G-Sync is Rapid Growth's signature event column, consolidated and filtered each week by Lifestyle Editor Tommy Allen. For more information on any event, just click G-Sync.
As the holiday season winds down with amazing style, the pressure will be on 2009 (and all of us) to try and top 2008’s amazing events. While gloom and doom rules the tele airwaves, our city is alive with possibilities.
While the staff of Rapid Growth is away the next few weeks, you will have a chance to explore your city in ways not usually available with the groove we create in our work life.
Make time these next few weeks to walk your neighborhood sidewalks, enjoy a café like The Sparrows (where original artisan ornaments can be still be procured as easy as a steamy mocha) or IM all 200 of your Facebook friends for an ice skating gathering at Rosa Parks Circle.
As I look forward to family traditions and brand new ones like Twittermas with my friends, I will keep this past year close to my heart. And I promise not to laugh if I burp in the middle of these intimate thoughts of our time together.
Choose local ….and often.
– Tommy Allen, Lifestyle Editor
Downtown Santa Invasion – Don We Now Our Gay Apparel
Rosa Parks Circle
Saturday, Dec. 20, 4 p.m. (Don’t be late.)
G-Sync
Christmas for all its dazzling baubles and bright, shiny lights is really at its core a sport. And just like any sport, we decide at some point to be a player or a spectator.
If venturing downtown this Saturday you will need to decide on a range of obvious choices from shoes to sweaters to even a scarf, if necessary. But the biggest choice you will make this weekend will be whether to wear the big iconic red hat with the white trim or not.
For those who choose to adorn themselves in a Santa Claus-like fashion, a special place in event history awaits you at Rosa Parks Circle, where others who will be participating in Grand Rapids’ first-ever Downtown Santa Invasion will greet you.
This invasion of red and white is part of another Rob Bliss Urban Experiment, where Bliss envisions hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Santas strolling the streets of GR, handing out candy to any and all that pass their way from the 4 to 6 p.m. event. I personally hope to see a few of these Santas on ice skates.
And while in the giving mood, why not jump start your Christmas spirit with some downtown shopping combined with your rosy cheeks and a slight sugar buzz.
Admission: FREE
The Verve Pipe – More Than Just Freshman
The Intersection
133 Grandville Ave. SW
Saturday, Dec. 19, 8 p.m.
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Every year, Grand Rapids favorite band takes to the stage to reunite and perform a collection of their hits, and yearly the faithful fans come out to be a part of this holiday tradition.
The timing is perfect in many ways, since this event provides the perfect way to see your old friends while indulging in our most favorite of activities, catching up while listening to your favorite band.
West Michigan is lucky in many ways to not only be the home to this band, but also have band members that are so connected to this region that this is one of the only shows that the entire band comes back together to perform for the local fans.
Admission: $15. Ticketmaster.com
DJs @ the DAAC: Shock of the New
Division Avenue Arts Cooperative
115 S. Division Ave.
Friday, Dec. 26, 7 p.m.
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A big congratulations to the hard working board and artists at the DAAC on becoming a non-profit. I have been a huge fan of this group right from the start when I covered them for On The Town magazine.
In my piece, co-founder Emma Heemskerk said this arts group founded in 2004 was not concerned about what was considered cool or not cool, knowing full well that once you are labeled cool, you no longer are. Heemskerk said the DAAC was most attracted to the concept of “being genuine and innovative.”
Now four years later, while many of the founders have moved on to other projects, the ones who have stayed carry on this mission. At the DAAC on Friday, Dec. 26, Brandon Hill, Grand Rapids’ incredibly musically gifted DJ, will be joined by Steve Swift and Evan Shurlow for a live pop night of electronica music.
Says Brandon, “its rather hard for serious DJs to play out in West Michigan without it being top 40.” This promises to be a full night of new or otherwise unfamiliar music. Think of this night as a form of education with a beat you can dance to.
The DAAC is all about exposure to new forms of art and it would not be wise to miss a chance to be a part of this exciting living art history evolving on Division Avenue.
Admission: Free
Jeff Kagan in Concert: EGR to the Rockies (and Back Home Again)
Grand Rapids Children’s Museum
11 Sheldon Ave. NE
Saturday, Dec. 27, 11 a.m., 1 p.m. & 2 p.m.
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Over the course of the next few weeks parents eventually will reach the end of their rope (and sanity) as they scramble to find activities for their children to participate. And what better way to entertain those youngsters than to let someone else do it for you.
The Grand Rapids Children’s Museum welcomes home East Grand Rapids native Jeff Kagan, returning with guitar in hand to perform a selection of original compositions with an environmental slant.
Kagan arrives in Grand Rapids literally on the heals of his 483-mile walk along the Colorado Trail and a 10-concert-venue stop in support of his April 2008 release of “Rocky Mountain Tunes for Rocky Mountain Kids.”
Since Kagan is also an environmental education teacher at Boulder, Colo.’s Throne Ecological Institute, his Earth-rich background enhances the concert material with musical observations on the environment and what he has learned along the many paths he has traveled.
The former Americorps worker has hiked extensively on the Appalachian Trail, the John Muir Trail and the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. This free show is an added benefit for paid attendees of the museum for one day only.
Admission: Concert is Free with paid museum admission
Ben Schaafsma Memorial Party – Celebrating the Life of An Artist
Meanwhile Bar
1005 Wealthy St. SE
Saturday, Dec. 27, 4 p.m. - close
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While we have much to celebrate at the end of the year, the passing of one year to another is a bittersweet annual gesture. But this year is a bit more tender than others as many in the arts community are mourning the loss of Ben Schaafsma, a leader in the arts whose life was cut short too soon when an errant New York City cab struck him down last fall.
Ben was a rising star in the arts and left every passing city in his travels a bit poorer for his absence. In his short life he accomplished so much.
While in Grand Rapids, he, along with a group of visionary artists, tackled the opening of a new arts center that literally turned the art world upside down over night. Their levelheaded approach to the arts resulted in the creation of the DAAC.
The Division Avenue Arts Cooperative enjoys a special place in the turning of its neighborhood street from a place for the downtrodden to a welcoming home for those creative souls seeking a community.
Ben’s passing has been written about by many, including a cover story recently in the Chicago Reader. The Meanwhile Bar is hosting this memorial fundraiser to help Ben’s family cover the cost of his funeral and medical bills.
I encourage you to think about what you can give to help, but most of all if you are a fan of the local art scene, please come on down to meet some of his friends who will no doubt lift a glass in his honor as they share a story or twenty of one of our own who shined so bright and will no doubt inspire others in our community.
Admission: Free – Generous Donations Accepted. Ben’s Favorite Drink Bell’s Two Hearted Ale and the Vern Ehlers (Vernors & Jameson) will be on special all night.
New Year’s Eve Club Hop: Crossing the Velvet Rope Divide with Style
Various Clubs
Downtown Grand Rapids
Wednesday, Dec. 31, 8 p.m.
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As an artist, it becomes necessary from time to time to collaborate to create a maximum impact. On New Year’s Eve six distinct clubs have come together with a package that no other venue in West Michigan could even come close to matching.
For $50 your VIP pass grants you access to all 6 exciting clubs (Crush, Dragon Room, Moxie, Eve, Monte's & Churchill's) as well as unlimited access to the VIP Party Limo Bus running between all the venues.
The VIP Party Limo Bus will travel between Moxie, Churchill’s, The Dragon Room and The BOB every half an hour between 9 p.m. and 12:00 a.m., and then later from midnight until close between all featured clubs (Moxie, The Dragon Room, The BOB and Monte's).
For those desiring dinner before the VIP treatment begins, you can start your evening off with an 8 p.m. dinner at Churchill's, where Executive Chef Tommy Fitzgerald will present a special NYE meal that as an added enhancement to your VIP ticket. While dining guests will be entertained by resident DJs Shannon Williams and Jenny D. Reservations are strongly encouraged.
So grab a green chauffer ride downtown and avoid driving (& DUIs), parking fees and walking in the snow.
Admission: $50 Booked in advance at 616.617.4353 or HookMeUpEnt@gmail.com
New Year's Eve on the Grand: You Always Remember Your First Time
Rosa Parks Circle
Wednesday, Dec. 31, 5:30 – 12:30 a.m.
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This event is so fresh, so new and so downtown that to stay at home on the couch knowing that thousands of your community members will be dancing in the streets of our city would be a real crime.
The city of Grand Rapids has partnered with Citadel Broadcasting, Fifth Third Bank, Rockford Construction and many other local businesses to bring a special New Year’s Eve party to Rosa Parks Circle and the entire city is invited to come on down.
This first year event kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with live entertainment and the party energy keeps on building until the over six foot in diameter giant ball of nearly 500 lights drops from high above the city to welcome in 2009.
Admission: Free