Halloween Contest Winner

We are happy to announce that Michelle was the winner of our Halloween drawing for a $25 Meijer gift certificate. This year we purchased 66 lbs of candy, paying our trick-or-treaters $132. We enjoyed seeing their excitement as they told us what they planned to do with their money.

Check Us Out on Facebook – Enter to Win a Kindle Fire!

Whether you’ve just come in as a new patient or your family has been visiting our office for years, did you know that you can “Like” us on Facebook and visit our blog? There is always something interesting happening at our office and when the months pass between your appointments, catching up can be difficult. But thanks to Facebook and our blog, staying in touch is so much easier! We’ll be posting news about our latest dental purchases, staff updates, and dentistry and dental products in the news. We hope you will find the postings informative and useful.

This April 30th we’ll be giving away a Kindle Fire to one lucky patient who connects with our office on Facebook. The drawing will take place at 3:15pm, so we have time to contact our winner before the end of the day.

Good luck to all!

Happy Holidays! From Dr. Stewart and team

In this season given to tidings of comfort and joy, and as Dr. Stewart and our team reflect on the year that was, we’d like to ask you, our wonderful patients: What do you love about the holidays this year? Being with your loved ones? A clean slate for 2012? Opening presents by the fireplace? All the delicious food? Also, what gift are you most looking forward to getting this year?

We’d love if you shared with us all the things you love about the holidays. Stay warm, and don’t forget to stay away from those sweets!

Dr. Stewart’s Office Has A Magical Christmas Party

On Sunday, December 4th, Dr. Bruce Stewart’s office had our annual Christmas party, but with a magical twist! Usually an adult affair, the party this year was for families. Our staff brought either their children or grandchildren, and we had 17 adults and 25 children in attendance. Stormy the Magician made an appearance at the party and entertained young and old with his tricks and jokes. After the 45 minute Magic Show, Stormy made animal balloons for all the children. We all left with warm smiles and happy memories of children laughing and being awed by the magic.

We wish you all a very happy holiday season!

Halloween Candy Buy-Back Success

All of us at Dr. Bruce Stewart’s office are happy to announce that our Halloween Candy Buy-Back program was a success again this year. However, there is always room for more families to participate!

We had twelve children participate, representing seven families. We enjoyed seeing the children come in, and smiled when some of them had trouble parting with their candy. The youngest children seemed to have the most difficult time saying goodbye to their candy, and did not quite understand why they were leaving their candy behind. The children brought 53 pounds of candy and we paid a total of $93 to those who participated. Some children left us over five pounds of candy, even though the individual limit for purchase was five pounds. Just think of the possible cavities prevented and how much healthier their young bodies are because they did not consume an additional 53 pounds of candy! We will be taking the candy to a subsidized, independent living, senior citizen apartment complex where people do not have much income available for extra treats.

Our Halloween candy purchase program is an annual event and we would like to double or triple the amount of participants next year. Please consider bringing your children to the office to sell us their candy for $2 a pound. Even if they only part with some of their treats, their bodies and piggy banks will be healthier. Once again, thank you to everyone who participated this year!

Second Annual Candy Buy-Back

Halloween is an exciting time of year for children, with Halloween parties in elementary schools and trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Most of us remember the excitement of running from house to house filling our bags with lots of treats, mostly candy. As adults we have a slightly different view of these festivities, as we understand the link between the sugars in sweets and tooth decay and overall health. This cache of candy can mean trouble for teeth, and is particularly bad for children with braces. So why not encourage your children to sell their candy to us at Dr. Bruce Stewart’s office? Have them pick out a few of their favorite pieces and then bring the rest of the loot to our office.

From Tuesday, November 1 through Thursday, November 10, we encourage all former costumed characters to bring us their candy loot. We will pay $2 for every pound of candy, up to $10 per child. Parents of these former ghosts and goblins can enter their name into a drawing for a $40 gift card to Meijers. The drawing will be held at the end of the day on November 10 and the winner will be notified that day.

Cash versus cavities—the choice is easy. Choose Cash!!!

ArtPrize is Fast Approaching

School has begun, fall is in the air and ArtPrize is coming soon! Only in its third year, this competition of various forms of art has drawn national and international attention to Grand Rapids.

Each year, more and more people visit downtown during this period, filling our restaurants, museums and streets and enjoying art displayed on bridges, lawns, sidewalks, and in many buildings.

Kay and I look forward to ArtPrize and go downtown several times during its duration. Many of our staff visit ArtPrize as a family activity or as a couples’ night out. We would enjoy supporting any of our patients whose work is displayed in ArtPrize. So, if you have an entry in ArtPrize this year, please let us know. We will make every effort to seek you out and support you. It’s fun for us to see another side of our patients and the remarkable talent they have. Good luck to all of our participants. This seems like something where everyone wins, artists, citizens and our great city.

Westwinde Wiffle Ball Tournament

Dr. Stewart usually likes to use our blog to keep you updated about what is happening in our office, especially when we get new equipment, use new materials, or take continuing education classes. Today, however, he wanted to share with you something special one of our patients is doing.  It made him smile and he hopes it will bring a smile to your face too.

John and Kara started the Westwinde Wiffle Ball Tournament three years ago, and it has grown and added features each year. This is a free event for 18 teams, five people per team (boys, girls, or co-ed), for ages 9—12 years, and will be held August 3 this year. The tournament is held in their back yard, but this is not a typical back yard.  To quote John, the field “looks like a ball field, sounds like a ball field, plays like a ball field” and even has a large wall, the “Hollow Monster”, patterned (on a smaller scale) after the Green Monster in Fenway Park. There is an official ball park organist & stadium announcer, large manual scoreboard and clock, official lined waffle ball field, official bases from Tiger Stadium, foul poles, home run fence and strike zone target backstop, umpires and other SURPRISES. Parents are welcome to bring lawn chairs and watch the tournament. All players will receive a free tournament t-shirt, as well as hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, and Gatorade. This is a great event which generates a lot of enthusiasm amongst the participants and promotes good sportsmanship, healthy outdoor activity and FUN.

Hats off to John and Kara for creating this event!

Dr. Stewart’s Office Garden Party

What can be better than summer in Grand Rapids, Michigan? And what better way to enjoy the weather and beauty of the season than a Garden Party? That’s exactly what Dr. Stewart and out team did on Friday, July 22. We had a luncheon at our home and followed that with a tour of our gardens.

Dr. Stewart is an avid gardener and we’ve lived in the same home over 32 years, so we’ve had time to develop the gardens next to our house and surrounding the yard. Our family loves the daylilies and hostas, and we have over 75 different daylilies. Though the weather did not cooperate at first, it cleared in time for everyone to walk around the yard and determine their favorite plant. When it is time to split the daylilies and hostas, we’re planning to take some to the office for fellow gardeners amongst the staff to enjoy in their yards. We all had a great time Friday and enjoyed the shared interests and friendships away from the office.

And the Winners Are…

Thank you to all who took the time to look at our new website and complete an evaluation. Dr. Stewart and our dental team are happy to announce the winners of the drawing.

Drawing Winners
iPad 2- Michael M
iPod touch– Karen M
Kindle – Grace R
$40 Meijer gift card– Delaine K., Michael B., Annette W., Doug M., Susan D., Anne S., Ruth O., Clare P., Olivia B., Denise M.

Congratulations to everyone.