FRUITPORT, MI – One of the longest-running events in Muskegon County will back this weekend.

Fruitport Old Fashioned Days will return for its 63rd year with plenty of low cost, family-friendly activities at Fruitport's Pomona Park starting Wednesday, May 22, said members of the Fruitport Lions, which organize the event each year.

"It's a family-oriented event," said Mike Johnson, a co-chairman of the event. "We don't have a beer tent. We design around a good, wholesome family lifestyle."

Festival favorites like the ox roast, petting zoo, motorcycle run and car show will be back this year. In addition, visitors may notice some updates at some of the event's attractions, said Brian Wershem, the event's other co-chairman and the Fruitport Township supervisor.

The festival's fireworks shows "will be bigger and better than ever," he said, and the midway will also include "a couple of new kiddie rides as well as a couple that aren't for the faint of heart."

Old Fashioned Days will also include a new attraction this year, the "My Adventure Theater" show, an interactive theatrical experience. The show includes medieval and "Star Wars"-themed acts where kids from the audience are invited to dress up and take part in the performance, Johnson said.

As always, admission and many festival activities are free, like the trout pond, live music and kids fair, they said.

Midway wristbands, however, cost $20 each but offer unlimited rides for the entire day.

For a complete schedule of events or for more information about Fruitport Old Fashioned Days, visit the Fruitport Lions website at www.fruitportlions.com.

-- Email Lisha Arino at larino@mlive.com, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – ArtPrize 2013 is four months away, but a public vote is about to begin on art for the fifth annual contest.

Artwork by 16 artists from the Grand Rapids area have been accepted for inclusion in the 2013 Legacy Trust Award Collection and a chance to be sponsored in ArtPrize.

Legacy Trust is sponsoring its fourth statewide art competition for adult artists with disabilities.

Related: ArtPrize 2012 entries chosen in 3rd Legacy Trust Award Collection contest

Some 27 pieces have been received from artists around the state, from the Detroit area to the Upper Peninsula.

Four winners will be chosen – one by a panel of celebrity judges, two by public vote, and one special juried award –and sponsored in ArtPrize 2013.

You can view the art and cast ballots in the public vote from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 23, 2013 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Votes can also be cast by visiting the Legacy Trust Award Collection Facebook page.

The Grand Rapids area artists include:

• Joshua P. Andrus of Grand Rapids with “Colors of my Day,” a mixed media painting using watercolor, acrylics, charcoal and pencil
• Jackson D. Botsford of Alto with “Tut,” an oil painting
• Beverly Kay Combs of Rockford with “Under the Sea,” a mixed media work with stained glass and embellished seashells
• Lane C. Cooper of Freeport with “Aware,” constructed from recycled scrap media
• Wesley DeVries of Grand Rapids with “Spring Meadow,” of acrylic on two boards
• Wm. Drew Edgerton of Grand Rapids with “Moon in the Sky” a work of watercolor and crayon resist
• Gavin Jose Garcia of Grand Rapids with “Pumpkin,” an oil pastel painting on construction paper
• Elaine J. Hoogeboom of Comstock Park with “Life’s Best Medicine,” a series of 11 children’s portraits in watercolor pencil on canvas
• Alice Lieffers of Grand Rapids with “Flowers,” a series of 6 photographs
• Harry Lundmark of Grand Rapids with “Dove Princess,” a Conté pencil on recycled paper drawing
• Lauren McMahon of Rockford with “Feathery Beast,” a drawing with pencil, pastels and colored pencil on sketch paper
• Esther “Susan” Meekhof of Grand Rapids with “Live, Laugh, Love,” an acrylic painting
• Kurt Rasch of Grand Rapids with “The House of the 70’s, 80’s,” a mixed media work of wood, furniture, foam, cardboard and plastic
• David A. Thinger of East Grand Rapids with “Monroe St. Grand Rapids,” a mixed media painting
• Cheryl Tiesenga of Grand Rapids with “Storm Rising,” an oil painting
• Leanne VandenBos of Grand Rapids with “One Lucky Dog,” a mixed media work

The 2013 LTAC celebrity judges are Jim Albright, president and founder of Albright Insights; Elaine Dalcher, a Grand Rapids artist and teacher; John Gonzalez, statewide entertainment editor for MLive; Robert J. Jonker, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Michigan; and Chris LaPorte, a professor of art at Aquinas College and winner of the ArtPrize 2010 First Prize for his drawing “Cavalry, American Officers, 1921.”

Related: ArtPrize winner Chris LaPorte's 'personal journey' with pencil drawing pays off big

Winners of the 2013 LTAC will be announced the week of May 27.

Along with having their artwork entered into ArtPrize 2013,the winning artists will receive a cash prize of $500. Legacy Trust will also work with each of the four artists to promote their entries into the world’s largest art competition.

New this year, the LTAC Advisory Committee has established the Lillian Perry Walker award, a special juried award to honor the young woman whose spirit was the spark that brought LTAC to life in 2010.

ArtPrize 2013, created by social media entrepreneur Rick DeVos, returns, Sept. 18-Oct. 6, 2013, to Grand Rapids.

E-mail Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk: jkaczmarczyk@mlive.com
Subscribe to his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter @ArtsWriter