Courtesy Photo Tim Kent, right, poses with his former teacher, Florence Gross, at the “Discover Northeast Michigan History” exhibit at Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan. Gross was Kent’s first- and second-grade teacher at Sanborn Elementary School in Ossineke.

ALPENA — Historian and avocational archaeologist Tim Kent will offer an insightful presentation at 7 p.m. on Friday at Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan. The program is called “12,000 Years of Native Occupation in Northeast Michigan During the Prehistoric and Historic Periods.”

Kent will discuss how he assembled his extensive prehistoric and historic period collections, over the span of 53 years. He will also explain how he combined them with the Haltiner prehistoric collection of the Besser Museum to create many of the new displays in the “Discover Northeast Michigan History” exhibit.

Kent’s terrestrial discoveries at Site A-27 and the Twin Site in Ossineke substantiated the underwater discoveries that have been made by John O’Shea and his University of Michigan team of archaeologists on the Alpena-Amberly Ridge. Many of Kent’s finds, donated to the Besser Museum, give proof that Native people lived in this area for more than 12,000 years.

“I’ll be discussing how I assembled both the prehistoric and historic collections,” Kent said on Wednesday. “As well as how I combined my collections and the Haltiner collection to help assemble the new exhibit.”

He explained why he invests so much time into historical research.

“What’s most important to archaeologists is not what is found, but what is found out about the people,” Kent said. “The essence of the fascination, for me, is to shed as much light as I can on the lives of the people who lived here over the span of 12,000 years.”

Kent said there will be a question-and-answer session following his presentation. He also added that because Friday is Valentine’s Day, his former elementary teacher, Florence Gross, has offered to provide red roses to the first 40 ladies in attendance on Friday. Gross was Kent’s teacher in first and second grade at Sanborn Elementary School in Ossineke.

Kent twice received the State History Award from the Historical Society of Michigan. He has authored numerous books about various aspects of the fur trade era, and each of them are considered the encyclopedia on that given subject.

With his wife Doree and their sons Kevin and Ben, the Kent family recreated the lives of a French trader of the 1600s and his Native family, during 10 summers in wilderness settings. In addition, with their dog Toby, they paddled from end to end the 3,000-mile mainline fur trade canoe route across the U.S. and Canada, from Montreal to Ft. Chipewyan in northern Alberta, over the course of 15 voyages.

Museum admission is $5 per adult, $3 per senior, and $3 per child. Besser Museum members, Alpena Community College students, and active and military veterans get in free. The museum is located at 491 Johnson St., Alpena.