Book Club for Adults – May 2 and June 6 from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Discuss a book with the group. Check with the library for this month’s book.
Writers’ Motivational Group – May 23 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Report progress, set goals, share resources and advice, and troubleshoot or brainstorm your projects with other writers.
Movie Club: Featuring the Classics – May 13 from 1-3:30 p.m. Watch a 1964 war comedy classic. Hot drinks and popcorn provided.
Bridge Club – Join us for our weekly friendly game. Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m.-noon.
Tai Chi Class – Weekly class. The community is welcome. Tuesdays from 7-8 p.m. and Thursdays from 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Ladies Library Auxiliary Meeting – May 3, June 14 from 1-3 p.m. in our Lower Level space.
Youth Events
Family Storytime – May 6 and 13 from 10-10:45 a.m. Read, sing, and play. Ages 4 and below.
Mugs and Hugs – May 1 and 15 from 10-11 a.m. Stories, rhymes, peer interaction. Ages 4 and below.
STEAM – May 16 from 6-7 p.m. Ages 5–11-plus. Engage in hands-on activities inspiring creativity and problem-solving skills.
Lego Club – May 21 from 1-2 p.m. and 5:30-6:30 p.m. Ages 5–11-plus. Events have suggested themes, but individual creativity is the goal.
Bulldog Break Time & Teen Break – May 9 and 23 from 2:45-5:45 p.m. Grades 6-12. A safe space for teens and tweens to get together and have fun. Crafts, games, social activities, and tasty treats are for people under 18!
Vicksburg Library at the Vicksburg Farmer’s Market – Stop by for handouts and information about our Youth Summer Reading Program, current library activities and programs. Make a quick fun craft with our staff! We’ll be at the Farmer’s Market May through September on the last Friday of each month.
Since 2000, Vicksburg and the South County Sewer and Water Authority have shared a sewer line delivering sewage to Kalamazoo’s sewage treatment plant.
Both are considering a larger replacement, in part to serve new development such as The Mill project in Vicksburg, in part to replacing aging infrastructure.
Vicksburg Village Manager Jim Mallery said the original pipe “goes back to the 1970s.” It’s called a “force main” because sewage must be pumped to a higher elevation so it can flow the rest of the way through Portage to the Kalamazoo facility. Inside diameter of the line is 8 inches. The replacement’s diameter would be twice that, providing for more development and more users, including The Mill project underway in Vicksburg.
Sewage is pumped from a lift station on Spruce Street in Vicksburg through the line to a sewage interceptor at Zylman in Portage. The new pipe would be installed, like the existing line, on Sprinkle. The Authority provides sewage disposal to 630 users in the Pickerel-Indian Lake area. Mallery said the Vicksburg’s sewer system has about 1,500 users.
The authority commissioned the engineering firm of Prein and Newhof to develop specifications and costs for the authority to connect to the new force main, said its executive director, Frank LaPierre. The consultants will present the plan at a May 28 board meeting.
The board’s next step, LaPierre said, is engaging a municipal finance consultant to secure public funding for the work.
Mallery anticipates a total project cost of $10.6 million. He also anticipates that the cost may be offset by a $3.7 million grant.
The authority, he said, “wasn’t in a position to evaluate the pros and cons. We moved forward, received a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Authority” to plan for the project.
The new line can share and reduce future maintenance costs, LaPierre said.
“We are very pleased with the strong relationship that we have with the Village of Vicksburg,” said the authority’s chairman, John Speeter. “for years, the Vicksburg leadership has provided a very active and positive contribution as a member on our Board.”
By Leah Milowe, Museum Administrator and Curator, Vicksburg Historical Society
Many of us familiar with Vicksburg history refer to the Hill’s Building when talking about the buildings north of the hardware store on South Main. The Hill’s Building is made up of 110 South Main on the south and the often-overlooked 108 South Main on the north. It’s home to The Mill at Vicksburg’s Cone Top Brewery Museum.
Built in 1872 by John Long, the earliest tenants of 108 South Main operated a dry goods store. Customers could find all their necessities in one place: groceries, hardware, clothing, and textiles. And upstairs, they could find the local dentist, Civil War veteran W. W. Scott.
Dr. Scott’s office took up a small space on the upper floor. A public hall took up the rest. Fraternal organizations like the International Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Free Masons, and Knights of the Maccabees used the hall for their meetings and events. The Vicksburg Comedy Company presented shows in the hall along with other public events. One flyer from around 1890 advertises a social party at Long’s Hall to benefit a local resident for “proper medical treatment”.
Like so many buildings in downtown Vicksburg, businesses moved in and out until 1917 when it became Brooks & Cobb Drug Store. For 70 of the next 80 years, 108 South Main would remain a drug store.
Frank Brooks and George Cobb sold their drug store to Kalamazoo pharmacist Carl Hanichen in 1927. Mr. Hanichen moved his young family to Vicksburg and operated Hanichen Drug Store, a Walgreen’s franchise until 1945. At that time, Mr. Hanichen moved to St. Joseph County and continued his career as a pharmacist. He sold the Vicksburg drug store to Harry Hill.
Before 1927, anyone could be a pharmacist, or druggist. Michigan’s Act 359 of 1927 required that a pharmacist own at least 25% of a drugstore or pharmacy. This is likely why Brooks and Cobb sold to Hanichen.
Harry Hill was not a licensed pharmacist. When he purchased Hanichen’s Drugstore in 1945, he had been living in Jackson and working for Upjohn Company as a pharmaceutical salesman. This didn’t stop him from rebranding Hanichen’s as Hill’s Pharmacy. His official job title was pharmacy manager, and he brought in a licensed pharmacist with partial ownership to operate the pharmacy.
Hill was ready to sell the pharmacy by the late 1950s. He put advertisements in the newspapers, including all the way in Chicago. However, that advertisement was missing one little detail: the name of the business.
Whether it was fate or luck, the stars aligned, and that advertisement was read by a man named John Everett Hill, a pharmaceutical sales representative in Chicago. This second Hill was no relation to the first, but he was a pharmacist.
John Hill graduated from Ferris State College in 1934 with a degree in pharmacy. He went on to serve as a pharmacist’s mate during World War II before returning home to marry June Peterson. The advertisement in the Chicago newspaper led John and June to make a trip to Vicksburg in 1959. When they saw the name of the drugstore, they knew it was meant to be.
Hill’s Pharmacy continued with the second Hill in charge. Around 1970, Hill number two joined into a partnership with Dick Masse and the pharmacy moved next door to 110 South Main. This left 108 to begin a decade of fluctuating businesses.
In 1981, Hill’s Pharmacy expanded back into its original space. The pharmacy changed ownership in 1991, but it continued as Hill’s Pharmacy until closing in 2017.
Paper City, LLC has begun a historic restoration of this beautiful building. When restoration is done, Cone Top Brewery Museum and The Mill Visitor Center will remain, until Cone Top moves into The Mill. When that happens, another business will have the chance to prosper in downtown Vicksburg.
Sunday, April 28 Presentation: Author Michael Delaware presents his new book: “Victorian Southwest Michigan True Crime” – Historic Village Township Hall, 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 4 Annual member meeting – Registration required. Vicksburg District Library, 11 a.m.
Saturday, June 8 Historic Village Opening Day Vicksburg Old Car Festival – Historic Village, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Friday, June 14 Night at the Museum – Registration required. Historic Village, 6-9 p.m.
Sunday, June 23 Speaker Series: “History of Magic in Michigan”, presented by magician Rick Fisher – Historic Village Township Hall, 2 p.m.
Saturday, July 21 Speaker Series: “Whiskerinos at the Plate: House of David Baseball”, presented by historian and archivist Brian Carroll, PhD – Historic Village Township Hall, 2 p.m.
Monday, July 22 – Friday, July 26 History Camp – Registration required. Historic Village, 9 a.m.-noon
Friday, August 16 Historic Slide Show – Check out historic images through our collection of slides. Historic Village, 7 p.m.
Saturday, August 17 Depot Birthday Party! The depot turns 120 this year. Help us celebrate. Depot Museum, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, August 18 Speaker Series: “Michigan Depots” presented by railroad historian Mark Worrall – Historic Village Township Hall, 2 p.m.
Sunday, September 29 14th Annual Harvest Festival – Historic Village, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Saturday, October 5 and Sunday, October 6 Hidden Vicksburg Tours – Registration required. Downtown Vicksburg, 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
Sunday, October 20 Speaker Series: “Strange, Unusual, Crazy, and Weird Highway Signs”, presented by Dr. John Geisler – Historic Village Township Hall, 2 p.m.
Chris Laaksonen had a simple purpose when she established a writers’ club at Vicksburg Middle School 15 years ago.
“I started the club so that kids who like to write creatively could all be together. All the kids who come really enjoy writing; it’s just their thing,” Laaksonen said. “You don’t get that unanimous love for writing in a traditional classroom, of course, where maybe just three or four kids are really into it while the rest of the class is like, ‘How long does it have to be?’”
Laaksonen said she had no expectations of the club lasting as long as it has. In fact, she said it got its start with two students who called her bluff and showed up one day after school, fully intending and committing to writing. Laaksonen didn’t skip a beat when asked if she remembers the names of the club’s charter members.
“Reagen Tyre and Ayden Macomber, and they loved writing,” Laaksonen said. “They would come after school and ask me to give them a topic to write about. I would come up with things off the top of my head just to keep them busy so I could keep on doing whatever it was I was doing in the classroom.
“I thought they’d get bored with it but they continued to show up time after time,” Laaksonen added. “Eventually, I thought I should just make this a real club, so I did.”
As time has passed, Laaksonen said she has tweaked and more or less perfected the after-school, monthly club. Each session lasts about 90 minutes.
“When I started it, I was really gung-ho and thought I needed to have a topic and some sort of inspiration, but what I found as time went on was that the kids just wanted time to write and time to share,” she said. “So, it has evolved into the first half as a social and snack time, then they write, then we use the last 40 minutes or so to just read our writings.”
Laaksonen, who is in her 32nd year with Vicksburg Community Schools, said she loves hearing students share their work. In fact, Laaksonen said she keeps a stack of notes in hand and jots down positive, encouraging comments that emphasize the writer’s strengths. Fellow students then chime in and offer a meaningful response.
The focus of Writers’ Club is more on creativity and less on mechanics of writing. Laaksonen said participants seem to enjoy the freedom they are given, without the worries of being called out for misspellings, improper tense or other writing-related shortcomings, for example.
“Writers’ Club is more about celebrating the art of writing versus the science of writing because for some kids, this is their art, they are creating a picture in the readers’ mind with words, just like an artist might create it with oil paints,” Laaksonen said.
Laaksonen, who teaches seventh-grade English, said the club is open to the school’s sixth- through eighth-grade students. Club alumni sometimes return also.
The club, which typically meets the first Tuesday of the month, starts in October and lasts through May. Laaksonen said it averages up to a dozen people monthly.
For most of the 15 years she has overseen Writers’ Club, Laaksonen has done so on her own time. She recently was provided a stipend of a few hundred dollars, which she puts toward snacks.
“We always take a trip to Apple Knockers as our last meeting,” Laaksonen said. “Also, we’ve been so lucky to have partnered with Gilbert & Ivy (book store in downtown Vicksburg). They were able to get a $500 grant that was used for instructional books just for our Writers’ Club.”
Varsity Lacrosse Front row: Noah Dinzik, Trey Willmont, Caden Town, Malachi McClelland, Reed Tassell, Bo Dalman, Luke Wilson, Dillyn VanHeukelum, Hunter Roberts Back row: Nick Simon Jr., Storm Schrader, Ryan Haddix, John Hess, Chase Willmont, Braden Jimenez, Jayden Keiser, Noah Briggs, Brendan Kelly, Coach Peter Schinkai
JV Lacrosse Front row: Travis Genereaux, Gavin Witt, Ryan Jones, Zach Kline, Jaron Janofski, Kody Speelman, Kayden Seymour, Braedon Akans Back row: Coach Nick VanOost, Zach Mabis, Harper Akans, Ryan Gruber, George Willmont, Cody Kelsko, Hunter Ambs, Brett Hess, Coach Travis Newton
Varsity and JV Tennis Front row: Sadie Grossman, Erica Centofanti, Sophia Leach, Corrinne Wilson, Sydney Hambright, Rylie Courtney, Morgan White, Jodie White, Elise Howard 2nd row: Allie Spencer, Stella Reitenour, Hannah Moyer, Jenna Schramer, Leah McIlvain, Maya Grossman, Napat Prasertpan, Avalee Delatorre 3rd row: Coach Nick Foley, Adalia Zoeller, Hannah Sparks, Elaine Bogen, Olivia Penny, Isabelle Hahn, Gracie Breitenbach, Bridget Webber, Coach Warner Offord Back row: Eve Weersma, Victoria Langdon, Clara Centofanti, Isabella VanAtti, Natalie Balkema, Lillian Schmid
Varsity Golf Lincoln Taylor, Luke Malocha, Malachi McClelland, Kyle Wiessner, Aidan Woosley, Rilley Briggs, Colin Schramer, Braydon O’Dell, Ian Mazzola
Varsity Soccer Front row: Peyton Hoopingarner, Madison Ames, Mia Rodriguez, Kelsie Tuinier, Evelyn Lincoln, Madison Rohrstaff, Livia Kline Back row: coach Lahou Boulnemour, Hailey Zagar, Hannah DeVries, Audra Krueger, Emily Ouding, Isabella Hillard, Alyssa Metelka, Kendra Cooley, Ella Rohrstaff, Emelyn Germay, Eleanor Lincoln, Coach Josh Cardosa
JV Soccer Team Front row: Lisa Neusinger, Kaylee Stone, Hannah Fletter, Emma Stratemeier, Solana Sutherland, Haylie Kiwiet Back row: Coach Josh Cardosa, Paula Cervera, Paula De Saja, Kaylee Balkema, Viola Miccinesi, Phoebe Johnson, Macy Courtney, Lila Smith
