Letter readers for a war exhibit, an archivist who speaks on women’s suffrage, an oral history from an Edwardsburg native, and a lecturer on fishing in local waters will complement the museum’s 2020 season. The season opening is delayed until May 28 this year because of the coronavirus.

Chris Graham, a local broadcaster of Edwardsburg sporting events, and Michael Kanaby, an Edwardsburg resident who is a career prosecutor in Kalamazoo, will be featured for the first event when they read letters from veterans of several wars at 7 p.m., Thurs., June 11, at the museum.

Graham, a management executive in Elkhart and online adjunct instructor for Ivy Tech Community College, is a broadcaster for Joe Insider and the soon-to-be Edwardsburg Sports Network. He has a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from Cornerstone University and a master’s from Andrews University, where he specialized in interdisciplinary studies of communication with an emphasis in secondary education.

Kanaby has been a member of the Kalamazoo County Office of Prosecuting Attorney since January 2001 and has received several awards for his prosecutorial work. He is currently assigned to the circuit court trial division of the Kalamazoo office. He worked for four years as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Cass County and served seven years in the United States Air Force as an assistant staff judge advocate. In the military, he performed duties as a Chief of Military Justice, a Chief of Adverse Actions, and later, as an Area defense Counsel. Kanaby was stationed at Air Force bases in California, Germany, and Delaware. He received his bachelor’s degree from Oakland University and the Juris Doctor degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Suzanne Flandreau, a retired archivist who served on the board of the Friends of the Niles District Library and Niles History Center, will speak at the museum at 7 p.m., Thurs., July 16. Her topic will complement the museum’s display on women’s suffrage and service. Her presentation, “Time Well Spent in Study and Pleasant Recreation: Women’s Clubs in the 20^th Century.” It will cover areas of interest to women, among them education, suffrage, civic engagement and social service and work, and how clubs organized to promote the interests of their members in those areas.

Flandreau has a bachelor’s degree in history from Wellesley College, a master’s in library science from the University of Michigan, and a master’s in history from the University of Mississippi. She spent more than 30 years in archives and special collections, including 22 years as the head librarian and archivist at the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College, in Chicago. She moved to Niles in 2012 after retirement. She volunteers at the Ferry Street Resource Center and catalogs books and archival collections as the Niles History Center.

Elizabeth Westfall Thompson, a 1956 Edwardsburg graduate and an inductee into the Edwardsburg Hall of Fame, will give an oral history at the museum at 7 p.m., Thurs., Aug. 20.

Thompson and her husband, Larry, who died in 2018, jointly received the Hall of Fame Lifetime Award from the Edwardsburg Public Schools in 2016.

Thompson earned a degree in home economics and taught for 35 years. She was a teacher at Sand Creek High School and the Allegan County Area Vocational Technical Center. She also was a dietitian, ran a catering business, and worked as a food service director. Thompson, who lives in Saugatuck, earned several state awards for her work in the Future Homemakers of America and the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America.

Speaking for the “Hooked on Fishing” exhibit, which runs Aug. 24 through Nov. 1, will be Darrin Schaap, owner of Clear H2o Tackle in Edwardsburg. Schaap, a columnist for the Edwardsburg Voice, will focus on changing technology in the world of fishing, as well as how to use different lures for different fish. He graduated from Edwardsburg High School in 1995 and received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Central Michigan University. He formerly managed Brett’s Place on the Bay in Benton Harbor for five years.

His presentation will be at 7 p.m., Thurs., Sept. 3.