Name: This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History with Beverly Gage
Start: 2026-10-28
End: 2026-10-28

We are an economic generator through sports tourism for Greater Grand Rapids and Kent County in the West Michigan area.

We own and operate an award winning baseball/softball complex; the Meijer Sports Complex [www.MeijerSportsComplex.com](https://www.MeijerSportsComplex.com) featuring eight fields, including a championship field that seats 1,000.

Our signature event, the Meijer State Games of Michigan (Olympic-style sporting event), draws 10,000 athletes through 60+ sports in its Winter and Summer Games.  We work with many of our local sports clubs and organizations to host various regional and national tournaments.

Why Grand Rapids? We have:
•	12,000 + hotel rooms (2,500 downtown)
•	234,000 square foot downtown convention center (fits 40 volleyball courts)
•	12,000 seat Van Andel Arena
•	5 facilities that feature 4+ courts and multiple grass or turf fields
•	Grant program for new events
•	and more!

West Michigan Sports Commission

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, join Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Beverly Gage for a thought-provoking exploration of the people, places, and stories that have shaped the nation.  
  
Drawing from her new book, This Land Is Your Land: A Road Trip through U.S. History, Gage retraces the American story through 13 unforgettable journeys to historic sites across the country—from Independence Hall and the Alamo to lesser-known landmarks like the Eugene Debs House in Indiana and the historic Black town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi.  
  
Part history, part travelogue, and part personal memoir, Gage's travels took her to nearly 300 museums, battlefields, monuments, parks, and roadside attractions. Along the way, she spent the night in a decommissioned nuclear missile silo, visited a 19th-century utopian commune, attended Confederate Memorial Day observances, and even found history in Disneyland.  
  
Through these experiences, Gage offers a fresh perspective on the American story—one that embraces the nation's triumphs and contradictions while arguing that Americans can confront their past honestly and still love their country.  
  
Join us for an engaging conversation about history, memory, and the places that continue to shape our understanding of the United States.

This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History with Beverly Gage

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