Lansing area gifts that keep giving: Consider giving these memberships and subscriptions

Rachel Greco, Lansing State Journal
·4 min read

The season for gift giving is on its way, and you don't have to look far to find subscriptions and memberships for everyone on your list.

You can find offers for everything from monthly wine and book selections to free admission to some of the Lansing area's long-held attractions, including Impression 5 Science Center, Potter Park Zoo and the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum.

Here's a look at eight subscriptions or memberships that will keep giving long after you buy them.

Dusty’s Wine Club

For the wine connoisseurs, there's a membership to Dusty's Cellar's Wine Club. The Okemos business offers an assortment of six wines for $66 per month to its members. The bundles come in a red, white, mixed and seasonal packs from which you can choose. Packs can be picked up beginning on the first of every month at the eatery at 1839 W. Grand River Ave.

The membership also entitles you to a 10% discount on all single bottles of wine, and 15% off six bottles or more. Learn more at www.dustyscellar.com/wine-club.

Eastside Lansing Food Co-op

If you know someone living in or around Lansing's east side who wants to shop at a neighborhood grocery store that carries local produce, meat and baked goods and other name-brand products at a variety of price points, consider getting them a membership to the Eastside Lansing Food Co-op.

You don't need a membership to shop at the store, located in a 2,500-square-foot space at 1605 E. Kalamazoo St., but there are a few worthwhile perks to having one. The $30 annual fee gets you a 3% discount every time you shop there and it helps support the operation, which sells items from farms all over the state. Learn more at www.elfco.org.

Impression 5 Science Center

Mt. Hope STEAM School student Davaria Collier, left, uses an excavator to try and place a ball into a 5-gallon bucket as Operating Engineers 324 apprentice Logan Ethington watches during the Construction Science Expo on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, outside Impression 5 Science Center in downtown Lansing.
Mt. Hope STEAM School student Davaria Collier, left, uses an excavator to try and place a ball into a 5-gallon bucket as Operating Engineers 324 apprentice Logan Ethington watches during the Construction Science Expo on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, outside Impression 5 Science Center in downtown Lansing.

A membership to Impression 5 Science Center, at 200 Museum Drive, is for people who love science, but prefer a hands-on approach to learning about it. Where else can you find interactive exhibits exploring such things as the atom, vortexes, water flow and the electromagnetic spectrum?

Museum membership options range from $100 to $150 per year and allow for perks such as free admission, a subscription to a quarterly newsletter and admittance to exclusive events. Learn more at www.impression5.org.

Lansing State Journal

The best way to know what's happening in the Lansing area is by subscribing to local journalism. The Lansing State Journal employs reporters who live here and cover everything from local government and development to high school and Michigan State University sports. A special digital subscription offers six months of coverage for $1 and then $19.99 a month. There are print delivery options, too.

Learn more at subscribe.lansingstatejournal.com.

MSU Broad Art Museum

Michigan State freshman studio art major Campbell Stinson adds to a collaborative drawing, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, during the Broad's eight-hour Drawing Marathon at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in East Lansing.
Michigan State freshman studio art major Campbell Stinson adds to a collaborative drawing, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, during the Broad's eight-hour Drawing Marathon at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in East Lansing.

It doesn't cost anything to become a member of the MSU Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. The contemporary art museum in downtown East Lansing, at 547 E. Circle Drive, has a rotating exhibition schedule. Those who sign up to be members get a 10% discount at its cafe and on retail purchases. They also get invitations to special events and a subscription to the museum’s seasonal calendars.

Learn more at www.broadmuseum.msu.edu.

Potter Park Zoo

The entrance to Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, pictured Thursday, March 17, 2023.
The entrance to Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, pictured Thursday, March 17, 2023.

Annual membership to Potter Park Zoo comes with unlimited "standard admission" to the South Pennsylvania Avenue property for a year, a 10% discount at the zoo's gift shop, concessions, and mobility rentals. Members also receive a newsletter.

The zoo offers different levels of membership for individuals and families that cost between $50 and $200. Learn more at www.potterparkzoo.org.

R.E. Olds Transportation Museum

A collection of Oldsmobiles on display at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2022, in Lansing.
A collection of Oldsmobiles on display at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2022, in Lansing.

Car aficionados who appreciate the history behind automobiles should be right at home in the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, at 240 Museum Drive. The museum houses 80 vehicles, built from 1886 through 2004. It also showcases engines and other automotive materials related to transportation history.

Memberships to the museum allow for free admission, an email subscription to its newsletter and a 10% discount at the museum's store. The memberships include plans for $25 for individuals and $50 for families. Learn more at www.reoldsmuseum.org.

Socialight Society Book Club

Nyshell Lawrence, owner of Socialight Society, photographed at her location inside the Lansing Mall on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, in Lansing.
Nyshell Lawrence, owner of Socialight Society, photographed at her location inside the Lansing Mall on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, in Lansing.

For the book lovers in your life, consider buying them a membership to the Socialight Society Book Club. The independent bookstore, at 5454 W. Saginaw Hwy. in the Lansing Mall, "specifically caters to Black women who often lack representation in traditional bookstores," according to the business's website.

Members of its book club read and discuss a different book each month. A monthly subscription is $30 and covers the cost of each monthly title. Learn more at www.socialightsociety.com.

Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @GrecoatLSJ .

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This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Consider giving these Lansing area memberships and subscriptions