Terry Matlock, founder of Terry Matlock School of Performing Arts, began her dance education when shewas just three years old. “Dancing was my passion,” she shares. Growing up in Flint, Matlock started teaching dance in her parent’s basement studio at age 14. “I charged 50 cents a class,” she remembers. Her very first student, Mary Blevins, is now one of her teachers and studio manager. When Matlock was 18, she rented her first commercial building for her dance school and her students’ first recital was held at Freeman Elementary School.
The eighth chancellor of the University of Michigan-Flint is an engineering educator and longtime academic administrator. Debasish Dutta served in senior administrative positions at several Big Ten institutions including Michigan, Illinois, Purdue and Rutgers, where he served as chancellor. He now lives in Flint with his wife, Fataneh Taghaboni-Dutta, Ph.D., who was a faculty member at UM-Flint for nearly 20 years. Chancellor Duttta is thrilled to return home to Michigan and seeks to make a positive contribution to the revitalization of Flint and Genesee County.
In 1970, during a large, national teachers’ strike, a few college grads saw a need for a new kind of education in Flint. They saw the need for an alternative to the private and public schools in the area, so they established The Valley School as Flint’s only independent, secular K-12 school. Since its beginning, Valley has welcomed students of all nationalities, races, religious and economic backgrounds. They strive to provide a safe place for students to learn and prepare for the next step. They are strictly a college preparatory school and it is something they do well. “Our kids attend colleges all over the United States and at home, from Mott to the University of Michigan to the Ivy League,” says Nancy Brandt, Counselor. “We are so proud of all of them.”
The week before the main event weekend, thousands of car enthusiasts gathered for B2B events in six Greater Flint locales for food, music, giveaways and tons of family-friendly fun. Here are some scenes from Back to the Bricks Tune Up Week parties sponsored by Elga Credit Union!
At Fenton Center of Hope, the vision is “to serve our neighbors who are hungry and in need of resources resulting in a better quality of life.” The founders, Bob and Jennifer Strygulec, previously ran a Food Pantry and Baby Closet at the Freedom Center Church in Fenton. The couple founded Center of Hope as a non-profit in 2016. The husband/wife team eventually gave up their respective careers in finance and interior design to further their work in addressing the needs of the less fortunate and to provide even more services. “We knew we needed to be here full time,” Jennifer reports. “We see so many of the same people, generations of the same family reaching out for help. Bob had a heart to really do something to change people’s lives and to look at the underlying causes.” Bob adds, “Our thought was: What could we do to help people make a long-term, substantial change?”
Teaching courage, confidence and character for more than 100 years, Girl Scouts is on a mission to change the world one girl at a time and they’re doing it in ways you may not realize.
Get ready for Labor Day weekend with this East Coast favorite. While growing up in Maryland, our Labor Day picnic was a seafood feast. The picnic table was covered in newspaper. Maryland blue fin crabs were steamed in Old Bay seasoning and put on a platter in the center of the table. Old Bay seasoning is a mix of celery salt, paprika, and black and red pepper, and is most commonly used on seafood. Cole slaw and buttered sweet corn were the sides, not to mention a pitcher of ice-cold beer!
Don’t have any plans yet for Labor Day weekend? You don’t have to travel far to have a great time on summer’s last holiday. Here are some events, festivals and things to do just a short distance away.
It’s opening weekend for high school football in Genesee County and the Vehicle City Gridiron Classic returns to Atwood Stadium. Most Greater Flint schools are back in session with the rest starting after Labor Day, but the great Genesee County student athletes have already been hard at work for weeks. Cross Country, girls golf and boys soccer have already begun with more sports soon to follow.
