On the latest episode of WKTV Journal: In Focus, we present an interview Dr. Abdullah Alrebh an assistant professor of Sociology of Religion and Sociological Theory at Grand Valley State University. He has published a number of academic articles and book chapters focusing on religion, the Middle East, social movements, and education.
Described by one expert as being a country Americans “know so much, yet so little” about, Saudi Arabia in much in the news recently, so we wanted to talk with someone who knows the country and the Arabian Peninsula region intimately.
With Dr. Alrebh, we discuss the history of the Saudi government, its relationship with the West, especially its military and economic ties with the United States, and what the current controversy triggered by the murder of a prominent Saudi critic could mean in the future.
Dr. Alrebh will also be speaking as part of a World Affairs Council of West Michigan discussion series titled “Shifting Sands in the Arabian Peninsula” at Grand Valley State University’s Seidman College of Business in Grand Rapids.
He will speak, Tuesday, Nov.13, focused on Saudi Arabia, with the final talk on Tuesday, Nov. 20, focused on Yemen, with Dr. Gamal Gasim, also of Grand Valley State University. For more information visit worldmichigan.org .
“WKTV Journal: In Focus” airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (see our Weekly On-air Schedule for dates and times). But all interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal: In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
Each week WKTV features an adoptable pet—or few—from an area shelter. This week’s beauty is from Crash’s Landing. Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary rescue organizations were founded by Jennifer Denyes, DVM (Dr. Jen), who is on staff at Clyde Park Veterinary Clinic (4245 Clyde Park Ave SW).
August of 2018 sure brought us our (un)fair share of cats that needed our assistance, and our sanctuary head count grew quite a bit due to the number of cats with either Feline Leukemia or FIV that were helpless and homeless. A Grand Rapids resident stumbled across this bedraggled boy, took him in to be checked out only to discover he had FELV AND an owner — who refused to contact her or the microchip company. Sadly the rescuer wasn’t in a position to keep him, and he badly needed further medical attention, so she asked for our help in getting her 6-year-old rescue (born in the summer of 2012) off the streets and into someplace safe.
It would be nice to say that Dr. Jen’s first meeting with this guy was love at sight — but it wasn’t. This scruffy orange and white fella wanted NOTHING to do with Dr. Jen and expressed his disdain for the situation he was in by lashing out and lacerating her with his dagger-like nails; what a little pistol he proved to be! Dr. Jen chalked up his less-than-desirable attitude to the fact his teeth were rotting out of his head and considered the fact that he was underweight (probably had tremendous difficulty eating) and had been shaved prior to his arrival in hopes of removing some of the skin-tight mats that caused focal areas of inflammation scabbing and scaling.
So Dr. Jen forgave the ‘hot mess’ his momentary lapse in judgment and let it be known that if he dropped the tough guy act once and for all, life would treat him better than he could possibly imagine.
Needless to say, it took Remington several days to simmer down in his new surroundings and realize that not everyone was out to get him, but he took to shelter life much better than we anticipated. He still tends to growl when overwhelmed or if you come near him wielding a brush, but besides his initial attack on the good doc, he is not one to raise a paw to another cat or human to express his uneasiness. He has shown us that the way to his heart is through his stomach via endless bowls of yummy canned food; you can do no wrong when you fill his belly!
Remington has calmed down significantly in the month after his arrival, and secretly we think has developed a fondness for his caretakers, as he has been caught sneaking down the hallway after lights out at night to watch his humans as they depart; he may feign disinterest, but deep down we have grown on him. Besides stuffing his cheeks, Remington is most happy when he can perch on a sunny windowsill and watch the birds at the feeder. And although he doesn’t chum around with other cats, he doesn’t go out of his way to pester them, as he believes in keeping to his own space and respecting that of the others.
He has slowly learned to trust his food sources and is finding us to provide good company, though we feel that the type of home life that would be suit him is one where he can get comfortable at his own pace. Patience will definitely be the key to a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship between him and his person, but the rewards to be reaped will be worth the wait. We can see the potential in our Remi and want him to be able to find a place in this world that will provide him a gentle place for his soul to claim peace and his body and mind to finally flourish.
More about Remington:
Medium
Domestic Medium Hair
Adult
Male
House-trained
Vaccinations up to date
Neutered
Not declawed
Prefers a home without children
Want to adopt Remington? Learn about the adoption process here. Fill out a pre-adoption form here.
Can’t adopt, but still want to help? Find out how you can sponsor a cat!
Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary have a common mission: To take at-risk stray cats off the streets of the Greater Grand Rapids area, provide them with veterinary care and house them in free-roaming, no-kill facilities until dedicated, loving, permanent homes can be found.
Kizombo Kalumbula has seen the ravages of war and genocide. His homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo was torn apart by decade-long hostilities that killed over 5 million citizens. Today, Kalumbula is co-founder and pastor at Tabernacle Community Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His doctoral studies in health psychology are aimed at understanding resiliency among traumatized individuals, with applications for people of his native Congo as well as those touched by his daily urban ministry.
After starting off the season with a rocky 1-3 record, Godwin Heights high school’s football team has been on a 4-game win streak bringing the Wolverines to the brink of an playoffs. And the team shows no indication of slowing down anytime soon.
The Wolverines look to may make Friday night’s game against Wyoming Lee their sixth win of the season locking them into the playoffs.
This week’s game against Wyoming Lee is big for first-year head coach Brandon Kimble and his team, as a win against the Rebels will return Godwin Heights to the playoffs. Although Lee is sitting at a rough 1-8 on the season, Kimble isn’t taking Friday night’s game lightly.
“These kids want to finish their season strong just like how we want to finish our season,” Kimble said to WKTV this week. “We did some good things to get us to this point, but what a way to ruin everything you’ve done than to overlook an opponent.”
Deamonte Clark, a senior running back and cornerback, isn’t taking this week lightly either. Clark says he knows that childhood best friend and Lee wide receiver/safety Nalin Mena and his team will be putting up a fight in their final battle of the season.
“You can’t take anyone lightly,” Clark said. “… Nalin Mena is going to give it all he’s got, so we have to give it all we got.”
Godwin Heights lost their first two games of the season, events that may have worried the Godwin faithful. But after turning their season around in just four weeks, Kimble is proud of his teams successful season.
“For me, it’s a really exciting time, if I’m being honest,” Kimble said. “… It’s my first year and I’m the head coach. You want to do things right and you want to make sure you take the program in the right way and continue it in the (team’s) trajectory that it was going, so getting into the playoffs would solidify that.”
WKTV coverage plans for Friday, Oct. 19
The WKTV sports truck can not be at two places at once, but we are planning to come close. WKTV will have sports crews out at both the Rockford at East Kentwood game, and the Lee at Godwin Heights game, on Friday, Oct. 19.
The East Kentwood game will be rebroadcast in its entirety on Comcast WKTV Channel 25 and on AT&T U-Verse Community 99 on the night of the game (Friday) at 11 p.m. and Saturday starting at 11 a.m.
Highlights of the game at Godwin Heights will be up on WKTV’s YouTube channel early next week. Check it out at WKTVvideos on YouTube.
WKTV will also be doing Facebook Live reports from both games. Check them out at WKTV.org on Facebook.
A lot of talent has been fêted over the past two decades as the Annual Grand Awards have celebrated and rewarded inspired performances from top productions of a given year, from children’s theater to community and college musicals and plays. This event, comparable to the Tony Awards, is complete with performances, awards, and most importantly the handing out of scholarships to young students pursuing a career in theater.
After reveling 22 theater seasons with the Grand Awards, this will be the last year that it continues under its current format. Stay tuned in the coming years because something new and revamped will take its place highlighting the scholarship recipients.
The night will celebrate the scholarship recipients, enjoy some repeat performances from the 2017-2018 theater season, acknowledge stand-out performances from the year with awards and enjoy the company of some of Grand Rapids’ MOST talented all under one roof.
This year’s Grand Awards ceremony will be held at Fountain Street Church (24 Fountain St. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503) in downtown Grand Rapids on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 6pm. Following the ceremony, there will be an after party in the fellowship hall of Fountain Street Church complete with a DJ, food, drinks, and fun going until 11pm.
Tickets for the 22nd Annual Grand Awards can be purchased here using credit cards for $40 (general admission and seating). General admission tickets at the door will be cash only. All ticketing for students (with proper ID), nominees, and Grand Awards event performers will be handled at the door the night of the event (cash only):
Grand Awards event performer: $30
Students: $20
Nominees: $10 (must be an individual nominee)
And, the nominees are…
Outstanding Play
The Whale at Actors’ Theatre
A Few Good Men at Circle Theatre
Leading Ladies at Circle Theatre
All the Way at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Torch Song Trilogy Act III: Widows and Children First at Jewish Theatre
Fool for Love at Heritage Theatre
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play
Jason Stamp as ‘Charlie’ in The Whale at Actors’ Theatre
Todd Lewis as ‘Lt. Col. Nathan Jessep’ in A Few Good Men at Circle Theatre
Spencer Tomlin as ‘Leo’ in Leading Ladies at Circle Theatre
Jon March as ‘Lyndon Baines Johnson’ in All The Way at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Shane German as ‘Arnold Beckoff’ in Torch Song Trilogy Act III: Widows and Children First at Jewish Theatre
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play
Isaac Thornson as ‘David’ in Torch Song Trilogy Act III: Widows and Children First at Jewish Theatre
David Houseman as ‘Butch’ in Leading Ladies at Circle Theatre
Jason Stamp as ‘Florence’ in Leading Ladies at Circle Theatre
GM (Bud) Thompson as ‘Senator Richard Russel’ in All The Way at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Eddie Stephens as ‘Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’ in All The Way at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play
Chelsea Pummill as ‘Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Galloway in A Few Good Men at Circle Theatre
Liz Brand as ‘Meg’ in Leading Ladies at Circle Theatre
Brooke Bruce as ‘May’ in Fool for Love at Heritage Theatre
Lori Jacobs as ‘Olive’ in Olive and The Bitter Herbs at Jewish Theatre
Mary Brown as ‘Toinette’ in The Imaginary Invalid at Master Arts Theatre
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play
Madeline Jones as ‘Ellie’ in The Whale at Actors’ Theatre
Emily Wetzel as ‘Audrey’ in Leading Ladies at Circle Theatre
Margi Hankins as ‘Ladybird Johnson’ in All the Way at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Shavonne T. Coleman as ‘Wendy’ in Olive and The Bitter Herbs at Jewish Theatre
Bernice Houseward as ‘Mrs. Beckoff’ in Torch Song Trilogy Act III: Widows and Children First at Jewish Theatre
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play
Isaac Thornson as ‘David’ as Torch Song Trilogy Act III: Widows and Children First at Jewish Theatre
David Houseman as ‘Butch’ in Leading Ladies at Circle Theatre
Jason Stamp as ‘Florence’ in Leading Ladies at Circle Theatre
GM (Bud) Thompson as ‘Senator Richard Russel’ in All The Way at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Eddie Stephens as ‘Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’ in All The Way at Grand Rapids Civc Theatre
Outstanding Direction of a Play
Fred Sebulske for The Whale at Actors’ Theatre
Tom Kaechele for Leading Ladies at Circle Theatre
Bruce Tinker for All the Way at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Rachel Finan for Fool for Love at Heritage Theatre
Michelle Urbane for Torch Song Trilogy Act III: Widows and Children First at Jewish Theatre
Outstanding Musical
If/Then at Actors’ Theatre
Fun Home at Circle Theatre
Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
On the Town at Circle Theatre
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Nathaniel Beals as ‘Narrator’ in Passing Strange at Actors’ Theatre
Jason Morrison as ‘Bruce’ in Fun Home at Circle Theatre
Matt Tepper as ‘The Baker’ in Into the Woods at Circle Theatre
Scott Mellema as ‘Shrek’ in Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Jason Morrison as ‘Daddy Warbucks’ in Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical
David Houseman as ‘Lucas’ in If/Then at Actors’ Theatre
Darius Tq Colquitt as ‘Mr. Franklin’/’Joop’/’Mr. Venus’ in Passing Strange at Actors’ Theatre
Charles Hutchins as ‘Alfred P Doolittle’ in My Fair Lady at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Titus Hankins as ‘Donkey’ in Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Kyle Cain as ‘Lord Farquaad’ in Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Cullen Dyk as ‘Pinocchio’ in Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical
Molly Jones as ‘Elizabeth’ in If/Then at Actors’ Theatre
Evangelie Vander Ark as ‘Small Alison’ in Fun Home at Circle Theatre
Kelly Carey as ‘The Witch’ in Into the Woods at Circle Theatre
Carly Uthoff as ‘Princess Fiona’ in Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Alyssa Bauer as ‘Eliza Doolittle’ in My Fair Lady at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical
Caitlin Cusack as ‘Helen’ in Fun Home at Circle Theatre
Madeline Jones as ‘Medium Alison’ in Fun Home at Circle Theatre
Morgan Anding as ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’/’Gingy’ in Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Kira Alsum as ‘Grace’ in Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Darla Carrier as ‘Madame Dilly’/’Little Old Lady’/’Club Singer’ in On the Town at Circle Theatre
Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Jolene Frankey for Fun Home at Circle Theatre
Todd Avery for Into the Woods at Circle Theatre
Bruce Tinker for Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Allyson Paris for Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Penelope Notter for On the Town at Circle Theatre
Outstanding Choreography
Torrey Thomas for Passing Strange at Actors’ Theatre
Torrey Thomas for Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Melissa Sefton for Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Erin Kacos for My Fair Lady at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
William Schutte for On the Town at Circle Theatre
Outstanding Musical Direction
Scott Patrick Bell for If/Then at Actors’ Theatre
Brendan Hollins for Into the Woods at Circle Theatre
Charles Hutchins for Shrek at Grand Rapids Civc Theatre
Charles Hutchins for Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Wright McCargar for My Fair Lady at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Outstanding Sound Design
Sam Johnson for Into the Woods at Circle Theatre
Sam Johnson for Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Sam Johnson for Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Steven Nardin for Torch Song Trilogy Act III: Widows and Children First at Jewish Theatre
Sam Johnson for My Fair Lady at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Outstanding Lighting Design
Catherine Marlett-Dreher for Fun Home at Circle Theatre
Catherine Marlett-Dreher for Into the Woods at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Catherine Marlett-Dreher for Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Catherine Marlett-Dreher for Torch Song Trilogy Act III: Widows and Children First at Jewish Theatre
Catherine Marlett-Dreher for Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Outstanding Costume Design
Bill Dunckel & Kelly Lucas for On the Town at Circle Theatre
Robert Fowle for Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Robert Fowle for Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Karen Larabel for The Book of Job at Master Arts Theatre
Robert Fowle for My Fair Lady at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Outstanding Scenic Design
Don Wilson for Into the Woods at Circle Theatre
David Len for Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Christian Poquette for Torch Song Trilogy Act III: Widows and Children First at Jewish Theatre
David Len for All the Way at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
David Len for My Fair Lady at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
David Len for Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
For Outstanding Properties Design
Michael Wilson for Shrek at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Jennifer Smith for A Few Good Men at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Michael Wilson for Annie at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Michael Wilson for My Fair Lady at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Camille Hickade for Torch Song Trilogy Act III: Widows and Children First at Jewish Theatre
Outstanding Theatre for Young Audiences
Seussical The Musical at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Akeelah and the Bee at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
School of Rock at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Outstanding College Production
Equivocation at Aquinas
Rhinoceros at Aquinas
A Year with Frog & Toad at Aquinas
Detroit ’67 at GRCC
Oklahoma at GVSU
Outstanding Lead Actor in a College Production
Casey Huls as ‘Curly’ in Oklahoma at Grand Valley State University
Brock Gabbert as ‘Berenger’ in Rhinoceros at Aquinas
Kaeleb Cogswell as ‘Toad’ in A Year with Frog & Toad at Aquinas
Michael Francis as ‘Lank’ in Detroit ’67 at GRCC
David Dekens as ‘Warren’ in This is Our Youth at GRCC
Outstanding Lead Actress in a College Production
Bryanna Lee as ‘Minnie’ in The Terrible Girls at Aquinas
Trisha Bond as ‘Penelope Sycamore’ in You Can’t Take it With You at Cornerstone University
Marqea Lee as ‘Chelle’ in Detroit ’67 at GRCC
Lindsey Normington as ‘Sally Bowles’ in Cabaret at GVSU
Alyssa Veldman as ‘Ado Annie Carnes’ in Oklahoma at GVSU
For Outstanding Direction of a College Production
Randy Wyatt for Rhinoceros, at Aquinas
Kathy Gibson for A Year with Frog & Toad, at Aquinas
When Michele Clark managed an antique store in Brazil, she didn’t imagine that the American customer looking to furnish a restored country mansion would someday become her husband. Today, this transplanted Brazilian keeps one eye on the couple’s South American B&B and the other on their Lake Michigan gift shop. Join the conversation to learn about jeitinho brasileiro (the Brazilian art of wiggle room) and a unique form of grass that glows like gold and lasts for centuries.
St. Cecilia Music Center’s School of Music youth jazz program performance with Robin Connell conducting, from 2017. (Supplied/St. Cecilia Music Center)
Robin Connell, who wears many hats on the Grand Rapids music scene including director of the St. Cecilia Music Center’s youth jazz ensemble, has picked up another gig at St. Cecilia.
Connell was announced last month as the new conductor of the center’s adult Grand Band, and there is general agreement that means more “fun” for all.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled that Robin is conducting the St. Cecilia Music Center Grand Band,” Martha Cudipp Bundra, St. Cecilia education director, said to WKTV. “She has been teaching our Jazz Combo program for 4 years now and the students love her. Robin has extensive teaching experience and knowledge that will enhance the musical experience for our adult band members. She brings a unique style to her teaching and a great sense of fun.”
Rehearsals of the Grand Band have begun for the new season but new members are always welcome to inquire and no auditions are required. The band rehearses 9:30-11:30 a.m. Monday mornings.
“The adult band is so much fun,” Connell said to WKTV. “It has a lot of members who have been it for many years. But newbies come, too.”
For more information on the Grand Band for adults, visit here. St. Cecilia’s youth jazz ensembles, one of which Connell leads, will hold auditions on Tuesday, Oct. 16. For more information visit here.
St. Cecilia, Connell have history
“I’m thrilled and honored to be working at SCMC,” Connell said. “The various concerts and education programs offered are phenomenal and integral to downtown Grand Rapids.
Robin Connell
“We really appreciate SCMC hosting the youth jazz program (which started in 2014) and the amazing support we get financially and administratively. … Martha is great to work with as the director of education, but I also need to sing the praises of our administrative assistant, Rebecca Steinke. She assists Martha in various ways with all the ensembles and is there at night when we rehearse, too. And she plays flute in the Grand Band!”
Connell, according to a supplied biography, is a jazz pianist-vocalist with a doctorate of arts in music theory and composition from the University of Northern Colorado. Her career as a performing musician, composer, and educator, is an alternating kaleidoscope of jazz and classical endeavors.
Her educator credits include teaching at Aquinas College, Grand Rapids Community College, Long Island University, Garden City Community College, the Interlochen Center for the Arts (20 summers), the Aquinas Jazz Camp, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
In addition to teaching, Robin continues to lead her own jazz groups and perform as a “side woman” locally and afar, traveling extensively as performer, guest composer-conductor, and clinician/adjudicator. Since 2014, Robin also co-produces and hosts the “Jazz in the Sanctuary” concert series at Grand Rapids’ Fountain Street Church.
Two bands, two different experiences
As far as her expanding teaching load at St. Cecilia, Connell says there are similarities but also unique aspects to working with adults as opposed to youth.
“There is very little similarity between the youth jazz combo and the Grand Band adults, other than everyone’s shared love of playing music,” she said. “Most jazz band scores that are playable by younger students have simpler instrumentation than concert band music … My husband (Paul Brewer) directs the youth jazz big band. There is a bit more similarity between that band and a concert band in that all the music is written out, with very little improvised.
The St. Cecilia Grand Band in rehearsal at the music center’s Royce Auditorium, from 2016. (WKTV)
“The concert band music is completely written out and players must adhere to the written notes. The conductor’s job is to become immersed in the score, to internalize it, and ‘coach’ the ensemble as per the conductor’s interpretation.”
But Connell said she is getting into working with the adults.
“I am enjoying digging into completely different repertoire and having the chance to work on my conducting skills more,” she said. “There are also a lot of women in the band whereas the youth bands are almost all boys. I’m totally used to being the only woman, or in the minority, but I’m really also enjoying rehearsing a group with a lot of women — and men — who are totally geeked about instrumental music.”
Shameless plug for a great music series
The “Jazz in the Sanctuary” series begins its fifth season Nov. 4 with “Paul Brewer & Altin Sencalar in Tribute to J & K”, a concert featuring a jazz quintet, led by trombonists Brewer and Sencalar, performing the compositions and arrangements of J.J. Johnson & Kai Winding. More dates are scheduled in 2019. For more information visit fountainstreet.org/jazz.
After clinching a playoff spot against Holland last week, the East Kentwood Falcons are going for their next goal: OK Red champs.
Hosting Hudsonville (5-2 overall, 3-1 in conference) this week, East Kentwood (6-1, 4-0) can secure at least a share of the title this week with a win. Combined with a win next week, in the final game of the regular season, also at home against Rockford (4-3, 3-1), the Falcons would claim the title outright.
Falcons Head Coach Anthony Kimbrough. (WKTV)
Both Falcons head coach Tony Kimbrough and his players know there is still a lot to play for in the final two games — as T’Shone Cutts, a senior middle linebacker for the Falcons, said “they are lasered in” for the rest of this season.
Unlike recent years, when the team struggled at times, Kimbrough, in his fourth year as head coach of the Falcons told the WKTV journal what changed in a early-season interview.
“We just got back to basics,” coach Kimbrough said. “The kids are playing good some really good fundamental and assignment football.”
Stephan Bracey, senior wide receiver for East Kentwood. (WKTV)
Stephan Bracey, a Western Michigan University football commit and senior wide receiver, also expressed high hopes for his team.
“We want to go all the way to Ford Field and get the dub there,” Bracey said, referring to a “W,” a win. “So, state champs is our goal.”
Cutts, one of Kimbrough’s defensive weapons, is confident in the defense he is one of the leaders on, despite the rocky start they had in the beginning of the season.
T’Shone Cutts, senior middle linebacker for East Kentwood. (WKTV)
“Our defense is looking good,” Cutts said. “We’re staying focused. We can’t allow teams to score the way they were in the beginning of the season.”
After giving up 30 points to Grandville in Week 5, East Kentwood has only given up 12 points in their last two games.
This week’s WKTV Featured Game and other sports events are cable broadcast either live, immediately after the event and/or in rebroadcast, on Comcast WKTV Channel 25 and on AT&T U-Verse Community 99.
WKTV’s featured football games are rebroadcast on the night of the game (Thursday or Friday) at 11 p.m. and Saturday starting at 11 a.m. See WKTVjournal.org/sports for complete schedules.
On the latest episode of WKTV Journal In Focus, guest host Keith St. Clair talks with Kentwood resident and bicyclist Ken Smith, who recently completed a 3,500-plus coast-to-coast trip to raise funds for his grandson, Jakob, and awareness of all persons with neurological damage.
Smith, 70, biked from the Pacific Ocean at Seaside, Oregon, to the Atlantic Ocean near Boston, Massachusetts, in hopes of raising funds to provide for possible care of and therapy for Jakob. WKTV has been proud to cover his journey.
WKTV Journal In Focus airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel. But all interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal: In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
Drug violence forced Erick Picardo to leave his successful art studio in the Dominican Republic and seek a better life in a “freedom country,” the United States. Today, this renowned Michigan painter celebrates his Afro-Caribbean heritage on canvas and in his drumming group. Listen as he talks about his special anti-violence, pro-peace marathon mural project.
Melissa Seide sits on the exam table, swings her feet and grins with excitement.
Her left leg hangs a couple inches shorter than her right. But it hangs straight―for the first time she can remember.
Melissa was just a baby when her leg was broken in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. When the injury healed, her calf bones remained bent at a right angle.
Now, recovering from surgery to straighten the leg, 6-year-old Melissa hopes to hear good news. She can’t wait to ditch the clunky black surgical walking boot. She has a pair of snazzy purple tennis shoes calling her name.
“Her leg is just in a really good position. And her joints feel fantastic. Her ankle joint had literally no movement (before the operation).”
I think what people don’t understand about Haiti is that if you can’t walk, you are in big trouble.
Jeri Kessenich, MD Pediatrician
And then he says the words Melissa longs to hear: “We can get rid of that boot and put her in regular shoes and see how she does with that.”
Melissa’s host mother, Betsy Miedema, makes sure Melissa understands. “No boot, Melissa,” she says.
Melissa presses her hands to her face. Her eyes sparkle.
“No boot,” Miedema repeats.
Melissa sits silent a moment, her hands still covering her mouth, as if she can’t believe it. She looks up. Grins. And whispers, “Thank you, Jesus!”
Soon, she stands on the floor, her purple tennis shoes laced up, and walks tentatively across the room. It takes a bit to get used to the new shoes―the left has a 2-inch lift to accommodate the shorter leg.
But the small steps add up to a big moment for this little girl far from home and family.
Adjusting to a new home
“She’s just the sweetest kid,” Miedema says. She and her husband, Eric, welcomed Melissa into their home in Walker, Michigan, serving as her host parents during her stay.
Since she arrived in August, Melissa has struggled with homesickness, longing for her family and home in Haiti. She eagerly shows a picture of herself with her mother.
But Melissa also has become attached to the Miedemas and their children, 10-year-old Evan and 7-year-old Alaina. She goes to school with Alaina and has learned so much English the family rarely needs an interpreter any more.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
The running and playing is going to make that calf strong. Being a kid is the best therapy there is.
Jeffrey Cassidy, MD Pediatric orthopedic surgeon
Melissa came to the attention of Healing the Children through a school created in Haiti by several Spectrum Health employees, the Power of Education Foundation.
The school’s medical director, Jeri Kessenich, MD, also is a pediatrician at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. She contacted Healing the Children, as well as Dr. Cassidy and the hospital, to see if they could help Melissa.
Dr. Kessenich is unsure how Melissa’s leg became injured―only that it was crushed when a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti in 2010.
Melissa could hobble for short distances―and with a lot of pain. Family members carried her when she had to walk far.
Her leg “was in pretty rough shape,” Dr. Cassidy says. It appeared someone tried to fix the break, but the leg never healed properly. The shin bones―the tibia and fibula―remained bent at a 90-degree angle.
In surgery, Dr. Cassidy had to shorten the bones about 2 inches as he straightened them. He also lengthened the skin and tendons in the back of the leg.
“At least we can give her a straight leg that is hopefully pain-free,” he says. “Hopefully, this will make a profound difference in her life.”
For six weeks after surgery, her leg healed and Melissa looked forward to the day she could wear her new tennis shoes. A local store, Mieras Family Shoes, donated the shoes. Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital added the lift to the left shoe.
Ready to run and play
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
As Melissa walks up and down the hall, testing out her new shoes at Dr. Cassidy’s office, Miedema asks if she should limit her activities. Should she protect Melissa from doing too much too soon? Usually, she uses a wheelchair to cover long distances and walks for shorter stretches.
Melissa will find those limits for herself, Dr. Cassidy says. The more she walks, the stronger her leg will become and the less she will need the wheelchair.
“The running and playing is going to make that calf strong,” he says. “I think she’ll get her strength back over time. Being a kid is the best therapy there is.”
“Run and play,” he tells Melissa. She claps and beams.
Melissa gives goodbye hugs to Dr. Cassidy and nurse Chelsea Ciampa, RN.
And it’s off to school. She arrives at West Side Christian mid-morning. As she passes a fourth-grade classroom, her host brother, Evan, comes out to give her a hug. Soon, a circle of big kids forms, admiring Melissa’s purple shoes.
At her second-grade classroom, a double treat awaits. Melissa gets to show off her shoes and the class sings “Happy Birthday” to her. It’s two days early, but school won’t be in session the day Melissa turns 7.
The kids show the journal entries they wrote about Melissa in honor of her birthday.
Her host sister, Alaina, talks about the Haitian Creole words she has learned from Melissa. She recites several―including “dlo” (water) and “bon” (good). She explains how to ask if Melissa’s leg hurts: “Fe mal?”
Mobility is crucial
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
Melissa’s leg “is healing beautifully,” Dr. Kessenich says. And although there is a 2-inch difference in the length of her legs, that difference will decrease over time. The surgery will prompt the bone to grow faster in an effort to catch up.
The doctor hopes, through the school, to continue providing updated shoes with lifts to match Melissa’s growing feet.
The repair to the leg will make Melissa’s life much easier―now and in the future, Dr. Kessenich says.
“I think what people don’t understand about Haiti is that if you can’t walk, you are in big trouble,” she says. “You don’t have cars or money for motorcycle rides or taxi cabs. People walk―and they walk everywhere. If you are unable to do that, you are not going to be useful to your family.”
Being able to walk on two strong legs will allow Melissa to do everything other children do.
“This is going to change her life forever,” she says.
"Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives."
~William Dement
It’s now or never
Veteran head coach Don Galster knows his Rockets need a win Friday night against NorthPointe Christian keep alive realistic hopes of his team getting to the playoffs for the third year in a row. But a disappointing loss to Godwin Heights last week isn’t going to stop these Rockets from taking off.
Kelloggsville is now 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the OK Silver conference. Last season, the Rockets defeated NorthPointe, 36-21, as part of a 9-0 regular season.
Thanks to the tremendous response from fans, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band’s show at SMG-managed Van Andel Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018, has SOLD OUT. As a result, a second show has been added for Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, at 8pm.
Tickets for the Jan. 5 date will go on sale Friday, Oct. 5 at 10am. Go here for details.
Start planning
Before you know it, the bright fall foliage will be here.
Weight gain around this time of year may not be from all the food.
Researchers have found that lack of vitamin D reduces fat breakdown and triggers fat storage. So, the lack of sunlight has more to do with the extra gain than all the pumpkin spice lattes. Well, at least some of it.
It’s now or never for the Kelloggsville football team.
Rockets Head Coach Don Galster. (WKTV)
Veteran head coach Don Galster knows his Rockets need a win Friday night against NorthPointe Christian keep alive realistic hopes of his team getting to the playoffs for the third year in a row. But a disappointing loss to Godwin Heights last week isn’t going to stop these Rockets from taking off.
Kelloggsville is now 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the OK Silver conference. Last season, the Rockets defeated NorthPointe, 36-21, as part of a 9-0 regular season.
Galster told the WKTV Journal how important these next few weeks leading up to the playoffs are.
“Our destiny is in our hands and we just have to rise to the occasion,” Galster said prior to the Godwin Heights game.
That point is also clear to a couple of key senior players for Kelloggsville as well.
Desmond Simmons, Kelloggsville football player. (WKTV)
For Desmond Simmons, a senior middle linebacker for the Rockets, these next few weeks will be the last time he plays football at the high school level. Hoping for the post-season, Simmons takes pride in how he and the rest of the defense has been playing.
“I think we’re looking pretty solid,” Simmons said. “We always try to go hard at practice even if it’s hot, cold, or we’re tired. We always try to go hard and hit somebody.”
This will be senior wingback Jaevion Willis’ last year as a high school football player as well.
Jaevion Willis, Kelloggsville player. (WKTV)
“We’re taking this week one step at a time,” said Willis. “We’re trying to get better and better every day. We’re looking forward to trying to step up and make the run and make back-to-back conference champs”.
Because this is their last season with the Rockets, both Simmons and Willis reflected on their time with coach Galster.
“It means a lot,” Simmons said. “It feels real good to be coached by him and have somebody that knows what their doing.”
“It’s very exciting, playing for coach Galster,” Willis said. “Or ‘The Goat’ as we call him.”
This week’s WKTV Featured Game and other sports events are cable broadcast either live, immediately after the event and/or in rebroadcast, on Comcast WKTV Channel 25 and on AT&T U-Verse Community 99.
WKTV’s featured football games are rebroadcast on the night of the game (Thursday or Friday) at 11 p.m. and Saturday starting at 11 a.m. See WKTVjournal.org/sports for complete schedules.
Kentwood resident and bicyclist-on-a-mission Ken Smith has finished his 3,500-plus coast-to-coast trip to raise funds for his grandson, Jakob, and awareness of all persons with neurological damage. In late September, he finished his journey at Revere Beach, near Boston.
Smith, 70, was riding from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean — Seaside, Oregon, to Boston, Massachusetts — in hopes of raising $30,000 to provide for possible care of and therapy for Jakob.
On Day 56 of his trek, Sunday, Sept. 23, he literally rode his bike into the Atlantic Ocean.
“A day of celebration!” Smith wrote on his Facebook page. “I cannot believe I rode my bike from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. Wow! A dream come true and for once I can say ‘I lived my dream awake’.
“My biggest THANK YOU goes out to my grandson JAKOB. Without you and carrying your picture on me daily this ride and journey would have meant very little other than personal satisfaction and accomplishment but it was YOU who inspired me, motivated me and drove me everyday to do what some would say was impossible especially at my age of 70. Love you JAKIE.”
The reception at the Revere Beach included friends, family and strangers, but he is thankful for many present and not-present.
“To have my family, my son Jason & my daughter Kyra and grandson Corbin drive so far just to be part of this day, I will never forget. My sister Lois and brother-in-law Roger were with me daily as I took this journey along with many of their friends who helped as well. Having her as my ‘eyes in the sky’ gave me that sense of security that I was not alone and safe. Thank you so much. I also want to thank my wife Jan for encouraging me to do this ride to support our family knowing I would be gone for 2 months. Her daily calls continued to lift me up in prayer.
“I just know Jakob has been blessed by all of you.”
WKTV followed Ken Smith on his journey (see online-print stories below) and plan to have him in studio soon for an in-depth, on-camera interview.
When he left Grand Rapids in early September, Smith estimated he had about 1,000 miles remaining on his trip, which took him across Michigan, across Ontario, and into New York State and Massachusetts. The route across Canada was intentional.
Jakob’s parents — Ken’s son Jason and daughter-in-law Sue, live in Ontario and Jason is a firefighter in London, Ontario, Canada.
Jakob, Ken explains, was supposed to die at age 2 but is now 16 years old. He can walk but cannot speak, and requires 24/7 care. The goal of the cross-country trip is, partially, to raise funds to support Jakob’s needs including speech therapy.
How does a state like Michigan keep its talented university graduates who are from overseas? How do Michigan-educated international students hook up with employers for internships and eventual employment? Feel Like You Belong welcomes Jeff Towns, Executive Director of Michigan’s Global Talent Retention Initiative (GTRI) along with Trinidad-born Yasha Nath, a Michigan college grad with the kinds of skills the state is clamoring for. Encouraging news for international students who want to stay in the state after graduation as well as for U.S. employers looking to navigate the unfamiliar waters of hiring foreign-born employees.
Each week WKTV features an adoptable pet—or few—from an area shelter. This week’s beauty is from Crash’s Landing. Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary rescue organizations were founded by Jennifer Denyes, DVM (Dr. Jen), who is on staff at Clyde Park Veterinary Clinic (4245 Clyde Park Ave SW).
On Friday the 13th of July 2018, a kind-hearted, cat-trappin’ citizen contacted Dr. Jen about a pair of friendly brothers that she had on a waiting list for another local shelter. Back in June the duo was brought in to Focus on Ferals after having been taken from a large population of stray cats roaming around on the Northeast side of town; they were neutered, tested and started on vaccines in hopes of eventually going into their adoption program.
But one of the boys (born in early 2016) had evidently suffered a trauma so severe to his side that his body wall ruptured, leaving him with a huge herniation that continued to grow over time; in fact it had been present for so long (probably over two years) that the repair attempt by his initial vet was ineffective. So when Dr. Jen was asked to give a second opinion on the case, she offered to take the brothers in to our program and set out to fix that humongous hernia (in the words of his rescuer).
As it turns out, not only was Hamish’s intra-abdominal fat pooching out underneath the skin through the tear in his body wall, but his poor spleen had become adherent to the opening, so it had to be surgically removed in order to close the defect. However, we are thrilled to report that with layers of sutures, cage rest and many crossed fingers, Hamish’s hernia is a thing of the past.
Hamish was nicknamed ‘The Handful’ as he can be as bratty as he is cute. He is a door diver, likes to rile the other cats up by picking fights or causing them to go after him due to his over-exuberance—he is constantly in motion. We can imagine that it feels downright awesome to be able to move around without having an internal organ squish out your side, so we do give the guy a bit of a break on this.
He LOVES people, but when he has had enough, he will swipe or swat to let you know that your services are no longer needed. He could live with other cats as long as he can be the dominant one, but small kids we feel are out of the picture; we do however suspect a dog might be right up his alley.
For safety measures, his owner will need a two-door entry and exit system as he is constantly darting out into our lobby (we have a triple door system. We have had quite a bit of success with taming the wild beast running wild by squirting him with a short burst of water from our ‘naughty kitty’ bottle; slowly but surely he IS learning to play nice with the others.
Overall we feel he is somewhat of an overgrown kitten and is just now getting to live the life he had always wanted: crazy, carefree and with reckless abandon (versus abandonment).
And he is STINKIN’ CUTE!
More about Hamish:
Large
Domestic Short Hair — Tabby (Tiger-striped)
Adult
Male
House-trained
Vaccinations up to date
Neutered
Not declawed
Good in a home with other cats; older children
Want to adopt Hamish? Learn about the adoption process here. Fill out a pre-adoption form here.
Can’t adopt, but still want to help? Find out how you can sponsor a cat!
Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary have a common mission: To take at-risk stray cats off the streets of the Greater Grand Rapids area, provide them with veterinary care and house them in free-roaming, no-kill facilities until dedicated, loving, permanent homes can be found.
“It’s relatively easy to act nice and normal in front of a crowd, or in public. The tricky part is doing it in private.”
~Robert Black
Where are they coming from?
Where are they going?
We really want to know.
After serving more than a quarter-million passengers in the month of July, the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GFIA) topped that with an August that served close to 300,000 passengers.
August marks the eighth record-breaking month in a row for 2018, and the airport has seen growth in 61 of the last 68 months. August 2018 was the busiest August ever, with passenger numbers up 17.8-percent year-over-year.
Through August 2018, GFIA has already surpassed its annual total reached in 2012, with 2,176,525 passengers served in 2018. Read more here.
It’s about time:
Kent County appoints
first female sheriff
Kent County administration announced Thursday that Undersheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young has been appointed Sheriff to fill the unexpired term of Sheriff Larry Stelma, who retires on Nov. 1 of this year.
Two individuals applied for the position — Undersheriff LaJoye-Young and Lt. Marc Burns. Kent County Chief Probate Judge David M. Murkowski chaired the statutorily mandated selection appointment committee and served along with Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker and Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus-Lyons. The committee’s decision was unanimous. Read more here.
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Secrets revealed
Manufacturers throughout West Michigan are holding community open houses and student tours that showcase their facilities and career options. The tours are part of Manufacturing Week 2018, which runs through Oct. 5, 2018. More than 100 manufacturers are hosting more than 1,000 students during this year’s event.
According to Talent 2025’s 2017 West Michigan Talent Assessment and Outlook, manufacturing is the largest industry in West Michigan, accounting for more than 20 percent of all jobs in the region. Manufacturing has added more than 38,000 jobs since 2009, a growth rate of 33.3 percent. Read about it here.
Fun Fact:
51% of people think stormy weather affects cloud computing.
Kent County Undersheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young, shown from a 2016 interview at the WKTV Journal studio, has been named to be Sheriff. (WKTV)
By WKTV Staff
ken@wktv.org
Kent County administration announced Thursday that Undersheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young has been appointed Sheriff to fill the unexpired term of Sheriff Larry Stelma, who retires on Nov. 1 of this year.
Two individuals applied for the position — Undersheriff LaJoye-Young and Lt. Marc Burns. Kent County Chief Probate Judge David M. Murkowski chaired the statutorily mandated selection appointment committee and served along with Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker and Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus-Lyons. The committee’s decision was unanimous.
“The committee appreciates both candidates interest in the position and their commitment to law enforcement,” said Judge Murkowski in supplied information. “Lt. Burns has served the Kent County Sheriff’s Department well and has an impressive resume.”
“However, today it is an honor for the committee to appoint Undersheriff LaJoye-Young to the position of Kent County Sheriff,” Murkowski said. “She possesses an unparalleled knowledge of the operation and procedures of the Sheriff’s Department, having worked in every division and served in every rank in the Department.
“Furthermore, the Undersheriff enjoys wide-based community support and commands the respect of every law enforcement agency across the state of Michigan and beyond. She has demonstrated throughout her career a great capacity and ability to lead and possesses an unwavering enthusiasm for the administration of justice.”
She will also be the county’s first female Sheriff.
“The fact Michelle LaJoye-Young will serve as the first female Sheriff for Kent County serves as the perfect exclamation point to a truly momentous day,” Murkowski said.
Kent County Undersheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young’s appointment to Sheriff will be effective Nov. 1.
Each week WKTV features an adoptable pet—or few—from an area shelter. This week’s beauty is from Crash’s Landing. Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary rescue organizations were founded by Jennifer Denyes, DVM (Dr. Jen), who is on staff at Clyde Park Veterinary Clinic (4245 Clyde Park Ave SW).
This summer (2018) has brought us an overabundance of kitties with injured legs, so when a Kentwood resident called the clinic asking for help with a cat whom she thought had a bone sticking out of its leg, Dr. Jen had them bring the kitty right down. As it turns out, this darling little girl (born in early 2017) had suffered a traumatic injury to her right rear leg, but the amputation had occurred some time ago, leaving behind a stump just above where her hock (ankle) should have been.
She did come with heavy fleas, a horrendous case of ear mites, a puncture wound on her neck that wasn’t healing well, and sadly in the early stages of pregnancy which Dr. Jen discovered during spay surgery. We can’t imagine what this poor cat went through, but thankfully her skin and bones healed, and even though she is a tripod without a foot, she is fearless in her fight and fabulous with her ferocity for fun!
From the get go NOTHING has slowed her down: she runs, leaps, bounds, twirls, kicks and literally jumps for joy, so giving her the name Rockette seemed to fit her perfectly. The observations of our shelter and cat care managers mirrored Dr. Jen’s impression of exuberant Rockette:
“Our girl so super sweet! She has made herself at home since the minute she arrived at the shelter. Her injury doesn’t hold her back at all; she climbs, runs, and jumps just fine. She can be very sassy with the other cats so she might enjoy being an only cat. She would do very well with kids though!”
“Despite her missing part of a leg, she is purr-petually on the move. She has a very sweet personality and craves attention. While she’s not one to be held for long, she will hop up on your lap and soak up whatever attention are willing to give. I love how she holds her own against the 4-legged cats, occasionally swatting, but yet playing nicely with them MOST of the time. Loves the laser show, and sprawling out on the toddler beds. Would do well in a home with another cat or two, but I think dogs may be a bit too much.”
We’re making it our mission to find our goofy girl a home that has children that can match her energy and enthusiasm for life, yet a kid or two who also wants a cuddly companion when playtime is over; we don’t think this will be a difficult task at all. Rockette is going to be kicking up her heels (er, heel) once we find her a family of her own, and we simply can’t wait!
More about Rockette:
Medium
Domestic Short Hair (Gray/Blue/Silver/White)
Adult
Female
House-trained
Vaccinations up to date
Spayed
Not declawed
Good in a home with other cats; children
Want to adopt Rockette? Learn about the adoption process here. Fill out a pre-adoption form here.
Can’t adopt, but still want to help? Find out how you can sponsor a cat!
Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary have a common mission: To take at-risk stray cats off the streets of the Greater Grand Rapids area, provide them with veterinary care and house them in free-roaming, no-kill facilities until dedicated, loving, permanent homes can be found.
From Sweden to the USA, they’ve shaken hands with the mightiest in both lands. They’ve saved energy and published books. And along the way, Anders and Ewa Rydåker have planted roots and learned what it means to belong in a place. Join us for a chat with Alan’s favorite immigrants!
Back in the winter of 2000, Rick Eding went to the Zeeland Community Hospital emergency room with a sinus infection.
The then-25-year-old never expected the experience to reveal a much deeper and mind-numbing problem: severe heart problems.
“I was totally blindsided,” the Hamilton, Michigan, resident said. “I had cough and cold symptoms and sinus pressure in my head.”
ER doctors gave him a prescription for Bactrim, an antibiotic he’d tolerated well in the past. He started on the medicine, but within a couple of hours, allergic reactions flared—red skin, lethargy, difficulty breathing.
His dad drove him back to Zeeland Community Hospital.
By the time he arrived, his blood pressure nosedived.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
“I felt like I had a brick wall on my chest,” Eding said. “I didn’t know what in the heck was going on. Basically, I went into cardiac arrest.”
Emergency response teams rushed him to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“I bounced back alright, even with cardiomyopathy,” Eding said as he dropped his 15-year-old son off at Hamilton High School football practice.
But as the years went on, Eding’s weight went up. And his heart function went down.
Working as an electrician, he traveled across the United States and Canada.
“I just kind of wrote it off as, ‘I’m traveling, I’m not eating like I probably should. I’m getting older,’” he said. “It got to the point where I couldn’t do anything. I was probably 300 pounds. I had chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, all those classic symptoms.”
Diagnosis? Heart failure.
At 31 years old.
LVAD
“From 2006 to 2011, I really battled the heart failure thing,” Eding said. “I was constantly in and out of the hospital. In 2011, the decision was made to have an LVAD placed.”
An LVAD, left ventricular assist device, picks up slack for the heart and helps it pump blood as it should.
“Basically it got to the point where they needed to do a tandem heart,” Eding said. “It’s an exterior device that buys you time. They needed to do something within a day or two or there wouldn’t be any choices. It was very scary. I was young. I was married with kids and the whole bit.”
Doctors placed Eding on the heart transplant list. But the more he waited, the more he weighed.
His weight spiked to 330 pounds—60 pounds more than when he got the LVAD.
Then, in 2013, more devastating news.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
His growing weight made him ineligible for a heart transplant.
“The worst thing for me was hearing, ‘We need to take you off the transplant list. You’re too big,’” Eding said. “It’s like a kick in the teeth. It’s horrible. The glimmer of hope you had of having a good life … gone.
“Being so young, the goal of a transplant was totally getting your life back,” he said. “That goal was stomped on. It wasn’t even attainable at that time.”
Eding dove into research—diets, surgeries, “you name it.”
He tried a slew of diet plans with minimal success.
“I would drop 20 pounds and in some way or some form, I’d have a setback and ‘boom,’ the weight comes back on,” he said.
Shrinking appetite
Eding learned about patients experiencing similar frustrations with an LVAD, and how they had success with bariatric surgery.
He spoke with Michael Dickinson, MD, a cardiologist with the Spectrum Health Richard DeVos Heart and Lung Transplant Clinic.
“It was like, hands down, I’m ready,” Eding said.
He met with Spectrum Health bariatric surgeon Jon Schram, MD.
“We took our time to make sure everything was good, which was very reassuring to me,” Eding said. “The surgery was done at the Meijer Heart Center. He was confident in what he had to do and that made me feel real good. “
Dr. Schram performed a sleeve procedure last October.
“We removed about 80 percent of his stomach,” Dr. Schram said. “The stomach is shaped like a big flask. We changed the shape of the stomach to about the size of a small banana.”
That does two things. It limits how much food the patient can eat at one time and also limits a hormone produced by the stomach that regulates hunger.
“By removing that much of the stomach, we create a situation where he’s not as hungry all the time,” said Dr. Schram, who performs about 400 of these surgeries per year.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
Dr. Schram said the unique partnership between Spectrum Health’s bariatric division, cardiothoracic division and advanced heart failure team gave Eding a second chance.
The weight loss results? Almost immediate.
“It was like a pound a day for the longest time,” Eding said. “Yesterday I was 268.”
Best of all: As of late January, he’s back on the transplant list.
“I’m just ecstatic,” Eding said. “It’s unbelievable this roller coaster I’ve been on, with the highs and the lows. I’m definitely flying high and so thankful and so blessed to be back on the list.”
Digging in
The father of six is feeling blessed to be living a more normal life while he waits. No more hospital stays and no harsh symptoms.
The LVAD seems to be doing its job.
That means more time for fishing with his kids, more time for coaching Little League baseball, more time to dream of a future that could be there if the stars align and he gets a new heart.
“He’s not being held up by his weight now,” Dr. Schram said. “He’s just waiting for a donor. He suffers from severe heart failure. The longer he goes without a heart, there’s a possibility his heart could give out.”
But giving in is not an option.
“A lot of people would have given up a long time ago,” Eding said. “But I dug my feet in and put my nose to the grindstone and really took it head-on.”
And he has another goal: swim with his children again.
Since the LVAD is an electrical device, he can’t swim with it in him.
A transplant, of course, could change all that.
“I can’t wait to go swimming again,” Eding said. “The kids all love to swim and go to water parks. I feel like I’ve robbed them of being able to do that with them. As soon as I get the go-ahead, we’re going to Great Wolf Lodge or Michigan’s Adventure and we’re hitting the water park.”
“We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need twelve hugs a day for growth.” — Virginia Satir, family therapist
Kentwood artist’s HUG exhibit an extension of who she is
Meochia Thompson with some friends in an earlier Hugs campaign.
You can find 2018 ArtPrize artist Meochia Thompson giving hugs at church events, retirement homes, or around the community. Now you can find the Kentwood woman downtown embracing strangers during ArtPrize for her entry HUG, a campaign that stands for “help uplift goodness”. To get the details, click here.
Stars of one ArtPrize exhibit is the Wyoming Police K-9 unit
Nidal Kanaan’s ArtPrize piece “Blue Courage” can be found at Flaganan’s Irish Pub.
Inside Flanagan’s Irish Pub in downtown Grand Rapids, you can find food, drinks, and Nidal Kanaan’s ArtPrize entry “Blue Courage.” Photographing the Wyoming Police K-9 unit, Kanaan produced images that ArtPrize attendees will enjoy while stopping in for a quick refreshment. To get the details, click here.
WKTV wants the VOICES of not just artists, but the voters as well
Last year, VOICES debuted at ArtPrize Nine, introducing our 1958 Airstream trailer and collecting the stories of winning ArtPrize artists Daniel Oropreza and Sofia Hernandez Ramirez. This year, VOICES will again collect stories from artists. But we are also bringing our Voters Feedback Booth, right next to the trailer, where voters are encouraged to share what they voted on and why. For get the details, click here.
And today’s fun fact:
3 seconds
Hugs follow a 3-second rule. Ever wondered how long a hug lasts? The quick answer is about 3 seconds, according to a 2011 study of the post-competition embraces of Olympic athletes.
“Every good painter paints what he is,” Jackson Pollock said.
“Treat a work of art like a prince. Let it speak to you first,” said Arthur Schopenhauer.
And Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Art is the path of the creator to his work.”
Everybody has something to say about art. The good news is, you don’t have to be famous to have an opinion—and WKTV VOICES will have its mobile recording studio down at ArtPrize 10 all three weekends to invite and encourage artists and voters to share their own thoughts about art: Artists, what inspires you to create a work of art?
Voters, what compelled you to vote for a particular work of art?
Sofia Hernandez Ramirez
With hundreds of artists and hundreds of thousands of attendees expected at ArtPrize this year, we expect there will be a lot to say—and for us to collect and record.
Last year, VOICES debuted at ArtPrize Nine, introducing our 1958 Airstream trailer and collecting the stories of winning ArtPrize artists Daniel Oropreza and Sofia Hernandez Ramirez.
This year, VOICES will again collect stories from artists. Look for our Airstream on the corner of Lyon and Monroe NW. Look for the Voters Feedback Booth right next to the trailer where voters are encouraged to share what they voted on and why.
A free public service of WKTV, VOICES travels throughout the West Michigan region to encourage neighbors, friends and family to tell their stories—the narratives that make us human—of our lives, experiences, sorrows, triumphs and tragedies. We all benefit from knowing each other’s background; the shared bond that helps us build community.
VOICES’s comfortable, mobile video recording studio offers a relaxed atmosphere, and utilizes high-tech video and audio equipment to capture the narratives for posterity. Interviews usually take place between two people who know and care about each other. These can be friends, family, or mere acquaintances. Any topic may be explored, whether a specific event in a person’s life, a childhood memory, a family tragedy—no subject is off limits.
Oral history—the collection and study of individual histories, experiences of disasters, important events or everyday life—is a tradition as old as civilization itself. Using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews, oral history strives to obtain information from different perspectives, most of which cannot be found in written sources. Some academics consider oral history akin to journalism as both are committed to uncovering truths and compiling narratives about people, places, and events.
VOICES participants find the experience valuable and gratifying. Read and listen to people’s stories online on our Facebook page here and visit our website here for more information and important links.
All VOICES conversations are audio- and video-recorded to provide participants with a link to each conversation and for possible airing on Channel 25 in Wyoming, Kentwood and Gaines Township (U-Verse Channel 99).
The second Saturday of each month, VOICES parks its Airstream trailer at Marge’s Donut Den at 1751 28th St SW, Wyoming, MI for ‘Second Saturdays at Marge’s’. And, beginning Oct. 17, VOICES will be parked at Kentwood Public Library, 4950 Breton Rd. SE, the third Wednesday of each month.
“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
~ Leonardo da Vinci
The East Kentwood Falcons take on the Grandville this week in WKTV’s featured game of the week as the Bulldogs (2-2) will be traveling and facing a streaking Falcon team as well as a fired-up East Kentwood homecoming crowd.
East Kentwood High School is known for its loud and engaged Homecoming crowds. (WKTV file)
“Anytime you have homecoming, you’re going to have a big crowd,” said head coach Anthony Kimbrough of what is waiting his 3-1 East Kentwood squad. “It’s an exciting week leading up to the game. As a coach, it’s kind of a hectic week for me, but the kids seem to handle it well.
Coach Kimbrough says the secret to his team’s success, and now 3-game winning streak, is simple — the players are responding well to the fundamental system he has implemented.
“We just got back to basics,” said Kimbrough. “The kids are playing some really good fundamental and assignment football. Just doing everything right in the key moments of the game.”
Falcons Head Coach Anthony Kimbrough. (WKTV)
East Kentwood is coming off of a blow-out win against West Ottawa, a team that was down 35 points at halftime to the Falcons. The only loss East Kentwood has had to endure this season was a season-opener loss to an undefeated Mona Shores team, falling only 10 points short.
Grandville, however, has won the last three times these teams have met, beating East Kentwood 28-14 last year. Kimbrough expects to see the same competitive Grandville team as last year. East Kentwood comes in at 2-0 in OK-Gold standings, but Grandville is 1-0.
“They’re a physical and tough team that believes in their system and runs their system really well. They’re well coached and they play hard. So we’re in for a battle Friday night.”
These and other sports events are cable broadcast either live, immediately after the event and/or in rebroadcast, on Comcast WKTV Channel 25 and on AT&T U-Verse Community 99.
WKTV’s featured football games are rebroadcast on the night of the game (Thursday or Friday) at 11 p.m. and Saturday starting at 11 a.m. See WKTVjournal.org/sports for complete schedules.
WKTV’s coverage of high school sports and select community events are also available on-demand within a week of the event at wktvondemand.com.
“You just brighten up everybody’s eyes, because everybody loves you,” said Vista Springs Community member, Marilyn Scholten as she stroked the orange tabby cat’s fur. “He loves me. I can tell.”
Jack the Cat is on a mission. Every Thursday morning, the therapy cat strolls into Vista Springs Community to visit with the people living there. Well, more accurately, he sits in a stroller as his caretaker, Lynn Hopkins, wheels him from room to room. He has trained Hopkins well.
“I met Jack at Crash’s Landing in 2009,” said Hopkins. “He was transferred there from an animal shelter. He’d been surrendered there, we don’t know why. We don’t know his history.”
Jack has deformed front legs, but that doesn’t stop him, hence his proper name, Jack B. Nimble.
“They thought he might be kind of hard to adopt out, and so they were afraid that he would be euthanized,” Hopkins said. “They didn’t want to risk it, so they transferred him to Crash’s Landing (a local cat rescue and placement center).”
Hopkins remembers her first memory of Jack, running down the hall. Because of his front legs, he has a gimpy gait, but that doesn’t stop him. He still runs and plays with toys. But it was Jack’s engaging personality that made a huge impression on Hopkins.
“He’s just the happiest cat I’ve ever known,” she said. “He just loves everybody, he loves other cats. He was at Crash’s just a few weeks, and I took him home.”
Hopkins started taking Jack to volunteer picnics. She pushed him around in his stroller and people would pick him up or set him on a picnic table. And he would just sit there and let people pet him.
“And so a few years before I retired, I came across some information on Facebook about a therapy cat. I had never heard of a therapy cat,” said Hopkins. “I had heard of therapy dogs, but not therapy cats. I knew Jack would be perfect. One of the first things to do when I retired in January 2017 was to get him certified by Love on a Leash. He had to be checked out by a vet and undergo 10 hours of observation on how he behaved.”
Lynn Hopkins and her charge, Jack
Both Hopkins and Jack were evaluated by the Love on a Leash program because they work as a team. Certification typically includes consistent visit and behavior guidelines, animal health assurances and cleanliness standards. The animal must be able to tolerate a wide range of environments and people.
Jack now visits two retirement communities a week and an area hospice when someone requests a visit from a therapy cat.
After visiting Scholten, Jack and Lynn stopped off to see Donna Terpstra, who recently moved to Vista Springs and is still adjusting to her new living situation. She had a cat before her move.
“[Jack] makes me feel like a human being, and human beings need to have contact with pets, with animals,” Terpstra said. “I used to say that coming home to an empty house is not good. But when there’s a pet, there’s another heartbeat in the house, and you don’t feel so lonely.”
Susan Lamos, Life Engagement Director at Vista Springs, said that animals are important in nearly everybody’s life.
“I think the majority of people who moved here have had animals at one point in their life, had pets in their past, whether they lived on a farm or had a pet at home,” said Lamos. “When you come to a living setting such as Vista Springs, you give up a few things, which can take away some of your dignity.
“The therapy piece brings a wholeness to people. I think it’s like a breath of fresh air. A person can be sitting there in their chair just reflecting or watching television and when the animal comes in to the room, the eyes light up, the body lifts up and there’s a real connection with them. They’re fulfilled.”
Matthew Stone didn’t need to look any further than the faces of his two children for motivation to lose weight and live healthier.
“You want to see these little people grow up and you start thinking about, ‘What’s going to happen to me?’” Stone said. “I realized that I cannot expect someone else to take care of me, I need to start taking care of myself.”
With the support of his wife, Kristin, and his two children—Henry, 6, and Evelyn, 3—Stone started making big changes.
In July 2016, at the age of 33 and pushing 400 pounds, Stone had gastric sleeve surgery to start his weight-loss journey.
He has since lost more than 150 pounds, weighing in at 232 pounds. He eats well and exercises six days a week, including lifting weights, running and cycling.
“I always say that it’s not that I didn’t have a good life before, but now I am living a better life,” Stone said.
Last year, when he laced up his running shoes for the Spectrum Health Danish Dash in Greenville, Michigan, it had been his first time competing in an official organized run. By the time he competes in the race again this year, on Aug. 18, he’ll have some other 5K races under his belt.
Making changes
Stone said he had always been a big but active kid. Growing up in Midland, he remembers shoveling his dirt driveway in the winter so he could play basketball.
He also played high school sports. As a sophomore, he was a 6-foot-1, 300-pound athlete.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
But the weight kept creeping up.
“It doesn’t seem like much each year, but then you look back and you’re up 50 pounds,” he said.
Over time it became more difficult to ignore the signs that something needed to change.
He married in 2007 and it soon became a growing challenge to keep up with his two young children. He couldn’t buy life insurance to protect his family—his weight made it cost-prohibitive. He had to take medication for high blood pressure.
He then experienced a liver issue, which turned out to be the start of fatty liver disease. His weight, meanwhile, restricted what he could accomplish in the weight room.
“At age 33 I was OK, but it was only a matter of time before I would end up on a bunch of meds,” Stone said. “My body was showing signs it couldn’t keep up.”
He tried to diet but success proved elusive. He’d get discouraged when he didn’t see results.
“I realized that you can’t out-exercise a bad diet,” Stone said. “I can do a lot more damage with my mouth than I can out-do with my body.”
Feeling like he was “chasing his tail,” he signed up for a consultation with a bariatric surgeon.
“I really felt like the surgery was the first step, because when you’re pushing 400 pounds, I knew I was limited, but I didn’t fully understand how limited I was by the weight,” Stone said.
He started off easy, first by walking and then going to the gym and jogging on the treadmill.
“From there, it has taken off,” Stone said.
His current routine is six days of exercise, including four to five days of 60 to 90 minutes of weight lifting at Fresh Start Fitness in Greenville. He also gets in one or two runs per week—each about 3 to 5 miles—and about 30 minutes of cycling on the Flat River Trail or the stair stepper at the gym.
He follows a low-carb, high-fat ketogenic diet. He recently eliminated all sugars, getting all his carbs from vegetables.
Transformation
Stone’s body has indeed changed. He went from a size 56 pants and XXXL shirts to a size 38 and large. He actually enjoys shopping now.
At the beginning, he would catch his reflection in a mirror and not recognize himself.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
But has he really changed? It’s one question he reflects on frequently. He looks to his wife to help him process it.
“I know that divorce rates are high for people who have big weight loss after surgery,” Stone said. “I ask my wife, ‘Have I changed? Let me know if you think I’m changing.’”
As an optimistic, outgoing person, Stone feels more comfortable in his skin now.
“I feel like my body matches my personality now, that it matches who I really am,” Stone said.
He works as a football coach at Greenville High School and as an associate pastor at Greenville First Church of God.
He said his faith and the strong support system from his family and community have helped him in this journey.
“I see this as part of being a better steward of who I am and what I have,” Stone said.
He also hopes he’s providing a good example for his children and his football players.
“For too many years, I just didn’t want to deal with it and make the commitment,” he said. “It’s good for everyone around me and good for me to see this is how we live better. Not that I didn’t live good before, but this is better.”
In honor of ArtPrize: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” — Pablo Picasso
ArtPrize venues you
might not think about
ArtPrize 10 is here which means for the next two and half weeks much of the community will be focused on and discussing art. A few of the venues which you might automatically think about reached out to us with information about who will be at their venue. To get the details, click here.
Picking time in local orchards,
and who’s doing the work
The Grand Rapids based Migrant Legal Aid organization visited WKTV Journal: In Focus recently to discuss the continuing and confusing mess that is current federal immigration policies, including the separation of families and sometimes separate deportation of suspected illegal immigrants — many of them seeking work as part of America’s migrant labor force. For more information, click here.
Stories from the road
with Kentwood bicyclist
Kentwood resident and bicyclist-on-a-mission Ken Smith, last week, took a wrong road in Canada but ended up with an unexpected meal and a donation for his cause — his 3,500-plus coast-to-coast trip to raise funds for his grandson, Jakob, and awareness of all persons with neurological damage. For more information, click here.
And today’s fun fact
(bicyclist history):
268.8 km/h
Fred Rompelberg from Maastricht, Netherlands, was the holder of the motor-paced speed world record cycling with 268.831 km/h (166.9 mph) from 1995 to 2018. He used a special bicycle behind a dragster of the Strasburg Drag Racing Team at the Bonneville Salt Flats. (Wikipedia)
Americans have said it so long, it approaches cliché: “The U.S. is the land of opportunity.” However, this still rings true for thousands of newcomers every year, including Guatemalan-born Natanael Krische. Listen to the story of 18-year-old ‘Nate’ who entered illegally and worked hard to became a citizen, small business owner, and pillar in his West Michigan community.
Each week WKTV features an adoptable pet—or few—from an area shelter. This week’s beauty is from Crash’s Landing. Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary rescue organizations were founded by Jennifer Denyes, DVM (Dr. Jen), who is on staff at Clyde Park Veterinary Clinic (4245 Clyde Park Ave SW).
Dr. Jen wrote this biography in a bit of reverse order, because she felt that the astute observations of the cat care team paints a pretty accurate picture of darling Dove, a 4-year-old (born in the spring of 2014) who came to us quite suddenly in mid-July, 2018.
“Dove has been a complete surprise, as we all expected her to be a complete challenge after how she first acted at the clinic with Dr. Jen; she settled in almost immediately and is loving (free-roaming) shelter life. She has a soft coo that she elicits when she purrs, so Dove is the purr-fect name for her. She will swat occasionally when she gets overwhelmed, so I think it’s best that she is adopted into a home without small kids. She gets along great with the other cats so a feline roomie would be to her liking.”
“Dove has finally become more social and is tolerant when we pet her, although she does set the tone of the interaction. As a matter of fact, recently when I was petting her, even though I THINK she realized she liked it, she still slapped me. To me she acts like she may have lost some trust in humans. If I remember right, didn‘t her previous owner pass away, and then she was taken in by someone else who also had to leave her? If so, I guess it’s no wonder she’s not fully able to trust right now, but deep down I know there is a good girl in there looking for a new person to give her a home of her very own again. It would be nice to see her placed in a quiet one that will take the time (and be patient) to help her build up her confidence again, and knock down the wall she’s put up. I am a softie for dilute calicos and she is no exception, even though she may be a bit of a diva.”
It’s totally true: Dove HATED the mere sight of Dr. Jen that first day after our cat care director came to kitty’s aid and retrieved her, even though she literally walked right into the travel carrier. Although Dr. Jen took it very slow and easy with her, losing one owner, then being shuffled off to another only to lose that one within two months, had to have turned Dove’s delicate world completely upside-down. Dr. Jen was concerned that all of the TLC in the world wasn’t going to right what Dove perceived as wrongs, but once out of that clinical setting and into a laid-back space that allowed her room to adjust and acclimate, she showed us her sweet side — and hasn’t stopped since, even though she spices it up a bit.
Dr. Jen would love to see Dove in a home with a mature couple who have homebody tendencies as Dove would love nothing more than a lap to claim and a human who would stroke her fur and tell her how beautiful she is, eliciting that soft coo we have all come to know and love.
More about Dove:
Extra Large
Dilute Calico & Domestic Short Hair Mix
Adult
Female
House-trained
Vaccinations up to date
Spayed
Not declawed
Good in a home with other cats; no children
Want to adopt Dove? Learn about the adoption process here. Fill out a pre-adoption form here.
Can’t adopt, but still want to help? Find out how you can sponsor a cat!
Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary have a common mission: To take at-risk stray cats off the streets of the Greater Grand Rapids area, provide them with veterinary care and house them in free-roaming, no-kill facilities until dedicated, loving, permanent homes can be found.
On the latest episode of WKTV Journal: In Focus, we continue our efforts to assist local veterans, this time with a new higher eduction program based out of Grand Valley State University.
In Focus is Tim Marroquin, the Director of GVSU Veterans Upward Bound program. The program provides academic and other services to military veterans with the goal of supporting their enrollment and success in postsecondary education. The program is new to the university and to Michigan, but there is a clear need of this service for our veterans.
The Upward Bound program is part of GVSU’s Division of Inclusion and Equity, so our first question is why veteran inclusion as important to GVSU as other “minority” groups?
“WKTV Journal: In Focus” airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel. But all interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal: In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
“This Was My Land” (1990). Armand Merizon gave this painting to Dave and Muriel in exchange for a Lake Michigan painting he wanted back and destroyed. (Supplied)
By WKTV Staff
ken@wktv.org
Between an opening of a major show of the works of West Michigan artist Armand Merizon in Muskegon, the availability of a superb art book on the artist, and WKTV’s airing of a documentary on the artist, now is the perfect time to catch up with one of the region’s premier painters of landscape (and much more).
The show, Armand Merizon: His Life & Art, will open at the Muskegon Museum of Art on Thursday, Sept. 20, with a free to the public opening reception and book signing from 5:30-7 p.m.
WKTV will air “Armand”, the Armand Merizon documentary, three times this week to coincide with the Muskegon exhibit, on WKTV Cable Channel 25 on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at noon and at 6 p.m., and on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 8 p.m.
And at the museum’s exhibit opening Muriel Zandstra, author of Armand Merizon: His Life and Art, will be on hand to sign her book, which will be available for purchase in the museum store.
Armand Merizon (1920-2010) was a lifelong Grand Rapids painter remembered for his detailed landscapes and brilliantly colored abstractions, according to supplied information. A founding member of the Grand Valley Artists organization, he influenced generations of West Michigan artists and was an active and supportive presence in the community.
Armand Merizon in studio (with image of musical influence Beethoven). (Supplied)
This exhibition highlights his entire career, beginning with the precocious landscapes of his late teens and ending with the intuitive abstractions of his final years.
Raised in a conservative Dutch Calvinist household during the Great Depression, Merizon struggled to find his place, ultimately following his passion for art. With limited training, he was able to turn his natural talents for observation and rendering into complex and intricate landscapes and illustrations. Tragically, at mid-career, he began losing his vision to macular degeneration. Rather than abandon painting, he moved in an abstract direction, presenting the landscape in bold strokes and hot, vibrant colors, ultimately painting by intuition instead of sight.
Organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art, the exhibition presents more than 20 paintings from West Michigan collections, including landscapes, abstractions, and several of the artist’s political works. Armand Merizon: His Life and Art is shown in conjunction with the recent release of a biography by the same name, written by his long-time friend and collector Zandstra.
After its close at the MMA, the exhibition will travel to the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City.
In addition to the special opening with the art book author, other related programs include:
“On An Overgrown Path” (1997). (Supplied. Collection of Sidney J. Jansma, Jr.)
“The Paintings of Armand Merizon: A Closer Look”, a Friends of Art Program with MMA senior curator Art Martin, on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 10:30 a.m. Martin will examines Merizon’s paintings over the course of the artist’s career. The program is free and open to the public, but paid admission is required for gallery entry.
A film screening of the documentary “Armand” and a discussion led by Zandstra will take place on Thursday, Oct. 25, from 6-8 p.m. “Armand” tells the story of the nearly blind 20th Century American artist using personal interviews, historic film footage, and more than 100 of his paintings.
The film, according to supplied information, traces Merizon’s search for truth and his portrayal of the social, political, and environmental issues of the 20th Century. It is also a story of perseverance as he battled macular degeneration and rheumatoid arthritis. Despite his ailments, he vowed, “I will paint until my nose touches the canvas.”
Director, executive producer, and close friend of Armand, Zandstra, will hold a question and answer following the film showing. Admission for the film is free and open to the public.
On the latest episode of WKTV Journal: In Focus is two topics greatly impacting West Michigan and the entire nation: criminal rehabilitation and the blurry world of migrant labor in a time of immigration reform battles.
First up is Richard Griffin, the newly hired Grand Rapids Field Organizer for the ACLU of Michigan’s Smart Justice campaign, which is committed to reducing the number of people in prison by 50 percent and eliminating racial disparities in our criminal justice system. Griffin was incarcerated at the age of 16 for a drug-related homicide and spent 23 years behind bars, but that is only the beginning of his story. We will talk with him about the rest of his life’s story, about the work of the ACLU’s Smart Justice effort, and about why he has an almost spiritual connection to jazz.
Also on the episode, and on YouTube, is the Grand Rapids based Migrant Legal Aid organization, from the group we will talk with director and attorney Teresa Hendricks and attorney Ben O’Hearn. The group works to protect migrant agricultural workers legal rights and work with local farmers and agribusiness to resolve legal disputes. The group has visited In Focus before, but with the continuing and confusing mess that is current federal immigration policies, including the separation of families and sometimes separate deportation of suspected illegal immigrants — many of them seeking work as part of America’s migrant labor force — we wanted to talk to people in the know.
“WKTV Journal: In Focus” airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel. But all interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal: In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
Kentwood resident and bicyclist-on-a-mission Ken Smith this week continued his 3,500-plus coast-to-coast trip to raise funds for his grandson, Jakob, and awareness of all persons with neurological damage.
A cyclist Ken meet on his travels. (Supplied)
Smith, 70, is riding from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean — Seaside, Oregon, to Boston, Massachusetts — in hopes of raising $30,000 to provide for possible care of and therapy for Jakob.
On Day 45 of his trek, Wednesday, Sept. 12, he took a wrong road but ended up with an unexpected meal and a donation.
“I found a rail trail from Simcoe to Port Dover (in Ontario, Canada) and made some good time,” Smith wrote on his Facebook page on that day. “I also discovered a road that followed the lake (Lake Erie) and it was a beautiful ride with a great view of the lake but it became a little confusing and I made a BIG mistake and turned the wrong way. That took me some 10 miles in the wrong direction …
“Oh well but it is amazing how things turn out. A lady (Liz) stopped me along the highway and said, ‘I just read about you in the paper’ and asked me if I would join her and her son and son-in-law for lunch. WOW what a blessing and she also donated to Jakob’s Ride. Even when you make a mistake, you never know what will develop because of it.”
On Thursday, Sept. 13, Smith prepared to cross back into the United States and wrote on his Facebook page:
“Tomorrow I cross into the US at Buffalo, NY and get on the Erie Canalway trail that is 360 miles long and takes me to Albany, NY. I will be on it for a few days. I am watching the weather forecast and I am expecting a wet ride over the next few days but I am ready for it. Distance today was 47 miles for a total of 2927 miles.”
When he left Grand Rapids, Smith estimated he had about 1,000 miles remaining on his trip, which will now take him across Michigan, across Ontario, and into New York State and Massachusetts. He estimates about 20 days for this leg of the journey.
Jakob’s parents — Ken’s son Jason and daughter-in-law Sue, live in Ontario and Jason is a firefighter in London, Ontario, Canada.
Jakob, Ken explains, was supposed to die at age 2 but is now 16 years old. He can walk but cannot speak, and requires 24/7 care. The goal of the cross-country trip is, partially, to raise funds to support Jakob’s needs including speech therapy.
"If you can't tolerate critics, don't do anything new or interesting."
~Jeff Bezos
Food, glorious food!
Blue Spoon will again be at Kentwood’s End of Summer Food Truck Festival. (WKTV)
And there will be food trucks galore! The free-to-attend event will run from 11am to 10pm, on Saturday, Sept. 15 in the parking lot of the Kent District Library — Kentwood (Richard. L. Root) Branch. Throughout the day, there will be live music, a beer tent and a variety of local eats.
Ferrand Park got quite the facelift, and Wyoming residents are thrilled. The park features a number of new amenities such as a shelter, pathways into the park, architectural features that help to identify the park, and a new, expanded playground area.
Gerald R. Ford International Airport has launched a new app that features real-time flight departure and arrival information, updates on parking availability at the airport, and security wait times. Additionally, amenities such as food and beverage locations, kids play areas, nursing rooms, and the military welcome center are featured on the app.
U.S. News & World Report ranks Calvin College #1 overall among Midwest regional colleges in its 2019 Best Colleges Guidebook. This marks the third consecutive year Calvin has topped its category.
Released online today, the report helps prospective students and their families evaluate colleges and universities based on 16 widely accepted indicators of excellence, such as first-year retention rates, graduation rates, and the strength of faculty. The report also takes into account qualitative assessments by administrators at peer institutions.
“Calvin’s mission to equip students to think deeply, to act justly, and to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world remains our constant source of motivation,” said Michael K. Le Roy, Calvin College president. “It is encouraging when independent sources like U.S. News & World Report recognize the exemplary work of our faculty, staff, and students.”
In addition to sharing the top overall ranking among its peers with Taylor University in 2019, Calvin also garnered U.S. News’ #1 ranking among Midwest regional colleges on its “Best Undergraduate Teaching” list, and appeared in the top five of its lists of “Most Innovative Schools” and “Schools with the Most International Students.”
Calvin was also listed as a “Best Value School” by U.S. News & World Report, and the college’s engineering program received special recognition as one of the best undergraduate engineering program in the country. The college tied for 71st among schools whose terminal engineering degree is a bachelors or masters.
About Calvin College Founded in 1876, Calvin College is a top-ranked, liberal arts college that equips its more than 3,700 students from 45 U.S. states, 65 countries and five Canadian provinces to think deeply, to act justly, and to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world. Calvin is proud to offer 100+ majors and programs, including graduate-level offerings in accounting, education, and speech pathology and audiology. Calvin students engage in intensive internships, community-based service learning, and significant research that results in publishing and presenting alongside world-class faculty.
And the college’s 400-acre campus, located in the vibrant city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, serves as a launching pad for students who, in any given year, participate in 40 faculty-led off-campus programs on six different continents. Discover more at www.calvin.edu.
About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is celebrating its 85th year as a digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. USNews.com focuses on education, health, money, travel, cars, and civic, providing consumer advice, rankings, and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and advice. U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
