Arts & Entertainment

Sculptures set community standards in Fenton

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Hannah YoungSculptures are placed around Fenton for commission and simply for viewing. As you walk down South Leroy St. in downtown Fenton, the city is lined with sculptures. One is tall, made concisely of wires and bronze in the shape of a woman stepping off as she is falling and she is an angel. Further down the road the statue of the Rubix cube sits lonely alongside downtown. 

Downtown Fenton, Michigan, holds sculptures and statues alongside South Leroy Street.

Arts & Entertainment

Fenton’s Cause and Affect Gallery seeks to have an ‘affect in the greater community’

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The gallery hallway is lined with tiny canvases, some splotches of paint and some with animals, little figures and one with a cigarette sticking out of it. 

“This is our community wall,” said Annie Anglim, Cause and Affect Gallery owner. “Everyone that comes in is able to do a painting to add to the wall.”

Cause and Affect Gallery, located in downtown Fenton, the gallery’s purpose is to “take various causes” and have an “affect in the greater community.” The gallery which has been opened for over four years and combines art and purpose within the community. 

The gallery was originally created to open to accommodate a friend who wanted to learn silversmithing from Anglim but was in a motorized wheelchair with multiple sclerosis. Anglim sought out a gallery in which she could “accommodate people with different needs.”

“It took me a while to be able to find space that would work,” said Anglim. “ Once I did, I stumbled on this location. I wasn’t prepared to do anything else…but I walked in here and I saw the possibilities.” 

Anglim’s gallery was created to have an effect on the community.

Arts & Entertainment

Walled Lake hosts 12th annual fireworks festival

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Gabriel Lalonde, a native of Rochester, drove 40 minutes to Walled Lake for the first time for micro wrestling. He said he enjoyed much more. “Free ice cream, free music, free entertainment, everybody’s happy,” said Lalonde. 

Natives of Walled Lake are used to attending the city’s annual festival for the huge firework show that is put on, but this year, residents from neighboring cities came to see the Micro Wrestling Federation. The Micro Wrestling Federation is a group of dwarfs who are professional wrestlers that tour the country putting on organized wrestling matches for people. https://youtu.be/EjTqnokHQ4Y
Mayhem broke out following all of the micro wrestlers introductions.

Arts & Entertainment

Montgomery County Libraries host Summer Reading Challenge 

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The Montgomery County Libraries in Maryland kicked off its Summer Reading Challenge with lots of festivities on June 17. The event included music from Ghanaian drummer and storyteller Kofi Dennis, storytime led by Maranda Schoppert of Germantown Library and a meet-and-greet with Read to a Dog service dogs. 

The challenge is offered to provide local kids and teens the opportunity to read books and participate in activities. This year, the theme is “All Together Now,” which was created to promote kindness, friendship and unity within the Montgomery County community. 

The Montgomery County Summer Reading Challenge kicked off June 17. Photo by Liz Thomas. To participate in the challenge kids and teens can login onto the READsquare app or sign up at their local library. 

“Friends of the Library make a donation to the Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center and Friends of Montgomery County Animals,” said Tyler Chadwell-English, who serves as the teen services manager for MCPL. 

The animal services and adoption center is one of the six local organizations partnering with MCPL. Partnering with the animal services and adoption center is to help animals find their forever homes. 

Other Organizations partnering with MCPL include the Washington Nationals, Manna Food Services and Montgomery County Parks. 

The Washington Nationals provided vouchers that MCPL will give out to participants who make it to the midway portion of the challenge.

Arts & Entertainment

The annual Dock Hop returns to Big Bass Lake

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IRONS, Mich. — When you ask those living on Big Bass Lake what events highlight their summer, you are likely to hear the words “Dock Hop” often. Denise Brewer, the main organizer of this year’s Dock Hop, labeled this year as the “Dock Hop Reboot” because it was the first time the event has been held since 2019. 

“Then COVID hit and everything fell apart until this year,” said Brewer. “We’re starting all over again.” 

The Dock Hop is among other events, including a boat parade, paddle parade, and a 5K that occurs annually on the Fourth of July weekend at Big Bass Lake. Visitors are encouraged to join in on the fun as the Dock Hop is not limited to property owners. 

The Dock Hop takes place on Big Bass Lake and those who live in the community can participate or volunteer their docks, said Brewer.

Arts & Entertainment
4-H Butterfly Garden on the MSU campus.

Nature can nurture: Gardens help heal students

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NATURE CAN NURTURE: Tucked away in the center of Michigan State’s campus is the nation’s oldest university botanical garden – and a site of the emerging practice of horticulture therapy. The 150-year-old Beal Botanical Garden is a “healing space” where “pretty much everything we do is horticulture therapy.” By Anna Lionas. FOR ALL POINTS.

Arts & Entertainment

East Lansing Art Festival amps up Downtown for spring

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The East Lansing Art Festival concluded on May 21 at 5 p.m. with giggling kids racing after bubbles spreading across the closed off, pedestrian friendly intersection. Photo by Sammy Pietrinferno.A ceramic artist demonstrated how to make a pinch pot for young onlookers outside the Marriott East Lansing at University Place on M.A.C. Avenue on May 21. Photo by Sammy Pietrinferno.Lead singer of Grace Theisen Band, Grace Theisen, guitar player, Adam Main, and violin player, Cori Beth Somers, took to the main stage to close out the weekend at the East Lansing Art Festival. Photo by Sammy Pietrinferno.The East Lansing Art Festival spanned Albert Avenue from the top of Abbot Road to Bailey Street and M.A.C Avenue in addition to the green areas around the MSU Union and the Human Ecology Building. Photo by Sammy Pietrinferno.A Rewind Jewelry artist places pieces out on display at his corner booth on M.A.C. Avenue in East Lansing on May 21.

Arts & Entertainment

VIDEO: MSU Dance Club performs ‘Spartan Strong’ tribute dance  

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The spring showcase comes around every year for the MSU Dance Club, but this year’s showcase was particularly memorable. Rachel Gross, a junior at Michigan State University, choreographed a dance titled “Spartan Song” in tribute to the lives lost and the students affected by the campus shooting that occurred in February of this year. The piece showcased 56 dancers, all of whom are Michigan State students. 

“I started to think about how I could process what happened,” Gross said. “Dance has just always been the answer for me.”