In early February, Patrick Scanlon assumed a new role as Executive Director of the Flint River Watershed Coalition (FRWC).
March is Women’s History Month and Greater Flint has produced its share of heroines throughout the years. From the arts, healthcare, education, civil rights and more, local women have been (and continue to be) a major force in the molding and shaping of Genesee County and our nation. There is no doubt that without the influence and courage of women working for a better world from the pioneer days to our current time, we would never have achieved all the best of our cities or realized our true potential.
Davison native Caitlin Hinterman has had an exciting life during her career with the U.S. Army Reserve. She recently obtained a very high honor when she was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and is currently serving as the Aide de Camp to four-star General Jacqueline Van Ovost.
Ed Watkins is always listening, thinking, paying attention to the world around him. All the available information is taken in, sorted, analyzed, understood, extracted and then represented visually for himself and those around him. Each illustration he creates is a window into his world – a world of hope, fear and confidence, of anxiety, struggle and peace. It is evidence of a world of his experience, of the African American experience and of our collective humanity. It is a world only he knows and with each drawing, he provides just the briefest glimpse of a perspective different from our own. “My art develops as the world develops,” he explains. “Much of my work is about me making sense of the world around me through my experience as a Black man in America.”
By the time Arvid Ehrmantraut celebrated his 83rd birthday just after Thanksgiving in 2007, he had lived a full, fulfilling life.
By the late 1870s, manufacturing and factories were beginning to dominate the City of Flint, taking the lead from the lumber and mill industries. Carriages filled the streets; banks were busy creating the world of finance and technological advances offered new opportunities through communication and the advent of affordable electricity. During this time period, the first telephones were placed in businesses and homes, and street lamps were installed along Saginaw Street. The mayors of this time played multiple roles in city government and social organizations, and helped to start the city’s manufacturing revolution as the last of the area’s lumber barons began to fade away.
On March 12, the Flint Symphony Orchestra will continue the 2021-2022 season’s Classical Concert Series, “RENEWAL The Timeless Healing Power of Music Inspired by Nature.” The FSO and Maestro Enrique Diemecke will be joined by multi-award-winning violinist Andrés Cárdenes. In 1980, Cardenas won the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition, an international music competition sponsored by the St. Cecilia Society of Flint in collaboration with the Flint Institute of Music and the FSO.
Beginning her career in the field of aging in 1999 as a social worker/case manager, Aubert held many positions with Valley Area Agency on Aging (VAAA) before being promoted to President/CEO in 2018. The VAAA “provides answers, action and advocacy on care for the elderly and disabled adults of Genesee, Lapeer and Shiawassee Counties by enhancing lives, empowering choice, sustaining independence and supporting caregivers and families.”
On February 24, the Genesee District Library will recognize the 2022 Black History Month honorees with a virtual event that will air on ABC12. Created in 2002 by the Genesee District Library, this annual celebration of notable community servants highlights three inspiring individuals and one organization selected by the Black History Month Brunch Advisory Committee.
The first time Nate Brown saw an African-American Chef was at 25 years of age. “I mean, that’s crazy, right?” he asked. “I was just flipping through the TV channels and I stopped at Chef G. Garvin’s show and this dude was cooking! And he had a pretty cool watch.” Brown went out and bought the ingredients needed to make the same meal and he got to work. It wasn’t the best, but it was a start. “For weeks after, I found myself thinking about cooking all day at work,” he laughs. Then, Brown made a dish of his own and secretly put it on the table at a family open house. “I snuck it up there and then just sat back and watched. Everybody was enjoying it, so I finally told them I was the one who made it. That’s when I decided to become a chef. That was it.” Brown studied culinary arts at Mott Community College before completing his education at The Art Institute of Michigan, graduating in 2010.
In the very beginning, Rebecca Zeiss tried her best NOT to be a photographer. Because of her last name (the Zeiss company has been a worldwide leader in photographic lenses since 1890), she wanted to make a personal impact with a different style or artform. She studied painting and drawing at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and took a photography class solely as a way to document and showcase her creations. That class, however, led to photography as a hobby and eventually a profession. In the end, she couldn’t escape it.
