By Brett Atwood
School News Network
Kent Career Tech Center Hospitality students put their skills to the test, designing a sugary, candy-clad gingerbread house as a gift for Grand Rapids Home for Veterans residents. With help from Tech Center architecture students who made blueprints, they created a miniature vets’ home, complete with a frosting-covered roof and fondant residents.
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By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
What started as a request from a City of Wyoming Department of Public Safety officer to visit the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans led to the department hosting its 12th annual donation drive for the Home.
The members of the department’s Honor Guard, which many residents may have seen in parades or special events such as Veterans Day and Memorial Day, work to reflect on why many of the officers join a police force, choosing to serve their community. The Honor Guard visits various places, working with veterans and other groups.
“One of the officers in the Honor Guard had requested we visit the Veterans Home because his father was there,” said Officer Pam Keen. Once there, the officers saw a need.
“It was a reminder that this was a nursing home and that many of these guys were in need of things such as shampoo or body wash or diabetic socks. Basically items that mean the difference of just surviving to making life comfortable.”
Items sought for donation include $25 gift cards (local fast food restaurants, Meijer, Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree, Gordon Food Marketplace, etc.), candy bars, pens, batteries, stamps, grooming, hygiene items and clothing (new or gently used.)
So after that 2007 visit, the Honor Guard decided to host a donation drive. In the past couple of years, the drive has become a citywide event, however; most of the donations come from city staff, Keen said.
“It is more to raise awareness of the Home,” Keen said. “We saw a need and we are trying to help fill it. We hope others will see it and help too.”
Donations will be collected through the month of November and can be dropped off at the Wyoming Department of Public Safety, 2300 DeHoop Ave. SW.
Free visits for active-duty and veteran military families will be offered by the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum during its upcoming Military Weekend.
SpartanNash has partnered with the museum for this event in honor of Veterans Day. A military or veteran’s ID will be required for free admission. It is a privilege “to serve those who served,” said Meredith Gremel, SpartanNash spokesperson.
In one of the weekend activities, all children will be able to make cards to be delivered to the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.
Maggie Lancaster, GRCM executive director, said the museum is glad to be able to give back to the community, “especially to those who have dedicated themselves selflessly by serving in the military.”
The museum at 11 Sheldon Ave. NE is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
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By K.D. Norris
Cindy Obetts and Calvin Weeks are the drummers for two local classic rock ‘n’ roll bands – The 6 Pak and The Guiness Brothers Band, respectively – and they are also big believers in drumming up support for the area’s military veterans, especially the Grand Rapids Veterans Home.
So, after a successful first attempt putting on a benefit night of music last year with the assistance of the Wyoming Knights of Columbus, it is only keeping the beat that the two bands will be on stage again Veterans Day night for the second year of “A 6 Pak of Guinness” and continuing to support America’s heroes.
“A 6 Pak of Guinness,” a fundraiser for the Grand Rapids Veterans Home, will be held Friday, Nov. 11, from 7-11 p.m., at the Knights of Columbus #4362 hall, 5830 Clyde Park Ave. SW. The public is invited, but it is a 21 and older show. Doors open at 6 p.m. for best seating and dinner, if desired.
There is no cover, but a free will offering of support for the Veterans Home will be taken. There will also be food and libation available, as well as a 50-50 raffle and other raffles of donated items. (And they are still accepting donations of raffle items.)
“When we first talked about doing this, we thought ‘Let’s just donate the proceeds to a veterans organization,’” Obetts said this week. “But then we said ‘Hey, we have a group of veterans right here that we should be supporting.’
“We thought we’d make, like $1,000 last year, but we raised nearly $4,500,” she said. “The management of the home was very supportive, telling us we could designate the funds for whatever we wanted.”
Last year, and again this year, the proceeds will go for some “fun” activities the Veterans Home might not normally have funds to provide, such as ball games and fishing trips, Obetts said.
“Ironically, the simple pleasures in life like picnics, holiday parties, ice cream socials, are dependent on volunteer donations,” Rochelle Mudrey, also of The 6 Pak, said in supplied material. “Everyone needs to have some fun things to look forward to, and to share that joy with others. … As proud Americans and Michiganders we owe it to give back to those who stepped up and served our country on our behalf. This is our opportunity to do the right thing and say thank you for keeping us safe and free.”
Part of the reason for last year’s success, and the anticipation of another successful event, is the support of the Knights of Columbus and other community groups, according to Weeks, of The Guinness Brothers Band.
Lining up sponsors for last year’s event was the easy part, he said. Local business owners and other “movers and shakers” were anxious to get on board. Donors as diverse as the Cow Pie Music Festival, West Michigan Beer Distributing and Craig’s Cruisers “stepped up” to help make the event a success.
The musical schedule for the evening will have The 6 Pack bringing their 1960s-era music to the stage first, followed by the decade-spanning classic rock of The Guinness Brothers, with the two bands on stage for the final set of the evening. But the real star of the evening will be the people who turn out to support the cause.
“We live in a very generous community,” Mudrey said. “The Michigan Veterans Home is ours.”
For more information about the event, or to donate either items for raffle or to make a donation to the cause, call Obetts at 616-784-6389.
Today is Veteran’s Day, and with Veteran’s Day comes Wyoming’s annual Veteran’s Day Ceremony. Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll will host this years Veteran’s Day Ceremony at 6 p.m. at the Veteran’s Memorial Garden (2300 DeHoop SW).
The event will start off with the Lee High School Band performing the prelude at 6 p.m. The Lee Band will perform three more musical numbers throughout the Ceremony.
Guest speaker CH (LTC) Mel Flikkema, USAR (Ret.) will address the crowd with the focus being “On Remembering.” Flikkema served in Kuwait and Iraq during the Iraq war as the active duty chaplain of the 83rd Chemical Battalion.
On top of celebrating the Veterans who have served our country, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety will be accepting donations throughout the month of November for the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. Donations can be dropped off Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Important items for donation include the following:
• New batteries: C, D and AAA
• New release DVD’s
• Gift Cards to: Meijer, Gordon Food Service, Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, etc.
• New postage stamps (Forever Stamps preferred)
• Bic Disposable Lighters
• Large print paperback books
• Recent magazines
• New and gently used men’s and women’s clothing
• Personal hygiene products
While the Wyoming Department of Public Safety will be accepting donations through November, the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans will accept donations through December 30. Their doors are open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
WKTV will provide a delayed broadcast of the Veteran’s Day Ceremony that will be shown on Channel 26.
