05-18-2017 North Berrien Historical Museum welcomes college intern; Lakeland Hospital Watervliet acq

North Berrien Historical Museum welcomes college intern

 The North Berrien Historical Museum has a fresh new face this summer. Emma Spratt of Ann Arbor joined the museum team earlier this month where she will be interning through August. Emma is studying Public History at Western Michigan University and is set to graduate in December of this year. After graduation she hopes to get a job in a museum or an archive, with the goal of one day working in the Mediterranean region. For now she is happy to be spending her summer in a museum setting, gaining valuable experience she can use in pursuit of her goals. During her internship her main focus will be managing the museum’s extensive archival collection. She will also be assisting staff with new programs and exhibits.

Emma’s love for history spills over into her free time as well. When she is not interning at the museum or working at Bed Bath and Beyond, she enjoys watching historical documentaries, shows, and movies. “My mom always says that as a kid I was more interested in watching historical shows and movies than cartoons,” Emma recalled, “I have always been interested in history. I like to learn about an area’s history to better understand how the people and environment have been shaped by it.”

Stop into the museum to welcome Emma to the area! The North Berrien Historical Museum is located at 300 Coloma Avenue, across the street from Coloma High School. For more information please call the museum at (269) 468-3330.

Lakeland Hospital Watervliet acquires new MRI technology

 Lakeland Hospital Watervliet recently acquired a wide bore magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system which offers patients the optimized comfort of conventional open systems, as well as the high-quality imaging of closed systems. The wide bore MRI system is 70 centimeters wide and can hold up to 550 pounds to better accommodate claustrophobic patients as well as those who cannot fit into conventional MRI machines, such as obese patients or patients with wide shoulders.

“In the past patients have been limited to conventional closed or open MRI systems,” said Tyson Stewart, manager radiology. “Closed MRIs were only accessible for a select number of patients due to size constraints and the fear and anxiety it would cause for patients with claustrophobia, or fear of tight spaces. While open MRIs provided a more comfortable environment since patients were able to see out all the way around the machine, the systems often provide poor image quality for physicians due to a lack of magnetic field strength as a result of the open sides. The new wide bore MRI system combines the best of both systems and we are pleased to be able to offer this option to our patients at Lakeland.”

MRI is a diagnostic imaging modality that utilizes a combination of magnet and radio waves to produce clear images of the body without the use of x-rays. Actual scan times in the MRI machine range from 25 to 45 minutes. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (269) 556-2810.

Hartford Senior Activity Center

Hartford United Methodist Church

425 E. Main Street, Hartford

 Monday, May 22 – Coffee & Conversation, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; LUNCH served at 12:30 p.m.; cards & games, 1:00 p.m.; Bingo, 1:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 23 – Coffee & Conversation, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; LUNCH served at 12:30 p.m.; Euchre/Hand & Foot, 1:00 p.m.; Computer Help/Knitting & Crocheting, 1:30 p.m.

Friday, May 26 – Coffee & Conversation 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; LUNCH served at 12:30 p.m.; Cards & Games, 1:00 p.m.; Knitting, Crocheting, & Needlework, 1:30 p.m.

All seniors, age 60 and older, residing in Van Buren County are eligible to participate in these programs and activities.

Any questions or comments, please contact Senior Services Paw Paw office at 269-655-8000. Rides are available through Van Buren Public Transit with no less than 24-hour advance notice at (269) 427-7921.

Hartford High School Alumni Reunion, June 3

The Hartford High School Alumni Reunion, for those out of school 40-plus years since graduation, will be held Saturday, June 3, 2017 at Lake Michigan College Mendel Center. Classes of 1967 and 1968 are hosting this event which will see new members added from the classes of 1976 and 1977.

Registration and social hour with cash bar will be from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Dinner served at 6:30 p.m.

A memorabilia area will be available for pictures, news articles, scrapbooks, annuals or other items to share with the group.

A link for the registration form and map can be found on the opening page of www.hartfordmichigan.com.

Handicap parking is available with spacious parking for all others, air conditioning, security, and a large dining room with easy access off of I-94, Napier Exit.

Coloma Glad-Peach “Shamrock” Sales business winners

 The Coloma Glad-Peach Shamrock Sales winners for 2017 are the Coloma American Legion Post 362 for restaurant sales category and Four Seasons Spa & Pool Services for retail sales category.

The Coloma Glad-Peach Festival each year sells paper shamrocks and paper peaches through participating businesses to help promote St. Patrick’s Parade winner prizes and raise money for the festival fireworks.  In the closest race in the history of the contest, this year, the American Legion nudged out is competition by selling five shamrocks over Coloma Pizza Hut sales to take the restaurant prize.   Four Seasons Spa & Pool Services won over its closest competitor Coloma Edgewater Bank, by selling twice the amount of shamrocks capturing the retail title.

Both winners were presented a winners plaque by Festival President Jody Davis, depicting the new Coloma Glad-Peach Festival 50th Anniversary logo as designed by Allison Woodard, a 2016 Coloma schools graduate art student.  Glad-Peach Festival paper peaches are scheduled to be for sale in your favorite local business beginning Memorial Day weekend which cost $1 to help decorate the community with peaches and support the community fireworks.

2017 Glad-Peach t-shirt winning design by CHS student

By Martin Quigley Jr.

Hannah Mort, senior art student at Coloma High School was given the class assignment to create a t-shirt design for this year’s Glad-Peach Festival. The assignment was to take the new 50th anniversary Glad-Peach logo as designed by 2016 CHS graduate Allison Woodard to anywhere in the world to share, where would you take it?  Then draw and design that vision.

Hannah decided to take the logo to Bourbon Street, New Orleans because she likes Jazz music and they have Jazz bands that play on street corners, which would be a similar reflection of the Glad-Peach Festival, which also has bands and music playing on the streets.

The festival committee working with this year’s t-shirt promotions picked out Hannah’s Jazz themed design and replaced her buildings with an actual etched photo of Coloma’s town buildings.  The design also sparked the theme for this year’s festival of “Glad-Peach 50th and All that Jazz!”

Art teacher Kristen Maniscalco stated, “The students enjoyed the assignment more so this year, because it was creative on a world view of the Glad-Peach Festival, instead of designing something just for the festival itself.  It broadened the creativity of the students and the kids had fun with thinking of more different kind of ideas, creating more artistic freedom.”

One runner-up design took the festival’s 50th logo to outer space and the other took it to Seattle, Washington.  Hannah’s design was chosen among 42 participating art students.

The 2017 Glad-Peach Festival 50th Anniversary T-shirts are to be released for sale beginning Memorial Day weekend at Harding’s Friendly Market and Rite Aid in Coloma.  The t-shirts are of high quality Hanes tagless, pre-shrunk cotton available in deep royal, forest green and maroon; call Coloma City Hall at 269-468-6606 to reserve your pre-orders.  The shirts will also be available all festival weekend, August 4, 5, and 6, at the festival’s t-shirt barn located in front of Edgewater Bank.