The Herald-Palladium from Benton Harbor, Michigan • A3

TUESDAY, April 27, 2010 The Herald-Palladium A3 LOCAL Portrait pressure By DEBRA HAIGHT H-P Correspondent DOWAGIAC For students in David art classes at Southwestern Michigan College, taking part in the Memory Project has been more than just a class assignment. Providing portraits of orphaned children has been an act of love for Third World children they will likely never see. was really concerned about doing student Sioux McLane said. are kids who have much, and giving them something. We know these paintings will be important to all became so totally attached to the kids.

We wanted so bad to create something of joy to them. It was an emotional pressure we put on McLane, who lives in Weesaw Township, is taking art classes after a 32-year career in the motion picture industry in California. She moved to Michigan 14 years ago. She is in two of advanced art classes and did a Memory Project in each one. The Memory Project was started by Ben Schumaker of Madison, in 2004 after a trip to Guatemala.

While there, he spoke to a young man who talked about not having any childhood photographs of himself. Schumaker returned home and came up with the idea of enlisting art students around the country to create portraits of orphaned children. The portraits are delivered back to the children so they can have a tangible reminder of their childhood. This is the second time Baker has asked his art students to take part in the Memory Project. They also took part in 2007.

kind of rotate he said. was in contact with the project director and I thought it would be a good year to do it again. Last time, the children were from Ecuador. This time, they are from an orphanage in El Salvador. also like the project because a service learning component to it.

I think people are really honored to do it. They took it seriously and wanted to give it their best effort and not disappoint a child. is a connection or bond formed when you look at a photo every day. like that person is part of your Baker said students in his advanced drawing and watercolor classes are participating in the Memory Project as a class assignment. did a unit in both classes on portraiture and they had a chance to practice he said.

Baker will be mailing the 31 paintings and drawings out in June. An anonymous donor will pay the handling charges. The artwork will be delivered to the orphanage in July. Besides the students, Baker is doing a portrait, and so is art history teacher Terry eger. Baker said McLane alone in having an emotional reaction to taking part in the Memory Project.

feelings were he said. students fell in love with Allegan to get its first traffic roundabout By ANDREW LERSTEN H-P South Haven Bureau SOUTH HAVEN The intersection of Blue Star Highway and North Shore Drive, just north of South Haven, has long been considered a dangerous crossroads because Blue Star Highway is a divided highway with a median in that area. When motorists on North Shore Drive come to the intersection and are ready to turn, they are confused about whether to proceed into the middle of the intersection, where they could be in the path of Blue Star said Allegan County Highway Engineer Larry Brown. The Allegan County Road Commission has a solution. Late this year, a roundabout, the rst in the county, will be installed at the intersection, ending confusion about how to get through.

goal is to allow for a smooth ow of through Brown said. The $747,000 project will include a bicycle path on the west side of Blue Star, from 400 feet north of the intersection to 1,200 feet south, at North Shore Elementary School, Brown said. The path will be only for bicycles or pedestrians and will be 10 feet wide, he said. The work will start after Labor Day, and the major work will be done before end. on Blue Star will be able to move through the area without a detour.

The project will be funded with a combination of county and federal funds, Brown said. Board to discuss recycling facility complaints BENTON TOWNSHIP Environmental and noise complaints about the Louis Padnos Iron Metal Co. recycling center at 1410 Paw Paw Ave. in Benton Harbor are to be discussed at a special Benton Township Board of Trustees meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday at Benton Township Hall.

Township Clerk Carolyn Phillips said Monday that about a half dozen residents have complained about the 4-acre center, which opened in December. Padnos, a Holland-based, family-owned business for three generations, employs about 400 workers at 17 recycling centers around western Michigan. The Benton Harbor center accept hazardous materials such as asbestos, nickel cadmium batteries or mercury switches or mercury vapor bulbs, according to the Padnos website. Appliances, batteries and catalytic conver- tors are accepted under the website said. Michael Ostrander, a Padnos account executive, immediately return calls for comment Monday.

Forum set for bridge project By H-P STAFF NILES The public is urged to attend a forum on the proposed replacement of the Main Street Bridge over the St. Joseph River in Niles, the Michigan Department of Transportation reported. The event is from 4 to 7 p.m. May 6 at the Niles re station, 1345 E. Main St.

MDOT is preparing an environmental assessment for the proposed bridge project. The bridge is part of a newly designated Michigan 139 route. The designation is so new it Photos by Debra Haight H-P correspondent Alice Carver of Edwardsburg puts the finishing touches on the watercolor doing of a little girl. Students in David art classes at Southwestern Michigan College are creating portraits of orphaned children in El Salvador, which will be sent to the children. OWAGIAC ENTON WP Sioux McLane (left), Elissa Bourlier and Alma Moreno stand near a display of some artwork from the Memory Project.

SMC students create paintings of orphaned children in El Salvador to send to them ILES Andrew Lersten H-P staff A traffic roundabout will be built this year at the intersection of Blue Star Highway and North Shore Drive just north of South Haven to improve safety and traffic flow. A bicycle path will also be built on the west side of Blue Star at and near the intersection. We all became so totally attached to the kids. We wanted so bad to create something of joy to them. SIOUX LANE Southwestern Michigan College art student Intersection of Blue Star Highway and North Shore Drive north of South Haven will get improvements Please see PORTRAITS page A4 2 people wounded in BH shooting By H-P STAFF BENTON HARBOR Two people suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds in a Monday night shooting in Benton Harbor, police Chief Roger Lange said.

Lange said investigators are trying to sort out details of the attack, which occurred shortly after 8 p.m. along Eighth Street near River Terrace Apartments. No arrests had been made as of Monday night. No other details were available at press time. Clerk says several residents have voiced concerns about the center Please see BRIDGE page A4.