10 Ideas For A Holiday Date Night Without The Kids

Sometimes during all the Holiday bustle, the adults need a night away for themselves.  Make sure this season you take the time to share in at least one festive evening with your partner.  Here are ten great ideas for a night away from the kids.

1. Pick your favorite restaurant and head out for a special date night with your partner.  After dinner, Cirque de Noel is a wonderful way to bring in the season.  A show full of energy and amazing stunts; it is the perfect date night destination.  The show opens December 17 at DeVos Performance Hall.   
2. Taken in one of the many Griffins games this season at the Van Andel Arena.  Tickets are fairly inexpensive and this is a fun activity for a snowy winter night.  Some evenings just call for a good game and a few beers! 
3. Sign up for the annual GRBC Santa Crawl on December 21!  The Grand Rapids Pub Crawl provides transportation, various stops for fun festivity around Grand Rapids, and numerous drink specials all day long.  Get away from the kids, spend some time with a few good friends, and check out the tasty breweries Grand Rapids has to offer.
4. Give your car a good winter once over and then take a long scenic drive with your loved one to check out the various light displays all over Grand Rapids.  There are multiple stops that shouldn’t be missed!  
5. Music lovers, check out the Edelweiss Choir Christmas Concert at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church ("Our Lady of the Highway").  This is a free concert that features traditional holiday music from German-speaking regions of Europe.  The beauty of the Gothic church, built by German immigrants to Grand Rapids, accompanied by the festive tunes from the choir, will transport you.
6. The Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys presents "Christmas Lessons and Carols."  On various evenings throughout December, join in the merriment of these beautiful holiday tunes. 
7. Surprise your partner with a horse drawn carriage ride through downtown Grand Rapids.  Nothing says holiday romance this season more than a cozy carriage ride on a snowy evening.  The ride takes you by all the hot spots in downtown Grand Rapids.
8. In the mood for something fun and lighthearted?  Head down to Stella’s for "The Drunken Retort," an open-mic night that features various acts that will have you rolling with laughter.  You can even hop on stage if you feel inclined to share your own humor.
9. Spend an evening taking in the beauty of large-scale sculptures by sculptor Bernar Venet  at Frederik Meijer Gardens.  Five of his iconic pieces will be on display on the front lawn through the season.  It is a creative way to spend a date night. 
10. Sometimes simply spending a cozy evening at home by the fire is the best way to reconnect this season.  See if a friend or sibling can take the kids for an evening and surprise your honey with a home-cooked meal and some holiday coziness.  I guarantee it will be as much of a treat as going out! 

10 Great Holiday Activities To Do With Kids in Grand Rapids

Looking for some fun Holiday activities to do with your youngsters this season?  There is plenty to do in Grand Rapids!  Here are ten fun activities that will get your family into the holiday spirit.  Hopefully you can fit them all in.

1. Ride the Santa Train and get escorted by elves to your individual seat!  Every seat is decorated and festive; there is even a princess who reads the The Polar Express while you wait for Santa; its author, Chris Van Allsburg, is a Grand Rapids native.  Santa gives a present to each child who comes to visit. 
2. Spend some time with an American classic.  Master Arts Theatre performs It’s a Wonderful Life on stage.  This is an amazing story filled with love and important life lessons to watch with your kids. If you can't catch it live, try to see Jimmy Stewart's old familiar face on TV, at least.  Kids should know that there was life before iTunes or even television.
3. Keep your kids educated about the various traditions of the holiday by bringing them to "Christmas and Holiday Traditions Around the World" at Frederik Meijer Gardens.  The Gardens are transformed into a winter wonderland with wandering carolers, over 40 international displays and trees, and horse-drawn carriage rides.  It is the perfect activity to create a magical memory.
4. Take the family to a Grand Rapids Ballet performance of "The Nutcracker."   This is a seasonal classic that should be seen by everyone around the holidays at least once.  The ballet is accompanied by the Grand Rapids Symphony to add to the splendor. 
5. Pack up the car with some cookies and holiday tunes and travel around West Michigan to view the Christmas lights.  Whether in Rockford, Ada, Alto, or Grand Rapids, this area has some truly amazing displays.  Make sure to drive through some of the luxury homes neighborhoods that go all out with their festive holiday scenes.
6. If you prefer to get your lights all in one place, the Fifth Third Ball Park's magnificent holiday display. has millions of them - Michigan's largest Christmas light display.
7. Nothing is more essential during the holiday season than some old-fashioned sledding.  Sledding is so much fun with kids and brings back timeless memories for adults as well.  One of these days take the time to get all bundled up and sail down one of Grand Rapids's many snowy hills.  You won’t regret it! 
8. Enjoy another holiday classic at Rosa Parks Circle downtown Grand Rapids.  The ice-skating rink opens December 6.  Skates rentals are even free with ID.  Ice-skating is the perfect activity for kids who are getting a little antsy being cooped up in the house.  With a little snowfall, nothing is more festive.
9. No holiday is complete without at least one visit to Santa.  Kids love visiting Santa and his elves; it is definitely the best way to make sure he knows what they want!  Visit one of the many sites in Grand Rapids that he will be stopping this holiday season.
10. And don't forget the tree!  Check out the local tree nurseries that Grand Rapids has to offer.  Some even offer a day full of festive fun with horse-drawn wagon rides and visits from Santa.  Choosing and cutting down a tree is the ultimate in family fun! 

There are many other festive holiday things to do and see with your kids in West Michigan.  Besides the above, which are your favorites?

Saving the Trees, One Ash at a Time

Usually non-natives are welcomed with open arms to Grand Rapids, but in previous years our city has had to deal with one specific unwelcome guest: the emerald ash borer. These invasive insects were found in southeast Michigan in 2002 and have since infested millions of ash trees in our fair city.

Photo credit: Mlive.com

Since 2009, emerald ash borer (EAB) infestation has occurred in numerous spots all over Grand Rapids. The insects lay their eggs on all species of ash trees and when the eggs hatch the larvae feed just underneath the bark of the tree, which cuts off essential water and nutrients for the ash. In the past several years, you may have noticed ash trees lining the streets that were marked for removal. These were dead ash trees affected by EAB. Last December, 31 Fuller Avenue ash trees were removed due to infestation; just one example of the city’s removal of dead trees.  Fuller does not look the same.  Parks all over the city have received similar haircuts.  It's been hard on tree lovers to see so many beautiful and useful trees gone.

In the early years of infestation, there was little evidence to draw on concerning any type of successful treatment plan for the city’s nearly 5,300 ash trees. Also, treatment prices were quite high for each tree. The city’s initial plan in 2007 called for massive removal of infected ash trees over a period of ten years. Approximately 1,600 trees were removed between 2007 and 2010. In 2008, citizens responded to such drastic removals and an alternative treatment plan was tested. The following year, the Urban Forestry Committee collaborated with the city of Grand Rapids and launched a new plan to treat our ash trees with a compound called TREE-Age, which has become more affordable over time. This solution prevents EAB infestation for up to two years.

Photo credit: Mlive.com

By 2011, close to 1,000 ash trees were treated with the preventative medicine. The future looks far more promising for Grand Rapids' ash trees. The city plans to treat 1,400 trees each year and assess 5% of the previously treated trees annually. Only dead ash trees will be removed, with the goal being to save as many as possible from EAB infestation before the EAB population declines or treatment decreases it even more. Ash trees that are dead need to be removed; if they are on private property it is the responsibility of the homeowner to eliminate the tree before it becomes a hazard.

Grand Rapids hopes to sustain the lives of our ash trees with joint efforts from the city staff, volunteers, Parks and Recreation Department, Urban Forestry Committee, and the EAB Task Force. Our trees add to the splendor of Grand Rapids and we are lucky to have people that are working hard for their preservation.

Building a Greener Grand Rapids, Literally

Sustainability is one of the most important issues today.  We are continuously looking and discovering new ways to live greener lives and ensure the preservation of our environment for future generations.  Grand Rapids is at the forefront of the sustainability effort.  Most residents may not realize the efforts Grand Rapids takes and has taken to push for greener living.  In 2008, Grand Rapids was named “America’s Greenest City” by Fast Company magazine.

Our fair city leads the nation in LEED-certified buildings per capita; a fact that in 2005, Mayor George Heartwell did not take lightly.  That same year he pledged that 20% of the city’s power would come from renewable resources by 2008 and hit this target a year early.  He then pledged that by 2020, the target would be 100% of the city’s power from renewable energy.  This is a large goal, but the steps Grand Rapids has made may walk us right to this target by 2020.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  LEED-certification is third-party verification and recognition that a building was designed and built using high performance standards in human and environmental health.  There are numerous prerequisites that buildings must meet to be certified, and credits they can receive to gain extra points in their certification.  LEED provides a basic framework for buildings, neighborhoods, and communities to implement green building design, construction, and operation.  

Grand Rapids boasts numerous firsts in the sustainable buildings effort.  We have the first LEED-certified YMCA (downtown), Gold art museum (Grand Rapids Art Museum), transit station (Rapid Central Bus Station), Habitat for Humanity Home, church (Keystone Community Church), and healthcare project (Lacks Cancer Center), to name a few.  In 2012, we were voted 1 in 5 model cities for sustainability by Earth Day Network.  BillMoyers.com voted Grand Rapids 1 of 12 cities leading in sustainability in 2013.  

Sustainability and conservation in Grand Rapids is coordinated by the Office of Energy and Sustainability.  The Sustainability Plan sets more than 200 goals for our city to reach every year, such as increasing household participation in recycling to 45,000 by 2013.   Sustainability is not only the building itself, but extends to interior design and furniture.  There are extensive LEED-certification prerequisites and credits for building sustainable furniture and interior design.  Furniture companies such as Custer, a Steelcase dealer in West Michigan, has contributed and participated in more LEED-certified building projects than any other dealer.  The list of sites they have contributed to is extensive.

Grand Rapids has no plans to slow down their sustainability efforts in the years to come.  Our efforts have far exceeded so many cities in the United States and we should feel proud.  You never know when you are stepping into one of our numerous LEED-certified buildings or sitting in an office chair that was built using sustainable resources.  These efforts are not always clearly recognized or realized, but they are helping preserve our city and environment.  

Thankful for

We Grand Rapidians have many things to be thankful for in regards to our hometown.  Here are a few that come to mind:

Unlike so many Midwest cities, Grand Rapids is not dying, but blooming.  The downtown looks better than it ever has and there are so many more things to see and do in Kent County.

A lower unemployment rate than the rest of Michigan , and, at 6.4%, lower than last year.  Full-time, well paid positions with benefits are still pretty scarce, but jobs are out there, at least.

Many of those jobs come from our agricultural sector, which has grown 8% since the start of the Great Recession.  Michigan is second only to California in the diversity of crops grown here.  We owe much of that to our location and the abundance of water in the state.  The Great Lakes also provide a buffer from the harsher weather other northern states experience.  Michigan's more temperate climate allows for cultivation of many fruit trees and bushes that produce an abundance of table wealth for us to enjoy and profit from.  Good, rich soil also helps.

All of that abundance is made available in the state's 200 or so farmers markets.  Pure Michigan brings up 41 farmers markets just within 20 miles of Grand Rapids.  That's a lot of fresh, often organically grown or sustainably raised food to sample.  And our growing food scene reflects it!  Cooking a diverse range of great, healthy food made with healthy ingredients has never been easier.  No food deserts here.

We are sheltered from much of Nature's fury by our location as well.  Last week, the Midwest and particularly Illinois experienced devastating tornadoes which resulted in 8 deaths, huge amounts of property and environmental damage.  People in Peoria will be clearing rubble and trimming damaged trees for a long time to come.  While we occasionally see tornadoes in West Michigan, we are spared most of them and the most ferocious of them.  We also don't have earthquakes, hurricanes, cyclones, tsunamis, long term drought, or out of control wildfires.  We don't even have to deal with poisonous snakes or insects.  If you can handle a long, gray winter, that's about the extent of our weather horrors.  We can be grateful for that.

Finally, Grand Rapids has a history of philanthropy and volunteerism.  Grand Rapids residents volunteer at a rate of 37.6%, significantly over the national average, and the city is Michigan's most generous.  We all benefit from the giving nature of Grand Rapids's citizens, in large and small ways.

Not everyone loves Grand Rapids, but many of us are thankful to live here.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers!

Winter hits Grand Rapids a little early

You just never know what you're going to get with weather in Michigan.  Last year winter didn't hit until halfway through January, and this year we have snow on the ground - with actual school delays and closings -  before Thanksgiving.  It's been a number of years since that last time that happened.  The city hadn't yet swept the gutters of leaves, many of them only fallen in the last week, so now there are frozen clumps of them at the ends of driveways, pushed up by the plow.  Be careful backing out!  Here's hoping we get a spate of warmer temperatures so that last clean up can get done before snow is here to stay.

The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a "biting cold & snowy" winter for the Great Lakes.  Bill Steffen also thinks we're in for some real winter weather, and early.  None of that is written in stone, of course, but if you haven't hired your snow removal contractor or checked your snow blower to make sure it still runs and you have both gas and oil for it, now is the time.  Small engine repair shops in Grand Rapids usually have a couple of weeks' wait time for service, so procrastinating until that first big blizzard and then pulling the cord and praying - it's not such a great plan.  It's also worth picking up a sack of salt or kitty litter to cover those icy spots on your driveway and sidewalks.  Round up the snow shovels, too, and put them where they are close to hand, and make sure your car is ready to drive in snow.

Walking on icy sidewalks can be a challenge.  Owners on the northeast side of the city, at least, are pretty good at shoveling, particularly early on in the winter.  But after that first major storm, the number of icy encrusted sidewalks build.  That's when you want to start wearing Yaktrax, or at least boots with thicker tread, and stepping carefully, choosing grass or snow over icy surfaces.

If you're new to the area, the bad news is Grand Rapids is cloudy in winter.  We do not get the bitter cold temperatures that sweep over the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, but the trade off is overcast days and lake effect snow.  If you have Seasonal Affective Disorder or get the "winter blues," investing in a sun light might not be a bad idea.  Also, even though you might want to stay inside and burrow under your covers, exercise is great for shaking off a gloomy mood.

Fortunately, there are a lot of fun things to do in Grand Rapids in the winter.  There's local skiing and snowboarding, ice skating in or outdoors, and plenty of sledding hills.  Horse drawn carriages tour the downtown.  The Civic Theater does a family production every year at this time.  This year is The Sound of Music.  Then there are the holiday traditions: the Grand Rapids Symphony is doing Holiday Pops, the Grand Rapids Ballet will perform The Nutcracker, and the Calvin Oratorio Society will perform Handel's Messiah.  Before and after the holidays, there are a number of cultural opportunities for music, drama, and art enthusiasts.

In short, winter is coming: prepare, but do not despair!

Watching Downtown bloom

My first idea for naming this blog post was, "Watching Downtown Come Back to Life," but that's not really correct, since it never really died, per se.  When I was in high school in the late 1980s, the Monroe Mall area, as well as most of S. Division, was pretty derelict and desolate, though.  Not Soviet derelict, but no one went there for fun, and you weren't tempted to stroll down S. Division unless you were on a mission to find drugs or illicit sex.  When Herpolsheimers closed in 1987, there was a misguided attempt to make it into a mall, but that soon failed.  Downtown was not the place to be.  Many, if not most Grand Rapidians were resigned to seeing their city turn into another waning Rust Belt casualty.  Having lived for awhile in Detroit, it's almost miraculous to see it bloom again today and to watch people stroll about, eat things, and be genuinely excited to be there and witness what is happening.

Who would have thought that cool Art Moderne building Junior Achievement abandoned would get a makeover and a chance to shine again?  It sat there empty so long, still beautiful, still interesting under layers of grime and broken glass block.  And there is TowerPinkster today, occupying it with pride.

Devos Place turns ten this month.  Having a safe location was no doubt as asset for the owners, but there wasn't nearly as much to see and do downtown a decade ago.  Van Andel was there, the Gerald R. Ford Museum was there, but ArtPrize wasn't even dreamed of, the brewery culture hadn't taken off, and the Grand Rapids Art Museum was still over on Division in the Federal Building that was purchased and renovated by Kendell College of Art and Design.  It was rededicated in June of this year and looks fantastic.

Turn and look the other way down Division, and it's all new as well.  Van Andel Institute, Betty DeVos Children's Hospital, and a completely re-terraced Hillside park have banished any rundown feel on the right side.  Michigan St. has been transformed as well.  What was a local scene of gas stations, houses, and stores, is now a wall of glass containing a series of state-of-the-art medical buildings.  It's hard to remember what the old Butterworth Hospital looked like or that Calvary Undenominational Church once took up nearly a whole block on Michigan.

Travel the S-Curve and you'll see cranes looming over the city and buildings being wrapped like Christmas presents.  The new Grand Valley Seidman Center has taken the place of an old warehouse, but that whole Pew Campus is brand new, not to mention the shiny YMCA building.  Follow the S-Curve and the Custer building salutes you, and the renovated Founders Brewing Company peeks out over her shoulder. Drive a little way further and you can peek into the greenhouses of the new Downtown Market.

It's almost like a brand new city!  What are your memories of the Grand Rapids that used to be?