Friday, April 22, 2016

A Great Spring Weekend

This past weekend was so fantastic that it took me until today to write about it. To start with Jake and my buddy Roy both rolled into town last Thursday night. Jake was here for the music festival and Roy was here to visit with everyone he knows that lives east of the Mississippi River. We all went out to dinner Thursday night and had a good time.

On Friday, Roy headed north to visit his son and Jake and I were on two different radio stations to talk about Jake's Music Festival. We had lunch at Harmony Hall on Grand Rapids' west side. When we got home we did a little music festival work and then rode bikes up to Rockford Brewing and enjoyed a pint in the sun. It was a beautiful day for a 10 mile ride with a beer stop in the middle.

Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish at Jake's Music Festival
Saturday was the big day. Jake's Music Festival is our major fundraiser. The show takes place at Wealthy Theatre and we had 12 different acts performing. The crowd was fantastic and the bands did a great job. In this, our 12th year, we raised a little over $5,000. You can see more photos on our Facebook page.

Almost 50 people showed up for the first JDRF West Michigan outdoor team ride
Sunday was the best day we've had in months. Almost 80 degrees, sunny and very little wind. Sounds like a great day for a bike ride. So Mary and I headed headed to Grandville for the first JDRF team ride of the year. We had almost 50 people show up. That makes it the largest first ride ever and one of the largest team rides of all time. I'd say that bodes well for this upcoming season. We rode 29 miles, with the second half of the route being quite hilly. Check out the details from Map My Ride. As a side note, when we got home I power washed the patio.

Monday came. I went to work and Mary took Jake to the bus station so he could head back to Chicago. It was a long, very tiring, very fun weekend. 2016 is going to be a great year.