GRAND RAPIDS -- In this picturesque riverside community, Dave LaRoe has been part of the holiday scene for 35 years.

This Christmas, he continues a three-decade tradition of offering a dinner theater at his LaRoe's restaurant and tavern, a place he purchased at a time when the village wasn't quite as quaint as it is today.

It was 1975 when Mr. LaRoe was approached by Don and Audrey Entenman, who were beginning the process of transforming the village into a bustling, thriving destination location.

The trio attended the same church in Toledo, and one Sunday, the Entenmans, who knew Mr. LaRoe was graduating from the University of Toledo with a food service degree, said they wanted to take him for a ride to a community along the Maumee River, namely Grand Rapids.

Ushering in an era for the downtown business district, the Entenmans had restored the Olde Gilead Country Store and the Village Ice Cream Shop. That restoration, Mr. LaRoe said, "gave spark to the village."

Liking what he saw in the diamond-in-the-rough old canal town, Mr. LaRoe got down to business in the ice cream shop in 1975. He liked it there just fine, but he kept looking across the street at a bar, checking out its potential. The building's architecture, quite wonderful, was a draw. One day, Mr. LaRoe wandered over, asked the owner if the business was up for sale, and a deal was struck.

"The timing and the place was right," said Mr. LaRoe, who has made improvements to the 1880s building through the years, including the addition of a patio which he describes as "our new gem."

In warm weather, the patio's perennial gardens and rose bushes bloom, and people wait in line to be seated there.

And the river view: "All you see is woods and water," he said.

He notes: The patio is nonsmoking. It wasn't built to give diners a place to light up.

Adding the patio provides the business with a nice niche, an added attraction at a time when the economy is stagnant at best.

Keeping with the Grand Rapids tradition of community camaraderie, his business helps other businesses, and other businesses in turn help his.

For instance, the patio brings in more people to the town, and those people not only dine at LaRoe's Restaurant, but they spend dollars shopping at nearby stores.

And, after shoppers browse Grand Rapids' stores, they lunch at LaRoe's, located along Front Street. "It's about bringing people to the village," Mr. LaRoe said.

Newest changes at LaRoe's have been taking place in recent days as crews make repairs to damage caused when a vehicle plowed through the building recently. No injuries were reported; the restaurant was closed at the time.

Long active in the Grand Rapids community, Mr. LaRoe was chairman of the Applebutter Fest for 15 years and is a member of the chamber of commerce and historical society. He obviously is a fan of the village, including now when it is dressed in winter splendor and decked out for the holidays with red and white twinkling lights.

Wednesday night, Santa comes to the village where he will visit with youngsters at the fire hall. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served.

Ah, yes, and if it is holiday time, it's time for a return appearance by The Villagers, a group of entertainers featured for 15 years at LaRoe's dinner theater.

Although many dinner theaters have opened and closed through the years, Mr. LaRoe's venture continues to pack in the crowds. That success, he said, is linked to the "feel of the whole village and LaRoe's. There is something magical about being nestled along the river. We are a picture postcard for the holidays."

Brick buildings take to holiday decorations nicely. "That is what makes it click," he said.

Besides, when you blend The Villagers into the holiday mix, what's not to like?

Mr. LaRoe said rather than booking solo acts, perhaps a musician or a comedian or a performer to present a variety act, all of that is wrapped up neatly in one package with The Villagers.

Mike Robarge of Toledo, one of five members of The Villagers, said many people who attend the dinner-theater style performances at LaRoe's are "regulars," people who come back year after year or every other year.

The draw, Mr. Robarge said, is not only The Villagers, but the village itself. The whole small town beckons at this time of the year especially, he said.

And too, the dinner theater at LaRoe's is presented in an intimate setting where people feel part of the show. The intimacy, the holiday decorations, the food. "It's the whole experience that draws as well," Mr. Robarge said.

Others in The Villagers are Joe and Patty Moran of Naples, Fla.; Steve Scharren of Las Vegas, and Larry Hays of Toledo. The Villagers started performing in 1969 at the Poison Apple in Detroit.

With its trademark brand of humor and mixture of musical styles, the group opened its own club, Friar Tuck's Cabaret Theatre in Maumee, in 1973 where the entertainers performed 50 weeks a year until 1990, when the club closed.

People attending LaRoe's are treated to two shows, one at 8 p.m. after the 6:30 p.m. buffet, and after a break, another show is presented. The evening ends about 10:30 p.m., Mr. Robarge said.

Performances start this evening and run for several nights, including Dec. 20-23 (show dates Dec. 16, 17, and 18 are sold out). The audience will hear a couple of new comedy songs performed this holiday by The Villagers.

First Published December 15, 2010, 12:54 a.m.