It is coming … the loudest, brightest celebration all year: Fourth of July Fireworks! Kick off the rabble-rousing beginning of the season for outdoor fun with these local celebrations.
Larry O. Dean and Jan Worth-Nelson lead this literary evening at Totem Books Thursday, June 8 from 5pm-7pm. The parking lot was packed as dozens listened to Dean and Worth-Nelson’s poetry, enjoyed refreshments and partook in stimulating conversation. Both have a background in writing and teaching, and are stellar examples of the great writing emanating from Flint.
Anyone who spends time Downtown Flint has probably seen the work of Paul Everett adorning many businesses, including the signs he made for The Loft and Churchill’s Food & Spirits. And if you’re out enjoying any local, live music – like jazz at Golden Leaf, Soggy Bottom or Churchill’s – you’ve probably seen Pauly there, drawing inspiration from the ambiance. He’s a full-time artist, curator for ArtWalk at Churchill’s, founder of Flint Underground, and a volunteer for art education programs. For Pauly, art is medicine for himself and the community.
Access to healthy food for everyone in the Flint community – that’s what the Flint Fresh Mobile Market is all about, according to Erin Caudell, co-owner of The Local Grocer in Downtown Flint. The Mobile Market has been up and running since August 2016 and is a nonprofit organization, the result of a group effort to address the lack of healthy food in certain areas of Flint. It is a partnership of the YMCA, Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Flint Farmers’ Market, Neighborhood Engagement Hub and The Local Grocer. “We received many grants that helped it come together,” Erin explains. “We were very lucky to get them!”
When Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line was first published in 1991, it emerged fully saturated and seething with Ben Hamper’s Flint; four generations of local shoprats, underground music, poetry, and one man’s story pulled from the anonymity of shop life. Rivethead began as a column called “Revenge of the Riveter” in Michael Moore’s underground publication, The Flint Voice.
Sweet, sour, salty, spicy … and just plain good. It’s been said that Empress of China restaurant in Flint offers some of the area’s best Mandarin and Szechuan cuisine, and My City Magazine readers agree – having voted the place their Favorite Chinese Restaurant in the 2016 City’s Choice Awards.
“A Day in The Life” by the Beatles has been the unchallenged No. 1 radio request across all ages through the years. It took 34 hours to record and was the final cut on their eighth studio album.
Amy McMillan, Director of the Genesee County Parks & Recreation Commission, has the best job in the world. In her official role, she not only works very hard, but also gets to enjoy what she is most passionate about — bicycling, kayaking and enjoying the great outdoors. In addition, she has the best view in Genesee County right outside her office window, overlooking Mott Lake.”The bird watching is great!” she exclaims. “I’ve seen bald eagles, deer and the march of the turtles to the lake! The turtles are my favorite.”
About four years ago, Sheila Crider had an experience that changed her life forever. More than anything, she disliked driving on snow-covered or icy roads. But she saw nothing threatening about the weather on a cold, winter day in January when she left her Fenton home to go to a Bible study. “I was driving on U.S. 23 and hit a patch of black ice,” she recalls, and after losing control of the vehicle, she crashed head-on into a tree. Her injuries included major damage to her pelvis and sacrum. “The doctors at Beaumont Hospital put me back together,” Sheila remembers, with tears in her eyes. She had always been active and strong, but nothing could have prepared her for the physical pain she endured. “I was a runner and a weightlifter. It was extremely humbling to have to use a walker.”
Shari Burdt will celebrate her 75th birthday in October, and according to her good friend, Jeniel Payne, Burdt is “the busiest lady I know!” Payne goes on to say, “I just hope that someday I can be like her, helping all these kids and the community.”
Honorable David Newblatt, Genesee County 7th District Court Family Division, presides over the Girls Court – a specialized prevention docket designed to meet the needs of adolescent girls who are under the Family Division’s jurisdiction. Judge Newblatt wanted to find a way to help the at-risk girls whose cases were on his docket, and after about a year of planning by a team of people, Girls Court was implemented in January 2015. According to the judge, there was only a handful of Girls Courts in the country, but there wasn’t one in Michigan. Genesee County was the first to implement it and now, Kent County is starting one.
