RCS hosts 3-on-3 basketball tournament for elementary students

October 29, 2009 · Filed Under Sports · Comment 

What kid doesn’t like receiving a trophy? Your third-grade through eighth-grade child has an opportunity to obtain a coveted championship trophy on Friday, Nov. 20 and Saturday, Nov. 21 at Rockford Christian’s first three-on-three basketball tournament. The event is sponsored by the Rockford Christian Athletic Boosters and is open to anyone in metro Grand Rapids and surrounding communities.

Teams will consist of no more than four players who play at the highest grade level of the oldest player. There will be registered referees officiating the

event to keep the games safe and fun. Games will be played at Rockford Christian School, 6060 Belding Road, Rockford.

The cost for each team is $80. A completed team registration form must be received by Nov. 1, 2009. The registration form can be found online at www.grcs.org; select “Schools” and “Rockford Christian Middle School.” Each player will also receive a tournament t-shirt and lots of fun memories. Concessions will be available during the event. The number of games for each grade will be determined by the number of teams that register for the event. Game times will be forwarded one week prior to the event.

This is a great opportunity to get your hoop player ready for winter basketball. If you have any questions, please contact the tournament director, Jon Holesinger at jholes@chartermi.net or (616) 863-9720.

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Officer Robinson named president of Michigan Crime Prevention Assc.

October 29, 2009 · Filed Under Top News Stories · Comment 
Rockford Police Officer Dave Robinson 

 

Rockford Police Officer Dave Robinson

The Crime Prevention Association of Michigan (C.P.A.M.) voted Officer Dave Robinson, of the Rockford Police Department, to a two year term as their president for 2010.

Officer Robinson, a sixteen year veteran, who oversees the Rockford Police Department Community Policing Programs, most recently served as Secretary for C.P.A.M. the past two years. The Crime Prevention Association provides training and crime prevention resources to police and sheriff departments throughout Michigan.

The association, which boasts over 100 members, is recognized as the leader in crime prevention practices.

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Fish story has two tales

October 29, 2009 · Filed Under Top News Stories · Comment 
LIFELIKE ARTISTRY—Floyd Riegling, a Rockford carver, created a replica of the huge small mouth bass caught by Dr. Carl Stites this summer. His carvings allow anglers a life-sized memory of their catch while allowing the fish to go free. LIFELIKE ARTISTRY—Floyd Riegling, a Rockford carver, created a replica of the huge small mouth bass caught by Dr. Carl Stites this summer. His carvings allow anglers a life-sized memory of their catch while allowing the fish to go free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you want to let the big one get away, Rockford man has the answer

When Floyd Riegling retired from his upholstery business, his wife Carol wondered what he would do. He is enjoying his second career as a “starving artist” with his new passion of carving fish from photographs.

“I always wanted to carve,” he said. Self-taught, the artist can re-created an angler’s favorite catch in about 25 hours and result in a product that is life-like but didn’t cost the fish its life.

He works from either basswood or foam and has developed his own techniques. The teeth of a sturgeon and whiskers of a catfish are actually nails he embedded and filed to shape. Onion bags under the paint give his foam fish scales. On wood they are burned in.

He recently presented Rockford eye doctor Carl Stites a duplicate of a fish Stites caught this summer. Riegling saw the photo in the Squire and took it upon himself to make the carving. “It’s very flattering, actually,” Stites said. He took the fish on a crawler harness in Intermediate Lake in Bellaire. It was 22-1/2 inches and he took it at about 5:45 a.m. and earned him a master angler’s patch for the catch. “I let it go so maybe someone else can have the fun of catching it,” Stites said.

Riegling said he enjoys the work so much he would rather carve fish than go fishing now. Fish range from under $100 to over $500, depending on the size, because of supplies and the amount of time they take.

The carver showed his work at Art in the Park and sold several pieces. He has many at his Rockford home to show people interested in hiring him to carve their favorite catch. To find out more, give him a call at (616) 454-7847. He just doesn’t have any examples of fish he’s caught himself. “I never caught anything big enough to catch and release,” he said.

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No tricks – all treats at Rockford’s last Farm Market

October 29, 2009 · Filed Under News · Comment 

FarmMarket

by CLIFF AND NANCY HILL

Jack-o-lantern pumpkins are the symbol of Halloween and for the past month nowhere have pumpkins been more evident than at Rockford’s hugely popular Farm Market. The calendar has conspired this year to have Halloween fall on this season’s last Farm Market.

This coming Saturday is your last chance to say good-bye to your favorite vendors and stock up on the abundant bounty of a successful fall harvest. Along with carving pumpkins their display tables will be heavily laden with late season crops that store well and can be bought in volume. Vendors are more than happy to share their knowledge of storage techniques—just ask.

Many, but not all, of the produce items available will be: pie pumpkins, squash and potatoes of all varieties, late harvest greens including broccoli and multi-colored cauliflower, cider, and apples, apples, apples!

The Michigan apple harvest this year was one of the largest and most successful on record. Many varieties of apples can be stored for months in a cool dry environment such as a basement or a garage that stays above freezing. Again, vendors can advise which varieties store the best.

Farm Market vendors are in general agreement that this year’s Rockford Farm Market season was the most successful ever. Even on the few days of inclement weather, faithful market goers showed up in good numbers.

This year brought the addition of the Market’s newest regular vendor, Earthkeeper Farms. Practicing strictly sustainable and organic farming methods, Andrew and Rachelle Bostwick, found their farm’s offerings so popular that at times they had to double the size of their stall. Not only were they busy harvesting their crops; Rachelle harvested their first child, a bouncing baby boy (future farmhand) Liam Isaac Bostwick.

Toward the end of the season a vendor couple appeared sporting a huge copper kettle. Throughout the morning the kettle produced an instant Market success—Old Fashioned Kettle Corn. As they stirred the contents in the heated kettle, the aroma produced caused huge lines to form to sample and purchase the sweet treat.

The Rockford Lions Market Masters were also busy popping theater popcorn in this year’s newly placed Market Master Mini-barn. Bags of popcorn were available for just a dollar to support the good works of the Lions.

Head Market Master, Bob Winegar, was especially pleased with this year’s market season that, for the most part, went off without a hitch. He extended a special thank-you to fellow club members who filled in at times when he and wife Geri were unable to attend. Seeking clarification in one matter Winegar said, “I’m hoping the City will give clear and consistent direction next year as to whether dogs will or will not be allowed at Rockford Farm Market. If a ban on dogs is a certainty I would like also to see clearly visible adequate signage at entrances to the venue.” Beyond that, Winegar said, “The continually growing Market gets stronger every year. We have good locally grown pure Michigan produce and artisan bakery goods. People do not question price when it comes to their health and the top quality of the goods offered.”

So this Saturday begin Halloween with a final visit to the ’09 Rockford Farm Market. Wear a costume, if you will, maybe you can “Trick or Treat” a vendor or two. We’ll be there making our last rounds which will include our favorite vegetable—a few loaves of extreme cinnamon swirl pumpkin bread. Yum!

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Pricing, product better than big box at Rockford Floor

October 29, 2009 · Filed Under News · Comment 

THE RANDY AND STU SHOW—Randy and Stu VanderWerp, son and father, have worked together for a very long time and between them, have over 50 years of experience with owning a floor covering business. They believe educating customers, offering the best prices and continued good service is key to the success of Rockford Floor Covering.

THE RANDY AND STU SHOW—Randy and Stu VanderWerp, son and father, have worked together for a very long time and between them, have over 50 years of experience with owning a floor covering business. They believe educating customers, offering the best prices and continued good service is key to the success of Rockford Floor Covering.

“You won’t come in my store to see what is on sale and get a great deal. You will come into my store and find what you want and get a great price,” Randy VanderWerp, owner of Rockford Floor Covering described his philosophy of pricing. “We don’t hold sales and we never mark up prices, to mark them down in front of our customers. We have always, consistently kept our pricing low, so I guess you could say that everything is always on sale, if that’s the way you want to view it,” stated VanderWerp.

The volume of Rockford Floor Covering’s sales is what allows him to negotiate for the best pricing, said VanderWerp. “That definitely gives us an edge, to pass that savings on to our customers. The other thing is that we don’t play games with our pricing—no “razzle-dazzle”—no “you get this for free,” or “only $99 labor” on a job you know will realistically cost more. That one really gets me. Most people are very aware that workers need to be paid a certain level, so if someone is not charging you for their labor, they must get that money somewhere else,” said VanderWerp.

There are a lot of games Rockford Floor Covering refuses to play with its customers—games to make it sound like customers are getting a better deal. “It sounds better if you sell carpet for $1 a foot than $9 a yard. If I tell you a carpet is $2 per (square) foot, you are more apt to like that pricing rather than the $18 per (square) yard. It’s human nature,” according to VanderWerp. “We recommend that people get complete estimates, listing costs for each individual item, and have more than one person measure the space. They stick to the formula that has worked for them since the store first opened in 1981; having a great selection, having knowledgeable salespeople who can help customers choose the type of products that will perform the way the customer needs, having consistently low pricing, offering great service, and continuing to be there after the sale is over.

Rockford Floor services a vast array of customers, including remodelers and builders from all over the state of Michigan. A testimonial from a sales representative from Mohawk Industries described Rockford Floor as his top selling store in 2008 and for the past five years, being consistently in the top one percent of sales among his customers.

“What some people don’t realize is that Rockford Floor Covering is a full service store that I consider to be one of my best retailers,” Mike Tocco stated. Tocco’s territory is West Michigan to the Indiana border. “In the past five years, they are the only store in my area to grow their business each of those years, in a declining retail environment. That is a real testament to their level of service, quality and commitment to their customers and community.”

When customers walk into the comfortable shop in downtown Rockford, they find a friendly but professional atmosphere. An award-winning retailer and located in Rockford for over 28 years, Rockford Floor Covering also carries Karastan brand carpet, a more exclusive, higher-end carpet that is placed only with a few select merchants. The Karastan Company selects its’ distributors based on sales performance, business practices and space allotment for product display. “We work to keep our selection the very best for our customers and to educate customers as they are choosing their possible floor coverings. Sometimes carpets look very similar, but they may perform very differently, such as nylon versus polyester. The unwary buyer may not be aware that while polyester carpets are much cheaper than nylon, the polyester doesn’t hold up nearly as well. When we do a good job, our customers will tell others.

The economy has changed and Rockford Floor welcomes the opportunity to compete with the big box stores. “Ninety percent of the time our prices are the best. Add that to the floor covering knowledge of the staff here and the fact that our customers often call years after a sale and ask if we can tell them what they bought—and we can. People know where to get in touch with us and are often surprised to find the same salesperson they originally had—and that we remember their home. Our customers know we stand behind our products and that our company will still be here tomorrow and in years to come,” said VanderWerp.

This philosophy comes from values instilled while working with his parents and seeing their accountability to customers. Randy worked in his dad’s store, first cutting carpet, and making rugs, working with the store’s binding machine, then graduating to sales. In 1978 his parents sold that store and for the next two years VanderWerp became a wholesaler in the floor covering business. In 1981 he purchased his own store, opening at 119 Courtland St. then buying the building at 41 Courtland St. where the company is located today. “This has become a very good spot for us as far as location and traffic, he said. “It’s beautiful here with the Rogue River, the White Pine Trail, Garden Park and all the musical events and community happenings in downtown Rockford,” said VanderWerp. Not only is Rockford Floor one of the longest operating merchants among those in downtown Rockford, the company has a long tradition of supporting community events, such as Relay For Life and Rockford sports. Randy said he fell in love with Rockford early on and is proud to be a part of the business and family community. His wife is a teacher with the school district and the two love to work where they live. Next year Rockford Floor Covering will have its’ 29th anniversary in business.

“These days you can’t take anything for granted,” VanderWerp said. “You can’t just sit back and say, this is our customer base, because things change. People have never shopped like they do today.” He believes more than ever that price and taking care of customers are the keys to business success, and has a motto on his office wall to that effect. “If you haven’t got the time to do it right, when will you find the time to do it over?”

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