Community Calendar

Discover KNC Guided Hikes

Saturdays, February 28, April 25 and May 23, 2-3 pm

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; KNC Members free! Drop-in program.
Audience: All Ages

Explore KNC on a guided hike through some of our favorite areas. Each month will feature a different trail, taking you through our greatest hits and best kept secrets. Dress appropriately for the weather and bring your best trail shoes! Hot tea will be provided.

4/25/2026- Discover the Arboretum

5/23/2026- Discover the Raptor Ridge Trail

This month’s program will showcase Daniel Bernard’s year of birding across America. In 2025, Daniel Bernard embarked on a birding journey as crazy as it was unique: a quest to travel the entire country and see 100 species of birds in every single lower-48 state, meet up with local birders all across the country, and visit birding locales both legendary and unknown. This life-changing journey to explore the "People, Places, and Birds" of the American birding world saw Daniel living out of the back of his Subaru Crosstrek and would be filled with hardships and setbacks, but in the end - after travelling the farthest south, east, north, and west he'd ever been, birding with over 300 different birders across the country, and tallying 607 different species ─ Daniel would accomplish his goal of becoming perhaps the first person ever to see 100 species in every lower-48 state in a single year.

Growing up the son of an avid birder and naturalist, Daniel Bernard has held a lifelong enthusiasm for biology and nature, but the particular passion of birding eluded him for most of his life. After finally caving and accompanying his dad to the Biggest Week in American Birding Festival at Magee Marsh in 2018, Daniel quickly took to the hobby with an obsessive passion, and in 2022 set out to do a Michigan "Big Year" during which he recorded 337 species in Michigan.

We hope you'll join us on Monday, April 27th, at People's Church, 1758 North 10th Street, Kalamazoo. This program is geared toward all audiences, and we enthusiastically invite families and nature lovers of all ages to join us! Come at 6:30 PM (new time – half an hour earlier this year) for some refreshments and socializing. Snacks and beverages will be provided. It's helpful if you bring your own coffee cup. The one-hour program will start at 7:00 PM. Handicap parking and access is at either the front or the rear entrance of the building.

We will have a simultaneous Zoom link for those who can’t make it or feel uncomfortable attending in person. This link will be available shortly before the meeting in the May newsletter emailed to members, and on our Facebook and website events pages. We will also be recording the meeting for later viewing.

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.

Spring is creeping closer, and we’re ready to get outside. Until it warms up, join us for a stroll through the permanent collection to enjoy some sunny landscapes and think ahead to brighter days. We’ll discover how artists represent the natural world and have fun with a few gallery activities along the way.

Please note that this event will not be livestreamed or posted on YouTube.
Take a Wonder Walk through the galleries! The walk will include close looking at a few artworks as well as gallery games and activities. This is a great way to introduce your little one to art and the museum. Wonder Walks is for children 2-4 years old (but all are welcome) and is free with the cost of admission. Caregivers must stay with their children at all times. Preregistration is encouraged. Adults, remember to register your children!

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.

Tai Chi With Ed Kehoe
Saturday, May 2, 10-11 am
Audience: Adults
Meet: Glen Vista Gallery

Start your morning with a relaxing Tai Chi program ideal for participants of all skill levels. Tai Chi is a great way to relax, recenter, and connect yourself with your body. Bring clothes for gentle movement!

Fee: Members $12, Non-Members $15 Please register.

Life in the Kalamazoo River
Saturday, May 2, 2-3 pm

Audience: All Ages
Meet: Visitor Center Lobby

The Kalamazoo river is a huge part of our ecosystem, shaping the land while providing valuable habitat to our native wildlife. We’ll hike out to take a closer look in the water, and learn about the history and inhabitants of our watershed.

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; KNC Members free! Drop in program.

Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome.

We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early).

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.