Tag Archives: Hank Meijer

Snapshots: Wyoming and Kentwood you need to know

WKTV Staff

joanne@wktv.org

 

 

Quote of the Day

"Life is like riding a bicycle. In order to keep your balance, you must keep moving."- Albert Einstein

 

 

Love to Ride His Bicycle

 

Kentwood resident and avid bicyclist Ken Smith, 70, whose father was a fireman and son is a fireman, is riding from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean — Seaside, Oregon, to Boston, Massachusetts — in hopes of raising $30,000 to provide for possible care of and therapy for his grandson Jakob. He returned home last week, riding more 2,500 miles. He is set to continue the journey soon. Ken Smith has set up a Facebook page (facebook.com/rideforjake/) and a GoFundMe page (gofundme.com/ride-pacific-to-atlantic-for-jakob) to detail his journey and raise the funds.

 

 

Food for Thought

 

 

Hank Meijer

Meijer Chairman Hank Meijer, along with Richard Norton Smith, will be the featured lecturer this Friday for the Grand Valley State University’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. The topic is “Mackinac Conference at 75,” which will be presented at 7 p.m. at L.V. Eberhard Center, Room 215, 301 W. Fulton St. The series, which continues through Dec. 5, will feature eight speakers who will encourage meaningful discussions about leadership and the search for common ground at a deep level, without the heated political rhetoric of the day.

 

 

 

And While We’re Talking Food

 

You might want to put a big food truck doodle on Sept. 15 as that is when Kentwood will be hosting its third annual End of Summer Food Truck Festival. Nearly 30 trucks are expected to participate at this year’s event. We know it will be the end-of-summer celebration you won’t want to miss because Managing Editor Joanne Bailey-Boorsma is still talking about last year’s event and all the food choices. Oh, and for the beer lovers, there will be a beer tent running from noon to 10 p.m. featuring a selection of craft beers.

 

Fun Fact:

88 Years Old

And the Grand Rapids Symphony is still going strong. Started in 1930, the orchestra kicks off its 88th season on Sept. 14 and 15 with the classical concert "Beethoven, Barber, and Bernstein" - which is quite the mix of music. For more on the Symphony's season, visit grsyhphony.org.

Hauenstein Center to host eight events during fall speaker series

Debra Furr-Holden

By Nate Hoekstra

Grand Valley State University

 

Speakers hosted by Grand Valley State University’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies will generate meaningful discussions about leadership and the search for common ground at a deep level, without the heated political rhetoric of the day.

 

The Hauenstein Center will feature eight speakers on topics ranging from contemporary politics to history to public health, featuring authors, policy experts, journalists and historians to explain many facets of public leadership and political difference.

 

The events are a cross-section of the Hauenstein Center’s two main speaker series: Wheelhouse Talks and the Common Ground Initiative. Wheelhouse Talk speakers will focus on leadership experiences while Common Ground Initiative speakers will cover history and the shifting terrain of American civic life today.

 

The series kicks off with Debra Furr-Holden, Director of the Michigan State University Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions, who works on structural and policy interventions to improve public health for the city’s residents following the Flint water crisis.

 

Other speakers will include noted West Michigan historians Hank Meijer and Richard Norton Smith, who will discuss the enduring significance of the GOP Mackinac Conference 75 years ago; Dean of Yale Law School Heather K. Gerken, who will discuss how, in a polarized political environment, members of the left and right can use federalism to address their differences productively; and George H. Nash, a presidential biographer and historian who will address “American Conservatism and Populism in the Age of Trump.”

 

The full fall schedule is as follows. Event descriptions and free registration are available at www.gvsu.edu/hc/events

 

Debra Furr-Holden: Leading for Public Health in Flint

A Wheelhouse Talk event

Friday, August 31, 4 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

Hank Meijer

Hank Meijer and Richard Norton Smith: The Mackinac Conference at 75

A Common Ground Initiative event

Friday, September 7, 7 p.m.

L.V. Eberhard Center, Room 215, 301 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

Heather K. Gerken: Federalism in the 21st Century

A Common Ground Initiative event

Tuesday, September 18, 7 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

William Deresiewicz: What is Art in the 21st Century?

Partnership with Grand Valley’s Fall Arts Celebration

Monday, October 1, 7:30 p.m.

L.V. Eberhard Center, Room 215, 301 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

Joe Jones: Empowering Grand Rapids

A Wheelhouse Talks event

Friday, October 5, 4 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

George H. Nash

: American Conservatism and Populism in the Age of Trump

A Common Ground Initiative event

Tuesday, October 16, 7 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

Kathy Crosby: Leading to Build Goodwill

A Wheelhouse Talks event

Friday, November 30, 4 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

Gleaves Whitney: Seeking Common Ground: A Dumb Idea — or the Best Hope for America?

A Common Ground Initiative event

Wednesday, December 5, 7 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

All events are free and open to the public, but registration for each is requested at gvsu.edu/hc/events.

For more information, visit gvsu.edu/hc