Kalamazoo

Harry W. Lawson Ice Arena is a 3,667-seat multi-purpose arena in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The arena's first game was on November 15, 1974 against Algoma... University College of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Western Michigan University Broncos ice hockey team. The building is connected to the Gabel Natatorium and is located at the southwest end of the Kalamazoo campus. It is named for Harry W. Lawson, the founder the WMU hockey club team in 1956. The student section, referred to as the "Lawson Lunatics", is 1,400 students strong and admittance to the section usually involves long lines outside the arena before games. From 1992–1994, while University Arena was being renovated, the basketball teams called Lawson home.
more

Derek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. A five-time... World Series champion, Jeter has been a central figure of the Yankees during their success of the 1990s and 2000s due to his clubhouse presence, on-field leadership, hitting ability, and baserunning. He is the Yankees' all-time career leader in hits , games played , stolen bases , and at bats . His accolades include twelve All-Star selections, five Gold Glove Awards, four Silver Slugger Awards, two Hank Aaron Awards, and the Roberto Clemente Award. Jeter is the all-time MLB leader in hits by a shortstop, and the 28th player to reach 3,000 hits. The Yankees drafted Jeter out of high school in 1992, and he debuted in the major leagues in 1995. The following year, he became the Yankees' starting shortstop, won the Rookie of the Year Award, and helped the team win the 1996 World Series.
more

Narada Michael Walden is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. He was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy in the early 1970s... and his musical career spans three decades, in which he was awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. Walden has also owned and operated Tarpan Studios, a well-known recording studio in San Rafael, California, since the mid-1980s. His stage career included appearances with John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra , Jeff Beck and Tommy Bolin Band. His first album, Garden of Love Light, was released in 1976 and included the track "Delightful", song from Tommy Bolin Band setlist. The lone single released from the album, it charted at #81 on the R&B charts in the spring of 1977. His 1979 album Awakening peaked at #15 on the R&B charts, spawning a Top 10 hit with "I Don't Want Nobody Else ". Later that year, his album The Dance of Life yielded the Top 5 single "I Shoulda Loved Ya", which also made the UK Top 10 in 1980.
more

Charity Rahmer is an American actress. She is best known for her short lived run on the soap opera Days of our Lives in 2004. Although she was hired... to replace Kirsten Storms in the role of Belle Black and signed a contract, she only portrayed Belle Black for sixteen episodes. She had to wear a blonde wig during her final taping of Days of our Lives because her replacement, Martha Madison, had longer hair. Prior to working on Days she appeared in several B movies, two of which were directed by David DeCoteau and co-starred former One Life to Live actor Matthew Twining.
more

Josh Raymond is an American professional wrestler, also known by the ring name Josh Abercrombie. He is best known for his tenures in Independent... Wrestling Association Mid-South, Juggalo Championship Wrestling, Ring of Honor and the short-lived Wrestling Society X. Raymond, under the ring name Josh Abercrombie, debuted for Ian Rotten's Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South promotion on October 23, 2003 in a match against Steve Stone. He continued competing across Midwestern independent promotions before returning to IWA Mid-South in October 2004. Between January and February in 2005, he began a feud against Ian Rotten, which included a match that Rotten won as part of the NWA Indiana State Championship tournament. The feud culminated in a barbed wire rope match the next day. Abercrombie, afraid of being hurt, humorously entered the contest covered in bubble wrap, which was removed by Rotten a few minutes into the match. During the match, Rotten broke his hand as he punched Abercrombie in the head. Abercrombie used that to his advantage and managed to win the bout via submission.
more

Thomas Schippers was an American conductor. He was highly-regarded for his work in opera. Of Dutch ancestry and son of the owner of a large... appliance store, Schippers was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He began playing piano at age four. After graduating from high school at age 13, he attended the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School. Schippers made his debut at the New York City Opera at age twenty-one, and the Metropolitan Opera at twenty-three. He conducted world premieres of now well known music by Gian Carlo Menotti and Samuel Barber. He conducted child actor Chet Allen in a theatrical version of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors. Schippers conducted in all the major opera houses of the United States and Europe, most notably the Metropolitan Opera and La Scala, and founded Italy's Spoleto festival with Menotti and once described his perfect orchestra as being composed of "One-third Italian musicians for their line, one-third Jewish for their sound, a sprinkling of Germans for solidity.
more

Ralph Story, originally Ralph Bernard Snyder was an American television and radio personality. He was best remembered as the host of The $64,000... Challenge, a spin off of the game show The $64,000 Question, from 1956 until 1958. Story was born Ralph Bernard Snyder in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He started his broadcasting career in the late 1940s, after serving as an United States Army Air Forces flight instructor and P-51 fighter pilot during World War II. Story had his big break in broadcasting in 1948, when he was hired to host and direct an early morning show on KNX radio in Los Angeles. At the suggestion of the station's managers, he changed his name to Ralph Story. Story's casual style and witty observations about life in Los Angeles made him a popular host and won him national recognition. Story later moved into network television, where, in 1956, he began hosting the hugely popular game show, The $64,000 Challenge. The CBS show was canceled in 1958 while several networks were embroiled in allegations that popular contestants were supplied with answers in advance.
more

Daniel Christopher Covell is an American professional wrestler, best known in the United States by his ring name "The Fallen Angel" Christopher... Daniels. He is also known for performing under the ring name Curry Man. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , while also working for several independent promotions. Covell is a former one-time 3PW World Heavyweight Champion. He is known as The King of Indies for his work, as he has worked with independent promotions all over the world, including Frontier Wrestling Alliance , International Wrestling Cartel , Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Ring of Honor . Daniels began his professional wrestling career at Windy City Pro Wrestling in Chicago during the early 1990s. In 2000, he tagged in the World Wrestling Federation with Aaron Aguilera as "Dos" one half of Los Conquistadores. He also challenged Taka Michinoku for the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort in his Fallen Angel gimmick on WWF Shotgun Saturday Night. He also wrestled for hardcore wrestling promotions XPW and ECW.
more

Jerry Bruce Jenkins is an American novelist and biographer. He is best known as co-author of the Left Behind series of books with Tim LaHaye.... Jenkins has written over 150 books, including romance novels, mysteries, and children's adventures, as well as non-fiction. His works usually feature evangelical Christians as protagonists. In 2005, Jenkins and LaHaye ranked 9th in Amazon.com's 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame authors ranked according to the largest numbers of books sold at Amazon.com in the 10 years since it opened on July 16, 1995. Jenkins and his wife Dianna have three sons, several grandchildren, and reside in Black Forrest, Colorado. Jenkins has authored more than 150 books, 16 of which have reached the New York Times bestseller list. His writings have appeared in many periodicals, including Reader's Digest, Parade, and Guideposts. He is a "writer-at-large" for Moody Bible Institute. He had previously worked as Editor of Moody Magazine and as vice-president of publishing for Moody Bible Institute. He has written many children and young adult book series, including both mystery and sports-themed books.
more

Kip Carpenter is an American speedskater who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, as well as the 2006 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal in... the 500 meter race at the 2002 games, while also skating the fastest lap in Olympic history in the 500 meter race with a time of 24.87 for a 400 meter. He is currently a member of the USA National Sprint Team, as well as the DSB Corporate Sprint Team, being coached by Ryan Shimabukuro and Jeroen Otter. At the end of the 2007-2008 season Kip retired from professional speed skating and is now coaching an elite speed skating team Swift Speedskating in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kip was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He later moved to Brookfield, Wisconsin to train at the U.S Olympic Training Facility, the Pettit National Ice Center, in Milwaukee. A former short-track speed skater, Carpenter made the transition to long track in 1998. Three years later, he placed among the top dozen in the 500m at the 2001 World Single Distance Championships. He is best known for his flawless form on the turns from his years skating short track which gives him a distinct advantage over most skaters.
more

Stephen Christian is the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Anberlin and his side-project Anchor & Braille. He and his bandmates started... Anberlin in 2002, after the demise of their previous group, known as SaGoh 24/7. Christian is a tenor and has a powerful, elegant vocal style and wide vocal range. He is also one of the main songwriters of the band, along with Joseph Milligan. Anberlin has released five albums, Blueprints for the Black Market, Never Take Friendship Personal, Cities, and New Surrender. Their fifth studio album, Dark is the Way, Light is a Place was released on September 7, 2010. Anberlin has also released a compilation album, Lost Songs, and Christian also has an acoustic solo project under the name of Anchor & Braille, whose debut album Felt produced by Aaron Marsh of Copeland released on August 4, 2009 after being completed in 2008. He is also the founder of Wood Water Records which is also the home of Anchor & Braille. Christian wrote a book, The Orphaned Anything's, which was released online in spring of 2008. Stephen Christian was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
more

Clarence Byron Dollaway is an American mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter 7 making it to the finale where... he was defeated by an armbar from Amir Sadollah. Dollaway graduated from Northmor High School in Mount Gilead, Ohio where he was a state champion wrestler in the 171 lb weight class. After high school Dollaway attended Colby Community College in Colby, Kansas. While at Colby, Dollaway won the JUCO National Championships. Soon after, Dollaway moved to Tempe, Arizona to attend Arizona State University where he earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in sociology and justice studies. Wrestling since the age of five, Dollaway continued the sport at Arizona State University, earning All-American status in 2006, taking 5th place in the 184 lb. bracket as a tenth seed. Dollaway left Arizona Combat Sports to train at Power MMA and Fitness with The Ultimate Fighter 8 Light Heavyweight winner Ryan Bader. Dollaway appeared on the seventh season of the reality television series, The Ultimate Fighter. He earned a spot on the show when he defeated David Baggett by TKO.
more

Frank Mills was an American character actor who made over 300 television and film appearances between 1928 and 1961. Modern viewers will recognize... Mills for his dual role as Dr. Bright and a patient suffering from insomnia in the Three Stooges film Dizzy Doctors. He also had supporting roles in such Stooge film as Three Little Beers, 3 Dumb Clucks and No Census, No Feeling. Mills died of arteriosclerosis on August 18, 1973 in Los Angeles, California.
more