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'It's gonna be fun': Two historic trolleys find new owners, ready to transform to help small businesses

Grand Haven city officials picked two local businesses to re-invent the beloved vehicles.

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Two historic lakeshore trolleys have finally found their new homes.

Grand Haven city officials picked two local businesses to re-invent the beloved vehicles and for one of them, it will now help provide even more jobs to those who need them most.

In October, the City of Grand Haven accepted proposals for weeks from residents interested in the trolleys, and they made it clear the two would go to local businesses.

"There's a lot of opportunities out there, and sometimes you just grab the one that makes the most sense," said Aaron Johson, co-owner of Lake Effect Kitchen, one of the businesses granted a trolley from the city.

Lake Effect Kitchen is a catering and meal-prep company that focuses on hiring people with intellectual and physical disabilities. Both Johnson and other co-owner, Mandy Anderson, know how important it is to provide jobs for everyone.

"Both having special needs children ourselves, we love for people to see there is a growing need for it and that they are great workers," Johnson said.

And both Johnson and Anderson agree that with this new trolley, they'll be able to expand business and hire more people. 

"We just thought that that would be a really fun vehicle to use," said Anderson, "because it's attention-getting, it looks great, and it's got historical ties to the City of Grand Haven."

The Surf Shop in downtown Grand Haven is the other business chosen to buy a trolley. Their business has been a pillar on Chinook Pier since the mid-80s.

"I think it's going to be really fun to have the trolley and the Surf Shop is a fun group of people too, so it was fun to see them win the other one," said Anderson.

And even more special, the Surf Shop's current owners even took pictures by this trolley for their wedding in the 90s. 

Posted by Gremmie Girard on Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Now they'll be able to use it to expand their business, which is something that Lake Effect Kitchen is really looking forward to. 

"We're not prominent, we're not downtown, and we're not on show all the time," said Johnson, "so this will help us market ourselves, too."

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