For Immediate Release

31st Annual West Michigan Home and Garden Show

An annual tradition continues as the 2010 West Michigan Home and Garden Show fills DeVos Place with everything you’ve come to expect from this incredible show!  You’ll find hundreds of products and services, dozens of free seminars and demonstrations, contests and attractions, and, of course, plenty of gorgeous indoor gardens to delight your eyes and your nose.  With over 350 exhibitors filling the exhibition halls and the Grand Gallery, everything you need for your home, inside and outside, is here!

Here’s a guide to features and highlights that will help you get the most out of this year’s Show:

• Keeping It Local - We’re proud that over 300 of our exhibitors are local businesspeople and companies who care about and support our community, and who really care about doing an outstanding job for their customers.  Come meet them, and feel good knowing they’ll be around to take care of you after the Show is over.  The West Michigan Home and Garden Show is a proud member of Local First.

• HGTV Host Jim Parks - The host of HGTV’s remodeling and home improvement program New Spaces brings his own blend of expertise and playfulness to the Show with three high-energy presentations.  HomeOwner Quiz-O-Rama invites audience members to participate and win prizes in a game show format.  Update My Kitchen and Bath! includes a panel of local experts who join Parks to answer questions and offer guidance.  In Green Livin’ 101 he shares tips and tricks for saving money while being more earth-friendly.

• Garden and Art Market - A show within the Show!  Come browse 45 booths of unique and inspired garden accessories, plants, decor, art and gifts from the area’s best artists and finest local nurseries and garden shops.  Over 300 visitors will win $50 in gift certificates.   The Garden and Art Market is sponsored by MyFavoriteGardenShops.com, a cooperative of local businesses.

• Family Day - Back for its third year, this very popular feature of the Show returns on Saturday with special features and attractions for kids, parents, and grandparents, including:

Free Children’s Admission until Noon on Saturday!
Pancake Breakfast (9am till 11am)  Get fueled up for your busy day with all-you-can-eat pancakes, sausage, coffee, and orange drink for $5  (Please note that main exhibit halls open at 10am)
Grace Adventures Family Area  Come see the rustic barn, visit with miniature ponies, and have fun with special activities and making crafts!  At 2pm, the first 100 kids can make a centerpiece to take home.
Brownie “Sand Art” (10:30 till 11:15am) Kids create an artful jar filled with all the dry ingredients to bake up a batch of brownies at home!
Make a Bouquet with the MI Floral Association  (11am - Noon) First 250 kids will create a beautiful child sized bouquet with fresh flowers to give to that someone special.
Home Depot Kids’ Workshops (12noon – 2pm), first 500 kids can participate in building a wooden sailboat.
Gardening With Kids Seminar (noon) with Meijer Gardens’ Ian Warnock
Plant a Flower, Scavenger Hunt and more with the MSU Junior Master Gardeners
Grand Rapids Youth Symphony performances in the Grand Gallery
GRFD Fire Safety House, described below

• CANstruction! - The West Michigan Home & Garden Show is proud to host the 2010 CANstruction competition right in the Grand Gallery!  10 Teams of Architects, Designers and Students will build amazing sculptures using only canned goods.  The competition benefits the Salvation Army’s Booth Family Services, a member of the ACCESS Pantry Network.  Finished sculptures will be on display throughout the Show, and for a $1 donation, visitors can vote for the People’s Choice Award Winner!

• John Elsley - The Garden Stage headliner is English horticulturist John Elsley, well known throughout the gardening world as an inspiring speaker and for his plant development, including the Royal Heritage™ Helleborus which he developed over a period of 15 years.  John has edited several books, including The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Garden Plants.

• AGRLP Feature Garden:  Let’s Entertain - Mark Witte of Witte Landscape has designed a backyard living space that’s both beautiful and perfect for gatherings and good times.    Get inspired and enjoy the colors and perfumes of Spring, with thousands of blooming flowers, live trees, and shrubs.  As always, this central part of the Show is created by members of the Association of Grand Rapids Landscape Professionals with help from students in Kent Career & Technical Center’s Agriscience Program.   

• Ten Indoor Gardens - Spring is definitely in the air this weekend at DeVos Place!  In addition to the gorgeous central garden, you’ll find nine more magnificent indoor landscapes scattered throughout the show.  Our area’s premier landscapers are here to show off their best work, and the results will wow you.  Whether you have acres or just a window box to work with for your own landscaping, you’re sure to pick up plenty of ideas to take home.

• HBA Builder’s Stage - Our brand new seminar stage this year is the place to learn about the Big Projects from the folks who do them for a living.  The area’s best builders, contractors, and craftsmen will discuss building your dream home, getting the most for your remodeling dollars, eliminating stress during big projects, and much more.  Saturday’s seminars all have a Green theme.   Check it out!

• Hands-On/Do-It-Yourself Stage - This is where you can “do it yourself” right at the Show!  Experts teach ceramic and stone tiling, faux painting techniques, and more, and visitors have a unique opportunity to roll up their sleeves and learn by doing.  

• Garden Stage - The Garden Stage is thriving with everything you want to know about vegetable gardening, lawns, containers, trees, eco-friendly techniques, landscaping, and more!   Join Meijer Gardens staff members,  Flowerland’s Rick Vuyst, columnist Rebecca Finneran, and a host of other local authorities.  It’s all here, at the Garden Stage!  

• Home Stage - This is the stage for ways to make your home as beautiful and comfortable as it can be!  Get great interior design ideas, watch a Flower Shop Design Show, and get money saving tips from DTE’s Bob Fegan on Keeping Your Home Energy Efficient.

• Standard Kitchens Cooking Stage - Popular chefs Angus Campbell from GRCC’s Secchia Institute for Culinary Education is back with live cooking demonstrations.  Master the secrets of delicious homemade appetizers with “Chips (and Dips!) Off the New Block”,  including Roasted Tomato Salsa with Fresh Potato Chips,  Guacamole Picado y Tostaditas, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Dip with Sage Crackers, and Spinach and Artichoke Spread with Whole Wheat Crackers.

• Kent Career Technical Center Agriscience Program - In addition to assisting in construction of the Show’s spectacular central garden, the hard-working students of KCTC get to showcase their talents with a fantastic garden space that greets visitors in the Grand Gallery.  Come appreciate the impressive knowledge and remarkable skills used to seamlessly blend the program’s three divisions – greenhouse operations, landscaping, and floral design –  into a single indoor landscape. Browse the beautiful plants for sale, all grown by students.  Sale proceeds go back into the agriscience program to buy supplies and equipment for next year.     

• The GRFD Fire Safety House - While it is mainly for teaching critical safety techniques to children, the Fire Safety House is a must-visit display for adults, too.  We’re pleased to once again have at the Show a 29' trailer the Grand Rapids Fire Department uses throughout the area to teach children about fire hazards and prevention, as well as survival strategies.  Stop by with your children or grandchildren and visit this important part of the Show.

• Standard Flower Show - The theme of this year’s show is “International Tables.”  Come enjoy stunning entries in the horticulture and design competitions, located at the back of the Grand Gallery.  Sponsored by District IV of the Michigan Garden Clubs.

• Prizes and Giveaways  - Finally, don’t miss your chance to win terrific prizes!  Enter for a chance to win the Take the Home and Garden Show Home package, valued at over $10,000.  You could also win a $3500 Snapper mower Sparta Farm & Lawn.

Purchase your tickets online and receive a full year subscription to Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  Discounted tickets are available at all participating area Home Depot locations.  Discount weekday adult admission coupons are available online at www.GRHomeShow.com and at Wendy's.
   

Dates & Times		Admission
Thursday, March 4	3 pm - 9:30pm	Adults:  $9.00
Friday, March 5	Noon - 9:30pm	Children (6-14): $4.00
Saturday, March 6	10 am - 9:30pm	5 & Under: Free
Sunday, March 7	11 am - 6pm