Home Care In Grand Rapids, OH

The permanent closing of LaRoe’s Restaurant in Grand Rapids is felt with mixed emotions.

Those of us who are friends and fans of Dave LaRoe are downright sorry that he has come to this decision after a long, hard fight to retain the restaurant business he had developed over 46 years.

For whatever reason, it is never good news to learn a person gave up the ship before expectations.

Of course, on the other side of the discussion on LaRoe’s closing are arguments that with erratic days and hours of business, people didn’t know when LaRoe’s would be open so they drove down the street to find another place to eat. Many traveled from Toledo and surrounding communities just to dine at LaRoe’s.

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There is no doubt that LaRoe’s had been a longtime attraction in the village on the Maumee River, 18 miles from Toledo and a shorter distance from several northwest Ohio towns, including Napoleon, Wauseon, Findlay, and Ottawa. For residents in those towns, LaRoe’s was a common choice for special lunches and dinners, including birthdays, anniversaries and proms.

Speaking for the Grand Rapids village council, Mayor John Berry lamented that the closing was a great loss to the village.

“It is very sad,” Mayor Berry said. “Dave has done a lot for the Grand Rapids community.”

The mayor was referring to the many community committees David headed and served on, including the Applebutter Festival. His work in restoring the historic building was recognized by the Ohio Historical Society.

It is common that the closing of businesses that have drawn the public for years is subject to both good and bad criticism.

For LaRoe’s, the general feeling is sadness among towns people.

One harsh criticism is that the jewel of the downtown eating choices maintained the same menu year after year. The regulars no longer needed menus because they knew exactly what was served and they didn’t need a written reminder.

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The high praise for the restaurant was directed at the ambiance and the service.

That the restaurant is divided between a lounge area with booths and a full bar and a more formal dining room gives diners a choice of casual or more formal dining.

Artwork by a local artist on the walls and on table tops are welcoming and pictures of local business people lend a hometown atmosphere.

From May well into September, the outdoor deck that overlooks the Miami Erie canal and Maumee River has been an enormous drawing card for Dave. The deck appears to have been there forever. It was Dave’s idea to offer outdoor dinning in good weather.

The entrance to the second floor banquet area with very steep stairs was a deterrent, but it still was used for Christmas gatherings and wedding rehearsals.

Dave’s good taste was shown brightly at holiday time and other occasions to decorate.

Regular customers remember the old days when there was so much service it at times seemed like too much. They also remember the quality of food coming from the kitchen being consistent.

Along with many businesses, particularly restaurants, LaRoe’s was a victim of the pandemic.

Like the closing sign on the front door states: “Staff shortages, work ethic, and the changing dynamics of the downtown has made me to decide retire and close LaRoe’s. Thank you for 46 years.”

Dave’s fan club wishes him well in retirement. It will certainly be a major lifestyle change for him. Friends don’t remember him ever taking a day off, let alone a vacation. When family members and old friends came to visit him, they came to the restaurant to see him.

It would be nice if LaRoe’s changed quietly and efficiently into new hands that would continue the ambiance as a special place out for lunch and dinner in a quiet little town on the Maumee River.

Dave began his restaurant career as a bus boy at the old Par 4 restaurant in Toledo. He moved to Grand Rapids to work for the Entenmann’s at the ice cream shop.

Can’t close this column without reminding you that the restaurant may be closed, but LaRoe’s poppy seed dressing is ongoing and is sold at Churchill’s in Perrysburg, Sautter’s in Whitehouse and Sylvania, and the Village Orchard in downtown Grand Rapids.

First Published September 3, 2023, 3:00am

West Michigan-based food distribution giant Gordon Food Service Inc. is growing its presence in Ohio with a newly renovated and expanded full-service grocery store in the Dayton metro area.

The new Trotwood, Ohio grocery store opened this month and spans 52,000 square feet, more than three times the size of GFS’ previous store in the city. The store location will offer bulk products for restaurants and foodservice professionals, in addition to packaged and fresh produce and goods for local shoppers.

Wyoming-based GFS invested $7.5 million to renovate a vacant former Best Buy location for the new store. The company leveraged support of the local city and county to help eliminate Trotwood’s “food desert” status, according to reporting from the Dayton Daily News. Since 2019, Trotwood has lacked a full-service grocery store within the city limits.

“Gordon Food Service Store believes in the power of good food and its ability to bring people together and make moments special,” Tim Grabar, president of Gordon Food Service Stores, said in a statement. “We are excited to open our new remodeled location to the community and provide the chef-quality food products our stores are known for.”

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Founded in 1987, Gordon Food Service ranked 16th on Forbes’ 2022 America’s Largest Private Companies list, employing 21,300 workers across the U.S. and in Canada. The company owns approximately 180 Gordon Food Service store locations and generated an estimated $19 billion in revenue in 2022.

The new store will offer a large seasonal produce department, grab and go meals for busy shoppers, online shopping and wholesale walk-in coolers for meat and dairy items.

The Trotwood expansion follows a series of new locations for Gordon Food Service, including a recent move into Texas, where the retailer opened four new stores this spring, with plans to add two more.

GFS also quietly purchased a 195,000-square-foot former K-Mart location near Denver, Colo. in June for a total of $16.5 million. A spokesperson for the company said at the time that it was “premature” to speculate on plans for the property.

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The 21^st Anniversary Woodland Indian Celebration, “They Walked Here Before Us” will take place the weekend of Sept. 23 and Sept. 24, at The Seven Eagles Historical EARTH Center on 16486 Wapakoneta Road in Grand Rapids, OH.

The gates will open at 10 am both days. The celebration will end at dusk on Saturday and at 5 pm on Sunday. The cost for admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors 60 and over, $2 for children ages 5 to 11, and children 4 and under are free.

The event is to celebrate the Harvest Festival of the Eastern Woodland American Indians of the North East and Great Lakes, which include numerous tribes including well known tribes such as Apalachee, Cherokee and Shawnee.

The weekend’s festivities are a celebration of Native American Culture and will include learning about the history of the Eastern Woodland American Indians, doing various arts and crafts, eating food, playing games and dancing to music.

The drums will be played by Gray Cloud Singers of Pennsylvania, Southern Signers of Ohio and Southern Eastern WaterSpider of Ohio. The event will also feature multiple award winning Native American flutist Douglas Blue Feather of the Cherokee tribe in Springboro, Ohio.

The event has been described as one of the ‘top events’ of Ohio by The Ohio Arts Council and The Ohio Humanities Council. Cincinnati Magazine has listed the event as one of the “Top 20 Great Escapes: Weekends Worth Having in the State of Ohio.”

The celebration is thrown by the Black Swamp InterTribal Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Native American Organization. The foundation was established to raise awareness of the Native American population in Northwest Ohio and beyond, as well as provide education and historical programs to the community.

For more information on the event or on the Black Swamp InterTribal Foundation, visit https://www.blackswampintertribalfoundation.org.

GRAND RAPIDS, Ohio — Apple butter-making dates back centuries as a way to preserve produce from the fall harvest, where farm families would come together to make the product and share with each other at the end.

The Grand Rapids Applebutter Fest has been doing just that, and continues to do so at its 46th annual event scheduled for Sunday.

Steve Kryder, festival co-chair, shared that his family’s recipe is the one that volunteers follow as they’re making thousands of pints for the festival.

“My family has been making apple butter for more than 100 years, and I’ve been doing it since I was 5 years old or so.”

Apple butter-making is a three-day job, he said. There are more than 200 volunteers helping out over the course of the apple butter preparation.

The first day starts at the Grand Rapids fire station where Kryder said volunteers peel and dice apples into small pieces to make it easier to cook in the days ahead. He explained that the process of dicing the apples very small is called “schnitzing.”

On the second day, volunteers gather at Kryder’s farm where the base of the apple butter is started, he said.

“For 50 gallons of apple cider, you need 15 bushels of apples, and we condense that down for about 10 gallons of a thick, syrup-like concoction that we use as the base of the apple butter.”

The last day of apple butter-making consists of continuous stirring of the mixture over an open flame — a process he said takes nearly six hours.

“In the olden days, apple butter was the consistency of almost peanut butter,” Kryder noted. “They poured the mixture into an open crock, and the pectin from the apples would seal the mixture.”

IF YOU GO

What: Applebutter Fest

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Where: Downtown Grand Rapids

Admission: Free; parking with shuttle access is $15.

Information: applebutterfest.org

Today, Kryder finds that modern palates prefer a thinner, more applesauce-like consistency for apple butter.

“Our mixture develops a rich, dark brown color with a smoky context,” he said. “We don’t add any spice to our apple butter, which is different from most commercial apple butters you’ll find.”

Every 50 gallon kettle comes to make roughly 700 ½ pint jars. This apple butter-making process takes place at the “Big Stir” at the Kryder Farm, the “small stir” last Saturday, and again by making two kettles worth on the day of the festival.

At the fest, community members are encouraged to help volunteers stir the apple butter kettles near Town Hall — starting around 6 a.m., volunteers are stirring their kettles.

By the end of the apple butter-making, Kryder said that the society will end up with nearly 3,000 ½ pints of apple butter to sell.

The event has no admission cost to enter, but parking is $15. Shuttle buses are set to pick up festival-goers starting at 7 a.m. at the lots to bus them into downtown Grand Rapids.

Apple butter-making is a clear highlight of the fest, but there are more activities to enjoy, from the farm area, a children’s area, live music, hundreds of arts and craft sellers, and food and drink booths sponsored by local non-profit organizations.

The Applebutter Fest has a key historical aspect to it, said Chuck Thomas, festival co-chair.

“There’s on-site demonstrations for how you used to make things, a cider press making fresh cider, battle reenactors from the Civil War and World War II, live cannons, and historical impersonators,” he said.

On Saturday night, Abraham Lincoln, portrayed by historical reenactor John Cooper, will give a vespers service at 7 p.m. along the canal area behind Lincoln Street.

“We look to do things in a traditional way,” Kryder said. “Our mission over the years is to have an educational, family-oriented, and fun-filled day that teaches people the history of the Maumee Valley, which is vital to the history of the U.S.”

Thomas expects at least 25,000 people to attend the festival, especially considering the good weather.

“Any time we can show off Grand Rapids, we want to do that,” Thomas said. “Our history is important for people to understand.”

He added that the event is not possible without the hundreds of volunteers, and that engaging with the local community is a special element of the festival.

“Our goal is to highlight the town, the history, and the lovely community that surrounds it,” Kryder said. “The primary purpose is to give back to our community and generate funds to support the historical society.”

Michelle O'Neill says she was surprised when she moved from Toledo to Grand Rapids that the small rural village didn't allow chickens on residential properties.

GRAND RAPIDS, Ohio — More and more people have been looking for ways to raise their own food in recent years, including in residential neighborhoods.

There are many reasons for the movement; from health to sustainability.

The recent increase in the price of eggs has only strengthened the movement.

Longstanding rules and ordinances in cities and towns, however, can often stand in the way.

That has some people pushing for changes to those rules.

For instance, there is a push right now in the city of Grand Rapids, Ohio to allow residents to raise chickens inside village limits.

Currently there is an ordinance in the books in the small Wood County village on the banks of the Maumee River that keeps residents from raising chickens or any other livestock inside village limits.

One resident has made it her mission to get village officials to change that law and she thinks she has the community's support.

Michelle O'Neill says when she lived in Toledo, she was able to raise chickens at her home in west Toledo.

She was excited when she moved to Grand Rapids, to a much larger property, to continue raising chickens. She was was soon disappointed however.

“I found it very interesting that here we are, a very rural community. Waterville allows chickens, Whitehouse allows chickens, Toledo allows chickens and here in Grand Rapids we are not allowed to have chickens,” said O’Neill.

O’Neill believes there is strong support in Grand Rapids for overturning the ordinance.

She started a petition on Change.org which gathered 120 supporters.

At the same time, there are many reasons people might have to not allow chickens in residential areas: cleanliness, noise from roosters, concerns about disease.

O'Neill says a proposed ordinance she submitted to the village, which is based on Toledo's ordinance allowing backyard chickens, would address those concerns.

O’Neill is hoping her work pays off and the backyard chicken movement can gain another victory this month.

"My main reasons are for health, for food security, for the rights of the residents of Grand Rapids. I'm not trying to start a farm here," said O'Neill.

If you live in Grand Rapids and would like to have a say on whether the village should allow chickens in residential areas, for or against, the village is holding a meeting to consider a change in the ordinance on Wednesday, March 29 in the Old Fire Hall on Front Street at 6 p.m.

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