Arts & More

'Neither snow nor rain': Museum shows what it took to get your mail

Nancy Camden — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:25:12 +0000

Wanted: Young skinny wiry fellows. Not over eighteen. Must be expert riders. Willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages were $25 per week.

This is an example of what you might find at the U.S. Post Office Museum in Marshall. It's an ad to hire men for the pony express...and the job sounds less than appealing.

See Michigan's native plants and animals at Asylum Lake Preserve

Lorraine Caron — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:23:57 +0000

A gathering at the Asylum Lake Preserve in Kalamazoo on Saturday, May 18, invites residents to tour the green space, learn about its history and help protect its future. The event is from 1-5 p.m. and begins at the Parkview entrance.

Into the Woods: What happens after you get what you want?

Rebecca Thiele — Tue, 14 May 2013 02:34:37 +0000

Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse is kicking off their 50th anniversary Thursday with the musical Into the Woods. Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine is about what happens to the characters in Grimm’s fairy tales after the ‘happily ever after.’

Peaches: A long-term commitment

Joan Donaldson — Tue, 14 May 2013 01:25:20 +0000

Silver barked peach trees crown many of the lakeshore’s hills. In the spring, their blossoms create a gossamer pink cloud while in the summer, their leaves droop like mustaches, hiding the ripening peaches. During the late nineteenth century, peach orchards generated thousands of dollars for Michigan farmers who sent their harvests to Chicago, Milwaukee, and beyond.

Crawlspace hosts the Kalamazoo Improv Festival

Rebecca Thiele — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:36:38 +0000

“It really isn’t just people jumping on a stage and trying to make you laugh. It really isn’t," says Dann Sytsma of Crawlspace Theater Productions. "It’s people on stage working together to create a story that’s never been told, that will never be told again. And they want you to experience that with them.”