"If you haven't taken the half-hour eastward drive from Kalamazoo down I-94 in the past week or so, you've missed quite an extravagant eight days. Other than the opening weekend -- when long lines and major traffic jams snarled the fun -- it's been pretty smooth sailing at FireKeepers. You want excitement? Let's start with Toni Bonnema, of Schoolcraft, who took a little visit to FireKeepers on Aug. 6, its second day of operation. Extravagant is a word that writers sometimes try to avoid, for fear of coming off as hyperbolic or being "caught up in the excitement." But, to tell you the truth, I don't know how else to describe the $300-million FireKeepers Casino just east of Battle Creek. Well, let's see, lavish might work, too. On her seventh play on a 25-cent, Tower of Power slot machine -- one of more than 2,600 slots in the 107,00-square-foot gaming area -- Bonnema, 55, a Schoolcraft Middle School Librarian for the past 12 years, won $469,626.84. She had been in the place 15 minutes. Not a bad start, for the librarian or the casino." Get the Story:
Jeff Barr: FireKeepers Casino - Eight extravagant days (The Kalamazoo Gazette 8/13)