 We are pleased to announce that as of January 2022, the organizational title of BICAA (Beaver Island Cultural Arts Association) has changed to BIPAA (Beaver Island Performing Arts Alliance). Our mission statement has been updated to reflect the new direction and focus of our activities:
“The Beaver Island Performing Arts Alliance produces the Baroque on Beaver Festival and promotes the performing arts with its partners to enrich the greater Beaver Island community.” Beyond our signature annual event, the Baroque on Beaver Festival, the BIPAA will strive to engage with the BI community broadly and in multiple types of artistic presentations with both summer-season and year-round arts programming. In so doing, we will provide the BI community with a wide range of performances and activities - both on our own and in cooperation with local, regional, and national partners - that include: the Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce, BIC Center, Historical Society, Community School, District Library; Dorothy Gerber Strings Program (Petoskey); Saginaw Valley State University (Saginaw); Kerrytown Concert House (Ann Arbor); Young Concert Artists (New York); Chamber Music America (New York). Some examples of this expanded focus and collaborations are upcoming for the 2022 calendar year:
The BIPAA will ensure performance excellence for its projects by working to present, partner and engage with outstanding local musical and artistic talents along with regional and national organizations as listed above. We seek not only to develop promising regional artistic talent through our programs, but also to collaborate with the finest professional writers, actors, artists, composers, and musicians from Beaver Island, Greater Michigan, the Midwest, the United States, and internationally to benefit the Beaver Island community and its residents.
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 By Dawn George
There was a heavy rainfall the morning Beans and I met to work on an article that began with an interview we had the Fourth of July weekend. We couldn’t meet at Mary Scholl’s Garden in the rain, so we talked at my kitchen table. No Matter how long its been, Michael Gardner- better known as Beans, is always good for a song, a story and a good time had by all! This year Beans returned during the 4th of July holiday even blowing his Conch atop the Beanmobile in the parade. He remembers everyone from way back when in the 70’s, and the music of the sixties - when we thought we could save the world with music! He always has something new you’ve never heard before as well as old favorites. I wondered about calling this piece “Music, Friends and the meaning of life according to Beans” or asking his top five most important things in life. But it came down to what’s really on his mind on a daily basis while he’s gigging, traveling and just getting on with life. It’s a trip living the life of a traveling musician—But that’s not all folks, let’s hear it from the man. What’s most important to Beans? Can music change the world, probably not but it’s a start- it opens doors to awareness and then change can happen…For him, once that change did happen, he followed his calling  Click the photo to go to the Beaver Island Association website.
 Beaver Island District Library Endowment Has Changed
We are excited to announce the establishment of The Beaver Island District Library Endowment Fund, administered by the Charlevoix County Community Foundation. The BIDL Endowment will allow our donors' generous gifts to be a permanent legacy to support the library in perpetuity. The endowment fund will provide essential stability and will be a permanent source of unrestricted funding for the library. You can become a founding member of The Endowment Fund by making a donation or by purchasing a wooden book spine that will be personally engraved with a short message, quote or name. Spines come in three sizes: 1", 2", and 3" and cost $100, $200, and $300 respectively. Each book spine can display up to 25 characters. Your “BOOK” will be proudly displayed on the Endowment Founders Book Shelf. Of course, donations larger than $300 are always appreciated as well. To be considered a founding member, your contribution must be made by August 31, 2022. In addition to the Founders Book Shelf, we will also have shelves honoring the library staff, and Friends of the Library. Unspecified donations will be placed on a Friends of the Library shelf. Call 231-448-2701. Visit the website: Beaver Island District Library (michlibrary.org) See Us on Facebook: (3) Beaver Island District Library | Facebook Michigan’s water resources are a global treasure; EGLE is using innovation, fresh thinking to keep them that way By Liesl Clark Director, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy Not a day goes by when I’m not reminded of Michigan’s unique place on Earth – surrounded by 20 percent of the planet’s fresh surface water in the heart of the world’s greatest freshwater ecosystem. Every Michigander relies on that water in some way – for drinking, sanitation, recreation, livelihoods and economic security. We all have a responsibility to be wise stewards of the Great Lakes. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) plays a leading role in ensuring they remain healthy for generations to come. It has been two years since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer entrusted me with the leadership of EGLE and its critical mission of protecting Michigan’s environment and public health. We’ve made tremendous progress in accelerating and improving Michigan’s water protections – both in the drinking water systems that are critical for healthy lives, and surface and ground water safeguards that protect our natural resources and quality of life. EGLE is taking the lead on implementing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s MI Clean Water plan, a historic investment of $500 million in water infrastructure from source to tap. This provides direct investments for communities, helps provide safe, clean water to residents and supports thousands of Michigan jobs. We are pleased with the bipartisan support for this package and are working with the Michigan Legislature to pass enabling legislation to authorize the remaining investments in MI Clean Water. Michigan also is leading on the emerging contaminant PFAS. We recently established drinking water standards for seven PFAS compounds requiring community water supplies to keep those chemicals below health-based levels in the water they deliver to Michigan homes. Corresponding PFAS groundwater standards will protect residents with private water wells. We also achieved public water system connections for 1,000 households with contaminated wells through a legal settlement with Wolverine Worldwide for its PFAS contamination of groundwater in the Grand Rapids area. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, EGLE played a key role in implementing an executive order protecting Michiganders from water shutoffs during the pandemic and providing local governments with financial support to reconnect homes to public water supplies. We helped ensure this program will continue into 2021 by advocating for the Water Shutoff Restoration Act, which Gov. Whitmer signed in late December 2020. New ground was also broken in providing new tools for residents to help ensure clean water and responsive action to water concerns. We launched the Clean Water Ambassador Program, Online Drinking Water Concern System and Focus on Water Initiative. These programs support learning, listening, equitable solutions and collaboration at the state and local levels. Among other significant water protections:
As I say often to our EGLE team, our mission is simple, but our work is hard. My time here makes me appreciate even more the work of our dedicated staff and the challenges that we overcome. In the past year we assisted thousands of individuals impacted by historic high-water levels, navigated the chaos of a pandemic while continuing to provide essential health and environmental protections and maintained our diligence in reviewing thousands of permit applications to ensure they complied with state law – even when those decisions were controversial. We’re excited to build on these fresh initiatives, to push hard to make progress on cleaner water and less carbon pollution and to work with the governor and legislators to provide us the right tools to reach those goals. Our children and grandchildren are depending on it.   Barstronomy continued...Cold temps kept attendance down but did not discourage the dozen or so folks that got a glimpse of Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s moons, Mars, Pleiades, the seven sisters, globular clusters and more! Photographer Bryan Gulick said he enjoyed a several hour session of star-gazing and photography.(see photo at right) and wife Christine was also enthusiastic about the night skies and the event. Christine, like many others that cold, cold week stayed well-wrapped in a blanket while viewing brilliant stars, and a few meteors. I was thrilled to see the rings of Saturn! The Seven Sisters was clarified and brilliant through Tony’s magnifying binoculars and the telescope. Tony has been documented in the past, in the Columbus Dispatch newspapers and other articles, as a Barstronomer. What that means is, Tony is an astronomer that takes his telescopes to bars and teaches folks how to use them to see the stars. “Bar bet, astronomy,” Tony says. “Name the four moons of Jupiter and I buy the drink. If not, you buy ME the drink. That is a tough one,” Tony says. “The main goal is to get people interested in the night skies and to realize it is not that difficult to use a telescope or binoculars.” Tony said he probably would have tried more “Barstronomy” at local bars if Covid had not interfered and that Beaver Island viewing was incredible. Those who did some viewing also were treated to views and descriptions of the Andromeda galaxy,  Islanders and visitors came out in force and entourage, as over 100 vehicles participated in a drive-through parade downtown St. James, Saturday July 4th. Led by Charlevoix County Sheriff Joe Callien, Dick McEvoy’s baby blue Cadillac convertible and followed by Joseph Moore, live-streaming on Beaver Island News on the Net, the next car held WVBI Radio Station hostesses, PABI Director and DJ, Cynthia Jaye. It was Marcy’s first Beaver Island parade and first live radio broadcast, a journey she said she enjoyed immensely.
“I am amazed at the turnout for this, Marcy said, accompanied by her children Aiden and Livvy. The cars were lined up all the way back to Isle Haven even as we had finished our circuit, they just kept coming.” The car parade began on Kings Highway at the Holy Cross Catholic Church, passed by the public beach, then wound down Main Street to the Lighthouse where the Chamber of Commerce director, Paul Cole handed out goody bags for adults and children. “Props to Welke airport for the goody bags and the continuous airplane fly- bys across Paradise Bay.” Marcy added. |
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January 2022
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