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Bonnie Westbrook Grand Rapids MI Real Estate Marketing

Ada Michigan ~ Carl Creek Wetlands Preserve ~ Newest Park Addition

Ada Michigan has a new park addition. The Carl Creek Wetlands Preserve

is the newest addition to the Ada township park lands. It is protected

by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan as natural habitat for local

wildlife.

This land, 34.02 acres is located south of Forest Glen Residential

Development, M-21 (Fulton St )and north of the railroad tracks. It can

be accessed at Alta Dale Ave. Carl Creek drains into the Grand River and

this wetland area is a prime example of open herbaceous wetlands.

carl creek wetland preserve ada township michigan

Ada Township is having a Dedication Ceremony for their newest Park

The Carl Creek Wetlands Preserve

on October 12, at 3pm. Parking and the ceremony will be at

155 Alta Dale Ave Ada, Michigan. Ceremony will proceed rain or shine.

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate Five Star Real Estate

Copyright 2008 All rights reserved

Aerial map from Access Kent

Got your Bard On? Shakespeare Festival at GVSU ~ Grand Rapids MI

Shakespeare & Renaissance Festival ~ GVSU Homecoming GVSU Midsummer Nights Dream Titiania sits with Bottom

Sounds like a little something for everyone this fall at Grand

Valley State University Campus.

Grand Valley State University is celebrating their 15th season of

Shakespeare by going "Back to the Forest."

The play A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare

will be performed be on Sept. 26, 27, Oct 2, 3, 4 at 7:30 pm

Sept 27,28, Oct 4, 5 at 2 pm

Special mid week matinees for school groups

Sept 30, Oct 1, 2 at 10 am.

Student and regional artists, as well as guest professional actor

Brian Webb Russell will be featured in the production.

Shakespeare Festival Link

The play precedes the Renaissance Festival on Oct. 11 & 12.Renaissance Fair GVSU 2005

The Renaissance Festival is the only completely

Student Run Free Faire in the country.

It will take place at The Clocktower Plaza from 10 am to

dusk on October 11 & 12th in Allendale.

Which happens to coincide with Grand Valley Campus Homecoming Celebration.

Homecoming celebrations will be held at the Allendale Campus on October 10, 11, & 12th.

See the above link for times and events of interest. There is a 5K run to get started in the

morning, various activites and Saturday ends with the Lakers vs Hillsdale at 7pm.

Go Lakers!

Grand Valley State Laker Athletics

Grand Valley State University has buses headed to Allendale from metro-Detroit and

Chicago areas on Saturday. Check the for departure times and locations.

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate Five Star Real Estate

Copyright 2008 all rights reserved

Photo of Lakers mascot & Titania & Bottom from GVSU website

Photo of 2005 Renaissance Festival by Dave Perrin

Lowell MI ~ Fallsburg Fall Festival ~ Sept 27, 28th

I love the Pre-Fall Season. Here in Michigan, the days are usually warm,

60-70 degrees, with a slight nip in the breeze. It gets colder at night but

when the sun is shining, it is perfect weather. At the zenith of this season,

comes the Fallsburg Fall Festival in Lowell, Michigan. It is held at Kent

County's Fallsburg Park off Lincoln Lake Road north of Lowell. This is a

large, rambling park with a shelter house, one of 2 wooden covered wooden

bridges in Kent County, and rolling hills full of trees and park settings.

Very pretty, very scenic, a perfect place to have a festival of the arts.

map of fallsburg park

The Lowell Area Arts Council holds their Fallsburg Fall Festival here in late

September. This year is the 40th festival celebrating arts & crafts.

I have been going since the crowds were thin and hadn't yet discovered

this wonderful arts festival.

There is plenty of room to park and wander the park grounds. They usually

have demonstrations of spinning, blacksmithing, leather tooling, origami,

and rug hooking, to name a few. There is a raffle for donated items

donated by the artists and a wonderful hand made quilt that is the grand

prize. There are many tents full of artisans selling their wares, there are

musicians performing on the stage live, and there are many

food booths with local organizations cooking and serving their specialties.

If you would like a weekend activity for September 27-28, come on out to

Fallsburg Park for the Fallsburg Fall Festival. It is always a fun event!

P.S. I'm planning on winning the quilt this year!

Copyright 2008 all rights reserved

map from Access Kent County

The Scarlet Flame on Elm Street

Alright, so I don't live on Elm Street. It is a journalistic right to move around a little.

But the scarlet flame is for real and they are my poppy plants. They light up the yard with

thier brilliant red-orange color and make spring into a thing of beauty. I have peonies

budding, bleeding heart blooming, and clematis vines are starting to strut their stuff.

Columbine is hanging its sweet heads and the iris is showing its ruffled flags to the world.

But when I turn the corner and head my car for home, it is the poppy that draws my gaze

with it's startling siren red call - who can resist spring in all its beauty ??

Can you??

poppy in bloom ada mi

ruffled purple iris ada mi

barlow's purple columbine

daisies ada mi

bleeding heart flowers ada mi

durandi clematis - june 2008 -ada mi

pizza picato poppy ada mi 6-2008

photos by Bonnie Westbrook - all rights reserved

Michigan Spring Arrives in Full Floral Dress

Spring has arrived in full force here in my Ada Michigan Flower Garden.

I love this time of year.

The intense colors, the sweet floral scents of daffodils and lilacs scent the air.

The Rococo Parrot Tulips on parade here amid the Muscari and Vinca set a gorgeous picture.

You can see why the Dutch went mad for Tulips in the 16th century and paid thousands

of dollars for specialty bulbs like these.

rococo tulips on parade

I invite you to walk in my garden and enjoy the flowers on this beautiful May evening via

the magic of a digital camera and the internet.

Here in Grand Rapids Michigan, we look forward to spring with enthusiasm. The change from

the bleak and colorless winter landscape to a full blown spring color show in just a few weeks

time can be startling. These bleeding hearts and frilled cup daffodils have popped into bloom

in the past 2 weeks.

daffodils bleeding heart

The next photos are of our crapapple trees in full bloom. They put on a breathtakingly

gorgeous floral show for us each spring, free of charge. Yes, the colors are different,

they are two different varieties.

crabapple trees in bloom ada mi

crabapple blossoms gr mi

crabapple blossoms spring ada mi crabapple tree in bloom ada mi

And last but not least is the little muscari or grape hyacinths. I love the intensity of color in this

little bulb. It demands nothing, procreates like rabbits, and gives that contrast punch to the floral

color scheme like no other flower.

muscari in ada mi garden may 2008

Copyright by Bonnie Westbrook 2008

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photos by Bonnie Westbrook