Dogwood festival expanding its office space within Huntington Bank

Published 6:16 pm Thursday, December 4, 2008

By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
A January ribbon-cutting is anticipated for Dogwood Fine Arts Festival's expanded suite of offices in Huntington National Bank.
At Dogwood's annual holiday potluck Wednesday night at past president Chuck and Ann Ringland's house, President Brad Yazel said, "We've more than doubled our space. We're going to have some opportunities for greater exhibition and gallery space and reconfiguration of our office space.
"Thanks to the generosity on the part of our friends at Imperial (Furniture) giving us a heck of a good deal, we do have some new, more contemporary office furniture that's been purchased. Art and Carol (Springsteen) have been very gracious supporters of the festival and continue to be."
Yazel described the new decor as "Starbucks meets boardroom."
Special guests among more than 25 board members and committee chairs included City Manager Kevin Anderson and his wife, Nan.
Yazel made two award presentations.
The first plaque was to Mike Petersen for seven years of heading up Toast 'n' Jam, an event which introduces children to classical music.
"As loud as I am, he is a true gentleman with a kind and quiet spirit," Yazel said.
"I wasn't expecting this," Petersen said. "Thank you for all of your support. It's the team effort that makes the Dowagiac Dogwood Fine Arts Festival a true success."
Yazel also recognized his predecessor, Charles J. Ringland, for "outstanding service for the betterment of arts in the Dowagiac community."
"This gentleman's contributions to the festival, to the board, to events like this, quite frankly, has been, without question, one of the true outstanding members of our group. I can't think of anyone in past or recent history that I have heard of or known who has made an impact on our community like these folks have," Yazel said of Chuck and his wife, Ann.
Ringland, who received a dogwood painting signed by Chicago artist Winifred Godfrey, who appeared at the 1998 festival, said, "We've lived in 16 homes in eight different states, but there hasn't been anything like Dowagiac. This is a super community thanks to all of you and everybody who lives around here. The attitude is tops in the country."