Cheryl Wheeler Concert at Fifth Third Ballpark April 10, 2010

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Terry & Bonnie

The inimitable Cheryl Wheeler is coming to Grand Rapids this week!

In concert at Fifth Third Ball Park on Saturday, April 10th, 2010.

Gates open at 6:30 pm, concert starts at 7:30 pm.

Special guest Nicholas James Thomasma

Part of the Pepsi Stadium Club Concert Series

Never heard of Cheryl Wheeler?

Cheryl is a prolific songwriter and talented performer. You have

probably heard her songs. She is very respected by her peers, as many

of them have recorded her songs.

Chery’s songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Dan Seals,

Peter Paul and Mary, Kenny Loggins, Garth Brooks, Suzy Boggus,

Melanie, Bette Midler, Maura O’Connell, Sylvia, Kathy Mattea, and

Holly Near. If they think she is great, then maybe you should find

out why they are fans.

Tickets are $20.00 Parking is free.

Cheryl’s website Tickets online

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

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!

Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

Contact Terry 616-292-7263

OUR FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

Promoting Michigan ….Yes, We Can!

Posted on February 10, 2010 by Terry & Bonnie

Promoting Michigan ….Yes, We Can!

We attended an inspiring event sponsored by Rapid Growth Media

and Michigan State Housing Development Authority last night at

the Wealthy Street Theatre. This was the first in a year long series

of events. This premier event was called “Touting Michigan”.

Rapid Growth brought together 5 panelists that are each individually

promoting Michigan, our state economy and image, and doing

something positive about rebuilding our state.

The message was clear – We have to do it ourselves!

Panelists from left to right are:

Sean Mann from Let’s Save Michigan

John Bell from Michigan Awesome

Lisa Diggs from Buy Michigan Now

Kevin Buist from Michigan by Choice

Neil Yaremchuk from Made in Michigan

and Moderator Jennifer Pascua

From Neil Yaremchuk: If we buy just $10 worth of Michigan made

products every week, we would pump $37 million back into our

local economies. This means JOBS!!

Think Michigan First, Buy Local, and support your local

businesses and farmers. It is actually cheaper and greener.

Why send our hard earned Michigan money elsewhere?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

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!

Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

Contact Terry 616-292-7263

Meijer Gardens ~ Summer Concert Series 2009

Posted on April 20, 2009 by Terry & Bonnie

Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park announces

2009 Summer Concert Series

Meijer Gardens has a wonderful Outdoor Amphitheater that will host

12 Concerts and a few musical legends in entertainment this summer.

Among those featured that you might know are our own Michigander,

Jeff Daniels, and Lyle Lovett, The Doobie Brothers, and Bonnie Raitt.

I must admit, some of the newer bands are not familiar to me but they

have great web sites!

The 12 Concerts are as follows:

Derek Trucks Band will open the Concert Series on Wednesday, June 10th.

The Avett Brothers will be featured on Thursday, June 18th.

Indigo Girls will bring their Grammy award winning songwriting to the stage

on Wednesday, June 24th.

The Wallflowers will play The Gardens on Monday June 29th.

Neko Case will be performing her trademark vocals on Thursday, July 16th.

Lyle Lovett – Live in Concert on Sunday, July 19th.

Keb’Mo’ will be performing his own brand of blues on Thursday July 23th.

Doobie Brothers, one of America’s most loved rock bands will rockin’ the

house on Wednesday, July 29th.

Jeff Daniels, movie actor, will be singing on Monday, August 3rd.

Earl Scruggs, Bluegrass legend, will be here on Thursday August 13th.

George Thorogood & The Destroyers & Jonny Lang, perform on

Wednesday, August 19th.

Bon Taj Roulet: Bonnie Raitt & Taj Mahal Alone & Together finish

off the concert series on Sunday, August 23rd.

Meijer Gardens Ticket Information Pre-Sale Tickets are available for

Gardens Members – a definite perk of membership.

Grand Rapids Real Estate ~ Westbrook Realty

White Caps Baseball Signals Spring in West Michigan

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Terry & Bonnie

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. Altogas

sponsors Thrifty Thursdays throughout the season, which means

$2 beers, $2 Pepsi products, and 2 hot dogs for, yep, you guessed it

$2.

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 accommodate 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 ~ Five Star Real Estate

Fireworks photo by Terry Westbrook

Definition of Excess = 4.5 Million Teardown

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Terry & Bonnie

People are fascinated by the wealthy and their myriad ways

of spending their money. The press and the media make a

field day of providing this fodder for us to consider. This recent

Grand Rapids Press Article on the demolition of

Lake Macatawa Home of Richard DeVos of Amway is a

typical example of this phenomenon.

This article piqued our interest because of the impression

it gives of the DeVos family and their concerns.

This has to be one of the most expensive tear-downs in our area

—-ever.

The very wealthy have either forgotten or never cared

about the example they are showing the rest of us. In the

present climate of nearly 10% unemployment in Michigan,

this article shows how out of touch the wealthy really are.

We go on appointments every week and speak with people

who are losing their homes because of unemployment,

lowered values, and the poor buyers market.

I wonder if Mr. DeVos talks with people who are in these

situations every day?

Our business is on the forefront of the economic turmoil

this country is facing. The choice of this type of development

in the face of our current situation is puzzling to us.

How would you spend 5-6 million, if you had it?

Would you buy a huge home, a luxury car or boat, take an

expensive vacation??

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Five Star Real Estate

Grand Rapids Beer Joints Hoppin' in Feb

Posted on February 2, 2009 by Terry & Bonnie

Winter Beer Festival

Sat. Feb 28, 2009 Noon – 5PM

White Caps Ball Park Comstock Park MI

Have you ever dreamed of drinking craft beers fresh from the brewers casks?

Would you enjoy tasting new brews and rubbing elbows with other beer

enthusiasts? Well, set your calendars for Feb 28th in Grand Rapids, MI

Tickets are $ 35.00 which includes 12 drink tickets. Tickets are available at the following locations:

Whitecaps box office in Comstock Park
Rochester Mills Beer Co. in Rochester
Olde Peninsula Brewpub in Kalamazoo
Dragonmead Microbrewery in Warren
Old Hat Brewery in Lawton
Original Gravity Brewing in Milan
New Holland Brewing in Holland
The Livery in Benton Harbor
Walldorff Brewpub in Hastings
Kuhnhenn Brewing in Warren
Liberty Street Brewing in Plymouth
Sherwood Brewing in Shelby Township
Grizzly Peak in Ann Arbor
Schmohz Brewing in Grand Rapids
Siciliano’s Market in Grand Rapids
Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti
Arbor Brewing in Ann Arbor
Old Chicago Restaurant in Grand Rapids
Pauly’s Party Store in Lowell
Billy’s Lounge in Grand Rapids
Meanwhile Bar in Grand Rapids
Atwater Block Brewery in Detroit
HopCat in Grand Rapids

Here’s a few links to wet your whistle…..

Michigan Brewer’s Guild

Beer Advocates

Grilling with Beer

Dress for the weather, this is an outside event.

Grand Rapids Real Estate ~ Westbrook Realty

Reading at the Zoo Saturday, January 10th ?

Posted on January 8, 2009 by Terry & Bonnie

As bizarre as this sounds, that is exactly what is being promoted

by the Kent District Library’s One Book One County Reading

Program for Saturday, January 10th.

The book that will be chosen for this year’s program will be unveiled

at the John Ball Park Zoo’s Aquarium building at 11:00 am.

Besides announcing the new book for this year, the zoo staff will

give tours and presentations, and the zoo will be free from

11:00 until 2:00 pm for visitors.

Winter isn’t the usual time you think about going to the zoo, but

lots of animals are more active in the winter months, such as

the tigers, who have warm coats and like cooler weather.

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Five Star Real Estate

Forest Hills Fine Arts Center – A Fun Evening With Bandtasia

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

We are very fortunate to live in a community with a fabulous public school

system. One of its more popular assets is the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center.

This venue hosts Broadway Shows, a Gallery for local artists, High School

Musicals, Grand Rapids Symphony, Grand Rapids Ballet Events, and other

local school shows.

We are new volunteers at the Fine Arts Center and have learned a

lot about its background and what keeps it running.

: Forest Hills Fine Arts Center Ada MI

A list of over 300 volunteers are unpaid staff that help host all the shows.

Even though this wonderful building is part of the Forest Hills Public School

System, it is expected to operate at a profit. The only way to do this is

keep a small staff and have community volunteers man the events. This

keeps the cost of shows at a level where it is affordable and gives us a

wonderful building to host our local artistic events.

This is the Fine Arts Centers Fifth Season Subscription Series:

Clint Black Sept 21

Michael McDonald October 24

Three Dog Night November 7

Movin’ Out December 7

Golden Dragon Acrobats February 3

Phoebe Snow March 1

We just went to our first volunteer event a few weeks ago, Forest Hills

Central High School’s Bandtasia. Forest Hills Central’s marching

band puts on this show for the local community to strut their stuff. We

thoroughly enjoyed their performance.

We made a short video of some highlights, if you would like to take a look

at our excellent community arts resource- The Fine Arts Center:

Grand Rapids – Ada Real Estate – Five Star Real Estate

photo of Forest Hills Fine Arts Center by Bonnie Westbrook

Grand Rapids Mi Fall Rose Show at Frederick Meijer Gardens

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

Want to smell the Roses? The public is invited to the Grand Valley

Rose Society’s Fall Show & Judging at the Frederick Meijer Gardens

& Sculpture Park – August 30-31, 2008.

The Show will be open from 1-5 pm both Saturday and Sunday on

the lower level of the Fredercik Meijer Gardens building. There is no

charge for admission to the Rose Show but admission to

Frederick Meijers Gardens & Sculpture Park is still required.

Greetings Rose in Blossom

A class in Fragrance will be offered at 11 am – 5 pm on Saturday.

Visitors may take part by voting for “Most Fragrant Rose” during

that time period.

If you have a prize rose that you would like others to see, entries

are accepted 7-10 am Saturday. August 30th. There are 56 categories,

including 5 just for novice exhibitors.

This is the opportunity you have been waiting for – ” to smell the roses ”

photo of Greetings Rose by Bonnie Westbrook

Green Music Festival July 4th 2008 in Rothbury, MI

Posted on March 30, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

If you are interested in doing something different for this coming 4th of July celebration, we have a New Approach to a musical festival for you here in West Michigan. In tiny Rothbury, they are making music history and tying it in a big green ribbon. Do you remember Woodstock? It will have similar music offerings, over 100 bands, artists, and acts, featuring The Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, 311, Modest Mouse, Snoop Dogg, and Widespread Panic to name a few, but will have a green sustainable focus.

widespread panic band dave matthews Band

The promoters are centering the Festival at the Double JJ Ranch & Golf Resort, which is on the shores of Lake Michigan just north of Shelby. The Double JJ Ranch offers lakes, beach fronts, trails, forests, fields, and even onsite lodging, bars, and restaurants.

This is no ordinary Music Festival, they also plan on having:

An onsite Think Tank with innovative leaders in the Green movement in a round table discussion to plan and pursue saving our environment.

A Circus & Theatre where the show comes off the stage and engages more than a few of your senses – the run-in with a busker, a formal affair in the lounge of The Establishment, an unexpected aerial performance in the tree tops…

An Energy Fair: Visit the Energy Fair to enjoy a flurry of scheduled and surprise activities, test drive some new wheels with bleeding edge new technology, plus food and drink, vending, performances, presentations, contests and interactive opportunities, and so much more.

A New World Cabaret Experience: ROTHBURY’s bold and bawdy spot to get your fix of vaudeville croquet and smart, eclectic entertainment in a bizarre artisto-twistic atmosphere. Scheduling is still being confirmed.

The Tripolee Dome: with a chill out bar and lounge, yoga instructions, Earth harp classes, and more.

Also including: E Town, Yoga Program, and The Big Gig Open Mic Stage:

Summer will be here soon, this sounds like an event you won’t want to miss, if I can get Terry off the golf course for one weekend we might have a

” Rothbury Experience.”

Westbrook Realty ~ Grand Rapids Real Estate

Email: terry@terrywestbrook.com

photos courtesy of widespread panic & dave matthews band sites

Grand Rapids Real Estate

Grand Rapids Real Estate Information

Tag Archives: west michigan happenings

Cheryl Wheeler Concert at Fifth Third Ballpark April 10, 2010

Promoting Michigan ….Yes, We Can!

Promoting Michigan ….Yes, We Can!

Meijer Gardens ~ Summer Concert Series 2009

White Caps Baseball Signals Spring in West Michigan

Definition of Excess = 4.5 Million Teardown

Grand Rapids Beer Joints Hoppin' in Feb

Winter Beer Festival

Sat. Feb 28, 2009 Noon – 5PM

White Caps Ball Park Comstock Park MI

Reading at the Zoo Saturday, January 10th ?

Forest Hills Fine Arts Center – A Fun Evening With Bandtasia

Grand Rapids Mi Fall Rose Show at Frederick Meijer Gardens

Green Music Festival July 4th 2008 in Rothbury, MI