Thousands of people dressed in red, excitedly filling small-town Main Street in the crisp October air. For many, Cedar Springs’ Red Flannel Festival is a quintessential picture of community. Entirely organized and operated by volunteers, the event has thrived in northern Kent County for the past 75 years. However, the Festival organization has recently drawn an influx of Aquinas students, faculty, and alumni, who resonate with its sense of service.

Michele Andres currently serves as president of the Red Flannel Festival. A 2010 graduate with a BS in in Business, followed by a 2013 degree from the Master of Management program at Aquinas, Andres is a Cedar Springs native and longtime resident of the area. She emphasized that the Festival’s success over the years should be largely attributed to the relentless efforts of volunteers.

“Sometimes, when you look at other festivals, they have a paid staff, executive director, or at least part-time people,” she said. “We don’t have that! We are all volunteers, and the festival is a 501c3 nonprofit. In that respect, it all comes down to building those relationships with people in the community who are passionate about the Festival, and channeling it into something positive. Looking back, it’s really staggering to see how many people have been involved over the years, and I think it’s really a testament to the community here.”

However, as an Aquinas alumna, Andres sees her education as closely related to her work with the Red Flannel Festival. “I think the charism of service really connects to volunteerism, and Aquinas really helps nurture that sense,” she said. “It really validates everything that you work on in your own community. Whether it’s Cedar Springs or Sparta, to take it back and actually apply it, rather than just talk about it. I think that has been a really overarching theme in my time at Aquinas, for sure.”

And she’s not alone. Over the last several years, numerous Aquinas students, faculty, and alumni have become involved with the Red Flannel Festival organization. Matt and Meghan Andres, Cindy and Jeff Patin, Helen Hoornstra, and Stephanie Phelps, to name a few. Moreover, current Communication professors Dave Weinandy and Penny Avery have served as judges of the Queen Scholarship Pageant, and emeritus faculty member John Teusink will reign as this year’s Grand Marshal.

Initially, the volume of AQ people was seen as a coincidence, but, “as the Dominican sisters would say, there’s no such thing as a coincidence,” Andres said. “The Festival really involves the entire community. When we have thirty-five thousand people dressed in red on Main Street, that’s community! It really brings people together, in that sense. And I think that’s why so many Aquinas folks are involved with the Festival, because it fulfills those qualities the school has fostered. This, then, helps us live these things out in our own community, beyond campus.”



Having majored in Organizational Leadership, Andres believes that her Aquinas experience has played an integral role in her leadership with the Festival. “I think fundraising is always a challenge, as a volunteer organization,” she explained. “But we’ve grown it exponentially in the last thirteen years, and added over $100,000 to the budget! So the business and organizational leadership skills from Aquinas have really been used on a daily basis, especially in the context of a nonprofit.”

Reflecting on her education, and its application within the Festival, Andres gave this parting advice to those who might be considering Aquinas as their school of choice. “Go down there and experience it!” she said. “It’s smaller, you get individual attention, people know you, and you maintain those relationships over time. What you get at Aquinas is more than an education, and I think the values instilled through Aquinas can certainly carry on throughout the community. It really helps you be that great person when you leave there, and encourages you to share those values with others.”