Dress for a Cure

Relay fundraiser good
news for dates

In its second year, Dress for a Cure offers great deals on new and gently used dresses just in time for prom. The event raised over a cool grand last year, money which all went toward fighting cancer through Rockford’s Relay For Life.

Organizer Jenn Hephner, leader of Relay team Love Laugh Cure, came up with the idea when she heard a mother lamenting the expense of prom and the high cost of formal dresses. Hephner thought of all the prom dresses in closets around town that were only worn once. “Girls don’t like to wear the same prom dress they had last year,” she noted.

Hephner partnered with the Squire for the event and dress donations came in. She also contacted top fashion designers across the country for donations. Last  year and this year the selection for the sale includes many brand-new dresses that have graced runways from New York to California. With prices from $5 to $50, the sale is a bargain.

New this year is another partnership, this time with Double Take, a resale shop located at 31 Courtland Street. Double Take owner graciously offered the shop as a drop-off location as well as the site of
the sale, which will be Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Turbines installed at the tannery.

In an effort to support President Obama’s efforts to move the country to alternative energy sources, the City of Rockford has switched to windpower.

“It only makes sense to harness the Earth’s natural flatulence,” said Izzy Toe, who is on the City’s committee to implement alternative energy, the Joint Open Konsumer Energy (JOKE) committee.

Luckily, Rockford is known far and wide for the strength of the local winds, and is often referred to by the common nickname of “The Windy City.”

Paper carrier cars going to wind power.

The City made the leap away from electricity on Wednesday, April 1 in a ceremony where turbines installed at a tannery rooftop officially began powering the town.

“I would have had to wipe tears of happiness from my eyes if the wind hadn’t blown them dry,” said the City President. “This is a life-long dream come true for me. I’ve always hated the electric company.”

The City partnered in this venture with the local funny paper, the Rockford Square, which also made the switch on April 1.

“We built our office wind turbine ourselves,” the newspaper spokesperson said. “We have a talented group here and are very handy.”

Rockford Squire switched to turbines.

The wind turbine is very common for residential use and can significantly decrease the global footprint of a family home. It was installed on the north side of the Squire building at 331 Northland Drive, just two doors down from the Michigan State Police Post.

The Square staff would love to share our blueprint for the turbine with any readers who are interested and are currently offering tours. Within minutes of installation, the turbine began powering all Square electrical equipment.

Square paper carriers are also going to windpower with their moms’ and dads’ cars. At right see the money-saving and popular auto wind turbine.

“We are so, so grateful to the City for going along with us on this exciting venture,” a Square staffer said. “Wait until we tell them about our next great idea. It involves a large herd of pigs (which are surprisingly speedy animals) and a few hundred yards of velcro.  We’ll have them using zero gas for their City cars lickity split.”

Record number of fallen trees.

Kent County officials have announced that March 2009 was the worst month for potholes in West Michigan in more than thirty years.

Record number of rockslides.

Above is a Rockford Michigan State Police patrol vehicle which recently became stranded in one of the area’s large potholes.

In related news, the county has also announced that West Michigan motorists have had to watch for a record number of rockslides and fallen trees.

Michigan State Police patrol vehicle stranded in pothole.

As part of an expansive effort to use alternative energy sources (see related story above), the City of Rockford stopped using electric lights on Wednesday, April 1.

Department of Public Works Director Mike Bouwcamp turned the switch off during an unlighting ceremony and a large crowd watched as the downtown was reilluminated using gaslight.

“Electricity is really one of the first things you can cut to save money,” Bouwcamp said. “Gaslight is also very pleasing to the eye and fits our image.”

222 HOURS LATER—Lyle English with his prize lamp.

by CLIFF AND NANCY HILL

Rockford resident, Lyle English, has come a long way from the day almost five years ago when first he strolled into the Eric Brown Stained Glass Studio on Squire Street.  Lyle had peered through the windows many times and marveled at the beautiful stained glass creations on display inside and he wanted a closer look.

In subsequent days Lyle returned to the store many times and was befriended by the store’s owner, stained glass artisan, Eric Brown.  Brown offered Lyle a job helping out around the shop and the rest, as they say, is history.

Lyle began to sit in on the stained glass classes that were offered weeknights throughout the year.  He began to think that maybe he too, could acquire the skills necessary to create stained glass pieces.

Prodded by Brown, Lyle began to take classes.  Lyle (now 51) says, “I was all thumbs at first but with Eric’s help and encouragement I stuck with it and got better.”

Starting with simple sun-catchers, Lyle’s skills steadily increased to the point where he has just completed a large Tiffany-style stained glass lamp shade replicating the original Tiffany “Trumpet Vine” pattern.

Composed of 985 pieces of cut glass and requiring nine and a half pounds of solder to piece together, Lyle tells us, “It was by far the toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”  The lampshade required 222 hours (five plus work weeks) to complete and sits atop a Tiffany replica (leaf and arc) table lamp base. The shade is beautiful to behold, with its richly colored blossoms and the detailed texture of the vine’s trunk as it winds around the piece. The shade and base combined weight is a whopping 55 pounds.

Lyle has become a popular character around the shop, both to customers and class students. He continually cracks people up by fracturing the English language with malapropisms in the style of Yankee legend, Yogi Berra. Keeping up a constant patter that humors all around him, Lyle creates stained glass pieces to be placed on sale at the store or freely given away to friends and family.  Most recipients have no idea of the love he puts into each piece and its actual value were it to be sold at retail.

Lyle’s whole world is Rockford.  When not at work in the store Lyle, an avid and accomplished fisherman, can be often found fishing for Steelhead Salmon from Rockford’s Rogue River Dam. More often than not, he’s the only one with fish on his stringer. Before the store opens in the morning, he is often seen assisting Rockford’s Public Services Dept. by picking up trash in the parks on both sides of the dam.

Is there anyone who hasn’t attended a Rockford High School basketball or football game that hasn’t seen Lyle and his mom, Rose. Lyle is the unofficial “superfan” of Rockford High School sports teams. He and mom arrive hours early for games (both home and away) in order to secure center court, first-row seats for basketball games and front-row, 50-yard line seats for football games. There he can be loudly heard exhorting his heroes to greatness.

Not a one-dimensional person, Lyle is proud that his recently completed stained glass lampshade is prominently on display for the next 30 days just inside the front entrance of Delphi Stained Glass. Delphi, located in Lansing, is the largest wholesaler and retailer of stained glass and related supplies in West Michigan. When asked how he feels about this signal honor, Lyle replies with one of his malapropisms, “It just gives me goosebumples!”

Ray Wenzel oversees the unloading of Angel Food.

by RICH ZECK

When you go to the store to shop for groceries and spend $30, you get $30 worth of food.  This sounds reasonable. But what if I told you, you could spend $30 on food and get $60 worth of food? Sounds too good to be true? It is true and you can do it right here in Rockford.

Rockford Baptist Church is the local home to Angel Food Ministries (www.angelfoodministries.com) which is a non-profit, non-denominational national organization dedicated to grocery relief to communities just like ours. The program started in 1994 in Georgia with just 34 families and now has grown to serve thousands of families every month in over 17 states. What makes this program so unique says coordinator Jeannie Davis “is there is no prequalification. The only qualification is that you eat food and have $30.”

Rockford Baptist Church is the central delivery point along with four other local churches that co-op their resources and place an order once a month. Here is how the program works: a couple of times a month, orders and payments are accepted at the church. Then on the last Saturday of the month, the orders arrive at Rockford Baptist Church for pick up.  Each month’s menu is different from the previous month and consists of both fresh and frozen items. The meals offer a balanced nutritional variety with enough food to feed a family of four for a week. These are not second hand items, damaged goods, out dated, dented cans, over ripened produce or day old bread.  The quality is as good if not better than what you find in any other store except it costs you less. There are also specialty boxes available for senior citizens, steaks, pork, chicken, fruit and vegetables.

Deacon Ray Wenzel states, that Angel Food Ministries is an independent outreach ministry that provides a service for the community regardless of your income.  Over 100 families are served each month at this pick up location.  Remember there is no need to justify or qualify your need; there are no strings attached and no fine print.  There are 30-40 volunteers that make this process run like a well-oiled machine. There are volunteers who handle the orders, unload the truck, separate the items and sign in and out customers. When I asked volunteer Martin Milner, how did you get started dong this he said, “My mom made me come down and help.  Now I love it and have fun helping others.”

There are over 30 churches involved here in the greater Grand Rapids area helping support Angel Food Ministries so families can save money, eat better meals that include fresh vegetables, fruits, milk and eggs.  If you would like more information on one of the best, kept secrets in Rockford contact Janet Wenzel at (616) 874-6738 or Jeannie Davis (616) 874-4292.

The Kent County forensic van is shown at the scene of the shooting Thursday, March 26.

A Cannon Township resident with a long history of traffic accidents fled a sheriff’s deputy and was eventually shot after appearing to try to run over the deputy.

Deputy Joe Glynn attempted to pull over Christopher Imelmann, age 46, on Belding Road about 10:20 a.m. on Thursday, March 26.

Imelmann, who is a paraplegic from injuries in an accident 20 years ago, failed to stop and reached speeds of 85 miles an hour. Imelmann tried to pull into the driveway of his home on Belding Road just west of Blakely Drive, but missed, spinning out.

Christoper Imelmann’s residence.

When Deputy Glynn got out of his vehicle to approach, Imelmann’s vehicle accelerated. Glynn shot into the car, injuring Imelmann as well as a passenger, Steven Powell, age 28 and resident of Orleans in Ionia County.

Imelmann and Powell were both treated for injuries, Powell was shot in the hand, Imelmann in his torso.

One of two, posted on Imelmann’s property and porch.

Imelmann had a suspended license due to a poor driving record, had three warrants for his arrest, including a misdemeanor for littering, one felony for larceny from a building and one for illegal use of a financial transaction device.

Investigators are awaiting results of toxicology tests, which may indicate Imelmann was driving while using drugs. He faces two counts of felonious assault, one count of fourth degree fleeing and eluding.

Christopher Imelmann

Powell had pre-existing outstanding misdemeanor warrant related to a domestic violence charge. He was not charged in this incident.

Deputy Glynn and a second deputy who had arrived on the scene prior to the shooting, are on paid administrative leave during an investigation of the incident.

On Friday, April 10, a day-long event at the Corner Bar will celebrate the opening baseball game and air live on local station WBBL and on eleven affiliates, broadcasting across the state of Michigan.

Simonson is a very popular radio celebrity known for his HUGE show. “The Corner Bar is a sports bar landmark in West Michigan,” said Simonson. “It is an honor to celebrate the Tigers home opener with the people of Rockford and northern Kent County.”

Corner Bar owners Andy Tidey and Jeff Wolfe plan to offer trivia contests and prize give-aways througout the day. The Corner Bar will also feature special menu items designed to give patrons an “at the ballpark” experience.

Since the Corner Bar is noted for its Hotdog Hall of Fame, diners and Tiger fans can also expect the delicious dogs. Drinks will be offered in special opening day commemorative cups.

by BETH ALTENA

Wolverine World Wide notified tannery workers on Friday, March 20 of the closing of the Rockford tannery on May 15, 2009.

In a letter titled WARN Notification to Union dated March 16, the letter stated that the purpose of the letter was pursuant to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1998 (“WARN”).

The contents of the letter are as follows:

Wolverine World Wide will be permanently closing its Tannery facility located at 181 North Main Street, Rockford, MI 49341. We hope to accomplish this closing with the least possible disruption to our employees.

According to the best information available, the expected date of the permanent closing of the facility will be May 15, 2009. A list of the affected bargaining unit position, the number of affected bargaining unit employees in those positions, and the names of bargaining unit employees in affected positions is attached.

This notice is given pursuant to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1998 ( (“WARN”) which requires employers to give official notice to affected unions of a pending facility closing to the representative of affected employees.

In the attachment, duties and names of over 60 tannery workers affected are listed. The list is as follows: Two chief boiler operators, one crib attendant, four disposal pit operators, four dry operators, one electrician, five finish operators, one head sorter, three hi-lo operators, one key operator, one lab technician, five millwrights, one each oiler, paint technician, plush mills, pre-cut operator, s/s mechanic, shipping clerk, split/shave labor, four split/shave operators, three SR finish operators, five SR split/shave operators, seven technicians, one each toggler and utility operator and six wet blue dryer operators.

An angry long-term employee with the company, who opted out of requirement several years ago, said he will have the last laugh on Wolverine. “I’ll be there when they close the doors,” he said.

City Manager Michael Young said he had received a copy of the letter. “The flow has already started to reduce,” he said. “It doesn’t diminish what’s happening [to know the closing date].”

“Wolverine is deciding who is going to be on their team to work with us. We’re waiting for them to get back to us to get a sense of what might happen to that property in the future.”

Andrew Shears

Andrew Shears has been going to work to the Rockford Post Office everyday for the past 30 years

But come Friday, April 3, Shears will don his postal blues for the last time.

Shear’s supervisor, Fred Farage, said that the person who replaces Shears will have some very big shoe’s to fill.

“One of the things about Andrew is he is an extremely organized individual,” Farage said.

Approximately nine years ago the post office downtown split into two operations, with the Annex located just north of Rockford. Farage spends most of his work-day at the Annex.

“Andrew has done an amazing job organizing and keeping up with the paperwork and the financial aspect of the Rockford office. In a sense, he’s run that whole place. I knew things would be done right,” Farage said

Farage went on to say that in the past year the post office has lost 1/3 of their more experienced employees through early retirement.

“We will have major changes going on with staffing, as we replace them with transfers from other offices,” Farage explained.

Farage said that Shears is looking forward to working in his garden after he retires.

We wish Andrew all the best.