VOLUME 169, No. 12 Thursday, March 23, 2023 PRICE $1.
T HE
H AST INGS
Devoted to the Interests of Barry County Since 1856
RETURNING HOME: St. Rose Catholic Church moves
back into newly-renovated sanctuary after fire
Jayson Bussa
Editor
Sunday was far from typical mass for the
St. Rose of Lima Parish in Hastings.
For the first time since July 2021, parishio-
ners were able to file into the sanctuary,
which had been completely overhauled to
eliminate the damage left behind by a fire that
ultimately displaced worship services.
The church hosted a Solemn Mass of Ded-
ication Sunday, where Bishop Paul J. Bradley
of Kalamazoo visited to bless the space,
effectively opening it up for future mass ser-
vices, which had previously been held in the
parish’s gymnasium.
“It was a joy to see everyone coming in – it
was like coming home,” said Father Stephan
Philip, who mentioned that some parishioners
grew emotional during the event. “That was a
wonderful celebration ... lots of people came
and the church was full.”
Many parishioners wore custom T-shirts in
a show of solidarity for a church that has
certainly gone through its share of hardships
over the last 18 months. Attendees to the ded-
ication service were greeted by a packed
crowd and took in special music and the
blessing of the church by Bishop Bradley.
As part of the proceedings, Bishop Bradley
walked around the sanctuary, splashing holy
water to bless the space. The service spanned
over three hours.
“It’s a perfect setting for the joyful cele-
bration of the re-dedication and consecration
of this historical and even more beautiful St.
Rose of Lima Parish church,” Bishop Brad-
ley said during the service. “This is a great
celebration for all the parishioners of St.
Rose Parish who, after 20 months, are now
able to worship in your beloved parish
church. This is truly a day of spiritual home-
coming.”
The dedication marked the end to a long
and trying journey for the church. On July 13,
2021, an electrical fire broken out in the early
morning hours in the church’s vestibule.
While the flames were mostly contained to
that area of the church, the smoke, soot and
other residual effects of the fire destroyed
everything in the sanctuary, as well.
Coincidentally, this was the second devas-
tating fire in the church’s history. Bishop
Bradley waded through the church’s historyHastings school board approves
application for bond proposal in August,
continues discussing survey results
Hunter McLaren
Staff Writer
Hastings Area School System will be back
on the ballot with another bond proposal in
August.
The school board unanimously voted to
authorize Superintendent Matt Goebel to
complete a preliminary qualification applica-
tion to put a bond proposal on the ballot in the
August election. The decision comes after a
survey to potential voters showed two ave-
nues toward a favorable bond proposal out-
come for the district.
The survey, conducted by Paw Paw-based
firm Perspectives Consulting Group, present-
ed four options for a bond proposal and asked
respondents to rank how likely they would be
to support each option. Options 1 and 2 gath-
ered a level of community support that Per-
spectives representatives said could be favor-
able, with options 3 and 4 not receiving
enough support to be likely viable options.
Board president Luke Haywood said the
board had decided to go ahead with a bond
proposal that would closely match the scope
set out by options 1 and 2 in the survey. The
scope of those options would allow the
school to repair, replace or renovate its most
urgent infrastructure needs and allow the dis-
trict to go several years without asking for
another bond proposal if passed, he said.
What ends up on the August ballot might look
slightly different than what was presented on
the survey due to fluctuating construction
costs, he said.
“What comes back in August will probably
not look identical to the survey, but it will
look very close,” Haywood said. “That is our
goal, to try and get the best value for our kids
and our community.”
Option 1 called for replacing the roof at the
high school, replacing the 1997 portion of the
middle school roof, replacing all single pane
windows throughout the district, repaving the
parking lot at the middle school and Central
Elementary School, upgrading heating and
cooling systems districtwide and updating
bathrooms and locker rooms.
Meanwhile, option 2 involved everything
called for in option 1 as well as updates to the
high school cafeteria and media center, updat-
ing the athletic lobby at the high school, new
classroom furniture and student desks, updat-
ed playground equipment, new lockers at Star
Elementary School and new individual school
signage.
Option 2 received support from 61.8 per-
cent of the 586 total respondents, with a plus-
or-minus four percent margin of error. As it
was estimated in the survey, the proposalwould be a $17.6 million bond issue that
would be paid off over 10 years. The local
debt millage would fall from its current 6
mills to 5.88 mills. If no bond proposal is
approved this year, the local debt millage
would drop to 5.25 mills.
Board member Michael Nickels said pur-
suing a proposal in line with the scope laid
out in option 2 made the most sense for the
district.
“We are (proposing) extending the tax rate,
with a slight (decrease from the current mill-
age rate),” Nickels said. “With that, we are
addressing a lot of facility needs.”
Goebel said the survey results and falling
tax rates were two main reasons he felt it was
critical to pursue a bond proposal in August.
Perspectives Consulting Group representa-
tives warned the district that the survey
results and election projections would only be
accurate up until the August election, after
which they couldn’t guarantee their accuracy.
Because of retiring debt in the district causing
the millage rate to drop to 5.25 mills, if no
bond proposal was approved, passing a bond
in the future could be even more difficult if it
required asking voters for a millage rate
increase.
The survey results have been heavily dis-
cussed in recent weeks, with Perspectives
Consulting Group presenting the findings at
the board’s Feb. 27 meeting. Perspectives
reps assured board members the 586-respon-
dent sample size was more than enough to
create an accurate projection with a four per-
cent plus-or-minus margin of error.
Included along with the survey’s voting
projections was written feedback compiledfrom voters who said they would not support
any given bond proposal option or responded
negatively to questions about the district. A
report on the voting projections and a report
compiling all of the collected written feed-
back are available to the public on the dis-
trict’s website.
A work session was held March 14, where
board members and school administrators
collected input directly from members of the
public. Goebel highlighted some common
concerns discussed in the survey that he said
the district needed to address.
Among those concerns were two public per-
ceptions of the district: a perception that the
district was fiscally irresponsible and didn’t
effectively communicate to the public. Goebel
said he hoped a new, recurring “financial pre-
sentation” agenda item at the board’s meetings
could help cast away both perceptions.
Goebel said the perception was particular-
ly troubling to him because the district had
received an unmodified opinion, the highest
possible audit rating, for the past 12 years.
The audits include all spending done by the
district, including the spending of funds
acquired through bonds.
“Now, when we’re (surveying the commu-
nity) and the perception of the public is that
the organization is not being fiscally respon-
sible – even if it’s not true – it is the percep-
tion of the community that it is true,” Goebel
said. “It’s our job to communicate that yes,
we are (fiscally responsible). We have very
high standards for being fiscally responsibleBarry County United Way caps off
best fundraising campaign on record
Jayson Bussa
Editor
Lani Forbes recalled how the late John
Fehsenfeld would call her at the conclusion
of each Barry County United Way fundrais-
ing campaign to get the total.
“He would call me every year and say ‘Did
we hit ($750,000)?” Forbes said during last
week’s campaign-ending celebration. “We hit
$776,000, folks.”
Fehsenfeld was a former superintendent
with the Barry County ISD and was instru-
mental in such transformational projects
like the Hastings Public Library building
project and bringing a Kellogg Community
College presence to the area via the Fehsen-
feld Center.
The influential community figure would
have been proud of the new high water mark
that Forbes and her team announced last
Thursday, finishing its latest campaign at
$776,801.
This total sailed past the most ambitious
goal the nonprofit had ever set in front of
itself – a goal of $675,000.
To announce the total, the United Way
handed out six different bricks with numbers
on them, falling in line with its “brick by
brick” mantra.
The individuals with those bricks came to
the front of the hall where United Way Exec-Curry sentenced in Bradford
White embezzlement
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
A former buyer for Bradford White Corpo-
ration in Middleville will serve one year in
the Barry County Jail and pay back thousands
of dollars to her former employer for embez-
zlement.
Roxann Renee Curry, 58, of Wayland, was
sentenced Wednesday in Barry County court
by Judge Michael Schipper on a charge of
embezzlement of at least $50,000 but no more
than $100,000. Schipper also sentenced Curry
to three years’ probation and ordered her to pay
back $252,763 to Bradford White. In addition,
the judge banned Curry from visiting any casi-
nos, engaging in online gambling or even
buying lottery tickets as part of her probation.Hastings goes green for
St. Paddy's Day
See story on page 8
All-county hoops
teams named
See story on page 9
Performance hall at HPAC
gets new name
See story on page 2
See CURRY, page 3 See SCHOOL BOARD, page 3
See UNITED WAY, page 3
See CHURCH, page 2 Parishioners at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Hastings gathered on Sunday for a Solemn Mass of Dedication. (Photos courtesy of
Dave McIntyre)Attendees of last Thursday’s “Souper” Celebration hold up bricks to signify the total
money raised in this year’s fundraising campaign by the Barry County United Way.
(Photos by Jayson Bussa)
Roxann Curry addresses the court
prior to her sentencing on Wednesday for
embezzling from her former employer,
Bradford White Corporation of Middleville,
as her attorney, Ryan Maesen, listens.
(Photo by Greg Chandler)
School board President Luke Haywood (left) and Superintendent Matt Goebel
(right) said the timing of the August election was critical for the school’s bond propos-
al for many reasons. (Photos by Hunter McLaren)