Occupalooza to educate, entertain

Life

SCHEDULE

6-6:20 p.m. — Jeff Gibbs, documentary filmmaker, producer, composer

6:25-6:40 p.m. — Occupy Traverse City members

6:40-6:45 p.m. — Valerie Stone, facilitator Northwest Michigan Food Coalition

6:45-6:50 p.m. — Eleni Healey, field organizer Food and Water Watch

6:55-7 p.m. — Phil Houle, Veterans for Peace

7-7:45 p.m. — Band: Hursh

7:45-7:50 p.m. — Foreclosure presentation

7:50-8 p.m. — Chris Savage, political blogger Eclectablog

8-8:45 p.m. — Band: Ratone

8:45-8:55 p.m. — Local business panel: Amy Reynolds, Horizon Books; Steve Nance, Oryana Natural Foods Market; Scott Willmott, TBA Credit Union

8:55-9:05 p.m. — Derek Bailey, tribal chairman Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Tribal Chairman

9:05-9:50 p.m. — Band: Jimmy Says

9:50-10 p.m. — Filming a scene for “The Saga of Larry Tunner”

10 p.m. — Band: North Shore

Related Photos

Jimmy Says will perform at Occupalooza on Saturday at InsideOut Gallery in Traverse City. Special to the Record-Eagle

February 17, 2012

By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS mdrahos@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Fri Feb 17, 2012, 10:41 AM EST

TRAVERSE CITY — If there's one thing Cindy Brief-Tomlinson could change about Occupy Traverse City, it's the misconceptions she believes many people have about it.

"A lot of people maybe have negative thoughts on the Occupy movement from negative national media sources," said Brief-Tomlinson, a public education paraprofessional and member of the Traverse City protest group. "They think we're unemployed. Most of us are employed. We're trying to keep our jobs."

The group hopes to dispel that myth and others while promoting the Occupy movement with a first-of-its-kind event called "Occupalooza." The family-friendly community program is scheduled for 5:30-11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at InsideOut Gallery. It features music, speakers and information aimed at educating, entertaining and attracting new members.

"We decided, with Traverse City being a festival town, what better way to bring the community together," said Brief-Tomlinson, who is facilitating the event. "We're also trying to make the point that it's not about occupation, camping out. We don't camp overnight in front of places. Occupy Traverse City is alive and well. This is our way of trying to bring our community together and informing them of the Occupy movement and how it affects them."

The program kicks off at 6 p.m. with a talk by documentary filmmaker and composer Jeff Gibbs. Gibbs, of Traverse City, worked on several Michael Moore films and on a 2008 documentary on anti-whaling activists. He has helped organize opposition to biomass-power generation locally and nationally.

Other speakers will touch on topics ranging from foreclosures to war.

The event also includes filming for a scene for "The Saga of Larry Tunner," a low-budget film about a laid-off auto worker who hits the lottery jackpot and ends up running for president.

David Warren is a former Iraq War protester who has been part of Occupy Traverse City since it began in October. He estimates that the Occupy gatherings — called "general assemblies" — attract between 200 and 300 people from the around the region, including other Iraq War activists and "a whole host of new people and, in particular, younger people.

"When we were protesting the Iraq war it was a single issue item. It was hard to get the general public to rally around it," Warren said. "The Occupy movement encompasses things that bother all kinds of people. There's an appeal to the Occupy movement if you lost your health insurance, your job or your house is getting foreclosed on. The list just goes on and on. And the Occupy movement is about all of it."

Occupalooza tickets are 99 cents in a nod to the movement's slogan, "We are the 99 percent." In addition to paying at the door, tickets are also available at Oryana Natural Foods Market, Brilliant Books and InsideOut Gallery and at general assemblies Saturdays at 10 a.m. in front of Horizon Books and Thursdays at 7 p.m. on the lower level of the bookstore.

Donations of nonperishable food, personal care items and clothing also are encouraged and will be distributed through the Northwest Michigan Food Coalition. A silent auction will raise funds to help cover the cost of the event and also will be used for education, outreach and community service.

For more information, visit www.occupytraversecity.com or the group's Facebook page.