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East Express | Feb. 15, 2024

PARKS & RECREATION

SPORTS NIGHT OUT THIS SATURDAY
A reminder the rescheduled Sports Night Out for elementary school-aged children and their adult chaperones takes place this Saturday, Feb. 17. Join us 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the East Grand Rapids High School gym for a fun evening of games, challenges and activities. Plus, there’s a photo booth so you can have a keepsake from the evening. Registration is still available online. 

The event was rescheduled due to winter weather.

SPRING SWIM LESSONS REGISTRATION
Spring swim lessons registration is available for residents starting today (Feb. 15) and for nonresidents Feb. 22. Learn more and register online. 

REEDS LAKE RUN & TRIATHLON REGISTRATION OPEN
Registration for the Reeds Lake Run on June 22 and Rhoades McKee Reeds Lake Triathlon on Sept. 7 is now open. Click on the name of each event for details and to register.

FINANCE & CITY ADMINISTRATION

NEXT CITY COMMISSION MEETING
The next City Commission meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19 at the Community Center, 750 Lakeside Drive SE.

Community members can also watch the meeting live via the City’s YouTube channel and view minutes and agendas here. 

FINANCE DEPARTMENT RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE

The City was awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the U.S. and Canada for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022. This award is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting.

Special thanks to the Finance Department for their outstanding achievement. 

FEB. 27 ELECTION REMINDERS

We will offer nine days of early voting 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 17-25 in Room 105 at the Community Center, 750 Lakeside Drive SE, except for Feb. 21, when it will be available 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 

Under new state law, we have also consolidated our voting precincts and mailed updated voter information cards. Here are the details:

• If you previously voted at East Grand Rapids Middle School, you will now vote at the Community Center, 750 Lakeside Drive SE. 
• If you previously voted at Woodcliff Elementary School, you will now vote at Breton Downs Elementary School, 2500 Boston St. SE.
• If you previously voted at the Wealthy Pool, you will now vote at the East Grand Rapids Performing Arts Center, 2211 Lake Drive SE. 

Review your new voter information card or visit mi.gov/vote for your polling location. 

More information about elections in East is available at eastgr.org/elections.

PUBLIC SAFETY

BE VIGILANT OF FRAUD 
EGR Public Safety reminds community members to be alert of potential fraud via phone calls and text messages. 

While they can take many forms, common phone scams include the caller:

• Pretending to be from an organization you know. 
• Confronting you with a problem or offering a prize.
• Pressuring you into immediate action.
• Telling you to pay them in a specific way.

The Federal Trade Commission outlines a few tips to protect consumers from fraud, including:

• Block unwanted calls and text messages.
• Do not provide your personal or financial information in response to a request you did not initiate.
• Resist pressure to act immediately.
• Stop and talk to someone you trust.

To report a suspected case of fraud or other non-emergency, contact East Grand Rapids Public Safety at 616.949.7010.

PUBLIC WORKS

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES
Public Works is continuing water service line replacements. DTE is also replacing private gas mains throughout the city. You can view DTE’s map of improvement sites here. Residents can also call the DTE gas system improvement office with questions or concerns at 616.551.2621.

For more information on all 2024 projects, please visit the construction updates webpage.

ADOPT A DRAIN

Public Works asks residents to help care for storm drains. If possible, carefully clear debris from drains before it starts raining and shovel snow off drains to keep water flowing.

For information on adopting a drain and joining your neighbors in protecting our watershed, please visit https://www.lgrow.org/adopt-a-drain.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

EAST GRAND RAPIDS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
Save the date: EGRSF’s annual fundraiser, HURRAH!, returns to Wege Plaza overlooking Reeds Lake with food, fun, friends, music, drinks and more Saturday, April 20. This year’s HURRAH! will be a birthday party celebrating the Foundation’s 40 years of supporting our schools. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available online.

KENT DISTRICT LIBRARY: EAST GRAND RAPIDS BRANCH

The East Grand Rapids branch will host several free programs over the next few weeks:

• Meet Your Community Helpers – 10:30-11:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 16: Meet community helpers such as a snowplow driver, a firefighter or a mail carrier and learn about what they do. Enjoy a story and fun activities with our special guests! For families with young children.
• Anishinaabe Art Workshop – 10:30-11:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 19: School-aged children are invited to learn from Monica Rickert-Bolter, a mixed Afro-Indigenous multimedia artist and illustrator of multiple children's books. Create your own story using Anishinaabe-style stencils and layering techniques on dark-colored paper. Space is limited; first come, first served.
• Idlewild: Heirlooms of the Past – 6:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27: Using original songs, a pop-up museum and lecture, CJ Kingdom-Grier will share Idlewild's story – a community model of hope, resilience, entrepreneurship, restoration and Black excellence in the heart of Michigan juxtaposed over a nationwide landscape of Jim Crow and segregation. For adults.

Don't forget to join KDL’s Let It Snow winter reading club. Community members 11 years and older who read or listen to six books earn a Let It Snow mug. Want more? Log four more titles and be automatically entered into the Power Reader drawing for a chance to win an Amazon Kindle Scribe or other prizes. Visit kdl.org/snow to get started. It’s not too late – the reading club goes through Feb. 29. 

EAST GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Kindergarten pre-enrollment for the 2024-25 school year is available for EGR residents. Learn more at egrps.org/Enrollment/Kindergarten-Program.

For residents looking to enroll in grades 1-12, please email enrollment@egrps.org.

COREWELL HEALTH IRISH JIG

Community members and drivers are asked to be aware of Irish Jig participants the morning of Saturday, March 16 along the route pictured above. 

This year’s route has participants starting and finishing on Lakeside Drive SE in front of the Community Center. The route travels along Breton Road to Hall Street, loops around on Bonnell Avenue, then back to Hall Street and up Lake Drive to the finish line.

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