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So many of my friends had related to me the great joy of being own lives. Then, lo and behold, they marry, have children, and a grandparent that I could hardly wait to have grandchildren take a job in another state, or even another country. And, I of my own. The thought of being able to play with and “spoil ask, just how do they expect to come for Sunday dinner every them rotten” — and then send them home week when they live hundreds of miles away? — raised my level of anticipation to unre- Obviously, they won’t be bringing the kids to Sunday din- alistic heights. There would be nothing ner regularly, and, as it turns out, it’s easier for the grandpar- negative about this next phase of my life ents to make the long, tedious trip to their homes. I have posi- because having none of the worries or tioned myself behind the wheel of the car on many late responsibilities of being a parent, just the Thursday afternoons and driven well into the night and early joys, seemed like a proper reward for hav- morning for the pleasure of a long weekend with the little ing raised two sons who were about to start ones and their parents. Driving 12 hours isn’t so bad (I tell their own families. myself tiredly), considering the alternative of fighting my way Rick Briscoe I pondered the times, nearly a half cen- through multiple airports and spending hours holed up in ter- tury ago, when, as a child, I interacted with my own grandpar- minals or sitting in planes. ents. I recalled the regular trips to their house for Sunday din- Technology to the rescue! Since Christmas I have been ner, and I remembered the summers — when I would spend a able to sit down in front of my webcam-outfitted computer week alone with them. It was very relaxed, we played games, and enjoy entertaining and inspiring face-to-face conversations and my grandfather and I walked in the woods with Sparky, with the always-eager youngsters. Now, I have decided, this the black cocker spaniel. It was idyllic, although I couldn’t fig- grandparenting thing is pretty cool after all, even if it has to ure out, in those days, why my grandparents ate Cream of happen long distance. And when summer comes, it will be a Wheat and stewed prunes for breakfast every day. Just what bit like yesteryear when the old-fashioned, in-the-flesh, week- you did when you got old, I surmised. long visits occur like in the 1950s, except I don’t eat Cream of Well, I’m here to tell you, grandparenting is everything I Wheat and stewed prunes for breakfast — yet. thought it would be except for one little complication. Now I’m not complaining one bit about my lot in life — I have five very bright and delightful grandchildren. But the challenges begin when your children become truly independent and suc- Rick Briscoe cessful adults. They actually have the nerve to develop their Publisher
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2006 A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. • Member SIPC [24778-v1-0241] A-1101-0107 CONTENTS MAGAZINE 8 Publisher Richard J. Briscoe JIM and LOIS Editor RICHMOND actively Penny H. Briscoe support their interest in Contributing Editor Cherri L. Glowe the environment Assistant to and the arts. the Publisher Ronald Dundon Senior Writer
Tom Thinnes 33 Issue 6 February 2006 Volume Contributing Writers Kaye Bennett Tom Chmielewski Theresa Coty-O’Neil Shawn Hagen Terry Hagen Larry B. Massie Dan Pettee Joel H. Reinoehl, MD 18 Christopher Rogers, DO Robert Weir A scheduling error in DEPARTMENTS Contributing Poet high school started Brent L. Larson LORI MOORE on the 5 FROM THE PUBLISHER Cartoonist Craig Bishop path to her career. 10 TRIVIA PurZOOt Feature Photographer Michigan Fun Facts John Gilroy
Designer 26 ARTIST PROFILE Brakeman Rex Bell Encore magazine is pub- 38 30 PLEASIN’ THE PALATE lished nine times yearly, NATE MELVIN September through May. Quality Cheese Can Make a Copyright 2006, Encore Publishing Group, Inc. All isn’t following a path Recipe Sing rights reserved. Editorial, in life, but he’s sure circulation and advertising 31 STAY TUNED correspondence should be going places. sent to 350 S. Burdick, Heart Disease: Suite 316, Kalamazoo, MI Plumber vs. Electrician 49007. Telephone: (269) 383-4433. Fax number: (269) 383-9767. E-mail: 32 GUESS WHO Publisher@Encorekalamaz oo.com. The staff at Encore 34 EVENTS OF NOTE welcomes written com- 52 ment from readers, and articles and poems for sub- Who better to write 46 MASSIE’S MICHIGAN mission, with no obligation Early Detroit No Haven to print or return them. To the history of Vicksburg learn more about us or to than retired veterinarian for Runaway Slaves comment, you may visit ARLE SCHNEIDER, www.encorekalamazoo.com 59 HERITAGE PRESERVATION Encore subscription rates: DVM? one year $21.00, two years Building on Tradition at $41.00, three years $60.00. Tillers International Current single issue and newsstand $3.00, $8.00 by mail. Back issues $5.00, $10.00 by mail. Advertising POETRY rates on request. Closing date for space is 28 days 25 The Outdoors prior to publication date. Cover photo of Jim Richmond, Emma Bickham Pitcher Final date for print-ready and Lois Richmond courtesy of the Richmonds. copy is 21 days prior to publication date. Guess Who photography by John Gilroy.
FEBRUARY 2006 • ENCORE 7 INVESTING IN COMMUNITY By Dan Pettee
WMU College of Fine Arts Dean WO CENTURIES AGO, back to the school and the community Margaret Merrion, Art School Director Phillip VanderWeg, Lois William Wordsworth wrote in a truly significant way. Their gift of Richmond, College of Fine Arts that “The world is too much $2.5 million toward a total $12 million Development Director Kate Barnes with us — getting and project (all raised through donations) is and Jim Richmond break ground in May 2005 for the Richmond Center T spending, we lay waste our helping to make that new center a reali- for Visual Arts. powers.” Some say those words are truer ty. today than ever. But not for everyone. Mind-boggling generosity, you For Jim and Lois Richmond, not getting might say — and you’d be right. Yet, and spending — but giving and invest- you’d only be scratching the surface of ing — are ways to increase our powers. what makes Jim and Lois Richmond, Giving — giving back — is what the who have both “officially” been retired Richmonds are all about. for almost 20 years, a story for the Consider the James W. and Lois I. times. Richmond Center for Visual Arts, cur- Both Jim and Lois had highly suc- rently under construction at Western cessful careers with local companies. Jim Michigan University. Jim and Lois both worked for over 20 years for Stryker attended WMU, and decided to give Corporation, rising through the ranks to
8 ENCORE • FEBRUARY 2006 Kalamazoo nature and art enthusiasts Jim and Lois Richmond are committed to doing their part so southwest Michigan remains a great place to live.
Lois Richmond leads a winter walk through “Nature’s Acres” in 1998. the level of senior vice president before lived with his father’s aunt and uncle for elsewhere.” He looked seriously at sev- “retiring” at the end of 1987 at age 49. the first 12 years of his life. His father, eral universities before choosing Lois had a 30-plus year career in nurs- who worked for J.C. Penney, had an WMU — a decision that made all the ing and nursing/hospital administration, itinerant career, moving from Maysville difference in his life. He says, “I enjoyed attaining the level of assistant vice presi- to Chillicothe (Ohio), Battle Creek, my stay at Western, and graduated with dent of surgical services at Bronson Greenville (Mich.), and Midland, ending a business degree in January 1961.” He Methodist Hospital. Lois joined Jim in a 40-year career in Kalamazoo. Jim took his first post-college job with retirement in 1987 — but retirement reunited with his dad in Midland and American National Bank in September was really only a transition to a new life attended high school there, graduating of 1962, and then joined Stryker and a new, diverse level of activity. in 1956. Corporation in January of 1968. Jim and Lois Richmond are a study It was then that his life took a sig- Officially retired from there in in contrasts. Jim is the quieter of the nificant turn. Jim says, “I might well 1987, for eight years afterward he con- two, appearing reserved, almost shy, in have been one of hundreds of Midland tinued to work for Stryker on a consult- fact. But get him talking about his var- graduates going to MSU, but one of my ing basis, went back full-time in 1995, ied passions — art, education, nature teachers got me interested in looking and then continued to consult for the and conservation, among others — and Collecting sap to boil down into maple syrup Jim Richmond retrieves wood from his well- you soon learn better. He might be the keeps Lois Richmond busy in the spring. stacked woodpile. perfect personification of the old adage: “Still waters run deep.” Lois is more talkative and outgoing, with a sense of a “perpetual motion machine” when entering her aura. “Enthusiasm” might be the word that best describes them both. In their very active lives, Jim and Lois have trav- eled the globe for business and pleasure, visiting new places, learning new things. Yet, they’ve always returned to their 185-acre “rural retreat” in the Comstock Township area — which, given their rather humble beginnings, seems quite natural. Jim was born in and raised around Maysville, Ky., a small town on the Ohio River, 50 miles upriver from Cincinnati. “It was a rustic area,” says Jim with a smile. “We had no indoor plumbing and used a coal-burning stove for heat and kerosene for cooking.” Jim, whose mother died in an automobile accident,
FEBRUARY 2006 • ENCORE 9 Richmond company until John W. Brown retired in 2004. His career at Stryker was varied and fulfilling, says Jim. “I worked in various management areas, including interna- tional, product development, sales and marketing. For years, I traveled around the world seeking new products, learn- ing a lot about the technical aspects of the medical-device business and product design, and it stuck.” In addition to traveling around the globe, he was also busy close to home. For many years he worked with local surgeons, evaluating and developing new products. It was during this time that Jim and Lois’s paths crossed.
southwest Michigan native, Lois Richmond grew up in nearby ARichland. “It really was a small town in those days, a rural, agricultural- ly based village. From an early age, I spent a lot of time outdoors, and grew to love the natural world early on,” says Lois, who graduated from what was then called the Richland Rural Agricultural School (now the Gull Lake An example of Jim Richmond’s “found object art” sits quietly in the snow. Community Schools). She then attended Bronson Methodist Hospital School of was promoted to assistant director of consultant on a variety of professional Nursing, earning a diploma in 1956. nursing services, and in 1983, to projects. Lois continued classes at WMU After graduation, she took her first Assistant Vice President of Surgical and completed her bachelor’s degree in job with Bronson Methodist Hospital, as Services. Her curriculum vitae from that 1987. a staff nurse in the emergency room. She career is studded with professional affili- Lois (Hoyt) Brown and Jim worked for Bronson for 31 years, until ations and achievements — such as Richmond met “on the job” while Jim she and Jim retired in 1987. She held a assisting in the design of the first com- was consulting with Bronson surgeons variety of positions of increasing author- mercial, enclosed-case, cart system in for Stryker. They married in 1973, the ity, including head nurse, house supervi- the United States for specific surgery second marriage for both. They have sor, and medical supervisor. In 1972 she use. She also found time to serve as a four adult children, 10 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. For almost 15 years after they mar- ried, Jim and Lois lived busy but excit- ing parallel, professional lives. However, Did you their lives also began to take on what you might call additional dimensions. know… that Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dune, the large dune along the edge of the A Sense of Place and a Sense of Purpose bluff on Lake Michigan in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, is Soon after their retirement at their rapidly changing? second country home on Lyons Lake in (See details on page 60.) Comstock Township, their shared inter- est in nature seemed to coalesce. As Jim
10 ENCORE • FEBRUARY 2006 As beekeepers, Lois and Jim Richmond donned all the right garb. says: “That was when I started to become ‘enlightened,’ made aware that there was more to life — things like the creative arts, the natural world, and pro- tecting our natural environment.” In 1985 they bought the land they now live on, on the east side of Lyons Lake. They initially bought 104 acres. Subsequent abutting purchases increased their holdings to 185 acres, a natural preserve they’ve named “Nature’s Acres.” Says Lois: “After retiring, we really became serious students of nature and the environment.” The land includes the house they live in (original- ly built in 1860, although they’ve added on) and seven outbuildings, including a rustic barn they’ve converted into a classroom. Diamonds The rest of Nature’s Acres is a natu- ralist’s dream — a private preserve with diverse natural habitats, expansive wet- for the one lands, and several miles of trails. A pub- lication by the Southwest Michigan you love … Land Conservancy in the late ’90s noted: “Over 300 species of flowers, 50 species of trees, 100 species of birds, and most of Michigan’s reptiles have been identi- fied on this property.” (It’s not surpris- 6033 S. Westnedge • Portage, MI ing to learn that, in their estate plan- M – F 10 – 5:30, Sat 10 – 3 • 321-6100 ning, the Richmonds have arranged to
FEBRUARY 2006 • ENCORE 11 Richmond
protect all of their preserve through gift- spring and fall. Later, they taught them ing part of it and placing conservation in winter, too. “Winter walks, we called easements on the rest — through the them,” says Lois. “Eventually, we had Make a Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy.) nature lovers from every walk of life, Jim and Lois created a motto for the from students and educators to physi- Heart preserve that speaks volumes: A Serene cists, doctors, and attorneys. Sometimes Sanctuary to Stimulate the Mind and we’d have prominent guest speakers, Throb Treat the Senses. And, givers that they though Jim and I taught many classes are, they never intended to restrict this ourselves. Jim taught everything from Women love to receive wonderful sanctuary for their own use botany to bone-cell biology.” Jim says: their Valentine’s Flowers alone. Far from it. “We always said we cover everything at work! Order Early! Their desire to “spread the natural from stars to snakes.” wealth” was accelerated when they met For all that time, Emma Bickham Emma Bickham Pitcher, a well-known Pitcher was a source of information, local naturalist. Lois puts it this way: inspiration and support. She and the “We first met Emma on a field trip in Richmonds became, in Jim’s words, 1990, and we were excited enough to “eternal friends.” In fact, the Richmonds ask her out to see our property. She in 2004 gave a special party at Nature’s accepted our invitation, and that was Acres to celebrate 11 years of classes — the beginning of it all.” and Emma Pitcher’s 90th birthday. The 343-2671 The “all” was an enduring relation- booklet they created for the event pays 1120 S. Burdick St. • Kalamazoo ship that led to a long run of their tribute to Emma, including these simple teaching classes at Nature’s Acres. Jim yet direct words: “Thank you, Emma, says, “We taught our first class in our for being such a good teacher and moti- barn in 1993 … and ended up giving a vator.” variety of classes for 11 years!” It wasn’t Certainly the same thing can be really planned — or promoted. said about the Richmonds. The list of Lois says, “We did no formal adver- subjects they taught (ending in 2004 at SIMPLICITY tising; it was mostly word-of mouth. Emma’s 90th birthday party) ranges No complex charts, The first class we did was for just a few from aquatic plants and art and sculp- incomprehensible people. In later years, we’d have up to ture to weather and wetlands, and standard deviations 20 people in a class.” everything in between. As Lois put it in or outdated rankings based on past At first, they taught classes only in her introduction to the booklet: “Our performance, but plain-English recommendations based on our analysts’ opinions of what may lie ahead for individual mutual funds. Expect all of this and more from a Financial Advisor who listens to \RXUQHHGVDQGSXWV\RXÀUVW To get the research you need before you invest, please contact me today.
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Mutual funds are subject to market risk, including the potential loss of principal invested. Mutual fund research reports are accompanied by a prospectus. Please j]Y\l`]hjgkh][lmkl`YlakYnYadYZd]^jgegmjg^Ú[][Yj]^mddq^gj\]lYadk af[dm\af_^]]kYf\[`Yj_]kZ]^gj]afn]klaf_gjk]f\af_egf]q& The Richmonds’ travels include a trip on the Concorde supersonic jet.
12 ENCORE • FEBRUARY 2006 classes … started with basics of nature, but Emma expanded our horizons to include poets and poetry, art and artists, writers and photographers.” FURNITURE (Although finished with the classes now, Jim says they may offer a special class now and then — by special invita- tion.) The reference to art and sculpture above is purposeful. In addition to being pragmatic, results-oriented people, Jim and Lois share a definite creative streak. For Lois, that interest came early. She says, “I was always interested in art, from my early school days. While work- ing at Bronson, I took classes at the Palladian Arched Kalamazoo Institute of Arts … including Bookcase their ‘brown bag lunch programs,’ which are now called ‘Art Breaks.’ Through the years I took courses in photography, pottery, watercolors — you name it.” HARBOUR BAY FURNITURE CO. These days, she focuses her attention on Stuart, FL and Holland, MI “natural” art — leaf painting and similar Downtown Holland · 212 S. River Ave., Holland · (616) 395-5554 pursuits. She still enjoys studying art Open Mon.–Sat. 10:00–5:30 www.harbourbayfurniture.com history, though. “I probably always will,” she says, “but I dabble in art. Jim is more serious about it.”
im might have come to the artistic arena later than Lois, but he made Jup for any time lost. He credits his interest in things artistic to his product development days at Stryker. “I learned
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FEBRUARY 2006 • ENCORE 13 Richmond about medical technology there, starting with Dr. Homer Stryker. In the process, I learned about and became interested in mechanical engineering, biotechnology, and in things created out of metal.” Through his travels, he became exposed to all kinds of artistic endeav- ors. “I like all art,” he says. “It’s the cre- ativity that I appreciate.” You sense his love of art when he speaks with anima- tion about his favorite arts and artists, particularly cubism and the works of Picasso and Braque. Jim credits Lois with “jump-start- ing” his own creative artwork. “Noticing my increasing interest in art created out of metals, Lois bought me a welding book and said ‘go to it.’ That really got me started in a serious way. I began vis- iting junkyards, acquiring scrap metals of all kinds, and began working with them.” Lois says, “I don’t have a strong This 1955 photo shows Lois Richmond (center) and two colleagues sorting and checking visual sense, but Jim does. He sees surgical instruments. things in supposed ‘junk’ that others don’t. To me, that’s the sign of a true metal pieces that he could turn into shack,” and also tried their hands at creative spirit.” works of art. He smiles and says, beekeeping.) While busy at Stryker, Jim still “Sometimes, for liability reasons, it was In his well-equipped studio, Jim found time to tap that creative spirit. tough to get access to junkyards. I used began turning out pieces of art, many Like Lois, he took courses at the KIA. the maple syrup Lois and I made to inspired by his Stryker experience. He “Over time, I took about every class ‘bribe’ my way into some yards.”(Jim estimates he’s created over 1,000 pieces they gave — including glass.” He con- and Lois have made their own maple of art since he began, everything from tinued to haunt junkyards, finding scrap syrup for 14 years in their own “sugar life-sized sculptures to small, elegant
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14 ENCORE • FEBRUARY 2006 pieces that would fit in your hand. “I’ve sold my work at the annual KIA Holiday Sale, galleries, and art shows,” Jim says, “but I’ve given away a lot, too, probably half of what I’ve created.” (There’s that giving spirit again.) He takes his inspiration both from his experience at Stryker and from his long association with nature. One area of special interest is what he calls his “DNA art,” inspired by his experiences managing the Stryker Biotech Division. “DNA is the vital molecule, part of our every cell and of other living things around us. I’ve created multiple designs inspired by the elegant double-helix Jim Richmond speaks with a visitor to the Stryker booth during a 1986 event in Sao Paulo, Brazil. form of the DNA molecule. In fact, my DNA pieces are on doctors’ and scien- Comstock Township home. He contin- in their honor. At the trustee’s meeting tists’ desks all around the world. I’m ues to create in his workshop, in which in December, Margaret Merrion, dean of pleased about that.” are also displayed many old tools he’s the College of Fine Arts, said, “ … on Jim also excels at what is called collected through the years, another behalf of our art faculty and students, “found object art,” creating artworks out long-standing interest. who have struggled for so long with of “found” pieces of scrap and other woefully inadequate facilities, I extend materials, assembling them while not The Art of Giving heartfelt thanks to Jim and Lois changing their individual form. One Richmond, two true friends of the arts such piece, which he calls “Ballerinas,” Reference to art and artworks leads in the greater Kalamazoo community. was made from “found dancer shapes” one to the most significant element of The new building is going to make a of discarded stainless steel loaded in a the Richmonds’ love of and support for night-to-day difference in our ability to railroad car. the arts: the James W. and Lois I. provide accessible, quality exhibitions of In addition to gracing doctors’ Richmond Center for Visual Arts at works by students, faculty and visiting offices and the homes of grateful recipi- WMU. The couple’s gift was announced artists. It will permit the ‘College of ents of gifts, his sculptures are much in in December 2003, when WMU trustees Distinction’ (Fine Arts) to advance its evidence inside and outside their voted unanimously to name the building mission of public cultural education.”
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FEBRUARY 2006 • ENCORE 15 Richmond
Why this major donation? It cer- deciding how to give back to the com- porters of a wide range of organizations, tainly wasn’t a snap decision. Says Lois: munity in a larger way than usual.” Jim including The Southwest Michigan Land “We spent the better part of 10 years and Lois had long been significant sup- Conservancy, the Kalamazoo Institute of
Enhancing the Future of Visual Arts at WMU
hen completed later this year, primarily as exhibition space for faculty works. None of it would have happened the new Richmond Center and students, and will be linked to the if it hadn’t been for the leadership of Jim for Visual Arts will be a step south wing of Kohrman Hall, which is and Lois Richmond when they stepped W scheduled to be renovated to include forward as they did. They played a piv- into the future for WMU and the College of Fine Arts. For Phillip VanderWeg, classroom and studio space for the otal role in making possible something School of Art director, it is more than School of Art. Two large exhibition we’ve needed for a long time.” time. As reported in a WMU news release, spaces within the center are being named Phillip also found the Richmonds at the groundbreaking ceremony last May for other major donors: the Eleanor R. easy to work with. “They achieved a deli- 12th, he introduced a sculpture he made and Robert A. DeVries Student Art cate balance that’s always welcome but for the occasion and issued a “challenge.” Gallery, and the Albertine Monroe Brown rarely achieved. They were actively The sculpture features a variety of tools, Gallery, which, VanderWeg says, “is involved in and committed to the project, some traditional, others more contempo- designed for a full range of School of Arts but careful never to interfere. It has really rary, used by artists and students today. programming, mostly groups and visiting worked well. They’re straightforward, The challenge from VanderWeg was to artists from around the world, and some- genuine people, and it’s been a pleasure move the school “into a bright new future times faculty shows.” to know them and work with them.” after more than 40 years of ‘temporary’ The project is scheduled for comple- Dean Margaret Merrion agrees: She housing in Sangren Hall and other cam- tion in November 2006, with an opening is as excited today about the new pus locations.” in January 2007 and a formal dedication center — and the Richmonds’ involve- In the news release, the new, 45,000 ceremony sometime that spring. ment — as she was in December of 2003. square-foot facility was described by Phillip is elated about the imminent She says: “Jim and Lois are true friends of architect Carl Roehling of SmithGroup as completion, which he calls a “transfor- the College of Fine Arts. They care about, “a vessel that brings together art, light, mation. And it’s definitely taking place. comment on, and contribute to the and people.” The new building, located Contracts for exhibits are already in the growth and distinction of the university. between the Dalton Center and the Miller While we are particu- Auditorium parking ramp, will be used larly grateful for their substantial gift for the The Richmond Center for Visual Arts is under construction, located immediately adjacent to the Richmond Center for Dorothy U. Dalton Center. Visual Arts, Jim and Lois support pro- grams in the Departments of Dance and Theatre, as well as the School of Music. They are always loyal, generous, and faithful.” And modest, too. Margaret notes that at a recent get-together with them as they presented the balance of their finan- cial gift, “a number of vice presidents were in attendance to thank them. Jim was thanking ‘us’ — for the opportunity to be part of something ‘great.’” In the same vein, commenting about the Center, Lois said, “It is a privilege and a joy to be part of every aspect of this project, espe- cially doing it while we are alive and can watch and participate.”
16 ENCORE • FEBRUARY 2006 Arts, and the Kalamazoo Nature Center, #LIENT SERVICE to name a few. Both have funded schol- arships to WMU — Jim for the Haworth School of Business and Lois for the WORTHY OF School of Nursing. But they wanted to do more. AN %NCORE At the groundbreaking ceremony last May, Jim Richmond mentioned a 7EST #ROSSTOWN 0ARKWAY Q 3UITE Q +ALAMAZOO -) Q half-dozen reasons why, including: the )NFORMATIVE WEBSITEWWWJVTRCOM Q &AX