We wait all winter to browse the fresh produce in the warmth of the sun. Visiting Greater Flint farmers markets is a great way to fill your pantry with healthy food while supporting local farms. You can also support local artisans – many talented craftspeople display their works at these venues. Bottom line: farmers markets are the very essence of summer fun for everyone!
This year, Genesee County Parks, the state’s largest county park system with over 11,000 acres and more than 40 locations, celebrates its 50th anniversary. According to Danielle Fulcher, Communications, Event and Brand Manager at Genesee County Parks & Recreation (GCPR), it’s going to be a year-long event. “It’s a whole year of celebration!” she exclaims, adding there will be different happenings every month. And according to an official GCPR press statement, it is also 50 years of celebrating the best of nature, 50 years of preserving the Great Lakes history and heritage, 50 years of offering a tremendous recreational infrastructure to the people of Genesee County and beyond. GCPR is also celebrating 50 years of support from the people of Genesee County, says Fulcher, who’ve made it possible to create, protect, nurture and grow the largest, most diverse and best county park system in Michigan.
The Junior League of Flint recently celebrated their 90th anniversary. Incorporated in 1928, this women’s group has maintained its focus on the health, well-being and education of women and children in the Flint community through ongoing volunteerism, donations and fundraising for local nonprofits. The mission includes developing its volunteers through training and education into leadership roles with an emphasis that self-improvement adds to the community.
The Salvation Army Flint Citadel Band celebrates a milestone this year – its 125th Anniversary. My City Magazine is proud to help The Salvation Army celebrate the rich history of the organization and the Citadel Band.
May 6 is National Nurses Day, the first day of National Nurses Week, which ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale. Nightingale became known as the founder of professional nursing for her pioneering work during the Crimean War. National Nurses Week was first observed in October 1954, the 100th anniversary of Nightingale’s mission to Crimea. She became known as “The Lady with the Lamp” due to her habit of making nightly rounds by lantern light.
Blue pinwheels can be seen on the lawns of businesses across Genoese County in the month of April. Why? April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and the color blue and the pinwheels are the nationally recognized symbol for child abuse prevention.
The Links Incorporated is an international, not-for-profit corporation established in 1946, according to Linda Morris Belford, a longtime member of the Flint Area Chapter. The organization’s membership is comprised of professional women of color who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. “It is one of the oldest and largest volunteer organizations in the country,” she reports, adding that there are now over 300 Chapters and approximately 43,000 members in 41 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
According to the Flint & Genesee Literacy Network Fact Sheet, 29 percent of 4th graders in Genesee County are below the State of Michigan’s standard in reading. The link between childhood literacy and adult success, including a link between low literacy and incarceration rates, has been documented. In order to improve the lives of the future generations in Genesee County, many new literacy initiatives are in the works. One of the newest is the CONNECT program.
Today’s electronic networking – via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media platforms – didn’t exist back in 1980, when the Flint Women’s Forum (FWF) first began.
Trayvon “Cam” Johnson, seventh grader at Carman-Ainsworth Middle School, never thought about attending college before meeting Chris McLavish, the founder of the non-profit CMB Basketball and Johnson’s coach. McLavish hand-picked him three years ago, during a try-out to play point guard on his CMB Runnin’ Rebels Boys Elite Amateur Athletic Union Flint Travel Basketball Team, which is ranked top five in the state of Michigan.
In February, the nation honors the contributions of African Americans to U.S. history. The observance became a month-long celebration in 1976. This month was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. It is a time to reflect on the past, how far we have come and how far we still have to go. Here are some of the planned events happening in Flint to engage in and celebrate Black History Month.
