Congratulations to the Glen Lake/St. Mary co-op tennis team for its historic win of the 2024 Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Regional Championship, the first time winning the title since 2002, more than two decades ago. The Laker’s upset came at the regional tournament hosted Thursday by the St. Francis Gladiators, Glen Lake’s longtime rival. Omena resident and St. Mary School junior, William Krusel, and his Glen Lake sophomore partner, Porter Martin, playing No. 3 doubles, won two of their three matches in the tournament. While the Lakers walked away with the Regional Championship, both teams qualified for the state championships at the Midland Tennis Center on Oct. 21-22. Best of luck at States!
Roberta and Allan Cohen recently returned from their European trip which they designed as a Van Gogh excursion. They timed their arrival in London to coincide with the opening weekend of the extraordinary Vincent Van Gogh exhibit, Poets and Lovers, at the National Gallery. The local London Press referred to it as “a blockbuster, a once in a lifetime show of Van Gogh’s work” because so many of the paintings were on loan from private collections and are usually unavailable to the public. The exhibit is part of the National Gallery’s 200th birthday celebration, and runs through January 19, 2025.
The title of the exhibit is taken from his over two years in the south of France, where Van Gogh revolutionized his style in a symphony of poetic color and texture. He was inspired by poets, writers and artists. This time in Arles and Saint-Rémy is considered a decisive period in his career. His desire to tell stories produced a landscape of poetic imagination and romantic love on an ambitious scale.
From London, the Cohens took the train under the English Channel to Lille, France, and after a few days there, on to Ghent, Belgium, where they delighted in the famous Belgian waffles and sampled some of the best Belgian chocolates. They ate dinners at small, neighborhood restaurants where they ate local food and where not a word of English was spoken. In Lille, they ate Carbonade Flamande, which was a beef stew cooked in dark beer, onions, brown sugar and gingerbread. It was beyond delicious!
They capped off their Van Gogh-themed trip in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where they first went to the marvelous Van Gogh Museum, the largest depository of Van Gogh art in the world, to view more of his dazzling artwork. On their final day, they rented a car and drove about an hour out of Amsterdam to visit the Kroller-Muller Museum, which is the second largest depository of Van Gogh art.
According to Allan, “The reason we travel is to sample the local food and, of course, to go to the amazing sites in each city.” Roberta added, “I also love the chance to shop in local boutiques for things that I don’t see here in the U.S.”
Back in the Northport-Omena art world, the second annual “When Form Meets Function” exhibit at the Village Arts Building in Northport continues through October 27. It is open Tuesday – Sunday, 12 – 4 pm all month. It is a unique show of 3-dimensional art, including pottery, stone, and fiber. Omena resident Oran Hesterman is one of the artists who will be exhibiting. The exhibit gets its name from Frank Lloyd Wright’s philosophy that “form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.”
Last week was another missed column. This time my laptop died, or so I thought. I guess it was just in a coma, because we (someone) managed to revive it, but it took over a week. So now I am catching on a ton of emails. My first instinct was to blame it on karma, but then it occurred to me that karma is a concept of cause and effect, where good actions bring more good actions, and the opposite. I don’t think I ever did anything bad to my laptop, except possibly some benign neglect.
Catching up on last week’s birthdays and anniversaries – Happy Birthday to Autumn Duffiney, Jim Browning, Marty Szasz-Busby, Jeff Bosco, Bill Renz, and Suzie Mulligan. Happy Anniversary last week to Mark and Manie Powell, and to Adam and Jennifer Smart.
This is one of my favorite birthday weeks, and this year is extra special. The “Omena Triplets” – Dale Blount, Kanda McKee, and Mary Stanton – all celebrate their birthdays on October 23. This year, Dale turns 90, Kanda turns 75, and Mary gets to remain the youngest of the three.
Happy Birthday also this week to Jim Morrison, Cynthia First, Austin Van Pelt, and to Riley Huffman and to Cruz Cairns, who both turn 5. Happy Anniversary this week to Chris and Nikki Mittman.
