wering bookshelves, a group of costumed men, women, and children gather for some Halloween socializing and karaoke. Two teenage girls sing, “Jeremiah was a Bull Frog,” with heart, if not pitch. An old upright piano stands against the wall, slightly dusty and frequently used. Atop the piano, beautiful landscapes hand-painted by a local artist add a touch of culture to the scene. A musty, bookish smell fills the air, as people merrily talk and laugh and swear.
This is the scene at Volume One, a bookstore found in downtown Hillsdale, Mich., that officially launched its weeknight events series, “Book, Art, and Spiritual Center,” on Nov. 1.
Richard Wunsch first founded Volume One in 1983, at the Keefer house.
“During the first five years we sold records mainly to college students,” Wunsch said.
Since then, the bookstore has moved five times but has always maintained a connection to community music and arts. It moved to its current location, at 98 N. Broad Street, in 2003.
“It took about a year to clean up,” Wunsch said.
For three years after moving to the Broad Street location, Volume One had an adjacent coffee shop; however, about five years ago, they had to downsize to a bookstore alone in order to combat overhead expenses. While the coffee shop was operative student bands performed often –– to audiences as large as 150 people –– but once the shop downsized the musical events dwindled. Still, townspeople, students, and professors frequent the bookstore for literature and karaoke. According to Wunsch, bands do take interest in performing despite the reduced size — just recently “The Rumplestiltskins,” a student band with senior Alex Gage and sophomores Evan Genzler and Tim Allen, performed at their Friday “open mic night.”
Just as college involvement has ranged over the years, so too has impact on the community. The focus of the store has shifted to cultural community building. Every night of the week something is happening at Volume One: Wunsch said Monday nights are political discussions, Tuesdays are “meditation and drumming,” Wednesdays are karaoke night, Thursdays will soon have art lessons, and Fridays are “open mic night.
Wunsch said he used to advertise heavily to Hillsdale College students, but now he focuses on the community.
“For a while I was more aggressive,” Wunsch said. “I went out after college business and student employees.”
The bookstore provides a variety of reading, but Wunsch confessed his favorite type of reading material is “radical political.”
Peter Cromwell ‘78 is a guitar player who spends a lot of time at Volume One. He plays weekly for open mic nights and pretty much anything from entertainment to memorial services. He knows Hillsdale well and said for 25 odd years he has been, “gainfully employed as a gunsmith.” His favorite genre of music is “blues—definitely blues and not bluegrass,” as he makes the distinction.
Cromwell said Volume One helps raise cultural awareness in the community.
“Political awareness, social awareness, and musical awareness,” he said. Monday night political discussions draw a crowd of all types.
“Both libertarians and humanitarians,” Cromwell said. “The literary venue inspires the exchange of ideas among equals.” Cromwell said the word “egalitarian” is a thread that traces its way through the discussions.
Professor of Economics Gary Wolfram went to a Volume One discussion a few weeks ago. “I think it is a good idea,” he said. “As Hayek wrote in ‘The Constitution of Liberty,’ the discussion of ideas that occurs in a democracy will advance the state of knowledge.”
Wolfram said he sees the benefit in students participating too.
“They can interact with members of the community, at least some of whom will have very different perspectives on the world,” he said. “As for music, I grew up in an era when music was a primary source of entertainment. While in college and graduate school at UCSB and Berkeley, few people I knew even had a television, but everyone had a stereo system. I never learned to play an instrument as I was involved in intercollegiate athletics and that took most of my spare time, but I always wanted to play the guitar. My favorite genre would be blues-oriented rock and roll, like [Eric] Clapton and The Rolling Stones. I do like the indie-rock music of today.”
The scope of this bookstore-gone-community-center surpasses music and politics — in his bohemian loft studio above the store, the resident artist Jim Foster paints beautiful landscapes. For thirty years he painted houses, and now that his children are through school, he paints canvases, picturing imagined far-off places and memories from his stay in Arizona.
Foster has witnessed first-hand the impact of his art as families with young children come up to watch him paint. He encourages young artists in their endeavors.
“You have to be motivated to accomplish any goals,” he said. “How do you become a great artist? It’s a lifelong achievement.”
His artistic mentor, Herb Fowl, is a fellow member of the Hillsdale Guild andsees other artists as fellow workers, rather than competitors.
“Real compassion starts in your heart,” Fowl said. “Unknowingly, we sometimes affect other minds.”
Foster is bent upon improving his skill and spreading the knowledge of art in the Hillsdale area. Recently he joined the local gallery and guild, and has been meticulous about updating his Facebook page. The gallery, guild, studio, the children who watch him work—these are landmarks for Foster’s progress and impact on the community.
Rather than spending time focusing Volume One as a business venture, Wunsch said he thinks of it more as a community venue.
“I am trying to push this more to a community center for arts and discussions,” he said.
Halloween evening the old storefront was full of locals. From toddlers to teens to adults, everyone seemed to be at ease, comfortable with one another, and enjoying themselves. “Joy to the world, all the boys and girls, Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, Joy to you and me.”
mmcleod@hillsdale.edu