Castle Museum books another series of cultural celebrations

by janet i. martineau

Carolanne Killmer Irish dancers

Hawaii meets Russia this summer as the Castle Museum, 500 Federal in Saginaw,  again hosts a “Cultural Celebration”  series featuring music, dancing, food, traditional crafts and games from countries around the world.

All the programs begin at noon on Thursdays. They are:

-- June 13, Hawaii. The Expressions in Motion Dance group from Bay City perform Hawaiian dance and then teach the  audience “Tiny Bubbles.” 

-- June 20, Ireland. Members of  Saginaw’s Carolanne Killmer School of Dance perform traditional Irish dancing in traditional dress.

-- June 27, Mexico. Ricardo Verdoni of Saginaw will talk about “Growing Up in the Mexican Circus” and his family which is still in the business. 

-- July 11, Greece. Tom Veremis of Zorba’s Greek Restaurant will talk about “Zorba’s: An American Dream,” following his emigration from Greece to America and how he followed his dream of becoming a bar and  restaurant owner.

-- July 18, Native Americans. Members of the Anishinaabe culture, Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, will discuss the history and culture of the Anishinabek. 

They will also talk about the significance of the Round Dance and will have the audience participate.

-- July 25, Russia. Stephen Scherer, a history professor at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, will discuss the significance of Russian icons and have some artifacts on display.

-- Aug. 1, Afro-American. Students from the ACT-SO group will perform Afro Modern Dance.

-- Aug. 8, Europe. The European farming cultures will be celebrated during “Wheat Weaving,” a traditional craft of many European cultures. Participants will create a basic weaving project, the friendship loop, thought to bring health and happiness to the home in which it hangs.

All the events are free with $1 admission fee to the museum but reservations are required. Call Lisa McCartney at 752-2861, Ext. 315 for more details and/or to make a reservation.

 Guests are welcome to bring their own lunch. A dessert related to each culture will be offered at the event. 

Anxiety, party at the zoo, war resistance and a teacher's life among "In a Poet's Backyard" picnics

by janet i. martineau

A walk in the park, pointers on coping with anxiety, a “notable” Michigan author and a teacher’s memoirs are on the schedule for the 13th annual “In a Poet’s Backyard” summer series sponsored by the Friends of Theodore Roethke.

Roethke was a Pulitzer-winning poet who was born in Saginaw in 1908 and raised at 1805 Gratiot, which is now owned and operated by the Friends as a museum and the site of ongoing programs.

The summer series brings in authors and poets to celebrate Roethke’s heritage as well as presents programs dealing with mental health lectures since he suffered from bipolar disease most of his adult life. Roethke died in 1963 of a heart attack and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery.

Reservations are required for several of the “In a Poet’s Backyard” offerings since they include a catered breakfast, lunch or dinner. Call (989) 928-0430 or e-mail info@roethkehouse.org to make reservations..

The line-up is as follows: 

JUNE

-- Thursday, June 13, from 7-8:30pm, “In a Dark Time” at Hoyt Library, 505 Janes in Saginaw

Everyone suffers from anxiety at some point during their lives, which interferes with relationships, work and life in general. CMU doctoral candidates in clinical psychology Krista M. Holman, Rochelle L. O’Neil, and Kathryn A. Michael provide education about different anxiety disorders and things people can do to gain some relief.  Free but donations welcome. 

-- Wednesday, June 19, from 9:30-11am, “Party in the Park” at Roethke Park, 400 Leddy in Thomas Township

This wooded area with a lake and small train was Roethke family property used for hunting, fishing and enjoying nature and is now a county park. Meet there for a nature walk, train ride, Roethke readings, and a breakfast. snack.  Reservations required. $10. 

Gloria Nixon-John

-- Thursday, June 20, from 10am to noon, “Getting The Story Out: Research, Writing, Courting the Presses” at 1805 Gratiot, Saginaw.

Gloria Nixon-John is the author of “The Killing Jar,” a novel based on the true story about  one of the youngest Americans to have served on death row.

 She will read excerpts from the book, discuss her research, and share what she has learned about the social and psychological issues behind crimes committed by teens and young adults.  

Nixon-John is a Red Cedar Writing Project Teacher Consultant. She has worked with InsideOut and the  Literary Arts Project in Detroit and has conducted many writing workshops at Roethke Home & Museum. 

She has also worked as oral historian for the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University and has published essays, fiction and poetry in both small and mainstream presses. 

Reservations required for lunch from Savoy, $20.

JULY

-- Language Arts Review and Ezekiel Project Arts and Culture Collaboration.  Meets Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday, July 9-11, 16-18 and 23-25, from 9:30-11:30am at 1805 Gratiot, Saginaw.

Early elementary students in morning and Ezekiel Project elementary and middle school students in afternoon for a summer language arts/reading program meeting national standards for English teachers. Also includes activities and crafts taken from Roethke’s 1920s era. Reservations required, $15, with breakfast snacks. (Ezekiel students, call  989-492-2684 to register.)

-- Tuesday, July 16, from 2-3pm, “Party at the Zoo” at the Children’s Zoo at Celebration Square, 1730 S. Washington in Saginaw.

Jeff Vande Zande 

Based on a Roethke poem by the same name, the party includes open mic poetry reading for children, games, animal tattoos, and animal crackers with pink lemonade pushups. This Collaboration with the Bay Arenac Reading Council is free with the $5 admission to zoo and takes place in the amphitheater. 

-- Wednesday, July 24, from 7-9pm, “Notable Author, Notable Book, Notable Library Program, at 1805 Gratiot, Saginaw.

“American Poet,” written by Delta College creative writing professor Jeff Vande Zande and set in part at the Roethke house, was named a 2013 Michigan Notable Book -- an annual event during which the Library of Michigan selects and  promotes 20 books celebrating the state’s ethnic, historical, literary and cultural legacy.

Join Vande Zande and  Randy Riley, coordinator of the Michigan Notable Books program, to hear excerpts from the book and learn about how  “Notable” books are chosen. Vande Zande, who lives in Midland, also has penned “Emergency Stopping and Other Stories” and “Landscape with Fragmented Figures.”

Reservations required,  $10 with wine and cheese served.

-- Tuesday, July 30,  from noon – 2:30 pm, The Eye Begins To See: Creating A Roethke Home Poem with Carol Sanford,” at 1805 Gratiot, Saginaw.

In honor of Roethke's close observation of his world, in particular the family greenhouse business, participants will write individual lines for a group poem by using their senses in the house and gardens to imagine what it was like to grow up experiencing what Roethke saw, heard and felt.  Participants should bring a notebook and pencil. 

Sanford will start the workshop by reading her favorite Roethke poems as well as some of her own. She began publishing creative work in the 1970s and lately publishes online.  

Over the years Sanford has hosted a variety of writing workshops in Midland and surrounding areas. She also taught English in public schools and at Northwood University in Midland  and Central Michigan  University in Mount Pleasant, where she was a member of the Poetry Quartet. 

Reservations required for lunch from dawn of a new day, $20.

AUGUST

-- Thursday, Aug. 1, from 5-6:30pm, “Gallagher’s Poets: Roethke and Carver,” at 1805 Gratiot, Saginaw.

Roethke and poet/short story writer Raymond Carver were born on the same day, May 25 -- in 1908 for Roethke and 1938 for Carver. And they died a day apart -- Roethke on Aug. 1, 1963 and, Carver on Aug. 2, 1988.

Poet Tess Gallagher, a Roethke student and Carver’s wife,  commemorated both during a recent festival in  Port Angeles, Wa. Kathie Marchlewski, a Roethke board member and instructor at Delta College, attended the festival and joins River Junction Poet Maxine Harris to celebrate the two men with pairings of poems that were created by Gallagher.  

Reservations required for a dinner from Sullivan’s, $20.

Following is a 7pm visit to Rotheke’s grave at Oakwood, Gratiot at Midland, with poetry readings there.

-- Tuesday, Aug. 13, from noon – 2:30, “One Person’s Path to Becoming an Author,” at 1805 Gratiot, Saginaw.

Michele Hile, the author of the self-published book “My Journey of 55 Septembers - A Teacher’s Story,”  summarizes her career path by outlining the seven things she has done for which she has been paid. Hile’s memoir is filled with teaching ideas and inspiration and is written from both the student and teacher perspective. 

Reservations required for lunch from Crumbs, $20. 

Rosalie Riegle 

-- Tuesday, Aug. 20, from 7-9pm, “Crossing Lines and Doing Time.” at 1805 Gratiot, Saginaw.

Saginaw native Rosalie Riegle returns home to read from her two recently released  books about war resisters -- “Doing Time for Peace: Resistance, Family, and Community” and “Crossing the Line: Nonviolent Resisters  Speak Out for Peace.”  Featured in them are interviews with Saginawian Joni McCoy as well as three resisters well known to Saginaw audience, Sisters  Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert and the late Jackie Hudson. 

Now living in Chicago, Riegle was an award-winning English and women’s studies professor at Saginaw Valley State University, co-founded two Catholic Worker communities in Saginaw, founded the Saginaw Valley Peace Watch, continues to participate in nonviolent actions against war, and published two earlier books about the Catholic Worker movement.

Reservations required for wine and cheese, $10.

Support for the Roethke summer programs is provided by Citizens Bank Wealth Management, the Michigan Humanities Council, Saginaw Arts & Enrichment Commission and HSC’s Saginaw Celebrates Summer.

SVSU's "All in the Timing" a don't miss play

Amanda Moths and Isaac Wood in "Variations on the Death of Trotsky"

review and photos by janet i. martineau

Three chimpanzees writing “Hamlet.” Leon Trotsky with an axe sticking out of his head as he replays his assassination in eight variations. And Philadelphia, where if you want one thing you ask for its exact opposite.

And to say nothing of hearing a totally made up language.

Opening tonight (May 22) and running through Friday is “All in the Timing,” Saginaw Valley State University’s first show of the summer season in its intimate Black Box Theater.  And it is a hilarious DO NO MISS if you love word play, cultural references, romantic pick up lines and and just plain silly nonsense.

Five short one-act plays all penned by David Ives, wrapped up in less than 90 minutes with no intermission, nicely acted by a cast of  seven with most of them playing two or three roles, solid direction by David Rzeszutek, and an eye-pleasing set of time pieces.

And a NIGHTMARE for its cast as it ticks along at a rapid pace. Indeed all in the timing, which they have down pat. But worse, a dialogue nightmare in four of its five segments.

Dave Ryan, Erica Coleman, Jordan Stafford in "The Philadelphia"

“The Universal Language,” acted by Isaac Wood and Mykaela Hopps, deals with the Wood character having formed a new universal language and introducing it to stuttering student Hopps  -- one with just enough English in it that the audience actually begins to understand it, but the bulk of it new non words combined  with German and Romance language words or cultural references. 

Like rrongplatz meaning wrong place; Joe DiMaggio spoken for that’s too bad.  I

magine memorizing that and pulling it off as if it is real.

In “The  Philadelphia,” Dave Ryan encounters an unreal realm called “a Philadelphia” when he enters a restaurant where Jordan Stafford is sitting and learns that whatever you want you ask for its opposite -- which he puts to the test with waitress Erica Coleman, to which she responds in a fast repartee.  Like if you want fries, you order a baked potato.

Again, much concentration from the actors as the mind struggles to go against the grain.

In both “Sure Thing” and “Variations on the Death of Trotsky,” it is keeping focus in where you are at in the script since in both ...well, you just have to see them. The dialogue is layered, each segment with repetition or resetting  that only slightly varies and in doing so inches closer and closer to the finale.

Hopps and Stafford are in “Sure Thing,” cast  as two people meeting by chance in a cafe and carefully connecting by resetting their conversation. They are dizzying in pulling it off. And Wood and Amanda Moths are the Russian revolutionary Trotsky and his wife offering variations on how he died -- with a mountain-climber’s axe protruding from his head throughout, a canned laugh track like the television comedies sport,  and a bell sound separating each variation.

As for the fifth segment, “Words, Words, Words,” it requires much physicality as Wood, Coleman and Lexee Longwell play three increasingly angry and frustrated caged experimental chimps assigned to write “Hamlet.”

The two women in particular crouch and move swingy like chimps -- Coleman emitting the loud shreek of a chimp and Longwell the more chirplike sound of a chimp (and also playing with a banana and in general stealing the segment). 

Listen, too, to their first names -- all literary characters. 

And for sure listen to the playwright’s lines throughout -- its references to Shakespeare, “The Honeymooners,” Monty Python and so much more.

Wood is particularly superb in all three of his roles, with Trotsky our favorite. But, as noted, the entire cast is right on -- all in the timing for sure, as well as totally in character, keeping focus on the lines, speaking clearly, maintaining the driving pace.

Great summertime theater selection.

Saginaw Choral Society rocks the roof with Rutter Gloria

Review by Janet I. Martineau

A week ago the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra blew the roof off the top of the Temple Theater with a hallmark performance of Stravinksy's The Rite of Spring.

On Saturday night, not to be outdone, the Saginaw Choral Society did the same with Rutter's Gloria, accompanied by a brass ensemble and percussion.

Put the two pieces in a playoff and we are not sure who would win, although the Stravinksy is a long orchestral piece and the Rutter a short choral work so they are very different. Whatever the case, we have not heard the choral society sound this dynamic and powerful and passionate perhaps ever. Right on the piece totally with a breathtaking precision.

The brass helped deliver the sound that filled the hall, yes, of course. But so too did the chorale, with solo parts layered on in the second movement by Darlene Mikoleizik, Peggy Knutson and Deanna Patton.

But then the whole night, the season finale, was a goodie ... titled Blaze of Glory, with the stage bathed in an attractive easy orange hue and elegant draping hanging overhead.

As usual, music director Glen Thomas Rideout went for the unusual. He opened the evening singing solo in his own arrangement of a Brazilian  Benedictine  chant as one by one the choir came out and joined his voice until all were there.

Another piece had the singers assembled in a circle all the way around him as he conducted in the middle. With the fun "Jabberwocky" by Pottle the singers added to its magic with a variety of noisemakers. And "Magnificent Horses" by Jing Ling Tam had the choir sounding like, well, horses yet also human with the accompaniment of Deanna Popielarz on flute.

There were a couple of other "Gloria" pieces (excerpts from) on the program by other composers and some fine solo work, a chance for the audience to sing at one point, two a cappella pieces in the second half that beautifully showcased the virtuosity of the singers, a little poetry at the outset from Rideout (who is an excellent actor as well as musician).....all of them excellent programmatic choices, sung or spoken superbly, and with A1 clarity of diction.

But we can't get our mind off that Rutter Gloria  and its total magnificence ...its true blaze of glory.

Roethke "birthday party" to include a poetry slam champion, poet who created 28 imaginary people

by janet i. martineau

It’s time to celebrate Theodore Roethke’s 105th birthday!

The Friends of Theodore Roethke, who own and operate the Pulitizer-winning poet’s boyhood home at 1805 Gratiot in Saginaw, annually celebrate his May 25 birth day with special events.

This year they take place on two days, Friday and Saturday, May 17 and 18.

On May 17 the offerings, free except for the evening dinner, are: 

-- Afternoon school visits by invited poets to share their poetry with Saginaw students.

Arra Lynn Ross

-- 2-4pm, “Reading Roethke” at Roethke’s childhood home, 1805 Gratiot. Poet Rosie King, a Saginaw native now living in California, will oversee the reading of works from Roethke’s collected that deal with his childhood, nature, his struggles and the family’s greenhouse business.

-- 4:30-5:30pm, “Reading Roethke” continues at Roethke’s grave, Oakwood Cemetery, Gratiot at Midland Roads.

-- 6pm, Group dinner at Sullivan’s.  Individual checks.

On Saturday, May 18, Roethke poet-in-residence Arra Lynn Ross will offer a writing workshop from 10am-noon at the Roethke House. The cost is $12.  Reservations are required by calling  989-928-0430 or  info@roethkehouse.org. 

Ross is a Saginaw Valley State University creative writing  professor and an author.

She grew up on a communal farm in Minnesota and received her doctorate degree in creative writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Her work has appeared in Spoon River Poetry Review, Hayden's Ferry, Beloit Poetry Journal and Alimentum. Ross's poems have also been featured on Verse Daily and the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day. “Seedlip and Sweet Apple” is her first book. 

The rest of Saturday’s  events take place at the  Andersen Enrichment Center, 120 Ezra Rust in Saginaw, and are free unless otherwise noted.

Jamaal May

-- 2-4pm, invited poets Jamaal May, Cindy Morgan Hunter and Stephanie  M. Glazier read from their works, with Roethke poems read in between each poet  by members of the River Junction Poets. 

May, who lives in Detroit, has been a finalist at several national and international poetry slams,  is a three-time Rustbelt Regional Slam champion and has been a member of six national poetry slam teams.

His 2013 book “Hum” won the Beatrice Hawley Award and his poems have been published in Poetry, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, Blackbird, Michigan Quarterly Review, Gulf Coast, The Believer and New England Review.

Hunter lives in East Lansing and teaches creative writing at Michigan State University. Her chapbook “The Sultan, The Skater, The Bicycle Maker,” featuring  28 imaginary people, won The Ledge Press 2011 Poetry Chapbook Award. And her  “Apple Season,” dealing with her relationship with her grandmother and a place they shared,  won the Midwest Writing Center's 2012 Chapbook Contest.

Cindy Morgan Hunter

Other Hunter poems have appear in A cappella Zoo, Bateau, The Christian Science Monitor, Sugar House Review, Weave and West Branch. 

Glazier is the acting director for Michigan State University’s  Center for Poetry, where she coordinates poetry events on campus and in East Lansing schools.

May and Hunter will have their books and chapbooks on sale.

-- 2-5pm, display of student art illustrations of Roethke’s “Dirty Dinky and Other Creatures.”  Ice cream and cake on sale for $1.05 to match Roethke’s years.

-- 4:30pm, interpretations of Roethke’s “ Saginaw Song.” 

-- 5-5:30pm, cocktail party. Cash bar with limited beer and wine selections.

-- 5:30-5:45pm,  Friends of Theodore Roethke annual membership meeting (open to public).

-- 5:45-7pm, catered dinner from Jakes. Cost $30. Reservations required: 989-928-0430 or  info@roethkehouse.org.

-- 7-7:15pm,  music performance by violinist Nathan Bieber of Heritage High School and keyboard player Carson Waites of Frankenmuth High School. (They also will provide music during dinner.)

-- 7:15pm, poetry reading by 2013 Roethke poet-in-residence Arra Lynn Ross.

Roethke was born in 1906 and is a graduate of Arthur Hill High School and the University of Michigan. His father and uncle operated a massive greenhouse business in back of their homes at 1759 and 1805 Gratiot.

At the time of his death in 1963, at age 55, Roethke was teaching at the University of Washington in Seattle -- one of many colleges where he taught during his career.

He won the Pulitzer in 1953 for “The Waking,” one of nine books he authored. Today his poems are in virtually every student textbook in the world as well as in countless poetry anthologies. In 2012 he was one of 10 American poets honored by a U.S. Postal Service stamp.

Colorful new book celebrates Z to A in Great Lakes Bay

The "P" page features the penguins at Saginaw's Children's Zoo

by janet i. martineau

Hot off the presses is a book that, just to be different, goes from  Z to A.

The 8 1/2-inch by 11-inch, glossy-print, 48-page publication also contains colorful images very familiar to folks living in Saginaw, Midland, Bay and Isabella counties.

Titled "Z to A in the Great Lakes Bay,”  it contains, for each letter of the alphabet, a stylized drawing taken from photos representing the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, Children’s Zoo at Celebration Square, CMU Marching Band in Mount Pleasant, Great Lakes Loons in Midland, Bay City Fireworks, Appledore Schooner, Castle Museum...and so on.

Priced at $12, it is a fund-raiser for the READ Association of Saginaw County in a partnership with Great Lakes Bay Publishing and the The Dow Chemical Company.

The cover of the book

“Last June READ asked families and individuals to select a letter of the alphabet and  submit their favorite place to visit or activity in the community that began with that letter,” says READ director Carol R. Lechel.

 “Many of  these submissions were selected by the creative committee as ssignments were made for each  letter of the alphabet.” 

Two retired elementary teachers -- Maryann Czolgosz ans Nancy Owens -- then wrote a  whimsical verse for each letter of the alphabet.

The back of the book features small photographs of some of the other favorite places nominees.

Its sales income replaces READ’s  Reading is Fundamental (RIF) program dollars that were eliminated in 2011 from the federal budget.  That money will allow  READ to continue to provide free books for children mentored in its program.  

“Z to A” is on sale online at www.greatlakesbaymag.com, and at  The Children's Book Company located inside the Antique Warehouse, the Children's Zoo at Celebration Square, Mid-Michigan Children's Museum and the Castle Museum Historical Society of  Saginaw County. 

It also  will be available and featured at the 12th annual “DEAR at the Zoo - Drop Everything and READ”  event  on Wednesday, June 19, at the Children's Zoo at Celebration Square.     

 "The book is truly a labor of love and made possible by  many talented individuals who donated their time, talents and treasures in its making of this book,” says Lechel. “There are so many things to see and places to visit in the Great  Lakes Bay Region.”  

Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra hits a milestone with Stravinsky

review by janet i. martineau


"Russian Milestones" was the title of Saturday night's concert at the Temple Theatre.....but it was more like "Saginaw Milestones."

Quite simply the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra outdid itself, particularly in the performance of  Stravinsky's  "The Rite of Spring." Bet they could hear its rousing sounds over at TheDow where a football game was in progress.

Normally I listen to a SBSO concert with eyes closed, savoring the music more than the sight. 

Not on this night. 

Watching the orchestra, every section of it, put muscle in this piece about human sacrifice was captivating -- especially the hard-driving strings. 

Watching maestro Brett Mitchell swing and sway and sweat in conducting it made up for the missing dancers in this ballet piece celebrating its 100th birthday this month. 

And its percussive power somehow demanded it be watched.

One minute it was pulsating and pounding and then Mitchell stopped it cold, only to start up again quietly and heading again for full throttle. Sometimes it swayed. And remarkably, requiring great stamina, its 14 sections were played nonstop except for one pause.

At the end, after thunderous applause and a standing ovation, Mitchell held the score over his head in triumph to the stellar performance of it and, we assume, in homage to the work itself.

Opening the evening was another power piece -- Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major. The power here was less in the orchestra and more with the soloist, American-born Joan Kwuon. Her masterful skill in a piece that was for three years unplayed because it was deemed unplayable was so outstanding the audience gave her long and sustained applause after the first movement.

And she had two more movements to go! Ones which got even more difficult and well played -- with the solid orchestra all the way with her.

Neither of these pieces were well received when they premiered. Today, at least with this SBSO performance of them, they left us breathless and amazed.