WYOMING, Mich. (WZZM) - The newest in home design will be available for all to see in the Grand Rapids area starting Friday, May 25th. The Grand Rapids Parade of Homes has 63 houses on tour this year, and eight conceptual houses to view online only.

You'll find homes ranging from $100,000 to $1 million in 17 communities.

"A lot of the new construction this year we've seen has been in the $200,000 and $300,000 on average," said Emily Siebert, Executive Officer of the Home Builders Association of Greater Grand Rapids.

Siebert says most of the new development is in Byron Center, Ada and Cascade Township.

Sable Homes has a house in the parade in Wyoming listed for about $240,000.

Sable Homes President John Bitely says people are willing to spend more on the little things this year compared to last year.

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - Don't call it a comeback.  Fencing has been here for years.

Close to 3,000 years, actually.  But it's growing in popularity in now, thanks to the West Michigan Fencing Academy.

Head coach Mike Nemecek welcomes a full house to his academy, located on the southwest side of Grand Rapids, each week.

Kids, teenagers and adults are all suiting up with armour to enjoy a sport that's origin dates back to ancient Egypt.  

But why?

"Just the idea of wielding a sword," says Nemecek.  "When I first tried to get into it years ago, I wanted to do it because I wanted to sword fight."

Wielding a sword got him started, what got him to stay involved a whole lot more.

"You can have fun on the surface and stay there forever," Nemecek says. 

"The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know.  It's always like evolving so you have to learn new stuff."

Word Wise, KDL’s ninth annual teen poetry contest, is in the books, and it was once again a huge success thanks to all the great teen poets out there.  This year we had about 200 entries that our staff had a great time reviewing.  Once we narrowed down the entries, our judge selected 7 winners and 1 honorable mention.  Check back here in the next week or so and we will have a PDF prepared of the winning poems.  Congratulations to the winning poets!

Winners:

Falling Tears by Jana Swanson

The Lost Years by Marissa Sterzick

I Learned About the Trinity Today by Patricia Schlutt

Love is… by Mollie Stahl

Sisterhood by Katja McBane

The Children are Playing by Kara Montgomery

Placenta by Emily Post

Honorable Mention:

Love Letter to Helios by Jill Nelson