Summer of 2016 was an amazing time in Battle Creek, MI. I'd spent the winter coaching and playing hockey with my kiddo and we had just started to transistion to summer activities and projects. In our spare time we'd been playing a lot of Pokémon games, mostly the Pixelmon mod pack for Minecraft and watching the cartoons. As we got ready for summer (June 2016) to be in full swing we started tossing around the idea of doing a big Pokémon sidewalk chalk drawing in our driveway. We love to make stuff! It was going to be Gyarados and the plan was for it to be massive. During our trips to the grocery store we started purchasing random packs of sidewalk chalk.
As part of our summer activities my son and I take walks and bike rides in the evenings and on weekends. During our adventures we had been talking regularly about the new mobile Pokémon game that had not been released yet. The game was supposed to let us catch Pokémon outside in the real world using a mobile phone. On our outings we would look for areas and biomes we might find wild Pokémon. The game was not out yet so our conversations were all speculation.
Did I mention I've been a huge fan of Pokémon since it's first release in the US over 20 years ago. I spent a lot of time in college being the only adult collecting digital creatures.
Put everything on hold! The mobile game Pokémon Go is finally out. The game was released on July, 6, 2016. We installed the game and started playing regularly July, 7, 2016. This game was like nothing we'd played. It made us Pokémon trainers in our own backyard. We spent our evenings and weekends catching 'em all.
But, we'd forgotten about the chalk drawing.
Two weeks after the game was released the Battle Creek community was buzzing about the game and everyone was playing. Due to the way the game worked with Pokéstops there was a lot of steady foot traffic in and around the downtown area. A community of Pokémon trainers had formed overnight and my family was part of it. All of us, even grandma and grandpa.
Something was missing though. Me and the kiddo were out, getting exercise, having fun and being part of the community. What was missing? We weren't making anything. We started talking about doing our chalk drawing downtown for everyone to see and enjoy. We started siting locations and doing rough ideas in our sketchbooks. 3-4 weeks after the game was out I looked at the kiddo one evening while playing and said, "I'm going home to get the chalk!" I went home got the sidewalk chalk we'd accumulated and headed back downtown. I setup shop in a well trafficed area behind Clara's. I was out of the way but could still interact with people playing the game. I started drawing. People stopped to converse about the game and the drawing. It was an amazing evening!
From there, if weather permitted I was doing 1-2 Pokémon themed sidewalk chalk drawings a week. My kiddo helped when he could and occassionally the community would join in and draw with me. I always bring extra chalk for anyone that wants to draw too. Oh, and I'd still play the game, I had to catch 'em all ;)
The rest is history. I made a lot of friends, caught a lot of Pokémon and continue to do chalk drawings in downtown Battle Creek, MI when I can. I've always enjoyed art and drawing but the community makes it all worth it!
