The Saint

Story by Anastasia Benstead, Culture Editor

Photo credit: East Grand Rapids Community Association

Imagine walking down a bustling street, surrounded by hundreds of people while you look at booth after booth filled with colorful goods and crafts. All handmade, many of them by local artists. You can smell the honey from the artisan chapsticks and soaps, mixing with the scent from the Ethiopian food vendor. The street is noisy as all the people surrounding you ohh and ahh at the 3D printed earrings the hand sewn shoelaces the hand printed greeting cards and baskets handwoven in Kenya. There was anything and everything to do at the Eastown Street Fair last Saturday. Aquinas students staff and alumni could all be seen meandering their way through the stalls after homecoming this past weekend. 

Most people were probably aware of the fact that the Eastown Street Fair was happily celebrating 50 years of its existence, but what most people probably do not know is how the festivities came into fruition all together. 

In 1971 Norbert J. Hruby had just become president of Aquinas College and he wanted to create a revitalization movement with the community and prevent the ensuing ‘White Flight’ as white collar workers were fleeing to other areas as the communities of color were expanding in East Grand Rapids. Disappointed by the large and growing number of vacant houses and storefronts, Hruby devised a plan. Like any good college man, the first step was research. Hruby created a team of mostly students to conduct research in the community to discover what was really needed. By 1973 four research groups had been established to help better the community: Housing, Commercial Center, Parks & Streets, and Education. Eastown was also divided into sections and one community member was appointed as a Block Coordinator for each of the blocks. Nearing the end of 1973 a community meeting is held and the idea for the Eastown Street Fair is born, looking much like it did today- though the history books say there were less one dollar cds for sale at the time! It is not long after that Eastown begins to have a more ‘college town’ feel with all of the Aquinas students out and about. Slowly but surely, due to President Hruby’s dedication the town begins coming back to life. More and more store fronts open and permanent home owners start to move in. 

50 years later we get to celebrate their hard work as we clap our hands along to the beat of the live Irish band, listening to the handmade bracelets we just bought jingle on our wrists. See you next year for the celebration of the 51st annual Eastown Street Fair! 

Photo Credit: The Editor

Header Photo Credit: East Grand Rapids Community Association