 KamiKaze FireFlies will perform on the Dogwood Center main stage on Friday, November 17 at 7:30 p.m. Rob Williams and Casey Martin perform for audiences all over the world. The show is a mix of comedy and circus including juggling, hula hoops, a German wheel, and whip cracking! On America’s Got Talent Season 9, they received a standing ovation and Howard Stern said, “Fantastic. Captivating. You’re funny. I was sucked into this thing. It was wonderful. I can’t wait to see more!” The Seattle Times said they gave a “near riotous end to the show.” After their huge success on America's Got Talent, the Kamikaze FireFlies heard from the world of cruise ships and just recently completed multiple dates on the Crown Princess and they are scheduled to return to the Princess Cruise family with future tours. Corporate events, theaters and festivals fill out their performances during the year. Tickets are $15.00 for adults, $5.00 for children 18 and under. Tickets are available online at www.dogwoodcenter.com, at the Dogwood Box Office, or at NCCA-Artsplace in downtown Fremont. The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Tuesday - Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. For information, phone 231.924.8885.  Review by Megan Wirts Photos by Megan Wirts "They’re creepy and they’re kooky. Mysterious and spooky. They’re altogether ooky. The Addams Family. Da na na na" As soon as those familiar strains fill the Grant Fine Arts Center, the audience instinctively snaps along. The classically spooky family takes center stage with LionHeart Productions October 27-29 and November 3-5. All of the familiar characters are there, along with several ghoulish ancestors and one “normal” family. Wednesday Addams is all grown up and has reluctantly fallen in love with Lucas Beineke, a normal boy from…Ohio. Yuck. When a family dinner is planned, hilarity and hijinks ensue as the two completely opposite families meet for the first time. Directed by Ron Jenkins, The Addams Family Musical is a spooky and kooky delight! Filled with high energy musical numbers and a hilarious script, this show will leave you laughing the entire time. The cast is fantastic and filled with incredible talent. Joseluis “Bob” Alonzo plays the patriarch of the family Gomez Addams perfectly. After a 10-year hiatus he is back on stage with LionHeart Productions and it seems as if he just picked right up where he left off. From the moment the show began he commanded the audience’s attention and won them over immediately with his mustachioed grin, fantastic voice and comedic timing. Morticia Addams is played by the lovely Sharolyn Metternich with great sophistication and creepy class. During her solo numbers, Metternich shines and shows off her beautiful voice and ability to make us laugh. Wednesday Addams is played by the talented Dana Chambers. With a great big voice and the perfect amount of classic Wednesday cynicism, Chambers proved herself to be a star. Wednesday would hate this, but, Chambers made her adorably lovable. No wonder Lucas Beineke (Dreisen Aue) fell in love with her. Aue brings his charm and killer voice to the part of the wholesome young Lucas and does a wonderful job playing opposite Chambers. His parents, Mal and Alice, are played by Jim Renney and Julia Scarlett Cole, both long time members of LionHeart Productions. Renney is excellent as the nervous and uptight father and Cole plays the rhyming, tightly wound Alice wonderfully. Cole wowed the audience during her performance in the final scene of Act 1. Full Disclosure, I love Alice. The rest of the Addams clan is brought to life by Graydon Gesler, who convincingly played the mischievous and murderous little brother Pugsley, Kathy Jenkins hilariously plays Grandma, Alec Jenkins gives life to the lovable and loathsome Lurch, and Jamie Evans is fantastic as the creeper turned hopeless romantic, Uncle Fester. With a wildly talented group of ancient ancestors rounding out the cast. This show had me hooked and laughing from the very beginning. The dialogue was funny and witty, and the musical numbers were catchy. With a beautifully designed set, by Mike Gesler and creepy costumes by Kathy Jenkins, it was a fun show to watch. My entire family, ages 10 and up all loved it! Run, don’t walk, and go see this show! There are still five chances to see it! October 28th at 7:30pm, October 29th at 2:00pm, November 3rd and 4th at 7:30pm and November 5th at 2:00pm. Tickets are $15 for Adults, $10 for Students and Seniors. Tickets available online NOW at https://tickets.grantps.net/ or call the Grant Fine Arts Center at 231-834-5630. Volunteers will be in the box office for phone and in-person sales M-Th 3-6pm, F 3-7:30pm, Sat 6-7:30pm, Sun 1-2pm By N3 World Headquarters Entertainment Department Halloween is huge. I mean, Christmas certainly commands center stage of holidays as well it should given how such an enormous amount of our lives are spent preparing for, celebrating, and recovering from the ever lengthening madness that the celebration of the birth of Christ has become. But that’s a discussion for another day perhaps. We’re talking Halloween here and Halloween is indeed huge. I don’t recall from my younger years (ahh, the age thing again) it being this big a deal beyond our door to door trick or treating with a makeshift costume. For the younger set it was great. Dress up, get to wander about with friends and go to other houses in other neighborhoods after dark. Then to top it off come home with enough candy to last until nearly Christmas once you got past the first couple of days when you ate all the good stuff. By the time Thanksgiving hit, you were generally down to the really cheap stuff like little Root Beer Barrels and such. Most of the adults I knew back then weren’t the type to be putting on costumes (at least outside the privacy of their homes perhaps) and gathering with other festooned friends for some serious revelling. And few if any organizations tossed open their doors (or parking lots) for those one-stop shopping trick-or-treating opportunities or held events filled with games and such for kids to partake in. And it’s not just the abundance of activities for young and old alike. It’s the time and imagination and research that goes into it. There are front lawns that run the gamut from garrulously ghoulish to absolute masterpieces of macabre.True works of art, albeit art with perhaps a dash of depravity. And the costumes have soared in terms of sheer genius. In college I recall a Halloween gathering where several people wrapped themselves in sheets and went as a ‘joint’. Yeah, cute and all but pretty lame compared to what’s out there today and I do mean “out there”. My admiration runs deep for folks who put their creative juices into such initiatives because it’s all about fun and as the Great Commander Cody once sang: “There’s a whole lot of things that I never done. But I ain’t never had too much fun” If you’ve a mind send us a photo of a locale where the yard decor screams Halloween or perhaps a notable costume and send it in. We’ll try to post the best of the best. In the meantime….. So many options. Trail of Terror Friday and Saturday. See Our Ms. Wirts’ column describing this tasty morsel of frightful fun (Home Page) and don’t miss it. The Addams Family Grant Fine Arts Center Friday 7:30pm Saturday 7:30pm and Sunday 2pm LionHeart does it right and their musicals have a track record of being outstanding. From set design to stage performance to sound this community theater group with a home base in our Gateway city has never failed to be thoroughly entertaining as they parade a cavalcade of local talent in front of the footlights. It’s this weekend and next but tickets fly out of the box office for these shows so do not dally. Monsterpiece Theater Dogwood Center Saturday 3pm Matt Emerick does an outstanding job putting together a family friendly show with an all-kid cast and the performance Saturday afternoon is the culmination of those efforts. The show is free but donations are accepted and cheerfully accepted I might add so don’t be shy about ponying up folks. Halloweekend at Camp Newaygo Friday 4-7pm Saturday1-5pm and Sunday1-5pm. Camp Newaygo is an exceedingly cool place and their events reflect the spirit of fun and good times the organization is known for. Their Halloween-inspired weekend will involve a slew of activities in a superb setting with some of the most likeable folks to be found. And we hear the zip line will be open Saturday and Sunday For those looking for some fun later in the day there’s a Halloween Bash at The Commons in Fremont Friday, a Halloween Party at Sportsman’s in Newaygo on Saturday and a Costume Party at the Blind Squirrel in Fremont on Saturday as well. However my hunch is nearly every local establishment serving adult beverages might find a few festooned customers milling about this weekend. For those purists who wish to truly celebrate on the day itself, check out Costume Night at the Newaygo Brewing Co. on, of all days, Halloween (Tuesday). If we were to select a spot where the potential for exceptional costuming creativity is at its very peak this would be our top candidate because creativity is at the very heart of the NewBrewCo experience. There are a number of Trunk or Treat events around (some have posted on our page some can be found in the pages of faceboook), White Cloud is having Halloween doings throughout the town on the holiday itself and, as a bonus, thus far no evil clown sightings have come across our desk here at N3WH Life is good.  Suggestion Box is sponsored by Newaygo Brewing Co. Check out Costume Night Tuesday Oct 31  Family event supports Emergency Response Team Are you looking for a good time Halloween Event? A Family Friendly gathering with kids activities, a bit of a shopping opportunity and maybe a costume contest? The Spooktacular Festival a fundraiser for the Newaygo County Sheriff’s Department Emergency Response Team of features a wide and varied collection of vendors, a bounce house, face painting and, of course, the activities and costume contest we mentioned and more. It takes place at Fremont Middle School from 10am-2pm Saturday October 28th and promises some good deals and good times with vendors donating a percentage of their proceeds to the ERT for the purchase of tactical vests. We asked Newaygo County Undersheriff Chad Palmiter to educate us a bit on the team and their efforts. N3-What is the Emergency Response Team and what do they do? CP-The primary mission of the Emergency Response Team is to assist police agencies with critical incidents as to save lives. The team responds upon the request of the incident commander and approval of the Sheriff to armed barricaded subjects, hostage situations, fugitive recovery and active shooter incidents. The team may also conduct high risk search and arrest warrant service upon requests from surrounding police agencies. The unit is comprised of thirteen specialty trained and equipped multi-jurisdictional team members and includes tactical sharpshooters, hostage negotiators, tactical medics and entry personnel. The unit trains monthly and constantly prepares to meet all essential mission tasks and functions that they may be called upon to complete for the citizens of Newaygo County. The unit's tactical emergency medics (TEMS) operate under a mutual aid agreement with life ambulance services and provide specialty trained and equipped medics for all critical incidents and emergencies. N3-Why are they needing to raise money? Aren't they already funded? CP-We're looking at raising money to replace our currently expired tactical vests. The county does not currently have a line item fund for ERT. Most of the equipment used by the team has either been donated, or acquired through grants. Ballistic vests carry a manufacturer's 5 year warranty, our current vest were purchased in 2009 using funding and donations from the public. Tactical vests are different from the day-to-day vest that our officers wear. Tactical vests are by far the most expensive and most valuable part of the team. N3-How did we get the armored vehicle? What is it used for? CP-Our current armored vehicle were received through the DOJ 1033 program. These vehicles will always belong to the department of justice and will need to be returned at end of life. Armored vehicle are used for deploying officers on calls and provide a safe place to use as cover. This was a perfect case in point for the house that blew up in Fremont a couple years back. If these vehicles were not deployed for this particular call, officers would have been standing behind a small shield which would have led to several injuries and/or loss of life. Come out to FMS Saturday, and check out the goods on hand while the kids take part in the activities and give their costumes a bit of a trial run as well. In doing so you support the safety of the men and women who put it on the line every day for our community. If you cannot make the event but would still like to support this effort you can contact Undersheriff Palmiter at the Newaygo County Sheriff’s Office, 231.689.7358.   “Monsterpiece Theater”, a fun filled youth theater program, will provide a very funny, family friendly Halloween show on October 28 at 3:00 p.m. on the Dogwood Center main stage.
Local performer Mat Emerick is the director…or “monster maker” as he likes to call it. Youth involved with this local program have invaded the Dogwood Center since late August for rehearsals as they learned skills in acting, mime, juggling, acrobatics and very cool backlight illusions. No blood or gore is involved with the performance, “Monsterpiece Theater” is a masterpiece of spooky, kooky skits and music! Free admission. Donations accepted at the door. For information, please phone 231.924.8885. The Dogwood Center is located one mile east of downtown Fremont.  By Megan Wirts
What happens when you bring your children, ages 10 and 13, your mother and your aunt along with you to a haunted trail? You laugh, scream and pee your pants a little. The weather was perfect, and we were ready to get scared this past Saturday night when the five of us braved the Trail of Terror, located in Holton. This is the 13th year that Buffy Murphy and crew have been terrorizing people in the woods. Let me tell you they know how to do it! Last year was the first time my family and I made the trek through the terror filled trail. We left that night with our hearts racing and hilarious stories to tell. We couldn’t wait to go back again this year! When we piled in the car and made our way there, my 10-year-old son started to have second thoughts. We were almost to my aunt’s house to pick her up and he was contemplating staying there with our cousin instead of joining in on the fun. He went back and forth between wanting to go and wanting to stay for a good long while until he finally said, “Ok, I’m going, let’s go before I change my mind!”, and away we went. The closer we got the more nervous we became. We pulled into the parking area and were directed to parking space, just as my mom was turning the car off we heard a tap on the window and everyone in the car jumped and screamed! We weren’t even in the haunted trail yet and we were already freaking out!!! I could tell that this was going to be a good night. I don’t know if you recall this about me, but I scare easily and tend to be a little dramatic. Those of you that know me personally, know exactly what I’m talking about. Where do you think I got this gene from? My mother, of course. And guess who else is just like us? My aunt and my children. So, why do we do things like go to haunted houses? Because it’s FUN!!! There is just something about getting the crap scared out of you that is exhilarating, hilarious and fantastically fun. I know it’s not for everyone, but for those of us that love a good scare, the Trail of Terror is the place to find it. When we stepped through the black curtain we were met immediately with a terrifying axe wielding stalker that we couldn’t get away from fast enough! Which for me, isn’t very fast! I have a disorder called dystonia, that makes it a little harder for me to move around than most. I brought along my trusty walker on wheels to get me through the trail. I was unsure it would make it through the entire trail and I am pleased to say that it did without any issues. It even fit through the wooden maze part, filled with screeching banshees, that seemed to get smaller and smaller with every turn we made. I was highly impressed and scared out of my mind. The further into the trail we got the more dark and sinister it seemed. We met many creepy characters along the way, murderous grave diggers, terrifying little girls wanting us to play (to which we all replied in unison, “NOOOOO!!!”), creepy killer clowns, and one horrifyingly scary dog man. It wasn’t until we met our old friends from last year, the chainsaw wielding madmen, that sent us all into a terrifying tail spin. The sounds of chainsaws buzzing in my ears and the smell of gasoline will forever haunt me. As soon as I saw the bloody sheet hanging on the clothes line up ahead I knew what was about to come. My mom, with a death grip on to my aunt’s arm, started screaming, “MEGAN! MEGAN!! NOOO! NEVER AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN! MEGAN! WHERE ARE YOU! OH MY LORD! AHHHHHHHH!!!” Eventually we were all screaming and yelling and trying to find our way out of the bloody sheets and chainsaw nightmare! It seemed as if there were hundreds of them following us and chasing us through the woods! Finally, we found our freedom and could catch our breath for a moment. Just when we thought it was over, a nearly 7-foot-tall Freddy Krueger appeared ahead of us. Literally straight from my nightmares. The faster we tried to get away from him, the more sinister he became, getting so close we could feel his breath on our necks. When we escaped that horror fest from the 80’s, we entered another terror filled scene with people in strait jackets and fearsome men trying to get us to join them in their creepy insane asylum. We all screamed as we pushed our way past them and we spilled out into the open where hundreds of people were waiting for their turn in the terror filled trail. We all immediately busted up into hysterical laughter as we tried to catch our breath. We left the Trail of Terror once again with our hearts racing and some great memories were made. If you aren’t the faint of heart and love to have a good scare, the Trail of Terror will not let you down! Excellent job to all of the actors and crew that make this frightful experience come to life!! Don’t miss your chance to get your scare on! The Tail of Terror’s final weekend is October 27 & 28, open dusk to 11pm weather permitting. Tickets are $14 for regular admission or you can upgrade to VIP for $19, a portion of proceeds goes to the Dakota Dean Murphy scholarship fund. The Trail of Terror is located at 7582 Crocker Rd. in Holton MI. You can visit their website at www.trailofterrorholton.com  Tiger Marching Band during Grant/Big Rapids halftime By Christie Evans
A total of 12 Marching Bands in Flight IV converged on the Jenison football field on Saturday October 21 to compete in the Michigan Competitive Bands Association Invitational at Jenison High School. Grant finished in 7th place with their show, entitled “This Bitter Earth.” Newaygo finished in 3rd place with their show, entitled “The Hope of Spring”. 2nd place went to Kent City and their show, “Rapunzel”, and top honors went to Wyoming Godwin Heights with their show, entitled “Sideshow.” The next MCBA Competition for the 2017 Marching Band season is the West Shore Invitational, held at Rockford High School on Saturday, October 28th. 13 bands will be present, including the four named above.  New Grand Rapids Public Museum Exhibit Opens in November
Grand Rapids– The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) announced today that tickets are now on sale for the new traveling exhibit, Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids, opening this November! Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids, organized by the American Museum of Natural History in New York, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond. Opening on Saturday, November 11, visitors will explore the various mythical creatures of the world. Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids features models and replicas of preserved specimens as well as cast fossils of prehistoric animals to investigate how they could have, through misidentification, speculation, fear, or imagination, inspired the development of some legendary creatures. Admission to Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids is $12 for adults, $7 for children, $9 for Kent County resident adults, $4 for Kent County resident children, and $2 for all Museum members! Tickets include general admission to the Museum, and can be purchased online at grpm.org or by calling 616.929.1700. Museum members can be the first to see the new exhibit at the members only preview on Friday, November 10 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Members are encouraged to dress as their favorite mythical character for extra excitement! Member preview tickets are $2 per member, and available at grpm.org/Dragons. Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids offers many interactive stations throughout the exhibition. Visitors can build their own dragon on an engaging touch-screen and watch it come alive before their eyes in a virtual environment. Visitors will touch casts of a narwhal tusk to discover how they lent credence to the centuries-old belief in the unicorn. Hands-on stations also include the lower jaw of Gigantopithecus (extinct group of apes) and a life-size reproduction of the talon of a Haast’s eagle. The exhibition will include imaginative models, paintings, and textiles, along with other cultural objects from around the world. The exhibit will bring to light surprising similarities and differences in the ways people around the world have been inspired by nature to envision and depict these strange and wonderful creatures. By Ken DeLaat I adore October. Not just because many of my favorite people in the world mark the month as the anniversary of their birth nor merely because it was during the tenth turn of the year that I was fortunate enough to share marital vows with my Lifetime Spousal Companion and Social Etiquette Mentor Lil though both of those factors weigh in heavily. It’s truly the premier month of the year with blazing colors everywhere, an absolute avalanche of apples, the crispness of the season permeating the senses and, when blessed by our recent weather pattern, that perfect mixture of warmish days and cooled down nights. No heat, no air conditioning just a righteous amount of degree deviation. And, of course, the magic of Halloween. Last year we dispatched N3 columnist (and scary place correspondent), stand-up artist and domestic goddess Megan Wirts to the Trail of Terror. Primarily because she enjoys such things but also because the editor had a rather unfortunate experience at one such place that still brings tears of laughter to the eyes of LSC Lil when she recalls the girlish scream that emanated from my lips that night. Well Ms. Megan is scheduled for another run this weekend but if you want to experience the T.O.T. in person rather than vicariously through the rendering of Ms. Wirts. There are but four showings, this Friday and Saturday and next weekend the same so don’t dally. You can find out more from their facebook page or the website https://www.retekllc.com/ToTH/home.html If you love country music or simply love music in general and enjoy it best when performed not just live but exceptionally lively as well you must get thee to the Dogwood to catch the performance of the Sweet Tea Trio Friday night. These three talented ladies push past traditional musical boundaries with a compelling sound that has drawn them rave reviews throughout the land. They recently had the honor of opening for Kid Rock at the first concert to come out of the new Little Caesars Arena (referred to during a recent Piston broadcast as ‘The Slice’). But this is no arena show and he club-like atmosphere of the Black Box is a perfect venue to see the Sweet Tea Trio. Call the Dogwood box office or go to the website http://www.dogwoodcenter.com/?p=6604 And hey, get outside friends and neighbors. Don’t allow your meteorological denial system to kick in and pretend this spate of awesome weather is going to be maintained for long. Soon we’ll be layering, shoveling and observing multitudes of people learning once again how to drive in snow so grab these climatic compensations for what comes next while you can. Hike, bike, kayak, canoe, fish, or just lay about in the sun, but get yourself outside. Just saying…...  Suggestion Box is sonsored by Newaygo Brewing Co. Good Beer, Good Food, Good Times  All The Light We Cannot See Review
By Alexis Mercer “You’re reading THAT book?” said my sister with wide eyes and actual shock in her voice. “What? Why? What’s wrong with it?” I replied. “Well, uh, yah, it’s just not your kind of book,” she said, while trying to backtrack after knowing I wasn’t kidding. “What’s my kind of book?” I asked, offended. “Oh, it’s going to be great. I have just heard that it’s realistically terrifying.” “......silence……” “Great.” It was after this exchange with my well-intentioned sister that I shelved the book for a later date. Maybe I wasn’t ready for it. But after a series of books that were entertaining but lacking in depth, I decided the time had come. I was going to stretch my limits and venture into a book that might be outside my comfort zone. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr turned out to be nothing short of perfection. Magical. Enchanting. Thought-provoking. Riveting. I so far stretched my limits that I became a new person after reading this novel. My mind was entranced. The words of the book brought me to another world. Another time. Another place. I felt what the characters were feeling. I dreamed with them, cried with them, ached with them. Five hundred and thirty pages are in the hardcover version I had acquired. Most of the pages I stopped to re-read sentences. Not because those sentences were hard to understand. But because there was so much beauty in them that I longed for the words to seep into my brain another time before letting them go. The story itself was not easy. I most definitely found myself stretched beyond the limit of comfort. And it was in that stretching that I grew. The tale is of two young people beginning in 1940: Marie Laure, a blind girl from Paris, and Werner, an orphan growing up in Germany. Their stories are told separately, and yet from the very beginning I knew they would collide with the force of two trains at full speed. Only once every great while do I read a novel I feel changes me forever. All The Light We Cannot See in one of the few. If you haven’t read it yet, find yourself a copy and settle in for a tale that won't soon leave you. |
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