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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 78
©2022 The Michigan Daily
N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
S TATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . 4
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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Storytellers share “Journey” narratives at U-M Medicine Big Hearts for
Seniors’ annual fundraiser
JEREMY WEINE/Daily
Marc Holland performs “Arriving at Acceptance” at the Big Hearts for Seniors annual fundraiser Tuesday May 17.
Big Hearts for Seniors celebrated its
17th anniversary and held its annual
fundraiser in the Lydia Mendelssohn
Theatre Tuesday night. This year’s
fundraiser, “Big Hearted Stories:
Journeys,” included a live performance
featuring five storytellers, who each
shared personal stories surrounding
the theme of the night: “journey.”
Big Hearts for Seniors is a collection
of
five
programs
administered
through Michigan Medicine — Ann
Arbor Meals on Wheels, Housing
Bureau for Seniors, Osher Lifelong
Learning
Institute,
Silver
Club
Memory Programs and Turner Senior
Wellness Program — to support and
serve seniors in the community. Since
2006, various events by Big Hearts
for Seniors have raised over a total of
$500,000.
The emcee and guest speaker of
the night was Public Health professor
Victor Strecher. In his performance
titled “Life on Purpose: How Living
for What Matters Most Changes
Everything,” Strecher shared a story
about his high school dance and what
he has learned since then.
“I learned that all the people I
wanted to be, I now don’t want to be,”
Strecher said. “And a lot of the people
who were kind of geeks and nerds
and misfits ended up being pretty
interesting people that I really enjoy,
and still do.”
Strecher
also
stressed
the
importance
of
respect
between
partners and repeated the message
he gave to students at Frankfort High
School’s 2021 commencement.
“As you start going through life
and you find somebody, make sure
that that person sees this light in your
eyes, sees this special thing about you
and helps build that and doesn’t try to
denigrate it,” Stretcher said. “Because
if they’re talking down to you or
denigrating you or making you feel
bad, run away.“
Published
playwright
Marc
Holland spoke on a series of events
in his life that he either accepted or
refused to accept in his performance
“Arriving at Acceptance.” Through an
anecdote about the time he drove his
truck into his garage door, Holland
explored what acceptance is.
“What I learned was anger will not
talk about that accident and would
dare you to bring it up,” Holland said.
“Acceptance call their homeowner’s
insurance and was told ‘Of course,
we’ll cover that. That’s why you have
homeowner’s insurance.’ Anger will
look at paint transfers on my opened
garage door every morning and just
curse the day, but acceptance took a
pile of rags and toothpaste and rubbed
all that paint away.”
Bill Krieger, the veterans affairs
program manager for Consumers
Energy, also spoke at the fundraiser.
As a retired army captain, Krieger
monitors the well-being of the veterans
his company hires as they return to
the civilian world. In his performance
“Destination
Unknown,”
Krieger
talked about the mental hardships he
has faced following his return from
Iraq and the experiences that led him
to his current job. Krieger said he
believes mental health is a continuous
journey.
CAMPUS LIFE
ANN ARBOR
TINA YU
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at michigandaily.com
Extended social district, block closures shift Ann Arbor downtown experience
In June 2020, three months
after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
signed the “Stay Home, Stay Safe,
Save Lives” executive order, Ann
Arbor joined a growing group
of municipalities implementing
temporary
street
closures
to
enable physical distancing for
downtown
restaurants
and
retailers.
Ann Arbor City Councilmember
Ali Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, who is also
the owner of Jerusalem Garden,
said his experience running a
local business motivated him to
work on the initial street closure
agenda.
“We
talked
to
police
and
Washtenaw
County
health
officials to create a safe area
for people to come downtown,”
Ramlawi said. “Equally important
is to help businesses stay alive.
Since people couldn’t dine-in, we
wanted to set up outdoor sittings
to the extent permissible.”
The street closures instituted
for last summer were temporarily
suspended in November. On March
21, the City Council passed a
resolution announcing the return
of street closures. The return of
street closures not only allows city
officials and downtown merchants
to
be
prepared
for
renewed
pandemic
restrictions,
wwbut
also creates a testing ground for
a more lively downtown area as
the city moves past the pandemic.
The Michigan Daily spoke to
Ann Arbor community members
about the impacts of the revival
of this policy on small businesses,
community
engagement
and
potential issues with accessibility.
Ann Arbor’s social district was
first introduced in November 2021
as the area of the city containing
all
block
closures
to
allow
people to walk around with open
alcoholic beverages. An April 18
City Council resolution extended
the social district’s operational
hours.
CHEN LYU
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at michigandaily.com