By Sue Moore
Hail Hits Vicksburg
On the exact time and day, August 14 when powerful hail hit the village, I was at the community pavilion. Our team was preparing to power wash the concrete in preparation for the Farm to Table dinner that took place the following Saturday. All of a sudden the sky shot out balls of hail that drove through the pavilion in a rage.
Apparently, it only hit the village area and nowhere else because the insurance companies report a large number of claims for damaged car tops, roofs and field crops in a very small area. As evidence, just drive up Portage Road from the intersection of V Avenue and look across the field to the west. You will see thousands of watermelons completely destroyed by the hail just as they were ready for market on Howard Bailey’s farm.
Kaye Bennett, whose home was directly in the path of the storm, lost all of her beautiful flowers that she lovingly cares for all summer long. The most striking photo of the cataclysmic downpour was taken in the yard of St. Martin’s Catholic Church east of Vicksburg by an unknown photographer.
Although my camera is almost always with me, I failed to rush to my car to snap a picture because cars driving along Sprinkle Road took cover in the pavilion. We were directing traffic there rather than power washing the concrete. I wasn’t smart enough to follow their lead and had to put in an insurance claim for hail damage to the hood of my new car.
Don Gilmer Served Community Well
Governor Whitmer ordered flags to be lowered to half mast on August 29 in honor of former state representative Don Gilmer. He served for 22 years as this area’s legislator. He often attended school board meetings and village council sessions of the communities in his district. He was an advocate for schools and community education in particular. He chaired the powerful appropriations committee with wit and wisdom. During the early 1980s when executive order spending cuts were mandated by Governor Milliken, he even came to contentious school board meetings chaired by Lloyd Appell to explain what was happening in Lansing which so affected our school district. He was only 73 when he passed away on August 12 after a long career in local government and in Lansing as the Lottery chief.
Prairie Ronde Artists in Residence
This program has brought lots of talented people to Vicksburg through the efforts of John Kern at The Mill. Three of the most current artists will be displaying their work September 14 from 6-10 p.m. at the Vicksburg Cultural Arts Center, 105 S. Main. The public is invited to the Block Party that includes four buildings at the intersection of Main and Prairie.
The talent sharing aspect of the Block Party is associated with Anna Roeder’s installation in the old Doris Lee store. There will be a small stage set up for several planned acts and an invitation will be extended to anyone who would like to share a song, story, poem, dance, or other form of performance.
Sam Margevicius’ photographic installation will consist of roughly 30 pictures installed on the wall in such a way as to create an abstracted narrative structure. The pictures describe the Vicksburg landscape through its various surfaces and visual patterns that have presented themselves to this artist who is from Brooklyn, New York. Paintings by Eric Vasilauskas from Kalamazoo will also be on display.