The May 18 week is packed with live events across South Bend, Benton Harbor and nearby towns, from a 1995 fantasy film at a public library to a plant sale, museum talks and a flea market that keeps running through the fall. For readers looking for one place to start, the busiest stretch lands on May 19 and May 20, when several programs overlap within a few hours of each other.
At the St. Joseph County Public Library Community Learning Center in South Bend, the Page to Screen Film Series will show Jumanji from 6 to 8 p.m. May 19. The PG-rated film, adapted from Chris Van Allsburg's 1981 picture book and starring Robin Williams, remains one of the week’s most familiar draws. That same evening, the Civil Rights Heritage Center will open Listen Up, a new exhibit from New Day Intake Center's Motels4Now Art Workshop, with a reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. May 19. The exhibit runs through July 31 and features 10 artwork pieces by 10 different artists.
Across the region, the calendar keeps moving. The Shipshewana Flea Market operates every Tuesday and Wednesday through Sept. 30 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with more than 600 vendor spaces spread across 40 acres and a weekly auction at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays. In Benton Harbor, Lest We Forget of Southwest Michigan will host Sally Hadden from 7 to 9 p.m. May 19 at Lake Michigan College for a talk on State Constitutions of the Revolutionary Era, while Vickers Theatre begins a run of screenings with The Devil Wears Prada 2 on May 19 at 7 p.m.
May 20 brings another cluster. The Berrien County Conservation District native plant fundraiser sale runs from noon to 4 p.m. at the Berrien County Youth Fairgrounds, and local authors Tera Baker and her daughter will hold a reading and signing for A Rainbow Striped Field for Fuzz at 2 p.m. The Studebaker National Museum will also host Brandon J. Anderson at 1:30 p.m. for Frank Lloyd Wright & the Automobile, part of the Studebaker Speaker Series. Anderson, the executive director and CEO of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum, will focus on Wright's view of the automobile as a symbol of personal freedom and innovative design; admission is $2 or free for museum members.
The week closes with more choices on May 21 and beyond. Alan Hamlet, a professor at the University of Notre Dame, will lead Climate and Our Waterways from 6 to 7 p.m. May 21 at the Elkhart County Historical Museum, and Vickers Theatre follows with His Girl Friday at 7 p.m. May 21. The theater also has The Christophers scheduled for May 22, May 23 and May 24 at 4 p.m., with additional evening screenings on May 22, May 23 and May 26 at 7 p.m., plus a May 24 showing at 1 p.m. The choice for the week is less about finding something to do than deciding which event to skip.
For readers mapping out the week, the answer is simple: May 18 to 24 offers enough variety to fill nearly every day, and the most flexible plans may be the ones built around a single evening or afternoon, not a full schedule.
