The Exceptional Newcomer Award This is presented to you for turning a stub into an article your first week on Wikipedia. Well done!--Doc Tropics 00:50, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks :-) --SHLAMA 03:07, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

SHLAMA is Aramaic for peace or more specifically for the Jewish idea that everything we do should lead toward peace and to the restoration of the world to its Edenic, pre-Fall state.

• I began contributing to Wikipedia 16:38, 21 June 2006.
• I am a Messianic Jew in Grand Rapids, Michigan, originally fron Allegan, Michigan.
• I work in the field of higher education and serve as a moreh and chazzan at Adat Eytz Chayim of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• I hold a B.Sci. from Cornerstone University in Ancient Languages (Koine Greek, Classical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, Sahidic Coptic, and Middle Egyptian Hieroglyphs) and a M.Sci. in Classical Hebrew Adragogy.
• My hobbies are whitewater rafting, genealogical research, Biblical hermeneutics.

Music This user likes all types of music. This user is a music composer. voc-4 This user is a professional vocalist. שופר-4 This user plays the shofar. djem-3 This user is an advanced djembe player. bal-3 This user is an advanced balalaika player. trpt-3 This user is an advanced trumpet player. gtr-3 This user is an advanced guitarist. fife-2 This user is an intermediate fife player. vln-2 This user is an intermediate violinist.

politicians & soldiers

• George Bardeen: influential leader of the Republican Party in Michigan, early 20th Century
• Wilson C. Edsell: member of the Michigan State Legislature, founder of the first national bank in Otsego, and founder of the once-famous Opera House which bore his name; helped found Olivet College
• Francis Adam Goodman: member of the Michigan State Legislature from 1881 to 1884
• Benjamin D. Pritchard: the American Civil War general who is credited with the capture of Jefferson Davis

music

• Thom Bresh: Country fingerpicker, son of Merle Travis
• Del Langejans: custom luthier instrumenting Jars of Clay, Third Day, Jerry Reed, et. al.
• Elisheva Shomron: Messianic Jewish singer/songwriter with over 200 songs to her credit

sports

• Neal Ball: the first player in Major League baseball history to turn an unassisted triple play
• George Bardeen: owner of the semipro baseball team that gave Rube Foster the opportunity to play against white future Major Leaguer Neal Ball.
• Otsego Independents: the semipro baseball team for which Negro League Hall of Famer Rube Foster played
• Kevin VanDam: sport fisherman ranked 3rd in the world

persons of letters

• Forman Brown: pioneer in the field of puppet theatre, composer, author
• Patricia Polacco: children's book author/illustrator

industry

• Blood Brothers Machine Company: the Allegan company which built Cornelian racecars before shifting to universal joints and eventually to Air Force planes.
• Cornelian automobile: the racecar which Louis Chevrolet drove in the 1915 Indy 500
• Kalamazoo Stove Company: the company who first formulated/implemented the idea of windows on oven doors

hermeneutics

• Linguistic Criticism: a sub-discipline of textual criticism

ministry

• Charles McCallon Alexander: 19th Century evangelist
• John Wilbur Chapman: renowned and innovative 19th Century evangelist
• Ed Dobson: vice-president of Liberty University and Cornerstone University, senior editor of Christianity Today, author.
• David Otis Fuller: preeminent leader in the King James Only movement, founder of Cornerstone University, Children's Bible Hour, and the ABWE
• Little Mary's Hospitality House: a unique ministry which serves families with children battling life-threatening, debilitating, or terminal illnesses
• Service-Learning: a popular trend among institutes of higher education endeavoring to raise up students who make a difference in their respective communities

cities and villages

• Singapore, Michigan: a ghosttown which is now buried beneath the Lake Michigan sand dunes
• Oshea Wilder: explorer and founder of several Michigan towns

other

• Spencerian Script: American penmanship style which dominated from 1850-1925

• Allegan, Michigan
• Otsego, Michigan

• Bentheim (county): added sections on people and pre-history
• Cornerstone University: one of the leading schools in the world for youth ministry, CCM, and Ancient Studies