GRAND RAPIDS — An old-fashioned Christmas Sing-Along at the Grand Rapids Town Hall will be held Dec. 9 from 7-8 p.m.
The public is invited to sing Christmas carols, celebrate the season and enjoy light treats.
Josh Hergert, a local musician, will accompany the carols and Sarah Radabaugh, from Defying Gravity Dance Studio, will feature several of her dancers. Heban’s Field of Dreams will provide the decorations.
The sing-long is one activity that is part of the plan to revitalize the Town Hall. From the 1890s into the 1900s, Town Hall activities included plays, musicals, medicine shows, tooth extractions and graduations. It served as a jail, library and storage area. In the mid-1900s, school and community events were moved to the old Otsego High School.
The bicentennial in 1976 brought back community interest in the Town Hall, but much renovation was necessary. After the renovation, yearly musicals, as well as silent movies, piano and dance recitals, and village administrative activities have been held at the Town Hall.
Due to the pandemic and loss of leadership, the Town Hall sat vacant for five years. Because the Town Hall continues to need updating and repair, and because there is a renewed interest in offering more programming for the community, local residents and members from all four Grand Rapids organizations (Village Council, Chamber of Commerce, Historical Society, and Arts Council) formed a new organization, the Town Hall Committee, to focus on obtaining funding for renovation and for ongoing programming. Some ideas that are in the works are a district-wide talent show and summer musicals/plays. Other ideas have been poetry readings, art exhibits, movies, travelogues, lectures, farmers’ institutes and meeting venues.
