Something Educational
Gain new skills in the new year
From birding to sublimation printing to making fire cider, opportunities abound this month to learn a new skill.
Grab your binoculars and learn all about birding at the Beginning Birding Walk offered by the Kalamazoo Audubon Society at 9 a.m. Jan. 3 at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, in Mattawan. The walk begins at the hatchery’s second parking lot, 34270 County Road 652. For more information, visit kalamazooaudubon.org.
You can get a jump on spring planting by learning how to start plants indoors using seeds from the Kalamazoo Public Library’s Seed Library. Two sessions of Winter Sowing with the Seed Library will be held, one at 6 p.m. Jan. 12 at KPL’s Eastwood Branch and the other at 6 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Central Library. Registration at kpl.gov is required.
If you have a favorite photo you want to preserve for display, you can sign up for a workshop titled Sublimate Photographic Prints, set for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Portage District Library. Participants will use a sublimation printer to transfer a photo onto an aluminum plate, via heat and pressure. Registration at portagelibrary.info is required, and a high-resolution digital photo will have to be submitted in advance.
The Richland Community Library is offering a four-part educational series dedicated to learning something new. The sessions, titled You’re Never Too Old, will be held at 11 a.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of January and February. The Jan. 8 session is called To Start a Side Hustle, and the Jan. 22 session is titled To Manage Your Stress. For more information, visit richlandlibrary.org.
Finally, a Fire Cider Class on Jan. 24 at the Kalamazoo Nature Center will teach you to brew this traditional herbal medicine made with apple cider vinegar. The class begins at 10 a.m. To register or for more information, visit naturecenter.org.
Something Aquatic
Boat show to fill Expo Center
All things lake life will be spotlighted at the Kalamazoo Boat Show Jan. 9–11 at the Kalamazoo County Expo Center.
Pontoons, power boats and personal watercraft will be the stars of the show, but vendors of other products such as docks and boat lifts will also be on hand.
Show hours are 2–8 p.m. Jan. 9, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Jan. 10 and 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Jan. 11. Admission is $10. For more information, visit kalamazooboatshow.com.
Something Creative
Drawing session to feature musicians, dancers
The Stryker Theater at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum turns into a living sketchbook Jan. 16 during “Illustrated Muse(ings),” a drawing session with live musicians and dancers.
Attendees can join artists from Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Center for New Media and from the museum at 1:30 p.m. to sketch the musicians and dancers or to just listen and watch as others create.
The event is free.
For more information, visit kalamazoomuseum.org.
Something Musical
Red Sea Pedestrians, Corn Fed Girls to perform
The Kalamazoo-born bands The Red Sea Pedestrians and The Corn Fed Girls will join forces for a concert Jan. 17 at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe.
The Red Sea Pedestrians, composed of six singer/songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, play a blend of rock, klezmer and American roots music. The Corn Fed Girls, popular at Michigan folk festivals, play original acoustic Americana music.
The show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.11 and available at bellsbeer.com or at the Bell’s General Store.
Something Liquid
Events will celebrate craft drinks
Fans of craft beverages and craft cocktails will have two opportunities this month to sip and savor.
The Kalamazoo Bourbon Fest, to be held Jan. 31 at the Delta Hotel & Conference Center, 2747 S. 11th St., will feature more than 100 rare and high-end whiskeys and bourbons, classic cocktails and local distilleries as well as food vendors and live music.
There will be two sessions of the festival: from 4–6:30 p.m. and 7–9:30 p.m. Tickets range from $20 for individual entry to $305 for a VIP table. To see what’s included at various ticket prices or to purchase tickets, go to kalamazoobourbonfest.com.
Jan. 31 is also the kickoff of Kalamazoo Craft Beverage Week, a weeklong series of events celebrating local craft beverage producers and fostering a greater awareness of the local craft beverage industry. Activities throughout the week include opportunities to meet brewers, distillers and winemakers, learn how they develop these products, and sample a few of them.
Craft Beverage Week runs through Feb. 7. For a full schedule of activities during the week, visit kalamazoocraftbeverageweek.com.
