Grand Rapids Michigan Real Estate Blog

head_left_image

Fine Arts Center - Grand Rapids Michigan - Winter- Spring 2010 Entertainment

We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful entertainment venue in our

Forest Hills Area.  The fabulous Fine Arts Centers Shows this winter-spring season

have something for everyone.  Not only the headlining events like Amy Grant, and

Whose Live Anyway, the local high school events are not exactly the amateur events

I remember from my school days.  The musicals we have seen have had seriously

talented young performers from our local high schools.

 

There are still quite a few shows to catch this season. If you haven't been to our

fabulous gold star LEED performance center, you should stop by and take a look.

It is open every day from 8am to 5 pm with a featured artist-in-residence work

displayed in the lobby.  This month, fiber artist Jo-Ann Van Reeuwyk displays

vessels that explore the concept of containment.

 

Fine Arts Center Forest Hills MI 

February 22 - Forest Hills Central -Evening of Percussion 7 pm

 

February 23 - Jazz Night 7 pm

 

March 11 - Cynthia Hagedorn Artist Reception - 6-7:30 pm

 

March 12-13 - Grand Rapids Balley Company Interactive 7:30 pm

 

March 25,26,27 - Forest Hill Central Musical - The Wizard of Oz - 7:30 pm;

+  3:00 pm matinee Mar 27th

 

April 17 - An Evening with Amy Grant  - 7:30 pm

 

April 18 - Grand Rapids Symphony - Percussion Explosion - 3:00 pm

 

April 20 - Forest Hill Public Schools K-12 Student Artists Reception, 6 - 7:30 p.m

 

Thursday, April 29, 2010 - Whose Live Anyway

 

May 26 - National Senior Health and Fitness Day, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m

 

June 3  - International Society of Experimental Artists' Reception, 6 - 7:30 p.m

 

Fine Arts Center 

 

We volunteer at the Fine Arts Center and find it a very entertaining and rewarding

way to give back to our community.  We have ushered shows, taken tickets, handed

out programs, placed posters and guided people to their seats.  The Fine Arts Center

 is a part of the Forest Hills School System but must survive financially on its own,

 which means volunteers are vital to the program. Without volunteers, it wouldn't be

possible to fund the shows and events that take place here to enrich the community.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate, the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West Michigan.  Grand Rapids Michigan is a vibrant, growing metropolitan area with a diverse business community, great medical research & services, numerous universities, plus lively arts and entertainment of all kinds.

 We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!

search for Grand Rapids homes                Find Grand Rapids Home Value                Grand Rapids Relocation Guide

            Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

                          Contact Terry   616-292-7263

 

                              OUR FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

10 comments • Terry Bonnie Westbrook Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids Forest Hills MI Real Estate • February 13 2010 01:20PM

Holiday Traditions from Grand Rapids Michigan

Holiday traditions to celebrate the winter solstice are common

to every culture around the world.  The transition from the shortest,

 darkest day in mid-winter to the longest day of light at the beginning

of summer are a common theme to our whole world. 

 

Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids 

celebrates the light by showing the traditions of many countries

and cultures around the world.  Besides the forty one gorgeous

Christmas Trees that are decorated as they would be in their native

 regions, they also display Kwanza, Jewish, Buddhist traditional

decorations.  New this year is Tet Nguyen Dan, the  Vietnamese

celebration of the lunar New Year. Pronounced day wen don,

it literally means, "the first morning of the first day."

 

Meijer Gardens is celebrating the completion of a $7.6 million

renovation and expansion that was awarded a silver level LEED

certificate in energy  and environmental design.  The renovation

and expansion was centered around the cafe, visitor areas, office

and storage spaces.  The new cafe has a stunning Dale Chihuly

blown glass sculpture of colored glass flowers hanging from 

 the ceiling.

 

We have put together a few photos we took at the gardens

 recently, so you can see some of the holiday decorations from

near and far.  The gorgeous Christmas trees are all 12-15 feet tall

and loaded with beautiful ornaments.  This is just a sampling of the

Christmas Traditions displayed here:

 

 

Our Holiday Wishes for Peace & Goodwill to all of you!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate, the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West Michigan.  Grand Rapids Michigan is a vibrant, growing metropolitan area with a diverse business community, great medical research & services, numerous universities, plus lively arts and entertainment of all kinds.

 We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!

search for Grand Rapids homes                Find Grand Rapids Home Value                Grand Rapids Relocation Guide

            Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

                          Contact Terry   616-292-7263

 

                              OUR FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

10 comments • Terry Bonnie Westbrook Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids Forest Hills MI Real Estate • December 21 2009 03:49PM

Winter at Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park Grand Rapids Michigan

 We invite you to visit our world famous Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We will share our recent snowy winter scenes with you. It usually doesn't look like this until January or February, but it certainly is getting us in the Holiday mood. This is just a sampling of the 200+ sculptures that are here at the park permanently.

If you get a chance to visit Grand Rapids, don't miss the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. Former President Jimmy Carter called it a "National Treasure." We would love to have you come for a visit and see for yourself.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate, the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West Michigan.  Grand Rapids Michigan is a vibrant, growing metropolitan area with a diverse business community, great medical research & services, numerous universities, plus lively arts and entertainment of all kinds.

 We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!

search for Grand Rapids homes                Find Grand Rapids Home Value                Grand Rapids Relocation Guide

            Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

                          Contact Terry   616-292-7263

 

                              OUR FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

14 comments • Terry Bonnie Westbrook Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids Forest Hills MI Real Estate • December 13 2009 05:35PM

Climbing the Fish Ladder in Grand Rapids Michigan

Is it difficult to go home? Ask the salmon that are attempting to reach their

spawning grounds in the upper reaches of the Grand River.  They have a

Herculean task to get up the fish ladder at the Grand River downtown

Grand Rapids.  Joseph E Kinnebrew IV, designed the Fish Ladder Sculpture

that allows the fish to climb the dam at Fourth Street and Front NW. 

 

The Fish Ladder was installed in 1974 and is a favorite spot to watch the

fish return up river in the fall.  We have seen the fish so thick that the

ducks can walk on their backs to catch treats thrown in for them.

 

 Grand views of our local city and riverfront are visible from here.  You can

 see the many cranes and buildings going up on Michigan Avenue, also

 known as The Medical Mile. The VanAndel Institute, Butterworth Hospital,

Lemmon-Holton Cancer Center,  Helen DeVos Children's Hospital and the

Michigan State University Medical School. 

 

 A small public city park adjoins the fish ladder and is an intimate spot to

bring a picnic lunch and watch the activity on the river. 

 Fishermen were pulling huge salmon from the river when we visited the

 other day.  The salmon are on their way from upstream to Lake Michigan.

 

 

 Hope you enjoy our photo tour:

GR Fish Ladder

 

Fish Ladder seating

Grand River at Fish Ladder

Grand Rapids skyline over river

 

Grand River 6th st bridge

 

 

Grand Rapids Real Estate ~ Westbrook Realty

Copyright 2009 All rights reserved

Photos by Terry Westbrook

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate, the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West Michigan.  Grand Rapids Michigan is a vibrant, growing metropolitan area with a diverse business community, great medical research & services, numerous universities, plus lively arts and entertainment of all kinds.

 We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!

search for Grand Rapids homes                Find Grand Rapids Home Value                Grand Rapids Relocation Guide

            Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

                          Contact Terry   616-292-7263

 

                              OUR FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

6 comments • Terry Bonnie Westbrook Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids Forest Hills MI Real Estate • April 03 2009 11:05AM

White Caps Signal Start of Spring Baseball in Grand Rapids Michigan

The West Michigan White Caps start their summer season with their opening

day on Thursday, April 9th.  It isn't that far away and would be a great outing

for Spring Break Week.  They have many promotions and specials going on,

so don't delay, if baseball is your passion, get your tickets now.

The match is with South Bend Silver Hawks and there will be a post game

fireworks show sponsored by Farm Bureau Insurance.  Atlogas sponsors

Thrifty Thursdays throughout the season, which means $2 beers, $2 Pepsi

products, and 2 hot dogs for , yep, you guessed it -  $2.

fireworks 7-2008

Big changes at the Fifth Third Ball Park this year:

New food items on the menu = monster burgers, frozen bananas, chicago-style

 dogs and more......+++

Fifth Third Ball Park has gone Smoke Free!!  No smoking within the facility but

 there will be designated areas outside the 3 entrances to accomodate smokers.

Personal note:

I love baseball. I started with Little League and didn't stop until my better sense

decided to limit my exposure to hurtful things.  I played on 3 separate leagues in

 my heyday. The White Cap games  are always a flashback to my playing days.

I sure do enjoy a good ball game.

White Caps Opening Day               Directions to Ball Park

 

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Westbrook Realty

Copyright 2009 All rights reserved

Fireworks photo by Terry Westbrook

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate, the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West Michigan.  Grand Rapids Michigan is a vibrant, growing metropolitan area with a diverse business community, great medical research & services, numerous universities, plus lively arts and entertainment of all kinds.

 We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!

search for Grand Rapids homes                Find Grand Rapids Home Value                Grand Rapids Relocation Guide

            Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

                          Contact Terry   616-292-7263

 

                              OUR FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

7 comments • Terry Bonnie Westbrook Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids Forest Hills MI Real Estate • March 12 2009 06:42PM

Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park ~ The Conservatory

Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is a world class park with world

class attractions in Grand Rapids, Michigan.   This is more than a garden, it is

 a community and area treasure with many aspects of the fine arts on

permanent and traveling displays. Listed below are the major attractions:

  • The Sculpture Park
  • Gallery Collection
  • Garden Trails & Conservatory Collection
  • Sculpture Exhibitions
  • Children's Garden
  • Outdoor Concert Stage

Because there are so many aspects to the gardens, I will only discuss

The Conservatory Gardens in this article.  Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory

is more than 5 stories tall and features tropical plants from 5 continents as

well as waterfalls and misty streambeds. Palms reaching over 30 feet amidst

banana and coconut trees, bromeliads, and a changing display of over 3500 

types of orchid plants in their collection.

meijer garden conservatory grand rapids mi

They have an annual Butterfly Exhibit in the conservatory every spring

starting in late March and running through  the middle of April. Hundreds of

butterfly cocoons are brought in and they hatch at different times so there

are always tropical butterflies to see.  They have special feeding stations set

 up through out the conservatory for them. There is also a special entry

constructed to go and out of so the butterflies do not escape the conservatory

 environment where they would perish because of the lower temperature

outside. 

                                          butterfly exhibit at meijer gardens grand rapids mi 

 

 

 

 

 

 The conservatory is always kept about 80 degrees for the tropical plants.

Stepping into this in the middle of winter is a real treat. There is a waterfall

 you can walk under, plus a bridge and a winding circular pathway through the

 conservatory gardens where the permanent orchid exhibit can be seen. 

 There is always something blooming in conservatory.  Why don't you treat

yourself and your family soon?  If you haven't been to the Frederick Meijer 

Gardens & Sculpture Park, you should plan a trip to Grand Rapids soon.

 

Frederick Meijer Childrens Garden

Frederick Meijer Outdoor Sculpture Park

The Butterfly Exhibit at Meijer Gardens

Major Renovation Planned for Meijer Gardens

 

 Westbrook Realty ~ Grand Rapids Michigan Real Estate

 Copyright 2008 All rights reserved

  photo of the conservatory & butterfly from meijer garden by Bonnie Westbrook

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate, the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West Michigan.  Grand Rapids Michigan is a vibrant, growing metropolitan area with a diverse business community, great medical research & services, numerous universities, plus lively arts and entertainment of all kinds.

 We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!

search for Grand Rapids homes                Find Grand Rapids Home Value                Grand Rapids Relocation Guide

            Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

                          Contact Terry   616-292-7263

 

                              OUR FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

8 comments • Terry Bonnie Westbrook Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids Forest Hills MI Real Estate • February 17 2008 08:24PM