Lowell Michigan - 2009 Harvest Celebration

The Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce presents a Harvest Celebration on October 10, 2009 from 9 AM into the night! What could be more fun than Lowell in October! We have a host of activities for you and the family to enjoy. Put on your walking shoes and enjoy the autumn air while visiting all the events throughout Historic Lowell! Start your morning off with the Family Fun Harvest Hustle Costume 5K Run/Walk sponsored by Lowell Community Wellness. The race will start at 8:30 AM sharp on Avery Street just north of the Lowell City Hall/Police Station. Run, walk or jog - have fun and get moving. Prizes will be awarded to race winners as well as best costume.

The Kent County Youth Fair and Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce together are sponsoring the Harvest Arts and Crafts, and the Flat River Antiques Show at the Lowell fairgrounds in the Foreman Building. Over 70 booths will be on display! The booths will open at 9 AM and remain open until 4 PM.

Concessions provided by Carolyn’s Popcorn and Great Lakes BBQ will be available starting at 10 am and well into the night at the Lowell Fairgrounds. A variety of foods include hot dogs, carmel corn, ice cones, pulled pork sandwiches, bbq beef and ribs!

Horse-Drawn Wagon Rides by Common Gentry Carriage Company will begin at 9 AM and run until 2 PM at the Lowell Fairground by the Farmer's Market Area. Take the kids for a ride, $5 per person.

Join us at the Lowell Area Farmers' Market and the Scarecrow Building Hoedown at the fairgrounds. We supply all the stuff to make a scarecrow for Main Street from 10 AM to 1 PM. We just need you and your creative juices! The scarecrows will be displayed in our Festival of Scarecrows in Historic Downtown Lowell through October 28th. At the Farmers' Market 10 AM to 2 PM you will find freshly picked foods from the garden along with all fall produce, apples, squash and decorations! The Lowell Wrestling team will kick off their pre-order Baked Apple Pie Sale and the featured entertainment will be Easy Idle Band from 10 am to noon.

Get a tour of Lowell Light & Power; meet the staff and board and enjoy free hotdogs, chips and beverages at their open house from 11 AM to 2 PM. Bucket rides for kids and Lowell Light and Power will help you and the family to learn about electrical safety on Broadway St.

Last year the Great Mini Pumpkin Chuckin' Contest ($20), presented by the Kent County Youth Fair was a huge hit; they are back again this year at 2 pm. They added Apple Chuckin' Contest ($5) for the kids at 12 pm. Both event contestants use a trebuchet designed to toss an apple or a 6" pumpkin. Don't miss the fun on these two family events!

Larkin's restaurant is hosting the 8th Annual Chili Madness Chili Cook-off. Several teams have put their cooking skills to the test! The cooking begins at 11 AM at Larkin's on Broadway Street. The tasting and judging will commence at 3 PM. Chili tasting wristbands for $6 and enjoy live music with "Homebrewed" while you flavor the taste of the chili! All funds raised will benefit LARA Lowell Trailway.

The Lowell Area Arts Council presents Ghost Stories along with LAS High School Orchestra presenting Creepy Classics! Come and hear open mic readings of original ghost stories written by members of the community along with "Creepy Classics" by members of the Lowell Area School's orchestra program lead by Wendy Tenney. This spooky fun will begin at 2 PM in the Reath Barn at the Lowell Fairgrounds.

Selected downtown merchants will have a harvest of sales and open houses. Jump start your Christmas shopping 10 am to 5 pm on Lowell's Historic Main Street.

Lastly Gilda's Club of Lowell will end our day with an Old Fashion Barn Dance Fundraiser in the Reath Barn at the Lowell Fairgrounds. Don't miss out on fun, dancing, entertainment provided by “Hawks and Owls string band” and food catered by Keiser's Kitchen. Tickets are priced at: Family - $25; Single adult - $10; Kids -$5. Bring the family and spend the day with us in Historic Lowell the Next Place to Be

Last Showboat Sizzlin' Summer Concert for 2009

Crossroads Blues Band
Thursday, August 20th
7 pm to 9 pm
Downtown Historic Lowell
Riverwalk Plaza

This band appeals to a very diverse audience. One of the major factors contributing to the flexibility of the band is the diverse musical backgrounds of the members. Their interests range from straight up Jazz and Blues, to Tejano and Country, from Psychedelic to Rock and Roll. In a time where so many blues bands follow in the blues-rock footsteps of Stevie Ray Vaughan and ZZ Top, the Crossroads Blues Band refreshingly draws its influences from the likes of T-Bone Walker and Gatemouth Brown.From Texas-style jump blues to raucous Chicago blues shuffles and Detroit boogie-woogie...the band has all the bases covered. Crossroads Blues Band members include: Dave "Gator" Allemang (lead Guitar, Harp, Vocals), “Dangerous" Doug Olson (Bass Guitar, Vocals), "Slammin Sammy" Glen Giordano (Drums and Percussion), and Eddie "Blue" Lester (Tenor and Alto Sax, Percussion, Vocals).

Admission and parking is FREE. The concert venue is wheelchair accessible and handicap/senior parking is available. Bleacher seating is also available along with room for your own comfy folding chair. The Flat River Grill offers a cash bar and food on the Lowell Showboat along with the Lowell Lions Club who are set up on the Riverwalk Plaza.

Special Business After Hours at the Grand Volute

Grand Volute Ballrooms
655 Lincoln Lake Ave SE, Lowell
5:30-7:30 p.m.


Come for cocktails and stay for business contacts!
Expand your business base at this Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce and Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce joint networking event.
With free parking, hors d'oeuvres, cocktails at a great deal, and networking with members from both Chambers
Business After Hours is a complimentary event for Grand Rapids Area and Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce members.
Questions & RSVP? Call the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce at 616.771.0341 or the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce at 616 . 897 . 9161

Chimera Design helping with Payton's Race.

Sell your old gold to Chimera Design between now and September 12 - mention Payton's Race for a Cure and we will donate 10% of the value of your gold to that event. You can get cash for your old gold OR take a store credit (for 20% more than the cash price): Either way - Chimera Design will donate 10% to Payton.

In fact, if you mention "Payton's race" and make ANY purchase from us between today and September 12th, then Chimera will donate 10% of that purchase price to Payton.

Here is a link to the family friendly cool event on September 12: http://www.umdf.org/site/c.olKWL8MOIqG/b.5299349/k.BF6C/Home.htm

Pink Arrow - T-shirts, got yours?

Shirts are $15.00. Names on the back are $10.00 for one name, $15 for two names, $20 for three names. The names are put on the back of the shirts to show awareness and honor friends, family and loved ones that have suffered from cancer. The shirt is your "ticket" into the Pink Arrow festivities starting at 2:30 pm on Sept. 11,2009 at Lowell High School. The event is including but not limited to:

Air bounce activities
Face Painting
Entertainment stage
Golf range
Side Walk Chalk
WBBL/Fox tailgate show105.7
Tennis game/match/activities
Cross Country meet
Volleyball match- first time ever for a outdoor sanctioned MHSAA volleyball game. If we have 5,000 people in attendance at 5pm, this will be a RECORD!!
Pink Arrow Parade
Pink Arrow Football game against Union High

If you please email or call Wendy Jeffrey. w.jeffrey@comcast.net 616-893-1615

Showboat Sizzlin' Summer Concert - Week #8

July 2009
Lowell Showboat Sizzlin' Summer Concerts Week Number 8


THURSDAY, July 30th
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Root Doctor plays a diverse mix of classical soul and R & B, alongside traditional blues and inspired original material.The band has evolved through several incarnations, but the soul has remained the same. The current line-up is the strongest yet. Featuring Jim Alfredson (Hammond B3, keyboards & vocals), Greg Nagy (guitar & vocals), and Bobby Gardner (drums), Root Doctor continues to amaze audiences and wow critics.seventeen instruments plus a vocalist.

Admission and parking is FREE. The concert venue is wheelchair accessible and handicap/senior parking is available. Bleacher seating is also available along with room for your own comfy folding chair. The Flat River Grill offers a cash bar and food on the Lowell Showboat along with the Lowell Lions Club who are set up on the Riverwalk Plaza.

Riverwalk Festival 2009

New for 2009, Lowell's 7th Annual Riverwalk Festival will be extended through Sunday, wrapping with an exciting new event - Pauly's Brew-B-Q Throw-down, a nationally sanctioned BBQ cook-off. Kicking off the Festival in Historic Lowell is the Thursday night Sizzlin' Summer Concert Series featuring Stolen Horses, a high-energy country rock band, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. on July 9. Local food vendors and the Showboat Cash Bar will be open for business along the Riverwalk. The evening of Friday, July 11 will bring more activities and entertainment. Beginning at 6:00 p.m., take a historic pontoon tour on the Flat River, do some late night shopping along Main Street and Historic Downtown or at The River Valley Credit Union Arts & Crafts, Antiques and Re-found Treasures sale, or find a book at the Englehardt
Friends of the Library Used Book Sale. Featured on Center Stage at 7:00 p.m. are the Lazy Blue Tunas, playing a variety of music by performers such as the Beatles, Bare-Naked Ladies and the Eagles. Enjoy a wide range of food from our vendors on the Avery Street walkway and a cash bar on the Lowell Showboat. Festivities will conclude for the evening at 9:00 p.m. The Festival continues on Saturday, July 11 beginning at 10:00 a.m. with arts and crafts, the used books sale, street entertainers, chainsaw art, and food booths. Compete in the Bill and Paul's Kayak and Canoe Race at 10:00 a.m. or enjoy kayak fun on the Flat River following the race. Bring your kids to the GOOD Chevy Buick Kidz Zone to play and get their face painted for just $1 each or attend the Lowell Community Wellness Health and Fitness fair. Line up along Main Street at 12:00 p.m. for the FROM the Heart Riverwalk Parade, benefiting Flat River Outreach Ministries. Parade spectators are encouraged to give from their hearts. Bring your non-perishable food items and toys to the parade and watch for the clowns to donate your gifts. And what parade doesn't have loud fire trucks, classic cars, and motorcycles? Automobiles entered in the 7th annual Brian Mead Memorial Cruise-In car show will tail the parade and "Rumble the Riverwalk" as they cruise down Main Street and show off their wheels. All cars in the show may be viewed at the 4-H Fairgrounds. Awards will be presented following the parade at 1:00 p.m. Shuttle rides will be provided by GOOD Chevy Buick to and from Downtown. Daytime entertainment includes the Laurels of Kent Pet Parade on N. Center Street. Enter your pet and bring smiles to the resident's faces! Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. The Lowell Fire Department will hold a Jaws of Life Demonstration at 2:30 p.m. - learn how victims get out of a smashed car - alive! And don't forget to stop at the Flush Tank, where famous Lowell personalities can be dunked - by you! Historic Pontoon Tours on the Flat River begin at 4:00 p.m. along with the Showboat Cash Bar. Center stage entertainment will feature Lowell's very own Alive & Well beginning at 5:00 p.m. and the Bronk Brothers will conclude the entertainment by 9:00 p.m. To wrap up the evening, make your way to Stoney Lakeside Park on Bowes Road where you can get a spectacular view of the Laurels of Kent Fireworks display starting at 10:15 p.m.For the first time in Riverwalk history, the Festival will continue through Sunday! Pauly's, teamed up with the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, is excited to announce the Sunday highlight of this year's annual Riverwalk Festival: Pauly's Brew-B-Q Throwdown! This Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) sanctioned event, with a beer tent featuring Michigan craft brews, is one of almost 300 barbeque contests that take place throughout America - and this year, Lowell is one of those stops! As the world's largest organization of barbeque and grilling enthusiasts, the KCBS attracts contestants to compete in one or all four BBQ categories: chicken, ribs, pork butt, and brisket. Come down to the Lowell Fairgrounds to see what this BBQ competition is all about! The competition begins at 11:00 a.m. with awards at 3:30 p.m. The $1500 State Farm Insurance Duck Race will be held on the Grand River at 12:30 p.m. Adopt a duck for $2 or purchase 3 for $5, or purchase 10 for $10! The duck winner will receive $1000 and the following 5 ducks to finish the race will receive $100 each. The finish line is at the Grand River boat launch on the south end of the fairgrounds. You can purchase your duck tickets at designated locations in Lowell and at the Information Booth on the Riverwalk Plaza during the Festival. Don't forget: The Lowell Area Farmers' Market will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with fresh produce at the fairgrounds, the Beer and Cocktail Garden will be open for business, and entertainment will be provided by Bob Van Stee and Jimmie Stagger from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Come check it out all of the fun and entertainment for yourself in Lowell - the Next Place to Be!