Flint, Michigan – April 24, 2015 – The City of Flint has been named a “Tree City USA” for the 15th consecutive year by the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of the City’s effective urban forest management. To receive this honor, Flint and its partner the Genesee Conservation District, met the Tree City USA program’s four requirements of having either a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum, because some things are worth preserving. Turns out, they’re just around the corner. At your Genesee County Parks. Here are some events that are coming up!
Longway Planetarium will reopen as Michigan’s largest and most modern planetarium with a celebration that’s out of this world on May 30 & 31, 2015. During this weekend, all shows in the radically different planetarium theater are free and open to the public compliments of ITC Holdings. (ITC) The fun will kick off with star shows in the radically different planetarium theater on Saturday at 10am. For complete details including show schedule and trailers of the shows, visit SloanLongway.org.
Pause for a moment and consider the word Islam. What comes to mind? Images of terrorists boarding planes on September 11, hooded men executing Syrian soldiers and beheading Christians in the name of religion, an Iranian woman buried chest-level and stoned to death under Islamic law, or Muslim college students murdered in North Carolina might come to mind.
I wanted to write a story about my grandfathers. My father’s father was a big band leader in the ‘30s in Grand Rapids. He had a band called Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression, and I just thought that was the best name in the world! I also wanted to tell the story about my mother’s father who was a pitcher in the Negro Baseball League. The story started out being about them. But as it evolved, it turned into the story of a ten-year-old orphan, Bud. When you are writing, you always put a little of yourself in there, too. There were many times when I was a little boy that I wanted to run away from home, but I was too smart. I knew what hunger felt like and I didn’t want it. After the first missed meal, I would have been back!
Like most fathers, Mike Abbott imparted sayings to his children he hoped would stick in their minds as they found their way through life. His went something like this: “What is taken away once is given back twice.”
Sometimes, the simplest things are the best. And nothing is simpler than a crepe, a light and very delicate French pancake. It’s what you put in it or on it, however, that transforms this simple pancake into a gustatory sensation.
Family-owned lumber yards are nearly a thing of the past, but hidden on the outer edge of Downtown Flint is Michigan Lumber Company, doing business at the same location for almost 100 years! Now, with the third generation at the helm, MLC continues to operate under the philosophies established by their forefathers – to sell only the finest quality lumber.
As the top official in a university setting, a chancellor is responsible for the entire faculty and student body as well as the financial health and well-being of the school.
The first-prize winner of the 2015 William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition is pianist Baron Fenwick of New York. Baron performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 to a welcoming Flint audience at the competition March 7 at the J. Dallas Dort Music Center. At 20 years old, he is a third-year undergraduate student at Mannes College The New School for Music in New York and already has extensive experience as a soloist at numerous concerts, events and festivals around the country as well as other music competitions. This was his second experience in the prestigious Byrd competition, competing previously at age 16.
The religion of Islam embodies a modest culture and lifestyle for both men and women. During activities, men and women remain separate from one another. They have prayer time at five intervals during the day. At the mosque, men traditionally pray in front of the women so they are not distracted by them, not as a sign of superiority, explains Dr. Mohammed Saleem, of the Flint Islamic Center. Muslims may avoid sustained eye contact when talking with a person of the opposite gender, which is a sign of modesty and respect. Women are encouraged to vote and may work outside of the home if they choose. “Men are responsible for providing for the family, but women are not prevented from working,” says Dr. Saleem, whose wife and daughters also have medical careers.
