Community Calendar

Vintage Dive Days: Double Hose Regulator Experience
Experience classic scuba diving with vintage double-hose regulators at the 2026 Thunder Bay Maritime Festival. Led by NAUI instructors, certified divers can test heritage gear in a controlled tank environment.

Date: Saturday, August 22, 2026

Location: Marine Technology Training Tank

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center

500 W. Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI 49707

Session Length: 1.5 hours (briefing, gear setup, and dive time)

Time Slots:

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Diver Requirements
All participants must hold a valid certification and submit required paperwork to NAUI by August 17, 2026:

Certification: Minimum Open Water scuba certification (ISO Level 2).

Medical Clearance: Completed clean medical screening or signed physician evaluation.

Waiver: Signed NAUI Liability Waiver.

Equipment Checklist
Provided: Vintage regulators, tanks/air fills, weights/weight belts, and dive instructors.

What to Bring: Mask, fins, wetsuit/hood, optional dive computer, and snacks/water (no concessions on site).

Tank Conditions
Depth: 16 feet max

Water Temp: 60°F – 70°F

Visibility: 15 feet

Learn more and get registered: https://thunderbayfriends.org/event/vintage-dive-days/

Teen Open Studio is a relaxed, creative night just for teens—perfect for hanging out, making art, and enjoying some pizza. Whether you're into painting, drawing, or want to try something new, this is a great space to explore your creativity and meet other teen artists. Bring a project you’re working on or use our supplies to create something new. Open to all media!

If you’d like to participate in a peer-led project, each month will feature a different craft led by the Art Reach TAG. August’s project will be sticker making. A $5 fee will cover materials to participate in this project. Payment can be made in cash at the open studio or pre-pay online.

Teen Open Studio runs from 6 to 8 pm on Saturday, August 22, and takes place on the fourth Saturday of every month.

This program is a Teen Advisory Group (TAG) initiative designed to give teens space and support to explore their creativity. A suggested donation of $5 may be made in person for those attending. Assorted supplies are free for use, including acrylic & watercolor paints, markers, colored pencils, pastels, paper, and collage materials.

Recommended age: 13-19

Play with the toys on Monday! This is a great opportunity to connect with each other, play with some different toys, and look at and check out library books. Drop-in between 10:00am and 11:30am or stay the whole time.
This program is best for ages 0-5. Siblings and children of all ages are welcome.

Recurring every Monday from 6/1-8/31 10-11:30am.

Indigenous arts comprise a wide variety of art forms from varied original peoples from around the world. Mt. Pleasant is the home to the modern-day Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and the ancestral lands of the Anishinabek people. This tie to the tribe affords our region a rich history of cultural traditions, as well as a variety of art forms. Art Reach presents a series of classes with the hope of widening our worldview and offering an avenue for sharing this cultural tradition.

Discover the Anishinaabe art form of traditional quillwork with artist and instructor Chyann Haas. Students will experience the full process, from respectfully harvesting quills from a porcupine, dyeing the quills, and assembling your design. You’ll create your artwork utilizing traditional motifs on leather or birchbark and apply finishing touches by finishing the back. All supplies are provided.

This four-week course will be held weekly from 3-4:30 pm on Monday, August 17- September 14 (skipping Labor Day), in the Idonea Hersee Classroom at Art Reach, 111 E. Broadway in Mount Pleasant.

Recommended age: 14 and up

Please note: An active membership is not required to register. Active members receive a 15% discount on classes.

Play in your pajamas! The children's program room will be open for ages 0-5 and their caregiver(s) for an evening of play. This is a great opportunity to connect with each other, play with some different toys, and look at and check out library books.

Recurring every Tuesday and Thursday 6/2-8/27 5:30-6:45pm

Capture a truly handmade feel in your journaling or sketching by creating from scratch. Utilizing recycled materials, instructor Chyann Haas will guide you in creating handmade papers to be formed into a book. Your papers will have texture, character, and a soft handmade feel, perfect for creating your hand-bound book. We’ll create your book with hard covers to make them durable and useful for journaling, sketching, artwork, and more.

This 4-week course will be held from 3-4:30 pm on Wednesdays, August 12-Sept 2, in the Idonea Hersee Classroom at 111 E. Broadway, Mount Pleasant, MI.

Recommended age: 13 and up

Please note: An active membership is not required to register. Active members receive a 15% discount on classes.

The Dave Bennett Quartet will command the stage in St Johns for another unforgettable evening of everything! Jazz, swing, blues, rockabilly, country, pops, ballads, etc., they do it all! This concert will be their 7th appearance in St. Johns, over the past 10 years, as they bring their dynamic, entertaining show back to mid-Michigan. The quartet is one of the most popular groups, who always brings in a great audience.

The Quartet presents an intense – emotional – fun loving musical experience. Listeners will recognize the influences of Benny Goodman, Pete Fountain, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beatles, Chris Isaak, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. The audience can expect everything from toe-tapping swing to moody blues, to emotional ballads - to original, brand-new jazz compositions - all performed with deft touch, virtuosity, and style.

Dave is out of the Detroit area - known mostly for his swing clarinet performances, having performed in Carnegie Hall as well as other major concert halls throughout the United States with leading orchestras - he also sings, plays the guitar, drums and keyboards. Joining Dave on stage will be local favorites, Jeff Kressler on keyboards, Ed Fedewa on bass, along with Ann Arbor's Pete Siers on drums.

Head to St Johns to partake of one of the most interesting concerts you’ll ever attend. You will be totally entertained by the versatility and precision of this amazing group of musicians. It all adds up to a whole lot of fun!

Created by artist Mary E. Burns, the exhibit features 29 handwoven jacquard portraits celebrating scientists, activists, educators, artists, and Indigenous water protectors from more than 20 countries. Through intricate textile art, the exhibition explores the universal importance of water and the women whose work helps sustain and protect this essential resource.

The exhibition will be on display on the Petoskey District Library's second floor from August 27 through October 15, 2026. Throughout its run, the library will offer docent-led tours, related programs, book displays, and community conversations that explore themes of water, environmental stewardship, Indigenous knowledge, and women's leadership.

Partners making this possible: Michigan League of Handweavers & Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation.

Dive into the vibrant world of alcohol inks with instructor Judi Steffke in this beginner-friendly workshop themed around the iridescent shimmer of glittering dragonflies. Alcohol inks are a bold, expressive medium known for their fluidity, unpredictability, and stunning, abstract effects. Whether you're an experienced artist or trying something new, this class offers a fun and relaxed environment to explore the magic of inks on non-porous surfaces, such as synthetic paper, ceramic tiles, or glass.

This workshop will be held from 3-5 pm on Thursday, August 27 in the Idonea Hersee Classroom at Art Reach, 111 E. Broadway in Mount Pleasant.

Recommended age: 16 and up

Please note: An active membership is not required to register. Active members receive a 15% discount on classes.

Art Reach of Mid Michigan is hosting "Native Wildflowers in Watercolor," a gallery show featuring the work of Cheryl Gould from August 3-29, 2026, in The Morey Family Gallery at Art Reach, 111 E. Broadway in downtown Mt. Pleasant.
An artist reception will be held from 5-6:30 pm Thursday, August 27, in The Morey Family Gallery at Art Reach. All exhibits and receptions are free and open to the public.
Inspired by the beauty and resilience of native wildflowers, Cheryl Gould's watercolor paintings celebrate the quiet wonder found in Michigan's natural landscapes. Drawing from photographs she takes while exploring woods and wild habitats, Gould creates compositions that capture not only the flowers themselves but also the environments in which they thrive. Through layered watercolor techniques and thoughtful artistic interpretation, her paintings invite viewers to slow down, appreciate the richness of nature, and reflect on the importance of preserving wild places for future generations.

Play in your pajamas! The children's program room will be open for ages 0-5 and their caregiver(s) for an evening of play. This is a great opportunity to connect with each other, play with some different toys, and look at and check out library books.

Recurring every Tuesday and Thursday 6/2-8/27 5:30-6:45pm

Created by artist Mary E. Burns, the exhibit features 29 handwoven jacquard portraits celebrating scientists, activists, educators, artists, and Indigenous water protectors from more than 20 countries. Through intricate textile art, the exhibition explores the universal importance of water and the women whose work helps sustain and protect this essential resource.

The exhibition will be on display on the Petoskey District Library's second floor from August 27 through October 15, 2026. Throughout its run, the library will offer docent-led tours, related programs, book displays, and community conversations that explore themes of water, environmental stewardship, Indigenous knowledge, and women's leadership.

Partners making this possible: Michigan League of Handweavers & Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation.

From a simple line drawing on canvas to a completed oil painting, learn the beginning elements of oil painting alongside artist Matthew Grimmer. We begin by learning to prime a canvas using natural mediums that are safe and simple to understand. Working from a detailed still-life crafted by the artist, students will lay the foundations of their painting using line-work and measurement methods based on the use of a "sighting stick." Following this, we'll learn to apply the various lights and darks onto our painting using limited, natural colors, which will gradually become more complex as we learn further about color theory and finishing details. Each session will have a combination of demonstration, work-time, and individual instruction. This class is most welcoming to beginner and intermediate students.

All supplies are provided for this class. We will be using Gamblin 1980 Oil Paints, which are excellent for learning because they dry quickly and apply more easily to the canvas and atop other oil paints.

If you would like to use a higher quality of paints and bring your own, the following pigments are required, and it's preferable that they are mixed with linseed oil instead of walnut oil:
Titanium White, Ivory Black, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Yellow Light (or Hansa Yellow), Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, Cadmium Red Light (or Naptha Red), Alizarin Crimson, Raw Umber, and Burnt Sienna.
You'll also want a variety of different-sized brushes, a palette (or palette paper), a palette knife, a rag, refined or washed linseed oil. Art Reach will provide paint thinner, as ONLY ART TREEHOUSE THINNER MAY BE USED.

This 4-week course will be held 1-3:30 pm, Friday, August 7-28, in the Idonea Hersee Classroom at Art Reach, 111 E. Broadway in Mount Pleasant.

Recommended age: 16 and up

Please note: An active membership is not required to register. Active members receive a 15% discount on classes.

Join jewelry artist Pat Thurston for a creative jewelry-making opportunity utilizing copper sheets. You’ll learn to cut, shape and hammer your copper into textured shapes, ready to assemble with beads of your choice. Choose to make a pair of earrings or a pendant with boho appeal and a handmade feel. This is a beginner-friendly opportunity to try your hand at working with hammered copper. No jewelry making experience is necessary.

This workshop will be held from 2-4:30 pm on Friday, August 28, in the Idonea Hersee Classroom at Art Reach, 111 E. Broadway in Mount Pleasant.

Recommended ages: 13 and up

Please note: An active membership is not required to register. Active members receive a 15% discount on classes.

All the ladies who are “anybody” in Chinquapin, Louisiana come to Truvy’s beauty salon to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoo and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a “good ole boy.”

Filled with hilarious repartee and several acerbic verbal collisions, the comedy moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby risks her life to go through with a dangerous pregnancy. Confronted with the harshness of mortality, the others draw together to find strength – and love – in the wake of tragedy.

STEEL MAGNOLIAS is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Dramatists Play Service.