At only one pound, five ounces, Kaidyn was considered a micro preemie, on the smaller end of the scale for babies found in the Hurley Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit. “He was so tiny, my wedding ring could fit on his arm,” Alicia remembered, “and my husband Terry’s ring fit on his leg.” Given his size, the official chance of Kaidyn’s survival was 50:50, and even then, the doctors thought the likeliness that he would have developmental or health issues was significant. But Alicia says that she never doubted he would make it. “I give glory to God for his story, and I am so grateful to the NICU team at Hurley,” she says.
Born to parents who met in Flint after migrating from the South, Bruce grew up surrounded by and immersed in music. “My father was the oldest of his siblings, so our house was the meeting place for the whole extended family. Every weekend, it was packed with people, and music was a big part of those gatherings. My sister and I used to practice dancing with the TV show American Bandstand. I was pretty good and my dad was so proud of us. He’d call us out to give little performances in front of the family.” As a child, Bruce remembers his sister’s friends loving to practice dancing with him too. “When I went to school, I used to dance with the girls at recess while the boys played ball,” he chuckled, “so I guess you could say I was endeared to dance from a young age.” In middle school, Bruce taught his friends to dance in preparation for parties. “Dancing was part of the social fabric of the black community,” he remembered, “because music in general played such a huge role. Fabulous black musicians performed in Flint, and after their sets, they came to houses like my aunt’s and played for us all night.” By the time Bruce was in high school, he was involved in sports like wrestling, football and swimming, but dancing remained an important part of his social life. “All the kids would practice, you know, when a big dance was coming up,” he explained.
When My City Magazine visited the flower shop, preparations were underway for a bustling Valentine’s Day – the warehouse was full of flowers being processed. Eighty-five percent of the flowers Vogt’s uses are grown in Columbia and Ecuador, but they also use sources in Florida, Hawaii and Canada. The most popular flower is the rose, without question. On Valentine’s Day, Vogt’s will sell between 15,000 and 20,000 roses. Over 100 staff members will man the shops and at least 37 delivery drivers will drive all over town. Inside the warehouse, 18 floral designers prepare arrangements and place them in an area that is turned into a cooler for pre-delivery storage. While the number of Valentine’s Day pre-orders is impressive, robust walk-in sales make the day even crazier. “It’s quite the day,” laughs Kreg, “but we do a really nice job for our cash-and-carry customers, too. They don’t get the short end of the stick.”
The brainchild of Norman Bryant, the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame has been recognizing and preserving the achievement of African American athletes in the Flint area since 1983. “Flint is a sports town,” says the founder, “and it always has been. We have such a rich history of athletes here, dating all the way back to 1917.” Norm says that the point of the Hall of Fame is to remember the accomplishments of black athletes so that kids today can learn how these “pioneers” paved the way for today’s Flintstones. “We had Flintstones back in the 20s and 30s,” Norm said, “and kids won’t ever know that unless we tell them.”
“We have a great group of guys who are great to play hockey with and hang out with,” said Mark Look, who was tied for the team scoring lead 24 games into the season with 19 goals and 11 assists. “We’ve become a close group on the ice and know each other’s strengths.” Look’s sentiments are echoed by Cody Damon, who was part of several successful junior teams in three states. “What I love about this team is playing with a group that has so much heart and works hard together,” said Damon, who contributed 13 goals and 13 assists in his first 20 games of the season.
Anthony wasn’t always so appreciative of fine art. While working at the Ruth Mott Foundation, he was introduced to the Mott-Warsch Collection of African American art. One day, while looking at the work of Jacob Lawrence, a prominent African-American artist, he made a flippant comment to the exhibition’s curator, Camille Ann Brewer: “My son can draw better than that.” Camille told Anthony to do a little research on the artist and the painting in question and to come back to talk more about it afterward. “I came back eating a lot of humble pie,” Anthony laughs. After digging into the artist’s background, Anthony learned that Lawrence’s Toussaint L’Ouverture series tells the visual story of a Haitian revolution leader’s life. Lawrence uses history and his own personal experience to explain human nature. “When I learned about the painting and the artist, I realized I was learning about black history for the first time,” Anthony remembered. Now, Lawrence is one of Anthony’s favorite artists of all time.
