Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance at the Jingle Bells parade downtown Grand Haven! Bari found a condo balcony to capture this bird's-eye view just in time. |
One local retailer estimated there could be as many as 20,000 people in downtown Grand Haven for this year's Jingle Bells Parade. And, in fact, there were thousands lining the streets to await the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Claus, and the annual lighting of the Christmas tree in Central Park. So, what fun it was to plan our Diva Review to coincide with all the holiday festivities!
Sarah Sanders treated Bari Johnson to a face painting session at Consider at Done/Desserts by Design at the Rotary party. |
Trio of Violinists at Consider It Done/Desserts by Design |
Barbara Lee, Founder of Extended Grace (left) and Kendra Higgins |
Nancy Levenburg, playing flute with Prevailing Winds in Central Park, was the last to arrive for dinner so she could accompany the community singing of three Christmas carols after the tree was lit. |
After Santa and Mrs. Claus made a pass through downtown, we were ready to come in from the cold and glad we had a reservation in place at The Grill Room. Our server, Cole, was especially cheerful and very attentive. We were glad our Guest Diva, Barbara Lee, brought her friend and Board President, Kendra Higgins, to join our adventure.
Needless to say, not only did we love the food and ambiance, we hung out until 10:00 pm with our guests since we had so much to talk about! Barbara is incredibly passionate about some upcoming events she has in the community.
"Extended Grace focuses on Social Justice and Human Rights. Our mission is to nurture, educate and inspire the individual so that together we can address social justice and human rights. We are a collaborative agency, seeking to connect people who want to make a difference with opportunities to do so... we don't believe it is anyone's job to solve all the problems, but we do believe everyone can do something. Extended Grace is hosting a Town Hall Meeting on Mental Illness on January 11th at the Grand Haven Community Center at 6:30 pm."
More information is on our website at www.extendedgrace.org.
As always, we included some fine dining with our group discussion! Bari and Kelle decided an appetizer and half a salad would be enough for dinner. Nancy, Barbara, and Kendra treated themselves to a succulent entree. We noticed the side dishes are an extra charge (Kendra had a whopping serving of mashed potatoes with her pork tenderloin) and they are plentiful. As in, we think it's possible to make a meal out of a couple side dishes (hint, next time!).
Seared Ahi Tuna - spice crusted, cucumber slaw, pickled ginger $13.50 Kelle: "Outstanding, delish, will gladly go back for more!" |
The Grill Room Salad - iceberg wedge, roma tomatoes, housemade roquefort dressing, local bacon $8.50 "This half salad serving size was just enough to enjoy with an appetizer at the same time." |