Hannah Elless’ artwork displayed in downtown Vicksburg shop windows.
By Rob Peterson
The Prairie Ronde Artist Residency will be hosting six artists this fall to make up for sessions that were missed during quarantine.
The residency is a Vicksburg-based program that offers a stipend, housing, and studio space for artists from all over the world to come and make art. The capstone of the residency always includes some sort of public event, whether that be a workshop or an open gallery.
It’s one thing to host an artist who works in isolation; the challenge that the Prairie Ronde organizers face today is hosting the public event.
“We really want people to be able to interact with the art,” said residency organizer John Kern. “We are researching how other organizations are doing this and making use of both outdoor space and our large indoor spaces.”
In September, they used a different technique to allow for social distancing with the two artists who participated.
For Pamela Hadley, whose primary medium is light, the solution was to create displays in some of the vacant storefronts downtown. Benches were set up outside the storefronts so that attendees could view the art that was projected onto the windows from inside.
The other artist was Portage native Hannah Elless, who creates abstract paintings with texture. For her public event, they displayed 20 pieces of her artwork in windows around downtown.
The next two sessions will also include two artists each. They include Conner Green of Indianapolis, who creates sculpture out of a variety of materials that include glass, glycerin, steel, and wood and Jordan Delzell from Kansas City, Kansas, who works primarily with recycled paper and found objects. Her art often takes the form of familiar household objects that are reimagined.
The public event for Green and Delzell will be in mid-November.
The final session of the year will include Justin Tyler Tate, originally from Canada, who creates art that often has very practical uses, such as a Cube Farm he designed and built in Estonia. Also coming in November is Zack Baltich, a musician/percussionist from Minneapolis who makes good use of large, open spaces to create his music. “I’m fascinated to see what he will bring to the large spaces we have available to him at the Mill,” said Kern.
Kern said that arts organizations in general are struggling thanks to two forces: the inability for people to gather in large numbers, and the redirection of funds from the arts to the more basic human needs that need to be met.
“It’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,” said Kern. “It’s harder for funders to pay for the arts when communities are trying to help people with food and shelter.”
The Prairie Ronde Artist Residency organizers see the importance of the arts to Vicksburg and the surrounding community, so they will continue to invest in creating a climate where arts and culture can thrive.
“The attendance at our events so far is evidence that the area is eager to support the arts,” said Kern. “Prairie Ronde is part of a broader place-based effort. There are really cool and interesting things going on here.”
To learn more about the upcoming public events, check out their social media and website.
Jimmy and Ricki Thrasher of Vicksburg celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They were married October 24, 1970 in Kalamazoo. Their children are Jim Jr. and Kristie Thrasher of Mattawan and Scott Thrasher of Bluffton, South Carolina.
Operating a chainsaw is a small-town rite of passage into manhood. There is a primal relationship between men and their chainsaws. A well-sharpened chainsaw cutting through wood like butter soothes and satisfies the soul.
When we bought a home in Vicksburg in 1989, many of our trees needed pruning. My father and my older brother Dale came down to help. My father owned the chainsaw. He was not about to let his 30-year-old and 38-year-old sons use it because “It’s too dangerous!” My father began cutting using his criteria of cutting any limb his 6-foot 3-inch frame could reach. It was a wet, drizzly Saturday. My dad cut a branch but it got hung up in other branches and vines. He set the chainsaw down and let it idle. He grabbed the branch, pulled hard, slipped and fell on all fours with the blade of the chainsaw directly under his chest. It would have made a perfect sternotomy scar had he fallen another 10 inches. He looked up, surprised and somewhat exhilarated: “That was close!” My brother leaned over to me and said, “That’s why Dad doesn’t worry about retirement. He’s not going to have one.” My brother and I never touched the chainsaw. Apparently we were not ready.
About 10 or 15 years ago I needed to trim some branches off a pear tree in my front yard. My neighbor, friend and former partner graciously offered to help. He came down the street with his chainsaw. Not wanting to give up all the fun, he did the cutting himself. I wondered again when I would be deemed worthy of operating a chainsaw.
My office staff hearing me repeatedly bemoan my fate of never being allowed to operate a chainsaw knew they had to take action. At Christmas, they gifted me with my own chainsaw. This is what they gave me (pictured below).
Vicksburg Community Schools Board of Education fielded COVID-19-related concerns from staff members at its Oct. 12 meeting.
The board’s first in-person meeting since spring was simulcast on YouTube.
Vicksburg Education Association representative Kelly MacDonnell told board members the staff is frustrated and mentally exhausted to the point that some long-time district employees are resigning.
“The high level of vigilance your teachers and your already-overworked custodians are operating under to help protect our students and one another every day is so mentally taxing, it is almost indescribable,” she said. “We beg you to recognize the need for more counselors and now more custodians. We need action for the safety of our students and our staff, not just a smile, not just some hollow words of thanks from time to time.”
She said it’s the consensus of the district’s teachers that they do not feel safe in the current work environment. “The simple act of asking if your leadership represents those you lead is such a simple yet effective leadership strategy,” she said.
High school teacher Jennifer Rodas, Vicksburg Education Association president, noted that the few people who addressed the board were speaking for the majority. She said union members do their homework, communicate with each other, make sure their position is clear and that their concerns are real.
“Even though you may only hear a few of us speaking, it’s because we’re protected under our positions … there are others who wish they could speak up but they cannot for fear of punishment,” she said. “Please don’t take that there are only a few of us speaking on behalf of the VEA every time doesn’t mean that we’re not speaking on behalf of the entire association.”
Rodas elaborated on the demands she and her peers face as a result of in-person teaching this fall. For starters, she said she uses her prep hour to change the activities taught in person over to virtual.
She continued, adding that there are “so many moving parts to this VCS virtual that are challenging and frustrating.”
“I’m logging into Google meetings trying to share my screen, make sure I’m unmuted, make sure that I have the right screen going, make sure I’m logged in to the right Google meeting, make sure that I’m cleaning my desks, making sure students are wearing their masks, making sure that they’re social distancing,” she said. “These are things that we’re struggling with every single day. Our job is normally an eight-hour day plus we’re working at home grading … it’s just not sustainable.”
She said not until the board has “real discussion,” and recognizes the challenges and struggles teachers are facing will teachers feel valued and that they’re being heard.
Rodas said she was at a point in the school year where she had started entering grades. Some virtual students who had not logged in for a number of weeks suddenly realized they are failing. Rodas said she now has to prioritize assisting those students.
“Our virtual teachers at the elementary – one of which … has resigned because the working conditions are unsustainable. We’re losing teachers,” she said. “We lost three in the last week and a half … we’re overworked, we’re getting burned out early.”
Rodas asked the board to consider hiring more virtual teachers at the elementary level, recognize the compromised working conditions, and treat teachers with kindness, patience and respect.
Two additional people spoke and expressed similar concerns about working conditions.
Superintendent Keevin O’Neill disputed the claim that not everyone has protection to speak candidly before the board.
“Everyone has the same protection regardless of your position,” he said. “To hear the word retribution, again, when no one has ever experienced retribution for stating their opinions or concerns … I’m still concerned why that comes out. We truly understand the struggles, we’ve been recognizing those.”
The Vicksburg varsity football team blasted by Otsego in the annual “battle of the Bulldogs” with a 38-0 shutout to bring their regular season record to 4-2.
“I thought we played probably our most complete game all year on both sides of the ball,” Head Coach Tom Marchese said, “tackling, blocking and just making some plays when we had to do it.”
Vicksburg started off that complete game on a strong statement of an opening drive. Jacob Conklin capped off the drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to his favorite target, Toby Stock. It was the second of eight receptions Stock had in the game. Seven of those catches came in the first half alone. For a while it seemed that Otsego had no one covering him.
“They were playing off him a lot, so we took what they give him,” Marchese said. “That’s the good thing about Conklin being a third-year starter; you know it doesn’t always have to be the home run or the deep ball, he can give it to the guy 10 yards downfield and he makes something running, so that was pretty good.”
Conklin also scored twice in the game using his legs, first on a four-yard run with four minutes left in the first half and again on a designed 13-yard QB keeper in the third. Conklin also tossed a second touchdown to Breckin Burdette, a 20-yarder on a fourth down and eight that was just outside of field goal range.
Vicksburg also had arguably its strongest game of the year running the ball. Elijah Bombich and Xavier Wadley took turns plowing through the Otsego defense all evening, churning yards and chewing up clock. Bombich carried the ball 12 times and Wadley seven times. Bombich finally found the endzone from one yard in the game’s final minute.
“Up front and offensively, I thought we played one of our better, more complete games up front blocking,” Marchese said.
Kyler Dean missed two extra points in the contest, but he also connected on two field goals from 20 and 23 yards out to help give the team a well-rounded performance on special teams. The defense made an especially strong showing, forcing two turnovers on downs. Burdette had an interception that he nearly turned into a pick-six, and Vicksburg also recovered a late fumble to stop a late Otsego drive.
“I thought defensively we ran to the ball like no other,” Marchese said. “We did a really good job keeping (Ashton) Atwater at check because he’s a really good back.”
All four of Vicksburg’s wins this year were shutouts and all were by at least 30 points. Their two losses came against Edwardsburg in the season opener and against Paw Paw in a tough home loss.
The Vicksburg varsity tennis team had a strong year but came up just short against Edwardsburg in District play to end the season. Previously, Head Coach Warner Offord had hoped the team had a chance at going to state.
“We had the opportunity, but we let it slip away,” Offord said.
The team had a good start to the season and down the stretch picked up a 7-1 win over Paw Paw on Sept. 23 before losing to Saint Joseph and Stevensville Lakeshore six days later.
Against the Eddies in District play, sophomore Jackson Bowles was the lone Bulldog to pick up a win, beating his Vicksburg opponent 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 2 singles. Senior Zachary Myers lost the No. 1 singles 6-1, 6-2. Senior Andrew Reno lost 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 3 singles and Jorge Cortes lost 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 4 singles.
In doubles play, Conner Rugg and Gage Stenger won by default in the No. 4 singles. Sean Kelly and Drake Steele lost 6-1, 7-6 in the No. 1 doubles. Ben Dilly and Thomas Harsha lost 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 2 doubles. Gage Bainter and Logan Schwenk put up a fight against the Eddies, but ultimately fell 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
It wasn’t the season Offord or the boys had hoped for, but there were some bright spots along the way. Offord was awarded Boys Regional 3-18 Coach of the Year by the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association. While he was excited to receive this honor, he’s already looking forward to next year, even if he anticipates it being a rebuilding year due to the loss of multiple seniors.
“It is what it is,” Offord said. “We’ll just have to wait for next year. I just hope the guys play a lot over the winter break and we can get better for next year.”
