Artists
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This Place We Call Home is the first video to be published in the series, Listening to the Voices of Water. The voices are those of people, diverse, inspiring, passionate, united in their care and concern for the waters in the Great Lakes region. My hope is that their stories will encourage everyone to care for this sacred gift, this life-giving source called water. In This Place We Call Home, award-winning singer/songwriter Ruth Bloomquist shares the genesis of her hit song, Michigan Girl. Ruth with her music and I with my photography showcase the beauty of Michigan’s resources. We can live without a lot of things, access to clean, fresh water is not one of them.
In this shorter version of This Place We Call Home, Mary McKSchmidt combines her photography with award-winning singer/songwriter Ruth Bloomquist's song, "Michigan Girl."
Jane McKinney reads a poem from the book she is co-authoring with her daughter, Mary McKSchmidt, titled Miracle Within Small Things: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Loss and Aging. It is scheduled for release in March 2023. The mother of six children and former Director of Public Information for the East Lansing School District for eighteen years, she is the author of nine books including a children’s book, a memoir on motherhood, a collection of essays, and six books of poetry.
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The month is February, the month of the heart. The year is 2021, the year after one defined by masked and socially-distanced relationships, isolation, and airwaves pummeled with heated and, often, toxic political debate. The voice of award-winning author, Anne-Marie Oomen, is like a beacon of light piercing a misty fog of uncertainty. Write a love letter to water, she suggests. If the thought of creating art from the heart feels a bit intimidating and you’re not sure how to begin, listen to Anne-Marie’s suggestions. Whether you write a love letter to water, tell a story, draw a picture, choreograph a dance, pen a poem, take a photograph, or compose a song, I hope you have as much fun as I intend to do. And if you feel like sharing your creative masterpiece, send an email to [email protected]. Who knows where the conversation might take us?
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Michigan, like most states in the Great Lakes region, is transitioning from the manufacturing mecca of the 1900s to an economically vibrant, safe, healthy and just place to call home. All our cities are in various stages along that journey, but few have my respect and admiration like Muskegon. Formerly an industrial city with one of the forty-three most toxic harbors in the Great Lakes, it is well on its way to being removed from that list of environmentally degraded waterways and evolving into an ideal destination for outdoor enthusiasts. Join musicians Ruth and Max Bloomquist and me as we share our love for this special place, a place that gives me hope for the transformation of all communities in the region.
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How many times have I struggled to find self, particularly during times of transition? Gone to Lake Michigan to gain clarity? How many times have I made mistakes on that journey? Fallen? Gotten back up with the help of others? It is why The Lake Michigan Mermaid: A Tale in Poems is prominently placed on my sacred book shelf. In many ways, the young girl’s story mirrors my own. Interviewing poets Linda Nemec Foster, Anne-Marie Oomen, and illustrator Meridith Ridl, creators of this Michigan Notable Book Award winner, was inspiring. And fun! They made me laugh as they described the challenges of braiding their voices along with that of the publisher. It was a reminder. Harmony provides the richness and color needed to create a masterpiece. Needed to create community.
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Advocates
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Thanks to author and environmental advocate Dave Dempsey and Lisa Wozniak, executive director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, we hear the stories of Michigan’s leaders with the personal and political courage to protect the environment, individuals doing their part to ensure a healthy future for the state. It is our turn.
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You think it can’t happen to you, until it does. Ask residents of Toledo (algae). Flint (lead). Parchment (PFAS). Three different communities. Three different toxins poisoning the water flowing from peoples’ taps. What are the implications for all of us? In gratitude to those willing to reflect on the lessons we must learn from the Flint water crisis including Reverend Katherine Culpepper, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance; Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director, For Love of Water (FLOW); Lana Pollack, 12-year state senator for Michigan; Jumana Vasi, Vasi Consulting, Environmental Justice & Water Policy Strategist; The Presbyterian Church USA for the documentary, “Flint the Poisoning of an American City.”
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Rhetoric or reality? How do we elect and hold accountable people who will prioritize access to affordable, safe drinking water? Particularly in an era of PFAS and other “Forever Chemicals,” lead, climate change, 4 years of environmental rollbacks, and a pandemic? I asked Lisa Wozniak, executive director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, a nonpartisan organization that elects, educates, and holds accountable elected officials working on behalf of Michigan’s land, air, water, and Great Lakes, to share her thoughts as we head into the 2020 election season.
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When we were young, my mother threatened to wash our mouths out with soap if we said anything disrespectful or harmful to another person. Of her six children, I am the one who tasted the bar of soap, a memory that still causes my mouth to recoil some six decades later. The punishment taught me at a very young age that words matter. At a time when we are divided as a country, what we say and how we say it will shape the dialogue needed to solve matters of grave importance—like climate change. In an interview with Lana Pollack, 3-year board member of Ann Arbor Public Schools, 12-year President of the Michigan Environmental Council, 12-year state senator for Michigan, former U.S. Chair of the International Joint Commission, and wife, mother, and grandmother, she shares concerns about four words commonly used by us all. And often misused. Where is that bar of soap? Needed now more than ever. On multiple levels.
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Across Faiths, Traditions, and Spiritual Beliefs
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The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France is the place where Mary, the Mother of God, is said to have appeared repeatedly to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Beside the grotto in which the apparitions occurred, is a spring said to have the ability to heal. Through the voice of Sr. Diane Zerfas of the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, we experience the healing power of water from the springs of Lourdes to the seemingly infinite waters of Lake Michigan. At the core of that power is prayer. During the pandemic, when most of us are washing our hands longer and more frequently in water, why not use that time to pray? With so many voices raised in prayer so frequently throughout the day, perhaps we might emerge stronger, more willing to work together to care for each other and for our planet. Perhaps, through our prayers, God will work miracles.
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