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‘Taste of Ric’s’ this Thursday
December 3, 2009 · Filed Under Top News Stories · CommentEvent one of many community efforts
DONATING TO THOSE IN NEED—Dave Brickner, Ric’s Food Center store manager (right) with volunteers from Lean On Me outreach center and a day’s worth of donations. The store gives daily to Lean on Me and has done since day one. This is just one example of Ric’s community involvement.
“If you leave here hungry, that’s your fault,” said Ric’s Food Center Store Director David Brickner. Brickner is excited to offer another “Taste of Ric’s” event, free and open to the public this Thursday, December 3 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the store, 6767 Belding Road.
Several dozen vendors will offer free samples, giveaways, and demonstrate recipes of their most delicious food items. Ric’s hosts such events periodically and the turnout and response is always enthusiastic. “We are all running around with smiles on our faces,” he said of staff who also look forward to the events. “This gives our vendors a chance to shine, and it gives us a chance to show our customers what we are capable of.”
From sweet treats including ice cream, egg nog and Max and Emily cheesecakes, to Dellalo oils, dipping spices, cheeses and other Italian specialty items, Brickner said the store’s suppliers love the chance to prove how good their items are. “We barely had to whisper this to our vendors and they were right on board. They see how much excitement is generated by these events and love to be part of it.”
Many suppliers deliver multiple items to the store, and many are specialty or gourmet that have a reputation for fine quality. They offer a variety of their products for tasting, and many have become household names that people look for. “We have Honey Boy Bobs, Paramount Coffee, Schuel, Carmela, Boar’s Head, Maceri and Sons, and more.
Ric’s own in-store products, such as prime rib and the kielbasa created by one of the store’s butchers, Pat Ober, will also be featured. “These are internal items that we have become famous for,” Brickner noted. Other everyday names, such as Nabisco and Keebler-Kellogg will have booths.
“We love to show our customers what we have to offer, not just for the holidays but for their everyday full grocery needs,” Brickner said. Customers new to the store are encouraged to make their first visit during the Taste of Ric’s. “You are not expected to spend dime one while you are here.”
Brickner said people wonder how the store can afford to offer such a costly event, but he and the staff, along with vendors, relish the opportunity. It is an example of how community-oriented the company is, not only in their store here but in the other Ric’s.
The company is strong in their policy of being involved in each community where the stores are located. Toys for Tots has been very successful in the company and Brickner points out the Belding Road store is also a Toys for Tots drop off location. They also collect non-perishable canned goods for food pantries and are a major donator to Lean on Me outreach center.
“Ric’s is a huge blessing to Lean on Me,” said Director Lisa Shaffer. She said the store helps them fill the food baskets that are so important to people struggling, especially now. “We had a family of six come in today who are losing their home to foreclosure,” she said. With help of Ric’s and others, the center has filled nearly 25,000 food baskets in 2009.
Brickner said it is a daily routine for each of his department managers to select for the center items that are still good, but no longer belong on the store’s shelves. “None of us can see this food going to waste,” he said. Finding organizations that are reputable and giving what they can is another company-wide policy that the local Ric’s is happy to embrace.
“We are happy to work with them,” Brickner said of Lean on Me. He said when the store was still interviewing for it’s new staff prior to opening, he was asking around to find local charities to partner with in helping others.
“They are very happy to be doing what they are doing,” he said of Lean on Me volunteers. “They use all we give them and make the best use of the food we donate. In these times everybody has to do what they can to help.”
Giving away food to those in need and for fun to show what the store and its suppliers have to offer are two different faces of one grocery. Ric’s Food Centers invites all to stop in, say hi and try their taste buds on a delicious variety of specialty and every day items that the store offers all year around. The new item you try out may become your family’s next favorite to serve up regularly.
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‘Waterdance’ coming to dam
December 3, 2009 · Filed Under Top News Stories · Comment
Sculptor Steve Anderson stands before a nearly completed stainless steel rainbow trout, soon to be leaping from the Rogue River.Photos and Illustration by CLIFF HILL
by CLIFF AND NANCY HILL
The greater Rockford community is blessed with a multitude of accomplished artisans, many of whom participated in this year’s ArtPrize competition. Local artist Steve Anderson of Anderson’s Metal Sculpture may have contemplated entering the prestigious competition but found himself engrossed in the creative design and layout of his—to date—largest undertaking.
From his home/studio tucked away in the woods between Rockford and Cedar Springs, Anderson along with two of his sons, Troy and Chad, is in the midst of completing a prodigious work of art that will forever enhance the iconic Rockford Rogue River Dam.
Anderson’s Metal Sculpture has been designing and creating original metal sculpture works of art since 1975. As opposed to cast bronze sculptures, Anderson’s has carved a niche for itself, working with copper, brass and most recently stainless steel plate.
“Our varieties of sculptures range from small garden sculptures to large three-dimensional pieces that bring life and texture to the inside or outside of one’s home or business,” said Anderson.
Locally, Anderson’s talent is on permanent display in front of North Rockford Middle School (NRMS) and also in front of the Cedar Springs High School Red Hawk Stadium. The large-scale renditions of the Rockford Fighting Ram and the Cedar Springs’ Tom Brown Fire Hawk are but two prime examples of many gifted creations.
“Waterdance” is coming soon to the Rockford Dam. Illustration of the sculpture, size and placement is approximate. Photos and Illustration by CLIFF HILL
The Rockford Dam sculpture, yet to be completed, will be a three-dimensional sculpture of three fish leaping in and out of swirls of water and mist. Working with heavy gauge stainless steel plate over stainless steel frames, Anderson is creating three fish synonymous with the Rogue River. Most fittingly, the piece will be titled “Waterdance.”
Incorporating a rainbow trout, a steelhead and a brown trout, the finished piece will be grand in size and scope and will measure approximately 12 by 18 feet. Each fish, itself, will be considerably larger than life-size. The rainbow trout will be some eight feet long with a girth of five feet, the steelhead approximately 10 feet long with a girth of six feet, and the brown trout about 7.5 feet long with a girth of five feet. The gleaming stainless steel fish will be individually textured to be life-like in detail.
The large size of the finished piece and its individual fish is necessary because of the venue on which it is to be placed, the face of Rockford’s Rogue River Dam!
The sculpture will be attached to the wall in the center of the dam’s two wings. Its weight will be supported by the dam’s deep foundation. The sculpture’s large size is necessary so it will be proportional to the even larger size of the dam itself. Your reporters have seen an artist’s rendition of its placement. It appears to us as though the fish are leaping in pure joy or, perhaps, seeking a fish ladder to scale in search of the perfect spawning grounds upstream. It will be truly breathtaking!
Rockford City Manager Michael Young was introduced to and “struck” by Anderson’s Metal Sculpture displays during Rockford’s 2008 Art in the Park. Young said, “The Rockford Area Arts Commission and I had been thinking about city enhancement projects, particularly works of art that might be placed on permanent display in the City’s beautiful and extensive park system.”
Subsequently, Young arranged a meeting with Anderson. They discussed the importance of the Rogue River to Rockford, and in particular its sports fishery.
“I had the idea of three fish,” added Young, “and Steve took it and ran with it.”
The $12,000 material cost of the project is being underwritten by a 50/50 joint venture of the Downtown Development Authority and the Rockford Area Arts Commission.
For his part, Anderson tells us his costs of labor, design, layout, construction and installation of the sculpture are Anderson’s Metal Sculpture’s gift to the community.
“The Rockford Dam means so much to everyone. This sculpture will last many lifetimes. On this venue, adjacent to the Fred Meijer White Pine Trail, it will be viewed and photographed by countless thousands of visitors to Rockford. This is my passion. It must be the best it can possibly be. After all, it will have my name on it.”
Young hopes to have the sculpture installed for an unveiling and dedication ceremony to coincide with Rockford’s 2010 Start of Summer Celebration.
Lest we forget, Anderson’s Metal Sculpture is a family business. Steve and wife Janell are proud of sons Troy, Cory and Chad, who are all graduates of Cedar Springs High School and have all played a part in the success of the business. Troy is a NRMS sixth-grade teacher, Cory has moved on to a career in law enforcement in Florida, and Chad remains his dad’s right-hand man.
Squire readers can view other works by Anderson and witness first-hand the progress of the Rockford Dam fish sculpture by going online to www.andersonsmetalsculpture.com.
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Rockford youths arrested in drug sting
December 3, 2009 · Filed Under Top News Stories · 1 CommentThe Rockford Police Department arrested 15 local teenagers today completing a four month investigation into drug use and vandalism in local parks.
Chief Dave Jones reported that an undercover officer has been working in the area parks, particularly the areas surrounding Richardson Sowerby Park, located beneath the 10 Mile bridge.
The undercover officer was able to buy marijuana from three of the youths Jones said. Others were charged with Use of Marijuana, and Destruction of Property.
The investigation was in response to several complaints received from park users about the unruly behavior of the teenagers this summer, Jones said.
All of the offenders have been prohibited from using any city park for at least one year, using a newly enacted local ordinance allowing for expulsion from the parks if parks rules are broken.
“It is our responsibility to create a safe and user friendly environment for park users in the City,” said Jones. “These young people were using our parks as their personal playground for illegal activity. Our hope is that the arrests are a learning experience for those involved and they find better things to do in their spare time.”
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Judge rules no on Family Fare complex
December 3, 2009 · Filed Under Top News Stories · Comment‘I doubt they are going to appeal’
Circuit Judge Dennis Leiber ruled against Boulder Crossings, LLC, in the company’s lawsuit against Plainfield Township.
Boulder Creek’s attorney had maintained that the township was violating the company’s right to develop their property and that the zoning was “taking without compensation.”
They sought an injunction against township interference in building a Family Fare store and complex at Seven Mile and Northland Drive. In addition, they asked for $2.3 million in damages.
Lieber’s opinion ruled for the township consistently on each point. He ruled that Boulder Crossings failed to show the property could not be developed as residential; the zoning was in the interest of people living in the township; and that the developer did not have reasonable expectations when purchasing the property for their intended use.
“It was such a strong opinion I doubt they are going to appeal,” said trustee Vic Matthews. The deadline to appeal is Dec. 16. Litigation insurance covered $100,000 of the township’s cost of the suit, but did not cover an additional $17,000, plus the cost of the trial.
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Students pile in pennies for Pakistani school
NEARING A GOAL—Kylie is in Mrs. Zuidema’s kindergarten class. She told her whole family about the kids in Pakistan and collecting pennies. Her family brought penny rolls when they came to her house for Thanksgiving dinner.
Some of the younger ones couldn’t even say the word Pakistan, but that didn’t stop them from gathering up pennies in a fundraiser to help students in another country. The Rockford Rotary fall reading Festival was a kick-off for Pennies for Peace, a district-wide collection of change to help fund schools in Pakistan. Now, nearing the end of the year deadline, the kids have collected over $2,000 and hope to reach their goal of $5,000.
“It isn’t the amount of money they raised that is so inspiring,” said Cindy Kitzrow, Rockford schools director of library and media services, “It’s the fact that they are so excited to help children in another country and what they are learning about these kids.”
The Pennies for Peace program was founded by mountain climber Greg Mortinson who was injured in Pakistan. Members of a village found him and brought him back to health. While recuperating, he realized the village had no school. Children there learned lessons one day a week while sitting out in the dirt. Now Mortinson encourages students in the United States to collect pennies so children in Pakistan can attend school. It costs just $5,000 a year to maintain a school in Pakistan.
Kitzrow has been collecting the pennies and has heard many heartwarming stories. One girl couldn’t say the word Pakistan. When her parents came to school conferences they found out what she had been trying to tell them about.
A boy from Roguewood did a neighborhood can collection and turned in the money. A girl from that school had a carnival in her house to raise pennies. At Cannonsburg Elementary, the kids performed a play for their school telling the story. A Crestwood students wrote letters to all his relatives asking for donations instead of Christmas presents. Another child donated the rolled coins she was saving to purchase an electronic game.
PEACE PENNIES—Students from Valley View Elementary bringing in their pennies for the Pennies for Peace program.
“They are thinking about the kids who don’t have a school to go to,” said Kitzrow. She added that these schools also allow girls, unlike traditional schools in Pakistan. Also on the curriculum is learning the value of a penny in that country. One penny will buy a pencil there. Fifteen pennies can purchase a notebook. A teacher’s salary is $600.
“This fit into our curriculum in so many ways,” Kitzrow said. There are donation jars in the banks and credit union in Rockford where donations may be made. “The kids are the ones who have taken this so far,” Kitzrow stated. “The teachers aren’t the ones who have made this such a big deal, it’s all the kids.”
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