The ANNOUNCER October 2022

The Announcer is delivered to you as a free monthly publication serving Allendale Township. It is brought to you by the Allendale Area Chamber of Commerce.

ADDRESS: 11325 54th Ave. Allendale, MI 49401 (616) 892-2632

WEBSITE: www.allendalechamber.org

OFFICE HOURS: M-TH / 9am - 2pm

ADS SENT TO: Christie Tidd at allendaleannouncer@gmail.com

GVSU sees increase in first-year students

Welcomes most diverse class in university's history

By: Mary Eilleen Lyon

ALLENDALE, Mich. – Enrollment numbers are in for the Fall semester, and Grand Valley reported across-the-board increases in students new to the university. Nearly 4,000 first-year students enrolled, a 3 percent increase over last year. The university reported an 8 percent increase in transfer students and a 2 percent increase in graduate students. There is also a 9 percent increase in first-year students from Southeast Michigan.

GVSU is also seeing dramatic increases in first-generation college students and students of color, welcoming the most diverse first-year class in the university’s 62-year history with a 23.4 percent increase (4,462) in students of color. For students who are just entering college, Grand Valley reported a 28.4 percent increase (351) in students who are the first in their families to attend college and a 24.4 percent increase (243) in low-income or Pell-eligible students, a 69.7 percent increase (152) in Black students and a 9 percent increase (27) in Hispanic or Latino students.

While total enrollment at 21,648 is down slightly more than 3 percent over last year, B. Donta Truss, vice president for Enrollment Development and Educational Outreach, said that mirrors national pandemic enrollment and retention challenges. He is confident enrollment will return to pre-pandemic levels given the positive experience students have at GVSU.

“Grand Valley delivers a high-value education that is accessible and affordable,” Truss said. “When students get on campus, they find out quickly that our professors and advisors truly care about them and their progress. Students can take part in quality experiences with support systems in place to help them be successful. We are excited to welcome all students to GVSU.”

Grand Valley State University President Philomena V. Mantella said students recognize the value GVSU offers. “Throughout the pandemic, we continued to move our university forward with great energy and conviction,” Mantella said. “We are absolutely committed to empowering every student. The value that Grand Valley offers is proven time and again with our strong liberal education foundation and deep connection with Michigan employers that provide internships and jobs upon graduation. Students are enrolling at GVSU because they recognize we offer powerful experiences with a strong return on their investment. More than 80 percent of our graduates are working in Michigan and giving back to their communities.”

Students are enrolling from nearly every county in the state of Michigan, 44 states and 83 countries.

Allendale Area

October Calendar of Events

*Please check with location or event before attending as information may have changed since publication

local events

Sat, Oct 1 12-11pm

Harvest Fest at Trail Point Brewing, 6035 Lake Michigan Dr, $ Exclusive brews, food trucks and live music lifestreamweb.org/colors-of-community

Haunted Arbortem, GVSUoct 13+14 7:30-10pm

Colors of Community Art Show at Lifestream Church, 6561 Lake Michigan Dr, Freeoct 9nov 10 gvsu.edu/cab/haunted-arboretum-22

Trick or Treating at Laker Village, GVSU, Freewed, oct 26 5-7pm

16th Annual Community Event!

Pumpkin Walk at Second Church, 6950 Lake Michigan Dr, FreeOct 27-29 6-9pm

Trick or Treat Street at Indian Trails Camp, 0-1859 Lake Michigan Dr, $sat, Oct 29 2-4pm

Trick or treating, games, snacks and activities, $5 per person

APS Trunk or Treat at Evergreen Elementary, 10690 Learning Ln, Freesun, Oct 30 4:30 - 6pm

Come on out to this family friend event from the AHS Rotary

Trick or Treating in Allendalemon, Oct 31 6-8pm

Outdoor walks

wed, oct 7 7 - 8:30pm SUN, oct 16 1:30-2:30PM

Turn your front porch light on if you have tricks or treats!

Register for these programs at miottawa.org/Parks/programs - Adult Programs

Moonlight Night Hike at the Grand Ravines, Ages 10+, $

Fall Color Walk at the Grand Ravines, Ages 12+, $

The Farm in Fall-time - Historical Walking Tour at Eastmanville Farm County Park, Ages 10+, $thur, oct 20 6-7pm

Fall Family Fun

all through the month

Fun Farm Days: Now through November 4, $

Fall Festivals: Every Saturday in October, $

Post Family Farm | 5081 Bauer Rd. Hudsonville, MI 49426 | postfamilyfarm.com

Wagon Rides: Every Saturday in Oct / U-pick Pumpkins: Starting first weekend in Oct, $ Kids play area, Corn Maze

Wells Orchards | 8993 Kenowa Ave SW, GR | wellsorchards.com

U-pick Pumpkins: October 1-31, M-Sat 9am-5pm, $ Wagon Rides: Every Saturday in October, 12-5pm, $

Moelker Orchards + Farm Market | 9265 Kenowa Ave SW, GR | moelkerorchards.com secondchurchallendale.org/pumpkinwalk2022 trailpointbrewing.com

aps homecoming week

wed, oct 12 7pm

fri, oct 14 7pm

Sat, Oct 15 10am

Powderpuff Game at the APS Football Field $5 entry, 50/50 Raffle to benefit APS Student Council

Varsity Football Game vs Holland Christian HS $5 entry

AHS Marching Band Invitational at Allendale High School

gvsu homecoming

sat, oct 22

Golden Reunion | 9:30 a.m.

Campus Tours | 11 a.m.

Homecoming Tailgate | 12 3 p.m.

Featuring a timeline of GVSU through the decades – catch-up with fellow alumni from your era and pick-up decade themed giveaways while enjoying food and beverages.

Football Game Kickoff | 3 p.m., $ Cheer on your Lakers as they take on the Northern Michigan University Wildcats!

gvsu.edu/homecoming

trivia, music, Food trucks + Sports

Farmhaus Cider | 5025 Stanton St, Hudsonville

Thurs, Oct 6

Sat, Oct 15

Sun, Oct 16 Thurs, Oct 13

farmhauscider.com

Main Street Pub | 11240 University Pkwy, Allendale

Karaoke - Tuesday at 8pm // Trivia Night - Wednesday at 8pm

Trivia Night every Thursday at 7pm // Food Trucks Thursday - Sunday facebook.com/MainSt.PubAllendale

The Tasting Room | 11233 68th Ave Allendale

Live Music every Friday at 7pm

Trail Point Brewing | 6035 Lake Michigan Dr, Allendale

Bring Your Own Vinyl - Monday // Pub Nerds Trivia - Tuesday // Live Music - Saturday at 7pm Cigar Night | A night of beer and cigar pairings with Siciliano’s | 6-9pm

Chili Cook Off | Enter a chili or just come out to taste!

Yoga and Beer | 11:30am - 12:30pm

trailpointbrewing.com

APS Choir Concert

8th Grade Choir, 7pm tinyurl.com/396yh9af

Allendale Athletics | Cross Country, Football, Golf, Soccer, Volleyball, $

Find the full calendar of events at: allendaleathletics.org/main/calendar

Purchase a seasons pass for MS and HS sporting events, find the link here: allendaleathletics.org/main/filesLinks

// THINGS TO DO @GVSU

Welcome back to the Allendale Campus for another great year at GVSU!

Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival

Hail and well met, theater lovers and Shakespeare fans! The Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival arrives once more to the Allendale campus for your viewing fun. The festival this year features their Mainstage Production of The Merry Wives of Windsor, as well as Bard to Go tours, and their Greenshow productions. Also featured will be a public performance of Blue Eye'd Hag by Jim Lair Beard, performed by our local Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company!

The Merry Wives of Windsor - Louis Armstrong Theatre

The Grand Valley Shakespeare festival’s featured performance is The Merry Wives of Windsor. A “laugh-out-loud comedy full of quirky characters and hilarious tricks,” The Merry Wives of Windsor is directed by Timuchin Aker, and is rumored to feature a modern twist. The story features a knight looking to increase his fortune by wooing two wealthy Windsor wives, but hilarity and chaos ensues as the wives gain the upper hand on him.

October 7, 8, 13, 14, 15 at 7:30 PM

October 9 and 16 at 2:00 PM

Louis Armstrong Theatre, Haas Center for Performing Arts

*Tickets will go on sale 2 weeks prior to opening night through etix.com.

Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Co. Performances

Our famously local performers, the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, will accompany the ensemble in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Co. is also set to perform Blue Eye'd Hag, a prequel to Shakespeare’s The Tempest, written by Jim Lair Beard. Pigeon Creek Executive Director Katherine Mayberry describes the play as “Alternately laugh out loud funny and hauntingly poignant… but you don’t need to know Shakespeare or The Tempest to enjoy this new story.” Blue Eye'd Hag is full of comedy, magic, warring kingdoms, and chaos, as a royal wedding is halted by the arrival of a mysterious woman and her newborn baby. Jim Lair Beard is a playwright, screenwriter, and Shakespearean actor currently based in Calgary, Canada.

October 15 at 2:00PM & October 16 at 7:30PM

Pere Marquette Room, Kirkhof Center

Bard to Go: Bardic Inspiration

Grand Valley’s “Bard to Go” will return this October as well. “Bard to Go” is the Shakespeare Festival’s touring group that performs 50-minute productions, creating fun and accessible performances for everyone! This year, their theme is “Bardic Inspiration,” a Dungeons & Dragons inspired quest. The performance centers around friends playing a “Shakespeare-themed role-playing game in attempts to vanquish the evil king Macbeth after he has murdered his way to the

Saturday, October 29th at 2PM

Louis Armstrong Theatre, Haas Center for Performing Arts

Looking to Fall into Fun? Consider checking out these upcoming October events:

// THINGS TO DO @GVSU

Grand Valley Renaissance Festival

Returning for the 26th year in a row, the 2022 Grand Valley Renaissance Festival (or “GVRen”) will take place October 8 & 9 on GVSU’s Allendale campus! Held in the Clock Tower Square in front of Kirko Center, GVRen o ers a free, fun and fantastical experience. View the costumes, buy from pop-up market stalls, or even watch games or small performances enacted by GVRen club members. The festival is always held rain or shine, so dress for the weather and get ready to have some fun!

Saturday, October 8th at 10:00 AM-7:00 PM

Sunday, October 9th at 10:00 AM -5:00 PM

GVSU Allendale Campus, Clock Tower Square (in front of Kirko

“As is: Beauty and the Body in Contemporary Art” at the GVSU Art Gallery

The GVSU Haas Center for Performing Arts is proud to present their new exhibition: “As is: Beauty and the Body in Contemporary Art.” Featuring art selected from a private collection in Chicago, the “As is” exhibition “celebrates the body as a source of inspiration and challenges traditional notions of beauty and representation.” The themes of this exhibition revolve around bodies and figures in portraits, as well as the body as it is depicted in art history, and “the body becoming,” which discusses the time period, culture, and political climate in which bodies and people exist.

GVSU Arts Gallery (PAC 1121)

Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus

MTWF - 10am-5pm

TH - 10am - 7pm

ACT Fire Department Progress Update

Have you noticed the progress quickly being made on the new fire station? Erhardt Construction will have this ready for Allendale Township Fire Department before we know it! On Thursday, April 7, Township Supervisor Adam Elenbaas announced that construction had begun near the intersection of Lake Michigan Drive and 68th Avenue, and that the fire department is expected to move into the new building by the end of the year. From the groundbreaking to today, the progress has been unbelievable.

For those that see this as a big building, why yes, it is. The new fire station is designed to meet the township’s current needs as well as its future ones. It will include a sleeping quarters and kitchen area for when the station will need to convert to a 24/7 sta ng model in the future. The new building will have a women’s quarters, restrooms and lockers, and it will also be handicap accessible. And the best news…Thanks to contributions from Grand Valley State University and the Downtown Development Authority - along with years of careful fiscal planning - the project won’t result in any tax increases.

We're making progress.

“As a husband, father, and small business owner, I know the challenges facing our communities. That’s why I’m working to solve the problems facing your family. Together, we can make West Michigan the greatest place possible to live, work, start a business, and raise a family!”

www.allendale-twp.org

TOWNSHIP INFORMATION

Township Board Mee�ngs

Township board mee�ngs are on October 10 and 24 at 6:00 pm. You can find board agendas and minutes on our website: www.allendale twp.org.

Street Parking

A friendly reminder that per Allendale Zoning Ordinance Ar�cle 21, parking on the road, including a subdivision, is not permi�ed. Please call us at 616 895 6295 with any ques�ons.

Halloween Trick or Trea�ng

Although the township does not have an official trick or trea�ng event, we suggest it to be done on the actual day Monday, October 31 from 6 8pm. Have fun, but also be safe!

ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP LIBRARY

Free Fun!

We offer many free programs for people of all ages. To see a complete calendar of events, visit our website (allendalelibrary.org) or Facebook page (facebook.com/ allendalelibrary).

ALLENDALE CHARTER TOWNSHIP

Keeping YOU informed!

OFFICE INFORMATION

Veterans Day

Please come to the township hall auditorium on November 11, 2022 from 8:00am - 9:30am for a Veterans Day Reception. This is an event to honor those who served our country. Hear from guest speakers and meet with fellow veterans.

A complimentary breakfast will be served. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth, township community coordinator, at 616 892 3118.

Event address: 6676 Lake Michigan Drive, Allendale, MI 49401

Absentee Ballot Reminder:

If you have already submi�ed a dual Absent Voter Ballot Applica�on to the Clerk ’s office for both the August and November elec�on, you do not need to submit a second one for the November elec�on. If you would like an absentee ballot for the November elec�on and you did not indicate on your August elec�on applica�on that you wanted an absentee ballot for November, please submit a new applica�on.

If you have any ques�ons about the absentee process, please contact the Clerk’s office at the informa�on below.

SPECIALS

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GET UP TO $110 back by mail on a Firestone Visa prepaid card with a qualifying purchase of Firestone Destination and Firestone Firehawk tires. Get up to $90 on a qualifying purchase of Firestone WeatherGrip tires. O er valid 10/15/22 to 11/15/22.