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Local stories hit the big screen at Kalamazoo Film Society’s fourth annual showcase
The event features mostly filmmakers from Kalamazoo and the surrounding region, with films shot in — and in some cases about — the city itself.
One of the featured filmmakers, Jerod Kauffman, created a documentary about the final days of the longtime dive bar Harvey’s on the Mall, which closed after a buyout. Kauffman said he wanted to capture the story of a place that helped define Kalamazoo’s nightlife culture.
“The closure was sudden to everyone — the community and staff — so I wanted to immortalize a place that was loved by so many,” Kauffman wrote to Watershed Voice. “I saw a fence and bulldozer outside the building today on the way to work. I think it’s going to be torn down, so I am happy I was able to capture a piece of Kalamazoo history and the bar that stood and served the community for 40+ years.”
About Watershed Voice
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Watershed Voice is an independent, nonprofit civic news magazine based in Three Rivers, Michigan. We seek to highlight solutions to your pressing concerns in an effort to make our community a better place.
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Useless Creatures to donate all of today’s sales to tornado relief
Useless Creatures Brewing Company plans to donate all sales today, Thursday, March 12 to tornado recovery efforts. All of the money will go to The Huss Project who has been organizing volunteers, collecting donations, and providing resources for those in need in the wake of the tornado.
Sturgis Civic Players to present “Anne of Green Gables” March 20–22 at Sturges-Young Center for the Arts
Directed by Elizabeth Smith of Sturgis and adapted from one of the best-selling books in the world, Anne of Green Gables follows Anne Shirley’s journey from a mischievous girl to a young woman, exploring themes of imagination, belonging, and family.
This production spans six years of Anne’s life — from her arrival in Avonlea as a 12-year-old to her young adulthood at 18 as she prepares to set out on her own. The production highlights many of the story’s most beloved moments.
Rapid fire film festival Kazoo 48 returns for its seventh year
Designed to introduce people to filmmaking while also challenging experienced creators, Kazoo 48 gives teams 48 hours to complete a short film between one and six minutes long. Each team must incorporate an assigned genre, line of dialogue, character, location, and prop into their film.
Once completed, the films are judged by a panel of local talent. Awards include prizes for best use of an assigned item and the festival’s signature award — a gold engraved kazoo — presented to the best films in both the amateur and professional categories.
Tiny houses, big impact: Gwendolyn Hooker’s housing vision in Kalamazoo
As Helping Other People Exceed (HOPE) continued to grow, one issue kept appearing: many people had jobs and income but still could not find landlords willing to rent to them because of past criminal records.
Many were couch surfing, sleeping in cars, or moving from one temporary situation to another.
Eventually Founder and CEO Gwendolyn Hooker said, the solution became clear.
“If people aren’t going to rent to the population that I serve,” she said, “then I’m just going to build my own houses.”
Sturgis provides storm aid to neighbors, approves arts center entryway project
The City of Sturgis suffered very little damage from the storms. City staff reported during Monday’s meeting that minor damage occurred at the city’s hydroelectric facility, where a unit was knocked offline.
“It went right over the dam,” one city staff member said during the meeting.
Sturgis’ most significant involvement following the storm came through the aid and resources it provided to neighboring communities.
Three Rivers residents recount moments before and after Friday’s EF-2 tornado
The storm was among the fiercest to strike Three Rivers in recent memory. Despite the destruction, residents across the city rushed to support one another before, during, and after.
