Local Faces

Three Flint residents — a journalist, an urban farmer and the owner of a famed live music venue — are making their mark on the city.

Melodee Mabbitt

Co-Founder/Co-Editor of Broadside

In 2009, The Flint Journal dropped publication to three days a week, leaving a gap in local coverage — which you filled by founding Broadside. (The Flint Journal is currently printed four days a week.) What do you hope the paper will do for Flint? “We hope people see us as a small example of the idea that you don’t need to wait for anyone to do what needs doing. We want to stoke the confidence that we are as capable of anything as anywhere else. That has always been Flint’s identity: Billy Durant. The Sit-Down Strikers. Michael Moore.”

As the editor of an indie paper, you must know where all the cool kids hang out. “Flint Local 432 is a long-time favorite. Good Beans Café in Carriage Town is great for a low-key cup of coffee, live music and theater events. Churchill's Food & Spirits is probably the college students’ first choice for burgers, brews and bands.”

And Flint sure has a lot of college students. Why do you think many stay after graduating? “Flint is ripe with potential for radical rethinking and experimenting, and that is appealing to young, talented and imaginative people who want to test themselves. How awesome would it be to be able to say you helped turn Flint into the model for cities of the 21st century?”

 

Joel Rash

Founder, Flint Local 432

Your live music venue — a.k.a. “the Local” — is moving into another spot downtown. Tell us about the new location. “Within one block there is an art gallery, a pizza joint, an ATM, a yoga studio, a hair salon, a deli, an ice cream stand, a coffee shop and more.”

Are there any other changes on the horizon? “One big difference is that we’ll be able to have a variety of performing arts. We’ve already spoken with theater companies, dance troupes, spoken word collectives, DJs, visual artists; even a burlesque troupe is interested in using the space. We’ll still do concerts every weekend, but we plan on having as many other offerings as possible.”

What are some other spots in town to hear good music? “Local acts are regularly onstage at The Loft and Churchill’s Food & Spirits. Touring rock and outlaw country acts have made The Machine Shop on Dort Highway a must. They are gaining a national reputation with shows from some real heavyweights like Drowning Pool, Whitey Morgan, Clutch and even Kid Rock.”

 

Jacky King

Co-Founder of Youth Karate-Ka’s Harvesting Earth Educational Farm

You and your wife Dora have started several outstanding urban gardens. What are some of your favorite outdoor spaces? “Harvesting Earth Farm, of course. I also love the Ruth Mott Foundation’s Applewood Estate, for the beauty of it all and the way they present the gardens. Everything’s all polished and clean. It’s good for the eyes. Our goal is to make Harvesting Earth similar to that.”

Where can people purchase the produce grown on your farms? “You can purchase it at the Flint Farmers’ Market, at Dale’s Natural Foods, and of course, right here at the farm — you can pick it yourself, fresh.”

You have two farms up and running, with nine more slated to open this summer. Will they be included in the Edible Flint Food Garden Tour? “Yes — but you can tour our farms anytime. These are educational farms — so come and see our geothermal, solar-powered greenhouses!”