Kentwood Parks & Recreation Fall Classes are about to get underway beginning November 1, 2013. This is a listing of the classes:

Fridays, November 1st thru December 13th: (Skip 11/29) from 6-7pm, Dog Obedience classes will be held. This class is for dogs 5 months and older who have never had formal obedience training or as a refresher course for others. The cost is $60.00.

Mondays, November 4th through the 18th from 6:30-8:00pm, Ballroom Dance will be taught to beginner couples and those who may need a tune-up. Cost: $99.00 per couple.

Mondays, November 4th through December 9th, from 7-8:30pm, Introduction to Pottery will be taught with a variety of techniques working with clay in this fun, hands-on class.

The second annual Write Michigan Short Story Contest kicked off September 3.  Organizers have added a third age category to the contest, for writers 11 years and under.  The two other age groups are 12-17 and 18 and up.

Stories must be 3,000 words or less.   The entry deadline is November 20, 2013.   The entry fee is $10 for adults; children 17 and under are free.  The contest is open to Michigan residents only and all entries must be submitted online.  A public vote will decide the winner of the Readers’ Choice award; a panel of judges will pick the Judges’ Choice award recipient.   A public and panel vote will whittle down the contest to the top ten semi-finalists.  The winner in each age category will take home a $250 cash prize.

WYOMING, Mich.--  Six people who saved lives and made the community a better place were honored by the Wyoming Police Department this week.

The police department presented its Citizen Awards June 26.

“These awards are to acknowledge those who step forward – at great risk to themselves sometimes – to do the right thing to help their fellow citizens,” said Wyoming Police Chief James Carmody.  

This year’s recipients included Luis Alberto Araujo and Luis Arturo Araujo, who stopped a person assaulting a neighborhood child last June; Juan Cisneros who recovered a woman’s purse from a thief last February; Gary Pykerman, who rescued a drunken man from a grass fire last July; and Barbara DeCan and Leonardo Guiliano, who created a neighborhood association for Oriole Park.

Award recipients are picked by a committee of five Wyoming Police Department employees. For more information, call (616) 530-7272.