Etcetera
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by Carole Valade
♥ in River City
Some people may remember the winter lull in Grand Rapids, a time of simple choices like skiing, Valentine dinners or catching a stage production. For the past decade, the Van Andel Arena has welcomed a host of entertainment acts, and Lady GaGa’s upcoming performance is certainly a marker for the city. So, too, is the lineup for Gilda’s Club of Grand Rapids’ LaughFest — 10 days of non-stop comedy of every stripe beginning in early March. While the event schedule continues to build, no February passes without noting the month of the red dress — National Wear Red Day is Feb. 4 — and the Go Red for Women campaign by the American Heart Association, including the local chapter. Its outreach to prevent heart attacks and stroke among women recognizes heart disease as the No. 1 killer of women, taking the life of one in three each year. A Go Red luncheon at Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is scheduled for Feb. 25. This month also marks the opening of the Gun Lake Casino in Allegan County, the closest casino to Grand Rapids. Such an event would generally pass without mention here, but the Gun Lake Tribe spent a decade in the courts defending the right to open the controversial entertainment venue on tribal land, as several business leaders in Grand Rapids and the Blue Chip Casino management company sought to stop its construction and compact with the state. The new venue creates up to 750 new jobs in a community with one of the state’s highest unemployment rates. The Gun Lake Tribe of Pottawatomi Indians owns the casino and has opted to build it in stages as a result of the 10-year effort that directly preceded the recession. The casino features 1,450 slot machines, 28 game tables, a food court, a 225seat café, and bars, lounges and live entertainment. Its construction and upcoming build-out used local contractors and sub-contractors. The February issue of Grand Rapids Magazine traditionally highlights the nomination of more than 40 area restaurants for the Grand Rapids Magazine Dining Awards, with winners to be announced at a fundraiser for Grand Rapids Community College culinary students Feb. 16. But just as magazine cover photos were being considered, we were contacted by singer/
rapper/actor Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and film producer Randall Emmett, offering an interview and photo session. It’s another mark of the movie-making activity ever-present now in Grand Rapids. Jackson and Emmett are partners in production company Cheetah Vision, and both have come to love the city. The story of this team and their success here is related in the story beginning on page 40. Jackson has been looking at homes in the area, but won’t make up his mind “until we have a slate of films lined up” to shoot in Grand Rapids. “If I do three or four movies in Grand Rapids in 2011, it makes more sense to buy a house than to stay in a hotel,” Jackson said. And one of the reasons they want to shoot here is because of the talent they’ve found. “There are incredibly talented people here,” Emmett said, “About half to 60 percent of the crew we use is local — as high as 85 percent in some movies.” There’s just more and more to ♥ in River City — and more who know so.
Letters We welcome letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Please send letters in care of: Editor, Grand Rapids Magazine, 549 Ottawa Ave. NW, Grand Rapids MI 49503, or e-mail to letters@grmag.com. Letters may be edited for reasons of clarity and space. Corrections In the December issue, the “All-star doctors” feature, a list excerpted from the 2010 edition of HealthGrades Recognized Doctors, had some errors: Doctors H. Paul Singh, Tejinder S. Mander and William Merhi of West Michigan Cardiology were not listed. West
Michigan Cardiology is located at 743 East Beltline Ave. NE, (616) 456-9553. Dr. Laura Kelsey should have been listed under Grand Rapids Vein Clinic, 1720 Michigan St. NE, (616) 454-8442. Centre for Plastic Surgery was incorrectly identified as Center for Plastic Surgery. It is located at 426 Michigan St. NE, (616) 454-1256. Only a few specialties were printed in the issue; to find recognized doctors in other specialties, go to the online search tool at bit.ly/grmdocs. In the January issue, Dr. Brad Bengtson’s name was misspelled in the Best of Grand Rapids Readers Poll.
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