Things to Do in Kalamazoo

Ever since he began playing with the family Kodak as a toddler, Mark Chamberlin’s passion for photography has been insatiable. He opened his first studio in 1977, and soon earned numerous awards for his portrait, wedding, and scenic photography. By 1995, he felt ready to move on from the studio business and switched his career focus to adult education. As the director and primary instructor of SmarterPics, which he founded in 2008, Mark teaches all level of student the ins and outs of digital photography.

In classes and private tutoring sessions, Mark instructs students through a combination of verbal instruction and hands-on practice. His classes range in subject, from introductory DSLR-camera courses to flash photography and controlling bright sun, where students learn more productive ways to work with light than attempting to harvest it from within. Subjects in his tutoring sessions also run the gamut from camera basics to digital editing tips, depending on the specific needs of his clients.

After six years of working in Chicago, Kasey Shoemaker returned to Lansing to raise her family. Fusing her dedication to her children with her entrepreneurial aspirations, Kasey set out to assemble natural, local, and organic materials and to transform them into a space where kids aged 6 or younger could frolic while parents relaxed with other adults. Her vision came to fruition with play., a 2,600-square-foot space with play areas where kids shop at a pretend farmers' market or cavort across a stage in elaborate costumes and props. Tykes who wish to check in with Clifford, Dora the Explorer, or Hamlet can nestle into the reading nook with a favorite book. Beside permanent play spots, constantly evolving interest areas accommodate new attractions, such as a chalk wall and a basketball hoop, that enthrall drop-in visitors and birthday-party guests alike. Along with unstructured play, classes led by experienced educators engage tykes with art activities and interactive projects. During the warmer months, play. also offers summer camps that run for two-week sessions and let children explore and create while accompanied by staff and guest instructors.

When deciding what toys and games to stock at Imagine That!, owner Marlene says, “I ask myself, 'Can they get this at Toys"R"Us?' And if they can, I don’t get it.” Marlene, who has an extensive background in child development, prefers games that ask for strategy skills and toys that develop deductive reasoning. “You see those players who are just driven to win,” she says, “But that’s not fun.” Marlene likes games that level the playing field and invite everyone to have fun while using their brains. She has paired such games with everyone from 18-month-old babies to seniors who can still remember when jigsaw puzzles were chiseled from spare wooden teeth.

Marlene began with making crafts and learning activities for her own children, but as soon as she broke out the art supplies, the neighborhood kids started emerging from their prairie-dog holes. Inspired by her youthful following, Marlene began an interactive crafts stall at the farmer’s market. She expanded from her 8’x12’ stall 15 years later to the 11-room Imagine That!, where little hands find paints and easels, clever toys, and miniatures for furnishing dollhouses or entertaining well-trained gerbils.

“They come from all over, even Canada,” Marlene says of her dollhouse miniatures' customers. In addition to myriad miniatures and walls filled with toys and games, Imagine That! has craft rooms, a puppet area, and a chamber filled with whirligigs. The whirligigs also blossom in front of the rainbow-hued shop itself, beckoning passersby to stop in and explore.

Unpainted figurines and pottery pieces stand in single-file lines on the pine shelves of Haze Ceramics and More, patiently waiting for guests to brandish paint-dipped brushes and embellish their blank surfaces with artistry. The studio's instructors lead classes and special events throughout the week, demonstrating techniques for mixing colors and achieving a variety of smooth or grainy textures. Aside from giving children and adults the chance to select a ceramic coffee mug, coin tray, or spiked mace from the studio’s expansive collection, classes include all glazes, paints, and firing fees. Special events, such as ladies' night, fuel outbursts of creativity with wine and snacks, and private parties clear out the room so that birthday boys and girls can gleefully bash away at terra-cotta piñatas.

In addition to sharing a first name, brothers-in-law Rick Crandall and Rick Lange share a passion for bow hunting. Together, the pair opened Country Woods Archery and designed its 23-acre range, where bow hunters and target archers mosey along trails and aim at 30 Rinehart targets, sending arrows into multidimensional simulacra of animals such as buffalo, turkeys, and pigs. Bow wielders can ascend to three elevated platforms, lurk in blinds, and hone their aim with unique challenges such as shooting across water or through a corn roll. The Ricks have paid attention to every detail along the course, spraying to ward off mosquitoes and graveling the trails so hunters can wear stilettos instead of boots.

Inside, the Country Woods Archery pro shop outfits hunters and archers with all the equipment they need to nab a deer or bear. The shop’s knowledgeable staff happily recommends targets, repairs and adjusts bows, or gives lessons in hitting the 10 ring or taking down flying saucers.

Imagine holding a king salmon so heavy you can barely lift it for a picture, only to hear the captain yell a new fish just took another trolling rod down. The guides of Captain Hook's Charter Fishing, family owned and in operation since 1980, venture into Lake Michigan for such trophies, taking anglers out for perch fishing, sport fishing, and salmon mooching. Operating one of the state's largest charter fleets, the captains can take up to 40 perch fishers on a climate-controlled party boat, or accommodate smaller groups of 4–5 anglers on a 31-foot Chris-Craft boat, starting at $400. A FAQ page preps guests before going out, covering topics such as how to get a fishing license and what pattern suit is customary fishing attire.