Duane Campbell, a civil engineer turned brat entrepreneur, serves up these delicacies at the Foothills Café in Burdickville on Thursday through Saturday evenings. “I try to make inspired brats. Anyone can go to the store and buy a package of Johnsonville Brats,” he says. “Compare those to a handcrafted raspberry chipotle brat, or one with turkey, feta, tomato and fresh basil.” Duane often uses local ingredients, and always a better grade of meat than run-of-the-mill bratwursts.
Local history author Tom Van Zoeren has released a new book titled Boudewijn & Kate DeKorne: An Oral and Photographic History of a Dutch Immigrant Family. The book tells the story of a wood carver who came to America when he was 14, and settled in Grand Rapids. There he met and married a fellow Dutch immigrant.
Sarah Wigton Dominguez’s tropical dream looks a bit different, however. The 26-year-old, who recently earned double master’s degrees in social work and public health at the University of Michigan, pictures a lush island –— say, Hispaniola, home to the nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic — that includes clean water, blooming mothers with healthy babies, and thriving communities empowered to make educated choices about their daily lives.