 Photos by Lil DeLaat
Frontier Fest
The
Grant High School
Marching Band marched
in the annual Frontier
Festival parade on Saturday.
Zoé Bottorff of Newaygo
spent some time with Peat
the goat at the petting zoo.
Grant
Families find fun at Frontier Fest
By
Ken DeLaat
The
Grant Frontier Festival once again provided a slew of small town smiles this past weekend
with two days of activities, competitions and interactive fun that drew folks from near
and far.
Nine-year-old
Will Tcath posed alongside a 2010 custom chopper from Newaygo County Choppers as his
father took his picture. The Tcath family from the Chicago area was there as part of a
trip through Michigan, stopping to enjoy the bevy of bikes (motorized variety) beached
alongside the newly renovated Community Center.
Children
flocked to the petting zoo provided by Wildrose Horse Company of Grant, and families lined
the sidewalks for the parade that featured the Grant High School Marching Band, tractors
of all sizes and ages, and a large crew of confection-tossing wagons, trucks and cars.
Lionheart Productions trotted out characters from the upcoming show “Willie Wonka”
to pass out candy, of course, and exhort parade-goers to attend the October 7, 8 and 9
shows at the Grant Fine Arts Center.
“You’d
better come!” cried one of the Oompa Loompas on hand.
Kurt
VanSingel regained his chili championship despite ongoing protestations from the third
place contestant, his spouse, Debi Church.
“He
took my chili beans,” she said as he flashed her a winning smile. “How can you
take his picture when he cheated like that?”
VanSingel
seemed to enjoy the banter as much as his prize, a Kitchen-Aid Mixer, though there was
speculation afoot about where he would end up staying that night.
Enrique
Rodriguez won the horseshoe tournament, a somewhat abbreviated affair due to the morning
rain that led to a singles only competition.
The
festival featured music, games, arts and crafts, and a group of people coming together to
put on a party to celebrate the community that is Grant, an area filled with a rich
history, a promising future, and a whole lot of folks who know how to have a good time.
Corbin
Pieper climbed aboard
a 1939 Harley-Davidson
owned by John Church of Grant.
Kurt
VanSingel won the chili
cook-off and claimed the prize
of a new blender.
Fremont
Company chief and local officials field digester questions
By
Ken DeLaat
More
than 50 people filled the Community Room at the Fremont Area District Library on Thursday
evening to hear about plans for a 15.3-acre Community Digester Project to be built at the
Fremont Industrial Park.
Fremont
Zoning Administrator Michelle Ribant and City Manager Bryan Gruesbeck began the meeting by
outlining the format and Ribant gave an overview of the project, which involves using
organic waste to produce energy and fertilizer which would then be distributed for sale.
Anand
Gangadharan, President of Novi Energy, the Michigan-based company that is developing the
project, presented an explanation of the process and its safety features and responded to
some early questions regarding the project.
“We
are in business to be successful,” Gangadharan said. “Part of that success is
that we want to be good neighbors. This is a state of the art facility, one you will be
proud of.”
Several
questions from the audience were directed at Gangadharan, Ribant and Gruesbeck, with Novi
Energy’s president addressing most of the inquiries.
Bruce
Essebaggers expressed apprehension about the project’s proximity to the lake and the
24-hour operation of the plant.
“Don’t
get me wrong,” Essebaggers said. “I think the technology is great, but why 300
feet from residences and 500 feet from the lake? What about the noise issue? Or light
pollution? I mean, it sounds like a good idea, but not in my backyard. It will have an
adverse impact.”
“The
sound will comply with local and national standards,” said Gangadharan. “This
will be a good facility. Frankly I’m surprised at some of the reaction. I thought,
bringing this technology here, we’d be welcomed since we’re making a substantial
investment in this community.”
Fremont
Cooperative Produce Company General Manager Rob Zeldenrust talked about his company’s
role in the project and Andy Lofgren of the Newaygo County Economic Development
Organization outlined the advantages of the undertaking.
“Beyond
the six to 10 jobs,” Lofgren said, “this is a company investing $20 million in
our community, money that will support the schools, library, city services and more. The
economic benefit is significant. We know that 40 to 50 percent of our economy is tied to
food processing. This might even attract more food processors.”
Gangadharan,
accompanied by his family, responded to each inquiry directly, reiterating the intention
of his company to build and maintain a modern, well-engineered facility.
“This
is not a shoddy operation that just sprung up,” he said. “This has been four
years in the making. We’re bringing this forward with a lot of pride.”
The
Fremont Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on the site plan, landscaping and
lighting at a Tuesday, Aug. 24 meeting at 4 p.m. The city’s Zoning Board is expected
to meet a couple of weeks later to vote on variances that are necessary to go ahead with
the project. Variances are sought for the construction of towers that exceed current
height regulations.
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