The mission of the Alzheimer’s Association is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Memory Walk participants throughout our nation have played a key role in funding the Alzheimer’s Association by raising thousands of dollars every year. Please join us to walk and make a donation. Together, we can fight to end this devastating disease.

Date: Saturday, September 25, 2010
Time: 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Rivertown Sports, 2605 Sanford Ave SW, Grandville, MI

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Attention All Thrill Seekers! Do you have what it takes to be the ultimate matador of Grand Rapids ? The Bulls are back and ready to smack! The day will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 14 at Founders where drink specials and a blessing from Reverend Boyd will kick the event off. From there, participants will be released as the feisty “Bulls” from the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls, Killamazoo Derby Darlins and Flint City Derby Girls chase you through the streets of Downtown Grand Rapids as you head to the next destination (and more drink specials.) Your final destination, if you survive, will be HopCat where there will even more specials and a DJ.

A Few Survival Tips

Safety in numbers: Bring your friends. If you’re gonna go down, might as will take your friends with you, right?

Prepare for the Run: Stretch out those legs. Have pre-run warm up beer at Founders to wet you’re your appetite. Runners are encouraged to get creative and dress up. Prizes will be awarded for the best theme, best costume and more.

Run fast!!! The Grand Raggidy Roller Girls, Killamazoo Derby Darlins and Flint City Derby Girls will be playing the role of the bulls! These fierce yet lovely creatures will be on their skates, sporting horns and wielding large bats to chase participants from bar to bar.

Blend in with your Surroundings. This year, the event itself will be free, but in order to enjoy drink specials you must purchase a wristband / t-shirt package for $15. Merchandise and T-shirt/wristbands combos will be sold before the run begins. A portion of the proceeds will go to C-SNIP.

Expect to see many of your favorite All Star faces returning, such as Bette Mangler, Lindsey Blowhan, Shutter Speed, Garden Ho, Trashy Two Lips, Rue DeDaye, and Hodi Chit. Plus the All Stars are ecstatic to welcome X-Libris to this already stellar lineup. These skaters are determined and skilled, armed with a dangerous arsenal of speed, strength and strategy. Opposing teams should consider themselves warned!

The G-Rap Attack! is pleased to welcome back Curvy Dog, Costa Lotta Chaos, Greedy Reedy, Kelsey Slammer, Brassy Knux and Daisy Hatchett. And to round out the core line up they have added new faces, FreakʼN C, Twinner and Maddy, while Ella Vation and Roni U. Over are right on their tails. Equally as determined as our travel team, these Attack skaters are eager to skate, hungry to play and out for blood to win. The dedication and hard work of both teams should prove for a high octane season of amazing derby action. You wonʼt want to miss it!

Not seeing your favorite GRRG roller girl on the roster? Not to worry, itʼs been a very busy summer plus we have a few skaters taking this time to mend so they can return in the fall at full strength for 100 % GRRG derby excitement. Check again after our next wave of evaluations taking place July 28th.

And if youʼre interested in becoming a derby girl yourself, your next chance for recruitment is almost here. The next Basic Training Clinic starts on Sunday, July 11th at 11:00 am. For more information on this clinic, just send an email to contact@gr-rollergirls.com to let us know you’re interested.

Photo by Green Frog Photo

Join GRRG at Wengers Bowling Alley on Friday for some good old bowling fun!!! This is a great chance to show off your mad skills or challenge someone to a game. (We heard Bette Mangler talking up her game. Someone needs to take her down!) If bowling isn’t your bag, come by and strike up a conversation with your favorite derby girl!

For only $12 a person, you will have access to unlimited bowling, a shoe rental, delicious pizza and pop! This is an all ages event so bring your family and friends to this fun filled evening!

I started looking at the team and fell in love; with skaters, their sport, and the incredible commitment it took to make it all happen. They looked so proud, and the footage of their bouts looked like the perfect mix of sport, feminism, camaraderie, fashion and rock n’ roll (The sport has changed a lot since those days).

I spent a good 10 hours that day researching online about the sport and immediately connected with Crash Baby who was starting the Detroit Derby Girls. My best friend and co-worker, The Vindicator, was away working in Ohio for 2 weeks, so I was very lonely. Clearly obsessed, I sent her at least 5 Emails that day filled with links and information on how WE were going to start up our own roller derby league.

The Vindicator, who was a press reporter at the time, didn’t ask a single question. She was hooked too.

We recruited our partners-in-crime, Ricochet, Bruzin Suzin, and MakeYaDizzy Lizzy to go to an open skate on a Friday night at the Plainfield Skating Center (may she rest in peace). There, we got our asses kicked by 10-year-olds. They were doing everything in their power to make us fall and it worked. That’s when we met Wheels McGee, who skated up to us like a knight in shining bearings. He told us we were going to die if we didn’t exit the skating floor, and he gave us free passes to Adult Night.

Lesson. Learned.

We needed to learn how to skate before we could start playing sports in skates.

From there, we made a cute little recruitment flier and started bugging our friends and their friends to come skate with us at Adult Night. This went on for about a month, with more and more girls showing up attempting to teach each other how to skate. One fateful night, the rink announced that they were canceling Adult Night. I spoke with the manager of the rink, explained that we wanted to start a Grand Rapids roller derby team, and wanted to have private practices at their rink. The only hitch being that we REALLY needed a skating coach to make that happen. They gave us 2 nights a week and a speed skating coach, the same man that saved our lives, Wheels McGee.

Our first official practice was hilarious. Out of about 10 girls, one person, Ricochet, knew how skate. Wheels taught ALL of us in 1 month. Within 3 months we had about 15 girls and started learning the fundamentals of the very complicated game of roller derby! That is, after we got insurance, protective gear, helmets, and a steel pair of balls.

Fast forward 6 months, we were hosting recruitment parties and fundraisers trying to get the word out about the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls. The name and logo came to me in a dream, with artist Ricochet creating the logos we still use today. We signed a contract with the DeltaPlex; a 5,000-seat-arena beyond our wildest dreams. They gave us April 1, 2006–April Fools Day–for our inaugural bout. Thanks, DeltaPlex.

We sold more than 2,000 tickets to that first game. The venue even ran out of beer! Grand Rapids came out in droves and supported their local Roller Derby.

Authors: Shutter Speed and The Vindicator

Valid May 1st – 31st.

Bos Greenhouse & Farms
1674 Spaulding
Grand Rapids MI 49546
Phone: 616-949-0407
www.bosgreenhouse.com

BOS is a local family owned (The Bos family) working greenhouse and farm in their 98th year located in the Cascade area. Their greenhouse’s carry annuals, perennial’s, hanging basket’s, container gardens, vegetable transplant’s and herbs. 90% of what they carry is grown on site, so everything is Michigan hardy.

They are also a farm and grow everything from Asparagus to Zucchini (Michigan season availability). Fresh produce is sold directly to the customer at the Farm market next door to the greenhouse’s.

May open hours:
Monday-Friday 9am – 8pm
Saturday 9am – 6pm (Closed Sun)

&lt;Download flyer here&gt;

Two rinks will be buzzing for two days with 12 regulation bouts between the all-star teams of WFTDA North Central member leagues and 12 bouts open to any established team, including those not chartered by WFTDA.

The Grand Raggidy Roller Girls will start the weekend out playing The Hammer City Eh! Team from Canada. HCRG is the second international member of the WFTDA. GRRG recently celebrated their five year anniversary as a league and is excited to show our neighbors from the north what we’re made of!

Following the first full day of derby delight, GRRG will match up against the Omaha Rollergirls who are currently ranked 3 places below us at 12th. This will be an intense game as both teams will be rallying to improve their ranking in the North Central Region.

The event will be sanctioned by WFTDA and travel team bouts will count toward the participating leagues’ national rankings. Wish us luck and stay tuned for more news about your favorite roller girls, The Grand Raggidy Roller Girls!

All events will be open to the public, giving fans a chance to see up-and-coming regional derby talent as well as seasoned veteran skaters. They will be held at Milwaukee County Sports Complex at 6000 W. Ryan Rd., Franklin, WI. Tickets will be $40 for a weekend pass, $25 for a single-day pass and a $15 at the door after 6pm on each for the headline bouts each night. You will be able to purchase tickets and see a complete schedule of bouts at www.brewcitybruisers.com

The G-Rap Attack! will play against NEO’s Audio Assault in the first of two games of this double header. The Attack is prepared to show NEO a thing or two about roller derby with their ever growing roster and skill. Like any one hit wonder, the Audio Assault will have their moments on the track but the G-Rap Attack! is the real rock star in this show.

The second bout will be the All Stars versus the Rock ‘N’ Roller Girls. The All Stars are currently ranked 9th in the North Central Region and are always pushing to improve their standing. NEO is a WFTDA Apprentice league trying to climb the ropes in their third season. They show great promise as a future league of the WFTDA. How these games will play out is still unknown, but we all know who the favorite is…

Date: Saturday, May 15, 2010
Time: 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Rivertown Sports, 2605 Sanford Ave SW, Grandville, MI

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