Tom Gunnels, a Grand Valley State University senior, won second place in the 2010 Norman Mailer College Writing Award for Creative Nonfiction, which draws thousands of submissions each year. Gunnels, a 2006 Brandon High School graduate, is majoring in both writing and in film and video production. The short story, entitled ‘How to Tell a True Love Story,? started out as a one-page response to a prompt in his college writing class and eventually transformed into a 22-page story about Gunnels? grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease. Gunnels hopes to stay in the area and continue writing subsequent to graduation. He has recently had the opportunity to work on small fillms in Grand Rapids, including the horror movie ‘Playback.?

Grace Kaiding competed May 2 at the State Gymnastics Competition in Holland, Mich., winning first place in vault, beam, bars and floor exercise, as well as first place in the all-around, amongst the 32 girls in her age group.
Grace, a Belle Ann Elementary third-grade student, trains at Stars and Stripes Kids Activity Center in Clarkston. Grace competed with her Stars and Stripes level 4 teammates at the state meet, and the team was also awarded first place out of 42 other gymnastics teams.

Chris Evans, a 1995 Brandon High School graduate, has been promoted to media director for True Media-USA. Evans joined True Media in the summer of 2009 as associate media director, and brought with him eight years of experience as a media planner and supervisor of traditional and new media for Starcom MediaVest Group in Detroit. Evans? previous agency experience includes developing media palns for national and regional accounts such as Hummer, Cadillac, Pontiac and Goodwrench. In his new role, Evans will be responsible for the overall philosophy and strategic planning for True Media’s clients. He will oversee True Media’s staff of planners and buyers in the Columbia and St. Louis offices, as well as handle the agency’s numerous research and software vendor relationships. Evans is married to Becky (Dula) and they have three children, Carson, Brielle, and Avery. The family resides in Columbia, Missouri. Evans is the son of Kathy and Mike Evans of Grand Blanc.

Hair stylist Shari Groening, with Raegan Lauinger, 7, a second grade student at Reid Elementary in Goodrich who donated 12 inches of her hair to Locks of Love on Dec. 29 at Prime Cuts in Davison. Raegan had been growing out her hair for 18 months.

Listten Wagner and Jacob Wagner, Goodrich siblings, are having a winning season. Jacob Wagner was a player on the freshman Brandon Junior Blackhawks. The team just completed an undefeated 13-0 season by winning the Northern Youth Football League Super Bowl. Listten Wagner was a cheerleader on the J.V. Brandon Junior Blackhawks. The team took first place at Mega Cheer, second place at regional competition in Chicago and will now head to Florida to compete in a national championship. Listten and Jacob’s parents are Jamie and Scott Wagner of Goodrich. Sister is Lilly.