Enjoy the sounds from local musicians, including Acoustic Blends, Maybe August, Empty Canvas, Empty Pockets and Jedi Mind Trip.

From 5 to 6 p.m., participate in the live auction.

Sample 42 different wines from around the world and taste a variety of foods.

Ready, aim, fire!

Bring the family to enjoy:

• Juried arts and crafts show
• Raffle
• Children’s activities
• Teen and young adult activities
• Instrument and dance workshops
• Impromptu jam sessions

“Cook Once – Eat for a Week”
Tuesday, Sept. 14, 6 to 8:30 pm
Love the idea of home-cooked meals every night but busy weeknights make it seem impossible?  We’ll teach you how to spend one day in the kitchen putting meals together for the entire week.

“Pressure Cooker Class”
Sept. 28, 6 to 8:30 pm
No longer fear the pressure cooker…we’ll show you how safe and easy it is to make quick and delicious meals!

“What’s For Dinner?”
Thursdays at 4 p.m.
Peggy will be in the kitchen on select Thursdays this month to help you answer the age old question, “What’s for dinner?” The theme this month will be picnic foods. Come in to watch as she prepares delicious meals that are perfect for weeknight dinners. Stop in for a sample and some inspiration!

Fresh from the Market with Peggy –
Mondays from 4:30 to 6 pm
Come and see what’s good from the farmers’ market! Peggy will be getting fresh in the kitchen with the freshest ingredients. The Farmers Market will be open until 6:30 p.m., and Peel ‘n Pare will stay open until 7 p.m.! Stop by to have a sample of Peggy’s delicious meal!

The fiesta begins in the Tyler-VanDusen Center at 3 p.m. with an information fair. Latino dancing, including salsa, takes place from 7 to 11 p.m.

Special guest Vicente Sanchez from the Mexican Consulate in Detroit will deliver the “Grito de Independencia.”

Admission is free and open to the public.

The cast of improvisers create all the elements of a big time Broadway musical on the spot, complete with plot, music, choreography and lyrics.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors 62 and up, and free for Alma College staff, students and
youth 18 and under. Seating is reserved. Call (989) 463-7304 for ticket information.

Bring the family to enjoy a picnic, inflatable games and a petting zoo. The event begins at noon near the Bahlke Field entrance. Afterward, root on Alma College in football in its 1 p.m. game against Rockford College.

Buy a ticket to enjoy a delicious pork dinner with all the trimmings, compliments of Glen’s Markets.

In addition to great food, the event will feature a wealth of family friendly activities including games for children, a rock wall, a bounce house, a 20’ dual-lane inflatable slide, a trout pond, and train rides.

Check out the classic cars at MMCC's Harrison campus

Cruis’n Classics, a classic car group out of Gladwin, will be sponsoring a classic car and motorcycle show on the college’s front lawn during the festival.  There will be more than 50 classic cars on display.

Tickets are available at MMCC or at Glen’s Markets in Clare, Harrison, and Gladwin.  For ticket information, call Karen Kleinhardt at 386-6629. The ticket cost is $5 per person in advance and $7 per person the day of the event.

• ADM Edible Bean Specialties plans to construct a new Blumfield Township processing facility, which consists of a new four-story, 7,500 sq. ft. building to clean and size beans. In addition, a new steel storage silo is proposed with approximately 300,000 bushels of capacity. The estimated project investment is $11 million resulting in 12 employees retained and three new workers. Headquartered in Decatur, Illinois, ADM operates more than 560 processing and sourcing facilities in more than 60 countries.
• Dow Corning Corp. continues to advance itself as a significant supplier within the solar industry. The company has made numerous investments at its Solar Solutions Applications Center in Tittabawassee Township. Dow Corning invested more than $1.2 million to expand its Freeland facility, along with the purchase of new equipment. Four new jobs were created as a result.
• Filtrona Porous Technologies is an international, market leading, specialty plastic and fiber products supplier listed on the London Stock Exchange. Formerly Lendell Manufacturing, the company was acquired in October 2009 by Filtrona PLC and became Filtrona Poruous Technologies. Manufacturing and technology development are conducted at the 60,000 sq. ft. facility just outside the Village of St. Charles. Filtrona invested $1.8 million in new equipment that will result in two to four new jobs.
• The Michigan Sugar Company installed over $1 million in ventilation equipment at one of its two Blumfield Township locations to prevent excessive moisture and to preserve sugar beets. Additional plans call for the installation of the same equipment at the second Michigan Sugar location in Blumfield at a future date.
• After leasing warehouse space in the City of Saginaw for 16 years, Midwest Machinery Movers has purchased a building located at 2119 River St. in the City of Saginaw. The company invested $320,000, creating one new job. Midwest Machinery is an industrial machinery mover, from single machines to complete plant moves.
• Star of the West Milling Company amended its 2009 tax abatement application with the City of Frankenmuth due to a larger investment (additional $1.8 million) that exceeded the scope of the original project plan. Increased construction costs and the purchase of additional equipment prompted an amendment to the 2009 investment of $3.7 million. The Michigan Department of Treasury State Tax Commission allows for amendments to applications when construction is involved in a project.

Attractions

• Midwest Manufacturing is investing $5.9 million in the City of Saginaw and will hire approximately 25 to 40 employees. The company had originally planned to purchase equipment from the former VanPoppelen Brothers Block company and move to an out of state location. SF helped package incentives to convince the company to locate in Saginaw. The City, County of Saginaw and Michigan Economic Development Corporation approved the extension of Renaissance Zone benefits from 2014 through 2020. Midwest Manufacturing is a division of Menards and will supply 26 stores throughout the state.
• The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) plans to open a new VA Mental Health Center in at 4241 Barnard in Saginaw Charter Township. The 18,780 sq. ft. office will be an annex facility, have up to 50 staff members and treat up to 180 patients a day. The U.S. government will lease the $4 million clinic from BGI South, LLC. In May, the Saginaw County Board of Commissioners designated the entire County as a Recovery Zone and BGI submitted the only application, which was for $4 million in tax exempt bond allocation. SF is facilitating the tax exempt financing through the County’s Economic Development Corporation.

This dedication led to Knight being named the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese’s 2010 recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award, College/University Level. She was presented with the award at the association’s annual national convention in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Knight is a strong proponent for enhancing foreign language in the U.S., and advocates that education needs to start early. Her years of work with future foreign language teachers provide the basis for this early education.

“I teach the foreign language methods course for Spanish, French and German majors and minors who are going to be elementary and high school teachers. This is not just a class, rather a process of growth and preparation for what is to become a sort of torch-passing of languages to another generation,” said Knight. “To cure monolingualism we need the best and most proficient future teachers; therefore, our department has pushed to raise the linguistic bar for entrance into and exit from our programs. Besides working with students in the methods course, I always try to engage them in wider aspects of the profession.”

Knight joined the faculty at CMU in 1985 and has taught courses on Spanish language, the culture and civilization of Spain, foreign language methods to preservice teachers, and a course in the Spanish Master of Arts program. During her time at CMU, she has guided many future foreign language teachers and advised hundreds of students on academic curriculum as well as study abroad. She has been involved in many statewide and national initiatives involving foreign language education, is a member of several national foreign language organizations, and has received excellence in teaching awards from CMU and the Michigan World Language Association.

“Though I received this award, it isn’t something I won or accomplished on my own, but a trophy for combined CMU efforts,” said Knight. “I credit my students, my colleagues at CMU, and those in the state and national associations of which I am a member.”

Included in nominations for the award, one of Knight’s colleagues wrote, “she is the go-to pedagogue who proffers excellent recommendations and solutions to colleagues who seek out her expertise whenever difficulties arise in their teaching.” Another added, “as the department chair, she is the consummate leader and the strongest world language ambassador to the university.”

It also was noted that she has been a “conscientious advisor to thousands of world language students, always encouraging them to study abroad.”