There’s a place in Fenton where all the meats are cooked “low and slow” and the results are absolutely delicious. Beale St. Smokehouse BBQ recently moved to a new location, the former John’s Pizzeria & Restaurant. Co-owned by Phil Canup and his daughter Lisa Reading, the eatery has been serving real Memphis-style slow-smoked pork, brisket, ribs and chicken since 2006.
Founded in 2017 by Pastor Derrick Watkins of Jachin Baptist Church in Flint, Active Boys In Christ (ABC) is a mentoring program that works directly with children and families. The mission of the charitable organization is to “empower the Flint community youth and families through skilled trades, culinary and life-skills that will promote and celebrate lifelong learning for the success of youth and families.”
It’s all about the show. When that first note hits, when the riff takes off, Vicariant explodes. “It’s all energy and right from the start we are all into it,” says guitarist Jake Morrison. “We just want to play anywhere and everywhere,” adds guitarist Zak Held. “Really, we believe success is 40% music and 60% show.” The band’s frenetic live performances and raucous rock sound has been turning heads in Greater Flint and around the state since its inception nearly a decade ago. Their reputation is such that they were voted “Favorite Local Band” in the My City Magazine 2022 City’s Choice Awards, despite not being able to play a local live show since the pandemic began. It was an award of anticipation for their next big production. “Yeah, when I first heard that we had won, I was shocked,” says Held. “I mean, we haven’t been able to play live much for nearly two years.” That will change soon in a big way with the band rumbling straight forward, refreshed and hell bent on a dynamic end to the year with new music and upcoming shows.
A Certified Tourism Ambassador for around six years, Amber has been the Back to the Bricks® Executive Director since January 2020. Once chosen for the position, she shifted straight into high gear, coming up with new ideas for growing the event and attracting a younger crowd to appreciate Flint’s rich automotive history. She will be on hand for the Tune Up Week Parties happening around Genesee County during the week of August 8-13 2022. While Amber has been super-busy promoting Back to the Bricks, she took some time to answer a few questions and let us get up-close and personal … read on!
At Native House Ceramic Co., Meg Bundy harnesses the beauty, power, durability and forgiveness of the earth and its elements to create timeless inspirations and facsimiles of our planet and our shared ancestral stories. “The Earth is our shared native house,” she states. “We all have an innate ability to live closer to nature.”
In the late 1920s, Flint was hoppin’. The automobile industry was driving population, production, innovation and expansion. The city as we know it today was mainly shaped during this time period. In 1928, Hurley Hospital was built, the Kearsley Dam was installed forming the Kearsley Reservoir, the Flint Institute of Arts was founded by George Crapo Wilson, Northern High School was opened on McClellan Avenue (the first Central-Northern football game was held as a result), the Capitol Theatre opened its doors and the C.S. Mott Foundation bestowed its first grants. General Motors was in the middle of record-breaking success and, in 1928, built its 5 millionth car. They were the law of the land and employed nearly 80% of all working men in the area. Flint was a GM town and, with a change in public charter, ruled it from the top down … that is until a little event that happened in 1936 changed the public support to that of the working man.
Established in 1946, the Genesee Conservation District (GCD) was created to protect the environment and natural resources in Genesee County. “We are a grassroots organization,” explains Administrator Angela Warren. “The GCD was formed as a result of the effects of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Our aim is to work with landowners and land managers of public and private land to implement conservation best management practices.” Like other Michigan Conservation Districts, GCD is governed by a local, publicly-elected, five-member board serving four-year terms.
A random flier on a bulletin board was all Greater Flint Pilots Association (GFPA) President Eric Johnson needed to see. “After earning my pilot’s license in Owosso, I was looking for a little bit more freedom to fly,” he recalls. “I remembered a flier for the GFPA I had on a bulletin board. They were just what I was looking for.” Before the GFPA, Johnson was renting planes at the Owosso flight school where he earned his license, but they were always in use by students and instructors. He could only fly an hour here or there and longer trips were out of the question. At GFPA, trips of a week or more aren’t uncommon and it’s not unusual to check out a plane, fly to Mackinac Island for lunch and head home for dinner. “That’s called the $200 dollar hamburger trip,” Johnson laughs.
For young people who’ve dreamed of flying through the air and looking down at the beauty of the Earth, Genesee County has a place where that dream can come true. Since 2018, the Genesee Career Institute (GCI), a part of the Genesee Intermediate School District (GISD) has been training young pilots from the area through their Aviation Academy, setting them up for a lucrative career in aviation. “It all started when a group of gentlemen from the Greater Flint Pilot’s Association (GFPA) alerted us to the declining numbers of pilots and aviation enthusiasts in Genesee County and they presented us with a unique program,” says Diana Allard, GISD Executive Director of Career Technical Education. “We did a need assessment and found that there were enough high school students who wanted to be pilots to justify it.”
In the beginning, Ellen Tomek’s rowing goals were rather modest.
It’s bright! It’s fun! It’s engaging! It’s the new Sloan Museum and on July 16, its doors will be open for the world to behold its wonders. The project which began as an idea nearly seven years ago has come to completion … and the final product is absolutely astounding. “When I started almost eight years ago,” recalls Sloan Executive Director Todd Slisher, “one of the first things I was asked was ‘what are you going to do about Sloan?’ Well, after years of community input and fundraising, we are ready and we are all very excited to bring this to Flint.”
