🌱 Holiday Pop Up Store + Michigan Veteran Homes To Receive $30K

Good morning, Grand Rapids! Like many of you, the Patch team is taking some time off to enjoy the holidays, so there will not be a newsletter in your inbox tomorrow. We appreciate your understanding of this slight pause in our schedule, and I will be back on Monday with the next edition of the Grand Rapids Daily! Now, here's everything happening around town today.

First, today's weather:

Cloudy with a little rain. High: 48 Low: 43.

Here are the top stories today in Grand Rapids:

1. If you’re still in need of some last-minute holiday gifts, a unique new retail space opened in downtown Grand Rapids last month where you can shop local and support minority-owned businesses. The Pop Up Room, in Studio Park, features an array of home goods, clothing, woodcraft, coffee, hair and beauty products, gift baskets, and more all from local entrepreneurs. (mlive.com)
2. The Michigan Veteran Homes in Grand Rapids will accept a $30,000 donation at its upcoming Christmas Eve bingo party. Leo and Valerie Martin, owners of the Rolling Rock Ranch in Hershey, along with Friends of Rolling Rock Ranch in Kent City, are behind the donation that will benefit and support the residents of the home (mlive.com)
3. The Grand Rapids Symphony’s first concert of 2022 will say “farewell” and “thank you” to John Varineau, who is leaving after 36 years of serving the organization. The concert, “An American in Paris,” which will be conducted by Varineau, will take place at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, and Saturday, Jan. 8, at DeVos Performance Hall, at 303 Monroe Ave. NW in Grand Rapids. (GR|MAG)

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Today in Grand Rapids:

• 2021 Christmas Lite Show Drive Thru At LMCU Ballpark - Home of the West Michigan Whitecaps (5:30 PM)

From my notebook:

• This can be the most wonderful time of year, but for some people it can also be the hardest. Michigan State Parks is reminding everyone to take some time to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors can be helpful to boost your mood and relieve stress. (Instagram)
• Grand Rapids Fire Department Units were on the scene of a structure fire in the 300 blk of Spencer NE. Engine 5 and Car 6 arrived first and reported light smoke coming from a flat roof. Engine 5 initiated fire attack. (Facebook)
• All Friends of Grand Rapids Parks wants for Christmas is thriving parks and sustainable urban forests that actively support our community’s economic, environmental, and cultural health. You can help make this possible! (Facebook)

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Alrighty, you're all good for today. I'll catch up with you soon with a new update!

— Miranda Fraraccio

About me: Miranda Fraraccio is a born and raised Rhode Islander. She works as a freelance copywriter for content creation agency Lightning Media Partners and as an assistant producer for a live-lit storytelling show in Chicago. She holds a degree in Writing & Rhetoric and Communication Studies from The University of Rhode Island. In her free time, you can find her traveling, hiking, or photographing her neighborhood as a street photographer.