU group, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18, Miller Auditorium, WMU. Free.

An American in Paris — Kalamazoo Concert Band presents this Gershwin composition and more, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21, Miller Auditorium, WMU. Free.

Vocal

High School Choral Festival — The Bach Festival invites the public to attend a master class for 10 area choirs, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. Feb. 5 & 6, Light Fine Arts Center, K-College. Free.

Becca Stevens Band — Fontana Chamber Arts presents this jazz, pop and folk singer and her band, 8 p.m. Feb. 7, Bell’s Eccentric Café, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave. 382-7774.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo — The world-famous African a cappella singing group presented by the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Artists’ Forum, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7, Dale B. Lake Auditorium, KVCC. 488-4030.

All Ears Theatre — Live radio performances for later airing on WMUK-FM 102.1: Sleeping Beauty, Feb. 9; Pirigi’s Wonderful Dolls, Feb. 23, 6 p.m. First Baptist Church, 315 W. Michigan Ave. Free. (See related story, page 34.)

A Fireside Valentine: Songs to Warm the Heart on a Cold Night — The Kalamazoo Singers perform a concert of songs highlighting love and fire, 3 p.m. Feb. 16, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. 387-2300.

Membra Jesu Nostri — Early Music Michigan presents this cycle of seven cantatas written by Dietrich Buxtehude, 8 p.m. Feb. 15, St. Augustine Cathedral, 542 W. Michigan Ave. Tickets available at the door.

Choral Showcase — Featuring WMU groups University Chorale, Cantus Femina and Collegiate Singers, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, Dalton Center Recital Hall, WMU. Free.

VISUAL ARTS

Richmond Center for Visual Arts 387-2436

Make/Do; Contemporary Artists Perform Craft — An exhibition of works by five New York City artists who knit, assemble, scatter, paint, edit, transform and mold materials into objects that retain traces of their creation, through Feb 14, Monroe-Brown Gallery.

mercurial silence — Works by Caroline Gore investigate how grief and loss manifest themselves in society and how objects relate to personal losses, through Feb. 14, Netzorg and Kerr Gallery.

Barbara Ellmann — Painting exhibit that allows viewer interaction with a grid of works, Feb. 20–March 21, Monroe-Brown Gallery.

Trace & Gestures Print Portfolio — Prints by U.S. and international artists exploring how things that may seem insignificant can generate changes personally and globally, Feb. 20–April 17, Netzorg and Kerr Gallery.

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts 349-7775

Inside Steinway: Photographs by Christopher Payne — This New York photographer documented the process and artistry of Steinway, Feb. 1–May 25.

Impressions: Selections from Stewart & Stewart — Works by 30 artists who have had their prints made at this recognized Michigan printmaking studio, through Feb. 23.

Cultural Encounters: India, Burma and Tibet — Photographs by Larry K. Snider of people and their environments in India, Burma and Tibet, Feb. 8–July 5.

ARTbreak — Free presentations on art-related topics: Serigraphy — The Fine Art of Screen Printing, presented by the KIA’s Denise Lisiecki, Feb. 4; The Art of Romare Bearden, documentary, Feb. 11; Come Unto Me: The Faces of Tyree Guyton, documentary, Feb. 18; Modern Painters Society, WMU art students discuss their organization and their artwork, Feb. 25. Guests may bring a lunch to these noon sessions.

LIBRARY EVENTS

Kalamazoo Public Library 553-7879 or 342-9837

Whatever Happened to Idlewild? — Coy Davis Jr. presents his documentary about this historic Michigan community in partnership with the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society, 6:30 p.m. Feb. 6, Central Library.

The Romantic Muse — Arnie Johnston and Deborah Ann Percy perform short plays, poetry and songs celebrating love, 6:30 p.m. Feb. 25, Oshtemo Branch.

Portage District Library 329-4544

The Culture of Food: Chocolate — Dale Anderson, owner of Confections with Convictions, describes how chocolate is made and a variety of chocolate flavors from around the world, 2 p.m. Feb. 12. To register, call 329-4542.

A Look at the Black Experience through Story and Poetry — Tasleem Jamil performs poetry and Anna-Lisa Cox will read from her books on black history, 2 p.m. Feb. 16.

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MUSEUMS

Kalamazoo Valley Museum 373-7990

Michigan’s Heritage Barns: An Artist’s Perspective — A photography exhibit showcasing Michigan’s agricultural heritage and wide variety of barns, through June 15.

Storytelling Festival — Storytellers, writers, musicians, bookstores, illustrators and more will be on hand to share the creative wealth of stories, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Feb. 1. Free. (See related story, page 30.)

Music at the Museum — K’zoo Folklife Organization acoustic jam, 2–4:30 p.m. Feb. 2, free; Yolanda Lavender, soulful singer and poet 6–8 p.m. Feb. 7 (part of Art Hop); Brian Randall Band a country band from Coloma, 7 p.m. Feb. 14, $5; David Youngman, finger-style guitarist, 7 p.m. Feb. 21, $5.

Historical Programs — Discussions and programs related to local history: The Townships of Kalamazoo County — Cooper Township, 1:30 p.m. Feb. 9.

NATURE

Kalamazoo Nature Center 381-1574

Animal Signs Hike — Search for clues animals leave behind in the winter, 2-3 p.m. Feb. 2.

Winter Wild Navigation — Strap on snowshoes for an introduction to winter navigation, 2–3 p.m. Feb. 9.

Owl Prowl: Barred Owls — A night hike to listen for owl calls, 7-8 p.m. Feb. 20.

Boomer and Beyond — Explore predator-prey relationships in this program for adults over 50,11 a.m.–1 p.m. Feb. 25.

Kellogg Bird Sanctuary 671-2510

Birds and Coffee Walk — A short hike to search for birds, followed by coffee and discussion, 9-10:30 a.m. Feb. 12, Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, 12685 East C Ave.

Focused on the Birds of Kellogg Bird Sanctuary — Nature photographer John M. Fleming presents a lecture and discussion for photographers of all skill levels, 7- 8:30 p.m. Feb 25, Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, 12685 East C Ave.

Audubon Society of Kalamazoo 375-7210

Michigan Snakes — A talk by herpetologist and conservationist Eric Tobin, 7 p.m. Feb. 24, People’s Church, 1758 N. 10th St.

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PoETry ENCORE

Winter Sun

Winter sunshine warms my face, the overstuffed rocking chair surrounds me,tucked under that ugly green quilt.

My sore throat waits for green tea and toastand my mother’s warm handsas the opera ascends from the square brown radio,tiny people inside singing the sad songs of La Bohéme.

That little house is still a home,the pasture, bereft of horses, overflowing with houses.Could there be another sunny rocking chair protecting a child while Mimi longs for spring,warmed by Rodolfo’s hands?

Now, my faraway window framessunlit pines, pink in the morning light.Somewhere near, the deer are watching,waiting for my green hostas, free lunch with a birdbath chaser.

Sibelius surrounds and saturates my sun and shadowsand I am warmed by my old love’s handsas we watch for verdant spring and the deer.

— Mary Hurlbut Cordier

Cordier is an associate professor emerita of teaching, learning and educational studies at Western Michigan University, where she taught for 27 years. She is the author of Schoolwomen of the Prairies and Plains. She grew up in Iowa and for many years has lived in Kalamazoo with Kleinstuck Preserve in her backyard.

A Brief Notion in the Evolution of Avian Migration To think, that birdswould hibernate like bears,hunkered down in muddied waters

having gathered at banksof marshes, locked scaly toes’round reeds, until hollowed

heaviness bent stalks and thepasserines slipped under—veiledin silt, submerged ‘til spring,

when they would rise, returnto dress the skies but not beforea few fishermen bragged

they had drawn netsbrimming with drowsyswallows, wings sodden

with sleep.No wonder this notionpersisted; it’s comforting

to think that beautydoesn’t reallyleave us,

that one’s finaldestination is just apond away.

— Jennifer Clark

Clark is director of community relations for Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo. Her poems and stories have been published in journals and anthologies, and her first book of poetry, Necessary Clearings, is set to be released this summer by Shabda Press.


LOCALTRY

MUSIC

LOCALARTS

& NEWS

“WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME!”Miller Auditorium

March 20, 2014 Tickets on sale January 17th WMUK.org

citizen scientists (continued from page 29)

— can make an impact on their community, no background in science needed.

Youthful futureIf parents can collect data, and everyday

people can become a part of a large-scale national research collective that affects the global market, then can kids take part in citizen science too?

Yes, says Brandon Schroeder, a Michigan Sea Grant Extension educator in northeast Michigan.

“You hear a lot about youth being our future, but they don’t have to be our future, they can be our today,” he says. “The skills and content they’re learning in school is readily applied to research. There’s a wide diversity of projects we can do with kids.”

Schroeder works with kids and teens in northeast Michigan to monitor Rusty crayfish populations, study plastic pollution, look at the impact of invasive species and monitor the health of Lake Huron beaches. In each case, Schroeder says, the students are learning how to collect meaningful data, and

the Sea Grant program is looking for a real-world way to use it.

In Kalamazoo, Russ Schipper works to engage youth by mentoring as many young birders as he can. Three of his citizen-scientist accomplices are twins Parker and Bailey Weiss, 13, and Will Keller, also 13, from Kalamazoo.

Parker and Bailey say they love taking part in citizen science because it gives them a chance to use their ornithology skills to measure data the scientific community can use. Keller, who has his own bird-watching blog, says that he wants to be good enough to have his data included in the bird count. He says Schipper is helping him reach his goal.

Research close to homeThe Michigan Audubon Society, Michigan

Sea Grant, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Citizen Scientist Corps all offer ways for Southwest Michigan residents to get involved in citizen science related to the Kalamazoo community (see sidebar on page 27 for details and contact information).

Another option for locals is to take advantage of the Kalamazoo Nature Center, which is a hub for citizen scientists. Volunteers can help with a bluebird nesting project done in conjunction with Cornell University; butterfly research with the Michigan Butterfly Network; the Christmas Bird Count; a sandhill crane count; seasonal bird counts; water quality watch programs; a July butterfly count; and bird banding.

“Most of our projects are a part of national data collections,” explains Sarah Reding, the Nature Center’s vice president for conservation stewardship. “All involve training on protocol, how to identify, how to monitor and how to enter data.”

When people learn about their environment, especially at a local level, there’s a larger community pull to take responsibility for what happens to it, Reding says. That’s why the Nature Center provides serious training for citizens, including offering a conservation stewardship class through MSU Extension that includes eight weeks of classes and 40 hours of outside work.

In the bird-banding program, citizen scientists work alongside professional staff to learn about the patterns of bird migration. The staff place small, metal bands on the legs of birds to track migration and study longevity and dispersal, and citizen scientists collect the data on each bird banded and enter it into a national database.

No matter what the project involved, citizen science allows for the pursuit of large amounts of data. The more organizations and people involved, the greater the sample size and the more accurate the big picture will be. But citizen science also fosters a sense of community and a connection to nature. It allows everyday people to notice what’s going on in their backyard and, if need be, change it.

“Citizen science gets citizens more interested in their environment, which makes them closer to their environment,” says Mayer, the Michigan Tech professor working on EthnoApp and other apps. “It extends the reach of the citizen and the scientist, allows the citizen to become more interested in science and enables the scientist to go where they couldn’t normally go.”

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tremblay (continued from page 22)

life, and he’s a joyful person to be around. Is Tremblay just super-human?

“I think he doesn’t sleep,” jokes Sister Dorothy Ederer, a former campus minister at WMU and a close friend of Tremblay (“like a second mother to me,” Tremblay says). “He’s constantly thinking about new ideas, and he’s very high-energy, very positive and very giving. He would do anything for anybody. You can always count on him.”

This is coming from a nun, and nuns can’t lie, right?

“This is the truth,” Ederer says. “I am not bloating up his ego. I cannot say enough good things about this man.”

But Ederer understands where the disbelief comes from. She admits that sometimes she hardly believes Tremblay can do all the things he does with the energy and commitment he devotes to them.

“Sometimes I just shake my head and wonder if he’s really for real,” she says. “I’ve never met anyone who comes close to this guy, but anyone who knows him would ditto everything I’ve said. It wears me out just thinking of all the things he does.”

storytellers (continued from page 32)

she thinks the art form’s increasing popularity among adults may be related to its ability to connect people. “I agree with the people who say that it’s because we spend a lot more time disconnected from each other, that it’s kind of a natural reaction to how much screen time we have. … And to counter that, there’s a resurgence in being present and sharing our lives and sharing the lives of other people.”

Because storytelling happens before a live audience, it is a fluid art form, with no two performances exactly alike.

Brauker says he might not know until the day of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Storytelling Festival exactly what stories he will tell. “(Stories are) real spontaneous, and they’re real dynamic, depending on the group, the setting and all that stuff,” he says. Storytellers get a feel for observing their audience, and, by doing so, “they know sometimes what stories they’re supposed to tell.”

Healy, too, gauges the audience’s interest and attention and adjusts accordingly. “When you see that they’re responding to something, you kind of give them a little more of that,” she says. “Or if you see that they didn’t quite get something, then you find a different way to get that across if it’s important to the story.” Although she’s planning to tell stories tailored to children at the festival, she says, “I might throw in a short story from my family if there are more adults than kids.

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Adult storytelling always has people telling stories about when they did stupid things, embarrassed themselves or when something strange really happened.”

In addition to Brauker, Downey and Healy, main-stage performers at the festival will include a group called The Storytellers, performing musical folk tales from various cultures; Adam Mellema, who portrays characters in his stories; and mime Rob Reider. Sign-language interpreters will be on hand for all performances, and the museum will screen videos of American Sign Language performances by deaf storyteller Peter Cook. Carri Wilson will use books and puppets to tell stories to preschoolers. The festival also will offer hands-on activities and a vendor fair.

Kalamazoo Valley Museum Program Coordinator Annette Hoppenworth says the festival ties in with the museum’s recently renovated history gallery, which is “focused on the stories of people and what they did in this area.”

“The museum, to me, is all about stories,” she says. “We become part of history when we look at our stories. (The Storytelling Festival) seemed like a natural thing to do.”

For more information about the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Storytelling Festival, call 373-7990 or go to the website kvm.kvcc.edu. To find out about public storytelling events around the state, visit the website michiganstorytelling.org.

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ENCORE ThE LAST word

The Last Word (continued from page 46)

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

Ann Garrett Bennett is a lifelong resident of Kalamazoo. She attended Kalamazoo College and Wells College in Aurora, N.Y. She and her late husband, Tom (pictured with her above), raised four children: Kathryn Bennett Solley and Betsy, Charles and Tim Bennett, the last three of whom still live in Southwest Michigan. Ann turns 91 this month and has been a member of the Reminiscence Writing Group at the Fountains of Bronson Place for more than a decade.

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once again. Our adventure was over … well, almost.

I told Tom I would be only a minute and went into the farmhouse to pay George. Tom thought it would be wise if he started the car engine and warmed up the station wagon. Then he came to the farmhouse to tell me he was ready to go home. We ducked through the increasingly heavy snowstorm to find the motor running, the car doors locked and the key in the ignition. In great anger at himself, Tom went back to the farmhouse to phone AAA. An hour later someone came and unlocked the car. We drove to Kalamazoo in chilly silence.

The pillow talk that night was a little frigid too. Tom’s final words to me were, “Where do you get your information? If it’s the Kalamazoo Gazette, cancel it.”

The next day I phoned my mother to tell her of our adventure. “Ann,” she replied, “it is a miracle Tom didn’t leave you years ago.” And we laughed.

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ThE LAST word ENCORE

46 | EncorE JANUARY 2014

by ann garreTT BenneTT

Well, it sounded romantic…

Another Valentine’s Day, and the newspaper, magazines and bulletin boards are full of messages of love. The TV reveals that most of our roses are imported, grown and quickly packaged in China, Brazil and Mexico, flown in by FedEx and sold in the U.S. before the dew is off the plants.

My late husband, Tom Bennett, always went into The Chocolate Shop on Burdick Street on his way home from work and bought me a half-pound of caramel-pecan-roll nuggets. Sweet man.

One year I saw an ad in the Kalamazoo Gazette for a romantic sleigh ride through the pine forest near South Haven. I called and made arrangements for a ride at 3 o’clock that Sunday at the Warmouth Blueberry Farm.

Tom and I had planned a wonderful adventure at our Lake Michigan cottage, near Fennville, on Valentine’s Day. Adventure, because we had to haul in everything — our toboggan laden with food, clothes and 5-gallon water jugs — to a cottage that had only a large space heater and electric wall heaters and no water. We skied in from the plowed county road in deep snow and laughter. Then we carried in wood, lit a fire, turned on the heat and in about 12 hours were very snug and warm.

I told Tom I had a surprise for him and that we must be in South Haven by 3 p.m. Sunday. On Sunday, we closed up the cottage, skied

back out to our car and drove south to Warmouth’s farm. George

Warmouth came out of a modest

farmhouse, told Tom where to park and

directed us to the barn. He then brought out the oldest

sway-backed horse I had ever seen. His name was Blackie, and he was pulling

a two-seater sleigh and turning longingly to look at his warm barn.

I said, “Surprise, lover, and happy Valentine’s Day.” Tom smiled weakly and helped me into the sleigh.

The wind was picking up, the snow coming down heavily and the wind chill bracing, at around 10 degrees. We had one

thin summer beach blanket to cover us, and off we went. Not exactly the picture of Dr. Zhivago – no deep fur hats or even deeper fur robes to cover us. The scenery was not lovely pine forest but acres of blueberries covered in snow and looking as cold as we felt. It was not quite the sleigh ride I had imagined, but I laughed and cuddled closer to Tom, more for warmth than romance, and he kept grabbing the thin blanket and shivering.

“Isn’t this fun?” I asked. He did not reply. Blackie had to stop often to rest, and I was tempted to get out and lead him back to the barn. An hour later we did happily see the farmhouse and the barn


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Encore February 2014

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