North Central Michigan College announces speakers for fall luncheon lectures
PETOSKEY — North Central Michigan College has announced its fall Luncheon Lecture lineup, with guests ranging from information about an Air Force rescue mission to how music and totalitarian regimes worked together.
The programs, which are all an hour long and will take place at noon on Fridays, require pre-registration and cost $15. The cost includes a lunch buffet served at 11:30 a.m. before the events. All events will be in-person.
The lecture series begins Sept. 23 with John Van Etten, a pilot that was a part of the rescue mission to save the lone survivor of the Bat 21 — a U.S. Air Force jet that was shot down by a north Vietnamese surface-to-air missile in 1972.
Parts of Van Etten’s experience was turned into a 1988 movie, but those who sign up for the NCMC lecture series will be able to hear about the story from a first-hand source. He also wrote a book about his experience and was inducted into the Rotary Club of Petoskey in 2017.
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Rod Cortright, a NASA and JPL Solar System Ambassador, will be coming to speak on what makes the James Webb Space Telescope unique on Oct. 7. The new telescope, which launched in December 2021, is able to see farther back in time and view objects no longer visible to the human eye, allowing for more discoveries.
Cortright is a founding member and the vice president of the Northern Michigan Astronomy Club. He also manages the Sky Docent Volunteer programs at the Headlands International Dark Sky Park.
On Oct. 21, Petoskey’s Randy Evans will be coming to NCMC to talk about his new book, “The Voluntary Servant.” Evans will be speaking about how “do-gooders” do good work better. The lecture will highlight practical courses of action for teams and organizations that serve others.
Evans has a long history of philanthropy, being a member of Ohio University’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, volunteering at a local food bank, coaching with the Literacy Volunteers of America and mentoring high-risk high schoolers.
Dawn Marie Strehl of the Health Department of Northwest Michigan will be taking the stage Nov. 4 to discuss a new program that will require kindergarten or first grade students to be assessed on their oral health before starting school. This program was put in place because tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease.
Strehl will be joined by family nurse practitioner Carrie Miller to talk about school-based health programs that will help students succeed in school and in life.
A Nov. 18 lecture will be offered from Interlochen Public Radio Music Director Amanda Sewell, who will be looking at the relationships between classical music and totalitarian regimes. She’ll be looking at the relationships under Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Adolf Hitler.
She will talk about how the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert was originally started as a tool for Nazi propaganda, why pianos were destroyed under Mao’s rule, and how a symphony saved Dmitri Shostakovich from a Soviet gulag.
NCMC’s own Scott LaDeur, a professor of political science, will analyze the Nov. 8 election results on Dec. 2. Michigan's governor seat is up for grabs, as is control of the U.S. and Michigan House and Senate. Additionally, a proposed amendment to the state constitution is on the ballot.
The final lecture of the series will come from Peter Bucci, executive director and chief financial officer of Harbor Hall, on Dec. 16. The lecture will discuss the group’s beginnings and how it got to where it is now.
Originating as a small, men-only halfway house, it is now serving as a health care company and building a large apartment complex on Emmet Street to expand short-term living options.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: NCMC announces speakers for fall luncheon lectures
