Top Ten Great Ideas for March

FamilyPalooza

March 6
Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa
Thompsonville
800-968-7686
www.CrystalMountain.com

Think of it as an Olympics for families that include fun and friendly competition in events like snow angel decorating, snowshoe relay, silly slalom and other events. Points are issued for participation and performance. Crystal Mountain’s lovable mascots like Snowball, Boarding Beaver and Powder Pig are there to help cheer the families on.

Where The Boys Aren’t!

March 5 - 7
Holland Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Holland
800-506-1299
www.holland.org

We don’t want whiners, quiet talkers, over talkers, ?wall flowers, bad listeners, no shows, or people with abundant issues. Nope, they’re not invited. We want girlfriends, women you haven’t seen in a while, sorority sisters, bridesmaids, old maids, 20-somethings, 30-somethings, 40-somethings, fashionistas, legally blonds, ya ya sisters, and members of the red hat society!

That’s right! A weekend with no kids, no husbands, no work. . . just you and your best gal pals! The Downtown Holland Girlfriends Weekend offers an indulgent and eclectic mix of wining, dining, fashion, makeovers, fitness and shopping.

CityFlats Hotel is offering a special rate of $109 for that weekend.

Third Annual Suds & Snow

Snowshoes, meet Mircobrews.

March 6 • 2 pm - 6:30 pm
Timber Ridge RV & Recreation Resort
Traverse City
800-909-2327
www.timberridgeresort.net

Snowshoes meet Microbrews at Fourth Annual Suds & Snow Event! With some of the best trails in the region (Timber Ridge features five kilometers that link to the Vasa Pathway) and best beers in the state, Timber Ridge offers up a unique event with Suds & Snow. Guests will enjoy an afternoon on the trails in snowshoes (no experience required) followed by a visit to the beer and food tasting trail station. The sampling continues at the indoor banquet facility with rockin’ live music. Another sampling area just outside with heated tent and bonfire will be the third hot spot at the event. And not all in that order, if you so please. This year offers participants sampling from ten different Michigan breweries. Local restaurants will be selling tasty foodstuffs and tastes to help stave off hunger pangs. Local retailers are available to rent snowshoes from as well as hotel packages are available nearby.

Brew-Ski Festival

March 13
Boyne Highlands
Harbor Springs
800.GO.BOYNE
www.BOYNE.com

Swap the winter coat for a t-shirt, goggles for sunglasses and enjoy morning runs on the slopes, sun soaking and craft beer sampling at Boyne Highlands’ newest spring event, Brew-Ski Festival. The first annual Brew-Ski Festival features more than 100 craft beers and entertainment beginning at noon on Saturday, March 13. Craft brewers from throughout the state of Michigan and beyond serve up samples of their premium brews at this outdoor festival. Sampling tickets are $2 each and are good for 3-ounce pours. Participating breweries include New Holland Brewing Co. and Founders Brewing Co., among others.

Brewers and representatives gather in a large festival tent at the base of the slopes to serve as the après-ski headquarters where the craft beers, along with grilled brats are served and music is played until 4 p.m. Admission to the tent is free and guests must be at least 21 years of age to enter. Patrons receive a wristband and come and go as desired. At 4 p.m., the fun continues in the resort’s legendary Zoo Bar featuring live music by the Aaron Vaughn Band.

A super-valuable weekend package is offered and includes a Friday night hors d’oeuvres reception featuring a few of the event’s favorite brews , two nights’ hotel lodging, breakfast each morning, two-day lift tickets, festival t-shirt, commemorative mug and five sampling tickets, starting at just $233 per person.

Carnival Weekend at Boyne Mountain

Carnival at Boyne Mountain

March 19 - 21
Boyne Mountain
Boyne Falls
800-GO-BOYNE
www.boyne.com

Once again Boyne Mountain will be the site for a legendary party of epic proportions. This is where Mardi Gras meets the mountain. Outrageous and crazy become the norm for the weekend, from skiers and snowboarders in costumes to the always hilarious Slush Cup. As in the past couple years, we will be allowing guests to transport their own beverages of choice to the Victor Halfway house to enjoy the mayhem of the on-hill party hosted by Dave Faulkner.

Friday, March 19

• Skiing/snowboarding, 9am - 9 pm
• Outside Cookout & Bar, 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, Eriksen's Patio (Items available for all cookouts include burgers, brats, chicken sandwiches, salads, chips, beer, wine and soda)
• Mac Daddy performs in the Snowflake Lounge 9:30pm - 1:30am

Saturday, March 20

• Skiing/snowboarding, 9 am - 4:30 pm
• Outside Cookout & Bar, 11:30 am - 5 pm, Eriksen's Patio
• On-hill party at the Victor Halfway House with Dave Faulkner 9am - 4:30pm
• Adult Costume Party at the Victor Halfway House 2:30pm, prizes include a '10/'11 BOYNE Gold season pass, gift cards and more
• Mac Daddy performs in the Civic Center 4pm - 8pm
• Twisted Finster (and the KLT gang) rock 'til the wee hours in the Civic Center 9pm - 1:30am

Sunday, March 21

• Nothing cures that "groggy" feeling like the legendary Ericksen's buffet breakfast served 7am - 11am in the Clock Tower lodge
• Slush Cup at 12pm/Noon near the bottom of North McClouth, registration takes place on-hill prior to the event. All Slush Cup participants will receive a commemorative t'shirt

65th Annual Ultimate Sports Show

The Ultimate Sports Show comes to Grand Rapids.

March 18 - 21
DeVos Place
Grand Rapids
616-742-6610
www.devosplace.org

Michigan's finest tradition for the avid fisherman, hunter or outdoor loving family! Over 350 exhibitors will be at the show with the latest outdoor gear, travel information and fishing boats. The features are famous: world class taxidermy, antique lures, trout pond, woodcarvers, pellet range, fishing simulator, rock wall and fly casting instruction. Nearly 100 fishing and hunting seminars will be held on four stages, including "Lake Ultimate," the 110,000 gallon indoor lake. Michigan sportsmen never miss it!

Vernal Equinox Festival

March 19
Public Museum of Grand Rapids
Grand Grapids
616-456-3977
www.grmuseum.org

The Planetarium’s Vernal Equinox Festival on Friday, March 19 offers three times the entertainment impact,” says Rickey Ainsworth, Manager of the Chaffee Planetarium. “We present three of the planetarium’s best laser light shows back-to-back and regularly pack the house.” Rock out to your favorite songs by Led Zeppelin at 8 pm. Ramp up with Rush’s Greatest Hits at 9 pm, then “slow down” with Radiohead’s OK Computer at 10 pm. Tickets are $7 per show—or $16 for all three.

Sky shows and laser light shows are offered regularly at the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium sky dome theater, named in honor of the hometown hero whose life was tragically cut short in a 1966 Apollo 1 training session. The Grand Rapids Public Museum’s planetarium provides the community a great place to learn, imagine and explore space, and sometimes just have fun!

Celebrate Summer in March

March 19 - 21
Harbor House Inn
Grand Haven
800-841-0610
www.HarborHouseGH.com

Gather your friends, sisters, mom and Aunt Bea! It’ll be spring on the lakeshore, but we’ll pretend it’s summer!

• Stay Friday Night get Saturday Half Off
• Be Salon and Spa discounts for Girls Getaway Guests
• Complimentary summer cocktail hour
• Decorate flip flops with discounted class at Creative Fringe
• Gift Bags with discount coupons to area shops and restaurants
• Door Prizes
• Beach movie night and banana split bar

Spirit and Form: Michele Oka Doner and the Natural World

Through May 9
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
Grand Rapids
888-957-1580
www.MeijerGardens.org

American artist Michele Oka Doner is widely celebrated for her sculpture, installations and public art projects, and is similarly acclaimed for her prints, jewelry and functional objects. Among the most versatile artists working today, the inspiration she draws from nature is the defining factor and unifying force across her repertoire in both formal and spiritual terms. This exhibition, Oka Doner’s largest to date, examines the breadth of her endeavors from recent figurative projects in bronze and on paper to iconic functional objects in bronze and silver. Of special note will be her site specific installation of more than 1,500 recently completed ceramic soul catchers completed during her residency at the famed Nymphenburg porcelain studios in Munich, Germany. This exhibition is timed to coincide with the completion of Beneath the Leafy Crown, the expansive 1,200 square foot bronze and terrazzo floor commissioned by Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

Inspired: The Corky Tuttle Glass Legacy

Through April 18
Muskegon Museum of Art
Muskegon
231-720-2570
www.MuskegonArtMuseum.org

In recent years, the Muskegon Museum of Art has hosted exhibitions by contemporary glass artists that are nationally known in the art world, including Benjamin Moore, Debora Moore, Stephen Rolfe Powell, Rick Beck, Nancy Callan, Sonja Blomdahl, and Dante Marioni. Inspired: The Corky Tuttle Glass Legacy is an MMA exhibition of works by all of these artists, and more, that have been acquired for the Museum from 2002 to 2009.

The Muskegon Museum of Art’s long history of collecting decorative, functional glass objects turned toward acquiring glass vessels and sculptural objects with more purely aesthetic qualities in the 1980s.

This is due, in no small part, to the early efforts of C. Corcoran Tuttle. “Corky” Tuttle owned a gallery in downtown Muskegon and was an early proponent of the American studio glass movement. She worked with artists who are now well known and established and helped the Museum acquire studio glass for the MMA’s collection. Corky and her husband, Robert D. Tuttle, gifted many additional works to the Museum and provided funding for several important glass exhibitions. Inspired honors Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle’s pioneering efforts on behalf of the MMA and the exhibition is underwritten by the Robert D. and C. Corcoran Tuttle Fund of the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.

March Open Tours
Drop in every Thursday from 1:00 to 3:00 pm for free guided exhibition tours led by MMA docents. Reservations are not required.

Brown Bag Films
Celebrate Michigan Glass Month in April with these free film screenings.
You may bring your lunch. Free coffee and cookies are provided.

April 8 • 12:15 pm
Walls of Light: Stained Glass Through the Ages
(85 mins.) Walls of Light traces the development of stained glass from its original in the Middle East 5,000 years ago to the exciting works of today’s artists.

April 22 • 12:15 pm
Tiffany: The Mark of Excellence
(50 mins.) Taste, glamour, and sophistication are a few words that have been used to describe the incredible work of father and son, Charles and Louis Comfort Tiffany. Learn how businessman Charles and artist Louis created the Tiffany legend that remains unmatched.