Village of Lawrence

Winter Parking Restrictions

lawrencemi — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:13:34 +0000

Winter parking restrictions are currently in effect per Village ordinance, there is no parking from 2 a.m. until 6 a.m. on any Village street from November 1st – March 31st.

Upcoming Holiday Closures

lawrencemi — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:08:01 +0000

Just a reminder that Village Hall will be closed December 26th & 27th for Christmas and then January 2nd for New Years. Please feel free to leave payments in the drop box to the right of the door. Receipts will be available when normal business hours resume. If you have a water or sewer emergency please contact the Department of Public Works at 269-312-4040.

2011 Lawrence Christmas Celebration

lawrencemi — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:02:46 +0000

It’s nearly that time again! Make sure to mark your calendars for the afternoon and evening on December 10th. Santa will visit the Lawrence Old Town Hall from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m., and a community potluck will follow at 5 p.m. Stick around after the potluck for live entertainment (and dancing!) provided by the Wild Woodys. There will also be a wreath decorating contest. Check out the flyers below for details. See you there!

Reminder! Upcoming Holiday Office Closures!

lawrencemi — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:48:59 +0000

Just a quick reminder to all that the Village of Lawrence will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 24th and Friday, Nov. 25th in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday. We would like to wish all of our residents the happiest and safest of Thanksgivings! Come back soon for details about the upcoming Christmas Decorating Contest and the Community Christmas Celebration. See you there!

2011 Chili Cook Off–Another Successful Year in the Books!

lawrencemi — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:20:33 +0000

Our many thanks to all who participated and/or stopped by. What a great way to celebrate the season with the community in our beautiful Village Park Pavilion.

Thanks also to our expert judges, Mr. Paul Garrod of the Courier Leader, Mr. Ken Barnett, owner of Lawrence’s own K & D Arms and Mr. Aric Nesbitt, District 80 State Representative.

And without further ado, a big congratulations to this year’s winners… Red Chili: 1st – Rick Weston, 2nd – Diana Bromley, 3rd – Janet Utter. White Chili: 1st – Darlene McAuliffe (no other entrants). People’s Choice – Pam Shimer.

Thanks again to all involved. You are what makes this community great!

Calling All Chili Cooks!

lawrencemi — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:57:42 +0000

Do you have a great chili recipe that you’d love to share while getting to know your neighbors and celebrating the fall season with the community? Mark your calendars now for the 2nd Annual Chili Cook-Off and Halloween Celebration, Sunday, Oct. 30th, 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Village Park Pavilion. Kids are encouraged to attend, as there will be games and treats in the park as well.

Entry forms and regulations are available on our website here or in person at the Village Hall. Enter now and plan on attending with the whole family. See you there!

Edited to Add: The Village of Lawrence will hold Trick-or-Treating hours from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. to correspond with this event. Bring the kids down and celebrate the season with the community!

Getting To Know You: Village Clerk and Trustee, Cindy Nower

lawrencemi — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:21:33 +0000

We’re back! That means it’s time for another exciting installment of our “Getting To Know You” series where we attempt to familiarize our lovely residents with some of their elected officials in attempt to spark some interest in participation in the local government process.

This week, it’s our great pleasure to introduce you to Lucinda (Cindy) Nower, your Village Clerk and Council Trustee. Cindy has served on the Village Council for 10 years and is a veritable wealth of knowledge on local government–she’s a wonderful resource! In addition to her service on Council and as the Village Clerk, Cindy volunteers for the Ox Roast Committee, Friends of the Library, for the Heritage Day Celebration, and for the Van Buren County Great Start Parent’s Coalition. Whew! Busy lady!

Cindy is a Lawrence High School alumna, and is employed full-time by Van Buren County as a Friend-Of-The-Court Account Clerk. In her spare time enjoys hobbies like reading, cooking, gardening, genealogy, and scrapbooking. Cindy is the proud mom of two beautiful young boys, Noah (6) and Isaac (2).

According to Cindy, the most rewarding moment she has experienced in her ten years of service to the Village was the construction of the Business Center Water Tower and all of the possibilities is creates for expansion to the Business Park in the Village. We agree, Cindy!

One of the things that Cindy would love to see happen in the Village in the next few years is the growth of the local economy through the addition of new businesses.

Thanks for your service, Cindy!

Getting To Know You: Trustee Mark Keyser

lawrencemi — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:02:35 +0000

We’re back with our next installment of Getting To Know You, a series where we introduce a new Village Council member each week in hopes that residents can find some common ground with these folks and hopefully spark some interest in participation in the local government process and/or volunteering and getting more involved with the Lawrence community.

This week’s focus is on Mr. Mark Keyser. Mark is in his fourth year of service to the Lawrence Village Council, has served one term on the Village of Lawrence Planning Commission and one term as a member of the Hartford City Council. What a wealth of experience!

Mark attended Bangor John Glenn High School in Bay City, Michigan and is a graduate of the University of Michigan. Outside of his participating in Village Government, Mark is the General Manager at Quality Assured Plastics, located in the Lawrence-Crandall Business Center.

Mark is the proud father of a son and two daughters who live and work nearby, and an even prouder grandfather of two lovely grandchildren. In his spare time, Mark enjoys boating, motorcycles, computers, and according to Mark himself “fixing things”. He is also passionate about software development.

In his lengthy public service career with the Village, Mark’s most rewarding moments has been having residents come to and participate in some of the Village meetings. In his own words, “Understanding the workings of local government is not common knowledge. Small town politics can have a real stigma associated with it. Being involved and informed with the future of where you live is important. It quells the rumors and helps get good things accomplished.” We couldn’t agree more, Mark!

When asked to describe one change he would like to see happen in the Village in the next two years, Mark answered “Albeit the downtown area for new businesses is a topical issue, parking will have to be addressed. The tax base needs to be shifted from the residents to businesses and quickest route to that is the Business Centre. There are some tremendous opportunities out there and when the economic situation improves, I hope to see more development.”

Finally, we leave you with one of Mark’s favorite quotes by Albert Einstein: “Doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results is truly the definition of insanity.”

We hope you enjoyed getting to know Mark Keyser a bit better, be sure to stay tuned for our next installment when spotlight Village Clerk and Trustee Lucinda Nower!

Lawrence Village Council Trustee, Mark Keyser

A Sign of the Times

lawrencemi — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:02:36 +0000

If you’ve entered Lawrence from the north lately on N. Paw Paw, chances are, you didn’t notice the old, dilapidated waste water treatment lagoons sign on the east side of the road. The sign indicates the entrance to the lagoons that contain the waste water collection from the Village’s sewer system.

During the spring of 2011, the Lawrence Community Development Committee sponsored a contest for Lawrence Public Schools students to design a new sign. Design elements from Krystal Healy, Lupita Robles, Parker Hansen, Daine Keys and Deb Parsell drawings will be melded into the final design for the sign. Project organizers Jeff Heaton and Anne Arthur of the Lawrence Community Development Design Team will install the sign once it is painted.

The Lawrence Community Development Design Team would like to thank all the students who participated in the Waste Water Treatment Facility Sign Contest:

Krystal Healy
Lupita Robles
Parker Hansen
Daine Keys
Deb Parsell
Lizz Curtis
Ted Petersen
Trisha Gendren
Searra Deloach
Cecilia Nunez
Andrew Craig II

All participants received certificated lauding their efforts. Special thanks to art teacher Pam Myatt for encouraging students to join in the fun.

Here’s a sneak peek at the final product in the works…Check back for pictures of the final product!

Ox Roast is Finally Here!

lawrencemi — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:18:24 +0000

That’s right, it’s Labor Day weekend and you know what that means…Four days of family fun for all in downtown Lawrence. Join us as we celebrate another Ox Roast Festival & Homecoming Weekend. Click here for a schedule of the weekend’s events. We can’t wait to see YOU there!