Tag Archives: KDL Kelloggsville Branch

Snapshots: Wyoming and Kentwood weekend news you want to know

Citizen Journalism, , , , , , ,

WKTV Staff

joanne@wktv.org

Quote of the Day

"Even the southeast side of Grand Rapids must bow to the beauty of a Michigan fall."*
          -Daniel Abbott, The Concrete

 

Trunks Full of Treats

 

Kentwood’s Fall Festival includes Trunk or Treat. (WKTV)

The City of Kentwood will host its annual Fall Festival this Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.

 

Among the activities will be the annual Trunk or Treat when city and community organizations decorate their trunks and hand out candy to area children. Participants will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite decorated trunk. Also taking place will be face painting, hayrides, a bounce house, and games.

 

 

 

Go Hike, Get a Prize

 

Urban-thru-hiker Liz Thomas

If you head out on the trails this weekend, you might be lucky enough to score a surprise from Merrell, the shoe company. Merrell team members will be handing out swag bags and gift cards along The Ales Trail starting at Outside Coffee Co., 734 Wealthy St. SE, and making its way to several area breweries, ending at the New Holland Knickerbocker. The event is lead by urban-thru-hiker Liz Thomas who has been making her way through the local trails to help encourage residents to get out and hike.

 

 

Brewed Spirits

 

The phantom footprint preserved in the upstairs bar.

The Mitten Brewing Co. creates some of the area’s best brews and apparently those from the afterworld agree as they are still hanging around the former firehouse.  Since opening, staff and guests have reported paranormal activity in the building located at 527 Leonard St. NE. 

 

Co-owner Christ Andrus said he believes that whatever is haunting the former Engine House No. 9 is just playing pranks on people. Regardless if you believe or not, it makes for some great tall tales over some award-winning brew. (The Mitten’s West Coast Swing Amber took a Gold Medal at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival.)

 

 

Fun Fact:

5,062 Years

That is how old a bristlecone in California is, making it the oldest individual living tree. (For reference, wooly mamnoths died about 4,000 years. Want to learn more about trees? Then snatch up a copy of "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben, and then join the book discussion on Nov. 8 at the KDL Kelloggsville. The program will be lead by the City of Wyoming Tree Commission starting at 6:30 p.m..

Snapshots: Wyoming and Kentwood news you want to know

3-bottom, City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, , , , , , , , , ,

WKTV Staff

joanne@wktv.org

Quote of the Day

"Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world."
          -Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate

 

‘Book’ on over

 

The new KDL Bookmobile was unveiled at a special event at Steelcase. The Steelcase Foundation helped to launch the project with a $208,000 grant.

This week the Kent District Library unveiled its new Bookmobile, or as KDL Executive Director Lance Werner called it, “a library on wheels.” The Bookmobile, loaded with books and materials, will be heading out to service underserved areas and places where there is not a library readily available.

 

The goal is to help improve reading proficiency with students, Werner said, adding that the target age is third grade as students who are not at a reading proficiency by third grade could face more problems as they get older. The bookmobile has a rotating collection that can be curated for the places it visits whether it be a school or a senior center.

 

The KDL Bookmobile is scheduled to come to the KDL Kelloggsville Branch, located at the Kelloggsville High School, 4787 Division Ave. on Nov. 17 and to the KDL Kentwood (Richard L. Root) Branch, 4950 Breton Ave. SE, Nov. 24. For a list of locations, visit kdl.org/bookmobile.

 

For more on the Bookmobile, click here.

 

 

Go Blue!

 

Godwin Heights will face off against Wyoming Lee this Friday in hopes of getting its sixth win and securing a place in the playoffs. And of course, WKTV will be there to cover all the action.

 

The playoff schedules will be announced on Sunday, Oct. 21 with Pre-District games kicking off the following weekend. All games, as well as other high school sports and community events covered by WKTV, are available on-demand within a week of play at wktvondemand.com.

 

 

By the Meter

 

Ada Limon

Two award-winning poets will be heading to Grand Valley State University Thursday, Oct. 18, to discuss their work.

 

Part of GVSU’s Fall Arts Celebration, poets Ada Limón and Carl Phillips will begin the discussion at 7:30 p.m. at GVSU’s Eberdhard Center in downtown Grand Rapids. Limón is the author of five books of poetry, including her new book The Carrying (2018). Phillips is the author of 14 books of poetry, including his most recent works, Wild Is the Wind (2018) and Reconnaissance (2015).

 

For more on the event, click here.

 

 

Fun Fact:

maestra

The Spanish work for a person who teaches music, usually referring to a woman. (Maestro is the male word.) This month, St. Cecilia Music Center announced its new Grand Band conductor Robin Connell. For more, click here.

KDL Kelloggsville branch is feeding the mind and the body with summer food program

3-bottom, ,
KDL intern Diego Ulloa sets up the Meet Up and Eat Up program at KDL Kelloggsville Branch.

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

joanne@wktv.org

 

Students visiting the KDL Kelloggsville Branch this summer did not only have the opportunity to feed their minds, but their stomachs as well.

 

The library, which is located in the Kelloggsivlle High School, 4787 S. Division Ave, partnered with Feeding America and the Kelloggsvile Public Schools to offer the Meet Up and Eat Up. The summer food program is a statewide-effort to provide nutritious meals to lower-income areas during the summer months when students do not have access to the National School Lunch or School Breakfast programs. 

 

“The discussion came about through an informal meeting about the KDL Kelloggsville branch, said Michael Zurgable, a librarian at the KDL Kelloggsville branch. “Kelloggsville Assistant Superintendent Tammy Savage mentioned that 85 percent of the students in the district receive free and reduce lunches.”

 

Through that discussion, KDL Executive Director Lance Warner through the Kelloggsville branch would be a good site for the Meet Up and Eat Up program. The program already was in several of the Kelloggsville schools, but not at the high school, Zurgable said. 

 

Snatching up the snacks

Through Aug. 17, the library offers breakfast and snack three days a week. Breakfast is served from 9:30 – 10: 30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and snack is served from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as well. 

 

Since the library needed to have mostly non-perishable items, breakfast offerings are usually cereal, milk, apple juice and a snack item. The snack offerings are usually granola, a granola bar, crackers with cheese, beef stick, fruit snacks, and water. There is a table for students to place unwanted, unopened items for others to take.

 

Anyone 18 years old and younger is eligibly to come and eat, as well as people up to age 26 who are enrolled in an education program for the mentally or physically disabled. Up to 100 students will be served per meal.

 

Zurgable said the library, which officially opened in January of this year, has not hit the 100 mark at any meal as residents are still learning about the facility. Located in the high school, KDL has been working to educate residents, especially those who live near the high school, about the school district and KDL partnership. KDL operates the facility during the summer and after school during the school year so as area residents may utilize the KDL collection. 

 

A Kelloggsville student grabs a snack before heading off to practice.

Throughout the summer, staff has seen numbers grow through various programs. The Meet Up and Eat Up program also has grown. 

 

“It’s nice knowing that students have someplace to go so they don’t have to go hungry for the entire summer,” said KDL intern Diego Ulloa, who helps set up the program and distributes the food. Ulloa is a a graduate of East Kentwood High School and is currently attending Northern Michigan University.

 

Ulloa said in the afternoon, most of the students who stop are those heading to or from practice at the school. In fact, within the first 20 minutes of opening, he had distributed about 30 snacks with the students sharing their appreciation.

 

Residents are getting accustomed to the library being open and programs like Meet Up and Eat Up helps build that connection to the community the KDL Kellloggsviill branch serves, Zurgable said. 

 

“For many of the families, it is kind of a bonus for coming in,” Zurgable said. “Get out of the heat, come to the library, read a few books and get a snack. It makes for a fun afternoon.”