Nov. 10, 2010 The Digest

 Rivara nominated (Pages 2/3)  United Way (Pages 8/9)

 Downtown project (Page 3)  ‘Fiddler’ at museum (P-9/10)

 New campus wing (Pages 4)  Our settlers (Pages 10-12)

 Festival of Arts (Page 4)  135 new PTK’ers (Pages 12-14)

 Douglass workshop (Pages 4/5)  Photo exhibit (Pages 14/15)

 Saluting Alford (Pages 5/6)  Swap Meet (Pages 15/16)

 ‘The Human Experience’ (Pages 6/7)  Race ‘docs’ (Pages 16/17)

 And Finally (Page 18)

☻☻☻☻☻☻

Higher-ed center, Stryker upgrade get grant support

Joining forces with its counterparts at Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College, the KVCC Foundation Board of Trustees has approved a $5,000 grant to help support a master-planning phase of the ACW, the main component of which could be a higher-education center involving the three institutions.

The foundation board also endorsed a $100,000 technical upgrade of the sound, video, and projection equipment in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

President Marilyn Schlack of KVCC, President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran of Kalamazoo College, and WMU President John Dunn have committed to working together to provide a stronger and more cooperative higher-education presence in the core of Kalamazoo County.

The agreement to explore the creation of a “higher education center” as one of the Arcadia Commons West’s major components has provided opportunities to apply for planning grants for the center and for the ACW’s other educational and economic-development elements – job creation, housing, neighborhood improvements, retail and commercial growth, parking and transportation, urban gardens and a food-producing cooperative, an enhancement of Kalamazoo’s art community, and entertainment.

During the planning phase, programs that have been proposed to be housed at a higher education center will be examined -- a culinary-arts school that would be unique to the Kalamazoo community, food-administration and dietetics degree-granting programs, an art gallery/curatorial-training center, the community’s sustainability center, and a collaboration that would bring together elements involving international education and diversity.

For the 2010-11, academic year, the KVCC Foundation has established funding-request deadlines for internal grant proposals and filled some vacancies on the governing board.

Those faculty and/or administrators seeking financial support from the foundation must make plans in advance and adhere to the established deadlines.

Here’s the schedule for the next two rounds:

Proposal deadline: Dec. 22; decision by the KVCC Foundation Board of Trustees the next month.

Deadline: April 22; decision in early May of 2011.

For more information, contact Steve Doherty, KVCC director of development and foundation executive director, at extension 4442 or sdoherty@kvcc.edu.

New appointees to the foundation’s governing board are:

• 
  Tom Schlueter, president and chief executive officer of Keystone Community Bank.
  
• 
  Dan Scheid, chief financial officer of the Harold Zeigler Auto Group.
  
• 
  Jim Turcott, a pioneer KVCC faculty member who recently retired as dean of liberal arts.
  

New three-year terms have been extended for Gardner, and for trustees Ed Bernard and David Jarl.

Rivara in line for Pushcart Prize, anthology

English instructor Sara Rivara is moving up the ranks of nationally recognized poets.

Her “In the Fields of Asphodel, Evening” is one of six works nominated for this year’s Pushcart Prize by Blackbird Press.

Rivara, whose artistic talents also extend to singing classical music, hails from the Chicago suburb of Deerfield. She earned a degree in English and music from Kalamazoo College in 1999. She added a master’s in creative writing/poetry through The Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, in Swannanoa, N. C., in 2002.

Her literary creations have been published in scores of journals, including The Cortland Review and the Crab Orchard Review. Her nominated poem was published in Blackbird Magazine and can be accessed at http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v9n1/poetry/rivara_s/fields_page.shtml.

She spent the summer of 2010 on the West Coast teaching at a conference for writers at St. Mary's College in San Francisco.

The Pushcart is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small-book-press editors are invited to nominate up to six works they have featured. Anthologies of the selected works have been published annually since 1976 under the title “The Pushcart Prize: The Best of the Small Presses.”

Once all the nominations have been sent to the Pushcart committee, the task of choosing what will be included in the anthology begins.

The Pushcart Prize is regarded as one of the most honored literary series in America. The Pushcart Prize has been selected several times as a notable book of the year by the New York Times Book Review and has been chosen for many Book-of-the-Month Club selections.

Recently, the Pushcart Press and its Prize were named among "the most influential" in the development of the American book business over the past 125 years by Publishers weekly.

Nomination for the Pushcart means an editor believes a particular work is the best he/she has published that year. Nominations are made in December and announcements of those included in the Pushcart Prize Anthology are made in April.

East Michigan Avenue about ready to start

A downtown-redevelopment project adjacent to the KVCC Center for New Media (CNM) is about ready to enter the brick-and-mortar stage.

MAVCON Properties LLC plans to renovate and upgrade four vintage buildings in the 100 block of East Michigan Avenue to the south of the center into a $10.7-million, mixed-use called “Metropolitan Center.”

The project will entail rejuvenated facades of both the front and back of the century-old structures, interior components, and a green rooftop, including a 2,500-square-foot sky deck, based on the highest environmental standards. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) project that will maintain its historical appearance.

Another new wrinkle calls for plans to install the city’s first electric-car plug-in station that would service a vehicle available for use by building tenants for in-city trips.

The plan is to convert the structures – which are primarily vacant – into a 30,000-square-foot combination of retail spaces (1,000 to 5,000 square feet) at street level and reasonably priced housing (one-bedroom, two-bedroom and studio units) on the two upper floors. Some 24 units are planned.

The Kalamazoo City Commission had agreed to vacate the alley between the four buildings and the center, and sell a section of the nearby parking lot. This would have allowed the developer to construct an 11-foot addition to the rear of the four buildings and give the consolidated properties, currently owned by the real-estate arm of the Downtown Kalamazoo Inc., some uniformity in appearance and physical dimensions.

But that phase of the design to tie the buildings together has been altered. Instead, the rear walls and stairwells will be restored.

Once work is started, the estimated completion date would be 18 months.

MAVCON has already refurbished one other downtown building located at 232 W. Michigan Ave. A new Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches is located there.

Moves into new wing set to begin Nov. 15

The new wing on the Texas Township Campus should be ready for some business by Nov. 15, according to latest construction schedule

The “star” of the $12-million expansion and renovation, it will be home to the Student Success Center, several student-service functions, and a 150-seat auditorium.

“The first moves will be the Admissions, Financial Aid and Institutional Research departments,” reports Dan Maley. “This will facilitate the remodeling of these areas into five additional classrooms for the winter semester. The final phase of the faculty wing (north side) has been completed and is ready for occupancy.

“During this same time period,” Maley added, “the space where Receiving currently is located will be renovated into four offices and a conference room for Facilities Services. Receiving will also have new space in the new addition.”

The new wing will house the Student Success Center on the second floor and the Office of Admissions, Registration and Records, the Office of Financial Aid, the Office of Institutional Research, and Central Receiving on the first level.

In all, KVCC will lose eight classrooms and gain 10, plus the 150-seat mini-auditorium/lecture hall in the new expansion. The Student Success Center will revert to serving as The Gallery.

Dollars for such projects are banked in capital funds by the state and by the college, and are not part of each’s general fund. Michigan’s formula for higher-education projects has not changed from past years. Each community college and the state provide 50 percent of the costs.

The Kalamazoo architectural firm of Eckert Wordell designed the expansion and remodeling, while the Miller-Davis Co. is serving as construction manager.

This is the college’s first major construction initiative since the Student Commons in 2001.

6^th Festival of Arts is how-to attraction

Kalamazoo-area artisans and craftsmen will demonstrate how they create from a variety of media when the Kalamazoo Valley Museum hosts the sixth Festival of Arts on Saturday (Nov. 13) from noon to 4 p.m.

Representatives from the West Michigan Glass Society will be demonstrating glass-bead making. Woodcarver Patrick Smith, whose shop is in the Park Trades Center, will have all of his tools on display and demonstrate wood carving.

Peg Connelly of Constantine will discuss the illustration of children's books. An art teacher, she participated in this year’s Artprize in Grand Rapids

Joseph Jarrett, an airbrush artist, will show youngsters some of the secrets behind his artistic talents.

Visitors will also be able to try their hand at making and decorating a paper hat, stenciling a mask, coloring shoe laces, painting their face, and braiding a bracelet.

For more information, call 373-7990.

Student Success Center is Douglass topic

What a community college has to offer and how this form of higher education can enhance a person’s life are the themes of a series of workshops scheduled for the 2010-11 academic year and beyond.

Free, targeted for prospective students of all ages and parents, and hosted by the Douglass Community Association at 1000 W. Paterson St., each 90-minute session will be presented by Kalamazoo Valley Community College personnel. Each Wednesday presentation begins at 4 p.m.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the workshop topics:

• 
  Nov. 17 – KVCC’s Student Success Center, what it is and how it works with students to insure that they reach their educational or work-training goals. Complementing this 4 p.m. presentation will be overviews of the special services provided students and how the center, which will move into space in the Texas Township Campus’s new wing in mid-November, links students to the community resources they might need to reach their goals.
  
• 
  Dec. 15 --- Writing resumes and cover letters.
  
• 
  Jan. 19, 2011 – Making decisions on what career path to take.
  
• 
  Feb. 16 – KVCC’s Transfer Resource Center and Focus Program that eases the transition of students into programs at four-year universities and colleges.
  
• 
  March 16 – The college’s new ExpressWays program that was launched with the fall semester and its job-prepping venture in operation at the Northside Association for Community Development.
  
• 
  April 20 – A repeat of the workshop on financial aid.
  
• 
  May 20 – The impact of good nutrition and healthy lifestyles on learning.
  
• 
  June 15 – Setting goals and what it takes to be successful.
  
• 
  July 20 – The Kalamazoo Valley Museum, which is governed by KVCC, and its value as a learning resource.
  
• 
  Aug. 17 – An overview of the college’s Arcadia Commons Campus in downtown Kalamazoo.
  
• 
  Sept. 21 – An overview of the college’s Texas Township Campus.
  

NAACP salutes Alford Saturday night

KVCC’s Carolyn Alford will become the second person with significant ties to the college to receive the Humanitarian Award from the Metropolitan Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

At its 30^th annual Freedom Fund Banquet on Saturday, Nov. 13, Alfred, a KVCC staff member for nearly 20 years, will join ranks with Anna Whitten, a pioneer member of the college’s board of trustees who received the award in 1992.

Since 1979, Kalamazoo’s chapter of the NAACP has been honoring men and women who “have dedicated their lives to help the underserved and underrepresented population in Kalamazoo regardless of race, creed, gender or religion.”

It also honors those who “have made significant contributions to the advancement of people of color in the areas of politics, education, religion, civil rights, community service, and the military.

Alford, a Kalamazoo resident since 1969, served a quartet of four-year terms on the Kalamazoo Board of Education starting in 1989 and on Tuesday was elected to her fourth term on the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners.

Alford was first appointed to the Kalamazoo school board to replace civil-rights activist Duane Roberts, a recipient of the award in 1983 and a community activist who led the effort to desegregate the Kalamazoo public schools. Over her 16 years, she held all of the board’s offices.

In addition to the presidency of the local NAACP branch, Alford’s roster of community service includes the League of Women Voters, the YWCA’s domestic-assault program, the Douglass Community Association, Ministry With Community, Loaves and Fishes, and the Kalamazoo North Side Nonprofit Housing Corp.

In an article in the college’s CareerSource magazine, Alford said the genesis of her commitment to public service came from family tradition and from the words of Martin Luther King Jr. that still ring in her ears.

As a youngster she took part in King’s legendary march and peaceful protest in Selma, Ala.

Alford said she gains satisfaction from impacting on “a person’s life in a positive way,” and when those people are students, the feeling increases tenfold.

“I like it when we do the right thing for children,” she said. “Life is not about us anymore. We are adults. But it’s all in front of them. Giving children the best we can is what it’s all about. . .I want to be a strong advocate for children.”

The 2010 Freedom Fund Banquet will be held in the Bernhard Center at Western Michigan University beginning at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $50 for adults, $40 for seniors and students, and $25 for children 10 and younger.

The keynote speaker will be Charles Warfield, reigning president of the Kalamazoo chapter. Both he and his wife, Martha, are recipients of the Humanitarian Award.

Others have included District Judge Charles Pratt, Mary Mace Spradling, Arthur Washington, Margaret Minot, Beverly Moore, Moses Walker, Robert Jones, Romeo Phillips, Moses Walker, Eva Ozier, and Rosa Parks, regarded as “the mother of the Civil Rights Movement.”

‘The Human Experience’ can be experienced in Lake

An award-winning documentary about the essence of humanity and whether that is being lost in contemporary times will be shown twice on the Texas Township Campus this month.

“The Human Experience” will be shown at noon and again at 7 p.m. in the Dale Lake Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 16. Admission is free to all students, faculty and staff.

Produced by Grassroots Films of Brooklyn, N. Y., it is the story of a band of brothers who travel the world in search of the answers to such burning questions as “Who am I?” and “Why do we search for meaning?”

Their journey brings them into the middle of the lives of the homeless on the streets of New York City, the orphans and disabled, abused children of Peru, and the abandoned lepers in the forests of Ghana, Africa.

They spend several nights sleeping with the homeless in New York City. They bundle up in cardboard boxes and beg street vendors for food.

What the young men discover changes them forever. With riveting commentary from humanitarian, academic, and religious experts from all backgrounds, the film portrays the beauty found in each person and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.

Commented Denise Morrison, facilities and events scheduling coordinator: “The film reveals the dignity and resilience of the human spirit, the job of living, and the value of suffering.”

“The Human Experience” was theatrically released in Arizona, Colorado and Texas last April 9.

“This film will make everyone -- but especially the youth -- want to do something to improve humanity,” stated one viewer. “These young men in the film are a true inspiration for the world.”

Other opinions:

• 
  “The documentary reminds people of the true meaning of being a human. The boys set out to find where the love has gone in the world. . .”
  
• 
  “’The Human Experience’ is a call to look around us and see ourselves as human beings whose greatest and most lasting possession may very well be the love we give away.”
  

Donating can be part of ‘The Human Experience’

KVCC's Student Activities Office will be collecting food for the Kalamazoo Food Bank at Loaves and Fishes as part of this year’s holiday season.

Donations may be dropped off in the box located in front of Room 4220, in the Student Commons, and the advocates area in the Student Success Center.

“Last year KVCC collected 600 pounds of non-perishable foods, so let's make this year even better,” urged Mary Johnson, coordinator of student activities and programs.

She can be contacted at extension 4120 or MJohnson@kvcc.edu.

Therapeutic riding teaching tool for communications

Instructor Marne Johnson undertook some community-college collaboration at the grassroots level, and, as is the case in the majority of these situations, the students came out winners.

So did the youngsters at the Equest Therapeutic Riding Center in Rockford.

Teaching communication courses at both KVCC and Grand Rapids Community College, she took advantage of that arrangement to give her local students an opportunity to experience some serving learning that would be applicable to the text book she is using in her course in interpersonal communication.

“I give students two options for their final research paper,” she said. “They can review scholarly articles and analyze a film in order to answer a question they have about interpersonal communication or they can be a researcher. In that capacity, they can volunteer at an organization, reflect on that experience and show how it connects to our textbook. I'm a big fan of experiential learning.”

There is a service-learning agreement between GRCC and the center in Rockford as part of “Make A Difference Day.” When she asked whether she could bring her KVCC students to take part, back came the expected “No problem.”

“That was pretty generous,” Johnson said, “because each of the students received a free lunch and T-shirt, as well as a certificate of appreciation. My students did not know they would be getting anything other than a chance to help with the chores at Equest.

“I told them we would be doing all the things the regular staff volunteers do not have time or resources to complete,” Johnson said. “By doing this work, we enabled the trained staffers to focus on the children who need them.”

Taking part were Kalin Boer, Justin Bristow, Violet Humphreys, Evan Driscoll, Devonte Fraser, Paris Campbell, Catherine Marschke, Jonathan Rollins, Victoria Taylor, and Emerald Haan. Even though it rained most of the day, there was plenty of fun and no complaining.

“Because Equest serves a community with disabilities,” Johnson said, “it gave the class an opportunity to talk about diversity and how differences affect communication. Through completing tasks such as weed-whacking, pulling weeds, and cleaning the pasture, students had an opportunity to work in small groups, practice communication competence, self-monitor, and problem-solve.

“Through writing reflection pages on their own experience,” she said, “they will be able to incorporate terms within our text to real-life experience. After much reflection, writing, and editing, they will report their findings in a narrative for their research paper.”

The mission of the year-round Equest Therapeutic Riding Center is to improve “quality of life through equine-based therapy to physically, mentally and socially/emotionally challenged individuals. “ The program integrates academic, social and physical skills, using the horse as a catalyst.

Horseback riding for the disabled is recognized as one of the more progressive forms of therapy. It combines instruction in traditional horsemanship skills with concepts of physical therapy, occupational therapy and social/emotional therapies to improve the life style of the riders of all ages.

The majority of special-needs individuals have had much more than their share of doctor visits and stressful therapy sessions. For them, Equest offers the opportunity to use their strengths, improve on their weaknesses and reach their personal and therapeutic goals in a fun, exciting environment. To put it simply, Equest provides therapy disguised as fun.

Equest Center for Therapeutic Riding was established as a Michigan non-profit corporation in June 1990 The first therapy class began in February 1991 with 16 riders.

Today between 125 and 150 riders, ranging in age from 2 to 90, enjoy the benefits of Equest each week, with a waiting list of disabled children hoping to participate in the program.

$40,000 United Way goal within reach

With pledges still trickling in, KVCC is $302 shy of reaching the college’s $40,000 goal as part of the annual Greater Kalamazoo United Way campaign.

Even if the $302 doesn’t show up, the 2010 effort on campus of $39,698.88 topped last year’s total of $39,548, reports campaign coordinator Steve Doherty.

“My thanks and congratulations to everyone on campus who contributed and to those that worked on the campaign,” Doherty said. “Although the drive is officially over, we will continue to accept donations and maybe we can still hit that goal with those who have slipped through the cracks.

That 2011 Harley-Davidson Road King, which was on display on the Texas Township Campus two weeks ago, can someday be parked in the garage of a KVCC’er.

Those college folks who make a new gift of $50 to the Greater Kalamazoo United Way’s annual campaign or who hike their yearly pledge by $50 will be entered into a drawing for this “hog.”

The deadline to make a pledge or submit an entry form for the drawing is 5 p.m. on Nov. 22. The drawing is set for Dec. 15.

Doherty requests that KVCC'ers wishing to help the college reach the goal should contact Denise Baker.

"Should we hit the $40,000 mark," Doherty said, "the college would become the 10th largest contributor in Kalamazoo County for the annual fund-raiser. KVCC was 11th in the 2009 campaign."

‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is museum’s Friday attraction

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is again the place to be on Friday nights in downtown Kalamazoo as 2010 winds down.

The “Friday Night Highlights” series, with its bookings of classic movies, concerts, Art Hop events, and laser-light planetarium shows, has begun its 2010-11 series. The Art Hop events are free.

The Nov. 12 attraction is the Oscar-winning film of 1971, “Fiddler on the Roof. Tickets are $3. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

Also part of the "Friday Night Highlights" agenda each week is an 8:30 p.m. showing of the planetarium show featuring the music of Pink Flood. That has a $3 admission fee.

With a laser-light show in full color streaming across the planetarium's 50-foot dome, the 50-minute production, complete with 3-D animated images, showcases the classic hits of Pink Floyd.

Rotating on Friday nights are the group’s songs from the albums “Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “The Wall.”

The film adaptation of the 1964 Broadway musical of the same name was directed by Norman Jewison. It won three Academy Awards, including one for arranger-conductor John Williams.

It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor for Chaim Topol as Tevye, and Best Supporting Actor for Leonard Frey, who played Motel the Tailor. Both had originally acted in the musical, Topol as Tevye in the London production and Frey in a minor part as Mendel, the rabbi's son.

The decision to cast Topol, instead of Zero Mostel, as Tevye was a somewhat controversial one, as the role had originated with Mostel and he had made it famous.

Most of the exterior shots were done in Croatia.

The film follows the plot of the stage play very closely, retaining nearly all of the play's dialogue and even adding a new scene. It takes place in the Jewish village of Anatevka in westernmost Tsarist Russia in 1905 and centers on the character of Tevye, a poor milkman, and his daughters' marriages.

As Tevye says in the introductory narration, the Jews have relied upon their traditions to maintain the stability of their way of life for centuries; but as times change, that stability is threatened on the small scale by Tevye's daughters' wishes to marry men not chosen in the traditional way by the matchmaker, and on the large scale by pogroms and revolution in Russia.

Anatevka is broken into two sections: a small Orthodox Jewish section and a larger Orthodox Christian section. Tevye notes that, "We don't bother them, and so far, they don't bother us."

Tevye is very poor, despite working hard, like most Jews in Anatevka. He and his wife have five daughters and cannot afford to give them dowries so they have to rely on the village matchmaker to find them husbands. Life in Anatevka is very hard and Tevye speaks not only of the difficulties of being poor but also of the Jewish community's constant fear of harassment from their non-Jewish neighbors.

Here are the upcoming “Friday Night Highlights” bookings:

• 
  Nov. 19 – The music of Jay Gavan
  
• 
  Nov. 26 – The 1954 holiday film classic, “White Christmas”
  
• 
  Dec. 3 – Art Hop with the music of the Kalamazoo Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra
  
• 
  Dec. 10 – Gregory Peck’s finest film, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
  
• 
  Dec. 17 – The Hispanic sounds of Los Bandits
  
• 
  Dec. 31 – New Year’s Fest
  
• 
  Jan. 7 – Art Hop
  
• 
  Jan. 14 – Bluegrass tunes by Deadwood
  
• 
  Jan. 21 – A Celtic music jam
  
• 
  Jan. 28 – Ninth Street Bridge.
  

The stable of white settlers, their origins and why they chose to bring their families to the wilderness known as the Michigan Territory are the topics for the next installment of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s “Sunday Series” and its TV show for November.

“Pioneer Settlers of Kalamazoo County” is title of the Nov. 14 presentation by Tom Dietz, the museum’s curator of research, at 1:30 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater. All presentations in the series are free and open to the public.

Many long-time residents are familiar with the likes of Titus Bronson, Justus Burdick and Bazel Harrison when it comes to the white pioneers who came to this part of the Midwest, but Dietz brings forward the names of other men and women who were among the first families to put down roots in what is now Kalamazoo County.

Ruel Starr spent only three years in the county, but he was among the first to buy land in Comstock, Kalamazoo, and Portage townships. He encouraged Caleb Eldred, one of the founders of Kalamazoo College, to settle here and Moses Austin, a New York neighbor, to become a prominent early settler in Portage.

He also owned, and soon thereafter sold the land that is now Augusta. After marrying Eldred’s daughter in 1833, Starr moved to Indiana where he died in 1875, one of the wealthiest residents of Valparaiso.

Robert “Uncle Bob” Frakes came to Kalamazoo with his son, Joseph, in 1831 at the age of 66. He left 17 years later for Missouri at the age of 83 because Kalamazoo had become too settled.

Frakes was apparently a defendant in both the first civil and the first criminal court in Kalamazoo County – paying a $10 fine for a little fisticuffs in the former. He also was known for a love of fast horses and stories about his betting on horse races are recorded in the 1880 county history.

The program will also look at such pioneers as: Simpson Howland, who founded the now mostly forgotten town of Howlandsburg; Julius and Dorothy Hackley, among the first settlers of Alamo Township; and Deborah and Enoch Harris, the first African American settlers in the county.

Dietz narrowed the focus of the TV show to the life and times Harrison, the first white settler in Kalamazoo County. November of 2010 marks the 182^nd anniversary of his family’s arrival in 1828.

The episode is being aired by the Public Media Network (formerly the Community Access Center) on Channel 22 on the Charter cable system at 7 p.m. on Sundays, 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. on Fridays, and 11 a.m. on Saturdays throughout the month.

Prior to 1828, Southwest Michigan offered daunting challenges and the promise of untapped rewards. Fur traders maintained seasonal outposts in the region but American settlers preferred the southeastern corner of the Michigan Territory near Detroit. That would change as the 1820s gave way to the “Michigan Fever” land rush of the next decade.

At the age of 57, the father of 17 children, and a man who had moved numerous times in his life, Harrison might have seemed an unlikely trailblazer. Yet on a November evening in 1828, Harrison led a band of 21 hardy pioneers to what is now Prairie Ronde Township. They built cabins to prepare for the approaching Michigan winter. Kalamazoo County’s first permanent white settlers had arrived.

Harrison was born on March 15, 1771, in Frederick County, Md. One of 23 children, his father was a brother of Benjamin Harrison, a prominent Virginia politician and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His cousin, William Henry Harrison, served a brief term as president of the United States in 1841.

While Bazel was still a child, the family to Virginia and later to Franklin County, Pa. Attending school for only three months, he did learn to read and write. As a teenager, he helped on his father’s farm and then went to work at a distillery.

In 1790, at the age of 19, he fell in love with Martha Stillwell whose mother disapproved of the young man but the couple eloped. Their marriage would last nearly 70 years.

Around 1793, the Harrisons moved west across the Allegheny Mountains and settled in Washington County, Pa.. For 17 years, as they raised a family of eight children, they worked their own farm. Then the desire to seek better opportunities led Harrison to go to Kentucky in 1810.

He worked in a distillery for two years before crossing the Ohio River to manage his cousin William Henry Harrison’s farm. Still restless, Harrison took his family north to Springfield, Ohio, shortly after the War of 1812 ended where he bought a 300-acre farm.

Over the next decade, several disputes about the title of his land arose. Harrison settled four claims but in 1828, when a fifth claim arose, he made up his mind to move to the remote and unknown territory of Michigan, previously explored by his son Elias. Determined to move before winter set in, Harrison’s party of 21 family members, in-laws, and friends hurriedly organized and set out for Michigan in late September.

A huge Pennsylvania wagon drawn by two teams of horses led the caravan followed by four smaller wagons, a cart, numerous horses and oxen, three cows, 50 sheep and about 50 hogs. They traveled through the Ohio towns of Urbana, Piqua, and Sidney following the Miami River and wagon trails until they reached Fort Wayne, Ind.

Eager to get settled before the cold and snow of winter arrived, they moved northwest crossing the fertile Goshen and Elkhart prairies, so beautiful that some wanted to stop and settle there. But Harrison was set on Michigan so the party pushed ahead reaching Prairie Ronde on Nov. 5, 1828. They spent one night on the southeastern edge of that vast prairie, the largest in Kalamazoo County. The next day, a local Potawatomi chief, Sagamaw, led Harrison to a small lake on the northwestern edge of the Prairie. Here, at last, the pioneers made their new home.

The Harrison family may have been the first white settlers in the county but certainly they were not alone. There were several Potawatomi villages in the region. Still, any isolation Harrison may have felt was short-lived. Other settlers began to pour into Kalamazoo County as soon as spring weather arrived in 1829.

On July 4, the first pioneer wedding on the prairie was celebrated and later the same month Sarah Shaver gave birth to a daughter, Calista, the first white child born in Kalamazoo County. Within two years, some 60 families lived on Prairie Ronde.

The growing community required some government and in 1830 the first local elections were held. Harrison was elected highway commissioner and Gov. Lewis Cass appointed him a judge of the Kalamazoo County Court. Thereafter, he was Judge Harrison and was known for his integrity and trust in resolving disputes among the settlers.

Harrison lived long enough to see remarkable changes on the frontier that he first came to in 1828. Although the move to Michigan was the last of many in his life, he would spend 46 years in his new home. He died Aug. 30, 1874 at the age of 103. His funeral attracted more than 800 people.

Here are the “Sunday Series” programs through the end of January:

• 
  “The Smelting Pot: Kalamazoo’s Early Metalworking Industry” – Dec. 12
  
• 
  “Kalamazoo: Michigan’s 19^th Century Carriage City?” – Jan. 9
  
• 
  “Celery Bitters and Sarsaparilla Bark: 19^th Century Remedies for Everything That Ails You” – Jan. 23.
  

PTK adds 135 members to its KVCC chapter

The academic, professional and networking benefits of being a member of Phi Theta Kappa have started for the 135 new members who have been inducted into the KVCC chapter.

To be eligible, students must carry a 3.5 grade-point average, have earned 12 credit hours of classes, and be seeking a two-year degree.

Among the benefits of PTK affiliation are the potential for receiving scholarships for transferring to a four-year university, the opportunity for community service, taking part in intellectual activities, developing leadership skills, and building a network of contacts.

“As a Phi Theta Kappa member,” says instructor Natalie Patchell, “each student's academic excellence will be recognized with the Golden Key membership pin, a membership certificate, an identification card, notation of membership on diploma and transcripts, and the privilege of wearing regalia at graduation that sets you apart as a Phi Theta Kappa member.”

In recent years, the local chapter has taken part in highway clean-up activities through the Michigan Department of Transportation and in a statewide competition to donate organs for transplants.

By home town, here are the new inductees:

America’s diversity is photo-exhibit theme

While his name and physical features conjure up oriental images, photographer Wing Young Huie has focused his lenses and artistic creativity on the cornucopia of life in his times.

The breadth of work by the 54-year-old native of Duluth, Minn., has warranted praiseworthy commentary from Studs Terkel, one of the most insightful observers of Americana and all of its aspects of the times.

A spectrum of Huie’s photography -- ranging from his perspectives on black collectibles, a migrant community in California, Minnesota’s Lutheran congregations, and a panorama of the lives and times of Asian Americans -- is on display at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum through Jan. 16.

Under the banner of “timing is everything,” the Huie showcase basically coincides with the downtown-Kalamazoo stay of the renowned nationally touring exhibition, “Race: Are We So Different?”

Born in the United States to Chinese parents, Huie majored in journalism at the University of Minnesota, earning his degree in 1979. Ten years later, he shifted careers to become a full-time professional photographer and began documenting the changing cultural landscape in his home state.

Symbolic of that was “Frogtown,” the name of one of the oldest neighborhoods in St. Paul and home to the largest Hmong community in the state. The Hmong is an ethic group that lives in the mountainous regions of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Many fled their home areas because they were on the wrong side of a civil war and feared an Asian version of “ethnic cleansing.”

His 1995 project, “Black Memorabilia,” captured the collectibles and objects – some valued and some offensive -- that represented how white people thought of black people.

Huie garnered national exposure with his “Lake Street USA.” He took four years to photograph thousands of people in the 15 neighborhoods connected by a well-known Minneapolis thoroughfare that links the trendiest enclaves to the city’s poorest areas. The result was a six-mile gallery of photos that were displayed in all kinds of venues.

He repeated the genre of converting a neighborhood into a living canvas with “The University Avenue Project.” This street runs through the University of Minnesota to the state's capitol in downtown St. Paul.

That second four-year project allowed him to record what had been old world to developing world to modern world through photographic perspectives of storefronts, big-box retailers, blue-collar neighborhoods, and flashy condos. In the midst of all of this was one of the highest concentrations of international immigrants, collectively reflecting the colliding and evolving American experience.

Huie told a reporter that, in preparing for many of his shots, he had his subjects answer questions -- What are you? How do you think others see you? What don't they see? Describe an incident that changed you. How has race affected you?

The answers to Huie's questions are written in each subject's own hand on a small chalkboard, which is held in front of them as they gaze, forthrightly, into the camera. And their responses are as diverse as the variety of populations who make University Avenue their home.

For “Looking for Asian America: An Ethnocentric Tour,” Huie and his wife visited 39 states, from Hawaii’s diversity to the “white bread” hamlet of Slope, N. D. From that came photos of a Vietnamese Elvis, a Hmong enclave in North Carolina, ABCs (American-Born Chinese), FOAs (Fresh Off the Airplane), and a self-described red-neck Chinese restaurant owner. They returned with 7,000 pictures and 40 hours of video tape.

"As an Asian American,” he told an interviewer, “I'm not just interested in Asian-American things. I am interested in a lot of stuff. But as it turns out, you come back with all this material, you spend several years editing and trying to figure out what it is that you have, and what we came up with was a look at America where Asian Americans are in the majority.”

Branching out into other subjects, Huie has focused on adoptive families, coping with dementia, aging and memory loss, a blue-collar neighborhood in California’s prestigious wine country, and the “culture of waiting in line.”

Huie stresses he doesn't offer interpretations of his pictures. As he found on his 39-state trip, interpretation is up to each person and whatever filters imposed by culture.

‘Swap Meet’ is place for unique holiday gifts

The Office of Human Resources’ web page contains a want-ad system to link KVCC folks with their colleagues in the sharing of talent, knowledge, skills, goods and services. There is also the technology to attach a photo to what you want to market.

It could be thought of as KVCC’s e-Bay shopping center, and it works.

The “KVCC Swap Meet” provides a forum to barter goods (made or grown) and to post information about services that can be provided -- painting, sewing, computer assistance, etc.

It can also be used to post an announcement about services or goods that are being sought.

There are five categories on the site: Services for Hire, Services Needed, Goods Wanted, Goods for Sale, and Miscellaneous.

This site is for KVCC employees only and is intended as a way for employees to network with each other for trade or sale purposes.

KVCC will not be responsible for any transactions or the satisfaction of either party, and will not enter into dispute resolution.

“KVCC Swap Meet” is housed on the Human Resources website under Quick Links.

To post a service or item, just click Post Ad, select the appropriate category, complete the online form and click submit.

Co-workers will be able to view the posting by the next business day. It is requested that the postings be made during non-working hours.

Among the services for hire are dog boarding to allow holiday get-aways for pet owners, music combos for events, interior and exterior painting, drywall repairs, deck staining, landscaping, and light-maintenance tasks.

The Swap Meet is also the place to connect with a medium for those who want to contact folks who are no longer among the living or to communicate with members of the animal kingdom.

For sale are more than 20 model tractors in mint condition, a breadmaker, a plantation saddle, an entertainment center, a washer and dryer, and fresh eggs.

Wanted are video games for a Playstation 3 a lead singer and instrumentalist for a church’s music group, and a men’s tennis racket.

Under the Miscellaneous category is hosting the opportunity to rent a bungalow in Carmel, Calif., and purchase tickets for the Civic Theatre’s upcoming production of “Annie.”

Documentaries complement race exhibit

Documentaries that focus on the sociological and behavioral aspects of the human phenomenon known as race are being shown at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in conjunction with the local stay of a nationally touring exhibit.

Visitors can enhance their experience of sampling “Race: Are We So Different” in the third-floor gallery through Jan. 2 with free screenings of acclaimed PBS documentaries in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

Booked for this month are showings of “Matters of Race,” the four-part, four-hour PBS documentary that discusses the "architecture" of race relations in the United States, and their relationship to political power and social standing.

The miniseries consists of six separate short films about racial issues, with subject matter ranging from the influx of Hispanics in the American minority pool and the ongoing tribulations of Native Americans and Hawaiians.

Titles of these films include “The Divide,” “Race Is/Race Ain't,” “We're Still Here,” and “Tomorrow's America.”

Here’s the schedule of double-header showings, each to begin at 2 p.m. in the Stryker Theater:

• 
  Saturday, Nov. 20: “We’re Still Here” and “Tomorrow’s America.”
  
• 
  Sunday, Nov. 21: “The Divide” and “Race Is/Race Ain’t.”
  

Questioning the idea of race as biology, the series suggests that such a belief in race is no more sound than believing that the sun revolves around the earth.

The division of people into distinct categories—“white,” “black,” “yellow,” or “red” — has become so widely accepted and so deeply rooted in the human psyche that most people would not think to question its veracity.

This three-hour documentary tackles the theory of race by subverting the idea of race as biology, tracing the idea back to its origin in the 19th century.

This basically is the thrust of the third-floor exhibit.

The segment on “The Difference Between Us” examines the contemporary sciences -- including genetics -- that challenges common-sense assumptions that human beings can be bundled into three or four fundamentally different groups according to their physical traits.

“The Story We Tell” episode traces the roots of the race concept in North America.

It also explores the 19^th-century science that legitimated it, and how it came to be held so fiercely in the western imagination.

The episode illustrates how race served to rationalize, even justify, American social inequalities as "natural."

“The House We Live In” explores how race resides not in nature but in politics, economics and culture. It reveals how social institutions "make" race by disproportionately channeling resources, power, status and wealth to white people.

3 planetarium shows can take us ‘out there’

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum planetarium's latest bank of shows for the fall includes two that were produced “in house” by planetarium coordinator Eric Schreur.

There is a $3 fee for shows in the full-color, Digistar 4 planetarium, although admission to the museum and its exhibitions are free.

The local productions are the 35-minute “Mystery of the Missing Moon” and “Starry Messenger” that also runs slightly longer than a half hour.

Here is the schedule of showings:

“Mystery of the Missing Moon” – a family show that began Oct. 31 and runs through Jan. 8. A 3-D animated classroom of fifth-graders learns the nature of moon phases, lunar eclipses, the importance of scientific integrity, and how different cultures create stories to explain the natural phenomenon around them. It runs daily at 11 a.m.

“Starry Messenger” – with bright stars and autumn constellations as background, this is a show through the eyes of legendary astronomer Galileo as the audience looks, via his “spy glass,” to see what he saw 400 years ago, forever changing the way humanity perceives the solar system and the universe. Its billings are 2 p.m. on Saturdays through Jan. 8.

“New Horizons” – from the edge of the solar system, a mountain-sized ball of frozen gases sweeps past the sun and planets, growing into an awe-inspiring comet. Along the way, viewers can experience violent volcanic eruptions, Saturn’s icy rings, and some of the planets and moons in Earth’s celestial neighborhood. With each exotic port of call, real data and images from modern space probes are transformed into stunning full-dome visualizations. Shows are 3 p.m. daily until Nov. 24.

It will be replaced on Nov. 26 by “Seasons of Light,” a 40-minute sky show about the origins of holiday symbols and how they are connected to the evening sky. This will be viewable through Jan. 8.

“Season of Lights” recounts the historical, religious, and cultural customs throughout time., and their Christian, Judaic, Celtic, Hopi, Roman, and Nordic roots.

“Eric did the 3-D animations in ‘Mystery of the Missing Moon,’” said planetarium staff member Kelley Dickenson. “He also plays the role of Galileo in ‘Starry Messenger.’ Very few planetariums have the capability to create shows from scratch.”

She reported that the latest indication of his skills was being designated the recipient of the Mallinson Institute for Science Education’s Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award at Western Michigan University.

Also part of the museum’s "Friday Night Highlights" agenda each week through Feb. 25 is an 8:30 p.m. showing of the planetarium show featuring the music of Pink Flood. That has a $3 admission fee.

With a laser-light show in full color streaming across the planetarium's 50-foot dome, the 50-minute production, complete with 3-D animated images, showcases the classic hits of Pink Floyd.

Rotating on Friday nights are the group’s songs from the albums “Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “The Wall.”

More information is available at the museum’s web site at www.kalamazoomuseum.org.

And finally. . .

So the story goes that Christopher Columbus was running out of supplies during one of his trips to “The New World.”

Knowing that an eclipse was to occur the next day, he played a little con game with the leader of the natives who really didn’t want to give any assistance to the strangers who arrived by sea.

Columbus played his ace in the hole as – somehow – he communicated this message: “The God who protects me will punish you. Unless you give me supplies this night, a vengeance will fall upon you and the moon shall lose its light.”

Sure enough, when the eclipse darkened the sky, Columbus and his guys got all the supplies they needed.

Fast forward a few centuries to the early 1900s when an Englishman tried to same swindle on a Sudanese chieftain.

“If you do not follow my order,” he warned, “vengeance will fall upon you and the moon will lose its light.”

“If you are referring to the lunar eclipse,” the Oxford-educated chieftain replied, “that doesn’t happen until the day after tomorrow.”