Hey there, West Michigan!
My name is Sam Landstra and I am the neighborhood reporter for Kent County.
If you're reading this biography, thank you for taking the time to watch and read local news. I believe in storytelling and its ability to connect us with our neighbors, both in big cities like Grand Rapids and in smaller towns like Kent City and Caledonia (and Hudsonville, where I was raised).
In 2022, I joined FOX 17 after graduating from Dordt University, leaving the rolling cornfields of Northwest Iowa with a major in journalism and minors in English and film.
One of my first stories at the station descended into the cold, damp gypsum mines buried beneath Grand Rapids. I took a freight elevator 85-feet below the surface to walk among the remnants of the city's lost industry, now sealed from the public.
Since then, West Michigan history has become a favorite topic of mine and I always appreciate learning about the secret, sometimes forgotten stories carefully tucked into every town's past.
I also report on conservation and the environment, as I'm drawn to the Great Lakes watershed and the plant and animal life its supported for many millenniums, including all those white-tailed deer (and, unfortunately, all of them we see lying dead on the side of the road).
I also like to tell stories of faith and, having grown up in the Christian Reformed Church, am both professionally and personally challenged by how religion can both bring people together and push them apart.
Truly, I have a heart for this job and feel called to report on the cities and shoreline I've known since my childhood. I believe in the importance of home-grown journalism, that writing is an act of love, and that rooting for Detroit sports teams makes you a better person (at least in the long run).
If you have a story in Kent County that's worth telling (or a movie that's worth watching), send me an email at sam.landstra@fox17online.com! I'll be happy to check it out.
