Things to Do in Jenison

According to an interview with mLive, Placid Wake Park's owner Scott Ferwerda can easily pinpoint the crown jewel of his wakeboarding park: a Sesitec System 2.0 cable that spans a 700-foot manmade lake.

"When you hit a rail and fall," Scott explains, the boat "has to come back and get you." Not so with cables. "With this, the operator sees you fall, stops the cable immediately, you swim 5 feet over to get a rope, and 10 seconds later, you are back up hitting the same things you just tried."

Riddled with optional obstacles, such as a pyramid playfully named the Ninja Turtle and a hydraulic rail on which to hide from creepy dragonflies, the cable lake is only one of Placid's two aquatic bodies. The boating lake branches out into three prongs, where wakeboarders, surfers, and waterskiers have the option to conquer currents the old-fashioned way—pulled by a boat and whistling the song from Steamboat Willie.

The park welcomes athletes of all ages and abilities, offering rental equipment and lessons with pro wakeboarders to individuals as well as families. On the shore, spectators can lounge on at picnic tables shaded by umbrellas or snag a front seat to the action atop an observation deck, and landlubbers can stay active by digging for seashells at the sand volleyball court.

Founded by local civic leaders in 1854, the Grand Rapids Public Museum continues to keep the city’s history alive in the minds of its current residents with a trove of exhibits that explore West Michigan’s natural and cultural past. Current exhibits and standing collections cast a spotlight on past and future centuries, giving voice to the stories that helped shape our modern world while speculating about when our politicians will be finally replaced with robots. If visitors to the three-story Van Andel Museum Center can pry their eyes away from the exhibitions inside, they will be treated to stunning views of the downtown skyline; similarly, the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium enthralls with its panoramic photographs and up-close looks at the night sky.

Just as history constantly replenishes itself, the Grand Rapids Public Museum never stops working to collect local treasures, educate members through camps and special programs, and develop projects for the future.

When describing his approach to designing a golf course, renowned course architect Donald Ross said "a golf course should be subtly deceptive, rather than unduly penalizing," a philosophy he put to work in 1908, when he crafted the 18-hole course at The Highlands Golf Club. Measuring 6,519 yards from the tips, the course offers a fair test for golfers across the handicap spectrum while still supplying enough challenges to attract legendary golfers such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Ben Hogan, who played the course when it was a fixture on the Senior PGA Tour. Strategically placed bunkers and fairway-hugging tree lines that cast shadows resembling golfers' fears loom throughout the course, but its most memorable challenge awaits at the 14th hole—a long par 5 that doglegs left and ends with a forced carry over a pond and onto the green.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole course designed by Donald Ross
• Length of 6,519 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 71.5 from back tees
• Slope rating of 133 from back tees
• Five tee options
• Scorecard

Drenched 5K events soak participants in the name of good health, good fun, and raising money for local charities. Runners of all makes and models can skip monthly jogs through the neighborhood car wash to converge on 5-kilometer courses, which start out dry, but quickly become lively fetes fueled by H2O. Along the routes misters, sprinklers, and fire hoses activate as groups pass by. Spectators also do their worst, launching water balloons and spraying water weapons at runners from the sidelines. A final 75-foot water slide sends runners gliding across the finish line, where a festival stocked with refreshments, live entertainment, and other water-related activities greets them.

When Ed Dunneback founded his business in 1925, he didn’t have to rely on anything fancy to attract attention—just his milk cows and freshly harvested apples, strawberries, peaches, and pears. Today, third and fourth generations of Dunneback women carry on Ed's tradition at the same location. Despite the lack of dairy cows arguing about prohibition, not much has changed on the farm since the '20s; the property still produces the same fresh fruits it did some 80 years ago. Located inside a nearly century-old barn, the farm's bustling market slings seasonal produce, as does the bakery, where housemade donuts and pies bake to golden-brown fruition within ovens. Visitors can work up an appetite picking their own pumpkins or while navigating through an autumn corn maze, complete with trivia questions about pop culture, agriculture, and history.