Programs and Events 2023-2024

By M. Christine Byron & Thomas R. Wilson

Join Christine and Tom for a road trip on the old West Michigan Pike, now US-31. This historic road was the first continuous, improved route between Michigan City and Mackinaw City. The road along the Lake Michigan coast opened West Michigan to automobile travel and tourism. The authors depict the adventure and romance of motoring showing vintage postcards, photographs, maps, and ephemera to illustrate this journey. Time-travel with them through the beautiful West Michigan landscape and quaint towns to hotels and cabins, tourist camps and state parks, and other stops along the road.

Christine and Tom share a love of Michigan and a fascination with its history. They are especially interested in the history of Michigan’s tourism industry. Their collection of antique postcards and tourist and travel ephemera was the inspiration for five of their books: Vintage Views Along Scenic M-22 including Sleeping Bear Dunes (2012); Vintage Views Along the West Michigan Pike (2011), Vintage Views of the Mackinac Straits Region (2007), Vintage Views of the Charlevoix – Petoskey Region (2005) and Vintage Views of Leelanau County (2002). Their sixth book, Historic Leelanau: Recognized Sites and Places of Historical Significance, is a fundraiser for the Leelanau County Historic Preservation Society.

By Joyce A. R. Beedie, President, Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society.

Finding your ancestors and learning about their lives has never been easier. Joyce Beedie will talk about the resources offered by Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society and other local entities as well as highlighting how online websites enhance genealogy and local history research. She will give an overview of the society sponsored programs and the one-on-one assistance available to those trying to find their roots.

Ms. Beedie is the president of the Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society (VBRGS) and has held the position for the past 10 years. She also administrates and oversees the society’s vast collection of manuscripts, photographs and books archived at the Vanderlyn Community Center Hartford Public Library.

The VBRGS was organized in 1987 in Decatur, Michigan and in 2020 moved into the new Hartford Public Library. They have been recognized for their many years of contributions to family and local history with the naming of the library’s genealogy room as the Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society Genealogy Room.

Scott Club members will car-pool to Lansing to visit our capital with a tour by Valerie Marvin, Michigan State Capital Historian. This full day trip will include a meeting at the Lansing Women’s Club. RSVP is required. For information and to RSVP, email info@scottclub.org.

By Michael Moyer, Director, of Wine & Viticulture at Lake Michigan College

The unique characteristics of southwest Michigan’s climate and soil allow for the production of world class wines, to rival those of better known wine regions of Europe. Lake Michigan College’s Director of Wine and Viticulture Michael Moyer will discuss quality viticulture in southwest Michigan and highlight the opportunities and challenges facing the Michigan wine industry.

Michael Moyer is the Director of the Wine and Viticulture program at Lake Michigan College. The 2022 harvest marked his 23rd vintage, and 8th in the state of Michigan. Michael holds a Master of Science in Viticulture and Enology from the University of California, Davis. He comes to Michigan most recently from Walla Walla, Washington where he made wine for 12 years including 7 years as Enologist and Winemaking Instructor at Walla Walla Community College. Early wine industry experience was gained in Amador, Napa, and Sonoma counties in California, as well as the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Michael is currently the Secretary for the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail and chair of the Michigan Wine Collaborative’s Research and Education Committee. Along with his wife and four children, he has two dogs, two cats, five ducks, 21 chickens, and one pigeon.

By author, Valerie van Heest

Holland-based explorer Valerie van Heest, author of the book Fatal Crossing, will share the tragic story of the disappearance of Northwest Airlines Flight 2501 somewhere in the waters off South Haven in 1950, and her efforts to find the wreckage, solve the mystery of its disappearance, and provide closure for the families of the 58 victims. Her program and her book will reveal that the answers are sometimes found in unexpected places. She will have copies of her book available and will do a book signing after the program.

Valerie van Heest is an underwater explorer with the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, a museum exhibit designer, and the author of seven nonfiction books about local history. She has appeared on numerous television and news programs sharing the stories of her adventures in history.

12:00 pm at Van Buren County Senior Services, 08337 M-140. NO ZOOM
RSVP required. Email to info@scottclub.org.

Membership meeting followed by a delicious lunch and holiday entertainment.

By Brenda Walker Beadenkopf

Brenda’s Philadelphia Quaker father, Charles C. Walker, met and corresponded with Dr. Martin Luther King. When and why did they meet? What common beliefs held their friendship? How did they develop the principles, strategies, and tactics of nonviolence used successfully in the movement? Nonviolence sounds like a simple concept, but in the 1950s and 1960s, it became the basis for a complex national movement that changed the face of the nation. Charles Walker was one of the ordinary Americans that helped start that revolution.

Quaker historian and author of A Quaker Behind the Dream, Brenda Walker Beadenkopf works tirelessly to promote her father’s work with Dr. Martin Luther King at conferences and many other venues in the United States and Kenya and has spoken and led workshops about the importance of nonviolence in the successful protests of the 1950s and 1960s. After graduating from Southwestern Michigan College’s journalism program with a 4.0 GPA, she served as editor of the award-winning Berrien County Record newspaper in Buchanan, Michigan, published three books about her father, and has had articles printed in Guideposts, Friends Journal and Highground magazines.

By Black History Leadership Society

Join us at the Scott Club as we begin celebrating Black History Month with the South Haven Black History Leadership Society as they present their program for 2024: “Fighting to Keep Black History Alive”.

Each year the Black History Leadership Society chooses someone that exemplifies community leadership and will announce their Honoree for 2024. The Society also awards a student the Youth On The Rise Scholarship each year. We will learn about the scholarship, how we can contribute, and how it makes an impact on our local community.