If its summer, it's time to get ready for those lazy, hazy, crazy Sundays of Music in the Park, a free event every at 3 p.m. at the gazebo in Victory Park.
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This Sunday offers an entertaining interactive family poetry, puppetry, and music event while incorporating fun and quirky Michigan history facts with Grand Rapids' Kevin Kammeraad.
Bob the Balloon Man also will be on hand to make free balloon animals.
This concert is especially geared toward children, pre-school - elementary age but would be enjoyed by all ages.
Music in the Park is always a free concert. Patrons are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy the music in the relaxed setting of Victory Park in beautiful downtown Belleville.
We know about Belleville, but who is Kammeraad?
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in October of 1975, like many entertainers, traces of individuality began to show early on.
"At home I guess I was a handful, always looking for something to do.
"However, my report cards
from school say I was a very quiet and shy kid," he said.
"I was an average student and never dreamed I would
be doing what I currently do."
He added, "I always loved to draw. I loved jumping on our trampoline until I broke my leg on it."
He also loved climbing in the big pile of trees in the backyard.
"I hung out with my grandparents," he said. "That kind of stuff."
After graduating, Kammeraad went on to college. He attended Grand Valley State University and studied Film and Video Production, graduating in 1998.
Besides filmmaking, Kammeraad also began writing.
His first book was called "The Tomato Collection."
Does he just really like tomatoes a lot?
"I do like tomatoes but I wouldn't say I'm crazy about them, he said. "Whenever I write I do a lot of brainstorming. For some reason, when writing The Tomato Collection, the first word that would often pop in my mind was the word "tomato." I have no idea why."
He thought it would be fitting to call the book The Tomato Collection considering that began right at the
start of this project.
"I liked having the word collection in the title since there are many various ideas in the book," he said. "At one point, the book was titled The Sun Will Always Float, based on a poem in the book with that title.
"I decided The Tomato Collection fit the idea of it all better."
Kammeraad said he never sat down one day and said, "I think I'll write a book." Instead, one day he began writing in a journal his grandmother gave him for Christmas in 1994.
"I wrote thoughts, poems, stories, ideas, and drew some pictures just for fun," he said
"Before I knew it, I had filled that journal and was in to the second."
He then began to put together a small book of his favorite poems that he gave to some friends and family.
From there, the project grew and grew.
Eventually, after four years of work, he was ready to publish it.
"If anything inspired it, it was everyday life," he said.
Committed to his art, is took around six full years to complete the book and CD. "The book began in December 1994 and was released in the spring of 1999," he said.
"During that time, production began on the CD and we released The Little Album in October 1999.
"After one more year of work, we released the full-length album, The Big Album in October 2000.
However, The Little Album is no longer available.
"I always wanted every poem as a song and The Little Album was simply a step in that direction, helping to raise money in recording the complete project," he said.
All writers have favorite songs, stories or poems and Kammeraad is no exception.
"They all have some importance to me in their own way," he said. "I would say that 'The Sun Will Always Float,' 'Natalie, Magooie' and 'Nachooie,' 'Sun and Moon' and 'Little ManJay' are some of my personal favorites.
Where do these ideas spring from?
"Everywhere. Ideas come from every day life: things I wonder about, things I hear, things I'm happy or frustrated about, from friends, and simply from daydreaming," he said. "I also get a lot of ideas from reading."
Where did his character Jacob come from?
"One day there was a knock on my door and there he was. He said that he heard I was turning my poems into songs and he wanted to help. I haven't been able to get rid of him since," he said.
"Or you would prefer the real answer? Betty Essenburg created him for me."
Kammeraad had worked for West Ottawa Public Schools and he had seen some of the puppets she created for one of their elementary schools. "I asked her if she would be interested in making a puppet for me," he said.
"I choose a character that I had illustrated for the book (Jacob), and she went to work.
At first, Jacob only sang Magooie and Achooie and
that was it.
Today, he is the "star" of the show with many songs, tricks, and goofy stuff.
For more information on the free Music in the Park series or its entertainers call Party time Entertainment's Carla Gibson at Carla Gibson, Music Committee Chair Belleville Area Council for the Artscell: 734-620-0246or email MainStEnt@aol.com
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