1997 08 06 Battlecreekenquirer 003

COMMUNITY CALENDAR SELF-HELP GROUPS • Nicotine Anonymous, 9 a.m. Thursday, Burnham Brook Center. • Brain Injury Support Group, 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Disability Resource Center of Southwestern Michigan, Kalamazoo. • Kalamazoo Gay/Lesbian Resource Center Youdi Group, 7 p.m. Thursday, First Presbyterian Church, 321 W. South St., Kalamazoo. For more information, call 616-345-7878 from 7 and 10 p.m. today through Friday. HEALTH • Calhoun County Health Department, free or low cost pelvic and breast exams, including mammograms, free for women over 40 with a limited income, 191 College Street To make an ap- x . pointment call 966-1234. SPECIAL INTERESTS • Battle Creek NAACP Youth Council, 6 p.m. Thursday, NAACP Headquarters. : «• North American Patriots Association, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Speed's Restaurant, 1425 W. Michigan Ave. • National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Michigan Chapter, 7 p.m. Thursday, Clarion Hotel, 3600 E. Cork St, Kalamazoo. • Battle Creek Magic Club, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Mille r * Gymnasium, Kellogg Community College. ' ' • Battle Creek Stamp Club, 7 f).m. Friday, Y Center board room. • • Interaction of Kalamazoo Inc. (for single adults), 7:30 p.m. Friday, People's Church, 1758 N. 10th St., Kalamazoo. • o SERVICE CLUBS • .• Altrusa, noon today, Burnham Brook Center. • Battle Creek Exchange Club, noon today, Custer American Legion Post 54. . • Battle Creek Khvanis Club, noon today, McCamly Plaza Hotel. • Ambucs, Battle Creek Area Chapter. 12:15 p.m. today. Battle Creek Inn. • Cereal City Lions Club, 6:30 .p.m. today, McCamly Plaza Hotel. > Pennfield Lions Club, 6:30 p.m. today, Penn Station. • Battle Creek Early Morning Lions, 7 a.m. Thursday, Shrank's Cafeteria. • Harper Creek Optimist Club, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Custer American Legion Post 54. yETERANS , GROUPS • Custer American Legion Post 54, 1 to 4:30 p.m. today, 1125 E. Columbia Ave. United War Veterans Council, 7:30 p.m. today, American Legion Post 298, 228 N. 20th St SENIOR CITIZENS • Health screening, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Burnham Brook Center. • Foot-care clinic, by appoint- pient, cost $15,11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Burnham Brook Center. '. • Senior meals, dining senior- style lunches served by Elder Services Department of the Community Action Agency are available 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday in Springview Towers, Bedford Manor, Franklin Center, Washington Heights United Methodist Church and Mercy Pavilion Lakeview Center; 11:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Springfield Senior Fellowship Center at the Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center, 765 Upton Ave. Make reservations the previous open day at 963-1212. TO SUBMIT INFORMATION Please send items to Community Calendar, 155 W. Van Buren St, Battle Creek 49017-3093. Or fax to 964-0299. Please include your name and phone number. SETTING IT STRAIGHT ; • James G. Daily is survived by his wife, Patricia (Elyea) Daily. Due to incomplete information given to the Enquirer, the maiden name was omitted. He is survived by his father and mother, Richard and Virginia Darlington, of Battle Creek. Due to a clerical error, the names were omitted from Tuesday's obituary. • The Battle Creek Enquirer cor- rects errors of fact To report an error, call 966-0674. I HOW TO REACH US ' . Have a story tip or idea? Here's how to read) us 24 hours a day: • Reader hotline: 966-0681 • Fox: 964-0299 • Great Lakes Free-Net: Leave a message in the Battle Creek Enquirer conference area. • E-mail: en<|[email protected] LOCAL WEDNESDAY, AUG. 6, 1997 BSTTLE CREEK ENQUIRER 3A Informant's credibility attacked Caretaker's defense targets 'confession' TRACE CHRISTENSON The Enquirer John Hofman opened his defense of a woman charged in the beating murder of an Emmett Township man with a shotgun approach. Hofman called 13 witnesses Tuesday in the Sharon Zachary trial. His goal: improve the credibility of his client, destroy testimony of a jaUhouse informant and question physical evi- dence presented by the prosecution. Hofman plans to call at least as many witnesses today but still may not close his case until Thursday. He still has not said if his client will take the witness stand. Zachary is charged with murder, felony murder and armed robbery in the April 26, 1996 beating death of Robert Rogers, 80. His body was found in the living room of his home at 1015 S. Raymond Road. Zachary was arrested in December. Assistant Calhoun County Prosecutor David Wallace has told a jury he be- lieves she killed Rogers in a dispute over his money. As the trial moved into its fourth week, Zachary spent Tuesday - her 32nd birthday - listening to friends and family praise her as a caring and non-violent person. Other witnesses also questioned prosecution testimony about her thumbprint found on Rogers' belt after he was murdered. And still other witnesses called Michelle McCormick - who testified Zachary admitted to her in jail that she killed Rogers - a liar. Witnesses included: • Postal carrier Jim Starks, who told the jury he remembers seeing an elderly man in a large white car - sim- ilar to one owned by Rogers - outside the victim's house about 1:20 p.m. on the day he was killed. Several witnesses have testified Zachary was in Dowagiac, Vicksburg and Marshall during the middle part of the day and Rogers was found dead about 4 p.m. by Emmett Township police. Prosecution witnesses have suggested he was killed several hours before the body was found. • Private investigator Craig Pifer, who said Zachary's thumbprint was found 5 inches from the end of the buckle on the belt Rogers was wearing when he was found. Pifer testified that the end of the belt, when worn, would overlap and cover the print, possibly protecting it from wearing away. iVosecution witnesses testified about the fragility of fingerprints and WaUace has suggested that Zachary left the print on the belt when she turned the body over after killing Rogers. • Zachary's son, Josh, 18, who testified that his mother gave the belt to Rogers as a Christmas present and of- ten laid out his clothes during the four to five months he lived with the Zachary family. The defense has ar- gued that the fingerprint was left on the belt sometime before Rogers was killed. • Lisa Burden, a close friend; Sandra Dickerson, Zachary's sister, and Billy Jo Leitz, a close friend, who all testified that Zachary was compas- sionate, caring and non-violent • A former employer, husband and boyfriend of McCormick's, who said they didn't believe she was capable of telling the truth. McCormick testified last week that Zachary confessed to the murder while they shared a cell at the Calhoun County Justice Center. McCormick was serving time for em- bezzlement Former husband Donald McCormick said, "she couldn't tell the truth if she had to." FOCUS: OUR COMMUNITIES 4-H means family for 3 generations ClQb, annual county fair a sign of hard work, tradition for the Flynns of Marshall PATRICIA MAHER MARSHALL - Mike and Jeanette Flynn don't have any beefs about being administrators for the Calhoun County 4-H Steer Club. They've been doing it for more than 20 years, have watched their four daughters rise through the 4-H ranks and say the rewards of their volunteer positions make the long hours worth it The Flynns raise beef cattle on 19-Mile Road at the same farm on which Mike was raised. Now their four grown daughters live within four miles of home and they're starting to watch their grandchildren prepare projects for the fair, which starts Sunday. "I showed steers back in the '40s in the same 4- H Club my kids went through," Mike said. "I watched my girls go through it Now it's coming time for my grandkids." Granddaughter Chela VanSickle, 9, will show a couple of dozen arts and crafts projects at this year's fair. And next year shell be Flynn'sfirstgrandchild old enough to enter the livestock division. But since her grandpa VanSickle raises hogs, she hasn't yet decided what sort of animal she'll show. "One grandpa raises pigs and the other raises beef. We're going to put one grandpa at each leg and tell them to make a wish," Chela's aunt, Renee Dolly, said. Of course Renee and Chela's mom, Michelle VanSickle, would like to see Chela follow in the Flynn girls' footsteps and raise beef for next year's fair. They're already steering Chela toward a little heifer she calls Snow White. But Chela said shell just have to wait and see how things go at this year's fair before she makes a decision. As administrators, the Flynns keep track of all the registration forms and help 4-Hers get ready for the fair. This year, 81 of them have made it to the final weigh-in and are expected to show up at the livestock barn with their steers and heifers. Michelle and Renee are glad to see the 4-H Steer Club going so strong because they said they gained some valuable skills raising animals and learning to market them to business folks they in- vited to the auction. Besides learning how to take care of an animal, they learned how to speak in public; follow through with a project; and something else that Renee said she hopes to see Chela learn - to compete against the boys. "There is no sex in 4- H. It doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl," Renee said. 'There was no advantage to being a boy or a girl." Besides learning life skills in 4-H, Michelle and Renee also earned enough money selling their steers to buy trucks - even before they could drive them. They also earned enough money for school neither had to take out a student loan. But, they said, they profited more than some kids because they had "good parents" who paid for feed and donated calves to their projects. Chela said she's glad she'll be able to enter a cow or a pig in the fair next year if she decides to. But she's not yet thinking about making money or learning to compete with the boys. For her, it's a litde more basic. "I like making friends." BECKY SHINK/THE ENQUIRER Chela VanSickle, right, feeds a blind calf as Dalton Dolly pets it Staff Writer Patricia Maher reports on people and issues in southcentral Michigan. Her column appears on Wednesdays. PATRKU MAHER Bottle Creek Enquirer 155 W. Von Buren Battle Creek, Ml 49017 Phone: 9664)657 Colon set for magic makers ANDRIA MALLERNEE The Enquirer COLON - They may know in- tricate card tricks and compli- cated illusions, but the performers at Abbotfs Magic Get-Together will have some simpler pursuits as well. "Ifs a chance to see all of your friends. Ifs like a big family re union," said Gordon Miller, a magician and master of cere- monies for the event The 60th get-together begins at 8 p.m. today in the Colon High School Auditorium. Tickets range from $10-$ 15 each show. Every summer. Colon doubles its population of 1,100 for four magic days. And this year will be no different, with registration numbers rivaling last year's. The annual convention will begin with the showing of City of Magic, a half-hour video about magic and Colon. Dubbed the "Magic Capital of the World," Colon's magical his- tory goes back to 1925 when well-known magician Harry Blackstone Sr. bought property in Colon. He and a friend, Percy Abbott, later formed the Abbott Magic Manufacturing Co. Tliis year's convention will maintain its link to Colon's past with a memorial service for Harry Blackstone Jr., the magician's son who recently died. Still, it doesn't take the Blackstone name to draw crowds. According to Abbott Magic Co. President Greg Bordner, curiosity reels them in. And, according to Bordner, the shows are "not Uncle Harry with a deck of cards." Ninety percent of the performers are professionals. An arts and crafts fair, sidewalk sales, and a magic museum, among other things, will keep people busy before the nightly magic shows. QBH ITS MAGIC || • WHAT: Abbotfs Mogk Get- Togetber. • WHEN; Kghtfy shows 8 p.ni. today-Saturday; benefit matinee at 2 p.m. Saturday. • WHERE: Colon High School. • WHO: Four to six profes- sional magicians nightly. • DETAILS: Other events include Cokm Arts and Crafts Fair (9 a.m. Friday-Saturday); Colon Museum (2-5 pjn. Thursday- Saturday); Harry Blackstone Jr. Memorial Service (4 p.m. Saturday, Colon High School). • COST: For nightty shows, SI 5 reserved main floor and ele- vated back bleachers, $T0 side f^Dieacners. Mturaay rnannee, $7/adults, SS/dhildren T2 aid under, and $5/semors 60 and older. For information, cdl 616- 432-3235 or 616-432-3236. NEIGHBORS PLUS Parade part of Pennfield neighbors , celebration For the third year, the Pennfield Caring People Neighborhood Watch group will sponsor a neighborhood celebration on Saturday. And this year's STEVE SMITH event promises to be bigger and better than ever, with a parade fea- turing about 40 units and a block party that will include food, kids' games and other fun. The public is in- vited to watch the parade, which will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday at the corner of Glendale and Oakwood avenues. The parade will travel south on Oakwood to Alton Avenue, then turn east on Alton and travel along Alton, around Borden Drive, then back onto Glendale and end at Oakwood. The parade will feature vintage cars, floats, clowns, cheerleaders, area Scout troops, various agency ve- hicles, public officials, floats, deco- rated bikes, wagons, strollers and much more.Members of the Michigan Battle Cats Booster Club will be handing out candy to kids and selling raffle tickets, and neighborhood resident Jack Eagles will portray Abraham Lincoln. The celebration is part of an effort that began about three years ago to bring residents closer together in the area that is bounded by North Avenue on the west, Meadowlawn Avenue on the south, Borden Drive on the east and Derby Road on the north. Worried about an increase in break- ins and young people who roamed the neighborhood unsupervised at night, a group of residents decided to form a Neighborhood Watch group. "We wanted to get people more in- volved and aware of what was going on," said Pam Dukeman, who helped form the group. TTie group decided on the namePennfield Caring People Neighborhood Watch and held its first picnic two years ago in the Dukemans'yard. Last year, they expanded the celebration to include a chfldren's parade. Everyone had so much fim that they decided to make the parade even bigger this year. "I had a ball doing this," said resident Pearl Brown, who organized this year's parade. "I can't do the walk- ing, but I can telephone." In addition to the annual celebration, the Neighborhood Watch group sponsors walks through the neighborhood two days a week, distributes a monthly calendar of events and holds monthly meetings with programs on issues such as home security, town- STEVE SMITH/THE ENQUIRER Leo Groux, left, and his son, Kenny, look over Groux's tricycle, inchiding a mannequin "burlgar,' for the Pennfield Caring People Neighborhood Watch Parade. ship services, etc. While the monthly meetings don't always draw a crowd, "I know there's a lot of support," Dukeman said. "People say this is great and they give us their support They don't always have time to come to meetings, but I've noticed that they're looking, they're watching more." STEVE SMfTH/THE ENQUMfit Helping make plans for the Pennfield Caring People Neighborhoo^i Watch Awareness parade and picnic Saturday are, seated from k^. Pearl Brown, Donna Casdeberry and Pam Dukeman; standing from left. Bill and Kim Rossetd, Jerry Casdeberry, Mark and Karen Garland and their son, Stephen. For newer residents like Mark and Karen Garland, the Neighborhood Watch group has helped them be- come better acquainted with their neighbors. "We've only lived here two years, and if it wasn't for Neighborhood Watch, I wouldn't know anyone," Karen Garland said. :• GIVEUSACALL IT yOu fnlYw IrewS TOT nwynDOfj " Q*AJUA ' f Uhv 70O-v0Uv|t BtilW M M k W cdl 6:30 a.m. and 4 pjn, Monday-Friday, or fax the infannGlentous i l 9644299 F ";:V ; ; V;-. <'

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1997 08 06 Battlecreekenquirer 003