The Michigan Wizard of Oz Festival is seeking arts and crafts vendors for the June 21—22 show in downtown Ionia. If you are a vendor of vintage treasures, crafts, antiques, re-purposed items, we will send you an applica-tion. We have added an new vendor area this year ‘Toto & Friends’ celebrating pets of all sizes. From pet rescues to equine training / boarding facilities, if you have would like to set up a booth, please contact the DDA office by calling (616) 527-1420. Currently only outdoor spaces are available at $25 per site.

Ionia Downtown Development Authority Newsletter

Michigan’s only Wizard of Oz Festival is scheduled for June

21-22 in beautiful downtown Ionia. This year marks the

80th anniversary of the movie’s release. To celebrate this

milestone, new activities are planned sure to please attendees

of all ages. Celebrity guests, official character meet and

greets, photo opportunities, contests and more will be hosted

in the Armory / Community Center. Main Street will be lined

with vendors offering arts, crafts, antiques, vintage gifts in

addition to Wizard of Oz collectibles. Special children’s

activities will include a FREE Oz costume workshop on

Saturday, June 22nd from 1pm—3pm at Ionia Lock & Key. The

official Costume Contest will begin at 3:30pm at the Armory

giving the children a chance to enter the competition. Restore

Church will be providing ‘Rainbow Treat’ popsicles at their

downtown location. Back by popular demand is ‘Glinda’s

Tea Party’ on Saturday. We have added the Witch’s Brew

Breakfast to kick of the morning. Space is limited for both

events with tickets priced at only $10 each. The movie that

started it all will be shown at the Ionia Theatre each day at

5:30pm with tickets priced at 25 cents each—the same price

they were in 1939 when the movie was released. For a

complete schedule of events, join us on FB at Michigan

Wizard of Oz Festival. For more information, contact the

Ionia DDA office by calling (616) 527-1420.

Arts and Craft Vendor Openings Still Available

2019 Board of Directors

Mike Kirgis, Chairperson

Brett Patterson, Vice Chairperson

Dave Cook, Secretary

Tim Hemenway, Treasurer

Margo Cook

Paul Lentz

Mayor Daniel Balice, ex-officio

Contact Information

Director: Linda Curtis

Office: 203 W Main Street

Mail: P.O. Box 496

Ionia, MI 48846

Phone: (616) 527-1420

Fax: (616) 527-0810

lcurtis@ci.ionia.mi.us

www.ci.ionia.mi.us

2019 Meeting Schedule

Regularly scheduled meetings of

the Ionia DDA are held on the third

Wednesday of each month at

8am at City Hall located at

114 North Kidd Street.

June 19

July 17

August 21

September 18

DDA Committees

The Ionia Downtown Development

Authority welcomes new members

to their respective committees. If

you have an interest in special

events, promotion and marketing

or business development, please

contact the DDA at (616) 527-1420.

Upcoming Special Events

Ionia Farmers’ Market

June through October

Ionia Classic Car Show

Saturday, June 1st

Ionia Economic Development

Public Meeting

Monday, June 10th

Michigan Wizard of Oz Festival,

Sidewalk Sales,

Communitywide Garage Sales

Friday, June 21st

and Saturday, June 22nd

Ionia Fireworks Display

Wednesday, July 3rd

Rain date of Friday, July 5th.

Ionia Free Fair

July 11th - July 20th

Ionia Free Fair Parade

Saturday, July 13th

Street Closure Requests

If you have an upcoming event or activity that may require street closures, use of barricades or planned use of the

Fred Meijer Grand River Valley Trail system, you must complete the proper application forms and receive prior

approval. For more information, contact the DDA office at (616) 527-1420.

Ionia Cruisin’ Classics Car, Truck & Bike Show

Ionia Fireworks Display

Don’t miss the Ionia Cruisin’ Classics Car Show this Saturday, June 1st in downtown Ionia from 9am to 3pm.

Proceeds support the local food pantries providing items to area families year round. Registration is only $15 at

www.cruisinclassics.com and are still open. Dash plaques to the first 200 cars and goody bags to the first 100.

For more information, contact Missy at (616) 780.2264. Added to the day this year is the first Cruise N’ Brews

beverage tent hosted by the Ionia Area Chamber of Commerce. Contact the Ionia Area Chamber of Commerce by

calling (616) 527-2560. It is a full day of entertainment in downtown Ionia!

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, July 3rd for the Ionia Fireworks Display launched from the Fairgrounds at

10:10pm. The DDA is seeking sponsors to assist with this annual event. For more information, contact the Ionia

DDA by calling (616) 527-1420.

Host Families Needed for Summer Months

Dear Friends, Family, Acquaintances, Former Host Families, Wannabe Host Families, Anyone with the slightest interest in

Foreign Exchange or no interest at all …. This is my call out for HELP! I have a group of 15 Spanish Students arriving from

Spain on June 24th and departing July 26th. I still have more than half the group to place and I am in dire need of great host

families. If you live anywhere in the State I will make sure that we transport them to you. They arrive in Detroit and we bus

them to the area where they will be staying. If you live near the airport you have the option of greeting them there. If you

are located North of Ionia, we can transport there as well or make arrangements. I am outlining some details of the kids who

need placement and their interests. Please contact me if there is any way that you can help out. Please pass this information

along to your contacts as well.

Requirements/Logistics

They need a bed but not necessarily a private room. They can share a room with a host family member who is within 3 years of their age. They come here fully insured and our liability insures your family. They have ample funds to subsidize their stay so there

should be no concern about covering all their costs.

The host family obligation is to house and feed the student and include them in any or all activities you enjoy in the summer.

If you are able to host for even half of the stay we will try and work with you and split their stay between two families. If you

have plans with your family that do not accommodate the student, we will work with other families to cover a weekend or a

week while you are gone.

Any family configuration is welcome: Young, Old, children in the home or not, One Parent …. As long as the family is loving,

inclusive and willing to share their time and resources with a foreign student.

A Wide Array of Students

I have one girl (17) who is an equine expert or at least training to be. She owns her own horses and trains children.

My boys range in age from 15 -17. All of them are interested in sports and many of them play soccer, basketball, tennis and

love to beaches and swimming.

I have one student who plays the electric guitar with friends in a neighborhood band.

One student enjoys hiking and is involved in a Spanish youth group similar to our Boy Scouts.

A couple of my students live with extended family very near-by and they spend a lot of time with grandparents, aunts, uncles

and cousins.

Most of them love video games and would like to experience camping, as they have heard of our love for it but it is uncom-

mon in Spain.

I have a couple of boys who have allergies to cats and one that is allergic to shellfish. By and large, they all express their love

of all animals and there is no fear of dogs in the group (whew!)

The parents’ occupations vary: Doctors, engineers, business owners (embroidery), computer experts, and lawyers and office

workers. Many of the kids have been on summer programs before here in the states so they are accustomed to and ready

for American Adventures or just settling into summer life here.

The English skill level of the majority of the students is probably an 8 or higher on a scale of 10. A large part of their journey

here is to improve their conversational English and they have been taking language classes since elementary school.

Thank you in advance for considering the notion of being a short term host family or at least passing on this information to any of your friends, family, co-workers or neighbors who might be interested. I am behind the 8 ball so to speak and already in panic mode because there are no options…they are coming! Because this group is made up almost entirely of boys, I have had to pass by some great families who can only accommodate female students. Thank You again and I look forward to hear-ing from some great families. kgregory@ioniaschools.org 616-340-9182 www.globalfriendships.com