The Sunday Citizen

The Siren Is The Town

Every day at noon, the siren sounds across Cedar Springs. I remember being a kid, sitting out on the front porch on Muskegon St. waiting for it. I have to assume most of us no longer stop to think about it. The sound has worked its way into the background of our lives, as familiar as the festival we've been celebrating over the last 87 years. It has a funny effect, though, if you really pay attention. When it begins, conversations soften for a moment. It carries faintly throu

A Shared Identity

The Thursday night council chambers were full. Not an extra seat was to be had. A simple question emerged weeks ago: Where should the "Red Flannel Town" medallion, the one formerly hung in our old city hall, hang? But it unfolded into something much larger, and it is, because it became clear that people were not reacting to décor or wall space, but to what that symbol represents about who we are. When a symbol present for generations gets moved or reconsidered, the reactions

The Privilege of Disagreement

“What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming.” As Saturday night’s fireworks finale lit up the sky and the grills cooled off sometime after sunset, Americans finally gave in to sleep after squeezing every last bit of life out of a long summer day. After sundown, when the noise softened and the sky returned to its familiar darkness, I found myself sitting at home with my son, replaying the evening in my mind. A memory came back to me from July 4th, 2022, when he

Trying to Live the Motto

I’ve been thinking about our city motto lately. Stop. I get it. It's a weird thing to think about. Most of you probably don't sit on your porch, watching cars drive down Muskegon Street, pondering the philosophical meaning of our city's motto. Just humor me and read the rest of this. If you haven't seen it on your water bill recently, the motto states, "Cedar Springs - Cherishing our Heritage. Embracing our Future.” It's a warm sentiment, really. It's like saying, "We know wh

Still The Red Flannel Town

There’s no doubt that Cedar Springs has been feeling like it’s moving faster than any of us are ready for. Yep. I said it. And I bet you recognize it too. And I bet those from 150 years ago even felt the same way when they thought they'd finally settled on the town's size, when suddenly a new building popped up. For a town that has long felt a little like Mayberry, (and if you don’t get that reference you’ll have to Google it), the recent changes in our landscape have kind of

Last Turn at Bat

If you listened closely enough early Thursday afternoon, you might have heard the school bell at Cedar Springs Public Schools ring out for the last time this year. It didn’t sound any different than it did in October or March, but somehow it just feels different in June. Perhaps a little weightier, but with relief...if that makes any sense. Tomorrow there won’t be any buses lining up for early morning drop-off and alarms can finally get a break, at least for the students. The

When The Distance Disappeared

Before it was a long weekend, it was a funeral. We don’t usually start there, though. We start with charcoal and lake plans and campers heading north. Memorial Day has become the unofficial kickoff to summer, whether we admit it or not. Boats come out of storage as school sports and graduations begin to ease. There’s this hum of preparation as the season begins its first noticeable shift. And somewhere toward the end of that hum of busyness, there are flags. If you drive past

Of Renovations And Remembrance

Some weeks pass by, but this week passed the torch. On Thursday morning, we said goodbye to our dear friend Sally Grayvold. For those of you who grew up in Cedar Springs, Sal needs no introduction as she had simply always been there. She taught generations of students, coached, mentored, volunteered with the Women’s Club and the Kent Theatre, and helped establish the historical museum in its earliest days. If something meaningful or memorable was happening in town over the pa

If You'd Like To Make A Call, Please Hang Up And Try Again.

There was a time when being social required leaving the house. No, this is not a lecture or a walk down memory lane. Although, sometimes it helps to remember how we used to do things, if only to see what has changed. Leaving the house wasn't for an event necessarily, nor for something formal. Sometimes, it was just to stop by. People would visit in the evenings without much notice. A car in the driveway meant someone was home and likely willing to receive company. Generally,

Unscripted

I grew up believing small towns were a little bit scripted. Not in a weird “Truman Show” kind of way. More like The “Wonder Years” sort of way. The place where the same faces kept showing up and everything seemed connected in a way that made sense. Even growing up in Cedar Springs, it felt like there were main characters. You know what I mean? The people everyone recognized, whose names came up often enough that you felt like you knew them, even if you didn’t? They were the f

When We Reach The Top Of The Hill

This week, the school board voted to demolish the Hilltop building. I know you already know, but I had to begin this editorial somehow. I covered the decision and wrote about the costs, the planning and what comes next. But what has stayed with me isn't so much the vote itself as the thought of all the days that building held. One hundred years is a long time for any structure to stand in place. Long enough for generations to pass through it without thinking much about the fa

The Future Belongs To Those Who Show Up

I’ve spent enough evenings at City Hall over the last several months since taking over The Bugle that I don’t really think about it anymore when I grab my notebook and head out the door. It’s just part of the process. Most nights it’s a mix of council members, a few staff, and, at best, a handful of residents who decided that whatever was on the agenda was worth their time. There’s usually a quiet murmur before things begin, council members catching up or asking a quick ques

A Chance To Step In

A few days ago, we reported on the two open seats on the Cedar Springs City Council. There’s also an open seat on the Planning Commission. On paper, it reads like normal city business. Resignations were accepted. Applications are now open. Interviews will soon be scheduled, and the calendar moves forward. Sitting in that council meeting, though, it felt a little more personal than procedural. Council members took a moment to thank Brayden Marvel and Alice Rudy for their servi

The Days That Still Bring Us Together

You start to recognize the feel of certain weekends without needing to look at a calendar, and this weekend, Easter weekend, is one of them. You hear it in passing conversations during the week, and if you're like me, you hear it in the drop-off/pickup line at school just before it breaks for spring. What strikes me every year is not that everyone celebrates the same way, because we all know they do not. But what stands out is that a large part of the community ends up pressi

Under The Sun Again

Little League season is back. You can tell because the folding chairs and coolers full of Capri Sun and fruit snacks have reappeared. The group texts have returned, and on any given weekday, there's a line of minivans and pickups pulling into the parking lots just as the sun begins to fall to treetop level. If you're a millennial parent like me, this probably invokes a strange yet familiar feeling. It doesn't feel all too long ago that we were the ones in an oversized t-shirt

The Season Between

EDITORIAL — Late March in Michigan is never all that convincing. One day you’re outside without a coat, squinting in the sun and thinking maybe we’ve turned the corner. The next morning you’re scraping frost off the windshield and wondering why you got your hopes up. That’s just how this time of year works. It doesn’t necessarily arrive all at once. It eases in, backtracks, (more often than we'd like) and tests your patience. If you're apt to the nuanced changes in the air li

Who Speaks For The Backyard?

EDITORIAL - Lately, it feels as though the ground beneath us has been shifting. It hasn't been too subtle either, it has been enough to make people stop and ask, "what comes next?" An old building on Main Street came down last week. Some residents felt it was overdue. Others felt a sense of loss as they watched it fall. One township to the West, large scale development is being discussed, development that would change the look and character of an entire stretch of road. One t

Editorial: Red Hawks Of A Feather Flock Together

If you spend enough time on social media, it starts to feel like the whole country is locked in a shouting match. Every issue turns into a contest and every national headline asks you to pick sides of polarized issues. Ask a resident here in Cedar Springs, and they'll probably tell you that isn’t how local life tends to unfold. Around here, the conversations tend to circle back to familiar ground. Property taxes. Water bills, (we won't even go into the color of the water at t

We want to hear from YOU! The Cedar Springs Bugle is inviting local citizens to submit their own opinion columns. Selected pieces will be featured every Sunday on our website, and standout columns may even make it into our monthly print supplement! Got a unique perspective on local issues or a passion for our town? Send your column (approx. 300-500 words) to: editor@csbugle.com Please note: To keep our focus on our community, we do not publish columns centered on national politics or polarizing partisan issues. Keep it local! Additionally, the editors reserve the right to select which pieces are published and to edit submissions for length, clarity, and style.

FOSTERING CONNECTION AND CAPTURING THE HEARTBEAT OF CEDAR SPRINGS