On Our Radar

Five years of festivities at Port 393
Port 393 just hit the five-year mark. Since opening “Holland’s favorite lake view venue” in 2020 amid pandemic uncertainty, the event space has hosted over 725 events and welcomed 50,000+ guests.
Founders Candice and Brian Grant marked the milestone with a campaign called “5 Years of Exceptional Experiences,” which included a Date Night Giveaway and a video series highlighting couples married at the venue. To learn more, visit port393.com.

Lumberjacks snag first Clark Cup in OT nail-biter
Big news for local hockey fans: Muskegon Lumberjacks are Clark Cup champs! In a thrilling Game 5 finish on May 20, they edged out the Waterloo Black Hawks 4-3 in overtime to clinch their first-ever USHL title—and the first for any Michigan-based team.

Forward Jack Christ lit up the scoreboard with a hat trick, including the OT winner, while 16-year-old standout Tynan Lawrence took home playoff MVP honors. Goalie Shika Gadzhiev was a wall in net all postseason long. The team capped it all off with a community celebration at Heritage Landing on May 22. Big win for Muskegon!

$50K art prize highlights women painters
The Bennett Prize: Rising Voices 4 exhibition is now on view at the Muskegon Museum of Art through August 24. Ten women artists from across the U.S. are showcasing work in figurative realism, with one winner set to receive $50,000 and a solo show.

Also on display is The Cost of Life, a powerful solo exhibit by 2023 winner Deng Shiqing, exploring themes of surrogacy through intimate, emotionally rich work. The show is a big win for Muskegon’s art scene—and it’s just the first stop on a national tour.

Felt Mansion has unexpected link to the Vatican
Here’s a fun twist on local history: the new pope has West Michigan ties. Pope Leo XIV—born Robert Francis Prevost—graduated in 1973 from St. Augustine Seminary High School, which operated out of what’s now the Felt Estate in Laketown Township.

The historic estate served as a Catholic prep school for boys pursuing the priesthood, run by the Augustinian Order. Students lived in the mansion, studied in the carriage house, and pitched in with apple harvesting and maple syrup production.

The seminary closed in the late ’70s, and the property took on several roles before being lovingly restored in the early 2000s. It’s open for tours and is a popular spot for weddings—and now it’s also a footnote in Vatican history.