- [Narrator] Support for Destination Michigan, is provided by the CMU bookstore.

(cheerful music) T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, maroon and gold memories, and an official outfitter of Adidas apparel, at the Central Michigan University, owned and operated CMU bookstore.

(music continues) Online shopping, seven days a week at cmubookstore.com.

On campus, at the University Center, and game day locations at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, and the John G. Kulhavi Events Center.

(music continues) And by the Flint Institute of Arts.

With a collection of more than 8,000 objects ranging from pre-history to the present.

The FIA offers an immersive art experience that's accessible and approachable in the heart of Michigan.

The FIA Art School is open seven days a week, providing formal studio instruction in mediums from drawing and painting to ceramics and glass blowing.

Learn more about current and upcoming classes and exhibitions online, flintarts.org.

(music slowly fades out) - Hello everyone, I'm Matthew Ozanich, and welcome to Destination Michigan.

We're coming to you today from the Famous School of Music, here at Central Michigan University.

And a little bit later in the program, we're gonna be featuring some of the great musical talent that can be found in these walls.

But first, we're gonna hit the road with Stefanie Mills, who's gonna be taking us to her secret spot along the Lake Michigan coastline, to partake in a little rock hunting.

Then, we're gonna be meeting Randy, and all the fine folks at Marushka Prints, in Grand Haven.

He's gonna tell us about the history of the company and how their designs are finding an all new audience on the other side of the globe.

It's then off to St. Joseph, as we take a few spins on the Silver Beach Carousel.

And then, we head right back here to the campus of CMU, to turn back the clock and explore the 100 year history of the Chippewa Marching Band.

Then, we'll pop across campus for a performance from the world famous, Supaman.

(bright upbeat music) Michigan, is home to more than 3,200 miles of freshwater coastline, and the beaches of the Great Lakes are, arguably, second to none.

But we're gonna be skipping the sand today and instead setting our sights on rockier venues.

Thanks to Michigan's unique geological makeup, buried treasure awaits the rock hunters who comb the shores.

We tag along with Stefanie Mills, to her secret spot on the shores of Lake Michigan.

(happy acoustic music) - In Michigan, there are many types of hunters.

Like deer hunters, even mushroom hunters, and my personal favorite, rock hunters.

Yeah, that's me and my daughter, out on Lake Michigan, on a beautiful fall day looking for rocks.

(music continues) But, not all rocks are created equal.

Depending on where you are in the state, only certain ones can be found.

That's what makes this hobby so fun.

- Of course, there's value in collecting rocks.

There's the innate value of satisfying our own curiosity, first of all, right?

And you gotta be careful because if you start collecting rocks as a child, you might end up as a geologist.

Now, that's not all bad.

- Wise words, from Central Michigan University Geologist, Larry Lemke.

We caught up with him after our day on the water to tell us more about our findings.

- All right, and how does it also feel to you?

What's its texture feel like?

- It's a little rough, right?

- Yeah.

- It's not, it's not super smooth.

- Does it feel like sandpaper by any chance?

- A little bit like sandpaper.

- Hmm, that might be a clue.

Yes.

This is a sandstone.

- Okay.

- Which is a rock made out of sand.

This is a very well injurated sandstone.

It means it's very, very hard and lithified.

If you looked at it under a microscope, you could see the individual sand grains in there.

And we can still see some of the layering.

- Yeah.

- That's in this as well.

- All right, let's talk about this one.

This is, I know there's a lot of people in Michigan, who love collecting these stones.

- I would count myself among those.

- Are you?

Okay.

- Yes.

- All right.

- This is a beautiful example of a pudding stone.

So, let's wet this is down as well.

So you can see, and Stefanie, I know you're kind of found of conglomerates, right?

- I guess so, a little bit.

- This is an example of a conglomerate because it has pieces of other rock, older preexisting rock that were eroded and formed into pebbles.

- Okay.

- The red color is jasper, and that's what makes the pudding the stone so attractive is because it's got all of these pieces of jasper that are just gorgeous in color.

It's also got quartz and other silicon minerals in here as well.

- Many will probably also recognize this next find and it's definitely one of my favorites.

- Very special, very special.

- Yes.

- So of course, when we wet this the internal structure, just- - Ooh, look at that beauty.

- Jumps out at you.

All right.

- That is the state stone of Michigan, otherwise, known as a Petoskey stone.

It is a coral, it is a colonial organism.

And if you look at each one of the chambers in here, they're kind of hexagonal shaped, right?

- Yes.

Yeah.

- Most of them have a really good six-sided- so this is from the genus Hexagonaria.

It's a type of coral that lived in the Devonian, shallow Devonian seas, and they're very, very common along our beaches in Northern Michigan.

So, I can also remember collecting Petoskey stones when I was a boy with my grandfather.

That was one of my favorite things to do.

- Different coastlines lead to different rocks that can be found, like up in the UP for example.

Along the superior coastline, you can find some of the most colorful stones, including, the very elusive, agate.

Now, a lot of what you find and where, has to do with how Michigan was formed way before humans roamed Earth.

- Two billion years ago, approximately, there was an event that tried to break the continent in part.

We have this great mid-continent rift and as a result, there were a lot of volcanic materials that came up.

After that, there was a period where the ground kind of sagged or subsided for hundreds of millions of years.

It created a huge basin that we refer to as, the Michigan Basin.

Over those hundreds of millions of years, layer, after layer, after layer of sedimentary rock was formed.

And as a result, now we have igneous rocks we have metamorphic rocks, we have sedimentary rocks.

And then, along came the glaciers.

Several million years ago, up until about 20,000 years ago they have dumped a lot of, what we call, a glacial drift over the entire tee of the lower peninsula of Michigan, and much of the upper peninsula, too.

So, we have this amalgamation of rocks, of different types and different ages that can be found almost anywhere.

- While our majestic coastlines are rock hunting meccas, you can find them just as easily inland.

- If you find something that's unusual that sticks out trust your instinct, take it home and maybe show it to a geologist or bring it to a museum and see if you found something really exciting.

Even if not, if it excites you, it's worth keeping and adding to your collection.

I would also say, beaches and areas with water, are a wonderful place to collect.

But don't forget your own backyard and maybe the gravel pit, you know, down at the end of the road, because those are wonderful places.

But of course, if you're gonna collect on private property, ask permission first.

- As someone who collected rocks as a child, Larry is living his dream.

And who knows, maybe my little rock hunter, is getting a taste of what's in her future, too.

- Now that's not all bad because there are plenty of careers and you can make a very, very good living.

Geologists study the earth, right?

We are concerned with all of the natural resources that are available to help us sustain our society on Earth.

So, people who understand how to find critical minerals, or metals, or water, or you name whatever resource, those people are gonna be very valuable to our society.

(fun upbeat music) - We're going to soften things up a little bit in our next story, as we shoot down the shore and head for the city of Grand Haven.

For 50 years, Marushka Prints, have been putting smiles on faces with their fun and eclectic prints.

We sat down with owner, Randy Smith, who regaled us with the story of Marushka.

- The company was started by my high school art teacher, Richard Sweet, in 1971, and his wife was named, Mary.

The story goes, that they were in a Polish meat market in Grand Rapids.

They were talking about their new business and the butcher suggested naming it after your wife, which would be Mary and Marushka in Polish.

That's the story, anyway.

- [Matthew] Marushka's is well known to many who had their screen prints hanging on their walls for decades.

Today, clothing is their game, printing all sorts of attire with the same designs and screen prints that have been fan favorites for decades.

- People love this store, I think because it's happy, it's fun.

We have a lot of unique items that you can't really get anywhere else.

Yeah, it appeals to people, definitely.

And, I think part of it is the thrill of the hunt because there's so much variety and we love engaging with customers and that's a big part of the fun.

- [Matthew] Randy's been with Marushka since the beginning, selling fabric prints for the company of his high school art teacher.

- The way I got into it, I had a red Ford Torino station wagon.

I would sell the prints to retailers out of the back of the station wagon.

When I was in Florida, I'd stay at like Jellystone Parks, on Ranger Road and BooBoo Boulevard.

- [Matthew] Aside from the smaller prints Randy was selling out of his car, they also did large screen prints that were quickly finding an audience.

Marushka designs, finding their way into all sorts of surprising places.

(jazz music) In 1989, they began the Michigan Rag Company and started printing their unique designs on clothes.

The inspiration for which, came about when one Marushka employee made their own one of a kind piece.

- He took four panels of the teddy bear print and made him into the drawstring shorts, and they turned out great.

And he made it from our same material that we're doing those stretch fabric prints with.

Called it Michigan Rag Company, 'cause we wanted it sound industrial.

- [Matthew] Now, in case you wanna find some vintage Michigan Rag, you better move fast.

Michigan Rag, is having a huge surge of popularity in places like, South Korea and Japan.

- A lot of our old, vintage Michigan Rag Parkinson things, were being sold on Etsy and eBay.

We couldn't figure out where they were all going.

And then, we started seeing people kind of from South Korea and Japan, vamping, you know, these are young kids like 18, and they're wearing things that we used to sell to grandmothers - [Matthew] With all his years in the industry, if there's one thing Randy knows, it's that tastes are always changing, and in some cases having a resurgence years later.

- It started with the prints, Marushka Prints, that you would hang on the wall.

They had a resurgence probably like, 10 years ago, and then they started popping up in news articles about shabby chic and dentist office wall decor.

And we were usually in there somewhere - [Matthew] Beneath the store, in print shop, you can actually hold the history of Marushka, in your hands.

- They would all start out with a sketch.

Back in the old days, we would hand cut a film.

And the films that we still have are like works of art, themselves.

- [Matthew] And it's here, that Randy shows us the fascinating screen making process.

- You take a Dacron mesh screen and you coat it with a light sensitive emulsion.

And then you take your film, your rubylith, and you put it on the back, and then you expose it to an arc lamp.

Where the rubylith is, it blocks out the light so the emulsion remains soft.

To where it's exposed to the light, it hardens.

And then you take it out and you spray out the soft part of the screen with a garden hose and then you can tape up the edges and then it's ready to print with.

You know, oddly enough I kind of thought I'd be here a long time and 'cause I've enjoyed it, you know, I'm a little older and it's kind of nice to be influenced by younger people.

If you talk to anybody that's ever worked here, I think generally, they'll remember it in a fond way what they did, they were creating something.

(jazz music slowly fades out) - Family fun has been found along Michigan's Lake Shores for generations.

While some attractions of the past have been lost forever, in the town of St. Joseph, their community came together to raise one of their city's points of pride from the ashes.

On the grounds of a former amusement park, arose a one of a kind attraction, creating new memories for families.

- [Narrator] Standing atop the bluff in St. Joseph, overlooking Silver Beach, one is quickly overcome with emotion and that emotion is joy.

- So, if you look down below the bluff, here in St. Joseph, across the street from the Carousel, you see the Whirlpool Compass Fountain.

That is a city run property.

But over here there's actually three separate non-profits within this one specific building with different elements of fun.

So, it was this massive community effort to create this public private partnership to have something here for generations to come, for people to want to come to St. Joseph.

- [Narrator] St. Joseph, has long been a destination for summer fun.

With the backdrop of Lake Michigan and its sandy beaches, plus its proximity to the river, it naturally is the perfect location for a one of a kind attraction.

- Logan Drake and Louis Wallace, who were extremely young men, like teenagers, saw the opportunity to take that and turn it into a business model and started the Silver Beach Amusement Park back in the 1870s.

Started with just a couple of attractions along the shoreline that would start to bring people over and turned into amusement park, carousel along the shoreline, dance hall, and became a very large attraction for the area for almost a hundred years.

- [Narrator] The Silver Beach Amusement Park was a special place.

Home to the area's first roller coaster, roller rink and pipe organ.

At its peak, the park drew visitors from all over the state and country.

A special place for families to make memories.

But as years passed, equipment became expensive to repair and raising safety concerns caused crowds to wane and find new avenues for entertainment.

- The amusement park closed in 1971, and kind of just became a memory for quite a while.

And in the 2000s, there was a group who got together and said, we really miss having that along our shoreline.

We're really missing that crown jewel in our community.

- [Matthew] That passionate group formed the Silver Beach Carousel Society, and worked diligently to bring back the original carousel.

Ultimately, they were unable to bring back the original ride but the dream did not die.

A carousel was too important, and now they had the chance to make a one of a kind attraction.

- Eventually they decided, okay, we're gonna keep bringing back a carousel and we're gonna make it something spectacular because we have the opportunity to build it ourselves.

The carousel behind us, it was built in 2010, and it has a lot of elements from the original carousel.

So, those who came here as a child can still see a lot of those memories here.

There are figures on the carousel that are actually replicas from the original; but, there also are the added elements like the St. Joseph Bear.

There's a couple of the local schools have their mascots on there.

Some of the local universities have mascots on there, as well.

So, it was a chance to have something cool and unique and different that would never have existed on an original carousel.

While still remembering what made it special in the first place.

- [Narrator] This carousel is a true work of art.

Each one of the 52 figures is hand carved out of basswood and hand painted.

Each figure is glued together, using no nails or screws, the same way they would've been made over a century ago.

These figures are gorgeous and make each ride magical.

And no one knows that better than lead carousel operator, Ken.

- I can tell when, when a kid is on the carousel and it's their first time, you can see the excitement and then once the ride starts their eyes get real big and they smile.

That smile and that joy.

That's what makes this all so neat to me.

And same thing with the adults.

I mean, the adults, if the kids are having fun the adults are having fun, you know.

(circus music) The music, the lights, you know, all the different animals.

I mean, there's something magical.

And when you're riding it for four minutes there, you just kind of lose your thoughts about what's happening in today's world.

And here I am, 60 some years later, and I'm operating a carousel plus two band organs.

We are privileged to own two band organs.

We have one that's in the center of the carousel and then we have the actual antique one from Silver Beach Amusement Park.

This year, that organ is 111 years old.

Plays off of paper rolls.

And when I'm operating the carousel, I usually like to play both organs during the ride so people get to hear what each one sounds like.

- [Narrator] The amusement park is long gone but joy is still found at Silver Beach.

Children and their families, are making memories that they will remember and cherish for decades to come.

- There's just kind of a moment where the music, band organ, comes up and you start to hear the music and everyone's face just turns.

Everyone just is happy when the carousel is running, which is just very cool.

And it doesn't matter how old people are, as soon as the carousel starts running, they just feel joy.

(circus music) - For 100 years, there's a sound that's been a staple in Mount Pleasant.

And as fall approaches each year, residents know that the sounds of the Chippewa Marching Band will soon be filling the air.

We met up with the band during some of their practices and performances to learn why they're called the spirit of the stadium.

- [Narrator] Autumn afternoons on Central Michigan University's campus, have a certain noise.

It's a muffled voice on a bullhorn.

It's the click of a metronome.

It's a band finding their sound.

(rhythmic tapping) (marching band playing music) On game days, it all comes together.

As the Chippewa marching band, the spirit of the stadium.

(marching band playing music) - My role as drum major is important because it's all about service.

It's all about leadership, and it's the opportunity to, you know, lead this incredible marching band that plays such an integral role.

Not only at football games or at performances, but also in our community, as well.

We do a lot with bringing our University together and just hyping people up, reminding people why they're so proud to be a CMU Chippewa and getting to lead that, I think, is not only very important but also just a huge honor.

- Since the fall of 1923, the band has been the pulse of the stadium, energizing the crowd, supporting their team and filling the community with their signature sound.

This year marks 100 years of the Chippewa Marching Band.

- There's so much history and tradition in this band there's so much that we've been through to get to this point and acknowledging that and appreciating that is very, very crucial.

And getting to, not only be the drum major during the hundred season, but just getting to be a part of it in general is I feel very, very honored.

It's a very special thing.

- [Narrator] In the 1970s, band member Jim Dietz, was inspired by a trip to West Point, to start a cheer that has since become a pregame tradition.

- We do this thing, we take the Chippewa name and pull it apart, turn it inside out, and it ends up being back together Chippewa at the end.

And it caught on immediately.

- Doing our ooh-wa cheer is just the most exciting thing ever.

Leading up to, it is so much fun because, you know, we get announced and we run on into the end zone and everyone's screaming and we're getting to our spot.

Just outside of the block on the field is Dr. Batcheller, and I'm just watching him because he gives me that cue to let me know, it's go time.

And the second he gives me that cue, it's just whoosh.

And it's time to go.

(faint shouting) (marching band chanting) I just bring my arms up and they go, 'ooh wa, chip, ooh wa, chip, ooh wa, fight, fight, fight' lift, and then they turn and then the drums kick their cadence and we go.

(marching band playing music) (people cheering) (marching band playing music) (marching band chanting) (loud whistle) (marching band playing music) - And our final story today, keeps us right here on the campus of CMU, where Chris Ogozaly, sat down with a Native American performer who wowed spectators.

And through his art shared a message of hope, pride and resilience.

(tribal chanting) - It's not like a performance that you've have ever seen, you know, in your life.

It's full of culture, humor.

And we got DJ Element, you know, on the turntables, amazing craft of scratching, and the crowd participation and enthusiasm.

That's what we want to do.

We want to engage with all people that are there.

- [Chris] This is Supaman now, delivering a powerful and passionate performance to a captivated crowd.

But that's not how this story begins.

- I come from the Crow Reservation in Montana.

I grew up there, was in foster care in my childhood.

Pretty much lived on the reservation, participating in, you know, reservation life, which was culture, you know, as a native person.

Later on, hip hop culture started to influence the masses becoming more commercial, and you see it on TV.

Like, hey, what is this?

This is cool, this is neat.

And so you had the B-boy culture, you know, the break dancing, and I was like, yeah, we like this.

So, we started to participate in B-boying and practicing the moves and things like that.

- [Chris] Influenced by the beats and lyrics of the Sugar Hill Gang and Public Enemy, what you hear is not a test.

- The thing about hip hop that really drew me to it was the rhythms, you know?

When I first heard hip hop music was Rappers Delight, I heard it in in Seattle, I think, and my parents were partying, you know, we were just little kids and we're like, what is this?

You know, this is something.

Then my cousins were rapping along, it was rhyming and it was something different, you know, and it was fun.

So, that was the thing that really drew me to it.

But also what the rappers were talking about their content, you know, like later on like you had Public Enemy, you know, saying fight the power, you know, we got to fight the powers that be.

They were talking about oppression, you know, they were the voice of the oppressed.

So as a native, of course we're like, yo, they're talking about us, too.

You know, yo, that's kinda like a voice for us.

So, a lot of of natives were drawn, you know to hip hop culture because of that.

- [Chris] But creatively, Supaman hadn't yet considered combining his Native American roots with his love of hip hop.

- I started recording music, but I never added the culture.

I never added my Native culture, drums, flutes, singing, you know, things like that.

(fast rhythmic drumming) How you could tell I was from the community was by the lyrical content.

Wasn't sonically you could tell where I was, you know, that I was native.

It was only through the lyrical content is that you could tell that I was from the community.

And so, because I thought, you know, you just don't do that.

You don't add the culture together.

You don't put it together.

You gotta create a line.

It's too sacred, too spiritual, you know, for you just to put it in with hip hop culture.

Later on, it was through an instant where we presented culture and we danced and there was an elder there, and they said, hey don't you guys rap, when we were in our outfits, you know.

And, we're like, yeah, we can.

They're like, why don't you perform for these people?

And so we were forced into the position of performing hip hop in our Native regalia.

And we did.

And when we got done, one of the elders was coming over and I thought they were gonna scold us.

But instead of scolding us, he encouraged us.

He said, that was good, that was powerful.

You know, he's like, you showed these people that you're Native American, you know that you're proud to be Apsáalooke, you knew the history of the dance, you know the values where it comes from, and you're good dancers too.

You know, you're legit, you know, it was basically what he was saying.

And then he said, then you spoke the language of these young people that were here, which was hip hop and they listened to you because of it.

And you had a positive message to say, being a father a husband, being drug and alcohol free.

He said, man, that's good stuff right there.

That's powerful.

Keep it up.

- [Chris] And he has kept it up with a new level of confidence.

- The dance I do is powwow, it comes from that, and when I display it at the performances, it's that.

And then we move towards a more contemporary style.

Instead of just going and changing, we just continue on with the hip hop culture dressed that way.

We share those values, you know, with the dance.

But I'm dancing powwow style.

I'm dancing the steps of a men's fancy war dancer.

But it's just dancing to the rhythms of a different culture.

(crowd faintly cheering) - And just like that, this episode of Destination Michigan comes to a close.

And from everyone here, thank you so much for watching and we'll catch you next time.

(bright upbeat music)